"Upper Room" Pt. 6

Hi, this is John O'Zanting, lead pastor of Evolved Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

John chapter 17 is my assignment.

John 17 · chapter mention

I gladly accepted it.

In fact, I was rather excited to accept it because John 17 has meant a whole lot to me for years and years and years.

You're all familiar, perhaps, with the story of Moses and the burning bush.

It was a supernatural appearance of God to Moses.

And what did God tell Moses right off the bat?

He said, Get your shoes off, boy.

Get your shoes off.

This is holy ground.

A couple weeks ago, Pastor John was addressing John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

He was talking about the foot washing, right?

And of course, in ancient days, sandals, they didn't have their socks or boots or whatever, and so their feet would get rather dusty, grimy.

Who knows what they were walking through because sanitation wasn't exactly what it is today.

And I wonder why he would tell him to take his shoes off if his feet are dirty.

It's holy ground.

What is it about shoes off and holy ground that mattered back in the day?

Well, that was a holy ground moment.

But there are a number of holy ground moments for me in scripture.

I think of Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus.

Was that not holy ground?

The shepherds came and they worshipped him.

Later, the wise men came to worship the boy Jesus.

And then there's the Garden of Gethsemane.

How can that not be holy ground for all of us as we read that passage?

The agony in the garden, his arrest, his torture, all that description, it's all holy ground, and figuratively, we need to take our shoes off and just slow down and appreciate what went on there.

And then, of course, the foot of the cross is holy ground.

And so John 17 is holy ground for me, and I'm gonna fall really short in explaining to you why, but may the Lord help me and you to sense something of why this is a holy place.

Not to take your shoes off, but just would we lean in and to gaze at John chapter 17 at the Jesus, at the burning bush of this chapter, that speaks of the great I am Jesus.

John 17 · chapter mention

I am in you, Jesus would say in this prayer.

And so why is this holy ground?

Well, I want you to think of the scenario that John has presented us in the upper room.

And before we do that, let's just pause for prayer.

Father, Holy Spirit, will you fall fresh on us?

Would you open up your word to us?

Would you help us to lean in?

And as we read through this entire chapter bit by bit, would you speak to us?

Would you help us to hear the heart of Jesus?

Amen.

The upper room, it's all the teaching from John 13 through 16, and then of course the prayer, it's been called the farewell discourse.

It's Jesus' farewell address before the crucifixion.

Pastor Bennett was an excellent guide last week as he led us through chapter 16, and especially as he recounted the consternation the disciples must have had when Jesus had told them that it is to your advantage that I go away.

And if you remember, Pastor Bennett was saying, Well, Jesus, is it to your advantage that you're gonna get arrested?

That we're gonna get persecuted and tortured, we're gonna get imprisoned, some of us are gonna get killed.

How is that to our advantage?

It's holy ground because our Lord knows that right around the corner is the beginning of the end that would lead to the beginning of eternity through Him.

And the cross event is not something that I can be flippant about.

I cannot do that.

The cross event is still so powerful for me.

Every time I hear that hymn, do you remember it?

The old Roger Cross, it just gets me.

In remembrance of me, every time I take communion, in remembrance of me, I'm always thinking about the cross.

There's room for jubilation, of course, and for celebration of what the cross brought, because he is risen.

We just went through that beautiful season.

But there's also room for sober reflection.

When I was about 18, and don't hold me to that, but it was about then, I heard a sermon called The Magnificent Messiah.

Now, I don't know why that title stuck with me, but I do remember this: that I bowed before the feet of the magnificent Messiah.

It struck me.

And there's the magnificent Messiah displayed to us in John chapter 17's prayer.

John 17 · chapter mention

I'm reminded of a line in one of my favorite author's books, Frederick Biekner, and I'm going to quote to you now.

I am Raphael, one of the seven archangels, who passes in and out of the presence of the Holy One.

Blessed be he.

I bring him the prayers of all who pray and of those who don't even know they are praying.

Some prayers I hold out as far from me as my arm will reach the way a woman holds a dead mouse when she removes it from the kitchen.

But some prayers are like flowers, almost too beautiful to touch.

And this prayer of Jesus is almost too beautiful for us to touch.

But it's given us.

So let's approach it.

How can the disciples possibly grasp the somber teaching of Jesus that's recorded in chapters 13 to 16?

The upper room, they were supposed to be celebrating the season of Passover.

And yet it's not so much a celebration, a yiha time.

Because something is a bit off in that upper room that night.

He spoke of sorrow being turned into joy.

But the tone wasn't one of jubilation.

It wasn't like Jesus was high-fiving all the disciples at the table about his going away.

He wasn't saying, hey, it's going to be so cool that the Holy Spirit's going to be with you guys.

Let's go, let's dance.

A little while.

Going to the Father?

We're going to weep and mourn.

Is it okay with you if I read a little?

Well, it's going to, I'm going to do it anyways.

An excerpt from C.

S.

Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.

And those of you who are fans of C.S.

Lewis, the Lion, the Witch in the Wardrobe, you understand that Aslan the Lion is, for us, is a figure of Christ, of Jesus.

And there's the scene as Aslan is about to be sacrificed at the stone table.

Aslan's mood affected everyone that evening.

Peter was feeling uncomfortable too at the idea of fighting the battle on his own.

The news that Aslan might not be there had come as a great shock to him.

And then two of the characters, Susan and Lucy, are talking.

And it was as if the good times, having just begun, were already drawing to an end.

I've got the most horrible feeling as if something were come hanging over us, she says.

Have you?

Because as a matter of fact, so have I.

It's something about Aslan, said Lucy.

Either some dreadful thing is going to happen to him or something dreadful that he's going to do.

There's been something wrong with him all afternoon, Susan said.

Lucy, what was it he said about not being with us?

You don't think he could be stealing away and leaving us tonight, do you?

And then I'm gonna skip ahead.

The two girls can't sleep, so they go out and they find Aslan in the distance.

They see him walking away towards the stone table.

And so the girls walked on each side of the line, they caught up.

But how slowly Aslan walked.

And his great royal head drooped so that his nose nearly touched the grass.

Presently he stumbled and gave a low moan.

Aslan, dear Aslan, said Lucy, what's wrong?

Can't you tell us?

Are you ill?

Aslan asked Susan.

No, said Aslan.

I'm sad and lonely.

Lay your hand on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that.

What a powerful little passage, portrayal.

What was going through Jesus' mind that night?

He ends his teaching in John chapter 16.

John 16 · chapter mention

He says, In the world you will have trouble.

A better translation, perhaps with a little more force, is in the world you're gonna have tribulation.

It's not just ordinary trouble.

The Greek term speaks about compression, it speaks about a pressing down of a crushing that's gonna happen.

You're gonna be crushed in the future.

You will suffer.

But it will all be good.

I've overcome the world, Jesus says.

And I wonder if I was one of the disciples, I would have said, Well, Jesus, if you've overcome the world, then why can't we skip the crushing part?

And then from the take heart of 1633, we enter the prayer room where Jesus pours out his heart.

Now I'm wired to be analytical, I don't rush over scripture, I park on verses, and that's when all sorts of questions come that yield sometimes a fuller understanding of God's word.

Here are my questions for this prayer.

Why did John even record it?

Why did Jesus pray it in front of the disciples?

What does it reveal about Jesus' heart?

Since he knows that he will soon be arrested and the horror will begin.

Does the prayer reveal any fear in Jesus?

Can you sense anything there?

Was he anxious about anything?

In Hebrews chapter 5, verse 7, we read this.

Hebrews 5:7

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears.

Underline that.

Or was it more a prayer of calmness?

I don't see it as him crying out like he did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And one last question arises from his purpose, John's purpose in writing his gospel.

These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Let me ask you this question: Are you a believer in Jesus?

Are you a believer?

Or are you, hmm, whatever, kind of indifferent about Jesus?

I respect that, but I challenge you to take your shoes off this morning.

Sit down a spell here and visit some of these last moments of Jesus' life, and may God ignite the pilot light that He's put in all of us to be on fire for Him.

All right, let's move into the prayer.

There are three parts, essentially.

I'm gonna read each part in full.

Follow along in your Bibles.

I'm gonna make a few comments and then I'm gonna close with two takeaways for us.

Earlier in Jesus' ministry, the disciples had asked him, Lord, teach us to pray.

Do you remember we did the series on the Lord's Prayer here at Evolve?

Lord, teach us to pray.

And so we have that model of the Lord's Prayer for all of us.

But I wonder what this other Lord's prayer can teach us about prayer.

And so you're gonna see the three parts up here on the screen.

Part one, prayer for himself, then two, prayer for his disciples, and then thirdly, prayer for all future disciples.

Could that include all of us, even at Evolve?

All right, part one.

Here's the text of the prayer.

Father, the time has come.

Just that one phrase gets me.

Father, the time has come.

Glorify your son, that your son may glorify you, for you granted him authority over all people, that he might give eternal life to all those you've given him.

Now, this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Before the world began.

And I want you to notice what the first request is.

Glorify your son, that your son may glorify you.

And what could that even mean to glorify your son?

What does it mean?

Give me glory.

It'll be quid pro quo.

You give me, I give you.

The message I think renders it fairly well.

And it says this, Father, it's time.

Display the bright splendor of your son, so your son in turn may show your bright splendor.

But people listen to this.

The bright splendor would shine no brighter than when Jesus is hanging on the cross.

That's the glory.

This is not an ego thing.

Father, glorify me.

He's not wanting to bask in the glory of acclaim or I'm number one or I am the champion of the world.

And I wonder if Jesus also longed to go home.

Do you ever think about that?

Did Jesus just want to go home with his father?

For what do we see in verse 4?

He says, I brought you glory by what?

By completing the work.

I've done everything you've asked me to do.

Can I come home now?

It says in Proverbs, My heart, my son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be glad.

My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

Jesus did that.

His lips spoke what is right.

His heart was wise.

And so God the Father was proud of Jesus as Jesus modeled this whole Proverbs lifestyle for all of us to see.

You know, fathers are allowed to be proud of their kids, aren't they?

Even though it's Mother's Day coming up.

Every Father's Day, for about the last 20 years at least, I've given to each of my kids something on Father's Day.

Maybe a little gift, a book, whatever it is, but I've also written little notes.

Well, sometimes they're not so little, are they?

They've turned into like 4,000-word essays, but but they get that every year.

And I love giving it to them, but I love the best.

I love the weeks leading up to Father's Day as I contemplate what I'm going to write.

It's what I've observed over the past year in their lives.

I encourage them to stay faithful to the Lord and to let them know of my love and how proud I am of them.

So next month, I'll be writing for Bennett.

How proud I am of his role here at Evolve.

That's part of what I'm going to tell him.

So you're getting a little teaser there, spoiler.

I'm proud of his role at Evolve, and not just now, but in the years leading up to this time when he came on staff.

But then there's the son, Jesus.

Although he wasn't, he hadn't quite finished his last mission, and it will prove to be a horrendous struggle to do so.

Just think of his mental agony in the Garden of Gethsemane as he wrestled with that last difficult step of the cross.

But this prayer shows us how determined he was to take up his cross and follow his father.

Do you remember the voice that came from heaven at Jesus' baptism?

What does it say?

You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.

I want you to think about that.

So we figured Jesus was about 30 years old at the time.

When Jesus is coming out of the water, why does the father say, With you I am well pleased?

Why was he expressing his pleasure at this particular point?

He hadn't even begun his ministry yet.

But I wonder, could it be that the father was saying this, Jesus, my son, you've been faithful for 30 years now.

You've been toiling away in relative obscurity, and you've been faithful with what you had to do to get to the point of your ministry days.

And Jesus, now it's time for the hard stuff.

To glorify someone can mean to enhance someone's reputation or to make known how worthy someone is of being loved.

And for three years, Jesus did what he enhanced the Father's reputation, which had unfortunately been distorted through a pharisaic legalism that made God's default position one of the divine punisher.

It burdened people down, it turned proper fear of God, respect, and reverence into terror and fear and worry about getting God angry.

And then, in one of the cruelest twists of all, cruelest theological twists of all, is this that your life condition, your choices that you're making right now disqualify you from being objects of God's love.

But then along comes Jesus, and what do we find out?

We find out that God actually wants to be a friend of yours.

He wants to be a friend of sinners and tax collectors, all the bad sorts of people, those who have sketchy reputations.

We find out that his love wants to reach out for those who are looking for meaning, who are looking for truth, who are dissatisfied with life.

They know there must be something more.

And what does Jesus show us?

He shows us that God's default position is one of love, and that love wants you in this room to live the best, fullest, most purposeful life that is possible for you right now.

He's not the wet blanket that dead religion has portrayed.

And here's an important verse for you all to either memorize or at least highlight in your Bibles.

And it's from 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 6.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

I love this verse.

For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.

Here's the line, in the face of Jesus.

The face of Jesus.

You want to know what God is like?

Spend time in Scripture to learn of Jesus.

Get your face in the book.

If Jesus was to appear in front of you right now, any one of you, and you had a little alone time with you, with him, what would you see in the face of Jesus today?

Perhaps what are you worried you might see?

A scowl, bitter disappointment, anger, or love.

Because he loves you as you are and not as you should be.

He wants to show you how glorious God is.

And if you're an agnostic or if you're an atheist seeking for something, I dare you to look into his face.

His hand is extended to you.

It says in Proverbs chapter 123, it's a bit of a paraphrase.

His hand is extended to you this morning, and he wants to pour out his heart to you.

He wants to let you know this, that he has carrying thoughts for you.

Would you reach out and touch his hand today?

So Jesus prays for himself, and I wonder if he was homesick for the glory of heaven.

Second part of the prayer, the prayer for his disciples, reads this way I have revealed you to those whom you've given me out of the world.

They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word.

Now they know that everything you've given me comes from you.

For I gave them the words you gave me, and they accepted them.

They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

I pray for them.

I'm not praying for the world, but for those you've given me, for they are yours.

All I have is yours, all you have is mine, and glory has come to me through them.

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world.

And I'm coming to you, Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name.

The name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.

None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction, that scripture would be fulfilled.

I'm coming to you now, but I say these things while I'm still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy.

There's that joy stuff.

I've given them your word, and the world has hated them.

For they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, even as I am not.

Not of it.

Sanctify them by your truth.

Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Alright, a longer portion.

But in part two of this prayer, Jesus reveals to us, he tells the Father, I've been faithful.

I've mentored the disciples.

I've taught them what you told me to teach them.

And I think, oh, those disciples, if you watch the series The Chosen, sometimes you just shake your head, don't you?

For three years, Jesus gave it to them straight.

He told them what God wanted him to.

His life with them was mentoring every bit as much as any of his teaching was.

And it's like he's saying to the Father, I've done my part now, it's up to you.

I'm proud of them.

Despite the hiccups of little faith or their lapses into numbskullism, the glory has come to me through them.

And I imagine Jesus pausing at this point, looking at disciples, knowing that they're going to desert him very shortly.

It's as if he's saying to them or thinking, I know it's going to be a dreadful few days for you guys.

You're going to run scared.

And you're not going to stand up for me.

But it's going to be okay.

In fact, I'd be surprised if you don't run.

But I want you back.

Wait and see how this is all going to play out.

And so the key request is found in verse 15 protect them from the evil one.

Their greatest need wasn't removal from the world, but protection from making shipwreck of their lives and especially of their mission to spread the gospel.

Jesus had taught them before, he said, the enemy is out to do what?

To steal, kill, and destroy.

But I've come that you might have life and more abundantly.

First Peter chapter 5, verse 8 says that we are to be sober and vigilant because our enemy is what?

1 Peter 5:8

He's like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

Back in Genesis, God told Cain what?

He said, Cain, sin is crouching at your door, but you must be willing to master it.

Now I'm fully persuaded that the book of Proverbs is our spiritual warfare manual.

It has much to say about being sober and being vigilant and how to avoid the stealing, the killing, the destroying that the enemy wants to do through enticing us through the ever-present thousand faces of folly that crouch at our doorstep.

And Proverbs will help you to learn, to discern what's crouching at your door.

And so he prays, protect them, Father.

And I wonder if Jesus was worried about them.

Okay, concerned, because Jesus wouldn't worry, he didn't sin.

How will they bear up under all the pressure?

There's going to be tremendous tribulation that they're going to face.

It's like Jesus is saying, Father, they've already experienced hate as they've hung out with me, even though I was the principal target of that hate.

But very soon they're going to be the principal targets.

Would you protect them, Father?

Because it's going to get extremely rough.

And so Jesus prays, sanctify them, which means, Father, would you set them apart so that they can focus on mission?

It's not just tell them what their job is, but Father, would you equip them?

Would you give them your presence?

Would you give them the boldness of the Holy Spirit, Acts chapter 1, verse 8, so they can be my witnesses?

Acts 1:8

There's a powerful prayer recorded in Acts chapter 4, verses 24 to 30.

Acts 4:24–30

The early church has been exploding with growth and popularity, but it's facing persecution that's inspired by the evil one.

And in verse 29, here's part of the prayer.

The church is praying this.

Now, Lord, consider the threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Notice what they're praying for.

They aren't praying for God to arrange a ceasefire with the enemy.

They aren't praying for safety.

They're not praying for escape from the cruel world.

They're praying for courage to keep going forward with the mission that Jesus gave them because they knew that he was the risen Lord.

And so in Acts chapter, in the book of Acts, we see Jesus' prayer of John 17 being answered.

Part three, prayer for all the future disciples, even us.

He prays this way.

My prayer is not for them alone.

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, and think in this way, who will come to believe through their message, that is, some of them are going to write the gospels, and I hope there are going to be people who are going to read the gospels and come to believe in you.

Verse 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

May they also be in us, so the world may believe that you have sent me.

I've given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.

I in them, you and me.

May they be brought to complete unity, to let the world know that you've sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Father, I want those you've given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory.

The glory you've given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you've sent me.

I've made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them.

We were singing earlier, I want to be undone.

I want to go deeper.

I want to know you deeper.

There are things perhaps in us that need to be undone, some some maybe theology that needs to be undone.

It's not undone in the sense of I need to be in a state of ecstasy.

But how cool is this?

Jesus is praying for future believers.

Now I'm sure at the time in the upper room he wasn't thinking, looking around, okay, let me pick on Luke for a second.

Luke, thank you.

Dear father, in about 1900 and some years, Luke is gonna be born.

And I'm praying for him right now that he would follow you.

Well, it probably didn't happen that way, Luke.

Sorry, I don't want to disappoint you.

But Luke, he does know your name.

He knows your name.

And he called you, and he wants to protect you from the evil one, from derailing you on the mission that he's given you to be his follower.

And so, what is the key request in this third section of the prayer?

By implication, of course, the the prayer for protection goes for us too, but here it's all about unity.

And here's where I struggle a little bit.

How's that unity thing going, Jesus, in the church today?

As the gospel spread throughout the world, and people of different races, different cultures, countries were accepting Jesus, challenges arose.

You know that would be the case, and there were big challenges.

As Christianity grew and churches began in the years passed by, denominations and sects arose, and differences arose as to how worship was to happen and who could lead and how to live the Christian lifestyle, what constitutes holiness, and Christians began to hate Christians, and Christians began to persecute Christians.

They killed each other, they shunned each other, they looked down their noses at each other.

And it still happens.

So, how's that request for unity working out?

Well, sometimes it doesn't seem so well, but actually maybe it's happening better than one might expect.

Why are there so many denominations?

Why Ark?

Why P-A-O-C, why Baptists, why Anglicans, why Catholics, etc.?

My question back at you is why not?

Why not?

There's still one non-negotiable that we all still agree to as we assemble under the banner of the cross, and that banner is now hanging over the entrance to an empty tomb.

We believe that Jesus died, he rose again, and he lives forever, and we're gonna follow him.

That's the banner that we all unite under.

So, yeah, we have all kinds of other disputes, perhaps, but there's that.

And hopefully we have love one for another because that's how the world is gonna know that we are one.

People are coming to Jesus in Anglican churches right now.

They're coming to Jesus, if you can believe it, in Baptist and Catholic and Pentecostal churches, independent churches, arch churches.

God is moving.

And that speaks to me of the greatest sign of unity there can possibly be that Jesus is changing people's lives, and he wants to change perhaps someone in this room today.

It's a true Jesus revolution, and we all get to be part of it.

It is absolutely amazing what God is doing in this day and age, He's uniting us under the foot of the cross.

And so, with conclusion here, there are two takeaways from John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

And first off, as with the Lord's Prayer, which was given to teach the disciples how to pray, so too, this other Lord's Prayer of John 17 is a model for us too.

And so, how do we pray in the light of the scripture?

Well, number one, it's quite simple.

Pray for yourself.

Jesus did, but pray that you can bring glory to God.

Pray to be salt and light for his kingdom, and praying that way shows that it's not all about you, it's about the Father.

And when that is your focus, when you follow Jesus, not your ego, because your ego is not your amigo, remember that, your life gets better.

Secondly, pray for fellow believers.

That God would protect all of us in this room and in all your circle of other believers in churches across Edmonton, Canada, around the world.

Because the enemy wants to destroy what's happening at Evolved Church.

He wants to sow seeds of discord, of doubt, of fear, of dissatisfaction.

And so I urge you, can we pray for each other?

Pray for your leadership, pray for these volunteer teams for the kids, the youth, etc., the parking lot guys, my favorites.

Pray for each other, pray, pray, pray, because the church evolved began with a lot of prayer, and it has to be sustained by being bathed in prayer.

Pray that any who come into this church, just maybe every once in a while just visit, that God would love on them, that they would sense something of the Spirit of God in this room.

Pray for the lonely, for the struggling.

Pray that we as a church and as individuals who recognize and embrace and be bold in our mission, give us boldness, Lord, to make Jesus known.

Pray that we would all know how proud Jesus is of us.

He's proud of you.

Did you know that?

Did you know that you are God's gift to Jesus?

We just read that in the prayer.

God, all those you've given me, He gave you to Jesus.

You are a gift.

Thirdly, we pray for future believers.

We pray that the power of the Holy Spirit would baptize all of us with boldness and wisdom and longing to be his witnesses because there are a boatload of people who will come to Jesus through Evolved Church, through other churches, through our attempts to share the love of Jesus with people.

The power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering.

That's our magnificent Messiah.

And I want to know him.

Do you?

You can put the slide up of the Bible.

Recently I began writing out the New Testament for my next grandson.

I've written it for all my kids, for my other grandkids.

And so I was really excited when I found out Megan was pregnant again.

And uh, so we got another grandchild coming.

It's interesting because yesterday morning I was outside at my table and I was writing out this section of Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

And it's when Jesus is asking the people, the magnificent Messiah is saying, Who do people say that I am?

And they're saying this, that, and the other thing.

But then Jesus says, Well, what about you?

Verse 15, he asked, Who do you say I am?

And I stop there.

Normally I don't put spaces, you can see the black part is pencil.

When I write out the Bible for my kids' grandkids, my grandkids especially now, I'll stop every now and then, I'll write out little prayers or little comments to them.

I don't know if they're ever going to read the actual Bible, but maybe they'll leave through it and they'll they'll look for the little comments that are that are in there.

But here's what I said to well, the unnamed Blooby.

We don't have a name yet, or at least they won't tell me.

Dear grandson, yet to be born.

I pray that you will know Jesus, not just about him.

I pray that you will know how much he loves you, and out of love you will follow him all of your days.

I don't know your name yet, but he does.

You, like your brother Merrick, are a gift to the world.

What a blessing you, Merrick, mommy, and daddy are to meet and to this world.

Answering the question Jesus asked Peter is asked of all of us.

And may the Father in heaven reveal to you the truth of his love.

The truth of Jesus' love, Papa.

And so I leave you all with Jesus asking you that question today in light of this prayer.

Who do you say that I am?

Who do you say that I am?

Would you fire this?

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveChurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.