Mike Bickle emphasizes the importance of loving others as a reflection of God's glory, urging the congregation to extend their love beyond familiar circles to those who feel unnoticed or unloved. He highlights that true love mirrors the relationship within the Trinity and is essential for the church's mission, as it demonstrates God's character to the world. Bickle encourages believers to actively seek out and include those who may feel isolated within the church community, reinforcing that every member has a pastoral calling to love and support one another.

Go ahead and have a seat if you'd pull out your bulletin real quick. If you would like the teaching notes for this morning, go ahead and raise your hand up. We'll get those right to you if you didn't get them and you want them. Just a quick report. Take a minute or two from this last week. I had a really dynamic week. I was four days in Dallas with a group of men that I meet with on a yearly basis. There's about 50 different ministries. And they have, most of these men, most of them are senior pastors. A couple of them are mission organizations. And I'm in the category in their eyes of leading a mission organization. So they have a few directors of the mission organizations. And these pastors are, most of them pastor churches of 25,000 to 50,000 people. They're the largest ministries in their nation. Maybe five or six are from Asia, five or six from Africa, six or seven from Latin America. Five or six from America. And they meet every year, this group of leaders. And the rules are that they can't send a representative. The senior leader himself only can come. And they have to stay the whole four days. And they have to do it every year to be a part of that group. It's an invitation-only group. And the reason I'm saying it, because it was such a refreshing and exciting time. The last time I met with them was in Seoul, Korea. I gave a report on that in the last gathering. Next year is in Guatemala City. And, again, they kind of move around the globe. But the reason I'm saying it is because I so value loving the whole church. The body of Christ is so dynamic and so diverse in all these parts of the earth. And I have these strong relationships with different leaders all across the body of Christ. And I just love the church more every time I interact with leaders out there. And I know that many of you do feel the same way. But some of you, you don't think much about that. And I want to take this opportunity to just strengthen that value in our midst of loving the whole church. Not just the people that look like us, that sound like us. The people that have so many different facets of the grace of God. I mean, the body of Christ has so many facets of that diamond. And just coming back from that, I just have a new appreciation. Every time I come back, it's like, wow! The body of Christ is so big, so different, so beautiful, so interesting, so ten other things. So I want to give that report. Then announcement number five. It's an important announcement, event happening. We've announced it the last couple of weeks. But it starts next week. It's called the Transform World 2020. It's a group of 300 of the top mission organizations, of leaders from the top mission organizations in the world. They, about a year ago, decided they all wanted to gather together. We're talking YWAM and Campus Crusade. Those are the two biggest in the world. They each have about 25,000 staff. And a number of other ones that are 5,000 and 10,000 staff members, they came together and said, We want to meet, and we want to talk, and we want to talk to our people. And so they called us about a year ago and said, But we want to do it in the House of Prayer in Kansas City. And so we're hosting them for about four days, next Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And they're leading the meetings. We're just providing the worship team. And so it's their direction. And they want to talk to each other. They want to give reports, and they want to do some strategizing. But they want to do it in the context of night and day prayer. And so they'll be much in the prayer room, probably be in the prayer rooms on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, like from 6 in the morning to about 6 in the evening. So it's mostly that. And then in the evenings, Monday and Tuesday next week, we'll have this info in the bulletin. They're coming down here to talk to each other. And we're going to have all this online. And they're telling us, the number they're giving us, is they have 100,000 prayer groups around the earth. Because these are very large organizations with a lot of big churches related to them. These 100,000 prayer groups are going to stream in to the prayer meetings when they're there, about 12 hours a day. And then they're going to stream in to the two evening meetings, next Monday and Tuesday, from 6 to 10, right here in this room. As they talk to each other. And these leaders are going to be talking to their people from around the world. We get the privilege of joining the meeting to eavesdrop on them. So they're really talking to each other and to their people. And so, hey, you know, it's a big living room. We'll jump in as well. And I want to encourage you to see the value and the unusual blessing of these four days. Again, it starts next Sunday at 6 o'clock at night. And it goes until Wednesday at noon. And we'll have the schedule more broken down in the bulletin next week so you see exactly what it is. In the two evenings down here. And so it's, I mean, it's a historic event. Because never have so many mission leaders of the largest organizations across the whole world come together in one place with 100,000 prayer groups. Or, well, it's their people and they're just forming, you know, one or two hour prayer meetings connecting. And they want to intentionally cast the vision and strategize about world missions in the context of night and day prayer. And so it's such a blessing to us. And I want to encourage you not to look at those two or three days and say, you know, that's just a good time to be doing something else. But if you have free time and if you're on the IHOP staff, you want to make this a total priority because it's your full-time job being on the staff. Be engaged in this. Draw back on other activities. Ten years from now, we'll look back and think, what an amazing event for the top leaders of the world in the missions movement to pray and fast and cry out to God with their people in our living room. I mean, what a great thing to witness, be a part of, listen to what they're saying. Again, they're strategizing and they're giving some updates to each other. And so I just want you to see the value of that. Now, the report I gave a minute ago about these 50 senior pastors of these mega churches, the biggest churches on the earth, and that was last week. And next week is the main mission leaders. And the reason I'm highlighting this is that whether it's the pastors from around the world or the missions leaders, the Lord has blessed us as a spiritual family at FCF to have this connection with these caliber of ministries and leaders. We didn't make it happen. We didn't ask for it to happen. It just came our way. And it just gives us this, what a blessing to have the connection and a front row seat to see what's happening in the body of Christ and to love the church even more and more. And then if that's not enough, this week we have a Russian conference in the midst of that. And what's happening over in Russia or Kiev in the Ukraine, which is a Russian speaking nation, the largest Russian speaking ministry of young adults, they meet every year about 10,000. It's like our One Thing conference over in Russia. And they have a TV program and they have quite a reach to the Russian speaking people. They asked us, they said, you know, we would like to bring our main leaders and our main ministry that is so established in Russia. We would like to come over and have a conference in America, but have it in your building. It's their conference, but it's in our building. And so we're going to have a whole bunch of Russian speaking believers around this week as well. So I told them, you know, in the last day of their conference, it's Saturday night, which is the leaders of the missions movement. A number of the leaders are coming a day or two early. So they'll be with us next weekend. So I said, why don't you guys just dovetail right into this world mission thing. And so a bunch of them are staying a few extra days. And so it's this convergence of the Russians and the missions movement, the prayer movement, and the pastors last week. It's just a glorious moment we're in just to see the kiss of God upon us as a spiritual family. So I told it all. I told the whole story. There you have it. Now let's have the ushers go ahead and come forward and prepare to receive our Sunday morning offering. One announcement, number three, the worship leaders meeting this Tuesday. Just an FYI, you know who you are. You read announcement number three and you can then be a part of that. Father, we just thank you for several hundred right now that are downtown at the St. Patrick's Day parade. Witnessing, speaking about the fame of your son's name. I ask you for the spirit of grace that would manifest, that would be released through them. Even now, Lord, we ask you for thousands of people to come into your glorious kingdom, to be a part of your family. And Lord, I ask you to bless the labors of those that are numbered among the spiritual family, and all the others in the body of Christ that are down there doing outreach. Lord, I ask that the fame of your son's name would go forth, that people's hearts would be wooed and stirred. And we thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen. My heart is awake Though it's night On you high Though I sleep My heart is awake Though it's night It's been a long night It's been a long time And so I wave in the stillness again In the quiet again Heard your voice And when you said my name When I heard your voice My heart And when you said my name Voice My heart Idiot My heart Idiot And though you're far Still I'm here to stay You're so far away Still I'm here to stay I am yours I am yours And I pray my vows No turning right Just can't be found And I pray my vows No turning right Just can't be It's of the shape That you are You are my Jesus You are You are my Jesus We ask that you would hold us We ask that you would uphold the Russell family even this morning That you are the God who carries your people You hold us near Thank you Misty This new CD comes out today It's in the bookstore Only a shadow Wait, wait, wait Give us 30 seconds on it We recorded it live at the One Thing Conference This last One Thing And um Bunch of new songs Yes, a lot of new songs New arrangements of a couple of older ones And is it good? I don't know Yes You guys have to decide I've heard it, it's good A number of new songs Just beautiful ones They had a concert at the One Thing Conference Late at night And that's when they recorded About 10 o'clock at night to about midnight And I tell you the young people really loved it So only a shadow We have it in our bookstore You'll notice our bookstore We opened up We changed it And we're making it a combination bookstore Slash foyer lobby So we're having coffee there From now on the weekend So you can come before the meeting Or meet somebody during the meeting if you want Or afterwards And so we'll keep that going for a while You can kind of browse around Look at books Or you can sit and just fellowship with one another And kind of get caught up with a few folks Let's pray Let's first turn to John 15 And we'll ask the Lord's blessing On the hearing of the word Father we thank you in the name of Jesus For your glorious word Lord we love the way you love us It is so amazing The way that you love The capacity that you have for love And the priority that it is to you And we thank you in Jesus name As we hear your word stir us Lord mark our hearts In a new way in Jesus name Amen Well I'm continuing on a series Called abiding in love It comes from a phrase in John 15 verse 9 Which I believe is the primary The main exhortation of the whole Bible If I had to pick one phrase To sum up what God wants us to do In terms of our life Is to abide in love It's the highest calling It's the most liberating lifestyle It's the thing that God values the most I have here in paragraph A Just by way of review And I don't apologize for the repetition Because until truth gets into our conversation It doesn't transform us You can hear truth You can underline it in your Bible Or on a handout And it won't move you It won't change you Until it gets in your conversation with God Called prayer Or until it gets in your conversation with people Called ministry or fellowship It will not transform your heart And so I want to continue To remind us of these amazing principles In the Bible So that it actually gets into our conversation With God And it gets into our conversation With one another Paragraph A The fact that God is love He's wholehearted love The very being of God The essence of His being Is wholehearted love Love is the number one issue In terms of God's personality It's the highest Of most Of the greatest importance In His personality And it's the primary It's His highest priority In all of His relationships Within His family I have five different expressions Of the love of God First God loves God The Father loves the Son With all of His heart Then God loves us The Father loves us Like the Father loves Jesus With all of His heart The number three It's only natural He says I want you to love me With all of your heart Because that's the culture Of the family dynamics In relationships within the Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit That's the family dynamics They love with all of their heart Each other and they love us And so though our all is small The Holy Spirit beckons us To enter into the relationship With all of our heart So we bring our all Into the relationship Then next we love ourselves We love our neighbor Like we love ourselves In the grace of God The number five We're focusing on in the last session And again today Our love for one another It's the very love That flows between the Father and the Son Flows through us He wants it expressed to other people Paragraph B Now here's the primary verse That we've been looking at John chapter 15 Verse 9 I mean it's so remarkable Jesus speaking at the last supper The night before He would go to the cross He says I'm paraphrasing In the same intensity Of love Of the way the Father loves me In the same way that the Father loves me The same intensity I love you this very way Then He calls us To abide in love Again I consider to be the primary exhortation Of the whole Bible In terms of our lifestyle Then verse 12 He said here's the commandment I want you to love one another He doesn't leave it there He goes I want you to love one another In the same intensity that I love you Like wow this is quite a statement That The way the Father loves Jesus Is the way that Jesus loves us Whoa And Jesus says I want you to love people In the same way I love you Now the good news is that Every command of God Has the promise of the enabling Every command of God Has the promise of the enabling The Holy Spirit wants to mentor us In this kind of lifestyle And we know that Before the Lord is finished with the church Well He's never finished with the church But we know that the Lord is going to bring the church To this reality That when Jesus returns Ephesians 5 says He'll come for a church filled with glory John 15 verse 12 Describes that glory It will be people loving one another In the very overflow Of the way Jesus loves them Now verse 9 Let's look at that again This is the ultimate statement Of our worth The reason you are so valuable Is because Jesus loves you The way the Father loves Him Beloved that gives you value That gives you glory That gives you greatness Beyond what we can really Grasp in this age Well the problem is That though Jesus loves us In this kind of intense Comprehensive way Most believers in the body of Christ They don't feel the power Of that truth It is true The truth of it Is not lessened because so many Don't feel it But the Lord says I have a strategy To help my People enter into the truth Of verse 9 I have a desire that they would feel The power of this truth And my plan and my strategy Is verse 12 I'm going to raise up People that are so grateful For experiencing my love And so energized by it They're going to be the conduits They're going to be the vessels Paul called it joints of supply They're going to be the supply Of my love to other people I'm going to so stir Them up in verse 12 And then I'm going to mandate That they go love the others That can't feel the power of this And in doing that the others Will be touched and renewed And awakened Well that's the That's kind of a master plan of What he wants for the body of Christ Or for the church of the Lord Jesus Now in verse 12 The response that he Wants from us And the solution that he has For the people that can't feel the love of God Is that we would be energized With his love and we would express it to them Now so many people It's quite a dilemma That God loves them In this kind of intensity But they can't feel it at all They feel the pain Of their loneliness Though they're born again believers Loved by God, destined for a resurrected body And the family of God now And the family of God forever But that power just kind of like it Bounces right off of them They can't feel the joy of that at all They live Live unnoticed They're unnoticed in the church They're unnoticed at the workplace They're unnoticed in their neighborhood They go to the mall and they're unnoticed Nobody notices them And they feel the power Of that painful Feeling of loneliness There's no one to rejoice In their victories Or no one that will stand with them And know their sorrows What a terrible way to live But so much of the human race lives that way God says that's not ok With me And particularly the body of Christ He says when I love them so much But they can't feel the power of it I notice them, they're so dear to me But like the little child Said to her father She said daddy I want God with skin on And that's the plan That God with skin on Meaning God through the fellow Members of the body of Christ Is connecting with people That's how they can feel the love of God In a more direct and more powerful way Now the way we Receive from God There's three ways we receive from God In the most general sense Number one we can receive directly From the word and the spirit We read the bible or the spirit stirs us That's obvious The second way we receive Is that people It's God with skin on People minister to us By loving us we feel the love of God But the third way We receive the love of God Is actually by giving it It is a remarkable reality You go pursue somebody to love them You will gain insight In the love of God yourself While you're loving others So we receive it direct number one We receive it from others number two And we receive it by giving it Number three And the plan for this Is called the local church That in every geographic area In the world Every tribe and tongue the gospel Will be preached before Jesus returns And one of the reasons that will happen There's several reasons One reason in every tribe And tongue there will be a local Expression of The family of God which will Show forth the truth Of the father heart of God That the heart of the father Will be so manifest In the way that people Treat one another Loving one another in this way That even unbelievers will see it And they will conclude That God is real This verse twelve Is one of the Main ways Where Jesus said that Unbelievers will conclude God is real Now There's Two ways to read this Verse twelve wrongly To miss what Jesus is saying Number one And it's very normal to do this To read verse twelve The command to love one another With a spirit of entitlement Which people read it and they go Hey the bible says people Should love me how come Nobody loves me I'm mad I'm mad at the church I'm a little bit mad at God I deserve to be loved It's in the bible why won't people Finally wake up and start loving me And Jesus would say Well that verse wasn't To stir up a spirit of entitlement So you would have the pain And anguish of how many people Neglect you but rather It's to empower you to love That's what he's calling us to do He says I'm empowering you I'm commissioning you To be joints of supply Again that's a Phrase from Ephesians 4 where Paul says Every member of the body of Christ Is to be a supply To other members of the goodness Of God and of the ways of God So the first way We can misread verse twelve Is through entitlement Passively waiting for somebody To finally wake up And love me Jesus says no that's not what I'm saying here I'm stirring you up To see others That need the love of God And he wants the strong To pursue the weak but even once The weak I'm talking about spiritually weak He wants the spiritually weak ones To actually take initiative too Because in loving other Weak ones they will actually Discover the love of God themselves In a new way surprising way So the now the Dilemma of this verse Is that you know We can read love one another and think wow That's kind of neat we can kind of get a Idealistic rosy picture Of what that would look like But the truth is The people were mandated to love And show God's love to the way God Loves them they're flawed people It's us It's people that by nature Are selfish people that By nature are They're grouchy They're moody they're ungrateful You can even pursue them and love you And they I mean to love them And they might respond in a critical way And you call this love I don't call this love You know I don't know about this So this group were called To love they are flawed And broken people So don't get a kind of an idealistic Picture of what this looks like This is A But But the thing is When we do it we mirror And we display the way the father is What the father is like And we might you know a lot of folks will say You know I want to love My own group Of 8 or 10 that I'm comfortable with And they limit the scope Of this verse 12 To just the comfort zone of a few people They're familiar with People that are like them People that like the same things They like they're the same age They look the same they dress the same They like the same entertainment And that's good to love that group of people But verse 12 Is not limited To us loving 8 or 10 people That like the same movies we like And like the same recreation entertainment That's good to do that But this is a mandate in verse 12 To go outside of the scope Of that which we're comfortable With and even to love Find the people That have nobody's pursuing Them at all But the Lord says I love them and I love them as much As I love you and I love you As much as I love Jesus And I am committed to raising up People to pursue these people To show them how I feel about Them and to give a Display of their value To me Now I encourage people I say you know we gotta love outside the comfort Zone of the 8 or 10 people we might be Familiar with that again Like the things we like And of the same age the same orientation The same focus of life And Lord says no I want your scope bigger Than that He wants us loving Outside the cool zone And what I mean by the cool zone It's whoever you think Is cool those are easy to love And I don't even know what cool means it means something Different to everybody but we have A tendency well that group is cool I wanna love them and that's good that's biblical But we don't want to be Limited to the people we know And the people that are cool In a few minutes When we end I'm gonna encourage you to pray And our prayer is this we're gonna ask The Holy Spirit to highlight In the next 30-40 days Three people in our own midst I'm talking about the church loving the church right now Now we need to love The lost and that's another subject That's very very important but that's not My focus today I'm talking about In our midst there's always about 30% in the body of Christ I've seen this over the years that's kind of A guesstimation number That are the outside Of the circle of anybody pursuing them They come to the church They go to the meetings they go to home groups They go to friendship groups and still nobody Pursues them there And I'm just guessing about 30% They're just frozen In the pain of their loneliness They're frozen In the tyranny of lies about How big of a failure they are That they don't have a future They're hopelessly a failure Nobody desires them There is no future for them there's nobody Interested in them nobody Wants them on the team I remember talking to a woman once And born again believer and she was Crying and she says Nobody on the earth Loves me It was the most terrifying statement She was just weeping so Desperately she goes nobody Loves me been part of a particular Church for 30 years she goes no one In that church loves me And I thought number one I didn't believe her But number two I thought what a Powerful negative Emotion And there's I'm guessing usually about 30% of the body of Christ that feels that way And the Lord's telling the 70% You are my Strategy to expose The lies in their heart and to Liberate them from the tyranny Of those lies You are my plan to Show them how I feel And so when we read Verse 12 we don't want to read it With a sense of entitlement And number two we don't want to read it In too limited of a scope of just A few people that like what we like And look like us and do what we do But we Want to have the eyes of the Holy Spirit I'm going to ask us all to say Holy Spirit Show me three people In the next you know 30-40 days That I can lock into And together with a few others That we can pursue them and we can Include them in Our world and we can Include them in our relationships And they may be 50 years older or 50 years younger than you they may have A different skin color they may Like entirely different kind Of recreation and entertainment That's not the point You know different ones have said to me Well I don't really feel drawn to that guy And I said so what the father feels drawn to that guy He's got a human Spirit he's born again He's eternally in the family That's enough for us To value them and go after them And it's not about just Liking the people that like us You know again I mentioned these are flawed people like us We're all flawed And we get this idea We love people as long as they respond right As long as they're fairly gracious In return the response of our love Back to us But if they're moody they're grouchy They complain too much they don't appreciate it They don't respond you know forget them I'll move on And the Lord would remind us He goes well you're moody you're grouchy You don't respond right You complain against my leadership You don't talk to me very much and I want to talk to you But I don't move on I keep pursuing you And I want you to pursue People the same way Now another part that's so remarkable About this commandment Is that He wants us to love people Again outside of the comfort zone Of our familiar 8 or 10 or whatever that number Might be or 4 or 5 And outside of the cool zone the people that we think Are really would be fun to be with We're talking about the stronger Ones pursuing the weaker ones spiritually We're talking about Pursuing people that cannot enhance Your Popularity they can't Enhance your status they can't enhance your Profile they can't enhance Your economic base They can't enhance you in any way What so ever in the natural And again the Father could Remind us there's nothing You do that enhances my Natural resources at all You don't help my Economic situation you don't help my Popularity you don't do anything In the natural but I love you Because I'm loved and you're so dear to Me so I'm talking about Having the eyes of the Lord When we're looking at this commandment To love one another and again Not just being nice and You know and helpful to the 8 or 10 that do what we do and look Like we look and like what we like I'm talking about something Far more dynamic than that Now again Jesus Mentions several times that when People love that way unbelievers Are deeply impacted Jesus said unbelievers will Conclude God's real when Believers love each other and the reason why Unbelievers they Reason they take a step back and look And when love is consistently Shown I don't mean a one Time outreach I'm talking About for years and decades Where the stronger Ones pursue the weaker Ones where the stronger Ones pursue those that can't Give anything back to them in the natural Where the weaker Ones again are Not responsive they're not Happy they're not fun to be around but The stronger ones spiritual that's okay With me because that's how God loves me And unbelievers Take a step back and they go this is quite Remarkable we've watched this Happen for some years again this is More than one time outreach and everybody Gets saved because they see the love of God it's a consistent lifestyle Of the local church the body Of Christ and the unbelievers Conclude this is very unnatural For the stronger ones to give So much to the weaker ones and the Weaker ones are unresponsive they got Bad attitudes and they don't give anything Back why they Conclude your God must be a father Your God Who is inspiring you to Sustain this kind of unnatural Value system the one That's inspiring you must Have loved you this way and empowered You to stay with this and they Conclude their God is The real God and not only that He's a father God Because he's designing the whole Operation of his kingdom for People loving and pursuing and Valuing people who can't Find value themselves It's a marvelous reality Look at paragraph C I mentioned This in our Last session that the father has a deep Desire to have a Family from before the foundation of the World the reason he Created the heavens and the earth The reason he redeemed he wanted a family The joy Within the family dynamics Of the Godhead the father son and Holy spirit dwelling in these Glorious Magnificent family dynamics The father said We're going to extend the family To human beings and make a way For them to actually come near Us in family relationship I mean this must have been Shocking to the angels when the plan Was made known Surely you can save them and make them Workers in your kingdom like us The angels forever they can be in your kingdom Like us and the father says no i'm a Father they're going to enjoy the Family dynamics with father son And spirit i mean what a remarkable Reality Now in verse 18 Of Matthew 16 verse 18 Jesus He declares His plan this is a most Dynamic prophecy I will build my church That is the primary Building plan And agenda on the heart of god To build the local church To bring the people of god Together in spiritual families In every single geographic Area in the earth And before the lord returns it will be In every tribe and every tongue There will be a local expression Of people where Weaker ones pursue stronger Ones like god pursues them And the glory of the father Will be displayed in that kind Of reality again it's not Just a few folks hanging Out with their friends and you know enjoying The same movies and games and say hey we're Christians that's fellowship beloved Kingdom community Is built on kingdom values It's not enough just to have some entertainment Recreation and say since we're born again We have kingdom community Now that's the secular view of Community although i'm all for a little entertainment Recreation but there's kingdom Values need to be in place For it to be kingdom community A lot of folks seek community But it's a secular paradigm And it's not the kingdom value Derived paradigm of community And really it's a substitute Counterfeit of what god's after In verse 16 he says I'm going to build a church That translates i'm going to have Spiritual families in every Single regions of the earth And they will stay together And the stronger ones Will pursue the weaker ones And the stronger ones will be the Joint of supply the conduit the Vessel to express my Love to the weaker ones And unbelievers will witness it and say There must be a father Engineering this whole operation God must be a father So jesus makes it very Clear i'm building a church Now today the church is not so popular But i tell you it's popular In heaven it's number One on god's agenda to build This body of christ as local Spiritual families all across the earth Now our city is Blessed as Many cities are in the western world Because we have a hundred congregations Plus in our city we have a hundred Spiritual families i mean that's Remarkable many cities Of the earth don't have even one They don't have the gospel Preach in other cities maybe have one or Two i mean some of these islamic Nations i mean the family of god's Very small and very kind of A remote but beloved we live in a City that's so blessed in a nation Where there's a multitude of Spiritual families and Sometimes because of that we lose Sight of how strategic and Valuable this is to god the Bill he's coming back for a For a a spiritual family That's built together that has A sense of belonging that's deeply Connected to each other he's not coming back To a bunch of independent western Christians that kind of wave at each other Every now and then he's coming back for a Church that's functioning together As a real family showing The value of god to the others Where everyone Feels pursued everyone Has a sense of belonging Everybody feels they're a part Of it because the This isn't the exact number but the 70 percent that have a sense Of that are committed to have a deeper Sense but then but not just To go deeper but to include the 30 that have no percent i mean No sense of it the 30 percent They go to the meetings they go to the Prayer room they go to the home groups the Friendship groups we call them but still Nobody pursues them And they just sit there and i mean Here you know we got a hundred new groups that We've started friendship groups and Without this paradigm there will be People that will sit in those groups for Six to twelve months and People will be nice to them they agree to hug Them hi and come in and nobody Will talk to them much besides you know Real like conversation and nobody will talk to Them outside the group and a year later they Will conclude you know what it's real I'm unnoticed i'm unimportant God probably doesn't really Love me or at least i can't feel the power Of it and the lord says no i have A solution for you i'm raising Up a kingdom community of people I mean this is all over the earth and They are going to do kingdom values And my church my family Will function like a family That's what he's saying here in verse Eighteen when he says i'll build my Church he's saying my church Will function like a spiritual Family with all the diversity And the uniqueness Yet all of the value That is communicated because that's The way god values the stronger Ones and they get it and out Of the gratitude of that value they Go value the weaker ones they They express that value Now he says he makes this Most glorious promise He says the gates of hades which Means hell the gates of hell The authority of hell Will not prevail over My people when they function As a spiritual family i mean This is remarkable he's saying That i'm going to raise up spiritual families That are completely free Of demonic influence And demonic oppression now this Is going to happen worldwide before The lord returns i mean where The church is functioning without Demonic oppression or Demonic influence on the inside Of the family verse Nineteen he says i'm going to give them authority To bind the negative The demonic things and I'm going to give them the authority to loose The positive things the blessing of god Now a lot of people Get excited about the authority To bind the negative and to Loose the positive but they Sometimes people will read verse Nineteen and they will isolate it But i want you to know That the power of verse Nineteen is contextualized With the plan Of god to have a spiritual Family that's strong and vibrant Where the weak pursue the strong And communicate the value of god to them Now this might be a new idea To some of you but by The command to love one another From verse twelve Intrinsic in that command Is a pastoral responsibility Of every single member Of the body of christ Every believer in the body of christ Actually has a pastoral calling No matter if they have other callings That are even primary That are even more pronounced So i hear people say He's a pastor he's not a pastor the truth be Known the command to love one another Is the commission for Everybody to operate In the pastoral anointing the pastoral grace Now i'm not saying that you quit Your job and you make it your full time Occupation there's only a small percent You know a fraction of one percent That do that But the whole of the body Has an anointing has a mandate Has a calling to function in the pastoral Calling to express Jesus the great shepherd Jesus the great the Chief shepherd the pastor To express his heart to other people Now a lot of believers don't Know they have that calling They've never connected They think you know i got a few friends And i want to have a few friends to make my life happier And that's cool but the lord says No it's more than that I want you to be an extension of my pastoral Ministry to those three or four or ten And i want you to go beyond The scope of your familiar friends You are one of my pastoral Vessels in the body of christ I mean there's a billion of us in the earth But a lot of folks neglect That because they don't know that's part of their Calling again it may not Be your primary calling but it's a part of Your calling let's look at roman Numeral two now this is a Remarkable verse john 17 verse 22 Jesus is praying to the Father and he makes these Remarkable statements About the family dynamics Within the godhead the way the father Son and spirit relate But he doesn't just make a statement To how they relate He ties it in to how we Relate to them with those family dynamics But doesn't stop there It's not just us relating to father son and spirit In these particular ways but then We relate to one another in the overflow Of those same family dynamics That's what john 13 to 17 these five chapters I've been focusing on in this series They are unveiling The mystery and the glory Of the family dynamics within the trinity That every individual believer Participates in some a lot More than others because they have a greater Understanding but they also Express those family dynamics To one another this is one of these Classic verses and there's quite a Few of them in john 13 to 17 These five chapters are I mean there's nothing like these five Chapters in the whole of the word of god for This subject Jesus is praying In verse 22 He says father the glory You gave me i mean that's a Subject like that's a vast subject For another day He says i have given that Same glory to them I mean that is so Big and so awesome and it just Almost hurts my heart i mean it's so Big it stretches me you Have given the glory the father Gave you to me Are you sure Jesus is that what you meant yes That's what i meant Then he goes on and he ties it Together to the church Functioning in love And he goes when you see That glory and that's we're going to spend the next Ten minutes on and and then we're going to pray For you he says when you See that glory That is what enables you That's what empowers you To be one And then he goes on to Bring it up a notch one like the father And i are one in our family relationship Oh there you're going so big Jesus i mean that's just so massive Of course it takes the holy spirit's Insight to even see this a little Bit So now when he says that they may be One in the place of one You can you can put the word They will love one another Because john 17 22 is tied To the verse we looked at a minute Ago john 15 verse 12 love One another when he says they will be One that's the same thing as they love one Another when he says they Will be one that's the same thing as i Will build my church meaning They will function as a healthy family I mean they will Function as a family not in the Absence of their flaws but In the presence of their flaws Because they're so moved by The way god loves them instead Of dismissing each other in the presence Of flaws they stay resilient In love in the overflow of how god Loves them but the Whole thing is contingent on Them understanding i Have given them the glory That you gave me father And when they see that glory They will be one Or they will love one another more or They will function as a healthy Spiritual family in the presence of The flaws of the people that they love Those are all saying The same thing in different language Now look at Paragraph a Our unity or ability To love our ability to Function as a family is directly Proportionate to how much We see god's glory If we see god's Glory in the person of jesus number one We see god's glory In our own weakened broken Life as born again believers But it doesn't end there we see The glory of god in the life of another Flawed weakened broken Born again believer when we See the glory in those three ways To the degree we see it Our ability to function In love or our ability to Walk in unity which is synonymous It is enhanced to the Degree that we see this Glory of god Now i like to think of We experience god's Glory and i write this is Not a doctrine this is just a kind of A perspective in three different Stages number one The day we're Born again and the holy Spirit comes to live in our spirit And we're totally forgiven and we have A new legal position as being In christ and the father relates to us Through jesus the day We're born again we receive the Glory of god now the challenge is we Don't feel it the challenge Is with our natural thinking We can't see it and measure it But the holy spirit Says i'll help you see it i'll give You little hints and i'll Give you insights into the glory But you'll need my help to see it But the truth is you did receive it Well most believers Don't experience very much of The glory they received they don't see it They don't feel the power of it They don't see it in others So the glory is theirs but they Experience so little of it It's almost as though they're not Operating in any of it And others That have greater understanding They experience more of it But there's these seasons of Revival where There's a heightened Release of the presence of god and People tend to in seasons of revival To experience the glory In their own life and see it in the lives Of others but i have good news for you At the end of the age Right before the lord Returns in those final years or maybe Decades even there's going to be Release of glory jesus is coming back For a church filled with glory Ephesians 5 27 the church Will be filled with glory i'm Talking about before he returns So when it says The church will be filled with glory that is Synonymous with the church will Function in love that's those are synonymous But then There's a glory in the resurrection Where we will enter into a far Greater unity a far greater Dimension of love but beloved i'm not Going to wait till the resurrection to Enjoy the glory in my Life and the glory in your life Let's look at a top of page Two we'll just take a another couple Moments maybe four or five more minutes and Bring this to a To a A conclusion so we can Respond to the lord in this Look at hebrews chapter 2 Verse 7 Now the writer of hebrews is Describing The redeemed here's how God sees you in christ God crowns you with Glory he crowns you with honor Verse 10 The master plan of God from before the foundation of The world was always to have many Sons of glory Now the sons is it Transcends gender just like men are the Bride of christ women of the sons of god Here's the point from the very Beginning the father says i have an agenda I'm going to have many Sons who receive the glory Of god they operate in it Now look at paragraph C This is the prayer that's most Prayed at ihop Ephesians 1 17 and 18 this is in our 14 years This one has been prayed the most of in It now notice it says This paul prays to the father of Glory he doesn't just pray to the God of power He says you are Not just god you are A father god you have a father's Heart and you possess All the glory you Express and communicate the Glory through your family i mean this is a Remarkable title the father of glory He has it all but he Has a father's heart to impart it And to communicate it through his children Now look at verse 18 here's the prayer That every single Born-again believer would know What are the riches Of the glory of being God's inheritance i mean what a remarkable Reality He says i pray that everybody Would know now this is not intellectual Data in the new Testament when the word no is used Relating to our experience with god It's knowledge with Experience So here's what paul's praying every Single believer would know with Experience not just data The glory of being God's inheritance Beloved do you understand you Are jesus's inheritance You are what he wants The problem is we don't feel the Power of it but it's not just that You are what he wants The other person on the other Side of the room here is are They are one of the people god Wants so it's not just an Issue we don't see it so clear For our own lives We need to see it in the life Of the other person we're ministering To and that's the focus that I'm locked in today seeing The glory of who that other Person is they have no Idea how dear they are To him again they live a Life many people unnoticed Nobody celebrates Them nobody pursues them Nobody includes them And they don't know that god loves Them and chose them as his own inheritance Let's look at paragraph D paragraph D here now let's go on to e This is a will will will end with this Paragraph e colossians chapter 3 Paul makes this Most dramatic statement he says you died And your life Is hidden with christ in God Then Verse 4 he says when jesus Appears at the second coming is the idea Then the glory Of your life will also Appear when jesus Appears now there's Quite a few thoughts here i'll just mention one or Two your life As a born again believer is hidden With christ In god here's what that means It means you can't see The glory of your life with your own eyes And others cannot see The glory of your life with their natural Eyes it takes The aid and the ministry of the Spirit to see this glory it's hidden From us and it takes Holy spirit revelation to see it Now in this age we'll only see in part We'll see a little bit But here's what paul says he goes i got good news For you it goes it's only Hidden from you from your natural Your natural observation You can't measure it in natural Ways right now but the glory is In your life now anyway He says but verse four He says be encouraged Because when the lord appears The true glory Of your life as a born again believer Will at last be Very clear to you and everybody Else the glory of your life what do i mean By that Every small act of Obedience every choice To obey god to Love god to love people Is remembered by god And it moves god's heart And he will openly Declare it when you were before him on the last day I mean beloved this is remarkable Jesus said i want to assure you Every cup of cold water You give somebody in my name It moves me and i Will openly tell you How i feel about the way you love me Giving that cup of cold water Some of you will be before the lord you'll say Oh lord that was 40 years ago I don't remember giving that cup of cold water And the lord says i will never forget it And i you will never Forget it the glory of your life Will be clear to you Then but here's the Situation your life is Glorious now even though you can't See it we have the word that Describes all this to us I don't want to wait to the resurrection To see this At least in part and i don't want to wait for the Resurrection to see it in your life either I want to see it in your life By what the word says about the glory That's in you and what the spirit Again will stir us up and inspire us In this i mean it's a glorious reality Now The like the glory of god Is it has such a it's invisible Usually there Are some dramatic Demonstrations of it every Now and then but mostly it's invisible And you can't measure it with your natural Mind but it's true Nonetheless for instance the glory of god's operating Right now Here i am a weak broken Flawed man Speaking some phrases And some of you are in the room Listening to these phrases and in your Heart you're saying i want to obey god I want to love people more That's the glory of god That a weak broken flawed man Could say weak things and a Weak person like you could conclude i want To love god more beloved the glory of god Is operating today right now Every prayer You pray it has some Impact on the spirit we can't see it But on the last day you will the glory Of god's operating every time you Encourage your wife your children Another person you go out of your way to pursue Someone it's the glory of god you give A cup of cold water well i didn't feel Nothing the lord says i did I don't even remember it the lord says i'll never Forget it Now here's our Mandate in our pastoral calling every One of us have it we are to Tell people about the glory of god In their life and when we Stay see the glory in their own life Beloved they will receive love And they will give love that's what john 1721 says they will Walk in unity they will see love And they will express love more When they see the glory that's in Them i mean you go To the guy and you say this to the guy I mean the simple little phrases You say it you know You say you know what i see the Sincerity in your heart for the lord The guy goes really Well i'm just a hypocrite failure I'm not really sincere I mean i love you but i'm such a wreck Forget it you know what you have a Call of god on your life and what you're Doing matters to god forever And it matters to the body And jesus wants you to his Inheritance he wants you on the team And i want you on my team and what i Mean by that is my relational swirl Guy has a tear coming down his Face he goes you know i've been in the kingdom 20 years no one's ever said Those words to me once ever Now some of you hear words Like that so often those words Don't don't move you in the same way But beloved there's about 30% of the Body that never ever Hears simple things like this You're communicating the glory Of god the glory that they have Their sincerity the Value of just their weak Service how important it is and The fact you want them a part of your swirl Your your relational circle That's the glory of god i tell you we change We transform lives in these simple Ways amen And amen I'm gonna invite you to stand We want to be a community a spiritual Family that operates in the glory together And i realize i gave You a like a fire hydrant I realize that But just ask the lord to highlight a few These principles to you just as you go Just this week say lord just touch me with one or two Of these points i'm gonna lead You in prayer i've got two different prayers i'm Praying for you and but i want you I'm just gonna say them real quick and then you Will be quiet for a few moments as the worship Team comes up just begins to Lead with the instruments But here's the deal that you will say yes To the pastoral calling on your life Say lord it's a new idea but uh Hey it's not my Main calling but i am called i get a Pastoral anointing okay i just never thought about it I'm called to love people and to Show your heart to them okay okay i'll Quit neglecting it never even thought About it and secondly we're gonna Say lord in the next 30 40 days Show me three People in this spiritual family Again we want to love the church outside of these Walls and we want to love the lost but i'm Talking about in our own family we right Now we want that Thirty percent that hypothetical Number so lord show Me three of them that i can include In my regular pursuit i don't Mean a one-time conversation but i'm gonna Include them they may be in a friendship group with You but again a lot of people In friendship groups they sit in the group For months and nobody ever pursues Them outside the group say i'm gonna get a Few guys or gals and we're gonna go after them So let's just pray and ask The lord for this Holy spirit i i say yes to the Pastoral calling now you take about 30 Seconds and you just say what you want to say just Quietly to the lord say i'll do it I Okay if that's my Part of my calling okay i'm in Commit yourself that That's a commitment to love one another that's outside Of your comfort zones when you're outside the cool Zone Say yeah lord i'll Do it i love you If you want me to show that to people i'm in Now Pray this prayer and i ask you to pray this prayer For the next couple weeks show me three People in this spiritual family That i can Pursue i can include them In some of my regular Relationship uh Cycles that i'm involved in my Racial patterns at home group or We're getting a few of us get together i'm gonna call Them and i'm gonna have them join us Show me three people say how Will i know i don't know Three people you say okay that's it The lord will highlight them to you in a real subtle way Now holy spirit i ask you Just to answer Us in this way In the name of jesus Amen What you see Come and open up Anyone that wants prayer Go ahead And come on down to these lines right here For anything We want to see A prayer for physical healing Come and open up Prayer even for this pastoral Anointing in your life Our district Pastors will be at the friendship group board if you Want to get involved in one of those groups Anyone that wants prayer for anybody And i'm gonna ask the rest of you to come up And we want everybody prayed for at least twice Anyone in the rooms welcome To come up pray for people just take one minute Pray for two different people at least I Want to see What you see Come and open up I Want to see Your glory Open up Our eyes Walk in your glory Open My eyes Jesus Walk in your glory Release your power Show me how to love I want to walk In your glory Show me how To love I want to walk In your glory Open my eyes Jesus I want to walk In your glory Show me how To love I want to walk In your glory Show me how To love I want to walk In your glory Open my eyes I want to see your glory Show me how To love I want to see your glory Open my eyes I want to walk In your glory Show me how To love I want to walk In your glory Open my eyes I want to walk In your glory Show me how For a family Open my eyes to see your glory Open my eyes to see your glory All around me