"Chosen" a message by Geoff and Lesley Thompson at Parkroses United Church

“Chosen” Today’s message comes in the time between the last supper of Jesus and His disciples and prior to them all going to the garden of gethsemane.He had been giving instructions to the disciples and telling them what lies ahead.In this time He prays this amazing prayer in John 17 to His heavenly Father.I am now going to share some thoughts on this. Jesus had been discussing with His disciples what was going to happen to Him. That He was leaving and going back to His Father in heaven and that the Holy Spirit would come to them as their comforter and guide.It took a while for them to actually get this but they finally believed Him. We read this in John 17 17 When Jesus had finished saying all these things he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Reveal the glory of your Son so that he can give the glory back to you. 2 For you have given him authority over every man and woman in all the earth. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3 And this is the way to have eternal life—by knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth! 4 I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to. 5 And now, Father, reveal my glory as I stand in your presence, the glory we shared before the world began. 6 “I have told these men all about you. They were in the world, but then you gave them to me. Actually, they were always yours, and you gave them to me; and they have obeyed you. 7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8 for I have passed on to them the commands you gave me; and they accepted them and know of a certainty that I came down to earth from you, and they believe you sent me. “ Jesus acknowledges the time has come for Him to go back to His Father,as he prays to Him, and asks for the ongoing care and protection for those He has chosen and given to Jesus while He was on earth. God knew and knows who will and won’t believe in Him even though everyone will be given that opportunity. God wants us all to be with Him. He’s asking His Father to show us,both the Glory of God the Father and Jesus the Son as it was in the beginning. We are God’s glory-His creation- and He intended for us to have an abundant life and beautiful relationship with Himself. But we messed it up and after the fall of man it wasn’t possible. So God had to allow Jesus His son to leave His glory with His Father and come to earth to fulfil His plan of redemption. We will sing about that now. Hymn: “God sent His Son-because He lives”. (Announce this) “Jesus goes on to plead with His Father in His prayer to keep safe in His care all those that belong to Him and also belong to Jesus so that we can all be re united with the Father and son and share in their glory. He doesn’t want anyone missing.” John 17:9-12 (show on screen) 9 “My plea is not for the world but for those you have given me because they belong to you. 10 And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory! 11 Now I am leaving the world, and leaving them behind, and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your own care—all those you have given me—so that they will be united just as we are, with none missing. Hymn: “Now I belong to Jesus” “Jesus continues praying to His Father as He consecrates Himself to meet all our needs,not all our wants, but our need to grow in truth and holiness so that we can show others God’s amazing love and faithfulness. (show on screen) John 17 13 “And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so that they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your commands. And the world hates them because they don’t fit in with it, just as I don’t. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from Satan’s power. 16 They are not part of this world any more than I am. 17 Make them pure and holy through teaching them your words of truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world, 19 and I consecrate myself to meet their need for growth in truth and holiness. 20 “I am not praying for these alone but also for the future believers who will come to me because of the testimony of these. 21 My prayer for all of them is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me—the glorious unity of being one, as we are— 23 I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one—so that the world will know you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me.” “I have given them the glory you gave me—the glorious unity of being one, as we are” Let’s sing about that. Hymn: “Father make us one” 2v Each one of us was created and chosen by God our Father to have fellowship with Him,to speak and listen to Him,and to live with Him forever. Lesley has the following written on a piece of paper which she reminds herself all the time. I am blessed, chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed and forgiven. This applies to us who love Jesus. We are part of God’s amazing family.And as we sing our benediction think about how we are presented faultless to God through all Jesus has done and He now reigns in Glory with His Father and we are on that journey. Romans 8 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”* ) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,* neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. We will now sing our vespoer. "Now unto Him"

Murray in Flood books by Grant Schwartzkopf 22/23 floods

"Love one another"--from Oswald Chambers.

“Love One Another” By Oswald Chambers …add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7 Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives. The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “…love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated. “The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline. share this devotional with a friend