Sermon Tone Analysis

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This morning from the Gospel of John we are going to take a look at what the witness of Andrew can teach us for our own lives.

And what it means for us we will see that one of these men that John is about to tell us about is Andrew in verse 40.

So here is what it says in verse 35

Andrews Experience

He stood in the midst of John’s preaching We see that in verse 35 that he was standing there listening, making himself available to what John had to say about the Messiah.

Many believe that Andrew had made himself a follower of John and was walking around hearing what he had to say and had come to have a desire and thirst for the truth John was speaking about the Messiah that was to come.

And his heart was in a place where he was ready to hear what John had to say that could lead him closer in that experience.

The hope this morning is that is why you are here, you are making yourself available to hear what God wants you to hear about his his son this morning.

IT isnt that you are coming out of habit or because you feel like you have to but, you are coming because you want your hear attuned to what God has to say to you this morning.

This is the reason we should be showing up, coming to expect God to speak to us.

b.

He was intently and actively listening to the message.

Andrew was listening intently.

He was focused and not allowing his mind to wander to other things but hearing what it was John was saying about the Messiah, and when the moment came that there was an announcement of the Messiah he was ready to do something with that message.

Look at this

The question is are you ready to hear that announcement?

And here is the second thing, are most places still preaching that the Lamb of God has come to take away our sins… remember back to a few weeks ago when we talked about John 1:29

This is of course a call back to that… he is telling us that this Lamb had to come and save us… and today if we are being honest most people don’t want to hear that message… the message of sin and our need for repentance is not what is filling most large churches… people just don’t want to hear that… but thats why Spurgeon said we need to know how sinful we are so that we can see our need for a savior.

So do you realize this morning that you NEED a savior?

Let’s look at the simple Gospel message quickly… and it is really simple.

And thats it… are you ready to hear that?

Do you come on Sundays ready to hear that the Lamb of God has taken away the sin of the world this is the message that changed Andrews life as we will see, this is the message he heard that would cause him to move.

c.

The message caused him to follow Jesus.

Look at what the very next verse says about him.

The word that we translate followed was ekolouthesan which in the great has a once and for all meaning to it.

The greek has this idea that it was final… he was following him for then on and then never look back.

And much like Andrew we must follow Jesus.

Listen we are called to be his disciples and we need to make sure we are following him with our entire life, in fact look at what we will see in Jn 8:12

And we can learn from Andrew that we must stand where we can hear, we must actively listen and we must follow, but what keeps us from doing that?

Not standing where Christ is preached - not showing up

Not hearing… being distracted… planning lunch

2. Andrew’s Critical Hour - He was Seeking Christ

Just think about the picture of this… they are following Jesus, and he was walking in front and they are eager to follow and see what is next… and just grab a picture of this… they’re walking… and in the midst of it…

Jesus turned to face them: This shows his care for the, that he had a willingness for them to follow after them, he didnt just keep walking with no mind of what was going on behind them… he stops and turns knowing they have just made this huge decision and he wants to begin teaching them and reaching their hearts.

Then he asks a basic question Jesus asked the basic question of life: What do you want

He did not say… WHO are you seeking.

He didn’t ask, ARE you seeking… he just says what are you after....

This is a question I think we can all ask in our lives… what are we after....

Meaning and purpose and signifcance in life?

a religion of self improvement?

Fellowship and companionship

approval and acceptance of God?

I love that their response is, where are you staying.... look what we dont often see here ibecause we are reading thorough it so quickly is they aren’t asking for some simple talk.... and what we see is they really dont know anything about him.... but they are following him… a truth too many of us can learn from.... but it should again show us how easy the message is to share and believe.... but they just wanted to join him in his home and learn what he had… wanted him to be able to share his heart and what he wanted to teach them… they wanted a place to pour their hearts out and allow him to touch them and they thought he would be better suited for that in the quiet of his home.

Jesus’ answer to this is simple

And Jesus meets there need and says, come on, I’ll show you lets go and I can give you what you need… he didnt leave them hanging...

3. Andrew accepts the invitation:

HE had to accept the invitation.... verse 39 said so they came.... and Jesus didnt force them… he gave them the option and they accepted.

He had to be willing to go see where Jesus was taking him

The word we translate in verse 39 as see was a opsesthe which is a promise you WILL see… and it wasnt just, you will see where I am staying, but you will see so much more.. you will see who I truly am and learn more about me… and he was being assured that if he came he would see the truth of life...

and look back to verse Jn 1:39

It says they stayed with him… by his side… in his presence....

The meeting of Jesus changed them forever… in such a way that even more than 50 years later, when Andrews friend, the writer of the Gospel wrote these words it still had an impact

SO what did this impact play on the life of Andrew?

Look at the next two verses

SO here is where we get this is Andrew, but what we see is his first concern was his brother And we will see Andrew bringing more people later in jn 6:8 and 12:22

Witnessing to his family:

The moment he was free, he ran to his brother… he had personally met Jesus and Jesus had met the needs of his heart, and Andrew is so moved, he has found so much peace and joy that he had to tell people, and naturally his brother was the first one he thought of… he wanted them to experience what he had just experienced.... and thats what meeting Jesus should do in our lives… cause us to want to have EVERYONE meet Jesus… there should be joy that causes us to share...

Look at what he tells Peter… .Peter We have FOUND THE MESSIAH!!! and explosions would have went off… I am not sure we have anything in our society that would make us feel the kinds of ways this would have made peter feel… He says Peter… we have found the messiah.... and then he leaves him to sort it all out on his own and figure out what he needs to do with that information… I mean he shared it, now it is on Peter to figure out what to do with it.... right?

NO and I love this look at the next verse

He brought HIM to Jesus… he didnt just tell him, he in essence said come and see… and broight him to a place he could epxerience Jesus for himself… we have to do that when we share the Gospel… walk through those steps then say… come and see..

Look at the interaction that happens when you bring a person to Jesus...

WHen JEsus looked at him it shows a deep looking into him… into his heart and knowing who he is.... and then… it shows that Jesus sees the potential in a man… you shall be called.... and this is what will happen when you bring your people to Jesus… They willl COme to know him.... he will look them in the eye and change everything… and this should take some of the heat off of you… no pressure… it puts it all back on to Jesus.