Series: “Echo”. Sermon:  “He Appeared To Them Again.”

Series: “Echo”. Sermon:  “He Appeared To Them Again.”

1 Corinthians 15:14, 17 “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is  futile; you are still in your sins!”

1 Corinthians 15:19-20 “And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a 

great harvest of all who have died.”

Romans 4:24-25  (TPT) “For when we believe and embrace the one who brought our Lord Jesus back to life, perfect righteousness will be credited to our account as well. Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that he had made us right with God.”

Ajith Fernando — The supremacy of Christ

“Christianity does not hold the Resurrection to be one among many tenets of belief. Without faith in the Resurrection there would be no Christianity at all. The Christian church would never have begun; the Jesus-movement would have fizzled out like a damp squib with His execution.

Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the Resurrection. Once disprove it, and you have disposed of Christianity.

Most other religions are based on their teachings. Christianity is based on the death of Christ and the Resurrection that attests its efficacy.”

John 21:1 “Later, Jesus appeared again …”  Jesus has a track record of SHOWING UP!

George MacDonald

“Doubts are the messengers of the Living One to the honest.  They are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet, but have to be, understood …Doubts must precede every deeper assurance; for uncertainties are what we first see when we look into a region hitherto unknown, unexplored, unannexed.”

Peter Abelard 

“The first key to wisdom is assiduous and frequent questioning … for in doubting we come to inquiry, and by inquiry we arrive at truth.”

Things I Doubt:

1. Elvis is alive and living in Hawaii.

2. You only use 10% of your brain.

3. Anything a politician says after the words; “To be clear…”

4. Dog food label that says; “New and  improved taste.” 

 5. Leafs win cup in my lifetime.

John 20:24-29 “Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ So he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’

And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be 

unbelieving, but believing.’

And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’

Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

4 Ways Thomas Was Willing:

1. To Risk Everything

John 11:1-16 “‘Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?’… Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with Him.’”

2. To Ask The Tough Questions

John 14:4-5 “‘And where I go you know, and the way you know.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’”

3. To Demand Evidence

John 20:25 “‘We have seen the Lord.’ So he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’”

1 John 1:3  “…that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

John 21:1“Later, Jesus appeared again …”

Jesus has a track record of SHOWING UP!

4. To Make A Bold Confession

John 20:28 “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”

Jesus refuses to leave us with out confidence in who He is.   He shows up!