I read the three verses before the appointed gospel reading and they are important verses for me because my middle name is Andrew. You see I think this John's story about Andrew and Phillip, Peter and Nathanael. Andrew is pointed to Jesus by John the Baptist, and goes and follows him, the next instant possible (proton) zooming off to see his brother Peter whom he leads to Jesus.

[Hold on, I hear you say, weren't Peter and Andrew fishermen and don't Mark and Matthew say that they were in the boat, when Jesus called them. Yes that indeed is also true - we are left with two stories of the calling of Andrew and Peter and it is a good challenge to ask why, but not now!]

Given what we know of the character of Peter - brash, mature, strong, self-sufficientwere he alive today, would be unlikely to be swayed by a manic TV preacher, a missionary at the door with a copy of a magazine, or a dynamic website. But his bother, that was another thing altogether.

Then John's gospel tells us about Jesus calling Phillip and Phillip zooms off to find Nathanial, his sceptical friend who, left to his own devices, would have ignored Jesus simply because he came from Nazareth. Is there a pattern here that John is trying to tell us about.

Because of Jesus asking, the Spirit stirs Andrew and Phillip to follow, because of Andrew asking the Spirit stirs Peter to follow, because of Phillip asking, the Spirit stirs Nathanael to follow, because Eli is helping, the Spirit leads Samuel to God. They want to commit, to become a disciple.

I am off to Spring Harvest this year, and Joanna told me about last year, when she and two of our girls went. At one point there was a moment when individuals were asked to make a public commitment to Jesus and Harriet, the most unlikely of ours, did so. The Spirit stirred inside her and it made a difference.

All of them choose to follow because something is irresistible.

And in that instant Andrew turns from being a follower of Jesus, to being an apostle, one who tells others about Christ. And the candidate for engagement was his brother.

The same is true of Phillip. Called by Jesus to follow, he then says come and see to Nathanial having realised that something great was happening. Although he has to deal with the scepticism of Nathanael, - can anything good ever come from Nazareth. It is a scepticism that was as much there as it is today. I'm not coming with you to church because - and there are a hundred reasons - a thousand reasons. Too early, too Anglican, not Anglican enough, too cold, too hot, too English, too old, too quiet, too noisy...

Being both a Disciple and apostle are to what we as Christiansare called. As disciples we are disciplined followers of the King, we live our lives according to a code of conduct founded on love. We embrace a discipline of worship on Sundays, of prayer and the Bible. But we are not so heavenly minded that we are no earthly use, on the contrary we are required to live out that discipleship in the world and be effective bringers of goodness into the world.

We are also apostles - the best witnesses the world has. The absolute best witnesses. Why, because we are disciples and some people really value our words. Some movement of God's Spirit stirs within you to encourages you to be part of Christ's church. Perhaps you value the fellowship - that Christian friends are the best type of friends, perhaps you value the singing, the quiet, the words, even occasionally the sermon. Perhaps is it part of your DNA to want to be with God - and it sets you up for the week. That stirring is precisely the thing you need to tell. I love the Archbishop of York's comment that if he has not read the Bible in the morning it is like forgetting to clean his teeth. Maybe that is what is important about church to you.

We are the best witnesses, just as Andrew and Phillip were to Peter and Nathanial. It is those to whom we are brothers, sisters and friends that we can tell what this faith means to us, what church has for us, what Jesus has done for us, and then use the most wonderfully powerful words of all - Come and see. Amen