Dear friends and family
Jesus is attracted to needy people, broken people, messy lives; this is as true for us in church and those outside church as it was for the many needy people we read about in the Gospels. And what’s more, there are only two kinds of needy people in the world: those who know they are needy and those who don’t. Everyone is needy, everyone is broken, and everyone is searching for answers and solutions for their messy lives, whether they’re aware of it or not.
As Christians, who believe that Jesus is THE ANSWER, THE SOLUTION, because we have experienced Him as such. Therefore, we want to bring the problem of needy, broken, messy lives into contact with the solution, who is Jesus. We can’t meet every need, but we know Someone who can; we can’t heal every bit of brokenness, but we know Someone who can; we can’t clean up every messy life, but we know Someone who can! Jesus is THE ANSWER, Jesus is THE SOLUTION.
Like Philip who ‘…found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth," (John 1.45) we share the solution we’ve found with others, but like Nathanael many have doubts and objections. What do we do when people are sceptical? What do we do when people have objections? What do we do when people think it sounds too good to be true? We answer the same way Philip did when Nathanael objected, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip simply answered: "Come and see." (John 1.46) Sometimes we think that we have to do all the work and forget that Jesus is attracted to needy, broken people, even those who doubt, and that He knows how to make Himself attractive to them (John 1.47-51). All we have to do is share what we have experienced and invite people to “Come and see.”
The HOST campaign, which will run from the beginning of February 2017, is an opportunity to invite friends, even those who doubt, to “Come and see.” HOST is an acronym that stands for:
- Heart for people (let’s not avoid those Jesus is attracted to)
- Open your home/heart (let’s open our hearts and homes like Jesus did)
- Serve a snack/meal (let’s share one of our 21 weekly meals with friends)
- Tell some friends (let’s invite friends to “Come and see.”)
We want the whole church to be involved, whether as part of an existing Small group or as part of a newly launched HOST group. Let’s invest in people’s lives through prayer and relationship; let’s invite them to “Come and see,” and then host the meeting between them and Jesus; let’s involve them in doing the same for others. The HOST campaign will only run for six weeks, but those six weeks could change people’s lives if they meet Jesus.
Lots of love
Pastor Hennie Swart
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