"Community On Mission - Showing the World What Jesus Has Done" (John 17:18-24; Pastor Dan)

Praise the Lord.

God is good.

It's great to see everybody here in the house of the Lord, brothers and sisters in Christ.

We're going to get into our fourth week of speaking on community.

And community is a big, big thing in this day, isn't it?

People are so much on their phones and live in a world that's isolated and insulated from contact and connection that the Church of Jesus Christ is here to bring souls not only into this body or fellowship with us, bring them into a oneness that only Christ can give.

So let's open up our Bibles to John chapter 17, and we will read from verse 18 to 24.

John 17 · chapter mention

John chapter 17, verse 18, and it reads like this As you sent me into the world, this is Jesus' priestly prayer.

John 17:18

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.

And guess who that is?

That's you and me.

That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me, I have given to them.

Let me read that again.

The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you have loved me.

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

Jesus, we thank you for your priestly prayer.

And we thank you, Lord, for the word that is living and active.

We need your word in this day of error, falsehood, and deceit.

We need your truth.

Sanctify your truth today to our hearts.

May we receive your truth and forever be changed for all eternity, we pray.

Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

Community on mission.

That's our title.

We want to show the world what Jesus has done.

Amen.

John chapter 17, verse, John chapter 17 is Christ's priestly prayer.

John 17 · chapter mention John 17 · chapter mention

Verses 1 to 5, Jesus is actually praying for himself that he would be glorified and the Father would be glorified in and through his ministry.

Verses 6 to 19, he's praying for his disciples that Jesus would keep them, that God would keep them, that God would protect them, that God would keep them out of the world's effect, out of the world's influence, out of the world's compromise, but yet in the world to minister his grace and his truth.

And then Jesus is praying in this passage of Scripture for His disciples, but also for you and I, that we would get a hold of the mission of Jesus Christ to touch every heart with the gospel, touch every heart with the good news.

Just like you have experienced this intimate relationship with Christ, so dear, so loving, so gracious, so good, so great, our desire is to pass that on to our families, pass that on to our friends, pass that on to the world.

When Christ's people love one another, the world gets a glimpse of Jesus, don't they?

Hebrews chapter 1, 1 through 3 says that God spoke to our fathers through the prophets in the old days, but now he speaks through his son.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

And his son, Jesus Christ, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

The radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

Friends, Jesus radiated the very essence, attributes, character, and nature of God.

Philip said, Hey, show us the Father.

And what did Jesus say?

What's the matter for you?

How long have I been with you?

You haven't seen me.

If you've seen me, if you know me, if you've been with me, you know the Father.

What a beautiful illustration.

That Jesus Christ radiates the very character and nature of God.

Guess what?

He is God.

Amen.

So now for you and I, as believers in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, guess what we radiate?

Take that phone from Judy, if you will, Frigilli.

Alright?

Thank you.

Now we radiate the very essence of who Christ is because we have the very Spirit of the Living God within us.

Isn't that wonderful?

The very Spirit of the Living God within us.

So I want to ask you this question.

What has radiated from your life this week?

Eh.

No, what has radiated from your life this week?

Has it been in your conduct and your conversation, the very character and nature of Christ that is within you?

The words that you have spoken, the attitudes that you have engulfed in your heart and in your mind, the thoughts that have entertained your mind radiates through the words that we speak and the actions that we do.

Isn't it true?

It is the glory of God.

Is it to the glory of God that we are representing Jesus Christ?

We belong to Christ.

Here's a verse, 1 Corinthians 6, 17.

But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Isn't that incredible?

Our spirit, because of sin, was dead.

Our body is destined to decay.

But Jesus said that he would quicken us.

Amen.

He would bring resurrection, life, and power to our life.

And once that which was dead, our spirit, has come alive to the things of God, and we have been born into the kingdom of God.

We are one with the Spirit of God, one with Christ, because we have been born again.

John chapter 3, Jesus told Nicodemus, You must be born again.

John 3 · chapter mention

And this teacher of the law said to Jesus, Wait a minute, do I have to go back into my mother's womb?

No.

You've been born of flesh.

Now your spirit needs to be born again, taken from darkness, taken from the sin that holds its hold on you and been born again.

How many of you have been born again today?

How many of you have felt the very presence of God in your heart and life?

Amen?

We talk about the seeking Savior all the time.

He sought you out through all your hindrances and all your distractions and all your barriers, and he's still seeking us out to consecrate us to the truth of God so that we can reach a lost and dying world.

We read, friends, and this is going to blow your mind, that Jesus consecrated himself.

Isn't that incredible?

Jesus consecrated himself.

Jesus set himself apart for the will and the way of God in his heart and in his life.

Daily he would get together with God alone and consecrate himself, set himself apart.

Amen.

Focus on the will and the way of God.

And now he has prayed for us that we would consecrate ourselves to the will and the way of God, wholly living before God, so that we can live our lives for the glory of God.

Jesus consecrated himself.

How have you consecrated yourself this week?

How have you set yourself apart from the world and from the things of the world to give glory and honor to Jesus Christ?

He consecrated himself, which is incredible.

Then we have Jesus praying for his church.

At this time, it was only a few hours before Jesus would be arrested, several hours before he would be crucified, beaten, mocked, humiliated, he would die a cruel and tragic death.

It was tragic because he was sinless and he was God.

But yet, he's praying for his disciples and he's praying for you.

Jesus Christ has been praying for you before time began.

How does that make you feel?

Amen?

How does that make you feel today?

That Jesus is going to see you through, that he's our great high priest, that we can come to him, as George mentioned, boldly, with confidence, and we will receive the mercy that we need and will find grace, the empowerment, the ability, the wonder of God's working in our lives for every situation in our heart and in our life.

Jesus consecrated himself, his humanity consecrated to the will of God.

How much more, friends, in this day and age do we need to consecrate ourselves to the things of God?

We're going to just talk about three points today.

Jesus makes us one.

God is love.

Jesus sends us and teaches us to love.

Thirdly, Jesus sends us to live that love.

Jesus makes us one.

The prayer here today in this scripture is that they may all be one.

He doesn't say make them all the same.

He says make them one.

Because we're not the same.

We have different personalities.

We have different backgrounds.

We have different experiences.

We have different stories.

We have different preferences.

And the wonder of it all is that Jesus takes everything that we have been through and he rearranges and shapes everything.

And he uses it for his glory and his honor.

Those things that you want to run away from, you want to hide from your past, Jesus can renew it.

Amen.

Jesus can take your life from the ashes and bring beauty to it so that your beauty now is in glorifying Jesus Christ with everything that you have.

Jesus is greater than everything that could divide us.

Our unity doesn't mean we're all the same.

That would be really boring.

Can you imagine if we were all like Daryl?

I mean, come on.

Imagine if we were all like me.

Scary.

Listen, we're all different.

This is the beauty of it, friends.

All of our past, all of our experiences, all of our hurts, all of our wounds.

Jesus can mend.

Together as one body, we can serve one another and minister out of our hurt, minister out of our wounds because Jesus is the mender and the healer.

Amen.

He heals us.

He heals us today.

Our unity means Jesus is greater than our differences.

Now we've talked about this every week, that there's going to be people that grind on you.

Have you noticed that in the church?

Who has ground grinded on you in this church?

Why don't you raise your hand and no?

I'm just kidding.

That's not a testimony that we want to share.

But we have the ability, because of our sinful nature, because of our self-centeredness, to grind on people in the wrong way, bring annoyance and bring irritation.

But we've said that those irritants and those annoyances cause us to look at ourselves and say, Lord, I need more of you.

I need more of your love, more of your grace to forgive, to not hold resentment, to not complain, to not grumble, to not murmur.

Paul says in Ephesians chapter 4 that we are to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

That is beautiful.

Jesus brings us into this unity of the Spirit.

Doesn't he?

We don't create the unity Jesus has created it.

We are one in spirit with God.

And you can't be one in the body without being one to the head.

Right?

When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior, you have accepted him as the head.

He's the head of the church, and we are his body.

Our unity means Jesus is greater than our differences.

Our responsibility is to protect it, pursue it, walk in it.

Paul says Ephesians 4, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.

How do we maintain the unity of the Spirit?

Is living our life based on the Spirit of God as He lives our lives his life through us, as we exhibit the very fruit of the Spirit, right?

The fruit of the Spirit.

Maintain the unity.

Whatever threatens the unity of Christ's body, pride, unforgiveness, division, selfishness, bitterness, our own selfish preferences, which is sin, we don't play with it, right?

We deal with it.

Because the enemy wants to come in, just like he's doing in America and destroying it from within.

The enemy wants to come into the church and destroy the church from within by division, by disunity, by gossip, by complaining, by murmuring, right?

We want each of us to not be problem staters.

It's easy to state problems.

Well, this is what's wrong with the church.

Bingo, bingo, this, that, right?

We don't want to be problem staters.

We want to be problem solvers in which we see a problem, we see a situation that takes away from the grace and the wonder of who God is and his working in our hearts and lives, and we deal with it.

We maintain the unity of the Spirit.

We go to someone and we ask for forgiveness, right?

David said this, which is so apropos for us today.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you.

Jesus has called us to something bigger than ourselves.

He's called us into a family.

The family of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, a family with a mission, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Our community has a mission.

And the way we live together should point beyond ourselves and point to Jesus.

Every time we minister, every time someone gets up here, we don't want people to see us, we want people to see Jesus.

Every time you serve, every time you minister, every time you pour a cup of coffee, every time you're behind the sound booth, every time you serve in ministry to the to the Lord through this local body, we see Jesus.

And we get glimpses of Jesus because of your heart serving and volunteering.

Amen.

Living a life that's worthy of the Lord.

Being together isn't enough.

Many times we sit next to somebody that we don't really know and we don't really love because we don't know them.

Sometimes you might be sitting next to someone that you wish you weren't.

Take it to Jesus and say, Forgive me.

Jesus doesn't just make us one, Jesus teaches us how to love one another the way He loves us.

And that's the task of the church, friends.

If you flip over to John chapter 13, and we're going to go to verse 34.

John 13 · chapter mention

John chapter 13, verse 34.

John 13:34

And it says this A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you.

You also are to love one another.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

What the Israelites, the Jews did with this verse is not love our enemies, but love our neighbors.

Right?

Our neighbors are people that we like, people that we have things in common with, people that we can hang out with, people that we like having a cup of coffee with.

But when Jesus was at the Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples' feet, knowing that Peter would deny him, Peter would curse a little girl out in his betrayal and denial of Jesus.

He washed the feet of Judas the Scariot, who would turn his back on Jesus, turn him in for 30 pieces of silver.

Jesus washed their feet.

And Jesus here is telling us that it's not a sentimental kind of love.

It's a Christ-like love that serves and gives.

And we love our enemies.

We love those that annoy us.

We love those that irritate us.

You know why?

Because Jesus loves us.

How many of you this week realize that you irritated Jesus?

Maybe you annoyed Jesus by your words, by your actions.

And guess what?

Jesus loves you.

Jesus gave his life for you.

What I love about John chapter 17 is that Jesus prayed for his disciples.

John 17 · chapter mention

And he prayed for his disciples, and he prayed for us.

That the word that his disciples would preach would change the world forever and bring the grace of God to a lost and dying world.

Jesus knows you.

Jesus sees you.

And Jesus has a plan of action for you.

And that action is that you love one another.

God is love.

God doesn't choose to love.

God is love.

Every decision he makes, every intention of his heart, every purpose, every manifestation of his will and his work in this world and beyond is because God is love.

Do you trust his love today?

Many times we get into situations and circumstances where we wonder, God, what in blue blazes are you doing in my life?

What are you doing?

We trust in his character and nature.

God is love.

And every time he reacts and responds to your life, it's out of his love for you.

It's out of his goodness for you.

And you know what?

That means some rough times sometimes.

We all suffer the death of a loved one.

We suffer hurt and pain from other people.

In all of it, Jesus is calling us closer to himself to experience his love in order that his love can flow through us.

How many know your natural love can only go so far?

Right?

How many parents have you just flipped out on your kids because, man, you reached your threshold and that is it?

And you were done.

I just had a time with Zach where I had to say I'm sorry.

Because I provoked him to anger.

And it wasn't loving.

And then I go to Jesus, and guess what?

God is love.

You think he rebuked me?

You think he condemned me?

No.

He hugged me and say, Stupid.

Love.

Amen.

Love.

Right?

And man, it's so beautiful to love the way Jesus loves, because he never gives up on you.

We always fall, we always fail, we're always weak, but Jesus is keeps saying, hey, listen, man, as I as I love you now, love others.

Amen.

And that's the beautiful, beautiful way of Jesus that he loves us even in our stupidity and even in our mayhem and our problems.

Jesus loves us.

So God is love, it's out of his character and nature.

He is love.

We have to choose to love, don't we?

We choose to love.

We put on love.

Colossians chapter 3, verse 14 says, put on love.

Colossians 3:14

Above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Oh, perfect harmony.

Isn't that awesome?

Perfect harmony.

How many of you had a kid in maybe elementary school and you the kid was in a band and you went to the band performance?

Wasn't the greatest.

A little bit of dissonance going on.

A little breakdown in notes and things of that nature.

But when you go to a symphony and you hear the beautiful pieces of Music that's illustrated by every instrument in perfect harmony, how sweet and wonderful it is.

Amen.

And this is the Church of Jesus Christ.

As we operate in the love of God, it binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And that's God's call for us.

Love doesn't just make us nicer, it builds this community of Christ-like love and Christ-likeness that we need so much.

Joy is love rejoicing.

Amen.

Love waits, love is kind, love serves, love keeps its word, love is gentle, love exercises self-control.

The love Jesus puts in our hearts eventually shows up in the way that we treat people, the way that we prefer one another, the way that we not only look to our own interests, but we look to the interests of others over ourselves.

That's Christ-like love.

And that's what he's giving our church in this day and hour.

Each of us love the way Christ loved, by looking to the interests and the and the best good in others and providing that as the body of Christ.

Jesus loves us.

Then we look that Jesus thirdly sends us to live out that love.

Acts 4 32 says, now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.

Yeah.

Let's turn over there.

Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 4 and verse 32.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.

Man, that's good.

And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own.

But they had everything in common.

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Great grace was upon them all.

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold, laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

See, when you give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, your life as you once knew it is over.

And isn't that wonderful?

Everything that you have, it's not yours.

You're a steward now, you're a manager of the blessing of God to bless others and to minister to others.

Your cash is not yours, it's God's.

And God is telling you to give it to me.

No, I'm just kidding.

Your money's is God's.

And He will, as you open up your heart to generosity, He will bless you in ways, not just with money, but in ways where your hearts are open to people.

Amen.

And we thank you for your giving as you place it in the box every week.

The wonderful giving that you give.

We give because Jesus said, give, and it shall be given unto you.

It's better to give than to receive.

Amen.

But I have to admit, sometimes it's really good to receive instead of give.

Isn't it true?

And that's how the body of Christ operates.

We see needs, and out of the overflow and the wonder of God's blessing for our lives and our resources, we have this generosity of Christ to give.

And when we give, he opens up the floodgates of blessing in all areas of our lives, not just providing us with opportunities for financial well-being.

The full number of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.

The question is for us today are we, as the body of Christ here in Lackawanna, are we of one heart and one soul in raising up this beautiful kingdom of God here in Lackawanna?

Amen.

Amen.

We got a snoring baby over here with her eyes open.

That's awesome.

Nice.

Oh, man, look at what this unity produced in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Their lives became available to one another.

When they saw a need, they were able to meet it.

Their homes, their resources, their time, their possessions, their gifts, the burdens, they didn't simply attend church together.

They shared life as one body in this oneness that Christ has called us to.

Oneness in the Spirit and oneness in our unity together because of Christ's love and grace.

Biblical community changes the question.

It's no longer simply what is mine and what I can get, right?

It is how can what God has given me bless somebody else today?

And listen to me now.

If you're in financial dire and you have fear and anxiety about the future, lay it at the feet of Jesus and ask Jesus Christ in your need how you can bless others.

And the generosity of Christ will open up your heart to receive the things of God.

We receive everything that God gives us by faith.

And if you're walking in fear and anxiety today, you cannot receive the blessing of the Lord.

But when you give it to God and say, God, everything I have is mine.

My God shall supply all my need according to his riches in Christ Jesus.

We talked about this before.

The more needy I am, guess what?

The more supply that I receive from the Lord.

Are you a needy person today?

Do you need Jesus?

Do you need the Spirit of the Lord in your heart and life?

He'll supply every need.

The gospel doesn't just change what we believe on Sunday, it changes how we live with people on Monday.

And this is an awesome, awesome, awesome thing.

Your home can become a place of welcome.

Your table can become a place where someone has a sense of belonging.

Your time can become a gift.

And what I've learned, friends, is when you ask somebody out for a cup of coffee, there's something in that coffee.

No.

When you ask somebody out for a cup of coffee and you listen and you engage them and you give them a sense of belonging and a sense that you care, that you love them, it turns their life around.

Your time can become a gift, your resources become an answer to someone's prayer today, saying, God, I need you.

I know you are Jehovah Jirah.

Answer my cry.

Your gift can build someone else up.

Each of you, you're gifted.

Amen.

Like they used to say to me when I was a teenager, this kid, he's a piece of work.

But listen, the Bible says that you are God's workmanship created before time began for good works.

Amen?

When we tap into these good works, the body of Christ is blessed and it flows out of this place into the community as we serve and we let go of things that control us in the fear that we won't be without.

Your gifts can build someone else up.

Your presence can remind somebody that you're not alone.

Amen.

A smile, a pat on the back can go a long, long ways.

Three questions.

Who needs me?

Thank you.

My good buddy Frigili needs me.

That makes me cry.

Isn't that awesome?

He's a good, good buddy.

Who needs you this week?

Who is discouraged?

Who is lonely?

Who's struggling?

Who needs somebody to simply show up?

Amen?

Be a part of their lives.

Sometimes when I meet with people, I don't have a clue what to say.

My presence, hopefully, as I hug or as I engage them, is something that's so meaningful.

What has God put in my hands?

Your home, maybe your table, maybe a time at Tim Hortons for a cup of coffee, your resources, your experience that you've been through enables you to see others.

The Bible says that we comfort others with the comfort that we have received from God.

Amen?

Man, if you're broken, guess what?

God wants to use you out of your brokenness to minister to broken people because you can see where the break is, and you know that God has healed you, mended you, fixed you, and you can minister to those people out of your great need for Him.

How does Jesus want to love through me this week?

What would I do?

Is the question we ask.

But Jesus, how do you want your love to reach this person through me?

How can I love, not out of my natural love, because it has a threshold, but how can I love out of the grace and the overflowing love of Jesus Christ that flows out of me to minister to my friends in this family and to the community?

We're here because we belong to the same Savior.

We're united in spirit.

God's Spirit communes with your spirit and lets you know that you are his child.

Sons and daughters of God, and we walk in this beautiful revelation of the love of God, that God's love will see us through no matter what.

God's love will minister to our hearts in the deepest pain and agony of our lives, and that's what he desires.

But if you catch yourself being critical, fault-finding with other people, and insistent on your own way, realize that God will never ever bless you and never ever touch you.

Get back to the oneness of the Spirit of the living God.

Amen?

The oneness of God, and God will forgive you, God will move upon you, and God will love you.

Man.

We're here because we belong to Jesus.

We're here because of his great love.

He has said, You're gonna make this world know you or know me because of the love that we have one with another.

We pray, we laugh, we cry, we confess, we forgive, we serve.

We grow.

Not everyone is strong at the same time, but Christ has given us to one another to bless.

That's why we have life groups, friends.

Right?

Because we get together and we come not just to be blessed, but we come with this idea that I am a part, a unique part of the body of Christ.

My words aptly spoken, my testimony, my sharing, my grace story can lift someone out of the abyss of desperation and despair and bring the love and grace of Jesus.

Amen.

Man, we keep one another warm.

We come out of the woods of sin, shame, guilt, and condemnation and gather around the fire.

Everybody's different.

Everybody has different needs, but the same fire warms all of us.

And guess what that fire is?

It's the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

That loves on us, that ministers to us.

Let the love of Jesus reach somebody through you this week.

Notice someone who's lonely, who's hurting, who's sitting alone.

Move towards someone.

Bless someone.

Give your time.

Why does this matter?

Because people are watching how we love each other.

And when we love each other the way Christ loved us, they say they are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Let's bow for a word of prayer.

Lord, one in spirit with you.

The Bible tells us that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

And we thank you for that connection of our dead spirit coming alive to the things of God.

Now we communicate not with our natural mind or natural instincts, we communicate through the spirit that is within us, and the spirit of God that dwells within us.

Lord, we're thankful that Jesus has given us his love.

It's God's love, character, and nature of God revealed to us in such beautiful and wonderful ways.

We give you praise for your goodness today, your glory, your greatness, your grace today, O God.

And we pray, Lord, that if we're not loving people, we need to get back to that oneness with Jesus.

Receive His love.

We can only love with the agape love of God as we receive it and it overflows out of our lives.

Friend, God, there's people here today that aren't assured that God loves them.

We pray today, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that they'll walk in newness of life, realizing that the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts through the Holy Spirit.

And your love is as far as the universe expands, reaches down into the abyss of our heart, breaks us, molds us, shapes us, ministers to us.

Lord, oh how you loved us.

Love us.

We receive your love.

In every aspect of our heart, our wounds, our scars, our hurts, our pain.

Mold us and shape us.

Use the brokenness of our life to break somebody with the love of God this week.

Pray in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

God bless you.