Topic
1. Introduction: The Story of Andrew meeting & bringing his brother, Simon to Jesus:
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). 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). And he brought him to Jesus.
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). 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). And he brought him to Jesus.
A. Andrew was a fisherman, not an orator, not a great leader of men, just a simple fisherman...2. What can we learn from Andrew?
B. Who happened to be a disciple of John, a close disciple of John...
C. A disciple who listened to John
D. Now, Peter was leader of the Apostles.
1. He accompanied Jesus to the mount of Transfiguration and into Gethsemane the night he was betrayed.E. Andrew, on the other hand was none of those things, in fact, he is most often introduced as "Andrew, Simon Peter's Brother" as though the writer is afraid you won't know who he is talking about.
2. He was given the keys to the kingdom of Heaven by Jesus.
3. He preached the 1st Gospel sermon and baptized 3000 in one day.
4. He was miraculously delivered by the Angel from Prison.
5. He preached the first sermon to the Gentiles.
6. He is the main character in the first 10 chapters of Acts.
A. He was a man who immediately accepted truth, even when it mean leaving what was familiar and comfortable to him:3. Application:
1. He left following John to follow JesusB. He lived in the shadow of his brother.
a. This means that his discipleship with John was obviously real. He paid attention to the things John said, such as "The one who comes after me, his shoes I am not worthy to unlatch."
b. Do you pay attention to the things of God as you're taught? Ac.17:11
c. He immediately left his livelihood of fishing to follow Jesus
d. Would you leave your career to follow the master?
e. He worked for Dad, and thus when he left fishing, he left his family.
f. Would you leave your family for service to the Master?
1. As far as we know, he never complained about it.C. He did not use his ordinariness as an excuse.
2. Oh, he probably argued with the rest of the apostles as to who was the greatest, but we never find him using Peter as an excuse.
3. Aaron and Miriam were not so noble. (Numbers 12) They got fed up with living in Moses' shadow & tried to claim a portion of his authority/leadership for themselves.
4. Michael Jordan was awesome, but by himself it wouldn't have been much of a team. In fact, not only wouldn't they have won those 5 championships, he wouldn't have won even one game!
5. Do you ever use someone else as an excuse not to do what you can? Or get jealous of someone else's position or recognition in the church?
6. He didn't hoard for himself the blessings of Jesus b/c he would be overshadowed by Peter.
a. Do you hoard God's blessings b/c you don't want someone to replace you or become more important to the church than you?
b. Or do you share freely the blessings of Salvation in Jesus?
1. Moses had trouble with this "Lord, I'm not an eloquent man"..."Lord they won't listen to me"... etc. (Exodus 2)D. He did not "get in the way" of Peter's greatness because of his own ordinariness
2. A catastrophe is the result of many small, seemingly insignificant failures...any one of which could have changed the outcome.
3. Do you ever allow your ordinariness to get in the way of doing what you can?
4. God uses ordinary people to accomplish great things
1. Do you ever "throw a monkey wrench" in something because you are not the leader or specially important, or it's not getting done your way, or "no-one asked me..."?
A. Casserole...4. Conclusion:
B. We have a revival coming up in about 3 weeks. What are you going to do for it?
C. If you see that the building isn't vacuumed, or we're short on visitors cards.
D. If you have a friend who is not a Christian, are you going to bring them to hear?
E. If you walk into the kitchen and there is a dirty dish...
F. If you see someone who seems down, or sitting alone, go talk with them
G. If you notice someone wasn't at the assembly this week, call them, or send them a card.
H. Show up on work day, even if you aren't going to be in charge of a project.
I. If you know of someone who has a need, give them a cup of water in the Lord's name, so to speak...meet their need.
J. What makes a team great is not that everyone is an "apostle Peter" but that everyone on the team does what they can do.
K. We are a body, every piece is important (1 Cor.12)
L. Tell story of how some significant work got started [ie. Simeon visiting the church in Pearland, etc.]
1. How many small things...
A. Just because you may be ordinary does not mean what you do is unimportant, or not valuable.
B. Look around you:
1. Pay attention...that is how you learn to recognize truth
2. Remember our task...saving souls