TNF - January 12, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship
January 12, 2006
Study of John

Order
1.Food and Fellowship
2.Games
3.Announcements
4.Lesson
5.Prayer

Announcements:
Youth Group Game Night
Blog www.freewebs.com/wpcayouth

Introduction
Play clip from Hell's Best Kept Secret (see http://www.livingwaters.com/learn/hellsbestkeptsecret.htm)

Lesson
We are resuming our study of the gospel of John. We are focusing on Jesus and how he relates to people he encounters.

Let's read our passage for tonight: John 1:35-51.

List all of the people mentioned in this passage:
Jesus
John the Baptist
Andrew
the other disciple (possibly John himself)
Peter
Philip
Nathanael
God
Joseph
God the Father

Now let's list all of the titles given to Jesus in this passage. This will show us more about who Jesus is.
Lamb of God – Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, the final Passover Lamb
Rabbi – means teacher
Messiah/Christ - “promised one” - think King
Son of Joseph (Perhaps Andrew didn't have all his facts straight.)
Son of God – has same status as God the Father
King of Israel – the promised King from the line of David
Son of Man - (Daniel 7:13-14)

Now let's look how the people in this story respond to Jesus.
First we have John the Baptist. He points to Jesus and tells his disciples that this is Jesus the Lamb of God. What is the result? Two of his disciples leave John the Baptist and follow Jesus. These two men must have been following John the Baptist for awhile and learning from him about this coming Messiah. He presented the truth to his disciples and then pointed them to Jesus. Their response was to follow Jesus and become his disciples.

Andrew is one of the guys who now becomes Jesus' disciple. According to this passage what was the first thing he did? He went and told his brother Simon about Jesus. Simon then listens to his brother and then comes to follow Jesus.

The next day Jesus and his three disciples go to Bethsaida. There Jesus finds Philip and tells him to follow him. Philip must have known who Jesus was to simply follow Jesus. If a man came up to me on a street and told me to leave my family, job, and home to follow him around, I wouldn't do it.

What does Philip do? He goes to find his friend Nathanael and tells him about Jesus. Nathanael is a bit skeptical of Philip's testimony of who Jesus is, but he comes anyway. Jesus already knows who Nathanael is. In fact he knew right where Nathanael was when Philip found him. This amazing sign is enough to prove to Nathanael that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel.

What application(s) can we draw from this passage from the things we just covered? We have John the Baptist telling his two disciples about Jesus and they follow Jesus. We have Andrew telling Simon about Jesus and Simon follows Jesus. We have Philip telling Nathanael about Jesus and Nathanael believes and follows Jesus.

We need to be telling people about Jesus. Sometimes it takes a few words like Andrew with Simon. Sometimes it takes a bit more “convincing” or dialoguing like it did with Philip and Nathanael. Sometimes it takes a daily relationship with people telling them more and more about who Jesus is so that they will follow him. The point for us is that we need to be telling people about Jesus. Here's a question for thought: who was the last person you you talked with about Jesus? How long ago was that?

What is it that I am talking about? Evangelism. Someone please give us a simple definition of evangelism? Telling others about Jesus, specifically unbelievers. What's another word for it that Christians sometimes use? Witnessing.

It's not just unbelievers though. If we were to compare the people with what we experience, Nathanael would be an “unbeliever” but a truth-seeker. Simon could be compared to an unbeliever. However Andrew and the other disciple were already believers. They were just waiting for Jesus to come along. We could compare them to church people. The point is that we need to be telling people about Jesus, believers and unbelievers. Often times we are scared to talk to unbelievers about Jesus and how they need him. Often times we don't even know how. I have found that as a Christian I have a hard time telling other Christians about Jesus. It's uncomfortable. I wonder what they will think of me.

How can we tell others about Jesus? Here's an easy way: just tell them what Jesus has done for you and what he's been doing for you lately. Of course this assumes that we know who Jesus is in the first place. Hopefully through this study we will know more and more about who Jesus is, not merely what he did for us.

How does Jesus relate to the people in this passage?
He welcomes Andrew and the other disciple to follow him. He does not test them or initiate them. He simply welcomes them to follow him and even to stay with him.
What does that mean for me? He welcomes me when I choose to follow him. He allows me to be his friend.

Jesus speaks words of encouragement to Simon and renames him Cephas or Peter which means rock. Simon Peter was at times very wishy-washy. For Jesus to rename him Rock must have really meant a lot to Peter. Jesus knew what Peter was really like and that he would struggle in many ways, but Jesus also knew what was in his heart and what he would become.

What does this mean for me? Jesus speaks words of encouragement to me through his Holy Spirit, through the Word. He knows what's in my heart and sees what I will become someday. He has great plans for me.

Jesus dealt with each of these disciples uniquely. In particularly with Nathanael, he knew that Nathanael was a truth-seeker. He didn't understand everything, but he was willing to trust and to understand. So Jesus meets his need for a sign by telling Nathanael that he knew exactly where he was.

Jesus deals with me uniquely as well. He knows my heart. He knows that sometimes I doubt and need grace to believe and to follow Jesus. He knows and meets my individual needs.

Summary
We saw how Jesus related to these disciples in this passage on an individual basis meeting them right where they were to bring them where they needed to be. In turn these men told others about Jesus so that they can meet him and follow him as well. Let's make it our goal this week to know Jesus more by spending time with him and telling others about him.

Action Point
Read John chapter 2 three times this week.
Tell one parent about Jesus tonight.*
Tell one friend about Jesus this week.*

* This could be something you learned tonight or just something you know about Jesus.