International Connect Equipping Weekend 2023 February 3&4
John 17:20-23
“… that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I and in
you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you
have sent me.”
Why International Connect in Tuscaloosa?
God has set in motion a plan to dwell in His Kingdom with people from
all across the Earth, people of all languages, cultures, and ethnicities.
God—in His kindness—has brought people from many di erent
languages, cultures, and ethnicities to Tuscaloosa, AL. As the Church in
this place, understanding and acting on this plan set in motion by God,
which we are invited into, should be of utmost importance to us!
There is a reason we are here this weekend. There is also a reason we are here on this earth.
Genesis 1 - 3
● God dwells with man and woman
● We are created to reflect God into this world
● We are created to reflect and give praise back to God
Genesis 12:1-3
Genesis 15:1-6
● God promises to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham
● Abraham’s o spring shall be like the stars in the sky—innumerable
● Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness
The Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans is not simply a gospel tract for how to get to heaven. It
is a cohesive argument for how God in His ever-loving kindness has adopted people from every
language and culture into His plan to receive salvation through faith and be grafted into Abraham’s
o spring, of which we are beneficiaries.
Romans 1:17 “‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”
Romans 2:23-24 “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written,
‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’”
Romans 3:19,23-24 “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the
law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God…
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through
the redemption that is in Chris Jesus.
Romans 4:16-18 “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be
guaranteed to all his o spring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of
many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead
and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that
he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your o spring
be.’”
Romans 5:18 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of
righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
…
Romans 9:6-8 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended
from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his o spring, but
‘Through Isaac shall your o spring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh
who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as o spring.”
Romans 9:24-26 “even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
As indeed He says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was
not my beloved I will call ‘my beloved.’’ ‘And in every place where it is said to them ‘You are not my
people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’’”
Romans 9:30 “What shall we say, then? That the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness
have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith”
Romans 10
Romans 10:`12-13 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is
Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. For ‘everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved.’”
Exodus Plagues:
Exodus 9:14 “For this time I will send plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your
people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.”
The Law
Deuteronomy 28:9-10 “The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to
you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. And all the
peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of
you.”
David and Goliath:
1 Samuel 17:46 “‘This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut
o your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of
the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel’”
Solomon’s prayer of Dedication
2 Samuel 8:41-43 “‘Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far
country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and
your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven yout dwelling
place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the
earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this
house that I have built is called by your name.’”
The reign of the Lord’s Anointed:
Psalms 2:7-8 “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I
will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.’”
Psalm 8:1 “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Psalms 33:8-9 “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of
Him! For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”
Psalms 46:10 “‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted
in the earth!’”
Psalms 67
Isaiah 56:6-7 “‘And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the
name of the Lord, and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my
house of prayer; their burnt o erings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house
shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.’”
The Gospels
Ephesians 2
All of Galatians
Revelation 5:8-10 “… the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to
take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for
God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and
priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’”
Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of
God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be
with them as their God.’”
Romans 10:14
“ … And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?”