We’re getting closer to our regular schedule now, with Sunday School followed by Worship Service and then Fellowship (snacks but not potluck) on Sundays, Food Pantry on Tuesdays at 5, and Bible Study on Wednesdays at 6. On April 20, we’ll bring the BBQ out and start “Prayze Dogs” to go with food pantry, every other week. We’re also looking at getting some book clubs started. Let Pastor Steve know if you are interested!
11 April 2021 Sunday Message: “I Think I Believe, Now What?”
Call to Worship Reading: Psalm 133
1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
Invitation, Praises, and Prayer Concerns; Father in Heaven, Lord today we humble come to thank you for all that we are, and all that we have. Father, we also aske that you would continue to grow and mature us into the servants of the working day that we are capable of being in and through you. That you especially Father for the season of Easter, that reminds us just how much your love for us, carries us to new places.
Amen!
Message Reading: John 20:19-31
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 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.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Message: “I Think I Believe, Now What?”
When working on a Message title, I initially had thought of putting on our sign board: “He Came He Died, We Live Again”, would fill the bill. But then I thought about what I was trying to say today and there is so much more that is streaming through my mind.And I wanted to try to capture all the questions I personally have about this time in scripture.
Not just that sentiment of fact is important though, today’s message is for all of you that struggle with the items I believe as fact.
- That our God loves His creation, you and me
- Enough to walk earth to reach us, in our sin
- Lived for us
- Died for us
- Did what idolatry wouldn’t & couldn’t
- Defeated death in resurrection
- Leads us in our new eternal Faithwalk
- Cleanses us, forgives us, lets us try again
- Enough to walk earth to reach us, in our sin
- By majesty, grace, and yes love, God is more interested in our future than our past
For me these are truths that are saving me from myself. A person that has lived in the muck of life, and wants something better in our future together in Christ. But does knowing the truth about the above mentioned, and the challenges of living in our world of contradictions make everything easy? How Do I make sense of the insensible?
So today, I want to aim the message to all of you who suffer from the battle that rages within you. For all of you who are trying to be good people who care about other people, want to know and love their Lord God more and more every day but waiver. For all of you out there that struggle with the hard questions in life, like why do bad things happen to good people, and why do children suffer in this life of ours. That time and again, you may have thought like the father in the Gospel of Mark who came to Jesus with his sick son who was possessed. Here is what transpired in Mark 9:21-24;
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
If this sounds like you at times, and you are frustrated because you’re worried that you are losing the battle of belief and faith some days, today’s message is for you. Not a magic cure, because luck is for rabbits, and this life is for your edification, maturing and growth. And so, we come to the house of the Lord, our hospital for getting well and we repeat the old phrase, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Our maybe better put; please Lord, help us in our week faith! Or today’s title, “I Think I Believe, Now What?”
Perhaps, if we were to start with what believing in our Lord means to us and our future, we can begin to get an idea of why our struggle is worth the effort.
What I mean is that there are times in the course of history, that everything just comes together. There appears to be harmony among people, and we get to witness the better angels of the human condition.
I am reminded of today’s Call to Worship reading of Psalm 133 and David’s comments of how beautiful it is when there is harmony in humanity;
1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
This is Psalm known as a song of ascent by David. The psalms of ascent are a title given to fifteen of the Psalms, 120–134. Many scholars believe (per Wikipedia) that these psalms were sung by worshippers as they went up (ascended) the road to Jerusalem to attend the three pilgrim festivals during the year;
- Pesach (Passover), our Easter
- Shavuot (Pentecost), We celebrate the release of the Holy Spirit, Jews celebrate receiving Torah at Sini
- Sukkot (Tabernacles, Tents or Booths) The children of Israel relive the travels in the wilderness and temporary shelters, right after the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) Perhaps all of us should observe our own wilderness journey (life).
On these ancient holidays, Israelites would make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, as commanded by the Torah. In Jerusalem, all who could, would participate in festivities and ritual worship in conjunction with the services at the Temple. The children of Israel considered themselves one big family in God (children of Abraham), and accomplished their service to God in unison.
As I wrote this message, I had thoughts of masses of people in ancient Israel walking up to Jerusalem (the mountain of the Lord) together as a family in God. And how beautiful it must have been to see them and hear them all singing in unison the following words;
1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
And then, I began to think what it would be like if all people voluntarily sang this in their walk of life. All of us listening to God and going in the same direction, instead of paying heed to all of the distractors out there that lead us astray.
Not surrendering who we are, but listening to God’s voice and not the voice of our own or some self-appointed hack of a manipulator. That’s happened too much in the past. Remember, this is still about you using your free will and thinking for your selves, and this church exists to give us the tools to apply your free will in and with our God!
And perhaps, that is why we have individually come to the House of the Lord today, to be a part of the solution instead of adding to the negativity that pervades our society and our own individual lives right now. Maybe like me, you have decided that going it alone just wasn’t working for you and that maybe that is why you were open to the Lord’s message of hope in and for your future.
So, as we start to come closer to God, and our Savoir Jesus Christ; we begin to offer up more of ourselves to the Lord, and our family in God. This is not surrendering up all of your free will to people you don’t know, but the beginnings of trust in other people, and indeed getting used to following your Lord. Discovering what your own individual ministry in the Lord is. And everyone has one!
So, as we revisit today’s message title; “I Think I Believe, Now What?”, once we have allowed that seed of faith to germinate within us, we can begin to nurture our faith by helping, serving, and loving God, by thinking of other people. The people God is placing in our lives, not just the ones you have picked that think, look, act, and smell like you!
Getting used to being a part of a faith family and learning to trust, and forgive when things do not go according to your plans, is what being a part of something bigger than yourself is all about. And often things happen in ways you could never predict or plan for.
For many of us, some days it will feel like our faithwalk is more like a moonwalk backwards instead of in a reinforced, solid direction towards our Lord and eternity. If this is you, you are not alone. Even when you are with a group of exceptional people with whom you admire, there will always be times where you and other people will let yourselves or other people down by being all too human. This is not an excuse, just a recognition that we need a whole lot of grace and forgiveness to be able to fruitfully serve God, and live with other people, even the saints.
Additionally, the Disciples / Apostles of our Lord faced a multitude of challenges in their own individual faithwalks and lives. Just look at their actions when the Lord is arrested and on trial before Harrod and Pilot. Where are they? Are there more than a couple from Jesus’ disciples on site at the crucifixion? No. Because even the devout experience setbacks in their Faithwalks at times.
This reminds me of today’s Message reading from John 20. The Lord’s body has been reported missing by Mary, with Peter and others who found an empty tomb. The Lord has already appeared to the others but Thomas can’t or won’t make the leap of faith, and accept that the Lord indeed lives.
How about you?
This time starting at verse 24:
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 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.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
And yet Thomas, our “Doubting Didymus” (orperhaps Didymus the doubter), serves as a blessing to the rest of us. Yes, before we pile on and judge Thomas, we should remember that God gives us in scripture examples of how to deal with adversity. Thomas / Didymus, shows that even the intimate friends of the Lord could still suffer in their immature faithwalk and still be a part of God’s family. Because of Thomas’ doubts, I can actually believe more and learn what not to do, or at least to try.
If you or a friend is struggling because it seems like your prayers are unanswered, or your adversity is wearing you out, remember God has a perfect clock, that answers to celestial time and not your own.
I think it important to note that the Lord waited a week before approaching Thomas. Perhaps the Lord knows that Thomas needed time for all of what had happened to sink in. Confirming a thought that is prevalent throughout scripture, even if it isn’t stated specifically. The idea is this: “The will of God will not take you where the grace of God can’t hold you”.
In other words, God takes us as we are able and many times willing to grow in Him. Like a parent removing the training wheels on a bike at just the right time. Or letting you drive the car for the first time, or God revealing more about Himself to us as we are ready for the additional growth.
Part of coming to grips with the concept of; “I think I believe, now what?” is learning to deal with not only our own imperfections, weaknesses, and immaturity in the Lord, but accepting those same constraints in other people. That God has this incredible way of turning a weakness into the sublime, the beautiful, and the wonderful. This is not Pollyanna or looking at life through Rose colored glasses, but a clear admission that we all fall short of glory, and yet are able to achieve glory in and through a God that loves us in spite of us.
My hope and prayer for you this week as you live your beautiful lives, is that you are able to address yourself to the thought of; “I think I believe, now what?”. And then pray, listen, and respond to the promptings of a God, that was willing to wait a week to show a doubting Didymus / Thomas, His wounds, His grace, His love. Even for someone struggling like me.
Amen!
Benediction: Based on Romans 5:1-5 and Numbers 6:24-26
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
And
24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’