The Power of Influence

You have more influence than you realize. In this heartfelt and practical message from John 1, Pastor Chris Teien reminds us that people are watching our lives—and our example can point them to Jesus. By looking at the influence of John the Baptist, Andrew, and the early disciples, we’re challenged to use our lives, testimonies, and invitations to lead others to Christ in powerful ways. 

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/14525941

Key Points:

1. Influence Others by Your Convincing Testimony – John 1:29–34. John the Baptist knew who he was and boldly pointed people to Jesus as the Lamb of God.
2. Influence Others by Sharing Your Faith Confidently – John 1:35–42. Andrew immediately brought his brother Simon Peter to meet Jesus after encountering Him personally.
3. Influence Others by Your Compelling Invitation – John 1:43–51. Philip simply said to skeptical Nathanael, "Come and see," showing the power of simple, honest invitations.

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:

• Funny stories about how different dogs influenced each other—and how we influence others without realizing it.
• Personal examples of influencing friends and church members by inviting them to events where they encountered Jesus.
• Reflections on using everyday conversations, music, and hospitality as influence tools for Christ.

Notable Quotes:

• “More is caught than taught—people are watching your life every day.”
• “Influence isn’t about getting people to follow you. It’s about pointing them to follow Jesus.”
• “You don’t have to be perfect to influence someone. You just have to be faithful.”

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Share your personal testimony and how Christ changed your life.
2. Look for opportunities to invite others to church, small group, or a faith conversation.
3. Be a consistent example at work, school, and in your community.
4. Trust that small seeds of influence, planted faithfully, will bear fruit in God's timing.

Scripture References:

• John 1:29–51 – John the Baptist, Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael
• Matthew 5:16 – Let your light shine before others
• 2 Corinthians 5:20 – We are Christ’s ambassadors
• Matthew 28:19–20 – The Great Commission
• Romans 10:14–15 – How will they hear unless someone tells them?

Keywords:
 Christian influence, evangelism, personal testimony, inviting others to Christ, John 1, discipleship, Christian living, shining your light, simple evangelism, faith sharing

Closing Statement:
 You are influencing people whether you realize it or not. Choose to point them toward Jesus with your words, your actions, and your life. Trust God to use your faithful witness to change lives for eternity.

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The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

So I wanted, I said in the beginning of the year that I wanted to bounce around in the book of John, and so that's what I'm going to do. So I'm still in John chapter 1, headed towards John chapter 2. So I don't intend to cover every single verse in the book of John, but there are some themes that are really helpful when it comes to living the Christian life that are just so easy to see, that are transferable, that can transform us, that could change this church, that might bring us to the point of effectiveness where God uses us and blesses us to even fill some of these empty seats around this church, which would be a good thing. But the power of influence, the power of influence, every one of us influences somebody. There is somebody watching you, somebody paying attention to what you like, what you do, what your attitudes are, and what you say about the things of God. People are paying attention. Your kids are paying attention. So much more is caught than taught. So I've been blessed over the years to have dogs. Dogs have been very important in my life. I remember when I was looking for a wife, one of the requirements is must love dogs. And when I prayed for a wife and God sent Julie, one of my interview questions is, What do you think about dogs? And she likes dogs, and so we've always had dogs. And over the years of having primarily, well, we had a border collie, but having Australian shepherds, which is kind of the same thing, they are all different. Children are different too, but it's a lot easier to talk about dogs than it is children, because then I'm not like meddling or offending some parent or one of my own children. But nonetheless, all the dogs are different. So I've had dogs that are super aggressive. I've had dogs like hyper-aggressive. They're not biting people, but like a hyper frisbee dog. I've had a dog that was like so laid back, so depressed, it's like, oh, this dog is like Eeyore. She always seems so sad. And then we've got the first dog that his tongue would stick out. And we're like, is that normal? What's wrong with the dog? He looks mentally retarded. And then the vet is like, no, when dogs have a lot of fur, they might stick their tongue out part way as a way to cool themselves. It's a normal thing to do. And then we had another dog come and visit, and pretty soon that dog was sticking his tongue out just like that. I'm like, see, these dogs do influence each other. And then we have this dog that's two years old now, Ivy, and she's the first dog we've ever had that smiles. So she smiles and she looks like she's either she's gonna bite your head off or she's happy to see you. I mean, she literally does things that she shouldn't do, and then she smiles like she's laughing. And she's just got her own personality. She's not influenced by the other dog at all. She does her own thing. She doesn't care what you think, she's just gonna do what she's gonna do because she's like her own dog. She's not influenced by the others. And it's it's kind of fun. And the reason to tell you that is because in John chapter 1, we see John the Baptist, and he is totally sold out to be the forerunner for Jesus. He is his own person. He's out in the wilderness with camel hair, clothes, and eating locusts and wild honey, and he's just not gonna fit into the social expectations or norm. He's doing his own thing. He's just like my dog does her own thing. John the Baptist is just doing his own thing. But he did it with humility. He knew that he was the forerunner to make way for the Messiah. He knew that the Messiah was coming. God, the Holy Spirit told him what that he was to do this, and so he was out baptizing and proclaiming and getting people to repent, getting ready for the Messiah to come. And so if you're reading in John chapter 1, you see that he is getting questioned by the religious leaders of the day, by the Pharisees, and they're like, Who do you think you are? You know, what if you're not the Messiah and you're not you're not Elijah, who are what are you doing baptizing people? And they're asking him all these questions, and he is just so clear, he knows who he is. Verse 23, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. And so anyway, he's just he knows who he is, he knows what he's about, he is influencing people, his preaching is catching the ears of people that really want the Messiah to come. They're sick of the religious rules and the things that the Pharisees and all of their laws and rules, and it's just this harsh religion, and people really haven't heard from God for like 400 years, and uh, they're waiting for the Messiah to come. Meanwhile, the Romans are oppressing them, and it's just a it's it's a tough place, tough place to live. It's a tough life to live when people are truly desiring to walk with God. And there are certain people that are just desiring and wanting to know God. There are people that haven't found him yet. Somebody needs to introduce them to the true Savior. There's a lot of people that hear about salvation, they hear someone approaches them on the street and says tells them they can say this prayer and they'll be saved, but there's not much other interaction there. People are wanting their questions answered. People are wanting to like know some true Christian, some true Christ follower, that they can see as a trustworthy example, that they can ask questions of things they don't understand, that they can see like live life, real life. And those types of Christians influence the people around them. You and I may never know who it is that we influenced, who it is that's watching you at work or in the sports club on the pickleball court, I don't know where you people hang out as you shop at Menards. I don't know. People are watching, and people like to see you doing the right thing. If you call yourself a Christ follower, if you call yourself a Christian, they want to see you live in life as a Christian, which means that sometimes you make a mistake and you just humbly own up to it and ask forgiveness of the person and from the Lord and you move on. But we are influencing people, and it is huge. So in John chapter 1, verse 29, I'll jump in here, and so we've got John the Apostle telling the story in this gospel about John the Baptist. And so I just mentioned that John the Baptist is convinced that he is serving the Lord, and now here he is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. So he saw on his assignment that Jesus was the one he was to be expecting, that Jesus was the one to take everything that he had been building and take it. So actually, John the Baptist had followers and disciples, and so he wasn't trying to build his own ministry. It wasn't all about him, it was about giving it away. It's like, okay, Jesus, these people they want to follow you. They've been following me for a bit, but now they want to follow you, and here they are. And so John was quick to point people to Jesus. And let's not, people shouldn't follow me, people should follow Jesus. People shouldn't follow you, they should follow Jesus. Now, hopefully, our example of us following Jesus might be encouraging and influential to them. But you and I need to do everything we can to put people into a right relationship with Jesus to help them to grow in their faith and to make sure it's all about Jesus and it's not about us. But John said, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he said, Oh, are you helping me here? This is the one I meant when I said, A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. Thanks. I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel. So John the Baptist, he's out there, as you know, he's calling John the Baptist because he's baptizing people. And so as he's doing that, he is preparing people. He's not giving them a baptism of salvation, but a baptism of repentance leading up to when Jesus would come, and now Jesus is here. I'll advance the slides. So thank you, Jasper. So then he gave this testimony. I saw the spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. So Jesus' baptism, he saw that. Another one of the gospels said that there was a voice that said, This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. It appears that only Jesus in John could actually see this going on, but nonetheless, it was a sign to John that he was the guy, that Jesus was the Messiah, and he was fully committed to it. So he says in verse 33, and I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me the man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one whom will baptize with the Holy Spirit. So John is like fully convinced. John is fully sold out to promoting Jesus as the Messiah. I have seen and testify that this is God's chosen one. So he's out there, he's saying this stuff. There's people around him, there's people listening, there's people that want to hear more, there's people that want to know more about Jesus, there's people that are ready to follow Jesus, and it's John's influence that is helping to get them ready. Yes, the Holy Spirit, I'm sure, is calling these who would become their disciples, but John's testimonies, John's preparation, John the Baptist is influencing people and making a difference, getting people ready for Jesus to come. And it says, in the next day, the next day John was there again with two of his disciples. And when he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look, the Lamb of God. And when the two disciples heard him say that, they left John and they followed Jesus. They followed Jesus. They're like, I'm just waiting. I'm just waiting for the next, the next thing, the next chapter, the next, and that was John's ministry, is to get them ready to go follow Jesus. And our ministry is to get people in a right relationship with God, to get them ready so they can not only serve Jesus, but they can be ready to go meet Jesus. So it is a wonderful thing when someone in the church gets saved, grows in their faith, shares their faith with other people, and then they come to the end of their days, which nobody actually knows when the end of their days is, because I mean some people might live to be 80 or 100, some people might live to be 35. So my wife was sharing with me about this guy. I'm not sure if he's in his 30s or what, but he was having a hard time breathing. He went to the emergency room, he walked in the doors at the emergency room, and shortly after that he had died. So totally unexpected to his wife and his family. And you have no idea when our when your last moment is. Could be a car accident, could be anything, but nonetheless, to be ready to meet Jesus. If you are stuck in the hot in the hospital or you're you're like laying after the car accident, you're like sitting there saying, I don't think I'm gonna make it, to have confidence and assurance that you are ready to go be with Jesus because of your faith in Christ, because of your saving faith, because the Holy Spirit gives you assurance because you know for sure that you're saved and you're ready for the next part of the adventure. So you might have wanted to do some things differently in the past. You'd probably say, Well, I wish I would have let my wife know all the passwords or whatever, but I guess it's time for me to go, Lord. Help her figure it out. And so then you go to be in the presence of the Lord, and that is a great thing. And then hopefully your family follows you and your wife follows you, and she says, I am so happy to be here. I wish you would have shared the passwords before you left me. But nonetheless, that's a big thing, actually. We've got um a resource that I could email you that comes from another ministry that helps you to get everything in order so that if you were to die, you're ready to go. But nonetheless, so John the Baptist has got these people excited, these two disciples ready to follow Jesus. And so they see Jesus and they start to follow. They followed his influence to say, follow Jesus, and then they see Jesus. And so they're following Jesus, these two disciples who are currently unnamed. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, What do you want? So that's a pretty good question, isn't it? I mean, I'm sure Jesus already knew what was going on, but that's a fair question. They asked, they said, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? So they were they were fully convinced, because of John's influence, that Jesus was the one that they needed to be following. And they didn't just say, Oh, it's really nice to meet you, but they're like, dude, where are you staying? We are coming to visit. We're we're probably gonna we're gonna invite ourselves over for dinner tonight. We think we'd like to live with you. So we're we're pretty committed to it. We just want to follow you. We'll we'll set a tent outside the door. And Jesus, he didn't say, You know what, I'm pretty busy. Why don't you come back on Sunday night? He replied, Come 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. So these two disciples, and then it says who they are. So Andrew, Simon's, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. So heard what John the Baptist had said and followed Jesus. So the other one is John, who's writing this gospel, who actually would become one of Jesus' closest friends, and he didn't he didn't refer to himself very often. Well, he did one time. He referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. So, well, I'm John, and I am the disciple that Jesus, Jesus really liked me. So, yes. But anyway, so Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. Simon Peter is an important character in the New Testament. He heard John and followed Jesus. And the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and to tell him we have found the Messiah, that is, the Christ. And he brought him to brought Simon Peter to Jesus, and Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, son of John, you will be called Cephas, which translated is Peter. And the next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee, finding Philip, and he said to him, Follow me. And Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. So I wonder if they knew each other. I wonder if maybe they were contemporaries, fishing together before they became part of the band of the disciples. And then Philip found Nathaniel and told him, We found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nazareth, can anything good come from there? Nathaniel asked. And when Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of them, Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. How do you know me? Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. Then Nathanael declared, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. And Jesus said, You believe? Because I told you I saw you under the fig tree, you will see greater things than that. So the first thing that I want to point out is influencing by your convincing testimony. Influencing by your convincing testimony. They followed these two disciples, followed Jesus at, like I mentioned, at the influence of John the Baptist, but John the Baptist was just so convinced, and then therefore so convincing. When you tell your faith story and you talk about maybe what you struggled with and how you might have struggled in certain areas of faith, and then you read something or someone shared the gospel with you or explained something to you, and then it helped you to understand, and then you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and then the Holy Spirit helped you understand even more. And so as you've been growing in your Christian life, that you're fully convinced that Jesus is who he said he was, and then maybe you know you can answer their questions and talk about the Bible and history and the preservation of God's word and how archaeology affirms it, and how science backs up scripture, and so the things that you know and why you're so truly convinced, people will be much more likely to be influenced by what you say, but they'll also be watching your actions, and hopefully they'll also be influenced by what you do. So let's get back to Andrew here. So when we look at Andrew's life, I have seen and I testify that this is God's chosen one. It appears that Andrew was truly desiring to find Jesus the Messiah. He had placed himself around what John the Baptist was preaching and teaching and saying, and he had his listening ears on. He wanted to find out more, he wanted to learn more, he wanted to be part of what was going on. His desire was to follow God, and he just felt called to be in that place at that time to hear that message and then to be there. When John the Baptist called out, Jesus, there he is. Follow him. He was there. And you and I need to make opportunities for the people that we care about to hear about the things of God. So we can share our personal testimony, we can share, but it's also good then if we have opportunities to get them around other people that also share the same message. So I think I mentioned in the past that there was a guy when we planted the church, he was coming to church. He's a big strong bodybuilder guy, and his brother was coming to church, and so we were talking to him about the things of Jesus and sharing about how we could know Christ. And he was kind of open to it. But then we took him to Grace Church, where they had this around Easter time, this arise with the guys, and Tony Dungey usually is the one that leads it, and then they have other speakers and stuff there. And so this All-Star Wrestler guy was there, and he shared his testimony. And it turned out that the guy we brought totally connected and respected and appreciated the influence of the all-star wrestler guy, heard his testimony, got saved that day. We got to disciple him and help him to grow in Christ. And so sometimes you bring them to events, sometimes you bring them around other people, sometimes it takes six or seven times for people to hear the gospel from different people before they're convinced and before they come to Jesus. So Andrew, he was near around the preaching and the teaching, and he was listening, and he had his ears open. He wasn't distracted, he wasn't scrolling on his phone, he wasn't they didn't have a phone, he wasn't, he wasn't messing around with whatever, he wasn't drawing in the dirt. I don't know what they did back then. But nonetheless, he was listening and he was seeking understanding, and he was ready to respond. Maybe he had questions, like many people around us have questions, about what is the purpose of life? Why why am I here? Where did I come from? What happens after I die? There's so many religions. Which one is right? How can I keep all the rules and be right with God because I'm so imperfect? If God is so good, why does he allow bad things to happen to people? What would people think if I turned my life over to God and became one of those Jesus followers? And some people are like, I wish that there was some way to get my needs met, to find blessing and provision. And Andrew found that in Jesus. He was confident in the faith he had in Jesus. Are you confident in your faith? And if not, what can we do to help you to get confident in your faith? So there's a women's Bible study here on Tuesday, there's a men's Bible study here on Thursdays. We have right now Media, which is a video service with like 20,000 videos that have all sorts of teaching programs that might help you to grow in your faith depending on what your felt need is. I can point you to a ton of great resources and audiobooks or online. We do not lack for information. We do lack in guidance and finding good information. And maybe that's an area that you can influence people in, is helping them to find the right things to listen to you. Maybe when you read an audiobook, maybe you could share that with someone. It is so easy to share things with people these days. So all these different social networking things, there's just so many ways that you can connect with people directly. You can connect with people down the street, you can connect with people that are on the bottom of the world. So when I was on the missions trip in La Pentana in the slums of Chile, the internet connection was really bad. So really slow internet. But my wife and I were able to communicate through Facebook Messenger because somehow it would take like all the little packets and bites or whatever and hold it together while it carried it to over the slow internet and then sent the message up to Minnesota so that I could communicate. Communicate with my wife. And so that was 10 years ago. Yeah, that was 10 years ago I went on that trip. But communication isn't how we lack. Resources aren't how we lack. Matter of fact, I think there are so many resources and so many videos and stuff that it's like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. So maybe your area of influence is helping people to see what needs to be seen, to read what you think is good, to hear from you what would be a good resource for them to invest their time reading in their life in. For me, I always point people if they're want to get their first study Bible to the life application study Bible because it talks about what was going on in the passage and how you can apply it to your life. So there's many other study Bibles that are good, but that's a good resource, a good tool. Or for teenagers, the student life application Bible is good. Student Bible is good. So Bible translations, people aren't readers nowadays. So that's why we give away the New Living Translation. The church is a tradition is use the NIV, New International Version of the Bible. The Christian Standard Version is good. The ESV, the English Standard Version, is good. It's kind of wordy sometimes. And then there's all sorts of Bible translations that are bad. So I don't think there's any reason to be using the Passion Translation, but that's just me trying to influence you to read a good Bible. So nonetheless, you see that it's easy to share with people your opinion on what works good for growing in the Christian life, what devotional you're going through, what audiobook you're listening to, what Christian music is inspiring you, what Christian movies or shows really are helping you to become more bold in your faith or those types of things. Because influencing people is one of the things that God can do through us. He can use us as a light to be salt and light in the world. He can use you to make a difference. I won't have the opportunity to meet the people that you know. And if I do, if you introduce me, we're not going to have the same rapport as you do with your coworkers, as you do with the people in your neighborhood, as you do with the people in your extended family. Extended family can be tough too, because sometimes people know you for what you used to be, as opposed to what you're trying to be in Christ now. And sometimes people will not appreciate the change in your life. But influenced by your convincing testimony, I once was lost, but now I'm found. So this is what I was like before I came to Jesus. This is how I came to Jesus. This is how I've been living in Jesus ever since. It is a good thing to be living in Jesus, following Jesus. And then number two, what did Andrew do with that information that he had? He's like, I found it! All right. Good for me. I have arrived. And got that off my bucket list. Now I can move on to something else. No. It says after spending the day with Jesus, he immediately went to find his brother. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, we have found the Messiah, that is the Christ. So John and I were out with John the Baptist, and then Jesus came by and we spent the day with him, and we are fully convinced that this is the one that we have been waiting for. So who are these people anyway? Are these the religious leaders? Are these the religious scholars? Are these the people that you would expect to be trying to figure out what happens next in Judaism? These are fishermen. Simon Peter, the compulsive, impulse, the impulsive fisherman. So Andrew was convinced, and Andrew was concerned. And Andrew went out and found his brother Simon Peter and told him. Because he was truly convinced. He had confident faith. He knew that this was the one that maybe they talked to the, as they fished in the boat, maybe they talked a lot. You know, if you're out fishing, there's a lot of good time for talking. Matter of fact, if you want to influence people, one of the best things you can do is go fishing, because when you get that person in the boat, they are a captive audience. And as long as you don't have a radio or a stereo in your boat to listen to, and it's just you and the loons and whatever else is making noises, the lapping of the water, you can talk about whatever you want. So it can be a great opportunity to influence people and talk about things like things of faith. But Andrew found his brother Simon and told him we have found the Messiah. And it turns out that Simon Peter was going to be very significant in the formation of the New Testament church. So Simon did deny Jesus three times, and Jesus reinstated him. And then Simon Peter preached amazing sermons in the book of Acts, and thousands of people got saved. So it was a big deal. And so this is the humble beginning, how it started, was by influencing, influencing by confident faith. Would people know you for your faith? So I read a story about Hudson Taylor, missionary to China many years ago. Maybe you heard of him back in the 1800s. He tried to fit the mold and influence people, so he got like the locks, things in the back of his head, kind of like a man bun, but he was trying to look the part among the Chinese. But anyway, Jack Williams tells that years ago the communist government in China commissioned an author to write a biography of Hudson Taylor with the purpose of distorting the facts and presenting him in a bad light. They wanted to discredit the name of this consecrated missionary of the gospel. As the author was doing his research, he was increasingly impressed by Taylor's saintly character and godly life, and he found it extremely difficult to carry out his assigned task with a clear conscience. Eventually, at the risk of losing his life, he laid aside his pen, renounced his atheism, and received Jesus as his personal Savior. The author writes, whether we realize it or not, our example leaves an impression on others. So when we are influential, when we are making a difference in the world, when we are different, people take notice and people will remember us for that. Now maybe no one's going to write the story of your life. Maybe no one will remember you long after you died. Maybe they will. Come here, come see, come know. And that is an exciting thing. Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. And Jesus' early disciples were good at that. They were excited, they were influential, they made a difference. So when they get to Nathanael, Nathanael was he was kind of a tough one. So maybe he was more of a religious scholar. Because when it came to Nathaniel being invited, he says, Nazareth, could anything good come from there? Because there wasn't anything prophesied that the Messiah was coming from Nazareth. So the family, after they moved to Egypt, they came back and they were in Nazareth, and that's where Jesus was, you know, living. So he got identified with that. And so Philip, he didn't argue with him, he didn't try to explain it away. All he said was, Come and see. Come and see. Come and see Jesus for yourself. And sometimes that's all we can do. We can't argue people into the kingdom, but we can say, Come and see. Try it for yourself. Come and listen. Come and try it. Read through the book of John with me. Read through the book of Philippians with me. Let's let's see what the Bible says. Watch this evangelistic movie with me. Watch watch this Science in the Bible video series with me. Come and see. Come and see. And we could talk a lot about each of the disciples as they were called. But as we think about it, so we had John the Baptist, who was influential, and helped Andrew find Jesus. And Andrew was so excited he helped Simon Peter find Jesus. And then we see Jesus travel, find Philip. Philip's so excited about it, he goes and tells Nathaniel. Nathaniel's not easy to convince, but he is quick to, once Jesus talks to him, because he did come and see, once Jesus said, I I in you, in this person, in you is there no you're a true Israelite. You're the real deal. In you is no deception, no guile. And so out of that, he's like, You are the Messiah. And he followed. And there'll be more disciples too. But I'm going to show you in a video in a second. And I also want to just have you think about this for a second. Okay, so in these three blanks here, we've got you, and you are influencing who? Who are you influencing? And those people, they'll go on to influence someone else, and hopefully they'll influence someone else. And you might be like starting a great domino effect of all these people coming to Christ, making a difference. So before I show the video and the worship team comes up here, I noticed in the in Chuck Swindall in his commentary, he said that in the calling of the disciples in this passage in John, it probably wasn't John's purpose to talk about different forms of evangelism. But in the beginning, in John 1, 35 through 39, you see mass evangelism with one gifted person proclaiming the good news to audiences who have not yet received the gift of eternal life. John the Baptizer was the evangelist of the first century, and he proclaimed Jesus. He's the Messiah, God's Lamb. Follow him. He would be like John Knox or John Wesley or George Whitfield or D.L. Moody or Billy Sunday or Billy Graham, preaching in large big events. Two, personal evangelism. Evangelism from John 1, 40 to 42 takes place when a person shares the good news of Jesus Christ with a friend or loved one. The most common and effective means by which people come to know the Lord because they hear the gospel from someone they already know and trust and respect. So sometimes people are really afraid of that. After Easter, we're going to go through a series that will hopefully help you to get more comfortable sharing your faith without being afraid and being really good at it. Contact evangelism, like personal evangelism, takes place when one individual shares the gospel with another, but they may not have an established relationship or rapport. So it's just two people meet each other, and someone says, somewhere in the conversation, What do you think of Jesus? Or have you ever come into a personal relationship with Jesus, or you're still somewhere along the way? And so that might be what happened in John 1, 43 to 44. And then there's word evangelism, the power of God's verses 45 to 51. The power of God's word dare not be underestimated. Many people have come to know the Lord merely from reading scripture, recognizing their need, then kneeling in prayer all alone, even before setting foot in a church. In 1898, two traveling businessmen recognized the power of the Bible to penetrate the hearts of non-believers and then founded an organization known for its effective use of the Bible word evangelism. We know them as the Gideon's International, those people that place Bibles in hotels and in schools and things like that. So it's a great, wonderful thing to have conversations with believers and they tell you how they came to Christ. Everybody has a different story. So anyway, here's a two-minute video, and then the worship team can come forward. I'm gonna pray real quick. Lord, I thank you for your word. Lord, there are so many things that we could talk about in the calling of the disciples, but Lord, help us to really think about our influence and how we can influence others. Lord, help us to be world changers without having to leave our jobs or our neighborhood, just with the people that are around us to bloom or we're planted, to make a difference in the world, to know that people are watching us to see if we really are living out what we believe, and that we would just have this great compassion for lost people that are ready and willing to hear the message and to respond. Let us be used by you in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, here's the video.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

On one occasion, a massive crowd gathered outside the synagogue to hear him speak. Like any crowd, they were coming from many different places and many different perspectives. Young and old, men and women, rich and poor. But every person in that crowd had this one thing in common. They were tired. Tired of life. Tired of religion. Tired of waiting. And so he looked out upon this multitude of people who were scared, confused, and tired. And he told them, Come to me. And that offer still stands for every one of us. Come to Jesus. All who are tired, all who are hurting, all who feel unworthy, all who feel unloved, all who have nothing left to give, come to Jesus. Bring your burdens, bring your fears, bring your biggest regrets and your worst mistakes. Bring your broken dreams and your painful disappointments. Bring your dreams and bring your addictions and bring your and you will remain you. Come to Jesus.