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 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. 

>> Good morning, church. So glad that everyone is here. It is so good to see you, hands. And legs, did you walk here? Arms, you're looking strong. Joel, you brought all 10 of your kids' fingers and toes. Welcome, Body of Christ. You are all a different part of the Body of Christ. I hope that you know because you are here you have a purpose in that. This might be as simple as standing and singing or saying hello and giving an encouraging day. I want to talk about where Ronnie is going to go. He's going to talk about doubt. I had a moment of doubt, not just the moments of doubt over the years. I am talking about in the moment verb action, I am doubting where I was in my life and where I'm going. With your doubts, you are welcome in this place. Having doubts does not exclude you. Having doubts is normal in the family of god. We're going to address that in the family of god. Let's stand together and in despite of our doubts, let's praise god. 

>> AMEN. ? THE LION AND THE LAMB ?? The Lion And The Lamb ? 

>> Yes, every knee will bow before Him. He alone is God. There is no other. ? Way Maker ? 

>> Yes, it is. 

>> Joel: Good morning, everyone. You can be seated. My name is Joel Smith. I'm the children's minister. Whether you're watching us online or here in the audience, it is awesome to see you even though it is dark and I can't see too many of you. This is the kids' spot. This is specialized observable teaching. We have a component. Today I want to talk about grace. What's interesting is there are a number of different definitions about grace. They point us in the right direction but don't make sense. Unmerited favor. Yes, God has given us unmerited favor in the fact that we can breathe or so much more. And God's riches. We have salvation but is that where grace ends? One of the definitions I like is the power to do God's will. When you become a believer it's like you're like this bag, Ziploc bad. I had to go name brand on this. He has described us as living waters and things like that. We know that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. There are many things that we as a believer have. The question is when you go through difficult times, when you experience challenges, how does that affect the Holy Spirit inside of you. Now, sometimes, I'll be honest, we encounter something that's difficult and we're like, ah! Where is my help. With the way God designed us to work through grace is when you encounter a thorn. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8 and 9 he says, three times I asked for you to take away the thorns. What did God say in verse 9? My grace is sufficient for you. Let's hear that. My grace is sufficient for you. What happens when we get hit with a thorn? Look at that. The Holy Spirit is still shining through even in difficulties. Isn't that amazing? Do you think we could go for a third thorn? This is going to hurt. We do have a leak. You're supposed to have a super sharp pencil. Living water continues to refill. I have an entire gallon of that. When you go through challenges, it hurts. But we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and flowing out because his power and desire to do right is shining through and that is grace. Thank you very much. 

>> Kevin: We're going to take communion. If you need something, we have tables at the back. The very weekend that Jesus taught us to take communion was the weekend Jesus had doubts in r in God's intention for his life. Matthys, you lead us. 

>> Rachel: My name is Rachael Matthys and this is my husband Troy. We're honored to take communion with you. Jesus, we thank you so much that every Sunday we can come together and partake of the bread and the cup together. Lord, don't ever let us think that this is a wafer or a tiny cup of juice. Those are is no simpler than a wedding ring. Our wedding rings are not a simple piece of jewelry, but a covenant that we make with each other. This wafer and cup are a hard and fast symbol of the covenant you made with us. Your body that was beaten and bruised and your blood was that was shed to bridge the gap between our sinful broken hearts. As we take this together, do not let this be out of habit. Holy Spirit, draw our hearts to you and make it real again that sacrifice that you made. We thank you and love you in Christ's name. Amen. Let's take together. 

>> Troy: The scripture reading is from Matthew 14:28-32 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ? At The Cross (Love Ran Red) ? 

>> Kevin: We're going to pay for our contribution. Robert Beasley will pray for us. Thanks for being with us. 

>> Thank you so much for giving. The Lord commanded us to give. It is a part of our worship. He said we are the ones who receive the benefit. Online giving is safe, and secure. You can give online or there are boxes in the back. Let's pray. Good Father, you are so good and such a giver. Your grace is constantly giving to us pick up our life blessings are responding to that grace. Partnerships with you and the things you have for us in this life. We pray right now that you will bless our giving. We thank you that when we give ourselves to you you will multiply. Multiply this offering this morning in the name of Jesus. Amen. [???] 

>> Kyle: My name is Kyle and I want to invite you to join me for our five-week intensive called the first conversations intensive. We're going to week for five consecutive Wednesdays beginning Wednesday the 14th. We will also meet in person and on Zoom. However you disess this you can interact with the entire group. We will meet from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. That is during lunch time. Whether you join us from your home office or your couch, you can bring your lunch. We will use first conversations which as an a/* a power-packed study to engage and energize your faith in Jesus. If you are speak seeking some powers, I want you to register. If you are a seasoned believer and you realize that your walk with Jesus needs some change, 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.scsh/* scwsh. 

>> Kyle is not just a pretty face. At this point it's time for main street live. Before we do that, I'm going to go off script. If you look back, Joel dedicates every Sunday to giving an awesome experience for kids. Give him a round of plaza. First to fifth grade, you can head to the back. Parents, if you haven't signed up, you can go ahead with him and we will take care of that. Everyone else, stand up and we will greet one another. ? Only King Forever ? Roverjts today. You may be seated. [???] 

>> Ronnie: Fantastic. Thank you so much, Richard and team. Good morning, everyone. Glad to see you, those of you right here in the room, so very good to see you and have you with us today. To those of you watching online, we welcome you as well. We would love to hear from you. We have folks standing by who would be happy to visit and pray with you this morning. We are in a message series called when in doubt. The title of today's message is called when you doubt God's plan. Let me put a statement up on the screen that says doubt is indeed part of our journey, but it is never the destination. The goal is reaching a point of finding and landing, not absolute certainty about everything, but finding and landing. That is the spiritual goal. It is not endless seeking. The Bible talks about people who are ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Our doubts are an invitation to follow through and investigation. John McArthur is a well-known teacher of Bible and scholar. He says something interesting, doubt, when you read about doubt in the Bible, in the gospels and in the epistles, doubt is focused on believers. He said that's important. It's as if you have to believe something before you can doubt it. You have to be interested in something before you can question it. You have to be economied to something before you can have questions and concerns. Doubt is the unique struggle of the believer. Voluntary doubt is where I say I'm not interested and there is not enough evidence in the world to construct or reconstruct a faith that does not want to be constructed or reconstructed. But there is involuntary doubt. I want to believe, but I have unbelief. This is hesitation, reluctance, reticence, produced by anxiety, confusion, perplexity. This person wants to believe, but they're asking for help at specific points of confusion. That happens to all of us. Matthew 11:11 I want to read a statement about John the Baptist. If you've got your Bible, open it there. That's where we will be. I encourage you to bring your Bible to church. Novel concept. You may have it on your phone and iPad. It's good to have it in good old print. It reads as follows. Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. All right. Are we saying that those of I say on this side of the empty tomb, node of us who are Christians, we have greater privileges than John the Baptist. Here is the main point. He says there's not been a greater person than John the Baptist. Think about that. Not Moses, not Daniel, not a finer person. To this day, you think of John the Baptist, you think of great character and humility and faithfulness and courage. The guy was just incredible. And yet, you are about to read an episode of John the Baptist going through a season of doubt and confusion and perplexity. And if it could happen to him, it could happen to you. When you're in that season, what shall you do? Okay. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, prepared the way, great person. How did he spend his last days? Answer. In a dungeon. In a prison. What did he do wrong? Nothing. He was a preacher of righteousness. Because he spoke righteousness to an unrighteousness king, he's thrown in prison, and that leads to some doubts on John's part. Why? Because Jesus is the coming Messiah. Right? What's the job description of the Messiah. It is two-fold. He will be a suffering servant. He will give himself away for us and he will be what? A mighty king. And he will destroy the enemies of God's people. So if I'm the forerunner of the Messiah and a preacher and teacher of righteousness, why am I languishing in this dungeon? Why doesn't the Messiah get me out of here? So here is what John does, Matthew 11:2-6 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" In other words, Jesus, I want to believe in you, but am I mistaken? Am I wasting my life? Have I hitched my wagon to the wrong cause here? Let me hut a statement up on the screen. Tough situations + unmet expectations + limited perspectives = spiritual doubt Not always, but it can. It can feed spiritual doubt. Tough situations. For John, he is in prison, unjustly so. For everyone in this room, we found ourselves in difficult situations. You say, Ronnie, I printouting it on myself. Sometimes we do. Or I was closed to a loved one and their wake bumped my husband and wife. That too. But sometimes things are inexplicable and you are in a difficult, difficult situation. Add to that some unmet expectations because we all have expectations, we do. And sometimes they're realistic and sometimes they're just not realistic. Sometimes they're just not based in truth. If you ever go see a counselor, that counselor will ask if it's time for a reality check because your expectations of your spouse or children or church or God may be unrealistic. Don't you love to go to a wedding? Oh, you do. And you see that bride and groom drive away and they're so happy and excited and looking forward to a lifetime of marital bliss and everyone smiling and waving and saying they don't have the foggiest idea of what they're getting into. Difficult situations plus unmet expectations plus limited perspectives. I don't always know the end from the beginning. I don't know every detail or fact. I don't have God's 2020 vision. Even here you take John, as good a man as you will ever meet, a prophet, a limited perception. I thought you were the Messiah. Jesus is the Messiah and he is going to fulfill the function of a suffering servant and he will also be a mighty king, but, John, I'm not going to do it on your timetable. I'm not going to do it exactly like you expect me to. John, you think I'm here to overthrow the Romans and usher in another regime with political power. That's not the nature of my regime. You're expecting something off base a little and you have limited perspective. Sometimes you've been there. God, where are you? Why is this happening? I feel like I'm trying to serf you and get this stuff around me, I feel like it's keeping me from serving you and John is saying, am I wasting my life? Did I hitch my wagon to an inferior cause. Are you who I thought you were or should I look for another? Jesus replied jers vers verse 4: Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: Jesus quotes the Bible. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 35 and 61 prophecy it is concerning the Messiah. He says, you go back and you tell John what you see and you hear, that my messianic credentials are legitimate. I am who he thinks I am. You tell John to believe the signs that attest to my identity. By the way, let me pause now. Here we are at this stage on this side of the empty tomb and the greatest sign that's v been dpichb to credential Jesus Christgiven to credential Jesus Christ is resurrection, the empty tomb. Then he says this in verse 6. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me." Why would anyone fall away on account of Jesus? Because you don't like how he's doing things. You think he's clueless or uncaring. Blessed and anyone who does not give up on Christianity because of Jesus. Blessed is anyone who does not walk away from the holy scriptures because you don't like what they have to say. Blessed is anyone who walks away from Jesus because of Jesus himself. Jesus Christ works his plans on his terms, not on my terms. And that's why it is very, very unhealthy for me to create a Ronnie version of Jesus. Jesus declares himself to be the Messiah and he will fulfill all the roles of the Messiah, but not necessarily in the order that I think. He is fulfilling some of those promises. He is already fulfilling some. I think he will eventually fulfill them all, but not in the order that John wanted to see. Jesus says I believe to every disappointed man or woman, hang in there, blessed are you when you don't fall away because you footnote fully understand me. The problem is not me, says Jesus. The problem may be the expectations you've put on me. Remember, I am not yours to command. Believe what the scriptures say and trust me to do not only what you want to do but what I have pledged to do. If you will hang in there and walk with me you will see that I do all of my promises and be eternally satisfied. Blessed is the one who does not fall away from me on account of me. Hang in there, John. Let me hang some final thoughts on three statements. Here is the first one. Take your doubts to the Scriptures. The absentee /* anti-dote to doubt begins in the word of God. Without that foundation, the battle of faith is feudal. The word of dpoed is a solid truth. ItGod is a solid truth. It it doesn't make things easy. When I say take your doubt to the scriptures, I assume you will do that with one another. In other words, you're going to stay close to people who are close to Jesus. You're going to stay close to people who are close to the word of God. I'm not saying stay close in a hallmarkish way. When John had doubts, Jesus said you can know my identity and he takes him to Bible prophecy. When you go through difficult situations in life, it's good to know life skills, but that won't get you through life. You got to know God's characteristic and life and personality. You want to get through life, you're not the going to get through it unscarred and unscathed. This world beats you up. If you're going to walk through with a joy and resilience, there has the to be an acknowledgement of some substance there. Secondly, Jesus may disappoint your expectations, but he will keep your promises. Hi will. Sometimes the Jesus we want is not the Jesus we get. John the Baptist wrestled with that. We will get through it. Many early followers wrestled with that. What did they want? A Jesus who will fix their problems. They got a Jesus who is first and foremost is concerned with your he tooernl problem, sin is redemption. They wanted him to take care of their enemies. They got a Jesus who destroyed the strangle 40e8ed hold of sin and Satan and death. They wanted a Jesus to take care of the bad guys. They got a Jesus who said, let's look at your own heart and unless you repent, you will perish. He is a suffering servant. He is a mighty king. He came the first time as a suffering servant to pave the way for our sins. He is coming back to fulfill the reign of God. His reign will never end. He will keep our promise as our suffering servant and our mighty king. Thirdly, there are times when we simply must suspended our judgment and trust God's plan. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-reason. Reason is good. Everybody in this room will find yourself in a situation that you cannot reason yourself out of. You will find yourself in a predicament someday where you cannot go to a Bible verse that answers your situation. You cannot reason your way out, you'll have to trust your way out the of it. You will have to trust the nature of God to see your way through. We have to trust God's plan. Here is why. We live in a fallen world and we are a fooint /* finite world. See see things from the beginning to the end and I don't know it all. As the apostle Paul said we look at a lot of things and they are opaque to us. I must suspend judgment on the situation and not judge God by some isolated event or some immediate event. While I may not know what God is doing in those circumstances or why he's doing it, I still know that he's trustworthy. And in the face of mystery, I'm going to allow what I do know of God to inform and influence what I did not know in this specific situation. I'm going to ask you that there are going to be times when you simply have to talk to your doubts, not pour kerosene on them, and not give them too much weight and exaggerate. Instead of saying, God, I don't understand anything about you, you say, God, in this specific situation, in this moment, I do not understand what's going on. I do not understand that in my world or life. Maybe in my family, community, nation, the world. It's not that I don't understand anything about you, but you're going to be specific and not pour kerosene on the smoldering doubts. You bring that lament to God. There's nothing wrong with that. No one understands God's ways in every situation. But you keep talking to yourself. I don't understand, but I believe that all things work together for those who love the Lord. I do know that you are for me and not against me. I do know that if you had given Jesus Christ for me, you are for me. I do know and believe that eternal life is in your hands. You may not know what God's doing right now. That may be a mystery to you. You may not be in a season like that, you may be. Here is not what is a mystery. What God has done is not a mystery. The cross, the empty tomb, the invitation to be part of the new community, all nations, that is not a mystery. Okay. Let me put a photo on our screen. That is Jake Olson when he's 12 years old. Leave that photo up for a moment. At eight months old he was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer, cancer of the retinus and has to have one of his eyes removed. For the next 12 years he could see with one eye. He had eight recurrences of cancer in his "good eye," but he pressed on. He was a straight A student at his Christian school. He was an avid sports fan. He played golf, baseball, flag football. He was a huge fan of the University of Southern California, Trojan football team. When he was 12 years old the doctors informed his family and said, Jake, we're sorry, your good eye has to come out, the other eye. His parents said, Jake, what would you like to do before the surgery. What would you like to do? He said, I would like to go to a football game, see an FUC football game. Mom, I want to look at you. Dad, I want to look at you and memorize everything. That way, I ask have an idea what you look like. I want to look at my twin sister and my best friend, I want to have a good look at him. He goes in to have the surgery to remove the other eye. He was supposed to take a week or two off school. He went straight pack. He was a straight A student. His dad would tell him the distance and direction on the golf green. He shot in the 80s80s. He played varsity football. He was the long snapper on the football team. A long snapper is where you hike the ball, you snap it for punts, extra points, field goals, and that's what Jake Olson did. He goes to college at UFC. Walks on the UFC football team. Tries out to be their long snapper. Practiced with the team for two years. Team loved him. He inspired everybody with his character, his optimism, his faith. One day he gets into a game. So he runs out on the field, every time they practice or in a game, he's running, he has a buddy, he puts his hand on the shoulder and they run on the field. Number 61, there he is, snapping, long snapping in an a game. Just an incredible, incredible story. Someone was interviewing Jake Olson after all of this and here is what he had to say. He said, if you can't see how God works things out, then I think you're the blind one. And he went on to say, I truthfully believe that. There are so many blessings that I've been given. So many lives that I've been able to touch for the kingdom of god, that I think it would be shameful if I were to sit here and be bitter and mad because I am blind. Jake's mom says he constantly gives credit to citizenship faith in Christ. He says, I firmly believe with every set back there is a set up. With every set back, there is a set up waiting to happen. As you see your set backs as permanent, immovable, without meaning or purpose, that will deflate you. But if you choose to see your setbacks as something that God ask use, it will bring you to new heights. In my case, it was a set up for new opportunities. He said, at a young age I learned life will bring adversity and challenges. The reason I have overcome this is because I have a strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because cancer took my eyes, it did not take my will to go on and become the best that I can be for the Lord. You say that's a great story and I'm glad that he's doing well. What about JB, John the Baptist? He spent his final days in a dungeon. He didn't get released. Jesus could have done it. Jesus was bringing a lot of miracles. And John was saying, where is my miracle and deliverance. Did I waste my life? Answer, no, John. You did not waste your life or hit your wagon to an inferior cause. We are talking about you today. You are a role model of humility serving a greater God of courage and faithfulness and witness and testimony shining a spotlight on yourself. Jesus says to John, you are not wasting your life. Do not let isolated and immediate circumstances tell you differently. Gang, we live in a beautiful world, but don't love it too much. You're not designed for this world. What does the Bible say? What is your life? You take a match and light it and see the smoke and you're here for a little while. It's a mist and then it's gone. Be grateful for the good things here and now. Be grateful for the good gifts, but don't love this world too much that it blinds you to your ultimate aim and destiny. We serve a mighty king who is coming back. We need to say in touch and to set things right. For you and me, throe you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you fear no evil because the good Shepherd is with you. They will protect and comfort you. You encourage your heart with those word words. Hang on to Jesus Christ. Stay strong in the Lord. Serve him with enthusiasm and joy. Stay the course. God bless you for being with us today. Those of you online, we thank you for being with us today. We encourage you to think about your next step, whatever that may be. Online, you can communicate in the room. Everybody has a next step as a man or woman of God. For some of us the next step is to say, today, Lord Jesus, I refresh my heart in you in a new way in the Holy Spirit. Thank you. Robert, lead us in prayer. 

>> Robert: God, our good father and Lord Jesus, we rejoice in your love this morning. Your love that never gives up on us, completely pours your love into us and prepares us by the resurrection of your son. We need your love this morning, God. This morning there are many suffering. We pray that your provision and assurance that you're with us and I willing to work things out for the better. Hold on to us tightly. May each of us look for ways to nurture and care for our hurting members and we thank you for how well this body does that. Thank you for your church throughout the world for billions worshiping with us. Thank you for your community at First Colony Church. We're so grateful to begin to come back together and we thank you that you will speed that more so. We thank you that the world is so thirsty for the right angle of your truth and good news to us. We pray that you will hope all the possibilities for us as Christians as the pandemic is ending. We pray that you will ohm the flood gates to come to the church. We know as your word reminds us, you have placed everything under the authority of Jesus and put everything under him which is his body. You have saved us by grace to be your instruments created in Christ Jesus to do good works which you have prepared in advance to do. We pray that the church can see the inviting walls coming down and we are being joined together as a dwelling for your spirit. Prepare us, Lord. Equip us and let us be ready. To you that is able to do more than we ask or message. To you be the glory and the church in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever, amen. 

>> Kevin: If you're online, you can connect with us. Or here, you can look at the cards. You can also go out in the lobby and they will help you fill one of those out and they can talk to you about the next steps. The Bible classes are back in full swing. 9:45 we have adults in the gym, students and children in the education wing. You should check those out. Also if you're online, at 10:00 there is the conversation with Kyle. That happens in between the two services online. Also coffee is back in the gym, so you can grab some of that. If you're a student, I am Kevin and want to invite you to come on Wednesday nights. We have a lot of fun in the scbrim. Also, if you've had a babygym. Also, if you've had a baby recently, we want to help celebrate you. You can go online and register. You need to do that before Sunday so we can get the information we need. That will be coming up shortly. Vacation Bible school is back. We're excited about all the things we didn't do last year. Same website. firstcolonychurch.org/vbs. We're doing all the registrations at the same place on the website. That's June 14 to 16. The last thing is if you've been thinking about placing membership here, which means you feel like this is the family God wants you to commit to, there is a new member info session to make this your church family. How about we stand together and sing one more song before we're done with the day. ? Only King Forever ? 

>> Thank you for worshiping with us today. You are dismissed. [???] 

>> 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