As we look at this series – we’ll be looking through the lens of ‘disciple’ – how did Jesus disciple the disciples? How did He go about training them to have his heart, attitudes, actions replicated within them? How is He still wanting to be doing that within us? A disciple is NOT an intern. Interns are assigned to someone to manage – and really it’s about managing their energies to accomplish tasks. The life of following after a Rabbi was one of apprenticeship & thus active 'followership'. “May the dust of your rabbi always be upon you” was a famous saying to a disciple…meaning may your proximity to the one you follow be so close that their dust rests upon you. That you would see how they see, act as they act, do as they do.
*If you've missed any of the past weekends, catch up with the sermons via our app.

Question: have you ever faced some doubts in life?

Maybe you’ve even had some doubts surface as you navigate your spiritual journey? I believe navigating doubt is something that will surface as we pursue a life of faith…

Doubts can often arise within isolation.
John is in prison. He has been isolated from his followers except for the occasional visit. Mostly John set day after day in the darkness of a prison cell. And in that darkness doubts, like mushrooms, can began to flourish.
Unbelief wants to isolate us.

A positive of doubt:
Doubt can push us to search out truth & confirmation. We see John send messengers to Jesus to seek confirmation. Jesus wasn’t offended about John’s honest searching and struggling doubts. In fact he welcomed them.

Don’t let your doubts drive you away from Jesus. Let your doubts drive you to Jesus!

Jesus responds, he doesn’t rebuke.
We've seen Jesus rebuke a storm, but not honest questions from his followers…those searching confirmation, those wrestling with struggles, those seeking answers to questions and those dealing with doubts. We see Jesus meet them at their struggle. (remember Thomas after the resurrection? *see John 20:24-29)

Doubt dealt with in healthy ways, can lead us to reassurance & restoration.
Matthew 11:4-5 “Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—“ -- In other words tell him that the prophecy’s concerning the Messiah are being fulfilled. Jesus answered his doubts bringing reassurance and restoration to John.

Don’t let doubts choke out your faith. Question your doubts. Ask for God’s help in your doubts. Rely on your faith, on God’s Goodness even in the midst of struggles.
When you're in a bout with doubt – PRACTICE REMEMBERING.

Faith and Doubt aren’t mutually exclusive.
-Jesus is one who meets us in our places of doubt (John the Baptist, Thomas) and brings reassurances. He is faithful and trustworthy even when things seem uneasy and unstable. Wrestling with doubts and God, doesn’t have to = Losing or Quitting Faith.
**In fact: Honest questions, sincere doubts, and deep hurts can draw you closer to God than you’ve ever been before.

A committed believer can wrestle with doubts and questions with God while still embracing and clinging to the goodness of God.

Quote:
“Peaks are nice, but you don’t see many farms on mountaintops. Why? Because things grow better in valleys. Your time in the valley may not be pleasant, but it’s in the valleys of life that you grow closer to God and stronger in your faith.” –Craig Groeschel
**highly recommend his new book: "Hope in the Dark"

FRIENDS:
We will have great experiences with God on the mountaintops of life;
but we really get TO KNOW HIM in the valleys.
Don’t let doubts drive you away from God. Feel free to bring them to Jesus.
You often have to push through honest doubts in order to develop strong faith.

*Biblical scholar Frederick Dale Bruner says:
“The Christian faith is bi-polar. Disciples live their life between worship and doubt, trusting and questioning, hoping and worrying.”

Disciples are not people who never doubt. They may have doubt, but they choose to lean on Jesus with their doubts.
Quote:
“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” -Oswald Chambers

What we learn about biblical faith is that biblical faith always depends upon its object.
You can have little faith standing on thick ice, and you survive. You can have great faith standing on thin ice, and you drown.
It's not the amount of faith. It's the object in which you place it.
That's why the Bible never says, "Believe." It always says "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." That's why the Bible never says, "Have faith." It always says, "Have faith in God."

Thoughts from John Ortberg's book: "Faith and Doubt":

We all are hopers. We are creatures who cannot stop wishing. We are four-leaf-clover collectors. We wish on the evening star. We tell stories about genies coming out of a bottle to grant three wishes. We all hope, but hope comes in two flavors: hoping for something and hoping in someone.
One day—everything we hope for will eventually disappoint us. Every circumstance, every situation that we hope for is going to wear out, give out, fall apart, melt down, go away.
When that happens, the question then is about your deeper hope, your foundational hope, your fallback hope when all your other hopes are disappointed. The whole testimony of the Scriptures points to this one Man (Jesus), not because he will be able to give us this thing or that thing we were hoping for—because that's always going to give out eventually—but because he (Jesus) is the one we can put our hope IN.

NEED PRAYER? ....we've got some of our prayer team and pastors available following service to pray with you. You can also submit your prayer request via our app. We look forward to partnering with you in prayer.

Keep it on the RADAR: AFTER-PARTY coming October 21st! Join us for a shortened service and then stick around for baptism celebration, food trucks, games, music and some fun. INVITE some friends!