FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
Jesus Calls His Disciples | John 1:35-51
What if you could be part of a community where spontaneous acts of faith lead to transformative experiences? At First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, we’re witnessing an incredible revival, marked by heartfelt stories from our recent women's conference and the joy of baptisms, both planned and unexpected. As we gear up for Baptism Sunday and Jersey Sunday, we invite you to join us in a celebration of faith and fun while wearing your favorite sports jerseys. We’ll share laughs over the curious origins of NASCAR and introduce our new sermon series, "Red Letters," diving into the profound teachings of Jesus.
Journey with us as we explore the radical call of discipleship, where Jesus invites everyone—not just the elite—to follow Him and bring others along. Reflecting on John 1, we delve into John the Baptist's powerful recognition of Jesus as the Lamb of God and how this reveals the inclusive nature of Jesus’ message. Through personal testimonies, we emphasize the transformative power of Jesus' life and encourage you to consider your role in sharing His message with the world.
Discover how seeking Jesus can lead to rest and fulfillment, highlighted by the story of Andrew and John, who longed for a deeper connection with Him. We’ll discuss how Jesus' invitation to “come and see” offers peace and purpose to those burdened by life’s challenges. By sharing personal stories and acts of kindness, we inspire you to lead others toward the richness of Jesus’ love. As we close this episode, we extend a heartfelt invitation to embrace faith in Jesus, guiding you through a spiritual journey of forgiveness and commitment, and welcoming new believers into our vibrant community.
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If you're excited to be in church this morning. It is so good to see you and everybody who is here. It's good to have you online for those who are tuning in, and we're just so thankful for all that God is doing in this revival that the Lord is doing here in our church and in our community. In fact, this past weekend last weekend was probably a week ago was probably my favorite weekend here yet at First Baptist Church, powder Springs, since my family has been here since we had our women's conference. Over 300 women registered, over 300 people in attendance. Last weekend we saw 14 people baptized. Three were totally spontaneous. Put your hands together for the way that God is moving. We're just incredibly thankful. We had another baptism this morning with Oriana and we have more people that are getting registered to be baptized. Some of you have come to us saying that you want to get baptized. I know we've got some more next Sunday, so we're very, very, very thankful. And even just last weekend we had 177 in our ministries from preschool to high school just last Sunday, and so we're just so thankful for what God is doing in our next generation. I think my favorite part about last weekend were just all of the baptism stories. Don't you just love life change stories, man? I love them. I love listening to people's their history, their background. I've got some more stories for you this morning, going to take some of those stories even deeper. So, just thankful for what God is doing in people's lives. I'm thankful for what God is doing in your life. I'm thankful for what God is doing in the life of our church. In fact, stories are so powerful. Revelation, chapter 12, verse 11, says that the evil one, satan, the devil himself, he is overcome by the blood of the lamb, by the blood of Jesus and by the word of your testimony. So we have created an email this past week that you can email at any time, and it is simply this. You can write it down. It is stories, stories at fbcpsorg, which is our normal email chain Stories at fbcpsorg. And you can tell us your story, what God has done in your life, and when it fits in a sermon, I would love to share that. I'll even keep it anonymous and try not to embarrass you. And so we just wanna give God all the glory for all that God is doing. So we are so excited about all that God has done in Baptism Sunday, next Sunday, super Bowl Sunday. We're going to have Jersey Sunday. Somebody say Jersey Jersey, we're going to have Jersey. So you can wear your favorite jersey of your sports team or whatever it is.
Speaker 1:Next Sunday, how many of y'all are going for the Eagles? Raise your hand if you're going for the Eagles. How many of y'all are going for the Eagles? Raise your hand if you're going for the Eagles, how many of y'all are going for the Refs? I mean the Chiefs? Go ahead, raise your hand right now. Very good, all right, we thought about giving away some Patrick Mahomes or black and white stripe referee jerseys for everybody next week, but we can't do it. But it's gonna be a great Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:We want you to wear your Georgia jersey, your Georgia Tech jersey, your Braves jersey, your Falcons jersey Might be. If you're an Ohio State fan, leave those jerseys at home, if you don't mind. Just kidding, just kidding. We're all jealous this year. Maybe you're like I'm not into ball sports, I'm more like into in the NASCAR. You bring your NASCAR shirt or jersey or whatever it is they call it. I don't even know. You know why they call it NASCAR. The first one got built right. The first NASCAR car got built and his redneck buddy looked at him and said that's a really NASCAR. You got there. So that's actually how they came up with NASCAR, right? Just in case you don't speak redneck. There you go.
Speaker 1:We need to pray. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we love you. God, you're so good. Thank you that we can have fun. Thank you that we can laugh in church. God, we just want to praise you, as you're such a good father, jesus. You're such a good Lord and Savior. Holy Spirit, you're such a good spirit that come and lives inside of us and we just want to proclaim, like we do every Sunday, that we are your people. This is your church, this is your word. We're going talk about your son. We wanna be filled with your spirit and God, it's all for your glory. Lord, we love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name. And everybody said amen.
Speaker 1:Well, we're starting a brand new series today that we're calling Red Letters. Did everybody say Red Letters, red Letters, your Red Letters in your Bible are those words? The Red Letters are those words. The red letters are the words that Jesus actually spoke, the words that Jesus actually spoke and I've heard it said before and I agree that every letter of all the Bible should be read, because it's all, ultimately, from Jesus and about Jesus. But the red letters are those that Jesus actually said, even though we believe in the authoritative word of every single letter and word of scripture.
Speaker 1:So, as we're looking at what Jesus really said, I know that often there are questions Well, what did Jesus really say? And out of what Jesus really say, what did Jesus really mean? And a lot of people think that they know what Jesus said and a lot of people really think that they understand what Jesus meant by what he said. But do we really? And right now we're just kind of moving through this mega series. We're talking all about Jesus. We started in December. We started from Jesus existing in eternity. Past, we worked our way to his birth, and now we last week we talked about his life and his ministry. This month we're talking about all of his teachings, what Jesus really said. Next month will be the miracles of Jesus. The month after that will be Easter, so we'll look at his suffering and his death and his resurrection and the month after that, what Jesus has called us to do since he rose from the dead, and so I'm really excited about all that Jesus is teaching us.
Speaker 1:But this morning, here's where I want us to focus. I want us to focus on when Jesus calls his disciples. Now I want you to notice I did not call the sermon when Jesus called his disciples, because I don't just wanna talk about the past. Let's talk about the past. Let's look at when Jesus called his disciples, because I don't just wanna talk about the past. Let's talk about the past. Let's look at when Jesus called his disciples. But let's remember that Jesus continues to call people to follow him. Today, jesus still calls his disciples.
Speaker 1:If you believe that, say yeah, he still calls his disciples. In fact, when you got saved, if you've given your life to Jesus, that's when Jesus called you to be his disciples. In fact, when you got saved, if you've given your life to Jesus, that's when Jesus called you to be his disciple. That's when you have followed Jesus with your life. And what does it mean?
Speaker 1:There's a lot of different definitions that a lot of different people can give of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. What does discipleship even really mean? Well, I think, if you break it down and boil it down into one statement, it is simply disciples, follow Jesus and bring others with them. Disciples follow Jesus and bring others with them. In other words, who is it that you are following in your life? Because the way that God created you is the way that God created everyone. The way that God wired you is the way that God wired everyone that you were created. I was created so that we would desire to follow someone, something, some ideology, some desire, some dream, some outlook, some goal, some agenda. So the question is who is it or what is it exactly that you are following with your life, and what type of difference are you making? Because everyone wants to make a difference in some way, shape or form. And so Jesus is saying hey, who are you supposed to follow? Jesus says me. And what difference are you supposed to be making? Bringing others with you so that other people would follow him too. So we're going to jump in.
Speaker 1:We're going to dive into John chapter one right now, the gospel of John. Turn to John, chapter one. We're going to start with verse 45. And the first point this morning is we need to follow Jesus to be his disciple, to be his disciple. In other words, if Jesus called us to be his disciples, that means that he is calling us to be saved, to be forgiven by him, to have a relationship with him. Why? Because he loves you, because he created you, because he died for you, and so I've often heard it said that every Christian's number one question is how do I know that I'm really saved? How do I know that I'm really saved? And we're gonna look at that this morning and maybe for those who are watching, or maybe for those who are here, or maybe this is for someone who's not yet here that God is calling you to share this with somebody. Here's the way that he starts in John 1, verse 35, to follow Jesus to be his disciple. Verse 35 says the next day, john was standing with two of his disciples. We're talking about John the Baptist. John the Baptist, during this time in Jesus' day, he was the most popular revival preacher of his time. He had hundreds, if not thousands, of people listen to this, travel by foot 20 to 80 miles, some three, four, five day journey out into the middle of the wilderness where the Holy Spirit was leading them, just to go and hear John the Baptist preach and just so they could be baptized by John the Baptist. So John the Baptist is standing there on this day with two of his disciples.
Speaker 1:Disciples were kind of like interns. So basically what would happen is the Jewish boys would be Jewish boys and girls would be raised in school. And then history tells us that as they get older, the sharper ones, the brighter ones, the smarter ones would move more and more towards this becoming a disciple of a rabbi. History tells us that when the little boys become 15 years old, only the brightest, only the sharpest, only the smartest would even be considered. In fact, the 15-year-old boy would choose his own rabbi, kind of like applying to be his disciple. So they would walk up to a rabbi I would like to be your disciple. And the rabbi would say well, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna test you, I'm gonna quiz you, I'm gonna see if you are worth. The rabbi would call it carrying my yoke upon you, meaning can you understand, can you learn, can you memorize the interpretation of my law? And so they would go through this interview or this application process and only those who would pass the test would become a disciple of the rabbi, and everyone else would just go off to their trade. So this is what we're looking at, as they are following John the Baptist with their life.
Speaker 1:Now, I think it's interesting that they're following John the Baptist, because we look in verse 36. Look in verse 36. It says and John looked at Jesus as he walked by. And John just simply said behold the Lamb of God. Now that word behold actually doesn't sound like much, but it's a power-packed word. It means to look, to cast your attention upon, to intentionally see. It's an imperative command Behold him. It's a call to spiritually perceive an expression of urgency or, right now, there he is, look at him, discern who he is. And it signaled significance. In other words, this is the one, this is the lamb of God.
Speaker 1:John is saying this is the one I've been telling you about, as John even said earlier. He said behold the Lamb of God who had taken away the sins of the world. As John said earlier, he ranks before me. As John said earlier, I'm not even worthy to untie his sandals. In other words, john is saying I am nothing, he is everything. Behold, it's the Lamb of God, the one who has come.
Speaker 1:John is saying, the one that all the Old Testament writers and prophets have prophesied about. The one has come. He has come from heaven and he's come to be sacrificed for your sin. He's come as the Passover lamb. He's come as the sacrificial lamb. And don't you know it? Jesus didn't just come as a lamb to be sacrificed. He came, the Bible says, as a lion to be resurrected. He's the lion and the lamb. Behold the lamb of God. Put your hands together right now for Jesus. He is the lion and the lamb. Now for Jesus, he is the lion and the lamb. Now. I love this.
Speaker 1:In verse 37, it says the two of his disciples heard John say this and they just started following Jesus. In other words, they dropped John like a bad habit. In other words, they went into the disciple portal, transfer portal. They started playing for the goat. Can I get an amen, right? I mean, these guys were like hey, and John is not bothered by this at all, because ministry for John is not about John. Ministry for John is all about Jesus.
Speaker 1:In other words, what John is saying, here's the one I've been telling you about. You don't need to follow me anymore, you need to follow him. Follow Jesus with your life, because here's what the disciples would do of rabbis. The disciples of rabbis in this culture would literally leave their homes, leave their families, leave their belongings, leave everything, and they would go and follow these rabbis for some three years and they would stay where they stayed and they would go where they go and they would go and follow these rabbis for some three years and they would stay where they stayed and they would go where they go and they would learn what they taught and they would take notes and they would literally emulate their life after their rabbi, what they taught for them. And that's what the disciples are saying we have found the one to learn from, we have found the one to live like.
Speaker 1:And all John had to say was behold the Lamb of God. Wouldn't that be nice. You got some friends, you got some family members that you would love to be saved. What if you just walked in their house? Behold the Lamb of God, jesus, be saved by him. Poof, and you're saved. If only it was that easy. But listen, I do want you to see that this is the power of the Holy Spirit through the power of the gospel.
Speaker 1:Romans, chapter 1, verse 16, says that I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. In other words, we share the gospel with others, we tell the gospel to others, we present the gospel to others, we teach them the gospel and we don't know when they will believe, but we know that that is their only opportunity to believe. If you believe that, say yeah, their only opportunity to believe is when we present the gospel to them. John didn't want the glory. John didn't want the disciples. He himself was a disciple of Jesus and he wanted them to follow him verse 38. I love this.
Speaker 1:So Jesus turned around and he looked at those two that started following him. In other words, jesus didn't just turn his back to them and just keep walking and ignore them or think they're less than or not worth his time. He's too important, he's too busy, he's got too many things on his mind. No, jesus turned around. Jesus saw him Because Jesus loved them.
Speaker 1:Jesus turned and he saw them following him and Jesus said this is such a profound question what are you seeking? See, jesus knows something very deeply about the human heart that he created, that we all have this hole in our heart that we are always trying to fill and we're always seeking what we think will fill that heart. In fact, I can break it down for you we actually talked about it last week and go back and listen to it, and it's normally one of three things. It's either happiness, wealthiness or significance. Either you just want to be happy, you just want to be joyful, you just finally want peace in your life. Or maybe it's wealth, like you just want to have whatever. You want to have life. Or maybe it's wealth Like you just wanna have whatever you wanna have. Or maybe it's significance you just wanna be loved, you just wanna be known. You just wanna be valued, you just wanna be cared for. It's often one thing, sometimes it's all three.
Speaker 1:Jesus is saying what are you seeking? In other words, here's what Jesus is saying Whatever it is that you are seeking in your life to fill that hole, jesus is saying I'm here to tell you, I'm the only one that can fill it. I am the only one that ends your search for satisfaction. I'm the one that can bring you joy. I'm the one that can give you true, heavenly, eternal treasures. I'm the one who can make you to be who you were created to be. Jesus said what are you seeking?
Speaker 1:And they said to him rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? And I love this because they called Jesus their teacher. In other words, they were saying Jesus, we just want to learn from you. We want to learn about life. We want to learn about truth. We want to learn about you. We want to learn about ourselves. We want to learn about. We wanna learn about you. We wanna learn about ourselves. We wanna learn about the world. Jesus, you are our rabbi. You teach us all things. You're the great rabbi, you're the great prophet. You're the only teacher that we ultimately need.
Speaker 1:And they said where are you staying? I love that, notice. They did not say where are you going, because they didn't just want to go where he went. They said where are you staying? They're saying, jesus, we want to stay with you, jesus, we want to be with you Morning, noon and night. We just want to be in your presence and we want you to be with us, jesus. Can we go? Jesus, can we just be with you? It's not about everything that you give or it's not about all that you do, it's not all about your blessings, it's not all about your gifts, jesus. It's just about you. Jesus, can we just go to where you're staying? And Jesus said to them and I love this he just simply said come and you will see. In other words, here's what Jesus says to them here's what Jesus has said to you and here's what Jesus says to me. He just says I just want you to come, I just want you to see. In other words, jesus didn't just start breaking down a theological lesson for them. He didn't just start teaching them the entire Bible in that moment. Jesus didn't just take them deep into systematics and biblical theology. What Jesus did is Jesus said I just want you to come with me and I want you to see, I want you to watch me, I want you to be with me, I love you, I just want a relationship with you. Jesus is saying I just want you, I want you to come and see. So they came and they saw where he was staying and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the 10th hour.
Speaker 1:One of the two who heard John speak and he followed Jesus and Jesus follow Jesus was Andrew, simon Peter's brother. The other one was probably the apostle John, who's writing the story right here. And when we look at this, when we see this, the questions that we have to ask ourself is am I really following Jesus with my life? Is Jesus what I want, or am I just wanting the things that he says that he will give, or sometimes what happens in life. We love the things of Jesus, so we get caught up in the things of Jesus and we start following around other people of Jesus and maybe we read authors and we listen to preachers and we sing songs, but then we go home and we actually never personally follow Jesus with our life. Notice how they even left a spiritual teacher, john, because they needed to follow Jesus for themselves.
Speaker 1:One of our people that got baptized last week. His name's Blake, and I shared a little bit about Blake's story, how he is coming out of 25 years of agnosticism. I'm just so proud of him and he was telling me. We went to lunch just this week and he was telling me a little bit more about his story. And here's what is just so fascinating to me about his story that even when he was going through the season this 25 years, couple decades and a half of agnosticism, even in the last year or so, in the midst of his agnosticism, he was open Like God, I'm not sure that you're there. Agnosticism means I don't know that there is a God. Agnosticism means I'm not sure that he's real, I'm not sure that he's true, but Blake just wanted to make sure that he was open to God if God wants to speak to him. And so here's what interesting was Blake was coming to church with his family, his wife and his three kids, every single week.
Speaker 1:Blake was even reading his Bible almost not perfectly, but reading his Bible, reading through the Bible with us almost on a weekly basis. Blake and I we probably went out to lunch three or four different times. He was even willing to talk to the pastor. He was willing for me to ask him questions and for us just together to have these conversations. In other words, blake was making himself available for God to do the work in his life.
Speaker 1:And on December 22 of 2024, that morning we were talking about the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus, and God speaks to Blake, and Blake gives his life to Jesus out of agnosticism into faith in the gospel. Put your hands together for what only God can do. In other words, this is what Jesus says. He said this later on in the gospels. He just said come to me. Or, in other words, what he's just telling you this morning is just come to me All who.
Speaker 1:Other words, what he's just telling you this morning is just come to me All who labor and are heavy laden. Does your life just feel like work? Are you exhausted? Are you tired? Are things difficult for you? Is your life heavy? Is it hard?
Speaker 1:Jesus is saying I see you.
Speaker 1:Jesus is saying I just want you to come to me. I wanna help you, I wanna make your burdens light. He says I will give you rest, and this isn't just physical rest. Watch the rest. He says I want you to take my yoke upon you, as those rabbis would say hey, I've got a yoke that you take upon yourself to see if you can keep up with what I'm teaching you.
Speaker 1:The rabbis would say only if you're the best, only if you make it through the test, only if you're the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. But that's not what Jesus says. Jesus says my yoke is for everyone. And he says that my yoke you can learn from me. Why? Because I'm gentle and I'm lowly in heart and you will find rest, not just for your body, but even a deeper rest, a more important rest. Jesus saying you come and follow me and you're gonna find rest for your very soul.
Speaker 1:Jesus is saying everybody is welcome, everybody is welcome. You don't have to be the brightest, you don't have to be the brightest, you don't have to be the sharpest, you don't have to be the smartest. In fact, you can be the one who is struggling the most. Jesus is saying you can be the one who is the farthest away from me, you can be the one that you did never even realize that I was there. And Jesus said come to me and I will save you and I will give your soul rest, I will forgive you of your sin, I will give you life in the life that you were created to be. In other words, if you have not yet given your life to Jesus, what do you do? You follow Jesus for your salvation. You just say Jesus, I want you to be my Lord and Savior. Jesus, I believe that you died for my sin. Jesus, I believe that you rose from the dead. You're alive and Jesus, I just wanna follow you, be the Lord of my life. And if you have been saved, would you say that your life is following Jesus, with your life? Because that's what he's calling us to do not only to be saved, but also because we are saved, because we follow Jesus, to be his disciple, but also number two. Once we do that, then we find others as his disciple. In other words, if you are his disciple, then what do we naturally do? We just wanna find others for Jesus.
Speaker 1:I love the statement that says found people, find people right. Once Jesus finds you, you can't help but find others for him. It's kind of like when you read a great book, you get done with it, and what do you do? You give it to somebody else. You want them to experience it. Or you go to an amazing restaurant and what do you do? You want to take somebody else with you so they can pay for you, amen. Or maybe you saw a great movie right, you saw a great movie and you want to show them that movie. You experience something for yourself and you want others to experience it for them too. That's exactly what happens when we follow Jesus with our life. When we find Jesus, what do we wanna do? We wanna find others so that they can find him too. Watch how this plays out.
Speaker 1:Here we go in verse 41. It says and he first Andrew first found his own brother, simon. In other words, who do we go to first? We go to those who are closest to us. We go to our loved ones. He went to his brother, simon, and he said we have found the Messiah, which means the Christ. He just told him look, I have found what I've been looking for. I have found the answer of my life. I have found the one that has promised to change my life. I have found the one that it makes sense of all of my life. And Andrew went and found his brother, simon Peter. Now here's what's interesting Peter ended up becoming, he got saved. He gave his life to Jesus. He ended up becoming the head of all the disciples. You would think that it was Peter who found Andrew, but that's not how it works. Andrew found Peter for Jesus.
Speaker 1:In other words, when you share the gospel with someone, when you share your testimony with someone, when you share your testimony with someone, you have no idea what God wants to do in their life. Can I get an amen? You have no idea what God's going to do through them. Their spiritual life might even supersede yours. And so we share the gospel with everyone, because we know that God's heart is to save absolutely everyone.
Speaker 1:He says in verse 42, and Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. I love it. Andrew did not say Peter, simon, peter. Let me tell you about Jesus and when you believe in him, then I'll bring you to him. No, before Peter believed in him, andrew brought him to Jesus and Andrew said Peter, here he is, here's the one I'm talking about. This might be if you're witnessing to someone, you're sharing the gospel with someone. It might be that you open up the word of God before them and say this is what I'm talking about and you let God begin to speak to their heart through his word. Or it might be that you bring them to church because the Bible says the church is the fullness of Jesus and they get to experience the worship of God, they get to hear the word of God, they get to be around the people of God, they get to hear the miracles of God, they get to see right in front of them the love of God, and so often then people get convicted to believe in God with their life. That's what he's doing. He's bringing him to Jesus and Jesus looks at Simon Peter I love this and Jesus is Simon, the son of John. In other words, when we bring someone to Jesus, jesus begins to speak to them and Jesus reveals to them who he is. And Jesus reveals to them who they are.
Speaker 1:Simon, I know exactly who you are. I know who your dad is. I know where you're from. I know what you've been through. I know what I can do in your life. I know who you're going to become. In fact, your name is Cephas, which means the rock. Cephas is Peter the rock, like WWE is what he was calling Peter. I'm gonna start calling you the rock, bro. You ever notice how nicknames are often the opposite of the person? Right? If someone's huge, what do you call them tiny? Someone's small, what do you call them big man? Right, peter was probably someone who was very weak and Jesus was saying Peter, you may be weak, but I am gonna make you strong. In fact, I'm gonna go ahead and call you the rock, because I know who I have saved you to become.
Speaker 1:Verse 43 says the next day, jesus decided to go to Galilee and he found Philip and he said to Philip follow him. I love it. The gospel never stops. We keep finding people and Jesus keeps saving people. We keep finding people and Jesus keeps saving people. We invite people and we share with people and we present the gospel to people and then Jesus speaks to them and Jesus says I want you to follow me and I want you to follow me and I want you to follow me and I want you to follow me.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you're watching the news, I don't know if you're seeing it on social media, but there are a lot of people who are giving their life to Jesus right now. There's a lot of people in colleges. There's a lot of people in universities. There's a lot of people on college football teams. Man, there's a lot of people everywhere that are giving their life to Jesus. Jesus is calling people to follow him.
Speaker 1:It says in verse 44, now, philip was from Bethsaida. Bethsaida was a fishing town. It's where Andrew and Peter were from. In other words, all these guys knew each other. They're all fishing buddies. So they're sharing Jesus with their brothers. They're sharing Jesus with their family. They're sharing Jesus with their brothers. They're sharing Jesus with their family. They're sharing Jesus with their buddies. They're sharing Jesus with their friends. Man, they have found Jesus. Man, they are telling and inviting and sharing with everyone about what Jesus is doing in their life.
Speaker 1:And then, after Philip starts following Jesus, philip then goes and finds Nathanael and said to him we have found him, of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Notice, they all say something different about Jesus and people just keep following. You know what I see and people just keep following. You know what I see. They just tell people about who Jesus has become to them. John the Baptist says behold the Lamb of God. Andrew says it is the Messiah. We found him, the Christ. Philip tells Nathaniel. He says it is the one that all of the scriptures have written all about. In other words, you just share with people who Jesus is to you and share with them the gospel and watch what Jesus does in their life.
Speaker 1:So when you're sharing the gospel as I already mentioned before that Romans chapter 116 says that it is the gospel I am not ashamed of the gospel, why? Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for anyone who believes. So he talks about the power. Everybody say power. The power of the gospel is unto salvation Power, p-w-r, p-w-r. It starts with the person of Jesus. Everybody say person. No matter how you tell them, the gospel has to involve. An essential element of the gospel is the person of Jesus. He is fully God and he is fully man. And then we see the W in power the work of Jesus, everybody say work. His work is his life, his work is his suffering. His work is his death. His work is his suffering. His work is his death. His work is his resurrection. In other words, this is who Jesus is and the work is what Jesus has done. And then the response to Jesus Latasha.
Speaker 1:I just gotta brag on Oriana for a second. You know, yesterday she said I wanna get baptized. And she said I believe that Jesus died for me and I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I believe that Jesus is God. We asked her all the first two questions yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I just love how genuine and honest your daughter was. And I said Oriana, have you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins? Have you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins? Have you asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life? Have you asked Jesus to come into your life and to save you? No, I haven't yet. Would you like to? Yes, I would. There's something about when we tell people about Jesus. We don't just tell them. We also invite them to believe. We also invite them to be a part of what God is doing, so they can see it for themselves.
Speaker 1:In conclusion, nathaniel said to Andrew can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him come and see why Nazareth you ever thought about this? Nazareth was an insignificant town. Nobody knew anything about Nazareth, because there was nothing to know about the town of Nazareth. It was so small. Why in the world would the Messiah of the world come out of Nazareth? I'll tell you why. Because if Jesus comes out of a nowhere town, he can save nobodies like me and he can save a nobody like you and he can save a nobody like everybody. Why? Because Jesus loves to make nobodies into somebodies, because that's who Jesus is and that is what Jesus does. And Nathaniel just said to him bro, if you don't get it, you just got to come and see. Or, as we might say, you just got to read this, or you just got to come and see for yourself. Maybe God will speak to you like God speaks to me.
Speaker 1:And Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and he said of him behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no deceit. Jesus is saying Nathaniel, you're perfect, you don't need to be saved. He's not saying that. He's not saying Nathaniel, you've never lied, there's no falsehood in you, you don't need me. No, here's what Jesus is saying. I see you and you want the truth, you want the real thing, nathanael, you are sincere, nathanael, I'm gonna do a work in your life.
Speaker 1:And Nathanael said to him how, jesus, how do you know me? Jesus answered him even before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. In other words, jesus is saying I created you, I made you, I know your every move, I know everything that you've done, I know everything that you've been through, I know exactly what has happened, occurred in your life. And Jesus says I love you and I wanna save you and I wanna do a special work in your life. Nathaniel answered Jesus and he said Rabbi, I think this is the moment of a salvation Teacher or Lord, you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel. And Jesus answered him because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree do you believe? You're gonna see way greater things than these? Jesus said, just because I knew where you were, you're gonna believe in me. Then he said just wait, what's coming next? Jesus looked at him and said truly, truly, I say to you you will see heaven opened, the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man. In other words, you know what you're going to see, nathaniel. You're going to see me die. You're going to see me buried and you're going to see me rise from the dead. And you're going to see me rise from the dead and you're going to see me ascend to heaven and you're going to see the gospel right before your eyes. You follow me and you believe. You're going to see things that you couldn't even comprehend, and the same is true for you and the same is true for me.
Speaker 1:When we follow Jesus and when we find people to follow Jesus, we get to see Jesus change their life. We get to see Jesus save them. We get to see Jesus baptize them. We get to see them come into the life of the church and come into our community and come into our worship and join our groups and to get a part of the discussion, so that Jesus starts to do in them what Jesus is doing in us. And we get to see this miracle of Jesus changing the world. The Bible says through his church. We get to experience this. In other words, mark, chapter 1, verse 17, says Jesus said to them follow me and I will make you fishers of men or fishers of people, Found people find people.
Speaker 1:So what do you do for those people that you aren't witnessing to? What do you do for those people that you love and you want them so bad to believe in Jesus? You want them so bad to give their life to Jesus. You want them so much to finally just to give it all over and let him save them. Number one you pray for them because only God can do the work. Number two you just keep being kind, you just keep loving on them. You just keep softening their heart, showing them the love of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Number three you ask them questions. What are you seeking? How are you doing? What do you need? How can I pray for you? How can I serve you? Number four you just talk about Jesus. If they won't listen, you just talk about Jesus in your life and you attribute everything to Jesus that happens in your life. Number five you continue to share with them your testimony, what Jesus is doing in you. Number six Lord willing, one day you pray for the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus with them, to be saved, and then you invite them. Do you want to believe in Jesus right now? Do you wanna give your life to Jesus If they're not ready. Do you wanna come to church? You can see this for yourself, all that God is doing.
Speaker 1:So my last question is for you this morning Are you following Jesus to be his disciple, and are you finding others because you are his disciple? Can I ask us just to bow our heads and close our eyes, with every head bowed and every eye closed this morning? I just want to encourage you right now that maybe you have given your life to Jesus, maybe you are his disciple. You are following him with your life, but you're just reminded this morning that you need to follow him all the more, that your life comes down to following him and maybe you've gotten off course. The Bible says that Jesus meets you where you are and all you need to do is repent and turn and start continue following him again and start continue following him again. Maybe those names and those faces and those people are deeply on your heart right now and you're just asking Jesus. Jesus, help me to witness to them, to share with them, to help them to come to belief in you. I wanna encourage you to pray for them right now. Pray that God would continue to use you to find others for him.
Speaker 1:And maybe you're here this morning and you haven't yet really fully, truly, given your life to Jesus. I want to help you with that right here, right now. You can do it right now. You want him to forgive you, you want him to be your Lord, you want him to come into your life, you want Jesus. I can't save you and I can't pray this for you, but I can lead you through this prayer and if you mean it with all of your heart, you can pray it and God will save you right here, right now.
Speaker 1:You can tell Jesus right here, right now. Jesus, I need you, jesus, I believe in you and Jesus, I wanna follow you From your own heart and your own words. And you can tell him Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. And you can ask him Jesus, would you forgive me of all of my sin, past, present and future? And he will, right here, right now. You can tell him Jesus, I believe that you rose from the dead, you're alive, you're real and I give my life to you and I ask you to become the Lord of my life, my God, my Savior, my leader. I just wanna follow you, and the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. God, we believe that. We thank you for that truth. We pray that in Jesus' name, and all God's people said put your hands together this morning for anybody that gave their life to Jesus. We just want to say welcome to the family. We pray that in Jesus' name, and all God's people said put your hands together this morning for anybody that gave their life to Jesus. We just want to say welcome to the family. We love you. God is so good.
Speaker 1:I want to remind you that there is a next step card in front of you. You can fill that out. You can indicate on the card you want to give your life to Jesus. You want to get baptized? You want to join the church? Maybe you want to find a group or a ministry to be involved in? You can do that. You can bring it up to me, put it in any of our black boxes or take it to our Next Step station. I'll remind you about our Next Step lunch after this.
Speaker 1:As of right now, let's just stand. Let's worship Jesus. Let's follow him as we worship him. Let's worship him as we follow him, and we're going to give him all the praise and all the glory and all the honor. Because Jesus looked at you and he said come and see, follow me. Heavenly Father, we love you. God, we pray in Jesus' name, lord, that you would just move within our worship right now. May your spirit move, god. May you speak to us. God, may you continue to do a work in our hearts and our lives. God, may we just pour out our worship to you in gratefulness and gratitude and thankfulness for all that you have done in our life. Jesus, we gladly follow you, we love you in Jesus' name. And all God's people said