Restoration Sermon | Come and See | Reset

What if the invitation to follow Jesus isn't about having all our doubts resolved, our questions answered, or our lives cleaned up first? This exploration of John chapter 1 introduces us to four very different individuals who encountered Christ—Andrew, the devout religious insider; Simon Peter, the impulsive firebrand with rough edges; Philip, the ordinary wallflower content in the background; and Nathaniel, the skeptic riddled with doubts and prejudice. Each came from a completely different place, yet Jesus extended the same profound invitation to all of them: 'Come and see.' This isn't a call to intellectual perfection or moral achievement. It's an invitation to encounter the living Christ exactly where we are. As we step into a new year, many of us carry either excitement or anxiety about what lies ahead. Some wonder if anything good can come from our circumstances, our families, or our own lives. But Jesus sees us—the churched and the unchurched, the confident and the questioning, the visible and the invisible. He invites us not to perform or prove ourselves, but simply to come and discover what life looks like when we follow Him. The challenge isn't to adopt twelve new spiritual disciplines overnight, but to respond daily to His invitation, allowing our roots to grow deep before we grow wide. Our primary identity isn't found in our achievements or failures, but in being people of the body broken and blood poured out—recipients of grace who are continually learning what it means to follow Jesus one step at a time.