Hey, Carpool Crew. Welcome to Carpooling with Jesus. I'm Pastor Justin, and maybe you're headed to school or finishing up breakfast, wrapping up some homeschool. I'm just glad you're here today. Now, you know when you've wanted to invite a friend to church for weeks and you haven't? Because right now they might say yes, and the second you ask, you find out. Yeah, we have all been there, so let's jump in with the one thing I want you to remember for the ride. Just say, "Come and see." Listen to this from John 1:46. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nathaniel asked him. "Come and see," Philip answered. Now here's what's going on. Philip has just met Jesus, and Jesus said, "Follow me." So Philip goes and finds his friend Nathaniel and tells him, "We found the one Moses wrote about, Jesus from Nazareth." And Nathaniel's answer is not a nice one. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? That's a joke about the town right to Philip's face. Look at what Philip does. He doesn't argue. He doesn't build a case for Nazareth being a great place for people to come from. He says three words, "Come and see." He lets his friend go and find out for himself, and that's what inviting is all about. You're not in charge of what they say back. You're not in charge of convincing them. You're in charge of the invitation, and Jesus does the rest. Now here's the honest part. They might say no. Nathaniel almost did. And no isn't a door slamming. It's just a Tuesday. I mean, it's a normal day. People say no all the time, but you still asked. See, maybe it's a friend at school or a friend in the neighborhood or a teammate. You can be the one to give a simple invitation. Here's the thing. My son plays on a football team, and he's one of the captains. I'm so proud of him, but my wife actually, she's the one that invited a mom, a fellow mom on the team, to come to church. And guess what? She just made an invitation. We got everyone ready for church. She honestly wasn't thinking much about it. And then the friend from the team texted her and said, "Hey, what time's church? I'm on my way." My wife was floored because sometimes you just don't expect people to say yes. Here's the thing. We're not in charge of their response, and we're not in charge of how long they take to respond. We're in charge of making the invitation. It's so easy. "Hey, come and see." Now let's go back to the one thing I want you to remember for the ride. Just say, "Come and see." Remember, no matter where you are or how you're listening, God loves you. And parents, if you want more encouragement like this during the week, come follow us on Instagram or TikTok. We're posting daily videos to help you share with your kids or share with other parents you know. Now, before you go, let's answer this question together. Who's one person you would invite if you weren't worried about the answer? I'll see you tomorrow on Carpooling with Jesus.
