Grace Haven Church

0:00 John, Gospel, chapter 20.

0:02 Are you ready?

0:05 The day was Sunday and the same evening, the followers were together.

0:11 They had the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

0:16 Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them.

0:20 How did Jesus walk through a locked door?

0:24 Great question.

0:26 Talk to Connie later.

0:31 Why were they locking the door?

0:33 Great question.

0:35 Jesus has died, He'd risen again, and there was a whole lot of activity from Jesus towards the disciples.

0:44 Sometimes He's with them, sometimes He wasn't.

0:47 But they weren't fully aware of the full scope of what God was doing.

0:51 They still felt Jesus was a political liberator.

0:55 They were oppressed by Rome and they wanted to be free.

0:58 We want our nation back.

0:59 We wanna be free to be Jewish and we don't want you coming in taking from us.

1:04 And so they were thinking on that line.

1:07 Like most of us today, we want political liberation.

1:09 We want our economies to be sorted out.

1:12 We want our policies to be better.

1:14 We want our elected officials to be trustworthy and honest.

1:17 We saw through the pandemic, governments spend more money and wealth injection than we've ever seen in the human story.

1:24 How did our governments get that much money?

1:26 How much debt did they borrow to keep all of these things alive and afloat?

1:32 So whatever happened back then 2 ,000 years ago and what's happening today, I wonder where do we want our liberation to come from?

1:39 Who is our Saviour?

1:40 Well, they were locked behind doors, scared of the religious leaders.

1:46 And John's gospel's doing something for us.

1:48 He's helping us.

1:49 Verse 20, as soon as He said this, He said, peace unto them, shalom.

1:54 He showed them His hands, because He got crucified on a cross and they put nails through His hands.

1:59 And they showed Him His side.

2:01 A spear, a Roman spear was shoved in Him to prove that He was already dead because of the customs of crucifixion.

2:09 And so He shows them the hands.

2:11 He shows them His side.

2:16 Verse 21, then Jesus said again, shalom, peace unto you.

2:22 It was the Father who sent me and now I'm sending you in the same way.

2:28 So here's interesting.

2:29 Jesus comes because the Father wants Him to come.

2:33 So Jesus makes the invisible God visible.

2:37 In three years, the way He walked, talked and conducted His life, gave the general public at that time within that sphere,

2:47 a glimpse of what God's really like.

2:51 And then He turns to these guys after He's committed all of the sin of the world onto Himself, He's exchanged righteousness towards all of humanity.

3:01 He has now removed all the barriers, all the obstacles.

3:04 He's created an open door, an open access to God the Father.

3:10 Creation has a way back home.

3:12 Right in the beginning, when it all went wrong,

3:17 we were created by God, but one day in the Garden of Eden and we were hiding behind a tree and God comes into the garden and He says, where are you?

3:25 Now God knew where He was.

3:26 It's just that we didn't know where we were because when you're lost, you don't know you're lost.

3:32 And so what we do is we have this ability to hide behind creation.

3:36 I'll hide behind my job.

3:37 I'll hide behind my girlfriend.

3:38 I'll hide behind this.

3:39 I'll hide behind this.

3:40 I'll hide behind my success.

3:42 I'll hide behind sex.

3:43 I'll hide behind that.

3:44 I'll hide behind Him.

3:45 I'll hide behind.

3:46 And we are addicted to hiding because we don't know who we are.

3:55 So how do you get back if you don't know how to get back?

3:57 If you're lost, how do you find your way out of lostness?

4:03 Meditate yourself silly.

4:04 It doesn't save you.

4:07 It might help you control your breathing.

4:09 It might get some crazy thoughts out, toxic thoughts out.

4:12 I'm not saying they're bad things.

4:14 It's just at the end of day, it's not to save you.

4:16 God so loved the world that He sent a meditation app.

4:23 Seven minutes with me, all will be well.

4:26 We're addicted to apps.

4:28 We're addicted to finding something that will bring us peace.

4:34 Well, I'm gonna move to this country.

4:35 Yeah, but the problem is you go with yourself.

4:45 So Jesus comes and He says something to me.

4:47 He said, the Father has sent me.

4:48 I am now sending you.

4:49 In other words, what I did to show the world at that time,

4:55 it's gonna get crazy because I'm sending you.

4:58 And guess what?

4:59 You're gonna go everywhere.

5:01 I only stayed in this small geographical location, but now I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit.

5:06 And with the Holy Spirit, you are gonna go everywhere.

5:10 And wherever you go, the Holy Spirit goes.

5:13 Wherever the Holy Spirit is, you're gonna go.

5:16 And there's not one part of the world from the rising of the sun in the East in Fiji.

5:22 The sun will go all through

5:26 until the setting of the sun in the West in Hawaii.

5:30 And the name of the Lord will be praised.

5:32 And what I'm trying to say to you is, in this moment in John's gospel, you have these small group of fearful people still thinking of political freedom, not really understanding the full scope of what God was doing, hiding behind locked doors.

5:50 And Jesus turns up and says, the way the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

5:57 In other words, you're here for a bigger purpose.

6:00 Unlock the door and get out there.

6:04 And don't stop until I come back.

6:08 And that's what's got to get in if we're gonna keep going.

6:12 You want fuel for the fire, you've got to get the right narrative for your life.

6:15 Don't be so easily distracted.

6:17 So this is what happens.

6:18 It's so interesting because if we're gonna help others, we need to first help ourselves.

6:22 And so He says, peace unto you.

6:25 He breathed on them, received the Holy Spirit.

6:27 If you forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven.

6:31 If there's anyone whose sins you don't forgive, their sins are not forgiven.

6:34 Talk to me if you have any confusion about that.

6:36 Verse 24, Thomas, everyone say Thomas.

6:41 Thomas was one of the 12, but he was not with the other followers when Jesus came to visit.

6:47 They told him later, we saw the Lord.

6:50 And Thomas replied, that's hard to believe.

6:52 I will have to see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger where the nails were and my hand into his side.

7:00 Only then will I believe.

7:03 A week later, the followers were in the house again and Thomas was with them.

7:09 Good on you, Thomas.

7:12 At least you were there this time.

7:14 The doors were still locked.

7:18 Isn't it funny how they can encounter Jesus and still lock the doors?

7:22 Isn't it funny that we could know amazing things and still be fearful?

7:26 Isn't it amazing that we can know God's amazing and we still feel insecure, vulnerable, scared to do anything?

7:34 Just because God turns up doesn't mean everything's hunky-dory.

7:37 We gotta realise there's more going on here.

7:40 If we're gonna help people, it's not utopia we're creating.

7:45 It's God in the midst of craziness.

7:47 It's God in the midst of pain.

7:49 It's God in the midst of complication.

7:53 Even when I don't see Him, He's moving.

7:57 Even when I don't feel Him, He's there.

8:02 And so Thomas, I believe, makes it real for all of us or for some of us because Thomas didn't believe until he saw for himself.

8:15 A week later, the followers were in the house again and Thomas was with them.

8:18 The doors were locked.

8:19 Jesus came in and stood amongst them.

8:22 He said, Shalom.

8:23 Then He said to Thomas, went straight for Thomas.

8:28 No elephant in the room here, just Thomas straight to you, my friend.

8:34 Put your finger here.

8:36 Really?

8:39 Look at my hands.

8:43 Put your hand here in my side.

8:47 Stop doubting and believe.

8:50 Thomas replied to the Lord, My Lord, my God.

8:56 He went from doubting to believing.

9:04 Thomas replied, My God, My Lord.

9:06 Jesus said to him, you believe because you see me.

9:09 Great blessings belong to those people who believe without seeing me.

9:15 I'm gonna read another verse because this verse is a little bit of the opposite or it looks like this tension going on here or even possibly sounds like contradiction.

9:25 But I'm gonna read from it.

9:25 New Testament letter, James.

9:27 When all kinds of trials and temptations and external pressures crowd into your lives, don't see them as intruders, but welcome them as friends.

9:39 Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance.

9:46 But let the process go on until endurance is fully developed.

9:52 And you will find that you have become people of mature character with the right sort of independence.

10:01 And if in the process, if any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem, you only need ask God who gives generously to all people without making them feel foolish or guilty.

10:14 And you may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given to you, but you must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether you really want God's help or not.

10:27 The person who trusts God but has inward reservations is like a wave of the sea carried forward by the wind, one moment and then driven back to the next.

10:39 What sort of person, that sort of person cannot hope to receive anything from God and the life of a person of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn.

10:54 So what's going on here?

10:57 Jesus helps the doubter.

11:00 And then James says, you get nothing from God if you doubt.

11:04 And it doesn't seem fair because it's like, oh my goodness, Thomas, thank God he's in the story because I have doubts.

11:11 And then suddenly you read James, you're like, oh my goodness, I ain't gonna get anything from God because I have doubts.

11:18 So you're in suddenly this like duplicity that we just sang about, what the heck?

11:24 And instead of overcoming it, we go into not neutral, but we actually go back into hiding.

11:32 And we've got to learn to understand God can handle our doubts.

11:38 But He moves us from doubters to people of faith because He starts it, He sustains it, and He surrounds us.

11:48 But you've got to know He can handle the starting point of doubts.

11:54 And so what I want to do is, I just want to give you some things because if we're gonna help people, you've got to understand people have doubts.

12:01 Berlin is not just a city of multiple cultures or multiple languages or multiple reference points.

12:07 It's got a history of division.

12:10 It's possibly a history called a city of doubters.

12:13 I don't know, but the church has never done really a lot in this city.

12:17 This church is, nobody minds you having private faith.

12:21 They just mind strongly that you turn your faith into public faith.

12:26 Private faith, whatever, just don't make any fuss.

12:30 Public faith, shut up.

12:35 It's very complicated.

12:36 And what I'm trying to say to you is if you can look for the New Testament and see how God connects the dots, you just might find yourself and us today in the 21st century, finding ourselves, helping people.

12:48 And I want to help you just with some thoughts here, just to consider, because these could help us get our cognitive going.

12:55 It could help us to think a little bit.

12:56 And I am a big fan of absolutely critical thinking because there's not enough of it in the Western church for sure.

13:03 You don't have to believe anything I say.

13:04 You can question anything I say.

13:06 And that's the same with all scripture.

13:08 It can hold its own.

13:12 And we should never be fearful of anything like that and get all scared about it.

13:19 Number one, remember God can handle skeptics and doubters.

13:24 Jude chapter 1, 22, Be helpful and patient to those who may have doubts.

13:31 I love that.

13:32 I love that He's there for us.

13:34 I love that Thomas is in the Bible.

13:37 I love that we are told to be patient and to be helpful, to realise that people do struggle with doubts.

13:46 And there's another one in James 1, 6 here, which is what we've just read.

13:50 Ask in faith, no doubting.

13:52 Oh, oh, oh.

13:55 For one who doubts is like a wave tossed back and forth.

13:58 Now, to be double-minded, it means that you will be unstable in all your ways.

14:02 So it's not good to be double-minded, double-minded with a job, double-minded with a relationship, double-minded with a church.

14:08 The trouble is if you're double-minded in life, you're gonna be unstable in all your ways.

14:13 So there's wisdom there.

14:15 But don't take yourself out and suddenly go, oh, well, I'm a doubter.

14:19 I'm not included.

14:20 You are included.

14:20 We're all included.

14:22 We always have been.

14:23 But if you're gonna help people, you're gonna have to work out what is it like to help people who have doubts.

14:32 Doubts can lead to faith.

14:33 That's what we saw with Thomas.

14:35 Thomas didn't stay a doubter.

14:38 He saw the finger, he saw the wounds, he saw the spear piercing, he saw it for himself.

14:45 And then he believed.

14:46 And I think there are people that want evidence.

14:50 They want proof.

14:51 But at the end of the day, I've been with people, even with all the evidence that I've made available or evidence that is available, and they still won't believe.

14:59 So listen, can I just put you all at ease right now if that's the right word.

15:03 There's three responses to Jesus, there's three responses to Paul, and there's three responses to the Gospel in our generation today.

15:11 And that is number one, when you preach the Gospel, people believe.

15:15 That's how I'm here.

15:17 At 23, someone preached the Gospel.

15:19 I was sitting right at the back.

15:21 When it came to who believes, I stood up and no one else.

15:24 And then I nearly fell down.

15:27 And then they asked me to come to the front.

15:29 I'm like, oh my goodness.

15:32 Because I was way out of my comfort zone, but I'd met Jesus.

15:37 The second thing is some people wanna know more.

15:40 They don't believe straight away, but they're curious, they're open.

15:43 They're like, ah.

15:45 And the third response is rejection, absolute rubbish.

15:48 What a load of, and we just gotta understand, they did that to Jesus, they did that to Paul, and they'll still do that today.

16:00 And I think that's the tragedy is that people will reject Jesus because people want their own version of Jesus.

16:05 They want another Jesus.

16:06 They want their kind of, that fits into their belief system, Jesus.

16:12 And don't believe the lie that universalism is that everyone gets there in the end because it's just not true.

16:17 It is a lie dressed up in truth.

16:20 Listen, you can put sugar around poison.

16:22 It's still poison.

16:26 You've gotta understand if everyone gets there in the end, then why did Jesus have to die?

16:32 The crazy reality is that you can still reject Jesus.

16:42 I don't want you as my God.

16:44 I'm my own God.

16:45 I don't want you as my God.

16:47 I'll make my own God up.

16:49 Idolatry is insane.

16:52 The camels, the zebras and the giraffes, they don't build bridges.

16:57 They don't build boats.

16:58 They don't build apartments.

17:00 Only we do that.

17:01 Not all of God's creation is wanting to do something, conquer something.

17:05 They just wanna protect their young and they wanna have food and be safe.

17:11 But when you look at humanity, we've been made in the image of God.

17:15 He just wanted us to represent Him on earth.

17:19 He entrusted the soil to us, the trees to us, the vegetation and the farming and the food security of the people to us.

17:29 We're the ones who stockpile apples to control prices.

17:32 We're the ones that starve this country so we can feed this country.

17:37 You don't like it.

17:38 Don't just go, I'm an anti-capitalist.

17:40 Just get bigger than that.

17:41 It's not anti-this or anti-that.

17:44 It's bring the kingdom into the earth.

17:47 You've gotta get the mind of Christ for whatever it is that you've been called to do.

17:53 You've got a master's, great, well done.

17:56 You've got a PhD, well done.

17:58 Oh, I'm ready to be a professor, hallelujah.

18:02 But do something with it.

18:04 Be a social entrepreneur.

18:05 Be a social innovator.

18:07 Start creating meaningful ways to solve problems.

18:14 What's Sunday got to do with that?

18:16 It's the Lord's table.

18:17 Get whatever you need for the earth.

18:20 You take from Him, you give to the world.

18:22 You take from Him, you give to the world.

18:25 Don't churn church into a religious little three songs and a clap.

18:30 Oh, there you go, 10 euros.

18:32 I'll give you more if I think about it.

18:34 That's not church.

18:35 That's just religion.

18:38 It's the Lord's table and you're a son and daughter of the Most High and you're privileged to walk and talk with Him.

18:45 You don't like the world?

18:46 Change what the world worships.

18:48 That's the only way it's gonna turn around.

18:51 Amen?

18:52 Amen.

18:53 So remember, God can handle skeptics and doubters.

18:57 Doubts can turn into faith.

18:59 You can go from Thomas to the book of James.

19:03 We don't know James stayed a doubter.

19:05 We know that he met Jesus and he went from strength to strength.

19:11 What I'm trying to say to you is, can you and I handle doubters and skeptics?

19:17 Obviously God can, but can we?

19:20 If someone who comes into the community is skeptical, how are we with them?

19:27 Harsh, judgemental, severe, weaponising the Bible?

19:32 What happens if someone doesn't believe what you believe and they sit next to you?

19:36 What happens if they do paint their nails and colour their toes?

19:39 What happens if their hair's different or their clothing's different?

19:42 What happens if they wanna do whatever they wanna do and it makes you uncomfortable?

19:47 You see, can we build this kind of community with the presence of God, who knows how to handle skeptics?

19:55 And see, skeptical is not wrong.

19:56 It's something that we all have the ability to do.

19:59 It's just simply, I wanna know where the trust is.

20:01 I'm not gonna sponsor you.

20:02 Charity Water, who's that?

20:03 What's that?

20:04 How do I know all the money goes to them?

20:07 That's just in all of us.

20:11 When you love, you're not very sceptical.

20:13 It's hard to love people with slinty eyes.

20:19 You try and love someone when you're sceptical.

20:22 That's why it's hard with mixed relationships.

20:24 Number one problem in Berlin is failed relationships.

20:27 Another one, another one, another one.

20:29 Now I'm not even trying to, we call it situationships.

20:31 Situationships, what's that?

20:32 I don't even look for anything anymore.

20:34 I just need, I need food and I need sex.

20:37 It's a transaction.

20:39 Oh, I'm happy, let's go.

20:42 And that's all it is.

20:43 It's not meaningful, that's not purposeful.

20:46 That's not what God created you for.

20:48 A transaction?

20:52 The urge to merge.

20:55 It's summer.

20:58 People, you were made for the glory of God.

21:02 And the way you live your life is with a bigger purpose.

21:05 It's not that you can't.

21:07 I have a something bigger on my life that says, I can, but I won't.

21:13 Self-constraint, not self-indulgence.

21:17 Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

21:22 I've got a bigger narrative over my life.

21:24 I've got a call, a promise.

21:25 I am living for Him, not for myself.

21:28 Less of me, more of Him.

21:30 That's how you help others.

21:32 You don't do it through laws and rituals and judgment and, ugh.

21:38 You do it through the love of God.

21:42 So listen, God can handle skeptics and doubters, can we?

21:47 A guy came to our church years ago and I remember he was in our church probably six months, maybe even longer.

21:52 Lovely guy and kept turning up and he would just watch everybody worship.

21:58 And I was just like, wow, it's amazing this guy keeps coming back.

22:02 And I remember on the stairs one day talking

22:06 and I think he asked me a question actually and he just said, hey, can I ask you a question?

22:09 I said, sure, go ahead.

22:11 He said, do you ever doubt God?

22:14 I was like, oh, okay.

22:18 And I thought about it and I was like, you know what, I actually don't know if I do doubt God.

22:22 I actually don't, but I do doubt me.

22:25 And that's the only way I could answer him.

22:26 I was like, I'm not really sure because I think God's amazing.

22:28 I'm like, I don't doubt God, but I do doubt me.

22:33 Trust me, God's not the problem, I'm the problem.

22:36 I know me.

22:39 Like I got issues and what I'm trying to say.

22:41 So I said that to him and I said, well, can I ask you a question back?

22:44 And he said, yeah, I said, what's stopping you?

22:46 Now I don't do this and I'm always respectful for people whatever and wherever they're up to.

22:50 I would never be unpleasant to people with faith, gospel, anything.

22:54 I have respect for people, but that's because God has respect for me.

22:57 So we should never be disrespectful.

22:59 Well, let me tell you, in that moment, there's times when you've got to respond and see the door that's open.

23:03 And I went for the door because I could see it was open.

23:06 I said, can I ask you a question?

23:07 He said, sure.

23:08 I said, what's stopping you?

23:10 Believing.

23:11 I know you're coming.

23:12 I know you're enjoying it.

23:13 You love the parties.

23:14 You love the dinner.

23:15 You love the community.

23:16 You love everything.

23:17 I love the community.

23:18 I just don't want the church.

23:20 I love the sex.

23:21 I just don't want the commitment.

23:24 Whatever.

23:27 I want the friends, but I just don't want the vision.

23:30 I mean, come on people.

23:32 Is that what it is?

23:33 I like these three things about you, but these seven things I don't like.

23:37 Well, I'm an album, not a single.

23:39 Get over it.

23:41 That's a good time to say amen.

23:43 Hey, cause you're a whole person.

23:46 And if it's cringey, get over it.

23:50 God can handle cringes as well.

23:53 But listen to me.

23:53 What I'm trying to say to you is that when people are sceptical, they're just looking for where there's some trust.

24:00 And I believe we can be trustworthy.

24:04 We're consistent.

24:05 We're reliable.

24:06 What we say we mean.

24:08 If we say yes, our yes is our yes.

24:10 Our no is our no. But to say yes and then turn it into a no.

24:18 I would rather say no and then later turn it into a yes than to say yes and then turn it into a no. But it's all subjective.

24:26 So what I'm trying to say to you is at the end of the day, you can help people who are sceptical by being genuine.

24:34 Authentic.

24:34 I just want to be my authentic self.

24:36 How do you do that without God?

24:39 I just got to love myself.

24:41 How do you do that without a source?

24:44 If you want love, where's your source?

24:47 Who are you getting it from?

24:49 Why I shouldn't talk like that.

24:50 Well, if I don't talk like that, who's talking then?

24:53 The reason we help lost get found is because the gospel will always be preached.

24:59 And Jesus said, my father sent me and I am now sending you.

25:04 So as the church in the 21st century need to know, how do we proceed in helping others?

25:13 And that's what I'm trying to say.

25:15 God's good with sceptics, so are we.

25:18 God's good with doubters, so are we.

25:22 Number two, everyone say number two.

25:26 Remember doubts are still beliefs.

25:29 Even if you've got a doubt, let's just turn it around.

25:32 It's still a belief.

25:34 I doubt that.

25:35 What you're basically saying is, I have a belief that's opposite to that.

25:39 So whatever your belief is, can you put it under scrutiny?

25:43 Can you test it?

25:44 Can you actually arrest it?

25:46 Can you actually look at a belief and go, why do you believe that?

25:49 How can you believe that?

25:51 Well, do that with your doubts and you'll find out.

25:53 Maybe your doubts don't hold up to what you think they were.

25:56 So there's a book I got recently a couple of years ago.

25:59 It came out, it's called How to Have a Conversation with a Science Denier.

26:04 A scientist wrote the book and he interviewed all of his scientific friends who were experts in their field.

26:10 But he asked them about subjects outside of their scientific field.

26:15 And he was horrified to find out how unscientific they were when we talked about migration, humanity, or other different hot topics with society.

26:27 See, you can be an academic and you can be scientific and apply your discipline in your field, but what about the rest of life?

26:35 And the book is a really insightful book because it basically says, we will believe anything

26:42 and we don't have to have anything to back it up because beliefs are so strong.

26:47 Even if there's evidence to say that belief is ridiculous, people will still hold onto their belief.

26:53 And this is what's crazy.

26:56 And God knows all of this and we gotta know this.

26:58 So if you wanna help people understand this, doubts are still beliefs.

27:03 So even if friends or family or work colleagues have crazy beliefs, don't worry about it.

27:09 Don't worry about it.

27:10 Your job's not to change them.

27:12 It never has been.

27:14 It's not our job to change anybody.

27:17 This house of God is not here to change you.

27:19 We're just here to lift up Jesus.

27:22 It's Jesus who does the changing.

27:24 It's Jesus who does the loving.

27:26 It's Jesus who does the forgiving.

27:28 It's Jesus who does the surrounding.

27:30 It's Jesus.

27:31 But how does Jesus work?

27:35 He works through us.

27:38 It's easy to say yes when Jesus does all the loving, but how does He love us?

27:41 Through us.

27:43 And that's the problem.

27:44 I like Jesus.

27:44 I just hate the church.

27:46 Oh, oh, oh, oh.

27:48 Yeah, see, Jesus is easy.

27:51 Cause He's perfect.

27:52 It's when we hang out with other people and we start doing life with other people and we start hanging out with different people with different backgrounds, different cultures, different ways of doing church.

28:03 It's not harmony.

28:04 It's a natural enemy.

28:07 There's more in here to divide us than unite us.

28:11 And that's why we've got to understand how does God help us?

28:16 If we figure out how God helps us, we just may be useful in helping others.

28:21 God accepts us just as we are.

28:29 Really?

28:31 So you're saying that we can help others just as they are?

28:34 Yes.

28:36 Let's go.

28:38 Ah, before you go, it's not as easy as what you think because what happens if it's messy?

28:44 Complicated, annoying, frustrating, very head spinning.

28:51 Because we don't live in a perfect world.

28:53 We live in a broken world where much damage has been done to our precious ones.

28:58 Children aren't born monsters.

28:59 They're born precious, innocent.

29:02 And their innocence is robbed from them before they get a chance.

29:05 That's why to the Jews, it was a warning.

29:08 Conception to puberty, the most damaging or the most fruitful time in a child's life.

29:14 Conception is where we experience rejection.

29:18 I'm pregnant.

29:19 What?

29:28 Child's not formed yet.

29:30 No, it's conceived.

29:31 It's conceived.

29:34 And that's why from a Jewish mindset, from conception to puberty, be very careful.

29:39 It's a warning.

29:40 It's not a blessing.

29:42 It's a warning that if you don't get this right, this is the consequences.

29:45 And most adults today are living out their childhood.

29:49 And we go, oh my goodness.

29:53 Yeah, that's why we need the gospel.

29:55 So if you wanna help others, get a hold of what God does with you first and then begin to minister from the way he ministers to you.

30:05 So if you're forgiven, forgive.

30:07 If you're loved, love.

30:08 If he's helped you, help others.

30:11 He's always the source.

30:12 He's always the author.

30:14 He's always the narrative.

30:15 He's always the go-to.

30:17 He is always the filter.

30:19 You will never understand God without Jesus.

30:24 He is your safe place.

30:26 He is your absolute safe place in Christ.

30:32 But I struggle, we all do.

30:37 Well, I don't wanna be on my own, so I'm just like scrolling through the dating apps.

30:41 Where do people meet each other today?

30:45 Everything's changed.

30:47 How do we go about that?

30:48 How do we process that?

30:49 How's our conscience in all of this?

30:51 You see, what I'm trying to say to you, helping people is not as easy as what you think.

30:56 But if you let God in and you let him do his work in you, you will find yourself becoming freer and more confident

31:07 towards helping those in need.

31:09 And there's always gonna be people who don't want it, and that's okay.

31:12 You just gotta understand they're not yours, they're God's.

31:16 So remember that beliefs and doubts are still beliefs.

31:20 Number three, remember our Sundays are a place where believers can come, where people who are not sure can come, and people who don't believe can come.

31:33 I think sometimes many of the believers who come to the house of God forget that there is a place for those who don't believe.

31:41 There is a place for people who are not sure.

31:44 I encourage everyone to lift their hands, but I don't force everyone.

31:50 Sometimes when there's not an atmosphere of faith in the house, it is my job to say, hey, let's get some faith in the house.

31:56 Let's go somewhere, otherwise we've just thrown a potential Sunday away.

32:00 And I'm not being an unpleasant person for encouraging an atmosphere of faith.

32:04 But what I am trying to say is that comes out of the maturity of the child of God.

32:09 But let me ask you a question.

32:10 Remember what our Sundays are about.

32:13 They're about receiving from the Lord's table.

32:14 The message is anybody can come to the Lord's table.

32:19 Anybody can lift their hands up no matter what they're doing in their current present moment of life.

32:24 God has removed all obstacles.

32:29 If you did nothing to get saved, what do you think you can do to get unsaved?

32:36 Oh, shabba dabba.

32:43 Salvation's a gift.

32:45 You just gotta get a hold of it and hold onto it because you know it's better than anything else you've ever done.

32:51 But don't let go of it once you've got it.

32:53 And don't give your life to Christ and then try and take it back because you'll be the most miserable person that's ever lived.

32:58 That is duplicity.

32:59 It's called schizophrenic in the wrong sense.

33:02 It's like, I'm supposed to be a child of good, but I'm living like an orphan.

33:09 So the questions that we could ask, do we want to create a place for people to believe?

33:15 It's a question.

33:16 Do we want to create a place for faith to rise?

33:19 Question.

33:20 Do we want to create a place for people to recover and discover at the same time?

33:26 It's a question.

33:27 Can we be a community where people feel comfortable asking questions?

33:31 It's a question.

33:33 Can we be a community where people are respected no matter their doubts, struggles or concerns?

33:38 It's a question.

33:40 Do we want to be that kind of community?

33:43 And remember, number four, our community can be an incubator for others.

33:49 What's an incubator?

33:51 It's an environment that is conducive to people's support, progress and future.

33:59 This could be an incubator for progress, for support, for the future possibilities of who God is raising up at this time, a history-making generation, a forgiving generation, a loving generation, an empowered generation, an incubator for what God is doing.

34:18 We know financial incubators, we know business incubators, we know everything about the startup scene, but do you know what a house of God incubator looks like?

34:30 It's the preparation ground for history makers.

34:33 It's the preparation ground for future preachers and teachers.

34:36 It's the preparation ground for storytellers, for filmmakers, for script writers, for creatives, designers and thinkers.

34:46 It's the incubator and the environment that is conducive for people who know how to bring their faith into the marketplace, bring integrity into the broken areas of finance, who know how to bring the wisdom of God into education, in politics and economies.

35:04 It's an incubator, an environment where anything could happen and it probably will.

35:10 It's called the house of God and God loves his children.

35:16 It's just nice when his children love God's house.

35:22 You were never meant to be out there on your own.

35:24 You were meant to be in his house, incubator.

35:28 And remember when it's an incubator, it's a community.

35:30 And when it's a community, we get to choose.

35:32 Our aim is to let people see the love, caring, sharing towards each other.

35:38 That is the result of the gospel working in our own lives.

35:42 Trusting that this can help others to come closer to faith, God and purpose.

35:46 When we do dinner parties in the park, don't tell me God can't use it because he does.

35:52 Don't tell me when we run together, when we volleyball together, when we eat together, when we dance together, when we pray together, when we praise God together, when we do things together, don't tell me God can't use it because he does.

36:08 No one's attracted to religion, but they are attracted to friendship, trust, credibility, consistency, reliability.

36:15 They want love.

36:17 The question is, will we be loving?

36:22 Or will we be judgmental?

36:26 Will we be forgiving?

36:29 Or will we be resentful?

36:32 Well, you hurt me.

36:33 Yes, you did.

36:35 If you want to be the most hurt person in the church, start pastoring a church.

36:39 I get more hits than any of you.

36:42 Joyce and I carry more hits than any of you.

36:44 And I'm not complaining about it.

36:45 I'm just saying we've been made for it.

36:47 We've been created for it.

36:48 But I had to dig deep for it.

36:50 You don't come into this role without digging deep because when you're here, you're not going to get taken out because people don't like you.

36:57 I remember being in the church, walking into the foyer and a person came right up to my face, I don't like you.

37:03 And the first thing I said to them was I don't like you either.

37:07 Now, was that Jesus or was that Mark?

37:14 I remember another person not long after came up to me in my face and said, I don't trust you.

37:17 I said, I don't trust you neither.

37:19 Where are we going to go with this?

37:21 You don't trust me, I don't trust you?

37:22 Let's have a dance.

37:23 It ain't going to happen.

37:25 I'm not asking you to trust me.

37:27 I'm not asking you to trust the person you're sitting next to.

37:29 I'm asking you to trust Jesus.

37:31 He's the trustworthy one.

37:32 He's better than anyone.

37:33 He's better than everything.

37:35 But once you've got Him, He wants to work in you and through you.

37:43 Would you let Him work in you?

37:48 That's the only way you're going to get sanctification.

37:50 I'm still sinful.

37:51 I have toxic thoughts.

37:53 I have sex thoughts.

37:54 I have this thoughts.

37:55 I have that thoughts.

37:56 Oh my goodness, I got crazy thoughts.

37:58 How are you going to handle all these thoughts?

38:04 Well, with the Lord, you get a chance to, God, I'm just going to give you that.

38:10 Oh my goodness, I did that three seconds ago.

38:11 God, I'm going to give you that.

38:12 God, I just gave you that three seconds ago.

38:15 God, I'm going to give you that.

38:16 Sometimes it's not even three seconds.

38:17 Sometimes it's every second.

38:18 And that's okay.

38:19 You're not going nuts.

38:20 It's just called human.

38:21 I'm just saying He puts you in Christ.

38:25 I've put together seven things that the Holy Spirit wants to do in a child of God.

38:30 You can download it if you want to.

38:33 You're not just in Christ and then kind of figuring it all out.

38:38 No, you're in Christ and you're fully supported as you learn to go from limping to walking.

38:46 You get better and better.

38:48 It's the Holy Spirit that kills your appetite for sin.

38:54 Before I was a Christian, I know what I was like.

39:01 Whatever desire I had, let's do it.

39:05 Desires were desires.

39:08 But when I became a Christian, I was absolutely amazed how I went for God and these things that were so easy to me became less and less and less and less and less.

39:19 And that doesn't mean I've arrived at perfection.

39:21 That's not what I'm talking about.

39:22 I'm just saying let the Spirit work in you and through you.

39:27 And this desire, sin nature, this appetite for anything else that's going to work against you, not for you, it's the Holy Spirit that helps you.

39:39 Don't be a hider, but don't be a blurter neither.

39:43 Can I just tell you, it's this fine line between I'm in a safe place, who can I talk to?

39:51 And that's where you can help each other.

39:54 And I'll tell you, if we can help each other, we may be finding ourselves used by God to help others.

39:59 But how do you think we're gonna build a church?

40:01 It's not, we didn't build a church for Christians.

40:04 We built a church for lost sons and daughters to come home and they're only gonna come with their doubts, their cynicism, their skepticism, their issues, their complications, their messiness, their whatever.

40:14 And we've got to build a safe place where they go.

40:17 I feel at home, but it's up to us.

40:20 First of all, God accepted you just as you are.

40:24 And the changing happens over time through the Spirit and our ability to stay in His presence.

40:33 I am a child of God, that's who I am.

40:37 I am forever loved and I am forever forgiven.

40:42 So help me Jesus.

40:44 And today's message title is called What Can I Do With My Doubts?

40:50 What can I do with my doubts?

40:53 And it's okay to have doubts, but like all doubts, treat them like beliefs and ask yourself,

41:02 this belief or this doubt, does it stand up to what God says?

41:07 You may not feel very loved, but God says you are.

41:10 You may not feel very forgiven, but you are.

41:14 You may not feel like an amazing child of God, but you are.

41:18 You might not feel like an amazing sisterhood, but you are.

41:25 And you gotta let God do what God wants to do.

41:27 And if you'll do that, you watch what He does through you, amen.

41:30 So whoever you are, whatever you get to do, do the best you can, but do it with Him.

41:35 And don't apologize, amen, because you know what?

41:38 He's amazing.

41:39 And He can help you to see others liberated.

41:44 If He's reconciled you, He will turn you into a reconciler.

41:48 If He has made peace with you, He will now turn you into a peacemaker.

41:53 And that's what the work of Jesus is trying to do all the time.

41:57 And the local church, it's just God and His family.

42:00 It's God and His sons and daughters.

42:02 My prayer is that you'll just keep moving with Him and we'll find ourselves helping each other, amen.

42:09 And when we do our dinner parties and our volley balls and we cook and we do these things together and we clean the city together and we just have fun together, don't ever think that that's not spiritual.

42:20 God uses it in a profound way.

42:22 And it's like a magnet to a lost generation who are trying to find their way back home.

42:28 They see something.

42:31 The challenge is, is if they come close, let's not disappoint.

42:35 Eh, we're gonna get it wrong, but what do we do when we get it wrong?

42:38 We take responsibility.

42:39 We say sorry.

42:41 Please forgive me.

42:42 How do you stay married 28 years to Joyce?

42:44 I say sorry a lot.

42:47 Well, in certain times.

42:51 How do you have any meaningful relationship you're willing to say sorry?

42:55 I didn't listen.

42:56 I didn't understand.

42:57 I wanted you to understand me, but I just didn't take the time to understand you.

43:01 I'm gonna practice at getting better at listening.

43:04 Forgive me.

43:05 I'm telling you, I am late to the table of listening.

43:07 I'm a leader, but I'm telling you, am I a good listener?

43:10 And you cannot be a good leader if you're not a good listener.

43:12 And I haven't always been a good listener.

43:14 I've been a good speaker.

43:15 I've been a good leader.

43:16 I've been a good this, this, and this, but have I been a good listener?

43:20 And the thing is, I haven't.

43:22 I am late to the table of listening.

43:25 And I'm there now though, but let me tell you, when I'm at a table, I ain't leaving.

43:29 I ain't leaving because I love this table in Jesus' name.

43:32 I love the Lord's table in Jesus' name.

43:34 He's put me there.

43:35 He's gonna keep me there.

43:37 And He said feast and dine and eat with me.

43:40 I just pray for all of you that you would enjoy the Lord's table and you would stay there and you would be a part of bringing others there because that's what God is doing in the midst of craziness, in the midst of a crazy world.

43:55 He's building His table.

43:57 He's building His people.

43:59 He's building a new kind of community.

44:03 And my prayer is that's exactly what we're gonna be a part of in Jesus' name.

44:08 And everyone said.

What Can I Do With My Doubts.

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