The core conviction “hope finds people” stands as the first piece of what it means for Hope City to be founded and grounded. The contrast between changing buildings, changing staff, changing families, and unchanging Scripture sets the stage. The five convictions name what belonging looks like: hope finds people, hope brings change, hope serves others, hope builds community, and hope gives extravagantly.
John 1:43 begins with Jesus deciding to leave for Galilee, and the text says, “finding Philip.” The phrase carries weight because God’s word does not waste words. Philip was not seeking God, chasing God, or trying to figure God out. Jesus was pursuing Philip, and Jesus found him.
The whole Bible keeps showing that same reality. God found Adam and Eve hiding in the garden. God found Moses in the desert, minding his own business, through a burning bush. God found David as a shepherd boy, and God found Saul on the road to Damascus while Saul was persecuting Christians. Zacchaeus only wanted a peek from a sycamore tree, but Jesus looked up and invited himself over, because “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Romans 3 says no one is righteous and no one seeks God. God presented Christ anyway, as the sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood. Salvation is never humanity climbing up to God. Salvation is God coming down to humanity with mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
The question “when did Jesus find a person?” matters because a follower of Jesus has a real story of being pursued. Jesus found a twenty-two-year-old college student in July 1996 through a friend’s invitation to church camp, even while that young man was not pursuing God. God was setting him up, using a friend, and bringing him into an encounter with Jesus that changed everything.
The call “follow me” means becoming a disciple, like a Talmud following a rabbi. The disciple wants to talk like the rabbi, think like the rabbi, act like the rabbi, and love like the rabbi. The Holy Spirit forms the mind of Christ in believers so that the same burning passion Jesus has for lost people becomes their burden too.
Philip shows how hope finds people. Jesus found Philip, and Philip found Nathaniel. Nathaniel was skeptical, even dismissive, but Philip did not argue, debate, or try to answer everything. Philip simply said, “come and see.” Nathaniel got in front of Jesus, and the skeptic became a worshiper: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.”
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Key Takeaways
- 1. Jesus seeks before anyone seeks. Romans 3 shuts down the idea that people naturally climb their way toward God. God presents Christ while no one is seeking, and that means salvation starts in divine mercy, not human initiative. A believer’s story begins with being found before being faithful. [49:31]
- 2. Following means becoming like Jesus. The call “follow me” is not an invitation to admire Jesus from a distance. A disciple takes on the rabbi’s ways, desires, habits, and heart. The Spirit forms the mind of Christ so that Jesus’ compassion for lost people becomes more than an idea. [55:21]
- 3. God places people strategically. The question is not only when Jesus found someone, but who God has placed near that person now. Family, work, neighborhoods, classrooms, and friend circles are not random spaces. Divine pursuit often moves through ordinary relationships and ordinary invitations. [59:38]
- 4. Compassion comes before evangelism. Evangelism is not pressure, performance, or street-corner yelling. The heart of Jesus breaks over people who are far from him, not because they are different, but because they do not know him. A true burden for the lost begins where Christ’s own compassion begins. [64:33]
- 5. Come and see is enough. Philip did not save Nathaniel, fix Nathaniel, or win an argument with Nathaniel. Philip simply brought a skeptic close enough to encounter Jesus. The power was not in Philip’s technique, but in the presence of Christ.
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