John 17:1-3: Jesus' Prayer for His Bride

TVCC Students,

It was so wonderful to worship with you all last night. It is such an encouragement to us to see you all engaging in genuine worship and intimately loving the Lord. Last night we went through John 17:1-3 which is the beginning of Jesus' prayer for His bride (the body of Christ). Here is a recap...

~John 17:1: Jesus communicates with the Father. If Jesus, the Perfect Son, takes time consistently to speak and listen to the Father, how much more should we, as imperfect children made righteous through Jesus, spend time both listening and speaking to the Father on a constant basis?

Q: Are you spending time with the Lord on a continual, daily basis? What changes do you need to make in your life this week so that you can have more time that is wholly devoted to your relationship with the Lord?

~John 17:1-2: Jesus is saying that the time has come for His purpose to be fulfilled. The culmination of His life was in purchasing His Bride (those who would believe in Him as their Lord and Sin-taker). Jesus was looking not only at the Cross to come where He would make His Bride clean, but to the resurrection where He would be able to have an intimate relationship with those who are His through faith in His atoning sacrifice.

Q: Do you realize the lengths that Jesus went through in order for you to have a relationship with Him? He gave the ultimate sacrifice for His Bride- He gave His life! What changes do you feel the Lord calling you to make so that your life will reflect that you are indeed His Bride and that you love Him?

*Jeremiah 2:11-13: We often forget the state that we were in when Jesus came to purchase us with His life. None of us were worthy of being called His Bride. All of us were like Israel in the book of Jeremiah. We have all forsaken the Lord to create our own gods/security systems that are broken and offer no fulfillment. In the Lord we were all offered fountains of living water and we all exchanged that living water for stagnant water that we tried to create with broken systerns. All of us have fallen short (Romans 3:23) and were in need of the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf to restore us back to a relationship with the Source of living water!

*Jeremiah 3:12 calls Israel to return to the Lord as He is gracious and His mercies are new every morning. The Lord has always wanted His Bride to be close to Him. The call is the same for us today. Return to the Lord. If you have never come to acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you are trusting in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on your behalf, we encourage you to do that now (and please know that we would love to talk with you about this decision). If you are already a believer in Jesus but have been wandering from Him and returning to your broken systerns instead of living off of His living water, we encourage you to repent and return to Him. His mercy is new every day and He wants you to have an intimate relationship with Him.

Q: What is preventing you this week from forsaking your broken systerns that you have created and returning to the Source of living waters that desires an unhindered relationship with you? We encourage you to ask the Lord to help you overcome anything that is separating you from Him this week.

~John 17:3-4: As earlier stated, Jesus' main goal was to bring us back to the Father through the Sacrifice of Himself on our behalf, for our sins. This verse sums it all up. Eternal life that Jesus is extending to us through His blood is that we would intimately know Him (as a husband knows his wife) and the Father. He does not just want us to know a bunch of facts about Him... He died so that we would have a relationship with Him!

Q: How is your relationship with the Lord? Just as all of our earthy relationships take time and intentionality, so does our relationship with the Lord. We need to set aside undistracted time to get to know Him and to listen to His heart expressed through His Word. What changes do you need to make so that you might have more time to spend growing in your relationship with the Lord?

~John 17:5: This act of mercy (Jesus' death on our behalf) brought Him eternal glory. Though the world would look on His death as a shameful and pitiful act, the Father viewed this as the most glorious  event. Many times the world looks on merciful, God-honoring acts as shameful and pitiful but we must remember that we were called to love as we have been loved.

Q: How are you doing at loving others the way that Christ loves you- with unconditional continual love? Are you holding grudges or living in unforgiveness towards anyone at this time? If so, we encourage you to bring that to the Lord prayer and ask to love as you have been loved. Living a life of mercy and forgiveness towards others will show the world how great your God is!

Dear students,

We are so thankful to get to worship with you every week. It is a blessing to see you all growing in love for the Lord and each other. We encourage you to spend time praying to the Lord and listening to Him as He speaks to you through His Word. We know that this will strengthen your hearts as you grow closer to Him. We love you!

With hope,

~Sonny and Casi