Come and See: Learning to Follow Jesus Daily

Apr 20, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Behold the Lamb

John stood with two disciples by the Jordan River. He saw Jesus walking and declared, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The men left John and followed Jesus. Their sandals kicked up dust as they hurried after the One who would take away sin. John’s role was clear: point others to Christ, not himself. [37:01]

John’s words revealed Jesus’ mission. The Lamb imagery echoed Passover—a sacrifice for deliverance. Jesus wasn’t just another teacher; He was God’s solution to humanity’s deepest need. The disciples’ shift from John to Jesus shows true repentance: turning from good things to embrace the Best.

Many today chase spiritual leaders, books, or programs but avoid direct connection with Jesus. What good thing might God be asking you to release to fully follow Him?

“The next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’”
(John 1:35-36, NASB)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to reveal areas where you’ve prioritized human leaders over Him.
Challenge: Write down one habit or relationship that distracts you from Christ.

Day 2: What Do You Seek?

Jesus turned to the two men trailing Him. “What do you seek?” He asked. They replied, “Rabbi, where are You staying?” Their question wasn’t about geography but proximity. Jesus didn’t give an address—He invited, “Come and see.” They spent the day where He lodged, beginning a lifelong pursuit. [38:01]

Jesus’ question cuts through superficial faith. He wants more than admiration; He invites shared life. The disciples’ request—“where are You staying?”—shows they craved ongoing connection, not just a miracle or sermon. True following begins with wanting Him, not just His benefits.

What do you truly seek from Jesus? Comfort? Answers? Or His presence? When did you last carve out unrushed time to simply “stay” with Him?

“And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ They said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?’”
(John 1:38, NASB)

Prayer: Confess any transactional motives in your faith. Ask for hunger to know Christ Himself.
Challenge: Set a timer for 10 minutes today to sit silently with Jesus—no requests, just presence.

Day 3: First Find Your Brother

Andrew met Jesus, then sprinted to find his brother Simon. “We’ve found the Messiah!” he burst out. He dragged Simon to Jesus, who looked deep into the fisherman’s soul. “You’re Simon… but you’ll be called Cephas (Peter).” Jesus saw who Simon could become through discipleship. [38:53]

Andrew’s first act as a disciple was evangelism. He didn’t wait for training or a title—he shared his discovery. Jesus’ renaming of Simon signaled transformation ahead. Peter would wobble, but Christ’s vision for him never changed: a rock-solid leader shaped by grace.

Who is your “Simon”—someone close who needs an introduction to Jesus? What’s stopping you from saying, “Come meet Him” today?

“He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus.”
(John 1:41-42a, NASB)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for whoever brought you to Him. Ask for courage to “find your brother.”
Challenge: Text one family member today: “I’m praying for you. How can I pray specifically?”

Day 4: The Name You’ll Become

Jesus studied Simon’s face. “You’ll be called Cephas—Peter, the Rock.” The brash fisherman didn’t look like a leader yet. But Jesus named his future self: steady, resilient, anchored. Over three years, Peter’s failures and restoration would prove that Christ’s renaming power outlasts human frailty. [39:43]

Jesus still gives identity-shaping names. “Loved.” “Forgiven.” “Mine.” These truths override our old labels—failure, addict, unworthy. Like Peter, we grow into our Christ-given names through obedience. The One who calls us walks beside us, ensuring His vision for us prevails.

What false name (failure, disappointment, etc.) do you need to shed to embrace Christ’s name for you?

“Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).”
(John 1:42, NASB)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to cement one of His names for you (e.g., Beloved) in your heart today.
Challenge: Write “Christ calls me ________” on a sticky note. Post it where you’ll see it hourly.

Day 5: Come and See, Go and Tell

The disciples’ day with Jesus ended at “the tenth hour” (4 PM). By dawn, Andrew was recruiting Simon. Their pattern was set: encounter Christ, then enlist others. They didn’t wait for perfection—they shared the Messiah they’d just met. Witnessing isn’t expertise; it’s overflow. [01:19:11]

Jesus still uses ordinary people as His megaphones. Andrew’s simple testimony—“We found Him!”—changed history. Your story doesn’t need polish; it needs honesty. Someone’s eternity may hinge on your willingness to say, “Let me introduce you to my Friend.”

Who have you hesitated to invite to Jesus because you felt unqualified? What’s one step you could take this week to share Him?

“Andrew said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’… He brought him to Jesus.”
(John 1:41, 42b, NASB)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to highlight one person He wants you to invite to church or coffee.
Challenge: Share a 2-minute version of your faith story with a believer today to practice vulnerability.

Sermon Summary

The passage emphasizes a clear, urgent pattern for responding to the gospel: repent, believe, and be baptized. Repentance appears as a reorientation of the mind that issues in changed speech and conduct. Belief shows itself not merely as intellectual assent but as dependence on Christ that moves a person into new obedience. Baptism belongs to believers as a public, obedient response that marks entry into Jesus’ way of life rather than a prerequisite for salvation.

Following Jesus emerges as a lifelong posture of learning and imitation. Discipleship requires humility like a child: an admission of need, a willingness to sit under instruction, and a sustained desire to be formed by Christ. Association matters; imitating a messenger risks following a human shadow, but sitting with Jesus allows character to be transformed by the Spirit. The pattern of discipleship places being with Christ first, then sending into mission—learn in his presence, then live out what has been learned.

Jesus’ life supplies both pattern and promise. His actions—serving by washing feet and entrusting himself to the Father under false accusation—teach believers how to serve and how to suffer. Those traces of his life serve as practical templates that the Spirit uses to conform followers into his image. The model is not meant to save by imitation, but to show what the Spirit makes possible in those who abide in Christ.

Intimacy with Jesus functions as the engine of fruitful witness. “Come and see” invites seekers into shared presence rather than to receive mere information. Those who come to Christ and remain with him become witnesses who naturally bring others to the same encounter. The narrative highlights ordinary, immediate evangelism: new followers can take someone straight to Jesus and trust the Spirit to open and finish the work.

Key Takeaways

1. Repent, believe, follow through baptism Repentance changes thinking and behavior, belief entrusts life to Christ, and baptism publicly expresses that trust. Baptism functions as obedience and testimony—an outward sign of an inward allegiance. It anchors a new identity in the community and signals readiness to live under Christ’s Lordship. [34:09]
2. Learn to be a lifelong learner True discipleship begins with recognizing need and staying teachable; maturity grows by sustained learning, not by position. Humility enables progress: the childlike posture opens the heart to transformation over time. Ongoing discipleship resists settling and embraces perpetual formation by Scripture and Spirit. [40:25]
3. Fix focus on Christ, not messengers Following a messenger instead of the Messiah leaves one vulnerable to disillusionment when leaders fail. The posture of worship and obedience belongs to Jesus alone; leaders point to him and must never replace him. Rooting loyalty in Christ protects the church from scattering when human failure occurs. [45:08]
4. Come, be with him, then go tell “Come and see” locates faith in presence, not just propositions; intimacy creates authentic witness. Being with Christ shapes speech and courage so that telling others becomes natural. The simplest testimony—bringing someone to meet Jesus—often invites the Spirit to do what human argument cannot. [70:35]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[34:09] - Repent, Believe, Be Baptized
[37:01] - John’s Call and the First Disciples
[40:25] - Learn to Be a Learner
[45:08] - Fix Focus on Christ
[50:24] - Walk as Jesus Walked
[53:52] - Serve and Suffer Like Jesus
[70:35] - Come, Be With Him, Go Tell

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 1:35-42 (NASB)
35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated 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 Him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated 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 is translated Peter).

Observation Questions

What immediate action did the two disciples take after John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God (v. 37)?
How did Jesus respond when the disciples asked where He was staying (v. 39)?
What did Andrew do immediately after spending time with Jesus (v. 41)?
According to the sermon, why is baptism described as an act of obedience rather than a requirement for salvation? [35:17]

Interpretation Questions

Why might the disciples have asked Jesus, “Where are You staying?” instead of a theological or practical question?
What does Jesus’ invitation to “Come and see” (v. 39) reveal about His approach to discipleship?
How does fixing our focus on Christ rather than human leaders protect against disillusionment when people fail? [48:57]
Why does the sermon emphasize that being with Jesus precedes being sent out to tell others about Him?

Application Questions

What practical step could you take this week to prioritize “being with Jesus” (e.g., prayer, Scripture, silence) over merely doing things for Him?
When have you been tempted to focus more on a leader’s example than on Christ Himself? How can you recenter your heart on Jesus this month? [45:08]
Andrew brought his brother to Jesus with a simple testimony: “We have found the Messiah.” Who in your life could you invite to “come and see” Jesus through a conversation or act of kindness?
The sermon mentions baptism as a public declaration of allegiance to Christ. If you haven’t been baptized as a believer, what hesitations do you need to surrender? If you have, how does your baptism anchor your identity today? [34:09]
How can you cultivate a “childlike posture” of humility in areas where you’ve become complacent or resistant to growth?
When facing suffering or false accusations, what would it look like to entrust yourself to God’s justice instead of defending yourself? [57:39]
Reflect on a time when sharing your faith felt intimidating. How might focusing on simply bringing someone to Jesus (rather than having all the answers) change your approach?

Sermon Clips

40s

#ComeSeeGoTell

“Those who come and see become those who go and tell. In verse 41 of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus, so he's now a follower of Jesus, was Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother. He found first his own brother, and he brings him to Jesus. Now it's interesting. The angels at the open tomb say, come and see where he was lying. And once they do, they say, go and tell. All who are called to come and see are told to go and tell. What's interesting to me is they're not even command no one's commanded to go and tell here. No command necessary.”

38s

#WhatAreYouSeeking

“When you wanna follow Jesus, he wants to know what it is you are seeking from him or in coming to him. So put this down. Here, I'm gonna ask you, what are you seeking? This is the first question in all of the four gospels that is recorded of what Jesus said. The first time he asked a question in his ministry, what is your purpose in coming to me? What is your goal in coming to me? It's kinda like this, I think, as he sees John's disciples coming to him. If you're looking for a revolutionary leader to overthrow Rome, you you need to go join the zealots.”

40s

#PresenceWhenWeGather

“And the glory of God would actually be seen above it. But if you look at the tabernacle, surrounding it are all the tribes of Israel. They're camped around the presence of God. He is in their midst. The question is, do you know where to find where he is? Here's what Jesus said. Where two or more are gathered, you'll find me. Two or more are gathered in my name. My followers, when they get together, I am there. Remember what the psalmist said? The nearness of God is my good.”

37s

#ServeLikeJesus

“And I think it's important that we realize that Jesus is saying, I am serving so that you can learn how to serve. This is why Paul writes in Philippians, have this mind in you, was also in Christ Jesus. He was God, and and he was incarnate. He he gave up the privileges of deity to become a servant and and to and to serve you. That we are to reflect that. We are to act that way, and Jesus' life becomes that example. But not only are we taught by Jesus, how to serve one another, but Peter tells us his example was also to teach us, listen, how to suffer.”

33s

#EntrustInSuffering

“When god brings his judgment on judgment day, there's not gonna be any going, I object. I wanna appeal that decision. No. You're gonna have nothing to say. The law will close your mouth. Jesus stood in the condemned sinner's place. So he was naked like Adam was on that cross. He was silent before his accusers, not because he had nothing he could say, but because he took your place in mine. But on a practical level, when they accused him at the trials, when they said, he saved others, he can't save himself.”

41s

#LawShowsOurNeed

“Come down from the cross if you're the Messiah. When they mocked him, when they challenged him, Jesus was silent. Why? Peter says, because he kept entrusting himself to God who judges righteously. That's our example. When you're falsely accused, you say, well, I hope I never am. Me too. But guess what? Might happen. I wanna be just like Jesus. You ever thought, I wanna be just like him. Oh, dude. Then don't be surprised if someday you're falsely accused. When you suffer for righteousness sake, which is what Peter is talking about, it's an honor and a privilege, but it's gonna be hard because you're gonna wanna defend yourself.”

37s

#PerpetualLearner

“The reason he was silent biblically, theologically is this. He was going to take our sin upon himself. He was being judged by his father, not just by man. God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, and God judged our sin in his body. Why is that important that he was silent? Because here's what the Bible says. The law was given not to make us holy, but to make us speechless. The idea is the law is given not to help you become a righteous holy man, but to see you're not and to close your mouth before a holy god on judgment day.”

34s

#FollowChristNotFollowers

“When you get your eyes on the messenger instead of the messiah, you are one failure away from walking away from the Lord. Do you remember what Jesus said to his disciples the night he would be arrested? He said he said, tonight's gonna be fulfilling this prophecy or this saying, smite the shepherd, the sheep will scatter him. I'm going down and it's because it really it's an attack not just on me, but on you. And don't you watch that all through church history and even in our day, a pastor falls morally.”

35s

#HumbleChildlikeFaith

“No. They're not asking just to have knowledge of where he's staying. They want to change where they are to where he's staying. Let me put it this way. Our tendency sometimes is to come to Lord and pray that he would bless what we're doing. Instead, we need to say, Lord, I wanna do what you're blessing. Instead of I want you to come bless where I am, I want to be where your blessing is. Let me ask it this way. How bad do you wanna find him? We know the wise men came from a long distance to find Jesus.”

29s

#AlwaysALearner

“Unless you humble yourself as a child, you ain't getting in. Like, oh, really? So there is something about a child and children, not all children, not at all stages of childhood, but children can tend to be, well, more teachable. They realize there's a lot they don't know. And so many times they're willing to learn from somebody who does know. And the Lord is saying, I want you to start there. Admit you have a need to learn things. That's easier. Sometimes we say, oh, I do, but do we?”

35s

#WalkWorthily

“I think part of the problem that a lot of people have is even coming to that place where they admit they need to follow anybody. You see, Jesus would say of a child when his disciples were arguing about who's the greatest in the kingdom? I think they were, you know, saying it's maybe me or maybe they're saying, oh, it's probably you, really me. Anyway, they were having this discussion about who's the greatest. Remember what Jesus did? He took a child. He wasn't one of the apostles, some child, and he put the child in the midst of them. And he said, let's talk about entry into the kingdom, not about who's the greatest.”

39s

#HowHungryAreYou

“Come and see. You wanna know where I'm staying? Come. In other words, Jesus gives them, because they want to know where he's staying, a personal invitation, and by the way, a promise of more revelation. Instead of telling here's my address. He says, no. I want you to actually come and discover it. Heard of a Sunday school teacher and was walking around, saw a little boy writing in his bible, noticed that he was circling the word god all over the pages of the bible. So what are you doing? He goes, I'm circling god, so I know where to find him when I need him. Right there.”

45s

#OneThingIWant

“James puts it this way, draw near to God, and he'll draw near to you. He's done everything necessary for you to come to him and get close to him. Do you want to? Are you asking to? Lord, I wanna be closer to you. We did a memorial service for Dee Mader yesterday. Her husband Dean, who loves Jesus, had shared with me. She she died of cancer, by the way, colon cancer. She decided not to receive chemotherapy. She didn't want her last days on earth just to be miserable, and that was her choice.”

38s

#FixYourEyesOnChrist

“But you need to want him, not just things from him. David had a very short list for the Lord. One thing have I desired of the Lord, Psalm twenty seven four, that will I seek after that I may dwell on the house of the Lord all the days of my life that I might behold your beauty. I wanna be in your presence, God. You know, when God gave instructions for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, if if you look at a map, if you've never seen one drawn, they have them online. His presence, his Shekinah glory, of course, dwelt above the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies in the tabernacle.”

29s

#GoTellAtHome

“Give birth to my granddaughter, Cora, so she's no longer on staff. But an interesting thing about Haley is she always called children kiddos. It's just the way she refers to children, kiddos. And, it wasn't long before I realized, wait a minute. Now my son Christian always calls children kiddos. They're all kiddos at our church. We don't have children. We have kiddos. Rachel, is now leading our children's ministry, came up under Haley. She always refers to children as kiddos.”

30s

#BecomingWhatHeNamesYou

“Because people thought following Jesus was joining a group, joining a church, joining a group of other followers. It's possible to be in a group of people following Jesus and be counted among them, but not really be a true follower of Jesus. Look no further than Judas. But he's not the last one who would have made that same mistake of thinking, I am because I'm with others who are, and I'm doing the things that followers do. Put this down. Learn to be a learner. Learn to be a learner.”

37s

#KeepYourEyesOnJesus

“Jesus changes his name, but I want you to understand it was not instantaneous. Simon, it's a good name. It means one who hears from Simeon in the Old Testament. But he says, I'm gonna change your name. It's going to be Cephas in the Aramaic or Petros in the Greek, which means rock. Now that's interesting to me because, you know, Peter is many times in the gospels anything but solid. He's way more like a sinking Simon or a simple Simon. One moment, he's right on the money. Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Good answer.”

34s

#JesusSeesYourPotential

“When my son was born, my second son, we gave him a name. The name we gave him was Valor. We like that name. It's a little different, but we had heard that in a family a pastor's family, and we liked the name. So we called him Valor. You know what was interesting is that's a name doesn't make somebody anything itself. My son was not mister Courage as a little boy. I remember one time he went down to play at a neighbor's house, two doors down. He was young, probably three or four. We were I was out gardening so I could see where he was.”

34s

“And, he came running back crying. I said, what's wrong? He said, come. Daddy, come. Come. I didn't know what had happened. So I walked with him and he pointed at a sleeping cat. That's what it was that terrified him. Sleeping kitty cat on the grass. I thought, we gotta work on the name. He became a mighty man of valor. He loves the Lord, and he's a godly and a strong literally strong man. But my point is when Jesus was saying, I'm changing your name, it meant this is who I see you as becoming.”

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