Prayer: Jesus, save the lost and guide the saved.

Big Idea: Our relationships and rhythms shape our lives.

Revelation 1:8John 1:1-3Genesis 2:18

1 . Jesus is the Friend of Sinners

Luke 11:19

2 . We can be Friends with Jesus

John 15:13

John 15:14

3 . We need Friends

John 15:12

Sacrifice

John 15:13

Trust

John 15:14

It is best to befriend those now who we hope to be his friend for all eternity. It is best to consider anyone a friend who drives us closer to God.

Proverbs 27:6

Vulnerable

John 15:15

James 2:23

Genesis 18:17

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

Ally

John 15:16

John 15:17

Churches don’t need programs so much as they need cultures of discipling, cultures where each member prioritizes the spiritual health of others…Really, the ‘how’ of discipling is not that complicated. It’s about doing life together with other people as you all journey toward Christ. We make friends and then walk them in a Christward direction.

Every meaningful relationship in our lives is based on a mutual dependency. Lovers. Parents and children. Neighbors. Yet our centuries- long aim has been to erase our dependencies. Instead of fading away, though, our dependencies have just shifted: from people to technology. We don’t want to be a bother to others; we don’t want to embarrass ourselves by asking a “stupid question,” so we Google. We don’t bring our needs to our neighbors, like borrowing a shovel or two cups of flour; instead, we tap Amazon Prime. As our dependency on technology increases, our reliance on others disappears and so do the expected and unexpected intimacies that come with it. But those intimacies are the stuff of life. Jesus knew this. He cared so much about being human that he became human. He chose to embody the limits of humanity, put himself in the middle of a depressed colony in the Roman empire, and saved the world in the most holy, inefficient way. He said no to the temptations of ease when provoked in the desert.

True gospel-centered (friendship) moves you from being a sealed envelope to being an open letter.

1 . Jesus is the Friend of Sinners

2 . We can be Friends with Jesus

3 . We need Friends

Big Idea: Our relationships and rhythms shape our lives.

Jesus, I recognize that I am a sinner in need of Your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins. I want to turn away from my sins and place my trust in You as my Lord and Savior. Please receive me now. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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