CORINTH

-Sermon Notes-

January 18, 2026

 

“Ordinary? Come and See!”

(Psalm 40:1-11, John 1:29-42 )

     “Ordinary” season has arrived on the church calendar.  Sounds boring, right?  Yet in the early church this was season “ordinands” were being trained as they prepared to be baptized.  Thus, “ordinary” was anything but.  We are surrounded by items we deem ordinary, yet they are extraordinary.  Water is a prime example.  Water seems ordinary, but it’s an amazing substance in many ways. 

     David is thought to be the author of 76 of the 150 psalms in the Old Testament. In these psalms we find David alternating between crying-out to God for deliverance, and praising God for deliverance received. Today we find David celebrating (note verses 1-3, which speak of the Lord hearing David’s cry, while lifting him out of a “slimy pit.”) The psalm continues by describing David choosing relationship with God, much like the ordinands did in the early church.  Choosing this relationship produces not an ordinary life, but an extraordinary life used for God’s purposes.

     The passage from John features an early account in Jesus’ public ministry.  As John (the Baptist) continued to prepare the way of the Lord, he spotted Jesus while again proclaiming him as God’s chosen one, and the Lamb of God (see vv. 34, 36.)  Two of John’s disciples (ordinary fishermen,) one of them Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, approached Jesus.  Jesus asked the two “What do you want?” They replied “Where do you live?” (which in their context was another way of asking “Who are you? Jesus then invited them to “Come, and see.” (v. 39)  What was the result of their time with Jesus? Andrew sought out his brother, Simon Peter, and declared “We have found the Messiah!” (v. 41)  Due to this encounter and their willingness to accept Jesus’ invitation, these ordinary men became extraordinary indeed.

     Tomorrow is a holiday, as we commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.  Dr. King was born and raised in Atlanta under somewhat ordinary circumstances.  Trained to be a preacher, MLK Jr. would eventually graduate from college, seminary, then receive his PhD from Boston University before serving as pastor. Tomorrow we celebrate his life as we recognize how extraordinarily brave and wise he was while leading the Civil Rights movement. Look in the mirror.  Do you see ordinary? You are created in God’s image, holy, beloved, and extraordinary as we invite God’s working in our lives.  May it be so!