Grace Haven Church

0:00 Good news is this week is part three of overcoming doubts.

0:07 The reason I'm doing part three is because there's so many doubts.

0:11 I'm glad we're laughing.

0:13 But don't take it for granted.

0:16 Doubting is easy and we don't realize how it can limit us.

0:21 So I really want to take this message today and continue with this thought of how do we overcome our doubts?

0:27 Going from doubting to faith.

0:30 You believe that?

0:30 We just sang this song, beautiful, about God being in control.

0:34 But if you can't get it by faith, we will get it with control.

0:39 And too many people, they choose control instead of faith.

0:44 And if you try to get everything through control, you're going to wreck your life.

0:48 Controlling things exhausts you.

0:51 Controlling the environment, controlling your partner, controlling work, controlling the roads, controlling, controlling, controlling, controlling.

1:01 It literally is an exhausting thing to do with your life.

1:05 Anyone doing that?

1:06 Don't put your hand up.

1:09 But faith is completely the opposite.

1:11 Instead of exhausting you, it energizes you.

1:14 So I really want to appeal to all of us today, wherever you are, whether you're figuring this out, trying to figure this out, you're strong, you're weak, you're kind of bumping along.

1:23 Faith is the message.

1:26 This is what God wants to do with us.

1:27 He wants to take us in our doubts and move us to a people of faith.

1:32 Amen.

1:33 And so today's message is called be a risk taker.

1:37 Be a risk taker.

1:39 Take a risk.

1:41 Take lots of risks.

1:42 In fact, why don't you live your life?

1:46 As a risk taker.

1:48 And I know straight away, I've already got arguments in your head because your talking is always more than my talking.

1:54 It's called self talk.

1:57 But I want you to just try and stay with me a little bit and just try to lean into the wisdom of God's Word, at least God's Word, not what Mark thinks, but what does God's Word say?

2:07 And let's really make a decision that that's what I'm going to line my life up with.

2:13 And so I'm going to read a story that's a credible story.

2:17 Many of you would have known of this story.

2:19 It's in the Gospel of Luke.

2:22 And what we've put together actually, again, seven reasons why faith is important to you.

2:28 So it's a card that will come out through the notes this week.

2:32 So you've got seven things with the biblical references.

2:35 And I only do that for one reason.

2:37 It's just to help you realize that you can actually build the Word of God into your life.

2:42 We send it to you, but I don't even know if you always download it, if you even open the email.

2:46 But I'm really hoping that the hungry amongst us, you know, it's easy to feed the hungry.

2:52 It's really hard to feed people who are not hungry.

2:56 So you determine whether you're hungry or not, but you probably are hungry, just sometimes people are feeding on the wrong things, you know.

3:04 Oh, I'm not really hungry for the Word of God.

3:07 Well, what are you snacking on then?

3:09 What are you binging on?

3:13 My mom used to put food on the table and I was like, oh, I'm not hungry.

3:17 And she's like, how many cookies did you eat?

3:19 She knew I'd had a packet of biscuits before I even had dinner.

3:23 But what I am trying to say is, I think some of us are not hungry for the Word of God because we're maybe nibbling on some cookies elsewhere.

3:33 And I want you to understand, and no one's judging, it's just the truth is, you choose which life you want to live.

3:39 But don't come to me and say, Pastor Mark, would you pray for me?

3:48 Really?

3:48 Is that the kind of pastor you are?

3:58 Well, if you come to me and life's not good, I will pray for you.

4:04 I will be there for you.

4:06 I won't judge you.

4:08 Same way a doctor doesn't judge a patient when they bring health and healing.

4:12 But I'm saying it as an early reminder that even when you know truth, you can still walk into lies.

4:19 So the truth is, I'm not going to be unpleasant to anybody, but I'm not going to waste my time when people who know truth, but they constantly refuse it or reject it.

4:30 Wisdom says, move on.

4:32 And I want you to know that even though we don't have endless amounts of energy,

4:40 Jesus never runs out of goodness and kindness, even when we stuff up.

4:47 That's why our message is Jesus, not Pastor Mark, because he never stops believing, he never stops caring, and he never forgets to bring the oil and the wine to whosoever.

5:00 You just got to know who you're better with.

5:03 And my question to all of you is, who's better than Jesus?

5:07 We're all struggling with something.

5:08 We're all recovering addicts at some level.

5:11 So we've got this beautiful position in Christ.

5:16 He has positioned us better than we can position ourselves.

5:20 Now you're in Christ, he gives you clean air to breathe.

5:25 And he gives you the freedom to keep walking with him, even if it's limping.

5:31 And I think sometimes we've got to be OK going all the way towards heaven with a limp.

5:37 There's nothing wrong.

5:38 The message is not get your life all worked out on earth.

5:42 No, the message on earth is put your life and trust in Christ and then walk it out by the grace of God.

5:49 Eternity will take care of the rest.

5:51 Amen.

5:52 There's no it's not a, you know,

5:56 come as you are, yes, but let Christ and his love continually transform you.

6:01 And I think if you let him in, he will not disappoint in Jesus' name.

6:05 Amen.

6:06 Amen.

6:07 We could finish right there.

6:08 Let's go home.

6:10 I'm going to read this story to you and I'm going to do my best.

6:12 But there's seven points on why faith is important to you.

6:15 And you can download that this week.

6:18 Luke chapter 24, you ready?

6:20 The two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road.

6:29 So there's a story where two people are walking away to this village away from Jerusalem.

6:34 It's about seven miles away.

6:35 And they're depressed.

6:37 They're overwhelmed because Jesus has been crucified.

6:42 And guess who turns up while they're walking seven miles to the next village?

6:47 Jesus.

6:48 And they don't even recognize him.

6:50 Some people are so burdened with their own problems, their own issues, their own weights, their own sorrow, they don't even realize that God has turned up in their life.

7:00 And so what happens is he walks and talks with them and it gets too late.

7:05 They invite him in.

7:06 And while they're eating and taking communion, he breaks the bread and their eyes are opened and they were, oh, my goodness, it's Jesus.

7:14 So they they literally now leave through the middle of the night and they run back to tell the other believers.

7:22 And this is where we pick it up.

7:24 So now they've come back.

7:28 Verse thirty six.

7:29 And just as they were sharing about it, Jesus himself suddenly appeared amongst them.

7:34 Shalom, peace be with you, he said.

7:38 But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they'd seen a ghost.

7:43 Verse thirty eight.

7:44 Why are you afraid?

7:46 He asked.

7:47 Why are your hearts filled with doubt?

7:52 I love this statement because he's not just saying what is going on, but he's going to go somewhere with it.

8:00 And he says, why are you afraid?

8:02 And why is your heart so filled with doubt?

8:07 And I think sometimes if he turned up today in your bedroom, in your kitchen, in your apartment, I wonder he'd be looking and

8:23 going, Shalom, why are you afraid?

8:28 Why is your heart filled with doubt?

8:31 It's me.

8:34 It's me.

8:37 Amen.

8:38 If he did it to them, he still can do it today.

8:43 And so he's already broke bread with these two people who were discouraged that Jesus, their hero, who was going to rescue Israel from the oppression of Rome.

8:54 I wonder how many of us want Jesus to just rescue us from our problems,

8:58 rescue us from our adversity, rescue us from these annoying ones.

9:05 And this is what he says.

9:06 He says, why are you afraid?

9:08 And why is your heart so filled with doubt?

9:12 It's me.

9:14 So first of all, you've got to understand.

9:17 It's possible to doubt this.

9:19 No one's going to argue that it's possible to be afraid.

9:23 No one's going to argue that even today.

9:26 In our current climax, in our current reality, it's easy to be afraid, easy to have your hearts filled with doubt.

9:32 But this is why I want you to go to the word so you don't stay afraid and you don't stay in your doubts.

9:39 You can move into faith in Jesus' name.

9:42 Can anybody say amen?

9:44 And this is what he does.

9:46 Look at my hands.

9:47 Look at my feet.

9:48 You can see that it's really me.

9:51 Touch me.

9:53 And make sure that I'm not a ghost.

9:58 I love reading the word when I get I'm an imagination person.

10:02 So I use this and I'm like my head's everywhere and like, let's just Netflix go.

10:09 So maybe where the Chosen and the Dave, Dave Goliath thing is getting a new sense of traction because they're taking biblical narratives and putting it in a medium that allows another generation to come closer.

10:20 Good on all filmmakers, good old storytellers, script writers,

10:25 photographers, creatives, songwriters.

10:27 Don't give up in telling the incredible breadth and depth of heaven.

10:30 In Jesus' name, you don't have to just squeeze it into a box, though.

10:34 Tell that story as profound as it is.

10:37 Amen.

10:37 And so let's keep going.

10:39 It says, look, you can touch me.

10:41 Make sure that I'm not a ghost because ghosts don't have bodies.

10:45 As you see that I do.

10:47 He spoke and he showed them his hands and his feet.

10:51 Still, they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and amazement or wonder.

10:59 Then he asked them, do you have anything to eat?

11:02 They gave him a piece of broil fish and he ate there in front of them.

11:06 I mean, you can just see that scene right now.

11:13 I mean, did Jesus eat with his mouth open?

11:17 Choice says, no, I think he's a man's man.

11:22 He's like, I don't know, but read it.

11:29 He's eating fish in front of them.

11:31 What's there?

11:32 What do you think they were like?

11:36 I guarantee, I guarantee.

11:38 Peter was like, that was my fish.

11:43 You got to use your imagination.

11:47 It's a real God with real people.

11:53 So he's swallowing the fish and they watched him.

12:01 Verse 44, then he said, when I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

12:11 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

12:13 This is called renewing your mind.

12:15 It's the most important thing after becoming a follower of Jesus is to renew your thinking according to the word of God.

12:21 This is where people lose it and this is where people win it.

12:25 He opened their minds to understanding the scriptures and he said, Yes, it is written long ago, the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.

12:33 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, the people of the world.

12:41 Beginning in Jerusalem, there is forgiveness of sins to all who turn to me.

12:45 You are witnesses to all these things.

12:47 Verse forty nine.

12:49 And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my father promised.

12:53 But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.

12:58 Then Jesus led them to Bethany.

13:00 He lifted his hands to heaven.

13:02 He blessed them.

13:04 While he was blessing them, he left and was taken up to heaven.

13:09 So they worshiped him and they returned to Jerusalem, filled with great joy.

13:17 What happened to the afraid, filled with doubts, people?

13:22 They went from filled with doubts to

13:29 great joy.

13:30 How do you go from I'm full of doubt to now I'm like great joy.

13:35 What happened in the process of going from woe is me

13:42 to a life of watch out for me.

13:47 Amen.

13:48 Come on, people.

13:50 Amen.

13:51 You don't conjure it up.

13:53 It's not hype, Phil.

13:58 You're not squeezing faith out.

14:04 What's in you is going to come out.

14:06 If you're a doubter, doubts going to come out.

14:08 The only way you're going to shift is by letting God in.

14:12 So something else can come out.

14:15 Whatever your generation, whatever your creed, whatever your colour, whatever your language, whatever your narrative, whatever your story,

14:27 it's easy to be filled with doubts.

14:31 But to get to a place of great joy, this is not some drug.

14:38 Wonder drug.

14:40 This is literally going.

14:44 And praising God, you know, to go back into the city that just killed Jesus, they were risking their own lives.

14:49 Who does that?

14:52 Who does that?

14:55 It's like having a bad interview and someone on your friend's side says, Oh, it's OK, you'll get another one next week.

15:01 And you're like, I don't really need to hear that right now.

15:03 Let me just lament a little bit.

15:05 And then tomorrow I'll think about another interview or even worse.

15:08 You know, she said no. And you're like, oh, there's plenty more fish in the sea.

15:11 And you're like, I don't want to hear that right now.

15:13 I really like that fish.

15:16 That was my fish.

15:19 It's a figure of speech.

15:20 If you don't know AI and you'll find out.

15:24 Listen to me, listen to me.

15:25 I know life doesn't always go our way, but you've got to remember God wants to move you from a doubter to a great joy.

15:32 And it's possible male or female and anything in between.

15:36 I'm telling you right now, God doesn't leave you the same way he finds you no matter where you've come from, no matter what your passport is.

15:46 And this is what he's doing.

15:47 He's doing something with them.

15:50 He disappears and now they're not going to have to live by touching him.

15:54 They're going to have to believe

15:58 you and I. As far as I'm aware, I have not been able to touch the physical Jesus.

16:04 I was in Turin last week and I got took to the church where apparently the veil, you know, the Turin veil, whatever it is.

16:13 They took me in to see the veil of Turin or the veil of Jesus, where he is in his his countenance, apparently is on the.

16:23 And so I went in there like all excited, like, oh,

16:28 it's all covered up.

16:31 I was like, what?

16:35 And then they got told off to take my hat off because I had my hat on base all back to front,

16:42 so the hat was straight off.

16:44 I didn't need Joyce to do that.

16:45 I just know the Italian Mafia will do that.

16:48 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Italian.

16:52 You know what I'm saying.

16:55 It wasn't there, apparently, because this new pope that's come in has said that it's been exposed enough and so we need to just keep it covered.

17:02 And so what I am trying to say to you is I don't know whether it's real or not.

17:05 I'm not saying that I'm not getting to an argument with anyone.

17:07 I'm just saying this, that Jesus disappeared.

17:11 And from that moment on, they had to have the kind of faith that took them in the face of danger.

17:17 They had to go and become incredible risk takers.

17:20 It took a risk to go from that moment into that city.

17:24 And they didn't just go into that city like stealth.

17:30 Praise the Lord.

17:31 They walked into that city praising God.

17:39 Sometimes, sometimes you just need to stand out, stand up, stand out and start going for it in Jesus name.

17:46 I'm not talking about being disrespectful to people.

17:48 I'm not talking about Bible bashing people.

17:49 That's not what I'm talking about.

17:51 I'm talking about an encounter with God that changes you, where people say, I have never seen such confidence.

17:58 You were such a shy person.

18:00 What has happened to you?

18:02 And this is what encounter is going to do for our young people.

18:05 And this is what the House of God can do for God's people.

18:09 I've never seen a believer get better by walking away from the House of God.

18:13 I know we have our reasons.

18:14 Oh, it's too far.

18:15 It's too convenient.

18:16 Oh, this, that and the other.

18:17 But you will always be better in a community of faith because not everyone is strong at the same time, but not everyone, thank God, is weak at the same time.

18:24 When you're weak, others are strong.

18:26 And when you feel like you need strength, you move into a place where there's strength.

18:36 And so we see something going on here.

18:38 And I want you to try and stay with me on this and just see these things because

18:44 you can't spend your life getting it with control.

18:47 You've got to get it by faith.

18:50 By faith, not control.

18:55 They went from troubled, doubting people.

18:59 To praising joyful people.

19:03 And I believe God wants us again to continue this journey of going from our doubts, going into this beautiful relationship with Him, where joy and praising is the fruit of walking with Jesus.

19:21 The first thing I want you to see here is he turned up to a group of people who were smashed.

19:30 The hero, Jesus, who was going to free them from the oppression, political oppression of Rome.

19:40 He's been executed.

19:42 He's dead.

19:45 It's gruesome.

19:46 It's brutal.

19:48 And so they're not like, yeah, they didn't really believe what he was telling them.

19:53 I mean, that's frustrating alone.

19:55 I've been telling you this.

20:02 And so when they're in that room and he turns up.

20:07 They were smashed.

20:09 They were struggling.

20:12 They weren't faith people.

20:13 They were doubters.

20:14 They were trembling with fear.

20:16 They were troubled.

20:16 They were anxious.

20:17 I don't know what news you hear sometimes, but what makes you sit down?

20:22 What gets you to your knees?

20:24 What gets you to put your hand in your face?

20:27 Not just your football team losing.

20:29 Oh, my goodness.

20:31 I've seen grown men cry because the team loses.

20:35 We can understand that some at some level.

20:38 But I'm talking about tragedy, real tragedy.

20:48 And this is what God wants to speak to his people for all the generations.

20:56 And I believe it's important that we can glean from the word of God here.

20:58 So the first thing that I really want you to capture here is he turns up and he gives them a reason to believe.

21:07 Look at my hands.

21:08 Look at my feet.

21:10 Touch me.

21:13 Eats with them.

21:16 He connects with them.

21:18 Eat, drink, share.

21:20 It's not lightweight.

21:22 It's not candy floss religion.

21:25 It's not kind of superficial.

21:27 Fake it till you make it.

21:29 It's got substance.

21:32 The food is real.

21:34 The scars are real.

21:36 The story is real.

21:39 The death is real.

21:40 The victory is real.

21:42 And the life forevermore is real.

21:45 So what's your problem?

21:49 And I'm not saying that because we all struggle.

21:52 We all struggle.

21:53 But the word of God lifts us from our struggles and says, you don't need to go down when you can go up.

21:59 You need to go out to come back in.

22:02 Whatever it is, I'm with you.

22:03 And he stays with them and he gives them a reason to believe.

22:09 And right now, we're in a moment in our own story.

22:12 But do we have a reason to believe?

22:16 Don't make excuses when God is asking you to move towards faith.

22:21 Is there any risk takers in the room?

22:23 Is this a generation of risk takers?

22:25 Are we going to be the first generation who said we had everything?

22:28 Oh, but we played it safe.

22:34 Are we going to be the generation owned the ride but not the car?

22:42 That's the worst thing you could say to this generation.

22:47 Enjoy it all but own nothing.

22:51 The reason God wants us to own what He owns ultimately is because you get transformed in the process of becoming an owner.

22:59 You can't spend your whole life renting.

23:00 You're an owner in Jesus' name.

23:02 You are invited into a co-owner relationship with God, with all of creation.

23:11 This own the ride, not the car.

23:16 That's selling out to a generation.

23:19 That's just catering to what you want.

23:22 Me, me, me.

23:24 And don't get me wrong, OK, all these slogans, all of these, whatever.

23:27 People work hard to make money and they try to get things off the ground.

23:30 But I'm trying to get to you is that this can slip into our lives.

23:35 Years ago, we used to buy vinyls, albums.

23:40 Anyone remember that?

23:40 I just gave my daughter a Michael Jackson album.

23:42 She's like, hallelujah.

23:45 I probably got it for two euros.

23:46 Now it's worth, I think, 80 euros.

23:49 I had I had I had another one, which was what's his name?

23:52 Pink, not pink, purple, purple, sorry, purple, purple rain.

23:58 Prince.

23:59 I had that.

24:03 I just can't find it.

24:03 So it's worth money now.

24:05 But the point I'm making, stay with me, stay with me, stay with me.

24:10 There came a time where it was like the single.

24:13 Everyone wanted a single EP or whatever it is, you know, we want this.

24:16 We want we don't want the album.

24:17 We just want the single.

24:18 I like this song.

24:19 I just don't like the other five songs.

24:21 And what we did for music, we started to do with our lives.

24:25 I like these three things about you.

24:27 But can I tell you the other seven things I don't like?

24:30 And you're like, hello, I'm an album, not a single.

24:32 Hello.

24:34 Come on, someone help me here.

24:36 Get the T-shirt this year.

24:39 I'm an album, not a single.

24:41 You get me, you get it all.

24:44 Come on, somebody, you know, you want to say amen.

24:49 You're like, yes, now he's preaching.

24:55 But we don't like albums because there's three songs we like and six songs we don't.

24:59 Oh, my goodness.

25:00 How are you going to live your life then?

25:03 Life's just not like that.

25:06 But the first thing he did and it's the thing that you and I can do for others.

25:11 Give people a reason to believe.

25:15 He didn't fake it.

25:16 He didn't hype it.

25:19 He didn't confuse them.

25:21 He just gave them a reason.

25:26 He didn't do personality profiles.

25:28 He didn't do psychosometrics.

25:30 He didn't do all of this that we are familiar with today because we know it has value.

25:36 It brings awareness.

25:37 Awareness always beats ego.

25:39 But what I'm trying to say to you is you can still be the person that gives others a reason to believe.

25:45 If God does it for you, you can do it for others.

25:48 The second thing that he does, I believe he does for them.

25:52 He gives them revelation from the word of God.

25:55 He gives them something they couldn't see before.

25:58 And I believe revelation is what separates the people of God.

26:01 I see it and I understand it.

26:03 Some people see it, but they don't understand it.

26:05 But I see it and I understand it.

26:07 They see salvation, but they don't understand salvation.

26:10 I see salvation.

26:12 I understand salvation.

26:13 It is my story.

26:15 Amen.

26:16 Revelation doesn't leave you where it finds you.

26:20 So he gives them a reason to believe.

26:22 He gives them revelation.

26:24 And the third thing I believe he gives them, he gives them the spirit.

26:30 I believe that what he gave them, he will give to you and I. And we will give this to each another, every one of us.

26:37 We can give this to the people in our world, in Jesus' Name.

26:40 But give people a reason to believe.

26:41 Why?

26:42 Because life is hard enough as it is.

26:44 Give people revelation.

26:46 Why?

26:46 Don't leave them where they are.

26:47 Say, do you know why we take communion in the foyer?

26:50 Do you know why we sing songs the way we do?

26:52 Do you know why we do church the way we do it?

26:55 Do you know why we're doing community groups this way?

26:57 Do you know why we do dinner parties in the park?

27:00 Do you know why we eat, drink and share together?

27:04 It's not because we're hedonists.

27:11 Narcissists, gluttonous, feeding and gorging and self-satisfying ourselves.

27:20 No, we're giving ourselves away.

27:22 We're pouring ourselves out.

27:24 We're acts of service, of grace and mercy into each other.

27:28 We're doing something what Jesus has done from the beginning for our lives.

27:32 This is what our world wants to see.

27:34 The talk is cheap, but the walk is expensive.

27:40 He gives them a reason to believe.

27:42 He gives them revelation and He gives them a spirit that changes them.

27:47 And they move from doubters, fearful, anxious, worried and He propels them into a hostile world that was dominated by Roman authority, Roman brutality, Roman might.

28:02 And they absolutely within three centuries Christianinated, dominated the whole of this civilization.

28:12 And they were killed and they were murdered and they were stolen from and they were sidelined and they were ransacked and they were ostracized and they were victimized and they were, and you name it and you're like, oh, I just so wanna be a Christian.

28:29 Today, it's very rare that we will have their experiences.

28:35 Today, our challenge is our phone.

28:39 Endlessly scrolling, trying to find another humorous one.

28:45 I mean, how many dog stories do you have to send to your friend

28:52 or cat?

28:56 Seriously, I'm not judging it.

28:57 I'm just saying our issue today is very different.

29:00 We have so much.

29:01 My question I wanna leave you with today is where's all the risk takers gone?

29:05 Where's all the risk takers gone?

29:07 Where's all the risk takers in this generation?

29:10 Is there any risk takers left in Jesus' name?

29:13 Please stand up.

29:14 Is there any risk takers in this generation?

29:16 Please stand up in Jesus' name.

29:19 Identify yourself as a risk taker.

29:30 What does it mean to take a risk?

29:32 It means danger.

29:33 It means exposure.

29:35 It means hazards.

29:36 It means liabilities.

29:38 But it also means opportunities, possibilities, prospects.

29:43 And it also means uncertainty.

29:45 Me and Joyce, when we left London, we took a risk coming to Berlin.

29:49 Some of you took a risk moving to work in this city.

29:52 Some of you took a risk when you went out on IVF.

29:54 Some of you took a risk by asking her out.

29:57 Someone takes a risk by giving to another.

29:59 But there has got to be a generation of risk takers.

30:05 Without God, risk is risky.

30:11 Without God, risk is risky.

30:15 But with God, risk is called faith.

30:20 You spell risk, F-A -I-T -H.

30:24 You spell faith, R-I -C-K.

30:31 Don't slow down when God's speeding you up.

30:35 But you've got to decide, am I going to be a part of a risk-taking generation?

2025-07-20 - Overcoming My Doubts (Pt. 3) Be A Risk Taker - Mark Wilkinson.

Find your way.

Start with the teachings.