Well, good morning, Saylorville. Good morning. If you brought a copy of scripture with you this morning, you can find the book of John, John chapter one. And I’m grateful for the goodness and mercy of God that we just sang about, because I get allergies every time about this time of year. And at the beginning of this week, my voice completely shut down. I couldn’t even hardly whisper. And we went on an Engage leadership retreat with all the Engage Network pastors, and they looked at it as a mercy. Smart Alex. We began a brand new series last week. We’re calling more. We are more people, more like Jesus. We’re using the acronym MORE. We introduced it last week. Meet Jesus, obey his call, reflect his ways, and engage your world. And today, we begin point by point in that acronym, in earnest. So as we do, let’s talk to God, shall we? Our Father, we thank you that we can come before you as those who do indeed desire, not just to be more numerically more, but to become sanctified and actually looking more like your son. That doesn’t happen naturally. It happens supernaturally, and you’re the one who makes it happen. And so we pray that that would happen even today in this room, in this moment, in this hour, that you would do something spectacular and powerful in our lives to make us more like Jesus. Some of us today just need to meet him. and may we do so in a way that will bring salvation and power. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen. Have you ever got the wrong first impression of somebody? I have a friend, a good friend who follows Jesus today. He likes to remind me that when I first met him, I told him, you remind me of a gargoyle on a cathedral. Not because he was ugly, but because the way he presented himself was, don’t get any closer to me. And as it turned out, he was just another sinner needing to meet Jesus, and did, praise the Lord. Now, speaking of meeting Jesus, here is the very first encounter that he would have with these who would become his future disciples. And actually, John introduces them. We’re gonna pick it up in verse 35, And this is day three where John the Baptist has been interacting with him. The day before he said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And now it says on the next day again John was standing with two of his disciples and looked at Jesus as he walked by. Imagine that. And said, behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say this and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, and this is the question of the hour. what are you seeking and they said to him rabbi which means teacher where are you staying and they stayed with him that day for it was about the 10th hour one of the two heard john speak and followed jesus was andrew simon peter’s brother he first found his own brother simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon, the son of John, you shall be called Cephas, which means Peter. So the first impressions that folks had of Jesus were not always accurate, right? But Andrew’s is spot on. We found the Messiah. And speaking of first impressions, when some of us read chapters like Acts chapter four, now after Jesus had died, rose again, ascended into heaven, spirit of God has descended, the church has begun, there’s 5,000 people have come to Christ, the disciples are hauled in before the Sanhedrin and they’re interrogated. They are shocked by the boldness of the disciples and they conclude they’ve been with Jesus because at the same time, they are characterized as uneducated and common men. Now, to our Western minds, we translate as they were just, you know, those disciples must have been country bumpkins, you know, just a bunch of dummies. But you would be wrong if you thought that because they were normal Jewish men, which means that they were taught the Torah, memorized the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, all five books, every single word, by the time they were 12 years old. So this is, how else would you explain Andrew having spent a day with Jesus saying, he’s the Messiah. Now, while it’s true that only the best of the best of the best would be asked by a rabbi to follow the rabbi, Jesus picked his followers from the lower class, and aren’t you glad? Because he’s still doing that today. This was Jesus’ very first interaction with what would become, wait for it, his future disciples. This was not their permanent call. Remember verse 39 says they just hung out with him that day, quote unquote, which means they returned to their jobs, whatever it was, fishing or whatever else. Now it would be three years later that Peter would say to Jesus, we have left everything for you. And he didn’t dispute that because they had. But on this day, this was a day of introductions where they would meet Jesus exactly where some of you are. You’re ready to meet Jesus. And that’s my prayer that some of you will actually meet him for the first time today. And the question of the hour, I alluded to it in the reading. I’ll put it up there for you. Jesus’ response to those two dudes that were John the Baptist’s disciples. They come to Jesus. He says, what are you seeking? And this got me thinking. I thought about the questions from God in Scripture. They’re really fascinating. Questions from God And there are many of them And you’ll thank me for only giving you seven of them Seven being the number of completion We’ll cut it off there But these aren’t just questions from God They actually become If you see them the way they were intended They become invitations to you and me So for instance Remember the very first question God asks Is in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve have sinned They’re hiding And God asked them, remember what he asked? Where are you? Do you think God didn’t know where they were? No, he knew where they were. This was an invitation to them to come out of their hiding. It’s an invitation to you to do the same. The very next chapter, as sin begins to proliferate, Here is Cain kills Abel. His blood’s on the ground. God comes to him and asks him, where’s your brother? You think God didn’t know where his brother was, laying there in his own pool of blood? No. It was an invitation to Cain to acknowledge his sin. And God has his ways of doing the same thing with you and me. Now, several chapters later, along comes Abraham, the father of our faith. His wife is Sarai. She can’t have any kids. He marries Hagar. She has a kid. There’s jealousy. Sarah sends her off. And Hagar takes off into the wilderness with her kid. And there God meets her and asks her, where have you come from and where are you going? Do you think God didn’t know where she came from? and you think you didn’t know where she was going. This was God’s way of inviting her and you and me to contemplate the direction of your life. I was with somebody just the other day who came to Christ just a week ago and he was sharing with me that he was living in another state. Actually, his life was completely out of whack. He was working with a bunch of young boys, and it was his job to help direct their life, and he literally was thinking, what am I doing here? And that’s where God wants you and me to be, to ask those questions. What am I doing? My favorite one, I think, question, however, is later on in Genesis, you have Jacob and Esau, the twins. Jacob, his name, Yechav, means deceiver, heel grabber. Remember, he’s grabbing his brother’s heel when he came out, depicting of one who deceives. And his whole life was one of deception. He takes off, he runs away from God, he’s gone for 20-some years, becomes wealthy, he’s making his way back, he knows he’s gonna have to confront his brother that he deceived. He’s scared spitless, he’s contemplating it, And in the middle of the night, he gets jumped. Remember that? He probably thinks it’s Esau coming after him. They’re going after him. They’re wrestling. They wrestle through the entire night. And somewhere, somewhere in the pitch of night, Jacob gets it. He’s not just wrestling with anybody. He’s wrestling with God. We know that because he hangs on to him for dear life. He goes, I’m not going to let you go until you what? Remember? Until you bless me. And so what does God say to Jacob? He says to Jacob, what’s your name? You think God forgot his name? No. It was an invitation to Jacob. And it’s an invitation to you to face yourself. To look at your life and face yourself. Later on, the great prophet, the electrifying prophet himself, Elijah, having just called fire down from heaven, smoking a bunch of, well, he smoked the meat for sure, but then he killed all the false prophets. He’s on the run because Jezebel is going to kill him and he’s exhausted. God meets him. He feeds him. and then not once but twice says, what are you doing here, Elijah? What was God doing? What was he asking? What was the invitation here? His invitation was to ask Elijah, what’s your purpose in life? Do you still have one? And he did and he would give it to him. God has a purpose for you and he would like to give it to you. and then there’s Job the story of Job is fascinating he’s a godly man he’s a God fearing man he’s a righteous man and yet God pummels him he allows the devil Satan to pummel him from head to toe and Job doesn’t curse God he just handles this thing he’s like Teflon he’s amazing but time goes on and he’s not so amazing. He starts to whine a little bit. Life’s getting rough. This is hard. And begins to demand an audience with God. Do you remember that? And then gets it. Out of a whirlwind, God comes to him in the 38th chapter with this question. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth, Job? Nope. What was God doing? Listen, what was God inviting Job to do when he asked him that question? Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? I think God was inviting Job to worship his creator of all things in all things. I get with this guy almost every week. He’s not a Christian, but I really like him. We’re friends. He’s an expert in Egyptian antiquities, and he just got back from Europe, and he’s teaching. He was so excited. He filled me in with all this stuff. He had newspaper articles. His name was in it, prestigious stuff. Very fascinating. I never got a word in edgewise, really, but that was okay because I thought the next week, I’ll talk. So the next week, I didn’t have any time. I just didn’t have any time this last week. So I texted him. I said, hey, I don’t have time this week, but we’ll catch up next week. Here’s his response to me. I’ll do everything I can to help the universe unfold as it should and contemplate bigger questions. That was his text to me. So I responded. I said, and I’ll keep trusting the one who holds it all together. Today, my friend Charlie, who lost his wife three weeks ago, I told many of you about that you saw a picture of her, beautiful lady now with Jesus. He’s preaching for the first time in his church. And what is he doing? I’ll tell you what he’s doing. He’s worshiping the creator of all things in all things, which is what some of you have to do right now. You’re hurting. I don’t know where you’re at in life, what you’re doing. Some of you are fighting with other people. You’re fighting with this situation. You’re fighting with your health. But you’re really fighting with God. And you don’t recognize it yet. Some of you don’t realize that even in your deepest hurt, it’s God’s invitation to you to worship the creator of all things, in all things. Then later on, here comes Jesus. Living out his life, the disciples now are convinced he’s Messiah. And even on this occasion, Peter comes out and says, you’re the Christ, the son of the living God. The question, who do people say the son of man is? And they get all kinds of answers, but it’s an invitation to meet Jesus. Have you met him? Probably many of you have been fascinated by the brilliant psychologist Jordan Peterson. He’s all over the internet. And we’re all waiting to see, is he going to become a Catholic? Is he going to become an Orthodox? Is he going to become an Evangelical? Because he’s clearly seeking truth. And just the other day, not long ago, this question was posed to him.

So you believe that Jesus was… God? God.

Yeah. I think if you understand what that means, that it’s indisputable.

Wow. What are you seeking? When Jesus asked the question to those disciples of John’s, they responded by asking him, Where are you staying? Verse 38. And I think it’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t come back and say, well, I’m staying over at Zephaniah’s place, or I’m over at Amos’s, you know, three blocks and over to the right. No. Jesus said what? Come and see. It was an invitation. He didn’t want their focus to be on a place. He wanted their focus to be on a person. And in those days, you didn’t just go hang out for coffee for 45 minutes. If you got with somebody, it was for hours, if not days. And they probably spent at least a meal because we’re told in verse 39, it was just that day. And that was enough. Kind of like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Yeah, that’s him. It’s like the psalmist who said, taste and see that the Lord is good. Andrew got a taste of Jesus and believed. He was Messiah just from hanging out with him. He was convinced. He goes in verse 41, proclaimed it to his brother Peter. What does he do to Peter? He brought, that is he led him to Jesus. I love that. Mike Nemers, Randy Charlton, Community Chapel Church, and Nick True, the guy I worked with at John Deere, all led me to Jesus. And that’s where I met him. That’s where I believed. I love, I think leading somebody, when I say I led somebody to Jesus, that’s not a brag. That’s not arrogant. That’s not saying, look at me. That’s actually humble if you take it at face value. Because that’s all I can do is lead somebody to Jesus. I love leading people to Jesus. Because I can’t do any more than lead them to Jesus. Jesus is the one who saves. Amen. All I can do is take you there. He’s the door. He’s the door, right, by which you are saved. Just the other day, met with a guy who had visited recently around Easter. We got together. He had quite a background. Come to find out he has a godly mother who’s been pouring her heart out for him for 20 years. And he knew the stories. But it was evident that he didn’t know the storyteller. Didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. Just like some of you. You know the stories. But it’s not real, it’s not personal in your life. Because you haven’t met Jesus, you know about him, you don’t know him. That day, he came to know the storyteller. So come and see this morning. All of us, come and see Jesus. If you’re a fervent follower of Jesus, The more you love him, the more you’ll obey him. If you’re a new follower of Jesus, the more you obey him, the more you’ll love him. If you’re a wayward follower of Jesus, talk about an oxymoron. Emphasis on moron. Why would you walk away from the one who loved you and died for you? But if he did, guess what? He still loves you. Doesn’t have to die anymore. Come and see. The more you see him, listen to this, wayward one, the more you see him, the less you’ll see of yourself. Because that’s your problem. You’re looking at the wrong one. And if you’re not a follower of Jesus, you know what I’m going to say. Come and see. See him. Let me give you seven ways to see him. See him in his pre-incarnate glory. That is, in all of his glory as the eternal son of God before he even came. He was in the world. The world was made by him and the world didn’t know him. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. See him in his pre-incarnate glory. See him in his gentleness and his lowliness. Come, he said, all of you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me. I’m gentle. I’m lowly in heart. And you will find rest, watch this, for your souls. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. See him in his power. All you have to do is read through the gospels to see his power on display. Even John the Baptist, who’s the introductory subject of this, he gets to a place where he’s in prison he’s in a funk he’s starting to doubt he sends his messengers are you really the one and Jesus says you tell me the blind see the lame walk lepers are healed deaf hear and dead come to life yes I’m the one see him in his hatred of evil and calling out the hypocrites Woe unto you, you whitewashed sepulchers. Jesus is not a tame lion. Turning tables over in the temple where people were blaspheming him. Jesus is gentle and great. He’s both. See him in his suffering and his death. Marred beyond, literally beyond description according to Isaiah. As a lamb that’s led to its shears is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We’ve turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. And see him in his suffering as he hangs on the cross and says, it is finished. It is finished. All of your sin, both, listen to this, both absorbed and paid for. See him in his resurrected glory when he said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And he who lives in me will never die. Do you believe this? Jesus asked that question, not me. Do you believe this? Meet him. See him in his intermediary work on your behalf. The Bible says, seeing he can save to the uttermost those who come to him by faith. That means you, no matter where you’re at, he will save to the uttermost because he ever lives. Watch this, he ever lives. It’s his purpose now. If his purpose statement, I just thought of this, if his purpose statement in life was that the son of man has come to seek and to save those who are lost, His purpose statement in heaven is he ever lives to make intercession for us. Glory to God. I was in a courtroom recently and I sort of forgot the protocol. I was sitting there with my legs crossed and the judge walked in. Everybody stood up because that’s what you do in a courtroom. When Jesus comes back, everybody kneels down. you do it now or you’ll do it later but you will kneel because the Bible says God has given Jesus a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow things in heaven things on earth things under the earth and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father you do it now or you do it later just the other day i was at a wedding rehearsal a wedding rehearsal mind you and it was kind of outside it’s kind of chilly we were done with all the you know all the perfunctory stuff and and we’d eaten so i’m gonna go home it’s kind of chilly so we’re just contemplating going home and a gentleman came and sat by us and looked right at me i gotta tell you I’m losing my edge as an evangelist. Just gonna confess it right now. He looks right at me, he says, hey, before you go, can we talk about, I like to talk about getting baptized. I said, oh, how about talk about getting saved? He goes, yeah, I need that too. And then he just dumped all of his sins right on the table. Told how he needed to be saved. And at the same time, music is blaring, they’re getting ready for the wedding the next day, and it’s really distracting to me. And so I said to him, I said, you know what? If you really believe that, you need to go home and get on your knees and place your faith in Jesus. And right next to me was Curtis Johnson. Curtis looks at me and goes, well, do you believe it now? He goes, yes. Curtis goes, why wait until then? Why don’t you get saved right now? He did. He got saved right there. I’m telling you, I’m losing my edge. But you either kneel before Jesus now or you will kneel before him. make no mistake. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. We’re on a mission here to become more people, more like Jesus. Not gonna happen unless you meet him. Have you met him? Would you like to? Now? let’s pray our father I pray over this room right now and with those watching online you know who you are you’ve never met Jesus you know about him but you don’t know him would you acknowledge your sin would you believe would you quit hiding would you realize that God knows everything about you you can’t hide anything from him and would you recognize that he loves you anyway and that Jesus died and rose again for you would you from your heart you know with a heart posture of kneeling would you ask him to forgive you and become your savior would you do that right now if you were a follower of Jesus to one degree or another, would you recommit yourself to him so that you might become more like him? Lord, as we ready ourselves for the Lord’s table and conclusion to our service today, we recognize it’s another opportunity to meet with you, meet you in your perfect life, meet you in your sacrificial death, and help us to do so. and we pray all these things in Jesus name amen