7th June 2020 – … but some doubted’ (Matthew 28:17b)

June 4, 2020 Pastor Matt Bishop

In Matthew’s Gospel doubt was the disciple’s reaction that accompanied worshipping the risen Lord. It’s very honest. It captures that we are not linear binary creatures as, clearly, the worship of God can be accompanied by doubts. It happened for Jesus’ disciples – why wouldn’t it be different for us who are remote from him in time, culture and, in all honesty, holiness? Moreover, for many people the Covid-19 separation from church has not been accompanied with a closer more intimate and regular feeding from God and his word (even though it has for some). In today’s sermon we will narrow in on one of the ways the disciples likely felt doubt… their future service to their Lord and how we can often feel so barren in our equipping for this task. We’ll look at how Jesus addresses this (Matthew 28:18-20), and also take a look at the relationship to community aspects of the epistle text for today 2 Corinthians 13:14. Keep in mind as we do that today is Trinity Sunday – hence the two texts we look at all reference the three persons of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today however will not be the day to delve into the theology (as much as I love that sort of thing!) We’ll keep it focussed on how the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – serves each of us individually through his community of the church for a response in love of service to God and our wider community.