Sermon Guide: John 17:20-26 “Jesus Prays for Our Unity”
Date Preached: March 30, 2025
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Key Passages
John 17:20–26, ESV
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that 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 them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though 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.”
Sermon Overview
Jesus prayed for us, that we might be one — unified in the same way that God the Father and God the Son are unified. That’s a tall order! For that humanly-impossible calling, God provides the power of the gospel through the Holy Spirit, to help us bear witness to the world through our unity and love.
Sermon Structure
1. The Standard of Our Unity
How the Father and Son are unified
Unified in love
Unified in purpose
2. The Power of Our Unity
God’s glory in our life
Look to the cross
Look to the resurrection
3. The Purpose of Our Unity
The belief of the world
Visible love
Questions for Discussion & Reflection
1. Why does the unity of the Church matter so much to Jesus?
2. What would it look like for you to take a next step in being united in love?
3. What about being united in purpose?
