1. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
How to Disarm…
Your Doubts
Presented by:
Dr. Brent Strawsburg at Los Altos Grace Brethren Church Sunday, April 26, 2015
© 2015 Brent Strawsburg

2. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com

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17A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”….
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21Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
Mark 9:17-18, NIV
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23“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Mark 9:23-24 NIV
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6. Jesus saw an element of faith…He understood the reality of doubt!
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18John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
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8. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
Luke 7:22 NIV
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9. Jesus gave John the Baptist evidence.
It was designed to bolster his faith.
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10. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
Step #1
See the Faces of DOUBT
See the Faces of Doubt
Genetic
Rebellious
Disappointed
Intellectual
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11. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
Faith and Reason
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12. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
The Role of Faith…
…And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 NIV
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13. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
The Role of Reason…
…Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
1 Peter 3:15 NIV
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14. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
“God has given enough reason in this world to make faith a most reasonable thing. But he has left out enough to make it impossible to live by reason alone.”
-Ravi Zacharias,
Absolute Truth in Relative Terms
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15. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
Knowing Our
Faith is True
Showing Our
Faith is True
External Witness
(Reason/Argument)
Internal Witness
(Holy Spirit)
External Witness
(Reason/Argument)
Internal Witness
(Holy Spirit)
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16. Balance Faith and Reason
blind
weak
timid
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Disarm Your Doubts
Verbalize
Distinguish
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“We tend to think, 'Life should be fair because God is fair.' But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life- by expecting constant good health for example- then I set myself up for crashing disappointment.”
-Philip Yancey,
Disappointed with God
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19. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
Disarm Your Doubts
Verbalize
Distinguish
Resolve
Minimize
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20. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV
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21. © 2015 Brent Strawsburg www.BrentStrawsburg.com
False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion.
J. Gresham Machen
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22. and his ministry online at http://BrentStrawsburg.com
Find out more about
Dr. Brent Strawsburg
and his ministry online at
© 2015 Brent Strawsburg