THE STORY OF JESUS: John 17:20-26
“I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.” (John 17:23)
It is not strange that one person serves as the unifying center.
People through history have united the masses around a common vision.
Sometimes that vision was worthy of joining, but often not.
I see in Jesus a vision worth joining, connecting us to God and each other.
Jesus’s hope was that His followers would continue to spread His message (v.20).
Sadly, in time they began to substitute His kingdom dream for their lesser dreams.
Dreams of position, power, prestige, wealth, and pleasure took over.
Instead of uniting people in God and each other, the church became divided.
Throughout history church has so distorted the message that it has lost its place.
By losing Jesus as the center and letting go of His vision, the church has divided.
Instead of believing in Jesus through the church’s message, people are leaving.
We need to get back to Jesus and His message, and to pursuing His kingdom.
We need to stop focusing on churches, and focus more on developing disciples.
May Jesus’ prayer be ours too – more people united together in Christ, in God.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, may we be united and inspired by Your vision and prayer. Help us to break free from centuries of divisive churchianity, and find our unity, strength and purpose in You!
God desires oneness for His people. Yet even with the disciples we can see that there was discord – seeking position – who would be first. Yet Christ loved them dearly to the very end even though they had deserted Him. And we/I need to do the same – as His follower I need to live in love and harmony and oneness with one another. Oneanothering. All of God’s people need to be living witnesses of His love so that others may know that we are Christians by our love.
-1-
We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.
Chorus
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
By our Love,
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
-2-
We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity
And save each man’s pride.
Chorus
-3-
We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity
And save each man’s pride.
Chorus
-3-
We will walk with each other,
We will walk hand in hand.
We will walk with each other,
We will walk hand in hand.
And together we’ll spread the News
that God is in our land.