Jeff Gelineau – Beyond the Book – Class 1 – Certainty

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There’s always a bit of tension
when I prepare for a class.

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Most speakers know that when you
go off script, the odds highly

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increase that you’re going to
say something that you’re going

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to regret later.
But like many speakers, probably

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most speakers, I pray before I
get up here and I ask God to

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direct my words and to share the
message that He needs for you to

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hear.
So the tension exists between me

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asking God to speak through me
and me also being afraid to go

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off my notes.
And it’s, that’s exactly what

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happened one day that was the
inspiration for these classes.

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Actually, I was on a bit of a
roll in a, in a class that I was

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giving and I and I felt the
spirit working in the room and

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I, I felt compelled to say
something that I had never

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thought before and I did not
have in my notes.

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I looked at everybody and I
said, don’t just do the daily

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readings, do the daily readings.
And there was a hush over the

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room and, and it was, you know,
it was one of those kind of

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moments in your life when you
have a little aha and you and

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you realize something.
So before we begin, I want to

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make it very clear my goal this
week is not to encourage you to

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stop reading the Bible.
It feels pretty weird sitting

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out there in Bible school,
hearing 2 great Bible classes

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and then getting up front and
saying don’t go to Bible classes

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anymore.
So it’s, it’s not my goal and,

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and please give me some grace
and, and when you, when you feel

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like I’m saying that just
thinking about it a different

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way, right.
I, I fully believe in teach that

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there is no better way for us to
learn about what kind of people

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God wants us to be than regular
attention to the Bible.

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Without our our, our nose in the
Word, we will never change.

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We’ll see that one of the key
ways that God transforms us into

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His people is through reading of
His Word.

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God wants us to know Him, and to
do that successfully, we need to

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to read about Him.
I’ve been married to a wonderful

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woman for over 40 years.
I love her and I really want to

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make her happy.
For that reason, I study her.

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I’m constantly asking her
slightly annoying, maybe very

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annoying questions.
Do you prefer Raspberry coulee

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or fresh raspberries on your
cheesecake?

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Would you prefer a week alone in
the mountains or a week with

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friends at the beach?
Just constantly asking you these

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questions.
And the more I learned about

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her, the better I equipped I am
to make her the most happy I

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possibly can.
But what kind of annoying

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husband would I be if I just
constantly peppered her with all

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these questions but never
actually did anything with the

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information I had gained?
I would not be making my wife

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very happy if I offered her a
peanut butter pie and I took her

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to Disneyland.
I can tell you that right now.

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Those would not make her very
happy.

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So to serve God, we need to
understand Him.

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Better yet, we need to
understand what kind of people

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God wants us to be.
But how is this going to please

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Him if all we ever do is just
keep learning about what kind of

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people He wants us to be and
never actually becoming the kind

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of people he wants us to be?
What I want to address this week

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is a misunderstanding that I
find common in our community is

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I find that too often we confuse
busyness with service.

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Too often we fill our lives with
Bible classes and personal study

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in Bible schools and study days
and and we leave no time for us

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to treat those around us with
the spiritual behaviors that we

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read about in in these classes.
Too often we mistakenly start

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thinking that the hours and
hours and hours that we spend

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studying the Bible is somehow in
itself service to our Lord,

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instead of simply preparation
for that service.

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Too often we think that if we do
the readings every day, attend

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midweek Bible class, and never
miss memorial service, we’re

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living the kind of life that God
wants us to live.

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We miss the fact that the sole
purpose of Bible study is to

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transform us into a holy people
that reflect God’s love, God’s

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grace, and God’s mercy.
We’re so busy doing the daily

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readings that we don’t take time
in our lives to fill our lives

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with the things that we read
about in those daily readings.

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I think it comes from some
crooked thinking and it’s time

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to set it straight.
Now.

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What I’m concerned about is it
just not entirely sure that I’m

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the right person that should be
leading this discussion.

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I’m the guy who finds himself
getting frustrated at arranging

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board meetings.
Imagine a ranging board

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discussing meetings that they’ve
had with a young sister, and the

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poor girl is dealing with
alcohol use disorder and in her

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impaired state, she often sleeps
with whatever guy is in the

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barstool next to her.
And you can just imagine the

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trouble that this brings into
her life and the lives of those

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around her.
But it’s 9:54 PM and I’m

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frustrated and I’m tired.
I’m probably hangry and I find

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myself thinking, I don’t have
time for this.

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Let’s just get over with us.
I want to get home and finish up

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that Bible class on forgiveness
that I’m working on.

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So, so really like, am I the
best person?

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Am I really qualified to be
talking about this topic or, or

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is it specifically because of
those kind of thoughts that I

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have in my life that I am
qualified to talk about this

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problem?
I fill my life with many, many,

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many things.
Remember that section in Second

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Corona, 2nd Corinthians 11 where
Paul boasts about how much

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better a servant he is and
everybody else, He’s like, you

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know, you think you’re
righteous.

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Hold my beer.
He’s, you know, I’m talking like

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a madman with far greater
laborers, far more

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imprisonments, with countless
beheadings, and often near

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death, right?
A Gentile of agenda, a Jew of a

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Jew.
No, it’s a Pharisee of a

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Pharisee.
That’s what he says, right?

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I’ll channel that same emotion
for a little while and I’ll talk

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like a madman as well.
I’m a member of a large ecclesia

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that begins each week with
Sunday school and memorial

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service, and then Monday night
is softball and Tuesday night is

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volleyball and Wednesday night
is a Ranger board meetings, and

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Thursday night is midweek class
and Friday night is CYC.

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We take the Sabbath off and we
do it all again on Sunday.

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And then I work for the Tidings
Magazine and between the Tidings

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Magazine and the Simi Hills
Ecclesia, the Palm Springs Bible

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School, the Bible Mission, the
Idyllwild Bible School in the

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Southern California, YOCI sit on
a lot of boards and I and I

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attend a lot of meetings and I
balance a lot of checkbooks.

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All of this on top of the
previously mentioned Bible

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classes and, and then there’s
personal study in Sunday school

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and study days and Bible
schools.

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You know, I spent, I counted it
just because I’m that kind of

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away.
I spent 68 hours preparing these

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classes makes for a very busy
life.

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And meanwhile, my neighbor
across the street, Mark, is

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clearly searching for the truth
and looking for meaning in his

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life.
And he’s reached out to me a

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couple of times and he sees me
dragging my trash cans out to

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the curb.
And I’ve managed to put off

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having a serious discussion with
him because I’m always busy.

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I’m always anxious to get back
inside, back to the computer,

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back to the project I’m I’m
working on, or I have to jump in

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the car and head back to the
ecclesial hall.

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I confuse busyness with service,
and I’m afraid I’m not alone.

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Why?
Why do we do this?

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I think fundamentally one of the
basic reasons to do this is

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because it’s easier.
It’s it’s it’s literally easier.

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It’s clear what you have to do,
right?

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Yeah.
You read Leviticus 27, Psalm 140

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to 142 and Luke chapter 10.
You pray before every meal.

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You show up in midweek Bible
class with an insightful comment

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that you want to share.
And and then you take your turn,

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given the expectation.
And you never be late to your

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Sunday school class.
Come with your bright shining

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faces.
That’s beautiful singing, isn’t

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it, Peter?
Oh man, it’s a lot.

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It’s, it’s a, it’s a lot you
fill your, you fill your life

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with.
And if you work 50 hours a week,

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if you’re trying to raise 3 kids
to grow up and not become serial

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killers, if you’ve got, if you
got grass to cut and leaves to

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rake.
When you Add all these things

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together, it’s pretty much a
full time job.

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And it’s a good job.
It’s a nice life.

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It’s a busy life, for sure, but
it’s a pleasant life.

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Until late one night those
bitter yeah tacos kick in and

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you can’t fall asleep and you
lay in bed at 2:00 in the

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morning thinking.
You just lie there wondering

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about everything.
Is it?

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Is it all true?
You find yourself questioning if

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all this is worth it, if it even
really means anything at all.

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Moments when you doubt, times of
doubt are not comfortable.

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I’ve had those times.
I’d like to talk about the path

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that I’m going down this path
between certainty and doubt.

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Now these it’s, it’s a path and
I’m not at the end of it, right?

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These thoughts are not fully
baked.

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You’re going to find some soggy
bottoms.

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I’m asking you for help working
through this.

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I feel that somehow my
propensity to fill my life with

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busyness of ecclesial things and
not necessarily the simple godly

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things that the Bible teaches is
somehow connected to this idea

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of certainty and doubt.
I think it’s important for me to

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come to grips with that
struggle.

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And I’m absolutely sure that the
journey that you’re on is

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different than mine.
You’re you’re not the same as

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me.
You probably see things

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differently.
But hopefully you’ll find some

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of the things we talked about
this week to be helpful.

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And along the way, I think we
can find an answer for how to

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make sure you don’t confuse
busyness with service.

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I’ve had a few times in my life
when I’ve questioned my faith.

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It’s happened more than once.
I question my belief in God, my

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my choice of religions to
associate with.

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These times are always
uncomfortable, disconcerting,

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disorienting.
Sometimes you don’t even tell

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your wife about them because you
know she said some things too

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and you don’t want to push her
any further.

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I’ve tended to to block them as
it’s easiest to just not think

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about them.
And besides, we got Bible class

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to go to in 20 minutes.
Like get going, got to finish

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dinner.
But that’s not a healthy

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solution to this problem.
I’ve come to believe that I need

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to try to trust that God is
purposely bringing these moments

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into my life, not for me to
resist them or or or push them

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under the carpet, but for me to
work through them, for me to

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think through them.
I’ve come to believe that there

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is value to be gained by
wrestling with doubt instead of

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ignoring it.
I would like to prepare you not

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to give in to doubt.
Don’t think to yourself, Well,

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I’m doubting my beliefs, so must
be they’re not true.

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I’m just going to leave the
ecclesion.

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And you know, this all must be
baloney because I just doubt it.

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God doesn’t want you to give up
on him just because he’s brought

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doubt into your life.
And yes, I said that God has

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brought doubt into life.
I believe that God does bring

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doubt into your life.
There are so many biblical

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examples of people who struggle
with doubt that God must be

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trying to teach us a lesson
through that.

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And I didn’t come to doubt
easily.

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It took some work.
I was brought up in a

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conservative Sunday school and
we sat every Saturday, Sunday

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morning under a plaque that read
Study to Show thyself approved

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unto the Lord.
Like many of you, I grew up in a

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community that had clearly
marked boundaries of what is

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expected to be to be believed.
When you identify as a

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Christadelphian, you have fairly
clear guidelines of what

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Christadelphians believe, and
you’re expected to believe those

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same things.
My ecclesia in Vermont had a 300

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00:13:28,120 –> 00:13:32,640
question examination where you
were supposed to have verses

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00:13:32,640 –> 00:13:34,720
memorized and answering some of
those questions.

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00:13:37,680 –> 00:13:43,920
Now, 50 years later, I find that
often Christadelphians do

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00:13:44,320 –> 00:13:46,080
encourage you to think for
yourself.

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I think that’s healthy.
That’s probably one of the

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00:13:48,120 –> 00:13:50,240
strongest parts of our
community.

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It’s one of the advantages of a
community that provides quite a

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00:13:55,280 –> 00:13:58,480
bit of leeway on what you can
believe and still be part of the

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group.
Once you’re in the group, which

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00:14:00,040 –> 00:14:01,960
is odd, right?
First got to get in the group,

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00:14:01,960 –> 00:14:04,680
but then they give you quite a
bit of leeway on what you want

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00:14:04,680 –> 00:14:06,880
to, what you believe, how you
understand things.

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And as you grow, obviously as
you grow, your beliefs are going

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to change and maybe you head out
a bit from the group and you can

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00:14:15,000 –> 00:14:18,280
start to feel that it’s
uncomfortable for the group to

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00:14:18,280 –> 00:14:21,400
have people get too far outside
of the center.

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And I realize I’m uncomfortable
for some people to be around.

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You might be a little bit
uncomfortable.

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00:14:28,280 –> 00:14:30,840
So far in this class, it’s
definitely not as good as John’s

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00:14:30,840 –> 00:14:35,560
was.
I say some things or maybe I

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00:14:35,560 –> 00:14:38,960
asked some questions that some
people would rather not talk

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00:14:38,960 –> 00:14:41,520
about.
It’s quite uncomfortable to be

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00:14:41,520 –> 00:14:44,360
that individual who’s
questioning you might be there

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00:14:44,360 –> 00:14:47,480
yourself.
It’s it’s more comfortable to be

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00:14:47,480 –> 00:14:50,800
safely centered in thinking the
same way as everyone else.

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00:14:51,680 –> 00:14:55,080
So what happens in this kind of
environment is that true faith

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00:14:55,640 –> 00:14:59,960
and correct thinking start to be
considered the same thing.

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00:15:02,000 –> 00:15:04,760
We even go so far as to
interchange these words and

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00:15:04,760 –> 00:15:08,040
concepts, right?
We use terms like the truth and

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00:15:08,040 –> 00:15:12,040
the faith like they’re
synonymous with being a

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00:15:12,040 –> 00:15:15,400
Christadelphian.
What can develop, I think, is

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that your faith becomes
something that’s based on your

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00:15:18,280 –> 00:15:21,720
beliefs.
And to the best of my limited

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00:15:21,720 –> 00:15:23,840
abilities, I’ve determined that
the Christadelphian set of

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00:15:23,840 –> 00:15:28,960
beliefs is as close to God’s
teaching teachings as I’ve ever

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00:15:28,960 –> 00:15:30,520
discovered amongst any other
group.

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00:15:30,880 –> 00:15:33,440
So I bathed my life around this
set of beliefs.

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00:15:34,200 –> 00:15:37,120
I’ve developed my faith on this
set of beliefs.

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00:15:37,920 –> 00:15:41,360
My faith has been based on
knowledge.

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00:15:43,480 –> 00:15:46,520
Knowing this set of beliefs,
knowing what the Bible teaches,

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00:15:46,520 –> 00:15:51,520
knowing what God wants from me,
knowing has given me a sense of

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00:15:51,520 –> 00:15:56,280
belonging.
And here’s the problem.

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Knowing doesn’t last.
Don’t get me wrong, knowing

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00:16:03,920 –> 00:16:06,600
definitely has its place.
It’s vitally important that we

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00:16:06,600 –> 00:16:08,880
know the truth of God’s
teachings as clear as we can.

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00:16:09,240 –> 00:16:11,560
Reading and studying and
understanding and knowing the

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00:16:11,560 –> 00:16:14,320
Bible is vital.
But I don’t think that should be

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00:16:14,320 –> 00:16:18,720
at the center of our faith.
We shouldn’t have a faith that’s

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00:16:18,720 –> 00:16:21,600
based on knowledge.
We should have a faith that’s

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00:16:21,600 –> 00:16:25,520
based on trust.
There’s a saying about life, and

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00:16:25,520 –> 00:16:27,720
I think it applies doubly to
Bible study.

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00:16:28,000 –> 00:16:29,360
Einstein is famous for saying
it.

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00:16:29,360 –> 00:16:31,960
Einstein said.
The more I learn, the more I

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00:16:31,960 –> 00:16:36,040
realize how much I don’t know.
And that’s the problem with

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00:16:36,040 –> 00:16:38,720
knowledge.
The more you learn, the more you

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00:16:38,720 –> 00:16:41,720
see that you still have more to
learn, and you quickly find

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00:16:41,720 –> 00:16:45,960
yourself in this lifelong, never
ending spiral of studying and

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00:16:45,960 –> 00:16:49,080
learning.
That’s why it feels very

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00:16:49,080 –> 00:16:52,600
comfortable and normal and even
advisable to fill your life with

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00:16:52,840 –> 00:16:55,840
Bible classes and Sunday schools
and study days and Bible

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00:16:55,840 –> 00:16:59,080
schools.
But eventually, no matter how

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00:16:59,080 –> 00:17:02,160
smart you are, you’re going to
run across something that you

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00:17:02,160 –> 00:17:06,200
just don’t understand, that you
can’t understand.

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00:17:06,880 –> 00:17:11,319
It might be something simple, it
might be something complex, but

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00:17:11,319 –> 00:17:14,880
probably it’s going to be
something personal.

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00:17:17,560 –> 00:17:19,520
Why did God allow my baby to
die?

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00:17:22,560 –> 00:17:25,000
Why did I get a terminal
disease?

283
00:17:27,880 –> 00:17:31,840
Did God really create the planet
that I live on in the manner

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00:17:31,840 –> 00:17:34,520
that Genesis 1-2 and three
describe?

285
00:17:36,520 –> 00:17:41,400
And why is there suffering on
this planet if God is loving and

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00:17:41,400 –> 00:17:47,240
kind?
Knowledge is eventually going to

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00:17:47,240 –> 00:17:52,400
leave you hanging out to dry.
Love never ends.

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00:17:53,640 –> 00:17:55,200
As for prophecies, they’ll pass
away.

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00:17:55,200 –> 00:17:58,960
As for tongues, they’ll cease.
As for knowledge, it will pass

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00:17:58,960 –> 00:18:00,400
away.
And I think it’s actually even

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00:18:00,400 –> 00:18:02,760
worse than that.
I think there’s a deeper problem

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00:18:02,760 –> 00:18:06,520
with a knowledge based faith.
Correct thinking starts to

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00:18:06,520 –> 00:18:11,160
provide this sense of certainty.
If our faith is based on correct

294
00:18:11,160 –> 00:18:15,600
thinking, then without it we can
start to feel that our faith is

295
00:18:15,600 –> 00:18:21,080
going to shrivel up and die.
If I’m not correct, I lose my

296
00:18:21,120 –> 00:18:24,840
faith.
When the unanswerable question

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00:18:24,840 –> 00:18:29,120
comes up, if we can’t answer it,
our faith is weakened.

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00:18:29,800 –> 00:18:33,640
Have this happen enough times
or, or sooner or quick, you

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00:18:33,680 –> 00:18:37,520
know, in a close period of time
and your faith can be destroyed.

300
00:18:39,120 –> 00:18:43,080
So this fear of losing a handle,
uncertainty can lead to a

301
00:18:43,080 –> 00:18:45,480
preoccupation with correct
thinking.

302
00:18:46,160 –> 00:18:49,360
And then different ways of
thinking or, or fresh new ideas,

303
00:18:49,600 –> 00:18:54,000
you know, on an issue are seen
as a compromise to our faith or,

304
00:18:54,000 –> 00:18:56,160
or maybe giving up on faith
altogether.

305
00:18:57,440 –> 00:19:00,600
If our faith is based on
knowledge and we therefore need

306
00:19:00,600 –> 00:19:05,200
to always be in in the right in
order to maintain a healthy

307
00:19:05,200 –> 00:19:10,240
faith on a dangerous course.
If I show you a verse that

308
00:19:10,240 –> 00:19:13,120
clearly says something in
opposition to what you believe,

309
00:19:14,040 –> 00:19:17,640
you can’t believe that because
if you do, you’ve lost your

310
00:19:17,640 –> 00:19:20,960
faith.
Here’s the rub.

311
00:19:23,120 –> 00:19:29,360
God is greater than we are.
We simply cannot understand

312
00:19:29,360 –> 00:19:32,840
everything that God does.
We think we can.

313
00:19:33,320 –> 00:19:36,720
It’s all written down.
There’s 66 books, read them,

314
00:19:36,720 –> 00:19:41,640
figure it out, but we’re unable
to comprehend what God is doing

315
00:19:42,000 –> 00:19:47,920
in this universe are the problem
is our limited human brains

316
00:19:48,240 –> 00:19:52,160
therefore limit the Almighty.
We limit the the all powerful

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00:19:52,160 –> 00:19:54,120
God.
We restrict God to just those

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00:19:54,120 –> 00:19:56,480
things that we are able to
understand.

319
00:19:59,400 –> 00:20:03,680
I want to repeat, I’m going to
repeat a lot because they’re

320
00:20:03,680 –> 00:20:07,680
recording this thing.
There’s nothing wrong with

321
00:20:07,680 –> 00:20:11,080
seeking to think correctly about
God.

322
00:20:11,800 –> 00:20:14,120
Thinking about what we believe,
learning more about what we

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00:20:14,120 –> 00:20:16,720
believe, and disagreeing and
deliberating with others.

324
00:20:16,920 –> 00:20:20,520
It’s normal for people of faith.
The problem is when we start to

325
00:20:20,520 –> 00:20:24,680
trust our beliefs rather than
trusting God.

326
00:20:26,520 –> 00:20:29,760
The preoccupation withholding on
to correct thinking with a

327
00:20:29,760 –> 00:20:35,040
tightly closed fist is not a
sign of strong faith, it’s

328
00:20:35,040 –> 00:20:39,400
desperation.
Faith is about letting go.

329
00:20:41,560 –> 00:20:44,600
Faith is about trusting.
It’s about believing in things

330
00:20:44,600 –> 00:20:49,000
not seen, things not understood.
It’s it’s the assurance of

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00:20:49,000 –> 00:20:52,720
things hoped for, the conviction
of things not seen.

332
00:20:53,440 –> 00:20:56,600
By faith we understand that the
universe was created by the Word

333
00:20:56,600 –> 00:21:01,080
of God, so that what is seen was
not made out of things that are

334
00:21:01,080 –> 00:21:05,720
visible.
It’s all about things that are

335
00:21:05,720 –> 00:21:11,560
not visible.
The things you can’t see, the

336
00:21:11,560 –> 00:21:14,000
things you can’t touch, the
things you can’t feel, the

337
00:21:14,000 –> 00:21:19,600
things you can’t understand is
what faith is made of.

338
00:21:22,840 –> 00:21:26,520
Now I cannot give a Bible class
about faith without talking

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00:21:26,520 –> 00:21:29,600
about Abraham, the father of the
faithful.

340
00:21:29,720 –> 00:21:31,680
And I love how Paul describes
him in Romans 4.

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00:21:31,680 –> 00:21:34,600
He says, What shall what then
shall we say was gained by

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00:21:34,600 –> 00:21:36,480
Abraham, our forefather,
according to the flesh.

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00:21:36,760 –> 00:21:39,480
For if Abraham was justified by
works, he has something to boast

344
00:21:39,480 –> 00:21:42,120
about, but not before God.
For what does the scripture say?

345
00:21:42,120 –> 00:21:45,480
Abraham believed God and it was
counted him as righteousness.

346
00:21:45,720 –> 00:21:47,440
That’s one of the cornerstones
of our belief.

347
00:21:47,440 –> 00:21:50,320
Is that this idea that Abraham
believed God and it was

348
00:21:50,320 –> 00:21:51,880
accounted for him as
righteousness.

349
00:21:52,520 –> 00:21:54,720
What exactly are we talking
about though?

350
00:21:55,600 –> 00:21:58,720
What an actual event is Paul
referring to?

351
00:22:01,120 –> 00:22:03,800
There’s the famous battle where
the four kings draw up against

352
00:22:03,800 –> 00:22:06,120
the five kings and Sodom and
Gomorrah is overthrown and

353
00:22:06,120 –> 00:22:08,960
people are carried away captive,
and Abraham rounds up 3 and 18

354
00:22:08,960 –> 00:22:10,440
miss servants and they go and
they rescue him.

355
00:22:10,640 –> 00:22:13,000
That must be what he’s talking
about, right?

356
00:22:13,000 –> 00:22:16,160
This huge amount of faith that
Abraham had?

357
00:22:16,760 –> 00:22:20,600
No, that’s not it.
Well, how about the defining

358
00:22:20,600 –> 00:22:22,600
moment of his life?
Must be the sacrifice of his

359
00:22:22,600 –> 00:22:24,760
son, right?
God commands Abraham to take his

360
00:22:24,760 –> 00:22:28,480
only son, the one he’d waited
100 years for, up on top of

361
00:22:28,480 –> 00:22:32,160
mountain and sacrifice him.
Surely that is what Paul’s

362
00:22:32,160 –> 00:22:33,120
talking about.
Nope.

363
00:22:35,600 –> 00:22:38,000
The verse Paul is referring to
is from Genesis 15.

364
00:22:38,160 –> 00:22:40,800
It’s not some daring victory
against huge odds.

365
00:22:40,800 –> 00:22:43,280
It’s not some amazing displays
obedience.

366
00:22:43,440 –> 00:22:46,160
It’s simple.
It’s an old man standing all

367
00:22:46,160 –> 00:22:49,600
alone out in the middle of the
night in a field.

368
00:22:52,160 –> 00:22:55,880
And he said, look toward heaven
and Number the Stars.

369
00:22:56,320 –> 00:22:59,320
If you’re able to number them,
then he said so shall your

370
00:22:59,320 –> 00:23:02,800
offspring be.
And Abraham believed the Lord

371
00:23:03,600 –> 00:23:07,160
and he counted to him as
righteousness, looking up to the

372
00:23:07,160 –> 00:23:10,080
stars in the heaven and hearing
voices.

373
00:23:11,520 –> 00:23:16,080
God promised 100 year old man
with an infertile wife, he’s

374
00:23:16,080 –> 00:23:18,480
going to be the father of an
innumerable host.

375
00:23:19,600 –> 00:23:26,040
Crazy talk.
And Abraham believed it and that

376
00:23:26,040 –> 00:23:29,160
was counted as faith.
No way it could be proven.

377
00:23:29,480 –> 00:23:34,640
All evidence contrary.
I mean I’ve got 100 years of

378
00:23:34,640 –> 00:23:39,320
trying with this woman and we
can’t have kids against all

379
00:23:39,320 –> 00:23:41,880
logic without any historical
president precedents.

380
00:23:42,240 –> 00:23:47,000
Abraham believed it even though
it made no sense whatsoever.

381
00:23:48,000 –> 00:23:50,120
God is not looking for us to
figure things out.

382
00:23:50,640 –> 00:23:54,320
God’s not looking for us to be
convinced by logic and and math.

383
00:23:55,440 –> 00:23:58,400
God just wants us to trust him,
to believe Him.

384
00:23:58,800 –> 00:24:02,800
When He says something crazy to
us, He wants us to believe Him.

385
00:24:03,840 –> 00:24:06,000
And God doesn’t expect greatness
from us.

386
00:24:06,240 –> 00:24:08,840
He doesn’t call on us to fight
battles or to sacrifice our

387
00:24:08,840 –> 00:24:10,960
children.
He simply wants us to believe

388
00:24:10,960 –> 00:24:13,600
Him.
He simply wants us to trust Him.

389
00:24:14,120 –> 00:24:17,920
As a matter of fact, it’s
specifically not the great acts

390
00:24:18,080 –> 00:24:21,160
that save us.
It’s not our works that bring us

391
00:24:21,160 –> 00:24:24,520
salvation.
This simple fact of this active

392
00:24:24,520 –> 00:24:28,280
of giving your life over to God
is what he wants from us.

393
00:24:28,720 –> 00:24:31,840
This illogical, almost
counterintuitive act of

394
00:24:31,840 –> 00:24:35,960
acknowledging that we are
incapable of resolving our own

395
00:24:35,960 –> 00:24:40,280
issues in our own life, that
we’re unsuccessful in fighting

396
00:24:40,280 –> 00:24:44,560
the battle against our own sins.
Acknowledging that in the end,

397
00:24:44,680 –> 00:24:49,840
we can’t make it on our own.
No matter how strong your

398
00:24:49,840 –> 00:24:54,160
willpower, no matter how quick
your wits, in the end, you need

399
00:24:54,160 –> 00:24:59,040
to turn to God for salvation.
And that’s the simple faith of

400
00:24:59,040 –> 00:25:01,520
Abraham.
And that’s the faith that I want

401
00:25:01,760 –> 00:25:03,120
in my life.
And that’s the faith that we

402
00:25:03,120 –> 00:25:07,880
need to fill our lives with.
To walk by faith, not by a sense

403
00:25:07,880 –> 00:25:10,120
of wanting to obey all the right
rules.

404
00:25:10,600 –> 00:25:15,520
Believing that we’re right gives
us a sense of order and a very

405
00:25:15,520 –> 00:25:18,320
messy world.
We want to feel like we’re right

406
00:25:18,400 –> 00:25:21,480
and the things that we do and
the things that we say, it feels

407
00:25:21,480 –> 00:25:24,800
comfortable and it’s comforting
to follow rules and, and feel

408
00:25:24,800 –> 00:25:27,360
like you’re good because you’re
following the rules.

409
00:25:28,120 –> 00:25:30,800
This natural human desire to be
right extends to our

410
00:25:30,800 –> 00:25:33,800
understanding of God.
We study and we read and we

411
00:25:33,800 –> 00:25:36,920
listen to classes and lectures
and podcasts and, and videos and

412
00:25:36,920 –> 00:25:40,080
we start to believe that we’re
right and our understanding of

413
00:25:40,080 –> 00:25:44,480
God.
But we aren’t actually trusting

414
00:25:44,480 –> 00:25:47,080
God.
We’re trusting in our own

415
00:25:47,080 –> 00:25:51,520
ability to to think correctly
and to and to be smart and and

416
00:25:51,520 –> 00:25:56,880
disguising it as trust in God.
Trust in God comes when you

417
00:25:56,880 –> 00:26:01,680
admit you don’t understand
everything and yet you still

418
00:26:01,680 –> 00:26:06,040
believe that God exists and that
he’s in control.

419
00:26:06,880 –> 00:26:10,480
God is in control, not you.
I’m going to repeat that.

420
00:26:10,480 –> 00:26:14,240
God is in control, not you.
Your job is to trust God

421
00:26:14,440 –> 00:26:16,680
regardless of whether or not it
makes sense to you.

422
00:26:17,880 –> 00:26:23,200
I don’t understand why God does
half the things he does and

423
00:26:23,200 –> 00:26:25,400
doesn’t bother me.
Therefore, when some smart

424
00:26:25,400 –> 00:26:27,840
person says to me, well, how Can
you believe God?

425
00:26:27,840 –> 00:26:30,240
You know he kills babies.
What kind of God is that?

426
00:26:31,240 –> 00:26:37,200
I don’t know, but I trust him.
I’ve always loved Daniel’s

427
00:26:37,200 –> 00:26:39,480
friends with their response to
them and Nebuchadnezzar.

428
00:26:40,440 –> 00:26:43,720
They’re just about to be thrust
into the fiery furnace, right?

429
00:26:44,360 –> 00:26:46,800
And Shadrach, Meshach and Benedo
answered instead of the king.

430
00:26:47,040 –> 00:26:49,120
O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no
need to answer you in this

431
00:26:49,120 –> 00:26:52,880
matter.
If this be so, our God whom we

432
00:26:52,880 –> 00:26:55,040
serve is able to deliver us from
the burning furnace, and he

433
00:26:55,040 –> 00:26:56,040
would deliver us out of your
hand.

434
00:26:56,160 –> 00:27:00,560
But if not, be it known to you,
O King, we will not serve your

435
00:27:00,560 –> 00:27:04,520
God.
They were going to do what was

436
00:27:04,520 –> 00:27:10,160
right out of trust in God.
Their, their faith was based on

437
00:27:10,160 –> 00:27:15,400
trust, not knowledge.
Think about it.

438
00:27:15,400 –> 00:27:17,440
I mean, it couldn’t have been
based on knowledge.

439
00:27:17,960 –> 00:27:20,680
There’s no Bible verse telling
them that God would rescue them

440
00:27:20,680 –> 00:27:23,880
from the fire.
They didn’t have any previous

441
00:27:23,880 –> 00:27:26,040
example of someone been rescued
from a fire.

442
00:27:27,320 –> 00:27:31,240
What they did have was trust.
And that’s what I’m trying to

443
00:27:31,240 –> 00:27:33,480
develop in my life.
That’s that’s what I want is I

444
00:27:33,480 –> 00:27:38,000
want a faith that’s based on
trust, a faith that’s not so

445
00:27:38,000 –> 00:27:44,160
much defined by what I believe,
but by who I trust.

446
00:27:45,760 –> 00:27:48,800
Daniel’s friends really had no
idea what was going to happen.

447
00:27:50,800 –> 00:27:54,120
There were surprises
Nebuchadnezzar when the 4th

448
00:27:54,120 –> 00:27:58,920
person into the the furnace, but
they were confident in who they

449
00:27:58,920 –> 00:28:01,440
trusted.
Abraham couldn’t imagine what

450
00:28:01,440 –> 00:28:04,000
was going to happen.
Sarah been trying to have kids

451
00:28:04,000 –> 00:28:07,800
for 75 years.
How could that possibly change

452
00:28:07,800 –> 00:28:13,200
now at 90 years old?
But Abraham trusted in who was

453
00:28:13,200 –> 00:28:16,080
making that promise.
Our faith has to be based on

454
00:28:16,080 –> 00:28:24,280
who, not what Now maybe like me,
you’ve misunderstood faith as a

455
00:28:24,280 –> 00:28:30,840
what word and not a who word.
Our faith shouldn’t be what I

456
00:28:30,840 –> 00:28:33,200
believe.
Our faith should be who I

457
00:28:33,200 –> 00:28:37,800
believe.
I’ll agree correct beliefs are

458
00:28:37,960 –> 00:28:42,360
very important, but correct
beliefs are not the problem,

459
00:28:43,440 –> 00:28:46,680
they’re just a necessary
prerequisite to build your faith

460
00:28:46,680 –> 00:28:49,600
upon.
Faith needs to be based on trust

461
00:28:50,680 –> 00:28:53,360
and not knowledge.
A faith that rests on knowing,

462
00:28:54,800 –> 00:28:57,000
one that requires you to know
what you believe in order to

463
00:28:57,000 –> 00:28:59,000
have faith.
It’s just a disaster waiting to

464
00:28:59,000 –> 00:29:01,640
happen.
It values too highly our mental

465
00:29:01,640 –> 00:29:04,000
abilities.
All it takes to ruin that kind

466
00:29:04,000 –> 00:29:07,840
of faith is a better argument.
And there’s always someone

467
00:29:07,840 –> 00:29:11,800
smarter than you.
There’s always a better argument

468
00:29:11,800 –> 00:29:20,060
out there somewhere.
Let’s talk a bit about a trust

469
00:29:20,060 –> 00:29:21,980
based faith.
I’m going to go back to my

470
00:29:21,980 –> 00:29:23,980
example of my marriage, which
Kelly loves.

471
00:29:23,980 –> 00:29:28,980
Every time I talk about this, my
beliefs about a person are

472
00:29:28,980 –> 00:29:31,460
unavoidable.
My my beliefs about a person are

473
00:29:31,460 –> 00:29:34,700
often helpful in determining the
deepening our relationship.

474
00:29:34,780 –> 00:29:38,820
And yet, I often have mistaken
beliefs regarding my own wife.

475
00:29:39,640 –> 00:29:43,120
40 years together and I still
don’t understand her.

476
00:29:44,320 –> 00:29:47,120
Thankfully, our marriage is not
based on an accurate knowledge

477
00:29:47,120 –> 00:29:49,680
of each other or I’d be in deep
trouble.

478
00:29:50,720 –> 00:29:53,680
Our vows are based on our
commitment to trust one another,

479
00:29:54,360 –> 00:29:57,000
whether or not we understand
what they meant.

480
00:29:57,000 –> 00:29:59,400
When they said get my glasses,
you thought you knew what they

481
00:29:59,400 –> 00:30:00,360
meant, but that’s not what they
meant.

482
00:30:03,120 –> 00:30:06,000
We trust in the commitment that
we’ve made to each other, even

483
00:30:06,000 –> 00:30:08,720
if we don’t like each other.
Even sometimes we annoy each

484
00:30:08,720 –> 00:30:10,880
other or we can’t stand the
sight of each other.

485
00:30:11,240 –> 00:30:14,520
The commitment to trust is
fundamental.

486
00:30:15,120 –> 00:30:18,440
Children, as soon as they are
conscious, trust their parents

487
00:30:18,440 –> 00:30:21,640
unconditionally.
As we mature, trust is at the

488
00:30:21,640 –> 00:30:24,200
heart of any healthy
relationship, and our

489
00:30:24,200 –> 00:30:25,920
relationship with God is no
different.

490
00:30:26,400 –> 00:30:29,240
Trust works regardless of where
our thinking happens to be at

491
00:30:29,240 –> 00:30:32,160
the moment.
When we learn that it’s OK to

492
00:30:32,160 –> 00:30:38,240
let go of the need to be right.
Oh, pro tip, husbands, let go of

493
00:30:38,240 –> 00:30:42,280
the need to be right, OK?
When you learn to let go of that

494
00:30:43,040 –> 00:30:45,720
and that God is not going to
pounce on you from behind the

495
00:30:45,720 –> 00:30:49,480
corner giving you a whipping
because you know you stepped,

496
00:30:49,480 –> 00:30:52,400
you know, you stop believing and
you know worrying about what’s

497
00:30:52,400 –> 00:30:57,080
right, God actually welcomes
that step of faith.

498
00:30:58,640 –> 00:31:03,280
Only then will that stress of
holding on to correct thinking

499
00:31:03,520 –> 00:31:06,880
begin to fade.
Only then are we giving control

500
00:31:06,880 –> 00:31:10,560
over to God.
The focus moves from ourselves

501
00:31:10,760 –> 00:31:14,640
to God and whom we trust.
That’s what Jesus called dying

502
00:31:14,640 –> 00:31:16,920
and losing our lives.
He said if anyone would come

503
00:31:16,920 –> 00:31:20,800
after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow

504
00:31:20,800 –> 00:31:22,960
me forever would save his life,
we’ll lose it.

505
00:31:23,400 –> 00:31:25,800
Whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it.

506
00:31:26,200 –> 00:31:29,600
That’s hard to do.
Letting go, letting go of

507
00:31:29,600 –> 00:31:33,360
yourself, letting go of your
need to be in control, moving

508
00:31:33,360 –> 00:31:35,720
from the familiar to the
unfamiliar.

509
00:31:36,400 –> 00:31:39,160
And that’s learning to truly
trust God is hard to do.

510
00:31:39,160 –> 00:31:41,280
It requires courage.
It requires humility.

511
00:31:43,040 –> 00:31:45,840
Knowing what you believe is
important, but most people don’t

512
00:31:45,840 –> 00:31:49,280
come to faith in God by the
force of a good argument.

513
00:31:51,000 –> 00:31:54,640
We come for various reasons that
aren’t really reasons in the

514
00:31:54,640 –> 00:31:59,600
conventional sense.
Our reasons are intuitive more

515
00:31:59,600 –> 00:32:02,880
than rational.
They’re emotional more than

516
00:32:02,880 –> 00:32:06,160
logical.
They’re mysterious more than

517
00:32:06,160 –> 00:32:09,520
known.
Coming to faith in God involves

518
00:32:09,680 –> 00:32:13,440
coming to sense God’s presence
in your life, which really kind

519
00:32:13,440 –> 00:32:16,720
of defies our ability to
rationally process that

520
00:32:16,720 –> 00:32:19,840
experience.
Doesn’t mean that our faith is

521
00:32:19,840 –> 00:32:22,520
not real, it just acknowledges
that faith is part of our

522
00:32:22,520 –> 00:32:24,840
humanity, not really an
intellectual process.

523
00:32:25,800 –> 00:32:28,320
What’s interesting is that even
though it wasn’t our

524
00:32:28,320 –> 00:32:31,560
intellectual ability that
brought us to God, we really

525
00:32:31,560 –> 00:32:33,680
want to make it a part of our
service to God.

526
00:32:35,240 –> 00:32:37,920
So you were young, you were
impressionable and you just felt

527
00:32:38,480 –> 00:32:42,160
that warm sensation of God
filling your life and you

528
00:32:42,160 –> 00:32:47,680
decided to get baptized and now
you want to make intellectual

529
00:32:47,680 –> 00:32:49,840
study the way you’re going to
serve Him.

530
00:32:50,240 –> 00:32:53,720
Our, our minds just they really,
they want to be able to explain

531
00:32:53,720 –> 00:32:55,280
our reality through thoughts,
right?

532
00:32:55,280 –> 00:32:58,320
We’re thinking creatures.
We want a faith that makes

533
00:32:58,320 –> 00:33:00,000
sense.
I think we’ve actually published

534
00:33:00,000 –> 00:33:02,880
books called a faith that makes
sense.

535
00:33:04,200 –> 00:33:05,840
We use that phrase when we’re
preaching.

536
00:33:06,200 –> 00:33:08,720
We want something we can
quantify and classify and

537
00:33:08,720 –> 00:33:12,080
catalog and and compute.
I mean, Popo did a mathematical

538
00:33:12,080 –> 00:33:14,720
expression this morning in a
Bible class, right?

539
00:33:15,000 –> 00:33:18,920
Hey, we want something that we
put such a large value on.

540
00:33:18,920 –> 00:33:22,200
Knowing what you believe there
should be very logical and

541
00:33:22,200 –> 00:33:24,600
clear, and we should be able to
articulate it to anyone that we

542
00:33:24,600 –> 00:33:29,360
meet.
On the other hand, if you don’t

543
00:33:29,360 –> 00:33:31,760
know what you believe, then
something’s clearly up with you.

544
00:33:31,760 –> 00:33:33,280
What’s what’s wrong with you,
right?

545
00:33:34,280 –> 00:33:36,920
That’s the message that comes up
in our community.

546
00:33:37,320 –> 00:33:39,560
So if you have questions about
things, if you’re not quite sure

547
00:33:39,560 –> 00:33:42,440
about things, if you simply
don’t understand why the Bible

548
00:33:42,440 –> 00:33:45,360
says some things, you feel like
there’s something wrong with

549
00:33:45,360 –> 00:33:49,080
your faith.
We often equate faith with

550
00:33:49,080 –> 00:33:51,360
knowledge.
And when we honestly look at a

551
00:33:51,360 –> 00:33:53,760
verse and we realize we don’t
have no idea what that verse is

552
00:33:53,760 –> 00:33:56,920
talking about, we start thinking
must be our faith is weak.

553
00:33:57,880 –> 00:34:01,080
Most of our experiences with our
church are based on expanding

554
00:34:01,080 –> 00:34:03,840
our knowledge.
We go to Bible class, we have

555
00:34:03,840 –> 00:34:06,960
Sunday school.
Even our expectations, which the

556
00:34:06,960 –> 00:34:11,520
word means to urge or admonish,
end up being classes, right?

557
00:34:11,560 –> 00:34:13,880
You know, it’s a 45 minute class
that he gives.

558
00:34:15,880 –> 00:34:19,080
If your faith is based on
knowledge, then the more Bible

559
00:34:19,080 –> 00:34:21,600
study you have in your life
should help you to increase your

560
00:34:21,600 –> 00:34:24,639
faith, right?
I’m not trying to knock Bible

561
00:34:24,639 –> 00:34:26,560
study.
Learning about the Bible is

562
00:34:26,560 –> 00:34:28,280
good.
Can I say that seven more times,

563
00:34:28,280 –> 00:34:29,800
right?
But what I want to draw

564
00:34:29,800 –> 00:34:33,159
attention to is this
preoccupation with correct

565
00:34:33,159 –> 00:34:37,000
thinking, which feeds on the
mentality that knowing is

566
00:34:37,000 –> 00:34:42,159
central to faith.
Knowing is central to faith.

567
00:34:43,440 –> 00:34:45,719
You say that backwards and it’s
obviously not true, right?

568
00:34:46,320 –> 00:34:48,880
If I tell you that if you know
your Bible well enough, you’re

569
00:34:48,880 –> 00:34:51,520
going to have faith.
No, none of us know that.

570
00:34:51,520 –> 00:34:55,600
Like there’s, there’s academics,
AI probably knows the Bible

571
00:34:55,600 –> 00:34:57,520
better than I do, right, But
doesn’t have faith.

572
00:34:59,400 –> 00:35:02,760
There are a lot of professors
and critics and students who

573
00:35:02,760 –> 00:35:06,480
literally have PhD in the Bible
and they have no faith at all.

574
00:35:07,920 –> 00:35:10,200
So knowing your Bible well
doesn’t guarantee you’re going

575
00:35:10,200 –> 00:35:13,520
to be faithful.
Faithfulness is supported by

576
00:35:13,520 –> 00:35:17,040
knowledge, but it’s created by
trust.

577
00:35:19,120 –> 00:35:25,320
OK, we have literally 3 minutes.
Here’s AQR code for some

578
00:35:25,480 –> 00:35:26,760
discussion.
Thoughts.

579
00:35:28,240 –> 00:35:31,720
We’re not going to do it, but
grab the QR code anyways if you

580
00:35:31,720 –> 00:35:36,920
would.
So if you, if you want, you know

581
00:35:37,120 –> 00:35:38,880
you can tackle.
I got 5 questions for you.

582
00:35:39,400 –> 00:35:45,120
You can tackle these maybe with
your friends or if the classes

583
00:35:45,120 –> 00:35:46,840
at the food and fellow the
questions, the food and

584
00:35:46,840 –> 00:35:48,440
fellowship are boring, you can
maybe tackle these.

585
00:35:48,440 –> 00:35:53,360
I’m just saying, hey, you know,
or maybe just yourself and and

586
00:35:53,360 –> 00:35:55,800
you don’t have to put it.
You don’t have to reply.

587
00:35:55,800 –> 00:35:57,160
You don’t have to put anything
in writing.

588
00:35:57,360 –> 00:35:59,600
But if you went to Chris
Evanston school, you’re probably

589
00:35:59,600 –> 00:36:02,280
going to want to.
So, you know, if you feel free

590
00:36:02,280 –> 00:36:05,840
to, if you choose to, I’ll read
all the responses I get tonight

591
00:36:06,440 –> 00:36:09,480
and if anything in there is
helpful or meaningful, you know,

592
00:36:09,480 –> 00:36:11,760
we’ll include it in the upcoming
classes, right?

593
00:36:14,560 –> 00:36:16,400
The, the questions are, are
simple.

594
00:36:16,400 –> 00:36:20,280
The questions are, you know,
just sharing sometimes in your

595
00:36:20,280 –> 00:36:22,280
life when maybe you experienced
doubt.

596
00:36:22,400 –> 00:36:23,680
These aren’t simple questions,
right?

597
00:36:25,280 –> 00:36:27,280
Define the difference between
trust based faith and a

598
00:36:27,280 –> 00:36:31,160
knowledge based faith pitfalls
that maybe you’ve experienced

599
00:36:31,160 –> 00:36:33,520
that personally or ecclesially
with being certain.

600
00:36:34,080 –> 00:36:37,600
I think one thing that comes up
with being certain is arguments.

601
00:36:38,080 –> 00:36:39,920
We just want to, we want to
fight things over.

602
00:36:39,920 –> 00:36:42,920
We, you know, I cannot
fellowship you until we’re 100%

603
00:36:42,920 –> 00:36:45,320
in agreement on this point.
You know, we have to be certain

604
00:36:45,320 –> 00:36:54,480
about this.
Did you know that 20 OK, I’m

605
00:36:54,480 –> 00:37:01,760
going to go slow. 28% of all
Christadelphians are illiterate.

606
00:37:05,680 –> 00:37:09,840
28% of your brother and sisters
cannot read.

607
00:37:10,920 –> 00:37:14,240
That’s hard for us to grasp here
in North America because our

608
00:37:14,240 –> 00:37:17,680
focus is so often on Bible
study.

609
00:37:19,840 –> 00:37:26,520
The idea is that knowing what
you believe places your faith on

610
00:37:26,520 –> 00:37:30,080
solid ground.
How could these people possibly

611
00:37:30,080 –> 00:37:33,440
have any faith or hope if they
can’t even read?

612
00:37:37,240 –> 00:37:44,560
We think that this knowledge
places us on solid ground, but

613
00:37:44,560 –> 00:37:51,720
then life happens.
Life is messy, life is

614
00:37:51,720 –> 00:37:57,160
complicated.
You come home and everything is

615
00:37:57,160 –> 00:37:59,200
packed up in boxes and she’s
leaving.

616
00:38:01,960 –> 00:38:08,440
Sooner or later you come to a
question you can’t answer and

617
00:38:08,440 –> 00:38:10,320
you get knocked down.
You get thrown.

618
00:38:11,520 –> 00:38:15,480
To say that there’s differences
of opinions on what the Bible

619
00:38:15,480 –> 00:38:18,200
teaches is a vast
understatement.

620
00:38:19,800 –> 00:38:24,960
There are literally thousands of
different churches, each one

621
00:38:25,560 –> 00:38:29,800
thinking that they are the ones
that properly understand Bible

622
00:38:29,800 –> 00:38:34,520
teaching.
Even within those churches, like

623
00:38:34,520 –> 00:38:38,240
within ours, there’s thousands
of individuals who who all think

624
00:38:38,240 –> 00:38:43,200
differently about thousands of
different teachings in the

625
00:38:43,200 –> 00:38:47,720
Bible.
I don’t think it’s possible for

626
00:38:47,720 –> 00:38:51,360
us to find two people that agree
on everything.

627
00:38:52,640 –> 00:38:55,280
Now, thankfully, we’ve come to
understand that not everything

628
00:38:55,280 –> 00:38:57,960
is vitally important.
We’ve made a list of the things

629
00:38:57,960 –> 00:38:59,560
that we think are vitally
important.

630
00:39:00,960 –> 00:39:03,520
We’ve agreed that there’s a a
minimum amount of things that we

631
00:39:03,520 –> 00:39:07,880
should agree on, and the rest is
not essential for our salvation.

632
00:39:11,240 –> 00:39:12,320
That’s kind of interesting,
isn’t it?

633
00:39:12,320 –> 00:39:14,960
Maybe a little bit telling right
there.

634
00:39:15,800 –> 00:39:19,480
The quest to try to understand
the Bible, because it’s thought

635
00:39:19,480 –> 00:39:23,440
that in doing so it’s essential
to your faith, hasn’t actually

636
00:39:23,440 –> 00:39:28,000
led to a greater certainty about
what the Bible means, but

637
00:39:28,000 –> 00:39:31,640
instead it’s led to a staggering
amount of denominations and

638
00:39:31,640 –> 00:39:35,680
subgroups and and belief systems
within those denominations that

639
00:39:35,680 –> 00:39:42,520
disagree on what the Bible says.
The more and more and more and

640
00:39:42,520 –> 00:39:48,200
more we’ve looked at it, the
less and less and less we agree.

641
00:39:51,920 –> 00:39:55,200
I’ve asked pretty much every
brother I’ve ever met who’s

642
00:39:55,200 –> 00:40:00,120
involved in the Union process,
you know, if, if it wasn’t, if

643
00:40:00,120 –> 00:40:02,640
it wasn’t the case, would you
divide over today?

644
00:40:02,880 –> 00:40:06,680
And every one of them, even the
strongest one, says, no, I

645
00:40:06,680 –> 00:40:08,520
wouldn’t divide over this issue
today.

646
00:40:10,240 –> 00:40:14,640
But we spent 75 years or how
many years is it 90 years, you

647
00:40:14,640 –> 00:40:17,680
know, focusing on it and reading
it and studying it.

648
00:40:17,880 –> 00:40:20,160
And we find more and more things
we disagree with.

649
00:40:20,720 –> 00:40:23,960
So where does that leave us?
I I believe that the Bible does

650
00:40:23,960 –> 00:40:28,880
not model a faith that depends
on certainty of knowledge for

651
00:40:28,880 –> 00:40:32,960
the simple fact that the Bible
itself does not provide that

652
00:40:32,960 –> 00:40:37,480
kind of certainty.
There’s some really good Bible

653
00:40:37,480 –> 00:40:40,720
students here and I would
contend that no matter what

654
00:40:41,160 –> 00:40:45,080
incontrovertible perfect verse
you find, they could find a

655
00:40:45,080 –> 00:40:47,240
verse that would you go against
that.

656
00:40:49,680 –> 00:40:56,240
I think the Bible models trust
in God and and it almost wants

657
00:40:56,240 –> 00:40:59,760
to teach us by this mass of
information it gives us that

658
00:40:59,840 –> 00:41:06,600
it’s hard to sort through that
you have to trust in God and

659
00:41:06,600 –> 00:41:10,360
your trust in God does not rest
on whether able, whether you’re

660
00:41:10,360 –> 00:41:14,600
able to be to be clear and
certain and convicted and

661
00:41:14,600 –> 00:41:19,280
confident in what you believe.
I want to be careful of what I

662
00:41:19,280 –> 00:41:22,400
just said.
I’m not saying it doesn’t matter

663
00:41:22,400 –> 00:41:25,200
what you believe.
I made it quite clear that

664
00:41:25,200 –> 00:41:27,120
knowing what you believe is
important.

665
00:41:27,680 –> 00:41:30,440
It’s the certainty issue.
That’s that.

666
00:41:30,440 –> 00:41:33,880
That’s the thing, having to be
certain about it.

667
00:41:35,040 –> 00:41:42,480
Jesus returns and he calls you
to be immortalized and saved and

668
00:41:42,480 –> 00:41:45,200
you say no, no, no, no, no.
You’re supposed to come from the

669
00:41:45,200 –> 00:41:48,760
South, you came from the east,
and that’s not the way it

670
00:41:48,760 –> 00:41:53,080
happens.
I’m not going right this kind of

671
00:41:53,280 –> 00:41:58,080
resorting to fighting because
you don’t agree 100% with me.

672
00:41:58,200 –> 00:42:06,520
Certainty, that’s what kills us.
That’s the problem, and trust is

673
00:42:06,520 –> 00:42:09,200
the solution.
I don’t understand.

674
00:42:09,200 –> 00:42:10,800
You don’t understand, but I
trust you.

675
00:42:12,400 –> 00:42:15,000
I have given this hours and
hours and hours of thought and

676
00:42:15,000 –> 00:42:17,160
you totally disagree.
But I trust you.

677
00:42:20,760 –> 00:42:27,680
Trusting in God to save you.
All alone in a field in the

678
00:42:27,680 –> 00:42:32,440
middle of night looking up at
the stars and God tells you.

679
00:42:33,880 –> 00:42:36,400
You know how you’ve been trying
for 80 years to have a kid?

680
00:42:36,400 –> 00:42:45,200
You’re going to have a ton
trusting that God’s going to

681
00:42:45,200 –> 00:42:47,800
carry you through, that God’s
going to be there for you.

682
00:42:49,360 –> 00:42:55,160
Not always knowing where you’re
going, but trusting that he

683
00:42:55,160 –> 00:43:00,480
does.
Not having to be right, but

684
00:43:00,480 –> 00:43:04,840
having to trust.
Not having to be certain, but

685
00:43:04,840 –> 00:43:07,640
having to trust.
That’s what faith is.

686
00:43:09,040 –> 00:43:12,880
Faith is a trusting your
brothers and sisters even though

687
00:43:12,880 –> 00:43:17,760
they don’t agree 100% with you
kind of a thing.

688
00:43:19,640 –> 00:43:23,680
Not filling your life with
activity that makes you feel

689
00:43:23,680 –> 00:43:28,440
productive, but trusting God to
lead you to what He wants from

690
00:43:28,440 –> 00:43:31,240
you, not what you think you
need.

691
00:43:33,680 –> 00:43:35,520
It’s not about having to be
certain.

692
00:43:36,640 –> 00:43:42,960
Certainty is not the goal.
It’s about being comfortable.

693
00:43:43,320 –> 00:43:46,160
Would doubt that’s what we’ll
talk about tomorrow.