WEBVTT 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:12.699 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:15.279 Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:20.879 you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.359 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:29.440 message from our preaching team. Today's Bible 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:37.359 reading is from John 20, 24 to 29. Now Thomas, 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:40.460 known as Didymus, one of the twelve, was not 00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:43.439 with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:46.939 disciples told him, we have seen the Lord. But 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:49.119 he said to them, unless I see the nail marks 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:52.259 in his hands and put my finger where the nails 00:00:52.259 --> 00:00:55.200 were and put my hand in his side, I will not 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.780 believe. A week later, his disciples were in 00:00:58.780 --> 00:01:01.679 the house again and Thomas was with them. Though 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:04.120 the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.459 them and said, Peace be with you. Then he said 00:01:07.459 --> 00:01:10.280 to Thomas, Put your fingers here. See my hands. 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:13.459 Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:17.079 doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, My 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:20.340 Lord and my God. Then Jesus told him, Because 00:01:20.340 --> 00:01:22.599 you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.719 are those who have not seen and yet have believed. 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:32.189 This is the word of the Lord. Awesome. Welcome, 00:01:32.230 --> 00:01:34.730 welcome. I'm Ashley. I'm one of the pastors here. 00:01:34.769 --> 00:01:39.329 And today we had growth track and we had three 00:01:39.329 --> 00:01:45.310 beautiful people finish up. Oh, look at them. 00:01:45.390 --> 00:01:48.230 They're cute. So their faces are going to go 00:01:48.230 --> 00:01:52.430 on the board. Missed out. Um, could someone grab 00:01:52.430 --> 00:01:58.569 more scriptures? Let all distraction fall away. 00:01:59.950 --> 00:02:04.530 Let me just hear your voice clearly, Lord. I'm 00:02:04.530 --> 00:02:06.290 gonna have to turn these photos up the other 00:02:06.290 --> 00:02:08.009 way, because I just had Alex Evans looking at 00:02:08.009 --> 00:02:11.169 me. Now there's a question, and I want you to 00:02:11.169 --> 00:02:12.969 hold on, so I'm gonna ask you a few times throughout 00:02:12.969 --> 00:02:16.990 today, so don't worry if you forget. What conditions 00:02:16.990 --> 00:02:21.949 would have to be true for you to hear something 00:02:21.949 --> 00:02:28.530 and have it change your life forever? Have it 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:33.210 change your life forever. You know, my childhood 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:39.289 was in part shaped by my military family. From 00:02:39.289 --> 00:02:41.490 a very early age, I was taught that life runs 00:02:41.490 --> 00:02:46.530 on protocols and schedules. Charlie's not here, 00:02:46.530 --> 00:02:51.569 he knows. And 24 -hour time, definitely. You 00:02:51.569 --> 00:02:54.389 know, there's a chain of command. My dad was 00:02:54.389 --> 00:02:57.509 the top. There was a clear set of goals and there 00:02:57.509 --> 00:03:00.629 was a right way to go about it. You follow the 00:03:00.629 --> 00:03:04.250 steps and you get the result. Maybe it was my 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:06.629 upbringing, maybe it's just the way my brain 00:03:06.629 --> 00:03:10.330 works. But you know, this mindset kind of followed 00:03:10.330 --> 00:03:15.370 me into my adult life. In my uni study, I spend 00:03:15.370 --> 00:03:18.289 time solving analytical problems and writing 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:21.889 lines of code. My brain just gets used to looking 00:03:21.889 --> 00:03:25.610 for patterns. When I'm stuck with a calculation, 00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:28.289 I'm studying mathematics by the way, if you didn't 00:03:28.289 --> 00:03:33.169 pick that part up. When I'm stuck solving a calculation 00:03:33.169 --> 00:03:36.530 or my piece of code fails, which is all the time, 00:03:37.770 --> 00:03:41.270 I don't sit down and empathize with my computer. 00:03:43.210 --> 00:03:48.590 I just fix it. I look at the objective numbers 00:03:48.590 --> 00:03:52.830 in front of me, the bad code I've written, and 00:03:52.830 --> 00:03:59.590 I fix it. This causes a bit of tension and grief 00:03:59.590 --> 00:04:04.189 in my own life because I naturally assume that 00:04:04.189 --> 00:04:09.090 humans operate the very same way. You know when 00:04:09.090 --> 00:04:12.469 someone I I know is in care about is making a 00:04:12.469 --> 00:04:14.909 destructive choice or they're wrestling with 00:04:14.909 --> 00:04:18.970 the deep questions of life My immediate instinct 00:04:18.970 --> 00:04:21.449 is to teach them why it's teach them. Yeah teach 00:04:21.449 --> 00:04:26.670 them is to treat them like a math problem. I 00:04:26.670 --> 00:04:28.569 Assume that what they're missing is the right 00:04:28.569 --> 00:04:32.529 information That if I just give them the perfect 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:36.970 logical answer outline the consequences and provide 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:40.910 the undeniable facts, they will feel better. 00:04:43.189 --> 00:04:45.910 You know, I take times, I take this approach 00:04:45.910 --> 00:04:49.930 to God myself, you know, Jesus, what book do 00:04:49.930 --> 00:04:55.529 I need to read? Jesus, not Tim. Sometimes the 00:04:55.529 --> 00:04:58.490 one, you know, Tim was Jesus' book. Do I need 00:04:58.490 --> 00:05:01.889 to read? What prayer? What prayer do I need to 00:05:01.889 --> 00:05:06.290 pray? What am I failing to understand that will 00:05:06.290 --> 00:05:11.490 make everything better? What would change everything? 00:05:13.009 --> 00:05:16.949 Do I need to go to yet another conference? Because 00:05:16.949 --> 00:05:19.910 I'll do it. They've normally got really good 00:05:19.910 --> 00:05:27.689 lemon slice. But you need history. But I am constant 00:05:27.689 --> 00:05:31.730 transformation, which is upsetting as I write 00:05:31.730 --> 00:05:38.410 a sermon. But what a relief And she got a little 00:05:38.410 --> 00:05:41.370 too high which is wasn't that high But she got 00:05:41.370 --> 00:05:43.550 a little too high and she looked down and she 00:05:43.550 --> 00:05:48.029 suddenly was in absolute panic And in that moment, 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:52.430 she didn't need a physics lecture on and the 00:05:52.430 --> 00:05:56.990 statistical probability of her falling here Facts 00:05:56.990 --> 00:06:02.290 do put my hand on her back grab her left leg 00:06:02.290 --> 00:06:06.110 grab her right leg and physically guide her down. 00:06:07.370 --> 00:06:11.350 You know, information is utterly powerless when 00:06:11.350 --> 00:06:16.569 what we really need is an intervention. And so 00:06:16.569 --> 00:06:19.990 that brings us back to that first question. What 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:24.129 conditions would have to be true for you to hear 00:06:24.129 --> 00:06:27.209 something and have it change your life forever? 00:06:28.110 --> 00:06:30.810 We're in the middle of a series on resurrection 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:33.449 of Jesus and over the course of this series we've 00:06:33.449 --> 00:06:36.089 talked about historical facts, we've talked about 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:39.990 the empty tomb, eyewitness accounts, the undeniable 00:06:39.990 --> 00:06:43.850 reality that Jesus rose from the dead physically. 00:06:47.029 --> 00:06:51.230 We have to confront a difficult truth today that 00:06:51.230 --> 00:06:55.970 facts alone do not change us. We're actually 00:06:55.970 --> 00:07:00.939 logical arguments usually only deepen our already 00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:06.540 held beliefs. In the 1970s, I was gonna say the 00:07:06.540 --> 00:07:09.060 70s, but I feel like we nearly had to clarify 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:13.139 that. The 1970s, the researchers at Stanford 00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:16.079 University surveyed a group of students. 50 % 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:20.259 of them were pro capital punishment and 50 % 00:07:20.259 --> 00:07:23.379 of them were against capital punishment. And 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:29.959 they gave them two fabricated studies. with fabricated 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:33.000 statistics in them, one of them advocating for 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.779 each side. And then they surveyed, so the people 00:07:36.779 --> 00:07:41.459 read the studies and they surveyed the people 00:07:41.459 --> 00:07:47.939 again and no one changed sides, not a single 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:51.860 person. The students were simply weaponized with 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:56.730 new facts. barricading themselves deeper and 00:07:56.730 --> 00:07:59.310 deeper into the corners that they already occupied. 00:08:01.389 --> 00:08:04.730 You know, we do this exact same thing with God. 00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:10.449 When life is abundant with blessing, praise be 00:08:10.449 --> 00:08:13.110 to God, we can think it's because we're doing 00:08:13.110 --> 00:08:17.750 or believing the right things. Doesn't it go, 00:08:17.790 --> 00:08:21.329 God is good all the time, all the time God is 00:08:21.329 --> 00:08:27.829 good? But when life breaks our hearts, when the 00:08:27.829 --> 00:08:29.649 diagnosis come back, so our marriage is falling 00:08:29.649 --> 00:08:33.409 apart, or God feels entirely silent despite us 00:08:33.409 --> 00:08:37.629 screaming out for Him, we retreat behind a wall 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:41.129 of cynicism, you know, we fold our arms and we 00:08:41.129 --> 00:08:46.350 look up to heaven, and we demand evidence. Prove 00:08:46.350 --> 00:08:53.340 it to me. Show it to me. Show me that I am on 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:58.700 the right path. But here's what we need to understand 00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:04.320 today. Our demand for proof is very rarely an 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:07.899 intellectual pursuit. More often than not, it's 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:12.960 just a defense mechanism. Psychologists tell 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.659 us that cynicism and skepticism are not just 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:18.620 personality traits. They're not just a skeptic. 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:23.700 but they are profound defense mechanism. Cynicism 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:27.740 develops as a response to the brains, the psyche's 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:31.580 way. You know, we hold up our skepticism like 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:35.700 a shield because our minds are trying to avoid 00:09:35.700 --> 00:09:39.799 emotional overload. You know, it's so important 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:46.529 to protect our wounds. And tragically, the church 00:09:46.529 --> 00:09:50.070 can be a difficult place to bring this heartache. 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:53.710 According to recent studies by the Barna Group, 00:09:54.629 --> 00:09:58.149 52 % of adults and teens experience profound 00:09:58.149 --> 00:10:04.590 religious doubt. But when that doubt hits, 45 00:10:04.590 --> 00:10:11.450 % of them simply stop attending church. Only 00:10:11.450 --> 00:10:17.299 18 % of them consider talking to a pastor. The 00:10:17.299 --> 00:10:23.159 rest just leave. Like, why? Why? Well, you know, 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:27.899 the secular world celebrates skepticism as an 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:31.799 intellectual virtue. But, you know, in our pews, 00:10:31.860 --> 00:10:34.519 we don't have them, but we can call them that. 00:10:35.419 --> 00:10:37.960 In our chairs, in this, in this chair, doubt 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:43.080 is often treated like a moral failure. The church 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:47.960 has historically failed to hold space for doubters. 00:10:48.820 --> 00:10:50.519 You know, if you have questions, you're made 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:53.600 to feel as though your faith is defective. So 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.279 terrified of being judged, you know, we lock 00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:00.980 the doors to our hearts and we hide behind our 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:04.740 defense mechanisms. You know, this tension that 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:07.960 we're left with is agonizing. We desperately 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:12.330 need God to intervene in our pain. but we're 00:11:12.330 --> 00:11:16.409 too terrified to drop the shield of our intellect 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:22.129 to let them in. How can God possibly reach us 00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:27.190 when we demand cold facts, but we actually need 00:11:27.190 --> 00:11:32.370 a warm and near Savior? You know, I wonder what 00:11:32.370 --> 00:11:35.990 conditions would have to be true for you to hear 00:11:35.990 --> 00:11:38.690 something and have it change your life forever. 00:11:41.059 --> 00:11:44.480 I wonder what conditions you need to be true 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.919 before you believe. What is stopping you from 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:54.100 believing? You know, this tension, this collision 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:58.000 of intellectual defence mechanisms and deep, 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.879 deep heartbreak is played out in the Gospel of 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:04.500 John that Matt read out. You know, to understand 00:12:04.500 --> 00:12:07.820 Thomas, we have to realise this absolute agony 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:11.350 that he's in. On the evening of the first Easter 00:12:11.350 --> 00:12:15.210 Sunday, the resurrected Jesus appeared to the 00:12:15.210 --> 00:12:20.610 disciples and they are overjoyed, naturally. 00:12:22.710 --> 00:12:27.129 But Thomas wasn't in the room. He missed out. 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:33.490 He's got FOMO. Thomas banked his entire life 00:12:33.490 --> 00:12:38.289 on Jesus and he had just watched the man he loved 00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:42.110 be publicly tortured and executed and when the 00:12:42.110 --> 00:12:44.889 other disciples run to him breathless and excited 00:12:44.889 --> 00:12:49.169 saying Jesus is alive Thomas's response is born 00:12:49.169 --> 00:12:53.769 out of out of his grief that he's feeling. John 00:12:53.769 --> 00:12:58.590 20 25 says unless I see the nail marks in his 00:12:58.590 --> 00:13:02.529 hands and put my finger where the nows were put 00:13:02.529 --> 00:13:06.590 my hand into his side. That's what the heading 00:13:06.590 --> 00:13:11.870 in the Bible says. He's devastated. He's putting 00:13:11.870 --> 00:13:19.350 up a shield. He's using this demonism at bay. 00:13:21.289 --> 00:13:27.190 You know, and then Thomas at God is absolutely 00:13:27.190 --> 00:13:34.450 nothing. Celebrate a miracle that he hasn't experienced. 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:40.500 His heart is weary and he's completely like locked 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:46.820 into his after some unweight believe harder You 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:51.879 must try harder to believe But if Thomas just 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:56.240 needed to try harder To believe the evidence 00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:02.019 The testimony of his ten closest friends Would 00:14:02.019 --> 00:14:08.200 have been enough But facts Do not cast out fear. 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.440 You know, Tyler Stanton captures the heart of 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.539 this. When he asked that question that I've been 00:14:15.539 --> 00:14:19.220 asking, what conditions would have to be true 00:14:19.220 --> 00:14:22.379 for you to hear something and have it change 00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:25.080 your life forever? And he answers it like this. 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:30.879 You know, it's not evidence. It's encounter. 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:35.230 The overlap of the subjective and the object, 00:14:35.690 --> 00:14:37.190 no, that's the wrong way around, the overlap 00:14:37.190 --> 00:14:41.730 of objective and subjective information. Information 00:14:41.730 --> 00:14:47.190 I found easy to overlook plenty of times before 00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:51.570 is now colliding with my personal story at just 00:14:51.570 --> 00:14:55.789 the right moment, in just the right way. That's 00:14:55.789 --> 00:15:00.710 what changes us. Church, it's not evidence, it's 00:15:00.710 --> 00:15:03.769 an encounter with the living, breathing Jesus. 00:15:04.820 --> 00:15:07.519 Jesus doesn't wait for Thomas to fix his own 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:12.600 faith. A week later, Thomas is back in that house. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:16.799 Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.240 stood among them and said, peace be with you. 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:23.059 Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.559 See my hands, reach out your hand and put it 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:31.039 in my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:37.000 said to him, my Lord and my God. Jesus doesn't 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:41.860 send a theological argument. He doesn't scold 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:46.159 Thomas for his lack of faith. He steps right 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:50.259 through the locked doors of Thomas' desperate 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:55.720 and weary soul. There's something incredible 00:15:55.720 --> 00:16:00.100 about the resurrection here. Jesus has a glorified, 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:03.519 perfected A resurrected body and by all accounts 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:07.519 a perfect body shouldn't have holes in it. The 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.559 wounds should have been completely healed. But 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:13.659 why does Jesus keep his scars? Well that's another 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:19.659 sermon that Tim can preach another day. But you 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:25.759 know he keeps, he's resurrected with holes in 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:28.860 his hands in part to provide comfort to a doubter. 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:34.899 You know, he retained the marks of his pain and 00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:38.639 because he did, because he did, he could speak 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:44.379 right to Thomas's pain. Jesus provides the objective 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:49.879 truth. He is undeniably historically alive, eating 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:55.279 broiled fish, but he overlaps it with subjective 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:02.100 empathy. The objective reality of the resurrection 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:08.940 collides with Thomas's highly personal and agonizing 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:12.400 grief at just the right moment, in just the right 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:19.599 way. Jesus completely bypasses Thomas's intellectual 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.839 defense mechanism by overwhelming him with radical 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:30.279 grace. You don't have to choose between your 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:36.240 intellect and your heart. Jesus redeems both 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.400 through encounter. I'm going to invite the band 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:47.240 back up. Notice how Thomas responds. He hasn't 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:50.940 poked the scars nor his head and say, all right, 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:56.119 the data checks out. I agree. to this reality. 00:17:57.240 --> 00:18:02.319 You know, Thomas falls to his knees and he weeps. 00:18:03.339 --> 00:18:07.599 His heart is completely softened by a savior 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.259 who would intentionally carry his scars out of 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:15.019 the grave to answer a friend's deepest fears. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:21.319 So think about your own life right now. What 00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:23.519 conditions would have to be true for you to hear 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:25.839 something and have it change your life forever? 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:29.619 You know, maybe you're sitting here today and 00:18:29.619 --> 00:18:32.980 you're holding up a massive shield. You convince 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:36.180 yourself that you have sophisticated and analytical 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:40.259 questions about theology. You've read apologetic 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:44.220 books. You've listened to the debates. You keep 00:18:44.220 --> 00:18:47.880 your faith strictly in your head. But the truth 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:53.640 is, is you have deep and unhealed wounds. Your 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:56.660 doubts look like intellectualism, but beneath 00:18:56.660 --> 00:18:59.819 it you're just terrified of being vulnerable. 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:04.099 You know, you're using your brain to keep God 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:10.279 at arm's length. Maybe you're on the other side 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:16.759 of the room, and you're in your doubts, but you're 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:21.359 faking it. Maybe you're exhausted from projecting 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:28.180 certainty, and you come in here every week, every 00:19:28.180 --> 00:19:32.319 other week, you sing the songs, you lift your 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:37.940 hands at the right moment, and you put on a brave 00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:42.519 face because you think of anyone, especially 00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:46.849 God, You how many different you do not have to 00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:52.730 pretend skepticism And he does not require you 00:19:52.730 --> 00:19:57.529 to fake a certainty you do not possess But you 00:19:57.529 --> 00:20:01.450 must realize that a bulleted list of fat will 00:20:01.450 --> 00:20:09.789 never heal your soul So drop the shield And stop 00:20:09.789 --> 00:20:16.130 pretending that you don't need any Pray a dangerous, 00:20:16.369 --> 00:20:21.769 honest prayer today, Church. Bring the absolute 00:20:21.769 --> 00:20:30.190 mess of your story to Him. Tell Him exactly why 00:20:30.190 --> 00:20:36.049 you are cynical. Tell Him exactly where you feel 00:20:36.049 --> 00:20:44.779 betrayed. And ask Him to let those things collide 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:49.119 with the objective reality of His grace for you. 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:55.920 The Gospel tells us that we do not have to clean 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:02.859 up ourselves to encounter God. God stepped into 00:21:02.859 --> 00:21:06.220 the locked rooms of our mess to encounter us. 00:21:14.099 --> 00:21:19.380 It's so tempting to treat our faith like a logical 00:21:19.380 --> 00:21:26.500 argument, a set of facts. It would be a lot easier 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:30.380 to print out the perfectly designed flyer, thanks 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:34.420 Carmen, with all the right doctrines and the 00:21:34.420 --> 00:21:36.940 objective facts and drop it in the letterbox. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:40.180 We all can do that now and hope the information 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:43.630 does the work. You know, one time in my old church, 00:21:43.769 --> 00:21:46.589 we had a Mormon, I think it was Mormon apologetics 00:21:46.589 --> 00:21:51.710 book nailed to the church door. And this is one 00:21:51.710 --> 00:21:59.730 strategy. But like, what if we as a church held 00:21:59.730 --> 00:22:05.650 space for doubters? What if we looked at the 00:22:05.650 --> 00:22:08.910 statistics that people are leaving their faith 00:22:08.910 --> 00:22:11.380 because they don't feel safe asking the hard 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:13.940 questions. And we decided to change that narrative 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:19.619 here at Henley. What if we dragged the barbecue 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:22.579 into the front yard, invited the neighborhood 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:26.819 over and became a safe haven for other people's 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:30.660 mess? You know, I think if we did that, then 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:33.480 we would be a community that doesn't that doesn't 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:37.119 like flinch. When someone says, I don't believe 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:41.839 any of this, I've been hurt too badly. You know, 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:46.099 we wouldn't fight to win the argument. We would 00:22:46.099 --> 00:22:51.180 just pull up a chair, serve them a meal, invite 00:22:51.180 --> 00:22:56.380 them to Alpha, and listen to the pain beneath 00:22:56.380 --> 00:23:03.680 all that doubt. You know, we could hold to the 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:08.119 undeniable objective truth of the resurrection 00:23:11.529 --> 00:23:15.309 but deliver it with the radical empathy of Jesus. 00:23:18.329 --> 00:23:20.490 You know, if we do that, then we can be a place 00:23:20.490 --> 00:23:23.650 where the lonely, the cynical, the skeptical, 00:23:23.809 --> 00:23:29.549 the doubters, the completely broken, where you 00:23:29.549 --> 00:23:34.589 find a family that holds space for scars because 00:23:34.589 --> 00:23:40.910 we worship a God that still carries His. Friends, 00:23:40.950 --> 00:23:45.349 Jesus wants to do that right now. The resurrection 00:23:45.349 --> 00:23:48.250 isn't just a historical fact from 2 ,000 years 00:23:48.250 --> 00:23:56.029 ago. It is a present reality. He is living. Breathing 00:23:56.029 --> 00:23:59.250 Savior who wants to encounter us today. So why 00:23:59.250 --> 00:24:03.049 don't we stand? You know, some of you walked 00:24:03.049 --> 00:24:05.190 in here this afternoon with the doors of your 00:24:05.190 --> 00:24:10.519 heart firmly deadbolted. You are protecting yourself. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:13.640 It has kept you safe for so long, but you are 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:16.480 holding onto your skepticism. God is the only 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:19.299 thing that is keeping you from falling apart. 00:24:20.619 --> 00:24:22.940 But the truth of the resurrection is that locked 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:28.440 doors cannot keep Jesus out. He is standing here 00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:33.599 today offering you his wounded hands. waiting 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.440 for that glorious overlap when His objective 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:41.619 grace collides with your specific pain. He is 00:24:41.619 --> 00:24:46.700 not asking you to figure it all out. He is not 00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:51.960 asking you to fix your faith. He is simply asking 00:24:51.960 --> 00:24:56.720 you to drop the walls, to reach out your hand 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:03.880 and let Him encounter you today. and watch it 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:10.799 change your life forever. Thanks so much for 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.339 tuning into this week's message. If you felt 00:25:13.339 --> 00:25:16.160 challenged or need prayer, we'd love to hear 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:19.180 from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. Or 00:25:19.180 --> 00:25:21.460 if you're interested in how you can support this 00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:25.200 ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:29.319 .com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:29.680 you.