INTRODUCTION:

It is generally believed that a Christian who believes in Jesus must have faith and not doubt. But the truth is, followers of Jesus are not exempted from experiencing doubts. While we are on this side of eternity, we will experience hardships and difficulties that could lead us to doubt God. The good news is that the Bible is filled with stories of real people with real struggles like ours. And today, as we discuss our last encounter for this series, we are going to study together an encounter that happened after the Resurrection of Jesus—Thomas’ encounter with the Risen Christ. We are going to find this in John 20:24-29 as we try to answer the question: How can we have faith even when we have doubts? I believe that if we open our hearts to God, we will learn a very important truth that can help us overcome our doubts when they come and live by faith as we run this race by God’s grace. Today, we are going to approach this encounter by discussing the Two Stages of Thomas’ journey of faith and how his encounter also applies to our lives today. Let us allow the Lord to use Thomas’ encounter with the Risen Christ to speak to us. Let’s begin. 

How can we have faith when we have doubts?

Two Stages of the Faith Journey

1. The Struggle with *Doubt* (John 20:24-25)

After Mary Magdalene and the Disciples of Jesus saw Jesus, they reported that they had seen the Risen Christ. Since Thomas was not there when Jesus came to the disciples, he struggled to believe. Just like all of them, Thomas was grieving Jesus’ death and he too did not understand that Jesus will rise again (John 20:9), so he couldn’t believe that they saw Him and He demanded to see physical proof of Jesus’ resurrection. Just like Thomas, even though we are followers of Jesus, when life hits hard and we go through grief, discouragement and suffering, we also tend to struggle with doubt. If we are honest, we sometimes demand to see and understand before we believe in God’s promises. The struggle with doubt is a common experience for all believers and the Lord welcomes our doubts. He does not judge us when we struggle, instead He meets us in our doubts and invites us to believe.

2. The Confession of *Faith* (John 20:26-29)

It took eight days before Jesus finally came to see His disciples again and this time with Thomas in attendance. Jesus told him to do what he demanded to see and feel so that he would believe. Jesus also called Thomas to stop doubting and believe instead. At this very moment, whatever he wanted does not matter anymore because Thomas has finally encountered the Risen Christ. His personal encounter with Jesus led him to understand all that Jesus said about Himself as the Messiah and at that moment, he declared that Jesus is his Lord and God. When we struggle with doubts like Thomas did, the Lord is patient with us and He helps us to process our doubts by revealing Himself and inviting us to stop doubting and to believe. The invitation to believe is not just an invitation to believe in what Jesus can do but in who Jesus is. He is the Risen King. He defeated death on the Cross and rose again on the third day so that we may all experience forgiveness of sins, a new identity in Christ, transformation through discipleship and the opportunity to live everyday with God.

CONCLUSION:

1. Knowing Jesus better makes our *faith* stronger.

2. The only way for us to truly move from doubt to faith is to know Jesus personally. Just like any other relationship, we are being invited to invest in our relationship with Him by responding to His invitation to seek Him, know Him, trust Him and follow Him. In doing this, we will grow in our experiential knowledge of who He is and our faith will be strengthened.

3. This week, spend some time reflecting on who Jesus is and declare who He is in your life. As you openly share to Him your doubts, pray and believe that you will experience His goodness and faithfulness to you as you choose to continually follow Him by faith.

DISCUSSION:

1. We have learned that the struggle with doubt is a common experience for all believers. Have you ever experienced doubt in your faith journey? How did you overcome it?

2. Thomas demanded to see and feel proof of Jesus’ resurrection before he could believe. Do you think it’s essential for us to have tangible evidence to believe in God’s promises? Why or why not?

3. The text highlights the importance of personal encounters with Jesus in helping us move from doubt to faith. How can we experience a deeper relationship with Jesus so that we can have a stronger faith in Him?

4. Thomas’ encounter with the Risen Christ emphasizes the call to faith and invites us to stop doubting and believe in who Jesus is. How can we shift our focus from what Jesus can do for us to who He is as our Lord and God?

5. The message today taught us that investing in our relationship with Jesus will lead to a stronger faith. What are some practical ways to invest in our personal relationship with Jesus, and how can we encourage others to do the same?