Introduction

            Tonight, we are continuing our look at “Faith—is it in you?”  Two weeks ago we started this series and I told you that I wanted us to journey together to discover what faith is.  We throw this word around a lot; we may as well just spend some time together taking an honest look at what it really means.  Instead of talking about things in a Second Life, somewhere out there in a distant spiritual place, a utopia, let’s talk about life here and now with respect to faith.

            Last week, we looked at Hebrews 11:1-3, focusing specifically on verse 1.  We arrived at a general statement about faith and said that “faith looks at the evidence and builds a foundation so solid that the thing that it hopes for seems so real that you could just reach out and touch it—that it feels physically present to you.”  That was based on Hebrews 11:1.  It all sounded so simple, once you put it in those kinds of terms.

            I have to tell you, I told my wife that I felt so good about last week’s talk.  There are times when I feel so certain that God is directing my thoughts and my efforts.  I just knew that last week was going to go well.  In my mind, it did—and that is just me looking at my talk.  I’m not saying that in order to fish for compliments or to toot my own horn.  I’m humbled that God would use me in this way.

            My hope is that after being here last week, you could feel better about where you are in your faith journey—that you could feel as though faith isn’t just something imaginary. 

            Chances are that some of you felt that way.  More likely than not, though, many of you heard that statement and had some questions.  The general statement about faith was that “faith looks at the evidence and builds a foundation so solid that the thing that it hopes for seems so real that you could just reach out and touch it—that it feels physically present to you.”  You may be questioning the evidence.  Or, you may have looked at the foundation that you have built and wondered if your faith could withstand anything at all.  In fact, you might think that your faith is more like a house of cards than a solid foundation.  You may have “comparisonitis”.  You compare your faith to the faiths of others in this group and you see that you don’t add up—you don’t make the cut.  A word that would have better described you last week is discouraged.  You might even be discouraged now. 

            Last week, I felt so good about my talk.  Tonight is the complete opposite.  Why?  Because we are getting closer to where the rubber meets the road.  The closer we get the more questions we have.  Things that sound so clear in theory aren’t so clear in application.  Tonight, the water gets muddied up.  I want us to be brutally honest and open about the doubts in our lives.  Let’s get them out in the open.  The chances are pretty high that someone here has the same doubts and questions that you have.  Someone here is probably experiencing the same crisis of faith that you are experiencing. 

            Tonight, we are going to break into small groups and discuss some questions.  I can’t force you to participate, but please get involved.  Please share your heart with us.  Please open your life up to the rest of our community here.  We don’t pretend to have all of the answers.  If we come off that way, I’m sorry.

John 6:52-69

Mark 9:14-24

We have a choice, I think, as Christians. We can view doubt as if it were a cancer that needs to be eradicated from our lives.  If we view our doubts that way, we can actually become quite irrelevant in our faith.  We can come across as robotic and disconnected from reality.  Or we can treat it as something that can help our faith.  It’s those times of doubts that often grow our faith.  Sweet/salty.

V  What evidence can you present for God’s existence?

V  What evidence can you present to show that God does not exist?

V  Which is more convincing?  Why?

V  Which phrase describes the kind of faith found in the church today:  a brainwashing, a belief system, a way of life?  In other words, are we simply repeating what we hear others saying about God?  Or, do our beliefs resemble a code of conduct?  Or, do we live a life of faith.  Why?

V  Has there ever been a time when your life experience made you want to challenge someone’s preaching or teaching in church?

V  True or false—there is room in faith for doubt.  Defend your answer.

V  Picture this imaginary person:  a person of high moral integrity who is not a Christian but is on a quest for spiritual truth.  This person asks you the following question:  “How does your life as a Christian differ from mine as a moral non-Christian?”  How do you answer?