Living Hope - Part 3: The God Who Lives | Pastor Pablo Morales

He is risen. We are going to continue the series

on living hope. The first study was the God who

is the one that resurrected Lazarus. And we saw

the God who weeps. Then we saw the God who serves,

who washed the feet of the apostles. And today

we are going to see the God who lives. Please

join me as we begin. Lord, I want to ask you.

That you will use me today in this study. In

your strength. In your wisdom. In your grace.

In your power. Let it be you. Encounter us through

your word. We pray in the powerful name of Jesus.

Our resurrected king. Amen. In this study today.

We have. Now experience different things, some

of which we celebrated this weekend, including

Good Friday. After Jesus died, crucified on the

cross, he was buried on a tomb of a rich man

that had a stone door that was sealed. And as

the apostles were grieving, the time of Jesus'

death, they did not know, they didn't understand,

they were not expecting that on Sunday morning,

Jesus was going to resurrect. And as Jesus resurrects,

he starts appearing for a period of many days

to the apostles and other people as well. And

that is where we come to John chapter 20. In

John 20 · chapter mention

John chapter 20, We are going to discover an

John 20 · chapter mention

event that takes place that involves the apostles.

One of the apostles whose name is Thomas and

Jesus. Thomas was one of the apostles that have

been with Jesus for a long time. And we see during

this last week in the life of Jesus, which we

call the Holy Week. We see Thomas interacting

with Jesus in three different occasions. And

all of this is taking place in the surrounding

area of Jerusalem and in Jerusalem. As a reminder

from the previous sessions, remember that Jesus

came to Bethany where he resurrected Lazarus,

right there on the south. And then he went to

the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem and he

saw Jerusalem and he weeped for Jerusalem because

of their rejection of him, but also the destruction

that was going to happen in Jerusalem later,

which happened in the year 70. And then he went

down in the triumphal entry into the city of

Jerusalem and then he met the apostles during

the Last Supper. And after that, the crucifixion.

And the burial took place. It is during this

time that Thomas is going to interact with Jesus.

And the first one of those interactions happened

before they arrived to Bethany. Because when

the apostles were in the area and they realized

that Jesus wanted to go to Bethany, you can just

look at the map and realize, wow, that's very

close to Jerusalem. And it was a problem because

people already wanted to destroy Jesus. They

wanted to kill him. So they were concerned that

if they went to Bethany, it was too close to

Jerusalem, it could be dangerous. And as they

were wrestling with that, we are told that Thomas

simply says to the other apostles, hey, let us

also go that we may die with him. He was... Committed

to following Jesus. Even if it meant. That they

had to die with him. In this trip to Bethany.

But then later. As the experience happened. Right

there with Lazarus. And they go to Jerusalem.

And they experience the last supper with Jesus.

Jesus washes their feet and then he engages with

them in a long conversation about many things,

including telling them that's going to happen

in the upcoming moments about his death and resurrection.

But they don't understand any of these things.

So there's another moment in which God, Jesus

is telling the apostles, look, I'm going to go

to a place and then I'll come back. So you can

be where I am. And all of this conversation,

and Thomas says, but Lord, we don't even know

where you're going. So how can we know the way?

How can we follow you to wherever you're going

if we don't know where you're going? He's still

confused. He doesn't understand. And Jesus answers

to him these famous words of Jesus that perhaps

you have memorized if you're a Christian for

a long time. Jesus tells Thomas, I am the way,

the truth, and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through me. You must imagine how

that was completely disorienting for Thomas because

he was asking for directions and he gets an answer

saying, I am the directions. That reminded me

of... Amen. Amen. Amen. And he says, it was simple.

He says, one day when I started learning more

about Jesus, I came across these words and I

realized the leader that I follow in my religion

says, I'll show you the way. I'm going to teach

you a path. And Jesus says, I am the way, the

truth, and the life. So at that moment, he said,

I couldn't deny that this was different. But

also better, Jesus was the way. And that's what

brought him into reading more about Jesus, and

then he became a follower of Jesus. Thomas is

in that place, and Jesus says, I am the way,

the truth, and the life, Thomas. He was asking

about the way, but then soon he will learn about

the truth. Because it's truth what was going

to create a crisis in his life following Jesus.

And this is what leads us to John 20, the third

interaction that he's going to have with Jesus

during this period of time. You see, Jesus had

appeared to the apostles in one moment in which

all of the apostles were together except for

Thomas. And now in John 20, we're going to discover

something that happens and an interaction that

Thomas has with Jesus. After his resurrection.

And this is what it says. Now Thomas. Also known

as Didymus. One of the twelve. Was not with the

disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples

told him. We have seen the Lord. Now a couple

of important things. Thomas is an Aramaic word.

An Aramaic name that means twin. And Didymus

is a Greek word that means twin. So basically,

the author is telling us Thomas, the twin, who

is also known as the twin in Greek, is like saying

Pastor Pablo and Pastor Paul. It's the same thing.

It's just different languages. And here he says

Thomas is known as the twin, Didymus, in case

you did not know. But he was not there. And all

his friends said, we have seen Jesus. Now imagine,

surrounded by all these guys that he trusted,

they have followed Jesus all this time, and all

of them are saying, we have seen the Lord. His

response is not what you would expect. His response

is this. In the following verse, we are told,

there, he says to them, Unless I see the nail

marks in his hands, put my fingers where the

nails were, and put my hand into his side, I

will not believe. What they had just experienced

during the trial of Jesus on the crucifixion

was rather traumatic. He has seen Jesus crucified,

tortured, die, being buried. All of these things

were the last things that he saw of the Jesus

that he was following. So to have his friends

say, he's alive, we have seen him, made no sense.

And we can deduce by his words that he lived

under this conviction that seeing is believing.

That is the mind of the logical person, the intellectual

person speaking. Unless I see it, I cannot believe

it because seeing is believing. And he appeared

to you, but I cannot prove that. Unless I see

it and I prove it, I put my finger there. Until

I get the proof myself, then I cannot believe.

And that's what we'll discover later, that idea

that seeing is believing. Makes complete sense,

but it's not true. And Jesus is going to encounter

Thomas in that place of doubt and lack of truth

in a way that is so gracious and timely because

he's interested in Thomas following him. So we

are told in the following verse that something

happened. happens in the life of thomas that

encounter that he's going to have with this jesus

but before you even see what jesus tells him

you have to see this picture because for many

years archaeologists that do not believe in the

bible and in christianity as well as scientists

that are always saying that the bible and christianity

is not true for many years they would say that

These events about crucifixion and Roman crucifixion

was not real, was made up because there was no

archaeological evidence about Roman crucifixion.

And ever since the 1960s, we have had a few amazing

discoveries of Roman crucifixion. One of them

is the remains of this man who was in his 20s.

If I recall, his name was like Jehoahan or something

like that. of the Romans. And as they discovered

these bugs, they found part of his leg bones

with the nail of crucifixion. And this nail was

not removed as other nails would usually be removed

and reused in other crucifixions. This one they

couldn't remove because it was dented on the

end. So they think that as they were nailing

this person on a cross. You see it has to be

through the side here according to these nails.

Nailing him to the cross. Then the nail got bent

like that. So they couldn't remove it. And this

guy was buried like that. The marks of crucifixion

were horrible. And now this Jesus that was crucified.

Is going to appear to Thomas. And this is what

the word of God says. A week later. His disciples

were in the house again. And Thomas. Was with

them. How long has it passed? Since the apostle

said we have seen the Lord. One week. One full

week of doubting. Imagine having conversations

with his friend saying, Thomas, are you really

that stubborn? Why would we be lying to you?

We saw Jesus. Why don't you get it? What else

do you need? You can imagine all these arguments

and conversations and him wrestling. Because

doubt is a space of what if? Have you been in

that space before? What if this is not true?

What if I'm getting it wrong? What if I should

have gone that way instead of this way? What

if? When you're in space of doubt rather than

conviction, that place of doubt steals away your

peace. Conviction, truth, understanding bring

solidity and peace. You can follow with conviction.

But when you are in that place of doubt, one

thing you do not have is peace. And for an entire

week? So you can understand why the first thing

that Jesus says to them is this greeting. Peace

be with you. Jesus is going to enter into that

room, meet the apostles, and the very first thing

that comes out of his mouth is not, So Thomas,

I heard that you were not believing in me. Peace.

Peace for you Thomas. Because that is what you

need. You need evidence. So that you can know

whether this is true or not. Here's the evidence.

I'm not just the way. But I am the truth. I am

all the evidence that you need. So Thomas. Put

your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your

hand and put it in my sight. Whatever you need

to do, do it now. So that you can stop doubting

and believe. Because what I want as the Prince

of Peace is that you can follow me from a place

of peace. Not from a place of turmoil, living

in a constant what if. So here. And Thomas doesn't

need that anymore. He got all the proof that

he needed. And he tells Jesus, my Lord and my

God. A very profound recognition of who Jesus

was in his life. Now he understands that Jesus

is indeed the Son of God who had come to redeem

us from our sins. And now he could submit to

him. To follow him. And Jesus makes this comment

at the end. Because you have seen me. You have

believed. Seeing is believing. Great. Good for

you. But blessed are those who have not seen.

And yet have believed. Blessed are those. That

get to believe. So they can see. Blessed are

those. That can find the freedom of experiencing

truth. And experience my peace in them. Rather

than be living an entire life in doubt. Blessed

are them. And this is the story of Thomas. This

is why he got the. eventually throughout church

history as Doubting Thomas. It's because the

last interactions that we have between him and

Jesus is part of the spiritual journey of seeing

someone that really believes in Jesus, wants

to follow Jesus, but now is stuck in a place

of doubt. And we come to understand That doubt

in the spiritual journey of seeking God and following

Jesus is not contrary to following Jesus. It's

part of the journey. And rather than thinking

of doubt as something that is like, oh, am I

having a doubt crisis? No, it's not a crisis.

It's part of the bumps of the road of following

Jesus. I've entered into these small roads, driving

in Bangkok, going Sukhumvit, the roads, the highways.

But then you get into these little roads, and

you go, oh, watch out, there's a bump. And then

you get another one, and then another one, and

it's like, oh, I was not expecting that. Yeah,

this road is a little bit different from the

other one, but it's part of the journey. And

doubt is not just part of Thomas' journey. But

perhaps it's part of yours. And the problem is

not whether we experience doubt at some moments.

The problem is how we face those moments of doubt.

Because for me to accelerate more so I can go

through the bumps faster is not going to be better.

All my family is going to go and hit themselves

on the head on the roof of the car. It requires

a very specific way of facing doubt. So that

you will experience freedom out of it, not walk

away from God and experience more turmoil because

of it. Because when we do not experience doubt

the right way, it can lead us to being paralyzed.

It's like you cannot move, you cannot follow,

you do not know which way to turn. Or it can

mislead you. Now you are being led by doubt rather

than by truth. Instead of thinking in doubt and

letting doubt lead you or mislead you or paralyze

you, what Jesus wants is for you to experience

truth. And he is claiming that he is the truth

and the way that your soul needs. That's why

he gives us this invitation. Would you read it

aloud with me? Come to me, all you who are weary

and burdened, and I will give you rest. And those

two words are a very good description of that

doubt episode. That stage of doubt in your life

makes you weary and burdened. And Jesus says,

is that how you're feeling? Then I'm going to

tell you what. Why don't you come to me with

it? Come to me with it. And in me, I'll tell

you what you will find. Rest. If you are in a

spiritual journey, where you are in a stage in

which you are stuck with these doubts, I want

you to remember the words of Jesus because he's

interested in you. Experiencing this season the

healthy way. Because if you do, you will experience

his peace, his rest. And in order to understand

how we face this, we have to understand that

there are two ways in which doubt is experienced.

And we have to reframe doubt as thinking, as

a doubt crisis, a crisis of faith, to start thinking

about doubt as a journey in which I'm simply

seeking understanding. And that's why I love

this phrase from a theologian from the 11th century,

Anselm of Canterbury. He says, think of it as

faith -seeking understanding. It's not that Thomas

doesn't believe in Jesus anymore. He's trying

to figure out how is it possible that the guy

that he just crucified and tortured and dead

could be possibly alive. And he's stuck in that

space of faith, seeking understanding. And this

matters how we reframe it, because not only for

our own journey, but perhaps you have a loved

one who is undergoing this stage of doubt, questioning

things that you thought were solid convictions.

Perhaps you are one of those Christian families

who have children who grew up Knowing about the

Lord. And going to church. And now there are

teenagers. Or in college. And you start seeing

them make decisions. And ask questions. And suddenly

you realize. Oh you don't really believe. And

now you start freaking out. Now you start thinking.

This is crisis. What am I going to do? And that

can lead you to become controlling. And manipulative.

I'm here to tell you. Jesus cares for that child.

Just accompany the person in their spiritual

journey and let the Lord Jesus encounter them.

At some point, He will. It's simply faith, seeking,

understanding. And there are two types of doubts

that we experience in this journey. One has to

do with doubts of the mind, of the head. And

the others are doubts that have to do with doubts

of the heart. Let me take you through both of

them. The first one, which is the doubt of the

mind, of the intellect, is concerned with one

question. Is it true? Is Christianity true? Is

the Bible true? Is Jesus really true? Is this

real? Does God really exist? Is this true? And

that kind of wrestling matters because you have

to go through it. No one else can go through

it for you. You have to develop the convictions.

But God said in the book of Jeremiah, you will

seek me and you will find me when you seek me

with all of your heart. This is a journey that

requires for you to engage. In seeking truth.

And from the very beginning. Truth is at the

core of what following Jesus is. Because in contrast

to any other form of religion. What is unique

to Christianity. Is that Christianity says. You

believe in Jesus and you follow him because it's

the truth. It is not true because you believe

it and that makes it true. No. This truth exists

outside you. And if you do not believe it, whatever

else you believe, that is not true. To the point

that the very John who wrote the Gospel of John

that he's telling us in John 20 about Thomas,

he wrote a letter later to the first Christians.

One of his first letters that he wrote, he wrote

three of them. The very first one that he writes,

he's going to emphasize this. And this is how

he starts that letter. He says, guys, listen.

That which was from the beginning. Which we have

heard. Which we have seen with our own eyes.

Which we have looked at and our own hands have

touched. This is what we are proclaiming to you

concerning the word of life. This Jesus that

we are celebrating, that we are inviting you

to follow. It's not something that we made up.

We saw him. We heard him. We were with him. We

touched him. We are telling you to follow him

because it's the truth. And then when Jesus was

with his disciples at the beginning and people

started following him, he also told them how

important truth was to the spiritual journey

of following him. Truth matters to Jesus. Therefore

it should matter to us too. And this is how Jesus

said it. To the Jews who had believed in him.

Jesus said. If you hold to my teaching. You are

really my disciples. You cannot follow me. If

you are not going to believe me. But then. You

will know what? The truth. And what will happen

to you? The truth will. Set you free. Truth.

And the most important truth of all. Jesus. It's

a truth that tells you. That this emptiness that

you carry within you. This turmoil that you experience

within. Is simply a symptom of lack of truth

in your life. Because you do not know him. You

are not following him. And until you know him

and you follow him. You will not experience the

freedom that Jesus wants for your soul. You will

know the truth. And truth will set you free.

So. Faith seeking understanding. When I'm experiencing

doubt that has to do with trying to understand,

is this true? How can I really believe it? How

can I be sure? That kind of doubting requires

that you engage with searching for truth. And

that is what happened to Michael Gulen. Dr. Michael

Gulen is a... was a professor of science at a

famous university in the U .S. called Harvard

University. He had a Ph .D. in astrophysics.

And he says, look, I was a little kid. My parents

took me to church. But I didn't care about any

of that. I didn't believe in any of it. I never

did. For me, the Bible was just a bunch of fairy

tales. I was interested in science. The idea

of God and all of that never really stuck to

me. My parents, yeah, they were believers, but

not me. So I started pursuing science. That's

what I loved. And when he describes himself,

he describes himself as a nerd. That's a word

we use in English to describe this person that

is so intellectual that they have so much giftedness

in the intellect. That they lack giftedness on

the social level? He was like that. And he was

just spending all his time understanding science,

studying, reading books, learning. And then he

got his degrees. He got his PhD. He started teaching.

He was an awesome teacher. Got several awards

because of the quality of his teachings. The

students loved him. But he was an atheist all

of those years. And for him, in his mind, what

mattered was truth. And he started finding certain

things in his study of science and astronomy

and physics that he could not explain anymore

through the logic of science. He knew there was

something more, but he did not know where to

find it. And as he started searching, he came

across this guy in his circle that was a scientist

too that was pursuing Hinduism. So he thought,

oh, maybe Hinduism is the way. So he became a

Hindu and he started absorbing again, like a

nerd does, every possible book to read, everything

to understand, everything. So he was very dedicated

like that, understanding, reading. But no, it

didn't give him the answers he was seeking. So

then he tried another religion and then another

one, another one, almost like every possible

religion. But he was still seeking answers that

would match what he was discovering as a scientist

in the universe. And one day a friend, a lady

came to him and said, hey, have you considered

reading the Bible? Because I'm curious, I would

like to read it and you are so smart. that it

would be very interesting to read it with you.

And he says, no, no, why would I read the Bible?

Everybody knows that's not true. It's just a

bunch of myths. So it's like, no. But, you know,

interesting. Women can have a lot of power in

guys. So that's what happened to him. He said,

okay, sure. They started reading the Bible together,

and she eventually became, not surprisingly,

his wife. So guys, you want to find a way to

find a wife? Start reading the Bible together.

How about that? But through that study, he started

discovering a world he did not understand before.

And when he came to Jesus, he was impacted by

who this person was. And as a scientist, not

as a believer yet, he had developed this chart

of all this comparison. And he was saying, look,

I know three things to be absolute truth. First.

is that there is absolute truth. As a scientist,

I have to say yes, there is absolute truth. Secondly,

I also know that there is truth that cannot be

proven. In science, we have lots of theories

and things. We believe they are true, but because

they cannot be proven, but we still act on them

and say they are true. So there is truth that

cannot be proven. And third, he said, I discovered

that the universe, in all these different sciences

and fields, we know that the universe was designed

for life, what they call the fine -tuning. So

he says these three things are true as a scientist.

And then he started thinking as an atheist. Hmm.

Well, as an atheist, we don't believe in absolute

truth because truth is relative. We don't believe

that the universe was designed for life. Everything

just happened randomly. And also, we believe

that truth, Has to be proven because seeing is

believing. So suddenly he realized. Either I'm

an atheist or a scientist, but I cannot be both.

And then all the other religions did not match

this. He was really committed to truth in science

for him. And then he started comparing the Christian

worldview. And he said, check, check, check.

Oh. That's amazing. I guess. Might not be too

bad after all being a Christian, but he was not

believing yet. And then one day, he's thinking

about the Christian doctrine that they say, okay,

so we are sinners, we are imperfect people. And

if we acquire this thing, then we'll become perfect,

like forgiven. So he says, you know, as a physicist,

I was thinking about this in the terms of equations.

Okay. Never seen that before. He said, yeah,

you know, when you have to find the value of

the X equations, it's like, okay, I'm a theologian,

not a mathematician, so you lost me. No, no,

seriously, simple, math, school. They tell you

to find the value of the X. It's like this, you

know, I realize that Christianity is telling

me that imperfection plus this something will

equal perfection. That I'm a sinner, I'm imperfect,

I have a need. And if I acquire something, that

will equal perfection. So mathematically, I realize

that the value of the X is not imperfection plus

perfection, but the equation demands that you

have to say X equals perfection minus imperfection.

And that is the value that gives you X. And at

that moment, it clicked in his mind and he said,

So that's what Christianity tells me. Is that

Jesus, the Lamb of God who was perfect, he absorbed

in him my imperfection and therefore the ex is

Jesus. So now he started realizing I can believe

these things. It's not intellectual suicide.

But then, as he started studying In astronomy,

and they started discovering all these presence

of what they call now black matter, I mean dark

matter and dark energy. He says, you know, until

that point, I was sure that as a scientist, I

lived under the conviction that seeing is believing.

That's it. But through all these studies, we

realized that 95 % of the non -universe is invisible

to us. We study it, but we cannot see it. So

I am believing 95 % of things that I say I believe

that I cannot see. And at that moment, he says

it's not intellectually honest for me to believe

that I cannot believe in Jesus because I have

to see to believe when I'm already believing

all these things that I cannot see. So at that

moment, he realized that believing in Jesus was

not anti -intellectual. As he thought it was.

When he told the girlfriend at that time, I would

not read the Bible because that's not true. So

he eventually wrote a book called Seeing is Believing

and Believing is Seeing. And also he wrote a

book. Let creation speak for children with meditations

for children about the science and the creation.

Amazing stuff. But there was something else that

had to click. And him, as an intellectual, he

says, look, I believed all this stuff. I started

believing. I started clicking. But I did not

trust it. And he said, you know, it reminded

me when I was in high school and had to take

a swimming test. And that test I had to take

in order to graduate, but I was afraid of water.

So as a scientist, I believe in this law that

tells me that my body, the gravity of my body

is lighter than the water and therefore the water

will push me up, that I will float. I believe

in that science. But when I got in the water,

I was freaking out because I was not trusting

it. And I was believing in all these things about

God, Jesus, the equation, but I was not trusting

it until I got to the point in which I said,

Jesus, you are the truth. I'll follow you. At

that moment, something clicked in his heart.

If you are in that journey of asking questions

about truth, I recommend reading his book. He

writes it from a perspective as a scientist,

scientific language, to help you engage in some

of these things. But also there are other materials

that you can find on YouTube very easily. Digging

for Truth and Expedition Bible, these are two

channels that have lots of archaeological evidence

about the Bible. Also the Gospels from Drive

Thru History, it's a whole episode of Bible studies

that take you to location. Fragments of Truth

is a whole documentary about the reliability

of the Bible as a text. These things will help

you in that journey. But if you are dealing with

this part, is it true? Remember, trust the evidence.

But the second doubt is a doubt of the heart.

And it's asking a different question. The question

is, can I trust God? It's not that I don't believe

in God. It's not that I don't believe in the

Bible. I'm a follower of Jesus, but I'm feeling

afraid that if I trust God with my life, with

my plans, with my future, with my dating relationship,

with my marriage, with my children, that if I

trust God with me, somehow, that is not going

to be good. Because he is going to lead me To

something that is not going to be good for my

life. And perhaps my plans are better. Can I

trust him? You see that's not an intellectual

doubt is it? It's a doubt of the heart. And this

is something that Jesus spoke about. And there

are two things that are very clear. For anyone

who follows Jesus. That matters in how we answer

these doubts. First is how we think of Jesus.

And secondly a willing. To follow Jesus. Because

Jesus said look. If you are going to think of

me. You have to think of me. As a good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep. And

my sheep know me. Just as the father knows me.

And I know the father. And I lay down my life

for the sheep. How can you follow me. And trust

me. If you think that I am the bad shepherd.

And secondly, he says, whoever serves me must

follow me. And where I am, my servant also will

be. My father will honor the one who serves me.

What makes you think that following me is going

to take you to the wrong place? If you are really

my disciple, if you really say you believe in

me, you have to be willing to follow me. Because

where I am is where you want to be. Why would

you want to go your own way where I am not? Follow

me. You can trust in my presence. So Jesus wants

us to encounter him in that doubt of the heart

by understanding that he is a good shepherd.

And that he is going to go with us. Because we

are following him. So if he's asking you to give

up something. If he's asking you to move somewhere.

If he's asking you to change careers. If he's

asking you whatever he's asking you. You can

follow him. And that is what we learn from Corrie

ten Boom. She was a lady from the Netherlands.

A Christian. With her family they had a home

business. And during that time. Where she was

living there in her home. It was the time of

during the Nazi invasion. So as the persecution

against the Jews started. They opened their home

to start hiding many of these Jews into their

home. And that caused them to be caught and then

sent to concentration camps. Her father died.

Her sister died in the concentration camp. And

then she survived the concentration camp but

suffered through it all. And one night, she goes

out and sees the stars in the concentration camp.

And she says, God, you hold all these stars in

your hand. Have you forgotten about me? Have

you forgotten about your daughter? You see, that

is the doubt of the heart. Are you there? Do

you see me? Do you even care about me? Why are

you letting this happen in my life? And she wrote

her autobiography that became very famous, The

Hidden Place. It was later made into a movie

and she wrote many other books as well. She's

already with the Lord. She died when she was

91 years old, actually on her birthday. And she

says, Pablo, never be afraid to trust an unknown

future. To a known God. He's going to go there

before you. Jesus was in the camp. And that's

why he led me to it. Because where he is. His

servants will also be. He had purposes for me

to fulfill there. But what if it becomes too

hard. To follow Jesus into the future. He has

for you. Pablo. There is no pit so deep. That

God's love is not deeper still. God's love will

encounter you there, strengthen you there. Don't

be afraid. If you have never read her autobiography,

Hiding Place, or watched the movie, I highly

recommend it. I included the links in the study

guide for life groups. But also there's the children's

version that you can find. and YouTube as well

from Torchlighters. Amazing biographies of some

of these heroes of the faith. But what we'll

learn is that this doubt of the heart, can I

trust God? You will have to learn to trust in

his love. He loves you. And rather than running

away from him, invite him into that space of

doubting. So I do not know what's the doubts

that are holding you back. Whether they are doubts

of the mind or doubts of the heart. But one thing

that happened with Thomas is that as he overcame

the doubt, he came to a point of submission and

understanding. He now understood what was the

truth and he was able to submit his life. To

Jesus. And that's why he calls him. My God. My

Lord. And that. Is the place where the journey

will take you. A place of submission. To the

Lordship of Jesus Christ. Because he is the way.

The truth. And the life. Have you experienced

that place of submission? Where you are finally

saying, Lord Jesus, you are it. And I'll follow

you. If you haven't gotten to that place yet,

I want to encourage you today. As we worship

in this closing time. Bring your doubts to Jesus.

I want to ask you these three. Last questions

as part of the convictions that propel us forward.

First one. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the

life. Do you believe it? Do you believe it? Then,

trust the evidence. It will always lead you to

the truth. And truth doesn't need defending.

It defends itself. Secondly, Jesus is the good

shepherd. Do you believe it? Do you really believe

it? If he's the good shepherd, then you can trust

in his love and his embrace. And thirdly, Jesus

is the living hope. He's alive. And where he

is, his servants also will be. Do you believe

it? Therefore, you can follow him. No matter

where he leads you. Even if it is to your own

grave. Don't worry. Trust in his presence. This

is how we experience doubt in the journey. Let

the truth of the living hope encounter you where

you are. And may you be moved. To follow him

wholeheartedly. Father as we stand in your presence.

We say glory to you. Hallelujah. Because our

savior is risen. And your word says that one

day. At the sound of the last trumpet. Our Lord

Jesus will return. And the prophet Zechariah

said that on that day people will see him, the

one they pierced, and they will cry because they

will realize that he was the truth. Lord, if

there's anyone here today that has been paralyzed

or misled by doubt, would you encounter them

in this space? Holy Spirit, open their eyes so

they may see. Break the chains of fear and doubt.

And let them experience the truth that leads

to freedom. Encounter us here, now, as we proclaim

the truth of who you are, Jesus, victorious.

In Jesus' name, amen. If God is calling you to

support our ministries, you will find giving

options on our website. And remember to join

us next week. God bless you.