Everybody needs true friendship. There is a real hunger for it. The problem is finding the time to create real friends. It takes time and effort to make friends. Many of us settle for the imitation friends we have on the TV.
ILL>>>I remember my dad used to talk to “Hunter” when that was a weekly TV series. When the main character was in trouble he would say,
“Watch out Hunter” or “Get him Hunter!”.
Ever find yourself enjoying the company of an TV friend over a real person? Be honest, of course you have. TV friends never let you down, they never hurt your feelings, they are perfect!
Some of the all time most popular shows are “Friends” where a group of young good looking young people spend most of their time sitting around just talking. They never seem to have to work.
Or, how about “Cheers” , where everybody knows your name. Seinfield, everything is funny and fun to this group of close friends. Or maybe you prefer the old ones, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhardt, they always seem to have friends dropping by just to talk like Daryl and his other brother Daryl.
The westerns, like “Gunsmoke” and others always meet their friends and get in trouble where? The saloon!
If your like me you have spend many a happy hour enjoying the company of these Hollywood friends. The problem is these friends can never be real friends. And because we get so used to these artificial friends it can be hard to have a real friend.
But there is a hole in our heart when we don’t have friends. Some people prefer to be alone all the time but that’s because their self centered. The Lord created us to have real friendships! Is it hard for you to have a friend?
It has been said that if you have one true friend in your life you are lucky. This morning the Lord is going to teach us about FRIENDSHIP and HOW WE CAN HAVE SOME TRUE FRIENDS!
The best example of a friend is Jesus, we can learn about friendship from Him.
Jn 15:15 --- read verse 15 only --- pray and sit down Jesus is ...
I. A fantastic Friend Jesus is the perfect example of friendship. Better than any because He is God!
A. A real friend opens up his life and activities v15 Even though He is God - He reveals his heart to His friends
B. A real friend shares his thoughts and feeling v 15 from the Father =WOG
ILL>> Meditation is Medication // Charles Allen “God’s Psychiarty”.
If all church members ever decided to read their Bibles at the same time, we would experience the worse dust storm in history.
C. A real friend respects your wishes / God’s are loving requirements for our benefit! v14
D. A real friend makes sacrifices for each other v13
ILL>>>God’s love is unconditional. He loves us for who we are and not for what we are. A television executive called the pastor of a metropolitan church and told the pastor that he thought his son was in his city involved in the drug culture. He asked the preacher if he would try to find the boy and do something with him. About four months later the boy was found and told the Gospel. He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. The preacher told the boy to pick up the extension and he would call his father. The preacher told the father that his son had been found and that he had accepted Jesus. The father replied, "I don’t care about that, I want to know how long his hair is, has he taken a bath, will he apologize to his old lady?" The boy ran out of the study and his father never saw him again. This father’s love was conditional: if you meet these requirements I’ll love you. But fortunately for us God’s love is unconditional. He loves us in spite of our sins. -John Bisagno
E. A real friend encourages growth in the other person. v16--
F. A real friend is a genuine help v26
G A real friend wont leave you alone and lonely. v26
Jesus is A fantastic Friend , the perfect example. In v 14&15 He requires us to obey. In order for us to be a good friend to the Lord and to others we must be ...
II. A Fruitful Friend v1-11
A. False friends are removed v 2,6 - non-believing, non-fruit producing, non-Christians
Those who make a profession but never yield fruit / fake Christians
B. Fruitful friends are improved -- for the purpose of bearing more fruit (pruned)
People come to SS for the Bible study but the fellowship in the class and discussion is one of the main reasons people come back
C. Fruitful friends bear fruit --1. fruit = new believers --2. fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace
ILL>>>Everyone in the church can be a friend to someone new.----, depending on their personality. There is a riding academy in West Texas that advertises that they have a horse to suit every taste. For fat people, they have fat horses; for skinny people, they have skinny horses. For fast people, they have fast horses; for slow people, they have slow ones. And for people who don’t know how to ride at all, they have horses that have never been ridden before! Whatever your taste, when it comes to doing the Lord’s work, and loving people -- there is a horse you can ride.
D. Fruitful friends are cleaned by God’s word //
Psa 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
E. Fruitful friends abide // live // stay // == evidence of salvation v8
1. Benefits of abiding = bearing MUCH fruit v5 >> glorifies God v8
2. Benefits of abiding = Answered prayer v7
3. Benefits of abiding = a full JOY v11
3. How do we abide? keep His commandments ! v9
What one commandment was He referring to specifically? ... v12
III. A Fellowship of Friends v 12-17
present active subjunctive of agapaō, “that ye keep on loving one another.”
ILL>>>People are lonely >>>>>>One man wrote in to a lonely hearts club. They sent him an application form and asked for a photo. He filled out the form and sent in his picture with it. He got a letter back that said, "Thanks for your application, but we are not that lonely yet." People are trying everything to get rid of loneliness. I want us to see the veritable answer to this problem.
A. Friendship begins with love v12 commanded = a choice !!! we must choose to love people
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
We too must care about the details in a persons life.--- They dont have to be like you. They dont have to fit in your group!!!
ILL>>>Soon after his marriage, the famous nineteenth century poet and composer Thomas Moore was called away on business. On his return he was not met by his beautiful bride, but by their family doctor. "Your wife is upstairs. But she has asked you not to come up. She has had small-pox. The disease has left her once flawless skin pocked and scarred. She has drawn the shutters, and asked that you never see her again." Thomas Moore would not listen to the doctor, but bounded up the steps to his wife’s room. It was black as night inside. He reached for the gas jets. "No! Don’t light the lamps," screamed his wife. "Go! Please Go! This is the greatest gift I can give you now." Instead of leaving, he spent most of the night writing a love poem, which he then set to music. The next morning, in her darkened bedroom he sang to his wife: Believe me, if all those your endearing charms, Which I gaze on so fondly today, Were to change by tomorrow, and flee in my arms, Like fairy gifts fading away, Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art. Let thy loveliness fad as it will, .... Yet I will love thee still... The song ended. His bride arose to her feet, crossed the room and slowly opened the shutters. Love was unafraid of the light of reality.
1. bearing fruit requires LOVE!
a. bearing fruit is reaching and teaching the lost
b. bearing fruit - bringing people to SS teaching others to do so
c. bearing fruit - reaching out to the lost with your testimony of salvation, your witness
v16 fruit that will last - a strong friendship<<<<<<<<<<
2. obedience requires love & love requires obedience v12&14
B. Friendship is proven by sacrifice v13
***** ILL>>>>William and Mary Tanner were crossing a railroad track some years ago when Mary’s foot slipped and became wedged between the rail and a wooden crosswalk. Frantically she tried to get loose as a train approached around the curve. Her husband desperately attempted to free her. As the express came closer with its brakes screeching, Mary realized it couldn’t stop in time. "Leave me, Bill! Leave me!" she cried. Seeing his efforts were useless, he arose quickly and held her in his arms to protect her as much as possible. While bystanders shuddered in horror, the train thundered over them. It was reported that just before the engine hit them, they heard the brave man cry, "I’ll stay with you, Mary!" Although this man was unable to save his wife, his devotion never faltered, and in this sense it is a graphic picture of our Savior’s love for us. When death came hurtling at Him, He did not flinch, but remained on the cross. "Having loved His own . . . , He loved them unto the end."
remember - LOVE ONE ANOTHER V17 DO we have genuine love?
ILL>>>A shabbily dressed boy trudged several miles through the snowy streets of Chicago, ....determined to attend a Bible class that was conducted by D. L. Moody (where today the famous Moody Bible Institute stands and The Moody Church) --When he arrived, he was asked, "Why did you come to a Sunday school so far away? Why didn’t you go to one of the churches near your home?" He answered simply, "Because you love a fellow over here." Like that lad, people all around us are still looking for love. They are longing to be warmly accepted by someone who really cares.
Shakespeare said, "They do not truly love who do not show their love."
Will you take an our this week and make a friend??
Invite someone over, for coffee or a glass of tea. // Drop in on someone for a visit //
Stop and talk to someone who needs a friend//
Share the love of Jesus.
Begin to love as Jesus does.
