The Importance of One

Introduction

Recap Series

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered. 47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered. 49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

Week 1 - Fishers of Men - We are all called to share the gospel

44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.

Week 2 - Healing of the Paralytic - What would you do to make sure that your one gets to Jesus

We make excuses, and we do not have faith that Jesus will actually change them

“Come and see,” Philip answered.

This week, The Importance of One

47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

We think of “one” as small and insignificant

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

who wants one cookie… How many people anymore actually stop and pick up just one penny

In our house, if you make pizza rolls, you have to make an extra one for Dad… its a rule

As disciples of Jesus, we often overlook the value of one...

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.

one invitation, one message, one card sent, one conversation had, one smile

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered. 47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered. 49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered. 47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered. 49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

PRAY!

Retell the story

Philip was one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who took off and followed Jesus

“Behold, the Lamb of God” and two of them followed. Jesus asked them what they wanted, they said where are you staying, he said come and see....

Later, Jesus goes looking for Philip, where we pick up in the story

isn’t it nice to see, Jesus went looking… and he asked Philip to follow him

Philip went after Nathanael… You get the sense that these two have had conversations about the coming messiah… when, what he would be like… how he would free his people… He doesn’t have to go into a discussion about who he is talking about

he gets questioned… you will get questions when you share the gospel. He doesn’t answer except with the same thing that Jesus had told Philip when he wanted to know where he would lay his head… “Come and See.”

Nathanael sees Jesus… Jesus reveals a little something about him… what it really meant nobody knows, but we do know that it hit Nathanael right where he was, and he believed… You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel

One call… One invitation… One salvation…

One Value

Something is only as valuable as what one is willing to pay for it

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

time

money

People like to look up the value of a car on KBB… it is great to have a website tell you what a car is worth, but if you cannot get somebody to pay you that much, it is not worth that amount…

I have a lot of baseball cards that I have given to Jimmy

they are sitting in a box, you can look up values on those cards, but that is meaningless if I cannot find somebody to actually pay that much.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

What is your salvation or relationship with Christ worth to you?

What are you willing to pay?

that is the test right, the value of it is set on what you are willing to pay for it…

Not what somebody says it is worth

talk is cheap, it is easy to say that it is the most important thing

not works salvation, but where does is rank in your life?

explain the difference

time?

current reading plan is one chapter of the NT per day five days a week… the average reader can do that in five minutes or less…

there are 1440 minutes in each and everyday… five minutes would be less than 1/2 percent of your day

if you sleep for 8 hours everyday, 5 minutes would barely over 1/2 percent

2017, the average consumer watched 3 hours and 58 minutes of TV per day… if that is true and you do the math… that comes out to a little over 2 months of your year watching TV.

I haven’t even started on your smart phone yet...

money? do we have to talk about that…

where do you spend it, what does your budget look like?

You can tell what somebody values by looking at their checkbook

Jesus thought your relationship was worth dying for…

Give gospel

He came to seek and save those who were lost… that is all of us.

He came to die… God demonstrated his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

We did not go to God… God came to us...

Jesus went looking for Philip v43

How does that work… he took the full wrath of God on himself that was due you. So that you can put on His righteousness and stand before the God of the universe clean

he did this for all that would believe

that means for the one who you are praying for their salvation

But how are they going to know if somebody doesn’t tell them

As soon as Philip was called… as soon as he knew that this was the Messiah… He has to tell Nathanael

One Day

List of projects that you want to do… one day

things at our house… of course there is a list

Heather has a list of things that she would like to have me do, things that she would like us to do together, things she would like somebody else to do because I am not the most handy guy...

I have a list of things that I would like to do at the house… one of the things has to do with a hot tub and an additional room

the things that will get done, will be the ones that we both want to do (by both I mean the ones she wants that convinces me I want too) and what we can afford to do

when we talk about these things we always say… One day

We view things in a short sighted way

when I say plans for the house I mean years away

like one day when the kids move out… I will put in a hot tub

seems like a long time -

goes fast

when we moved here, our oldest was a 5th grader

now she has a family of her own and I am a grandpa… you people are making me old

grand scheme of time, our life is a vapor

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

We must extend our vision

Kingdom minded, eternal vision

how easy it would have been for Philip to keep the news to himself and just be content following Jesus on his own

We should be looking forward to that one day that we are in heaven serving Jesus

we should be excited as much to be there as also who is there with us

but it will break our hearts when we know who isn’t there

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne:,am Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples,,an and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

Why does he have to wipe away tears in heaven

many believe because of Revelation 20

Great White Throne Judgment,

All the Dead were there, great and small, judged according to what they had done… the books were open.

And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

It will hurt when we see those cast into hell…

It will hurt more those that we see that we know… and even more those who we didn’t share the gospel with

it should hurt now!

One day… he will wipe the tear from every eye and there will be no more pain… One day… everyone whose name is not written in the lambs book of life will be cast into hell for all of eternity

One Challenge

There is a reason why I chose to do this sermon series now...

not because I needed something in the month of January, something to follow up Christmas

I wasn’t looking for a good reminder

I was looking for something to set the tone for the year

not a tone of me beating you up… which these haven’t been the easiest to listen to maybe

but to focus our church for 2020 on the gospel and sharing it with those around us

Being Intentional

We are now at the 12th of January…

How many of you have already failed at your New Years resolutions?

how many have already missed a day on your Bible reading plans…

we fail…

We are not going to just say that we are going to share the gospel and and expect that it will happen… we must set our mind to it.

the best way to do that, is to set your mind on Christ

keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If we keep our minds on Christ, the things that he has done for us, then we will always have the gospel on our lips…

the next thing we need is to be held accountable…

we have about 25 people that have committed to sharing the gospel with one person

tell somebody who that person is…

this is a lifestyle, not a month long sermon series before we move on to something else

Go and Tell

I have to tell you, a while back I asked a group of people about sharing the gospel… if they had, a few hands went up, I asked if they had shared it with anyone other than their kids… all the hands went down!

20% of churched people will invite churched people to church

2% of churched people will invite an unchurched person to church

Here is our challenge…

Invite an unchurched person to a meal

Invite an unchurched family to a meal

Invite an unchurched person to church

20% of churched people will invite churched people to church

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God—not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Our one challenge is not one thing I am asking you to do over the next year, our one challenge it to make this our lifestyle until we are face to face with Jesus!