John 1:35-51 - Caleb Richardson

If you don't have a Bible, there's these blue

ones on the back table, and we encourage you,

take one, write your name in it, keep it, it's

yours. But now, we're going to look at God's

Word. John chapter 1, verse 35. The next day,

John 1:35

John was standing with two of his disciples.

When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, look.

the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him

say this and followed Jesus. When Jesus turned

and noticed them following him, he asked them,

what are you looking for? They said to him, Rabbi,

which means teacher, where are you staying? Come

and you'll see, he replied. So they went and

saw where he was staying, and they stayed with

him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the

two who heard John and followed him. He first

found his own brother Simon and told him, We

have found the Messiah, which is translated the

Christ. And he brought Simon to Jesus. When Jesus

saw him, he said, You are Simon, son of John.

You will be called Cephas, which is translated

Peter. The next day, Jesus decided to leave for

Galilee. He found Philip and told him, Follow

me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown

of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and

told him, We have found the one Moses wrote about

in the law, and so did the prophets. Jesus, the

son of Joseph, from Nazareth. Can anything good

come out of Nazareth? Nathanael asked him. Come

and see, Philip answered. Then Jesus saw Nathanael

coming toward him and said about him, Here truly

is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. How

do you know me? Nathanael asked. Before Philip

called you, when you were under the fig tree,

I saw you, Jesus answered. Rabbi, Nathanael replied,

you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel.

Jesus responded to him, do you believe because

I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You

will see greater things than this. Then he said,

Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened

and the angels of God ascending and descending

on the Son of Man. This is the word of God. You

may be seated. There we go. Wow, there's a lot

less of you when the kids leave. You guys ready?

Everybody got a Bible? Man, we're going to unpack.

There's a lot of ways we could go with this text.

So we'll unpack it though. We're verse by verse

today, but we need help. We'll try that. I'm

not normally preach with this, so we'll see how

it goes. It's been one of those days where every

little thing just keeps falling apart. So this

is just a real good indicator we need the Holy

Spirit, right? Because we can't do any of this

ourselves. So let me pray and we'll get going.

Lord, we come before you because we're just frail,

messed up, struggling people. who need a Savior,

and we need the work of the Holy Spirit in our

life. And so, Lord, we ask you to speak to us

through your word and by your spirit. Lord, I

ask you to even give me words to say today, maybe

that are not even on the pages that I've written

down. God, will you meet us here? Thank you for

your word. Amen. All right. We are now in the

third week of John and still in chapter 1. And

you're going to take that from me, right? Alright,

here we go. So, the reason we're spending three

weeks in chapter 1 is because chapter 1 is really

foundational for our journey through John. And,

I mean, it's just really foundational. And it

starts off by giving us this really big view

of who Jesus is. the prologue if you look at

your bible the title says prologue right there

and we talked about the prologue being like a

foyer that you need to come in and out of and

so and to remember it right and so it's kind

of like the reason we need john we're spending

so much time in john chapter one is because it's

kind of we need to remember and come back to

this over and over and it's kind of like reverse

hiking this is what i call reverse hiking just

pretend that you It's like you had a helicopter

drop you off at the top of the mountain. Right?

That's how it starts. And instead, and now you're

going to walk. You're up on top of the mountain.

You've done nothing to earn it. But now you're

up there. And you look around and you see everything.

Wow. And it's like, and John starts off and says,

here, I want you to have a massive view of Jesus

first. But then you're going to walk down the

mountain. And as you go down, you're going to

begin to see more about who Jesus is as we go

down. But we start with this massive view. And

so this is, in the first chapter, we see a whole

bunch of the names and titles. And part of that

is to help us get this perspective of Jesus.

We see that he's called, in chapter 1, he's called

the Word. He's called, it's more like an eternal

word. It's been there forever. In the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and

the Word was God. And he's also called the Lamb

of God, and he's called the Son of God, and he's

called Rabbi or Teacher. He's called Messiah.

He's called King of Israel and Son of Man. That

all happens in the first chapter. And I think

the reason that's important is that John wants

to give us this, see how big a deal Jesus really

is. And then he's going to unpack it the rest

of the book. He's going to show us how big a

deal Jesus really is. And at the same time, he

wants to show us, by these names, how personal

Jesus is. Not just the fact that he's massive

and he created the universe, but that he came

to us in a very personal way. So if you remember

last week, we were looking at this guy, John

the Baptizer. Some call him John the Baptist,

but he's really, the name is John, and not the

author John, but it's John the Baptizer. And

we looked at the testimony about what John has

to say, what he has to say about Jesus and who

he was. And so we're going to continue with that

because John is still on the scene. We kind of

dealt with day one of John the Baptizer, and

now we look at another day, kind of the next

day. So let's just jump right in. and look at

starting in verse 35. It says this. The next

day, John was standing with two of his disciples.

When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, look,

the Lamb of God. Look or behold, which we unpacked

that a little bit last week. But he says, I don't

want you just to look with your eyes. This is

the way this is. It's not like, hey, look, there

he is. This is more of a look. Look, John is

saying, look through the circumstances. Look

and see through your circumstances. Look who

that is. He says, I can see. John is saying,

I can see something you don't see yet. That's

really what's behind that word, behold or look.

What you see is this carpenter, but what I see

is the creator of the universe. I see the Savior

of all mankind, so behold, he's there. So one

of the things about John, especially in this

first chapter, is there's lots of deep meaning

in these words. And if we read it, it's almost

flat. But this word look or behold is one of

those. Behold the Lamb of God. Now, those hearing

John would have thought about the Passover Lamb.

It goes all the way back to Exodus. They would

have thought about this lamb being slain for

their sins and the blood being put on the doorpost.

And so for John to say, look, hold the lamb,

that was a big deal. It meant a lot to that.

What? I don't see a fuzzy little lamb. He says,

no, that's the lamb of God who's come to take

away the sins of the world. It's upon him that

all of your sins are going to be laid. Even though

they didn't fully understand it, John's bringing

it around and says that was very significant

what he said. Look at verse 37. The two disciples

heard him. These are John's disciples. Two disciples

heard him say this and follow Jesus. So I want

you to think about John in this moment. John

is a big deal. These two disciples have come

to John probably and said, could you be our teacher?

Could you be our, and they're his disciples.

And think about what John said in verse 23 about

his role, what he was about. In verse 20 he says,

I am the voice of the one crying in the wilderness.

Make straight the way of the Lord. So all that

John the baptizer did with his life was point

people to Jesus. Point of his life was to point

people to Jesus. And so I can just think, like,

the fact is that he not only says, look, the

Lamb of God, and two of his disciples leave,

and he's like, I don't care. Because his purpose

was about pointing people to Jesus. And so these

two guys. Two of John's disciples turn and they

leave and they begin to follow Jesus. Verse 38.

When Jesus turned and noticed them following

him, he asked them, what are you looking for?

They said to him, Rabbi, which means teacher,

where are you staying? This is a weird kind of

response. Jesus looks at them. Can I help you?

He kind of turns around and he says, what are

you looking for? And so in these verses we are

looking at today, we see how Jesus meets his

first disciples. That's what's going on. And

Tim Keller says this about this chunk of scripture.

He says, the gospel writer is not just giving

us information. He's showing us a pattern here

that's for all of us. And so each one of these

statements is patterns. For all of us is basically

the way of looking at it. John wants us to see

encounters with the real person, Jesus. So he's

going to walk through four basic encounters of

how they're coming to Jesus. You know, this last

week, Jared, Josiah, and Josh went through Convergence,

which is the pastoral leadership development

cohort we're doing. And the instructor there,

his name is Bill. Bill Clem had this to say,

and it was really good. He says, you know, a

lot of times when we come to God, we almost come

to him transactionally. It's like, do something

transactionally. But God doesn't come to us transactionally.

He comes to us relationally. He says, I want

you to come to me. Instead of being transactional,

think about coming to Jesus relationally. And

in this situation, we see a very relational Jesus

that these disciples are beginning to interact

with as they come to him. So Jesus stops and

he talks to these two disciples. It's okay to

have these thoughts. The king of the universe,

the creator of all things, is just stopping and

having a conversation with us. That's personal.

And it's meant to be that way. It's meant for

us to have it. And so what he does is he asks

a very soul, a deep soul level question. What

are you looking for? What are you seeking? What

are you really looking for? It almost sounds

real flat to us when we first read it, but that's

what's behind these words. What are you seeking?

I think... I think all of us, as I've kind of

pondered that question, I think all of us are

trying to answer this question, aren't we? What,

at a deep soul level, are you seeking? What are

you looking for? Are you looking for happiness?

For security? For purpose? We could keep going.

In fact, let's do this. What are the things that

we look for? with our life, to find purpose,

to make sense of our life? What are we seeking

to look for in our world? What do you think?

This is your turn. What's that? Peace. Good.

Sorry. Bob. Now Bob Davis and my wife are telling

me I need a hearing aid. I'll get them. What

else? What else are we looking for? What are

we trying to answer in our life? There was one

of those terms we used to use when I was doing

Young Life. We called it, there's like this God

-shaped hole inside of us. We're trying to fill

it. What are we doing? What are we trying to

seek in our life? Meaningful direction. Good.

Happiness. Purpose. Security. There's a few more.

What else? Connection. That's a good one. What

was that? Understanding. What about pleasure?

Happy. Satisfaction. I think when Jesus asked

this question, he's really poking at a heart

level right out of the chute with his disciples.

And their response to Jesus is, you know, we

don't really know. But what we are seeking, we're

interested in you. We can see something there,

and so we're going to follow you. But their response

is really like, I don't know where you're staying.

I love Jesus' response. He doesn't go, oh, really?

You want to know where I'm staying? I love his

response. Look what he says in verse 39. Come,

and you'll see, he replied. So they went and

saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed

with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.

Come, and you will see. This is a beautiful invitation

and gracious invitation. Again, he's just, there's

no conditions. God just meets, Jesus just meets

him right there. And Jesus meets us right where

we're at. Not with any, like, he's like, really?

That's going to be your response? He's like,

okay, come see where I'm at. But then notice

the detail that the author writes in there. He's

like, and they stayed with him all day. Why?

Why would he throw that in there? I think he

throws it in there because he wants to show us

just how personal and relational Jesus is. He

says, come out. It was before in the afternoon,

so they spent the whole day, the rest of the

day with Jesus. So they just followed him, one

step at a time. I don't know what Jesus told

them in their conversation together that day.

We don't know what they talked about. But whatever

they did had a deep impact on their lives. Look

at what he says in verse 40. Andrew and Simon,

Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who

heard John and followed him. He first found his

own brother Simon and told him, we have found

the Messiah, which is translated the Christ.

Okay, so Andrew is convinced. Whatever happened

in that moment, he's like, yep, that's it. That's

the one. I named my son, one of my sons, Andrew,

around this idea that whenever you see Andrew

in the Bible, he's always bringing somebody to

Jesus. It's a cool picture. But whatever it is,

Andrew didn't have a lot of answers because he

only spent one day. But the first thing he does

is he runs and finds his brother, and he says,

you've got to meet him. We found him. We found

the Messiah. Like, you could sense this, there's

a sense of excitement in Andrew going, okay,

something, something's, we found him. How long

has it been since they've heard anything from

God? 400 years. And now, we have found the one

that's been promised, that we've been waiting

for, for 400 years. John's like, I can't keep

this to myself. So turns and right on, the next

day he goes and tells his brother. Look at verse,

now we have the encounter with his brother. Look

at verse 42. And he brought Simon to Jesus. When

Jesus saw him, he said, you are Simon, son of

John. Your name will be called Cephas, which

is translated Peter. Okay, this is a weird encounter.

We're going through it really slow because some

of this stuff is like chunky. You're like, what?

So here's Andrew's strategy. It's not a soft

sell. He's just like, hey, I found Jesus. You've

got to meet him. I found my Savior. You've got

to meet him. I want you to meet him, so come.

That's it. That's his whole strategy. Like some

of us, we should probably do that. You've got

people in your life, maybe one of your one mores,

you just say, hey. I've got to tell you about

something. Something that really has changed

my life. His name is Jesus. I want to introduce

you to him, so why don't you come to Easter with

me? It's not an advertisement. It's just saying,

just be honest. Bring him with you. Come on.

Don't be afraid. Notice here, first of all, Simon's

like, okay, I'll go with you. So they walk over.

Sometimes people respond that way. They just

show up and go, oh. I'll go, sure. You're that

excited about it, I'm going to go meet him. So

he walks in, and there's Jesus. And Jesus looks

at him and says, hmm, you're Simon. He hasn't

been introduced. You're Simon, son of John, which

is, I know who your daddy is. And your name is

going to be Cephas. Huh? Josiah, your name, hi,

your name's going to be John. It's kind of weird.

Like, why would he, what is he doing? Well, next

part of this verse, I mean, it's just strange.

But it's very significant. See, John looks at

Simon and says, I'm going to change your name.

That's the first encounter he has with him. First

time, he's like, you don't know me. I know who

you are. I know your daddy. I know where you

come from. And no, by the way, your dad had the

wrong name. Your name is Cephas, which means

Peter. In Jewish culture, naming is a significant

event. My parents thought they were Jewish in

the Jewish culture when they named me Caleb.

And we learned growing up, it's Caleb Mark, Joel

Philip, Enoch Timothy, and Joshua Luke. They

got all into the Bible names, right? But one

thing, growing up, I knew what my name meant.

I knew what it was about because we were reminded

of that. Your name means something. And so in

Jewish culture, it means something. It indicates

something. But renaming someone indicates something

of the authority of the person that's renaming.

So you don't go in and say, I'm going to give

you a nickname. No, it's a way of saying. I actually

am a person of authority, and I'm going to give

you a new name, and you have a new identity now.

Wow. So Jesus is asserting his authority over

Peter and telling people, or Peter, that he's

a different man. Right out of the chute, he says,

you're a different dude. You have a new identity,

and Peter means rock. And we know the story of

Peter. How does Peter do living up to that name?

Horrible. If you read any of the Gospels, Peter's

like, and then he falls and crumbles. Like he's

more sand than rock. But Peter is giving a name

because Jesus is giving a vision for what Peter

is going to become. See, over my life, I was

thinking about this. The opposite is true too,

right? Over my life, I've had a lot of names,

nicknames, mainly. Most of them were designed

in my childhood. Most of them were designed to

tear me down. And I'm not going to talk about

me here, but there's a lot of really bad ones

I started thinking about. So the world does that.

The world gives us names. The world gives us

a lot of names, don't we? You're worthless. You're

stupid. You're fat. You're weird. You're annoying.

You're a slut. You're dumb. You're an addict.

You're not enough. You're a failure. You're divorced.

You're ADHD. You're ADD. You think of any others?

Maybe some other names that you've received from

the world? If you're in Christ, you're given

a new name, a new identity. That's the beauty

of being in Christ. And so Peter, he starts out,

and he doesn't do this with every one of the

disciples, but I think it's almost like, I want

you to see something. What I do to you, the one

who has authority over you, which is going, the

one who made the universe, he looks right at

Peter and says, I got a new plan for you. A new

purpose for you. You have a new identity. In

fact, in Scripture, when it talks about those

who are in Christ, it says, you are sons and

daughters of the Most High King. You are more

than conquerors. You are righteous. You are forgiven.

You are co -heirs with Christ. That's a pretty

good list. If you're in Christ, those are all

true for you. You don't have to live by those

other names. A big part of belonging to Jesus

and being his disciple of Jesus is embracing

who Jesus says you are. Part of the problem we

struggle with is we're believing what has been

spoken to us that is not who you are. I believed

for a long time that I was dumb. Couldn't read.

Fourth grade, I got set back. Because I didn't

understand why, but I was told I was dumb. And

so for a long time, I struggled with that. Like,

no. And then it was part of Jesus that really

helped me see that that's not my identity. What's

yours? Are you living in the world's what they

say you are or what Jesus says you are? Look

at verse 43. The next day, Jesus decides to leave

for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, follow

me. Now, what's significant? I love this. Philip

doesn't find him. Philip didn't get brought there.

Jesus goes after Philip, sees Philip and says,

follow me. That's it. That's all we know. Philip,

follow me. I choose you, Philip. It doesn't even

make sense, Philip, but I'm choosing you. Come

follow me. Is that what Jesus has said to you?

He's looked at you and he said, come follow me.

Give me your life. Follow me. Guys, that's a

big deal. That's a huge deal. Because if he said

that to you. You are a daughter or a son of the

Most High King. You are more than conquerors.

You are righteous. You are forgiven. You are

co -heirs with Christ. That's what that means.

And he says that to Philip. He says, come. Hey,

Philip, follow me. I choose you. Verse 44. Now,

Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew

and Peter. So what he's basically saying here

is these guys knew each other. They probably

were friends. They all kind of, you know, they're

in the same town. Philip found Nathanael and

told him, we have found the one Moses wrote about

in the law, and so did the prophets. Jesus, the

son of Joseph from Nazareth, he says, look, we

found him. Right here. Everything that's been

talked about in the Old Testament has been pointed

to him immediately. And Philip's like, we found

him. And so immediately he goes and says, and

finds his friend, and he says, Nathaniel, you

know, Nathaniel, everything that's been in here,

we found him, the Messiah. Everything that's

been talked about in the Old Testament. He says,

we have found the one. And now it shifts to Nathaniel.

Nathanael's first response to Philip's endorsement

of Jesus is what? Skepticism. He's a skeptic

right out of the chute. And just so you know,

if you're a skeptic or you have a friend that's

a skeptic and you're leading them to Jesus, it's

okay. Because right here we see how Jesus responds

to a skeptic right out of the chute. A skeptic

isn't a bad thing always. Okay, prove that to

me. That's not a bad thing. That's not a bad

posture, is it? Look at verse 46 says, can anything

good come out of Nazareth? Like, I don't know

what's even behind that statement. Nathaniel

asks, and what does Philip do? So let's just

assume that he's got a problem with Nazareth

people. He's a racist or he's whatever. We'll

assume that. Or let's just assume, yeah, let's

just assume that. How does Philip respond? He

doesn't get worked up over it. Well, come and

see. Come and see. You've got nothing to lose.

See, Nathaniel's first response of hearing about

Jesus is not positive, is it? That doesn't bother

Philip. He just says, come and see for yourself.

And so, Nathaniel does. All right. We'll see

who this Jesus cat is that you're talking about.

Look at verse 47. Then Jesus saw Nathaniel coming.

Guys, even that statement right there is significant.

He's not surprised. He's like, oh, there he comes.

I've been waiting for him. Come on, Nathaniel.

John uses this term saw a lot in the Bible. Saw.

He looked. He saw. It's this way of saying Jesus

knows what's going on. And Jesus saw Nathanael

coming toward him and said to him, Here truly

is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Okay?

Jesus says, Nathanael, I get you. I get you.

I see in you, though, something the world doesn't

see. I see it. I don't mind your skepticism.

I see you. I see what's going on in your heart.

And when Nathaniel meets Jesus, his heart is

instantly exposed. That's what's going on here.

Jesus exposes his heart. I see your heart. I

see what's happening. I think Nathaniel feels

it. Look what he says in verse 48. How did you

know me? How do you know me? Nathanael asked,

before Philip called you, when you were under

the fig tree, I saw you. Jesus answered, Rabbi,

Nathanael replied, you are the son of God. You

are the king of Israel. Something big just happened

there. Right? When you look at that, something

big happened like. So Jesus' response strikes

Nathaniel powerfully. It hits him. He knew Jesus

could see into his soul at a soul level. That's

what's happening. Jesus saw both the inside and

the outside of Nathaniel even when he was not

aware of it. He knew what was going on. He says,

look, I saw you sitting under the tree. There's

a lot of speculation about what. jesus referring

to nobody really knows you know was was he reading

what's going to happen in verse 51 in the bible

or was he like was he just there and he goes

hey dude i remember you were under that tree

i know that's exactly where you were when philip

came to find you how do i know i'm the king of

the universe i'm the one in charge basically

because i get you i know what's going on in your

heart Jesus sees us, guys. Sometimes we don't,

we may know that intellectually, but do we really

know that Jesus knows what's in our hearts? He

sees it in here. And he's fully aware of all

that has happened to you. He's all, he's fully

aware. Of all of the sin that's been done to

you. He's fully aware of all the sin you've done.

He's fully aware of your heart's condition. He's

fully aware of your skepticism. He's fully aware

of your questions. And it's okay. He just takes

you. And he just takes Nathaniel. And all these

disciples. He just takes them right where they're

at. He knows not only what happened. On the outside

of condition, but he sees his heart. So Nathaniel's

response is, I believe. You are the son of God.

You are the king of Israel. One of the commentators

had this to say that I was reading about this

section. He said, the gospel of John is bracketed

by accounts of unbelief melting into belief.

Nathaniel, here in chapter 1. And Thomas in chapter

20. Think about doubting Thomas. Both men were

inclined to disbelieve, but in encounter with

Jesus won their faith. Changed it. Jesus met

them at a heart level. It wasn't a transaction.

It was relational at a heart level. Jesus is

not done though with Nathaniel. He's got more

to say. Look what he says. Verse 50, Jesus responds

to him, responded to him. Do you believe because

I told you I saw you under the fig tree? Nathaniel,

you will see greater things than this. There

he is, casting vision again. You are going to

see greater things than this. And then he says,

truly, truly, I tell you. That word right there,

truly, I tell you, is really a way of saying,

we don't use it like this in our language, but

it would be like amen and amen, and now I'm going

to tell you something. It's like it is, comes

with authority. It's amen and amen. It's our

truly, truly. It's like big deal. You will see

heaven opened and the angels of God ascending

and descending on the Son of Man. What? Another

weird little statement. So let's unpack this.

I think what Jesus is preparing, I think here

Jesus is preparing Nathaniel for what was coming

down the road for him. He's giving him some vision.

He says, but in this verse, in verse 51, the

last verse there, there's a shift that happens.

See, first it was you will see, and then in 51

is you will see shifts to you all will see. See

that in your Bible? There's a difference in the

word, the two. One is he's looking right at Nathaniel,

then he's basically saying, everyone here, you

all will see. What will you see? What is he talking

about? This goes back to Genesis chapter 28,

Genesis 28 · chapter mention

which you can go back and read that if you want.

You probably remember this story if you've read

that part of the Bible. There's this story of

Jacob, and Jacob is on the run, right? stole

his brother's birthright, and he's on the run,

and he lays down. He's tired, lays down. He puts

his head on a rock for a pillow. Remember that

story? It's probably coming back to a few of

you. And he falls asleep, and God reveals to

him, to Jacob, something very important in a

dream. In this dream, Jacob sees this ladder

that is extended from heaven to earth. And the

angels are using this ladder to move between

heaven and earth. And above the ladder stood

the Lord God. What Jesus is saying is, I'm the

ladder. You're going to see some amazing things.

I am the ladder to God. I am the way to God's

presence. I've come to you. He promises Nathaniel.

He will recognize that Jesus alone can bring

a person into the presence of God. He's it. Nothing

else. Now, why does he choose to reveal that

to Nathaniel? I don't know. I think it's like

just these chunks in the story we see. But here's

the big idea. Nathaniel, you're going to see

much greater things. And you're going to see

me, the latter, break into this world. And you're

going to watch all of that happen. And as we

conclude today, the band, you guys can come up.

As we conclude today, let's go back to the first

words of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Verse 38.

This is the first time Jesus speaks. He says

this. What are you looking for? What are you

looking for? This is the question that confronts

each one of us. What are you looking for? What

are you seeking with your life? Is it acceptance,

position, influence, excitement, escape? Is it

love? Is it security? Is it experience? Is it

approval? After this question, John points to

Jesus. He says, look. Look to Jesus. Come and

you'll see. I think the idea is real simple here.

Whatever you're looking for, whatever you're

desiring for, it's found in Jesus. Come and see.

The Gospel of John is an invitation for us to

be in relationship with Jesus. It's what's constantly

happening here over and over. And I'm not just

talking to a first -time encounter with Jesus.

I'm talking about a continuous relational encounter

with Jesus. Jesus. Come and see. And I would

just encourage you today, and this applies to

me too, that's the mission God has us on is seeing

and experiencing him. Why do we want you to be

reading your Bible every day? That you might

see Jesus. That you're living under there to

experience Jesus. Jesus does something later

in the gospel. He says, I got to go. This is

when he goes to ascend back into heaven. He says,

I got to go. And it's better for you that I go.

Because the spirit of God will come and dwell

in you. Why? Because he wants to show us more

of Jesus. And he does it in a much greater way.

And that's available to you and me. So whether,

I don't know where you stand, but if you've never

said, I need Jesus, today's a good day. Just

step forward and say, I don't have all the answers,

but I'm going to come see you. I'm going to follow

Jesus. But if you are here and you've been tracking

with Jesus, maybe you've been in the church your

whole life, has it been transactional? Or is

it relational? And I think John really wants

it to invite us into a relational, come and see

type relationship with your creator. That's intimate,

that's close. And my prayer is that that's where

you begin to press in and say, I need to see

Jesus personally. I don't care how long you've

been walking with Jesus, that's still part of

your mission. is to keep pressing toward Jesus.

Let's pray together. You know, as we go into

just a time of response, we celebrate communion.

And I think part of the reason why God gives

us this command to constantly come back to the

Lord's Supper is... that we need a regular reminder

of what Jesus did and how he came after us relationally

enough that he gave his life, his blood was shed,

his body was broken for you and me. Lord, we

come before you today. So personally, I just

so want to get out of the transactional way of

approaching you. And to step more into the relational.

Knowing that you come to us. And you know us.

You see us. You know the details inside and outside

of us. And God, that's my heart. My heart for

our church here. The heart for us as a people

is that we will know you. And see you. Lord,

we give this. this day to you. Thank you for

your word.