Prepared | Set Apart | Neil Crouse | September 27, 2026

Now, if you are able, please stand as one of our elders reading today's scripture from the book of John.

Good morning.

Today we're going to continue in John chapter 17 with verses eleven through 19.

John 17 · chapter mention

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the Son of Destruction that filled the scripture might be fulfilled.

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

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

Sanctify them into the truth.

Your word is truth.

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.

This is the word of the Lord.

May he add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his word.

And you guys can have a seat.

Appreciate you reading our main text for the day.

Well, welcome to Forward Church.

We're glad that you joined us today as we walk verse by verse through the Gospel of John.

Before I get started, real quick, I want to remind you that today is the last day to give gift cards for the Wilkins family.

They're missionaries that we support.

They're members of our church.

They have been in um Southeast Asia for the past year.

They've been several years in missions, and um we are uh helping support them.

They're going to be home on furlough, I think is what they call it.

They'll be here for three months, and they need some help with living expenses, gas, food, that type of stuff.

So we've asked you to give gift cards.

If you forgot that today was the deadline and you'd still like to help them, um, there are envelopes in the giving boxes by the door.

You can just put cash or check in an envelope and write SAM for Southeast Asia Mission, write S-A-M on the front of the envelope.

That money will go to gift cards to help them.

We really want to bless them as they're going to be home over the next couple of months.

We'll have opportunities to hear from them and what God is doing through them in that mission.

Um, I just wanted to remind you of that.

Also, um, you might not have noticed, or you may have noticed, that I've got some bling going on up here.

I've got some silver sparkly shoelaces in my shoes.

And um, that is because the Choices Life Resource Center walk was yesterday, the walk for life.

And um we had a team from Forward Church that was there a part of that, and we raised money um for life.

And Forward Church came in second place of all the churches in southern Indiana as far as fundraising for that.

So we got second place, and I got silver shoelaces that I'm supposed to wear today.

So I've got those on.

Let's celebrate that.

Um next year I say we go for the gold, not because I'm flashy, but because we want to win, right?

And that means more babies that are saved and more families that are blessed through Choices Life Resource Center.

Um, I'll give you some quick stats real quick.

In 2026, so far, through Choices, 237 babies were born.

So that's awesome.

Um, here's what's really cool about that.

126 of those babies that were born were born to moms that came into Choices thinking they were going to have an abortion.

They came there wanting to have an abortion.

And through having an ultrasound and seeing that that is a living, breathing baby inside of their belly, and recognizing that that baby is created in the image of God, they decided to have those babies.

So 126 of them were born that would have otherwise been aborted in um and and lost their life.

They also have treated 965 clients so far this year.

222 of those have been dads.

So for those of you that think it's really a ministry to women, it is a ministry to families.

That's why they changed their name several years ago from Choices for Women to Choices Life Resource Center.

So 222 dads have been educated, have learned about how to be God-honoring fathers, they've learned about how to be in the workforce and provide for their family, and they're being helped through choices, and families are being helped.

And um, through 510 ultrasounds being performed, people have seen that there is life in the womb and lives have been saved.

So we celebrate that.

We're excited about that.

And uh again, next year, let's go for the gold.

I'm gonna be wearing gold laces the weekend after that because that means that more families will be served in the name of Jesus.

So would you join me in celebrating more time just the fundraiser yesterday?

And what choices is doing.

Um, as we dive into our scripture for today, we are continuing in John 17.

Jesus is praying for his disciples.

I mentioned last week that this is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus that we have in Scripture.

I know he prayed throughout the night, um, but this is the actual recorded words of what Jesus prayed, and he's praying for his disciples, and he's praying for us.

So this is very important to us.

Jesus knows that things are about to get really bad for his disciples.

They're going to be at the point of wanting to give up.

They are going to be to the point of wanting to just go into hiding.

So Jesus is praying for them.

And I thought about that, and I thought, have you ever thought that things might just be easier if we moved off the grid somewhere and disconnected from this crazy world that we live in and just got away from all the craziness?

Sometimes we're tempted to do that, right?

We're tempted to just kind of seclude ourselves, isolate ourselves, get out of all the craziness.

When um the culture is moving in a direction that's contrary to God's word, our tendency might be to back away and disconnect from the culture.

When standing for biblical truth becomes difficult, our tendency might be to sit down and not stand up and take a stand for God's word.

When temptation is everywhere, we think I'm just not going to go out anymore.

I'm not going to uh even go out because there's just temptation everywhere.

When our workplace becomes hostile to our faith, then we might start thinking and praying for a brand new job.

When our kids are being exposed to things that we never imagined they would be exposed to, our temptation is to put them in a bubble and remove them from all of the impact of the world.

When we're tight, tired of fighting the spiritual battle, our tendency might be to go into retirement mode and say, I've fought this battle for a long time.

Time for me to step aside and let the young ones take it.

Um, we might be tempted to step into retirement mode.

Now, I would tell you that having guardrails in life, that is wisdom.

That is good to have, showing wisdom in places that we hang out and where we go, that there's wise to do that.

Um, protecting our kids from evil, we are called to do that as parents.

And knowing when to back away and be a key peacekeeper, that is very important.

We're called to be peacekeepers.

However, trying to escape from it all is not the biblical answer.

And I think sometimes we maybe overreact and we think, I've just got to get out of all this and get away from all this and go into seclusion.

So we're going to see in today's text as we continue through this prayer of Jesus that he calls us to be in the world, but not of it.

See, the answer is not to escape it all, it's not to get away from it all, the answer is not to just isolate ourselves, the answer is to learn how we are to live in this world and be a disciple of Jesus, but not become of the world.

So he looks at the disciples that are about to face the world around them that will be hostile towards them.

The disciples are about to face fierce opposition, they're going to experience temptation, they are going to experience persecution, their very lives will be on the line, they will be misunderstood, and Jesus knows that the world is going to hate his disciples because the world first hated him and because they belong to him.

So then we look at what Jesus prays.

He doesn't pray, Father, take them out of the world.

He prays, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

I think that's important.

And we're going to dive into that because Jesus doesn't immediately remove us from the world upon saving us.

He could do that.

He could um at the moment that we place our faith in Jesus, he's like, Great, you're on my team, boom, we go to heaven and spend eternity with him.

That would be awesome, right?

But he has a plan and a mission for us.

So instead, upon salvation, upon faith in Jesus, we become a disciple and we now have a mission in life.

And our mission is to live faithfully in this world without becoming of this world.

So instead of escaping the culture, Jesus says, you be a light within that culture.

And Jesus commands his disciples to go into the world, not isolate from it.

Throughout the Gospel of John, we've seen Jesus take brief periods of time for isolation.

So there is a moment, there's a time and a place for isolation, and he would take those brief periods of time and he would get in isolation and he would go before the Father and he would seek the Father.

And the purpose of that time was to have intimacy and time with the Father and hear from the Father and be strengthened by the Father to now go back into the world that really needs him.

So Jesus is praying that strength over his disciples as well.

That applies to us today.

As followers of Jesus, we are his disciples.

So Jesus is praying for his disciples, and he's in effect praying for you.

And he's praying that the Father would keep us, he prays that the Father would sanctify us.

We'll get into that in a few minutes, what that means.

And he reminds us that we've been sent into the world, but not to be of it.

So here's the question we're going to wrestle with today.

How do we live faithfully for Jesus in a world that doesn't always want Jesus?

How do we remain faithful in that?

Well, Jesus is going to give us an answer.

We dive into his word in verse 11.

He says, And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

Jesus proclaims here, He's no longer in the world, because as he prays here, he knows what is coming.

Now clearly, physically, he's standing there with the disciples, so he is still in the world.

He's right there with them at that point.

But he knows that his ministry is done and he is now headed to the cross.

So he's in the mindset of, he's in the process of leaving this world.

So he's turning his attention now to his disciples who will be left in the world.

And his disciples will be here to do the work of spreading the gospel.

So Jesus prays for them to be kept through the power of God's name.

You see, they would have to be kept.

They would have to continue as disciples of Jesus, and that would seem like an impossible task.

In that culture, when disciples of a rabbi, when the rabbi would pass away, those disciples would then just kind of scatter and go and follow someone else.

But Jesus is telling them, When I go, you're going to continue following me.

And this is totally different from what they would have been used to.

So he's praying for them that they would be kept.

They would be kept in the Father, that they would be kept together, that they would be unified.

So he prays that his disciples would remain one, united to each other, because they are united with God through his son.

And listen, that's exactly how the church has remained united throughout generations since then.

Because we are united around the name of Jesus Christ.

And that's what Jesus was praying.

Father, may they be united in my name, and may they be one.

You see, we have to be kept in a whole lot of ways.

We have to be kept from false teaching.

We have to be kept from sin.

We have to be kept from division.

And when we are kept by God through the name of His Son Jesus, we are able to be unified and kept in that way.

You see, there are many different Christian denominations that will disagree on secondary and tertiary doctrines.

We've talked about that before.

There are secondary things that we might disagree on.

So we say, you know what, it's better that we have different fellowships.

And there's tertiary things we might disagree on, and we say, well, that's just a matter of opinion.

But there are primary things that we have to agree on within the Christian churches, within Christianity, that keeps us united.

And that's the doctrines of Jesus being the Messiah, of Jesus being the very Son of God, that we are saved by faith in the work of Jesus through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.

So those things are the unifiers that bring us unity among the body of the church at large, around the globe.

So we are united because we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but through Jesus.

So you can go around the globe to remote parts of the world, and you can find others that believe those same things, and you celebrate because they are brothers and sisters in Christ.

We might disagree on some of the secondary and tertiary things.

That's okay.

We are unified by Christ.

And it's the power of the gospel of Jesus that keeps you.

And this is why Jesus prayed this over his disciples, and he prayed it over you.

Because any follower of Jesus is one of his disciples.

And aren't you glad that the keeping power of God that keeps you united to him and others is not in our own power?

Because the moment we begin to operate out of our own power, our own wants, our own desires, our own thoughts, our own preconceived notions that we might even bring into our Christianity of what we thought was true, then division starts to creep in.

So we have to be unified.

There's the great unifier, and that's Jesus Christ.

That when we are unified in him, we have him in common.

And Jesus prays that his disciples would be one as he and the Father are one.

So when we read about Jesus all throughout the scriptures, we see that whatever the Father said to do, Jesus did it.

That's oneness.

That is the oneness that Jesus is praying for us to have in him to follow the Father.

You see, Jesus and the Father are two unique persons in the Trinity, but they have different purposes.

Yet they are unified, they are completely unified, and that makes them one.

And Jesus prays, his disciples would be united in that way.

But what happens when what happens to that oneness the moment you and I step in?

The moment we come in with our own ideas and thoughts.

Let me ask you this.

Have you, since you became a Christian, if you've placed your faith in Jesus and you're a Christian sitting here today, have you done everything the Father has told you to do?

I'm going to answer for you and say, no, you haven't.

That's because I haven't either.

We we sin and fall short of God's glory.

We aren't in perfect oneness with the Father, but Jesus brings us into oneness with the Father by His work that He's done on our behalf.

So when we stand before God Almighty, God sees the work of Jesus because we've placed our faith in Jesus, and therefore that makes us one with him because of the work of Jesus Christ.

And that's why you and I need Jesus so desperately.

That's why last weekend, when I had that little Jesus sitting up here on the podium and I talked about that, I should have told you that I need a whole lot of Jesus.

That was the point I was trying to make, is that we can't just get by with a little Jesus.

We need a whole lot of Jesus.

Every single day, I need a whole lot of Jesus to get me through.

We need to be filled with him and depending upon him so that we can come into oneness with God the Father, because everything we do is to be about him.

We are to be on mission for him, and that's what he's praying for right here.

You see, we need him because we are kept in God by Jesus, and we are kept in unity with each other through Jesus.

It's all about Jesus.

And unity does not mean that we all have to be the same because we know that to be true.

We are not the same in this room, but we can be unified by our faith in Jesus Christ.

God the Father and Jesus the Son.

Again, they're not the same person, but they are unified.

And in the local church, we're all going to have differences.

Yet we are to be unified in the gospel of Jesus.

So when Jesus prays his disciples be one, he means that in his name we will love one another.

That in the name of Jesus we will care about one another.

In the name of Jesus, we will respect one another.

In the name of Jesus, we will give generously to one another.

In the name of Jesus, we will serve one another.

And that begins to bring unity among his body.

And even with our differences that we have, we will serve his church together for the sake of growing his kingdom.

And we remain unified in those primary doctrines.

And Jesus continues to pray in verse 12.

He says, While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the Son of Destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

So in this text, we see that Jesus keeps those who are in his name.

But there was one exception among his disciples to the keeping work of Jesus among his disciples.

That exception was Judas.

And Scripture had prophesied that one would betray him.

Judas, whom Jesus calls here the Son of Destruction.

What a devastating title.

I mean, that is just that's devastation.

Because of his rejection of Jesus, because Judas was not unified and was not surrendered to Jesus as being the Messiah, he betrayed him and he served self rather than serving God.

Judas is the primary example of knowing Jesus, yet not fully knowing Jesus, because he didn't surrender to him.

He knew about him, he spent time with him, he walked with him daily, saw him pray, saw him perform miracles, yet he wanted the glory for himself.

And it says that he's the son of destruction.

He suffered destruction, just as Scripture has said that it would happen.

Verses 13 through 14.

But now I'm coming to you, and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them your word.

And the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

So so far, Jesus is praying for his disciples to remain connected to the Father.

Jesus is praying for his disciples to remain connected to himself.

And now he's praying for his disciples to have his joy.

And I think it's interesting to notice he doesn't just pray that his disciples would be joyful.

He prays for his disciples to have his joy, supernatural joy, Jesus' joy is what we are to have.

Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet because we have the joy of united fellowship with God the Father.

We have the joy of knowing that we were once separated from God by sin, and now we can go boldly into his throne room before him in prayer.

That brings joy to our hearts.

The joy of complete faith and confidence in God's plan, no matter what.

The joy of knowing that we will one day be glorified in heaven as God is glorified.

We will be in his presence as glorious beings with glorified bodies.

And we will no longer have these aches and pains and aging and all the things that we deal with.

So that brings us joy knowing what is to come.

We have joy in being a part of seeing the Father's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We have joy because of overcoming sin and death.

Therefore, there should be this supernatural joy among believers because we recognize that this isn't all there is, but it's right here.

We recognize that there is so much more coming for us because of Jesus.

And you see, Jesus knows that the world is about to make it really hard for his disciples.

Jesus knows it's about to get really, really bad for them.

So in the midst of the hatred of the world, Jesus prays that his disciples have joy.

Because you're not of this world, therefore the world will hate you.

But he says you can have this supernatural joy that comes from the Lord.

Jesus prayed for that for his disciples, and he prays for that for you.

That Jesus joy that will help you fulfill your purpose of sharing his gospel news.

And that supernatural joy from Jesus will be much needed because you need to understand that the world is full of hate and that hateful world will attack you.

Look at verse 15.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Now I know that some people will make the exclamation that, well, Satan is just kind of a made-up thing.

Um, you know, hell is not really real.

But if you read the Bible, then you really see that hell is an actual real place and Satan the enemy is very real.

Jesus prays to God the Father that we would be kept from the evil one.

So there is an evil one that is out to get us.

There is an evil one that is trying to steal, kill, and destroy everything about you.

And you need to understand that.

You need to know that Jesus prayed about that.

We are on mission as disciples of Jesus to reach people in the world, and he says, You You be in the world, but not of it.

Now, I heard an illustration of what that might look like to try to make sense of it that we are to be um like these massive ships in an ocean.

So if you have a big ship out in the ocean, it remains in the ocean and it serves its purpose.

And it is in the ocean, but the ocean does not get inside of it.

If the ship is doing its job in the ocean, then it is keeping the ocean out and it is going back and forth, taking people where they need to go.

But the moment the ocean starts to get inside of the ship, the ship starts to sink.

You see, you and I are to be vessels in this world, serving our purpose for leading others to Jesus without letting the world into us.

The moment we start to let the world in is the moment we begin to sink.

You see, we are to be in this world, but to be kept from the influence of the evil one and keeping him out of our life and out of our heart.

So don't miss this point.

Jesus clearly acknowledges Satan is very real and that Satan is very dangerous, and he prays for his disciples.

And what that means is that he prays for you, that you not be under the influence of the evil one.

And I want you to understand Satan is constantly at work.

The moment you become a Christian, he doesn't back off and say, Oh, well, they belong to Jesus now.

No, he is doing everything he can to destroy you.

And you have to know that.

Look at John 10 10.

We went over this uh about a month ago.

Says the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I, meaning Jesus, came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

So we have this enemy, and the enemy's job, the enemy's purpose is to steal your joy.

The enemy's purpose is to kill your soul.

The enemy's purpose is to destroy everything about you.

However, Jesus says, He came that you have abundant life.

And he wants you to have that abundant life, not allowing the world in so that you can be on purpose for him, because you're not of this world.

You are now of the kingdom when you place your faith in Jesus.

We go to verse 16.

He says, They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

So once you placed your faith in Jesus, you're no longer of this world.

You are now destined for another world.

You are made new, created with new life, meant for eternity.

In Christ, you now belong to Jesus, not the patterns of this world.

Therefore, you need the power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify you, to make you holy as Jesus is holy.

Look at verse 17.

Jesus continues, he says, Sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth.

Now we have to understand what that word sanctify means.

Sanctify means to make holy, to dedicate, to set apart and devote to God.

That's what it means to be sanctified.

You are made holy, you are dedicated to the Lord, you are set apart and devoted to God and his purposes.

That's what Jesus prays for his disciples.

That's what Jesus is praying for you.

Every follower of Jesus is to be sanctified and to be dedicated to the work of the Lord.

And look at how he says that will happen.

He says, Sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth.

You and I are sanctified by the truth of God's word.

So isn't it important that we know what God's word says?

When we open up the Bible and we read it and we learn from it and we gain knowledge from it and we apply it to our life, what happens is this process of sanctification.

The power of God's word begins to transform us from the inside out.

The work of the Holy Spirit is to help us understand what's written on the pages of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit works in our life through the truth that's found in God's word to sanctify us.

Therefore, if we don't read the Bible, if we don't study the Bible, if we don't apply the Bible to our lives, then we will not be sanctified.

We will not be set apart for God's good work.

We won't be made holy because we aren't sitting under the authority of and the teaching of God's holy word.

That's why we go verse by verse through the scripture here at Forward Church, because we open up the text, we learn from the text, but then it's on you when you leave here to then apply the text to your life.

Because if you just have the knowledge of it, transformation won't happen.

You have to apply the knowledge that you learn from these pages to your life, and that's when sanctification begins to take place.

And sanctification is this process that happens throughout your whole life.

The more you learn about God's word, the more you apply God's word, the more you grow in that sanctification process.

So we have to know that we're called to live lives that are set apart and kept from the snares of the enemy.

Because Satan is constantly trying to trip you up.

Again, what's his purpose?

To steal, kill, and destroy you.

He wants to steal from you.

He wants to kill you.

He wants to destroy everything about you.

Because he hates you.

He's your enemy.

It's a battle, it's a war.

That's why every single day you're tempted to not go to God's word.

You're tempted to just not really pray.

You're tempted to act out of the flesh and not from the spirit because the enemy is constantly digging at you.

But we can be sanctified when we're in God's Word, when we're learning from His truth, which is His Word.

So Jesus has a mission for every one of us.

And we learn more about it.

Let's go to verse 18 through 19.

He says, 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.

You see, Jesus consecrated himself, gave himself up on the cross, he died in our place, so that we could receive sanctification through his amazing work of conquering death, resurrecting from the grave, ascending to heaven.

He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

He intercedes on your behalf, praying for you right now that you would have strength, that you would be sanctified, that you would be set apart, and that you would do the good work that He's called you to do.

Now, I want us to notice Jesus did not simply leave the disciples behind.

He says, I sent them into the world.

So he didn't die on the cross for our sins and then just say, All right, you guys are on your own.

No, he prepared them and he sent them.

And that word sent is apostello.

That's the word that we get apostles from.

These men he sent out into the world became his apostles as he sent them to begin the church.

It's also the Latin word missio.

That's where we get the term missions from or missionary from.

So every single disciple of Jesus is sent as a missio into the world, as a missionary into the world.

And we are to carry his truth as clean vessels, not allowing the world in.

We are clean vessels carrying his truth to the world that others might be saved and sanctified as well.

And that's why Jesus says about all of his disciples, not just those that are called into full-time mission work.

There are those that are called to full-time mission work, like our missionaries I mentioned, that are coming home for a couple months.

They are called to go to a country far in the far off and share the gospel by learning their language.

But you know what?

You are called as well.

You are called to go into your everyday life and be a missionary, a disciple, a sent one for God.

That's why a core identity here at Forward Church is that we are missionaries.

You'll see it on the wall on the atrium, it's on our websites, on most of what we do, that we are missionaries.

That's one of the core identities of us as a believer is that we are called to take the gospel to everywhere we go.

And I think it's interesting that Jesus didn't come into the world as a dictator or a philosopher or a conquering king, but he came as a deliverer of the truth of God's word.

Whatever God the Father told him to say, that's what he taught.

And then he said, Now you go teach everybody the same thing.

I mean, you think about it, Jesus could have very easily shown up in power.

Um, he could have just conquered the enemy with a snap of his fingers or the voice of his uh the breath of his mouth.

He could have spoken it and the enemy would be conquered, and he could have destroyed sin and death in a moment, and then he could have just said from his powerful throne, now everyone follow me or else.

And he could have done that, but he didn't do it that way.

Instead, he chose to serve, he chose to become like us, to understand, so he can he knows the suffering that we go through.

He chose to make the payment for our sins himself.

He chose to follow through on the Father's plan, according to God's word, by following his heavenly father, and then he calls us to do the same thing.

And he says, You live in this world, but don't be of it.

Jesus knew exactly what his disciples were about to face, so again, he prayed for them.

He knows exactly what we're facing today.

He knows we'll be in a world that doesn't understand Jesus.

He knows that when we speak Jesus, that we'll face rejection.

He knows we'll face persecution.

He knows the enemy will try to destroy faith.

Yet Jesus didn't pray for them to escape the world.

Jesus prayed for them to be faithful in the world.

And I believe that's his prayer for you.

He says, Father, keep them, father, sanctify them in the truth, father, send them into the world.

And that's what the Christian life is about.

We are kept by him.

We are kept by God.

It's not by anything we do or don't do.

God keeps us.

And he and he and he um doesn't say that it's means it's gonna be an easy life.

He keeps us in the storms.

He keeps us even when we're attacked.

And that's what the disciples would face soon.

We are sanctified by his word.

But that means we have to surrender to, we have to apply his word to our lives.

And then we are sent, but we're not sent in our own strength.

We are sent by God to share the truth of God for the glory of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit of God.

And this applies to every single person that follows Jesus.

This isn't just special called ones to missions.

This is for every disciple.

So what that means for you is that your workplace is a mission field.

It means your neighborhood is a mission field.

It means your school is a mission field.

It means your family is a mission field, your friendships that you have, that is a mission field.

Everywhere that God has placed you is an opportunity to represent Jesus.

And maybe it's just possible that you've been praying and you've been saying the prayer, God, get me out of this situation.

I want to suggest today that maybe the prayer should be, God, how can you use me in this situation?

Because Jesus says, don't take them out of the world.

May they be in it, but not of it.

And maybe the difficult person at work has been placed in your life so that you can share the truth of God's word with them.

Maybe the culture around us isn't something to complain about, but it's an opportunity to shine the light of Jesus even brighter.

Jesus prays first for you to be sanctified by the truth of the word of God, and then he sends you, he sets you apart, he sends you out.

Because listen to this mission flows out of transformation.

Only when we have been transformed by the power of the Spirit and the power of God's holy word, being sanctified and set apart, can we then go and be on mission?

Mission flows from transformation.

Knowledge of the truth of God's word plus the application of that truth is what equals transformation in your life.

You're looking for more of God's presence.

If you're looking for God to do something, if you're looking for him to show you what he wants you to do, it's that simple, um it's that simple equation.

Knowledge plus application equals transformation.

We can know a whole lot about God's word, but it's once we begin to apply it to our life that we begin to see that transformation.

And I would argue that we don't represent Jesus well by simply knowing more about Him.

We represent Jesus well when His truth has changed the way we live.

So the question we might close with is are you allowing God's word to change you?

Are you applying his word to your life?

If we're going to live in this world without becoming like this world, we need the truth of God, we need the word of God, we need the Holy Spirit of God, we need the Son of God.

And maybe you realize today you've been fighting the world in your own strength.

Maybe you've become discouraged, or you've allowed the culture around you to influence you more than God's word does.

Maybe you've compromised in areas you know God has been asking you to surrender.

Or you become so focused on getting out of the world that you've forgotten that Jesus has sent you into that very world.

Maybe you're here today and you've never surrendered your life to Jesus.

I want you to know you don't have to clean yourself up first.

You don't need to become good enough because you can't.

That's the point.

You need Jesus.

And Jesus will save you when you call on Him and when you surrender to Him.

Today can be the day you say, Jesus, I surrender my life to you.

Some of you already know Jesus, but maybe your response today is simply, Jesus, I need you to keep me.

Maybe you're just like Jesus, hold on to me.

Keep me from the evil one, keep me grounded in your word, keep me from becoming like the world.

Sanctify me by your word.

God, would you change me as I read your word?

Show me where I need to apply it and give me the strength and the courage to then do that.

Keep me from becoming like this world around me and make me more like you, Jesus.

Maybe today you need to come and just pray for that supernatural Jesus joy.

Maybe you've been lacking that joy and you need Jesus to just fill you to overflowing with the joy of what he has in store for you.

Or maybe today is the day you come and you pray the difficult prayer of Jesus, send me.

That's the hard one, right?

Send me wherever you want me to go.

Jesus, send me into the workplace and show me when I have opportunities to share your truth.

Jesus, send me into the neighborhood and help me have conversations that point people to you.

Jesus, send me into my family and help me make the disciples that will make disciples.

Jesus, send me in my friendships and give me opportunities to share the truth of your word and your love with them.

Jesus, wherever you want to send me, wherever you want me to go, would you just send me?

That can be a tough prayer because some of us are afraid of where God might send us.

But if we truly believe that God is a good God and that he loves us and he has what's best in store for us, then we'll be open to say, Jesus, just send me.

I want to use everything that I am to point everyone to the great I am.

We should all live saying, I want my life to point people to Jesus.

So today, maybe you need to surrender your life to Jesus.

I would say come to the altar.

Take a bow.

Bow your knee before Jesus and just surrender your life to Him.

If you need to recommit yourself to His truth, come to the altar.

If you've been struggling with the influence of the world and you need God's strength to keep you, come to the altar.

Maybe you need a fresh portion of the joy of Jesus, come to the altar.

Maybe you need to come and you need to say, Jesus, keep me, Jesus, sanctify me, and would you send me?

Because Jesus has called us to live for him in this world.

One day he'll take us home.

But until that day, he has us on a mission.

We are in this world to tell the world that Jesus gave his life to save the world.

Let's stand together and let's pray.

Father in heaven, we are thankful for this prayer of Jesus that's recorded in John 17.

God, it's such a beautiful prayer, and it speaks so much to us to recognize that Jesus loves us so much, loves his disciples so much, that he would pray for us that you would keep us, Lord.

That you would keep us from the snares of the enemy.

That you would sanctify us by your word.

Lord, we thank you for your holy word, that we can just read verse by verse through it and study each weekend and have so much to learn and so much to apply to our lives.

God, I pray that we would apply what we've learned today to our lives.

That each time we come to your word, we would find something to apply.

And we know that through that there'll be transformation, there'll be sanctification, that we'll look more like Jesus because of your scriptures, because of the truth of your word.

Father, some in this room today need to come and just bow before you and surrender their life to you.

Some just need a little more joy in their life and have been forgetting that it's you that gives us that joy.

Others of us need that sanctification and need to just come and bow before you and say, Lord, from your word, just sanctify me.

Some of us need to lay sins down before you.

Others of us need to come and just say, Lord, would you keep me from the snares of the evil one?

And yet others need to say, Lord, send me.

Where you want me, I'll go, and I'll be an ambassador for you, and I'll share your truth.

God, so many things we can apply from your word.

May we do that today.

As we bow before you, as we worship you now in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.