December 10, 2024 • 18 mins
When faced with a crossroads in your faith journey, do you choose certainty or trust? Join me as I share a pivotal moment from my own life—when I stepped away from a church role due to a shift in its theological direction, risking financial and career stability for the sake of biblical truth. This personal story sets the stage for our exploration of John chapter 20, where faith is portrayed as trusting in the one who holds the answers, not in having all the answers ourselves. We'll reflect on Mary Magdalene's encounter with the risen Jesus, a poignant reminder of the power of trusting beyond what we can see, something I experienced firsthand during my critical decision.
This episode doesn't stop at reflection; it challenges us to act. By examining Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to his disciples, we explore the profound message of peace and the symbolic meaning of his retained scars. The episode also dives into the theological discourse on the power to forgive sins, encouraging a deeper understanding of our responsibility in sharing the gospel. And as we prepare for a 52-week journey into the origins of the Bible, consider where God might be calling you to trust him more deeply and share his message. Join us for a transformative experience that invites you to embrace your calling with courage and conviction.
This episode doesn't stop at reflection; it challenges us to act. By examining Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to his disciples, we explore the profound message of peace and the symbolic meaning of his retained scars. The episode also dives into the theological discourse on the power to forgive sins, encouraging a deeper understanding of our responsibility in sharing the gospel. And as we prepare for a 52-week journey into the origins of the Bible, consider where God might be calling you to trust him more deeply and share his message. Join us for a transformative experience that invites you to embrace your calling with courage and conviction.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, podcasters.
We are getting towards the endof this John series.
In fact, this coming Sundaywill be 37 weeks in John as we
close out the series.
So I'm pretty excited of whatwe've gone through this year
diving into this book in theBible.
If you have not been with us onthis full journey, you can go
back and listen to some of thesepodcasts or you can go on
(00:21):
southshorechurchcom and you canactually listen to the messages
on the app there or on thewebsite and see what we've been
going through.
But this week we find ourselvesin John, chapter 20, the last
half of that chapter, and it'spretty fascinating.
The bottom line for this pastweekend was faith isn't about
having all the answers, it'sabout trusting the one who does,
(00:43):
and that's an easy thing to say, but that's a hard thing to
live out.
It's easy to trust wheneverything's going and when you
know direction and you knowwhat's to come, but when you're
wondering what's next, then yourfaith really hits the road
right.
You get to decide do I reallytrust God?
I had a season of this happenedthroughout my life different
(01:04):
moments, but probably the mostprominent one was about eight
and a half years ago, and if youknow the story I'm not going to
go into a lot of depth on it,but I was on staff at another
church and the church shiftedtheir theology overnight and
they went from very traditionalbiblical values to very
universalism, worldly values,and I knew at that moment that I
(01:25):
couldn't be a part of it.
So I sat in meetings forseveral days trying to process
what was going on and just knewin my heart that I could not
continue, as one of theleadership of that church, to
support the direction they weregoing, and so by the end of that
week I had resigned.
Now when I said I resigned, itwas against advice, like people
that I called my dad, like youcall your dad for advice, right,
(01:48):
and his big advice was youdon't quit a job till you have a
job, which is great advice ifyou're in this situation.
But I found myself in a momentthat was bigger than a paycheck,
bigger than a job.
It was a moment that I neededto stand firm on the word of God
.
Now, on the side, I was playing, gigging around town, playing
saxophone in a band calledReverend Barry and the Funk and
(02:08):
having the time of my life, butit did not pay very well.
It was more of a hobby than apaycheck.
And so, the day I quit my job,I had bills to pay, I had a
mortgage, I had car payments, Ihad a wife and two young kids,
and we did not know how we weregoing to survive for the next
season.
We didn't know how long itwould take to get back into
(02:31):
ministry or where that next jobwould take us if we'd have to
move.
There were so many unknowns, butthe thing that I knew is that
God was calling me to take astand.
And so in the days that wereuncertain, in the days that I
wondered how we were going tosurvive, how we were going to
pay our bills, how we were goingto eat, in those days I rested
on the fact that I knew I had acalling from God.
(02:51):
I knew my prayer was answered.
God, what do I do?
And what was I to do?
I was to leave that job.
I knew that prayer was answered.
It was not a maybe.
I knew beyond a shadow of adoubt what God was calling me to
do, and so I rested in that, onthe days that I did not know
what was to come, I didn't sitin a place of God, what was me
and what's to come.
(03:12):
Those feelings probably cameand went, but my overarching
heart was, I know I followedwhat God told me to do and I'm
going to wait to see what'shappening.
And I tell you that storybecause it was one of those
moments that I had to live outthis statement that faith isn't
about having all the answers,it's about trusting the one who
does.
Now, if you don't know the restof that story, one of the guys
(03:33):
in the band, reverend Barry andthe Funk, owns a business in
town and he offered me a jobvery quickly to just get by.
I wasn't making a lot of moneybut it helped that I was playing
with Reverend Barry and theFunk.
And then, honestly, thechurches around Sarasota rose up
, especially Covenant LifePresbyterian in Sarasota.
They rose up and took care ofour family and then God opened
doors at South Shore, whichbrought me to where I'm at now
(03:56):
and it's been an incredible ride.
But I always think about, withphrases like this, with this
idea of faith is it about havingall the answers?
About trusting one another?
Who does?
I think about that momentbecause it's one of those
moments I had to live out myfaith.
So, before we even dive intotoday's story, let me ask you
(04:17):
this when is God asking you totrust him?
It's probably a place that youdon't have all the answers right
.
Where is God asking you totrust him?
So we pick up this story.
John, chapter 20.
Mary Magdalene, peter and Johnhad gone to the empty tomb.
They'd realized Jesus' bodywasn't there.
John and Peter leave.
Mary stays, she cries, she seesthe angels and then she meets a
guy who at first she thinks isthe gardener, then to find out
(04:38):
it's Jesus.
And as soon as she has thisencounter with Jesus, she takes
off running to find thedisciples to tell them I have
seen the Lord.
Now, later that evening verse 19of the chapter on that evening,
on the first day of the week,when the disciples were together
I'm assuming they were talkingabout all that Mary had told
(04:58):
them the doors were still locked, though, because they feared
the Jewish leaders.
And while this was happeningtheir conversation, their coming
together Jesus came and stoodamong them and said peace, be
with you.
And I don't know about you, butthat would have scared the mess
(05:19):
out of me Some random guy whowe find out is just shows up in
the middle of a locked room.
It's going to scare you, andthe first thing he says is not,
don't be afraid.
Although that's what everyangel says when they show up
right, jesus says hey, I need tooffer you peace and I'm
bringing you that peace.
Now think about what has justhappened.
Jesus conquered the death, thegrave is empty, sin has been
defeated.
And he's saying because of whatI've done, you now can have
(05:43):
peace, and not just for thismoment, because he knew their
hearts were fearful, but you canhave peace for eternity.
It changes everything.
After he said this verse 20, heshowed them his hand and his
side, and the disciples wereoverjoyed with what they saw.
They were overjoyed with seeingthe Lord.
Imagine that moment for just asecond.
(06:05):
Like you've known that, jesushas been crucified.
He was hung on the cross.
He was pierced in his side.
Some were there, john saw ithappen, others heard about it,
and now Jesus is standing beforeyou, showing you his hands and
his feet and his side.
It had to have been anoverwhelming moment.
(06:28):
I said this weekend that one ofthe cool things of this story is
I don't think Jesus had to keephis scars.
Think about it for a moment.
He's in his glorified body nowand he's God, right, he could do
what he wants.
In my glorified body.
I hope it to be a thinner body,right, I want things different.
I don't want to look exactlylike I look, but he kept his
scars.
Why?
Because his scars tell thestory of redemption.
(06:50):
It points to what happened.
It reminds people of his love,but also his sacrifice.
Now, as the story goes on again, jesus said peace, be with you.
So he says it again, as theFather has sent me.
He says I'm sending you.
And with that he breathed onthem and said receive the Holy
Spirit.
And then he says something.
I didn't talk about this verseon this past weekend, but it
(07:13):
says if you forgive anyone'ssins, their sins are forgiven.
If you do not forgive them,they are not forgiven.
This is a little bit of acontroversial passage.
I wanted to preach on it thisweekend.
I just didn't have the time topreach that part of the message
and so I cut it from my notes.
But it's an interesting passagebecause it's been an argument
amongst Protestants versusCatholic churches for all of
(07:34):
time.
Right, they've argued this fast.
Catholics would come at it andsay this is what it means for
people to come and have theirsins forgiven.
This is why they have to comeand talk to the priest, because
Jesus said this to the disciplesIf you forgive anyone's sins,
their sins are forgiven.
If you don't, they're not.
And so this is where they pickapart a verse like this and say
this is why we do confession andforgive people's sins as
(07:57):
priests.
Truth be told, though, you can'tcherry pick one verse out of
scripture, and so, when you lookat the totality of scripture,
that only one person can forgivesins, and that's God you and I
do not have the power to forgivesins.
We have the power to tellpeople about the one that can
forgive sins.
Right, and so this is what he'ssaying in this passage If you
(08:18):
go and tell people about me andthey choose to follow me, their
sins are forgiven.
If they choose not to, then youknow what.
That's what happens their sinsaren't forgiven, and so you and
I have the role of sharing thegospel with everyone.
Now it's interesting to note inthat verse he says and with
that, he breathed on them andthey received the Holy Spirit.
This is a moment of fillingthem with what they need to
(08:41):
accomplish the mission that he'scalled them out for.
Remember the mission.
Just as the Father sent me, I'msending you out, and so maybe
the question for you is where isJesus sending you?
Where is he sending you to?
Who is he sending you to?
We had a missions meeting at ourchurch on Sunday.
Tons of people involved inwhat's happening next in our
church and, if you don't know,in 2025,.
(09:03):
We've got trips going to theDominican Republic, we've got
trips going to Honduras, we'vegot trips going to Africa, we
have some trips going indifferent places in the United
States, and so we're sendingconstantly people to go and
share the gospel, and so maybethat's you.
That's where you're beingcalled to, or maybe you're being
called to your neighbor or yourfamily or your friends or a
stranger down the street.
(09:23):
God is calling you to share hismessage and you have to be open
and ready to do that.
Now there's one person in thisstory not in that room that
night is a guy by the name ofThomas.
Verse 24 picks up and says now,thomas, one of the 12, was not
with the disciples when Jesuscame.
Imagine that for a moment youfind out that Jesus came,
(09:45):
visited, showed his scars andeverybody was excited, but you
just happened to miss churchthat night.
And so you missed out onmeeting Jesus, you missed out on
hearing his voice.
You missed out on hearing hisvoice, you missed out on seeing
the evidence, you missed out onthe moment that he brings peace
to you.
And so the other disciples.
They told Thomas as soon asthey saw him we've seen the Lord
(10:05):
.
And that must have been anexciting moment for them to be
able to say, hey, he's not dead.
But Thomas's response isprobably very similar to how you
and I would respond.
But Thomas's response isprobably very similar to how you
and I would respond.
He said unless I see the nailmarks in his hands, unless I put
my finger where the nails wereand put my hand into his side, I
will not believe.
(10:26):
It's crazy.
Imagine your friends tellingyou hey, jesus is alive, we saw
him.
You'd be like, hey, yeah, sure.
Next thing you're going to tellme Elvis is flipping pancakes
at the Waffle House, right?
It's one of those moments thatyou've got to decide are you
waiting for evidence or do youtrust?
And it's interesting thatThomas didn't trust.
These were guys that he knew.
These were guys that he had ranwith.
(10:48):
They had no reason to try totrick Thomas, but this was a
moment that he chose not to andnotice the word he uses.
But this was a moment that hechose not to and notice the word
.
He uses the word.
Unless we have those moments aswell, thomas is setting up his
own conditions for belief, andyou and I have those moments.
Unless God answers thisspecific prayer, I'm not going
to trust him, or unless my lifegets easier, I won't believe.
(11:15):
He's struggling and for thenext week, thomas spends a week
before he actually gets to meetJesus, a week of wondering, a
week of saying, man, I wish Ihad been there.
I can't believe I missed it,but he did.
Now Scripture says, picking upin verse 26,.
A week later, his disciples werein the house again and Thomas
(11:36):
was with them, though the doorswere locked.
Jesus came and he stood amongthem again and said peace, be
with you.
It's another moment.
They're gathered together.
It's the next Sunday, right?
They're in this room hangingout together, gathering together
as they do weekly.
And this time Thomas is thereand Jesus shows up in the middle
of the room and he says peace.
And this time, thomas is thereand Jesus shows up in the middle
of the room and he says peace,be with you.
(11:57):
And then he scans the room andhe sees Thomas, the guy that
wasn't there before, thomas, theguy that we call doubting
Thomas for the rest of his life,the rest of eternity.
And he says Thomas, come here,thomas, put your finger here,
see my hands, reach out yourhand and put it into my side.
And then he has this call forThomas Stop doubting and believe
(12:21):
.
Instead of scolding Thomas, heoffers Thomas exactly what he
needs Thomas needed to feel,thomas needed to see and Thomas
needed a chance to believe.
And on that, thomas looked atJesus and said my Lord and my
God.
Up till this moment, when he'sreferring to Jesus, he always
calls him teacher or rabbi, butin this moment, he announces
(12:45):
that he's Lord and God, and notonly that he's my Lord and my
God.
Faith is personal, it's adecision that you have to make.
And he says my Lord and my God.
I want you to think about thedeclaration he makes there,
because it's in that moment thathe sees Jesus for who he really
is not just a teacher, not justa miracle worker, not even just
(13:08):
the Messiah.
He sees Jesus as God, thecreator of all things, the
sustainer of life, the one whoholds the universe in his hands.
Can you imagine the weight ofthat realization?
To look into the face of Jesusand declare I get it, you are
God.
It's a recognition of Jesus'sdivinity, of his power, of his
(13:31):
ultimate authority overeverything.
Then Jesus told him becauseyou've seen me, you have
believed.
Blessed are those who have notseen and yet have believed, and
that's you and I.
He says man, blessed are thepeople.
There's a blessing upon youfrom Jesus himself if you've
(13:53):
believed and you didn't have theopportunity, like Thomas did,
to actually see.
So let that sit in your heartfor just a moment Now.
John went on and finished thischapter, verses 30, 31.
He says Jesus performed manyother signs in the presence of
his disciples, but they're notrecorded in this book.
(14:13):
But the ones that are recordedJohn was very specific with the
stories he chose, but these arewritten that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, theSon of God, and that by
believing you may have life inhis name, man.
What an incredible story.
What an incredible experiencethat the disciples had to meet
(14:36):
Jesus, to see the scars and tobe able to declare my Lord and
my God.
I don't know where you're at onyour faith journey.
But I want to remind you, faithisn't about having all the
answers, it's about trusting theone who does.
Now I've spent most of todayworking on next week's message
(14:56):
and so let me give you a quickteaser, just one of my thoughts
that I'm wrestling with thisweek the stories about the
resurrection, about Thomas andthem meeting Jesus.
I think for John would havebeen a great way to end this
story, a great way to end thisgospel.
But John writes one morechapter, and it's not a chapter
of conclusion, it's a chapter ofredemption, it's a chapter of
(15:19):
healing.
He finds these guys fishing andhe calls them out.
If you don't know that story orit's been a while since you
heard it don't miss eitherChurch on Sunday or next week's
podcast as I unpack the lastchapter in John, chapter 21.
Last thing I'll tell you isthis If you don't know, I've got
a book coming out in middle ofJanuary called Be Free.
(15:41):
Be on the lookout for that.
If you want to join me on thisjourney of getting the word out
on that book, you can go to mywebsite at nick-williamscom
backslash team and that'll getyou on the book team.
You can sign up for thenewsletter as well.
Final announcement at the endor at the beginning of next year
I'm diving into a new series,so not my preaching series,
(16:02):
although I will continue that.
We're going to dive into thebook of Romans next year and go
verse by verse through there,but on this podcast I'm also
going to be doing a secondaryseries talking through theology,
the basics and the foundationsof our faith, questions like who
is God, who is Jesus, or why dowe trust the Bible?
Where did the Bible come from?
We're going to dive into someof that over the 52 weeks of
(16:24):
next year.
I hope you'll join me on thatjourney next week or the
following.
I will give you a link to signup for the newsletter to follow
the written part of this, if youwant to do that as well.
Anyway, I hope you have anincredible week.
I hope, just like Thomas, thatyou can declare that God, that
Jesus is my God and my Lord,that you can tell people about
(16:45):
him, that you can follow thecalling that Jesus gave us, that
, just as my father has sent me,I am sending you.
So go out, share the gospel anduntil next time, I hope you
have an incredible week.
Hey, podcasters.
We are getting towards the endof this John series.
In fact, this coming Sundaywill be 37 weeks in John as we
close out the series.
So I'm pretty excited of whatwe've gone through this year
diving into this book in theBible.
If you have not been with us onthis full journey, you can go
back and listen to some of thesepodcasts or you can go on
(00:21):
southshorechurchcom and you canactually listen to the messages
on the app there or on thewebsite and see what we've been
going through.
But this week we find ourselvesin John, chapter 20, the last
half of that chapter, and it'spretty fascinating.
The bottom line for this pastweekend was faith isn't about
having all the answers, it'sabout trusting the one who does,
(00:43):
and that's an easy thing to say, but that's a hard thing to
live out.
It's easy to trust wheneverything's going and when you
know direction and you knowwhat's to come, but when you're
wondering what's next, then yourfaith really hits the road
right.
You get to decide do I reallytrust God?
I had a season of this happenedthroughout my life different
(01:04):
moments, but probably the mostprominent one was about eight
and a half years ago, and if youknow the story I'm not going to
go into a lot of depth on it,but I was on staff at another
church and the church shiftedtheir theology overnight and
they went from very traditionalbiblical values to very
universalism, worldly values,and I knew at that moment that I
(01:25):
couldn't be a part of it.
So I sat in meetings forseveral days trying to process
what was going on and just knewin my heart that I could not
continue, as one of theleadership of that church, to
support the direction they weregoing, and so by the end of that
week I had resigned.
Now when I said I resigned, itwas against advice, like people
that I called my dad, like youcall your dad for advice, right,
(01:48):
and his big advice was youdon't quit a job till you have a
job, which is great advice ifyou're in this situation.
But I found myself in a momentthat was bigger than a paycheck,
bigger than a job.
It was a moment that I neededto stand firm on the word of God
.
Now, on the side, I was playing, gigging around town, playing
saxophone in a band calledReverend Barry and the Funk and
(02:08):
having the time of my life, butit did not pay very well.
It was more of a hobby than apaycheck.
And so, the day I quit my job,I had bills to pay, I had a
mortgage, I had car payments, Ihad a wife and two young kids,
and we did not know how we weregoing to survive for the next
season.
We didn't know how long itwould take to get back into
(02:31):
ministry or where that next jobwould take us if we'd have to
move.
There were so many unknowns, butthe thing that I knew is that
God was calling me to take astand.
And so in the days that wereuncertain, in the days that I
wondered how we were going tosurvive, how we were going to
pay our bills, how we were goingto eat, in those days I rested
on the fact that I knew I had acalling from God.
(02:51):
I knew my prayer was answered.
God, what do I do?
And what was I to do?
I was to leave that job.
I knew that prayer was answered.
It was not a maybe.
I knew beyond a shadow of adoubt what God was calling me to
do, and so I rested in that, onthe days that I did not know
what was to come, I didn't sitin a place of God, what was me
and what's to come.
(03:12):
Those feelings probably cameand went, but my overarching
heart was, I know I followedwhat God told me to do and I'm
going to wait to see what'shappening.
And I tell you that storybecause it was one of those
moments that I had to live outthis statement that faith isn't
about having all the answers,it's about trusting the one who
does.
Now, if you don't know the restof that story, one of the guys
(03:33):
in the band, reverend Barry andthe Funk, owns a business in
town and he offered me a jobvery quickly to just get by.
I wasn't making a lot of moneybut it helped that I was playing
with Reverend Barry and theFunk.
And then, honestly, thechurches around Sarasota rose up
, especially Covenant LifePresbyterian in Sarasota.
They rose up and took care ofour family and then God opened
doors at South Shore, whichbrought me to where I'm at now
(03:56):
and it's been an incredible ride.
But I always think about, withphrases like this, with this
idea of faith is it about havingall the answers?
About trusting one another?
Who does?
I think about that momentbecause it's one of those
moments I had to live out myfaith.
So, before we even dive intotoday's story, let me ask you
(04:17):
this when is God asking you totrust him?
It's probably a place that youdon't have all the answers right
.
Where is God asking you totrust him?
So we pick up this story.
John, chapter 20.
Mary Magdalene, peter and Johnhad gone to the empty tomb.
They'd realized Jesus' bodywasn't there.
John and Peter leave.
Mary stays, she cries, she seesthe angels and then she meets a
guy who at first she thinks isthe gardener, then to find out
(04:38):
it's Jesus.
And as soon as she has thisencounter with Jesus, she takes
off running to find thedisciples to tell them I have
seen the Lord.
Now, later that evening verse 19of the chapter on that evening,
on the first day of the week,when the disciples were together
I'm assuming they were talkingabout all that Mary had told
(04:58):
them the doors were still locked, though, because they feared
the Jewish leaders.
And while this was happeningtheir conversation, their coming
together Jesus came and stoodamong them and said peace, be
with you.
And I don't know about you, butthat would have scared the mess
(05:19):
out of me Some random guy whowe find out is just shows up in
the middle of a locked room.
It's going to scare you, andthe first thing he says is not,
don't be afraid.
Although that's what everyangel says when they show up
right, jesus says hey, I need tooffer you peace and I'm
bringing you that peace.
Now think about what has justhappened.
Jesus conquered the death, thegrave is empty, sin has been
defeated.
And he's saying because of whatI've done, you now can have
(05:43):
peace, and not just for thismoment, because he knew their
hearts were fearful, but you canhave peace for eternity.
It changes everything.
After he said this verse 20, heshowed them his hand and his
side, and the disciples wereoverjoyed with what they saw.
They were overjoyed with seeingthe Lord.
Imagine that moment for just asecond.
(06:05):
Like you've known that, jesushas been crucified.
He was hung on the cross.
He was pierced in his side.
Some were there, john saw ithappen, others heard about it,
and now Jesus is standing beforeyou, showing you his hands and
his feet and his side.
It had to have been anoverwhelming moment.
(06:28):
I said this weekend that one ofthe cool things of this story is
I don't think Jesus had to keephis scars.
Think about it for a moment.
He's in his glorified body nowand he's God, right, he could do
what he wants.
In my glorified body.
I hope it to be a thinner body,right, I want things different.
I don't want to look exactlylike I look, but he kept his
scars.
Why?
Because his scars tell thestory of redemption.
(06:50):
It points to what happened.
It reminds people of his love,but also his sacrifice.
Now, as the story goes on again, jesus said peace, be with you.
So he says it again, as theFather has sent me.
He says I'm sending you.
And with that he breathed onthem and said receive the Holy
Spirit.
And then he says something.
I didn't talk about this verseon this past weekend, but it
(07:13):
says if you forgive anyone'ssins, their sins are forgiven.
If you do not forgive them,they are not forgiven.
This is a little bit of acontroversial passage.
I wanted to preach on it thisweekend.
I just didn't have the time topreach that part of the message
and so I cut it from my notes.
But it's an interesting passagebecause it's been an argument
amongst Protestants versusCatholic churches for all of
(07:34):
time.
Right, they've argued this fast.
Catholics would come at it andsay this is what it means for
people to come and have theirsins forgiven.
This is why they have to comeand talk to the priest, because
Jesus said this to the disciplesIf you forgive anyone's sins,
their sins are forgiven.
If you don't, they're not.
And so this is where they pickapart a verse like this and say
this is why we do confession andforgive people's sins as
(07:57):
priests.
Truth be told, though, you can'tcherry pick one verse out of
scripture, and so, when you lookat the totality of scripture,
that only one person can forgivesins, and that's God you and I
do not have the power to forgivesins.
We have the power to tellpeople about the one that can
forgive sins.
Right, and so this is what he'ssaying in this passage If you
(08:18):
go and tell people about me andthey choose to follow me, their
sins are forgiven.
If they choose not to, then youknow what.
That's what happens their sinsaren't forgiven, and so you and
I have the role of sharing thegospel with everyone.
Now it's interesting to note inthat verse he says and with
that, he breathed on them andthey received the Holy Spirit.
This is a moment of fillingthem with what they need to
(08:41):
accomplish the mission that he'scalled them out for.
Remember the mission.
Just as the Father sent me, I'msending you out, and so maybe
the question for you is where isJesus sending you?
Where is he sending you to?
Who is he sending you to?
We had a missions meeting at ourchurch on Sunday.
Tons of people involved inwhat's happening next in our
church and, if you don't know,in 2025,.
(09:03):
We've got trips going to theDominican Republic, we've got
trips going to Honduras, we'vegot trips going to Africa, we
have some trips going indifferent places in the United
States, and so we're sendingconstantly people to go and
share the gospel, and so maybethat's you.
That's where you're beingcalled to, or maybe you're being
called to your neighbor or yourfamily or your friends or a
stranger down the street.
(09:23):
God is calling you to share hismessage and you have to be open
and ready to do that.
Now there's one person in thisstory not in that room that
night is a guy by the name ofThomas.
Verse 24 picks up and says now,thomas, one of the 12, was not
with the disciples when Jesuscame.
Imagine that for a moment youfind out that Jesus came,
(09:45):
visited, showed his scars andeverybody was excited, but you
just happened to miss churchthat night.
And so you missed out onmeeting Jesus, you missed out on
hearing his voice.
You missed out on hearing hisvoice, you missed out on seeing
the evidence, you missed out onthe moment that he brings peace
to you.
And so the other disciples.
They told Thomas as soon asthey saw him we've seen the Lord
(10:05):
.
And that must have been anexciting moment for them to be
able to say, hey, he's not dead.
But Thomas's response isprobably very similar to how you
and I would respond.
But Thomas's response isprobably very similar to how you
and I would respond.
He said unless I see the nailmarks in his hands, unless I put
my finger where the nails wereand put my hand into his side, I
will not believe.
(10:26):
It's crazy.
Imagine your friends tellingyou hey, jesus is alive, we saw
him.
You'd be like, hey, yeah, sure.
Next thing you're going to tellme Elvis is flipping pancakes
at the Waffle House, right?
It's one of those moments thatyou've got to decide are you
waiting for evidence or do youtrust?
And it's interesting thatThomas didn't trust.
These were guys that he knew.
These were guys that he had ranwith.
(10:48):
They had no reason to try totrick Thomas, but this was a
moment that he chose not to andnotice the word he uses.
But this was a moment that hechose not to and notice the word
.
He uses the word.
Unless we have those moments aswell, thomas is setting up his
own conditions for belief, andyou and I have those moments.
Unless God answers thisspecific prayer, I'm not going
to trust him, or unless my lifegets easier, I won't believe.
(11:15):
He's struggling and for thenext week, thomas spends a week
before he actually gets to meetJesus, a week of wondering, a
week of saying, man, I wish Ihad been there.
I can't believe I missed it,but he did.
Now Scripture says, picking upin verse 26,.
A week later, his disciples werein the house again and Thomas
(11:36):
was with them, though the doorswere locked.
Jesus came and he stood amongthem again and said peace, be
with you.
It's another moment.
They're gathered together.
It's the next Sunday, right?
They're in this room hangingout together, gathering together
as they do weekly.
And this time Thomas is thereand Jesus shows up in the middle
of the room and he says peace.
And this time, thomas is thereand Jesus shows up in the middle
of the room and he says peace,be with you.
(11:57):
And then he scans the room andhe sees Thomas, the guy that
wasn't there before, thomas, theguy that we call doubting
Thomas for the rest of his life,the rest of eternity.
And he says Thomas, come here,thomas, put your finger here,
see my hands, reach out yourhand and put it into my side.
And then he has this call forThomas Stop doubting and believe
(12:21):
.
Instead of scolding Thomas, heoffers Thomas exactly what he
needs Thomas needed to feel,thomas needed to see and Thomas
needed a chance to believe.
And on that, thomas looked atJesus and said my Lord and my
God.
Up till this moment, when he'sreferring to Jesus, he always
calls him teacher or rabbi, butin this moment, he announces
(12:45):
that he's Lord and God, and notonly that he's my Lord and my
God.
Faith is personal, it's adecision that you have to make.
And he says my Lord and my God.
I want you to think about thedeclaration he makes there,
because it's in that moment thathe sees Jesus for who he really
is not just a teacher, not justa miracle worker, not even just
(13:08):
the Messiah.
He sees Jesus as God, thecreator of all things, the
sustainer of life, the one whoholds the universe in his hands.
Can you imagine the weight ofthat realization?
To look into the face of Jesusand declare I get it, you are
God.
It's a recognition of Jesus'sdivinity, of his power, of his
(13:31):
ultimate authority overeverything.
Then Jesus told him becauseyou've seen me, you have
believed.
Blessed are those who have notseen and yet have believed, and
that's you and I.
He says man, blessed are thepeople.
There's a blessing upon youfrom Jesus himself if you've
(13:53):
believed and you didn't have theopportunity, like Thomas did,
to actually see.
So let that sit in your heartfor just a moment Now.
John went on and finished thischapter, verses 30, 31.
He says Jesus performed manyother signs in the presence of
his disciples, but they're notrecorded in this book.
(14:13):
But the ones that are recordedJohn was very specific with the
stories he chose, but these arewritten that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, theSon of God, and that by
believing you may have life inhis name, man.
What an incredible story.
What an incredible experiencethat the disciples had to meet
(14:36):
Jesus, to see the scars and tobe able to declare my Lord and
my God.
I don't know where you're at onyour faith journey.
But I want to remind you, faithisn't about having all the
answers, it's about trusting theone who does.
Now I've spent most of todayworking on next week's message
(14:56):
and so let me give you a quickteaser, just one of my thoughts
that I'm wrestling with thisweek the stories about the
resurrection, about Thomas andthem meeting Jesus.
I think for John would havebeen a great way to end this
story, a great way to end thisgospel.
But John writes one morechapter, and it's not a chapter
of conclusion, it's a chapter ofredemption, it's a chapter of
(15:19):
healing.
He finds these guys fishing andhe calls them out.
If you don't know that story orit's been a while since you
heard it don't miss eitherChurch on Sunday or next week's
podcast as I unpack the lastchapter in John, chapter 21.
Last thing I'll tell you isthis If you don't know, I've got
a book coming out in middle ofJanuary called Be Free.
(15:41):
Be on the lookout for that.
If you want to join me on thisjourney of getting the word out
on that book, you can go to mywebsite at nick-williamscom
backslash team and that'll getyou on the book team.
You can sign up for thenewsletter as well.
Final announcement at the endor at the beginning of next year
I'm diving into a new series,so not my preaching series,
(16:02):
although I will continue that.
We're going to dive into thebook of Romans next year and go
verse by verse through there,but on this podcast I'm also
going to be doing a secondaryseries talking through theology,
the basics and the foundationsof our faith, questions like who
is God, who is Jesus, or why dowe trust the Bible?
Where did the Bible come from?
We're going to dive into someof that over the 52 weeks of
(16:24):
next year.
I hope you'll join me on thatjourney next week or the
following.
I will give you a link to signup for the newsletter to follow
the written part of this, if youwant to do that as well.
Anyway, I hope you have anincredible week.
I hope, just like Thomas, thatyou can declare that God, that
Jesus is my God and my Lord,that you can tell people about
(16:45):
him, that you can follow thecalling that Jesus gave us, that
, just as my father has sent me,I am sending you.
So go out, share the gospel anduntil next time, I hope you
have an incredible week.
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