God Is Big Enough To Remove My Doubts! Series

INTRODUCTION

• I hope that you have recovered from Christmas, and I know the Christmas weight is going to state falling off!

• Christmas is the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. History shows us that indeed, there was a person of history named Jesus who lived when the the Bible says he lived.

• However, for many, for many who will admit there was a person named Jesus, they would not make the leap to the fact that He is the Son of God.

• I believe there are Christians today who still doubt that Jesus is really the Son of God who will return one day.

• I think most people possess some level of doubt when it come to the spiritual issues, mainly because of the nature of the spiritual side of life, you usually can not see it.

• Another issue is that every great thing God does in your life, one could find an alternate explanation if they do not want to credit God.

• For many, they can never seem to overcome their doubts, and their doubts become and excuse to live in unbelief.

• Ultimately, one must decide how big the god they serve is. Is their god bigger than their doubt, or is their doubt bigger?

• Over the next four weeks are going to work through a series entitled GOD IS BIG ENOUGH.

• We will look at the fact that God is big enough to uproot my fear, to see me through the storm, to conquer my sin, and today we will begin with the fact that God is big enough to remove my doubt!

• Today we will examine Luke 24:33-39 as well as some of the parallel passage in John 20.

• How BIG is the God you serve? Is He big enough to be a blessing to you?

• Let’s begin with Luke 24:36

• SLIDE #2

• Luke 24:36–37 (HCSB) — 36 And as they were saying these things, He Himself stood among them. He said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

Doubt is dangerous because…

I. Doubt opens the door to fear. (36-37)

• When you are filled with doubt, doubt can lead to fear. I like to use the illustration of jumping out of a plane as an example.

• Imagine you are going to be crazy enough to pay someone to teach you how to properly jump out of an airplane, that is flying several thousand feet about the earth.

• You pay your money, now you are in the plane, the instructor tells you that he is going to teach you how to jump out of the plane, BUT he then tells you he has never done it before, but he stayed at a Holiday Inn.

• Are you starting to get fearful? Then to make matters worse, he proceeds to tell you that your chute is the first one he has ever packed, and that it is ok because he looked it up on Pinterest as to how to pack a chute with style.

• Now how are you feeling about your upcoming several thousand-foot plunge toward certain death!

• Doubts lead to fear.

• Here is some background to the passage we are examining together.

• Jesus’ disciples had been with Him for about three years of ministry. They heard Him teach, they saw Him heal, they witnessed Him performing miracles.

• Jesus told His Disciples He would be killed, buried and rise in the third day.

• Yet, here are the disciples full of doubt and fear.

• In the parallel passage in John 20:19 we find…

• SLIDE #4

• John 20:19 (HCSB) In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews. Then Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”

• These guys were still afraid, their doubts about a resurrection kept them in fear.

• Despite the fact that Jesus has already made at least four recorded appearances since He was declared dead after the crucifixion.

• He appeared to Mary who told the disciples about what happened. (John 20:11-18)

• He appeared to the other group of women at the tomb. (Matthew 28:9-10).

• He appeared to the men o the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32) those two men went to Jerusalem and were with the 11 when this event took place (Luke 24:33).

• Jesus appeared to Peter. (Matthew 24:33-35).

• Despite all the evidence, the disciples, the men who spent the past three years with Jesus, still possessed doubt.

• Now here is Jesus, in the room with them, the disciples are startled, probably because of the suddenness of the appearance, and they were terrified, because they thought they were in the presence of a ghost!