Our Unity is His Priority

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Speaker: Matt Carter
Scripture: John 17:20-23
January 28, 2024

John 17:20-23: “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.”

Sermon Outline

1. Who is Jesus praying for?

• Jesus is praying for those who will believe

• What did Jesus want for us?

2. In what sense is Jesus in the Father, and vice versa?

• The Word was with God and the Word was God

• The Father was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ

3. Why does Jesus pray so fervently about our unity in him?

• Unity in such a diverse group of people testifies that Jesus is in our midst

• Unity in the midst of diversity is messy and costly

Benediction

May you be found hidden in Christ and in God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit living in you. And may the unity that comes from having been hidden there well up in expressions of love for God and for the diverse body of believers around you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. — paraphrased from Colossians 3:3 & John 17:20-23