When Jennifer and I were first married we lived in Washington state between the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges.  It was AMAZINGLY beautiful . . . when it was sunny.  We had an apartment that looked out over the Olympic mountain range.  When the sun would set in the west behind the mountains they would seem to rise up majestically.  We loved waking up and seeing new fallen snow on the largest peaks.

Our second summer there, my parents came to visit for a week.  We had told them about the mountains and couldn't wait for them to see them.  We explained our view, described it, but it just wasn't the same as seeing it for yourself.  When they arrived we were socked in by drizzle and low lying clouds.  For the first five days of the trip it was that way.  Finally on day 6 they woke to the amazing beauty of the mountains.  I remember them saying "You weren't kidding!!  They are RIGHT there!  Wow!"

Some things can't be explained, they just need to be experienced.

That's what we talked about this past Sunday at The Journey at both our locations.  If you missed it you can catch up with the video RIGHT HERE!

Christianity has gotten a bad rap because what people think they should experience often doesn't match up to reality.  87% of people polled thought Christians were judgmental.  Jesus wasn't that way.  So, what happened?  Maybe it's that we forgot that people just need to experience Jesus & let him do what He wants in that person.  

We believe that our best life is found in relationship with Jesus & because He wants us to experience our best life He will take us as we are, but loves us enough to not leave us that way.  He'll begin a refining work in us that will begin to smooth out our rough edges and help us become the people that He wants us to become & that we've wanted to become our whole life.

So in our series:  Come and See we've been talking about that & asking all of us to participate in helping other people experience that.  We're not asking you to explain a bunch of things, but to help other people experience their best life.  How Jesus did that was simply inviting people to "come and see" what He was all about.  Some things just need to be experienced.  

So, who are you praying for that they would "come and see and experience"?  Pick up an invite card at The Journey this week and invite them to just come and see.  For more about inviting others in a loving, non-churchy way, check out our Core Essential:  Invest & Invite

I know we get nervous about this kind of thing, but aren't you glad the person that invited you, invited you?  Some things just need to be experienced & experiencing Jesus can change everything!

Paul Urban