Dark Before Dawn: Deconstructing Doubt [Thomas]

Dark Before Dawn: Deconstructing Doubt [Thomas]

Doubt before the Dawn

Doubt is not the end of faith

Sarah kept walking in the dark

John was reminded to remember the good

Doubting Thomas

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Thomas was a skeptic

A skeptic is someone who says, “I’m going to suspend judgement. I’m not going to commit myself.”

John 20:26-28 Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

What can we learn from Thomas?

God waits

We are third-day people living in a second-day world

Jesus doesn’t shy away from giving evidence

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

My Lord My God moment

The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape?… The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation. C.S. Lewis

I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible. ― Charles Colson

If I were to remain intellectually honest, I had to admit that the Old and New Testament documents were the most reliable writings in all of antiquity. And if they were reliable, what about this man Jesus, whom I had dismissed as a mere carpenter? Josh McDowell

God wants to be found

At its core, faith is not simply the belief in a statement, it puts trust in a person – John Ortberg

God wants to be found