Come and Follow

Today at Eastbrook Church, my message was entitled “Come and Follow” and was the first in our new series “Conversations.” The sermon drew upon John 1:35-51. Because I used a slightly different outline than was in the bulletin for this week, I am simply inserting my outline below.

You can listen to my message online for it at the Eastbrook web-site here. You can also subscribe to the Eastbrook podcast here or follow Eastbrook Church on Twitter.

“The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, He said to him, ‘Follow me’.” (John 1:43)

Jesus’ Question: “What do you want?” (1:38)

John’s multi-faceted portrait of Jesus

• The Lamb of God (1:36)
• The Rabbi, or Teacher (1:38)
• The Messiah (1:41)
• The One Moses and the Prophets wrote about (1:45)
• The Son of God (1:49)
• The King of Israel (1:49)
• The Son of Man (1:51)

The First Movement of Discipleship: Following Jesus (1:37, 43)

Jesus and the Crossroads of Decision

• Andrew (1:40-41)
• Simon Peter (1:42)
• Philip (1:43-44)
• Nathanael (1:46-51)

Discipleship as following the Leader

The Second Movement of Discipleship: Remaining in Jesus (1:39)

• The idea of remaining/abiding/staying with as a major theme in John’s Gospel
• Like a tree sending down its roots deep (Jeremiah 17:5)
• Remaining in Jesus by holding to His teaching (John 8:31)
• Remaining in Jesus by abiding in Him and letting Him abide in us (John 15:4)

The Third Movement of Discipleship: Introducing Others to Jesus (1:41, 45)

Jesus as the goal for others

• Andrew with Simon Peter – “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother…” (1:40-42)
• Philip with Nathanael – “Philip found Nathanael…” (1:43-51)

Discipleship as introducing people to Jesus