SPIRITUAL FRIENDSHIPS: FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE

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SPIRITUAL FRIENDSHIPS FOR HEAVEN'S
SAKE! --Proverbs 2717
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True Friendship can be Hard to Find
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TAKE HOME
The Jesus Trail was never intended to be trod
alone or single file.
A multitude of 'one another' scriptures should
convince me that growth, survival and victory are
all ideas associated with walking the route with
friends.
It make take a huge dose of trust and
vulnerability, but some growth only comes this
way.
I'd like a friend with whom I can be
transparent. Jesus, but also somebody with skin.
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Commitment
Lord, I know I need others in my life for
consolation, accountability, encouragement,
mutual-sharpening and occasional rescue. Help me
be a trustworthy and faithful friend to somebody.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Worship in Song
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Betty Boop underscores our feelings of
loneliness Lack of true Friends
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I'D LIKE MORE FRIENDS LIKE JESUS!

• Understands my motives
• Knows when I'm bluffing
• Allows me to have down days without constantly
  trying to resuscitate me

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I'D LIKE MORE FRIENDS LIKE JESUS!

• Knows when I need an ear rather than a hand or
  the boot
• Accepts me warts and all
• But won't let me call black, white

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INSPIRING EXAMPLES FROM THE BIBLE. ARE THEY STILL
POSSIBLE TODAY?
1. RUTH AND NAOMI "Your God shall be my God,
Your people will be my people." 2. DAVID AND
JONATHAN "Hearts knit together" Oh, wouldn't
that be great!?
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COMMUNION! ENTERING INTO A FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS
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ConfessionI believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the Living God. Jesus is my Lord and
Savoir.
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Worship in Song
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MOST WANT A RELATIONSHIP THAT IS
? Real ? Intimate ? A good combination of
vulnerability and confidentiality ? Encouraging,
but not permissive ? Empathetic, not sympathetic
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• We want to know and be known.
• Most of us want to confess without judgment or
  sanction.
• A safe place to show scars, shed tears, grieve
  and celebrate victories.

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ACCOUNTABILITY IN FRIENDSHIP

• Confess your sins one to another
• Forgive one another
• Love one another
• Be kind and tenderhearted to one another

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Worship in Song
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PRAYER PRAISE
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Worship in Song
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TAKE HOME
The Jesus Trail was never intended to be trod
alone or single file.
A multitude of 'one another' scriptures should
convince me that growth, survival and victory are
all ideas associated with walking the route with
friends.
It make take a huge dose of trust and
vulnerability, but some growth only comes this
way.
I'd like a friend with whom I can be
transparent. Jesus, but also somebody with skin.
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Go and develop SPIRITUAL FRIENDSHIPS--Proverbs
2717