Prayer of Jesus | Chosen. Held. Loved. | John 17 Summary
Introduction
About Table Communities
Table Communities are community gatherings for the purpose of:
- Building meaningful relationships through intentional time together
- Engaging in mutual discipleship through directing one another towards Christ with truth shared in love
- Multiplying grace through love, prayer and gifts of the spirit
The notes will guide you through praying together, reading scripture and engaging in intentional relational time together. There are also notes and practices for this month's habit of grace. We know that most groups will not have time to discuss the habit of grace during their time together, but they are available if time allows and are available for those seeking to intentionally engage with God's grace during the week. If that desire is within you, please read the notes on your own time or go through the habit of grace practices with a spiritual friend or your spouse, so as to build one another up in truth and love. Finally, this gathering is not about getting through all the note content, but rather this gathering is about building meaningful relationships, engaging in mutual discipleship and multiplying grace. Let those values shape the direction and pace of your time together.
Remember: What we all have in common
Saint : Beloved, forgiven, being renewed, filled with the Holy Spirit
Sufferer : Carrying real pain and struggle
Sinner: Still in need of ongoing grace
Kick off with prayer
Somone pray for your time together.
Example prayer, if needed. Ideally pray freely as you feel called:
Father we praise you for gathering us together. Despite whatever weighed on our hearts as we entered this house, we pray that your Spirit guides our time together and free us from anything that is not of you. We pray that by the strength of your might we may speak truth in love to one another. We pray that we are led by the gifts of your spirit, so that we may build up one another and your church as a whole. As we read your word, we pray that we may be filled with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner pleasing to you.
Passage: Chosen. Held. Loved. | John 17
We will read the text together seeking for God to give life to the text through his Spirit. "Lord please help us to hear your word and receive what you have for each of us"
John 17
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Passage Summary
John 17 gives us unique insight into the relationship between the Father and the Son. Perfect unity, deep love and honour. Jesus is also revealing His heart for all those that would be united to Him through faith. He shows that his affection for them begins with His desire to reveal Himself to people. Jesus reveals and the people receive in through faith. It is God who humbly and lovingly initiates salvation through choosing to reveal himself, and then doing it through the life (words and actions), death and resurrection of Jesus. And through faith people get to experience eternal life through the establishment of a personal relationship with God whereby He continually reveals Himself.
Not only does Jesus reveal the Father to humanity, God humbly and lovingly cares for all those who come to believe in Him. The Father Son hold believers in their hand and no one can snatch them from their hands (John 10). Not only are they held, but they are empowered by the Holy Spirit for sanctification, mission and purpose in this world. So that they may receive the fullness of Joy.
Not only does Jesus keep us He humbly and lovingly fills us with His Spirit that we may experience the fullness of His love. His desire not only that His people be with him in heaven, but that they share in His love. Jesus wants His people not only to know about, but to experience the SAME love that He shares with the Father. This love is so deep, real and satisfying that it will be visible to the world. Those that see the love between the disciples of Jesus will undoubtedly conclude that they are loved by God and Jesus is Lord (v23).
Discussion
Discussion Questions
- The idea that Jesus chose and pursued people before they pursued Him has stayed with me.
- I keep thinking about Jesus praying for us before the cross.
- The phrase “that they may all be one” challenged how I think about what it looks like to follow Jesus.
- I have been wrestling with whether I actually believe God loves me like He loves Jesus.
- The idea that eternal life is to know God personally has stuck with me.
- I realised how much I still live trying to earn approval. Or thinking about myself when I think about faith.
- Jesus praying that His people would be “kept” gave me comfort in a difficult season.
- I keep thinking about what my deepest desire actually is when I come to God. Is it aligned with His?
- Honestly, some of the ideas have been beautiful but hard for me to fully believe or understand.
- I’ve been surprised by how personal and emotional Jesus sounds throughout the prayer.
- The series made me think more deeply about what Jesus truly wants for His people.
- I’m still processing a lot of it and not sure what stands out most yet.
- Being chosen by God feels hardest for me because I often feel overlooked or unworthy.
- I struggle most with being held by God because life feels unstable and I often feel like everything depends on me.
- Being loved by God is hardest for me to connect with because I mostly feel tolerated rather than delighted in.
- Honestly, all three feel difficult for different reasons.
- I understand these ideas in my head, but I do not consistently experience them personally.
- Being held by God feels easiest for me, but being loved deeply by Him feels harder to believe.
- I can believe God loves people generally, but struggle to believe it personally for me.
- Sometimes I feel chosen and loved by God, but not held by Him in suffering.
- I think I connect least with being chosen because I tend to see my faith mostly as my decision rather than God pursuing me.
- I’m still trying to work out whether I believe any of these are true yet.
- I often think about the Holy Spirit mainly in terms of power, gifting, or spiritual experiences rather than becoming more loving and united with others.
- I think I expect the Holy Spirit to make my life easier more than to make me more like Jesus.
- Typically searching for the Holy Spirit to do something in a moment, not make permanent changes to life experience and relationships.
- I deeply want closeness with God, but I do not naturally connect that with unity and love toward others.
- Sometimes I desire the Holy Spirit because I feel weak, empty, or desperate for help to exit life circumstances.
- I think Jesus seems more focused on transformation and love than I usually am.
- Honestly, I am not sure what being filled with the Holy Spirit is meant to look like.
- The idea that the Spirit would help people become one feels beautiful, but also difficult and unrealistic sometimes.
- I think I want the Holy Spirit to comfort me, while Jesus also wants Him to change me.
- The more I read this, the more I realise Jesus desires deeper unity and love than I usually pursue myself.