The John 17 Message
The core of our mission is spreading the message of God’s heart – His nature and His desires – to every corner of the earth.
We believe the message of the gospel of God has the power to transform lives and to transform nations, and we long to see it spread from person to person and from generation to generation. We hope the message is spread in a way that speaks to the heart through every resource we produce, every training we do, every talk we give, every community we build, and every messenger of the heart of God that we raise up and send out.
Some key messages that are central to the John 17 Mission: EXPAND ALL
The simplicity of the gospel: God is the good news! MORE
“This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3
Who He is, is life! Knowing Him and believing in Him unlocks that life! In the light of eternal purpose, there are not many things that matter, but just one thing: knowing Him. In all we do, we seek above all else to find, and to give away, the knowledge of God.
Living theology: We know God in surrendered love. MORE
“That the love the Father has may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:26
Theology (the knowledge of God) is everything! For everyone! It tells us who we are, and it makes us who we were born to be. Eternal life, though, isn’t found in subscribing to a set of ideas but in joining ourselves to the Person revealed in them – the Living God, the Everlasting Father, revealed by the Holy Spirit through the life of the Eternal Son, Jesus Christ.
Scripture tells us about Him, but it’s surrender that lets us know Him. He promised that, to any who receive Him, He comes and dwells with us so we can know Him from the inside out. So, we are called not just to know about God, but to become one with Him; not just to know about love, but to become love!
Unity that reveals the Trinity: The body of Christ, together, exists to reveal God to the world. MORE
“That they may be made perfect in one, so that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:23
A world that does not know Him first begins to know Him by seeing the response of those who have seen Him. Jesus’ body exists as a called out community of those who have seen and been made new. The testimony and response of every unique individual, and our communal response of valuing each other, is the witness to the world of His nature. They see Him reflected in us! Not all of Him in one of us, but all of Him in all of us!
We love unity and community, because we long to know Him, and because we long for the world to know Him – every part and expression of Him!
A mission of revelation: Love compels us to lead every last heart into a living knowledge of the Father. MORE
“I have made known Your name to them, and I will go on making known Your name.” John 17:26
Jesus’ mission was to reveal the Father to the world, and our Great Commission is to join Him in that mission – to immerse the nations in the name and nature of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As those who carry the treasure of the knowledge of God in the midst of a broken world that does not know Him, it’s our glory and honor to make Him known – to be a living expression of Him, and to use the power of our voices to fight for each others’ relationship with Him!