After a victorious battle Churchill said it was only the end of the beginning, yet at the close of his life he admitted he saw no hope, in decisive moments our words reveal who we really are. Hours before his death Jesus does not speak of his own suffering; he prays, and he prays for us (John 17). The sermon walks through three requests in that prayer: the mutual delight of Father and Son, the faithfulness of disciples in a hostile world, and a unity by which the world will recognise him. Listen to the prayer in which you were named.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In John 17 Jesus prays just hours before His death, yet He speaks mostly about the mutual glorifying of the Father and the Son rather than about suffering. What does this tell us about how He viewed the approaching cross?
- Jesus does not ask the Father to take His disciples out of the world, but to protect them from the evil one and sanctify them in the truth. Why do you think He wants them to remain in a world that will hate them?
- The sermon says our culture wants everything to revolve around us, while the relationship of the Father and the Son is like a dance where each one moves around the other. In which areas of your life is it hardest for you to step out of the center?
- The story of the woman in a Kyiv prison who kept a Bible under her pillow for five years shows that Jesus is glorified through faithfulness in a dark place. What could that kind of faithfulness look like in your current struggles?
- Jesus prays that we would be one so that the world may believe. What do you think makes a church a foretaste of hell or a foretaste of heaven for people looking in from outside?
- With which person in your church community can you take a concrete step toward unity or reconciliation this week, so that God's love becomes contagious to others?
