Building Spiritual Friendships
Notes
Transcript
Read: John 1:35-51
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
I want us to notice four people from our Bible reading tonight:
Andrew - one of Jesus’ earliest disciples from the town of Bethsaida, north of the Sea of Galilee. He was living in Capernaum working as a fishermen when Jesus formally called him to follow Him (which chronologically was after this reading) Before following Jesus was a disciple of John the Baptist - it was John’s witness introduced Andrew to Jesus. He is also known as James (son of Zebedee) or in Act 1:13 simply as James. Andrew frequently appears with Philip.
Simon Peter - Andrew’s brother who was with him fishing at Capernaum when Jesus formally called them to follow Him. They were both sons of Zebedee originally from Bethsaida. He was an apostle of Jesus Christ and of the three named pillars of the early church in Jerusalem. He is also called Cephas
Philip - Also from Bethsaida. It is interesting that other Gospel list Philip as one of the twelve disciples only John shows him talking with Jesus.
Nathanael - We don’t know much about Nathanael- other than he seemed to know Philip. Some believe he was also a fisherman and John 21:2 says he was from Cana of Galilee and calls him a disciple. This same verse tells us that Nathanael was with the disciples as Jesus made his post resurrection appearance by helping the wore out discouraged fishermen who had fished all night and he tells them to cast the net on the right side of the ship, and sure enough their net was full of fish. Some have argued that Nathanael is also known as Bartholomew - we aren’t really sure but he is not listed as Nathanael in the lists of The Twelve. He is however, listed as one of the disciples.
It was to these four along with seven others that Jesus gave the command
Mark 16:15 “15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
“The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.”
― J. Hudson Taylor
Long before Jesus ever said the words, “go ye” we have the story of two individuals who were already doing it - they were bringing people to Jesus.
I want to talk to us a little tonight about the importance of having the ability to do this.
Neither Andrew or Philip went to strangers. Some people can do that effectively and have some success at it. I do not seem to be gifted that way.
But these men already knew the one they invited to Jesus.
They had already built a relationship -
Dr. Bird at God’s Bible school taught us these four steps to building spiritual friendships: now this is not how to increase your social circle - this is building relationships with the intent to tell them about Jesus.
Building Spiritual Friendships
Church Growth Research in multiple polls: 70-90% of people come through the doors of the church via friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors.
Four Steps
Hang out together
Develop strong bridges of trust
Drop hints right away.
Identify yourself as a Christian
Look for open windows
Ask key questions and listen
Questions like:
Do you go to Church?
How would you answer the three great philosophical questions of life? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
What are your views about God?
Explain the Gospel when the opportunity is given
Get the message down so that you will do well when the time comes to share.
I want you to prayerfully ask God who you could do this for and with.
Ask God to bring an opportunity to you.
TARGET THREE
Instructions for the “Targeting Three Program”
1. Prayerfully ask the Lord to reveal to you 3 friends for whom He would have you pray and seek to win to Himself.
2. Pray daily for these 3 friends by name.
a. Set aside a definite time each day to pray for your 3 friends.
b. Pray specifically that the Lord will prepare their hearts to see their need of repentance and acceptance of Christ as personal Savior.
c. Pray for wisdom and for the leading of the Spirit--that you will be able to see that each person clearly hears the plan of salvation so they can respond with a “yes” or a “no” to the gospel.
d. Pray in faith, believing. Believe that God will answer your prayers, and save your 3 friends.
3. Look for opportunities to verbalize your faith each week with at least one of these friends.
4. As prayers are answered and/or new names come to mind, add new ones or adjust your target three.
“I now promise to pray for, and seek to win to the Lord, my three friends:
1. _______________________________
2. _______________________________
3. _______________________________”