What are you Seeking?

INTRODUCTION Good morning! How’s everybody doing? My name is David, and I’m the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church. Anybody have friends and family that are really passionate about something, and they can’t be happy until you’re also passionate about that said thing? Do you know what I mean? Let me give you some examples How many of you have a Bitcoin friend? (Show Bitcoin logo) How many of you ARE that bitcoin friend? Ha! Like, they’re the friend, or family member, who has discovered that Bitcoin is the future…they’ve got their life savings in it, and they have ten reasons why you need to as well. One of my best friends literally gave me (and a group of our friends) a 2 hour presentation on this very thing once. Or maybe you have an Essential oils friend (Show Essential Oils) And when you tell them you are not sleeping well lately, and you haven’t even finished the sentenced…and they’re pulling Lavender out of some secret coat pocket for you. And because they’re passionate about it, and they care about you, they want you to know what they know. Or, one of the new ones here is the “clean eating” folks. (Show Clean eating) Some of you in here? I know, I’ve seen your posts! And they just finished a 40 day cleanse, and they can’t stop telling you how you also need to embark on such a journey for the sake of your gut health. Let me tell you what my gut wants: It wants Donuts, that’s what it wants. I’m joking about all these groups…because the truth is we’re all passionate about something, right? Like, I’m very passionate, and love to tell people about Culver’s. Did you know there’s one opening just down the road in just a few weeks? Incredible! But what’s underneath this pattern (for all of us) of getting friends & family to love things you love? Underneath it…is a principle we’re going to see, even in the wonderful pages of the Bible this morning, and it’s this: When we truly seek something, we invite others to seek it with us. WHAT ARE YOU SEEKING? Let me show you what I mean. Go ahead and a grab a Bible…there are church Bibles around you. John 1:35 42 Page 724 We are in a 6 week Teaching Series on chapters 1 & 2 from the Book of John, which covers John the Baptist and some early stories about Jesus. And last week we covered how Jesus, as the Messiah was marked with a Dove, and John the Baptist called Him, “The Lamb” And both of those animals are symbols of sacrifice, and they point to how Jesus died in our place, for our sins. Today, our story is going to continue to transition in focus from John the Baptist to Jesus. Let’s take a look (John 1:35 38a) – 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?” (Message Title) Okay. We’re going to read in a little bit here that one of two that follows after Jesus here is Andrew (who is Simon Peter’s brother). Andrew will eventually become one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, but he was originally a disciple of John the Baptist Andrew and another disciple hear John say that Jesus is indeed the “Lamb of God” they’ve been waiting for, so they start following after Jesus. But then Jesus turns around to them and says, “What do you want?” Now, let me pause here for a moment because I actually don’t love this English translation in our NIV version of the Bible here. Almost all other translations have Jesus saying: “What are you seeking?” Even the old King James says, “What seek ye?” I get what the NIV is trying to do…they’re trying to put it in our more natural, everyday English. The problem is: When we read, “What do you want?” We tend to read that phrase negatively Like, “What do you want?” (annoyed voice) And it tends to imply a self focus. Where the idea in the Greek, the original language, is what are you “SEEKING, Looking for?” So, all that to say, when Jesus notices them walking after Him, He’s asking this deep question of: “What are you seeking?” And one of the things you can’t miss when you read through the Gospel of John is that Jesus asks a lot of deep questions. When God in the flesh asks you a question, it’s not usually a surfacy one. And it’s not one He doesn’t know the answer to. But He’s asking the question because He wants YOU to stop and ponder it. So let’s do that: “What are you seeking?” What is it that you most desire in life? What is your life’s main purpose? If you could hire a biographer to come in, research your life, interview your friends & family, what do you think they would entitle your Biography? (after studying thousands of hours of your life?) “The man who watched Netflix” “The Mom Who Drove Her kids around” How do you think other people would describe the narrative, the story that drives your life? Now, I actually think the majority of people don’t know the answer to these questions. But you should find out. To live unaware of the purpose for which you’re living…is a dangerous thing. So how do you find out what you’re really living for? Let me give you a few really practical ways you can unearth this: Read through your bank account statements Jesus teaches us (Matthew 6) where your treasure is (where your money is going), there your heart will be…your purpose. So What are you spending your money on? Vacations, your house, cars? Does the Lord get your firstfruits as the Scripture says? Look at your calendar Whip out your smartphone calendar app, and what is it full of? That’s one of the best ways to find your purpose. Does it have traveling sports almost every weekend, and church 10 times a year? Does it have 100 work meetings? What is it full of? Sometimes there is an incongruence between when we “say is our purpose” and what we actually “live out as our purpose.” And just like Jesus said our treasure reveals our hearts, so do our calendars. Our calendars reveal to us what we choose as most important (as purpose worthy) especially when there are competing things. We’re going to pick one… …and the one we pick is driven by our purpose (whether we acknowledge that or not) . Look at your browsing history or app usage Many of us spend 7 hours a day on the internet, some 10, some virtually the whole day. What are you doing? Seriously, just open up your history. Look through your app usage time on your phone. Are you shopping for 3 hours a day? Do you have 25 games on your phone? What is your mind occupied with? You might discover your purpose there. And here’s a dangerous final option. Ask your best friend or spouse Say, “Be gentle with me, but what would you say I’m living for?” And it might not be a thing that you’re living for…it might be a state of mind Like, you’re just trying to be “happy” or you’re living for “comfort” or even just to “get married” And where does Jesus factor in for you? Are you seeking Him…as your purpose? And if you are, an even deeper question underneath that, would be: “WHY” In fact, I think one of the deep questions everyone in this room should ask is this: Am I following Jesus for Jesus, or because of what I think Jesus can do for me? This is one of the unique challenges for Christians in our day and age in the church in America. In part because many of us were raised in the seeker friendly church, where every week, the sermon series was about how Jesus could help us. And so we, inadvertently, or even subconsciously, developed this unbiblical faith that said, “Jesus is there to help me…to improve my finances…and help with my anger or anxiety, and improve my relationships”. And so we develop this relationship with Jesus that is sort of based around the idea that “Jesus exists to improve my life.” And sadly, this is partly why we’re seeing some people walking away from the faith. Their life got hard, and they said, “The only reason I was following you, Jesus, was so that you could make my life better… …and now it’s not, so I don’t know why I’m even following you.” So let me ask you the question: Why are YOU following Jesus? (Message Title) It’s back to Jesus’ original question for Andrew: “What are you seeking?” Let’s look back to the text now and see what Andrew and his friend are really seeking. Page 724, middle of verse 38 This is right after Jesus asked them What they were seeking: (John 1:38b 39) NIV 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. Which by the way, in the legends of this time, they never, NEVER put details in the story. This is just a true recounting of what happened that day. And in those days, all rabbis (teachers) had disciples. We see John the Baptist had disciples and now Jesus is going to have disciples And if you wanted to become a disciple of a particular rabbi, you would basically follow them everywhere…often living where they lived as they traveled. So when Andrew says to Jesus, “Where are you staying?” He’s not asking for an Airbnb recommendation. He’s signaling that he and his friend want to follow Jesus. They want to come under Him and learn from Him. They want to spend time with Him. And they get to do just that. And can you imagine what spending a day with Jesus in the flesh would be like? Wow. How would that change you? What would you do after something like that? Well, we actually get to see the first thing Andrew did. INVITING OTHERS TO SEEK WITH US Let’s check it out. (John 1:40 42a) NIV 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. THE FIRST THING ANDREW DID…was to find His brother Simon. And why is this? It goes back to that principle we talked about at the very beginning, when I was talking about groups of people that were very passionate about something. When we truly seek something, we invite others to seek it with us. It’s true. You kind of just can’t help it. This is why the BitCoin people that are studying the political minutia of Argentina in their spare time, are texting you Bitcoin articles you “have to read” What’s happening there? They’re seeking something, and as a natural byproduct of their excitement about that thing… …they want you to have that same excitement and experience the same benefit they feel they are getting! Generally speaking, they’re not actually trying to drive you nuts or be a financial know it all, they care about you… and they want you survive what they perceive is the coming economic apocalypse” Ha. And the same principle is true on a deeper and more important level. When you are truly seeking Jesus for Jesus… …and that’s what you’re studying…that’s what you’re pursuing…that who you’re spending your time with. What will happen is you will begin to naturally want to invite others to seek Him with you. But if Jesus is just a side story on the narrative of your life (which he is for many people in churches, even in this church) …then, no, Jesus won’t be someone that you ever talk about to others. Because He’s not truly the main thing you’re seeking. So, in a way, evangelism (which just means sharing about Jesus) starts with you being more focused on you seeking Jesus…for Jesus. Like Andrew did. And this doesn’t mean evangelism then becomes easy. It just means that if you’re going to do it, your motivation for doing it…your desire to want to do it… …will often come the more you personally seek Jesus. So what do you need to do this week to start seeking Him again? (Message Title) And evangelism doesn’t always have to be complicated. In fact, Andrew makes it quite simple. What does he do? He just goes to his brother and says, “We’ve found the Messiah, come and see” and he brings Peter to Jesus. You know what’s interesting about Andrew? Every time Andrew is mentioned in the Bible, he is bringing someone to Jesus. It’s pretty cool actually! Here, he brings his brother Peter He brings Greeks to Jesus in John 12 And when Jesus wanted to feed the crowd of 5,000, you know who brought the boy to Jesus who had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish…Andrew! Here’s a guy who basically is in his brother Peter’s shadow in the Bible. Andrew doesn’t become the leader of the church (like Peter), or write any books of the Bible, or preach great sermons in front of big crowds… But Andrew is always just bringing people to Jesus…and then fading back into the background. I like that…because anybody can do that. And there are different strategies of evangelism in the Bible. And we want to, in a sense, pursue different strategies, in part because half the people in our county won’t step into a church. But honestly, half of the people still will, and we need a strategy for that! And many people are actually looking for an excuse to step into a church. They’re waiting for an “Andrew” in their lives to just say, “Hey, come and see. Come check this out.” Now, this can’t be the only strategy for evangelism, but it is a strategy that God has used mightily over time, and even in our church. Even the last few months, we’ve been baptizing a lot of people who got invited by their uncle, their neighbor, their coworker. And by the time they got asked to come here, God was almost always already working. He was doing something. And so they said, “Yes, I’ll come” And they heard about Jesus here…and it changed their life…and their eternity. There is something that really works about Andrew’s strategy of evangelism (“come and see”)…especially for Minnesotans. We’re not always ready to discuss the deeply personal things of life, but we’re okay with sitting in a big crowd and hearing about them. And listen, let’s take advantage of that. Especially now. I think it’s important in this season of our church’s life that you and I press even deeper into Jesus. we’re in a unique moment in the life of this church where our invites are going to be more effective than ever. Everywhere I go around town, people ask me, “What’s going on over there? Are you open? When it’s going to be done? What IS going on over there?” People are curious about everything that’s happening here. So invite them to “come and see” Not only do we have that going for us, but next weekend is also Christmas And people are more open to attending church on Christmas than really any other time of the year. Trust God this week, and walk in the pattern of Andrew. Who is that you can, like Andrew, say, “Come and see Jesus” Maybe it’s a brother, a family member like Andrew reached out to Or a coworker A friend, a neighbor. Send them a link, text them, send them a message, talk to them at work… and invite them to come with you for Christmas. And we’ll pray that God does amazing things as they hear the Gospel. We are seeing many come to Christ. We just had another 4 people come to Christ last week! This is who we are church. We are Renovation Church. We are Renovators When we go out, we help make the old, new. We bring the words of new life. Jesus has given each and every one of us a great commission: To go therefore and make disciples. To spread his message. We are to pass it on. You don’t want to be a cul de sac on God’s great commission highway. Don’t let this message stop at you. Invite someone to come and see. And who is it this week that you need to say: I’ve found the Messiah, come and see. Trust Jesus in this and let Him use you. Let me pray. Copyright: David Sorn Renovation Church in Blaine, MN You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own.