Many of us live with anxiety, frustration and fear because we don’t see how big Jesus is. Mark’s Gospel, though, reports on an event that can help give us a more accurate view of who Jesus is based on what we see in his disciples’ failure, a father’s fight for his son, and Jesus’ focused response.

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How much uncertainty can a doubting supporter have before they become a disillusioned critic? In Matthew 11, Jesus is facing rising disappointment. One of his closest supporters, his cousin John the Baptist, is confronting him with deep uncertainty. And John is not alone: He’s joined in his doubt by many of Israel’s people, most of it’s social and religious leaders, and all of us today, as well.

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Faith and power are inextricably related. Where do you feel powerless? Where are you placing your faith in that situation? Glenn Hoburg leads us to consider the location, verification and inspiration of faith.

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Grace is one of the hardest things to relate to, accept or believe. It doesn’t feel right to us. It operates according to a logic that runs counter to what we want or expect. However, it’s important that we understand it more deeply, because God has inextricably bound his plans for individuals, communities and cities to grace.

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As we approach the end of our series on the book of 1 John as a guide to the character and personality of God, Glenn Hoburg leads us through what it means to know a true and living God. Unlike many modern understandings of faith as a private narrative you can tell yourself for comfort, John does not leave room to conform a faith to you. Instead, true faith in the true God changes you. And in the process, it delivers you from the fatality, force and foolishness of sin.

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There is perhaps no greater evidence of faith than prayer, yet fewer dimensions of the Christian life are more frequently misunderstood. Because the gospel reveals to us a God whose character is unique among the images of god painted by the other philosophies and worldviews around us, it also invites us to pray differently—with greater freedom and clarity—than we ever have before. And it also provides us with a compelling confirmation of those prayers.

Christianity did not start as a movement of people dedicated to a theoretical spirituality. Instead, it got its start through real people providing testimony about and evidence of actual experiences and encounters. Throughout the Bible, God doesn’t just call his people to un-anchored faith, but instead challenges them with evidence of his presence and character. One of the hallmarks of true faith is a response to this kind of testimony.

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Everyone has faith in something—some kind of foundational beliefs and assumptions that are impossible to test—and things that are true continue to be true whether you believe in them or not. So, what do the beginning of true faith in the God of the Bible look like? Where does that faith come from? And what advantages, resources and promises come along with it?

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Everyone lives their life according to some degree of faith—some core assumptions taken as self-evident, the validity of which we never test. The book of 1 John, though, offers us the opportunity to test the basic assumptions in which we place our trust, and shows us how what we put our trust in relates to how we understand God’s character and personality. This week, we look at what false faith is, why it occurs and where we get the confidence to resist it.

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Note that there is no discussion guide this week. Instead, please learn more about Winter Term and sign up for a class.