Come and See (Epiphany 2A Gospel)

Download a PDF of the Word One Bible Study for the Second Sunday after Epiphany.

Text:  John 1:29-42a for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Series A

 Objective

Participants will:

1. Feel the excitement of Andrew who hurried to tell Peter the Good News of finding the Messiah.
2. Encourage participants to witness in the simple biblical model of Andrew when he says to his brother Peter, “Come and see.”

Materials Needed

Bible

One piece of paper for each person

Pencil

 Group Guidelines

Divide into groups of 6-8. Ask participants to share with the group the most exciting events of the past week. The leader will be the one who shared the good news fastest with a parent or relative immediately after the event. The leader’s role will be to facilitate the discussions and encourage each person to share.

Building Community

1. Ask participants to share an exciting moment in their life when they hurried to tell a close friend the good news and could hardly wait to tell the news.
2. Ask each participant to share an exciting event when they were scared or did not want to share the news with good friends.
3. What are the similarities to these situations? What are the differences?

Looking at God’s Word

1. Read John 1:27-41.
2. Have you ever been in a hurry to tell someone about the love of Jesus? Share the experience if this has happened to you. Would it be worth it to you to run, in order to share God’s love with another person?
3. Now read about another time when the disciples ran. Read John 20:1-4.
4. We love to tell exciting news. However there are times when we race to tell others “juicy” gossip and stories which should not be told. Other times, we are angry and too quick to speak about others, telling our friends things that can hurt another person. Take a piece of paper and write down one time that you wish you could have taken back your words.
5. Read Proverbs 10:10-11 and 14.
6. As you can see, there are times when we should neither hurry nor tell the news which we have heard. But God gives us the good news that we are forgiven for these moments when we do not hold our tongues. Take your paper and tear it up. Assure the person to your left that he/she has been forgiven.
7. God also gives us the Good News of the Gospel. It is important to understand that you do not need to be eloquent to invite your friends to come and see Jesus. Look up the following verses and see how others have done this:
   Acts 8:30-38
   Acts 11:25-33

Reinforcing What Has Been Learned

Share with your group by completing each of these statements:

1. The most exciting thing about the love of Jesus is…
2. I would like to share God’s love with…
3. The best way to witness is to tell a person…
4. Today I learned from others this fact…

Closing

Close by praying for the courage and the opportunity to witness to the people with whom you would like to share the love of God. Pray, “Lord, help us to share Your love with ____________________, through our words and our deeds. Help us to say, ‘Come and see.’”

By Jon Coyne

Originally published in Discovery Bible Studies 11, 1998.

 Updated for youthESource in January 2014