Friends: God's gift to you!

There is a story about two friends who were walking through the woods when they thought they heard something. They turned around and saw a big black bear coming towards them. Both friends started to run when one of them stopped to change into tennis shoes. 

One friend said to the other, ’You don't have time to change shoes. You can't outrun that bear!' 

The other friend said, 'I know I can't outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you!

I don’t think anyone needs a friend like that, am I right?

Over the past several weeks we have been working through a  sermon series entitled Friendship in the Time of Covid.  The series is birthed out of my own sense of longing for my friends during these weird, crazy, and yes, unprecedented times.  

There is no doubt that good friends are a blessing from God. Scripture reminds us repeatedly that we are not meant to go through life alone and without assistance. 

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother/sister is born for adversity.” 

Clearly the friend in our story hadn’t taken this verse to heart.

I believe that God longs to transform us into the kind of friend who loves others unconditionally in good times and in bad. And it’s in the hard times that we need our friends the most, isn’t it? And yet it’s in the hard times that some friends decide to “run”, maybe even to other relationships that may not require as much from them. 

“A friend loves at all times”… through trials, sin, bad decisions and even the isolation of Covid. God is calling us to live a lifestyle of service and grace being His hands and feet to those He has placed in our midst.

What friend is God calling you to love today with the love God has shown you?  Indeed, God is a friend to each of us — a friend who will never leave us, or forsake us, a friend who would never allow us to be bear bait! That is the kind of friend God is calling us to be. God empowers us to love, serve, honour, and bless them as God has blessed us.

So who among your friends needs your help right now?

Who can you choose to serve? 

Friendship: Who do you think of?

When you see the word, “friendship”, who immediately pops into your mind?  Have you known them for a long time? What is it that makes you friends? 

When I think of the word friendship, I think of someone who has been with me since high school. That was our initial meeting but over the years we have become more than friends, we are family. We have done life together — the good, the bad and all the times in between.  We have laughed together, cried together but what I believe has been our greatest strength is that we have not only prayed for each other, we have prayed together.

Friendship is one of life’s greatest gifts. 

True friends want good for their friends: and the highest good, is that they might point their friend to God. To remind them of God’s love for them and the importance of loving God with all our heart, soul and mind.

A wonderful example of true friendship in the bible is the relationship between David and Jonathon.  Jonathon was the son of King Saul and King Saul despised David because it was David that was to be the next king. Saul wanted that title for his own son, Jonathan.  But Jonathon knew that God had called David, and he was fine with the call that God had placed on David’s life.  Saul, not so much.

In 1 Sam 23: 15-16 reads,  While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life.  And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.  

That is the essence of true Christian friendship. It goes beyond common interests, beyond affection, beyond fun and laughter —the ultimate aim is to help our friends find strength in the Lord. As friends we are to remind them of God’s wisdom and refresh their spirit with words of God’s love. 

In the midst of all the crazy, who couldn’t use such a friend as that?

Join us this Sunday as we continue our new sermon series entitled: Friendship in the Time of Covid.

Are you missing your friends?

As I have been speaking with people, either on the phone, by text or various parking lot visits the thing I hear the most is how much people — young and old — are missing their friends. 

And I agree. I have missed sitting face to face with friends, breaking bread together, properly catching up over a cup of coffee, and of course, just hugging them! During these isolating Covid times, I have truly missed the friendship connection.

I believe that friendships are one of the key elements of a blessed life. I also believe that to really experience the power of friendship, we need to be a great friend to others. 

Scripture has quite a bit to say about friendship. 

Proverbs gives us wisdom for navigating the complexities of our relationships. And it addressed the friendship relationship specifically . 

For example, it teaches us: 

• what to look for in finding true friends (Prov. 13:20; Prov 22:24-25).

• why loyalty is so important for cultivating friendship (Prov 18:24;  27:9–10). 

• That the most damaging thing to the friendship relationship is spreading secrets (Prov. 16:28).

Scripture teaches us so much more.

Would you agree that the attitudes of those you spend time with tend to rub off on you? 

They do.  And not only is that a biblical truth it is exactly what your mom told you growing up:  When it comes to friendships, who you hang with matters. Actually, it matters a great deal. Friends should build us up and take us forward. “So choose your friends wisely”.

So over the next few weeks, let’s talk about friendships — the one’s we miss, the one’s that influence us and the one’s that enrich our lives for the better.

This week we are starting a brand new sermon series (click to Amberlea’s Youtube page) entitled: Friendship in the Time of Covid.

Let’s hear from you!

Send me a story about your bestie… perhaps something fun or crazy you did together; the story of how you met, or the reason why you are friends. Send me your favourite friendship story and I will include it in our next blog. 

Send it to revmona@amberleachurch.ca. 

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ”  John 15:13-15