The Communion of the Church

The Communion of the Church

Text: John 17:20-26 (NIV)

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

[1]

I.        Introduction:

II.      A Communion of Shared Unity

A.      The Candidate for Unity

1.       Believers in the Messiah

2.       Believers in the Message

B.      The Concern for Unity

1.       Believers United Together

a)       United Together as One

b)       United as Father and Son

2.       Believers United to God

C.      The  Consequence of Unity

1.       A Witness to the World: Their Faith

2.       A Testimony of Christ: His Mission

III.   A Communion of Shared Glory

A.      Glory Communicated by Christ

1.       Glory Shared with God

2.       Glory Shared With Believers

B.      Glory Received by Believers

1.       That Believers might be One

a)       One with God

b)       One in Totality

2.       That  the World Might Know

a)       That God Sent Jesus

b)       That God Loves Them

C.      Glory Reserved for Believers

1.       Believers Being Gathered to Christ

2.       Believers  Seeing the Glory of Christ

IV.    A Communion of Shared Knowledge

A.      Knowledge of the Father Not Shared by the World

B.      Knowledge of the Father Possessed by Christ

C.      Knowledge of the Father Communicated by Christ

1.       Christ Representing the Father

2.       Christ Revealing the Father

a)       Who He Reveals: The Father’s Identity

b)       Why He Reveals: The Purpose of Intimacy

(1)     Love Abiding Within

(2)     Christ Abiding Within

V.      Conclusion:

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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.