The Great Mission Prayer

Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Good evening. Welcome. Stand to your feet. Well, welcome. Stand to your feet. Welcome to this moment. here. Your way is the only way for me. Sing, it's a narrow road. It's a narrow road that leads to life. But I want to be your way. Sing that again. It's a narrow road. The mercy's wide because you're good on your promise. Here we go. I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it was. If you started, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. Amen. You spoke, and the chaos fell in. Oh, I know, because I've seen it in my life. It's a narrow road that leads to life. But I want to be on it. It's a narrow road. The tide is high upon the water. Come on. I'll take you at your word.

If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it was. If you started, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it was. If you started, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. Oh, we praise you, God. Your love is never failing. Let's sing this together. You said your love. If you said your love, we'll never give up. If you said your grace is always enough. You said your heart will never forget or forsake me. You said I'm safe. You said I'm safe. You call me yours. You said my future is full of your hope. You've never failed, so I know that you'll never fail me. You said your love. If you said your love, we'll never give up. You said your grace is always enough. You said your heart will never forget or forsake me. Come on, you believe it this morning. You said I'm safe. You call me yours. You said my future is full of your hope. Oh, you've never failed, so I know that you'll never fail me. I'll take you at your word.

Come on, every voice. If you said it, I'll be. I've seen how good it works. If you start it, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'll believe it. I've seen how good it works. If you start it, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. Yes, I will, Lord. You're good on your word. Amen. Praise God. Praise God. Well, you actually can be seated real quick. We're going to have some child dedications, and we're going to kick it off with a video. All right, guys. Amen. Well, isn't that awesome? Isn't that beautiful? Would you please stand we're going to continue in worship and worship the heavenly father who is the perfect father who is the perfect parent for us all that leads us in paths of righteousness who is our shepherd through everything and so we're going to sing and reflect on his just his beautiful name that he is and so Daphne's going to lead us so let's sing You were the word at the beginning, one with us, the Lord most high You're hidden glory in creation, now revealed in you are Christ What a beautiful name it is, what a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ my King What a beautiful name it is, nothing compares to this, what a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus You didn't want heaven without us, so Jesus you brought heaven down

My sin was great, your love was greater, so what could separate us now, what a wonderful name it is What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ my King What a wonderful name it is, nothing compares to this, what a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus How wonderful you are Death could not hold you, the veil tore before you, you silenced the boast of sin and grave The heavens are roaring, the praise of your glory, for you are raised to life again You have no rival, you have no equal, now and forever God you reign Yours is a kingdom, yours is a glory, yours is a name above all names What a powerful name it is, what a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ my King What a powerful name it is, nothing can stand against, what a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus You have no rival, you have no equal, now and forever God you reign Yours is a kingdom, yours is a glory, yours is a name above all names What a powerful name it is, what a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ my King ♪ The name of Jesus Christ my King ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ Nothing can stand against it ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a powerful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ There's no one like You, Lord ♪ ♪ There's no one like You, Lord ♪ ♪ I am an instrument of exaltation ♪ ♪ And I was born to lift Your name above all names ♪ ♪ You hear the melody of all creation ♪ ♪ But there's a song, a phrase that only I can bring ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪

♪ Who else is worthy? There is no one, only You, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You, Jesus ♪ ♪ You are the infinite God of the ages ♪ ♪ And You chose to make my heart Your dwelling place ♪ ♪ You are brokenness, show me Your glory ♪ ♪ So I have songs of thanks, not even angels sing ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You, Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one else, no one else is worthy ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Head are seated on Your throne ♪ ♪ Head are seated on Your throne, oh, wow! ♪ ♪ Oh, God, I'm blessed one ♪ ♪ How wise it is, it is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, righteous one ♪ ♪ Who shed His blood to prove to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ be lifted up, holy, holy, yeah! ♪ ♪ God, I'm blessed one ♪ ♪ How wise it is, it is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, righteous one ♪ ♪ Who shed His blood to prove to us the Father's love ♪

♪ Jesus Christ be lifted up, holy, holy, yeah! ♪ ♪ Oh, who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ Oh, who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, there is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, there is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ There's no one, only you Jesus, Jesus only you Jesus, there's no one, only you Jesus, there's no one, only you Jesus, there's no one, only you Jesus. ♪ There is no one, there's no one, there's no one, only you Jesus. ♪ ♪ The earth erupting song, sing hallelujah to the everlasting one. ♪ ♪ There is no higher name, Jesus you reign above it all. ♪ ♪ And you reign above it all, you reign above it all. ♪ Sing it to him. ♪ Over the universe and over every heart, there is no higher name. ♪ ♪ Jesus you reign above it all, you let all of heaven in. ♪ ♪ The earth erupting song, sing hallelujah to the everlasting one. ♪ ♪ There is no higher name, Jesus you reign above it all. ♪ ♪ Oh you reign above it all, you reign above it all. ♪ God, we sing. ♪ The reign of darkness now has ended, in the kingdom of light. ♪ ♪ In the kingdom of life, forever, forever unto your dominion. ♪ ♪ You're the king of my life, you're the king of my life. ♪ We sing. ♪ You reign above it all, you reign above it all. ♪ ♪ Over the universe and over every heart, there is no higher name. ♪ ♪ Jesus you reign above it all. ♪ On the cross. ♪ And on the cross the work was finished. ♪ God, you poured out your life, just to give us new life.

♪ From the lips of forgiven, you're an echo on the rise. ♪ ♪ Jesus you're the light. ♪ ♪ You reign above it all, you reign above it all. ♪ ♪ Over the universe and over every heart, there is no higher name. ♪ ♪ Jesus you reign above it all. ♪ ♪ An unending song ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah to the everlasting one ♪ ♪ There is no higher name than Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, you reign above all ♪ ♪ Oh, you reign above all ♪ Yes, yes. Yes. ♪ Oh, you sent the darkness running out of an empty grave ♪ ♪ Now seated alone in glory ♪ ♪ Enthroned on the highest praise ♪ ♪ Oh, you sent the darkness running out of an empty grave ♪ ♪ Now seated alone in glory ♪ ♪ Enthroned on the highest praise we sing ♪ ♪ You sent the darkness running out of an empty grave ♪ ♪ Now seated alone in glory ♪ ♪ Enthroned on the highest praise ♪ ♪ You sent the darkness running out of an empty grave ♪ ♪ Now seated alone in glory ♪ ♪ Enthroned on the highest praise ♪ ♪ You sent the darkness running out of an empty grave ♪ ♪ Now seated alone in glory ♪ ♪ Enthroned on the highest praise ♪ ♪ You sent the darkness running out of an empty grave ♪ ♪ Now seated alone in glory ♪ ♪ Enthroned on the highest praise you reign ♪

♪ You reign above it all, you reign above it all, Jesus ♪ ♪ Over the universe, over every heart ♪ ♪ There is no higher name, Jesus, you reign above it all ♪ ♪ Let all of heaven and earth be wrapped in song ♪ ♪ Surrounded to the everlasting one ♪ ♪ There is no higher name, Jesus, you reign above it all ♪ ♪ You reign above it all, God, over it, over it, over it all ♪ ♪ Oh, over it, over it, over it, over it, over it all ♪ Oh, over it, over it, over it, over it all ♪ Over it, over it, over it, over it all the reign above it all ♪ You reign above it all. ♪ You reign above it all, you reign above it all ♪ ♪ In the universe, over every heart, there is no higher name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you reign above it all ♪ ♪ And let all of heaven and earth erupt in song ♪ ♪ Sing alleluia to the everlasting one, there is no higher name ♪ ♪ There is no higher name, Jesus, you reign above it all ♪ Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Lord, we lift your praise this morning, Lord. You are so good, God. Lord, we just lay down every idol and acknowledge, God, that you are Lord, you are above it all. Lord, forgive us where we fall short. Forgive us where we fall astray. Lord, you still draw near to us, God. And so we just remind ourselves of that truth, Lord,

that it isn't anything else in life that will give us what we're seeking, God. It is only you, Jesus. And so we give you our attention this morning, God. We give you our devotion. Lord, thank you for this time of worship that we've been able to have together in singing songs, God. And as we continue this service of worship, God, through the preaching of your word, God, and through just the other elements of this service, God, I just pray that you would just move in it, Lord, Holy Spirit. Lord, we give you all of the authority, God, over us. Lord, release any distractions or any control or any pride or any selfishness that might be in the room this morning, God. We just release it all at your feet, Lord. Would you humble us? Would you teach us and lead us? in your path of righteousness, God, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, may be seated. Hey, remember a few weeks back when we talked about unreached people groups? Well, let's zoom in on where most of them are, the 1040 window. It's a region between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator stretching from North Africa through the Middle East and into South and East Asia. This area holds half the world's population, but it's also where the biggest cluster of unreached people groups lives, folks with little to no access to the gospel. For many there, Christianity is unknown,

misunderstood, or outright forbidden. Following Jesus can mean rejection, persecution, prison, or even worse. Most Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists on earth live inside this window, and tons will go their whole lives without ever hearing a clear presentation of who Jesus is and what he's done. Yet here's the tough part. The greatest need is here, but most missionaries and resources are still focused outside of it. Romans 10, verses 14 and 15 says, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? Reaching folks in the 1040 window often looks different from what we're used to here. There are no big public churches or events. It's all about quiet house churches, building relationships, serving communities, and sometimes secretly translating scripture into heart languages. But the goal's the same, make Jesus known where he's least known.

This isn't just lines on a map. It's real people, image bearers of God, loved by him who need the hope only Christ gives. So when we pray, give, send, or partner to reach the 1040 window, we're joining God's heart for the nations and his promise that the gospel will reach every tribe, tongue, people, and language. So what's your part? How can you be open-handed in what God has for you to reach the 1040 window? One of the ways that we can meaningfully engage in God's global heart for the nations is through prayer. We see in the gospels at least 21 prayers of Jesus that we could imitate. There are a number of prayers that Paul prays throughout his letters that we could imitate. But today I want us to set our hearts' focus on John chapter 17. If you turn your Bibles to John 17, we're going to linger in the first five verses of this prayer. And what I'd like to think about it as today is the great mission prayer. We've talked about so far, if you're new today, catch you up real quick, but we've been thinking about an overall idea of sent, that we're a people that have been sent. We see that all through scripture. And we're thinking about, in this season of time,

the global heart of God and being sent on a global perspective and how we can participate in God's global mission. We began by thinking about the great command. And one thing I really want us to think about today as we've moved through some of these, if you've been a Christian for a long time now, more than likely these are really familiar verses that we've been lingering in. And the question is not about familiarity, the question is obedience to that with which we're familiar. It also could be that these are newer for you. And what would it look like if we really were fully obedient to what God was calling us into with these ideas? So we find our motivation in the great command. In Matthew 22, Jesus said that we're to love God with all of our heart and soul and mind and love our neighbor as ourself. And so we love God with all of who we are, the way we think, the way we feel, the way we act, every part of our being, we love God. Out of that love for God comes a love for neighbor. If we don't have a love for our neighbor, even the neighbor we don't enjoy so much, that's a love of God problem, that's not a love of neighbor problem. That's why our primary desires and motivations come from our love for God. It's why I continue to ask God for myself

because I know my loves can drift for things that are sinful and not of him, that my love would be for him, that a love for Jesus would supersede anything else that we would love or crave or desire. Perhaps that's a way that you can pray as well. We love God, we love our neighbor. One of the best ways we love our neighbor is to make disciples of our neighbor. We lingered for seven weeks in Matthew. 18 through 20 Jesus said all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them the name of the Father the Son the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and lo I'm with you always even to the end of the age So all of us have this great commission to make disciples I was talking to my friend this morning and as we were talking he said We were talking about the gospel and the centrality of the gospel in our preaching and he said I just don't know that most churches Are doing that I said, do you really think that I mean, I don't know that I don't know what most churches are doing or not doing he said, I don't know He said but I had another guy say the other day How can we have all these churches and the world is not turned upside down? What if we really did love God with all of our heart and soul and mind and and what if we really did love our neighbor enough that we would have the boldness the courage to talk to them about Jesus that they might become a disciple of his a follower of his What if that have it would turn the world upside down the whole ethic of everything would change and the centrality of everything would change It would be on Jesus the name which is above every name We float from there and talked about the fuel for that great Commission And we talked about the great power and that great power comes from the Holy Spirit of God You receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you when you know Jesus and the Spirit of God comes on you now you have the power I have the power to be about this great Commission in this great command and

Where I want us to focus the next three weeks beginning today is on the great mission prayer in John 17 And could we perhaps adopt this is what for what we pray for the nation's and what I know today is Whatever God is sending you to be a part of we can all for sure Be a part of a part of praying for what God cares about and he cares about the nation's There's three things. I want us to see here to pray today, and then we'll close it by actually praying this scripture Quick context in John 13 through 16 Jesus is in the upper room. He's teaching his disciples. These are his last kinds of things He'll teach them and talk about before he goes to the cross This is on the Thursday night before Jesus would go to the cross on the Friday We often talk about praying scripture When you're spending time with God We can read scripture and then pause and pray the scripture read scripture pause and pray it's an interaction It's a relationship with God and that's exactly what has happened here Jesus is talking to his disciples and then in verse 1 we see he just moves into a prayer to his father Right in front of him. It's he's talking with them and then he prays to his father So, what are those three things that we see him praying in this initial part of the prayer? The prayer is actually verses 1 through 26 We'll hang out in 1 through 5 in the minutes that we have here So first thing that we can pray is for God to be glorified That is Jesus's utmost concern that God would be glorified verse 1 Let's anchor ourselves to that idea Jesus spoke these things. He's so he's speaking to his his disciples and Then he lifted up his eyes to heaven That would have been a common posture of the day and what it means is his full attention was now turned to his father So when we're praying whatever it is, it allows us whatever posture allows us to give full attention to the Father That's what Jesus is doing We want to imitate how Jesus prayed and he gave his full attention to his father lifting his eyes up to heaven He said father the hour has come Glorify your son that the Son may glorify you how when we read this and we read about him calling God his father and then depending on your

Relationship with God you might just with ease talk back and forth with him as your father That would have been somewhat unheard of and offensive in the day God was not thought of as father He was even thought of as a more transcendent being to that you did could not have an intimate kind of relationship with Jesus changed that Throughout his ministry. He just referred to God as his father when he would pray he would begin Father when he taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6, what did he say our father who's in heaven? So it's an it's an intimate relationship that he has with God in that How he begins and he's his father the hour has come What's the hour what hour has come when we read John chapter 12 verse 23? Jesus answered them and he said the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified And then verse 28 his father glorify your name then a voice came out of heaven I've both glorified it and will glorify it again Jesus primary concern is that his father would be glorified So far the hour has come. What is the hour it is his hour of most intense suffering in human history It will be the hour of the climactic moment of human history when Jesus Christ Voluntarily lays his life down on the cross. So the hour has come. He says this moment is here He's talking to God about it to his father and in this moment of suffering. What is he praying? The hour has come Glorify your son That the Son may glorify you That your name father would be glorified through what I'm about to do on the cross Will you glorify and honor me in the work on the cross? I'm gonna glorify and honor you through that work on the cross As someone described this this is a moment where Jesus himself is Voluntarily placing himself under the displeasure and full wrath of God He is about to take on I don't know how you think about your sin. I think about mine. It is vile It's disgusting. I can't it's horrific I can't figure out words to describe where my heart goes astray and my mind and my thoughts run off and take off and

Whatever else and it's it's abhorrent to me Because against the purity and the holiness of God It's horrific and on the cross Jesus is about to take in this hour the hour has come and in this hour he is about to take on the disgust of every person in this room of every person online of every person throughout the ages on himself And it's in this moment of suffering in this moment of hard That his prayers father Glorify your son and glorify your name And we need to note something here Jesus in this statement is making a claim to deity He is declaring that he is God He's the only one that can do what he's about to do Oftentimes people wonder they say how do we come to the conclusion that Jesus is God? Well, there's a number of places we come to that conclusion. This is one of those in his prayer to his father He says glorify your son Well, the father's glory is to be shared with no one in Psalm 115 1 it says not to us So Lord not to us but to your name give glory Because of your loving kindness because of your truth So not to us God no glory to us and then he would say in Isaiah 42 8. I'm the Lord That's my name for my own sake. I will not give my glory to another I'm sorry, if you can go back to the other one Nor my praise to graven images all the glory goes to God in Isaiah 48 11 Says from for my own safe my own sake I will act for how can my name be profaned and my glory? I will not give to another so God will not give up his glory to another yet Jesus is asking his father to glorify him Because by glorifying him in his suffering on the cross, then the father's name will be glorified thus He's identifying himself as deity and divine When we think about this prayer and we think about our own hardship on our own sufferings We're thinking about global things and global heart of God

One of the stories I read this week in regard to the the war in the Middle East An Iranian man had been in the protests several weeks ago and he was shot with a shotgun in his arm He's had four surgeries since he finally had to flood the country the country and and he went to Armenia Which is next door and and there he found a small Christian Iranian Church. This is a Christian man He's a part of that church. And what he discovered is that pastor on the the border of Armenia and Iran? He's sitting there and he's preparing his church because it's a mixture of Armenians and of Iranians and he's preparing them not just as they worship God but to be able to go back in when the country frees up and to bring the Gospel back in so that more and more can be liberated which by the way Do you know which one of the countries is the? Fastest growing Christian country today. It's Iran. They're doing it without buildings and people gathering together They simply have God's Word and they're gathering together somewhere underground and the church is exploding. That's what God does But in the midst of war Their desire is to bring glory and honor to God by spreading the message of the cross of Jesus Christ I talked to two different people this morning in our 8 a.m Service and one of them her son is about to be deployed and and she said he's a believer And he'll be part of the chaplaincy and and look what's happening the u.s. Military. We've got Christians. It'll be everywhere across Let that's people that can take the message of Christ while they're also doing what they've been called to do in the military another lady told me that her Somebody in their family got caught on a trip to Israel right when the war broke out for 11 days They stayed in safe houses with Muslims Jews and Christians and they had the opportunity to talk about the name of Jesus Imagine what that's like just the fear of hearing the the missiles coming and striking And yet in the midst of it There's the opportunity to bring glory to God to talk about this hour that it already has passed the suffering of Jesus And how to explain and bring that message to him that that's our prayer is that God would be glorified That his name would be honored in his name in the nation's now I know today that personally there's so many of you that are Suffering and some might be in some of the hardest times of your life. It might be with an illness It might be with a sickness. It might be with a marriage that's in trouble

It might be with something going on with a child. It might be something happening at work I don't know, but I know most of the time there's some kind of hardship and suffering going on Can we in those moments Can our greatest desire be That God's name will be glorified in the suffering in the heart We will not suffer to the degree that Jesus did on that cross and Yet his greatest desire was his father to be glorified a Few years ago. I started thinking about different scriptures that Were motivators from the gospel for the way we live and I noted several of those along the way And one I want to share with you to think about how we can glorify God in our own suffering today In Hebrews chapter 12 said therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us But it's also lay aside every encumbrance in the sin Which so easily entangles us and let's run with endurance the race that is set before us Fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross Despising the shame and now he sat at the right hand of the throne of God Now many of you might be familiar with those first two verses in Hebrews 12 But I wonder if oftentimes we stop a little early verse 3 says for consider him who endured such hostility by sinners against himself So that you may not grow weary and lose heart So how do I run the race? Well fix my eyes on Jesus and when it's hard How do I not grow weary and tired? I? Do it by considering the one who endured such hostility by sinners against himself. I Can only glorify God as I keep my eyes centered on Jesus the crucified and resurrected one There's a second thing that we pray and it's for people to personally know God Verses 2 & 3 Even as you gave him authority over all flesh that to all whom you've given him. He may give eternal life This is eternal life verse 3 that that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent When we hear today and I say this all the time and I hope that it connects When people say they believe in God or they believe God that's not sufficient. The demons believe in him. Also

It is a personal knowing it's an intimate knowing of God and And that's exactly what Jesus praying that they would personally know God We're a broken and fallen people and and yet Jesus says you've given me authority over all flesh Jesus we just saying it Jesus has authority over all flesh. He has authority over you and people in our world We misuse authority people People in churches misuse authority. People in marriages misuse authority. Parents misuse authority. Schools misuse authority. Businesses misuse authority. Everybody in a broken world misuses it, but Jesus did not. He has authority over all flesh of all humans that are so often opposed and against him. And what did he do? He voluntarily, in a substitutionary way, laid his life down for you and for me. That's what he did with his authority. And he says to the Father, you've given me authority over all flesh and those that to all whom you've given him. And we know in Ephesians that those who are his have been chosen from the foundation of the world. So all that have been given. And when you read Acts, he talks about those who have been appointed to salvation. And so those that have been given, he may give eternal life to them. Now, I don't know how you define eternal life,

but if you think about eternal life as just living forever and it happens once you die and that's when that starts, that's not what eternal life is. Jesus defines it in John 17 three. This is eternal life, he says, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you've sent. There's that word sent. Eternal life is knowing God through Jesus Christ. And you can think about it from an eternal perspective or we can think about it through the years that we live here. But until you know Jesus person, whenever that moment comes that you meet Jesus and you know him in a real and personal way, prior to that, you are living in eternal death already. The moment you meet Jesus and he becomes real and personal and you receive him as Savior and Lord, you receive eternal life. That's where it begins, not at death. What's going to happen in eternity? The greatest thing that will happen in all eternity when we exit this life is the ongoing and perfect and pure presence that we have with God himself. It's not going to be first and foremost, our family reunion. It's not going to be our golf game is perfected. It's going to be perfection in the presence of God himself. That is eternal life. It's knowing him.

We see that all through scripture, that it's through Jesus Christ. This week in Jim Dennison's Culture on Truth and Forum, he talked about different religions and he talked about one of the political candidates. It says he's a Christian and saying that all religions point to truth or point to God. That is false. All religions do not point to the same God. It's not possible. And as Dennison pointed, it's actually foolish if we just stop to think about it. What does Dennison say? He talks about Islam. What does Islam believe? Islam does not believe that Jesus Christ is divine, that he's deity, that he's God, that what he did on the cross and the resurrection. That's the crux of Christianity. Those two cannot be the same. Hinduism, it's this whole cycle of reincarnation. That's not what Christianity is. We're not pointing to the same thing. And then Dennison quotes Timothy Keller and I love what Keller says. He said, every other religion says this is the way. Christianity is the only one that says Jesus is the way. And he said in John 14, six, I'm the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father, but through me.

The only way to God is through Jesus Christ. And that glorifies the father. So the way someone can personally and intimately know God is through Jesus Christ and him crucified. We see that all through scripture, don't we? In John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish. But what? Have eternal life. Eternal life is knowing him. In Acts 4, 12, there's salvation in no one else. For there's no other name that's been given under heaven by which men must be saved. It's only the name of Jesus Christ. It's in 1 Corinthians 1, 18. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it's the power of God. So the power of God comes through salvation. And then Paul wrote it simply in 1 Corinthians 15. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for us. according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised according to the scriptures. That's the gospel simply put. Peter wrote it, he said, he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by his wounds we are healed.

It's all throughout, the way to God is through Jesus Christ and our prayer is that people would know him intimately all across the globe. And then when we come to know Jesus, there's a security that comes with that. Oftentimes we're trying to figure out how can I hold on to my salvation? How can I, what if I fail? What if I don't come through? Well, that's the beauty of the cross because I can tell you today you're not gonna come through. If we're baking in ourselves coming through, we're all out, we might as well just walk out now. But there's good news because in John chapter 10, when we meet Jesus and we have that eternal life, this is what Jesus says about those who know him. But you do not believe because you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, verse 27 of chapter 10, and I know them and they follow me. Those who know God, those who are his, they know him and they follow him. And I give eternal life to them and they will never perish. And no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who's given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one. Our security is that we've been chosen before the foundation of the world and no one can snatch us out of the father's hand. There's a security in who we are in Jesus Christ.

That is not in any other world religion. In John 15, five, Jesus says that I'm the vine and you're the branches. He abides in me and I in him. He bears much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing. So we continue to grow and increase in our love for God and our relationship with him as we abide in him. One of the best places that we can abide if you're a newer believer or even older, just hang out in John. Immerse yourself in John because John was written so that we might believe in Jesus Christ who is the one that gives life. So we can linger in this part of the scripture. This past week, we had a group return from India and the way we wanna pray, they've had the opportunity to bring the message of Jesus. And we wanna pray that God will be glorified in what was just done and that people that they were with will personally and intimately know God. That can be our prayer. We had a team leave yesterday for Jamaica with Texans on mission and they'll be helping rebuild structures that were destroyed in Hurricane Melissa. And we can pray this week for them that God will be glorified through what they do, that their conversations will have opportunities to speak of Jesus and that people in Jamaica will know God and that they'll know him personally. And then the third thing we can pray

in this first part of Jesus' great mission prayer is that believers will finish their specific work and mission. I know this today. I know that Jesus had a very specific mission and I know that every person in this room that if you know Jesus, he has a specific mission for you. He has a race. When I read or quoted Hebrews 12 a few minutes ago, what's it say? We wanna run the race, but that's the race he has for you. We all have a different race marked out for us. What's common is Jesus Christ is who we're aimed at, but we all have a different race. What race is it for you? Verse four, Jesus says, I glorified you on the earth having accomplished the work which you've given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. I've had that word circled for you, glorify, glory. It's all over these first five verses that glory would go to God, but now he's saying, I glorified you on the earth having accomplished the work you've given me to do. So we wanna imitate Jesus. He finished his work. What did he do? He came, he said the kingdom of God is at hand. The way through it, into it is to repent and believe. He healed and he removed demons.

He performed miracles and he taught with authority. He trained and equipped his disciples to be about the mission that we're describing. And then what did he do on the cross? What did he say? It's finished, he finished his work. When he prays this, he hadn't been to the cross yet. There's a confidence, he's going to finish his work. Will you and I finish the work that he's given to each of us? Will we be faithful to the task and the mission that he has so that when our days are up, we know that we have finished the work he has? Jesus did his work in a small region of the world. He was primarily in Galilee and Jerusalem. What region does God have for you? What is the area that he has for me? Are we willing, like our friend that is a global worker in Vancouver that we've spoken of before, who when he was in his 20s, he was hearing messages like this. And he said, that really wasn't on my radar, but he went and got a passport. He said, here's my passport, God. Where do you want it to go? I don't know if it's a passport for you or whatever it would be for you to say, God, here am I. But how many of us have been willing to say before God in these last two and a half months when we've talked about being a sent people, have we been willing to freshly sit before God and say,

here I am, I think I'm on what you want me on right now. Maybe I'm spot on, but do you have something different? Is there something in addition? Do you want me to eliminate something so I can focus on this? Here am I. Would you at some point during this time, just in your time alone with God, say, God, I'm here. Is there something you have for me? What do you have for me? One thing that we can be a part of in praying is to be more specific and to pray, be a part of care teams. We have care teams at our church for all our global workers, small groups of people that pray for that particular global worker, and that worker shares needs with them, and then they'll turn around and they'll pray with them, or they'll send care packages to them. You can't imagine what a big deal that is. Or they'll go and visit them to support them in the place where they are. So could that be part of the work that God might call you into to be a person who prays? One of the global workers, they will send to their group, to their care team, when they're about to go in and talk with a family, and they'll ask them, say, will you pray for us in the next couple hours that God will open up opportunities for us to just share one story from the Bible

about God and his family? So we have that privilege to pray. That is a way we can be a part of the work. I don't know what your part is, but I do know we can all throw our hands open before God and say, what is it? And I'm willing, and I'll step into it. And I know I can, because I'm gonna go in the power of the Holy Spirit to make disciples out of a love for you, God. Here am I. Well, Jesus was excited in verse five as he prayed, and I, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Jesus is with God for all eternity. He is God, and he was looking forward to the moment when he would go back to that pre-incarnate glory again. And you and I can pray the same thing where we anticipate a day when there'll be no more sadness, there'll be no more brokenness, there'll be no more sin to battle and fight. Instead, we'll be in the perfect presence in the glory of God himself. Well, I want us to practice for a moment and to pray these verses for Albania. I've mentioned before Operation World. Some of you might use this, but it's a great tool to be able to pray for the nations. In a few months, we'll have a team in Albania

working with Young Life. So we can be praying for the country of Albania and then for the team that we'll be sending to be a part of that. In Operation World, it gives you, you can either do this digitally and get it online so you can subscribe to it, it'll come to you, or you can get the book and put it on your coffee table and you can use it that way. But you can click on a link in there and it'll take you to a specific prayer. So that gives you the idea. And then there's ways to pray. So one of the ways to pray is to pray for the nation. One of the prayers, we highlighted some of them. Pray, thank God for his work in this land. Pray that Albania's government and business cultures might be positively impacted by the influence of believers. Pray also that resulting churches and Christians might reflect the Lord Jesus Christ in an Albanian context. Which by the way, if you saw the first stat on there, there's half a percent of people in Albania that are Christians. I don't know the math on 2.77 million, but if you do, then you know how many people that is. Pray that such efforts might bear fruit that matures and expands the church. And pray that this movement would grow and the Albanian church itself would strive to support their workers in every way.

So if we could, let's bow our heads. I'd just like to model praying the scripture for someone across the globe. So Father, today we thank you for our time and grateful for every person at 121 and what you're doing in each person's life. And I pray, God, we would be such a sent people that that would be our mantra. That would be what flows through our hearts. And God, I pray today specifically, I thank you for giving us this on Albania. And Lord, I pray that in Albania today that they would bring glory to your name. And Father, I pray that the suffering on the cross, Jesus, that you endured when your hour came. God, that they would see that not as foolishness today, but as power. And Father, I pray those who are Christians today would be strengthened by your suffering and by what you did. And then God, I pray for the people of Albania, the majority of which have no idea who you are and what you did and the reality of the real and personal relationship they can have with you. And God, I pray today that they would have eternal life, that they would know you, the only true God. They would reject anything false and they would know Jesus Christ, whom you sent on their behalf. And Father, I pray that those who are Christians

in Albania would glorify you on the earth. I pray, Father, they would accomplish the work that you have for them in that region of the world. And I pray more and more would come to you and do the same. And then God, I pray like you, Jesus, that we would all anticipate that day when we can be with you in your perfect and eternal glory. And I pray that in Jesus' name. If we could, let's just be quiet before the Lord and is there anything that he's saying to you today about ways to be sent or to engage in prayer on behalf of the nations?