Jesus Prays That The Church Would Be One

Sermon Outline: John 17:20-26

• Jesus is praying that the Church would embody the love that exists in God through the relationships that exist between Christians.
  1. The Goal: For each of us to live a life that gives most glory to God.
  2. The means: By giving ourselves for each other in the church, in general and through the gifts God gives us.
  3. The result: Each one living a life far more glorious than we could on our own, woven together with other lives to show the diverse riches of Christ’s glory.  Harmonious Unity.
• Fellowship has boundaries: It’s available only to those who believe the Apostles’ message, it’s only made possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit and it’s focused on obedience to Christ / the glory of God. Why?
  1. It’s about God’s glory, not ours.
  2. We are called to love one another first in order to overflow with God’s love to others.
• What’s a stake?
  1. The conviction of the World about who Jesus is
  2. Our own knowledge of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
  3. Experience of heavenly life now in fellowship
• Applications:
  1. Set our hearts on being “one”
  2. Recognising the stakes we should:  Avoid all that destroys unity, Use all that God gives us to be “one”, Ask God for more grace – pray with Christ.