Jesus’ Prayer for Unity
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Thank you for the opportunity
We bless our pastors and those families that enjoying some time with family. May God keep them and protect them.
We start a new series - Unified for Impact
Biblical Reference
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21 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.
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
20 »Pero no ruego solamente por estos, sino también por los que han de creer en mí por la palabra de ellos,
21 para que todos sean uno; como tú, Padre, en mí y yo en ti, que también ellos sean uno en nosotros, para que el mundo crea que tú me enviaste.
22 Yo les he dado la gloria que me diste, para que sean uno, así como nosotros somos uno.
Background
Background
In this biblical passage we are reading from the middle of a prayer Jesus is having with His Father in Heaven.
This prayer takes place after Jesus last words of encouragement, wisdom, and warning of things to happen.
Jesus was preparing His disciples for what was to happen in the days to come.
and after he prepares them for His death John 16:16 “16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.””
preparing them for the persecution and tribulation that they and “We” would face, but he says “take heart, I have overcome the world”
and so then after this he prays to the father
In this prayer there are 3 main people He prays for.
He prays for himself
He prays that the father would Glorify Him into his own presence
English Standard Version Chapter 17
5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
For his disciples
All future believers
But when praying for His disciple and all future belivers theres an overall theme in his prayer and that is
Unity
Unity
Jesus mentions unity 4 times in this prayer in 26 verses.
You know how important something has to be for you to mention it 4 times?
You know that if you have to tell something to you kid 4 times it’s because it’s important.
it carries weight.
It matters
And I know that we have spoken about unity before in the context of the church, but in practice it has been a very difficult thing to be.
A united church.
A church that builds each other up
A church that gives testimony of God’s love through unity.
A church that shows the love of Jesus to each other.
I love that our church was founded in the love of Jesus and we carry that essence of family and unity.
We carry ourselves with that same love. And if you have found that your experience is contrary to that I’m very sorry to hear that is your experience but we love you
We are imperfect people looking toward a perfect God who makes us righteousness through the finished work of the blood and sacrifice of Jesus christ
C’mon tell your neighbor “I love you brother”
C’mon face a neighbor you haven’t seen in a long time and tell them I love you brother or sister.
Now tell a neighbor a couple of rows away from you. I love you in the love of Jesus!
You are my brother and my sister!
I am here for you.
We are one in Jesus
We are one in the same way that the Son and the Father are one.
That’s a pretty powerful picture.
We are meant to be one
Is that a hard concept for you to understand?
If you’re married it’s not too hard of a concept to understand because if you’re in a healthy marriage then you already know that in marriage you are one.
You are bound to each other in the same love
You are bound to each other in a covenant
You care for each other
You empathize each other
When you see your spouse sad you comfort them
When you see your spouse stressed what do you do?
You tell me?
Their worries are your worries
Their burden should be your burden
Their joy is your joy.
It’s not a competition
It’s a holy union
Unity is at the core of a marriage
Love should be at the core of a marriage
In the same way Jesus wants it’s church, it’s bride to be one!
We the bride need to be one.
If Jesus is in us then we need to be one with each other.
The family of faith is one!
That the brother or sister you said I love you in the love of Jesus to, are suppose to be one.
I know what you’re thinking.
I love him but she’s really loud. Totally not like me.
I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea but will you love me?
I know I’m not easy sometimes and I get cranky when I’m tired but do you love me?
He has a bit of anger issues I can tell.
But the desire of Jesus was and is that we would be one.
Not only that we would just tolerate each other but that we would love one another, and care for one another,
Pray for one another
Speak to one another.
How can we be one if I don’t care about the person next to me?
I’m not saying you have to be besties with everyone in this church or the body of Christ as a whole but that we would care, empathize, see, build, help each other.
Some of y’all don’t even know each other’s name and they’ve been coming for years.
I grew up in a huge family.
And we were big on unity, or at least tried!
Did some get bullied yes, did we say things we shouldn’t have? yes
But the desire of my parents was always that we would be united.
If we fought each other they made us ask for forgiveness to each other.
We would have family meetings every week and do prayer together and have time to say our grievances to each other and have a time to say I’m sorry?
Parents if your desire is that your family is united than you need to facilitate it.
Has it been easy to stay united?
No it’s something that we have to put effort
It’s something that we have to desire.
It’s something that we have to work towards.
I don’t know about you but if you love something you fight for it
We fight for each other not against each other.
I see this aweful trend online in christian circles where I see believers destroying each other online
They make a mistake online and they are already labeled a false prophet. false teacher. Antichrist.
Don’t get me wrong someone who intentionally misleads people may deserve those allegations
We need to keep each other accountable, but with love.
Because how else will the world believe that the Father has sent Jesus to save us?
How can we be identified as believers of Jesus when we are not show his fruit and his teachings in our lives?
Unity is a Witness to the World
Unity is a Witness to the World
We see here Jesus drop a big weight in the value of Unity.
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
23 Yo en ellos y tú en mí, para que sean perfectos en unidad, para que el mundo conozca que tú me enviaste, y que los has amado a ellos como también a mí me has amado.
Our unity is the witness of the love of God
If we are not united then how can we prove the love of God to the rest of the world?
If God is love and the father and the son are one so that Jesus is love and we are one with Jesus but we don’t have love for one another then how is it that we can show the rest of the world the Love of God for them if it’s not in us?
There’s a disconnect when we are not united and fail to witness efficaciously.
We can’t preach of a perfect love if we are not in perfect unity.
If we as a church have reached unity with each other we must maintain and protect it.
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
1 Yo, pues, preso en el Señor, os ruego que andéis como es digno de la vocación con que fuisteis llamados:
2 con toda humildad y mansedumbre, soportándoos con paciencia los unos a los otros en amor,
3 procurando mantener la unidad del Espíritu en el vínculo de la paz:
Don’t be tempted to disconnect
Tell your neighbor “Stay connected”
Unity isn’t something that comes automatic.
We have to work towards it.
We have to seek unity with the Lord to have unity with each other
We have to protect it.
Don’t be tempted to compare
Don’t be tempted to insult
I know some of you been really wanting to tell your brother or sister in Christ off
Don’t be tempted to make fun of your brother or sister.
Don’t be tempted to envy your brother.
Don’t be tempted to stay in a clique
Don’t be tempted to lash out
Don’t be tempted to hold a grudge or not forgive
You know you might be tempted to tell that person off publicly.
The enemy will try to break the unity of the church to hurt the mission of the church
Speak Unity
Speak Unity
We know about unity in our minds but sometimes we don’t show it practice.
It’s time to speak unity!
We need to speak unity in this house.
We need to build each other up
We need to show self control
We need to stop the gossip in it’s track
We need to leave the division of ethnicities behind
We are one body of Christ in the Kingdom of God.
We will forgive
We will speak to each other
We will have empathy
We will pray of each other
We will hold each other accountable in love
We will be one with each other.
I will reconcile with my brother or sister.
I will serve with humility
I will reach out to someone I don’t know.
The body of christ is Multi-generational, Multi-cultural, and diverse in personalities, but we are fully united in the Spirit.
If you don’t like that then I don’t know how you think heaven will look like because we are going to see a bunch of people not like you!
We will see Latins, Asians, North Americans, Europeans, Africans, Australians, Black, White, Tan, Tall, Short, Disabled,
Tell your neighbor heaven will look like you and me!
Jesus’ Desire Is Unity
Jesus’ Desire Is Unity
As we close, I want to remind you of the heart of Jesus in His final moments before the cross.
He could have prayed for anything—for strength, for deliverance, for vengeance even—but what He prayed for… was you.
He prayed for us to be one.
Not divided. Not cold. Not distant. But one, just like He is with the Father.
That kind of unity isn’t casual.
It’s not a Sunday-only kind of love.
It’s a covenant kind of love.
It’s a love that says, “Even if we’re different, I choose to love you. I choose to walk with you. I choose to build the Kingdom with you.”
The world doesn’t need another divided church.
It needs to see a church that walks in unity, in grace, in truth, and in love.
That’s how they’ll believe that the Father really did send Jesus.
That’s how they’ll know that God’s love is real—when they see it alive in us.
So I ask you today…
Is there someone in the body you need to forgive?
Someone you need to get to know?
Someone you need to pray for or encourage?
Because we can’t afford to be disconnected in a time when the world needs a united witness.
