An Invitation Not an Argument

``That's all he says. So instead of beginning with explanations, Jesus begins with presence. And Jesus is trusting something here that we lose sight of. He is trusting that proximity to him will do what arguments can't. So often we start with the arguments. Jesus invites presence. [00:14:46] (18 seconds)  #PresenceOverArguments

It's an invitation rather than an argument. And I asked church, what what does Jesus know that we've lost sight of? What does Jesus know that that we've we've forgotten? Well, he knows that if we walk with him long enough, if we listen to him long enough, if we stay close with him enough, that faith doesn't begin to feel like something you've been talked into. It becomes to be something that you know. Begins to be something that you've experienced. Jesus knows that this real faith, this lasting faith, it usually grows out of relationship but not out of pressure. [00:24:24] (34 seconds)  #FaithFromRelationship

Drink in deeply of me. Be with me. Be present with me. And David and Jesus, they're not telling us that information or truth doesn't matter. They're not telling us that belief is not important or that conviction is optional. No. They're letting us in on the fact that God often invites us into encounter before we reach a conclusion. He invites us to draw near. He invites us to draw near. And that's exactly what Jesus is doing in John chapter one. So get that order right. [00:17:26] (29 seconds)  #EncounterBeforeConclusion

I don't want you to hear what I'm not gonna say this morning. I'm not gonna say today that faith can't be sure because scripture absolutely tells us that we can have real confidence. Scripture absolutely lays out for us that we can have real assurance, that we have a real hope to stand on. But what I will be saying this morning is that certainty is something that God grows. It's not something that you have to manufacture on your own on day one. [00:02:59] (23 seconds)  #CertaintyIsGrown

You know, the first disciples, they didn't start with a confession. What did they start with? They started with a question, and then they started with one day. One afternoon, one evening spent with Jesus. They stayed. They listened. They watched. And somewhere along the way, their faith began to take shape. And maybe that's where we need to begin today, with that first step of following Jesus. And then we take a next step. We keep showing up. We keep listening. We keep following even if we don't know the answer to every question. Jesus didn't say come and see because belief didn't matter. You see, belief did matter and it would matter very, very quickly in these guys' lives. Those same disciples who came and spent that day with Jesus, they would actually end up staking all on the fact that he was who he claimed to be. They followed him in life. He died on a cross. They knew it. They saw him after he was resurrected. And then because of the fact that his life had changed their lives, they went out and they changed the world. Belief matters. Truth matters. Conviction matters. It absolutely does. But you don't have it all answered today. You need to be set on who Jesus is. Son of God, lived for you, died in your place, risen and coming again. [00:26:28] (82 seconds)  #StartWithAStep

have trying to be We've tried to live with faith that hasn't been tasted of God. We've tried to live with a faith that is not experienced. We've tried to arrive at certainty from a distance. You can taste you you can taste food by doing what? Put it in your mouth. Right? You can't taste what somebody else is eating. You have to go take it off their plate or out of their hands, snatch it from them, and taste what it is that they're eating. But when Jesus says come and see, what he is inviting us into is he is inviting us just into that. He's inviting us into this lived faith. This can I just use it? Just tasted faith and experienced faith. He's saying, stay with me. Walk with me. Pay attention to me. And then trust that seeing will come. I think scripture backs that up. [00:18:21] (46 seconds)  #LivedTastedFaith

To just throw it out there and just leave it, the confidence that experience can speak. I wanna tell you something. Truth doesn't need to be forced to be true. Truth is truth. It doesn't need to be forced to be true. And the longer you sit with John chapter one and read it in its entirety, the more you realize that's exactly what Jesus is doing. He's not forcing belief. He's not cornering two disciples into a theological argument that they're not ready to handle yet. He invites nearness. Come. See. Stay with me. Jesus seems to trust what presence with him will do in people's lives. [00:23:45] (39 seconds)  #ExperienceSpeaksTruth

Isaiah is not talking about strong impressive people. He's talking about people like us. And if I just called you something less than you think of yourself, I'm not trying to say you're not strong and impressive but I know I'm not. And I thank God that he sent Jesus for people like me. Isaiah says he's not after strong and impressive people. He's after the fragile. He's after the weary. He's after the worn thin. He's after the bruised reed and the and and the smoldering wicks. [00:20:47] (25 seconds)  #ForTheFragile