Come & See | nkchurch

I have found the one

Contemporary Reading

(Fisherman)
I have found the one
who made me lay down my net,
and took the questioner I am
and made a traveller out of me.
I have found the one
who has taken our prosaic faith
and made it an adventure.
I have found the one.
Come and see!

Will you come and follow me
if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown
in you and you in me?

(Zacchaeus)
I have found the one
who shaped me a place
where I could belong, forgiven,
freed from tree-climbing and tax collecting
and brought me to a faith
that revealed justice and renewal
through a new way of living towards my neighbours.
I have found the one.
Come and see!

Will you leave yourself behind
if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer
in you and you in me?

(Bartimaeus)
I have found the one
who gave me new sight,
that listen my eyes to look up instead of down,
to see faces and not feet.
I can see a place for me
where I am included and belong once more,
no longer by the roadside
but now on the journey.
I have found the one.
Come and see!

Will you let the blinded see
if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoner free
and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean
in you and you in me?

(Stoning of the woman)
I have found the one
who took me as I am,
who saw me for what I was
and loved me back to hope,
who challenged the stoners with their own morals
and invited me into the kingdom anew.
I have found the one.
Come and see!

Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound
in you and you in me?

(Call)
I have found the one
who’s life is an invitation
and whose words are made of life;
I have found the one
who knows our names
and shapes the kingdom with them;
I have found the one
who dares us dream
with the summons:
“Come and see!”

Lord, your summons echoes true
when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
in you and you in me.

Come & See

John 1:35-51

Prayer

Loving God
In the light of this new year
may we see you more clearly
and follow you more nearly
that we might find a faith
that holds a mystery
enough for us to come and see
where you are going
the God who never settles down
May we find you in the next turning
round the next bend
in the mist that still falls over the future
May we recognise you only in part
for you are not yet fully known
always a word
a colour
a place
an event
still to be discovered
in a relationship that is never the same
always evolving.
May we find the wonder again
in your story
a follow it

May we find the mystery
and chase it

May we find the questions
and ask them

And may we find in all our travelling
a presence that loves
a grace that cares
a compassion that welcomes
and a place to grow

May we find our meeting place with you
and find you
restless to move us
into the world
towards our neighbours
and into a deeper relationship with you

So be it
Amen

Gathering

Welcome to church:
not a place,
but an invitation;
not a building,
but a way of engaging;
not a service,
but a way of serving;
not an institution,
but a path to adventure.

In this new year
let us gather
and welcome each other
make space of all
decide to love more
and break the rules of the world
with the generosity of the kingdom

And if anyone asks
‘why?’
or ‘how?’
or ‘what does it all mean?'
simply use Jesus’ own words:

Come and see