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Series: Love One Another
Scripture: John 14:8–14 (CEB)
Preacher: Brian Lamb
What do we do when we don't understand what is happening around us?
In the second message of our Love One Another worship series, guest preacher Brian Lamb continues exploring Jesus' final teachings to his disciples in the Gospel of John. Following last week's story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet, we return to what Jesus is teaching his friends during his final hours before the crucifixion.
Jesus tells his disciples, “Trust in God. Trust also in me.” But Philip is still searching for something he can understand. He asks Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus responds by reminding him that the disciples have already been seeing God through everything Jesus has said and done.
Philip's question is one many of us can recognize. There are moments when life does not make sense, when circumstances leave us confused or grieving, and when we find ourselves asking, “How could this be happening?”
Brian reflects on the disciples' experience of witnessing Jesus' ministry. They had seen healing, miracles, compassion, and acts of love throughout Jesus' ministry, yet they still struggled to understand what they were seeing. Their doubts remind us that uncertainty and faith can exist together.
But Jesus offers something more than an explanation. He shows his disciples what it means to embody God's love in the world.
Brian explores the connection between trust, faith, and action. Faith is not simply something we possess as an idea or belief. It is something we practice. To trust Jesus means to follow the way he has shown us—to serve, to care, to love, and to make God's love visible through our lives.
The question becomes not simply, “Do I believe?” but “Am I doing faith?”
Brian shares his own story of discerning a call to ordained ministry and the moment when he asked God for one more sign. Through that experience, he reflects on what it means to trust God's direction even when we cannot see the entire path ahead.
That call to trust becomes a call to action. Jesus says, “I am the way,” and invites his disciples to follow the way he has laid out before them.
As we live in a world that can feel chaotic, confusing, and overwhelming, the sermon asks whether loving action can become an antidote to simply stewing over everything we cannot understand. Instead of withdrawing from the chaos or waiting until we have all the answers, what might it mean to trust God's goodness and respond by embodying the love of Jesus right where we are?
Brian also reflects on the ways churches can practice this kind of faith through their communities and ministries. When we care for people, feed young people, offer hospitality, and invest in our neighbors, we may not know exactly what the results will be. But we can trust that the seeds we plant in love may bear fruit in ways we cannot yet see.
Faith, in this sense, is something we do.
Reflection Questions:
• When it is hard to “understand” what is going on around us, can we find a way to move into loving action as an antidote to “stewing” about all of it?
• What is your relationship to “trusting” the goodness of God, and our own capacity to love one another?
