The Day After Easter: Show Me Your Hands

In this message, we explore The Day After Easter through the story of Thomas, the disciple so often remembered for his doubt. But rather than condemning doubt, this episode looks at how Jesus gently meets people in their uncertainty and invites them into deeper faith. From the tension of belief and fear, to the power of honest community, to the importance of speaking life over ourselves and others, this is a hopeful and grounding conversation for anyone who has ever wrestled with questions, disappointment, or wondering where God is in the middle of it all.

Transcript

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Yeah, I'll give it up for Nards and all of the kids leaders. Thank you, Anna. Amazing, love them. Um, I just wanted to just briefly touch on um with Zach and Libby. They they have said to me and Nards multiple times that they are really, really grateful for our church community. And I think you know, when you are a part of a community, there's this invisible investment that you make by turning up and kind of helping out or whatever, and it sort of feels like, you know, cool. But then when you need help and it's there for you, man, it's magic. And so um I'm really grateful to be a part of a church community that supported a family in need. Um, so yeah, so it's it's been about this week just trying to find them a new place to live and they've found a spot um which is available until the home um can be lived in again. And as Night said, if you if you're in a position to help them, there's GoFundMe just for it. This week has just been about buying clothes for the kids and food and just getting back on their feet. And so really, really grateful. Thank you all. Um but the Bible says in the book of John, if you have a Bible, grab it out, and uh Josiah is gonna help me this afternoon. John 20, verse 22. And I want to talk to you. The title of the message is called The Day After Easter, uh, but we're not talking to talk about the day necessarily, but the day being a time or um really what happened after Easter. Uh I don't know about you, but in life I feel like we build up to things, and then they happen, and then after the fact can be an interesting experience. It can be anything, you know, it can be your birthday, it can be your wedding, it can be your baptism, can be um driving to Hamilton to watch the hurricanes lose last night. It can be anything, you know, you build up, and it can be a good or a bad experience, up, up, up the WARs, you know, and then the playoffs. You know what I mean? Like it just whether it's good or bad, and with Easter, phenomenal. The most wonderful thing. But then after it, sometimes I find myself asking, like, what's next? Like now that I've had this cool thing happen, what what do I do now? And I wanted to just spend a few weeks talking about the day after Easter, the moment after Easter, uh, in in video games, uh, which I have some experience in. Um, the creator leaves these hidden gems and they call, what do they call them? Good see what I did there? Because we're talking about Easter. They leave these Easter eggs, these little hidden meaningful things that took place. And what happened with Easter is that Jesus is he's caught, he's arrested, he's beaten, he's crucified, he's put in a tomb, and then the tomb is empty, but then he reappears. So we kind of, I think, as Christians sometimes like, yeah, cool, Jesus, the cross and the empty tomb. Woo-hoo! But there's these little um, maybe like little footnotes. I recently have had a few like post-it notes left for me around the house. Like family have come and stayed, like, thanks for having us. You know, here's some chocolate. Love that. Come back, you know what I mean? Like, um, little notes on the like Auntie Marley the other day. Sorry I missed you. Um, it was there for Nadia's graduation. Nadia graduated this week with a master's in fine arts. I should have said that while she was here, so that's amazing. Shouldn't. And Auntie Marley came up, and she's like, sorry, I left early in the morning, you know. Little notes. And I think that the the Bible has given us these little notes. Jesus has these little moments, and I want to talk today about one of them because I think we might find ourselves in these moments the day after Easter, in these little Easter eggs. Bible says this in John 20, verse 24. If you wouldn't mind, Joseph, could you start the timer just so I can respect everybody's time here today? Now, Thomas, and note this it says, 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 your hands and put my finger where the nails were and my hand in your side, I will not believe. Wow. It says this. A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. So a week has gone by, and we've got Thomas, quite confronting, I think. I think there's something quite kiwi about Thomas. He's he's known as doubting Thomas, which I think is a real bummer. Um, but so he's he's he's considered a guy who was doubtful, but he's not afraid to speak his mind. Imagine seeing Jesus, you know, after the tomb, and then everyone's like, you know, scared and frothing, and there's all sorts. And he's like, nah. Oh, he says, I will not believe unless I see evidence. And then a week goes by. So he's feeling like this for a long time. And we might find ourselves in the scriptures today. And then later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. I like that. Even with his doubt, he remained, hey. Yeah, that's cool. Uh though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. I think that's quite a cool, tricky Jesus moment. Little Houdini, eh? Reverse Houdini, you know. Uh Jesus came and stood among them. Then he said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands. And reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, My Lord and my God. Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me and believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. And Father, we pray for your presence. I pray that you would speak, Lord, to us. You would be with us, fill us, shape us. Um we just we come from all different walks of life, ages, stages. We've all had all different kinds of experiences this week, this month, and this year. And but Lord, I'm preaching a sermon, but I know that you have a message for us. I know that no matter what words are speaking through this microphone, Lord, Holy Spirit, we want to lean into what you are saying. Encourage your people today. Fill us with your presence today. And I'm praying that in Jesus' name. And everybody said. Amen. Thomas, who I mentioned is known, I think, the world over by sort of believers, as doubting Thomas. A bit of a bummer because Thomas is an OG. Thomas is he's the Edmund Hillary. I mean, he's Thomas is the KRS one. Thomas is, I mean, he's the he's the um, who am I thinking of? Who who's the who's the greatest rugby player from he's from Huntley? Colin Meads. That's right. I'm thinking about Colin Meads. He's the he's the dude, one of the twelve. He's the guy, he's the Reuben Wicky. I mean, he's the man. And yet the the post mortem that we give of his life is that he was the guy who doubted. I mean, he was, he helped shape the early church. I've written in my notes. He's the Kelly Slater. He's one of the twelve. He spent time, he saw Jesus and spent time with Jesus. He was there in the midst of what the Lord was doing at that time. I love him that he was honest. I love Thomas that he was direct. I love Thomas that he was authentic. One of the things I love about Thomas was that he wasn't pretending. And I think that that's something that we might like about him too. That Jesus turned up and he's like, nah, nah. Imagine that. Imagine Jesus came over. No, not sure. You weren't there for me when I needed you. Not interested. And Jesus is like, Jesus, I love the response that Jesus gives to Thomas. Not judgmental. He's not even affirming of the doubt, but he's gentle to walk him through it. Um I think when it comes to our faith, one of the great, the boogeyman of our faith is doubt. The Voldemort. We don't want to talk about it. We expect that no one deals, you know, no one has it as an issue in their life to deal with, and that we all just like, you know, hey, we just get brushed with this faith lens, and then we just kind of go on and and and then you have to but you have to get play games if you doubt. You can't, where do you bring it up? Like if you have doubts, who do you talk to? You can't, no one's preaching on it. No one's sitting here saying, hey, if anyone's doubting, let's talk about it after the service. And I think that's wrong. I think that's bad. I think that's not good. Because if we like Thomas, who was someone who was one of the twelve, the colin meads of our faith, he was there on day one. If he's somebody who saw it all, walked with Jesus and saw him do the most remarkable things, was with the twelve, and Jesus comes back into the room through a locked door, and then he goes, No, not into it. I don't think he was just having a bad day. We have those, don't we? No amens, crazy, you know. Um the Bible says this. The Bible says that he's Thomas, also known as Didymus. That's interesting. Thomas, also known as Didymus, and that this guy, Thomas, also known as Didymus, his first response after Easter was doubt. I mean, Easter was great. I was I wasn't here. I haven't seen you for three weeks. We had Easter, cyclone, tornadoes, and now we're here. And by the way, in regards to cyclones, tornadoes, and weather challenges, um, if anyone's going through challenges, needs food, groceries, needs anything at all, please come let us know. We want to make sure that our family looked after and protected when things get when things get tough. We have people filling out bathtubs full of water to make sure that families had what they needed. Let us know. You know, honestly, you please reach out if you ever need anything during these difficult times. But I was in Brisbane with Mika on Easter, and then like my first thing after Easter is like, come home, see the family, you know, check in with people, how's everything going? Not Thomas, his first thing was like, nah, whole thing, a sham. No, I bet he now he started he might start to lean into the narrative of what the Romans were saying, what the Jews were saying. Oh, body was stolen. Not sure about that. And he was sitting in the room. He was in the room when it happened. That he was right here watching it take place, but still in his heart, he he said, he said, No, I don't believe it. I will need to see you. How many how many of us have said this to ourselves? I'll need to see Jesus and the holes in his hand and the and the spear from his side. I would need to touch it, see, I would need to hug him, hold him, embrace him. When I get to heaven, I've got so many questions to ask him. How many of us have said those things, thought those things? That's Thomas. Thomas's name is also Didymus. Didymus is Greek for twin. The Bible doesn't give us, though, any reference whatsoever that Thomas has a biological twin. None whatsoever. So there's no sense that there's another guy named Thomas who's his twin. By the way, Henderson twins, we were there this morning, Ryder and I, did some weeding in the garden. That family's doing great. Kids are amazing, super cute. Chubby ass, big thighs, huge cheeks, love it, thank you, Lord. And and we they think they can tell which one's gonna play rugby, which one's gonna be an endurance athlete, even at this point. Twins. Not Thomas. The Bible doesn't give us any evidence that he was a biological twin, so why then was he also known by this Greek word named twin? We don't know. But sometimes in the scripture we might read into the silence and say, What's happening here? And what I'll contend and leave with us today, and I'll let you, you know, examine the scriptures for yourself. But this is what I think. Maybe, just maybe, Thomas, Didymus, this twin, is an example for us of the wolves that are at that are wrestling on the inside of all of us. Maybe there's in all of us there's a there's a Didymus. Maybe in all of us there's a twin. Maybe in all of us there is, you do your best day to just like talk through it. You know what I mean? But like you do your uh maybe maybe in all of us there is a there's belief and doubt at the same time. And we don't want to acknowledge it because we're not sure anyone else is experiencing it. Because we come to church, you know. I do love a good warriors fan that way, like it's our year, you know what I mean? But then at the same time, you're like, is it come to local man, those guys are solid, authentic, it's gonna be great. Is it come to church? Cool people, man, it's great. You'll make friends. Will I? Meet someone in the thing, like in the break. Even extroverts hate the break, you know what I mean? Will it be great? I do need some help with groceries, but if I do follow through, will I get? And we live with this tension of will he come through for me? Is he real? What's the what's the go? And we wrestle with both at the same time. And Thomas's name is also Didymus, I think, for us, as a sign that we can lean into the fact that both can operate at the same time. So my interpretation, and I'll leave it with you to interpret it for yourself, is that I think that Thomas for us is somebody that was in two minds. Someone for us that contended, he doubted, but he had faith. He was one of the twelve, but still he found challenges. James 1, verse 6, and James is another New Testament pastor, one of the legends. He said, But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt. So we read this and we go, Oh, dang it, can't have it. I'm not Didymus, I'm solid. We're not. He says this, because the one who doubts is like the wave, a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. How goes to that moment where Jesus calls Peter to walk on water? He walked on water. He's walking on the water. This is awesome, you know. I sometimes, you know, when you're driving down the mount and you see those guys on those um those boards? You know those hydro foils? Which I think are dangerous and not cool. But awesome, eh? You know, sick, you know. But they look like they're walking on water. And it's every time you stop, you know you're gonna see these hydro foilers, you know? These Gen X people, you know what I mean, having a midlife crisis, you know. Literally carrying power tools to do their hobby in the back of their car, you know, it takes an hour just to get ready. And then what happened was Peter he saw the wind in the waves, and he fell. And Jesus was there to lovingly lift him up. I think that there's another picture for us about this faith that we have of feeling like we can do it. I've got a bad report, but I'm walking on water, and then the next day wake up, oh, far out, the whole thing's falling apart. But Jesus lovingly right there. And he did that for Peter, he did that for Thomas, and he does that for us. Uh in Thomas, we have doubt and belief. They're both present. I think doubt is that the elephant in the room of our faith. Those of us that question our faith, or they those of us that question God's activity in the world, those of us that question why do bad things happen to good people, that that question why bad things happen at all. Uh, Thomas teaches us this. He teaches us, I believe, that we are not alone. You're not alone going through that process or going through those those feelings and those emotions. Uh another time I think we experience doubt is we have this analysis, paralysis in life, where we're just so not sure about what's next. For those who are in year 13, what are you doing next year? You're sick of being asked. What am I going to study? What's my career path? The decisions at work, who should I date, who should I marry? Should I have kids, no kids, where to buy, fixed or floating? Is it crypto or SP 500? Faith and fear, truth and facts. Often we're faced, things aren't linear and clear, we're faced with wrestling with our doubt and our faith. So then what is doubt? I think doubt is a feeling of uncertainty or a lack of conviction to waver between two options. I think going out to a restaurant is a wonderful experience, unless the menu's too big. But if it has three folds, oh man, give me a mystery meal. You know what I mean? I do not want to waste 17 minutes of my life reading this, you know. Philip Yancey says this. He says, doubt is the skeleton in the closet of faith. And I know no better way to treat a skeleton than to bring it out into the open, to expose it for what it is. Not something to hide or fear, but a hard structure on which living tissue may grow. You're not strange. This is not Philip Yancey, this is Levi Mary Church. Um, you're not strange if you doubt, but I think you are if you don't. I think that's the lesson of these scriptures that we read. C.S. Lewis said this. He said, now that I'm a Christian, I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable. But when I was an atheist, I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. If we confront our doubts, we can become stronger. If we raise questions about quality, I think we can find the answer to be true and sure, about the integrity or the certainty of our faith. My brother-in-law is a criminal defense lawyer in Auckland, and in New Zealand, we have this maxim in our jurisprudence called innocent until proven guilty. I think this is positive. Because if it was the other way around, the burden of proof would be on someone to prove that you're innocent. But you are innocent in the eyes of the law until proven otherwise. And so there certainly are times where we watch people on trial and we're like, this guy, 100%. Look at him. He looks guilty, you know? Well, it's not about looking guilty, it's about a group of prosecutors proving that you're guilty. So let me give you this illustration, which I steal from my brother-in-law. He says, You're on the side of innocence. That's us, we're innocent. Over there, guilty side. So with us being innocent, the prosecution, that's you guys, has to build a bridge from innocent to guilty. And he says, he says, my job is to look at the quality and the integrity of those planks of wood. He says, if I get a if they lay an argument, that's a plank to get you to guilt. He says, My job is just to test the quality and the integrity of those planks. And if they fail, there is no bridge and you stay where you are. When we walk on the parts of the harbour or the pedestrian crossing from Matsupi or old wolves, but they just built an old wharf over at Punny's Point over Matakana. The old one before that, you know, you walk on, you know, I was climbing down someone's um like uh rope ladder kind of like staircase down to the water in Mongatapi the other day. I was like, oh, there it is, Lord, you know. And you don't trust the integrity, you don't trust the integrity, the integral, the structural integrity, the engineering of that thing you're standing on. I guess based on this analogy, uh when I walk with the Lord and when I when I have the scriptures and when I talk with believers, I just don't think that God is concerned that there's a lack of integrity in the bridge he's built for us. I just think that the Lord is not worried that you're gonna find a hole in his handiwork. Now, he's not trying to get you to guilt, that's where the illustration falls over. In fact, quite the other way. But I think that Hugh's illustration, my brother-in-law is great because he's just saying, My job is just to test the arguments. I just think I I guess I think that the Lord wants us to test his arguments, wants us to test the word, wants us to test him, wants us to say, Lord, like like I have doubts, Lord. I'm doubting, Lord, this thing in my life. I I I read the scriptures, Lord, and I'm not into some, you know, Lord, I'm not into some uh prosperity doctrine, but I do believe you don't want me to be poor. I do believe you want me to be rich in spirit, wealthy in relationships. I do believe that. But I've been lonely, Lord. I've been broke. That's past tense, eh? Am broke, you know. I do, Lord, have challenges and I have fears and I have doubts. And and and I just feel like the Lord is saying, Yes, Thomas, embrace them, walk on water, test them for yourself, and find that the Lord, the righteous, are never found begging bread, and find that the Lord actually has truth in the scriptures that we contend with for a lifetime, but he's not wanting to take our doubts and say, Oh, well, um, no thanks, not for my faith community. Doubts are not welcome. If Thomas doubted and he was one of the twelve, imagine how much more susceptible we are to doubt. Thomas had the had the brilliant idea of saying, Show me the thing, show me, show me the scars. Oh no, good. Okay, yeah, now we're good. He had that opportunity that we don't have, and I just think he gives us this opportunity to say, if you have doubts, that's okay. It'd be weird if you don't. Thomas had all of the evidence, all of the evidence, and yet he still doubted. However, Jesus came back and had a specific interaction with him about his doubt. He gently confronted him, he exposed it, he addressed it, he didn't leave him hanging, he helped him with his doubt. From John 20, verse 25, he says this I will not believe to John 20, verse 28. My Lord and my God. God's not wanting us to have these corporate beliefs that you kind of like walk into, but a specific and personal belief. Thomas is in a group with 11 other guys, 10 other guys, and they believe. But Jesus doesn't come back so that we might say, Yeah, I believe, but that you might say, My Lord and my God. If you're taking notes, I've got a few thoughts for us this afternoon. The first one is this this interaction speaks to the doubters among us. This interaction speaks to the doubters among us. If you don't doubt ever, if you have faith and you're rock solid, there's nothing about the story that can help you. But if you experience doubt in your life, Thomas is our guy. By allowing Thomas to touch his side, Jesus invites an investigation. The empty tomb is an invitation for investigation. Jesus not cussing out Thomas but saying, Yeah, have a look, invites investigation. God is not worried about us having a closer look. God is not concerned about us having a look at the details, about getting in our scriptures, about having a faith that's active and alive and praying for things and believing for things. God is not afraid of those things. You know, um sometimes I'll talk with like um, you know, like young adults who are not married, and like young, like single women who are, you know, will be around having playing games and have got some young adults over, and then it comes to like um, not that I hang out with lots of single women, that's not what I'm saying. It's like there's lots of us, but in that group is young single woman, and then they'll be like, it'll come, Naddy will be like, oh, so what are you thinking about marriage? What are you thinking? You know, and they'll be like, ah, you know, and then it gets to the list. Oh, he's got to be, you know, tall glass of water, six one, earn three hundred thousand dollars a year, all of these kind of things. Okay, crazy. And then we kind of go, okay, so you know, if not, then you know, but look, character, crazy, you know, like what about Jesus, you know, and then you kind of like manipulate this list, and you get to the point where you kind of go and look, on the one hand, having list, I get it, but like also, you know, not but also, yeah, I get it. I think when it comes to our life, having prayer points, I say, yeah, Lord, like I'm believing for this for my family, I'm believing for this in my workplace, I'm believing for this, I think these things are good, but the doubt in us is nah, flag. And I think the Lord says there's a missed opportunity there where we let doubt win. But having prayer points and saying, Lord, like I don't believe this will happen. Like when my mum got saved about three years ago, oh maybe five years ago, I didn't believe it. How stupid is that? I've been praying for 20 years for my mum to get saved. Then she got saved, and I was like, don't believe it. That's the most Thomas thing ever. And I took the mum say to confess Jesus Christ is Lord. And she did, I was like, okay, well, maybe, maybe I'm gonna see some fruit in your life though. I want to see some change, you know. Like it, it we I get it. There's an old, there's an old um Cherokee story about uh a Cherokee teaching his grandson about life. You'd have heard this before he says this. There's a fight going on inside me, he said to the boy. He said, It's a terrible fight, and it's between two wolves. One is evil, he says, full of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. He continued, the other one is good, joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity. And there are two wolves inside you as well, he said. And the grandson thought for a minute and asked the question. He said, Which one will win? And the old man said, The one that you feed. We all doubt, and that's okay. I would just love for us to consider which one we feed. Let's feed the right wolf. Jesus' ministry to Thomas represents his ministry to the doubter. It represents his ministry to the doubt that's in you. And Jesus was gentle and lowly as he walked him through that process. The second thing I say is this Jesus' divinity, Jesus' divinity was declared by a doubter. That's unintended alliteration. But I think it works. Jesus divinity was declared by a doubter. In the scriptures, when you read the Gospels, there are moments where people lean in on, like they're almost there about like saying who Jesus was. Different people are like, You're the are you the dude? They're like, I think you're the Messiah. A woman on the well, she's like, you know, Peter announcing it, you know, then there's Roman centurion, surely this is the Son of God. There's all these little moments where people shine a light on different parts of Jesus. But like there aren't a lot of moments where it's like fully captured and it's like, yep, done. This guy's got it. And then there's Thomas, who we know from his doubt, by the end of the story, declares the divinity of Christ so clear where he says, My Lord and my God, from a place of doubt, this man has an absolute turnaround and declares from that place, the most clear, I think, in the book of John, at least one of the clearest, declarations of the divinity of Christ coming from a place of doubt. That if you today go, yeah, I can resonate with Thomas, I do find things unbelievable when they happen. I can't possibly comprehend a God that loves me and wants good things to happen to me, and then they do, that you might from your place of doubt know that even from that place, you can be someone that absolutely declares, yeah, you're my Lord and my God. You are real, you are alive, and you are moving in my life. That John's gospel goes full circle. John 1 1 says this, that the word was God, and by John 28, so personal, he says, My Lord and my God. That the climax of John's gospel is not random, that John's been building to this moment from the beginning. That the highest declaration of Jesus divinity in John's gospel comes from a disciple most associated with doubting. I just think that that's such a clear picture of the people that the Lord chooses and the people that the Lord has chosen. Like if we really wanted to select people for the community to do great things for the Lord, and we would have our list. Like if I was a part of the team that was deciding what was in the Bible, I would edit what's in there. Because there's bad people in there that cause difficult questions that people ask me about. And I would say, I would prefer it wasn't in there, you know. But really, honestly, isn't it great that there are imperfect people in there? Because we can read ourselves in and see that the only perfect person that we put them on the cross. That if I was a part of the tomb that was able to get a pre-edit on who would come as Jesus the Messiah to save the world, I wouldn't have selected a baby because babies aren't uh powerful. I would have made a sick superhero, you know? Like a fusion between Goku and Vegeta or something, you know. But aren't you so glad that I wasn't involved in that process? That the foolish things will confound the wise, and a doubting disciple is the one that declared the divinity of Christ. Number three, I'll close with this. I really want us to stand, understand today that I want us to understand today, not to stand. Um that our words have creative force. Ephesians 4 29 says, Watch the day, uh watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps. I love this last part. Each word is a gift. Oh, have you got that? Did I make up the scriptures? So I've made up scriptures and they're really good. Says this. It says, say only what helps. Maybe it's the message translation. Each word is a gift. Each word a gift. Um when we had uh when we were in the neonatal unit when Ryder was born, we had a chance to meet a lot of other parents who had children who also had some health challenges. And we were like, um, you were in hospital in the NICU, you know, we were there for months, meeting parents asking about names. So what are you, you know, what's his name? What's your name? What are you naming them? And I was shocked at some of these names. Some of the names I heard became um banned. You know, every year there are there are names, there are popular names, then there are names that are banned, that you can't name your kid these names. And here are some that I heard in the hospital. Paul Moore. It's a cigarette brand. For those um holy ones who'd had no idea what that was. Two kids, twins, fish and chips. Don't get any ideas. Um, Lucifer. True. Versus the most popular names this year for babies. Aruha, which means love. Areki means Lord. Noah. He's from the Bible. Leo means king. That the there's there's there's power, eh, in those names that we give our kids. There's power. If there's if you believe as a parent that there's power in the names you gave your kids and you didn't choose Lucifer, Paul Mall or Fish and Chips, then I wonder if you also believe that there's power in the names that you give yourself. I wonder if you also believe that there's power in the words that you speak over yourself. I wonder if you also believe that there's power in the prayers that you pray over your family. That despite your doubt, your words have creative power. We will spend one-third of our lives talking. And with those words, I just believe it's just so crucial that we use words that create good things. Abraham Lincoln said this: better to remain silent and be thought of a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. Francis Chan said this, and I'll close with this. Christians are like manure. He said, if you leave it in a pile, it stinks, but if you spread it out, it helps things grow. Proverbs 16, verse 24 says, Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, and health to the body. I think that's a great verse for encouragement for others. I do. And I think if you take that from the scripture, you should. But I'm preaching that to you from a different angle today, and that's this. That I want you to understand that that scripture can be applied to the words you speak over your own life. Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, and health to the body. That if you're feeling like, man, I'm full of doubt, I'm riddled with I'm like a like a wave tossed. Go easy on yourself. That the closest people to the living Lord Jesus Christ experienced that exact same thing and wouldn't rest and weren't settled until they had proof from him. And we don't have a side of Christ or hands in his or holes in his hands to put our fingers in. But I just want you to understand it's okay just to take a little step out on those strong foundational scriptures and pray them till you see fruit in your life, and believe them till they come true. And keep praying for your kids. Kids are away from the Lord, kids are distant from God, kids are going through challenges in school, keep praying, keep believing. Lord, Lord, I just I know you're faithful, Lord. Other, other, you know what? I don't know. I don't know that you're faithful, but I read it and other people tell me. And so in your faithfulness, this is the beam of faithfulness. I'm gonna. I went running with Jaden once through the um and we we crossed this bridge. Remember that, bro? I'm afraid of heights. You I could be up in a plane, no concerns. But this, how 10 meters? Maybe he's like seven. And it was an old rail bridge. And we're running, talking, chatting away. And as I saw it approach, I was like, oh, and then I did that. And I went, I was like, Jaden, he's on the other side. Yo, I was like, bro, I can't do it. He goes, No worries, runs across, we take a different thing. That's what I'm talking about. It's just taking a little, and then you go, oh community. I'm not ready for this. And that will come around and say, yo, yo, is this the faithfulness one? Yeah, let's debrief. That's tough. Next time you go, just take a big run up. But that's what community is all about. Man, I'm going through these challenges, or man, I'm on this, or whatever it is that we might journey together. And words are like a honeycomb, sweet for the soul, health to the body. So when you feel bummed out because you have doubt and you gave up, man, honeycomb for the body. Oh, it's okay. Go easy on yourself. You'll give it another go soon. The day after Easter. I want to talk next week about other interactions that Jesus had. I want to talk the week after that about other moments where he interacted with people that I think are, I think next week we might talk about how Jesus was disguised as a gardener and what that means for our lives. But today I want to speak to doubt. If we were honest, and if we said to ourselves today, you know, show of hands if you doubt, I'll pray for you. Really, what should happen is all of us should go, yeah, that's me. So I'll do that in a second, but um, not publicly. But I guess rather than saying, like, yeah, I doubt, I would like to ask specifically that if in this season, in your life, yeah, there's a doubt of faith, yep. Is he real? All of that, yep, for sure. Or a doubt that he's good, or a doubt that he follows through, or a doubt, it's a doubt in his character, isn't it? My dad was not, and so I don't think you will be. But I read that you are doubting in the character of God, the goodness of God. Then before we close, I would love to pray for you. Could you close your eyes if that's okay? Just for a couple minutes. And Father, today we're grateful for your presence. We ask for your touch today, Lord, for your Holy Spirit to to pour out on us. That you would, Lord, today, like minister to us, Lord. We we we're dry and parched, many of us, and we calm, and today there we're we're we're talking about a topic that's kind of like, man, it's a little taboo, Lord. It's a little Voldemorty, it's a little like we don't we mute that and we just kind of like have this, you know, this progressive faith talk that's positive and not always true. But Father, we want to today acknowledge that we have doubts in you and in your ability to help us and speak to us and be with us and answer our prayers and for our family, for our kids, and for our health, and for our finances, and for our advancement in this world, and for our society, Lord. And we have some concerns, God, with this world you're running. And we ask you today, like you did with Thomas and like you did with Peter, gently help us through. Gently encourage us. Yeah, we know we need to start believing. We know, but it's hard. And I just pray that your journey with your disciples could be for us a loving journey here today. And so for our church congregation, if that's you, I'd love to pray with you. Can you just throw your hand in the air? No one's looking around. No one's looking around, it's just me. I just want to know who I'm praying for. Yeah, cool. Yeah, thank you, Lord. Yeah, cool, thank you, Father. Yeah, my hand is raised, Lord. Because, man, there are some challenges that I just look and say, God, what are you doing? Where are you? Why, why, why? And I and we we doubt, Lord. And Father, those of us with that sense of like, oh, yep, that's me. This week, Lord, help us. Guide us, love us, gently cajole us and shepherd us through and speak to us. And Holy Spirit, today we're asking for a sense of your presence, Lord, that you might. I mean, I we want to get to a point, Lord, where you have eliminated this challenge in our life. But man, just one step was great. Testing the faithfulness beam, that's what we want. We just want to take one step, Lord. And Father, we're praying for a great sense of your presence this week as we together as a community start to engage in some of these things, these Easter eggs, these things that happen after Easter, after the formation of our faith, the launch of Christianity, the very next thing that happened was Thomas doubted. And what else happened in that moment? What can we learn? And we pray that you would guide us this week as we do that. We thank you, Lord. We love you, Lord. We bless you, Lord. Amen.