Christ Lutheran Church
605 South Fifth Street • Norfolk, NE 68701
Share God’s Word, share His love, and do it now!
Pastor Chip Winter, Director of Ministries
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April 23, 2017
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Pastor David Paul Goehmann
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Dear family
in Christ,
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Christ'Lutheran'
Jared'Stiek'
Have
you ever been stubborn? Of course you have. We all have. Maybe we
605'S.'5th'St.'
Norfolk,'NE'68701'
haven’t' expressed it on the outside. Maybe we maintain cheerfulness, but on the inside
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we are Please'bill'this'order'to:'
hard as a rock. Sometimes we can’t change our stubbornness. It’s like a
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Christ'Lutheran''
baseball
player who gets into a slump. He just can’t get out of it.
Judy'Bohn'
605'S.'5th'St.'
Norfolk,'NE'68701'
Stephen
had a harsh word to share in his witness after the resurrection. "You
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(Total'O'$1456.97)'
stiff-necked
people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.
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As your'Please'contact'me'with'any'questions.''
fathers did, so do you. - Acts 7:51 Also. “As it is said, "Today, if you hear his
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God’s'blessings,'
voice, do
not harden your hearts." - Hebrews 3:15
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DCE'Jared'Stiek'
Christ'Lutheran'Church'
www.clnorfolk.org''
So
we have Thomas, and they called him “Didymus”, “Twin.” He hardened his
605'South'Fifth'Street'
Norfolk,'NE'68701'
402O371O1210'
heart here,
but then again he sometimes had great moments of faith. He was almost
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“Stubborn hearts” – John 20:25
like two people.
Have you ever met someone like that before? They function on two levels.
Super happy bubbly or super ticked off and irritable. Think of Thomas’s previous
comments. “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” John 11:16 Whoa, slow down
Thomas! Then he says, “How will we know the way?” John 14:5 I speculated his next
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thoughts, “Oh, Jesus says He is the only way. I’m totally on board now!” Thomas has
no in between, he is either on or off. Hot or cold. He is either on the way or off the
deep end.
After hours of hounding Thomas, you can almost hear the disciples murmuring to
each other. “Jesus isn’t here. Where screwed. Now it’s too late. Thomas is never going
to snap out of it. We are walking on eggshells. Guys, whatever you do, do not say
anything about Jesus”
The disciples didn’t know if Jesus would appear to them again with Thomas
there. Maybe they were going to be stuck with the job of trying to change his mind. It
would be a losing battle.
Thomas seems quite certain no one can reverse his thoughts and feelings. No
one can reverse the fact that Jesus just died on the cross. Not even Jesus most
trustworthy 10 disciples!
Although we all don’t function like Thomas, and are open to new ideas and more
flexible, we still are on one side of the coin or the other. We either believe in Jesus as
our Savior and risen Lord, or we don’t. There is no option to say maybe, or I don’t
know. If that is your answer, then you effectively are saying no. So I ask you today, do
you believe in the resurrection of Jesus or don’t you?
The difficulty with Thomas is that he is just a tough nut to crack. He is stubborn.
He is unchangeable. He is unbelievable. You all have those people in your life who are
just a bear to deal with. When you talk to them you just throw your hands up in the air,
and you give up.
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As it was for Thomas, Jesus can crack you open. Giving up on trying may be our
best option so we can let Jesus step in. He can find a way to open up your heart. He
can find a way to help you see you are loved, forgiven, and saved. You and many
others are living proof God can change hearts.
God can even change the biggest skeptics in the world. Jesus cracked a lot of
nuts. They were called disciples. Conniving Matthew converted to generous Matthew.
Fearful Peter converted to Brave Peter. Murdering Saul converted to Preaching Paul.
Closed Thomas converted to Open Thomas.
Today, It wouldn’t really be accurate to call Thomas “doubting Thomas” or even
“Twin”. That Old Thomas died and was buried and now a Believing Thomas came out
of the grave. Permanent Transformation. Maybe he could just be called “The Artist
formerly known as “Twin.” The big question is “So how did Jesus do it?
Essentially Thomas was having the worst day of his life. Jesus just got crucified.
And now these good friends of mine are playing the worst joke ever on me to help me
cheer up. But Jesus stepped in and rose from the dead. He stepped in to your life and
mine and turned things completely around.
Besides Jesus literal death and resurrection, the question still remains. How did
he get that message across to the one man Thomas? How did he break through a
stubborn heart? Was it just the simple fact of seeing Jesus and touching his wounds?
When did Thomas believe? Jesus is the one asking the question that begs for an
answer, Thomas “Have you believed because you have seen me?” John 20:29 Was it
when he put his hands in Jesus side? Was it when he put his hands in the nail marks in
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Jesus hands and feet? Was it when he caught that first glimpse of Jesus? Or was it
when he heard those precious Words?
When Thomas was angry, when he was conflicted in his heart, when he was
swirling like a storm inside, Jesus said, “Peace” “Peace be with you” At the very least
that Word prepped the heart of Thomas for what would come next. Belief.
Transformation. A chaotic life disappeared just as quickly as Jesus appeared.
Ultimately along with seeing Jesus, Thomas is converted by Jesus final word, “Believe”
Jesus cracks us open and changes our lives through his Word. “These words
were written that we may believe and by believing we would have life in his name.” John
20:31 God’s Word can change you. In fact, it did. Believe it. Yes, you and I can
believe today because of that Word. Jesus worked a lot harder to crack us open
because we didn’t see him in front of our face.
He worked super hard to create an event so powerful, it would be believable
even if we didn’t see it happen. It isn’t necessary for us to see Jesus literally do a
miracle or see him die and rise from the dead. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of Christ”. Romans 10:17
Think of the positives with the real outcome of the story. Once Thomas is on
board, he is on board!! He makes the greatest confession in the entire Gospel of John,
maybe even the whole Bible, “My Lord, and My God!!” There was only one thing left to
do for the disciples. Open the door. They were all locked inside. Thomas had been the
only one who wasn’t in hiding. I can picture Thomas saying to the other 10, “Come on
guys, what are we waiting for, Jesus rose from the dead!!
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In my mind, It is no wonder that Thomas was said to have gone as far as India
spreading the good news!. We need guys and girls like Thomas who are clearly on fire
for Jesus. These people almost never run out of gas. Catch them on all their good
days and by the end of their life, with God’s help, they converted an entire continent!
And now we are left with a challenge. We are left with the challenge of dealing
with difficult people. Inconvincible people. Stubborn people. Jesus isn’t here this time.
Some of the most challenging situations are to converse with a Jehovah’s
witness about our faith. Even as a pastor, it is simply difficult to persuade a person that
Jesus was true God, and the Savior of the world from sin. Ironically, Thomas’s
confession is a good passage to use verifying that Jesus was in fact, God. “My Lord
and My God.” Thomas says.
Before I came to Nebraska I had to leave behind unfinished business. I had to
leave behind a campus ministry I had started. I had to leave behind youth that I was
mentoring. I also had to leave behind a woman I knew was a Jehovah’s Witness. She
wasn’t someone who never came to my door. I just met her one time at a restaurant
and after that we had numerous conversations about Jesus and who he really was.
We never argued. We did quote many Bible passages and stories in the Bible that
supported our very different beliefs.
So that was going to be disheartening to leave her behind. Who else would she
ever meet that could change what she believed? In our very final conversation we ever
had I was blessed to share with her John 8:58. Jesus says point blank, “Before
Abraham was, I am.” Jesus was literally saying “I am God” “I am Yahweh.” And
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shockingly Jesus literally says, “I am Jehovah.” The evidence then speaks for itself, the
Pharisees were willing to kill him on the spot.
In this lifetime I will never know who believes or not. But I left her with complete
peace in my heart. I could think of no better way to depart than to give her not only the
words of scripture, but the very words from Christ himself.
The Holy Spirit will do the rest of the work. Jesus finishes our unfinished
business. Belief comes from God’s Word. It’s this simple and hard truth that opens the
heart. Amen.
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