"Real Disciples Catch Fish" Series

“Real Disciples catch Fish”

John 1: 35-42

When it comes down to sharing our faith I think there are two things that are pretty much true for all of us. First, every one of us want to see our friends and family come to know Jesus. I want to see everyone in this community come to Christ. That’s why we’re here. But unfortunately, a second thing is also true for most of us; many of us do not know where to start. Bill Bright, who is the founder of campus Crusade for Christ said this-in all the surveys we have done, all over the world, our research indicates that approximately 95% of all believers do not know how to effectively share their faith.

And for many of us it comes down to one reason. Fear.

• Fear we will say the wrong thing.

• Fear we will not know what to say at all

• fear that we may do more harm than good

• fear that we might offend someone

• fear that we will fail

But here is a truth we really need to understand and take to heart.

Every follower of Christ is called to share their faith.

God is responsible for the results. Not us.

Now look at the text with me. Verses 35-38. We know from our previous study of John’s Gospel that it was John who first recognized Jesus for who he really was. There was a period of silence between the writing of the OT and the NT. For 400 years, basically the prophets had not heard from God. Now John is preaching, reminding people that the Messiah is still coming... God has not forgotten about his people. Then John sees Jesus walking-out of the desert-and he then says those famous words-“behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Now it is the next day. You know that was Saturday, now it’s Sunday. This is how quickly this was catching on. Just 24 hours. Notice the reading of verse 35. There is a time for reflection. These were not followers of Jesus. They were followers of John. These are two of John’s followers. They had received John’s baptism. John has been telling them about the Messiah and now he’s about to say, hey this is the guy I’ve been telling you about-he has finally arrived and now I want you to meet him in person. Can you imagine?

Apparently the introduction worked out very well. They basically said, please to meet you Jesus and then the Bible says right then they followed Jesus. The groundwork for this decision had already been laid and they immediately became disciples/followers of Jesus. This was Andrew and another man named John. And obviously it was not enough for them to just hear about Jesus; they wanted a personal introduction. So they got one and then they began to follow him. Literally. They were walking behind him, following him-ever had anyone follow you? It’s a strange feeling-you want to turn and asked them, “Hey why are you following me?” And that’s kind of what Jesus does. Jesus turns to them and says “hey, what are you looking for?” If you have a red letter addition of Scripture then you may know that these are the first words Jesus spoke in the gospel of John and they are remarkable. The first words of his public ministry are in the form of a question... “What are you looking for?” There is perhaps not a bigger question Jesus could ask of us than this. What are you looking for? Today he would ask, why did you come to this service today? What are you looking for in life? It is a question he asks of every person who considers following him and he asks us today... What are you looking for? So in turn they answer his question with a question. Jesus where are you staying? Obviously they want to spend time with him. They want to talk. Can you imagine all the questions they must’ve had? These guys are sick of religion; especially the religion of that day. So it is as though Jesus says take a moment to reflect on that question and then it’s time for you to do something. Time to take action. Some of you here today who have been thinking of making the next decision, taking the next step to follow Christ or jump in deeper need to hear this... There’s a time for reflection; but there comes a time for action also.

Verse 39. There is a time for a decision. Jesus says, come and you’ll see. Take your time. Ask what you want; but do make up your mind! John and Andrew are apparently the kind of guys who don’t move quickly. They like to investigate. I can identify with that. I tend to make decisions slowly. Some of you are like that as well-people cannot push you or drive you to do something-it takes time for you to make a decision. So Jesus says to people like that…..it’s okay. Investigate me.