God’s Team ~ Recruitment in John 17
This week, Harrison Briner brought the morning message. He spoke about the importance of recruiting others for God’s team. Where better to start, than in reading the Prayer Jesus prayed before being arrested for our salvation’s sake (in John 17)…
First, it is important to understand… God loves you. It doesn’t matter where you are, or what you are doing, He loves you! He wants you on His team. He also commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
This world is full of lost people. Instead of turning them away, we need to minister the love of God to them and disciple them into vessels of His word. Their experiences and testimonies will reach and speak to other lost souls in a profound way. The lost, that we may have no common ground with, still need to hear the Love of God.
He/we will need everyone’s testimonies in the coming days.
God does not want you to change everything about yourself. He made you perfectly you and was with you in every situation – the good and the bad – patiently waiting for you to turn away from your sin, cry out to Him, and come home to Him.
He was there in the light of your victories, friendships, finding love, marriage, having children, reaching goals, and celebrating accomplishments.
He was also there in the darkness of loss, addiction, pain, anxiety, depression, grief, loathing, selfishness, poverty, anger, fear, and sadness. It may not have felt like it at the time, but He was there. He was patiently waiting for you to come back so that He could turn your tragedy into triumph. He will use your unique, triumphant testimony to speak into the lives of the lost in a way that only you can. He needs you on His team.
He will be with you in every situation going forward. Not to condemn you, rather, He wants you to know that He is there with you and has covered your sin with the blood of His son. Jesus, who is sitting at the right hand of God the Father, even now, is interceding for us.
He is ready to turn your trials, or your testimony, into His triumph!
Now that we, who are in the world, now know that we are not condemned, but loved by the Author of all, God the Father, and have had our sins covered by Jesus the Christ, we need to walk as members of God’s team.
Jeremiah 1:5 tells us: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart...” Can you imagine this… Before you were born, you and God had an Isaiah 6:8 moment. Isaiah 6:8 says: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” You raised your hand, and said, “Here - send me!” …You signed up for God’s team before you were even born!
Every member of God’s team is invaluable in their experiences and testimony. Each one is an MVP. God is keeping you in the game. Fortunately, we do not have to fight against this world alone. God has given us a powerup, if you will. Our powerup is the Holy Spirit.
Jesus prays in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” The definition of sanctify is: to set apart for a holy purpose. He wants to refine us through His word and set us apart for a holy purpose for His kingdom.
John 17:22, Jesus continues by saying, “I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one.” Jesus wants us to be one with Him and the Father.
He then says in John 17:24, “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.” He wants us to be with Him in glory. Through our testimonies, He wants us to bring the world – the lost of this world – to Him in glory.
Finally, in John 17:26, Jesus prays, “I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I, Myself, may be in them.” There is nothing more important than having a relationship with Jesus.
Jesus tell us, in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That is the first step in becoming a member of God’s team.
Remember you are not alone in the world nor do you belong to this world but you are supposed to be there to bring the lost home with you.
You are called to build up God’s team. This is accomplished by leading others to Jesus Christ - He is the only way to Heaven. Are you ready to win the ultimate championship?
Here are the scriptures Harrison read:
John 17
Matthew 22:36-39
Revelation 12:10-11
Jeremiah 1:5
Romans 8:34
Hebrews 7:25
Isaiah 6:8
John 14:16-17
John 14:6
