ARISE AND GO TO YOUR ONE

Reference

John 1:35–42

Arise and Go: Following the Spirit to the One

ARISE AND GO TO YOUR ONE

John 1:35–42

Big Idea: “You do not have to reach everybody. But you can help reach somebody.”

Intro: In Luke 15, Jesus revealed the heart of the Shepherd. Leave the ninety-nine and go after the one. Then in Acts, Luke shows us what that looks like in real life. Philip arises and goes to a desert road. Ananias arises and goes to a dangerous man. Peter arises and goes to a different culture. But before any of those moments happened, Andrew quietly arose and went to his brother. This is the heartbeat of this entire series: Arise and go. Go to an inconvenient place. Go to the difficult person. Go to the different culture. And sometimes, go to the person who is already right there in your life. Go to your one. The Christian faith has always spread this way. Somebody meets Jesus, and then that person starts thinking about somebody else who needs to meet Him too. That's what Andrew did. Andrew did not preach at Pentecost. Peter did. Andrew did not become the spokesman of the apostles. Peter did. Andrew is rarely the center of attention in Scripture. But Andrew did something that changed history. He brought Peter to Jesus. And that's encouraging, because most of us are not trying to become famous Christians. We want to become faithful Christians. And faithfulness often looks much more ordinary than we imagine—a text message, a conversation over lunch, a seat saved at church, a simple invitation. You do not have to reach everybody. But you can help reach somebody. And John shows us where that begins.

PEOPLE WHO MEET JESUS START MOVING TOWARD JESUS — John 1:35–39

John 1:35–37 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

Did you notice all the movement in this passage?

John points to Jesus. The disciples begin following Jesus. Jesus turns and speaks to them. Then Jesus invites them closer. Everything is moving toward Jesus.

At first, these men are physically following Jesus down the road. But eventually they will spiritually follow Him with their lives.

Then Jesus turns around and asks them one of those questions that reaches much deeper than it first appears:

John 1:38 “What do you seek?”

In other words, “What are you really looking for?” That's still a great question.

What are you really looking for in life? What do you think will finally satisfy you? What are you hoping will give your life meaning?

Jesus is not interested in becoming one small addition to somebody's life. He becomes the center of it.

These men respond, “Rabbi…where are You staying?” And Jesus gives them one of the simplest invitations imaginable: “Come and see.”

Think about the power of those three words. Jesus doesn't give them a lecture. He invites them closer. Come and see.

So, they went with Him. They spent time with Jesus. They listened to Jesus. They began getting to know Jesus.

And that's where discipleship always begins—not with knowing everything, but with coming to Jesus and beginning to follow Him.

We've defined discipleship this way: Discipleship is learning to think, live, and love like Jesus while helping others do the same.

And consider both halves of that definition.

First, I am moving toward Jesus. I am learning to think like Him, live like Him, and love like Him.

But eventually something happens. As I begin following Jesus, I start thinking about somebody else.

Healthy disciples move toward Jesus. Then healthy disciples help other people move toward Jesus too.

And that's exactly what Andrew does next. He has met Jesus. Now there is somebody he wants Jesus to meet.

EVANGELISM IS SIMPLER THAN WE THINK – John 1:40–41

John 1:40–41 “One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ).”

What Andrew does is so straightforward, how can we not be encouraged?

Andrew has met Jesus—and almost immediately he starts thinking about somebody else who needs to meet Jesus, too.

And notice where he starts: “He first found his own brother Simon.” He started close to home.

Sometimes we pray for God to give us some great opportunity to reach people while overlooking the people He has already put around us.

Your “one” may already be in your life.

A son. A daughter. A brother. A hunting buddy. A coworker. A neighbor. A teammate. A friend at the gym.

You don't necessarily need God to introduce you to somebody new. You may need Him to help you view someone differently who is already there.

And what did Andrew do when he found Peter?

Did he preach a sermon? No. Did he answer theological objections? No. Did he win a debate? No.

He simply told him what he knew: “We have found the Messiah.”

And then comes one of the clearest, simplest statements in the Bible:

John 1:42 “And he brought him to Jesus.”

That's it. He brought him to Christ.

Sometimes Christians make evangelism far more complicated than it needs to be.

We think we need to know everything. We need to answer every objection. We need to have a polished presentation. We need to know exactly what to say. We need to be ready to close the sale.

But Andrew simply brought somebody to Jesus. That fits perfectly with our definition of evangelism:

Evangelism is partnering with God to share the message of Jesus Christ, then trusting God with the results.

That's profoundly liberating.

You are not responsible for changing somebody's heart. The Holy Spirit changes people. Jesus saves people. The gospel transforms people.

Our responsibility is to faithfully move toward people and help them move toward Jesus.

Sometimes that may sound like: “Come sit with me Sunday.” “How can I pray for you this afternoon?” “Would you like to hear what Jesus has done in my life?” “Would you read this verse? I keep thinking about it.” “Want to meet for coffee this week?”

You don't have to argue somebody into the kingdom.

Love them into listening.

Sometimes our “one” comes to our house for dinner because we already have a relationship with them. Other times going after your one means being willing to move when staying where you are would be much easier.

illus: In 1876, a twenty-seven-year-old Scottish woman named Mary Slessor sailed for what is now Nigeria as a missionary. [photo of Mary] She spent most of the rest of her life there—learning the language, living among the people, telling them about Jesus, and going into places others were afraid to go. One of the customs Mary encountered broke her heart. In some communities, twins were believed to bring evil, so the babies were often killed or abandoned. One of the rescued twins Mary adopted was a little girl named Janie. Janie's twin had been killed. Mary took the surviving baby home and raised her as her own daughter. [photo of Mary/Janie] Years later, Mary was teaching one afternoon when someone suddenly brought her a message. Twins had been born twelve miles away in the bush, and the mother was very sick. Mary stepped outside and looked at the sky. A storm was coming. Night was approaching. And she already had a sick baby depending on her. She had every reason to stay. Instead she turned to Janie and said, “Come along, Janie, we'll go.” By the time they arrived, darkness had fallen. One twin was already dead. Janie dug a little grave and buried the baby. Then Janie—the twin whose own life somebody had once rescued—picked up the surviving twin and carried that baby through the darkness while Mary helped the desperately sick mother. On the journey they lost the trail in the dark forest. Eventually they found the path again and made it safely back. And when they did, Janie was carrying that rescued baby in her arms. [photo of group/Janie holding baby] Think about that picture. The little girl somebody once went after had grown up—and now she was going after somebody else. That's what disciples do.

Somebody went after you. Now who is your one? Don't think about everybody who needs Jesus right now. Think about somebody.

Who has God already placed in your life? Whose name comes to mind when you hear the words “your one”?

You do not have to reach everybody. But you can help reach somebody.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE WHAT JESUS CAN DO WITH YOUR ONE — John 1:42

John 1:42 “Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, ‘You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas’ (which is translated, A Stone).”

Andrew brings his brother to Jesus. And Andrew has no idea what is about to happen.

He knows Simon as his brother. He knows his personality. He knows his weaknesses. He knows his history. But Jesus sees something Andrew cannot yet see.

Andrew saw a brother. Jesus saw a rock.

Peter didn't look much like a rock yet. He could be impulsive. Rash. Loud. Unstable. Eventually he would promise Jesus, “I'll never leave You”—and then deny three times that he even knew Him.

But Jesus looked at Simon and saw what grace would make him become. “You are Simon…You shall be called Cephas.”

Jesus sees people not only as they are, but what they will become after they are redeemed. That's why we should be very careful about writing people off.

Maybe there's somebody in your life you've quietly stopped believing could ever change. “They'll never come to Christ.” “They're too hardened.” “They're too worldly.” “They're too far gone.”

Don't confuse what you can see right now with what Jesus can do next. Andrew had no idea what Peter would become.

Did Andrew know that know Peter would preach on the Day of Pentecost and thousands would respond to the gospel? Did he know Peter would help lead the early church? Did he know Peter would open the gospel door to the Gentiles? Did he know generations of Christians would read letters in their Bibles bearing Peter's name?

Andrew didn't know any of that. He just brought his brother to Jesus. He is a perfect illustration of our definition of evangelism.

Andrew's responsibility was to bring Peter. Jesus' responsibility was to transform Peter.

Andrew partnered with God. Andrew shared what he knew. And then Andrew trusted Jesus with the results.

Never underestimate what Jesus can do with your one.

You see a coworker. Jesus may see a future missionary. You see a difficult brother. Jesus may see a future godly husband.

You see a teenager who seems completely uninterested in God. Jesus may see someone whose life will one day point hundreds of other people toward Him.

We cannot know what hangs in the balance of one invitation.

One text message. One lunch appointment. One personal prayer over the phone. One saved seat at church.

One moment when you decide, “I'm going after my one.”

Andrew brought Peter. Peter preached to thousands. And the kingdom kept multiplying. All because one ordinary believer decided one person mattered.

Conclusion: Andrew never became as famous as Peter. But heaven keeps records differently than earth does. History remembers Peter's sermons. But heaven also remembers Andrew's invitation.

Some of the greatest kingdom impact happens quietly. A mom praying for her son. A man inviting a coworker. A student bringing a friend. A grandmother texting Scripture. A believer refusing to give up on their one.

So, before you leave today, I want you to have a name. Who is your one?

Somebody may be one step away from meeting Jesus. And you may be the person God uses to help them take that step.

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Start a new series. My name is Trevor Davis. I'm GCC's pastor. I'm glad that you're here today. You probably passed 12 churches on the way here.
You could have gone to any one of those. But you came here today and we're honored by that. But who's Sunday for? Who is the Lord's day for anyway? Primarily it's for the glory of the Lord Jesus.
Secondarily, it is to equip the saints of God to do the work of the ministry. And coming in just after that are for those who don't know Christ. And what we want to tell you today is that Jesus Christ is alive. He died on a cross, a violent death which appeased the wrath of God. He's the propitiation for our sins, but not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world.
First John, chapter 2, verse 1. Also Jesus death on the cross showed his love for us. But God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But he didn't stay dead three days later on the third day on Sunday morning, which is why it's the Lord's day now. Jesus rose from the dead.
He's alive today. He's at the right hand of God, interceding for the saints and to as many as received him. Even to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. And so if you want to become a child of God, you were not born that way, but you must be born again that way and you can have new birth today. You can believe in Jesus to biblically obey.
The good news is to put your faith and trust in the risen Jesus and turn away from your old life of sins, repenting of that and saying, jesus, I'm ready to go with you. And he will put you on the narrow road. He will give you a new heart and a new life. And this is our hope. And we gather every Sunday morning thanking God for this, or is it just me?
You too?
If you were wondering what it means to believe in Jesus, let me just say this. If it's ever happened to you, you never get over it. You don't forget it. And it's not unclear. And so it's a free gift.
You can receive Jesus today. If you are joining us in the fight against biblical illiteracy, our church reads some of the same chapters in the Bible every week. This week, you can find it written in the bottom of your worship guide. Starting tomorrow through Saturday. Genesis chapters 37 to 42.
If you've been reading Genesis with us, has it been interesting to you? Look, the Bible is full of stories. They are not all G rated, are they? It's just unvarnished. And God wants you to see what truth is.
And so today we begin a new series called Arise and Go. Following the Spirit to your one. And let me say something from a human perspective. A few years ago, God allowed us to build a prayer culture in our church. At the end of this church service, there's going to be teams of people just kind of strewn out across the front here.
And when most people are going to the exits, there'll be others that are going to come forward and they're going to receive prayer. And so we pray for anyone and everyone about anything and everything. And we just, we do it every Sunday. And the Lord's built a prayer culture and God hears our prayers. There's signs and wonders.
People are healed and set free. And it's just amazing. But we're missing something in our church. One of the things we're missing, we used to miss prayer, but now we're missing outreach and evangelism. And so by God's grace, he's going to allow us as a church to make a decision together, humanly speaking.
Now we need his. We need his sovereignty. We need his blessing and his power. But from a human perspective, our church is about to enter into a season where we are building an outreach and evangelism culture here. And this Arise and Go series, these next four Sundays Are going to reinforce that.
Arise and go to your one is the name of my message today. John, chapter one is a long passage. I didn't tell you which verses. It's verses 35 through 42. John chapter one, verses 35 through 42 is our text today.
And then next week we're going to start in the book of Acts, three chapters in a row, 8, 9 and 10. So John chapter one and then Acts 8, 9, 10 for the rest of this series. Our text today reads this again. The next day, John the Baptist stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, behold the Lamb of God.
The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and seeing them following, said to them, what do you seek? They said to him, rabbi, which is to say when translated, teacher, Rabbi, where are you staying? He said to them, come and seek. And they came and saw where he was staying and remained with him that day.
Now, it was about the 10th hour, that's 4pm One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which is translated the Christian. And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, he said, you are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which is translated, a stone.
My brothers and sisters, the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Father, open the ears of the saints of God in the room today and open the hearts of the saints of God in the room today and speak to us and challenge us and change us by the power of the preaching of the word. God, don't let the enemy steal the seeds that are going to be planted today. God, let our minds be clear.
Let us be free from distractions so that we can.
This is our prayer. In Jesus name who's risen from the dead and Lord of all and a faith filled church said, Amen. You guys ready? Who's fired up? Then turn to somebody next to you and repeat after me.
Everybody ready? Turn to somebody next to you and say, you do not have to reach everybody, but you can help reach somebody. All right, I'll take it from here. You do not have to reach everybody, but you can help reach somebody. In Luke chapter 15, which we're not studying today, the great lost and found chapter of the Bible, Jesus revealed there the heart of the shepherd.
Remember that. Leave the 99 and go after the 1. Then in the book of Acts, which we will look at next week, Luke shows us what that looks like in real life. In Acts chapter 8, Philip arises and he goes to a desert road. And In Acts chapter 9, Ananias arises and he goes to dangerous man.
And In Acts chapter 10, Peter arises and he goes to a different culture. But before any of those moments happen, and that's why I'm preaching this today, Andrew quietly arose and went to his brother. This is the heartbeat of the entire series. Arise and go. Go to an inconvenient place.
Go to a difficult person. Go to the different cultures and listen. Sometimes go to the person who's already right there in your life. Go to your 1. The Christian faith, by the way, has always spread this way.
Somebody meets Jesus and then that person starts thinking about somebody else who needs to meet him too. Well, that's what Andrew did. Andrew did not preach a memorable sermon on the day of Pentecost. That was Peter. Andrew did not become the spokesperson for the apostles of Jesus.
Peter did. And Andrew did not become one of the leading voices in the New Testament. That was Peter. Andrew is rarely the center of attention in scripture, but Andrew did something that changed history. He brought Peter to Jesus.
And that's encouraging to me because most of us are not trying to become famous Christians, we're trying to become faithful Christians. And John shows us where that begins. So in our text of scripture today, I've divided it into three truths I'm going to give you. And so if you're ready, say, tell me to go. Just say go.
All right. Alright. Number one, people who meet Jesus start moving toward Jesus. That's truth number one.
And It's John, chapter one, verses 35. And following again the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. This is John the Baptist. And looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus.
Then Jesus turned and seeing them following, said to them, what do you seek? And they said to him, rabbi, where are you staying? And he said to them, come and see. And they came and saw where he was staying and they remained with him that day. About four o'clock in the afternoon.
Did you notice all the movement in that passage that I just read? John points to Jesus. Those guys go, that guy. And so then they begin to follow Jesus. And then Jesus turns and he speaks to them.
And then Jesus invites them closer to him. And then everything's just moving toward this guy named Jesus. Listen to me. At first these men are following Jesus down the road, but eventually they're going to follow him with their Lives and with their hearts. But it starts with the down the road first.
And then. Here's my favorite part of the text I just read. Jesus turns around and he asked them one of the questions that goes way, much deeper than maybe the surface way you read it. The question he says is, what do you seek? Now, let me put that in modern English.
In other words, he says, hey, guys, what are you really looking for?
Isn't that still a great question? What are you really looking for in life? What do you think will finally satisfy you? What do you hope will give your life meaning? Did you know that Jesus is not interested in becoming one small addition to your life?
Like, you know, he's not going, hey, can I take over your religion department? That's not the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus expects to become the center of your life and the Lord over your life. President of YOU, Inc. And these men respond when Jesus says, what are you looking for in life? They say, well, where are you staying?
Let us check you out. And Jesus gives them the easiest invitation imaginable. He says, come. Come and see. I gotta tell you, at our church, if you're new kicking the tires of the Christian faith, you've maybe been here a few weeks and it's all kind of new to you.
And at first you thought we were weird, but we're kind of growing on you, but you're still kind of wondering, what's this all about? I want to say to you, same thing Jesus says to these guys. Just come and see. There's more to see than just Sunday morning. This is kind of the front door.
This is the pep rally for Jesus. This is where we gather on the Lord's Day and we pump each other up and we're like, hey, it's a new week. We're in the mission field. We're walking with Jesus. We're living in love with him.
And so come and see. Come and see. Our small group ministry, Come and see what we do for children to point them to Jesus. Come and see how we pray for people. Just come and see.
Look, we can't make you. The come and see puts it in your court. So make a good decision. Make a good. These guys went with him, they spent time with Jesus, they listened to him, and they began to get to know the Lord and listen to me.
That's where discipleship always begins. Discipleship doesn't begin with knowing everything. Discipleship begins with coming to Jesus and following him. Here's how we've defined discipleship in our church. Discipleship is learning to Live the think, live and love like Jesus while helping others do the same.
Is that not a great definition for that? Randy Rucker and Stephanie Clark and some others on our staff team did a lot of work, and they said, hey, look, here's what we think is the best definition that fits the Bible discipleship is learning to think and to live and love like Jesus while helping others do the same. I want you to consider both halves of that definition. First, I'm moving toward Jesus, learning to think like him, I'm learning to live like him, and I'm learning to love others like him. But listen, the second half, eventually something happens.
As I begin to follow Jesus, I start thinking about somebody else. You know, I had lunch with one of my ones last week. He's not a Christian, and as best I can tell, there aren't any Christians in his family. He is a happy unbeliever. I love this guy.
I work with him at professional basketball games and do other things together. Turns out he lives in Olive Branch. We're having lunch, and I said, look, you know, you told me about your mom and you told me about your sisters. I've never heard about your dad. Tell me about your dad.
He goes, oh, you really want to know? I was like, yeah, man. You can learn a lot about a person when you find out who their father was or who their father was. He said, well, my dad went to jail for 18 months when me and my sisters were in our adolescence because of dealing drugs out of our home. And he said after that, he never came back to us.
And he goes, it just ruined our lives. He said, in fact, I'm the only person in my family. He says, I don't even understand this. I'm the only person in my family that hasn't done drugs and hasn't had their children taken away from them. And he is.
He's adopted one of his nieces and. And just drugs are a monster, and it just kind of runs, and there's these generational things that happen. And he said, why do you think I was the only one who missed it? I said, I don't know. I said, here's what I do know.
I do know that you're not an accident, and it's no coincidence that we're here today. And I said, I want to be your guy. He said, what does that mean? I said, well, you know, everybody has a guy. They got an electrician guy and a plumber guy.
I said, as of today, I am now your spiritual advisor. You need one of those guys. I Said, is there a long line of guys going, can I be your spiritual advisor? He said, no. I said, great, I'll sign up.
What do you mean? I said, well, I pray for you every day. You know that. I said, I'm interested in you knowing a real father. Now, look, he doesn't know him yet, but I'm just looking for a way to open the door.
I want to know who he is. I want him to know that I care because I want him to know that Jesus cares. Don't you? You understand how having A one works? I didn't go into some gospel presentation.
I just want him to know, hey, hey, you're important. You're not an accident. God made you. And if you don't have anybody to connect you to God, I'll do it.
You see, people who meet Jesus start moving toward Jesus. Healthy disciples move toward Jesus. They help others move toward Jesus too. And that's exactly what Andrew does next. He's met the Lord.
Now there's somebody else he wants Jesus to meet. Number two. Hey, everybody still with me? Any of that make sense? I'm speaking English, but I'm not sure you're understanding.
You got it? Okay, number two. Evangelism is simpler than we think.
This is verses 40 and 41. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother, Simon, and he said to him, we found the Messiah, which is translated to Christ. You ought to circle the word first in that verse. What Andrew does is so straightforward.
How can we not be reassured and challenged? Andrew has met Jesus, and almost immediately he starts thinking about someone else who needs to meet Christ too. And observe where he starts. He first found his own brother Simon. Everybody, look at me.
Start close to home.
There's some ones that are around you. They live at your house. They sleep in your bed. They go to work to pay your bills every day. They go off to college, and you set up their dorm room.
He first found his own brother. Sometimes we pray for God to give us some awesome, fantastic opportunity to reach others while we overlook the people he's already put around us.
Here's a way to remember it. Your one may already be in your life.
Your son, your daughter, a brother, a hunting buddy on the bowling team. Does anybody do that anymore? That's just 1970s. All right? A co worker, a neighbor, a teammate, a friend at the gym.
Let me say it this way. You don't necessarily need God to introduce you to somebody new. You may need him to help you view someone differently who's already there.
And what did Andrew do exactly when he found Peter? Did he preach a sermon? No. Did he answer theological objections? What about the dinosaurs?
How old is the earth? No. Did he win a debate with his brother? No. He simply told him what he knew.
We found him. We found the Messiah, the Promised One, the one that our ancestors have been telling us about. We found him, and he's right over there.
And then comes one of the clearest statements in all the Bible, John 1:42. And he brought him to Jesus.
That's it. He brought him to Christ. I don't know if he had to get his brother in a headlock. You know, I've got younger brothers. I used to do that.
They're too big now. Would never try that now. I don't know how he did it. I just know that he brought him to Christ. Sometimes Christians make evangelism far more complicated than it needs to be.
You see, we have to unlearn this. We think we need to know everything. We need to be able to answer every objection. We need to have a polished presentation. We need to know exactly what to say.
We need to be ready to close the sale. Look, we're not selling shoes.
We're offering people the life that Jesus died to give them.
You don't make them take it. You just say, hey, look, here it is. It's free. Andrew simply brought another person to Jesus. And that, by the way, fits perfectly with our definition of evangelism.
I'm giving you both definitions today. Shooting both barrels. Discipleship and evangelism. Here's Great Commission Church's definition of evangelism that we got from the Bible. Evangelism is partnering with God to share the message of Jesus Christ and then trusting God with the results.
Oh, that's so good. I didn't write it. Let me say it again. Evangelism is partnering with God to share the message of Jesus Christ and then trusting God with the results. I don't know about you, I find that profoundly liberating.
You're not responsible for changing someone's heart. The Holy Spirit draws. Jesus saves. The Gospel transforms. Our responsibility is to faithfully move toward others and help them move toward Jesus.
What does that look like, Pastor? Well, look, sometimes it sounds like this. Hey, come sit with me this Sunday.
Other times, it sounds like this. Hey, how can I pray for you this afternoon? Noon.
Let me tell you an easy one. If you're going out to eat for lunch today, you're gonna have a server come to your table and that server's already been stiffed by a rowdy group of people that didn't even leave her a tip. And she's already had people running the game, running the scam, sending the food back, trying to get. She's already had all the nightmares. And now God sent you to her table.
You're Jesus with skin on. I've been crucified with Christ. I no longer live. Christ lives in me. You take Jesus to that restaurant and here's what you say to her.
Let's say her name's Denise. Hey, what's your name? My name's Denise. I'll be your servant today. Hey, Denise.
In just a couple minutes, after we order and you go get our water, we're going to pray over our meal and ask God to bless our meal. Is there anything in your life we can pray for you today? The ones that are receptive, they'll melt. We've been watching people just cry tears when you ask them this question. Oh, I'm working this extra double shift today because I don't have any money to pay for my daughter's school supplies.
You know, when I hear that the tip goes up. You know, the tip that you should always leave, right? Showing the generosity of Jesus. Jesus. It's just Jesus encountering her through you.
Do they celebrate that in heaven? Does it please God? You just want to show him God's real and he hasn't forgotten about you. And you had all those bad experiences with earlier customers. You're not going to have one with this Jesus follower.
Amen. Does that make sense? It's not difficult. You just have to start looking. Hey, would you like to hear what Jesus has done in my life?
I like this one. Nobody can turn this down in the South. Open your Bible and say, hey, would you read this verse to me? It's really meant something in my life.
Try that one. I keep thinking about it. Hey, would you like to meet for coffee next week? Here's what we're learning. Sitting across a table from people that you love and you care about just disarms them, makes them receptive to spiritual things, and they will let you show them the love of Jesus.
Table fellowship. I accept. You listen to me. You don't have to argue. Somebody into the kingdom, love them into listening.
Furthermore, sometimes our one comes to our house for dinner because we already have a relationship with him. We just kind of covered that Andrew went to his brother. But listen to this. Other times, going after your one means being willing to move when it would be a lot easier to Stay where you are. I mean move your body, not your house or your place.
Let me illustrate this. Let's go back to 1876. In 1876, there was a 27 year old Scottish woman named Mary Celeste. And she sailed for what is now the nation of Nigeria as a missionary. Here's Mary, okay.
She was going to the nation called Calabar. It's now Nigeria. She spent most of the rest of her life in Nigeria, learning the language, living among the people, telling them about Jesus and going into places others in 1876 were very afraid to go. And when she got there, one of the customs that really troubled Mary and broke her heart was that she found in some villages they believed in their witchcraft that twins brought evil and curses to their village. So when twins were born, they were abandoned and killed.
One of the rescued twins Mary adopted was a little girl that she named Janie. When Mary got to Janie, her twin had already been killed. Mary took the surviving baby home and she raised Janie as her own daughter. Here's Mary and Janie, right? Years later, Mary was teaching one afternoon when somebody suddenly barged in and brought a message to her.
And the message was this. Twins have been born 12 miles away in the bush and the mother's very sick. Mary stepped outside and looked at the sky. And in the direction of the 12 miles away village, there were dark thunderclouds that were forming and night was approaching. This was late in the afternoon and she already had a sick baby depending on her.
Mary had every reason to stay put, except that Jesus sent her there instead. She turns to Janie and she's says, come along, Janie, we will go. By the time they arrived in the village, darkness had fallen. One twin was already dead. Janie, a young adolescent girl, dug a little grave and buried the baby.
Then Janie herself, the twin whose own life someone had once rescued, picked up the surviving twin and carried the baby through the darkness. While Mary helped the desperately sick mother along on the journey, they got lost in the rainforest of Nigeria somehow. But by the grace of God, they eventually found the pathway again and made it safely back home. And when they did, Janie was carrying that rescued baby in her arms. I'll show you.
This is Janie with the red sash over her head holding the baby. That's Mary and all the other kids she rescued. I want you to think about that picture. The little girl someone once went after had grown up and now she was going after somebody else. Look at me.
That's what disciples of Jesus do. The gospel is the only hope of the world and the local church is the steward of the gospel. It's a rescue mission. You see, without Jesus, you're a heartbeat away from a devil's hell. But if you go there, you step over the blood of Jesus to get there, because he's already died for you.
He's already raised from the dead. And he's already said, come to me and drink. I'll give you the water of life. Come and believe. Come and repent.
Come and trust in me. Somebody went after you.
Now, who's your one?
Don't think about everybody who needs Jesus right now. Think about somebody who's God placed in your life, whose name comes to mind when you hear the words. You're one. See, we've. Evangelism is simpler than we think.
Finally, today, number three. Never underestimate what Jesus can do with your one.
I'm talking to some who've already written some people off as too far gone and too evil and too disinterested. John 1:42. Now, when Jesus looked at Peter or Simon, he said, you're Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas. That's the Hebrew name, Peter, which translated as a stone.
All right, follow me. Andrew brings his brother to Jesus. Andrew has no idea what's about to happen. He knows Simon as his brother. He knows his personality.
He knows his weaknesses. He knows all his habits. He knows his history. But Jesus sees something Andrew cannot see. Andrew saw a brother.
Jesus saw a rock. Now, look, Peter didn't look much like a rock, yet he was impulsive. He was rash. He was loud. He was unstable.
He made promises he didn't keep. He told Jesus, I'll never leave you. Then he denied him three times that same night that he ever knew him. And yet Jesus looked at Simon and saw what grace had in store.
You are Simon. That means listener. That means bookworm. You're Simon. You're the guy at the library.
You're the one that everybody ignores. You're Simon, but you're not gonna be Simon anymore. When grace comes to you, you'll be called Cephas. You'll be a rock that I can trust and I can count on. Jesus sees people not only as they are, but what they will become after they're redeemed.
Let me ask you. Isn't that true about you?
That's why we should be very careful about writing people off. Maybe there's somebody in your life you've quietly stopped believing could ever change.
They'll never come to Christ. You tell Yourself. Their hearts are too hard. They love the world too much. They're too far gone.
Listen to me. Don't confuse what you can see right now with what Jesus can do next.
Andrew had no idea who Peter would become.
Let me ask you, did Andrew know that Peter would preach on the day of Pentecost and thousands would respond to the gospel? Did he know that Peter would help lead the early church? Did he know that Peter would help open the door to the Gentiles and not just the Jews? Did he know that generations of Christians like us would read letters in the Bible bearing Peter's name? The answer to all those questions is no.
Andrew didn't know any of that. He just brought his brother to Jesus.
He's the perfect illustration of our definition for evangelism. Andrew's responsibility was to bring Peter Jesus responsibility was to transform Peter.
Andrew partnered with God. Andrew shared what he knew, and then Andrew trusted Jesus with the results.
Never underestimate what Jesus can do with your one. You see a co worker. Jesus may see a future missionary. You see a difficult brother. Jesus may see a future godly husband.
You see a teenager who seems completely disinterested in God. Jesus may see a teenage girl whose life will one day point hundreds of other people to him. We cannot know what hangs in the balance of one invitation, One text message, one lunch appointment, one personal prayer over the phone, one saved seat at church. One moment when you decide, I'm now going after my one.
Andrew brought Peter. Peter preached to thousands and the kingdom kept multiplying, all because one ordinary believer decided one other person mattered.
In conclusion today, I'm so proud of how short my conclusion is.
Andrew never became as famous as his brother Peter. But I got to tell you something. Heaven keeps records differently than Earth does. History remembers Peter's sermons, but heaven remembers Andrew's invitation. So before you leave today, I want you to have a name.
Who's your one? Somebody may be one step away from meeting Jesus. And you may be the person God uses to help them take that step. I'm done preaching now. We good?
Good. Wake up your neighbor.
We've got a baptism to do. You receive that word. Look, we're going to give you four sermons on the one you just heard one of them. There's going to be three more in rapid succession from the Book of Acts. They're inspiring stories.
Here's what I'm afraid our church might do. You help me fight against this. When the series comes to an end in three Sundays from now, we just go, okay? Pastor, what's next. Now, I know that God doesn't want us to know about the one.
He wants us to go after the one you receive that word. Alright, let's pray together. We're going to baptize Father. So grateful somebody identified us the way Andrew identified Peter and brought us to Christ. God, make it go crazy in our church.
Amen.
If you would. I'm going to ask you to help me invite a family to the stage. But we'll start with who's going to be baptized today. Hannah Folkertz. So, Hannah, you start this way.
And then I want the whole Fulkerts family to come up up. The whole Folkert family. You come stand right over here by me. Right here. Here's our star.
Here's the supporting cast.
You know, Hannah, you grew up in a pretty big family. There's mom, James and Amy.
And then you have brothers Paul and Trip and Luke. And you have a sister, Elizabeth. And then there's you. And this is a pretty big physical family, wouldn't you say? But just take a look at this bigger one right here that you're about to become a part of.
This is your spiritual family that you're about to enter into. Isn't that wonderful? So this is Hannah Folkert. She's 12 years old. And we have a process that we go through with our children.
We give them material that they read and they fill out things and they do this with their parents. And we lean heavily on parents to tell us, hey, what do you think about your child? Do you feel like that they understand these things and that they have come to faith in Christ. And Hannah, your testimony is that it was in one of these services this year that it just suddenly kind of clicked and you found yourself trusting in Jesus in a. In a new way because you kind of grew up, you know, saying you believe in Jesus.
But then there was the moment where you go, no, for me personally, I'm embracing this. And that's what you shared in your meeting with Sheila Hershberg and Renee McKelvin. And so I want to ask you, Hannah, in the presence of the members of Great Commission Church, is it your testimony that the Lord Jesus brought you to a moment where you started trusting him in a saving way and that you believe he's forgiven your sins? Well, based on that, we are going to baptize Hannah and her dad's gonna do the physical baptizing and mom is going to assist from the floor. But what I want to do right now is pray for you.
And then after we baptize you. Hannah, when you come up out of the water, do you know what you're going to do to Ms. Connie Dunn? You're going to move her away from being our newest member, and you're going to become the newest member of Great Commission Church. Sorry, Connie. Let's pray for Hannah.
Heavenly Father, thank you for Hannah and her desire to express her love for you and her belief that you have accepted her died for her, and she now wants to testify to that by obeying you in believer's baptism. Bless her, help her family of faith that's behind her physically encourage and strengthen her and help help us, the family of faith in front of her, to do the same. Thank you, Jesus, for saving Hannah. Amen. Amen.
All right, Hannah, let's walk right over here. The rest of you can kind of move over here.
I don't know. Hello, James. Mike's on.
It is now. Come on in here. Oh, take your shoes off.
It.
All right. Put this in here.
Hannah, I've just been. Our family's been blessed to have you. We want you to grow into a young, lovely lady of God. And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Praise the Lord. James and Amy are deacons here at Great Commission Church. They love the Lord. They have the great blessing of their entire family being here, serving the Lord, loving the Lord. And if you have a family that's not that way, then you know what a great blessing that is.
All right, what I'd like to do is ask our prayer ministry teams to go ahead and stand up and come forward. They'll be all across the front here. If you're new to this, we invite you to come and ask them to pray for you about any physical issues, emotional issues, spiritual concerns. They'll be happy to entertain that and pray with you. And what I'd like for the rest of us do is to now stand up, up.
And let me thank you for being here today. We are dismissed.

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Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church for a welcoming and uplifting worship experience. If you’ve been searching for a church near you, you’ll discover a warm, authentic church family ready to help you grow in faith.

We are a family-friendly, non-denominational Christian church in Olive Branch, serving individuals and families throughout DeSoto County and the greater Mid-South. People looking for Christian churches in Olive Branch often discover a vibrant community where faith comes alive and lives are transformed through the Gospel.

Whether you’re new to faith or have followed Christ for years, you’ll find welcoming Sunday services, practical Bible teaching, and a place to belong. We are more than a congregation — we are a church family united by a mission to follow Jesus and live out the Great Commission.

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Families searching for a church with strong children’s programs love our engaging Kids Ministry and safe, caring environments. Students can connect through our Youth Ministry, and adults of every stage can find community through groups, prayer, and discipleship opportunities. As a multi-generational church, we love seeing every age grow in faith together.

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Experience contemporary worship with modern Christian music, heartfelt prayer, and Gospel-centered messages designed to help you encounter God personally. If you’re looking for vibrant worship near Memphis, you’ll find a place that feels both authentic and inspiring.

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We offer Bible studies, small groups, and discipleship opportunities that help you understand and apply God’s Word to everyday life. If you’re looking for a place to grow spiritually, you’ll find support and encouragement here.

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We are passionate about serving our neighbors through outreach and local partnerships, making a positive impact in Olive Branch and beyond.

Conveniently located in Olive Branch, we serve families from surrounding communities, including Southaven, Germantown, Collierville, Lewisburg, and Byhalia.