“Overcome: Doubt” Gateway Message by Pastor John Burke

This is the first part of the Overcome Series that my church is doing.  In this first message which talks about doubt, we see the difference between dogmatic, lazy doubt and catalytic doubt.  We see how we can overcome such doubt to lead us to a greater faith and trust in God.  

Here are some notes I took which stood out to me from what Pastor John Burke said:

“God is just as real as electricity (which by the way you can’t see either), but when you start to understand electricity and how it works you start to see evidence of it everywhere.

Just because we come to faith in Jesus, it doesn’t mean that all doubts go poof and go away forever.

Matthew 28:1-10

1 Thessalonians 5:17- “Test everything that is said.  Hold on to what is good.”

Faith in Christ is not countered to reason.  It’s not a blind faith like some people think.  It’s a reasonable step of trusting God.  Doubt can either lead us to truth or it can be used as an excuse.

Define dogma: a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true (according to Google’s definition)

Sometimes dogmatic doubt is more interested in staying in control than seeking truth, but there is a catalytic doubt which leads to inquiry that leads to a greater understanding of truth.

Catalytic doubt isn’t easy.  Most people are just looking for a confirmation of what they already believe.  Thomas already believes in Jesus but ends up in dogmatic doubt for a while.  

Most Christians say, “I’ll follow God as long as it goes my way.”  But most times it doesn’t and all of the sudden doubt of everything creeps in.

Thomas’s doubts are rooted in disillusionment with God.

If I do this thing then God will do this, but God actually never signed up for that deal!! And then He doesn’t and you suddenly doubt everything about Him.

What you need to understand is that doubt can become that dogmatic, lazy doubt that keeps you from seeking Him or it can become that catalytic doubt that seeks truth and propels you forward to understand God’s will and ways.

Doubt and faith can coexist for a while anyway.  We all have faith.  Faith is just trust. Unless you are God, you have to trust in things that are beyond your control.  

We aren’t certain about much at all compared to all the possible knowledge, and yet we have to make decisions that are beyond what we can know.  You have to make a decision to trust or not trust in God.  That decision of faith needs to be a reasonable one. Ex: In the court of law, you can prove something “beyond reasonable doubt.”  You can doubt anything, but is it a reasonable doubt?

Christianity is a faith that is meant to be a faith that is reasonable. Some people need more reasons than others, and that’s OKAY because we are all wired differently.

Wow, I am not in control.  Then who is?  I’m not the master of the universe.  We all have to trust.  We all have to have faith in something.  We all have to make decisions that are beyond our certainty, and we do it all the time.  Ex: Fear of flying.  People are doubtful that the plane will work properly and safely or that the pilot is trained and skilled in what he is doing.  They are afraid something will happen.  YET, they display faith by stepping their foot on the plane and entrusting in the plane and pilots to take them to their destination despite their doubt. It is the same with steps toward God.  When you have doubts and are honest with God, you realize a lot of your doubts you don’t need anymore.

Peter stopped looking at Jesus and started looking at himself when he was walking on water.  It caused him to doubt and start to sink, yet he looked back at Jesus and was able to walk on water because of faith in Christ.

Doubt is supposed to lead you to who God is and how God works.  It’s supposed to catalyze you more and more until doubt is no more. God is not afraid of your doubts.

In the Scriptures, the people of God did not give into dogmatic, lazy doubt, but they used catalytic doubt to help them understand who God is and strengthen their relationship with God. Ex: John the Baptist.  God doesn’t rebuke John because of his doubt.  God says, “Look harder at what I am doing.  Look beyond your circumstances and look at what I’m doing.”

When life doesn’t go our way, it often causes us to doubt God.  It’s because we were looking at our circumstances and bought into some cultural idea of how God is supposed to work. AND IT TRIPS US UP!!

JUST BECAUSE GOD DOESN’T DO THINGS ACCORDING TO YOUR PLAN DOESN’T MEAN GOD DOESN’T HAVE A PLAN AND THAT IT’S GOOD- GOOD FOR YOU AND FOR EVERYONE.

John 16:33- “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace in this world.  You will have trouble, but take heart.  I have overcome the world.”

Take heart because I have overcome the world, and in Me you can too.

You must decide to trust in what you do know even though there may be some things you don’t know.

Doubt is not all equal.

You may still have questions and doubts, but what you hold central is Jesus’s claim for Himself.  It is this simple Gospel message which is the place where you have to start.

None of us know everything so we can’t possibly get it all right.

We can discover beyond a reasonable doubt that the claims of Jesus are true, and you can hold tightly onto that even though some things you may still struggle with and still have doubts about.

What God wants is for you to trust Him more and more because trust is what every relationship is built upon.

John 20:26-29

God is always faithful.  When you are in a relationship with another person, you both should be able to trust each other (have faith in the other) when you both are apart.  Then when you are together, it is so much better.  

That is how we overcome our doubt by taking steps closer and closer to God.”