We’ve all heard the saying, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” It’s true! At every stage of faith, who we choose to have as our friends matters. Pastor Jen shows us how to have healthy, life-giving friendships.
Notes 📓✏️:
It’s Complicated, but It’s Powerful.
Genesis 2:18 (NIV): “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
Alone = bad
Friendship.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NLT): “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble, Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”
Friendship is a powerful force.
All friendships are influential, but not all are beneficial.
Who you connect to will direct you.
Are my friendships taking me where I want to go in my faith?
Proverbs 12:26 (NIV): “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
1. Are they wise?
Proverbs 13:20 (NIV): “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
2. Are they reliable?
Proverbs 18:24 (NIV): “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
3. Are they living like a believer?
1 Corinthians 5:11 (NLT): “…you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.”
We become who we spend the most time with.
Are YOU wise?
Are YOU reliable?
Are YOU living like a follower of Jesus?
We must be the type of friend we wish to have.
1. Common Commitment
Matthew 4:18-22 (ESV): “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him..”
To follow something new, you must leave what was.
2. Common Connection
3. Common Conversation
4. Common Commission
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV): “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Discussion Questions 📝❓:
- Why do you think Pastor Jen emphasized that “alone equals bad”? How does this perspective change how we view friendship
- What qualities do you think make someone a good friend? How can we apply the questions “Are they wise?” and “Are they reliable?” to assess out friendships?
- How should a common commitment to Jesus influence out friendships?
- Pastor Jen pointed out the importance of having meaningful conversations in our friendships. What strategies can we use to create deeper conversations with our friends?