On the Road to “Getting It”

John 17

We have been on a journey through the Gospel of John. It’s not a finished journey, but it is
one that will need to take a break as we prepare ourselves for a journey through Advent. I have
loved this gospel. This particular chapter is a great place to take our leave because it gives us a
sense of commission. It is time to get into gear. It is time to practice what we learn.

This is called the “highly priestly prayer” of Jesus. He prays to the Father for his disciples
and for those who will BE his disciples. He is ready to hand it over. He is handing it over to the
Father for his ultimate sacrifice. He is handing it over to the Father who will then send the Spirit
to empower the disciples. He is ready to hand the task over to his disciples as well.

He is ready to leave and he is committing all of this to the Father. This is the amazing
thought, especially considering the time and the circumstances: what he has accomplished to this
point is enough for these disciples to keep going.

Think of it. No universities. No seminaries. No video series. No podcast. No websites. Zip.

Honestly, how in the world can they go on with what Jesus has done to this point?

That’s the thing... JESUS knows... even if they don’t. Jesus knows... even if WE don’t.

Trust him.

I am fairly sure the disciples have no earthly clue at this point as to what is ahead, or what
is really needed. If they thought about it, they might have screamed, “NO!”

Fortunately, they weren’t thinking too much about it. Even if they HAD said “NO” Jesus
would have still said “YES”.

What has he left them?

He has demonstrated the Kingdom. His teaching. The way he touched people. The way he has
moved in power. All along the way the 12 have been with him. They have watched. They’ve asked
questions. They’ve even “practiced” at times.

Still, it’s about to change radically. With Jesus there, they could still have room for error
and he was physically present to bail them out.

In Matt. 17 they couldn’t cast the demon out of the boy. Jesus bailed them out.

Without Jesus? How is THAT going to go?

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On the Road to Getting It Pastor Dan Thompson
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 This is HUGE. This chapter is amazing. Think about all the “IFS” at this point in time! And
Jesus is fully confident of what is unfolding. He is ready to commit it all to the Father... and turn it
over to his disciples.

Jesus has full confidence in them. He has full confidence in YOU.

He has prepared them. The Spirit is promised. What he said and did the Spirit would be
there to remind his followers. The Father would have all the resources of the Kingdom at the ready!

JUST ASK!

So here he lovingly commits it all to the Father. It is time.

He could say to the disciples: “It is time. Now, go to be what you have been designed to BE.”

GO BEAR FRUIT!

GO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

It’s a daunting task. Do they “get it?” Jesus is sure they do, even if they aren’t so sure.

The call comes to us. We are the Church. Go make a difference. We may be on the road to
“getting it.” Jesus has confidence in us. The power of the Spirit is there.

Go bear fruit. What is that like in the Kingdom of God? What is “fruit” for the Church?

It’s not just about numbers. It is about making disciples. It is about reproducing Kingdom
life in people.

Jesus is calling us to bear fruit. Jesus is calling us to BE the Church. Live out the power of
the Kingdom here on earth. What truly MARKS us as the people of God?

One NT scholar said this about what Jesus is saying here:

“This is the ESSENCE of Jesus’ vision for the church. It is not a community that heals
people just so they will be whole (though healing is important); it is not a community that teaches so
that people will be gratified by knowledge (though wisdom is valuable); it is not a community that
evangelizes so that it will grow its ranks (though its mission to the world is crucial). The church is a
community that invites people to touch the glory of God, to be changed by it, and to bear it to the
world... Spiritual fruit is essentially that which glorifies God.” (Gary Burge, NIV Application
Commentary on John)

The things we DO are important. But MORE than that, the things we DO must lead to the
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GLORY of God!

We want to be a place where week after week there is an opportunity in worship to truly
touch the glory of God. Then, we want to be a place that EQUIPS you to LIVE in the glory of God
all through the week so you can invite others to touch what you have touched. Invite others to the
change you have indeed experienced in your own life.

Let’s be reminded of the important elements of our life as a Church. Then let’s remember
it’s ALL so we can touch the glory of God!

KEY ELEMENTS

The first one is a ten dollar word so you can impress your friends.

1. TRANSCENDENCE

 a state of being or existence above and beyond the limits of material experience
 the state of excelling or surpassing or going beyond usual limits

Here is the thing to remember: There is a God and you’re not him.

There is a need to understand in our lives that there is something BEYOND us. We are not
the ultimate. We act like it. We’re not.

We have such amazing abilities as humans. We build cities below sea level and then expect
to hold off hurricanes. And we pretty much can do that 99% of the time.

We make super-colliders deep in the bowels of the earth so we can smash two particles
together and actually look at the building blocks of life. It’s pretty awesome.

But we’re not God. We’re not ABOVE the limits of material experience.

And there is a reality in this world that is growing that there really IS something … or
someone … beyond us. There is a hunger to connect to spiritual reality.

As Pentecostals who believe in the power of the Spirit, we need to wake up this power and
begin to MOVE in that power! WE have the place in this world where we actually BELIEVE to you
can talk to God and he hears and he acts and miracles can still flow.

We need to remember to connect ourselves, and others, to the TRANSCENDENCE of God.

That’s why we don’t want worship services that look like the local bar or coffee shop. God is the
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One who came down to us, but we also need to realize he is still NOT us! We need to approach him
with awe. We need to understand we are connecting with true power!

This is a place and worship on Sunday is a time where you can connect with the power of the
Spirit. You can experience the indwelling God. You can do it all the rest of the week as well, but ON
SUNDAY, we want to connect with the living, powerful, GREAT God who is NOT us!

This is a day where people are seeking the God who seems present. We are to be living
examples of that.

Touch his glory in these times of worship! Go after him! Press in! Let his glory change your
life!

2. TEACHING

We must be anchored in truth.

When the power of God comes into our lives, we need to understand what happened.

On the day of Pentecost there were those who heard what was happening and came to see.
They heard the strange babbling in tongues.

Peter stood up and TAUGHT them. He proclaimed the life of Christ to them. He opened up
the Word to them.

They asked, “What is happening?” and Peter could deliver the goods. FROM THE WORD!

Jesus’ prayer is that we be sanctified IN TRUTH. The Word of God is TRUTH.

We beat this drum and we will continue to beat this drum. WE MUST BE PEOPLE OF THE
BOOK!

I want to be faithful to take us TO this Book and take us THROUGH this book. I want you
to be able to live IN this Word and find the LIVING WORD that is Christ. From the youngest in
our church to the oldest we must continue to learners.

NEVER STOP YEARNING TO KEEP ON LEARNING!

There was a credit card commercial years ago that had the tag line: “Don’t leave home
without it!”

I had a North Central teacher who believed in keeping notes and jotting down good ideas.
He would study the Bible and find some nugget and find a way to jot it down. He carried little note
cards with him all the time.
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On the Road to Getting It Pastor Dan Thompson
John 17 Columbia Heights AOG
 One sermon he preached in chapel focused on his mantra: NEVER STOP YEARNING TO
KEEP ON LEARNING! Then, he pulled out his note cards and said, “Don’t leave home without them!”

Let’s hear this call. Let’s take up the call.

TEACH the Word! LEARN the Word!

Wednesday nights for the adults we are going through a series that I call ESSENCE. What
are the fundamentals of core belief in the life of a believer. We’re having a great time with it. We
need to be reminded!

When we come to the table of the Lord, we TEACH. We remember. We can’t let this lesson
get old. We need to be refreshed in our lives as to what is VITAL.

Teaching isn’t just the lecture. It’s the object lesson. It’s the table of the Lord that
teaches us week after week what is vital in our lives.

There are basic teachings we need to be reminded of from time to time.

The creeds of the Early Church were teaching tools. They reminded believers constantly of
what was vital.

(I believe) in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

There are reminders we need to have in our lives. It’s not to bore us. It’s to set a rhythm...
a pattern. Let that pattern be formed in us and become the base note of our lives!

Sometimes we have to read it because we forget it! If we read it enough it becomes part of
our memory and then becomes part of our flow of life.

We keep on teaching! We keep on reminding!

We need to keep on pressing into the Word. We will keep on insisting we follow this pattern
in this Church.

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 NEVER STOP YEARNING TO KEEP ON LEARNING!

3. Fellowship

Part of the purpose of the Church is to connect people. It’s to build community. The Body of
Christ IS the place to connect.

This is where unity is found.

The unity Christ speaks of in this passage isn’t how we think of unity in human terms. Too
often we think of unity as “sameness.” We have to all look the same, talk the same, etc.

The unity is IN CHRIST. HE is the One we love. So, you can have worship songs that love
Jesus in English or Spanish or Arabic. You can have different rhythms in Africa, South America or
Europe. You can have different looks in a worship service from Lutheran to Baptist to Pentecostal...
and the UNITY is Christ!

Without the Spirit bringing it together, this is an impossible task. The work of the Spirit
holds us together.

When I am together with my brothers and sisters who lead other churches here in town, I
have a unity with them in Christ. When we come together to brainstorm on an idea that reaches
people in compassion ministries I can sense a unity that is beautiful. We come together for the
cause of Christ.

We need each other. We need each other in Columbia Heights Assembly of God. We need to
lean on each other. Rejoice with each other. Pray for one another. Call each other on to great things
in God.

We’ll be connecting tonight in our pre-Thanksgiving/holiday/Christmas dinner. We have

times where we learn from each other and we find ways to love each other.

4. MISSION

We do the work of Christ in this world. We grow in Christ, becoming less LIKE this world.
Jesus declared to the Father, “They are not of this world.”

Yet, we stay connected TO the world. We demonstrate the power and glory of Jesus.

This past month has been phenomenal in one aspect of mission, and that is getting this
gospel out to the world. We have raised our faith promise support to new levels so we can keep
supporting missionaries all over the world.

This past week, youth across Minnesota took up a Speed the Light offering for a project

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On the Road to Getting It Pastor Dan Thompson
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that will rescue children from the sex slave trade. Our youth group last Wednesday night took up
an offering of over $1000 for this project. ONE NIGHT!

We are going to keep at this.

We are going to keep “getting” mission.

This next month I’d like to adopt a local project that helps local homeless teens. We’ll have
more information coming in the next couple of weeks.

We want to keep connecting this world to a God who wants to connect with them!

We want to BE the Church! Jesus knows we can do it! He has given us the power to do it!

BE Christ in this world!

Demonstrate his power, then proclaim his power!

Let us come to worship at this table. Let us come to remember. Let us come to LEARN.

We come to this table today with anticipation. There is healing that flows from the presence of
Christ and we are going to enter into this time with expectation. Healing will flow. Deliverance will
flow. Salvation will flow.

This table is about worship. It is about Jesus. His work. This is the symbol that
demonstrates to us we are TRULY CHANGED by his grace.

We remember with the bread. It’s his body that was broken for us. Don’t turn away from
his sacrifice for you! Don’t take this lightly. Understand his work! EXPERIENCE his sacrifice for
you!

This bread was taken up on the night in which he was betrayed. He blessed it and broke and
said, “Take and eat. This is my body for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

We remember with the cup. His blood. It’s the new covenant. It’s salvation. He took the cup
and blessed it and said, “Drink it. It’s the new covenant in my blood for the forgiveness of your
sins.”

Lord, we want to remember today. We want to touch your glory today. We need to be
refreshed by your presence today.

Lord, we ask for healing today. As we worship at this table, may healing flow.

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On the Road to Getting It Pastor Dan Thompson
John 17 Columbia Heights AOG