John 1:35-42 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “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.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter[a]).

Who is Andrew, you might say. You vaguely know he’s a Bible character and you might even know he’s one of Jesus’s disciples, but, partly because he didn’t write a Gospel, or didn’t feature much in the Bible, you could be forgiven for thinking he was somehow less important.

Perhaps you might think that of yourself. Because you’re not leading worship, or a Bible group, or not on any rotas at church, you might think you are less important than those who are.

A story is told about a little known preacher named Mordecai Ham, who many years ago preached the Gospel in a small farming community in America. Few people have heard of Mordecai Ham, but one young man responded to the preacher, and became a preacher himself. His name is Billy Graham. Billy passed away a few years ago but he preached to millions in his lifetime and his legacy lives on through the organisation of Samaritan’s Purse, that reaches people all over the globe with the Good News about Jesus and with humanitarian aid, and through his son Franklin Graham, who this weekend preached to thousands in London’s Excel arena.

In this story from the Bible, the disciple Andrew met Jesus because of his friend John, but it was Andrew who brought Simon Peter to Jesus, and Peter became a significant leader in the early church. Andrew was as significant in the start of Christianity as Peter. Just as Mordecai Ham was significant in what became the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Just as you could be significant in the next thing that God does in your community today.

The thing is, God uses ordinary people.