"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." --John 1:44-46
When the disciples first started to discover who Jesus was and Philip invited Nathaniel to "Come and See", I suppose they may have all felt like these divers in the picture above--excited, but not really sure how it will turn out.
Believe it or not, that's how a lot of people feel about visiting a new church. They're taking a chance on a group of people they know nothing about. This weekend, we'll be welcoming hundreds of people who aren't normally with us. We're inviting them to "come as they are" to church. That means that they can come with their normal everyday clothes, as well as with all their problems and hangups and be who they are at church.
Some people have said they don't feel they have nice enough clothes to come to our church. For that reason, I'm asking as many of us as possible to make sure people know they don't have dress up to be with us on Easter. Unless it goes against your conscience or your sense of what it means to be in the presence of God, I'd like to ask you to consider coming to church this Sunday "as you are"--don't worry about dressing up because it's Easter.
Obviously, if you've bought a special outfit for Easter for yourself or others in your family, I'm not asking for you to change your plans. I'm planning to come as I am; will you?
Let's make the leap into the unknown for all those who will be newly with us this Sunday as welcoming and socially comfortable as possible!