{"id":399,"date":"2008-03-31T10:22:29","date_gmt":"2008-03-31T10:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2008\/03\/my-statement-of-faith-concluding-comments.html"},"modified":"2008-03-31T10:22:29","modified_gmt":"2008-03-31T10:22:29","slug":"my-statement-of-faith-concluding-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/03\/my-statement-of-faith-concluding-comments.html","title":{"rendered":"My Statement of Faith: Concluding Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday I put up my Statement of Faith, one I had written as a part of my examination to be recognized as a Presbyterian pastor in my new location. If you didn’t read it, you can find my Statement of Faith here<\/a>. On Friday<\/a> I explained why I used hymns and songs as a way to capture my faith. Today I want to add a bit more commentary.
\nI was impressed by the number of comments and emails I received from people who were encouraged by my use of music to give expression to my faith. There are many, many people who share my love of hymns and songs, both for their content and for the way they move the heart. I was most impressed by a comment I received from Robert Austell<\/a>, a Presbyterian pastor who went through a process similar to mine. When it was time for him to share his Statement of Faith in only three minutes, he grabbed his guitar, stood up, and sang “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” (Note: I used a stanza of this fine hymn too.)
\nAs I explained in my last post in this series, I chose most of the lyrics because they expressed, in poetic form, some central aspect of my faith. The first verse of “Holy, Holy, Holy,” for example, bears witness both to God’s holiness and to God’s triune nature. But some of the stanzas in my Statement of Faith were more confessional in nature. For example, the last verse of the hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” reads:<\/p>\n

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
\nTake my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
\nTake my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
\nTake myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

During the past year, as I was wrestling with the question of whether to remain as pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church or uproot my family and move to Texas, that last line often put into words the deepest desire of my heart: to be ever, only, all for God.
\nYou may have noticed that I framed my Statement of Faith with the first verse and then the refrain of “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” I did so, in part, because this hymn expresses, perhaps better than any other, my faith in God. I have faith in God because of God’s faithfulness. I remain a Christian because of God’s faithfulness. I am forgiven because of God’s faithfulness. Were it not for God’s faithfulness, I would have no faith.
\n\"irvineI chose to frame my Statement of Faith with “Great is Thy Faithfulness” not only because of this hymn’s core truth, but also because of the way it has framed my life. We sang “Great is Thy Faithfulness” at my wedding in 1984, and at the memorial service of my father in 1986, and at my ordination in 1988, and at my installation at Irvine Presbyterian Church in 1991, and on my final Sunday at Irvine Presbyterian Church in 2007. This hymn has been my “best friend,” liturgically speaking, for more than two decades. And I’ve said that I want this hymn to be sung at my memorial service, which, I hope is still a long way off.\u00a0 (Photo: I was installed in what is now the Fellowship Hall of Irvine Presbyterian Church. Our sanctuary wasn’t built until 1996.)
\nMy Statement of Faith bears witness, not only to the God in whom I put my faith, but also to the fact that Christian faith is both full of content and more than just content. Christian faith is theological and emotional. It is deeply personal and profoundly communal. It is propositional and poetic. It is, above all, a relationship with the living God, a relationship which, at its core, involves trusting in the God who is always faithful, and whose faithfulness is demonstrated most of all through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday I put up my Statement of Faith, one I had written as a part of my examination to be recognized as a Presbyterian pastor in my new location. If you didn’t read it, you can find my Statement of Faith here. On Friday I explained why I used hymns and songs as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statement-of-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Statement of Faith: Concluding Comments - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}