In this session we look at faith. What is it? Does it matter how much of it you have? Is it something we’re born with? And is it about believing in spite of evidence and reason?
Find out more about the Firm Foundations course by watching the Introduction. The previous session (part 28, on Christ the redeemer) is here.
I’m sure you are familiar with the phrase “seeing is believing”. We often say that we need to see something with our own eyes before we can believe it.
That’s the subject of our Bible reading for the first week after Easter. It’s from John 20, the famous story of doubting Thomas. On the eve of that first Easter Day, Jesus appeared to his disciples while they were together – but Thomas was not present. When the other disciples told him what had happened, he said: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Thomas refused to believe the testimony of his friends, those he knew to be trustworthy and reliable. Instead, he chose to say that he would not believe unless he had seen Jesus with his own eyes.
Perhaps this is an attitude that we can sympathise with: as human beings we can find it hard to believe without the evidence of our own eyes. “Seeing is believing”, we say, and if we don’t see we don’t believe. Even if not believing means we have to distrust people we know well. Perhaps there is something of the “doubting Thomas” in each one of us.
So, how did things work out for our friend Thomas? Let’s look at what happens next in the story:
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus did not commend Thomas for his doubts. Thomas should have believed the other disciples, his closest friends. He should have listened to what Jesus had taught them before about how he was to be killed and then raised on the third day. Instead, Thomas made the conscious choice not to believe. I think this reflects a battle that we all face day by day.
We all face the choice every day to respond to our circumstances with faith or with doubt. We can choose which eyes to see with – eyes of faith, or eyes of doubt. We can choose to see the risen Lord Jesus at work in our lives and trust in his promises, or we can choose to deny him.
Jesus finishes by saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” It is a blessing to trust in the Lord, even though we do not see him. By faith we trust that our sins are forgiven. By faith we trust that he is able to care for us and provide for us. By faith we trust that he is able to direct our lives in the way that is best. By faith we believe that he is willing and able to answer prayer.
We cannot see the Lord Jesus with our eyes, yet with eyes of faith we believe and trust that he is there. And as we trust in him day by day, as we choose to see with eyes of faith, we come to experience that he is faithful, and that he is able to keep his promises to us.
I will leave the last word to the apostle Paul, from 2 Corinthians 4:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This was originally written as a ‘Thought for the Week’ for a local publication.
As we saw in the last episode, Abraham is rightly seen as a pillar of faith and an example for us. And yet, even Abraham had moments of weakness, such as this passage today. Yet somehow, his weakness didn’t derail God’s promises…
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If you’d prefer the audio-only podcast, see here.
Abraham is – rightly – seen as a giant of faith. In this passage from Genesis, we look at Abraham’s faith and what it teaches us about trusting in God today.
Enjoyed this sermon? See more on the sermons page.
If you’d prefer the audio-only podcast, see here.
I’ve just published the next part of the Learn to read the Bible series on Mark’s Gospel. This week we are looking at Mark 5:21-43, where Jesus heals a sick woman and raises a dead girl.
For those who are coming to this new, the idea behind this series is not for me to simply explain everything to you, but rather to give you things to think about yourself. This is about training you to read the Bible for yourself, rather than just giving you all the answers!
See this page if you’d like a few pointers for how to use these videos. Don’t forget to pray!
You can read the passage online here (although I’d suggest it’s better in a physical Bible). You may also want to have a pen and paper handy to jot down notes and things you want to look into more.
Explore Further: You might be interested in this post I wrote a few years ago on this passage.
Take a few moments to re-read the passage, think, and pray.
You can see the rest of the videos in this series on the this page. If you’d like a more focussed series teaching the Christian faith, check out the teaching programme.
You might also want to see the previous episode in the series on Mark 5:1-20.
In this session we are looking at one of the most fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith – that we are right with God (or “justified”) by faith alone. Not through the good works that we do or by earning in any way.
This is really taking the things we’ve looked at over the past few weeks (the Apostle’s Creed) and asking, “Why is it important to believe all of this? And how do we benefit from it?”
There are three questions in this Lord’s Day:
“Faith alone” is one of the most important topics that Christians can think about – it makes a huge difference to the Christian life. It’s hard to overstate how important it is.
If you enjoy this, you can do the whole series right here on the website, or on the app (see links on the right hand side of the page). Alternatively, I am uploading them regularly to YouTube and Facebook. All sessions on YouTube are available on this playlist.
Many people have the view that, on the day of judgement, God will tot up our good deeds and – if we’ve done enough – will let us into heaven. Many people think it doesn’t matter whether you have faith, just that you’ve done enough good deeds. But what does the Bible say?
The podcast episode is available here.
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