Mission Hills Church
People have always had strong opinions about Jesus. From “heretic” to “prophet” to “Son of God”, beliefs have always covered the spectrum. Join us as we explore the beginning of the great debate, as recorded in the Gospel of John…and see why billions through the centuries have decided he is the only Savior worth their lives.
Doubt and faith are not mutually exclusive.
They can and do exist together simultaneously.
A healthy approach to dealing with doubt can lead to greater faith.
Rather than doubt always diminishing our faith, doubt can be the path to greater faith, greater trust.
John 9:1-5 NIV
We need to focus less on who is to be blamed and more on what is to be gained.
When bad things happen, it’s very easy to get caught up in asking who’s responsible for this mess, but doing that can blind us to what God is doing with the mess.
John 9:6-7 NIV
He was hoping for some celebration. But what he gets is an interrogation.
John 9:8-12 NIV
What we don’t know can become the blindfold that keeps us from seeing the answers we long for...but it doesn’t have to.
John 9:13-41 NIV
Both this man and the religious leaders were dealing with basically the same set of things they knew and things they didn’t know.
· They both knew the man was blind from birth
· They both knew Jesus healed him
· They both didn’t know why the man was born blind from birth.
· They both didn’t know why God waited until this moment to heal him
· They both didn’t know why Jesus used mud
· They both didn’t know why Jesus did it on the Sabbath
· They both didn’t know who Jesus really was
The things they didn’t know outnumbered the things they did.
We must cling to the un-deniable, not the in-explicable.
Am I clinging to the in-explicable rather than to the un-deniable?
Let me give you some of the un-deniables that I think you need to come to grips with:
1 // Every scientific observation points to the universe as having a beginning.
2 // Nothing cannot produce something.
3 // Your own soul longs for God to exist…so you’re either crazy or you’re circling the truth that God exists.
4 // Something earth-shaking happened in first century Palestine…the Resurrection.
FOR THE SAINTS
Those who have already put their faith in Jesus: we can fall into the same trap of focusing on the things we don’t know rather than the things we do.
Maybe you’re struggling with why God allowed something into your life…or why he didn’t do something you hoped…or expected…he would. Hear me: it’s ok to ask those questions. It’s ok to struggle with doubt. Doubt doesn’t mean that you’re a bad follower of Jesus…it just means that you’re an honest one. But…we must cling to the un-deniable, not the in-explicable.
Clinging to the in-explicable paralyzes us from moving forward with him, even though he’s already shown his power and his love. And the real tragedy is that the answers to the questions we’re asking are usually only to be found around the corner…so we have to move forward with Jesus if we ever want to get the answers we crave. So clinging to the un-deniable, not the in-explicable isn’t just faithful…it’s practical.
What are the top three un-deniable truths that I need to cling to?