IF YOU WANT TO GROW...“COME” AND “GO”

“Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

It’s very interesting—the ministry of Jesus begins with the word “come” and ends with the word “go.” He begins by asking a band of common fishermen to drop their nets and come follow him. Jesus is inviting them to walk in his steps and learn from him. Then, at the end of his ministry, Jesus tells these same men to “go tell the world about him.”

Come and go. According to church leader Mike Breen, these two simple words that bookend the gospels represent God’s will for every woman and man. God desires for us to come to Jesus, to enter into a discipling relationship with him—joyfully obeying his words and imitating his life. But there’s more. Jesus also challenges us to go public with our faith and share it with our neighbors, co-workers and the world.

Come and go. This is the invitation and challenge on all of our lives and over the next four months we want to help you live into this calling. So our summer sermon series, Blessed!, will be about coming to Jesus and embracing his kingdom lifestyle. Beginning in June we will be looking at eight wisdom sayings Jesus taught, called the Beatitudes. Then in August, we will turn our attention to Jesus’ challenge to go. The series One Next Step will consider who we can effectively share the gospel with those around us.

Jesus’ calling to come and go is at the heart of following Jesus. And so I hope you will join me in praying that the Spirit forms in us an increasing desire to come to Jesus and go to the world and tell them about King Jesus.

Pastor Brandon