Jami Smith brought a beautiful message applying the focus scripture from John to our world today. Take time to read the scripture and consider recent events and it isn’t hard to understand the applicability to the present.
John 1:43-51New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[b] you[c]will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[d] the Son of Man.”
The number of voices speaking to us through various sources is ever increasing, but we need to be focused on one voice…the voice of Jesus. Jami challenged us to listen and discern how we are to follow Christ. His voice will never tell us that others are without value or are lesser than. She reminded us that the voice of Jesus calls us to be voices for compassion and justice. It may be scary and we may feel like we are going into the wilderness, but Jesus will be with us in that place of discomfort and we’ll find there are many others out there with us!
Jami also circled back to our discussion two weeks ago about our “One Word”. She mentioned that rather than a New Year’s resolution, which is often more about doing or not doing something, choosing “one word” is more about becoming. Jami gave the congregation some time to share our chosen words and offered ways for us to pull that word into the forefront of our daily lives. Have you decided on a word? Go to www.myoneword.org to learn more. How might Jesus’ call be a part of picking a word for the year? Consider what blessings may be found in the journey and try it out!