"The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, 'Look, the Lamb of God.'
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, 'What do you want?'
They said, 'Rabbi' (which means Teacher), 'where are you staying?'
'Come,' he replied, 'and you will see.'
So they went and saw where he was staying and spent the day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (that is the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said 'You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas' (which, when translated, is Peter).
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, 'Follow me.'
Philip, like Andrew and Peter was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, 'We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'
'Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?' Nathanael asked.
'Come and see,' said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, 'Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.'
'How do you know me?' Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, 'I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.'
Then Nathanael declared 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.'
Jesus said, 'You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.' He then added, 'I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'" John 1 : 35 - 51
Jesus is like a moose.
I had heard of this moose almost my entire life - heard stories of cool things he's done; ways he's changed people's lives. But it wasn't until last year that I actually saw the moose. And it was an amazing year following that moose around campus. I saw him change life's - especially my own. And I have countless stories from that year and am looking forward to seeing the moose in action this year too.
See, moose/meese/mooses cause a reaction. They create stories and they inspire curiosity to follow them. And following the moose can lead to really cool things that we get to witness. The two men in the passage recognized this. They asked Jesus where he was staying instead of asking him to come with them. They knew that life would be so much more rewarding by following Jesus and seeing the work he was doing. Are you willing to go where Jesus is?
I think it is so much easier to ask Jesus to come stay with us and do what we want to - but that doesn't lead to the best possible life, the life we get from following him where he desires for us to go.
The second half of this passage describes Nathanael's reaction to moose-like Jesus. Nathanael was unsure of what to think of Jesus. Moose can be scary (as is following Jesus). Nathanael had questions he needed answered before committing to following him. And Jesus was faithful in giving Nathanael what he needed. Likewise, he can do the same for you so you can follow him and be able to share your moose encounter stories with friends.
InterVarsity is a place where you can share your stories of moose encounters. This is a community of people that are excited for following Jesus. With these stories come more excitement and a desire to pursue Jesus even more.
So with all that's been said, there are 3 challenges for you depending on where you are in your moose pursuit. First, I challenge you to find a moose and to be in awe; to not forget how amazing moose-like Jesus really is. This is something I've struggled with before - The moose becomes boring because we aren't closely looking at the what he is doing. But he is a MOOSE and he does cool stuff!!
Some of you are only willing to bring Jesus to you. I challenge you to ask Jesus where he is staying. Find the moose on campus and meet him there so you can watch what he is doing. Is he moving in amazing ways in a specific group on campus? Do you desire to be a part of that?
And still others of you are unsure of moose-like Jesus and what it would be like to follow him. I challenge you to ask him your hard questions. And like we see in this storty, Jesus meets us at our place of uncertainty and answers those questions. But part of this challenge is to do some work of your own and read the bible or go to bible study. Put yourself in a place where Jesus has the opportunity to answer your questions. Are you willing to give him this chance to interact with you?
I think a good challenge for all of us, no matter where we are, is to read John and see the kinds of reactions moose-like Jesus gets. Check out this podcast to listen to these reactions!
I've been seeing the moose a lot lately and have had great conversations with friends who feel the same. I would love to hear more stories!! Please share below if you've been having encounters with the moose.
And if any of those 3 challenges is something you would like to pursue, then please let us pray with you!! As InterVarsity, we believe in the power of prayer and have seen prayers be answered. There are always leader's standing in the back of the room after the large group talk during worship that would love to pray with you. I know it's scary, but when I finally decided to walk back there and get prayer last year, my life was changed. I would like you to have the same story. The moose is in the back of that room. Bible study leaders would also be great people to pray for you. We are not here to give advice, we just pray for you.
What challenge will you accept??
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (that is the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said 'You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas' (which, when translated, is Peter).
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, 'Follow me.'
Philip, like Andrew and Peter was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, 'We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'
'Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?' Nathanael asked.
'Come and see,' said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, 'Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.'
'How do you know me?' Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, 'I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.'
Then Nathanael declared 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.'
Jesus said, 'You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.' He then added, 'I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'" John 1 : 35 - 51
Jesus is like a moose.
I had heard of this moose almost my entire life - heard stories of cool things he's done; ways he's changed people's lives. But it wasn't until last year that I actually saw the moose. And it was an amazing year following that moose around campus. I saw him change life's - especially my own. And I have countless stories from that year and am looking forward to seeing the moose in action this year too.
See, moose/meese/mooses cause a reaction. They create stories and they inspire curiosity to follow them. And following the moose can lead to really cool things that we get to witness. The two men in the passage recognized this. They asked Jesus where he was staying instead of asking him to come with them. They knew that life would be so much more rewarding by following Jesus and seeing the work he was doing. Are you willing to go where Jesus is?
I think it is so much easier to ask Jesus to come stay with us and do what we want to - but that doesn't lead to the best possible life, the life we get from following him where he desires for us to go.
The second half of this passage describes Nathanael's reaction to moose-like Jesus. Nathanael was unsure of what to think of Jesus. Moose can be scary (as is following Jesus). Nathanael had questions he needed answered before committing to following him. And Jesus was faithful in giving Nathanael what he needed. Likewise, he can do the same for you so you can follow him and be able to share your moose encounter stories with friends.
InterVarsity is a place where you can share your stories of moose encounters. This is a community of people that are excited for following Jesus. With these stories come more excitement and a desire to pursue Jesus even more.
So with all that's been said, there are 3 challenges for you depending on where you are in your moose pursuit. First, I challenge you to find a moose and to be in awe; to not forget how amazing moose-like Jesus really is. This is something I've struggled with before - The moose becomes boring because we aren't closely looking at the what he is doing. But he is a MOOSE and he does cool stuff!!
Some of you are only willing to bring Jesus to you. I challenge you to ask Jesus where he is staying. Find the moose on campus and meet him there so you can watch what he is doing. Is he moving in amazing ways in a specific group on campus? Do you desire to be a part of that?
And still others of you are unsure of moose-like Jesus and what it would be like to follow him. I challenge you to ask him your hard questions. And like we see in this storty, Jesus meets us at our place of uncertainty and answers those questions. But part of this challenge is to do some work of your own and read the bible or go to bible study. Put yourself in a place where Jesus has the opportunity to answer your questions. Are you willing to give him this chance to interact with you?
I think a good challenge for all of us, no matter where we are, is to read John and see the kinds of reactions moose-like Jesus gets. Check out this podcast to listen to these reactions!
I've been seeing the moose a lot lately and have had great conversations with friends who feel the same. I would love to hear more stories!! Please share below if you've been having encounters with the moose.
And if any of those 3 challenges is something you would like to pursue, then please let us pray with you!! As InterVarsity, we believe in the power of prayer and have seen prayers be answered. There are always leader's standing in the back of the room after the large group talk during worship that would love to pray with you. I know it's scary, but when I finally decided to walk back there and get prayer last year, my life was changed. I would like you to have the same story. The moose is in the back of that room. Bible study leaders would also be great people to pray for you. We are not here to give advice, we just pray for you.
What challenge will you accept??
