DEVOTIONAL VIDEO
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Upper Room Part 3: The Promise of Belief (St. Thomas Anglican Church, Athens GA)
A primary component of Jesus teaching methodology was to ask questions. Most questions asked, regarding Christianity, were directly answerable. However, it is not “doubt” that constrains people from believing and following Jesus; but it is their “resistance to giving up their sins” that constrains their belief and accepta...
DEVOTIONAL VIDEO
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
The Upper Room Part 3: The Promise of Belief (St. Thomas Anglican Church, Athens GA)
A primary component of Jesus teaching methodology was to ask questions. Most questions asked, regarding Christianity, were directly answerable. However, it is not “doubt” that constrains people from believing and following Jesus; but it is their “resistance to giving up their sins” that constrains their belief and acceptance.
Important questions were asked by Jesus in His several appearances after His Resurrection from His Crucifixion and death. In the first reference, in John 20, addresses Jesus’ appearance to His Apostilles; and the Apostille Thomas was not present. Therefore, when Thomas was told of Jesus’ appearance, Thomas said that he would not believe in Jesus’ Resurrection until he could see and feel Jesus’ wounds from the Crucifixion. Jesus, knowing Thomas’ disbelief without physical evidence of His Resurrection, asked Thomas to feel His wounds. Afterwards, Jesus asked Thomas the implied question regarding Thomas’ “belief”, and Thomas answered with an answer that has resonated throughout the centuries: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29): “Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”.
Jesus went on to affirm Thomas’ belief in the face of compelling physical evidence, but Jesus acknowledged the power of the belief and faith by those of us who follow Him, through our faith, without physical evidence. So, for us who do not have the physical evidence of Jesus’ death and Resurrection, Paul tells us, in Romans 10:17, that: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”.
Do you believe?
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): John 10:19-30; John 11:15-16; John 14:5-7; Romans 10:17.
THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “What Do People See In You as You Live Your Life? As a Christian, You Live Through The Holy Spirit - God’s Gift": at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Your Conscience to Leads You Through Life’s Challenges, and The Holy Spirit Deals First with Your Conscience”: www.AWFTL.org/watch
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