In this podcast episode from the sermon on John 1:35-51, titled "Come and See: Being Found by Jesus," the pastor examines the calling of Jesus's first disciples to illustrate how salvation works. The passage shows John the Baptist referring his own disciples to Jesus, which was unheard of in that culture, demonstrating God's initiative in salvation. When Jesus turns and asks the disciples, "What are you seeking?" it reveals that questions are often better than answers and that Jesus is always the initiator in our spiritual journey.

The episode emphasizes that salvation is initiated by God, responded to by people, and applied through relationships. The life-changing invitation to "come and see" becomes a model for how believers should invite others into a relationship with Jesus. Pastor Matt explains that we find people using Andrew's immediate response to bring his brother Simon (later called Peter) to Jesus as an example. The message also touches on baptism as an act of obedience that follows salvation, not something that saves us, but rather evidence of our response to God's grace. The sermon concludes with practical applications about how believers can extend four types of invitations: to get to know someone better, to share burdens through prayer, to invite people to church, and ultimately to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.

In this message from John 1:35-51, Pastor Matt explored the big idea that salvation is initiated by God, responded to by people, and multiplied through relationship. He emphasized that while salvation is entirely God's work through grace, it demands a human response of repentance and faith in Christ. Pastor Matt highlighted the significance of Jesus's first recorded words in John's Gospel: "What are you seeking?" - calling this the mother of all questions that exposes the heart and leads to life's most important question: "Who is Jesus?"

The sermon demonstrated how Jesus's simple invitation "come and see" created a multiplication effect throughout John 1:35-51. Andrew heard John the Baptist point to Jesus as the Lamb of God, followed Jesus, and immediately brought his brother Simon Peter. Philip was called by Jesus and then found Nathaniel with the same invitation: "come and see." Pastor Matt emphasized that God uses found people to find people, and challenged the congregation to be witnesses rather than attorneys - simply sharing their story rather than feeling they need all the answers. The message concluded with a focus on baptism as a public declaration of faith and first step of obedience, encouraging believers who haven't been baptized to take that step.

This podcast centers on the launch of a new sermon series through the Gospel of John, with the speakers discussing how John's Gospel uniquely focuses on revealing Jesus's deity. They examine John's explicit purpose statement in John 20:31, where he writes so that readers "may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." The discussion highlights the prologue of John (verses 1-18), where Jesus is presented as the eternal Word who was present at creation and became flesh to reveal God to humanity.

A significant portion focuses on John the Baptist's declaration of Jesus as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), connecting this title to Old Testament sacrificial imagery from Abraham and Isaac through the Passover and Day of Atonement. The speakers emphasize that Jesus fulfills both aspects of the Day of Atonement - being both the sacrifice for sin and the one who carries our sins away. They stress that our greatest problem isn't our difficult circumstances, but our sin, and that salvation is offered as a free gift through Jesus Christ.