Grace Haven Church

0:00 So what I want to do is walk you through part two today on overcoming doubts.

0:04 It is possible to overcome doubts.

0:07 Thank God.

0:09 See, doubting destabilizes you.

0:12 It makes things uncertain.

0:14 A double-minded person is unstable in all their ways.

0:18 Doubting actually robs you of the joy of living.

0:22 And so it's not a good thing to have, but it is a real thing that happens.

0:27 So I love what James says.

0:29 It's faith that actually takes you to you.

0:32 So I've got an image for you.

0:33 We wrote it.

0:33 I just scribbled it this morning.

0:35 See if the team can put it on the screen and we'll see if we can work with this a little bit.

0:40 I love visuals, so I'm always tend to draw pictures of what I think.

0:44 So this is what I saw this morning.

0:46 So if you think about beliefs and doubts, the truth is doubts are beliefs.

0:52 If you just look at them differently, when you doubt something, you're still forming a belief.

0:57 So you've got to see that doubts are still beliefs.

1:02 However, they will lead you to misplace faith.

1:05 They won't lead you to no faith.

1:07 Doubts will cause you to put your faith in the wrong people in the wrong places.

1:12 Amen.

1:13 Have you ever experienced that?

1:14 Have you ever felt like your doubts have put your faith in the wrong place and the wrong people?

1:19 Doubts will slow you down.

1:21 There's nothing good about doubts.

1:23 It actually slows you down.

1:24 It makes you more hesitant.

1:26 If you get the football pass to you and you begin to doubt what to do with it, someone's going to jump on you probably from Columbia.

1:37 They're very quick, very passionate.

1:39 If you don't believe me, go to the football game on Monday night.

1:42 There's no room for doubts in football.

1:45 Come on, help me preach.

1:47 Come on, Sonia, I'm going to get you up to preach right now if you don't.

1:49 I'm just saying you get slowed down with doubts.

1:52 If you're at work, there's no room for doubts because you know that it's hard to lead people into their future when you're crippled with doubts.

2:00 So you have to walk into the room even though you know they exist and you have to lead with confidence, not doubts.

2:09 Because if people can pick up and smell doubts upon you, it's hard to help the people to move to their God-given future.

2:17 So whatever you are, wherever you are, imagine leading worship with doubts.

2:21 It's not worship.

2:23 So I just want you to know, first of all, it does exist, but we always understand it limits us.

2:30 And the third point is it weakens you.

2:31 But on the other side, our beliefs.

2:34 Now, I'm not talking about having any belief that you can't back up.

2:36 I'm talking about belief in the Word of God.

2:39 I'm talking about getting your beliefs from the soundness of God's Word.

2:43 And I know people struggle with God's Word, but I'm just saying I get my belief in God from His Word.

2:48 My faith is from His Word.

2:51 I don't pull it from a cracker.

2:52 I don't pull it from the abstract.

2:53 I pull it from the written Word of God, amen, because there's authority in the Word of God.

3:00 So beliefs can lead to faith.

3:03 It can speed you up, and it can actually strengthen you.

3:07 So when you watch, say, again, with a football or a volleyball,

3:13 when they're in that moment, it's their faith, it's their belief that they've got the ball and they know what to do and they know where to go with it.

3:20 So I want you to know, you don't do well with doubts.

3:25 We have them, but we've got to sort them out.

3:28 And we've got to realise there is a strength to believing the right things.

3:32 Amen.

3:33 Even while I'm talking, you're talking too.

3:35 And sometimes you're talking way more than me.

3:38 I'm saying great things about you.

3:39 But listen to me.

3:40 It's not enough for me to believe in you.

3:43 You need to believe in yourself.

3:45 And it's not enough for you to believe in yourself.

3:47 You've actually got to mirror that belief, actually, with what God says.

3:51 What does God say about you?

3:54 What do I say about you?

3:55 What do you say about you?

3:56 And this is where the three become powerful.

4:00 So I can believe in you.

4:02 I can believe in your potential.

4:03 I can believe in your future.

4:05 But if you don't, it doesn't matter what I say.

4:08 Because I'm just pouring it out.

4:10 It's like pouring into a leaky cup, a cup with holes.

4:14 You ever had that?

4:15 You ever had a cup with holes?

4:17 And it's not a good thing.

4:18 Today's been poured out.

4:20 But don't walk out of here and go, Wednesday, there's nothing in my cup.

4:23 The only reason you can say there's nothing in my cup is because you poured out, not leaked out.

4:28 Can anybody say amen?

4:30 So take the image if it helps.

4:32 And I want to walk you through now one of the letters in the New Testament that I believe we can all go to.

4:38 I know we're not all biblical scholars.

4:40 I know Barbara is the best amongst us.

4:43 But what I am saying is we can still be encouraged with an understanding.

4:47 Where do we go when we face hardship?

4:51 What do we do when we are struggling with doubts?

4:55 So when we face despair, uncertainty, conflict,

5:02 adverse challenges, whether it's political, economical, whether we're witnessing discrimination, bias, whether we're witnessing injustice,

5:15 vulnerable people being victimized, the innocent and the marginalized

5:23 unfairly treated or misrepresented.

5:26 We are viewing all of these things at the same time.

5:29 And we can do two things.

5:31 We can remove ourselves and get ourselves in a bubble

5:35 or they call it head in the sand syndrome where you stick your head in the sand.

5:40 It's a figure of speech, but it's like, I remove myself because it's too much.

5:45 Or you decide to stay engaged.

5:47 But the challenge with the engagement is there is a thing called compassion fatigue.

5:51 There is a thing called being overwhelmed.

5:54 It's too much to handle, too much to see, too much that I really wrestle with.

5:59 So what we do is we often counteract that and we remove ourselves.

6:04 And that's where it's easy to go into your own little bubble and spend hours on Instagram scrolling or kind of looking for maybe an outlet, whether it's healthy or unhealthy.

6:14 So we've got to understand we are alive on planet Earth and we need to make choices.

6:19 And doubts cannot stay in your life.

6:21 You've got to realize that.

6:23 So let me walk you through the letter in the Hebrew letter.

6:26 The letter to the Hebrews can provide wisdom, perspective and hope.

6:30 So I want to take a few moments.

6:32 And what I'm going to do is I'm going to walk you through some of the perspectives of this beautiful letter that we call Hebrews.

6:38 And I want to just paint the picture a little bit.

6:41 I want to give you a little bit of a summary just so you get a taste of what it represents.

6:45 And then I'm going to walk you towards the apostle Paul to give you a little bit of perspective on how he gives us a suggestion, an antidote to overcoming doubts.

6:55 Is that okay?

6:56 So stay with me.

6:57 And we're going to walk ourselves through this letter.

7:01 This letter challenges believers to remain faithful to Jesus even when facing hardship and persecution.

7:11 So it's easy to remove yourself because we know, first of all, we're not Hebrews.

7:15 We're not Jewish in nature in our story.

7:19 Some people may be in the room, but this letter is obviously written to a Jewish audience predominantly.

7:24 It's arguable, but it's obviously with the context and the format of the letter, it's a strong Jewish audience.

7:31 Or at least they have a very strong understanding of Jewish narratives, Jewish story.

7:36 So what you need to understand, it's written and it challenges believers who are facing hardship and persecution.

7:48 So what would you want to say to someone who is facing hardship and persecution?

7:55 Well, this letter is written and it's released for an audience who are facing hardship.

8:00 So in other words, we may not be Jewish and we may not have that kind of story, but what I am trying to say to you, if you'll lean into it, you'll find out all of it still applies to us because hardship is hardship.

8:13 Whether you're from this part of the world or this part of the world, whatever your cultural background is, hardship is hardship.

8:19 You anyone know what I'm talking about?

8:20 So that's what I wanted to give you a little bit of a taste of.

8:23 The audience of this letter could have been mainly Jewish, which I've already said, who are now following Jesus as their savior and as the Messiah.

8:31 They recognize him as the Messiah.

8:33 Not every Jewish person did and that's why this is difficult.

8:37 So they're now following Jesus.

8:41 They would have been facing a lot of challenges, significant pressures.

8:46 Now what's significant pressures because of following Jesus?

8:50 What's significant pressure that you and I would follow by following Jesus?

8:53 When I told my mum and dad, I'm following Jesus, my mum just rolled her eyes and my dad frowned.

8:59 My mum rolled her eyes because she's thinking it's just like that's unusual for Mark, but we'll see how long it lasts.

9:03 And the second my dad frowned is because he had an issue with Christianity, which I didn't know about.

9:09 Not everyone jumps with when you become Jesus' follower, it's like sometimes people let their pain come out and their frustrations and even their disgust.

9:20 So they were facing, listen to me, they were facing challenges and pressures on an emotional level, on a social level and they were experiencing a crisis of faith.

9:33 They decided to follow Jesus and then it got them into a whole lot of trouble.

9:40 Has anyone followed Jesus in the last few years here?

9:44 And it's got you into a whole lot of trouble.

9:45 I thought my life was going to get better.

9:48 It just got worse.

9:53 Want me to give money?

9:55 It's called your tithe.

9:57 You don't have to cry about it and you don't have to do it.

9:59 We'll walk you towards what the revelation is.

10:02 What I'm trying to say to you is, sometimes when you say yes to Jesus, life just got more challenging.

10:09 But that doesn't erode the truth of who he is and what salvation means for you.

10:15 How many of you started a new job and you're like, I'm so excited.

10:19 I passed all the interviews.

10:21 It's my new first day and you come home and you crash on your bed instantly.

10:27 You're like exhausted.

10:30 How was your first week?

10:31 Oh, I wasn't prepared.

10:35 You see, you stepped into a new opportunity, a new boss, a new team, a new project and it almost stretched you or it did.

10:46 And then suddenly you got this chance to go, oh, my confidence.

10:51 And this confident person that was rocking the interviews, going past 7 ,000 people for that one job.

10:59 Slightly dramatized.

11:02 But what I'm trying to say is, you had so much confidence in the first week you almost lose it.

11:09 There's no room for a loss of confidence in the house of God.

11:13 He calls you into your God-given future and He will pour in confidence into you.

11:19 I've never led a team.

11:21 I've got you, God says.

11:23 I've never been on a team.

11:24 God says, I've got you in Jesus' Name.

11:27 I've never led a community group.

11:28 God says, I've got you in Jesus' Name.

11:30 You learn as you go.

11:32 You grow as you go.

11:34 All this smallness and passivity and it's just not the Spirit of God.

11:40 That's a different Spirit.

11:42 And He didn't give you that Spirit.

11:44 He gave you a joy to advance in Jesus' Name.

11:48 And so you've got to understand they were facing a lot of challenges and it created a faith crisis.

11:56 They had a crises of faith.

11:58 They were tempted to abandon Jesus.

12:02 And their belief in Jesus.

12:04 They wanted to go back.

12:06 Or they were tempted to go back to the Jewish traditions, to the Jewish story, to the Jewish behaviors.

12:15 And this is real.

12:16 And that's why this letter was written.

12:19 They were going back to the old practices, the old traditions.

12:22 And maybe it was justified.

12:24 Maybe it was rational.

12:25 Maybe it was real because it was too much pressure.

12:30 And maybe they wanted to go back and say, I'm fed up being discriminated.

12:34 I'm fed up of being ostracized.

12:35 I'm fed up of being pushed over into this section now.

12:38 The weirdos.

12:42 It's amazing when you start following Jesus how people get funny with you.

12:45 When I started following Jesus I was studying engineering.

12:48 And I was working with a group of really tough men.

12:52 Hardcore nice men I guess in some ways.

12:54 But I couldn't see nice.

12:55 I just saw tough.

12:57 And I remember when they knew I was a Christian.

12:59 I remember one day we have this lunch break and we have sandwiches.

13:04 We have these, we call them bait boxes but don't worry about it.

13:06 They're called food boxes.

13:07 And there's food in there.

13:08 And you have a sandwich and you have an apple and a penguin like a little chocolate bar.

13:13 And we all open our little boxes and some people eat their food and then read a newspaper.

13:18 And one day I opened my box and there's some pornographic material in there.

13:21 There's pictures of nude women.

13:24 And so as I open it all I can hear is

13:34 I'm like, ah, just close my box, put it down.

13:45 You think it's funny, do you?

13:47 Never said anything.

13:49 Just got up, carried on.

13:51 And obviously soon passed.

13:54 But you see in moments, all of us, all of us we're going to find that there's going to be challenges to what we believe.

14:03 And you've got to decide is that going to cause me to start doubting?

14:07 Or is it going to cause me to start believing?

14:10 That moment didn't weaken me.

14:12 It upset me, but it did not weaken me.

14:15 It was the fuel to the fire that kept me going strong in Jesus' name.

14:20 I know we're all the same.

14:21 Some of us that would demoralize us and go, that's it, I'm out of here.

14:26 I just know that we've all got real stories about real challenges.

14:30 But you've got to remember they had made a decision to follow Jesus as Jewish people.

14:36 And so that caused a great conflict in their personal world.

14:42 And I don't think they were ready for it, but they had to be because that's what God was doing.

14:46 And I'm saying this for you and I because as many of us in this room and we may not be obviously Jewish in context, but I wonder how many of us we love the church when it's all rocking

14:58 but when it gets a little bit difficult we go back to the old.

15:01 Do you know how many people left our church during the pandemic?

15:05 How many people went back to a traditional church or an old or a German church?

15:10 It doesn't exist.

15:11 There's just the church in Germany.

15:14 There's stuff that people say.

15:17 God doesn't have a German church.

15:18 He just has the church in Germany, the church in the UK, the church in Africa, the church in India, the church in this world, in that continent, in this city.

15:28 It's just the church.

15:30 But he fills it with the wonder and the tapestry of wonder that we call and express through ethnicity, diversity.

15:39 But what you've got to remember is God is at work amongst us.

15:43 So let me keep walking you through this, okay, because the challenges are real.

15:47 But I wonder how many of us in the room we come to church when it's good but we can't come to church when it's challenging.

15:54 And I'm telling you now you're always going to limit your future if that's the way you live.

15:58 I just want it all nice but life's not nice.

16:03 You know what I'm saying?

16:04 I just want an easy exam.

16:07 Really?

16:07 It doesn't exist.

16:09 When you do your PlayStation things or your play games or whatever, you can pick, can't you?

16:13 Easy, medium, hard.

16:14 Who picks hard?

16:16 Unless you're brilliant.

16:19 No one chooses to wake up and say, Lord, give me a hard day.

16:25 It just doesn't come out, does it?

16:26 It doesn't even feel good.

16:27 Oh.

16:30 But Lord, give me the day that you have purposed for me in Jesus' name.

16:34 And even if it's hard by the grace of God, in Jesus' name, this is what makes you shine.

16:41 And this is where the audience had to really find out.

16:45 They were missing the social acceptance.

16:48 They were walking into a market purchasing food and there would be people going.

16:58 She's now a Christian.

17:01 She's with them strange bunch.

17:05 And you can hear them.

17:07 And you're buying your carrots and your onions.

17:10 Well, I don't know what they were buying, turtle doves and pigeons.

17:13 I don't know.

17:15 They were purchasing from the market and they could hear the whispers.

17:20 Have you ever walked into a place and everybody stops, a restaurant or something, and they all stare at you?

17:26 A few years ago, me and Andreas and a few of the guys were going skiing in the Czech Republic and we walked into a little restaurant.

17:34 I think Konstantin was there as well and everybody in the restaurant stopped.

17:40 Even in mid, you know, chewing.

17:44 It was so awkward.

17:46 We were like, oh, let's not eat here.

17:50 I mean, you couldn't even Google it.

17:51 It wasn't even a review thing.

17:53 It was like we walked in and walked out as quick as we could.

17:56 And all I'm trying to say to you is that life is full of these stuff.

17:59 It wasn't just what the Hebrews experienced.

18:01 It's what you and I are experiencing.

18:04 And so let me walk you through some of this stuff and I'll see how I can get a little bit out for you because there's a lot in here.

18:10 Some of the challenges they were facing, persecution and social pressures.

18:15 It was possible for them that they were going to be imprisoned.

18:18 It's very unlikely for anyone in this room you're going to be imprisoned because of your faith in Christ.

18:23 However, the persecution and the social pressure is real.

18:26 There's many venues we cannot use in Berlin because we are believers.

18:31 We're having to change our constitution and our articles and to incorporate German social tax codes so that we can facilitate faith in the city.

18:43 It's a minefield.

18:44 It's complicated.

18:45 Berlin is almost post-everything, not just post-Christian.

18:48 And so that makes building church a little bit more interesting, but not impossible.

18:53 They were facing temptation to return back to the old.

18:57 What is back there for you?

19:03 I think some of us we get a new job and all we do in a new job is talk about the old job.

19:10 Oh, for some of us we get a new relationship and all we do is talk about the old relationship.

19:14 Like, yes, that's the success to relationships.

19:19 No, shut up.

19:21 If she's so great, why are you with me?

19:26 Imagine going out with someone and all they talk about, my last boyfriend and my last boyfriend and my last boyfriend.

19:32 I mean, within five seconds, you're going to go bye-bye and go visit your last boyfriend.

19:38 Like, hello, can anybody help me here today?

19:41 You get into the new and you talk about the old.

19:44 God wants to put new wine skins in new wine, in new wine skins.

19:51 Amen.

19:53 And so we've got to remember that they wanted to go back to what?

19:57 Death.

19:58 Rituals and rules.

20:00 Who's better than Jesus?

20:02 Who's going to love you with an everlasting love?

20:04 Who is going to forgive you of all your sins?

20:07 Past, present and future.

20:09 Who has redeemed you, cleansed you, positioned you, put you in perfection?

20:15 Only Jesus has done that.

20:19 What are you going back to, the old?

20:23 There's no life in the old.

20:24 It's in the new.

20:26 This is why this letter was written.

20:29 This is why this can help you and I in our present moment of doubts.

20:37 They started to stop meeting in community.

20:40 They start pulling away from church.

20:43 The gathering of the saints.

20:45 Hebrews chapter 10 talks about do not forsake the gathering and the assembling together.

20:50 Because sometimes when you're in community and you feel lousy and you meet someone else who's feeling lousy, I don't know why it works, but it's like, oh, my lousy's not as bad as yours.

21:03 I strangely feel better.

21:05 I don't know why it works like that.

21:08 But sometimes it's only community that's going to lift your head.

21:11 You need to be surrounded.

21:14 Not hiding in a cave.

21:15 Men are terrible at hiding when they face challenges.

21:19 Hey, how are you doing, bro?

21:20 Good, I haven't seen you.

21:21 Where have you been?

21:24 Been scrolling for three months in my apartment, looking miserable.

21:29 Oh, bro, that's a great life to live.

21:31 But we do it because as men, we don't want to get into a community where someone's going to say hey.

21:37 And we've got to because that's really better for us.

21:41 And I'm just saying we've got to let wisdom prevail no matter what season we're in.

21:45 In Jesus' name.

21:46 But let's not neglect the house of God and let's not neglect the community.

21:50 And we need to build our community.

21:52 Why?

21:52 Because our church needs a growing community for a growing church.

21:57 And so there's people in this room.

21:58 It's time for you to step up and get trained to be a community leader, to be a host of generosity and hospitality.

22:08 So you can be a blessing to who God is adding to the church.

22:12 Another one, they were facing a crisis of faith and it addresses this massively.

22:18 Questioning, doubting.

22:19 Not sure, shall I keep going with Jesus?

22:23 Dealing with uncertainty and doubt was very strong in this letter.

22:27 If you are dealing with uncertainty and doubt, could I encourage you at least before you give up, read this book, read this letter, get your head in the Word of God and say, God, before I finish this letter, I want the Holy Spirit to do whatever He wants to do in me, through me, around me before I give up.

22:43 At least make a declaration before I give up.

22:47 In other words, before you go there, do this.

22:51 I guarantee the Holy Ghost will mess you up and turn you around the right way because that's what this letter is for in Jesus' Name.

23:00 It points people to the supremeness of Jesus, the authenticity, high priest, full authority who is able to not just reestablish the government of God and the holy sanctuary, the heavenly sanctuary, but to reconcile the whole universe through Christ, all things, atoms, neutrons, the small and the big, the tiny, microscopic and the

23:25 humongous that no microscope, telescope can measure or see or comprehend.

23:32 He is the all and the beginning and He brings it together in His uniqueness.

23:39 He's called Christ.

23:41 That's what He's doing in this letter.

23:43 That's what the author is communicating.

23:46 There's no one else that is bigger, greater, broader, deeper that can satisfy the depths of every human heart.

23:56 No child is lost.

23:58 No infant is abandoned.

24:00 No precious child in the womb is forgotten and no person is left unnoticed.

24:07 Christ sees it all.

24:09 That's what He's doing.

24:10 When you're messed up, you need something like that.

24:13 Amen.

24:14 It's an injection of faith into your heart.

24:17 It stirs you and it lifts you and it moves you.

24:22 I don't need the looper to move me.

24:24 I don't need Beyonce to get me going.

24:27 I need the Word of God, the Spirit of life.

24:30 Joy is in the morning.

24:32 Dancing is on my life in Jesus' name.

24:35 Come on somebody.

24:42 So Paul concludes, there's a whole section I'm missing out because it also gives you five warnings of apostasy.

24:49 There's a consequence to walking away.

24:51 It's the strongest warning we get in the New Testament about not giving up.

24:55 It's crazy that this letter has to go that strong.

24:58 Why?

24:59 Because the pressure is that real.

25:01 Don't give up.

25:02 Who are you going to walk back to?

25:04 Old bread is still stale.

25:06 New bread will give you the strength and the grace to get your head where you need to be in Jesus' name.

25:12 Can anybody say amen?

25:13 So what does Paul say through his letters?

25:16 What does Paul say to this young church moving from strength to strength?

25:20 He said the Gospel can have a joyful effect on your lives.

25:23 He said when you keep your head in the Gospel, the good news, what Jesus has done, it will have a joyful effect upon your life.

25:32 Oh, my goodness.

25:33 That's why he said, he says this in Romans chapter 1, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel.

25:38 The good news about Christ, it is God's powerful message of bringing all who believe into heaven.

25:44 This message was preached first to the Jews alone, but now everyone is invited to come to God the same way.

25:50 He said, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel.

25:54 It brings a joy to whosoever believes.

25:58 And I don't know why this happens, but in the face of challenge, you can have a deep sense of joy.

26:03 That's when you know it's God.

26:04 Amen.

26:06 I'm not saying that we laugh.

26:07 I'm just saying joy is not just laughter.

26:10 Joy comes out in different formats, but it's a deep, deep spiritual truth that you have an intimacy with a heavenly God.

26:18 Joy.

26:18 Amen.

26:19 The second thing that Paul hits here is the Gospel can create a humbling effect upon our lives.

26:24 It's amazing how the Gospel doesn't make you superior.

26:26 Religion does.

26:28 Religion can have twofold effect.

26:29 It can make you superior and it can make you inferior.

26:33 Often people feel inferior to God because they're like, who am I?

26:36 I'm just a little worm.

26:39 And then others sadly become superior.

26:41 Look at me and my righteousness.

26:44 Oh, why don't you pray like me?

26:49 Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the finest of them all?

26:51 Oh, really?

26:52 Thank you, mirror.

26:54 It's like, come on.

26:57 You know you're not the finest thing in the world.

26:59 So the Gospel humbles us and it positions us in our rightful place.

27:06 Can anybody say Amen?

27:07 And the third one, I'm giving you a real short quick one here.

27:10 The third one is the Gospel can keep reminding of God's amazing love for us that His extraordinary love still pursues us even when we feel like giving up in Jesus' Name.

27:21 The Gospel is the source of all that you're looking for to be an antidote to every doubt, to every fear, to every hesitation or every limitation.

27:33 The Gospel.

27:34 The Gospel will never limit you.

27:36 It will only maximise you.

27:37 The Gospel will lift you, not pull you down.

27:40 The Gospel, the Gospel.

27:42 The good news is what gets you into faith and it's the Gospel that keeps you in faith.

27:49 Feed your faith, stab your debts.

27:52 Feed your faith, stab your debts.

2025-07-08 - Overcoming My Doubts (Pt. 2) - Mark Wilkinson.

Find your way.

Start with the teachings.