For Real: The Journey of Belief

The Show-Me State
April 23, 2023
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch

John 20:19 (NIV)
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

John 20:19 (NIV)
… “Peace be with you!”

John 20:20 (NIV)
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

John 20:21 (NIV)
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

John 20:22 (NIV)
And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

John 20:23 (NIV)
“If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

1 Corinthians 15:2-4 (NIV)
By this gospel you are saved … . For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures … .

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

John 20:24-25 (NIV)
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

John 20:25 (NIV)
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

John 20:26 (NIV)
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

John 20:26 (NIV)
… “Peace be with you!”

John 20:27 (NIV)
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

John 20:28 (NIV)
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

John 20:29 (NIV)
“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:30-31 (NIV)
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

Takeaways From Thomas on the Journey of Belief

• Facing our doubts doesn’t have to be the end of belief, but a door to deeper belief.

Frederick Buechner
Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.

C. S. Lewis
If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger. It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy God more deeply.

• Grace and mercy are needed for anyone on the journey of belief.

Jude 22 (NIV)
Be merciful to those who doubt … .

• A community of disciples, who are in process themselves, is the place for us to face our doubts.