Sermon- Rev. Lightner- Come and See

People often say that your destiny is your deliverance. No. Deliverance comes between your doubt and your destiny. That's why you see what Nathaniel said. After he realized that Jesus saw him under the tree, he realized something about Jesus. He realized that what Philip had said was true. He realized who Jesus was which moved him from deliverance to destiny because he said, rabbi, you are the son of god and you are the king of Israel. [00:32:36] (40 seconds)  #DoubtToDestiny

That's what happens when people come and see Jesus. You may come with questions but you'll leave with a revelation. You you may come with suspicion but you'll leave surrender. You you may come wounded but you'll leave here. You you may come with doubt but you'll stand up in your destiny if you trust god. Amen. He called him some names, you know, rabbi, teacher. He called him son of god, divine. [00:33:26] (27 seconds)  #ComeAndSeeRevelation

You ought to be excited about the fact that Jesus sees you. He sees you when you're praying and nobody knew. He sees you when you're crying folk. He sees you when you're laying on the side of the road and and despair and despair. He sees you when you're questioning and nobody on. He sees you when you almost gave up and and wanted to. He sees you when you're in your car. In your room. He sees you at the hospital, in your office, in this. He sees you in your silence. [00:30:04] (31 seconds)  #JesusSeesYou

This lets us know that god knows everything about us. The text said that Jesus said that I saw you under the fig tree before Philip ever came and found you. In other words, god is looking for us and knows where we're at at all times. Before Philip called you, I saw you. Before you started walking, I saw you. Before you had faith, I saw you. Before you got to church, I saw you. Before you cleanse yourself up, I saw you. Before you heard the right words, I saw you. The phrase fig tree has a deep meaning in in the Jewish culture. A fig tree represents a place of peace and tranquility. [00:29:00] (50 seconds)  #SeenUnderTheFigTree

The reality of doubt is doubt is always going to be there but you have to choose whether you acknowledge doubt or whether you speak to your destiny. Because doubt is not your destiny. Doubt is a stepping stone on its way to your deliverance. And this is where the Philip teaches us something. Philip does not fight with Nathaniel's doubt with arrogance. He does not respond to to Nathaniel's doubt talking down to him. He simply says, come and see. [00:22:06] (41 seconds)  #ChooseDestinyNotDoubt

He does not do like we all do sometime and mark his name off the list. He does not say I'm done with you. Y'all y'all know how we do it. You know? When we've been telling somebody something over and over and over again, you know what we do. I'm done with you. We throw our hands up and we begin to walk away. He says, come and see. It's an invitation. He does not try to manipulate him. He does not try to perform something for him. He simply says, come and see. [00:23:41] (28 seconds)  #InviteDontGiveUp

This is important church because we must learn how to invite people without insulting them. My invitation was insulting. It was demeaning. It was lowering him but but but but but because I did that, I hurt my possibilities and probably a lot of other possibilities of people from getting him to come and see the savior. The text today matters because some people are not one sermon away but they're one word away from turning their backs on Christ but these three words come and see are words of invitation. [00:26:35] (40 seconds)  #InviteWithGrace

Too many people talk about god without showing god's love. You know, you know, you you you know, people say that I'm with the lord. They're talking about the lord but yet and still we can't never find no god in the absence of them and we begin to doubt god because of people. Nathaniel had a theological problem and a cultural problem. Nazareth was not known as a place of greatness. It was small, overlooked. It was not the kind of place that people expected the Messiah to come from. So, Philip says, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathaniel says, nothing good can come from them. [00:16:48] (37 seconds)  #ShowGodsLove