QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“I used to not take chances with God’s name
But it’s been so long since I last prayed
And now I’m all [messed] up and my heart’s changed
‘Cause I care more about what other people say.”

~Sam Fischer and Demi Lovato in their song “What Other People Say”

“Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.”

~Dallas Willard (1935-2013), philosophy professor and popular author

“Discipleship isn’t a program or an event; it’s a way of life. It’s not for a limited time, but for our whole life.”

~Bill Hull, author, pastor and professor

“Most people in America, when they are exposed to the Christian faith, are not being transformed. They take one step into the door, and the journey ends.”

~David Kinnaman, author and social researcher

“Discipling our children is not about teaching them to behave in a way that won’t embarrass us. We’re working toward something much more important than that. We’re actually raising our children with a view toward leading them to trust and to follow Christ.”

~Voddie Baucham, dean at African Christian University (Zambia)

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), pastor-theologian executed by the Nazis

“Faith…is an activity which takes people right out of themselves and into Christ.”

~Leon Morris (1914-2006), Australian scholar

“…the Church could best…speak to the heart of modern humanity, not by shrinking her message, but by displaying the beauty of her central Fact in all of its fullness.”

~David L. Schindler on Henri de Lubac’s The Mystery of the Supernatural

“…it is nothing less than God’s glory that John and his friends witnessed in the word-made-flesh.”

~D.A. Carson, biblical scholar, on the Gospel of John (1:14)

“I don’t know exactly what covetous is, but in my experience it is not so much desiring someone else’s virtue or happiness as rejecting it, taking offense at the beauty of it.”

~Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer Prize winning author

SERMON PASSAGE

John 1:35-51 (ESV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 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).

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”