January 20, 2008 am     The Jesus Network      John 1:39-42

By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

I remember when I got my first vehicle.  It was a Volkswagen Rabbit truck.   The first few months it was the best thing that I had.  I was proud of that truck.  It was a two seater and it got great gas mileage.  But after awhile the shine wore off.  I stopped washing and cleaning it.  I just used it and forgot about it.  It had lost it’s shine. 

            I wonder if Jesus may have lost some of his shine.  When we first discover the Lord, He is the best thing that has happened to us.  We are excited about who He is to us.  We can’t wait to come to church.  We want to tell everyone about Him.  But over time He begins to loose some of His appeal. 

            The Jesus network is the connection you have to Him.  That connection is the Spirit of God that touches your heart and comes to live inside of the believer.  This connection takes you out of your comfort zone of living until you are excited about sharing this new found Friend and Savior.  Could we renew the network today?

            Today’s scripture is about a man named John the Baptist and another guy called Andrew.  They discovered the Lord and got excited about Him.  It was the beginning of the Jesus network. 

^{Scripture Text:  John 1:29} The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ^30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ^31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel .”

^{                32} Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ^33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ^34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

^35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ^36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ^37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ^38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ^39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

^{                40} Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ^41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ^42 And he brought him to Jesus.  Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^a).^[1]

The Jesus network begins when you see Jesus and follow Him.  When you do you are excited to share him.  Then you take your friends to see Him for themselves. 

1. Revive our vision:  Have you seen Him?   Have you seen the Lord?   How long has it been since you have seen Him?  See again this morning for the first time.

(Jesus painting video)

2. Rekindle our excitement:  You believe in Him.  You have seen Him.  You have accepted Him.  You are stoked.  Have you stoked up the fire?  One of my jobs growing up was to stoke up the old coal furnace in our house.  I had to go into the basement and put coal on the fire.  When I did it caused a great heat to come up through the vents and into the house.  Do we need to stoke up the furnace in our hearts for the Lord?  Would you get stoked for him?  On a cold day like today you may need an extra shovel of coal to get you going for him. 

3. Recharge our zeal:  You Want to Share Him.  Would you share your personal testimony?  John told them what he saw.  As soon as John saw Jesus he pointed others to him.  John was willing to send his own disciples to the Lord.  He knew that He was the one who would give them life.  He knew Jesus was the Lamb.  He wanted the best for his friends so he shared his knowledge with them and sent them to Him who would save them. 

4. Repair our networks.  You want to bring others to Him.  Andrew was so excited to find Jesus that he went to his brother and told him.  He brought Simon (Peter) to the Lord so that he could see for himself.  Go out and get them, storm the gates of hell.  Growing through intentional steps to go forward in reaching the lost.     This is the Andrew Award:  flexing your spiritual muscles.  You bring your brother, sister, and friends to the Lord. 

5. Renew our relationship.  You get in touch with the Lord and with others.   

            What are people hungry for today?  I believe that people are hungry for some meaning to life.  We have found it, now will we give it to them.  Why should we?  Jesus commanded that we go to the entire world.  Yet many times we stay home.  We know that there is no other name whereby men must be saved and that without the Lord in their life people are going to die.  Yet we don’t tell anyone.  We have been blessed with multitudes of spiritual blessing.  Yet we don’t share them with anyone. 

Would you see Jesus again?  Would you share Him with others in your life?  Would you bring your family, friends, and neighbors to the Lord?  Church may be optional to some, but Jesus is required to live and live eternally.  This is the most important thing you will do in your life.