You’re listening to: Pray Like Jesus, where Pastor Mark Driscoll teaches us how we can use the prayer life of Jesus as a template for our own. For more audio and video content, please visit marshillchurch.org.

Well, howdy, Mars Hill. Happy Sunday. Good to see you all. If you’re new, my name’s Mark, one of the pastors here at the church. And we are gonna finish up our summer sermon series today, Pray Like Jesus. So, we’ll be in John 17. If you’ve got a Bible, you’re welcome to go there.

You can be in prayer as students will start to come back in the next few weeks, and everything officially gets super-duper busy here real soon. And then, in October, we have our 12th anniversary as a church, and it should be a really good time. So, that being said, I’ll go ahead and pray and we’ll get to work. The second half of Jesus’ prayer in John 17, we dealt with the first half last week, and we’ll finish it this week as well.

Father God we begin our prayer by calling you, “Dad.” We thank you that Jesus taught us to pray that way. And Lord Jesus, I thank you that you – you prayed openly and publically, so that people would know how you prayed; that your disciples faithfully recorded your prayer, so that we could learn from your example. And Lord Jesus, thank you that you take away our sin so that we can be reconciled to the Father; that you send the Spirit so that we can be empowered and enabled to live a new life; a life that is one of prayer. So, Jesus, as we study the scriptures today and we look at your example, it is my request that the Holy Spirit would teach us so that we might be able to pray like Jesus, in whose name we do pray: amen.

Well, let me set-up context, again. We dealt with the first half of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 last week. This week we’ll look at the second half of his prayer. And I told you that Jesus was nearing the end of his life at the point that he uttered this prayer. He was actually just about done with his days on earth. He was about to be betrayed by Judas Iscariot, arrested, and ultimately taken to the cross where he would be crucified, murdered, put to death in our place for our sins. And the next chapter of John, the 18th chapter, records precisely that. Jesus is at the point in his life that he knows that he’s gonna die. He ultimately knows that he will rise, conquering Satan, sin and death. But with the cross before him, he pauses to utter what is the longest recorded prayer in all of scripture by Jesus: The High Priestly Prayer; faithfully recorded by his dear friend John, who was like a kid brother to him.

The first part of his prayer was praying for himself, and we talked about last week it is good to pray for yourself. Jesus prayed for himself. Jesus then prayed for his disciples, his senior leaders, and we would encourage you who are Christian and call Mars Hill home to be in prayer for the senior leaders here at our church. And then Jesus proceeds this week with the third part of his prayer, to pray for all Christians who would come in his wake. Today, there are a few billion of us worshipping Jesus across the nations of the earth. And Jesus was praying for all of us in general. But in particular, this would mean that Jesus was also praying for Mars Hill Church, and for the Christians who call this church home; which is amazing when you think about it. If you knew when you would die, and let’s say it was hours before your betrayal and your death, what would you do? What would you say? How would you conduct yourself? And if you prayed, who would you pray for?

Well, we get this glimpse into Jesus’ final moments of freedom before his arrest, and he prays for us. The final thing that Jesus prays for, he prays for us. So, we know that these things are very dear to Jesus’ heart, that Jesus is selfless and concerned for his people all the way up to the end. And Jesus gives us four things that he prays for us. And what’s amazing is that you and I have the opportunity to live lives that actually answer Jesus’ prayers. The first begins in verse 13. He says, “But now I am coming to you. And these things I speak in the world,” John 17, “that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” The first thing Jesus prays for us is: Joy. It’s joy. And Jesus says that, though we’re in the world there is joy in us. Now, let me explain this. We are born sinners by nature and choice, and the world is the place where sin, folly, rebellion against God is encouraged and promoted and available.

And the way it works is that Satan is at work in the world. And just think of it like a bunch of hooks with bait hung on each; sex, money, fame, power, glory, independence, religion, spirituality – whatever it is. Satan baits the hooks with whatever it is that he thinks will tempt us to bite, and he reels us in. And the myth is that once we bit it’ll lead to joy, and it never does. Sin always leads to death. So, what happens is, the world is filled with temptation by our enemy. Foolishly, because of our proclivity and appetite toward sin we bite, and we don’t end-up in joy; we end-up in death. We end-up in death. Everyone’s pursuing joy, and no one can find it. That’s because people are pursuing it in the world. I’ll bite this hook. I’ll bite this hook. I’ll bite this hook. I’ll bite this hook. They all go to the same place. None of them go to joy. Our joy is not to be found in the world. Jesus says, rather, our joy is to be fulfilled in us. That’s what he prays for, that we would have joy.

So, what it means is this: that Jesus needs to do something in us so that the joy is a gift to us, not something that we pursue in the world. I believe, based upon context here, he’s speaking of God the Holy Spirit. In John 16, he just got done teaching in the previous chapter, so this is all in the flow of his thinking and instruction according to John. He told us that after he died and was buried, and rose, and ascended back into heaven, that he would send God the Holy Spirit to dwell in the Christians; to give us new life and hope and ultimately, joy.

Now, what that means is that our relationship with the world changes. I’ve lived now about half of my life as a non-Christian, and about half as a Christian. I became a Christian when I was 19, and coming up in October I turn 38. So, we’re at about the half-way point of my life walking with Jesus. And my relationship with the world has changed. Previously, my whole objective was to get my joy in the world. Meet a nice girl, sleep with her, maybe get married; have kids; go to school; get a job; make some money; buy some stuff. Alright? That was my goal, that my joy would be through the world. And then, Jesus saved me, put the Holy Spirit in me. And now my relationship with the world has changed. My relationship with the world has changed. I don’t see the world as the place that I go to find my joy. I see the world as the place that I go to share the love of Jesus. So, the world now is not the place that I go to take, it’s the place that I go to give. It’s not where I find my identity, it’s where I go to serve. It’s not where I’m looking to be fulfilled, it’s where I’m looking to love and help others.

Because, the longer you walk with Jesus, and the closer you get to Jesus, the sadder the world becomes. The sadder the world becomes. Actually, that was one of the turning points in my life. I was in college, away from my family, away from my friends, away from my parents; get to do whatever I want. I never drank, but now I could start drinking. And I didn’t womanize, and now I can womanize. And I didn’t party, and now I can party, because I get to start all over and reinvent myself. I remember coming down one day, seeing a gal who had gotten drunk and apparently been raped and was crying on the couch looking for her clothes. All of the sudden I realized, my joy is gonna be at someone else’s sorrow. I didn’t do anything to this gal. I hadn’t gotten drunk. I hadn’t done anything. At this point, I hadn’t hooked-up with a girl, and I hadn’t gotten drunk, and I hadn’t done anything. I moved into the fraternity with the hope of doing those things. And then when I saw what it looked like the next morning for the gals who had been taken advantage of, it was a completely different perspective. So, I moved out.

I moved out. And I was reading the Bible, and God made me a Christian. All of the sudden I saw things differently. You’re supposed to love people, not use them. You’re supposed to protect people, not take advantage of them. The world is not built to make me happy. The world is grievously destroyed and distraught by sin and death. And the more I walk with Jesus I see sin and its affects in the lives of people, and it’s grievous and it’s sad and it’s devastating and it’s horrible. And more and more I realize, this world doesn’t have anything to offer me, to make me joyful. But the joy has gotta come in me, ‘cause it ain’t out there. And if the Holy Spirit comes into someone, making them a Christian, then God takes-up residence in that person. He changes their mind. They think differently. He changes their desires. Their appetite is different. He changes their will. They make different decisions. It just changes you.

Then we relate to the world differently. What used to be tempting, all of the sudden now is tragic. Things we used to enjoy we’re now ashamed of. The ways we used to explain and define ourselves are now ways that we are embarrassed that we ever did. But the joy is not out there, the joy is in us. And God the Holy Spirit then puts us in the world, and we’re still in the world as Christians.

See, as a non-Christian you’re in the world, and then as a Christian the Spirit comes in you so that you can be in the world. So, your relationship with the world changes. You love people. You pray for people. You wanna help people. You wanna serve people. Because, you see the devastation of sin and it’s affects in the lives of people. You want them to meet Jesus so that their lives will change. And that’s the source of joy. The source of joy is: I can serve. I can help people. I can make a difference in the world. I can offer them a better way of life with Jesus. I know how sin gets forgiven, and I know how those who have been sinned against get their identity back, and their dignity back, and their life back; it’s all with Jesus. And the joy is not in the world, but the joy is in me and the opportunities that I have to help be at work with, and for, and through, and like, and to Jesus in the world.

And that means, even when there is hardship and difficulty and pain, the joy is that God will use that to change me, and to help me to serve others. So, everything in life now is purposeful and meaningful, and that’s the source of joy; that God will use this. The other source of joy is knowing, “Thank God this is not my home.” I’m here to serve. I’m here to help. I’m here to love. I’m here to care. I’m here to introduce people to Jesus. But, at the end of the day, this isn’t home. For me, this is as close to hell as I’ll ever be. And heaven awaits. And so Jesus is here praying that you and I would understand this, and that the joy would be in us. Right? That we belong to him. That we know him. That we know him. That he knows us. That he loves us. That he forgives our sin. That he changes our heart and our mind and our will. That he uses everything in our life to make us more like him, and to help us to help others. And also, that when it’s all said and done, this isn’t home. This isn’t home.

This is a place that we love and serve, and are passing through. And the result is joy. Joy is in me as I am in the world. So, the first thing Jesus prays for is joy. That comes through the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Christian. Secondly, he prays for mission. That we would be joyful missionaries. That’s what he’s praying for. And this is one of those sections of scripture that I’ve been absolutely thrilled about for a decade. It undergirds so much of what we believe here at Mars Hill and how we conduct ourselves. And many people come in and they ask the question, “How are you different than other churches?” Well, in most ways we’re really not. But, on this issue it’s one of those distinguishing variables that makes us different. We see ourselves as missionaries to Seattle, and now where ever else we have campuses. Okay? ‘Cause the theology used to be, “Oh, you wanna be a missionary?” We send people over across the water to some other foreign nation where there’s tribes of eccentric, bizarre people that don’t know God. And my answer is, “Well, we have those in Freemont. You don’t need a plane. You could walk there.” Right? Because, you know, the biggest deal in Freemont is the statue of Lenin in front of the Taco Del Mar. And the biggest event is the solstice parade, led by a nudist bicycling team. Right? There – there – there is nobody anywhere that is part of a people group living in huts that is weirder than that. Right? And just like we send missionaries overseas, we also need to send missionaries all over the Puget Sound, and all over the United States.

We believe in both. Missionaries go overseas and walk around the corner. Because, there are needs everywhere. We’re in the least churched city in America. You guys know the riff. More dogs than Christians, right? We love dogs, but we would like to see every dog have a Christian owner. That’s our new pitch. And – and – and this city doesn’t know a lot about Jesus. So, there’s – we need to be missionaries. Now, we can’t just walk in and say, “Hey, we’re here. You know, come be part of us.” We have to be missionaries who say – just like every missionary does – “Where are people? How do they live? How do they work? What do they care about? What are they struggling with? How can we serve them? What language do they speak? What style do they appreciate?” All of those kinds of variables.

In the same way, if somebody told me to be a missionary to China: learn the language, wear the clothes, get the haircut, eat the food, figure out the holidays, understand the entertainment, get to know the big cultural narratives. Try to figure out how to love these people toward Jesus. Jesus prays that all Christians would understand that we are missionaries. The question is not, “Are we missionaries?” The question is, rather, “Are we good or bad missionaries?” Here’s how he prays for us. Verse 14. “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world.” World here meaning sinful, rebellion, and folly against God. “Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is the truth. As you sent me into the world so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in the truth.” Let me unpack this.

Jesus says, first of all, that he’s a missionary. Jesus was in heaven. He’s God. Came to earth. He says he was sent. More than 40 times in John’s gospel alone, including this verse, Jesus says, “The Father sent me.” So, Jesus is a missionary sent on a mission. He learns the language, the customs, the cultures, the holidays; gets to know the people; goes to social events. We see him at weddings and house parties and meals and dinners. He goes to places like Samaria; other cultures. He sits down with a woman at the well, speaks the truth into her life and she becomes converted. We see how Jesus works as a missionary. Always remind yourself, Jesus is God sent into human history as a missionary. He understands the culture. He lives in the culture. He serves in the culture. He loves people in the culture. He’s a great, perfect, sinless missionary. Ultimately, his mission is to die and rise to take away our sin, and to give us salvation.

And then Jesus says here, “As the Father has sent me, I’m gonna send all the Christians.” So, if you’re a Christian, you’re a missionary. Alright? Where you live, that was God’s choosing. When you were born, that was God’s choosing. God chose when we were to be born and where we would live. It’s what it says in Acts 17. God determines where and when we live. So, God sent Jesus at a time to a place. God has sent you and sent me to a time and a place. We all are here gathered in Seattle right now. Today, this is God’s plan for our life. We’re to be missionaries here today. That’s what we’re supposed to do. And if you move, or God should relocate you, then you’re to be a missionary there; where ever it is that you go.

So, the first thing is, we’re all missionaries. And Jesus says that there are two aspects of being a missionary: Being sanctified and being sent. Now, being sanctified here, Jesus says, “I sanctify myself, and I am sanctified for this mission.” Sanctified here means holy, or set-apart. Right? That he’s got a real particular mission. Ultimately, it’s to save sinners. In the same way, how many of you are married women? Okay, married women? Married women, okay. Then – there’s a couple of you – and you married men now will be able to understand what I’m talking about. The single men will have no idea. But what happens when you get married is this. You have two sets of dishes and two sets of cutlery. You do. One is for normal use, right? You put your hot-pocket on it. It’s just the normal plate and spoon. For you single guys, it’s – it’s – I know you have a spork and everything comes in a bag, but you may have seen this at your mom’s house.

A plate and a fork and a spoon and a knife, and it goes together as a set. And there’s just average day-wear that you use all the time. And it’s common. But then there’s sanctified place settings, right? They’re sanctified. They’re special. Right? If you put a hot-pocket on one, you’ll sleep on the couch. It’s not meant for that. You are breaking a rule. Okay? And the sanctified plates are used for what? And the sanctified cutlery is used for what? Special occasions: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter Brunch – special; sanctified; set-apart; holy. Right? Not like the spork. That’s for common use. When Jesus says he’s sanctified, what he’s saying is, “I’m set apart. I’m special. I’m here on a very particular mission. God the Father has chosen me to get a few things done.” Namely, saving sinners. So, Jesus says, “I’m sanctified. I’m set-apart for this mission. And every Christian is sanctified, set-apart for their mission.” Right? Every Christian has some special things that God has them to be about in their life as a missionary.

Certain people to love. Certain places to pray for. Certain things to do. Certain ways to serve. You’ve got a mission. And in saying this, that means that we are to live lives of holiness. That we are to, with our conduct, be separated from the world; be distinct from the world. Jesus never sinned. Our goal is, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to not sin. So, when we go into the world we need to be careful we’re not sinning; not sinning. So, you know what? We do sex and relationship and money and power and alcohol. We do it differently. We’re set apart. We use these things differently. We do life differently. We have different thinking and valuing and acting and speaking and behaving. We’re – to be distinct. Because we belong to God. So, Jesus says, “I’m set apart.” Jesus is different. He does things differently than the world. Right? He doesn’t, as a single guy, take advantage of women. He doesn’t go to parties and get drunk.

Now, he has single women who are friends. And he does go to parties. But he doesn’t sin. So, he is set apart. He’s sanctified. He’s holy in how he conducts himself. So, we’re to be sanctified and sent into the culture. This means you love non-Christians. You have friendships with non-Christians. This means that you do enjoy the city and the culture in which we live. It means you’re a good missionary trying to figure out who lives here. What do they do? What do they think? What do they feel? This means we intentionally pursue relationships with people that are not Christian. We intentionally love people who are not Christian. And we intentionally serve the whole city and want good for the whole city. And we want this to be the best city that we can, because we love the whole city. And we love all the people in the city. Connecting with the culture as a good missionary.

And for me, this has all kinds of practical implications. I – I’ve told you before. I love going to bookstores to look at the covers of magazines. ‘Cause as a missionary – and here’s the key – a missionary is one who goes into the world, not to be entertained, but to be educated; to learn. So, for me, I go to the bookstore and I look at the magazine covers. And do you know that every magazine cover is someone’s portrait of heaven? Dog heaven, cat heaven, clean-house heaven, car stereo heaven, flat-screen TV heaven, cigar heaven, six-pack abs heaven – right? Baby heaven – all these different heavens. And each of those is like a religious presentation. Give your life to this person, thing or cause. And you’re supposed to buy the magazine and read the articles. It’s like a little Bible. Do what they say. Buy the products, and then you can live in your little picture of heaven.

And everybody believes in heaven. For some of them it’s just a cigar or a cat. Everybody’s got one. And so, I’m trying to figure out, “Okay, well, where are people’s views of heaven?” What are – what is – what they’re giving their life to? Tivo. I have two Tivos. I watch everything. Why? ‘Cause I love everything on TV? No, I don’t. I’m trying to figure out why do so many people watch, for example, “The View?” Now, I don’t know, but I’m trying to figure that out. I’m trying to figure out why so many people watch, “The View.” So I’m always watching TV, and I look online, and I’m talking to people and visiting with them. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. Who’s moving in? Who’s moving out? What’s – what’s happening? And around here it’s all condos. Have you driven around and looked? It’s all condos. You know who’s moving here? Single people with jobs. Okay, well that’s interesting. A bunch of single people with jobs are moving in. Nice to know. If you’re here, live in a condo, God bless you. Welcome. Right?

So, it’s just trying to figure out what’s going on in the world so that you can love and serve as many people as possible. Noticed this on television as well. 9/11 hits, threat of terrorism; now the economy is struggling. You know what’s on TV? I call them little shows. Shows that try to make the world little. It feels like the whole big world is totally out of control. So, now all of the shows are about, you know, how to improve your car, your house, your wardrobe, your health, your garden. Right? It’s all how to make your little corner of reality nice and neat and tidy and under control, ‘cause the rest of the world is totally out of control. And people have sort of really honed-in their scope of vision. They’re not talking about, “How can we fight global terrorism or global warming?” They’re talking about, you know, their couch; or their garden; or their new patio furniture; ‘cause that’s something that we can control. And that’s what happens when people are scared, and fear kicks in and they feel like the world’s out of control. All of these things, just trying to figure out as a good missionary, I’m sent – we’re sent here. I wanna know the city, love the city, serve the city, care about this city. So, Jesus says we’re supposed to be sanctified, set-apart, and sent – sent back into both.

And Jesus prays against two enemies of being a good missionary. Now, this will be contentious, but he prays not against political or moral – but he prays against theological, religious, spiritual conservatism and liberalism. Alright? I always get in trouble when I say this, so I say it a lot. Okay? And what I mean is this. Jesus says, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world,” and that’s the error of religious, spiritual, theological conservatism. The world is filled with sin and temptation. We wanna stay holy and pure. So, disengage, disconnect. Right? So, Christians move out of this city, they un-plug their TV, they don’t listen to non-Christian music, and they live in a sub-cultural ghetto. We log onto Christian websites, we listen to Christian music, we listen to Christian talk radio, we watch Christian movies, we – we just separate. We separate.

We don’t pay much attention to what’s going on in the culture, or when we do it’s just to scare us. Right? So, we could read books about the end of the world, churn our own butter, stack-up our canned goods, and wait for the rapture. Right? I mean, that’s kinda – that’s kinda the end of that thinking. The whole point is, “When do we get to go? Can we leave now?” It’s like, “No, no, no. You’re supposed to be sent into the world.” “It’s dark.” “I know, you’re the light.” “It’s messed-up.” “I know, you love Jesus.” “But they’re – they’re difficult.” “So were you before he got a hold of you.” Like, it’s not just about, “I got saved. Can we just burn everyone now?” Right? It’s about, “I got saved so some other people can meet Jesus.” We’re not done with this yet.

And that’s the classic error of conservatism. In an effort to stay sanctified, they end-up being separated; end-up being separated. And they get it half-right. They get it half-right. You need to walk in holiness before God. But then, they end-up making all kinds of rules, like: Don’t have non-Christian friends. Don’t watch non-Christian movies. Don’t listen to non-Christian music. You know, if you’re over 21 and don’t get drunk it’s still a sin to drink alcohol. Those kinds of rules. They’re the same kind of people who criticized Jesus; religious types.

On the other side, Jesus prayed against liberalism. He says, “My prayer, Father, is that you protect them from the evil one.” From Satan. See, liberals think that people aren’t that bad, and that the world isn’t that fallen, and that Satan and demons aren’t really at work. And they say, “Well, we wanna love people. We wanna connect with people.” So, liberal Christians tend to move into the cities. They tend to know what’s going on in the culture. They tend to be politically active. They tend to be socially active. They tend to be morally active. They wanna help people. They wanna feed people. They wanna care for people. What they end-up doing is compromising their sactifiedness; if I can make-up a word.

And the way it works is this. The first, conservatism, church is like a bomb shelter. Right? It’s dark and it’s nasty out there. Everybody hunker down. All the Christians just hide here. It’s safe in our church. Well, with liberals it’s more like church is a mirror. Oh, you believe homosexuality is okay? Hey, so do we. Hey, you believe fornication is okay? Hey, so do we. You believe doing illegal drugs is not a big deal? Hey, [Makes sucking sound] so do we. You know? And it’s – it’s just that kind of compromise. And the result is, these two sides, conservatives and liberals, they fight against each other all the time religiously.

And you know what? They’re each right, and they’re each wrong; because we’re supposed to be sanctified and sent. And they each read some of the verses in the Bible. The conservatives say, “You’re not supposed to do this. You’re not supposed to do this. You’re not supposed to do this. You’re not supposed to condone that. And you’re not supposed to condone this.” True. And the liberals say, “You’re supposed to be in the city. You’re supposed to be where the culture is. You’re supposed to get involved in the world. You’re supposed to help needy people. You’re supposed to help hurting people. You’re supposed to not just disengage.” True. True. And the fight between these two sides tends to be fierce and bitter.

And Jesus provides a third way between liberalism and conservatism, and that is the way of Jesus. We call it being missional. It means that we don’t just read the verses that the liberals read, and we don’t just read the verses that the conservatives read. We read Jesus’ whole prayer. And say, okay, we’re not gonna leave the world, ‘cause he said not to. And when we’re in the world, we’re gonna keep an eye out for Satan trying to get us to sin and compromise; ‘cause Jesus prayed for both. That we would be in the world but set apart, sanctified from the world; but sent into the world nonetheless. Some of you say, “This is hard.” I know. I know. But this is one of the distinguishing variables of Mars Hill Church. So, I’ve used the language before, that we’re theologically conservative and culturally liberal; which freaks everyone out, which is kinda my point. We are Bible believing, and we are flexible where the Bible is flexible. How do we get out of this mess? Jesus says, “Sanctify them by the truth, your – “ it’s his prayer, “your word is the truth.” The answer is: Keep going back to the Bible.

Just so you know, we’re a Bible believing, Bible reading, Bible loving church. We are. And we believe that we need to be holy and actively involved in our community. That we need to be Biblical and cultural. I use this language: That we have timeless truth – the Bible doesn’t change – and timely methods in the way we do things as good missionaries. We’ll be flexible so that we can win as many people as possible to Jesus. And this confuses everyone. This confuses everyone, and it shouldn’t. Because this is how Jesus lived. Jesus didn’t sin, but he had friendships with and love for people who weren’t Christians. And he hung-out with them, and he cared for them, and he spoke the truth into their life. And we are to do the same. We are to do the same. So, if you come to Mars Hill and say, “What do you mean you’re a Bible believing church?” I get asked this question at almost every media interview: Do you guys take the Bible literally? Yes, we do.

Yes, God created the heavens and the earth. There is one God. We’re all sinners. That Jesus is God and became a man; born of a virgin; lived without sin; died on the cross in our place for our sins; rose three days later; is savior, Lord and God. All sex outside of marriage is unacceptable in the eyes of God. That hell is hot, and forever is a long time. We believe all of it. We do. We totally do. We believe all of it. And we believe you’re supposed to love your neighbor. You’re supposed to love your enemies. You’re supposed to pray for those who persecute you. And you’re supposed to do good to all people. And you’re supposed to seek the wellbeing of your whole city. We believe all of it.

We believe all of it. And Jesus here is praying, “Father, don’t let them be conservatives. And don’t let them be liberals. Don’t let them be faithful to you but unfruitful in the culture. Don’t let them be in the culture but unfaithful to you. Let them be in you and in the world.” That’s what he’s praying for. Good missionary. Good missionary. And the only way – again, I’ll just stress it again – the only way to keep things going well is like Jesus said, to keep coming back to the Bible; keep coming back to the Bible; keep coming back to the Bible. Reading all of the verses and taking them all to heart. Okay? First thing he prays, that we’d have joy in us through the Holy Spirit. Secondly, that because the Holy Spirit is in us that changes our relationship with the world. We don’t need to be conservatives who run away from the world. We don’t need to be liberals who go to the world to sin. We can be missionaries like Jesus, who go into the world to introduce people to Jesus.

Now, one of the ways we could be most effective at that is Jesus’ third aspect of his prayer, that we would be unified. This is a big job. If you go by yourself into the world you’re gonna get in trouble. Jesus wisely sent his disciples out two by two. You need friends, prayer partners, accountability partners. We need to be unified as a church. You need to get connected. And we need to be connected to other churches that love Jesus, because God is working through all of his children, and we need to all work together. Here’s Jesus’ prayer for unity, verse 20, “I do not ask for these also, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” And today, that’s a few billion of us on the earth who say we are Christian. “That they all may be one just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, and they also may be in us; so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me, and loved me, even as you love them.” Here’s what Jesus is saying.

There is one God: Father, Son and Spirit. They are one. They live in love and unity, working together. That is the pattern for God’s people, the church. So, when you become a Christian you’re reconciled to God, and reconciled to the church. So, in unity, God’s people loving and working together, we show the world something of the nature of the trinity. You think about it, Mars Hill Church, right? Seven campuses. I think we’re going so something like 20 services. I don’t even know. Okay? Most of us don’t have a lot in common. Right? You’re probably sitting next to someone right now. Apart from Jesus, other than the fact that you’re both bipedal, upright, and can fog a mirror, you pretty much got nothing in common. But you’re unified if you both belong to Jesus and love him. And so the key is to figure out what Jesus means by unity and the pursuit of unity, and how we can have it; and how we can maintain it and build it and grow it as a church. And let me say this, this verse has been butchered by something called, “The Ecumenical Movement,” which says, “Jesus wants us all to get along. So, let’s not argue over things, you know, like sin, and hell, and Jesus. Let’s just cook muffins and pray with the Buddhists, and all pretend.” And my answer is, “Naw, let’s not.” Unity in Jesus’ prayer is not just that all Christians would fake like we get along, but that the true Christians would work really hard to actually get along without faking it with those who are not real Christians.

He just told us not to be conservatives or liberals, and to be Biblical. And then he tells us to all get along. Well, I think the way we all get along is by obeying the first part of the prayer. And Jesus is saying this: that unity comes around him. Unity – if you want unity among churches, what you don’t say is, “Hey, let’s all strive for unity.” What you say is, “Let’s all strive for Jesus.” Unity is the bi-product of people who are following Jesus. True story. My wife, five kids – we tell the kids this all the time – we do not have a child-centered home, or a marriage-centered home. We have a Jesus-centered home. This is my small example. If you have a child-centered home, then you worship the children; it’s idolatry. And eventually, it’s gonna ruin your kids and your marriage. If you have a marriage-centered home, you’re gonna ruin your relationship with God. And you’re probably gonna damage your children. If you have a Jesus-centered home, you’ll actually have a loving, unified family. Because, right now, let’s say my wife and I, and all five of our kids, if we all walk toward Jesus, you know what we’re going to be? Closer. It’s that simple. It’s that simple. You know what we’ll be? Unified. You know what we’ll be? One. If Jesus is the center, that’s the only way to really have unity.

If you put anything else in the center, even if you put unity in the center; a good cause; feed the poor; help the sick – all good, wonderful, glorious things. If you put that in the center, you still won’t have unity. You put Jesus in the center, you get unity and lots of other good things happen as a bi-product. The poor get fed, the marginalized get cared for, the single mom has people who actually look after her and are concerned for her wellbeing. All the good things that so many people want are the bi-product of unity that comes around Jesus as he changes people’s hearts to love like he loves. So, for us as a church, and working with other churches, the first thing is, Jesus needs to be at the center. So, we say, “It’s always, only, solely, totally, fully, thoroughly, completely about Jesus.” Thank you both for that enthusiastic response. Yes. You could see it’s a heart-felt value for us here at Mars Hill Church.

So, it’s about Jesus. The second thing Jesus says, it’s about mission. If we’re all working together, then we’re unified. Unity doesn’t come in any other way than mission; working together. And thirdly, it comes, he says in the previous section of his prayer, by us all believing the Bible. Meaning, when we disagree we go to the Bible as our highest court of arbitration and appeal, and we all submit to scripture. Now, what that means is this: Unity is not uniformity. We don’t need to all be in the same denomination. We don’t need to all be in the same building. We don’t need to all do church the same way. Right? Unity is not uniformity. Jesus is not praying, “Father, I want them to be one as we are one,” and praying for uniformity. Because the Father and Son are equal, but they are distinct. Right? Jesus dies on the cross for our sins, the Father doesn’t. They have distinctions, not divisions, but distinctions. So, it is with God’s people. In this church, people will be different. But, they need not if they’re in Jesus be divided. They can be distinct without being divided. So it is among Christian groups. You can be distinct without being divided. You can have unity without having uniformity.

I’ll give you an example. I was teaching a class at a college this week, and I think it was a woman in the class asked the question about unity, Christian unity. How can Christians be unified? And I told her this. I said, “I see Christianity in its various denominations and networks kind of like a country with a bunch of different states. Right? And there are borders between the states. And I’m not saying they’re unimportant, but I would say they’re secondary. So, do you have women pastors or not have women pastors? Does everyone need to speak in tongues, or not speak in tongues? Does the pastor wear a suit, or does he not wear a suit? Do you use instruments in singing, or not use instruments in singing? Do you baptize babies, or only believing adults? Various state borders, depending upon how you answer those questions, you end-up in different states. Right? So, there’s Assemblies of God, and Four Square, and Calvary Chapel, and Presbyterian, and Methodist, and Baptist, and all these different states. But you know what? We’re still one, unified nation.”

There are certain things that are not state boundaries, they’re national boundaries. Right? You say, “I believe there’s a bunch of gods.” [Makes buzzing noise] Different country. “I don’t think Jesus is God.” [Makes buzzing noise] Different country. Right? You just passed over an international boundary. Right? You’re in a whole other country now. Right? So, the result is, let’s say we have a little disagreement with Oregon. We would never bomb Oregon. Okay? You’re like, “Oh, the heck with Oregon. Where’s that nuke?” You know, like [Makes exploding noise] “Praise God. Done with those guys.” We don’t bomb Oregon because we’re part of the same nation. Now, we’ll have disagreements with Oregon ‘cause they’re wrong on so much, but nonetheless we won’t divide from them. Right? We’re not gonna put a big – you know, a big chain-link fence around Washington with armed guards checking for people with Oregonian passports. You know, it’s – it’s all the same country. And I said, “It’s that way.” So, you know, within Christianity there are different states. Mormons are a different country. And Jehovah’s Witnesses are a different country. And Muslims are a different country.

And so, when they say, “Hey, let’s all be unified.” I say, “No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. We’re different countries. We love you, but there are certain boundaries you’ve crossed over. And to be true to the scriptures, we can’t pass over those boundaries.” Now, what that means at Mars Hill Church is this: We will work with those different states. We’re an inter-denominational church. Meaning, we’ll working with all kinds of denominations based upon Jesus’ prayer, three things: Is he the center? Are they serving him on his mission to see people meet him and have their lives changed? And thirdly, do they love the Bible? And if we disagree about something can we open the Bible and actually get to God’s word, not our words, and talk about what the scriptures say? And you know what? We’re a church that really loves to work with, partner with all kinds of Christians, groups and denominations. We do. I think it’s one of the benefits of being interdenominational. We work with all kinds of groups. I’ll give you a couple examples, just so that maybe you will be aware. Our Acts 29 church planting network plants churches all over the world, but 80-percent of the pastors in that network did a survey for us, and here’s what we found. In our church planting network, there are nine denominations, and seventeen networks; 26 different Christian groups. Right? Just the denominations, we work with all kinds of Baptists. There’s a ton of kinds of Baptists.

There’s Presbyterians, Evangelical Free, Reformed Church of America, Assemblies of God, Church of God, Missionary Church USA – those are just the denominations, as well as all the Baptist denominations we work with, plus all the networks we work with; 26 different denominations and groups. You may not have even know this. We are funding church plants in other denominations. We’re not into denomination. We’re kind of in all denominations. I saw we’re like NASCAR. You got all the patches for all your sponsors down your sleeve. Like, whatever, yeah. Baptist, Presbyterian – sure, whatever. You got a building? Got some money? Somebody wanna go do evangelism? Plant a church? Cool. We got room for that patch, too. Right? We just put them all up our sleeve. We’ll work with anybody who loves Jesus, believes the Bible, and is trying to plant churches and lead people to meet and have a transformed life by Jesus. I’ll tell you what this looks like for me practically, just so you know.

‘Cause sometimes the argument is, “Oh, Christians don’t get along.” Actually, we do. And when we fight, we actually fight like family. We fight in a way that we’ll have disagreement, but not division. True story. There is more unity among Christians than most Christians actually realize. And I’ll tell you what this looks like for me, the last few months here’s what I’ve seen. I went down to California with Rick Warren. 1,800 pastors, all kinds of different denominations groups; taught with them; met with them. You know what? I learned a ton. I learned a ton. And I’m always going in asking, “What can I learn? And what can I share? How can I serve? And how can you serve me? You guys do things different than we do. I’m sure there are some things we could learn. I’m sure there are some things you could learn. And you know what? We’re not gonna do everything the way you do it, ‘cause we got our own way of doing things, and these are our Biblical convictions. But, you’re a neighboring state, and we don’t need to declare war.”

As well, went from there to Colorado with the Acts 29 Church Planters. A hundred church planters and their wives from these 26 different denominations and groups that we work with – I mean, this year alone, guys – you guys are giving money. You guys are giving – you don’t even know this. Mars Hill church is giving $1 million to church planting this year. We give 10-percent to church planting. We give it away. And here’s what I’m not – I’m not saying, “Here you go. You know, here you go.” What I’m saying is this: Jesus prayed for it, and we think it’s important, and we’re trying our best. And here’s how cool it is. You guys are giving money to southern Baptist churches, conservative Baptist churches, Baptist General Conference churches, Assemblies of God churches, Crowded House churches, and just churches in Acts 29. We’re giving money to churches that are in other denominations. You know what’s interesting is, denominations having a hard time funding anybody in any other denomination, because their borders between their states are a little more patrolled. Alright? We’re just – we’re a road-trip church, man. We’re just gonna visit the whole country, say “Hi” to everybody, stop in for dinner, and bless whoever we can. Alright? The cool thing is, we just get to work with anybody who loves Jesus. I really – I like that. It’s nice. So, you guys are funding churches in other denominations. We did that with the Acts 29 network.

I went to a conference in Ohio at a church called Xenos. Couple thousand leaders, all kinds of different churches. Big churches, little churches, house churches, mainline churches, independent churches, denominational churches – leaders from all over the place trained there. Went to Brighton, England. 5,000 people from 50 nations and 500 churches; training, teaching, serving, trying to help. Learned a ton. Learned as much there as I think I’ve learned in any week in my life. Taught in London, same thing. Tons of pastors, different churches, denominations, traditions, networks. Served, taught, learned a ton. Did some work in Orlando. We did our elders retreat up in the mountains. Elders and wives got a little retreat this summer. And lo and behold, next to us – in the room next to us where we have our meetings, are the leaders from The City Church, the church over on the east side. And we didn’t even know their leaders or church planters were gonna be there. So, the pastor’s a really nice guy and says, “Could you come over, Mark – and my wife, Grace – could you guys come over and answer questions, and talk to our leaders and help them?”

Well, that’s really humble and nice. Sure. We went over there, answered questions, tried to help. They prayed for us. They prayed for Mars Hill. They prayed for you guys. That’s really nice. I’d never even met the pastor, and a few years ago when we had a financial crunch they sent us a gift. Some of you – some of you will say, “Well, we do things differently than them.” I know. And they love Jesus. And we love Jesus. And they love us. And you know what? If Jesus is at the center and the Bible is God’s word, and we’re all trying to reach people for Jesus, there can be some unity without uniformity. You say, “Well, I thought we’d disagree with certain people on certain things?” We do. But if they love Jesus and they’re Christians, and they’re trying to lead people to Jesus, and they believe the Bible, we can disagree but we don’t need to declare war. We can work out our differences like a family without, you know, dropping a nuke and being really rude. What that means is, since we’re a bigger church now, we need to be humble; we need to be gracious; we need to be generous. Some of you would say, “But, we disagree with some groups.” I know. And don’t you think if we love them and serve them, that maybe we’d have a better opportunity to influence them?

It’s all about attitude. It’s all about love. Jesus is not just talking about unity, he’s talking about love. That love for people helps them to listen. And in relationship, we learn, they learn, we change, they change, we grow, they grow. And the cool thing is, we don’t need to do everything the same way everybody else does. But what if we could serve them? What if they could serve us? And what if, in the middle of that, people get to see Christians really do love each other; even when they disagree over things that maybe are important to them? See, at Mars Hill, I think because we have such strong doctrinal convictions, means we can work with a broader number of people, because I’m not worried about us believing something that’s not in the Bible; ‘cause we do love the Bible. That allows us to be more free, more loving, more connected. So, if this is your church, disagree with your Christian friends, debate with your Christian friends, dialog with your Christian friends; but love your Christian friends. Don’t declare war on your Christian friends, and keep coming back to the person of Jesus and the truth of scripture and the reaching of people, and there will be unity around those things.

Give you another example. I taught this last week at Northwest College. Okay? It’s an Assemblies of God school. To be an Assemblies of God pastor you have to speak in tongues, I think. And they have a lot of women pastors. We don’t have women pastors. I’ve never spoken in tongues. I’m a Calvinist, they’re Arminian. If you don’t know what that means, you’re not alone. Don’t feel bad. But I was sitting there teaching a class. I’m Calvinist, they’re Arminian. I don’t have women pastors at our church. They do at their church. Some of the women pastors are in the class. And – and you have to speak in tongues, and I’ve never spoken in tongues. I’m like, “What am I doing here? I feel like a vegan at a steakhouse.” I’m like, “What am I doing here?” You know, like – and here’s what they said. They said, “You love Jesus, we love Jesus. You love the Bible, we love the Bible. You wanna see people meet Jesus, we wanna see people meet Jesus.” Well, praise God.

Well then let’s talk about those things. Let’s love each other, and where we disagree let’s open the scriptures and figure out if we can’t learn together. I’m really glad about that. And I know some people who are total conservatives will say, “Oh, that’s compromise.” It’s not compromise, it’s love. It’s unity, it’s not uniformity. It’s not denying the fact that we have our own state and way of doing things. But it’s saying if you live in another state and you wanna be my friend, I love you, if you love Jesus. And I’ll work with you and help as much as I can. That’s the heart of the church. That’s what we’re about. I had this in Australia. I worked with the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Anglicans. I preached at four different theological seminaries. I don’t even know how many groups I worked with. And you know what? As long as I open the Bible, talk about Jesus and how to reach people, everywhere I went people were really responsive. It tells me that there is more unity among Christians around that which is essential. Jesus is God. The Bible is God’s word. And we’re here on a mission to introduce people to Jesus. Around those things you can build a lot of unity.

And again, it doesn’t mean that secondary issues are not important. But it means the best way to work through them is by focusing first on the primary issues, building loving relationships that allow us to, over time, Biblically argue and work-out the secondary differences. I love that. I love that Jesus prays that we would be unified. Let me say what this means at Mars Hill as well. We define unity internally in five ways. Okay? We want you all to be unified as a church. The first is theological. What will we not fight over? What will we fight over? We will fight over what we call close-handed issues. We believe in the Bible, one God, three persons, we’re sinners, Jesus’ death on the cross is the only way to eternal life. Right? They’re stuff we believe. Secondary issues: speaking in tongues, mode of baptism, style of worship, when is Jesus coming back – we’ll discuss, debate, but won’t divide over those issues. So, the first is theological. We agree on what we will fight for, and what we won’t fight for. The second is relational. We love each other; try to put up with one another; try to hang in there with one another; try to care for one another and serve one another as the church. Number three is philosophical unity, the way we do things. We use video. Not all churches do. I don’t really get dressed-up. Alright? Some places, the dude’s in a suit. And other places he wears a dress, they call it a robe. Whatever. Not gonna happen here, but you know, whatever. There’s different styles, different ways of doing things. So, the philosophical philosophy of ministry does count.

The fourth is missiological. What are we doing? We’re trying to introduce people to Jesus. And then the fifth is organizational. We have ways of doing things, because with this many people we gotta sort of organize. If somebody comes in and says, “Theologically, I don’t agree.” Well, you’re not gonna feel very unified. “Relationally, I don’t agree. I like to fight with people. I’m not very nice.” Well, you’re not gonna feel very unified. “Philosophically, I think we should not use video. And I bought you a dress, Mark.” Well, probably need to pray about that. You know? Probably not gonna feel real at home. Missionally, you say, “Well, I don’t want people to meet Jesus. That’s not my goal.” Well, then probably this is gonna be a bad place for you. And organizationally you say, “Well, I know that you got rules, but I like my way of doing things. I wanna be able to work through the system and get everything done the way I want it to be done.” Well, it’s a big church. Things are organized. Won’t always be the way you want it to be. It’s not Burger King. Alright? Jesus is King. Right?

You don’t get it your way right away. You never get it. Okay? So there. Now you won’t be disappointed. That we have certain ways of doing things. And there are still some people who come in and they demand to have things on their own terms. I mean, I had this discussion with a guy recently. He said, “I think everybody who goes to this church should be able to have dinner with you and your wife,” talking to me. I said, “Everybody?” I said, “There’s upwards of 8,000 people. That’s dinner every night for the next 23 years! Every night. What do I tell my kids? I’ll see you in your 30’s.” You know, like, what – he said, “Well, I think that’s the way it should be.” I said, “Well, then this probably isn’t a good place. Doesn’t mean I don’t love you. Doesn’t mean I don’t eat dinner. Doesn’t mean we’ll never eat dinner. It just means for 23 years that seems like a lot.” “Well, at my last church – “ “Why did you leave?” You know, I mean, that’s what you always get. They’re like, “At my last church they did it like this.” Why’d you leave? “It stunk.” Well, maybe we shouldn’t do it that way. You know, just something to – it’s just weird how people like to come into a system and say, “I want it this way.” You need to be flexible at Mars Hill. Okay? Because, big church. Lots going on. Tons of people. Gotta play by the rules. Organizational.

So, we want you to become a member. We want you to get plugged into The City, which is our online social networking tool. We want you to get into a community group. We want you to serve. We have systems built to do all of this. Again, it’s organizational. How we work together. Missional: We wanna introduce people to Jesus. Philosophical: The way we do things. It is also relational: Loving each other. And theological: What do we believe about the big things in the Bible? We do believe in unity. We fight hard for it. We believe deeply in it. And what we would say is this: We would love for you to get connected. And we would love for you to pray in such a way that Jesus’ prayer is also your prayer. That we would be a church that was for all churches who love Jesus and the Bible. And that as a big church with a lot of responsibility and resources, that we would help and serve churches that love Jesus and the Bible.

If a church loves Jesus, the Bible and lost people; and that’s the essence of his prayer here. If they love him, if they love the scriptures, if they love non-Christians, then you know what we wanna be? We wanna be the church that they consider a friend. That church, those ministries consider us a friend. Someone who loves them, wants to help them, serve them, pray for them, care for them, work with them. That is our heart. That is our goal. Jesus prays that we would have joy through the Holy Spirit, that we’d be missionaries who were sanctified and sent; that we would be unified; that we’d do life together; that we’d do ministry together; that we’d be on mission together. And then his last portion of his prayer, and where Jesus closes, is in verse 24. And he says it this way, “Father,” – and again, through this whole series, if you forget everything that I’ve said, and you probably will, remember this. God is like a perfect, great dad. Most of the problems with prayer are not solved by focusing on prayer. They’re solved by focusing on the fact that God is Father. And whenever Jesus prays we’ve looked at it. Every time he’s prayed, that we have studied, he says, “Father. Dad.” God is like a perfect, loving, powerful, trustworthy, all-knowing, all-present, all-capable dad. If you understand God is dad, prayer just gets easier. It’s talking to dad. Okay?

And I know I’ve reiterated that point, but Jesus keeps bringing it up, so I wanna keep bringing it up. “Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me,” that’s the Christians, “may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you love me, before the foundation of the world.” Jesus lived. Before his birth he’s eternally God and eternity past. “Oh righteous Father, even the world does not know you, I know you. And these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus’ final prayer is this: That you and I would know that he loves us. That you and I would know that he was going to the cross to die in our place, for our sins. That he would rise for our forgiveness and salvation. That he would ascend back into glory. That he would be with the Father in the same position he was in eternity past, before the world was even created. And that you and I would know that if we turn from sin and trust in him and become Christians, he will give us joy in this life. He will give us mission in this life. He will give us unity in this life. And he will give us himself, face to face, forever, in relationship. That’s unbelievable.

For the Christian, this world is not our home, and Jesus says here we will be hated. And he reminds us in the end, “You’ll be with me. You’ll be together forever with me. You’ll finally be home. You’ll have full joy. The mission will be complete. You’ll have perfect unity. And you’ll get to see me. And you’ll get to be with me. And you’ll all be together as God’s people, God’s family, God’s kingdom. Forever. In a world free of Satan and sin and death. We don’t need to pray in that kingdom against the evil one anymore, because there will be no more sin or temptation. Jesus will make everything right. And he begins by putting joy in us, and calling us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, on mission, in the world, together with him, so that as many people as possible would be changed.

And as many people as possible would be with us and with him forever. If you’re here today and you’re not a Christian, here’s the plea. Give your life to Jesus, give your sin to Jesus. There is no joy in the world. And apart from Jesus, there is nothing but hell after this life. We want you to know Jesus. We want you to spend forever together with him. We want you to have joy and mission and unity with us today. So, in a moment, I’ll close us in prayer. Before I do, if you’re here today and you have no unity with someone that you are with, you’re fighting, there’s division, separation, you need to apologize to one another and get that figured out. For those of you who are Christian or become Christian, you’re welcome to take communion. For us, that is where we remember the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. And we take communion together as his people, showing that Jesus’ prayer has been answered; that we do have joy; that we are on mission; that we are together, and we know that Jesus loves us.

All who are Christian are welcome to take of communion. If you’re not a Christian, we ask that you don’t partake. You can give of your tithes and offerings as well, which is part of your worship of Jesus. So, I’ll go ahead and pray and invite the band out. And then it’s your opportunity to respond. Love you Mars Hill. I hope this series has been helpful. And just would encourage you, keep looking at the prayer life of Jesus. We all need to learn how to pray like Jesus.

Father God, we call you father ‘cause Jesus taught us to. Father God, we thank you that you sent the Son, as a missionary, to set an example for us and to give salvation to us. Lord Jesus, we thank you that while you were preparing to go to the cross to atone for our sin, you prayed for yourself, for your disciples who wrote the scriptures for us, and you prayed for us. Lord Jesus, you prayed for us. You prayed that we would have joy through the Holy Spirit. You prayed that we would be on mission, sanctified and sent; set apart from but immersed in this world. You prayed that we would be unified, that we would love one another; that we would have distinction and discussion and even debate, but not division with those who love you, who believe your word, and who are serving you faithfully. So, Lord Jesus, we pray for all the churches and ministries that love you and believe your word. We pray that they would flourish. We pray that we could be of an encouragement to them. We pray that we’d have the humility to learn from them, and we’d have the courage to help them learn, so that we’d all grow to be more like you in obedience to all of scripture. And Lord Jesus, we do trust that you do love us, that you are with us, and one day we’ll be with you. We long for that day. And we ask that we would continue in faithfulness as you continue with us, until we see you face to face. Amen.