I Doubt It: Doubt, Evidence and Belief [Sermon]

Baltimore, Maryland

August 2026

Outline

1.0 A Sign to Believe

2.0 Kinds of Doubts

3. Evidence for Belief

https://youtu.be/LhM9_5-6CK4

Luke 11:29-32

29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

1.0 A Sign to Believe

2.0 Kinds of Doubts

2.1 Intellectual Doubt

John 20:27-28

Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!'"

2.2 Emotional Doubt

John 11:21-22

Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.'

This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods "where they get off," you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. C S Lewis, Mere Christianity, Faith

2.3 Volitional Doubt

Intellectual doubt: Mind

Emotional doubt: Emotions

Volitional doubt: Will

Numbers 14:1-4: Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Luke 16:31: He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

3. Evidence for Belief

Hebrews 2:3-4: how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles …

Acts 2:22:  “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.

Matt 12:40: For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Response

Anyone who has rejected God based on intellectual doubt.

Anyone who is going through suffering and has deep emotional doubt.

Anyone who is a believer but does not obey God fully because of emotional doubt or willful choices.