Believe in Jesus | Adam Weber

I think calling Thomas, doubting Thomas is a little unfair and maybe we should refer to him as honest Thomas. Friends, just to say it, maybe for you, your entire life growing up, when it came to Jesus and God and the church, you've always felt like you couldn't be honest even. It's like, even if you had questions and honest doubts, you just always felt like you couldn't have any doubts whatsoever. You just always felt like you couldn't ask any of those questions. Like even if you've experienced something really, really hard in your life, like maybe you lost a loved one or maybe you had a really, really hard childhood, you've just always felt like you needed to keep your mouth shut and believe everything that you were hand fed, otherwise you were a terrible Christian. And it wasn't just wrong, but it was actually sinful and evil for you to have questions and doubts like that. German English İnglês Portuguese Spanish Swedish Russian Finnish

Chinese Slovak Russian Spanish French English American Israeli Latin cinematic Vietnamese Spanish Chinese German English Chinese French Well, what's up, Embrace? I hope you're doing well. My name is Adam. I'm one of the pastors here. It is so good to see all of you at all of our campuses, all of our network churches. To each and every one of you with us online, a huge happy Easter to all of you. We are so glad that you have come. And I just want to let you know that we would be honored to have you come back next Sunday. We're going to be kicking off a brand new series called Good Question. Good Question. Throughout this series, we're going to be looking at some of the hard, honest, raw questions that all of us often have to deal with when it comes to faith, when it comes to God, when it comes to life.

Questions like, why does God allow bad things to happen? Questions like, how do we know which God is the right God? Over coffee this week, actually, someone asked me that exact question. Other questions like, does it matter what kind of church that I attend? So next week, we're going to be kicking off this series looking at these questions. And then the week after that is always one of our favorite Sundays of the year, Baptism Sunday. We already have a whole bunch of people who are signed up to get baptized. It's going to be a powerful day. I cannot wait, and we would love to have you with us again, okay? So today, with so many new faces here on Easter, I thought I would just tell you just a little bit more about me. I'm a born and raised South Dakota kid. I'm the son of an electrician and a teacher. I'm married to my wife, Becky. I'm so grateful for her. And we have four children. Speaking of our kids, I know I'm not supposed to have a favorite child. I think that scars a kid for life if they find out they're not the favorite. But I absolutely do have a favorite child. My one son, he's just so smart, okay? He's so smart. He's so sharp looking. I just feel so proud to be his dad every time I look at him. If you've been to Embrace, you've maybe heard about him before. His name is Senator, okay? He is by far my favorite child. This kid right here, unlike my other children, Senator never talks back, never takes all of my money. With Senator, I never feel like I'm negotiating with a terrorist.

And if I ever do, I can just put him right into his kennel, which I've heard is illegal to do with your actual children. And so I love this son of mine. But all joking aside, though, almost every single night, literally almost every single night, Senator and I, we go on a walk together. And we either go downtown or we head towards a park that is near our house. But on the way back home, though, we walk behind the cathedral in Sioux Falls. And behind the cathedral, there's a statue that I love, a statue that's become deeply meaningful for me. And it's also a statue that connects with our story for today. And so friends, on that note, if you have a Bible, I want to invite you to open them up to John chapter 20. Use any Bible you'd like. the Bible on your phone, open it up to John chapter 20. If you don't have the Bible on your phone, this is the perfect Sunday to download it. Go to the Bible, the app store, search Bible app, and you'll find it, it's free of charge. Open it up to John chapter 20. In some quick backstory, at this point, Jesus has been arrested and he's hung on a cross, and to do so, they drive nails into his hands and into his feet, and they also pierce his side with a spear, and so Jesus is killed on a cross, and then his body is taken down, and we're told in the book of John, this is one of my favorite details that John shares with us, that in the middle of a garden, I love that we're told that, in the middle of a garden,

Jesus' body is put inside of a grave, and then the next thing we're told from John is this. 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. Okay, so this happens, and then Mary ends up seeing Jesus. Jesus is standing there, and Jesus is alive, and Mary's so excited that she runs back and she finds all the other followers of Jesus, and she tells them about what she has seen, and that she has seen the Lord himself. He's alive. Well, later on that same day, when all the disciples are together, Jesus appears to them all, and we're specifically told that Jesus shows them his nail marks in his hands, and where the spear entered his side, and everyone gathered there were told was overjoyed that Jesus was alive and that he was with them once again, and they were all so excited, but we're also told that one of the disciples wasn't there. One of the main disciples, a guy named Thomas, wasn't present, and in verse 24, here is what we are told. Now, Thomas, also known as Didymus, one of the 12 was not with the disciples when Jesus came, so the other disciples told them, we have seen Lord, but he, Thomas, said to them, unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where the nails were

and put my hand into his side, I will not leave. Okay, so this is Thomas, and again, Thomas is the only disciple that wasn't there when Jesus showed up, and so when all of his friends tell him that Jesus is alive, Thomas basically says back, hey, guys, that's great, that's great, but unless I see Jesus, and unless I see and touch his hands and his side, I won't believe. Now, this right here is why Thomas is often referred to and known as Doubting Thomas, and yet I actually kind of think that Thomas gets a bad name because I would argue that he's just being honest. I think he's just being honest. Like, when I look at Thomas, I just see a logical, level-headed human being. I mean, all the other disciples had already seen Jesus. They had physically seen him, and they had seen his hands and his side, and so, of course, it's easy for them to believe all the things about Jesus, but I'm just saying for me personally, away from this story, even in the Bible, if I knew that a friend of mine or a family member of mine that was dead, and I had seen them dead, and then you told me that they were alive, I'm just saying that I would struggle with it just a little bit.

Actually, correction, I wouldn't struggle with it at all. I just wouldn't believe you. There'd be no struggle. I wouldn't be like, well, what about, I'd be like, no. I saw it with my own eyes, and so, again, I think calling Thomas, doubting Thomas, is a little unfair, and maybe we should refer to him as honest Thomas. Friends, just to say it, maybe for you, your entire life, growing up, when it came to Jesus and God and the church, you've always felt like you couldn't be honest even. It's like even if you had questions and honest doubts, you just always felt like you couldn't have any doubts whatsoever. You've just always felt like you couldn't ask any of those questions. Even if you've experienced something really, really hard in your life, like maybe you lost a loved one, or maybe you had a really, really hard childhood, you've just always felt like you needed to keep your mouth shut. and believe everything that you were hand-fed. Otherwise, you were a terrible Christian. And it wasn't just wrong, but it was actually sinful and evil for you to have questions and doubts like that. Friends, with this, I just wanna ask today, right now, where are you with Jesus?

Honestly, where are you with Jesus? Do you have some questions about Jesus that you only wish you could ask? Do you have doubts? Did you believe in the past, but the last few years, your faith has struggled? Do you wanna believe like your dad believes, like your spouse believes, like your friend does? Do you believe in a higher power, but you're not sure about the whole Jesus part? Honestly, maybe you're here today on Easter, only because your mom or your girlfriend dragged your butt here. By the way, if that's you, just know you don't have to believe to belong here. And if that's you, just know that we are particularly honored that you specifically have come. Friends, today, wherever you are, just like Thomas, I'd encourage you to be honest about where you are, honest with yourself, but even more so, honest with God. You see, thankfully, we have a God who's big enough for our big questions. He's big enough for us to be honest with Him. Once again, where are you with Jesus? Honestly. Okay, so Thomas, he has all these questions and doubts, and then continuing on in verse 26, John tells us this, a week later, his disciples, Jesus' disciples, were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.

Though the doors were locked, I love that part, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Okay, so check this out. A week later, the disciples are all together again, and this time, Thomas is there with them, and hear this, even though the doors on the place are locked, we're told that Jesus came into the room that they were in. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came into the room where Thomas is, and He says to all of them, including Thomas, peace be with you. Friends, I think this is so rad, I love this. Even though Thomas is standing behind these closed, locked doors, Jesus still finds him. Even though he's behind these closed doors, even though he's behind these locked doors, Jesus still, Jesus still finds him. Doors are locked, Jesus still finds him. As a pastor over the years, when it comes to Jesus, I've sat with so many people who are standing behind locked doors. Like when it comes to Jesus, they have these doors that are closed and they're locked, and intentionally or unintentionally, the doors are an attempt to keep Jesus out of their lives. Like for some people that I sit with, it's shame. They just have so much shame about the affair that they had 20 years ago. So much shame from college, they were with this person

and they were with that person, and mom and dad to this day don't know about any of it. And ever since then, because of shame, when it comes to Jesus, the doors are locked. Well, for other people that I sit with, it's anger. Like they're just so angry at God. Angry because of the miscarriage and another miscarriage. Anger that their loved one went when he's dead, anger that their life has been so sucky and hard unlike everybody else's, and because of this anger, when it comes to Jesus, the doors are locked. Other people, it's pride. You sit beside them and you can just sense the pride that they have, like their whole lives, it's been about them and their career and their success and their future. And you can just sense they're in charge and they're not dependent on anyone. And any success they've had, it's come from them. And because of their pride, when it comes to Jesus, the doors are locked. Just to ask the question to you and myself included today, what locked doors are you standing behind? What locked doors are you and me standing behind? Maybe for you, it's disappointment. Maybe it's unforgiveness. Maybe it's addiction. Maybe it's insecurity. Maybe it's bitterness. Maybe it's grief.

Maybe for you, it is doubt. Just to say it once again, even though Thomas is dead. Standing behind these locked doors, Jesus still found him and friends today, the same is true for you. Even though right now you might be standing behind some locked doors, just know Jesus is still pursuing you, Jesus is still coming towards you, Jesus still wants to be with you and get this no matter how hard you try to keep Jesus out of your life, no matter how hard you try to distance yourself from him, even if you are standing behind closed locked doors, just know that Jesus is still pursuing you, he still will find you and no sarcasm included, good luck trying to keep Jesus out of your life, I've tried, good luck trying to lock the doors on old Jesus. And so Jesus enters the room and Thomas, all the disciples are standing there and again, Thomas has been honest about his questions and doubts and he specifically has told his friends, unless I see his hands and touch his hands and see his side and touch his side, I won't believe. Well, in verse 27, listen to what Jesus says, by the way, I love how often when we get specific with God and it's like, unless this and unless that happens, I'm not gonna believe in you, I just love how Jesus just seems to do what Jesus seems to do.

Then he, Jesus said to Thomas, well, I don't know, put your finger here, see my hands and reach out your hand and put it into my side. Again, Jesus, he enters the room and he immediately approaches Thomas and he says, Thomas, put your finger here. You've asked for it, see and touch my hands, reach out and touch my side. He invites him to do so. Now, this is fairly obvious, I probably don't even need to say it, but touching another person is incredibly intimate, isn't it? Touching another human being is just a really intimate thing to do, like it's interesting to even think about it. Me and a friend this week, we were thinking about it, it's like, what is it about that? Why is it so intimate? Like, it's just hard to explain. I mean, even for me, if you've ever heard of the five love languages, it comes to my wife, my top three love languages, touch, touch, touch, okay, or touch. Somebody said, amen, okay, here we go, team touch. Even for me though, away from my wife and kids, if someone came and randomly held my hand, not a handshake, but held my hand

or someone randomly walked up and they touched my face, I would feel highly uncomfortable. Like all of us inherently know that touching is reserved for wholly intimate relationships. We just know that. And yet again, in this moment, Jesus invites Thomas, not just to see him or to look at him, but Jesus takes it a step further and he says, Thomas, I'm inviting you and I'm wanting you to touch my hands and to touch my side. Friends, in this moment, Jesus is telling Thomas and he's also telling all of us, I don't want you just to look at me or to see me from afar, but so much more so, I want you to know me at the deepest level, the deepest level. I don't want you just to look at me or watch me from a distance. Instead, I want you to know who I am through and through, like not just to hear about me and not just to learn nice, cute stories about me in Sunday school, not just to get confirmed, not just to be a good person, not just to go through the religious routine and yeah, it's Easter and we really haven't been in church in a whole long time and we should get the kids there so grandma and grandpa aren't upset. No, none of that.

Jesus, he wants you to know him at the deepest, most intimate level. He's saying to Thomas, he's saying to you, he's saying to me, touch my hands. Reach out and touch my side. Okay, so earlier, I talked about my dog. By the way, have I mentioned how much I love my dog? Sometimes we just hold each other. Yesterday morning, we literally. I was like, I love this so much. He just looked at me and was like, please let me go. But again, though, almost every single night, Senator and I, we will go on a walk. And on our way back home, we walk behind the cathedral in town. Behind the cathedral, there's a statue that I love. And well, it's a statue of the resurrected Jesus. Like, it's a statue that shows the nail marks on Jesus' hands and in his feet. And honestly, it's a statue that's easy to walk by and not notice, but when you actually look at it, there's something so powerful about it. Easy to walk by, but when you actually stop and look at it, there's just something so beautiful about it. And so for the last two years, whenever I go on a walk, literally almost every single night, instead of walking past the statue, I'll just stop and stand in front of it. And sometimes I'll stand there for 10 seconds

and then I'll continue on my way back home. But for other days, especially on the harder days, days that I'm struggling, days that I'm worried about my kids, days that I'm overwhelmed and I feel like I'm dropping balls everywhere and it's like, who's disappointed next? Days that I'm feeling beat up and broken. On these other days, sometimes I'll stand there for 10 minutes or even longer. And on these other days that I stand there longer, as I stand there looking at the nail marks, I find myself just so endlessly thankful for Jesus. Like, I'm just so thankful that he knows and he understands what it's like to hurt. And actually, when it comes to being hurt, because of the cross, he knows hurt and pain infinitely greater than I ever will. But I'm just so thankful that he understands me. And I'm so thankful that he just knows all the things that I'm walking through in life. And as I stand before this statue in a way that I can't explain, I just feel so seen and noticed and loved by God. And I'm just so thankful that on my worst day, I'm so thankful that Jesus is still standing there. Even on the days where I try to run from Jesus and I try to lock him out, I'm so thankful that he is still standing there. And now, I know that this is really strange to share,

and that's why I didn't share this last part. But every time I stand in front of the statue, every single time, literally for the last two years, every time that I look at the nail marks in his hand, every single time, I wanna walk up and touch his hand. Every time. Every time. There's something inside me that wants to touch his hand, but I don't because A, it'd be incredibly bizarre to do that, specifically out in public. It's like, what is that guy doing with that statue? Right? But B, and actually the main reason that I've never touched his hand yet, why is because I just know how intimate it is to touch someone else's hand, and I'm hesitant to do so even with Jesus himself. Every time, I'm like. Now, I fully understand that this is just a statue. It's not physically Jesus. But for me, in my relationship with him, it represents so much more than that. This week, when I was trying to capture, like, what is it that makes me wanna touch his hand, the only thing that I can compare it to is years back when my dad ended up in the ICU up in Fargo after a routine surgery. We got a call from mom that things didn't go well out of the blue, and so my brother and I, we hopped in our car, and we made the trip

from Sioux Falls to Fargo as fast as we possibly could. And that day, I just remember walking in the ICU, and my dad was laying there in an induced coma. But as soon as I walked into the room, I can immediately remember just wanting to hold my dad's hand. Now, my dad and I are super close. He's my greatest hero in life. He's one of my best friends. Earlier this week, when I was broken, I called my dad. And for the two of us, it's not weird for us to hug at all. It's not weird for us to put our arms around each other. It's not weird at all to say I love you. We say I love you multiple times a day. whenever we're on the phone together, but we don't ever hold hands. Why? Because again, it's just so intimate, especially for dudes. No kidding, this week, I actually started laughing thinking about it. In the last 30 years, the only time that my dad and I have ever held hands was when he was in a coma. He doesn't even remember it. Talk about men. It's like, dad, I held your hand. No, you haven't. Oh, you were sleeping. That day, though, when I came into the ICU, I was just so scared about losing my dad,

and I love him so much that when I walked in, I didn't even hesitate for a second. I immediately held his hand, and I was so glad that I did because it just made me feel that much closer to my father. I can just remember walking in, and I just wanted to get to him, as close to him as I possibly could. I just wanted to lay, lay on top of him. Friends, this right here is my dad. Friends, this right here is just a glimpse of what Jesus is inviting Thomas into, and even more so, it's just a glimpse of what Jesus is inviting you and I into as well. Again, Jesus comes to each of us, and he says, I don't want you just to see me or to look at me. I don't want you just to learn about me. I don't want you just to go through a religious routine of some kind. No, so much more so, I want you to know me at the deepest level. I don't want you just to learn about me or because it's Easter, you know, you kind of put on the nice clothes and you do the thing for mom, you take a picture for her, send it to grandma, none of that. I want you to know who I am

intimately through and through. And so Thomas, he's honest about where he is with Jesus. And Jesus, he walks through a locked door to get to Thomas. Then Jesus invites Thomas to touch my hand, his specific request to touch my hand and to know him in the deepest way. And then continuing on, we're told this, Jesus says to Thomas, Jesus says to Thomas, stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to Jesus, my Lord and my God. You see, Thomas touches Jesus' hands on the side. He immediately declares, my Lord and my God. Basically, Thomas declares, Jesus, I believe. Jesus, I believe in you. And then verse 29, this is so good. Then Jesus told Thomas, because Thomas, you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Just read that last line again. Blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed. Friends, don't miss this.

When Jesus says this, he's talking about all of you and me. He's talking about us. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And so in this moment, Jesus invites Thomas to believe. And today at Easter, he's saying the same thing to all of you. Jesus is saying, believe in me. Believe in Jesus. Believe in Jesus. Believe in him. And so today, I just wanna ask, do you wanna believe in Jesus? Yes, you might still have some doubts. Yes, you might still have some honest questions, but do you wanna know him? Do you wanna experience Jesus at the deepest level? Last Sunday, I had multiple people come up to me between services and just say, hey, Adam, today I raised my hand for the first time. I raised my hand to say that I believe in Jesus and I'm the last person who would ever do such a thing. And I still got questions and doubts, I just know that I want Jesus in my life. And so today, as we've done the last several weeks, at this time, I'm gonna pray and I'm just gonna invite you to close your eyes if you would.

And today, if you're in the reach of my voice right now, if you're here and for the first time, or you wanna recommit your life, you wanna believe in Jesus right now, I just wanna invite you, if that's you, just to raise your hand. If that's you, just really quick, if you're just like, I need that, I want that, just raise my hand. Over the last few weeks, we've had close to 500 people raise their hand. And if you wanna join that group and believe in Jesus, just raise it. Thank God for every hand. And so if you raise your hand right now, even if you didn't, but you want this right now, between you and the quietness of God in your own soul. Just tell them right now, Jesus, I need you and I believe in you. I need you and I believe in you. And Jesus, I invite you into my life because I don't want to do it anymore without you. And Jesus, I give you control because I'm not good at controlling anything. I've tried to control my marriage. I've tried to control my business. I've tried to control my private life. This addiction, I can't do it. And then would you fill me with your Holy Spirit? Would you fill me with your love and your gentleness and and your faithfulness? Because I just don't have any of it. Would you fill me with your peace? And then would you forgive me? Because of the cross and the empty tomb, would you forgive me of my sin? My garbage, my lies, my screw ups.

And Jesus, I turn my life from sin. I turn my my life from where it was headed when I came into church today and now I'm headed towards you. I'm walking towards you. And Jesus, today forward, I am following after you. Just tell them, Lord, I'm so grateful for who you are. I'm so thankful for each of my brothers and sisters, even those joining us online who in the quietness of their own home raised their hand. Lord, we we join with with the angels in heaven and celebrating one person coming back to you. Lord, I pray that you'd make yourself so evident and known to each of these people. Evident and known to all of us. Lord, you show them what it looks like to be unconditionally loved by you. We can't even fathom that. We're so used to conditional love. And then in response to your love, Lord, would you show us what it looks like to love you? Love you in response. Jesus, we're so thankful for the cross. We're so thankful for the empty tomb. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus. And all God's people said, amen. Friends, today if you prayed with me, if you invited Christ into your life or you're recommitting yourself to him, amazing. Amazing. If that's you, at all campuses, we have free Bibles and a booklet out in our entryway that we'd love to get to you. We'd just love to get it in your hands. We won't allow you to pay for it or buy it from us or anything. It's just a gift. Grab one when you go, but also we would love to come alongside you. And so if this is you, if you've taken this step, I can't encourage you enough to text the word embrace to 97000. We're not going to send you a bunch of emails, but we might we might invite you out for coffee just to hear your story, hear what's going on, what God's doing, help you get started in this new journey of following Jesus. Today though, as I already mentioned two weeks from today, on Sunday, May 4th, we have a baptism Sunday coming up. And honestly, away from raising your hand and starting this journey with him, one

of the most important steps you can take is getting baptized. To get signed up, simply go to imembrace.com baptism. Seriously, I just said it over the last month, we've had over 480 people raise their hand and make a commitment to Christ. Baptism is a great next step. And truly, whether you're 20 years old or 60 years old, whether you've never been baptized or you were baptized as an infant and you want to reaffirm it now as an adult, this is one of the best steps you can take. I'm so excited. Across campuses, we already have over a hundred people signed up to get baptized. And maybe that's you who's next. Speaking of baptism, I want to share the story of two ladies from our T campus that got baptized in the last year or so. Check out their story. So I was raised Catholic and I was always baptized as a baby. And in November of 2023, I saw this woman come up and get baptized at Embrace. And her testimony and her bravery brought me to tears. I was literally hitting my husband like, she's so brave and just weeping at her story. And I watched her get baptized and I said, I've got to do this. That's what really led me to want to get adult baptized, was her story. I have multiple sclerosis and walking isn't great. And I just thought there was too many what-ifs. What if I fail? What if I did this? What if I did that? I just made all these excuses all the time. And every time I'd leave church, I'd say that you didn't do it again. You let something stand in your way. And then I just got to a point where I couldn't do it anymore. I just, the next time baptism came around, I was going to do it. Because I just knew it was a step I needed to take. Travis helped me get my left leg in, it's very stiff, and my husband Bob was on the other side of me.

They were playing that song and I ran out of the grave, and that just always sticks with me because that's what I was doing. I have multiple sclerosis for 20 years, and when I was going to physical therapy, one of the gals told me, maybe you want to check out hyperbarics. She said, I've heard that's really good for MS. And she gave me the name of this clinic. My husband and I went to the first appointment, that is when I met Trish. She said, but before you go, we're going to pray. People don't do that, you know, and even though I knew that it was a good place and it was a Christian place, just to have somebody take the time and pray so personal for exactly what we were experiencing, I really felt connected to her right off the bat from the very start. So on her second visit, she asked me what church my husband and I attended with our kids. I said, oh, we go to Embrace. And she's like, well, I go to Embrace. And I said, we go to T. Where do you go? She goes, we go to the one in T. And I said to her, yeah, I just got baptized a few weeks ago. And it was so amazing. And I just, I feel like a new human. And I said, you know, I was baptized there a couple of months ago, back in November. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized she was the reason I got baptized. She was the brave woman that pushed me to want to do this. And now I have this opportunity to care for her. And then I posted my baptism video on my social media. And I think like six or seven of my friends got adult baptized after seeing my video. So she, that we know of, inspired at least eight people. I had said, I just don't feel like God can use me anymore. I just feel like there's not much I can do.

And I love volunteering at the church and such, but I just don't feel that I can do it. Being baptized made me feel that I, God could use me, even if only one person decided to get baptized or saw my story, that they would feel God loves them. That is their strength, and that God does use them.