Sermon Tone Analysis

John like Acts sees the mission of John the Baptist as “the beginning of the Gospel”.

John we must remeber, was not the LIGHT!

He came to bear witness to the light.

And the purpose of the witness was “that all might believe through him” (John 1:7).

This witness cannot remain a disembodied voice.

*The first response of the two disciples:*

All this talk from John the Baptist raises hairs.

Something catches their eye!

The repeated allusion to the Lamb of God focused the attention of John’s disciples on Jesus as the basis for the divine forgiveness of sin and for the assurance that their repentance would be accepted.

It stirred their interest.

Something is different about this one!

This dude stands out in a crowd.

They turn….

And they….*v.

37“ follow Jesus”.

*The most fundamental words in Christianity!

We shall see how this word follow, which---to begin with---seems to mean only a simple movement, a slight turn from the current path can change lives!

After following Jesus, He turns around and challenges their motives asking them what do you want?

He probed them to find out whether they were motivated by idle curiosity or by a real desire to know him.

That’s a pretty straightforward question.

The first words we here Jesus say in the Gospel of John “What do you want” He could have asked hey guys why are you following me, or what’s up?

*The second response of the disciples:*

Is a question “Where are you staying?”

Is all they are asking for an address?

No it is a courteous *request for an interview*.

In reply to Jesus asking them to come and see the two disciples accept the invitation and do just that.

In verse 41 we find that Andrew’s testimony shows that the interview in the proceeding hours must have been related to Jewish hopes and to Jesus Character.

Andrew is crying out we have found the Messiah!

It doesn’t mean Andrew knew what the Messiah was, it only means that Andrew felt this man Jesus was a good candidate.

The expectation of a national deliver was huge in Judaism in the first third of the first century.

Probably all of the disciples expected Jesus would fulfill their hopes for an independent kingdom and consequently political power for those who joined him.

That’s is probably one reason Jesus was checking their motives before allowing them to come to his house and interview him.

*The third response of the disciples*:

One named Nathaniel became distant.

Verse 46 The Messiah is from where?

The Jews despised Nazareth because a Roman garrison was located there.

Some have speculated that an distant attitude or a poor reputation in morals and religion among the people of Nazareth led to this comment.

But imagine if he had not gone to see Jesus because of this distant attitude.

If he would have not have investigated it further he would have missed the Messiah.

Don’t let people’s stereotypes about Christ cause them to miss his power and love?

Invite them to come and see who Jesus really is.

If you look at our text this morning you see that two of John the Baptist disciples hear and respond to his testimony.

This morning you have just heard the story of the beginning of the Church.

The same church we are apart of started right here in John 1:35.

It is in the response of the disciples this morning that we find answers on how we today can be contagious living testimonies of Jesus Christ.

The three responses this morning where first following after Jesus, second they requested more information, and third they became distant.

I believe as we begin our new ministry in the community of Newark Ohio we too will face what Jesus faced in winning our first disciples for Christ.

My hope is that we will be living our lives in a way like that of John the Baptist.

Preparing the Way, making straight, being able to be someone that stands out form the world in a workplace full of language and taking of God’s name in vain, We have got to be different!

In a home where physical abuse is rendered we should stand up to it and not accept it as the norm.

In a home full of hate, we are there to offer love.

At School we are different, our values, our morals, our faith in Jesus Christ must become a contagious faith.

If not we all have to check and see if we are truly making it possible for Christ to walk down the path we have just made.

Our lives make paths for non believers.

Our lives should be reflecting the life of Christ!

I know we all have bad days.

But we all need to remember sometimes our bad days are when people might actually start to notice how different we are with Christ in our hearts that even on Bad days we don’t take his name in vain we don’t use vulgarities, we don’t return hatred with our family situations, our work situation.

Our lives reflect what people will respond to.

We introduce Jesus to them just as John introduced Jesus to his disciples.

Will our lives be able to get the first response in the people of our community?

Will they say wait a minute what’s so different about you?

All this talk from John the Baptist raised hairs on the first disciples.

Something catches their eye! the Lamb of God, that’s what makes you different, Will your life lived out allow a  stirred interest.

Something is different about this one!

This dude stands out in a crowd.

Will the people we come in contact with turn….

And *v.

37“ follow Jesus”.*

Will they ask for an exclusive interview?

Will they because of the path God has allowed you the privilege to walk with Him in spark the request for more information.

Will you have the guts to do as Nathaniel did to stand up to the stereo type?

Imagine if he had not gone to see Jesus because of his distant, prejudicial attitude.

If he would have not have investigated it further he would have missed the Messiah.

Don’t let people’s stereotypes about Christ cause them to miss his power and love?

Invite them to come and see who Jesus really is.

People will say the church is full of Hypocrites and fakes!

Be different, Live your life fleeing from sin.

Constantly seek after the heart of God loving what he loves and hating what he hates.

Don’t let people’s stereotypes about Christ cause them to miss his power and love?

Invite them to come and see who Jesus really is and make them trust you because of yo0ur sincere love for God that is portrayed in your life.

This morning I have a feeling that we all have a time when we can say if would have done this different maybe this person would have come to the Truth, The Way and The Life.

All I can say to that is maybe so.

I know you can’t go back!

I wish I could go back but we can’t we can only change the future.

All I can ask is will we continue to allow our walk with Christ to be to bumpy to attract non believers.

In a community such as this could anything good come from it?

You bet it can!

All of us here have the ability to influence people for Christ!

/Leadership Magazine: /

From time to time we hear statistics about how people first came into church membership.

These figures trace back to the Institute for American Church Growth, which asked 10,000 people about their pilgrimage.

What led them in?

Answers were: Special need, 2 percent; Walk-in, 3 percent; Pastor, 6 percent; Visitation, 1 percent; Sunday school, 5 percent; Evangelistic crusade, 5 percent; Program, 3 percent; Friend~/relative, 79 percent.

Forgiveness was in the air Saturday, December 18th, 2004, in Boise, Idaho.

That's where a cross-denominational group of pastors gathered outside of city hall and sat at tables for three hours with checkbook in hand.

The members of the Treasure Valley Pastors Association proceeded to write checks to the city on behalf of those with unpaid parking tickets.

The much-publicized event called Grace Gift~/Paid in Full Project was not all that complicated.

To take advantage of the free offer, those with outstanding violations simply had to acknowledge their guilt by showing up and asking for the payment.

Up to $10,000 was earmarked for the unprecedented demonstration of forgiveness.

The money was raised from local businesses and was made available on a first-come-first-served basis.