Unity

Jesus Prays For Us – Jesus Prays For You

/ Bob

In the 17th Chapter of John we find the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. As Jesus was within hours of his arrest and subsequent crucifixion He was praying for His disciples who would soon face the most gut-wrenching hours and days of their lives. As he prayed for them He prayed for their safety but moreover, He prayed that they would remained unified – unified with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and all for the salvation of the lost.

Jesus said that He came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10) The unity He prayed for is critical for the saving purpose of Christ to continue through His followers today. If we are one with the Father through the Son by the Spirit within us, the gospel message will be proclaimed and the purpose of Jesus to seek and save the lost will continue until He returns. Furthermore, the unity Jesus prayed for will sustain his followers today as they face opposition as they share their faith.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, October 20, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Prayer the Moves Heaven: Power with Purpose. You can find print and digital versions of this series online at https://gc2press.org/prayer-that-moves-heaven-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


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Class Notes – 10.20.2024 – Jesus Prays for Us – Jesus Prays for You – John 17Download

Calling for Unity in the Church

/ Bob

In his first letter to the Corinthian church he begins with his usual pleasant greetings and fond remembrances, but he then he gets straight to the point that is of foremost importance – division within the church. Satan loves to drive wedges between believers and he will stop at nothing to get a group of Christians to look away from God by focusing on their own opinions and attitudes. And if that misdirection involves the things of the church it is even better.

Paul addresses the issue by reminding the church of what is really at stake. Unity. Jesus in His high priestly prayer asked the Father for His people to be one – even as He and the Father were one. Jesus knew that a church divided against itself could not stand. (Mark 3:25) He also knew that His church would have to be known by the love they shared. (John 13:35) Paul knew this also and he understood fully that the gospel message of Jesus Christ had to spread without hindrances like squabbles over something as insignificant as a personality contest.

The fact is that we must be unified, as Paul instructed the Corinthians, and in order to be unified we must have the same heart and mind as Jesus. If we will but look up and focus on Him, we won’t become preoccupied with the junk around us. Furthermore, we won’t be annoyed by people around us because we are focused not on their idiosyncrasies, but on Jesus. And as the final illustration in this lesson shows, the closer we get to Jesus, the closer we get to our brothers and sisters in Christ and the more we become of one mind and one heart.

The gospel message must be proclaimed but it will only be successfully proclaimed by a united body of Christ.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, August 14, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

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Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

class-notes-08.14.2022-the-church-is-united-in-the-gospelDownload