Weekly Worship 9/13/20

Call to Worship: Devotional (By Pastor Dan Loch)

²⁰ “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me.

²² The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 

John 17:20-23

In this High Priestly prayer, right before Christ willingly walks into the trap set for Him at Gethsemane, Jesus could have prayed any number of blessings over us. Make note, that He is explicitly praying for us. We are those who believe in Christ through the words of His disciples. He could have prayed that we would be eloquent, charismatic, winsome, irrefutable in our logic, consistent in our apologetic, or even bold in our proclamation of the Gospel. I would think that any of these traits would be crucial in spreading the Gospel to those who do not believe.

Yet Christ prays for something else. He prays that His church would be unified and that through their unity the world might know that God had sent Him. According to Jesus, loving one another, caring for each other, and building up your brothers and sisters is more than just a nice thing to do. Instead, the unity of the church is crucial to the Gospel mission. If we want the world to know that God loves them we need to start by loving one another with everything we have, including our spiritual gifts. This week, as we prepare for our Sunday Service, pray that God would give you opportunities to love His church. Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn and live in harmony with one another in such a way that the world knows that God loves them.