Jesus' Vision for His Church

I Love Getting to Do Life With You

I consider my job a special privilege that I don’t deserve.

Reflecting on what God has done in this ministry in the last two years has been incredible and all growth can only be attributed to Him.

I love getting to serve you all.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real. I get to wake up each morning knowing that part of my job is to help you all love Jesus more. How awesome is that? I love it! And I love you all.

My love for you all, Merle’s love for you all, is what has led me to have us consider our topic for the night.

We’re going to be talking about how we can take new ground as a ministry.

Before we go any further, I want to hear from you. Many of you have been here with us for a while. How would you like to see us take new ground as a ministry?

Group Question 1:

How would you like to see us grow and take new ground as a ministry?

Talk at your tables.

John 17

2 quick Reflections That Will Relevant For What We’ll Talk about Tonight Before We dive into the Specifics of John 17

Jesus Prays That God Would Make His Ministry Effective

The first quick reflection is more of a broad point about the chapter. Sometimes it’s so easy to get into the weeds of the text that we can miss the big and obvious point right in front of us. This happened to me with John 17. It was until I recently heard a pastor named Jerram Barrs point something out that I realized this first reflection. The first reflection is this.

Jesus’ entire prayer is done with the assumption that the Father must bless his words and ministry. If even the Son of God prays to God the Father to bless his work and ministry in the expansion of the church, shouldn’t we also?

Whether you’re preaching a sermon, leading worship, serving in the nursery, leading a community group, sharing the Gospel with a friend, co worker, or family member, or greeting the door for someone Jesus teaches us to pray that God might make our ministry and witness effective in the hearts of people. It is not simply enough just to be constantly busy and serving. We must pray in humility that God would work wonders in the hearts and minds of those we encounter. We’re going to take time to do that later tonight.

Eternal Life is About Knowing God

Notice in verse 3, how Jesus speaks of eternal life in connection with His church. He says, “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Eternal life is about knowing God in Jesus Christ. We are not meant just to proclaim eternal life. The idea of Heaven as a place of generic comfort is a poor substitute for what the Bible actually offers us. Eternal life is only good if we have something to do that is worth doing for an eternity. Eternal life is only good if we have someone worth loving for an eternity. If Heaven is nothing more than a slightly better version of earth now, well think about how many things we enjoy momentarily but get bored with after a while. We can only have so much of most things before we get sick of them. It takes something incredibly special to be able to satisfy our love and desires for an eternity. In fact there is only one thing: God Himself. It is God and God alone that makes Heaven worth it! When we tell people about Jesus, we shouldn’t just tell them about what Jesus has done for them, but we should tell them about Jesus Himself! What an incredible privilege we have to get to tell the world about Jesus!

What does Jesus pray for His church?

Jesus prayed for His church. How does it feel to know that Jesus prayed specifically for you? He had you in mind when He prayed this. And He didn’t just pray for you once, but He prays for you everyday. The Bible tells us that He ever lives to intercede for us. Jesus prayed for His church so we should pray for the church too. Do you ever pray for the church? Not just PV but the church across the world.

Pray for other churches at your table. Have 2-3 people in your group pray for the church I assign to you. (3 mins)

LCF

Liberty Baptist

Redeemer

Northland Baptist

Church in Ecuador

Immanuel Baptist in Thailand (seth’s church in Thailand)

The Crossing (many college students from PV there)

Jesus’ people believe God’s Word and that Jesus came from God, namely that He is the Son of God

John 17:8

“For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.”

That the church would be sanctified by the God’s truth in His Word.

That’s why we emphasize the bible so much at PV here

Explain why we do most expositional lessons

You don’t want to hear from my wisdom. I’m not that wise or helpful...but God is.

That we would see Jesus glory

John 17:24

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.

That’s why we make much of Jesus every week

Helps us fight sin and love God more

We want to be captivated by God

When people see Christ’s glory together they become unified

The church would have unity

John 17:20-23

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 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, 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 loved them even as you loved me.

When the church is unified it is a powerful witness to the world.

More in common with Christian who was a different gender, nationality, spoke a different language, lived in a different country, and in a different time than you would with an atheist twin. We one made one by the blood of Jesus.

We want to foster community here to help build the very unity Jesus spoke of.

Unity with people at our church and other churches

Sunday mornings help buuild unity

One of the greatest witnesses of the church is her unity accross barriers that seem to separate in other cultural settings

Worship in Thai

Across racial barriers

Age barriers

etc.

For your joy

John 17:13

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

Jesus joy is in glorifying His Father and experiencing His love.

God made us to do this too.

All of this is for your joy

Sharing the Gospel, serving, worship, reading the Bible, etc.

Elaborate

Acts 4:23-37

“When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, 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, and 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 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.”

Acts 17:6

“And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,”

The ministry of those early Christians was so powerful, they were taking so much new ground for the Lord, that their enemies could say that they were turning the world upside down for God.

Jesus’ prayer for His church was being quickly answered in a powerful way.

The incredible work of the church didn’t end with the early church. Jesus’ prayer for the early church didn’t stop being answered after the first couple generations of Christians. Jesus’ prayers for the church have been continued to be answered in incredible ways for the last two thousand years.

PV’s History

In the 2000 years since Jesus prayed for His church, church history has brought forth some incredible stories of God’s handiwork. We could look at story after story of the incredible journey and spread of the church, many of which are so amazing that they would sound too good to be true, like something out of a thrilling novel. Twenty-Somethings have had a major part to play in many of these stories. We can learn so much from church history and those who have gone before us. We could look at many stories, but I want to focus in on one particular story from church history involving Twenty-Somethings that I think is particularly helpful, instructive, and inspiring for us.

Let’s go backmany, many years.

Samuel Mills, James Richards, Francis LeBaron Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byram Green, all college students, held meetings together that gave way to the Haystack Revival. Just over 100 years after this, another group of mostly college students and young adults began meeting together with vision akin to the Haystack Revival boys. The vision for both groups was simple, yet profound: to love God and make Him known.

A few years passed after the second group began meeting together, and 20 of them formally covenanted together to officially become a church.

The next year, for $1,150, the church purchased one acre of land to build a church building.. For $600, the church bought a nearby vacated church for it’s lumber, two pianos, and pews. Lumber was also used from a partially burned close by. A couple of years later, a new one-room church was completed and dedicated. The church had little but it faithfully sought the Lord and made the most of what they had to proclaim the Gospel.

The church remained faithful to its founding vision and and continued to take risks. Within 20 years of the completion of the one room building, the church was growing so vastly in attendance and Gospel-ministry that significant additions had to be made to the church. The Gospel ministry continued to grow so fast that the church took a risk and become one of the first churches in America to have two worship services and two Sunday School services. Growth continued at such a high rate that the church had to look outside of its walls for space and rented a local community building for more space for Sunday School.

Growth and Gospel-ministry continued to swell and within 50 years of the church’s founding, they were adding a 3rd worship service and their attendance grew from 20 original members to 2000+ people.

Yet, the church’s faithfulness to its call didn’t stop there and the next twenty years would bring forth growth and Gospel transformation like people could never have imagined.

The church outgrew its many additions and built a new building. Soon 3000+ people were attending every weekend and lives were continuing to be transformed.

This church, with the same vision to love God and make Him known, turned the world upside down with its dedication to missions. The church became a sending church and soon became an international hub for the International Mission Board for sending missionaries to Southeast Asia.

The church didn’t just want to send people all over the world. They also wanted to reach people closer to home. They planted a satellite campus which launched with 300+ members to reach people with the Gospel in the next town over.

A few years later, the church would plant a new church that quickly grew and reached people with the Gospel in a mighty way, so mighty that they soon outgrew their initial space.

A broader look at what God has done through the church and the vision of its founding members of young adults is staggering.

As of today,

The church has had around 10,000+ members in its history.

Tens of thousands of people have attended the church.

The church has sent out missionaries on hundreds of trips. As a result of those trips, thousands if not tens of thousands of people have heard the gospel with hundreds if not thousands of people coming to Christ because of it.

Dozens, if not over one hundred people have gone on to vocational ministry because of the church’s influence and those people have ministered to literally tens of thousands of people.

Thousands of people have been baptized since the church’s founding.

Quite literally, hundreds of thousands of people have heard about Jesus because of the faithfulness and boldness of some young adults.

That church is Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.

Because of the faithfulness and boldness of a small group of Twenty-Somethings, who weren’t meeting in a nice building with air conditioning, modern technology, and any of the other amenities and comforts we have here, because of them the world has been turned upside down and changed forever. Because of their faith and mission to take new ground for the glory of God, thousands of eternities have been changed and countless people have been brought from death to life. In heaven we will join the song of tens of thousands of people who were impacted by those 20 original members of PV.

How can we lead the charge in taking new ground as we enter into a new season at PV?

If you’re skeptical that we can take new ground, think about how we have already taken new ground as a ministry. Twenty-Somethings didn’t exist just a couple of years ago.

In the last couple of years, we’ve seen…

people grow deeper spiritually

Multiple people come to Christ

People begin to serve for the first time

People share the Gospel with others for the first time

We’ve seen communities formed

We’ve seen our numbers grow

Friendships form

And so much more

God has used Twenty-Somethings to do some incredible things and I think we’re just scratching the surface.

Think back to Jesus prayer for His church

Insert points here

We don’t want to take new ground simply for our own sake. No, we want to take new ground that honors Jesus above all. We want to be faithful to Jesus’ prayer for His bride the church. In light of that (table question…)

Group Question 2:

Think back to our earlier table discussion about how you would like to see us take new ground as a ministry. Let’s talk about how to make those dreams a reality. What are some practical goals we can set for ourselves as a ministry to take new ground together as a ministry?

Talk at your tables.

Some ways we are trying to take new ground this semester.

Community Groups

Rooted

Hospitality team

Podcast

Will be releasing soon

Give details about the worship album

Great plans for the summer

Would love to go on a mission trip

Have outreach to the various college campuses in the area

Would love help with this.

See how we can get the word at at your school.

To come alongside people effective

My personal goal has been to try and meet with as many people as I can this semester. Get to know their story so I can better serve them and help Twenty-Somethings come alongside them. That why we had you fill out that survey earlier.

Goals…

Each person would commit to bringing one person to Twenty-Somethings and church on a Sunday by the end of the semester.

That by the end of the semester, each one of us here would be serving in some capacity in at least one ministry at PV or your home church. That could be Twenty-Somethings, but it doesn’t have to be.

Nursery and kids ministry needs volunteers

Unleash on Wednesday nights

Production and Tech

Worship

Door Greeter

Next Steps Center

Library

Etc.

Name tags are for those serving in some capacity in Twenty-Somethings.

Twenty-Somethings

Worship

Event Planning

Outreach to other campuses

Etc.

If you’re interested in serving here at PV or in Twenty-Somethings come talk to me afterwards and we can talk about it and potentially get you set up if you’re ready!

We as a group would read the Bible at least 3 times a week.

This is exactly how we can answer part of what Jesus prayed for: that we would cherish his word and be sanctified by it.

You would commit to meeting up with at least 2 people that you don’t know at all or very well before the end of the semester. This could be a meeting over coffee, a get together before Twenty-Somethings, or before service on a Sunday morning. We want relationships to form and community to continue to grow. We want to help foster growth and unity as members of the body of Christ, the same unity Jesus prayed for. We can literally be part of the answer to Jesus’ prayer.

We’re not talking about all of this because just want numbers or notoriety. Not at all. I would rather have less people if it meant we were being more faithful to God. We are talking about all of this because we want to see Jesus name made great in the Northland and beyond. We can lead just like the founding groups of young adults at PV did. As we take new ground as a ministry we can lead the way in taking new ground as a church! Are you with me?

Last Sunday Merle called people forward to pray for how we can take new ground as a church. We’re going to do that tonight. Just like the early church gathered together to pray like we read about in Acts 4, so we are going to gather together and pray. We they did it the ground shook and the world turned upside down. I have no doubt that that small group of young adults gathered together to pray when they founded PV and look what God did. Think about what God might do as a result of us joining together as a ministry to pray. As you feel led, come forward and make the stage an altar and pray with for how we can take new ground as a ministry and as a church. Pray that God would bless our efforts to make His name known and that He would be at the center of our effort to take new ground. Pray that He would put names on our hearts and minds to invite to church and group. Pray that He would put ministries on your mind to serve in. Pray that He would help you commit to reading your Bible more and cherishing the Word more. Pray that He would help you love Him more and give you boldness to take new ground for Him. After a few minutes I will pray out loud to close us out. Come forward as you feel led and pray with me.

Pray