- Shadows: The dark parts of our lives that follow us around.
- “Your shadow is the accumulation of untamed emotions, less-than-pure motives and thoughts that, while largely unconscious, strongly influence and shape your behaviors. It is the damaged but mostly hidden version of who you are.” – Peter Scazzero
- Doubt is a common characteristic of God’s children.
- Just because we doubt doesn’t mean we’re out with God.
- Why are young people leaving church? – Barna Survey
- Churches are unfriendly to those who doubt
- 35% said Christians were too confident in their answers.
- 25% said the church demonizes everything outside of the church.
- 36% said they could not ask their most pressing questions.
- Where does our doubt come from?
- Questions you can’t answer
- Situations that seem unfair
- Hurts you can’t resolve
- Your faith is a journey, not a destination.
Matthew 4:12
// When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.
Matthew 11:2-7, 11 // When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” 7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: 11 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.
- When following Jesus isn’t what we expect, we start to doubt.
- “Are you the one?”
Matthew 11:5 // 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.
Isaiah 35:5-6
// Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 61:1
// The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners
- Doubt Is Not the Opposite of Faith
- Faith isn’t the absence of questions; it’s the decision to trust in the middle of them.
- Bring Your Doubts to Jesus, Not Away from Him\
- “How long, O Lord?”
- Remember What You’ve Already Seen
- Don’t Let What You Don’t Understand Cancel What You Do Know
Matthew 11:4
// Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
Romans 10:17
// Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
- The strongest faith isn’t a faith that never doubts.
- The strongest faith is a faith that grows through your doubts.
- Our faith is based on the person and work of Jesus.
