A man said today at church during worship, I was standing next to two 7 year old girls that were worshipping God with me. One of the songs that was played had no instruments, so it was just the congregation singing to God. But I noticed something: A lot of people stopped singing right when the instruments stopped. It was right then when I noticed the most precious thing I’ve ever heard. One of the girls that I was standing next to was singing to God. It made me realize how much we all worry. "Oh no, the instruments stopped playing. Now everyone will hear me sing!" You see what I’m saying? The little girl next to me didn’t care who was listening to her; She was completely focused on God. I want to be like this little girl. I want to sing praises to God without the thought of "What if I mess up?” I want to be completely focused on God during worship and not worry about who’s around me. You know what else I realized? In our eyes, that little girl is a child. But in God’s eyes, so are we. No matter how young or old you are, YOU are God’s child, and He longs to hear your praises. Do you think God would reject your praises to Him just because you thought you couldn’t sing? Of course not! He created you and everything about you and it brings Him joy to hear your beautiful voice.
"What do you seek?"
Jesus had gone through being baptized by John. He was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan for forty day. As we come to the Scripture today John has given witness that he was not the Christ. The very next day he has two of his disciples with him and he sees Jesus coming.
John 1:35-42
We are given the name of one of the disciples as Andrew and from the book of John we can pretty well figure out the other one was John who wrote this book. We are born with a nature that makes us want govern our own ways rather than follow some one else’s. We had a daughter very much this way. At very early age she would pick out her own clothes and dress herself. I wonder has Jael let her parents say when it is convenient you can feed me or change my diaper or have a good night’s rest. We want our own way but we see two men here at the start who ventured out to follow Jesus. They made a choice to follow and not have their own way. We want to see this morning how disciples are made.
1. We see the demonstration of the power of Christ.
A. John gave simple statement “John 1:36 “And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" He did not preach a long sermon he simply made a statement. He stood up as he said this.
B. It was short message but was bold and powerful and caught the attention of two men that changed their lives.
There are four things that God wants everyone to know. Here’s what they are: 1. God is real. 2. Heaven is real. 3. Jesus is the way. 4. Don’t be afraid.
In JN 14 He begins with “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me”. It was like Jesus was saying to them God is real. He’s really here. He really cares. You can trust Him, and you can trust Me, too.”
2nd Jesus said heaven was real. “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am”. Jesus preached about the reality of heaven all the time. No other religion tells us the reality of heaven. Heaven is real, and it must be really extra special. Although God hasn’t told us everything that awaits us in heaven, He has told us what won’t be in heaven and that alone is worth it! There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. There will be no more night, and we won’t even need the light of the sun. The song-writer Keith Green said, “I can’t wait to get to heaven!” He said that if God took six days to make all that we can see here on the earth, imagine what heaven is like, because Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us and He’s been working on it for 2,000 years!
The 3rd thing Jesus told His disciples was how to get to heaven, because He didn’t want them or anyone to miss it. He said: “You know the way to the place where I am going.” ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’”. “If you believe in Me, put your faith in Me, keep on following Me, then you’ll end up in the same place that I’m going and that’s heaven!” Jesus wants us all to keep putting our faith in Him for everything in our life. That’s why He came to earth, to die for our sins so we could be free from them forgiven and be with Him forever. Jesus shared the 4th thing: Don’t be afraid. I’m sure He said it because He knew that they might very well be afraid. He knew that sometimes facing life is even harder than facing death, because of all the challenges that we have here. But Jesus reminded them of the same things that I’m reminding you. God is real. Heaven is real. Jesus is the way. You don’t have to be afraid. Always remember that God loves you, He cares about you and He will take care of you. He will watch over you, He will never leave you, and He will never forsake you. Don’t be afraid.
2. We see the display of committed people.
A. They acted in faith for it says they left John and started following Jesus. It is simple that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. They had been following John who was the greatest preacher in over 400 years to follow one that John pointed to. John had said himself, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” He preached Christ and not himself. The problem I find with many of us is that we are concerned about ourselves that we talk about ourselves more than we talk about Christ. The choice had to be made quickly for Christ would soon walk away. How we need to keep close to Christ so we can hear when He speaks to us. The Bible does not say that God needs to speak to us over and over again but I believe is very clear that when we hear we need to act.
Are we a caring and loving church? Three opportunities that came past us this last week and half. (For you reading this message by email you will have to write me to find out about this illustration, I am testing to see if you are really reading these messages.)
B. Now Jesus asks the question we all must answer. "What do you seek?" Jesus will test why we want to follow Him before He commits Himself them. He might be asking is it worldly honor and liking in that you want to follow me. Do you want to follow me so you can have some earthly gift? Are you seeking to be honored by Christ rather than honoring Him? If you want to follow Me you need to be seeking the only way to God, the Truth of God and the life of God. So we ask you today what are you seeking in wanting to follow Christ. The Bible says, “If any man would follow me, Let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” What are you seeking today?
When we take stock of our day-to-day actions there’s often a big gap between what we say we value, and how we spend our time, money and energy. Couples spend four times as much time watching television as they do talking to each other. Parents spend an average of four hours a day watching TV, one hour shopping, and six minutes playing with their children. And with each day lost, the gap widens. In the movie City Slickers, actor and comedian Billy Crystal stands before the children in his son’s school class and decides to teach them a lesson they are perhaps not ready to learn: ’Value this time in your life, kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have choices, and it goes by so quickly. When you’re a teenager, you think you can do everything, and you do. Your twenties are a blur, your thirties, you raise your family, you make a little money, you think to yourself, ’What happened to my twenties?’ Your forties, you grow a little potbelly, you grow another chin, the music starts to get too loud, and one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. In your seventies you spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate in soft yogurt and muttering, ’How come the kids don’t call?’ Any questions?’ If you sense a growing gap, between what you say matters most to you and what you are actually doing with your life, take action. Get radical if you have to, but seize this moment while you still have it. The call to love rarely comes with urgency.
3. We see the demand of Christ.
One day on the way home from church a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher’s sermon this morning confused me." The mother said, "Oh! Why is that? The girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" "Yes, that’s true," the mother replied. "He also said that God lives within us. Is that true too?" Again the mother replied, "Yes." "Well," said the girl. "If God is bigger than us and he lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?"
A. These two disciples wanted to know where Christ lived. JN 1:38 "where are you staying?" He replied, "Come along and see for yourself." They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.” John relates that it was four in the afternoon. They had to make a choice to follow Him. He might not pass that way again. Has God spoken to you this week? What did you do about what He said? MT 11:28 "Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.
B. Andrew went to find his brother Peter to bring him to Christ. He had not been with Christ very long but he knew he had to let others know. We have opportunities every day to share Christ. What are don with the greatest news there is for man kind? Andrew is known as a quiet disciple but he let himself be used of God to bring one of the most forceful disciples Peter.
Bill Crowder tells this story of how God will help us. Ps 46:10 says “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” As I sat in the dentist’s chair, I braced myself for the drilling that would begin my root canal. I was ready for the worst, and my body language and facial expression exposed my sense of dread. The dentist looked at me and smiled, saying, “It’s okay, Bill. Try to relax.” That isn’t easy to do. It is actually very difficult to try (requiring effort and exertion) to relax (requiring an absence of effort and exertion). Try and relax just don’t seem to fit together, not only in the dentist’s chair, but in the spiritual realm as well. Far too often I don’t limit my efforts of resistance to visits at the dentist’s office. In my relationship with Christ, I find myself not pressing for God’s purposes but for my own interests. In those moments, the hardest thing for me to do is “try to relax” and genuinely trust God for the outcome of life’s trials. “Be still, and know that I am God.” In the moments when my heart is anxious, this verse reminds me to “be still, and know.” Now, if I can only put that into practice and rest confidently in His care, I’ll be at peace. Lord, we know that true rest can be found only in You. Help us to end our striving and to trust that You will provide. In Your loving arms we find rest. Amen. God knows the future, so we are safe in His hands.
