Take a Tip from Andrew
John 1:35-42
February 10, 2002
Introduction
Today, in line with what Brother Joe shared with us, I wanted to use our time together to expand on the theme of winning men and women, boys and girls, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the way, God used the Gideons to awaken my desire to see souls saved for His kingdom, and He allowed me to lead a number of people to Christ through my involvement.
I can’t recommend enough the ministry of the Gideons, especially if you are looking for a ministry to the lost.
I would like us to look at a short passage of Scripture that gives us a brief lesson on how we can reach some of our loved one for Christ.
And in doing so, my hope is that you will see the simplicity of reaching people, and more importantly, catch the excitement that sets the Apostle Andrew apart.
Please turn with me to John 1:35-42. If you are using one of the Bibles in the seats, this can be found on page 750.
By the way, if you are in need of a Bible, we invite you to take one of these in the seats. We want you to have a copy of God’s Word that is readable and affordable. They are free for you and we are glad to make them available.
In case you’re wondering, I got the idea for the church to provide these from my involvement with the Gideons.
Please follow along as I read the passage.
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39 "Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).
I. He looked for the Savior.
God had already been working in Andrew’s life. He was sensitive to his own need for a Savior, and that’s why he was hanging around John the Baptist.
He had been a disciple of John the Baptist, but look again at what happened, back at verses 37-38, when John pointed out Jesus:
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
Andrew saw that John was right, and turned his allegiance to the one the prophet pointed him.
And after he went to Jesus, he spent time with Him.
When Andrew and the other guy came up to Jesus, Jesus asked them what they wanted, probably to see if they were after something other than what Jesus had for them.
But they said, “Where are you staying?” They wanted to spend time with Him.
I think it’s human nature to want to spend time with people we admire. Unfortunately, sometimes we or our loved ones pick people who are admirable for all the wrong reasons.
But then we come across some people who possess qualities that you desire to be around.
Some in my own life include guys like Pastor Tim Purcell, from the Brookings Wesleyan Church, who has been my biggest cheerleader since being called to ministry.
He is wise and caring, and a great mentor. Pastor Ron Wickard is another guy I just can’t get enough time with. I just love him and his caring spirit.
I’ve mentioned Sam Crabtree about a thousand times since coming here.
Just two more and I will move on. Our District Superintendent, Isaac Smith, is another person I admire, and the thing I admire most about him is his leadership and vision.
And by the way, he likes what he sees God doing in the life of this church, and he is excited about what God will do through us as well.
The last person I want to mention is Mark Butcher, our Asst. District Superintendent. He is a great pastor to us pastors. He cares about us and he cares about our ministries.
He also has great leadership skills and vision.
He will be visiting our church and speaking here on March 10th, and you will not want to miss it, I’ll guarantee it.
And it wouldn’t hurt if you happened to mention that I played him up a bit today, okay? Alright.
But here’s my point: Just as we like to be around people we admire, Andrew and his friend saw the value of hanging out with Jesus.
And so he did. And that time with Jesus convinced him that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
And that realization moved him to his next course of action…
II. He shared what he found.
I love what verse 41 says here:
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).
I want you to notice something here:
Andrew didn’t go immediately to Bethsaida Wesleyan Seminary to learn how to witness to his brother, Simon.
He didn’t enroll in the next Evangelism Explosion seminar in town.
He didn’t call his pastor and ask for the latest evangelism technique to reach stubborn fisherman.
He simply went to Peter and said, “Look, you’re not going to believe this, but we have found the Messiah. Really! THE Messiah!”
You’ve got to come and check this guy out and see for yourself!”
He was so convinced about Jesus that he had to tell his brother immediately.
He didn’t spend a bunch of time going through all the theological arguments about how Jesus fulfilled the Law and the prophets, because he didn’t understand it all yet himself.
He simply brought Peter to Jesus, and Jesus did the rest.
There’s a lesson there, folks.
Many, if not most people, are afraid to talk to loved ones about Christ because they think they are not skilled enough.
But it’s our job to introduce people to Jesus and let Him do the rest.
How do we do that?
I’m so glad you asked! Let’s move on to the next section and look at some ways, shall we?
Oh before we go there, I want to point out that Andrew wasn’t the only one of the bunch to do this. We find a few verses after our passage here that Philip did exactly the same thing when getting hold of Nathaniel.
He went to Nathaniel and said, “We’ve found the one Moses and the prophets spoke about. Come check this out!”
Let’s move on to the…
III. Application
There are a number of ways we can easily introduce people to Jesus, but I want to focus on just a few.
The first is to use tracts that you can give out when the Lord opens an opportunity.
They are easy to give out, especially when you don’t have a lot of time to spend with someone.
I’ve placed a bunch of tracts on the blue table in the back. Let me describe them to you.
(Describe tracts)
Take some of these and pass them out as you find opportunity. Leave them with a generous tip at the restaurant or hotel.
Offer one to someone with an invitation to get together with that person in the near future to discuss it.
The second way to introduce people to Jesus is to offer to have me contact them. Get their name and phone number, telling them I will contact them as soon as possible to have coffee and talk about Christ.
I guarantee that I will follow up on that, and will keep you informed as to how the relationship goes.
The third way is to invite people to our church. You know that I will tell people about how to know for sure your going to heaven almost every Sunday.
And a great way to invite people to church is with our invitation cards, which we have printed up in the back.
They are funny, non-threatening, and have the gospel on the back, as well as information regarding the church on the inside.
Take these and use them.
You are probably aware that baseball season is about to start. I can tell that it’s been at the forefront of your prayer lives.
But even more important, the Easter season will be on us before we know it. In fact, Ash Wednesday is this week, and Lent begins.
I am hoping to start a campaign of attracting and inviting people to our church for what I hope will be one of the most special Easter services they have ever been a part of.
I have a number of ideas, and the board and I came up with a few more at the last board meeting.
Pray that God will use this Easter season and that service to draw many people to Him, okay?
Conclusion
Folks, we need Andrews. We need a bunch. More than we can imagine right now if we want to significantly impact our area for Christ.
We need all sorts of Andrews. We need young Andrews. We need middle-aged Andrews. We need grandma and grandpa Andrews. We need marketplace Andrews and Sunday School Andrews.
We need wealthy Andrews and not-so-wealthy Andrews. We need bold Andrews and timid Andrews.
We need all sorts. Ask God to first of all give you the confidence you need to introduce people to Christ, and then arm yourself with tracts and invitation cards so you will be “armed and dangerous.”
Brother Joe will tell you it’s easier to tell people about Christ when you are prepared.
Remember, your job is not to necessarily be able to explain everything, but to introduce them to Jesus and let Him do the rest.
Shall we pray.
