John 17:20-26
Demonstrating our love for tomorrow’s unsaved generations
is what we’re all about.
(John 17:20-26) My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me
through their message, 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. I have given them the glory that You gave
Me, that they may be one as We are one: 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. 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. Righteous Father, though the world does not
know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me. 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.
Loving God’s Beloved Masses
(John 17:25) Righteous Father… the world does not know You.
A. Most
of the people in our community do not know God.
(Ephesians 2:12) …without hope and without God in the
world.
B.
How does God feel about
the lost people of our community?
(John 3:16) God so loved the world.
2.
Loving Jesus’ Lost Sheep
A. Jesus was very concerned for the lost people of “the
world”.
(John 17:21) May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
(John 17:23) May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me.
(Matthew 9:36) When he saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
(Matthew 18:12) If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that did not wander off.
(Luke 19:10) The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
B. Every last one of them is important to Jesus.
(Matthew 7:14) Small is the gate and narrow the road that
leads to life and only a few find it.
3.
Loving Our Future Family
A. Many of the lost people of this community will one
day be members of our church family.
(John 17:20) I pray also for those who will believe
in Me through their message.
B. Who is Jesus praying for?
i.
Those of us who have
already believed the disciples’ recorded message and have given our lives
to Christ.
ii. Those who will one day in the future believe
the disciples’ recorded message and give their lives to Christ.
C. We should do whatever we can to help
Jesus save our family members.