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Week:03, Season:1,
2012
Posted on Saturday by PCT
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Have you followed the right one？
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Scripture：《
John 1: 43-51
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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 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, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
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Follow or not？
I went to the printing shop with which my church has worked for over six years for confirm the layout of our Presbyterian training booklet. The owner mentioned a plan he has in mind to donate small amount of money each semester for students who want to study but have financial difficulties. The small amount he can afford to give can at least support a student’s lunch or travel costs. Suddenly a thought came into my mind that our church happens to have a child who was raised by his great aunt, the sister of his late grandfather. This child struggled to finish junior high school education but because of his aunt’s illness, he could not afford senior high school education. This child would be the one for the printing shop owner to support.
After our conversation ended, a customer came in to print and amplify his lottery ticket so that he could see clearly when the lottery numbers are announced. He complained to the shop owner, saying that he had too much money to spend and couldn’t find use for it. The owner found this difficult to stomach and said to the customer, “Why don’t you give the money to help international refugees？ Or to families affected by natural disasters in Taiwan？ Or to students who want to go to school but have no money for it？ Look at me. I work very hard to earn my living every day not only for my family, for my three children to receive education; I am also willing to give extra money to poor students…” The customer said, “I always give money to idols in the temple and that is doing something kind too.” The shopkeeper replies, “How can that help others？ The donation to worship the idols is still for your own good!” “Aiyo! Your thinking is so far away from mine. Playing the lottery with me is more useful” said the customer. The owner angrily responds, “I am not going to play the lottery like you! We are very much different people!”
From this story, we can tell that everyone owns different statements and values. Did you consider the candidate you supported in this presidential election carefully？ Does your ticket reflect what you believed？
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there？”
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there？” this sentence was the reply of Nathanael when Philip spoke to him. Philip witnessed to Nathanael that he had already found the Messiah about whom was written and foretold by Moses and the prophets. But Nathanael challenged him by saying, “Can anything good come from Nazareth？” Nathanael doubted this Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth. The conclusion he made before he met Jesus seemed to be too assertive. Philip did not give up when Nathanael was so discouraging but said to him, “Come and see!”
The approach which Jesus used to choose his disciples was to let them see the place in which he lived and to invite them to stay with him. The author of the Book of John put his emphasis on the aspects of living. He emphasized that Jesus did not use a magical way to call his disciples but the commonest way to invite them to walk with him. Most people prefer to judge their partner by family background, education, experience, and social status, etc. This is perhaps one of the reasons that Taiwanese people mostly get married in their late 30’s by choosing their partners by the above standards. Only few people would ask, “Can we get along with each other well？ Can we accept each other’s life style？ Is there anything we can learn from each other？ Do we understand each other’s preference？...” Denying a person before knowing him/her makes your opportunity skip away.
“Come and see!” said Philip. He let Nathanael make his own decision that “come and talk to our Rabbi then you decide your next step.” When Nathanael met Jesus, his inner most thoughts were known by Jesus. He said of Nathanael, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me？” Nathanael asked, very surprised. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Jesus was right in his perception of Nathanael because Nathanael immediately declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” For this reason Jesus took the story of James whom Nathanael and Philip most admired who had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And he invited Nathanael and Philip to follow him and be his disciples. Nathanael met Jesus, listened to his words and decided to follow Jesus. His life from that time was completely changed.
Have you walking on the right path of evangelism？
Jesus lived with his disciples, taught them about life and revealed God’s truth through the life they lived. This is the biggest difference Jesus has from other teachers: he walked God’s truth through his words and actions. Faith is that we live our life to witness God’s truth. This is not an easy path. The evangelical ministry of today’s church is in a fragile state because Christians do not always live God’s truth in their daily life. It is also because the ministers and Christians do not hold strong faith testimonies to share with others. When the students of John the Baptist saw Jesus, Jesus invited them to follow him, to live with him and to serve the Lord with him. Through this living, worshipping and learning together, the disciples of Jesus started to tell about this Messiah and lead people to him.
If we do not follow Jesus’ life, we will never testify to our faith. If we do not live our life as Christians we will never achieve the goal of “One-leads-One, Doubling Movement”. The Christian faith does not build upon debating or talking about it but living it. Just as Nathanael’s life completely changed when he saw Jesus and had the life giving conversation with him. Then he followed Jesus with Philip and other disciples to build up the Kingdom of God.
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For discussion：
1.Please share together why you chose to marry your spouse？ What was the main reason for your decision？ What is the difference between now and then？ From the angle of choosing your spouse, what can we do to share the gospel？
2.How do you think we can lead people to come to church with us and enter into church life？
Please pray for：
1. Pray for those of marriageable age but have not yet found their right partner. Try to share the idea that our life is opened up through widening, extending and enhancing our experiences.
2.Pray for the result of the election. A result is not an ending but a beginning for more caring and praying. Pray for all of the social issues appearing in Taiwan now.
Prayer：
Lord our God, creator and redeemer, when we declare you are the king of kings, may we do everything according to your will. May we honour your name but not people’s names. Our footpath is following Jesus but not someone or some churches. When we lead people to you, may our repented life also grow with it and become the best invitation to others. When we face the toughness of our daily work of ministry, may we understand your will. May we realize that the difficulties we encounter need to rely on your power. For you will fulfill your purpose in us and grow the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.
Something you can do：
1.Share with two brothers or sisters your declaration sheet on the booklet of “One-leads-One, Doubling Movement”. What are the changes of those whom you have been praying for？ Share each other’s achievement and pray together for this ministry.
2.If you or your church have not joined the “One-leads-One, Doubling Movement”, please ask for the booklets from PCT and start a group of three as a prayer team for this ministry.
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