Sunday Morning Series - Victory for Doubters - Choices, Choices, Choices

Text: I Kings 13, Matt. 14:22-33

Keep your doubt in the right direction. Doubt everything that is against God's Word. We have a choice what we will believe or doubt.

Choose to obey - In I Kings 13, the man of God was given a directive from the Lord. He obeyed it, standing before unrighteous and powerful men. He spoke the words God had given him, and resisted temptation and invitation.

Two forces come against us to destroy our faith in God's Word and raise doubt: one from within the Body of Christ and one from without. This man resisted the ungodly people very well, but not the prophet who lied.

Choose to trust - In Matt. 14:22-33, was Peter obeying the Word of God? No. There's no scripture saying, "Ask Jesus if you can walk on water." He simply asked the Lord if he could also walk on water. When Jesus invited him to come, he doubted the natural laws of nature and trusted Jesus. Yet, when he saw the wind, he stopped trusting Jesus and believed in his circumstances. He became afraid.

If we're going to get past the trust problem, we must overcome fear. Fears stops us from trusting. Why do we fear?

1) We fear the unknown. Little children fear the noises they hear when they're in bed.

2) We fear the known. The newspaper headlines scream about the economy, disasters, etc.

3) We fear our future expectations. People expect tragedy or illness to strike.

4) We fear our past inadequacies. If we failed in a particular area, we expect to fail again.

5) We fear what we see in our circumstances that is contrary to God's Word.

Fear is like a bully. You need to stand up to it.

Choose to Advance - The Children of Israel had a choice. Believe Joshua and Caleb's report or the report of the other ten spies. They decided the ten, who said they couldn't defeat the enemy were right. They refused to advance, and ended up dying in the wilderness. We can choose to advance, trust God, and obey. Doubt the things that bring fear.

To hear the entire message, go to our website and click on the Sermon Player. It's also available for download to your MP3 player or podcasting.

If you're visiting in our area or looking for a church home, we invite you to fellowship with us on Sunday at 10:00 A.M. We're located at 1111 Easton Rd. (Rte. 611), Warrington, PA. The church telephone number is (215) 343-7686. There are also directions on our website.