“ Come and See ”
I . P . C . 2017 MISSIONS CONFERENCE
John 4:29-30 “ The woman then left her water pot , went her way into the city , and said to the men , ‘ Come , see a Man who told me all things that I ever did . Could this be the Christ ’? Then they went out of the city and came to Him .”
The opening chapters of the Gospel according to John paint a simple , beautiful picture of what should happen after one encounters the Christ . John , the apostle , introduces Him as the Creator , as having life that is the light of men , the light shining in the darkness . John , the baptizer , sets the stage and proclaims that Jesus , the Word made flesh , is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world , the Son of God , indeed the Messiah – the Savior of the world . Two of John ’ s disciples ( one of them Andrew , Simon Peter ’ s brother ) inquire of Jesus , wanting to know where He is staying ( to learn from Him ). Jesus uses the simple phrase , “ Come , and see .” The evangelization of the world begins to take place with very simple invitations to come and see Jesus . Andrew says to Simon , “ We ’ ve found the Messiah .” Philip says to Nathanael , “ Come , and see ” after Nathanael ’ s challenge , “ Can anything good come out of Nazareth ”? We ’ re not even out of chapter one and the invitation to come and see has been issued several times .
In chapter 4 the woman at the well encounters Jesus — you know the story . She then intentionally sets aside her business ( getting water ) and goes into the city — not a comfortable place for her to be , and says , “ Come and see .” This simple invitation brought the men of Sychar out to see Jesus . We are called individually and as a church to extend the invitation to “ come and see ” the Christ , the
Savior , who has reconciled us to God , brought light into our darkness , and is preparing a place for us in eternity .
The 2017 I . P . C . World Missions Conference ( February 26 – 29 ) will help us to better understand our call to world evangelization . We will be reminded to support and pray for those who ’ ve set aside their “ water pot ” and gone out to the world . We will be challenged to think more deeply about our personal responsibilities to share the Gospel . The work of missions is the work of inviting those on the outside to “ come and see ” the Christ . We extend the invitation as we individually go through our normal routines , and as a church involved in ministries and missions locally , around our state , nation , and world . Each of us is called in some way . Please use this year ’ s conference to grow in your understanding of missions .
It is a great pleasure every year to host our missionary guests . They always encourage and challenge us , and this year will be no different . I . P . C .’ s support of missions reaches into a wide variety of ministry types , and we try to get a good representation of the various ministries . This year we ’ ll
Dr . Paul Kooistra have church planters ( church planting is a philosophical emphasis of our missions committee , so we try to have a church planter every year ), field team administrators , and theological educators . Our keynote speaker , Dr . Paul Kooistra , will bring us devotionals each night and preach twice on Sunday .
Dr . Kooistra has had a significant role in the church and missions for the PCA since 1967 . He ’ s served as a pastor , principal , professor , and seminary president . From 1994 to 2014 , Dr . Kooistra was Coordinator of Mission To The World , the PCA ’ s missionary sending organization . We anticipate that hearing from him will be a delightful blend
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