Come and See

Evangelism: Heard the word...

John 1:40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

The Initial Discovery

Andrew, one of the first disciples to hear John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus, recognizes the Messiah and immediately shares that revelation with his brother Simon Peter. This moment illustrates two key principles:

1. Personal conviction precedes proclamation – Andrew’s belief is rooted in his own encounter with the message, not in abstract doctrine.
2. The first “find” is relational – He looks to someone already close to him, leveraging trust to introduce the new truth.

Your Position

• Fear of Rejection or Ridicule: You fear that others will reject or ridicule your beliefs, leading to feelings of embarrassment.

• Lack of Confidence: You feel that you are not knowledgeable enough about you faith or that you are not an effective communicator, leading to hesitation.

• Fear of Confrontation: Witnessing often involves sharing a message that challenges others' behaviors, which can lead to uncomfortable conversations, feelings and confrontations.

• Desire to Avoid Controversy: You prefer to avoid discussing sensitive or potentially divisive topics, such as the saving grace of Jesus Christ, in order to maintain social harmony.

The interconnectedness of evangelism, seeking and finding. Andrew’s swift response to John’s testimony demonstrates that the most effective initial “find” is relational, using trusted bonds—here, his brother Simon—to introduce and validate new truth. 

Spiritual Paradox of Profit

 

Actions Devoid of Charity

Generosity vs. Spiritual Sacrifice

Even if you performs extremely selfless acts, such as giving away all of your possessions to feed the poor and sacrificing your own life, if you do not have biblical charity does not benefit you spiritually. In essence, profit without a foundation of charity and faith and hope is worthless.

1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Worldly Gain vs. Eternal Loss 

If you gains everything that the world could possibly give you but loses you soul in the process, you have made a terrible mistake. The question is, what could you possibly exchange for their soul, which is of infinite value? Material gain cannot compensate for spiritual loss..

Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

True profit is not measured by material accumulation or external success, but by the peace and safety of one’s soul in Jesus Christ made secure by the word of God--any worldly gain that compromises that inner integrity is a loss, not a profit.

Swift and Slow

James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Swift to Hear (Conscious Listening): 

means more than just waiting for your turn to talk. It's about active listening--When you listen intently, you seek to understand the other person's perspective, feelings, and intentions. This practice builds trust and strengthens relationships.

Slow to Speak (Compassionate Communication): 

means pausing before you respond--take a breath. This brief moment allows you to process what you have heard and formulate a thoughtful reply. It prevents you from saying something rash, or regrettable. It’s about choosing your words carefully to de-escalate a situation.

Slow to Wrath (Collected Emotions): 

is a direct result of the first two principles: swift to hear and slow to speak. When you actively listen and consider your words with compassion, you are less likely to react out of anger or wrath. This balanced practice helps you manage your emotions and respond to conflict with composure rather than rage. It's about controlling your emotions.

James 1:19 isn’t merely moral advice—it’s a roadmap to healthier relationships, wiser decisions, and spiritual maturity. By practicing these three steps, swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, you can transform every relationship, mitigate conflicts, and cultivate a inner peace. 

In a world saturated with noise and quick reactions, the call to you is to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath is more relevant than ever...let’s embrace the call today.

Your Faithfulness

Entrusted Gifts

The pound, disciples and the colt are all reserved for the master’s service; all are coupled together by sanctification and faithfulness--traits necessary for all stewards

The Parable of the Pounds establishes the principle that true commitment is shown through active, unashamed, unshakable obedience to the Lord's command. This isn't about grand gestures but about using what has been given to you. The disciples' actions provide the perfect example of this principle: they receive a direct, command and execute it without question or hesitation--unencumbered and unruffled focus, loose him and bring him hither.  The colt, unridden and unburdened, is freed from its mundane state and set apart or sanctified for the Master's service--there is no higher calling.

What the Lord wants...

God has no mystical scheme, he is looking for humble, unwavering obedience. Whether its you investing your time and energy or by obeying his command, your faithfulness pleases God.

God Who Is Rich In Mercy...and Love

Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me
 
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

God’s Initiative Love

The Lord your savior “is rich in mercy” and pours out “great love” toward us. His affection is the source, not the response, of our devotion.

The Lord, rich in mercy and delights in all who love Him; and those who rise early and seek Him earnestly will surely find His presence.

The fact is that while pursuing wisdom is a path to understanding, salvation is a gift of grace from a God who loves us. We love Him because He first loved us.  This distinction shows that while there are principles of cause and effect in the world, God's love and salvation operate on a different, higher level of grace.

Your Spiritual Maturity: Milk Vs. Meat...Yum

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

 

2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

Diagnosis of Spiritual Immaturity

* **Milk**: Is the basic, foundational spiritual teachings. Just as an infant can only digest milk, new believers, or "babes in Christ," are only ready for the simplest doctrines of faith: 

-What is salvation?

-What is discipleship?

-What is the rapture?

-What is the church?

-What is the word of God? 

Paul's by inspiration of the holy ghost choice to "feed" you with milk indicates a necessary and fatherly approach, as you are not yet mature enough to handle more complex biblical principles.

* **Meat**: Is the deeper, more complex doctrines. Meat requires a stronger digestive system, and similarly, these advanced truths require a more mature, discerning spiritual mind. Paul states that he could not give you meat because you are not "able to bear it," implying that trying to teach them advanced concepts would have been unhelpful as you spiritual understanding is not yet developed.

Spiritual milk is the indispensable starting point for every baby Christian delivering the basics of faith in digestible form. However, a mature Christian, a true steward presses us onward to cultivate stronger “stomachs”, a more carnivorous diet for solid spiritual food, equipping us to stand firm in truth of the word of God. 

The Limitations of Bodily Exercise

 The Prioritization: Godliness is Paramount

1 Timothy 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

Paul urges believers, more importantly he is urging you to “refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself rather unto godliness.” Here, exercise is more than occasional effort or sweating to the oldies; it’s disciplined practice, regularly training your knees through prayer, your hands through charity, your mind through biblical study and your feet by witnessing. 

The "Profit" 

“For bodily exercise profits little.” Physical training builds muscle which is good and your endurance, but its rewards are temporary, fleeting and confined to this life. It cannot transform our inner nature or secure eternal life.

Physical exercise has a limited, temporal benefits, while spiritual exercise (godliness) offers eternal profit. The argument isn't "don't exercise your body," but rather "don't prioritize your body's exercise over the exercise of the spirit of God inside you." The time and effort one puts into godliness far exceed the time and effort put into physical training, because its dividends extend into this life and the world to come.

The Accusers

Your Accusers... 

John 8:1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Professing themselves to be wise...

The scholarly argument for removing John 8:1-11 from the Gospel of John is purely a rejection of the story's spiritual value and divine inspiration. Many scholars who support its removal from the main text of modern Bibles believe the story to be an authentic account of an event in Jesus' life...

1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

In summary, the arguments against altering the word of God, his bible, rest on the bibles divine inspiration, God's promise to preserve his word and its role as the cornerstone of Christian doctrine. To add or remove words is seen not merely as a matter of literary editing but as an act that compromises the text's authority, corrupts its historical accuracy, and put your very soul in jeopardy.

Futile Escape to Mars

The marvel of Mars.  

It is the rust-hued plains and Olympus Mons’s towering caldera, imagining what it would be like to escape Earth’s safe gravity and find refuge among the red sands. Yet even at its closest approach approximately 35 million miles from home—that distant world remains hung to the same cosmic canvas governed by the Creator’s hand.

Any illusion of refuge beyond our planet or even is some other plain is shattered in Psalm 139.

 

Psalm 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

The psalmist's declares "Even there shall thy hand lead me" that the idea of escaping to a remote location is futile. A person could travel to the "uttermost parts of the sea," which to an ancient person was an unimaginable distance, and still, God would be there. 

Perspective From Science

In astronomical terms, there is no “uttermost part” of space accessible to you that lies outside His dominion—no Lagrange point, no event horizon, no heliopause, no Martian valley.

Fleeing to Mars cannot remove you from God’s presence. The One who charts the elliptical paths of planets also knows our every intention and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). 

Christ In You...

 Christ in you, the hope of glory

Colossians 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

This concept is not just about Jesus being an external figure to be admired or an historical person to be studied. It means that Christ, the creator of the universe resides within you and every believer. 

A New Creation: The indwelling of Christ transforms a person into a "new creature" 

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

The old self, governed by sin, is converted by a new life governed by Christ. Your salvation is not based on your own fluctuating performance, but on the unchangeable presence of Jesus Christ in you.

Security: This knowledge brings security because it means your salvation is not something that can be lost due to a failure or a moment of weakness. Your salvation is based on the perfect work of Jesus Christ guaranteed by his perfect book.

Confidence: This security fosters deep confidence. You can face trials, temptations, and uncertainties with the assurance that Christ is with you and for you.

Christ in you, what a thing...Now, how does one obtain this hope or this security?

The Shepherd’s Mandate: Lead and Feed

The Lord's example to his leaders

 Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

The tender Shepherd who leads his sheep to green pastures and still waters, restoring their souls and guiding them along paths of righteousness. 

In John 21, that same risen Shepherd affirms His love and entrusts you as he did Peter with His own flock —“Feed my sheep.” 

John 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Together these passages show a God who not only provides personal restoration but also commissions those who have committed themselves to his service to continue His work of shepherding.

The Enduring Truth Is On The Paper

Your Checklist

God’s ministry lives in both spoken word and written text. The preacher’s parting request for “the papers” echoes Paul’s appeal for “the parchments”—especially the parchments. Recognizing that he had fought the good fight and finished his course (2 Timothy 4:7), Paul understood that preserving truth and imparting knowledge depended on tangible, written materials. This highlights that true ministry thrives through passionate preaching, effective instruction, and reverent stewardship of God’s written Word

2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The Rock...that Laughs At The Storm

Where is your rock?

Faith in Jesus Christ must be both doctrinal (trusting his word and completed work on the cross) and practical. As we “lean wholly” on Jesus name and build our spiritual house on his faithful promises, we endeavor to stand unshaken when life’s torrents roar and sins breakers dash.

Solid Rock by Edward Mote

My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Luke 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

True spiritual stability and security comes from a complete and active reliance on the word of God, found in his King James bible: teachings and His atoning work, as opposed to a superficial or works-based faith.