Come And See

Come and See

John 1:44-46

How many of you like first hand experiences?

You have to check things out for yourself…

Others can tell you about it but you want to see it yourself.

What about when you experience something exciting:

You want to tell others about it.

Movies – “Have you seen this/that movie?”

Eating – women sharing recipes

Restaurants – vacation spots – “you have to eat here”

· We want to see our loved ones saved

· We want to see our kids in church

· We want to win our co-workers

· We want to see our church grow

We will question why this is not taking place?

We have a heart problem!

Matthew 15:18

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart.”

Whatever your heart is excited about, that you will share.

For some we are more excited in our heart about:

Our favorite football team

Our favorite fishing hole

Our favorite television show

Our favorite song on the radio or CD

Our grandkids

We have to once again, get our hearts excited about Jesus Christ and what He has done for us.

· Q: Are you saying Jesus needs to be all that I talk about?

· A: If you are totally committed to Him, He will be all that you will want to talk about!

But how do I do that?

How do I share Jesus?

· With my family

· With my co-workers

· With my friends

Today, we learn from some effective New Testament evangelist who only had to say three words.

“Come and See”

Read John 1:44-46

1. Philip shows us how to respond when folks respond negative to our excitement about Jesus.

Nathaniel is skeptical. Just like others you will run into.

Through his comment,

“Can any good thing come from Nazareth”

· He reveals the disgust that Galileans have with Nazarenes

· He reveals his prejudice issues

But what does Philip do?

Does he give up?

Does he walk away?

Does he get discouraged?

Does he get out his bible and preach a message?

No, he says two very important terms that you and I must learn – COME AND SEE!

· We have heard about the Messiah –

· We have heard the coming King -

· Well guess what, we found Him

· Philip didn’t preach a three-point sermon

· He didn’t start condemning Nathaniel for his bad attitude

· He didn’t judge his actions

He simply invited Nathaniel to COME AND SEE!

Another evangelist comes to mind and some of you are going to be surprised at the next one that I chose.

Read John 4:6,7

2. The Samaritan Women speaks on behalf of every one of you who has a past.

This is a lady who had 5 divorces

This lady is now living with another man

This lady has a past that she is not proud of

But today, she is an evangelist.

Read verse 28,29

Come and See a man who told me all things.

· I didn’t think I was good enough for Him

· I don’t know why He chose to talk to me

· I was just going to get water

But I found everlasting life.

Our job is not to condemn the sinner but to bring them to Jesus.

· We are not to preach condemnation but preach to them - love.

· You can’t clean fish before you catch them, so get them first to COME AND SEE then allow God to clean up their lives.

How do I do that? Very Simple

Illus. – Church Business Cards

You get one of these cards and you have them ready at all times. Because you never know when you are going to need it.

Watch me:

You are not about to hand out your opinions

You are not about to hand out your thoughts

You are not about to hand out your religion

But you’re ready! You are set! You are waiting on God!

Then all of sudden:

· You see a wife that is about to give up on her marriage – (give her a card -“Come and See!”)

· You see a man who is about to give up on life

(Give him a card - “Come and See!”)

· You see a teenager who is depressed and running with the wrong crowd at school

(Give them a card - “Come and See!”)

· You see a former church member that has been out of church for many years. They were hurt or just forgotten –

(give them a card - “Come and See!”)

· You see a mom who is at her rope’s end and

she is ready to give up on life –

(give her a card - “Come and See!”)