Which Disciple Are You 1 by Joy Payne 9 18 2026

Which One of the Twelve Disciples Are You? I want to create a sermon about *which one of the twelve disciples are you when you're getting to know God?* To me, the Bible makes it seem like people get to know God at different levels. I think Jesus said His cousin, John the Baptist, was the greatest because he was already family. He already believed in Jesus, so he was welcoming Jesus, and he realized who He was from the beginning. He was His relative, so he accepted Jesus, His ministry, and who He is as God. While other disciples of Jesus who met Him later on didn't know who He was. They were getting to know Him. Some betrayed Him, like Judas. And then Judas was replaced by Paul. Paul was part of the church and showed up later on. He heard so much about Jesus, but really didn't know Him. And that's true of how people relate to Jesus. So, which one of the twelve disciples are you when you come to getting to know God? Some didn't know God at the very beginning of life. Some grew up knowing who they are, accepted their mission, accepted their purpose, and set their plan. Some will come into your life later on and say, "Oh, anyway, they didn't want to continue to follow you." Some will come later on, follow you, and then decide they don't want anything to do with you, like Judas. And some will show up after your mission is over and hear so much about you when you're dead and gone. And that's different phases of the relationship with God. I think that's what the Bible is connecting the twelve disciples to, too: how they relate to God in different phases of His mission, His teaching, and getting to know who He is. You have the beginning stage, which was His cousins, His family, and His close friends who got to know Him at the beginning of His life and accepted Him. Some did it. Some questioned Him. Some were in the church and got to know Him but didn't want to accept Him later on in life when they found out who He really was. And then you have those who followed Him and wanted to get to know Him. Some decided to stand by Him, while others, even just like Peter, decided they didn't want to acknowledge Him because they were so afraid of how the world would view them. They were afraid of threats, embarrassment, and people wondering, "Why are you following this man?" So, I think the twelve disciples are a connection to how we relate to God in different phases of getting to know God. Some people are raised with the person. Some meet the person later on. And some meet the person after the person has passed away and is gone. They don't see the person themselves; they hear so much about the person later on in life and wonder if they want to choose to follow or not. Amen Thank you.