14 Jul I’m a Christian but I Still… | Part 1 “Doubt”
TESTIMONIES: Looking for your testimonies! If you have group wins to share from your Small Group, please email them to me! maparsons@waterschurch.org
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I’M A CHRISTIAN BUT I STILL…. | PART 1 “DOUBT”
Key Verse: Mark 9:
This is a four-part series: I am a Christian but I still 1) Doubt 2) Wander 3) Feel Empty 4)????
THEME: Christians have not, do not and will not have it all together. The sooner we embrace that reality the sooner we can come to terms with the joy that is the journey of faith – moving ever closer to the goal of God’s glory.
The Church is not a museum of finished work of art but it is a hospital for sick and broken people on the mend and coming back to faith in Jesus Christ. People are convinced all around us that we have it all together and that something must be wrong with them. The Church is guilty of almost requiring that people have it all together. We might have a bad fight with our family on the way to church but when we get here, we put a big smile on our faces. The Church is for sick people. Sick people know they need a doctor. We need help on this journey.
Ice-breaker Question:
Q. Do you see others in the Church as having it ‘all together’ and why? Do you think others might view you this way?
In this story, the father of the boy went to Jesus’ disciples to be healed and when they could not do it, he struggled with unbelief. There is a lot of pressure on us to believe. The Bible has many scriptures regarding having faith and believing.
Hebrews 11:6 ESV; 2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV; Romans 1:16-17 ESV
We are all going to struggle at times with our faith. The Bible says to work this out. Let our faith be built over the long-term.
WHY WE DOUBT: 4 CATEGORIES
#1 DOUBT CAUSING CATEGORY: EXPERIENTIAL
Some who doubt may ask ‘if there is a God why am I suffering’, or “if God is good and He created everything, why is there evil”? We may question our faith when we go through difficult times.
The father brought his boy to Jesus because Jesus’ disciples failed. He thinks ‘if there is a God, this never would have happened’!
Q. What are some situations that may have caused you to doubt the existence of God?
#2 DOUBT CAUSING CATEGORY: EVIDENTIARY
The man did not see the evidence. The disciples had done it for others, but why not for him??
Q. What kind of things have you seen God do in someone else’s life but in your struggle/need, He seemed silent? When this happens, do you question God and wonder since he did it for them then why not me?
#3 DOUBT CAUSING CATEGORY: ECCLESIOLOGICAL:
Ecclesiological means related to the church.
He brings the boy to Jesus’s disciples and they are like ‘yeah we have done this before’… Then nothing happens. The scribes finally see an open door just waiting for the church to fail. They were arguing for no reason, just arguing for the sake of arguing. Sometimes the church is part of the problem. They are arguing and the man is wondering ‘does anyone care about my son’?
#4 DOUBT CAUSING CATEGORY: ESCALATION OF EVIL.
When things seem to get worse after you come to Jesus.
He brings the boy to Jesus and now the boy was motionless and stood for a long enough time that most thought he was dead. Sometimes God puts us in the wilderness. We need to be careful, that when we are in the wilderness, not to allow the devil to make us think God is not real or that our old way of life is better.
Q. When you came to Christ, did things get worse for you and how? Did you think (even if it was only briefly) that your old way of life was better than following Jesus?
#1: I STRUGGLE WITH FAITH AND UNBELIEF AS A BELIEVER.
“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Ephesians 2:1-5 (ESV); Matthew 28:17–19 (ESV); Habakkuk 1:2 (NLT); Psalm 13:1 (ESV)
“If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger. It knows God more certainly and it can enjoy God more deeply.” – Os Guiness
We must work through doubts. Having doubts is okay.
Jesus had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration. He came down from the mountain because someone needed help in the valley. We have mountain top experiences so we can come down in the valley to help someone else out of the muck and mire.
Q. When have you been on a ‘mountain top’ experience and then in the ‘valley’? What was the purpose of the valley?
#2: I MUST COMMIT TO FAITH PRACTICES THROUGH MY DOUBTS.
#1: He was HONEST about his doubts.
= FAITH PRACTICE of CONFESSION.
#2: He asked for HELP with his doubts.
= FAITH PRACTICE of PRAYER.
We must pray through our doubts. We should refuse to pray even when we doubt. God knows what we need before we even ask.
#3: He committed to the HELPER in the doubts.
“Help” – Literally, “keep helping me…”
= FAITH PRACTICE of ATTENDING to FAITH-ORIENTED EVENTS.
We must come to church even when we don’t feel like it. When everything around us is forcing us not to come, we should come anyway. Pastor Tim used a tank of gas as an example: When you need gas but don’t feel like stopping for it, then you are waiting to break down. When we let everything keep us away from the church, we are a break down waiting to happen.
Faith comes by hearing…
Mark 9:25–26 (ESV) (Jesus said) “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”
Q. Have you ever been away from church for long periods of time and what are you allowing to keep you away? Why is this a dangerous practice?
#3: OUR STRUGGLES WITH DOUBT DO NOT STOP JESUS FROM FINISHING HIS WORK IN US.
This was the devil’s ‘last-ditch’ effort, but Jesus took the boy by the hand. God finds dead people and lifts them up.
Make time for prayer and fellowship and allow yourselves to end on time.
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