"Philip: Stepping Out" John 1: 45-48; John 12: 20-26

Philip is one of the disciples. although not one of the key leaders like Peter.  He would be in that group of disciples who are mentioned a bit  -- not as much as some, but more than others. If you search for all the stories in which Philip is mentioned, however, it might surprise you how often he is mentioned.  We did have a story about Philip a few weeks ago -- Philip was the one who met the Ethiopian eunuch and talked to him and baptized him.  But,perhaps to give credence to his minor character status, I accidentally referred to him as Peter a couple of times in that sermon.

In the story from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, Philip tells Nathanael about Jesus.  Nothing extraordinary or dramatic, just, "Here's the guy for whom we've been looking."  In the twelfth chapter of John, some Greeks are looking for Jesus and come to Philip. No big deal.  He finds Andrew, and they take the Greeks to Jesus. 

I am attracted to Philip because of how he simply helps people connect with Jesus.  No miracle.  No grand speech. He just subtly act as a conduit to Jesus.  In some ways, that mirrors how he dealt with the Ethiopian eunuch.  Teach, baptize, what else could he do?