Resurrecting Hope: Overcoming Life’s Greatest Challenges. How To Transform the World.
Text: John 17:20-23NLT
Throughout history the Church has been instilled with hope in the face of life’s trials because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Easter is a reminder that the Christian lives day in and day out with power that can overcome any challenge.
In our darkest days, resurrection gives us light. In overwhelming discouragement— resurrection gives us faith. In the midst of devastating loss, resurrection gives us joy. In times of divisiveness, resurrection gives us something that unifies us.
Listen, The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive, and that gives us hope!
In my humble opinion, the natural (this world), seems—scary, dim, bleak, Covid-19, the war and presently the threat of a nuclear catastrophe! In times like these, I praise God for Jesus’ resurrection power.
For out of His resurrection comes—Holy Spirit, Salvation for all, Comfort, Love, Prayer and Grace, plus anything and everything righteous.
One of the final prayers Jesus prays isn’t just for His disciples, it is for anyone who would— believe His prayer.
This purpose of this prayer is to produce change:
Jesus prays in, John 17:20-23AMP “I do not pray for these alone [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for [all] those who [will ever] believe and trust in Me through their message, 21 that they all may be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe [without any doubt] that You sent Me.
22 I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected and completed into one, so that the world may know [without any doubt] that You sent Me, and [that You] have loved them, just as You have loved Me.
I want to give you 3 points to remember about this mighty prayer:
POINT #1—The Love of God unites us all.
Jesus states, this prayer is an on-going prayer. He prays that mankind will become—one with Him, and His Father.
Observation: I’ve noticed at the end of someone’s life, the conversation that takes place is not about how many more vacations they wish they would— have taken, how they should have purchased that big-screen TV, or how sad it makes them that they didn’t win the lottery.
Rather what people talk about is how they wish they had more time with their families, how they want to heal a broken relationship, or how they would have spent more time helping people.
“These conversations are around the things that truly matter most.’ ‘When time is limited, people speak from the heart.’ Like the words of Jesus in John 17, ’It is these final words that we should pay close attention to.” P.H
Here’s the faithfulness of God—The final prayer that Jesus prayed, was for you.
Did you know that your prayers linger, and stand the test of time? The prayers of Jesus are still coming into fruition.
The love of God is for all people and it is the unifying truth behind His sacrificial work on the cross.
Again, POINT #1—The love of God unites us all.
The heartbeat of Jesus’ prayer reveals that Jesus came to rescue the world.
In the midst of a divided world, we can trust that the love of Jesus knows no bounds.
Psalm 133:1-3TM How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!?It’s like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, Flowing down Aaron’s beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.?It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.
POINT #2—Fight for unity.
Think for a moment about your problems or needs. Because Jesus overcame death and the grave, there is nothing that we could possibly come up against that He cannot handle.
The apostle Paul writes in, Romans 8:11TM It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, He’ll do the same thing in you that He did in Jesus, bringing you alive to Himself?
His resurrection was a shock to Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus that first Easter morning. Her thoughts might have been, “If Jesus isn’t alive, I’m still dead in my sins. I’ve believed a lie.”
Peter was restored after his denial of love for the resurrected Christ.
The grace of our Lord Jesus overcame all of Peter’s failings!
Think about this, “Jesus feels our pain, and yet has the power to heal our pain.”
In the late A.W. Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God, he writes, “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow…
Instead, like white keys and black keys tuned to different notes, we work in concert with one another because of one unifying factor, the tuning fork—Jesus unites.
The world we live in is incredibly divided. We are fractured along political lines, along theological lines, and everything in between. It seems we are always looking for a reason to entrench ourselves in an argument that ensures division.
The Bible proclaims, it was because of “God’s great love He had for the world that He sent His only Son.” —John 3:16.
God loves every human being on the planet. There is no one who is beyond the love of the- Father. Jesus came to unite us under God’s love that we might be one with each other and one with Him.
Again, POINT #2—Fight for unity.
Jesus prays for every Christian, worldwide and throughout history that in the midst of our differences and uniqueness- we might be unified in love for Him.
And for what reason? The unity that Jesus prays for, is meant to be a beacon of hope to a watching world. That as those who are far from God witness the love that exists between His followers, and that they might be drawn to Him themselves.
Unity is a heart condition of a regenerated believer that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and bears the fruit of kindness, compassion, peace-making, forgiveness, humbling ourselves and esteeming others more highly than ourselves. P.H
The truth is, living your life with love for God and love of people is no easy task. People will make you angry, people will hurt you, people will disappoint you and offend you, but as— Christians we must strive to live in unity with one another.
The apostle Paul, speaks to the struggle of remaining humble, gentle, and patient in our relationships with one another.
Ephesians 4:1-6NLT Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all,?who is over all, in all, and living through all.
“Crane Eater Community—God has unified us.
As we remain together in God’s love, we will experience many miracles.” P.H
When we fail to fight for unity within the Church, it becomes very easy to allow everything to become an “us versus them” situation.
In our minds, there’s two sides, and if one side is right then the other side, of course, is wrong.
Do you realize we have intrinsic value with each other? “It’s deeper than hurtful words; Jesus— died to make us one.”
Paul stresses in Ephesians 4:4-6TM You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
POINT #3—We can do more together than we can apart.
The mission of God could have been accomplished by Jesus all on His own—But that wasn’t God’s will!
Jesus knew His disciples could accomplish more together than they could on their own.
In and of ourselves, we don’t have much to offer. We are fragile and broken people. But something special happens when we unite over a love for God and allow that love to motivate us to change the world.
Did you know—A common image that is used in the scriptures to describe what unity in Christ looks like is the human body.
Paul elaborates on this only a few verses later in, Ephesians 4:16NLT He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Paul compares the Church to a body with many parts. Hands are connected to arms and arms to torsos because of ligaments and joints. All of these individual pieces are built up with love, and in so doing are able to accomplish a great work.
Testimony—I have heard story after story of churches just like ours who have stepped up in major times of need. After hurricanes or other natural disasters, during this Covid season, when a family loses everything due to a house fire: each time, I have witnessed the body of Christ work together to bring healing, restoration, and a resurrected hope.
CECC, is working together, we have one sole purpose—Jesus Saves!
Tuff Q&A: So, who are the people in your mind that you have written off as too difficult?
Who are the people that you have determined don’t deserve the love of God?
What if together we recognized that we could be a part of the answer to Jesus’ prayer with His disciples?
We can choose to be one as Jesus and the Father are one. And when we choose to do this, we might just see the world transformed.
Join in unity—Benediction.
