We've thought recently in TCH Crookesmoor- both in discussion and prayer- of Jesus' words in John 17.
As we embark on the difficult task of planting by dividing, it has been good to think again of the purpose of church and revisit some first things. Christ's purpose for his church is our unity. A quality of life together that powerfully expresses that we are one, just as God himself is one in community. We, as we live out our lives in gospel community, are a powerful apologetic for the trinity! I often say that I want us as God's people to provoke a watching world to jealousy as they see such a 'God-like' unity to our relationships. May it be so Lord.

John 17:20
"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21that 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. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I 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.

Let me quote from my mate TC:

"It is through the unity of the Christian community – a unity that reflects the oneness of God – that the world will know that Jesus was sent by the Father. The link between Jesus and Yahweh has been a key issue throughout John’s Gospel. The vindication of Jesus’ claim to be one with the Father comes through the unity of believers. It is the Christian community who will demonstrate to the world that the Father and the Son are one. Jesus prays that his followers might be one, participating in the trinitarian life, so that the world will believe. This unity is not institutional. It can be observed and experienced. It is a relational unity that reflects, and participates in, the relationships within the Trinity. Nor do we have to be perfect communities for we witness to the gracious trinitarian mission that unites us to God and to one another through his grace rather than through our goodness. As people see our love for another and our unity in the truth so they confess that Jesus is the truth."