1. OUR MISSION: To guide those far from God into the new start found in Jesus Christ.

2. John 20:1-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’ 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ 14 At this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). 17 Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.

4. 1Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”

5. Review Exclusivity The Method of Grace The Resurrection Jesus is God Suffering We have to look back to the Cross We have to look ahead to the Living Hope We have to look into the Gospel Hell For understanding your own heart For living at peace in the world For knowing the love of God DOUBT John 20:1-18

6. DOUBT John 20:1-18 Our text highlights 3 things We have to unmask our doubt We have to examine our faith We have to fuel our hope

7. Firstly Unmasking Our Doubt vs.1-2 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" DOUBT John 20:1-18 vs.8 “Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.”

8. Firstly Unmasking Our Doubt DOUBT John 20:1-18 Romans 12:3 “…God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” (NKJV) “…the big war is not between evolution and creationism, but between naturalism and supernaturalism.” Richard Dawkins - “The Battle for the New Atheism” – Article by GARY WOLF / WIRED.COM (Oct 2006) Doubt is really only a belief

9. Firstly Unmasking Our Doubt DOUBT John 20:1-18 “I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that He is not there.” Richard Dawkins – “Beyond Belief” (New York Times, Sunday Book Review - Oct 2006) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/books/review/Holt.t.html

10. Secondly What is Underneath the Mask? DOUBT John 20:1-18 Sloan Foundation story What is faith? vs.13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."

11. Secondly What is Underneath the Mask? DOUBT John 20:1-18 Sloan Foundation story What is faith? Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

12. Thirdly We Need to Fuel Our Hope DOUBT John 20:1-18 Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” John 20:19 “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews…"

13. Thirdly We Need to Fuel Our Hope DOUBT John 20:1-18 Matthew 14:29-31 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me! Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 1. Doubt our Doubts

14. Thirdly We Need to Fuel Our Hope DOUBT John 20:1-18 vs.9 “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” 1. Doubt our Doubts

15. Thirdly We Need to Fuel Our Hope DOUBT John 20:1-18 Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1. Doubt our Doubts How’s your prayer life? How’s your Bible reading? How’s your community life?

16. Thirdly We Need to Fuel Our Hope DOUBT John 20:1-18 vs.16 “Jesus said to her, Mary! Turning around she said to Him in Hebrew, Rabboni! – which means Teacher or Master.” 2. Gaze at the tomb “This generation thinks –that nothing faithful, vulnerable, fragile can be durable or have any true power. Death waits for these things as a cement floor waits for a dropping light bulb.” “Herzog” - Saul Bellow vs.18 “Away came Mary Magdalene, bringing the disciples news that she had seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her.”

18. OUR MISSION: To guide those far from God into the new start found in Jesus Christ.