The story of Philip the Apostle begins in John 1 with Philip being the first individual called by Jesus to follow him. Immediately after being told to “Follow me,” (John 1:43), Philip finds his friend Nathanael and declares that they have “found him about whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote.” (John 1:45) Philip’s actions here are a foreshadowing of how he will live the rest of his life in service to Jesus.
The story of Philip the Apostle begins in John 1 with Philip being the first individual called by Jesus to follow him. Immediately after being told to “Follow me,” (John 1:43), Philip finds his friend Nathanael and declares that they have “found him about whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote.” (John 1:45) Philip’s actions here are a foreshadowing of how he will live the rest of his life in service to Jesus.
In the story of the feeding of the five thousand in John 6, Philip responds that “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” (John 6:7) His response is often interpreted as doubting; however, it may also be suggested that Philip is just concerned with feeding these people who have come to Christ and has just realized that it will take a miracle to feed them. It’s not doubt, it is a realization in knowing who can feed these people in ways unseen.
I believe that Philip is able to respond in these ways because he has discovered his purpose. We are not given a lot of information about the life Philip before meeting Jesus, but whatever it was, he was not fulfilled. It was not until Philip meet Jesus that he was empowered with the ability to go and do what God had planned for his life.
This year, we are going to be highlighting one ministry area a month in hopes that you will find something that excites and interests you. We truly believe that if we promote and provide you with enough information that eventually one will come up that makes you say, “I can see myself helping there.” From there, we want to help you get involved and connected with that ministry. We are excited to partner with you as we continue to work on bringing more of the kingdom of God to our world.