In this service, Pastor Julie begins a new series, Honest to God — three sermons for anyone who's tired of pretending when it comes to faith. The first is called What If I Can't Believe?
The philosopher Paul Tillich once wrote that doubt is not the opposite of faith — it is an element of it. The father in Mark 9 could have told him so. His son has suffered for years. The disciples couldn't help. And when Jesus finally comes down the mountain, this man says something that is less a confession than a cry: I believe; help my unbelief. He does not pretend. He does not perform certainty he doesn't have. He just stays — and says the truest thing he knows.
The accompanying text from Colossians 3:12–17 adds a surprising counterweight: a community clothed in compassion, bearing with one another, letting peace rule. Faith, it turns out, is rarely a solo act. We hold it together when none of us can hold it alone.
In this service, we will also share communion and receive a collection for our benevolence fund.