The Reasons God is Real

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Red Rocks Church Weekend Messages

Episode: The Reasons God is Real

Date: February 28, 2026
Series: TikTok Theology – Week 3
Host/Speaker: (Speaker not named; context suggests Doug Weckenman)

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the "reasons"—not just feelings—for believing that God is real. Addressing listeners across all Red Rocks Church campuses (Denver, Austin, Brussels, correctional facilities, and global viewers), the message challenges Christians to move beyond an emotion-based faith to one rooted in logic, evidence, and reason. The speaker unpacks apologetic arguments for God's existence, discusses why doubts shouldn't be feared, and emphasizes the overwhelming goodness of God as foundational for a flourishing faith.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Rooted Faith

• The episode opens with enthusiasm for church community and a call to praise God simply for who He is ([00:01]).

• Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13):

  • Jesus' teaching is used to illustrate how seeds (God’s truth) land on various soils (different levels of hearts/minds’ receptivity).
  • "Your soil is your responsibility." ([01:15])
  • Warning about shallow roots: Many today come to faith quickly but fall away when difficulties or doubts arise because their beliefs are rooted in emotion, not reason ([02:17], [09:00]).

  "If you believe in Jesus based only on emotion, it's only a matter of time before you walk away from Jesus based only on emotion. But if your faith is rooted in evidence... your faith will not only survive, it will actually thrive—even in the age of 30-second sound bites." ([02:40])

2. Preparedness: Packing Your 'Faith Case'

• Illustration: The pink suitcase story about the speaker’s wife's meticulous preparation for travel ([03:47]).

  • Extended metaphor: Is your “faith case” filled with reasons and evidence, or just appearances and emotions?

• 1 Peter 3:15's Call:

  • Believers are told to "always be prepared to give an answer...for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect" ([06:36]).

  "Apologetics means to create reasonable arguments for what you believe so you can honestly answer the tough questions that come your way with gentleness and respect." ([06:54])

3. Current Cultural Patterns

• Three Patterns Identified:

  1. Hyper-living (skimming life’s surface)
  2. Hyper-feeling (letting feelings, not truth, lead)
  3. Hyper-believing (faith swings with fleeting perceptions, often influenced by media) ([11:51]–[12:43])

  "We’re no longer taught to think our way through life. We’re taught to feel our way through... Faith, feelings are great, but they’re not leaders. They must submit to truth." ([12:02])

• Emphasis: Christianity is not blind faith; it’s filled with rational, philosophical, and scientific reasons ([13:11]).

4. Arguments for God’s Existence

a) Cosmological Argument (Science & Big Bang) ([13:50]–[19:51])

• Affirmation: Accepts the Big Bang as the universe’s beginning and aligns it with Genesis (“Let there be light”).
• Quotes Stephen Hawking:

  "Almost everyone now believes that the universe and even time itself had a beginning at the Big Bang." ([14:35])

• If universe had a beginning, it must have a Beginner.
• Conceptual Leap: Whatever caused time, space, and matter must be timeless, spaceless, immaterial, intentional, and powerful—attributes akin to God ([17:43]).
• Frank Turek cited:

  "I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist." ([17:07])

• John Tyson quote: An atheist must believe in "six miracles," e.g., "something from nothing." ([18:56])

b) Handling Doubt – The Thomas Example ([19:51]–[24:21])

• Doubt is reframed: Not shameful, but a growth opportunity if not a destination.
• Memorable quote on doubt:

  "Doubt, like a dumbbell, can make your faith stronger if you pick it up and lift it." ([22:46])

• Jesus meets Thomas in doubt, offers evidence.

c) Moral Argument ([26:20]–[29:41])

• Question: Why is anything ‘right’ or ‘wrong’? “Says who?”
• Universal moral intuition (e.g., murder is wrong) demands a source:

  "A moral law means there is a moral law giver." ([29:47])

• Romans 2:15: God’s law is written on our hearts.

d) Fine-Tuning & Consciousness ([29:41]–[33:01])

• Universe is so finely tuned for life that chance is statistically implausible.
• Consciousness:
  • "You can’t reduce consciousness to chemistry. You can get mind only from another mind." ([32:10])
  • The drive for meaning and love points to something more than natural processes.

e) Evil, Beauty, and Longing ([33:11]–[37:11])

• Increasing evil: The presence of evil turns people to seek God.

  "If evil is real, then good must be real. If the devil is real, then God must be real as well." ([33:51])

• Beauty & Longing: Creation awakens longing that nothing in this world can satisfy.

  "If I find in myself a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most logical explanation is I was made for something more than this world." —C.S. Lewis ([35:41])

5. Addressing Common Objections

• Church’s Imperfection Isn’t an Argument Against God ([37:11]–[40:12])

  • Like playing a John Mayer song badly doesn’t mean Mayer isn’t real or talented:

    "The fact that the church is messy is more evidence of the goodness of God because he’s atoned for all of our mistakes." ([39:13])

• Not Blind Faith, Not Just Emotion

  • Challenge to shallow, emotion-driven ‘TikTok theology.’
  • Quote on selective unbelief:

    "If it were proven today that Christianity were true, would you follow Jesus?"
    "No."
    "This isn't really about truth... This is emotional." ([41:37])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Evidence-Based Faith:

  "A faith that can’t be tested is a faith that can’t be trusted." ([16:26])

• On the Church’s Role:

  "We exist to make heaven more crowded by helping people to know God and live on purpose." ([00:38])

• On God’s Goodness as Foundational:

  "Everything else will take care of itself when you can start there, that God is good. That is who He is, is goodness. God is good." ([43:07])

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Important Timestamps

• [01:15]: Parable of the Sower and intro to rootless faith.
• [06:36]: 1 Peter 3:15—be prepared to give reasons.
• [12:43]: Cultural patterns: hyper-living, -feeling, -believing.
• [13:50]–[18:56]: Cosmological argument & interplay of faith and science.
• [19:51]: Doubting Thomas; healthy approach to doubt.
• [26:20]: Moral argument ("Says who?").
• [32:10]: Consciousness and the insufficiency of material explanations.
• [33:51]: Increasing evil as apologetic.
• [35:41]: C.S. Lewis on eternal longing.
• [39:13]: Imperfect church as evidence of a gracious God.
• [41:37]: Frank Turek’s campus question on truth and emotional resistance to faith.
• [43:07]–[47:24]: Invitation to encounter God’s goodness, close in prayer and worship.

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Conclusion

This episode lays out a holistic approach for Christians to prepare their faith with thoughtful answers, solid arguments, and a deeper relationship with God anchored in His goodness. Listeners are encouraged to embrace both science and reason, allow honest doubts, and experience the beauty and longing that points heavenward—filling their “faith case” not just with feelings, but with the weight of compelling reasons.

Final encouragement:

"God is awakening something in your heart. He does not want religion. He wants relationship." ([46:00])

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Transcript

[A]

What a God we have. Amen. Red rocks. Oh, come on, you guys got more than that. Let's go. Hey, every location, how about we give this Amazing God a 10 second praise break right here and right now? Come on. I said a praise break. Praise him because he's good. Praise him because he's worthy. Praise him not to get anything in return. Praise him just because it blesses his name. Amen. You guys excited to be in church today? Hey, can we welcome every red rocker joining us from Denver to Austin to Brussels and beyond all over the world. And of course, the VIPs of our church, men and women of our correctional facility campuses, we love you so much. Welcome home and help me out here. We exist to make heaven more crowded by helping people to know God and live on purpose. So together we can go change the world. You guys ready for the Word of God? Welcome to week three of TikTok theology. Have you enjoyed this teaching series so far? Me too. Matthew, chapter 13. Jesus is telling this parable of this farmer who's sowing the seed onto different soils. And the seed representing the life changing truth of the Word of God. And the different soils representing the different lives of listeners. And the soil is the receptivity of your mind and your heart. Your soil is your responsibility. And Jesus describes some of the seed landing on on rocky places where the soil was shallow. And so a plant sprang up fast. In other words, that person's faith happened fast, but the roots were shallow. And then the sun came out. And Jesus tells us what happens in verse six. He said when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root. Somebody say no root. It is no secret that right now we are living in the midst of revival in the United States of America. We can praise God for that. More people coming to know Jesus than have been in decades. And it's absolutely amazing. But there is a shadow story happening

[B]

at the exact same time. On average, over the last 10 years, 6 to 7,000Americans walk away from their faith every single day. I believe because of some version of shallow soil and no root.

[A]

So I got to ask you, do

[B]

you know the reasons you believe, what you believe about Jesus?

[A]

Because if you believe in Jesus based only on emotion, it's only a matter of time before you walk away from Jesus based only on emotion. But if your faith is rooted in evidence, and really that's the heartbeat of this teaching series, then not only will your roots grow deeper, your faith will not only survive, it will actually thrive even in the age of 30 second sound bites. And so today I want to preach a message called the Reasons God is real.

[B]

The reasons.

[A]

Not the feelings that make you feel like he's real.

[B]

The reasons he is real. So, Heavenly Father, you tell us to

[A]

love you with all of our hearts,

[B]

all of our souls and all of our minds. And today we do just that. Would you strengthen our faith and deepen our roots with logic and reason and evidence and facts. Lead us to truth this weekend for your glory in Jesus name.

[A]

And everybody said Amen. Amen. Go ahead and take a seat.

[B]

Reasons God is real.

[A]

Would you believe me, red rocks, if I told you that this pink suitcase. Giant powder pink suitcase.

[B]

Excuse me.

[A]

This was the only thing that my wife Sam wanted for her birthday last year. And I've been traveling with this suitcase by myself all day because it's my sermon illustration. So praise God for that. But she told me she wanted this suitcase. I actually laughed when she said that.

[B]

I said, I'm sorry.

[A]

Did you say you wanted a suitcase for your birthday? Babe, there's no way we're that old. Okay, that is not fun. That's straight up a utility gift. That's like me asking for a belt for Christmas. You know, like, are you sure you don't want something? A little. I'll get you a puzzle of a lot of suitcases of every different color. I mean, you only turn 35. You only turn 29 once. Excuse me? I thought she was, like, hinting at a trip. Get me a suitcase and then maybe you take me to Maui for our 12 year anniversary. Hint, hint. Nope. Just a container on wheels with a handle. That's it. Because to my wife. You want to know what fun is?

[B]

Fun is organization and preparedness in style, baby.

[A]

Amen. Amen. And when my wife packs for a trip, she doesn't just pack stuff in a suitcase. She types up a packing list with checkboxes, prints it out, and then she packs according to her checklist. Is anybody else married to one of these? A checklister. All right, Casual lunch outfit. For a casual lunch, Check. Dopamine hit rain jacket just in case. Check.

[B]

Ocean Wave sound machine and eight pairs of PJs for eight nights of eight hours of sleep. Check, check. Babe, I love you so much. If you're watching this from home, she's not watching this.

[A]

She's got three kids right now by herself.

[B]

She's not watching this, I promise you.

[A]

But to my wife, this is what's fun. Fun is gliding through the airport all the way to gate 16B, pushing those smooth wheels on polished airport floor with the pink suitcase that always weighs exactly 49.5 pounds, ready and prepared for absolutely any situation. And you want to know what? I kind of dig it, you guys. Seriously. I'm into it. And this is coming from the guy who misplaces his keys about once a week. The guy who lost his passport the night before a cruise. All right. My wife's organizational skills is becoming sexier and sexier to me the older I get. Like, who would have thought traveling without stress is kind of nice? I mean, imagine that being prepared is kinda. Is kinda nice. So I have to ask you a question. Is your faith on this journey through

[B]

life prepared for the doubts and questions that are coming?

[A]

Because first, Peter, chapter three, verse 15, says, Always be prepared to give an answer to everybody who asks you to explain why you feel the way you feel. Wait, no, no, no. To give the reason for the hope

[B]

that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect. Apologetics means to create reasonable arguments for what you believe so you can honestly answer the tough questions that come your way with gentleness and respect. And Peter tells us to always be prepared for that.

[A]

So let's say your faith is like a suitcase. If we're honest. For a lot of us, our faith looks really good on the outside. Like, we all got our favorite songs, and you attend church 1.7 times a month and got the sticker on your car, and you even got a handle on your faith with all the right things to say. God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good, and he works out all things together for the good of those who love Him. And you can roll it with you, and you can even post with your faith. But if you're being completely honest, maybe

[B]

there's not a whole lot in it. Maybe feelings, but not necessarily reasons.

[A]

Hey, it might rain. You got a rain jacket in there? Oh, let me.

[B]

Actually, no, I don't. Okay.

[A]

Well, the sun's coming out. It's gonna be 102 degrees in Austin for three months straight this summer. You got SPF 50? You got your Ray Bans? Actually, I don't got any of the.

[B]

I just have the suitcase and. Reminds me of this joke by Jim Gaffigan.

[A]

He says guys with big pickup trucks who aren't actually picking anything up. Hey, man, can you help me move? No, I don't want to get the truck bed dirty.

[B]

I just like being associated with manual labor.

[A]

I'm just into paying for fuel. Not gas, fuel. It's like Somebody wheeling around an empty suitcase, going on a trip? No, but I'm the kind of guy who would. Maybe your faith looks really good and

[B]

maybe there's feelings in it. And feelings are great. They're just. They're great when life makes sense. But what I'm saying is, what about when life doesn't make sense?

[A]

Faith can spring up so fast, and we see it happen every single weekend. But Jesus said, then the sun came out and the plant of faith withered because it had no root. And then in verse 20, he's gonna tell us exactly what the parable means. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to somebody who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. Is emotion bad? No, emotion is great. It's just not enough. But since they have no root, somebody say, no root.

[B]

They last only a short amount of time. I have this friend from college who got saved right around the time I

[A]

did and was in all the ministry stuff with me.

[B]

So passionate about his faith, and 17 years later could care less about his faith. It's one of the things that haunts me as a pastor of a large church.

[A]

When we see salvations happen all the time. It's amazing. We should celebrate it. But there needs to be good soil. There needs to be roots, because that sun's coming out. Jesus says when trouble or persecution comes because of the word of God, when doubts or questions come, they quickly fall away. So you've got your faith case, and you're on this journey with Jesus through this thing called life. But then when troubles or doubts or questions may become because of the word of God that you believe, or let's just make this a little bit more real, let's say you go off to college and you're bringing your faith case with you, but for the very first time now, you're swimming in an environment that is in direct opposition to everything that you believe. And you were never given good soil to grow deep roots. You were told what to believe, but you don't know why you believe what you believe. You were given a suitcase that was maybe empty empty, that had a few

[B]

good handles on it.

[A]

Or maybe you go through a bad breakup and then you realize, man, your faith looked really good on the outside,

[B]

but now it turns out you're realizing it was dependent on the relationship that you were in. And when that relationship got taken away from you, you got mad at God. And since you came to Jesus based on emotion, now you're walking away from him based on emotion.

[A]

Or you're scrolling on TikTok and all of a sudden, one video from one guy with church baggage who doesn't want God to be real, but has a really nice production set up and makes a half decent case against something that you believe. And the sun comes out, the plant

[B]

withers, the faith gets uprooted. But if we can be honest, that means the faith. Those roots weren't that deep to begin with.

[A]

My observations, three patterns of the world

[B]

that are happening right now.

[A]

Number one, hyper living. We just skim the surface of the

[B]

depths of life nowadays that leads to hyper feeling.

[A]

We're no longer taught to think our way through life. We're taught to feel our way through school, feel our way through politics, feel our way through faith. If the media wants me to feel this way this month, then I'll feel this way this month. But you were not given the feelings of Christ. You were given the mind of Christ. Feelings are great, but they're not leaders. They must submit to truth. That is your leader in your life. Because if you live by hyper feeling, eventually it's gonna lead to the third pattern that is hyper believing. I either believe in God or I don't. I either follow Jesus with confidence this week or I follow him with insecurity this week. And it all depends on the 32nd

[B]

soundbite that I watched. That's not a faith that's prepared. That's not a faith that's ready. Do you know the reasons you believe what you believe about Jesus? Because it's easy to walk away from something that you don't have any evidence for. But the roots of your faith, when they are strengthened by reasons, then your faith won't change unless the facts do. And facts don't change. Christianity is not blind faith. And that is wonderful news. And there's an overwhelming amount of logical, philosophical and scientific reasons that God is real. And my goal for this message is not to make us smarter. My goal is this. I have been praying God, would you till the soil of our minds and our hearts that as good seed is sown this weekend, roots might grow a little bit deeper and our faith might get a little bit stronger.

[A]

Here's what I want to do.

[B]

I want to fill your faith case with facts about God to 49.5 pounds. If you're picking up what I'm putting down, okay.

[A]

So that you can give reasons for the hope that you believe in with gentleness and respect. And so let's start here. Let's start with science. We're going to start with something called the cosmological argument.

[B]

And I Tried to pack these points, if you will, in a way that

[A]

you could travel with them and remember them, hopefully six months from now when you need them. But let this fill your faith case, the cosmological argument. I'm going to start by saying something that might mess with some of you. I believe in the Big Bang.

[B]

I believe when God said, let there be light all those years ago and the universe exploded out in every direction at the speed of light, that it did so with a bang that was probably pretty big.

[A]

I'll take it a step further. I believe with perhaps the most famous atheist of all time, Dr. Stephen Hawking, who said this, almost everyone. He's speaking of Christian and secular scientists. Almost everyone now believes that the universe and even time itself had a beginning

[B]

at the Big Bang. Now, two things before we go any further. Number one, if you are an atheist or agnostic in one of these locations or watching online, I am so grateful and glad that you're here and that

[A]

you're watching, and you and me have

[B]

very, very similar brains. I am not trying to win, but just to be very clear, I am trying to win you over. I have never been more convicted that God is real and Jesus is back from the dead.

[A]

Today we're talking that God is real. Next week, Pastor Sean's gonna unpack the reality and the ev.

[B]

The resurrection of Jesus. Number two, I am so over Christians being afraid of the intersection between science and faith.

[A]

I'm just. I'm so over that. You know how I define science? Human beings figuring out how God made it. All right, that's it. They're not enemies. They're not afraid of each other. Faith is not afraid of science. They're actually in a divine dance with each other, and faith is the one that leads the dance. Truth is not afraid of questions. Lies are afraid to be questioned. Truth goes. Bring the questions on. So let's put our faith on the stand for a few moments, because a faith that can't be tested is a faith that can't be trusted. And if this whole thing's not real, like, you should want to know if science has disproven God. You guys, it is 72 degrees and sunny out there. I should be golfing. Not in here. Okay. Faith that can't be tested is a

[B]

faith that can't be trusted.

[A]

So the universe began with the Big Bang.

[B]

Great.

[A]

The reason that is both significant and

[B]

reassuring for Christians is this on the screen behind me.

[A]

If the universe has a beginning, then, fundamentally speaking, it must have a beginner. If the universe started Then there had to be something or someone around before it started in order to start it. This is perfectly consistent with the very first verse in the Bible that says in the beginning, God began it all. In the last few decades, the better our science gets, the better the arguments

[B]

it's starting to make. Not against the existence of God, but for the existence of God. Frank Turek wrote this book and the title of it, it just says everything I'm trying to say in one sentence. I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. That book is brilliant. I credit him with a lot of this. That book, along with mere Christianity by C.S. lewis and the Reason for God by Timothy Keller. If you're into what we're talking about today, that will fill your faith case even more. If the universe has a beginning, then it must have a beginner. This is the burden of secular scientists to figure out.

[A]

There must be an uncaused first cause that was there before everything else that could actually cause it to happen. So I'll say it this way. There used to be no such thing as time, space and matter. Then all of a sudden there was this big bang, and then there was such a thing as time, space and matter. So where did they come from? Because something can't come from nothing. Whatever it was that created space must by definition be outside of space or spaceless. Whoever it was that created time must by definition be outside of time or said another way, timeless. Whatever or whoever it was that created matter from nothing must be immaterial. But then not just that. Also powerful enough to start it all, intentional enough to make the decision to start it all, and personal enough to create not just matter, but also mind, and not just time, but also truth. I mean, whatever this personal and powerful and timeless spaceless, immaterial, powerful, intentional being is to me sounds a lot like God.

[B]

I do not have enough faith to explain how something came from nothing without him. Pastor John Tyson says in order to be an atheist, you must believe in at least six miracles. Speaking of the year of miracles, order from chaos, life from non life, personal from non, personal reason from non reason, morality from matter, and finally, something from nothing. See, science can explain how new stars form because there's the stuff around to create the new stars. It can explain how cells divide and form more cells because there's the original cells there in the first place to divide and make. But it cannot explain how something comes from nothing. Truth is not afraid of your questions. Or said another way, because he is the truth. Jesus is not afraid of your questions. So Bring Jesus your questions.

[A]

That's one thing I think Thomas did right. You remember the disciple Thomas? All of Christendom? We now know him by another name, Doubting Thomas Doubting. Poor guy, doubted one time. Jim Halpert in the office eats a tuna fish sandwich for lunch one time. And for the rest of the series, he's Big Tuna. You know, let's make this a little bit more real. As a pastor, I have had my fair share of doubts over the years, but credit to all of you, you've never once called me Doubting Doug. And that's an alliteration, man. Doubting Thomas is not even clever. It doesn't even roll off the tongue. If I'm Thomas, I'm like, what about Simon Peter? The guy who just denied knowing Jesus to a teenage girl at a bonfire three times? And yet we don't call him Pathetic Pete or Simon Coward. You like that one? You gotta think about it for a second. Sinking Cephas can't even walk on water for 20 seconds without drowning. And the Son of God gives him this nickname, the rock. As in Dwayne Johnson, as in Maui, demigod of the wind and sea. I've seen Moana too many times.

[B]

He doubts one time. The story goes like this. John 20:25. The other disciples told him, being Thomas,

[A]

we just saw the master, capital M. That's Jesus. Little bit of context. This is right after Jesus just predicted and pulled off his death and resurrection.

[B]

A 40 day period where he's hanging

[A]

out with at least 500 eyewitnesses who just watched him die. And now they're eating meals with him. And most of the disciples have already seen Jesus, but Thomas hasn't yet.

[B]

So Thomas says to them, guys, unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in those scars and stick my hand in his side, I won't believe it.

[A]

Remember that word won't.

[B]

Because I wonder if it bothers Jesus at all that we call him Doubting Thomas. As if the rest of us don't have any doubts.

[A]

Don't be like Doubting Thomas. That's a bad word in the church. Be a good little Christian and just believe. In other words, keep your questions to yourself. As long as your faith is pretty, it doesn't matter that your faith is empty. Guys, we need to change the connotation of doubt. Doubt is only a problem when it becomes your destination. When doubt goes from your journey that you're on trying to believe to the destination you are content to stay in. You go from skeptic to Cynic in that moment, Wes Huff says it's like deconstruction of fake without any intention of reconstruction of fake.

[B]

That is just demolition of faith.

[A]

And like a dumbbell on the ground, faith, I'm sorry, doubt can trip your faith up. But doubt, like a dumbbell, can also

[B]

make your face stronger. If you pick it up and. And lift it.

[A]

I see doubt as opportunity to wrestle with God. It's like evidence of your growth. If you are wrestling with God, trying to believe, then by definition you're close to him. And that is the whole point of Christianity. I think Jesus would call Thomas honest

[B]

Thomas, I mean, he's God. He can handle your doubts and questions. You know what he can't do? Save the person you're pretending to be. He can only save and sanctify who you really are. Verse 26. Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. And this time Thomas was with them. This is what Thomas did, right? Are you doubting? Are you struggling to believe? You're here. You're watching. This is what you're doing, right? Keep coming back. God is wooing you towards him. He will save you before he answers all of your questions. But you are taking a cue from Thomas on what he did, right? Stay close.

[A]

Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them and said, peace to you. Okay, just recap for a second. So Jesus is fresh off a resurrection, as you do, and he's like, where are my boys at? Oh, they're in the house with the locked doors. No need to knock. I just conquered the grave. I'll walk through the wall, which he does into the living room. His disciples see him and they scream, ah. And Jesus goes, peace, guys, chill.

[B]

Calm down. This is not the craziest thing that you've seen me do in history records. The Son of God walks straight to a hurting Disciple. Verse 27. Then he focused his attention on Thomas. Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe God is so good and Jesus will walk through your doors of doubt to let you see and feel the evidence in his scars. Much about God you can't see. You're trying to follow a God you can't see with a voice you can't hear into a future you don't know. That is not easy. Enter doubt if you're doubting, welcome to the party. But the impact of Jesus, like a wake behind a boat, you can see and you can feel. Let it build faith in the God that you can't look at Romans 1:20. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse. Is that not the definition of science right there? The human study of what God has made science, the study of things that we can see and feel, points us to a creator that we. That we can't. Creation means there's a creator, much like a painting means there's a painter. There is evidence everywhere, to the point where I believe it takes so much more faith not to believe in God than it does to believe in God. So there's science. Let's keep going with this. Let's talk about morality, the moral argument.

[A]

Tim Keller once said, everybody must be

[B]

able to answer the question, Says who?

[A]

Why is murder wrong?

[B]

Well, it's not nice to kill people.

[A]

I agree, but says who? What do you mean by nice and not nice? And where are you getting your standard for good and bad? Well, it's just. It's whatever's best for a thriving society. Murder harms society, therefore murder is wrong and murder is bad. Okay, I agree, but you're not answering the question, though. Says who? Says the majority. So if the majority agrees it's good, then it's good. And if the majority agrees this is bad, then that makes it bad all of a sudden, because there have been some pretty horrific movements all throughout history of slavery and genocide where the majority agreed this is right. So does that make it right? Well, absolutely not. Of course it doesn't. But why? Says who? Well, it's just obvious, Pastor, that. I agree. It's so obvious. But why is it so obvious to you? Well, some things are just morals. Exactly. Follow the breadcrumbs. Where do morals come from? Guys, there is some kind of moral code out there somewhere that everybody seems to know about. Look how C.S.

[B]

lewis explains it.

[A]

Human beings all over the earth have this curious idea they ought to behave in a certain way, and they can't really get rid of it. What's the speed limit on 470?

[B]

Is it 65?

[A]

70.

[B]

65. Okay, here's my question.

[A]

Says who? Here's the wrong answer. Says the speed limit sign. Because I would say again, says who, though? The governing authorities. Who decided this is the right speed

[B]

limit for this highway and society to thrive. Who put that speed limit sign there?

[A]

It's the powers that could put you in jail for ignoring the sign. Says them. That is the correct answer. Without a source, the sign wouldn't matter. All bets Are off. You pick your speed, I'll pick mine. It's your opinion versus Hitler's opinion on the right way to run society. If there is no such thing as God. But you have speed limit signs in your soul telling you that murder and racism are wrong and forgiveness and generosity are good. And everybody, including atheists and agnostics, have the same signs in their souls. That's why you can do good things and be a moral person without believing in God. That's not the question. The question is who put the signs there? Stealing is evil. Says who? Giving is good. Helping little old ladies cross the street is good once again. Says who? Pastor says everybody. Okay, but why? Why is it that all people from all cultures, on every continent all understand this? And there was no committee that got together globally and decided these are the good things, these are the evil things? Okay, everybody go teach. No, you were never taught this. You were born just knowing it with signs in your heart.

[B]

So where did they come from?

[A]

And who put them there? Romans 2:15 knocks this question right out of the park.

[B]

Here it is.

[A]

They demonstrate being all of us guys. We demonstrate that God's law is written

[B]

in our hearts for their own conscience and thoughts. Either accuse them it's wrong or tell them they are doing right. Just like a book means there's an author. A moral law means there is a moral law giver, a loving God with the specific standard that he decided this is good, this is bad. And then he wrote it into every single one of our hearts like speed limit signs in your soul to help all of us to know him more. So that we might live on purpose. So that together we could change this world. How does something come from nothing? Including, by the way, morality. Says who? Eventually you just. You get back to God. Eventually we always get back to God. And we could keep going with this for days, man. I could tell you I'm going to do these next ones a lot more quick. You guys know me. I'm long winded. I hate that clock more than anything, man. I could tell you about the fine tuning argument that basically says the universe seems to be so perfectly curated for life that even if the gravity constants on distant planets or the atomic forces and tiny little atoms were off by even a micro amount, that stars would no longer be able to form, the universe would implode in on itself, chemistry wouldn't work anymore and life would be impossible. It seems every square inch of the known expanding universe is so perfectly designed and finely tuned that to say all of this just happened by Chance, even if you're a risky gambler, you're not touching that bet. Could talk about consciousness in mind. How is it that we're even talking about this right now? That we're even aware that there might be a God out there and that we're here in the first place? Like Zoolander, looking at the stars, God, who am I?

[A]

How are we? Why is it that human beings can go a week without water and 40 days without food, but you can't go an hour without meaning? Why is it that we need faith, hope and love? Why is it that we feel faith, hope and love? And you might make the scientific argument,

[B]

well, that's just dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin. Those things make you feel faith and hope and love.

[A]

And you could make that argument, but

[B]

eventually you have to explain where those chemicals came from. A better argument is, okay, that is a natural system designed by a supernatural God who made those neurochemicals, placed them in your brain, that you might experience faith, hope and love, that you might tap into the deeper things of heaven, this side of eternity. But even then, like, where does consciousness come from? Scientists agree you can't reduce consciousness to chemistry. You can't. You can't get mind from matter. For now philosophers are saying mind is more fundamental than matter. You can get mind only from another mind. You are not a collection of chemistry. You are fearfully and wonderfully made by an amazing God with an amazing mind who gave you the mind of Christ that it might lead you to him.

[A]

This is why you're even asking these questions. Shows that God is real, that there's an answer to these questions. We could talk about increasing evil. I've heard it said the devil always

[B]

overplays his hand in every single generation

[A]

because he always introduces some sort of agenda to lead humanity astray. And like all good lies, it's full

[B]

of a lot of truth. That's why it deceives a lot of people until it's working. And so the devil keeps pushing, but then he pushes too far and he reveals himself.

[A]

And what's happening right now is a lot more people are, you know what? The number one apologetic right now in our country, the number one. The number one on ramp onto the highway of Christianity is increasing evil. Because when people see more and more evil in the world, they go, we

[B]

should go to church. And if evil is real, then good must be real.

[A]

If the devil is real, then God

[B]

must be real as well.

[A]

I mean, how do you like. Is that not the biggest slap in the Face for Satan, that increasing evil, what the devil meant for evil, God is now using for good. So we could talk about that. I could talk about beauty and longing all day. To me, this is the thing that

[B]

shows beyond the shadow of a doubt, God is real. And here's why. In all of the history of humanity, there has not yet been a human being, no matter how many resources, no matter how many experiences they partake in, who has found lasting fulfillment and satisfaction under the sun. Nobody has found it yet. And yet everybody knows they're made for it. The beauty around us creates this longing for something more than what we're experiencing. So here's an example. You could pull out your phone and look at footage, drone footage of, like, Cancun, right? And see those white sandy beaches and that turquoise water and the palm tree. And it's two things. It's amazing and it's frustrating. It's amazing, but also it's frustrating because you're like, it's not enough just to see it. I need to, like, be there, you know? Well, two weekends ago, I was there. I officiated a destination wedding. Danielle and Kyle, I dedicate this point to you. Let's go back and renew your vows anytime. Okay? And I stood on that white sand and I swam out into those turquoise waters, knowing I was preaching this sermon. And I had a spiritual experience that was two amazing and frustrating. It was amazing because it was so much better than a screen. It was frustrating because I was finally there. It's, like, as beautiful as it was, it was still, like, temporary and fast and fallen and subject to sin. And I thought this was gonna do it. And it turns out it's like this ocean is now more of just a messenger from the God who my soul is really searching for. And the beauty of creation is creating this longing in my heart to want it. And for the rest of your life, as a Christian, you will have moments where it's amazing and it's frustrating. CS Lewis says it this way. Very, very famous quote. If I find in myself a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most logical explanation is I was made for something more than this world. The reason you long for it is because there is that thing you're longing for. Ecclesiastes 3:11. God has written eternity into your heart. And nothing under the sun, no matter how amazing, will satisfy forever. Because it's terrible, temporary. Only God can do that. And until glory. One day, it will only be in part, leaving us, hopefully, with this holy discontentment, wanting more, wanting more, wanting more. And so there, there it is. Beauty and longing. The beauty of God's creation creates more of a longing in my heart to know God. And so we're filling up our faith

[A]

case with more and more facts. Not just feelings, but the real reasons that God is real. And we could just. We could keep going. We could talk about feelings, like one person's feelings that God is real. That anecdotal experience. That's not a lot to go on until you multiply it by billions of people on the planet all experiencing the same feelings about this transcendent God at the exact same time. You see it in the power of the testimony. I once was blind and now I see. And Jesus is the reason why. And enough people have the same testimony template. Guys, billions of people will gather in buildings like this all over the world this weekend. They don't do that to worship dead good guys and moral teachers from back in the day. We do that because we're experiencing a God who's very much alive. We do that for the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Even the argument that Ethan made last week against God, that. That a lot of secular culture will say, well, God can't be real because look at the church. It's so messy. Or if God is real, then he can't be good. Or if he is good, then at least Christianity doesn't work because Christians are imperfect and they make mistakes. And just look at the church. And. And I go, that is your best argument for the like, for there not being a God? I mean, guys, follow me. John Mayer is really, really, really, really, really good at playing the guitar. He's almost perfect at playing the guitar. He has a song called Slow Dancing in a Burning Room that's really, really, really hard to play. Specifically the live in Los Angeles version. Right now I am practicing for 30 minutes a day. I'm intermediate level. I'm trying to get better. I have this dream of playing that song perfectly.

[B]

And here's the thing.

[A]

I could grab John guitar and play it for you right now and you would recognize it. You'd be like, we see what you're. What you're trying to do. But it would be very imperfect and

[B]

it would be full of mistakes.

[A]

So, like, does that mean that John Mayer's not real? Does that mean John Mayer's not good at the guitar? Does that mean practicing the way of the guitar doesn't work? I'm like, what are we talking? That's the best argument. That is the dumbest argument I have ever. That is not logical. Or reasonable. It is completely emotional. Oh, the church isn't the. God's not real because the church is messy. Guys, you don't blame John Mayer because Doug Weckenman sucks at playing the song he wrote. Like, to me I'm getting there. Give me a chance to get there. Like, to me, the fact that the church is messy is more evidence of the goodness of God because he's atoned for all of our mistakes. And he's getting us there. He's getting us there. There are so many reasons that God is real.

[B]

And I'm just trying to fill your faith case with some facts.

[A]

Because Colossians 2, 4 says, do not

[B]

be fooled by good sounding arguments. Don't be misled by quick theology on TikTok. By the way, you don't have to pass a test to have a podcast. Christianity is not blind faith. And there are reasons God is real. In his debates on college campuses, apologist Frank Turret and I love this guy, man. He used to debate like all the famous atheists, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and now he just goes to different colleges to DO Q&As with students. Not because he's trying to win. You can always tell when somebody is just trying to win. He just loves people. He loves the truth. He's really good at teaching it. And recently he's always been asking this question to atheists and agnostics that he's debating in these Q and A's. He says, hey, really quick, if it were proven today that Christianity were true, would you follow Jesus? And on the other side of the microphone, most people answer that question with this one word, no. Now to me, I'm like, okay, so this is. You're showing your hand right now. So this, this isn't really about truth. It's not really about figuring out what's true.

[A]

Because we just established if this was true, would you follow Jesus?

[B]

No. This is emotional.

[A]

There's something.

[B]

It's not that you can't believe. It's like Thomas, you won't. But just like Thomas, I believe Jesus wants to walk through the doors of doubt to show you his goodness. Because here's what I think. I think at the end of the day, it doesn't come down to whether or not you believe God is real or not. I think, forgive me, but I think every single human being has an awareness that God is real deep down, if we're honest about it. I think there's something else going on. If I may, it comes down to what do you believe about his nature? Because if, for whatever reason you don't believe God is good, maybe because something happened to you or the evil that you see in the world, or questions like how could God be good but hell be real. And if you don't believe he's fundamentally good, then to you, the worst thing in the world would be for him to be real. So you will lead the evidence where you need the evidence to take you. That's why my prayer for this weekend has not been that we would get smarter. It's like we need revelation from God as he tills the soil of our minds and hearts that he is good to the core. That's what I'm praying. You walk out of all these locations knowing that God is good. Everything else will take care of itself

[A]

when you can start there, that God is good. That is who he is, is goodness. God is good. I mean, he didn't have to make you. He certainly didn't have to sacrifice his. His son to. To die for you. I mean, he didn't have to give you the breath. You just took that. That's not yours. He just gave you that breath. He is so good. He's so good. And if you could. If you could praise yourself and worship yourself and think yourself with the mind of Christ that you've been given into the good goodness of God, then I believe with everything inside of me that the evidence will lead you straight to

[B]

a good God in his good heart. And so at all locations, would you guys just close your eyes? I just want to make a moment for you and him. And maybe the Creator of the universe is speaking to you right now. And you've met, you've never made a decision to follow him and make him your Lord and Savior. I want to challenge you to respond. I'm not even going to ask you to raise your hand today, I'm going to ask you to make a decision called love. God is awakening something in your heart. He does not want religion. He wants relationship. Say, yes, God, I choose you back. Would you take my sin? Would you forgive me? Would you give me your righteousness for heaven forever one day and life to the full in the here and now. I want you as my Lord and Savior. If you're making that decision, salvation is taking place right now in your heart. I just also believe at all of our locations, a lot of people walked in with doubt. You need to change the connotation of what doubt is in your relationship with God. I'm telling you, doubt is now an opportunity for your roots to, to grow deeper and for your faith to get stronger, it is not your destination, it is your journey. Wrestle with God, get close to him. Because God is so good. I think there's a lot of questions maybe people have that maybe I'm talking to somebody right now who you don't believe God is good. Maybe you believe he's good to other people, but I just feel like somebody feels like God hates you right now just because of all the things he's letting happen in your life. And. Picture a hurting disciple named Thomas. And Jesus had one mission that day. The Son of God was to go find him, to let him see and feel scars on his hands. Picture Moses right now in the imagination. God has given you up on the mountain. And he asks God, as if speaking to a friend, he says, yahweh, the God of the heavens and the earth, the maker of the universe, would you show me your glory? And God answers that question by saying, yes, I will show you my goodness. The one thing, Moses, I want you in all of humanity, for all of history to know about my glory and what makes me God is my goodness. He is so good. He's so good. For fellow doubters in the room right above where your questions stop, faith takes over, wonder sets in, and real worship begins. Give yourself permission to come to him, him like a little kid on his lap, not needing to know all the answers at the end of the day because you have an infinite God who has all the infinite math figured out. The same God who right now is holding the universe that he spoke into existence in his hands with security, is holding your very heart. God, would you till the soil of our hearts and our minds? Would you walk through the doors of our doubt? Would you show us your glory and let us experience your goodness in Jesus name? Amen. Red rocks at every single location. Would you guys stand to your feet? Let's worship and let's sing and proclaim

[A]

that we have a good God with good plans.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Amen. Let's worship.