Jan 22nd
John 1:43-51
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.
45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses[a] and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”
48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.
Jesus didn’t ask for Nathanael to come. But Philip invited him anyway. Then when Nathanael shows up to the scene it seems as though Jesus is more interested in him than Philip who he invited in the first place.
I gotta admit I feel this way every time you invite someone new to Wesley. Yeah you’re cool but who’s your friend? A newbie!!! Yay! I hope they get connected! The more the merrier. But it’s deeper than that. I pray that the Christian life has been good to you. I pray that church life has been good to you. I pray that your time at Wesley has been good to you. Good to you in the way that Jesus wants life to be good for Nathanael.
Nathanael goes from being invited, to responding to the request half assuming that Jesus being from Nazareth was worthless, to having the Lord Christ bless him with visions of God. So when you invite someone it’s about hoping that they experience an amazing life in Christ, with or without Wesley. But really with Wesley.
At the same time I don’t hope that their life is so bad that they can only find joy at Wesley. Maybe it’s another church. See for me the Christian life is the best adventure I have ever been in. From visiting the world to help others, to helping people experience joy, God and such goodness, to playing president with you all last week.
I pray that your friends, visitors, and everyone can come to Wesley and experience the kingdom of God. Or that it would be starting point to a beautiful life with Christ. I pray that they can experience that at Wesley or somewhere else.
So invite your friends and don’t get mad when we seem especially interested in them ;) You know we love you too.