Welcome – La Vida Church

Welcome – La Vida Church

Subject – Why We Welcome La Vida Church

By Rick Welborne

John 17:20-23 (NLT2)
²⁰  “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.
²¹  I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe you sent Me.
²²  “I have given them the glory you gave Me, so they may be one as We are one.
²³  I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me. 

--Again, we welcome La Vida Church and Pastor Neftali and Sheila into this service. It is always good and refreshing when we come together.

--It is good to see spiritual growth, numerical growth, and financial growth in La Vida Church and in Life Church. God is doing wonderful things.

--This unity that we have must be protected by all of us because there is nothing the enemy would want to do more than to divide us. Never be a part of hurting Jesus’ Church.

--Maybe some of you are new and maybe some of you are still wondering why we are so intentional about coming together as one church/una familia. 

1. We Come Together to be the Answer to Jesus’s Prayer.

--Jesus has declared that it is time for Him to be glorified (John 17:1) and that the hour has come. He is declaring His death, burial, and resurrection.

--How many of us understand that last words are very important words. When a loved one is about to pass away, we cling to every word they have to say.

--So what would be on the mind of Jesus when he knows that His death is imminent? What message would He want to leave His Church that means so much to Him?

--After Jesus says to the Father that He had accomplished everything He sent Him to do, He begins to pray to the Father for those who had received Him as Lord and Savior. 

John 17:9-11 (NLT2)
⁹  “My prayer is not for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You.
¹⁰  All who are Mine belong to You, and You have given them to Me, so they bring Me glory.
¹¹  Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to You. Holy Father, You have given me Your Name; now protect them by the power of Your Name so that they will be united just as We are.

--Before His death, Jesus begins praying for His spiritual brothers and sisters, His spiritual sons and daughters. He is bragging to the Father that these will bring Him glory. How beautiful!

--Jesus knew they were in for a battle and He acknowledges the power of God the Father’s Name and He prays His Name over those who had received Him.

--He adds another phrase to verse 11 and it becomes much of His prayer for the rest of the chapter. He prays that they will be united just as the Father and Son are.

2. We Come Together to be the Answer of Jesus’s Prayer for Unity.

John 17:17-20 (NLT2) ¹⁷ Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.
¹⁸  Just as You sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
¹⁹  And I give Myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
²⁰  “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message. 

--Jesus was praying 2000 years ago for us to be holy, to learn His Word which is truth, and to understand that He is sending us into the world like the Father sent Him. Missions!

--Jesus declares that He is giving Himself as a holy sacrifice and He continues, “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.”

--Jesus was praying for everyone here today (La Vida and Life Church) because we have believed on His Name. Jesus finds great joy in us being united.

3. We Come Together to be the Answer to Jesus’s Prayer to be One.

--Pastors, isn’t this the same thing as being in unity? I believe there is a difference. A couple can be in unity (be together) and not be one. You can get lots of people together but they may not be one.

--I believe Jesus was praying for His Church not to be just together but to have the same unity and oneness that He experienced with the Father. 

--Maybe someone can explain to me that if this was so important to Jesus, why are there so many different churches and why are churches experiencing wars and rumors of wars? 

John 17:21-23 (NLT2)
²¹  I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe you sent Me.
²²  “I have given them the glory you gave Me, so they may be one as We are one.
²³  I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me. 

--What a beautiful and amazing prayer. Not only does Jesus pray that we be one but He takes it further, deeper. He prays that we are one just like He and the Father are one. Perfect unity.

--First, we see that it is absolutely the will of God for us to be one, it is the prayer Jesus focuses on before His crucifixion, and by being one Jesus gives us His glory.

--Notice this and comprehend it, brothers and sisters, any attempt, any attitude, any action to divide Jesus’s church is to be working in direct opposition to the will of God. 

--Do you just suppose that is why Satan fights so hard against us being in unity and being one?

John 10:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. 

--Listen in this same verse what Jesus desires for those of us (La Vida Church and Life Church) who make the decision to love Him, follow Him, and to be one.

John 10:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

--Obeying Jesus’s prayer to be one is a promise of blessings, intimacy, power, effectiveness, glory, abundance, and the beautiful privilege of having God’s presence.

John 14:23 (NKJV)
²³  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

--The second reason we must be one is again found in the prayer of Jesus. This is so powerful and important:

John 17:21&23 (NLT2)
²¹  I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe you sent Me.
²³  I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me. 

--The phrase in verse 21 And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 

--The phrase in verse 23 May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 

--This chapter has so many nuggets of truth that should inspire us to greater unity and oneness. The obvious is that if we really care about the lost we will always strive to be one.

John 13:34-35 (NKJV) ³⁴  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
³⁵  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

--Finally, being one is an answer to Jesus’s prayer, it pleases the heart of God the Father, it is obedience to God’s will, and it sends a message to the world that Jesus is the Son of God.

--But there is one more thing that unity and oneness lets us know:

John 17:23 (NLT2)
²³  I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me. 

-- May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. You love them as much as you love Me. How wonderful.