This Changes Everything [PART 6] | Mike de Vetter | Sunday 26th April

[00:00:03] If you've got your Bibles with you, please open them to John, Chapter one. We began a series. Mark began a series at the start of the year. This changes everything. [00:00:13] The introduction of Jesus, the Gospel that came into humanity and history where the world was desperate and in need of a Savior. [00:00:24] We've been working through the verse by verse, and we've got up to John 1:35, and we're going to read from 35 to 50 today. [00:00:33] Last week we started looking at the beginning of discipleship as Jesus began to model it and talk about it and live it out. [00:00:43] So let's read together. John 1:35.50. The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, look, the Lamb of God. When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, what do you want? [00:01:01] They said, rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? [00:01:05] Come, he replied, and you will see. [00:01:08] So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about 4 in the afternoon. [00:01:15] Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what Jesus had said and who would follow Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to follow. Find his brother Simon and tell him, we have found the Messiah, that is the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas, which then, when translated, is Peter. [00:01:40] The next day, Jesus decided to leave for Galilee, finding Philip. He said to him, follow me. [00:01:46] Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. [00:01:50] Philip found Nathanael and told him, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and about whom the prophets also wrote. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth. [00:02:02] Can anything good come from here? [00:02:05] Nathanael asked. Come and see, said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. [00:02:17] How do you know me? Nathanael asked. [00:02:20] Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you. Then Nathanael declared, rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel. Jesus said, you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that. [00:02:41] Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word. [00:02:44] We thank you. It is a sure light for our path. A lamp to our feet. [00:02:50] Father, as we continue to walk through the Book of John. [00:02:55] John, a disciple who walked so closely with you, there was an intimacy in the way that he knew you may we glean and grasp what he understood to be true about you, that there would be a revelation of understanding of who who you are and the relationship you long for each one of us and for those that we would invite to your feet. [00:03:19] Jesus lead us this morning in Jesus name. Amen. [00:03:24] Last week we stepped into the moment where Jesus launched the discipleship movement. [00:03:30] John stood with his two disciples as Jesus walked by. [00:03:33] And John declares, look, the Lamb of God. [00:03:38] The two men saw Jesus and immediately left John and followed Jesus. We talked about the ego that has to be let go when it's all about Jesus. [00:03:48] Mark, a couple of weeks ago, talked about the fact that we are not the Messiah. John declared very clearly, I am not the Messiah. [00:03:56] Jesus is. [00:03:58] Jesus was modeling what it means to disciple someone, to walk in discipleship, relationship with someone, and it is all about Jesus. Jesus turned and asked him a question this still echoes today. What do you want? [00:04:13] What is it that you long for? What's your desire? What are you hoping for in having this conversation, this relationship with me? And Jesus replies. [00:04:23] They said, rabbi, where are you staying? [00:04:26] In other words, we want to spend some time with you. [00:04:29] We don't just want information. We want presence. We want to be with you. [00:04:34] And so Jesus gives an invitation. He says, come and see. [00:04:38] So they went, they stayed, they spent time with him. [00:04:43] Last week we looked at some of the aspects of discipleship that we see within this passage. And we're looking at an easy to remember acrostic Christ, the first letter. We said that discipleship is Christ centered, which means we point people to Jesus, not to ourselves. [00:05:02] John says, look at him, look to Jesus, look to the Lamb of God. [00:05:09] Secondly, we saw that discipleship is holistic. [00:05:12] Jesus wanted to know the things that were on their heart. [00:05:17] The heart, the soul, the mind, the strength, the great commission and the great commandment. Meeting beautifully to go make disciples. Disciples who would love God with their heart, their soul, their mind and their strength. [00:05:30] We talked about the fact that my heart is the things that I love, the things that my affection and my passion are drawn towards. My soul is who I am becoming. It's my identity in Christ. [00:05:41] My mind is the things that I think and what I believe. My belief system is my mind being transformed by Jesus. [00:05:52] And then our strength is what we carry and who we are and what we do. [00:05:57] The passion, the call on our life to follow him. [00:06:01] The desire is that we would be discipling people holistically into loving God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. Then we also saw that discipleship is relationship. [00:06:13] They spent the day with him. [00:06:16] Jesus made time for his new disciples, gave them space. I wonder what conversations they had over three years of walking with Jesus as disciples, day in, day out, walking the road, sitting by the fire, having conversations over meals. [00:06:34] It was relational. [00:06:35] Jesus longs for a relationship with each of us. [00:06:39] But discipleship doesn't stop there. It continues on. And we see in this passage that when you come and see, when Jesus gives the invitation, and for so many of us in this room, we have been invited by Jesus to come and see. [00:06:54] And what you have seen has changed your life. You are a different person now today because of what Jesus has done. And I look across this room and I see people who had a come and see moment 50 years ago, 60 years ago, 70 years ago. [00:07:10] I also see people who've had a come and see moment just last year, just last month, even just last week, a come and see moment where we see Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Most High. [00:07:25] The fourth part we see in the discipleship process is that discipleship is invitational. [00:07:32] There's an invite that takes place in discipleship. [00:07:36] John 1:41. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, we have found the Messiah, that is the Christ. [00:07:45] When we have a heart to see people discipled and to be discipled, an invitation inviting people to Jesus is central within that. [00:07:55] Notice the simplicity of it. [00:07:58] Andrew doesn't, having been invited to come to see and to be with Jesus, doesn't then attend a course or go through a lengthy process. There's just something in him that says, I've seen all I need to see. He is the difference. Jesus is enough. [00:08:14] Now come and see. [00:08:16] Come and join me. Because I found him. I found the one we've all been looking for. [00:08:21] Now come and see. There is an invitation that says, come and meet him. And this, this makes me believe that disciple making is not as complicated as I want to make it out to be. [00:08:34] We've just got to get people to Jesus. [00:08:37] And a simple relationship that says, hey, I like you, you like me. We've got relationship. [00:08:44] Why don't we come and see Jesus together? [00:08:47] Not complicated, not intimidating. [00:08:51] It's an invitation. [00:08:52] We see a pattern in this passage. Andrew invites Peter, Jesus invites Philip, Philip invites Nathaniel. And so it goes on. [00:09:02] And here we are today, because someone probably invited you, somebody loved you enough and cared about you enough to say, hey, come and see Jesus. [00:09:13] Whether that's to come to a church service or it's a conversation over a coffee or a meal or at your home. Can I tell you the difference that Jesus has made in my life? And this is how the kingdom moves forward. [00:09:26] This is why Jesus strategy of investing into his disciples and then saying, I'm going to go, but I will give you my spirit to be with you. [00:09:39] We have a disciple makers course that we're kind of developing at the moment to help people take the pressure off themselves and realize that it's actually about Jesus helping people find that relationship with him. [00:09:55] But one of the first things that we will do on the first week of this course is invite people to begin to pray for the person of peace that God is bringing into their life. In Luke chapter 10, there's a moment where Jesus sends his disciples out. They go preach the gospel and they heal the sick and they cast out demons and they go out and they minister. [00:10:18] And Jesus says, I want you to go out and I want you to knock on a door and find in that home a person of peace. [00:10:25] That person of peace is someone that God is already doing something within. [00:10:31] There's a movement, there's a stirring in their hearts. They're thinking spiritual thoughts, they're becoming dissatisfied with what the world is offering them. And they are just waiting for somebody to come and say there's an alternative. [00:10:45] God is stirring people of peace in our neighborhoods. It could be our very next door neighbor. [00:10:52] It could be the person that you are talking with in your school students. [00:10:59] It could be the person you're working with in the office block alongside you or on the tools in the yard. [00:11:06] It could be the person that's walking the dog that you just have that same conversation, you bump into them at the same time and you have these conversations. God could be doing all of that within somebody's life. [00:11:19] So are we beginning to pray God? Who are the people that you're already stirring? [00:11:25] Who are the people of peace that you're already moving within? [00:11:29] And then we enter a conversation with them. [00:11:33] And here's the fun part. [00:11:35] That person of peace may not be a believer yet. [00:11:39] Your discipleship can begin before someone's even given their life to Christ. [00:11:44] By simply just being that person that loves. [00:11:49] It shows kindness and compassion, fairness, justice, mercy. [00:11:56] By living as a disciple of Jesus and then modeling that in front of others. People say, there's something about you. Can we talk? [00:12:07] This reframes discipleship as invitational and not confrontational. [00:12:14] We don't have to convince everyone. [00:12:17] We simply invite those who are open to begin a journey with Jesus. [00:12:23] Yes, we preach the gospel. Yes, in every opportunity we can. [00:12:27] But there's also wisdom as to how we do that. [00:12:32] Let it be led by God with an invitation. I've been guilty of overthinking this, that I need more knowledge, I need more confidence. But Andrew had one encounter with Jesus and that was enough to invite somebody into our life to be with Jesus. [00:12:51] Come eat with me. [00:12:53] Come on. Let's open the Bible together. Let's pray together. Can I pray for you and that issue that you're struggling with? I'll tell you what, it is the greatest opportunity for conversation when somebody shares about the challenge they're facing. [00:13:09] What a gift they have just given you to say, hey, I'm a believer in Jesus. I follow Jesus and he says that prayer is powerful, that we can bring our prayer requests to God and we can ask him for help. Could I ask for help in this situation on your behalf? Would you let me do that? [00:13:30] I have a hundred percent hit rate, success rate. [00:13:34] That's good odds. No one has ever refused me offering a prayer. [00:13:41] Hundreds of times over my lifetime I have offered to pray for someone because I know I care about them. [00:13:48] And it could be simple. It could be one sentence. [00:13:52] Jesus, you know the pain this person is feeling. [00:13:55] Would you comfort them this week? Would they know that you were close to them? In Jesus name. [00:14:00] There we go, an opening. The journey of discipleship has begun. In one prayer moves us to the next one. Discipleship is not just invitational, but it is spirit led. And I love this part of the passage. Philip found Nathaniel and told him, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And listen to Nathaniel. Nazareth. [00:14:29] Did anything good come from Nazareth? [00:14:33] I'm not even going to go to one of the places close or local here, right? [00:14:38] Can anything good come from New Zealand? I'll go that way. How does that sound? [00:14:41] Surely not. Not a chance. Australia. Wow. There we go. [00:14:47] I love all Australians. All Australians online also. [00:14:52] Nazareth. Can anything good come from there? Nathanael asked. Come and see, said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Who. [00:15:06] We can never quite read the tone in scripture, but to me it kind of feels like, how do you know me? [00:15:15] How do you know me? [00:15:19] Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. [00:15:26] I don't know. Did his eyes open? Did his jaw drop? [00:15:29] Was that an aha moment for. For Nathanael? I think it is because the one who just said, could anything good come From Nazareth now declares Nathaniel declared, rabbi, you are the Son of God. [00:15:46] You truly are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. [00:15:52] Why? Because the Spirit of God revealed something to Jesus that he revealed to Nathaniel. [00:15:59] See, when discipleship is led by the Spirit of God, you receive power. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you. We're told in Acts to be a witness for Christ. [00:16:10] That means when we are in a discipleship relationship with someone, guess what? [00:16:15] The Spirit of God is going to lead us and guide us. [00:16:18] Going to prompt us to ask a question. [00:16:22] Say, as I was praying for you, I really felt or I really sensed that. [00:16:27] And we don't have to layer it with language like thus saith the Lord. [00:16:33] I think we can get ourselves in trouble when we make a definitive statement. [00:16:39] What about something like, hey, as I was praying for you, I had a sense that. [00:16:45] Or I was wondering maybe if. [00:16:48] And you just present it as cleanly and accurately as you can. And you know what, if it's God, you might get a jaw dropping moment, you might get an eyes open moment where they say, how did you know that? [00:17:04] How do you know what's going on in my life? [00:17:07] To which we respond, I don't, but God does. And he wants to meet with you. [00:17:15] Come and see Jesus, Come on. This is it, right? This is discipleship. Come and see. Because he did the same thing for me. He unlocked. He opened my emails. [00:17:24] The old emails or the mail where you actually have to open a letter? He read my mail. [00:17:32] Jesus, come and see. [00:17:37] Discipleship is. Spirit led the gifts on our life that God has given his gifts given to us to use for his glory, to build his church, to edify his church. [00:17:48] A gift of encouragement, a prophetic word, a word of knowledge. [00:17:55] Discernment, faith healing helps. [00:18:01] Signs and wonders done through the power of God. Discipleship is spirit led. [00:18:09] Nathanael responds, rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. [00:18:15] And why does this matter? Because discipleship is not just effort. It's not just good conversations. [00:18:23] It's connecting people to Jesus so that we can get out of the way, so that he can get all the glory. It's being aware that God is already at work in people. [00:18:35] Here's how I found it. To operate in my own life. [00:18:38] As I'm praying and I'm reading my Bible, all of a sudden somebody just comes to mind, right? [00:18:46] Somebody I know most of the time had a real prompt as I was just praying and spending time with God. It wasn't anything super spiritual. Their face appeared in my mind right There. And then I sent them a message. I said, I'm thinking about you, I'm praying for you. [00:19:05] And this is what I sense God might be wanting to encourage you with today. [00:19:09] They came immediately back and said, your message couldn't have come at a more important time in my life. [00:19:16] Come on. How many people have had that moment before? How many people have received that text or that phone call from somebody that just said, I've been thinking about you and God is doing something in you? [00:19:29] Our role is simply to join what the Spirit is already doing. [00:19:33] He's working, he's moving. [00:19:35] We get to partner with him. [00:19:37] Without the Spirit, discipleship can become pressure, a to do list, a task list. [00:19:45] With the Spirit, it becomes a partnership, bringing people to Jesus, seeing what the Spirit is doing in somebody's life and helping them open up to the possibilities in Christ. And lastly, and I close with this, maybe the Keys can join me. Discipleship is transformation over time. [00:20:07] And I say over time because it's not a one moment. [00:20:11] It's an ongoing John 1:42, and he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon, son of John. [00:20:21] You will be called Cephas, which when translated is Peter. [00:20:27] Now, that name change happened immediately. Okay? [00:20:30] Like, from then on, I don't think Jesus went, simon, oh, no, actually, you're Peter. That transformation took place like that name change took place right there. [00:20:39] I don't know if any of you have seen the chosen. There's a scene where Jesus has kind of declared that you are now Peter the Rock. And then a few moments later, they're talking, they go, simon. Oh, sorry, Peter. [00:20:52] I wonder whether there was a little bit of Simon still in Simon as that transformation was taking place. [00:21:00] Anyone still got a little bit of the world, a little bit of the flesh, a little bit of struggle and temptation and all of those things. Anyone still wrestle with some of the old. [00:21:10] The transformation is taking place over time. [00:21:16] Discipleship is saying, I'll come alongside you. You hit a bump in the road, and I'll kick you out the door. [00:21:25] Chance after chance after chance, chance after chance after chance after chance. [00:21:33] Would we be people that would be committed to a journey with somebody? [00:21:39] Say, as long as it takes, as long as it's right for you and for me. We're going to walk this journey together. [00:21:47] And discipleship isn't forever. It's not a lifetime. It's not a lifetime commitment. [00:21:52] But for a moment that God has determined and designated to walk alongside somebody to help them find Jesus. [00:22:02] Jesus looks at Simon and Says you are Simon, you will be Peter. [00:22:09] Even though Jesus renamed him Peter. I don't know if the others immediately saw the rock. [00:22:16] I wonder if they still saw impulsive Simon, inconsistent Simon, learning Simon. [00:22:22] Simon says Simon does transformation, it does take time. [00:22:30] Now, for some people, transformation is instant, right? You see they're with that person immediately they look different. [00:22:37] We also don't know when it's gonna happen immediately. [00:22:42] What if it doesn't? Do we go, oh well, that magic bullet didn't work. [00:22:48] Or do we say, I'll keep walking with you, I'll keep praying with you. We'll keep getting before Jesus in his word, in prayer as often as we can. [00:22:59] Would we be people that bring others to Jesus? [00:23:04] I love that Peter had years walking with Jesus. Three years walking roads, sitting around fires, asking questions, eating meals together, making mistakes, being corrected, tripping over, stumbling, getting up again. [00:23:23] And Jesus said, I know you're flawed, Simon. [00:23:28] I know you're flawed Michael. [00:23:32] I know you're floored, Phil, but I'll use you. [00:23:37] I'll use you to build my church. He said of Peter, This is the long walk of discipleship. [00:23:48] And the part that if I'm really honest, isn't always appealing. [00:23:52] I'd quite like it all to be done in a six week course, wouldn't you? [00:23:57] Discipled in one one box. [00:24:02] Discipleship, it's a commitment to a journey, A commitment to being Christ centered, holistic teaching somebody to love God with their heart, soul, mind and strength. [00:24:14] Relational walking a journey with somebody invitational. [00:24:22] Inviting people to Jesus. [00:24:25] But it's spirit led takes all the pressure off us trying to make it work ourselves. [00:24:31] It doesn't become an act of works. It's a spirit led journey for somebody. [00:24:38] And lastly, transformation over time. [00:24:43] We don't fix people. I can't fix people. [00:24:48] Jesus transforms people. [00:24:51] He is the great carpenter who can take a rough old piece of wood. [00:24:59] And I reckon he can shape a perfect yoke that fits the shoulder of every person who would long to be discipled. [00:25:09] Yoking to him, he says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, place my yoke upon you, for it is easy and my burden is light. [00:25:24] Come on. If discipleship is ill fitting, if it doesn't fit right, it's probably not right. [00:25:31] But if there is an ease in the way that relationship is forming and you've both got a desire to walk towards Jesus, then I'd say keep going, keep going on that journey. [00:25:44] There's not one size fits all. [00:25:50] But would we be Courageous enough to walk a journey with others. [00:25:56] Would you stand with me as we close this morning? [00:26:08] Would you just offer yourself again afresh to Jesus? Earlier on, we prayed a prayer if anyone was wanting to come back to God, returning back to God. If you prayed that prayer, We've got a team up the back. Our first steps team. Give us a wave up the back in our purple tops there. Please go and have a conversation with them. [00:26:28] Have a talk about what your next step would be. We want to make sure every person has a Bible. If they don't have a Bible, we'd also love to get somebody alongside you to walk that journey as you're walking with him. [00:26:40] But I just wonder if each of us could consider the relationships that we have right now with people that are following Jesus, people that maybe are not yet following him, but you sense there's questions in their heart. [00:26:58] If you're saying to Jesus today, please use me. I want to be a part of that journey for somebody else. Why don't you just put your hands out in front of yourself and say, jesus, would you equip me with all that I need? [00:27:13] Would you lead me into conversations that I'd be aware of your spirit moving in somebody's life and that I'd be courageous enough to give of myself so that they might come to Jesus? [00:27:34] Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are the one that transforms. [00:27:39] It is a work of your spirit that turns Simon to Peter. [00:27:46] God, I thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives. [00:27:50] Lord, would we not be afraid of the chisel and the sandpaper? [00:27:56] As you are shaping and crafting and perfecting a yoke that fits me to you, may I willingly take your yoke upon my shoulders so that I would walk with you. [00:28:12] And, Lord, if I could also extend that invitation to others to walk with me. As we walk with you, Lord, give me the courage, help me to make the time to enter those conversations and to say, hey, let's walk together as we find Jesus. [00:28:33] In your name, I pray.