Sermon 3 - Doubting Thomas: From Doubt to Devotion

Welcome to New disciple Fellowship. We are planting a church in Kent County, DE!!
Today’s message is about one of the most relatable figures in the New Testament — Thomas, often labeled as “Doubting Thomas.” But I propose to you today that Thomas' story is not a story of failure — it’s a story of transformation, a journey from honest doubt to unshakable devotion.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Welcome back, family. We are so blessed to have you today.
My name is Lead Pastor George Hobbs of New Disciple
Fellowship Church. We are planning a church in Kent County, Delaware.
We have taken the steps. We are gathering brothers and
sisters who are like minded, who want to share the
gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples. For the last

(00:45):
several years, we've been going out into the world, hanging
up Bibles and tracks and doing exactly that, sharing the
gospel of Jesus Christ. But then we've realized we can
accomplish that mission extremely better, right by creating fishures of men. Right,

(01:07):
I was going out and doing it one person, you know,
we're commanded to do so. However, if we can create
disciples who create disciples, who create disciples, that in turn
creates a domino effect and we can really transform this world.
So again, God, bless you. Thank you for being here.
I pray that you were well both mentally and physically

(01:30):
and in a good place. We're going to open up
with prayer today. Father God, we gather here today under
your care and protection. We thank you for your loving
kindness that never fails us. We thank you for those
with us, that you would guide our thoughts and our
actions to bring you glory, strengthen us, and fill us
with your peace. May we love and serve each other

(01:52):
as Jesus has shown. Fill us with the Holy Spirit
to do your good work on earth. We ask all
these things. Is Christ name, we pray Amen. So it's
important the first couple of episodes just to lay the groundwork,
which we did. I want to stay in the New Testament. However,
we are going to be starting a series. If you
go to the website, you'll see we will be organizing

(02:15):
the sermons in series, different pastors, different speakers eventually, but
we're going to keep in the New Testament for the
next few episodes and then we're going to start going back.
I'm actually working on a sermon for Ruth. When you
think about Ruth, what an incredible story coming on the
heels of the Judges, basically the darkest time in Israel.

(02:37):
Every time a Knew Judge came around, it got worse
and worse, and here comes Ruth and the story of
redemption in that book, those four chapters. But I wanted
to talk about doubting Thomas right one of the great
stories of the Bible, so many great stories from doubt
to devotion. And of course, the main text is going

(02:59):
to come from from the twentieth chapter of John, and
it talks about you know, the main theme, I guess
you could say is Jesus meets us in our doubt
and leads us to deeper faith. So again, and I
believe today's message is about one of the most relatable
figures in the New Testament, Thomas, right, And that is

(03:23):
it's incredible. Could you imagine being named after something famous
as doubting Thomas? And here we are two thousand years
later and we're still using those two words to refer
to someone of spiritually doubting. Right. But I propose to
you today that Thomas's story is not, by any way,
shape or form, a story of failure. It is, indeed

(03:46):
a story of transformation, a journey from honest doubt to
unshakable devotion. It is the story of many of us,
all right. So let's open our Bibles to John chapter twenty,
verses twenty four to twenty in our King James version Bible.
But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not

(04:06):
with them when Jesus came the other disciples therefore said
unto him, we have seen the Lord. But he said,
unto them, except I shall see in his hands the
print of the nails, and put my finger in the
print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side,
I will not believe. And after eight days again his

(04:29):
disciples were within, and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus.
The doors began to shut, and stood in the midst
and said, peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas,
reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, and reach

(04:50):
hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, as
be not faithless but believing. And Thomas answered said, unto him,
my Lord and my God. Jesus said, unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are

(05:11):
they that have not seen and yet believe. So before
we rushed to judge Thomas for his doubt, let's consider
the context. Right, the disciples had just experienced the most
traumatic weekend of their lives. Right, Jesus, the Master, the
Messiah had been crucified, and they were devastated. They were confused,

(05:37):
they were afraid. Some had seen the empty tomb. Others
had seen the risen Christ. But remember, Thomas was not
there when Jesus first appeared. But Thomas was not with
them when Jesus came verse twenty four. Okay, so where

(05:58):
was he? We don't know for sure, but it's possible
Thomas had withdrawn in sorrow or fear, and like many
of us, when disappointment hits, he may have chosen isolation.
That's what many of us do. We just shut down.
So he missed the blessing of that first appearance, but
Jesus came back just for him. Let me ask you this,

(06:22):
have you ever felt like you missed out on a
move of God? Like everyone else seems to be experiencing
his present, but you so, Thomas shows that Jesus doesn't
leave his sheep behind. He always comes back for the
one who is doubting. And listen, let's look at the

(06:47):
honesty of Thomas's doubt. Verse twenty five shows us a
powerful moment of transparency. Except I shall see in his
hands the print of the nails, I will not believe.
So listen, Thomas isn't faking his faith here. He is
honest about his need. He's not rejecting Jesus. He's wrestling

(07:12):
with what seems unbelievable and many times, listen, for some
of us, we've been talking about the resurrection our entire life.
If you were brought up in the church, maybe you're
new to Jesus and the resurrection theme is new to you.
But imagine putting yourself back two thousand years ago and
witnessing someone you know, just the horrific vision of seeing

(07:38):
someone now to a cross, dying and three days later
rising from the dead. I mean it's powerful, right, this
is very important. Some people say doubt is the enemy

(08:00):
of faith. I think denial is so doubt When brought
honestly before the Lord, it can actually lead to a
deeper faith. We've seen many stories Gideon as well. Right,
Thomas wasn't content with secondhand faith. He wanted a personal encounter. So,

(08:23):
and I understand many of you listening today may be
wrestling with your own doubts. You've heard the stories, you've
been around the church, but your heart says, Lord, I
need to know you for myself, and it's inviting. He
welcomes the seeker, he meets the honest doubter. We're all

(08:48):
flawed and that is the redemptive story of redemption through Christ.
Let's look at verse twenty six. After eight days, then
came Jesus and said, peace be unto you. He didn't
rebuke Thomas, he didn't sham in front of the others.
He greeted him with peace. Peace be unto you, brother.

(09:13):
And Jesus knew exactly what Thomas had said. Remember he
had quoted Thomas's words back to him in verse twenty seven.
Reach hither thy finger, behold my hands. Don't be faithless, believe.
And Jesus met Thomas at his level of need. He

(09:34):
didn't scold the doubt. He addressed it. This is the
beauty of the gospel. God understands us. He welcomes us
in our weakness, you know, through our faith, our fear,
and our confusion and her questions. He looks at us

(09:58):
and he says, be unto you. Psalm's thirty four, verse
eighteen says the Lord is nigh unto them that are
of broken heart, and saveth such as be of a
contrite spirit. So I ask you, are you bringing your

(10:20):
doubts to Christ? Or are you hiding them in shame? Well,
here's the one thing you have to understand. Jesus already
knows what you're thinking. He invites you to come close.
He invites you to reach out and to touch his wones,
to see that his resurrection is real, that his love

(10:43):
for you is real. Right, And in that confession it
changed everything. You get to the turning point verse twenty eight,
and Thomas answered, unto him, my Lord, my God, what
a confession. This is the highest declaration of Jesus's divinity

(11:05):
in the entire Gospel of John. And it comes from
the lips of the one we call doubting Thomas. Right,
and he turned doubt into devotion. My Lord, my God. Right.
He just didn't say you are Lord. He didn't say

(11:25):
you are God. He said my Lord and my God.
That's personal, that's relationship, right, That that is worship. Thomas
saw the risen Christ, scars and all, and he believed.
He went from skeptic to worshiper. And this moment really

(11:47):
echoes the entire purpose of John's gospel. In John twenty,
verse thirty one, it says, but these are written that
ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that believing ye might have life through
his name. So what do you say about Jesus. Is

(12:08):
it enough to say he was a good teacher, not
enough to say he was a prophet? The True Disciple
echoes Thomas's quote, my Lord, my God, I will follow
you wherever ye shall go. That's the cry of a
heart that has seen the risen savior. And Jesus responds

(12:33):
in verse twenty nine with a promise that reaches through
the centuries to us today. Thomas, because thou hast seen me,
thou hast believed. Now, blessed are they that have not
seen and yet believed. That's you and I, folks, we

(12:55):
have not seen him physically, but we believe, my Lord,
my God. And Jesus says, we are blessed, and are
we blessed? Absolutely? We are blessed right And this beatitude
is for every believer in every generation who takes Jesus
at his word. Second Corinthians of Hive five, verse seven says,

(13:20):
for we walk by faith, not by sight. We walk
by faith, not by sight. Romans ten, verse seventeen states
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
And Jesus knew there would be millions like Thomas wrestle
with doubt, but unlike Thomas, wouldn't get the chance to

(13:44):
touch the nail scarred hands. So he gave a promise.
You are blessed when you believe, even without seeing. So really,
from doubt to mission is Thomas's legacy. Now, Thomas didn't
remain the doubter. History tells us that after Pentecost, Thomas

(14:08):
became a bold missionary. Church tradition holds that he went
all the way to India where he preached the Gospel and,
as we know, eventually martyred for his faith. This is
what Jesus does. He takes doubters and turns them into disciples.
And that is what we want here at New Disciple Fellowship.

(14:31):
We want to turn people into disciples and become so
overwhelmed with the love of Jesus Christ and so passionate
that they go out and create other disciples. And we've
rid the vile evil of this world. And you can't
fix secular problems with secular ideals. We have to start

(14:52):
with the love of Jesus Christ. Right, That's what Jesus does.
He takes doubters and earns them into disciples. He takes
people that question things and makes them proclaimers. Your doubt
is not at the end of our story like Thomas.

(15:15):
You can move from hesitation to boldness, from fear to
mission from unless I see to my Lord and my
God and again. Maybe today you feel like Thomas. Maybe
you're you're confused, You're you're hurting or skeptical. But I've

(15:38):
got news for you. Your doubt does not repel Jesus.
He draws you near, He offers you peace, and he
offers his presence by saying, be not faithless but believing.

(15:59):
Don't live and spiritual isolation. Come back into the fellowship
of believers. Don't let unanswered questions keep you from Jesus.
Let them drive you to his feet. Right Jesus just
isn't Lord and God. He wants to be your Lord

(16:22):
and God. Look at Romans ten to nine, Paul's letter
to Rome that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

(16:44):
Right on the commercials, I always say seeing is believing.
You don't need to see to believe, You need to
believe to truly see to be fully awake and this
matrix that we live in. Thomas's story isn't one of shame, however,

(17:05):
it is one of grace. It's one of a savior
who pursues the doubter, reveals himself and calls for faith.
And when that faith is born, the doubter becomes the worshiper. So,
whether you're doubting, distant, discouraged, let the story of Thomas

(17:30):
remind you that Jesus still comes through locked doors. He
speaks in peace, he still shows his wounds, and he
still calls you to believe. And if you will say today,
my Lord, my God, you will be counted among the blessed.

(17:56):
If you haven't yet, I ask that you repent your
sins or Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and turn your
life around. Remember here at New Disciple Fellowship and hopefully
at wherever you worship, that repentance is truly explained. And
we have done a lot of that over the first

(18:16):
few sermons here. It's very important to understand contrition and
turning away from sin and turning toward God. Not just words.
God bless each and every one of you. Let us
pray thank you Father, So much for meeting us in
our doubts. Thank you for the example of Thomas, not
to shame us, but to show us that you are

(18:39):
a God who pursues the heart that's seeking truth. Lord Jesus,
you are our Lord and our God. Help us to
believe even when we don't see, and to follow you boldly.
And we are so thankful for this time we've shared

(19:03):
in fellowship with you today. We are grateful for your word,
for the connections that we have made already and will
continue to make, and for the blessings that you've bestowed
upon us. And as we leave, we all go our
separate ways. We ask that you guide us, protect us,
and help us to live out our faith in the world.

(19:23):
May your peace be with us always. Jesus Christ's name,
we pray Amen. Thank you all. God, bless each and
every one of you. We'll be getting into our discipleship
series here in the very near future as well, and
we'll be talking about the five steps of creating a disciple.

(19:44):
We're in the midst of the first one, right repentance
is step one. We'll keep you updated as we continue
to look for a physical place to worship. Until then,
we will continue to use the website and this for
has our place of meeting again. Feel free to reach
out to us through our email and that email address

(20:07):
is New Disciplefellowship Church at gmail dot com. We are
working on the website New Disciplefellowship dot com. It's a
work in progress, so if you see something that's kind
of out of place, just forgive us. We're working our
way through it. And our YouTube channel and Facebook are
in the show links as well. I don't like to
say the show this isn't a show, but in the

(20:28):
notes or the podcast description, if you will so, God
bless each and every one of you as you go
back out into the world, I ask that you have
the courage to share the gospital of Jesus Christ and
to make fishers of met And until we meet again,
my friends, God bless you. Christ loves you, and we

(20:50):
will see