Your Relationship Map

 

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

We don’t know a lot about Jesus’ disciple called Nathaniel. But one thing we do know about Nathaniel is that he owes a debt of gratitude to another disciple, the one named Philip. Listen to John 1:44 – 49:

“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 approached, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “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.”

Can you believe it? Nathaniel was a skeptic. He held a pretty deep-seated prejudice against Nazareth, Nazarenes, and probably against the whole province of Galilee. He didn’t think any good person or good idea could come from Nazareth. But his friend Philip found Nathaniel and testified about Jesus.

He pointed out that Jesus was the Messiah that Moses and the prophets had spoken about. And, amazingly, in spite of his prejudice, when Philip simply said, “Come and see,” Nathaniel met Jesus and recognized him as the Son of God.

What was the relationship between Philip and Nathaniel? Were they brothers or cousins? Were they related by marriage? Or were they just good friends? We don’t know. But it’s clear they had a close relationship because Nathaniel was one of the first people Philip spoke to after he met Jesus. Philip was so excited about meeting the Messiah that he had to share the good news. And so he told Nathaniel, a guy he had a close relationship with.

You have some good news to share. You know Jesus the Messiah. You know he is the savior of the world. You know he forgives us and empowers us and gives us abundant, eternal life. So make a relationship map. Draw a circle on the middle of a sheet of paper and write you name in it. Then draw connecting lines from your circle to the names of friends and relatives you know who are far from God. Draw lines from their names to the names of their friends and family members who are also far from God. When you do so, you have a relationship map. Pray for each person on your map. Then make plans to go to them to share your testimony and the Good News of Jesus. Who knows? As you go and share, your friends may surprise you. They may respond in faith to Jesus the same way Nathaniel did when Philip led him to the Lord so many years ago.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?”

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #RelationshipMap