Friendship and Fellowship

Transcript

this class is on the topic of friendship x and fellowship x and just a heads up I kind of want this x to be a little bit discussion based so x feel free to interrupt me anytime with x questions or comments x and we're gonna also have some specific x discussion portions x a couple times throughout the class x so yeah x Okay so x why is this topic of friendship and x fellowship so important x well the Bible is full of warnings and x examples of friendships both good and x bad I've had major impacts on people's x lives x um here's some verses do not be just x misled Bad Company corrupts good x character x and then proverbs x 12 26 the righteous choose their friends x carefully but the Way of the Wicked x leads them astray x and proverbs 18. x the one who has unreliable friends soon x comes to ruin x but there is a friend who sticks closer x than a brother x so there's this like saying that you're x the sum of The Five People You spend the x most time with and I'm not don't totally x buy into that but it definitely has some x truth to it and you can see from these x verses that x it's definitely true x your friends can be some of your x greatest influences for both good and x evil in your life x okay so to start I think it's kind of x interesting to x look at what the world how the world x would Define friendship versus like how x the Bible would Define friendship so x here's just some funny definitions I x found online x some of them kind of serious some of x them funny x but x it kind of just revolves around x pleasure or fun x or I get in the top one non-existence x but yeah x um x yeah x so this is kind of how the world would x Define friendship x you know kind of silly but yeah x and x yeah so x how so this this is kind of the first x discussion portion what comes to mind x when you hear the word friend x just the first thing that pops into your x head leave it in Jonathan x yeah we're going to talk about David and x Jonathan x you know what yeah x Jesus said you have my friends if you x keep my Commandments yeah and uh Abraham x was a friend oh God x I think if you're just talking in x general terms Gabe I think a friend is x somebody that you can rely on x because you can count on to be honest x and open with you and care for you x yeah x help in gay Bible somebody you can x relate to someone you can relate with x yes x so here's a second question what do you x think the purpose of a friendship is x Fellowship yep x there has to be mutual benefit yeah yeah x sometimes yeah yep x anybody say support x mm-hmm x yeah x anything else separation from loneliness x yeah okay x so yeah those x oops come on oh there we go I think a x friendly central time so those are all x really good x so here's a couple things that I came up x with x so the first thing x following Jesus example of laying down x our lives for each other x so x uh John 15 verses 12 to 13. x my command is this love each other as I x have loved you greater love has no one x than this than than you what x to lay down one's life for one's friend x so this can kind of have double meanings x because you think x of like Jesus laying dying for our sins x but then not only that but he also lived x for us so laying down one's life can x kind of have a double meaning like x because we don't often have to just x straight up die for somebody but we can x lay down our life in the sense that we x can dedicate Our Lives to being there x for someone and helping someone x inconveniencing ourselves x to be with someone x and the second kind of idea I had was x encouraging each other in our walk of x faith x Hebrews 10 24 and let us consider how to x stir one another up to love and good x works x yeah there's a lot of different ways x that friends can help each other to stay x encouraged x um x next one speak the truth In Love x sometimes x we have to hear stuff that we don't want x to hear and friends can be good for that x so Proverbs 27 verses 5 and 6 says x better is an open rebuke than hidden x love x wounds of a friend can be trusted but an x enemy multiplies kisses x so x yeah x um the final example is to help us when x we fall x oh Ecclesiastes 4 verses 9 and 10. two x are better than one x because they have good return for their x labor if either of them falls down one x can help the other up but pity anyone x who falls and has no one to help them up x so these are kind of there's probably x there's definitely other things but x these are kind of poor kind of General I x guess x ideas that kind of graphs the person x that try to grasp at the purpose and the x friendship x Okay so x the next thing we're going to look at is x some examples of friendships in the x Bible x like I think Jim said David and Jonathan x that's kind of the first thing that x comes to my mind and x so here are some different examples x different examples of friendships both x good and bad in the Bible x so we're going to start with David and x Jonathan I think this is kind of the x go-to example that everybody thinks of x in the x when you think of a friendship in the x Bible x so their story gives a really good x example of the first purpose on the list x which was x following Jesus example by laying down x our lives for each other x because here I'll show you what I mean x reading from First Kings 12. x David saw that Saul had come out to seek x his life x David was in the worldliness of x zif at horish x and Jonathan Saul's son Rose and went to x went to David at horsh x and strengthened his hand in God x and he said to him do not fear for the x hand of Saul my father shall not find x you you shall be king over Israel and I x shall be next to you x so my father also knows this x and the two of them made a covenant x before the Lord and David remained at x horish and Jonathan went home x so not only had Jonathan likely risked x his life to protect protect David here x and but these verses also highlight how x he was willing to lay down his life in a x different way x he says you will be king over Israel x think about what that would mean for x Jonathan he probably grew up his whole x life the prince knowing that he would be x king one day x prepping his whole life to be king by x willingly giving the throne to David he x was giving up his life for his friend x okay x so our next example x is rehoboam and his friends x this is kind of both a good oops a good x and bad example x so I'll show you what I mean x um x reading from First Kings chapter 12. x then the king then King rehoboam took x counsel with the old man who had stood x before Solomon his father while he was x yet alive saying how do you advise me to x answer this people x and they said to him if you will be a x servant to this people x and today you will serve them x and speak good words to them when you x answer them and they will be your x servants forever x but he abandoned this Council that the x old men gave him and took counsel with x the young man who had grown up with him x and stood before him x and he said to them would you advise x that we answer this people who have said x to me lighten the Yoke that your father x is putting us x and the young men who had grown up with x him x said to him x thus shall you speak to this people x who said to you x your father made her yoke heavy x that you lighten it for us x thus x you shall say to them my little finger x is thicker than my father's thighs x and now whereas your father laid on a x heavy Oak I will add to your yoke x my father disciplined me with whips but x I will discipline you with scorpions x so one of the main purposes of a friend x as I said before is to tell you stuff x that you don't want to hear sometimes to x help lead you on the right path x and rehoboam almost did that x he went to the people that were older x than wiser than him to get advice x but rather than taking the good advice x he went on to find it advice from x somebody that would tell him what he x wanted to hear his friends x ironically the old people who he Whose x advice you despise were better friends x to him than the young men he had grown x up with x and we all know the consequences that x arose from this situation x um x the next example I'm going to look at is x another kind of good example of a good x and bad friendship is Job's three x friends x so when job's three friends I'm reading x from Job chapter two x now in job's three friends heard of all x this evil that had come upon him x they came from his own place ifas the x team and I at Bell had the shoe height x and Zoro the nahem a fight x they made an appointment together to x come show him sympathy and comfort him x when they saw him from a distance they x did not recognize him and they raised x their voices in wept and tore their x robes and sprinkled dust on their heads x towards heaven x I sat with him on the ground seven days x and seven nights no one spoke a word to x him x for they saw that his suffering was very x great x so job's friends here have demonstrate x that aspect of that we talked about x before of helping each other through x hard times x they came here to comfort him and build x him up in a time of need x if all they had done was sit there in x silence and grieve with him that it x would have been a great example x but as we all know as soon as they open x their mouths things went wrong x so these were just a few examples that x came to mind x oh x when preparing this does anyone else x have any examples they can think of any x general shocks or comments some good x examples or bad examples x so in conclusion x a friendship is a precious gift from God x that can bring joy support and x encouragement to our lives well we have x to be careful because man can so easily x twist good things into tools for evil x as we seek to cultivate friendships x based on Godly principles we have to x remember these examples like God gave us x and have to work together to follow x Jesus the ultimate example of friendship x laying down his life for us