Lenten Sermon series

Doubt:   A Sign of Faith and Life

When we think of the disciple Thomas in the gospel stories, what comes to mind?  What is he most often called? Doubting Thomas. The one who didn't believe like the others. The one who wondered; who questioned. Over and over, in countless sermons and Bible studies, Thomas is typically portrayed as the one we shouldn't be like. The one who didn't get it. The one who was right there with Jesus and still didn't believe. The one we should be cautious of becoming.

But what if Thomas had the right idea all along? What if his honesty is something to be emulated? That a better name for him is Honest Thomas?

There's a message in this simple story that needs reframing, not only for us personally but also for the wider church.  

The message that has been engrained into so many of us is that at the first sign of doubt or questions that challenge formerly held beliefs we enter into to a place of "Something must be wrong with my faith, or, more importantly, wrong with me."  But what if doubt is not the opposite of faith, but rather a very important part of it?

The philosopher Voltaire says, "Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous."  Yet, so many Christian systems rely on the false comfort of certainty and do whatever they can to buoy themselves against doubt.

But yet the giants of the faith doubted.  We all doubt.  To say different is to be inauthentic. In this Lenten series, we’ll hear from some of the most influential theological voices of our time and what they have to say how their faith has been formed and shaped through times of doubt.

Join us as we struggle with -- and grow through -- our doubts during this sacred season of Lent.