Pastors sermon notes “Peace Be With You: Moving Past Fear and Doubt” (John 20:19-29) 

Week 5: “Peace Be With You: Moving Past Fear and Doubt” (John 20:19-29)

I have something to confess. Sometimes I’m afraid, sometimes I get anxious. Actually it happened to me this week. I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. as i got ready for the day everything kind of hit all at once. seemingly out of nowhere every trial I’m currently going through whether it had to do with my medical issue or my brothers medical issues or my father who’s in hospice. there are a number of things that are unknown and I’m just waiting on. and I felt fear and anxiety. and so i began to pray and readd the scriptures. and i would like to say the feelings disappeared right away. but the reality is that sometimes it takes my emotions a while to catch up to what i know in my mind to be true.  So I prayed, read, worshiped for an hour worked out and felt the lord saying to call a brother to pray for me as i was definitely under some kind of spiritual attack. within about 24 hrs it had subsided. and the next 2 mornings when i got into my daily Bible devotions. the Lord showed me these scriptures.

Psalm 55:16–18 (NLT)
16 But I will call on God,
and the LORD will rescue me.
17 Morning, noon, and night
I cry out in my distress,
and the LORD hears my voice.
18 He ransoms me and keeps me safe
from the battle waged against me,
Psalm 138:8 (NLT)
8 The LORD will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.
Psalm 139:1–5 (NLT)
1 O LORD, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, LORD.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Its not about how strong you can be when the storm comes but who you cling too in the midst of it.

Jesus own disciples had just been through experiencing their Lord being tried and crucified and they were in hiding fearing for their own live. they had not only heard the words of Jesus they had been sent out to minister on his behalf.  and they were at times very bold but now was the time of their testing. and in the midst of this time Jesus appears to them resurrected,

John 20:19–29 (NLT)
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”  But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”  26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at

my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”  28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.  29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
1. Peace be with you 

• Jesus didn’t start scolding them for being in fear and hiding. He came in gentleness.
• His greeting was “peace be with you” John records this three times which means he wants us to pay attention to this phrase. this is not just a mere greeting.
• This is the Greek translation of the Hebrew greeting Shalom. it means peace but also blessing and prosperity among other things.
• Jesus described this gift of his peace this way.

John 14:27 (NLT)
27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

• We have access to this peace whenever we are feeling anxious or afraid we can seek him and his spirit will give us peace. sometimes we just have to press in like i described to you in my experience.
• his peace is available when you are grieving loss of a loved one, or anxious about the unknowable, or just feeling the exhaustion that sometimes comes with live. his peace is there.

2 .  As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.-

• He commissions them not when they feel ready for the task but right in the midst of their fear and uncertainty. he brings peace and immediately says go tell people about me.
• if everyone God called waited till they felt like it or felt strong enough or prepared enough ministry would never happen. the gospel would never have been preached, churches would have been planted.
• his comfort and peace is to prepare us to do the works he has planned for us to do.

3.“You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” 

• This wasn’t Jesus just picking on thomas. plenty of people had seen him after his resurrection. he had been walking the earth for about 6 weeks. who knows who all he talked to. they all believed because they saw him.
• this was written for our benefit that it wasn’t just those who saw Jesus that would believe but all those millions who would proclaim faith in him over the next 2000 years.

conclusion: God’s not looking for people who feel capable in their own strength to serve him but those whoa re willing to admit their weakness and faults,. to come to him openly and honestly as they are and be willing to let him do the work within them to prepare them for whatever he is calling them to.