The Ghost in the Room

Ghosts… Believing in things we cannot see..

Story about Kindergarten followed by Ghost in Pomfret.

Story about Kindergarten followed by Ghost in Pomfret.

We want to examine things from a perspective of faith and reason.

We want to examine things from a perspective of faith and reason.

We want to keep an open mind. There’s a “I want to believe” kind of a perspective or a skeptical perspective. If you are truly listening to the Holy spirit you need to become perpetually open minded. We can arrogantly think we know the answers to life’s mysteries and then experience a paradigm shift.

We want to examine things from a perspective of faith and reason.

We want to examine things from a perspective of faith and reason.

We should not want to quickly dismiss things and at the same time we don’t want to unquestioningly embrace things either. We should respect the level of mystery that is out there. God is infinite and His mysteries are infinite and he’s put a lot of mystery into his creation. At the same time, we should aware there are a lot of claims out there that don’t stand up to scrutiny. There are hoaxes. It’s easy to get tricked.

We should not want to quickly dismiss things and not going to unquestioningly embrace things either.respect the level of mystery that is out there

respect the level of mystery that is out there

Magic trick to illustrate.

God is infinite and His mystery is infinite and he has put a lot of mystery into his creation.

at the same time we are aware there are a lot of claims out there that don’t stand up to scrutiny.

Luke 24:36–43 ESV

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Luke 24:36–43 ESV

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Luke 24:36-

Mark 6:49 ESV

but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,

Mark

Luke 24:

Ghosts… Believing in things we cannot see...

Luke 6:49 ESV

But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Luke

Matthew 14:26 ESV

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.

Matt

Jesus told them clearly what was going happen.

Very clear statements from Jesus.

If the Old Testament predicted Jesus’ death, Why did the Jewish men following Jesus who were taught scripture from their youth understand what would happen?

The disciples did not understand.....

If the Old Testament predicted Jesus’ death, Why did the Jewish men following Jesus who were taught scripture from their youth understand what would happen?

I think it comes down to human nature and we are no different...

Why did the Apostles think Jesus was a ghost??

We hear the verses we want to hear and don’t pay attention to the verses that we don’t like.

Imagine living in the first century.... imagine knowing what crucifixion looks like.... you would be very familiar with the permanency of it. Think about it. imagine the hopeless feeling that would bring you. I can tell you that if I was living back then, I would have been scared too. We’re not that different. I would have been just as quick to rush up and defend Jesus with a sword.... but I can tell you I could have just as easily denied the Lord three times. And I also would have wept bitterly. We tend to read ourselves into the story as the hero, never the failure. It’s a human nature problem. The characters in the bible are not meant to be moral examples of behavior. They are meant to be a mirror. Every bible character has some successes built into their story but also records their failures. Father Abraham… good guy or bad guy…? Just a guy.

Hindsight is 20:20

Normalcy bias.

Hindsight is 20:20. It’s so easy to know what to do if you’ve already watched the movie. You make all the right decisions

Why is it so hard to discern where God is leading us in our own lives?

We are not so different. Where is God trying to lead you? You are uniquely you. Understanding God’s will

We live in a spiritual world that can be hard to understand.