Before you begin, grown-ups: This week’s answer is the Apostles’ Creed. A few phrases often prompt questions. “Catholic” here means “universal”—the worldwide church of everyone who trusts Jesus, not one denomination. “The communion of saints” means all of God’s people, past and present, sharing life in Christ. “He descended into hell” may sound alarming after Week 28. The creed’s original wording speaks of the realm of the dead, which is why many churches say “He descended to the dead.” Christians explain the line in a few ways—that Jesus truly entered death, that he bore God’s judgment on the cross, or that he announced his victory—but none of them mean his work on the cross was unfinished. He truly died for us, and on the third day he rose.
01 · GATHER ROUND
Start with a question.
“Have you ever run a relay race? What’s the trickiest part?”
The handoff! Dropping the baton is the classic relay disaster. Remember that for today.
02 · OUR BIG QUESTION
What do we believe by true faith?
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
New City Catechism · Question 31 · Children’s answer · Official page03 · OPEN THE BIBLE
Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints.
Berean Standard Bible · BSB
The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.
Read it slowly together. What words stand out? You can choose the translation your family knows best.
Don’t drop it.
In a relay race, each runner carries a baton for part of the race and then hands it to the next runner. The hardest moment is the handoff. Runners practice it again and again, because if the baton hits the ground, the whole team is in trouble. Your job isn’t to invent a new baton. It’s to carry the one you were given and pass it on safely.
Today’s reading comes from a short letter written by Jude, a leader in the early church. He urges Christians to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints—that means all of God’s people. To contend means to hold on to something and stand up for it. The true story of Jesus—what Christians believe—is like a baton passed from Jesus to his apostles, and from them to Christians in every generation, all the way to you.
Early on, Christians began summing up the most important truths of the faith in short statements they could learn by heart and say together. One of the best known is the Apostles’ Creed. Creed comes from a Latin word that means “I believe.” The apostles didn’t write it themselves, but it sums up what they taught, and its roots go back to the early church.
The creed has three main parts. The first is about God the Father, who made heaven and earth. The second, and longest, is about Jesus: his birth, his death, his rising again, and his return. The third is about the Holy Spirit and the gifts God gives his people—the church, forgiveness, and life that never ends.
When you say the creed, you join a huge team. Christians in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas say it. Christians said it hundreds of years ago, and Christians will keep saying it long after us. You aren’t believing alone. You’re carrying the same baton as millions of others.
So as you learn these words, hold them tight. They aren’t just old sentences. They tell the true story of the God who made you, saves you, and is with you. One day it will be your turn to hand them on.
04 · WONDER TOGETHER
Let’s talk about it.
- Why do you think Christians wanted to sum up their faith in words they could say together?
- Which part of the creed—about the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit—would you like to understand better?
- Who handed the faith to you? Who might you hand it to one day?
Try answering one yourself first. “I don’t know yet” is a fine place to start a conversation.
05 · A LITTLE CHALLENGE
Carry the truth with you.
Learn the creed in three parts this week. Start with the part about the Father, then add the part about Jesus, then the part about the Holy Spirit. Ask a grandparent or an older friend from church whether they learned it as a child, and what it means to them.
06 · TALK TO GOD
Let’s pray.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you for the true story of your love that has been passed down to us. Thank you for everyone who carried the faith before us. Help us hold on to it, believe it with our whole hearts, and pass it on to others. Keep us faithful until our race is done. Amen.
Then invite everyone to add one thing they want to tell God.
07 · MAKE IT STICK
A little truth to learn by heart.
Make a baton from a rolled-up paper or a wooden spoon. Say the creed one line at a time, handing the baton to the next person for each new line. Hold up one, two, then three fingers as you reach the parts about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SAY IT. HIDE IT. TRY IT TOGETHER.
This week’s answer · New City Catechism Q31
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
No streaks. No catching up. Just growing together.
Progress stays in this browser.Question 31 and its children’s answer are quoted from the official New City Catechism resource and were checked on September 29, 2026. The New City Catechism, Copyright © 2017 by The Gospel Coalition and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Published by Crossway. Devotional, prayer, and activities are original. Scripture translations are supplied through YouVersion when connected. The saved BSB reading matches the official Berean Standard Bible text; the Berean text is dedicated to the public domain.