Pastoral Letter 161
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and Peace to you all.
This Sunday we look at Thomas and try to learn not to doubt but believe and accept the truth in faith that will save us. With faith we move forward and continue to serve Him in the capacity we have that God has given us and we do this to glorify His name.
If you will not be able to be with us tomorrow morning, please light a candle and join following the attached Order of Service.
This at Sunday Lane Cove Uniting Church during the Sunday Service the Sydney Central Coast Presbytery will commission Liam McKenna as Lane Cove Chaplain replacing Karren Paull. Let us pray for Liam and ask God to bless his ministry in Lane Cove.
Be safe and well, continue to pray, remembering those who need care, support and love. Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for Liam, as he takes the role of Lane Cove Chaplain, to have a fruitful ministry in the area.
- Pray for the people of Ukraine, Armenia and Artsakh.
- Pray for the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, the struggling and the stressed.
- Pray for those who are unwell and struggling with different kinds of medical issues.
- Pray for those who are facing natural disasters causing death, loss and pain.
- Pray for world peace and ask for God’s blessings.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Best Regards,
Krikor
MESSAGE
Learning from Thomas
John 20:19-31
Who was Thomas in the Bible?
Thomas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. He was also called Didymus in John 11:16; 20:24, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew title Thomas, both meaning “twin.”
In the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—Thomas is mentioned only in the listings of the apostles (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15). In the Gospel of John, Thomas is one of the main characters in two important stories.
We discover from the story of Thomas that he was sincerely pledged to His master, and yet he fought with uncertainties and questions.
On the day of His resurrection, Jesus appeared to a group of His disciples. Thomas was not with them for this notable event (John 20:19–24). After Jesus was with them, the disciples later explained to Thomas that they had witnessed the resurrected Lord, he answered: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). With those memorable words, Thomas acquired a nickname that he would be identified by throughout history: Doubting Thomas.
Thomas was a doubter, and he probably was like we are at times during our lives. We pray and pray and wonder if what we are doing works.
In our reading today we see Jesus appearing to His Disciples, who were gathered together, with the doors locked for fear of the jews, and Jesus came and stood among them saying: “Peace be with you”. What a comforting word to the troubled and terrified disciples, who were shocked, when Jesus was captured, tortured, crucified and later buried. They didn’t know what was happening and what will happen after few days. It seemed that they had lost all hope and didn’t know what they were supposed to do without their master, leader and teacher.
It all had to do with faith and believing. Believing that He is the promised Messiah and the Saviour, but not as they were expecting a “deliverer” to liberate them from the Roman powers.
So, when Jesus appeared the first time, Thomas was not with them. And when they told him that Jesus appeared to them, he didn’t believe, he needed proof and asked for evidence. And Jesus gave the proof when He appeared again.
John tells this story because the purpose of his Gospel was to urge the people and us to believe that He is the Saviour and our Lord. John wrote:
“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. (John 20:30-31)
It was and still is all about faith and believing in Him. There is nothing wrong with doubting. We believe that sometimes doubting is the first step of faith. Doubting could be a good and firm base for our faith. Doubt urges us to search for the truth and the truth is good and, in our Christian, understanding the truth saves us. In John 18 when Jesus was brought before Pilate, we find an interesting discussion between Jesus and Pilate about truth. When Jesus said that His kingdom is from another place and Pilate ask if He was a king, Jesus confirmed that He was and that was the reason why He was born and came to this world to testify to the truth and that everyone on the side of the truth listens to Him. And Pilate asked: “What is truth?”
The truth is the faith that saves us from condemnation and eternal death. If we believe in Jesus, we will have life eternal. Hence to have that life we need to have faith.
Thomas was now sure of who Jesus was and experienced overcoming doubt about his own faith.
As we walk through our life day by day, we have times when we will have doubts about each of the things that occur. We will have to believe that what is happening will be for a purpose that only God may know at the time they occur. Our future, whether it is happening the way we want or not, is a constant walk of faith.
But as we are able to get through each day, our doubts start to subside and we walk with more confidence and get stronger so that when the trials and tribulations that occur with our daily lives occur, we can handle them easier.
Overcome our doubts, we become more and more strong in our faith. As the daily things in life come along, we can be able to handle them without doubt, without fear, and with the strength that the Lord provides for those who believe.
Our strength in our faith allows us to move forward to serve others and make our lives an example of our faith in Jesus Christ.
We have to walk in faith serving as a disciple by no longer doubting all of the time, but to walk in faith with confidence. We do not have to go out and serve as the disciples did that walked with Jesus, but we can be like them by sharing each of the gifts that we have been given to use in this life.
We have many things that we can share about life that are a part of being a disciple.
Our life experience is the biggest one. We can share how we have been like Thomas, doubting things that have come up in our lives.
We also can share testimonies about how, like Thomas, we have seen the Lord get us through life to get us where we are now in our faith.
Life can be hard sometimes but walking with Jesus through it makes it bearable.
Thomas saw that Jesus was who He said He was and experienced being able to overcome his doubts and growing in his faith because of that.
We may need to grow in our faith today.
Or, we may also need to experience having faith in someone we have not seen but have been hearing about today.
Jesus can guide us through life’s trials and give us comfort knowing that life can be different in a true relationship with Him.
If we would like to make a change and stop being a “doubting Thomas” all of the time. If we would like to have a new life from this moment on in a true relationship with God through His son, Jesus Christ, let us talk to Him and ask to turn our doubts into faith in Him.
We have so much to learn from Thomas. Jesus said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. (John 20:27).
Amen!
Let us pray:
“Lord, we are in need of seeing You in our life right now and forever.
Please accept us as we are and forgive us for all that we have done wrong in our life and make us new from this moment forward.
We know now Father that You sacrificed Your son for us. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and the sins of others.
We now ask that You Jesus, make us new from this moment forward and allow us to walk in faith for our days ahead here on earth until we leave to be with You in everlasting life in heaven. Amen!”