In Revelation chapter 2, there was a church in a place called “Smyrna” that was under tremendous pressure. This church was under pressure to deny Christ, compromise their faith, bow down to Caesar, and join the cult of conformity. But they showed grace under pressure. Like the men in the fiery furnace, they didn’t bend, bow, or budge, all because of one thing this church was taught and this church remembered. It is this sermon in a sentence - Whatever you are going through, remember who you are coming to. I don’t know what you are going through right now, but whatever it is, I want to give you four things to remember and to live by in the midst of whatever pressure you’re currently facing. 

Smyrna: Grace Under Pressure

Under the leadership and dynamic preaching of Dr. James Merritt, Touching Lives exists to touch the lives of the lost and enrich the faith of the found. Our goal is to present the eternal, never-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ to all who would hear and pray for the Holy Spirit to move mightily among His people.

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Many of us remember the song, “Jesus Loves Me.” If you remember the song you know that famous line, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” I want to change that slightly and give you this sermon in a sentence. Here it is, “God loves me, this I know, for the cross shows me so.” In a book called “Romans,” an apostle named Paul wrote down one of the most incredible sentences in the entire Bible which forever puts to rest the question as to whether or not God loves us. God’s love is not just a “say-so” love. It is a “show-so” love. I can say with 100% confidence, “Yes, God loves us, for the following reasons…”

Yes, God Loves You

As we continue to address different doubts that people struggle with, today we’re going to tackle the existence of God. I love the way Albert Einstein said it when he stated, “You look at this world and you will see outstanding evidence for God.” I am going to show you today why I believe that is true and that he knew what he was talking about.

Yes, God Is

Today, we are going to be addressing this specific doubt that so many people have: “I doubt the Bible is the Word of God.” If that is a doubt you’re struggling with, you should at least consider the case of why 2 billion people absolutely believe the Bible is the Word of God. My point is this, “The word of God is as good as God’s Word.” Jesus Himself believed you not only could take the Bible as God’s Word, but God is as good as His Word because he said, “Your word is truth,” (John 17:17). So, if the Bible is God’s Word, there are certain reasons why we should believe it is when we examine it. Let me give you five of those reasons right now.

Taking God at His Word

There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt asks questions while unbelief won’t even listen to answers. In this message, we are going to study a man in the Bible who had such a problem with doubt he was even given the most famous nickname of any disciple. He is called “Doubting Thomas.” I feel sorry for Thomas because I think he has gotten a little bit of a bad rap. He was a doubter, but he teaches us how to deal with doubt. He is able to starve his doubt and feed his faith and he shows us exactly how to do this. If you’re struggling with doubt today, I would encourage you to take notes on these five steps.

The Benefit of the Doubt

Today, we are going to deal with the doubt people have about Jesus being raised from the dead. Either like every other person who has lived and died, Jesus is still dead or he is physically still alive. A man named Paul went through unbelievable torture, hardship, and finally a beheading because he preached and believed and would not deny that Jesus Christ was alive. In a letter he wrote to a church in Corinth, he laid out what would be true if Jesus was not alive and if everything he said was either an intentional lie or a bad mistake. If Jesus is not alive it has a tremendous impact on whether you are a believer or not. If Jesus is dead nothing else matters, but if He is alive it is the only thing that matters. Knowing that either He was raised or He wasn’t, I want us to answer two questions in this message. When we are finished, I can assure you that your doubt will be destroyed and your faith will be fortified. 

Smyrna: Grace Under Pressure

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