DISCLAIMER: This text is not a verbatim transcript. Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. >> Thank you for joining us online today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our new podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the app store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We are glad you're here. >> Ryan: Welcome to the worship service of First Colony Church. We're glad you're here. Welcome to those in the building and watching online. God is with us and we're glad to be gathered together as believers to be lifted by Him and to praise Him. Let's stand up and worship together. >> Amen. God is good. \M Everlasting God \M >> God is faithful, amen. He is good to those who wait upon Him, whether you need strength, whether you need guidance, comfort, peace. He is faithful. \M Great Are You Lord \M >> You may be seated. >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone. It is great to see you this Sunday morning. Today I needed a volunteer, so I conscripted my son. Thank you for having our volunteer. If you're watching us at home, you're going to have fun. If you're watching us live, you're going to have fun. First you need to blindfold. I'm going to spin you around a little bit. Today I wanted to talk about faith. In scripture what is really cool is faith is one of those words that the Bible actually defines for us. In Hebrews 11:1 it says faith is the substance for things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So I wanted to emphasize things not seen. As a believer, we trust God, but it's not a total blind faith, but because we trust God. Corbin, do you trust me? >> Yes. >> Joel: Do you think I would do anything intentional to hurt you? >> No. >> Joel: I want you to take one big step backwards. Let's try another one. Let's now take a half a step backwards. All right. Perfect. Now pretend -- raise your right hand. Okay. Good job. So your going to take a long step to your left -- excuse me, very important we get this right. [Laughter] >> Joel: We practiced at home, but we didn't have a big ledge. You're going to take a sliding step to your right. You're going to do another one, another one, another one, another one, okay. You're going to stop. Now, this is very careful. You're going to have to stay in the same spot, but turn 180 degrees, meaning you're facing backwards, but in the same spot. Good job. Now go ahead and sit down. You guys are like, okay, big deal. He did not know that was coming. We practiced at home but I did not include a chair. Let's give him a hand. [Applause]. >> Joel: What is so cool is we have a God we can trust in and trust in. Today we're going to continue that conversation as well. Thank you very much. >> Ryan: Thank you, Joëlle. Mark Cawyer and Paige Cawyer are coming up to lead us with communion. If you didn't bring in your supplies, we have some at the back table. Mark will lead us in prayer. >> Mark: Are you pray with us. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to reflect together on this great sacrifice you made through your son, Jesus. We acknowledging His body that was beaten and broken and torn for us and we acknowledge the blood that was shed and was spilled for us. We thank you for that and the redemptive power of that sacrifice. I pray that this morning we will not take that for granted but look at this as a routine but focus on your love for us and the sacrifice and we honor you in this moment. Father, we thank you for what it means. Help us to realize and understand what it means for the sacrifice, for the death, for the resurrection, for the hope, for the joy, and for the new life that we've had because of it. We thank you for loving us so much. We love and thank you for an opportunity to have a relationship with you because of your son and the sacrifice. Through Jesus we pray. Amen. >> Paige: Today's reading is from the NIV translation of John 20:24-29 Please follow along in your Bible or on the screen. 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!” 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.” 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!” 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.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” \M Good Good Father \M >> You may be seated. >> Ryan: You can have a seat. It is good to know that we have a heavenly Father that is good and that we are loved by him. We are going to collect under arrest offering and Matt Davis will lead us in our offering prayer. >> Matt: It's a great thing to be together and every time we have the chance to come together and worship, we have communion and we give. Giving is an act of worship. So this morning I pray that you will join me opposite online you can give online by texting, clicking the button on your screen, through FaceTime and on YouTube, you have the same opportunities as well. Holy Father, we give thanks for all that you do. You truly are a good father. We thank you so much and thank you for everything that You have provided. Everything that You have given us is yours. This morning ask that as we come prepared to give, that we give with a cheerful heart, one that is willing to run towards you as you run towards us. I pray that you use these funds in a way that continues to bless your kingdom. Lord, we love you so much. We thank you and look back over the years and all the prayers you've answered. You've never forsaken us. You've always been available to us. We put our trust and faith and hope in you. We thank you for these things, in Jesus' name, amen. [\M\M\M] >> Kyle: My name is Kyle and I want to invite you to join us for the five-week conversation, called the first conversation intensive. We're going to meet on consecutive on Wednesdays, beginning on April 14. We will meet simultaneously in person and on Zoom. However you compass this intensive, you will be able to interact with the entire group. We will meet between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m., which is a strategic time during your lunch hour. Whether you join us in person or from Zoom or from your home office, you can bring your own lunch. We are going to use first conversations, which is a power-packed study designed to energize and engage your faith in Jesus. So if you are seeking some answers or some truth or some purpose, I want you to register. If you're a seasoned believer and you realize that your walk with Jesus needs some maintenance, I want you to register. And if you are searching for good conversations to have about the gospel, I want you to register. I'm going to show you how to use first conversations in a variety of situations. Remember that space is limited for our in-person portion of the intensive, but we have no limits on Zoom. You can find out more and register on our website at firstcolonychurch.org. I hope you'll join me. See you soon. >> Ryan: That first conversations class will be a great session with Kyle. I hope you can sign up for that. All the kids grade one to five, it's time for MainStreet live. You can go with Joel. If you haven't had a chance to check your kids in, you can go over to Joel and he will get you started. It's time for our greeting. If you're online, say hello to everyone in the chat box. \M This Is Amazing Grace \M >> You may be seated. Thank you for your worship today. >> Ronnie: Terrific. Thank you so much, Richard and team. Good morning, everyone, to those of you in the room. I'm so glad to see you today. Welcome to the First Colony Church of Christ. To those of you watching online, we say good morning to you as well. My name is Ronnie and I'm glad to have you with us. We are in a message series starting a brief series today called when in doubt. The title of this morning's message is follow through because doubt is actually not so much, it doesn't have to be, an intrusion that we stiff arm. It can actually be an opportunity and an invitation to follow through to a more robust and muscular and healthier faith. The capacity to doubt is a good thing, it keeps you from being a financial space cadet, a social space cadet. When you get that e-mail from an obscure country and they want you to partner with them and they need the number to your bank account, you get all of that. The capacity to be discerning, the ability to be discerning is a good, good thing. So let me ask you, is it possible then to question your own faith, your own Christian faith, without losing it? Some of you heard the term "deconstruction." People deconstruct their faith and sometimes they mean different things by that. Sometimes they mean to deconstruct means just leaving Christianity. Sometimes it means to evaluate. There is an excellent book, let me recommend it to you by A.J. Swoboda. It's called "After Doubt." A.J. Swoboda is a theologian, a university professor. He's like Joel, our children's minister, he's from Portland, Oregon. You won't agree with everything he has to say, but in the book he says it's so popular now to question, challenge, to pull apart and even to move beyond that to reject one's deeply held beliefs. He said deconstruction is cool now and honor is now given to those who almost entirely leave the Christian faith. There is almost this social pressure to say, surely you don't believe, fill in the blank. Surely you know this is not 1950, 1960, 1970, and surely you don't believe ... Doubt is not so much an intrusion, as it is an invitation to follow through to a fuller trust of Jesus Christ and the word of God. We're born to question. Children, one of their first words is why, about everything that moves, shines, changes, why, why, why? And doubt is this prelude to knowledge. That's why the book of Jude which says in Jude 22 Be merciful to those who doubt. Be merciful to them. Because healthy doubt, there can be an unhealthy doubt, healthy doubt can be a catalyst to new growth and can end up developing a much stronger, robust faith. Now, all doubts are not created equal. Let me highlight three different areas of doubt. Here they are on the screen. Our will, our mind, our heart, volitional doubt, intellectual doubt, emotional doubt. Volitional doubt is where I might say that I doubt, but it's actually a camouflage for I don't want to believe. One of the questions we have to ask ourselves is do I want to believe in God? Do I even want to? Because sometimes there's a hidden payoff in not believing, as one person said, the reason I think I left my faith in the college is not because of something intellectual is I wanted to buy into a lifestyle and my faith wasn't compatible with the lifestyle. Sometimes doubt is just an evasive maneuver. But there can also be with good will intellectual doubt. We've got some significant questions about faith. And the good news is, you will not be the first person to ask those questions. There are a lot of resources to help. I believe the most prevalent sort of doubt is emotional doubt. We'll talk about this next week. An emotional doubt is a doubt that is often precipitated by an event in my life, some disappointment, some pain, some unanswered prayer, some experience where my experience isn't matching up to my expectation of God. As one writer said, there is a lot of anger out there. There is a lot of anxiety out there. Often doubt is not so much intellectual as it is emotional. But again, doubt is not an intrusion to avoid, but an invitation to follow through on a journey to a deepening faith and I'm going to ask you to always have the courage to doubt your doubts and to investigate and to seek the truth and follow through. Now, I mentioned these flavors of doubt. Let me mention a couple of types of doubt. One would be disobedient, but the other is actually a doubt that is trusting and following. There is a difference between unbelief and doubt. There is a difference between unbelief and cynicism. There is a difference between cynicism and skepticism. There is a type of disobedient doubt that says, I really don't believe, I'm shaking God off and I'm not interested in following. But there is another type of doubt that in the midst of some uncertainty and confusion, you're still trusting and following from the standpoint of you believe in God's goodness and you enter a season of confusion or uncertainty or questioning and what it does is it drives you back into the word of God, drives you back into a Christian community, where you pursue those dilemmas, those questions, those points of uncertainty, but you pursue them in the context of a healthy Christian community with others who weigh in and you're running afresh to the word of God. In other words, this is the person who says, I believe in the goodness of God and I am running to scripture and to faithful conversation to reinforce my Christian convictions. Let me put a couple of words up here on the screen. I think for many of us Christians, our doubt would basically be described as confusion or uncertainty, just confusion or uncertainty. When you find yourself in seasons of confusion or uncertainty, let me just remind you to obey what you do know, to act on what you do know, act on the faith that you have. Never let outer mysteries obstruct the core truths of the Christian message, never let what you cannot explain and that -- and never let what you do not understand now overwhelm what you cannot deny, for example, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As a believer, I know what I stand. I believe in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe in the moral teachings, the 10 Commandments. There are so many things I believe. Does that mean I can fully fathom all the mysteries of God? Of course not. Even the apostle Paul would say, as much as he knew and he taught, he would still say, but great is it -- the mystery of godliness. Let me take you to a few scriptures. First 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Beginning at verse 12. Here you go. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. What I want you to know from this passage of scripture is that Paul is underscoring from us that no one should be a Christian simply because you think that it works for you. That's not the reason to be a Christian. I'm a Christian because I think it works for me. It gives me meaning and hope. I believe in the resurrection because it makes me feel good about my grandmother who passed away a few years ago. One of the reasons that you hold to Christianity, he says, is that it's true. You believe it's true that Jesus Christ, indeed, has been raised from the dead. There's not one subjective note in what I just read to you a moment ago. Paul says, it's of absolutely use that you're comforted by this. It's of absolutely no use that you're comforted or held by this. This means nothing that it brings benefit to you if it's not true. Now, if it's true, it brings great benefit and hope and comfort. But the key is not, is this pragmatic, is it practical, does it work for me? In the last 20, 25 years, in church circles, the question has been, is it pragmatic, does it work? The most important question subsidy is it true? Is this built on values and truths. The issue is not, is it helpful. I believe that he says this is true and I'm willing to give my life for it. What I'm saying today is, this is an invitation to investigate intellectually in a robust way the claims of Jesus Christ and the word of God. And what you have to ask, is this true? Let's go to John 20:24-29 Which was read to us earlier by Paige. 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!” 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.” 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!” 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.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I wish I could read that with the same emotion that Paige did. Now, I want to make a couple of observations. First of all, aren't you thankful that the believing disciples didn't kick Thomas out of the group week earlier because he had some doubts? No. He was still there. He wasn't an unbeliever. He just had some questions and points of uncertainty, but those were still his people. He was still bringing his questions and his uncertainty to the group. And the group said, what was Jude 22 we read earlier, they were merciful to the one who was doubting. Healthy doubts. But Jesus chides Thomas here and he chides him because Thomas already had evidence. He just -- the other people could believe based on evidence. Thomas already had the evidence. He just had not embraced the evidence he had already been given. The women had already gone to the tomb on Easter morning and come back and given their testimony. Other believers had already seen Jesus and given their testimony. Jesus has already given evidence of his resurrection and he rebukes Thomas simply because Thomas only so much evidence should be required. You've already received quite a bit of evidence and that's why Jesus would then say, Thomas, because you've put your hand right here, you believe, but blessed are those who have not seen, but believed, not because it is some leap in the dark, because they've looked at the evidence and the demands and the verdict and the evidence has led them to legitimate faith. Our Christian faith is not irrational. One other passage of scripture that encourages me is Mark 9:22-24 This is a scene where a father is desperate because his son is demon possessed and cannot be helped. This father has his son before Jesus and believes Jesus can help. Verse 22: But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” And is there a person in this room who's not been at that point at some point and will yet again? I believe. It's not that I'm an unbeliever. I believe, but there are points in my faith that are incomplete and would you strengthen my resolve? Would you help me to come to a greater point of conviction. Lord, I do believe and help me at those points of weakness in my unbelief. I'm thankful that story is recorded for us. So a little thing on this, he gives three assignments. I ask you to stay hungry, stay hungry, leading your faith and answer the questions honestly. The Christian life welcomes interrogation, the Bible welcomes itself to be investigated, the resurrection of Jesus Christ invites study. And I believe that there are answers that will satisfy your mind and strengthen your faith. I'm going to give you some resources over the next couple of weeks. Let me highlight again a book I mentioned earlier by A.J. Swoboda called "After Doubt." I'm going to ask you to stay hungry and not become disillusioned, because you will go through a season where you are unsettled and many times it will be because of an emotional event where you can explain it with your head, but your emotions, your faith takes a hit. There is a difference between a storm and a shipwreck. The apostle Paul talked about a couple of people in the New Testament and he said their faith is shipwrecked. It is absolutely wrecked. That doesn't mean they didn't go through a storm. In other words, there is a difference between Peter and Judas. Judas' faith got shipwrecked. Peter's faith did not. He faltered. He failed, but he wasn't an unbeliever turning against Jesus Christ. Stay hungry and, yes, as believers we need to always in faith. As one campus minister said, he said, I see a lot of folks who are in love with the search, but they never get there, they never arrive. And the goal of Christian spirituality is to come to a place of finding and not just endless seeking. As the Bible will say, there are people who are always learning, but they never come to a place of faith and obedience. Stay hungry and stay humble. Allow yourself to be teachable and coachable. Remember that -- allow God to be the great shepherd and you to be a mindset of a sheep. Just because you've read one book on the topic, don't become an expert there. You know, stay humble. Last of all, stay hungry and humble, but stay here or some place like here. What I mean is it's important that you stay in a group of people, yes, maybe an online community, but in a group of people who will inspire you, who do not bring you down, who are not just perpetually attacking things, but they are also helping you to bring muscle tone to your faith. And spiritual stuff may not be the only thing you talk about, but it is discussed. You stay in the life, stay in a healthy group with your doubts. Like Thomas, he was still there in a humble way, assembling with the other disciples when Jesus showed up and Thomas found his answers. So stay in the light. Keep acting on the faith you have and your faith will grow. Yes, I know you will encounter points of uncertainty. Keep obeying what you know staying in the light. Here's what I know. People asking the most obvious question, can God really love and forgive and someone like me, here is what I know, you can look at the symbol behind me, Exhibit A for all time, that God loves you, can forgive you, can use you for His purposes is the cross of Jesus Christ because Jesus, the son of God went to a cross he did not deserve for sins he did not commit. My guilt credited to him, his righteousness credited to you and to me and the cross for all time answers the question, does God love me? Yes. Is the love of God true? Yes. Is it true for you? Absolutely yes. Now, I close with this little goofy analogy, but it's a true thing. You know, when I was a kid, I would be in a doctor's office or a tennis office or something like that, pick up a magazine and, you know, you flip through and see a photo, there you see a picture and, you know, it's a picture of a guy smiling or a beautiful woman smiling. So what do you do? You get your ink pen as a kid and start drawing a mustache on the lady or big, thicker eyebrows, maybe some horns or warts and a beard. You've probably done that with the school photos of your siblings, right? You come home from school. You have this great little photo and your brother is proud of this shot and your sister is proud of that shot and you take that and get that pen and you just add, you know, a little extra to the shot. Our culture loves to do that with the beauty of the church, the beauty of the Bible, the beauty of God himself. If we're not careful, all the little additives, what is God like? A senile old man who can't remember his name who grins at everybody. That's not the biblical picture of God. Or what is God like? He is a mean bully, ready to ground you into powder at a moment's notice. That's not the picture of God either. That's why it's important, when we face times of uncertainty, doubt, confusion, where do we go? We keep running back to the scriptures under the tutelage of a healthy Christian community, we keep running back to the source of truth to allow an accurate picture of God to be formed in our hearts and minds. The easiest thing is to create an idol, but you can't trust that idol. As we keep running back to the word of God, we get an accurate picture of who God is. We need to know where we are and where we're going. God bless you, everybody. Thank you for being with us today. Thank you for being in this service and watching us online. We love and care and would love to hear from you. Even as you're watching online, you have easy access there and there are people ready to pray with you. We have our church app. You can go to our church app in the room and see the order of worship and you can get a connection card. Matt, would you come up with us please and lead us in prayer. >> Matt: Ronnie, 35 years-plus, with this church. What a wonderful blessing it is to sit and listen to him every single week. We are so blessed to have that consistency. Just another amazing, amazing lesson. Let's pray together. Holy Father God, we love you so much and we know, God, that you stand with us. Lord God, there's been so many times that we question what's going on. This past year we watch destruction in our health. We've lost friends and loved ones and businesses have been destroyed. We sit back and ask really who's been in control. We know deep down that you're in control. God, we acknowledge you in our lives. We acknowledge your power in the Holy Spirit and the loving, blessing, calling of our son. We thank you so much for all that you do for us. We thank you for the fact that when we do doubt, you're there. God, when times are tough, you're there. Lord, we just know that in all things you have our best interests at heart. Lord, thank you for the many ways that we can look at the goodness that is you. God, for those who may be doubting, I ask that your spirit be with us this week so they can see a glimpse of the hope that is there. Lord, we thank you so much and thank you for the many ways individually, the way that you've blessed this church is taken care of us. We continue to put our hope in you and thank you for these things in Jesus' name. Amen. >> Ryan: Amen. As we close, like Ronnie said, if you're a guest, we're so glad that you're with us for worship and we want you to fill out a connection card. If you're online, you can click the connection card button. If you're viewing on Facebook or YouTube, there is a link in the description. Here in the building, download the First Colony Church app on your phone, hit the connection card. When you fill out that card, there are some good things available to you, you can tell us about programs that you want to learn more about and we can help you get started. You can fill out a prayer request. We have a group of people that would love to pray with you. Tell us about your prayer requests. After the service, we would love for you to visit the start here area across the lobby. We have volunteers who would love to get to know you and say hi. Every Sunday at 9:45 we have Bible class options for all ages. The adult class is in the gym and then classes from birth to 12th grade is in the wing. This is big. Coffee is back. Coffee is here. Ronnie was talking about resurrection. We resurrected coffee. It's here to stay. So get a cup. Go on into the gym or at new start here. So many of you are asking when we're going to bring coffee back. We have coffee. Baby dedication is on May 9. If you're a parent and you would like your baby to be a part of that program on Sunday, you can register online. Ladies from all of our church campuses, First Colony Church, the Foster Creek campus and others, you're invited to an out door picnic to enjoy some good conversations and food. Go online to get details and sign up. Remember first conversations intensive starts this Wednesday. It's going to be a really good session with Kyle. So we hope you will register for that as well. Thank you for joining us today. We love you. We are praying for you. We pray that God will go with you this week as you go on your way. Let's all stand and sing the last song. >> God is faithful. \M This Is Amazing Grace \M >> Thank you for joining us today. You are dismissed. [\M\M\M] >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the app store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We are glad you're here.