05-29-2022, John 17:20-26
‘Why I Believe’ by Chip Ingram
The First 6 opening sentences of the book:
(1) “I didn’t grow up as a follower of Christ and
my experience with organized religion was negative.
(2) As a kid, I got the distinct impression that no
one actually believed what they were telling me but felt children needed to
hear stories about Jesus in order to keep them out of trouble.
(3) It was obvious to me that the adults who
embraced the religious platitudes and rituals that I was expected to follow
didn’t live by them themselves.
(4) There was no expectation that the truth of the
Word of God would have any impact on how we would live our lives.
(5) My inward attitudes toward church, organized
religion, and God were suspect at best and highly negative at worst.
(6) I somehow intuitively concluded that God,
Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth fairy were
all adult fabrications to keep children in the dark and pacify their hard
questions until they could come of age and discover the answers for themselves.
3rd Highest
17:20 "My prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those who will believe in Me
through their message,
21 that all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in Me, and I am in You.
May they also be in Us so that the world may
believe that You have sent Me.
22 I have given them the glory that You gave Me,
that they may be one as We are One:
23 I in them and You in Me.
May they be brought to complete unity to let
the world know that You sent Me
and have Loved them even as You have Loved Me.
24 "Father, I want those You have given Me
to be with Me where I am, and to see My Glory, the Glory You have given Me
because You Loved Me before the creation of the world.
25 "Righteous Father, though the world does
not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me.
26 I have made You known to them, and will
continue to make You known in order that the Love You have for Me may be in
them and that I Myself may be in them."
One Of the Great Songs of My Youth
· Has Seemed to Have
o Become Very Unpopular These Days.
It Is as IF It Has Become:
· Too Judging
· Too Rigid
· Too Strict
· And Plainly - Too Off-Color
The Hymn Which I am Referring to is:
Onward Christian Soldiers,
Marching as to War,
With the cross of Jesus Going on Before,
Christ the Royal Master,
Leads against the Foe,
Forward into Battle,
See His Banners Go!
That song These Days –
· Many Believe It Is Just Too Military Like!
And Perhaps – Just Maybe - It Is.
But – Tell Me
· Didn’t the Early Christians,
o
Didn’t They REFUSE to Bear Arms?
You Know - Back Then,
· They Knew HOW to Trust in God!
o And Not Within their Weapons of War!
YOU SEE - To BE a True - Christian
· We Must Learn to ALWAYS - Regard WAR
As A Drastic Action Which Is Reserved ONLY
For the Most Desperate of Situations!
And You Know,
· There Are Those Who Also Say That
· “Onward Christian Soldiers”
o Has Way Too Much Of the
FEELING of
Victory!
And Thinking That You Are Better than Others!
At the Sign of Triumph Satan’s Host Doth Flee;
On, Then, Christian Soldiers,
On to Victory!
YOU SEE –
· The Problem Is:
o That This Song Is Not Sensitive
o To The Presence of People
Who Have Different Types of Faiths!
And Beliefs Within This World!
AND It Seems That the Number of People
Who Are Offended By It
Is Growing So Quickly
That You Are Unable to Even Begin to Count!
And This Problem
· Is Even More Complicated
o By Us Christians,
o Who Live Right There, Side-By-Side:
§ With the Orthodox Jews!
§ And the Muslims!
§ And The Hindus!
§ And The Buddhists!
§ And Even – The Non-Believers!
I mean, Tell Me - What Would - -
· What Could Happen
o If All of Our Neighborhood Friends
§ Saw Us Leaving Church
§ Like - Marching Out of Here
§ With Us All - Heel - to - Toe in Song:
Like a Mighty Army
Moves the Church of God.
Christians, we are Treading
Where the Saints have Trod.
We are not Divided.
All One Body We
One in Hope and Doctrine,
One in Charity
Now Doesn’t That Make You Wonder - - Doesn’t It?
But Still,
· With This Being Memorial Day Weekend—
o And With Us All Remembering
§ Those Who Have Died In-The-Lord…
Particularly - Those Who Died in Uniform
Who were Serving Our Great Country!
And YES - It Would Be Well for All of Us
· To Use the Metaphor of ‘An Army’
o To Remind Us Of
§ The Distinctive Characteristics
· Of The Church of Jesus Christ.
YOU SEE -
· In Many Ways,
o The ‘CHURCH’ Is
§ An Army!
Now - ONE WAY
THE CHURCH IS LIKE AN ARMY
IS WITHIN ITS
UNITY
Within Our Lesson for Today,
We Heard Jesus’ Praying:
"My Prayer Is Not for Them Alone.
I Pray Also for Those Who
Will Believe in Me Through Their Message,
That All of Them May Be One,
Father, Just as You Are in Me and I Am In
You." (NIV)
In Jesus Prayer,
· He Is Praying,
o For - All – Of - Us,
§ To Be ONE!
Jesus Is Praying That
· The Church – “HIS Church”
o
Would Be DESCRIBED, and DEFINED
§
As BEING OF ONE in Unity!
So – WHAT Would That Look Like?
Naturally – We Would
· ALL Get Along With Each Other.
RIGHT?
SO, IS this HAPPENING Today?
And I Believe It Would Mean That
· “A” Church – Would Not Bash “B” Church.
No Longer Would There Be Disputes
· Saying that This Doctrine Is Better
o Or Truer Than Another’s
§ Because of this or that!
Today, How Are We Doing Within This?
And I Believe There Would Be
· Not ONLY PEACE Between the Churches
o But Also LOVE!
The Type of LOVE
That Every Church
Would Extend Help
For Other Churches.
And – How Would You Say
That We Are Doing Within This?
And Naturally, This Would Mean That
We Would Be There to Lift Others Up
When they Are Down!
How Well Are We Doing In
Answering Our Savior’s Prayer?
There is a Newsletter Called - ‘NET RESULTS’
·
And – It Tells of A Story
o Which Happened Many Years Ago
§ Within A Church.
Within This story,
· It Centers Around A Church, Pastor, Mother, Women’s Group, State Government, And Many More.
This Mother Was a Single Mom
· And She had a son.
And this Mom was Very Much Involved
· Within A Women's Group
o At Their Church.
At One of the Women’s Group Meeting
· A Woman Noticed How Yellow She Looked.
So She Asked:
"Donna, You Look Yellow.
Have You Been to a Doctor?"
And Donna Replied Back:
“No. I Can’t Afford It.
We Do Not Have Insurance.”
That Was When the Ladies Group
· Took Up an Offering
o And Sent Her for A Checkup.
That Was When the Doctor Found
· A Serious Problem with Her Liver.
And, Without A Liver Transplant,
· Within the Next 6 Weeks,
o She Would Die.
Now It Is Not ALL Bad News
· Because There Are Specialists
o At A Hospital in Texas
§ Who Could Perform
§ This Type of Operation
§ But it would cost $140,000.
(Now – Remember That This Story Took Place - Many
Years Ago.)
But To Donna,
· It Didn’t Seem to Matter
o If It Was $140,000
o Or $14,000
o Or Even $1,400
§ To Her -
· It Was Just Impossible!
That was when the
·
Women In her Small Group
o They Went and Talked
to their Pastor,
§
Asking Him, What Could the Church
·
Do to Help Donna.
And It Was Obvious That Their Pastor
Was Troubled - Hearing About Donna.
YOU SEE, that was Only Part of the Story.
Their Church Was Just Completing Construction
· One Their Building Addition
o Which Left the Church
§ With Over $400,000 In Debt.
Now, The Pastor Was Truly Convinced
· That The
Church Was
o Totally Tapped Out Financially
§ But - He Agreed
·
To Pray About Donna's
Situation.
And Deep Down,
·
The Pastor Was
Convicted
o That The Church Just Had to Help.
Within the Church,
· There was a Lay Leader
o Who Owned a Business
§ Which Was Known Across their City
· And He Agreed to Be the
o Honorary Chairperson
§ For This Effort.
He and His Company Tagged It with the Slogan:
Then Right After That,
· Another Businessperson Stepped Forward,
o And Volunteered the Next Six Weeks,
§ Of Working Full-Time on the
"Save My Mom" Project.
And on that First Sunday after talking to the
Pastor,
· The Pastor Shared the Needs of This Mother
o With His Congregation
§ And the Results were Shocking!
Unknown to the Pastor,
· The People of the Church,
o Decided to Take Up a Love Offering
§ On their Own
· And on that Sunday,
· They Collected over $60,000.
Then on That Monday,
· The Pastor Received an Invitation
o Come Before the Legislature,
§ And To Testify about
§ What was Happening
· Within His Church
That was When he Shared About
· Donna’s Situation
o And About the Issue of People
§ Who Can Not Afford Insurance.
There was a Major Newspaper Journalist There
· And They Took a Picture of
· Him Giving His Speech
o And They Ran That Story
§ In Their Paper - Front Page.
And People Responded
· From Everywhere
o And In a Huge Way!
People Started Bringing In
·
Jars Of Money from Their
Businesses.
·
Kids Brought in Their
Allowance.
·
And Even the TV Stations
Joined in.
At the End –
·
Not Only Were There
o So Many Who Got Involved,
·
But They Also
o Raised $220,000 In Just 7 Days!
And Donna,
· With Check in Hand,
o Went To Texas for The Transplant.
But that Is Not the End to This Story!
A Decade Later,
·
People Were Still Talking About That Church,
o BUT Not About Their
§
Beautiful New Building!
NO - They Were Talking About
·
That Church’s LOVE!
·
And of their CARE!
o Which That Mom Had Received.
Guys – That Is How
Jesus Wants Us to Be.
Someone Once Said
· That The Church
o Is The Only Army
§ Who Shoots Their Own Wounded!
That Is a Horrible Accusation
· And Terrible Viewpoint
o
For ANYONE to SEE Us As!
But Why Do They VIEW CHURCH
In This Way?
Just Think About It for A Moment!
This Could Describe
Situations of People Failing:
· Whether It Is Financially
· Or Morally
· Or If It is Only
o Within Their Own Thinking,
BUT WHY?
When People Fail,
WHAT HAPPENS?
Why Do They Drop-Out?
And Leave the Church?
Is It Just BECAUSE
·
They Don't Want Anyone to Know
o That They Have
Failed?
Is It Because
· They Are Being Shunned
o Out Of the Church
§ By Those Who Are
· In The Church?
Heaven Help Us ALL
IF That Is the Case!
I Have To Say This BECAUSE
“I - HAVE - FAILED!”
Now - Should I Leave?
We Are Family!
We Are the Body of Christ!
We Just Heard Jesus Praying
· For Us to Be Unified –
o WHY?
So That the Entire World
· Might Believe in The Reality of God.
So, How Are We Doing in This?
This Leads Us to the 2nd Way
That The Church Is - To – Be - Like ‘An Army’.
THE CHURCH
IS TO BE LIKE AN ARMY
IN ITS PURPOSE-FULNESS.
Those Who Have
· A Military Background
· YOU ALL Know
o That An Army
Who Forgets Their Own Purpose
They Are – IN - TROUBLE!
There Is a Story of a Pastor
· Who Often Tells of A Dream
o Which He Once Had.
And in this Dream
· He Saw the Lord
o Seated Upon His Throne,
And Around Him Stood 5 Great Angels.
1st - Uriel, The Angel of Light
2nd - Raphael, The Angel of Reason
3rd - Michael, The Angel of
The Sword,
4th - Gabriel, The Angel of Holy
Song.
And Before the Throne - Stood the 5th
Angel,
The Angel of The Book.
This Dream Begins with a Mortal
· Standing close to the 5th Angel
–
o The Angel of the Book.
Then Lord Speaks:
"Who Is This That You Have Brought,
And What Are His Claims?"
The 5th Angel Looked in The Book
· And Said:
"O King, This Man Was a Great Inventor,
And his inventions helped Of All Mankind
Throughout The World."
Then The Lord Said,
"Send Him Up,
And Let Him Stand Up-Here
By The Side Of Uriel,
The Angel of Light."
Next - The Angel of The Book
· Brought Another Mortal Before the Throne.
The King Looked on Him and Said:
"Who Is This,
And What Are His Claims?"
The Angel Looked in The Book And Said,
"This Man Was a Great Philosopher, A
Thinker,
Who Thought Great Thoughts About Thee."
The Lord Said:
"Send Him Up,
And Let Him Stand Here By
The Side of Raphael,
The Angel of Reason."
Then The Angel Brought a
· 3rd Man Before the Throne.
The King Looked Upon Him and Said:
And What Are His Claims?"
The Angel Looked in His Book And Said:
"This Was a Great Patriot.
With His Sword He Delivered His People
Out of The Hands of Dictators and Oppressors."
The Lord Said,
"Send Him Up
And Let Him Stand Beside Michael,
The Angel of The Sword."
Then The Angel Brought the 4th Man
Up.
The Lord Said:
And What Are His Claims?"
The Angel Said:
"This Man Sang Holy Songs in Praise of God,
Some Which Still Echo Through
The Church of The Living God."
The Lord Said,
"Send Him Up
And Let Him Stand Beside Gabriel,
The Angel of The Holy Song."
Then The Angel Brought Forth the 5th
Mortal.
And when the Angel of the Book saw him,
·
There was no Shine of Greatness,
· No Glimmer Within him
o Of Knowledge!
o No Skills!
o Nor Greatness!
The King Looked Upon Him and Said:
"Who Is This,
And What Are His Claims?"
The Angel Looked in His Book and Said,
"Oh - This Man Worked in A Factory
And he Won 10 Souls for Christ."
At That Very Moment –
· ALL OF Heaven Rang out in a Great Shout—
· Angels And Archangels,
· And All the Host of The Heavens Armies
· Sang Out and Rejoiced Over the 10 Lost Souls
· Which Had Been Redeemed.
So - Let Us Be Clear
· About Our Purpose:
We Are to Save - Those Who Are Lost!
But Here Is the THING
IF You Are Not Doing That –
Then WHY NOT?
But To Be Fair,
·
There Is One Clarification
o That NEEDS To Be Made.
We Need to Define the Meaning Of "LOST"!
· Some People Count Anyone Who
o Does Not Believe in Jesus as LOST!
· Others Would Say - Those Who Are
o Oppressed in An Unjust Society Are the LOST.
And this list can go on and on.
BUT - My Own Definition
· Which Comes from
o My Own Personal Faith
Says:
The LOST IS:
ANYONE - Who - For Any Reason
Who Needs to Experience -
The LOVE-Of-God,
As Embodied Within Jesus Christ,
They Should Be Counted by Us
As The LOST
Who NEEDS to be Found!
As A Congregation
Is To Touch the Life Of
· Anyone Who Is
Hurting!
· Anyone Who Is
Feeling Unloved!
· Anyone Who Doesn't
Know
WHY He or She
Is Taking Up Space Within This World.
Our Purpose Is:
·
TO - BE A Beacon of HOPE
For the Hopeless!
·
TO – BE A Beacon of JOY
For Those Who Are in
Despair!
·
TO – BE A Beacon of PEACE
For Those Who Are in
Torment!
·
TO – BE A Beacon of LOVE
For Those Who Have
Been
Used and Abused!
Our Purpose –
· Is To Reach People
o Who Plain and Simple,
§ Need The LOVE OF JESUS.
An Army Who Forgets
· What It’s KEY OBJECTIVE Is
o Is In Serious Trouble.
An Army
· Who Gets Too Dispersed
o Within Its Own Purpose
§ Always Becomes - Ineffective.
Allow me to Offer This Type Interpretation.
Just Suppose - You Are Walking Down
· Main Street in Black-Creek, Colorado
o And You Read This Sign:
Famous Billie Bob’s
Restaurant
Weekend Special
"Burgers, Coke and Bait"
For $5.99
Now - Does That Type of Sign
·
Attract You?
Does It CALL You
To Come On In & Eat?
Or Maybe - I should Put It This Way:
Now - You May Be A REDNECK
IF
Your Favorite Eating Establishment
Has a Sign Posted Which Reads:
"Cheeseburgers &
A Coke
With A Side Order of
Night Crawlers"
I Truly Believe - that It Is
·
Totally Safe to Say
o That This Eating Establishment,
Has Lost Their STRATEGIC FOCUS?
We Need to Remember
· The WHY We Are Still Here LIVING:
We Are Here,
And That Is To SERVE,
And To LOVE People
In The Name of Jesus Christ,
Not For Our Glory,
But For HIS!
And Then We Come To
The Final Way,
THAT THE CHURCH
IS TO - BE LIKE AN ARMY,
And that Is to Have
TOTAL DEVOTION
TO OUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF!
We Have ONE LEADER
In The Church of Jesus Christ,
And That Is - OUR RISEN LORD!
Here Is a Picture of Me
Back When I was In My 30s.
No – Not Really! –
That’s A Joke.
This Is a Picture of
Mr. Paul Anderson’s Back.
Jerry B. Jenkins Wrote the Book,
‘THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN’
About Paul Anderson
Who Won the
1956 Olympic Weightlifting Gold Metal!
Mr. Anderson Stood Only 5'9"
And he Weighed 375 Pounds.
Needless to Say –
· He Was a True Strongman,
o And Not Like Today’s Bodybuilders.
And When People Saw Him on the Streets,
They Would Often Conclude
That He Was
Short, Overweight, and Fat!
Anderson's Massive Trunk
· Allowed Him to Lift Weights
o Which His Competitors
§ Could Not Even Dream About.
YOU SEE
· Just One of His Many Achievements
Has NEVER EVER
Even Come Close to Breaking
And that Is His Record Recorded In
‘The Guinness Book of World Records’.
His Record Is ‘BACK LIFTING’
More Than 3 TONS!
Now Many Thought
· That Anderson
o Was Big Headed
o And He Allowed His Accomplishments
§ To Get the Best of Him,
HOWEVER – For Those Who Knew Him
§
It Was Just the Opposite That Was True.
All of the Money Which
He Raised
· From Countless Strength Shows,
o Mr. Anderson Donated
It ALL
§ To The Boys' Homes
· Which He Ran in Georgia.
Anderson Would
Announce
·
What He Planned to do,
o And Then – He Would Do
It!
· Whether It was Lifting a Table Full of the
20 Biggest People from The Audience,
· Or Driving a Nail Through Two Boards with Only Having
a Hanky to Protect His Palm.
And After Each
Event –
· He Would Always
o Address the
Audience by Saying:
"If I, The Strongest Man in The World,
Can't Get Through Even One Day
Without Jesus Christ,
Then - What About You?"
One Day While In an Airport,
· Anderson Overheard a Man
o Using the Lord’s
Name in Vain:
Swearing- "Jesus Christ!" in Anger.
That Was When Anderson
·
Came Up Behind Him,
o Wrapped His Huge Arms
§ Around The Man's Waist
§ And Easily Lifted Him High In the air.
Anderson Shouted, "Where Is He?"
"He is A Friend of Mine!"
The Man - Nearly Frozen in Fear,
Squirmed To Look Down
at The Human Fire Hydrant!
While Still Being Held High in The Air,
This Swearing Man
Made Another Bad Decision By Saying:
"Oh - My - God!"
And Anderson Squeezed the man
Once Again and Replied:
"That's Him! –
Where Is He?!"
Jenkins went on to say in his book:
"I Dare Say, - That
Man Never Again
Took The Lord's Name in
Vain.
At Least - Not
Without Looking Around First."
Memorial Day Is Tomorrow
· And It is A Day for Remembering.
Remembering That
We Walk
·
Within The Footsteps of People
o With An
Extraordinary Commitment
§ To Their Commander-In-Chief.
So, Even If the Song –
·
‘Onward Christian Soldiers’
o Is No Longer Our Favorite Hymn.
But Let It Still Remind Us That
· In Some Ways –
o We Are Like an Army—
§ Within Our Unity,
§ Within Our Purpose-fulness
§ And In Our Devotion
·
To Our
Commander-In-Chief.
