WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.000 All right, let's pray. 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:04.400 Father, thanks for being such a great God. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:06.080 Thank you for loving us. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:08.240 Thank you for bringing us here together. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.880 Thank you for being here with us. 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:19.440 And Holy Spirit, just ask you to teach each of us this morning that you would even speak to every single one of us, that one of us this morning. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.000 That we would all leave, knowing that you gave us something. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.640 You know our hearts, you know where we're at, you know what we need. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.440 And so, Holy Spirit, please speak to us this morning. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:35.039 And Jesus, thank you for being our friend and our our uh our Savior, and we praise you for that. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.799 We uh we ask this prayer in your name. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:39.759 Amen. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:43.600 Well, I'm fired up this morning. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:49.280 Um, we're all fired up this morning. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:53.039 The uh because we're gonna talk about Jesus. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.719 Uh we know we talk about Jesus every week. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:58.640 You know, I mean we're focused on Jesus. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:00.240 That's what that's what we're about. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:06.239 We're we're uh with each other and we're we're following Jesus, but but there's things, you know, like relationships. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:16.560 We talked about relationships for for several weeks, and there's some hard stuff there, you know, forgiving and uh just digging in and um those types of things. 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:27.519 Last week, you know, just talking about money a little bit, and uh it's just uh so great to me when we just simply talk about Jesus. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:28.879 Um there's nothing like it. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:38.959 What what he did, what what he said, what he taught, and then uh just seeing how we can apply that to each of our lives. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:47.519 Jesus only had a small amount of time here on earth, and how he spent that time must must have been pretty important. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:52.879 Um meet people. 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:54.319 He just met people. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:55.519 He met all kinds of people. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:08.879 He met young people, he met um older people, talked with uh women, talked with men, Jewish people, Greek people, interesting people, and all different types of situations. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:22.639 And so for the next few weeks, what what we're gonna do is uh just look at some of the people Jesus met, um uh where they were at, what what he uh said to them, and then see how we can apply it. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:24.560 Uh he met some pretty interesting people. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:30.800 Uh we're gonna see a uh a naked man that he met while walking through a cemetery. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:37.520 We're gonna see a woman uh who was in a real bind, a handicapped man that bust into a meeting. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:43.840 But this morning I want to look at maybe the tamest of the bunch. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.520 And uh I figured we're doing easy Sunday. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.319 So we'll just go uh we'll go tame this morning. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:52.479 But it's a man named Nathaniel. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:59.360 The story starts really not with Nathaniel, but with uh Nathaniel's friend Philip. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:11.759 Philip has met Jesus, and he is excited, and he's so excited to have a relationship with uh with the Messiah and with the living God, and he wants his friend to know Jesus too. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:17.039 Perhaps you've been there, perhaps uh you know that uh feeling. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:26.400 Um so in John 1, starting in verse 45, we read the story. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:34.240 Philip went and found Nathaniel and told him, We found the one Moses wrote of in the law, the one preached by the prophets. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:38.879 It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.000 Nathaniel said, Nazareth? 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:45.280 You've got to be kidding. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.000 See, I like Nathaniel right away. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:53.280 See, Nathaniel is honest and he's skeptical. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:57.599 The Messiah from Nazareth? 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:03.039 See, that'd be like being a bulldog fan and somebody telling you Jesus was from Knoxville. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:08.319 I mean, it's just it seems pretty impossible. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:10.960 It's uh it's highly unlikely. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:14.719 And and that's the way it was for um Nathaniel. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:16.480 It just didn't add up. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:18.319 Um, the Messiah? 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:20.160 From Nazareth? 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:21.680 You got to be kidding. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.000 But it is where Jesus was from. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:32.639 Joseph and and Mary, you know, they went to Bethlehem because there was a census called, and so they traveled to Bethlehem, and and that's where Jesus is born. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:37.519 And then they had to flee to Egypt because Herod's trying to trying to kill Jesus. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:45.920 So they they live in Egypt for a few years, and then finally Herod dies, and they come back and they resettle in Nazareth. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.519 Um, Nazareth was uh was a really small town. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.360 It was uh cut kind of into a a hillside. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:58.240 It was known for, it was mostly known because it was a military base. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:04.560 It was a Roman military base, and the Jewish people hated the Romans. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:12.560 Um, and so they were um in general skeptical of anybody from Nazareth. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:16.399 It was it was known as a Roman um military town. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:20.959 And and honestly, the people in Nazareth, they I mean, they really weren't that nice a people. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:32.879 Um at one point, Jesus is teaching in his hometown, and they get so mad they drag him off and want to throw him off a cliff, these people in Nazareth. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.959 And and he slipped away, but you know, Nathaniel had a point. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.319 I mean, Nazareth, it wasn't that great of a town. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:45.600 And Nathanael immediately, he's got his guard up. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:47.439 He's skeptical. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.240 Philip's probably a little bit bummed. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:52.959 You know, I mean, he's just kind of bummed. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.399 He wants so much for Nathaniel to meet Jesus. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:58.800 What argument can he make? 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.120 What can he possibly say? 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:07.519 What he says are four of the most powerful words that he could have said to his friend. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:16.079 It's the same four words that we can say to our friends, to our family, to our neighbors, to anyone. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:23.199 Verse 46 it says, But Philip said, Come see for yourself. 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:27.040 I love that. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:29.600 Come see for yourself. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:34.000 No arguing, no arm twisting. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:35.759 Come see for yourself. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:37.279 Make up your own mind. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:40.959 But at least come see for yourself. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:46.639 You know, the first of the year we talked about uh what an opportunity that we have. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:56.079 I mean, just to simply invite people to come here and experience uh something unique and something wonderful. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:04.079 Um we had these cards up, made up to make it easy to invite friends and and family and everyone to join us. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:17.680 We talked about that that if we if we would start each week asking God to show us who we might invite, that by the end of the year, I mean, together, 50,000 people would have been told, come see for yourself. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:19.279 Just come see. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:29.040 You know, as Christians, sometimes sometimes we think we're supposed to be like the world champion debaters. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.439 You know, it's our job just to convince everybody. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:37.199 But God isn't a debate trophy. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:48.560 He is alive He is He is alive, He's loving, He's real, He's powerful, He changes our hearts, He changes our lives. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:55.920 See, it is something people can see for themselves, experience for themselves. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:02.319 God's with us all the time, but there is something unusual that happens when we get together. 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:12.319 In Matthew 18, 20, Jesus says, For two or three gathered together as my followers, I am there among them. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:18.560 See, something special happens when we get together on Sunday. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.040 Jesus promises to be here. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.720 It's kind of a wild thought, isn't it? 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:34.799 Jesus promises to be here, and every Sunday I can physically feel his presence. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:39.679 That may sound weird, but it's true. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.080 Every Sunday, I can physically feel his presence. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.000 You may describe it in different ways. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.519 You may say, man, I can just feel the excitement. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:50.799 You know, there's just something. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:53.759 I can feel energy, I can just feel love. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:59.919 It's Jesus' presence that you're feeling. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.080 It's his presence. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:04.000 It's exactly what he promised. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:07.039 We're gathered together in his name. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:08.240 He's here with us. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.080 It's his presence. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.919 I mean, don't you feel much better every Sunday after being here? 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:15.600 Man, I do. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:20.799 And it's a lot of things. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:26.399 We worship God together, we we hear his word together, we, you know, we we're with each other. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:28.480 You know, we uh we get prayed for. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:30.000 I mean, all these things. 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:35.039 And it's Jesus' presence. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.799 There's just something about it. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:43.279 Um I've had more people tell me that they can feel God just when they walk in this building. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:58.080 You know, there's a I might have I I don't know if I've shared this before, but there's a guy that came in and uh filled up the Coke machine over on the youth side, and he says, I can't explain it, but every time I walk in this building, I can feel God. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:04.559 I mean, it's something we pray for, it's something we ask for, and it's something that is true. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.320 See, Jesus can be proven intellectually. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:13.200 He can. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:20.399 You can prove Jesus intellectually, but he is not an intellectual argument, Jesus. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:23.200 He is real, he is a person. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:28.799 You can feel him, you can experience him, you can have a relationship with him. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:31.679 Come see for yourself. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.600 Philip says, You don't have to take my word. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:38.480 Just come see for yourself. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:42.559 And so that's what Nathaniel does. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:50.879 And when Jesus saw him coming, he said, There is a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.679 Nathanael said, Where did you get that idea? 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.200 You don't know me. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:02.960 See, Nathaniel's still honest, still skeptical. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:13.679 Jesus answered, One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree. 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:21.519 In other words, I do know you, Nathaniel. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:24.080 I've always known you. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:32.159 Now in heaven, we can ask Nathaniel about the fig tree. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:36.879 What that meant to him when Jesus had said it. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:38.799 Maybe he'd been praying there. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:44.559 You know, maybe he had asked God there to show him the Messiah. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:49.919 Maybe he was one of those, if you're real God, please show me. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:54.159 Maybe it was one of those, God, I need you. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.279 Maybe he had a crisis. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.840 He'd ask God's help for. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:03.840 Maybe he'd been mad at God. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.000 You know, Jesus said there's not a false bone in your body. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:13.279 Maybe it was one of those honest conversations where he was actually mad at God. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:15.039 Why did you let that happen, God? 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:15.840 I don't understand. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.039 Where were you? 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:19.120 What's the deal? 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:21.279 See, we don't know. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:26.960 But what we do know is it was personal and it was important. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:31.840 He had said to Jesus, Nathaniel had, he had said to Jesus, you don't know me. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.679 Jesus answered with the truth, I do know you. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:38.240 I've always known you. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.320 I saw you long ago under the fig tree. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:54.559 Nathanael exclaimed, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:06.080 Jesus said, You've become a believer simply because I say, I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:09.120 You haven't seen anything yet. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:18.159 Before this is over, you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.639 Jesus says, Is that what it took? 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.120 You haven't seen anything yet. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:28.720 And he was right. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:43.120 You know, the very next day, the very next day, Nathaniel got invited to a wedding party, along with the rest of Jesus' followers. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:48.480 It was at that party that Jesus turned the water into wine. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:51.600 That was just the start. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:52.879 It went from there. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:56.159 He had not seen anything yet. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:09.519 Nathaniel had come to see, and he was blown away because Jesus knew him, knew all about him. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:19.360 As an aside, you know, to Jesus, it didn't really matter what he knew about Nathaniel. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:24.799 You know, with Nathaniel, he said, man, you're an honest guy. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:27.840 But it wouldn't have mattered. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:32.879 Jesus met a woman once, you probably know this story, but she was getting water from a well. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:40.799 He had already spoken, Jesus had, to the emptiness and the dryness in her soul inside her. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:45.440 And he said, I'll give you living water, and you will never be thirsty again. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:49.600 She said she wasn't married, and Jesus said, Yeah, I know. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.759 You've been married five times, and the guy you're living with isn't your husband. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.360 See, he wasn't getting on her case. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.679 He was letting her know he knew her. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:06.159 I know you. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:08.240 I've always known you. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.200 And she was blown away. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.120 She ran back to her town and she brought the whole town out to meet Jesus. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.000 In Matthew, or in John 4, this is what it says. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:24.080 Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman's witness. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:27.039 He knew all about the things I did. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.600 He knows me inside and out. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:34.399 They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.559 A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.759 They said to the woman, We're no longer taking this on your say-so. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.919 We've heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:49.519 He's the savior of the world. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:51.840 Amazing. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:54.559 He knew her inside and out. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:56.639 He knew Nathaniel. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.279 He knew her. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:05.679 You know what's more amazing is he knows you. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:08.000 He knows me. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:09.200 He knows us. 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:14.799 He knows us inside out. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:27.679 And he said to Nathaniel, I saw you under that fig tree. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:30.240 And he's seen us too. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:36.159 He's seen us that night in bed crying. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:42.320 He's seen us that time dancing outside saying there must be a God. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:49.039 Seen us thrown up in the morning saying, God, I can't keep living like this. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:51.759 He's seen us excited. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:53.279 He's seen us brokenhearted. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:54.960 He's seen us calling out. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:58.080 Where are you? 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:00.720 I need you. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:04.240 And he knows us. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:09.519 And he knows you just as clearly as he knew Nathaniel. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:20.319 Has God ever done anything small and nice and sweet just to show you that he knows you? 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:24.000 You know, uh an answer to a prayer. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:36.000 Um a bird coming down at the right time and sitting in a tree next to you. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:47.440 Maybe it's been here, a song, you know, or a verse, or something someone that shared, and and we're sitting here, we're like, that's just for me. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:49.680 That's just for me. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:51.119 It was. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:52.720 It was. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.119 It's Jesus speaking to you. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:57.519 He knows you. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:09.440 John 10, 14 says, I am the good shepherd, I know my own sheep, and they know me. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:19.839 You know the best part, I mean, I think that is just um amazing by itself. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:26.319 But the best part to me is not that he knows me, that he knows us. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:30.799 It's that he knows us and he likes us. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.480 To me, that's like the miracle of it all. 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.519 I mean, he knows us and he loves us. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:42.960 He likes us. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:45.839 It doesn't matter. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.759 You know, Nathaniel, Jesus said, Man, I can tell you you're an upright dude. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.160 Um to the to the Gal at the well, I mean, she had a checkered past. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:55.279 It didn't matter. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:58.880 He loved them both. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:02.319 He loved them both just the same. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:03.599 It didn't matter. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.359 He knows us, he knows everything about us, and it doesn't faze him. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:10.160 You know, in Hebrews 2.11 it says that. 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:17.440 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:22.960 You see, he's not so much worried about whether or not we're holy. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:24.799 That's his job anyway. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.640 We turn to him, he makes us holy. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:35.279 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy, us, have the same father. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:41.839 That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and his sisters. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:45.519 He's not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:46.400 He doesn't care. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:53.759 It doesn't matter to him where we've been and what we've done, other than he hurts for us. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.279 He loves us. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:19:58.640 He knows us. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:19:59.759 God's the same way. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:06.000 In Hebrews 11, 16 says, but they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:11.200 That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.559 For he has prepared a city for them. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:15.759 Our Father. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.160 He knows us. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:20.079 He likes us. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:21.519 He loves us. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.200 He's not ashamed to call us his children. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:27.039 It's amazing. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.680 He knows us inside and out. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:31.359 He's not ashamed of us. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:32.559 He just loves us. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:50.400 Jesus told Nathaniel, he said, wow, if the whole fig tree thing did that, you haven't seen anything yet. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:56.240 It was true for Nathaniel, and it's true for us too. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:59.279 We have not seen anything yet. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:02.160 Man, we're gonna see so much from Jesus. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:12.720 You know, continue to see him answering our prayers, continue to see him changing our hearts, continue to see him changing our lives, changing our families, our friends. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:15.759 And those around us. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:27.359 Jesus told Nathaniel what he was gonna get to see is he was gonna get to see the heavens open up and angels coming down to help Jesus. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:32.079 You know, for us, it's even better. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:34.480 It's better. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:49.519 We're gonna get to see the heavens open up and Jesus himself coming down to minister to us, to help us, to take care of us. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:57.119 And he'll heal all of our hurts, he'll restore all of our losses at that time. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:04.000 He'll give us brand new bodies, real bodies, but Strong and healthy and full of life. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:10.799 And we'll be reunited forever with the people we love. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:12.880 We have not seen anything yet. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:18.319 We haven't seen anything yet. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:35.279 I remember the first time that Jesus answered one of my prayers in a way, um, in a way where it couldn't be a coincidence, you know, in a way where I couldn't explain it away as old it was it was uh it was specific and dramatic and it was an undeniable way. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:40.400 And what affected me most about that was not the prayer. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:46.319 What affected me the most was I was like, wow, he knows me. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.240 He actually knows me. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:53.519 I mean, I knew he loved everybody in the world and all that, but he knows me. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:56.640 He heard my prayer, he cares about me. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.839 It blew me away. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:02.799 What an amazing thing. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:14.400 You know, if you're not sure that whether or not Jesus knows who you are, everything about you, he does. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:15.599 He does. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:20.079 But you might need shown, you might need reminded. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:23.839 You know, if that's you, we'll just when we pray, we'll just ask. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:28.319 We'll just ask God to show you. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:30.480 And he will. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.480 You might be honest and skeptical, like Nathaniel was. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:40.559 Philip told Nathaniel, come see for yourself. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:44.160 And the thing about God is God is a big God. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:49.359 You know, we keep him in this little box sometimes, but he is a big God and he's real. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:51.599 You know, we're not playing church. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.480 He is real and he's alive and he's powerful. 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:58.960 And you can ask him and he will show you. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.039 If you're not sure, ask him. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:04.079 Say, God, I want to know. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:05.680 Show me. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:16.400 In Jeremiah 29, 13, it says, when you came looking for me, when it says, when you come looking for me, you'll find me. 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:26.640 Yes, when you get serious about finding me and you want him more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:28.880 He's a big God. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.680 Just go looking for him with all your heart. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:34.000 You'll find him. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:41.200 And then we turn to Jesus and we say the same thing Nathaniel said. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:44.799 You are the Son of God. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:47.359 You are the Son of God. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.400 And then He fills us, He strengthens us, He teaches us. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:01.359 We start following Him, and there is nothing like it. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:06.240 We can come see for ourselves. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:07.759 Let's pray. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:11.279 Father, I thank you for being such a great God. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:12.960 I thank you for loving us. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:20.240 I thank you for not being ashamed of us, that you're proud and excited to have us as your children. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:25.759 And I just ask now, God and Holy Spirit and Jesus, that you would speak to each one of us. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:29.440 You would speak clearly. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:39.119 That each of us would know in our hearts the truth, the truth that you do know us. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:40.799 You've always known us. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.279 You love us. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:44.880 You'll take care of us. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:46.720 And so we trust you with that. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:48.559 We praise you for that. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.319 We thank you for being such a great and loving God. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:54.559 And Jesus, it's in your name we pray. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:55.440 Amen.