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Jesus and the Disciples: The ministry of Jesus included calling men and women to become his disciples. In fact, everything that follows in John's gospel must be seen through the lens of discipleship — of learning to follow Jesus and helping others do the same. But as we see in this passage, the journey of faith often starts when someone says, “Come and see.” Recorded on Jul 16, 2023, on John 1:35-51 by Pastor David Parks. Finding Life in Jesus’ Name is a sermon series on the gospel according to John in the Bible. Have you ever felt unsatisfied with your life? Or, even when things were going well, something was still missing? Many people sense there must be something more. But what?? John, one of the closest friends of Jesus, believed that Jesus came into the world so that we may have life and have it to the full. Jesus turned John’s life upside down, and John claims this new life — marked by God’s power, presence, and purpose — is available for all who believe. Sermon Transcript So this month, we’ve started a new annual theme for our preaching ministry, that is: Finding Life in Jesus’ Name. And normally, we’d have a selection of sermon series under this theme from various parts of the Bible throughout the year. But this year we’re doing something a little different. For almost the whole next year, we’re going slowly, chapter by chapter and verse by verse, through the gospel according to John. We started this series/theme by meeting two different men named John. First, we met John the Apostle, the author of this gospel account of the life and ministry of Jesus. John was an ambitious and hot-tempered young man with the nickname Son of Thunder. But John found a new life with Jesus and was changed so much that by the end of his long life, he was known as the Apostle of love. Second, last week, we met John the Baptist, who was a wild man. John lived in the desert wilderness and dressed and ate like it, too. But John was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. And he did that very effectively. Today, we’ll move from the ministry of John the Baptist, preparing us for the coming of Jesus, to the very start of the ministry of Jesus. And the author introduces the ministry of Jesus in his gospel by showing how Jesus would call people to follow him. Last year, we spent the whole year focusing on learning to follow the unique way of Jesus. If you missed either of those sermons, you can always go back and watch online or listen to the audio podcast if you’d like. But today, we’ll see the start of the journey for several of the first followers of Jesus. And what we learn from this passage will not only help us see how to follow Jesus but also how we might help our friends or loved ones follow him, too. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to John 1:35. Let’s jump in. John 1:35-39 (NIV), “35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.” Ok, let’s pause here. So John the author/apostle says the day after John the baptist (the John mentioned here) testified that it was Jesus was the Messiah, and the one he was sent by God to prepare the way for — the next day, John was there again, meaning in the wilderness to the east of the Jordan River, with two of his disciples. At this time in Judea, the model of a rabbi and their disciples was common, but it wasn’t common everywhere in the Roman Empire. This is why the author tells us that Rabbi means “Teacher.” As we saw in our last series, the Apostle Paul received an education under one of the most well-r...