Disarming Doubt

HE is RISEN.... (ALL) HE is RISEN INDEED!

LOVE IT! I also love that we kicked off our celebration this morning by the public profession of faith in Jesus. Baptism is a beautiful moment where we get to participate in the drama of death and ressurection that we have been waiting for during the lenten season.

In an era where doubt and selfishness seems to be the rule of the day it is incredible to see people take a step of faith and self surrender I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the presence of God.

I think I feel this do deeply becuase I know that not everyone has the ability to overcome these doubts.

I have an acquaintance that insists that the idea the Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead out of pure love for us is no more than a man made manipulation tool to fill church building and subjugate people.

At the heart of this belief is her terrible experience with church growing up and her inability to reconcile reason and faith.

In a nutshell she just cannot overcome her own doubts about Jesus, God and the whole religious thing” to use her words.

For Her to respond to He Is Risen with He is Risen indeed is just not possible....

Or in my view I would say it is not possible yet....You see I believe doubt is not a problem for God in fact I believe:

Doubt is a starting place not a death sentence.

Every person that has ever been baptized has overcome doubt…

If you are doubting today or you know someone who doubts God’s goodness take heart for it is in those moments of doubt were Jesus is most likely so show himself if we are seeking truth.

That is exactly what Jesus did in todays passage…let me set the stage…doubt was in the air.

John 20:1–10 NLT

1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.

He is Risen…He is Risen Indeed....(Not yet Convinced)

Mary and the disciples were not convinced of ressurection only the empty tomb...

In fact after the disciples left to go home Mary continued to plead with the angels and Jesus himself to tell her where Jesus had been taken.

It was not until Jesus called her by name that she overcame her doubt.

John 20:11–16 NLT

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

He is Risen....

Not yet....It was not until Jesus showed up and spoke the disciples that their doubt was erased.

John 20:19–22 NLT

19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

He is Risen…

Not everyone is there yet.....It was not until Thomas was confronted by Jesus himself and made to touch his wounds that His doubt was overcome.

John 20:24–28 NLT

24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

Eight days Later…He is Risen....He is Risen Indeed

The Story of the Ressurection is full of Jesus showing up in the face of doubt.

It is not God’s preference that we doubt but when we look at this passage it was not a surprise to Jesus.

Jesus offers the needed proof if our motive if we are seeking the truth. Many of us are here today not becuase we are looking for God to proof himself…most of us already believe.

However that does not mean that we are immune to doubt…In fact many of us have had more than one Thomas moment.

I can remember the day doubt crept into my life as a child. Before this event in my life I was totally convinced of Jesus love for me and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

God had worked a miracle in my families life by saving my Mom, Dad, and me. We had a wonderful church and things were going well…at least I thought.

Then it happened the day my Dad lost his job and could not find anything…we went from comfortable to living on the generosity of others and food stamps.

Then when my dad did finally find a job it was 1053 miles away from everything that I knew as normal…

On top of that in order to make the move we had to sell everything we owned in order to make the trip. Furniture that held memories of sick days watching tv and of corse even my bicycle...

I can still picture myself watching the auctioneer go from item to item encouraging others to place a price on what at that time was my whole life.

In that moment I remember losing my faith in my dad’s ability to care for the family, and losing my faith in God’s ability to care for us as well.

This started a 7 year journey of self sufficiency and limited belief in the goodness of God....Until finally when I turned 18 I realized that even in my doubt God had been with me all along.

He is Risen

There have been other moments of doubt along the way but Jesus shows up in the middle of everyone of them.

Today, there may be some who have been struggling with doubt. It’s not like you don’t want to believe…

but your situation seems impossible…the claims of Christ seem to be too outside reality to believe…or you have tried before and had an unfulfilling if not hurtful experience…non of that matters if you are seeking truth.

Let today be your ressurection Birthday…Let today be a moment where Jesus shows up in your doubt…He is here…He is speaking…calling your name...

He is Risen…He is Risen Indeed!

Invitation:

If you are feeling like you want to believe for the first time or believe again I want to invite you to pray this prayer right where you are as a starting point.

I want to emphasize that....This prayer is not the end of your journey…it is a starting point.

“Lord Jesus Christ, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life (take a few moments to ask his forgiveness for anything particular that is on your conscience).  Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me, so that I could be forgiven and set free. Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Spirit.

I now receive that gift. Please transform my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me forever.  Thank you Lord Jesus, Amen.”

He is Risen ALL He is Risen indeed

If you prayed this prayer I want you to take out the communications card from the chair in front of you. Do it right now.....

Then I want you to fill out your information and simply write…Prayed the Prayer. I want to contact you personally.....

At this time lets celebrate our belief in Jesus Death and Ressurection by coming to the table today.

Everyone is welcome to the table. You do not have to be a member of this local Church or the Church of the Nazarene in general.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

As our benediction Let us one more time affirm the our belief in the Ressurection

HE IS RISEN....HE IS RISEN INDEED.