This video is session #1 of the YWAM IWT playlist, a series of videos including more than 12 hours of in-depth training in collaborative partnerships by Phill Butler.

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Session 1 Notes, Quotes & Questions.

Kingdom Partnerships Video Seminar

 Phill Butler, visionSynergy

SESSION 1:  Summary, Quotes, Questions

John 17:20-22 NIV

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.”

Summary:

This is the introduction to the rationale and tools for developing partnerships for ministry and mission. It lays the theological foundation with John 17:20-22 and the sociological foundation of our idealized vs. realized values. It makes the strong points that restoration of our relationships is every bit as much a part of God’s plan as our individual salvation, but because of the damage done by sin, this does not come naturally.

Nothing is more important for believers than to learn to love one another and to work together. And nothing is more important if we are to have ANY hope of winning others than to demonstrate this love for one another to the world. But the will and power to do that comes by hard work and mastering God’s principles – it is a process and we will have to invest time and energy in the process to see God’s desired results.

God has a plan for winning the world to Him.  He wants to use us, but as a BODY with many members working together in love.  What does this mean practically?  The rest of this workshop will deal with the practical tools based on God’s principles.

Notable Quotes:

  1. All cultures have idealized values – expectations, dreams – and realized values. The distance between them is what creates dissension, or technically (in fields of cognition and sociology), cognitive dissonance.
  2. John 17:20-22 (Jesus’ prayer for unity among His followers) is the single most highly-held, most often talked about, but least-realized of all idealized values among believers worldwide – one of the two unanswered prayers. Jesus’ prayer has never been answered.
  3. Partnership is the God design.
  4. Relationships destroyed and relationships restored—that’s what The Book is all about, Genesis to Revelation.
  5. The single biggest roadblock to hundreds of millions of people coming into the Kingdom of God this week are the divisions in the Body of Christ.
  6. “Don’t talk about love; show me!”  Lerner and Lowe, My Fair Lady
  7. The skills for effective collaboration and effective partnership do NOT come naturally.

 

Questions for Reflection:

  1. Why do you think the divisions between believers are such a serious obstacle to outsiders?
  2. How can it be that such an important prayer of Jesus has not yet been answered?
  3. What is our part and what is God’s part?
  4. What changes in attitudes or working style do you imagine you will have to make personally to be able to collaborate effectively with other believers in ministry?