Made for Friendship
Notes
Transcript
https://youtu.be/ttIuD9_Z2LY
https://youtu.be/ttIuD9_Z2LY
How many of you like the book The Lord of the Rings?
How many of you like the book The Lord of the Rings?
What is it about?
It is an epic story about good vs. evil.
It’s a story of how Aragon, the exiled and forgotten King reclaimed his throne against all odds.
It is a story about how the little, forgotten ones, the hobbits, often play the biggest roles…winning not through their strength, but because they were wholly overlooked and counted out.
But, if you were to read the story a little different, isn’t the story just as much about Friendship? A bond of fellowship that united different races (Men, Elves, Dwarves, a Wizard, and 4 hobbits) that sacrificed much, but loved each other deeply and won against all odds.
The Story hits us on so many levels as men.
The Story hits us on so many levels as men.
A desire to have our lives count for something.
A desire to play a part in a much larger story.
A deep longing to fight for something good.
But also, a desire to be connected with other good men in this fight.
You were created for Friendship. Friendship with God, and friendship with one another.
You were created for Friendship. Friendship with God, and friendship with one another.
You were created by a relational God (a Triune God) to be in relationship with others. First of all, through Christ, we are called friends of God. But then secondly, it is not good for man to be alone.
These relationships were fractured by Sin.
All 4 spheres of relationship were fractured.
God- After eating the fruit, no longer was Adam free to walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day, enjoying fellowship with our creator.
Self - After eating the fruit, no longer was Adam at peace with himself as a created being, worshiping the creator. He replaced God worship and joyful creatureliness, for the slavery and insecurity of self-worship
Social/Relational- After eating the fruit, no longer was Adam’s marriage described as, “they were both naked and unashamed.”
Environmental- no longer did Adam seek to steward and cultivate the earth, making the rest of creation like the garden…now he sought to exploit the earth and use up all the resources.
In many ways, the story of the gospel can be told through then lens of relationship. How can our friendships be restored.
I want to invite you to listen to John 15, in light of this reality. Jesus is in the upper room, he has just washed their feet, and now he is teaching them for life without him.
He has just told them that the essence of life is to Abide in him and his love…In verse 9 he elaborates on this:
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
I have loved you, just as the Father has loved me.
The way to abide in my love is to keep my commandments.
I have told you these things, that you might experience my joy, and that your joy would overflow.
Here is the essence of my commandment -> love each other as I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friend.
I no longer call you servants, for servants do not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends because I told you everything you needed to know.
I chose you to be my friend. I picked you.
So go and love one another.
In 2 Corinthians 5, we are told by the Apostle Paul, that not only have we been reconciled to God in Christ, but we have now been entrusted with the message of reconciliation. We can tell others how to be restored in their relationship to God.
Guys, why is it then that so few men have real, genuine friendships. Friendships that are fun, that go deep, that challenge us to be better, and that create a sense of safety and belonging in our lives.
What is Biblical Friendship, and how do we begin cultivating it in our lives?
https://youtu.be/boeiEva1f6A
The book of Proverbs has much to say about life, and friends and everything else. They are a collection of sayings that aren’t so much commands, but principles on which to build life.
Friendships shape and form us more than we’d like to admit.
20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, 25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
Friendship should be fun, it should bring us joy!
Me too!
Friendships should go deep, we should know each other well.
Friends should be considerate.
Friendships shape us more than we might think
Friendships should be intentional, they should challenge us to be better men.
Friends should be encouraging without flattering.
17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.
20 Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.
18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death 19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. 10 Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
23 Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.
5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, 25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
James 5:16 (ESV)
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.