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Call the Witnesses - Pt. 1
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John 1:19-42
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Transcript
The Role of Witnesses
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There's something fascinating about witnesses.
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there's ever a car accident that you see on the side of the road, what do we do? We slow down, rubber neck, turn and look, don't you?
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Slow down just to check it out. What really went on here?
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Who's involved? Did anyone see it?
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We ask these questions, brothers sisters, because witnesses matter. They bring clarity, they bring truth.
Discerning Jesus' True Identity
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Now here's the tension that that you and I live in today.
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There are a ton of voices in this world, lot of opinions being thrown your way about what to believe. Who Jesus is, who Jesus isn't.
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But the real question is, who's telling you the truth about Jesus? And maybe even a more personal question than that, what kind of witness are you to who Jesus is?
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Because whether or are pointing someone somewhere. We're either pointing them to Jesus or we're pointing them away from Jesus.
John the Baptist: The First Witness
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Our passage this morning, God calls out the very first witnesses to the stand, if we'll say that. What we see is not just who Jesus is, but how we're supposed to respond to him.
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And after we respond to him, how we're supposed to point other people to Jesus. Now my lovely wife was kind enough to say, as you guys were singing so eloquently earlier, she gave me the elbow to the side and said, now did you know that passage that Brother West read today was the exact same passage that they were studying in Bible study?
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To which I said, I wish I was that gifted.
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Church, follow me. I will tell you this is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Divine Alignment with John 1
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I have planned this study of John well in advance. Matter of fact, I'm already studied up and have everything orchestrated through John chapter 5 as of this morning.
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So I just happened to pick this corresponding passage unbeknownst to me that you guys will be studying it in Bible study, to which I sat in Brother Pease's class today and kind of chuckled to myself, Lord, there must be something in this that you want us to know about. so Know that God is at work well ahead of you sitting in the pew today. He's already prepared in my heart and my mind this call and how important it is for you and I to be witness.
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Look with me, if you will, as we continue our journey. John chapter 1, and we're going to pick up in verse 19. We'll go 19 through 28.
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It says this. says, This was John's testimony. When the Jewish leaders sent priests and temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, who are you?
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And he came right out and he said, I am not the Messiah. Well, then who
John's Humble Identity
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are you? They asked. Are you Elijah? No, he replied. Are you the prophet we are expecting? No. Then who are you?
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We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself? John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah saying, I am a voice shouting in the wilderness.
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Clear the way for the Lord's coming. Then the Pharisees who had been sent asked him, if you aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet, what right or authority do you have to baptize?
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To which John replied to them, I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. Though his ministry follows mine, I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.
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This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River where John was baptizing.
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Who are you? Is the pressing question from the religious leaders. Are you the Christ? Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet?
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I thought interesting this order in which they ask him. Christ? Elijah? Prophet?
John's Example of Humility
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Understand John probably could have claimed any number of these titles.
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If you know your Bible and you were in Matthew, just flip with me. Matthew 11. I'm going to call your attention to something. 11.11. And will get there just the same.
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Matter of fact, I had my finger on it earlier. When I walked up here, I took it off. Matthew 11, 11.
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You'll notice if you have a red-letter Bible, this is all in red letters. Matthew 11, 11. He says, I tell you the truth of all who have ever lived, or your translation may say, who have ever been born of a woman, none is greater than, everybody say with me, John the Baptist.
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Jesus calls John the goat, the greatest of all time.
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Can you imagine that, Jesus calling you that? John could have easily said, Christ? Sure. Elijah?
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Sure.
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But it's interesting how he responds. He doesn't build himself up. Instead, he strips himself down. No, no, I'm not the Christ.
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Effectively saying, I'm not the one. Rather, I'm the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness. See, what strikes me when we read this, brothers and sisters, is John knew exactly who he was.
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He knew his role. More importantly, he knew who he was not. He's not the message. He's simply the messenger. Matter of fact, when I graduated seminary,
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This gentleman got up and gave this fabulous sermon. Kim was part of this. She she can attest to this. Timothy Atik, some of you guys know this gentleman, was preaching this message.
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On this very verse,
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he said, brothers and sisters, you're going to go out and you're going to preach in the pulpit someday. He goes, understand, you're the mailman. That's all you are. You didn't write the letter, you just delivered letter.
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Period. It's very humbling. It's humbling to me. It's humbling when I read this today. It's John's very core response to the religious elite of that day saying, are you somebody who's elevated? He said, no, no, I'm simply the messenger.
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But, in his humbly reply, he says, there is one among you, here among you. Whose sandal strap I'm unworthy to untie.
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True witnesses, friends, don't draw attention to themselves. They point people to Jesus.
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John's greatness is found in his clarity and his humility and understanding who he is and more importantly who he's not.
Life's Focus: Pointing to Jesus
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So in your notes today as you have your outline, here's the first thing I want you to write.
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Because I discovered something last week whenever i I said, here, I want you to write this. I saw people writing who have never written notes before. Matter of fact, I saw some left around here, and they had these very notes written. So I'm going to tell you what I want you to write today.
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The first thing I want you to write is, it's not about me.
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It's not about me. And then right next to that, just put, it's all about Jesus.
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John's ministry in baptizing in the Jordan is like a road sign, if you will, um on the highway. When I was in the military and I was stationed in El Paso, i would or in New Mexico, I would drive down through New Mexico, through El Paso, all the way back to Houston just to visit my family.
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And I knew when I saw the sign that said San Antonio, right as I got to San Antonio, just just as you've gone the outside of San Antonio, it said Houston 200 miles.
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And I thought to myself, oh, thank you, Lord. I've only i've almost made it. It's 15-hour drive one way, by the way. I must have really wanted to come home. But when I saw that sign, I want you to know I didn't stop my car and get out and say, I finally made it.
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I see the sign. Houston's right here. No, that sign was pointing to a destination down the road.
Conversations that Reflect Jesus
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John is, in essence, saying the same thing.
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He's saying, brothers and sisters, don't stop and look at me. I'm pointing you somewhere another direction. It's to the one that's coming. Matter of fact, it's the one that's here. He's pointing somebody to Jesus. And so the relevant question for you and i the first one today is, are we pointing people to Jesus?
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Or are we subtly pointing people back to ourselves? Because if you're not pointing somebody to Jesus, you're pointing them somewhere else. Are you pointing people to Jesus in your conversations?
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Meaning are you having spiritual conversations? Are you telling people that you're not just going to church on Sunday or Wednesday, but the the bulk of your conversation revolves around what Jesus is doing in your life?
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Or are your conversations worldly?
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How about how you talk about life in general? Are you talking about eternal things with the people you run into? are you talking about the temporal things? Boy, I can't wait
Eternal vs. Temporal Conversations
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for vacation this June, which I can't.
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But should that be the bulk of our conversation? Or should we be pointing people to eternal things? Are we pointing people to Jesus in what we emphasize? Even in ministry, brothers sisters, I think we can we can fall off the tracks really quick here.
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We can often say, look at what we're doing for the cause of Jesus.
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But understand, that's not talking about Jesus. That's telling people, look what we're doing, us, First Baptist Church, for the cause of Jesus. Do you see the difference? It's not pointing somebody Jesus, it's pointing to us.
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We need to be pointing people to Jesus.
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I also put as a note to myself, when people leave conversations with us, do they think to themselves, wow, that was a great conversation about Jesus?
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Or is it more about you and I? I put a clear sign of spiritual maturity, that's you and I growing in Christ, is that our life witnesses to other people which says it's less about me and it's more about him.
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So that's a second note I want you to write. Right next to what you wrote before. It's not about me, it's all about Jesus. You're gonna write this. Me, M-E, and then a last song less less than sign.
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And then you're Jesus next to that. Less about me, more about him.
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And when it comes to the opposition, the Pharisees, they're questioning Jesus' identity. John doesn't simply clarify who he is, brothers and sisters. He boldly declares who Jesus is. Look with me. Let's continue reading verse 29.
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Verse 29 says, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he says, Look, or
Jesus as the Lamb of God
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your reverse may say, Behold, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the Son of the world.
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He is the one i was talking about when I said, a man is coming after me who is far greater than I. For he existed long before me. I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.
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Then John testified, I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn't know was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me...
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The one on whom you see the Spirit the Holy Spirit. I saw this happen to Jesus so that I testify that he is the chosen one of God.
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What do witnesses do? They testify. They boldly proclaim. It's not some casual statement John is making here.
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It's loaded with Old Testament goodness, if you can say that. He's the lamb of God. He's the sacrificial lamb. He's the Passover lamb.
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He's the substitute for sin. John is saying this is the one I've been talking about for such a long time. The one who is to come. The one who is here to deal with your greatest problem.
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And that greatest problem is Iran.
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Gas prices.
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Trump, politics, your circumstances, your comfort, or is he saying sin?
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Brothers and sisters, that's the greatest problem that they face. That's the greatest problem that you and I face. John confirms it right here in verse 32. He says, I saw the Spirit descend and remain on him.
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This is the Son of God. Remember purpose statement in John. You flip John all the way to the back, 20, right?
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twenty thirty The The disciples saw Jesus do many other miracles, right? In addition to these ones recorded in this book, but verse
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He's Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing in him, you will have life by the power of his name.
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He's not just some teacher. He's not some rabbi. He's not some moral example. He is the sacrificial savior. He did not come to just improve your life. He came to redeem your life.
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That word redeem means to purchase. That's a banking term. It means a repayment of a loan. the New Testament, they would repay. pay or pay off your debt a slave would have and they would buy the freedom. This is the imagery that that John is saying.
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What do you think about a debt that you may have right now? The largest debt you could possibly think about that you could never repay. MasterCard is calling you nonstop.
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No matter how hard you work, no matter how many hours you work, you'll never ever be able to get them underneath that. Some of you are saying, the pastor's speaking to me right now. Then imagine somebody stepping in and saying, I'm going to take care of all of that debt.
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Every last dollar, every last cent. Paid in full. This is what John is declaring, my brothers and sisters. He's saying, Jesus is the the Lamb of God, who will take away the sin of the world.
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At the cross, he's going to pay that debt that you cannot pay, that sin debt that you cannot pay, that you would never be able to pay.
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And here's where it hits home for you and I. Many of us want Jesus as a helper. We just don't want him as a savior. We want him to fix the situation, but not forgive the sin.
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If you're going to be a true witness, true witnesses know what they're witnessing. They know Jesus. Until you can see him as the lamb who took your place on that cross, you'll never be a ah valid, credible witness.
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But I will tell you, when you see him as that sacrificial lamb, it will radically change your life. So much so that you can't help but follow him. And more importantly, you'll have this great desire within your heart to point other people towards Jesus.
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And might I just venture to say real quick here, if you don't have that desire in your heart to point somebody to Jesus, perhaps your life is not radically changed. Maybe you haven't placed your full trust in him.
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Let's continue reading here in verse
Andrew's Encounter and Invitation
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35. Look with me. The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. This is John's disciples. And as Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared once again, Behold, there is the Lamb of God.
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When John's two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.
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Pause. Less of him, less of John, more of Jesus. See where I'm getting at? John had a following, y'all.
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Lots of people followed John, had his own disciples. Now he's saying, don't follow me, follow Jesus. Less of me, more of him. And you've got to love Jesus' response.
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Look, I love the New Living Translation, verse 38. Jesus looked around and he saw these following. Hey, what do you want? He's asking them. In essence, what do you why are you following me?
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And they replied, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? Jesus says, come and see. It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and they went with him to the place where he was staying and they remained with him the rest of the day.
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Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of these men who heard what John had said and followed Jesus. Andrew went, found his brother Simon, and he said, We have found the Messiah, which means the Christ.
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Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. And looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, Your name is Simon, son of John, but you will be called Cephas, which means Peter.
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Let's pause there. Look, behold the Lamb of God.
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To which these two disciples leave John and follow Jesus.
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What I put as a note to me, no big evangelism going on here. Do you notice that? Jesus is not like, let me tell you about what my plan is for the world.
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One day, i going to be up on the cross. He doesn't go into any of that.
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He doesn't say, hey, come and see. you want to know more about me? Come and see. And they just spent time with him. How does it work today for you and I? How do we spend time with Jesus?
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Well, we read his word and we pray. These people had the benefit of face-to-face communication with Jesus. And it changed everything.
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So much so, look, verse 41 says, Andrew goes and he finds his brother Simon. And he says, we found the one. We found the Messiah.
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And Andrew brings Simon back to Jesus. So what does this teach us? Well, it teaches us that a true encounter with Jesus always leads to multiplication. You can't just keep Jesus to yourself.
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That type of experience, that radical experience that you have in your life is not something you can simply hold on to. It's not designed to work that way.
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You must bring other people to Jesus. When I thought about this, would be a great example? There's this fabulous Chinese restaurant in Temple called Dynasty.
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Those of you who know my loving wife knows that she hates all things buffet. Doesn't trust it Doesn't trust the cleanliness of the place. Could be the best food ever. She just doesn't trust it.
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Dynasty, I lowered her in the other day and said, I have to have it. I gotta go. Jim was out of pocket. I couldn't rely on my buddy Jim to to go with me.
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I didn't dare invite the other guys that we normally eat with, so I convinced my loving wife to go. and And y'all, she took one for the team. She really did. She said she enjoyed it, but I know she was struggling.
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I say all that because when you find something genuinely good, you want to tell somebody about it. Hey, there's this great restaurant in Temple. Hey, there's this great doctor that worked on my back and did miracles.
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Hey, there's this tool that I use that that really worked. You don't want to keep it a secret. You got to try this. You got to use it. Andrew didn't have a sermon.
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He simply said, hey, you got to come see for yourself.
The Simplicity of Invitation
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I put here, this is where church complicates things, I think. We've got to have a program. We've got to have a display. We've got to have a slideshow. We've got to have banners and signs.
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The message has to be perfect. We have to have all the answers before we bring everybody in the door. The lights have to be on, the carpet's gotta be clean, the AC's gotta be on, it's all gotta be planned out, it's all gotta be spelled out, or do you think we could possibly do it like Andrew did it and simply tell people, hey, come and see what Jesus did in my life?
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Dare I say that can happen right outside on these picnic tables that we have right across the street.
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Come and see.
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That's what a true witness does. You want to know who Jesus is Come and see.
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Remember that car accident scene I talked about at the very beginning? Everybody's looking around for a witness. What really went on here? Brothers and sisters, that is your role in this world.
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You are to be a witness to Jesus. You are to point people to Jesus.
Christians as Guides in a Confused World
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So the final thing I want you to write in your notes today is this. I am
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that witness.
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Why is that so important? Well, because we live in a society where there are so many confused people. They're all searching for something. They're all lost.
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TVs, book, social media, all telling you that they have the answer.
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And they don't.
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God calls us the witnesses.
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John pointed clearly. The disciples followed personally. and Andrew brought somebody with him. This is the the how the movement works. So I'll ask you this morning again. What kind of witness are you?
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Are you a credible witness?
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You know how i can tell if you're a credible witness? Because you personally know Jesus.
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I can tell by the things you say. When you talk to other people, when I overhear your conversations, I can tell. this somebody who really intimately knows Jesus, who spends quality time in prayer, is this somebody who knows a lot about Jesus?
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I can also tell by the way you live your life. You can do the same, by the way, when you look at others.
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I love when famous celebrities that rooted deep in in the world, when they finally come to Jesus, and everybody jumps on the bandwagon. Woo!
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Kanye West, finally a believer. And I'm like, hold on a second. Let's just hold on a second.
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Let's see how his life plays out for a little bit and see if his life reflects that. Anybody can mention that. I follow Jesus. I think that level of obedience, when you give your life over to Christ, it naturally starts changing you and your life should reflect that.
The Importance of Personal Relationship
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We need to be real careful when we just jump on the bandwagon.
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If we're going to be a great witness, a credible witness, we need to be somebody who has a personal relationship with Jesus and we need to be pointing others to Christ. In our conversations, in what we emphasize, in how we live our lives, should all be pointing to Jesus.
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If you know him, your life is radically different.
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Period. And if it's not, I would question whether or not you truly know him.
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If you want to be a credible witness, say amen. By the way, it's your job. Welcome. Welcome. You're on the job today. When you leave these doors, you're on the job. People are watching you, and they're asking questions.