Found

REFLECTION:

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. (John 1:40-42 NIV) 

People organised to start our church in 1821. They started on the present building in 1867 and completed it as a standing structure in 1868. In about the first 80 years of church life, we were known as the Streetsville Presbyterian Church. Then in 1907, we changed our name to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. In fact, there are a lot of Presbyterian churches that bear the name of St. Andrew. This is because in the 1800’s there were a lot of people coming from Scotland and settling in Canada. They brought their culture and churches with them. Traditionally St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. This was the practice for the people of Scotland before the Protestant Reformation. The present-day Church of Scotland was established by the British Parliament in 1560. Currently, the international Presbyterian Church does not practise making people like Andrew official saints. If anything, our practice is to make saints of all of us! I refer to the original Greek of the New Testament. People are called saints in the New Testament because God makes them holy; not by personal self-effort. They do not become saints because they have chalked up lots of loyalty points in God’s bank account. If we trust Jesus, God sanctifies us. If we trust Jesus, God makes us holy. If we trust Jesus, God saves us.

Who then is Andrew? Andrew is one of the 12 main followers of Jesus Christ. Here, we are introduced to him for the first time in the Gospel of John, the 4th Gospel. After being introduced to Jesus as the Lamb of God, Andrew and his friend approach Jesus.

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning round, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means ‘Teacher’), ‘where are you staying?’ ‘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. (John 1:37-39 NIV)

Who is this Jesus? What so special about him? Why does our master say so many nice things about him? Andrew investigates Jesus. After Andrew spends a day with Jesus, Jesus makes an impact on Andrew. What does Andrew do next? 

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. (John 1:40-42 NIV) 

If we are called “St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church” what can we learn about Christian life from Andrew?

1. Spend time with Jesus. All it took was for Andrew to spend a day with Jesus. Jesus makes an impact on Andrew. Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus. Andrew tells his brother that he has found the Messiah (the leader whom Israel has been waiting for which is predicted in the Old Testament which is the first part of the Bible). If we trust Jesus, God sanctifies us. If we trust Jesus, God makes us holy. If we trust Jesus, God saves us.
2. Bring others to Jesus. After this experience with Jesus, Andrew brings his brother to Jesus. Both Andrew and Simon work on their father’s fishing boat on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. Having been impacted by Jesus, Andrew brings his brother to Jesus. Is there someone in your life, you would like to bring to Jesus? 

Pastor Pye