The Great Adventure Series

The Great Adventure

Text: John 1:43-51

Introduction

1. Started out this morning

In the usual way

Chasing thoughts inside my head

Of all I had to do today

Another time around the circle

Try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible

And I read about me

Said, I'd been a prisoner

And God's grace had set me free

And somewhere between the pages

It hit me like a lightning bolt

I saw a big frontier in front of me

And I heard somebody say, "Let's go"

Saddle up your horses

We've got a trail to blaze

Through the wild blue yonder

Of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our Leader

Into the glorious unknown

This is a life like no other

This is the great adventure

2. The Christian life is not religion; it's an adventure!

3. In this great adventure...

a. Jesus Invites Us

b. We Invite Other

c. A New World Awaits Us

4. Let's stand as we read John 1:43-51

Proposition: Jesus invites us on a great adventure that will change us forever.

Transition: The first thing that happens on this adventure is...

I. Jesus Invites Us (43-44).

A. Come Follow Me

1. Many Christians when they talk about coming to Christ takk about things like "going on a search," or "finding Jesus."

a. In fact, I love the scene in the movie Forrest Gump where Lt. Dan asks Forrest, "How about you Gump, have you found Jesus?," and he replies, "I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him!"

b. You see, the whole idea of us looking for Jesus is contrary to what the Bible teaches, because according to Scripture Jesus comes looking for us.

2. This concept is expressed in v 43 which says, "The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.”

a. In the previous section Jesus is not said to have done anything to draw Andrew and the others.

b. They heard the Baptist's words and followed or were brought by one another. Here Jesus takes the initiative.

c. The name "Philip" is Greek (and means "lover of horses"). The other Gospel’s mention Philip in lists of the apostles, but give us no further information about him.

d. John brings him before us on a number of occasions. Each time he seems somewhat out of his element, and it is probable that he was of limited ability.

e. His contribution to feeding the multitude is the information that they could not be fed even with two hundred denarii worth of bread (6:7).

f. When the Greeks came to him asking to see Jesus he did not know what to do, and he had to consult with Andrew before bringing the men to Jesus (12:21-22). And it was Philip who asked Jesus in the upper room to show them the Father—that is all they ask! (14:8-9).

g. The fact that on this occasion he did not seek out Jesus, but Jesus went to find him may indicate some lack of initiative.

h. If so it is encouraging to reflect that Jesus went out of his way to find this rather limited man and to enlist him in the apostolic band.

i. Some of the apostles were undoubtedly men of great ability, but Philip compels us to realize that others were perfectly ordinary people. Jesus had (and has) use for such followers.

j. The verb "Follow" will be used here in its full sense of "follow as a disciple." The present tense has continuous force, "keep on following."(Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament – The Gospel According to John, 141).

3. An interesting comment happens in the next verse, "Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown."

a. Bethsaida, "house of fishing," was situated on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee.

b. The town is referred to seven times in the New Testament. "The city of Andrew and Peter" was the same as that of Philip.

c. It is very likely that Andrew, in his zeal for others to know Jesus (1:41), had been telling Philip about Him. This can explain Philip's ready response to Jesus (The Complete Biblical Library – John, 43).

d. It is interesting that John includes this comment for two reasons. First, the towns name means "house of fishing," is interesting because Jesus called them to be fishers of men.

e. Second, it is interesting because it was their home town. Jesus always asks us to reach those nearest to us first. While he calls us to go to the ends of the earth, he always asks us to go to those close by.

B. Unless The Father Draws

1. Illustration: In his best selling book called, "Into Thin Air," Jon Krakauer relates the hazards that plagued some climbers as they attempted to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders stayed at the peak too long and on his descent, he became in dire need of oxygen. Harris radioed the base camp and told them about his predicament. He mentioned that he had come across a cache of oxygen canisters left by the other climbers but they were all empty. The climbers who already passed the canisters on their own descent knew they were not empty, but full. They pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them but it was to no avail. Harris was starved for oxygen but he continued to argue that the canisters were empty.