Google: What Are You Searching For? Series

GOOGLE: What Are You Searching For?

Week 1: A Network of Real Friends

October 2006

The search for information has become the new pastime for many people today. But with literally 100’s of millions of websites to browse, where do you find what you’re searching for? Is there one site that has the answers to the most relevant questions we face everyday of our lives? During this 5 week series, join us as we search together for the solutions to life’s most basic questions. ENCOURAGE – ATTEND ALL FIVE WEEKS!!

[Opening Prayer]

One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking - small son - bed.

She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice,

"Mommy, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can’t dear, I have to sleep in Daddy’s room." After a long silence followed it was broken by a shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!"

Have you ever gone through a “Storm” . . .ALONE . . . by YOURSELF?

I remember when my son Jonathan’s Birth. There were some complications so my wife had to be rushed into Emergency Surgery. I remember the nurses rushed in and took my wife and I was Left standing ALONE. Doors Swinging is all I remember as I stood by myself in that silent room.

Some of us are so use to doing LIFE ALONE – NORMAL “Isn’t that the way - SUPPOSE to BE?”

Solomon – called the Wisest Man who ever lived, Wrote – Book of Questions & Discovery. A Search for Happiness & Fulfillment. He discovered many “Meaningless” & Useless things.

"Once again I saw that nothing on earth makes sense. For example, some people don’t have friends or family. But they are never satisfied with what they own, and they never stop working to get more. They should ask themselves, "Why am I always working to have more? Who will get what I leave behind?" [concludes] What a senseless and miserable life! Ecclesiastes 4:8-9

What a SENSELESS & MISERABLE Life – To live ALONE! SAY – “I have a lot of Friends”

SURE – live in an Increasingly crowded world / Neighborhoods & Apts – more Crammed

Office Space is Closer together & the Lines in the Stores GROW / But the closer we Get in Proximity / The MORE we are just STRANGERS in a CROWD

According to a new study by sociologists at Duke University and the University of Arizona.

Americans’ circle of confidants has shrunk dramatically in the past two decades and the number of people who say they have no one with whom to discuss important matters has more than doubled, “This change indicates something that’s not good for our society. “Ties with a close network of people create a safety net.” Said Duke Researchers

Are you living life ALONE? Do you Have a Network of confidants? One is the Loneliest Number

[Video: One is the Loneliest Number - Sermon Spice]

Solomon – Richest & Wisest Man - day / Like a Howard Hughes / Understood Loneliness

But Somewhere in His Life / HE LEARNED . . . That Close Friendship we Invaluable

"Some friends may ruin you, but a real friend will be more loyal than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

“real” – deeply loved / Affectionate [ODD for Men] / Strong Bond / Authentic / LOYAL

Not just Party Buddies / Someone Has BEST Interest / Tells you what you NEED to Hear

Without being WEIRD – Do you have anyone in your life that you can point to a say – “That’s IT”?

Solomon goes on to describe why a REAL Friend is Important . . .

"You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. . . Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, "A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break." Ecclesiastes 4:10, 12 (CEV)

Remember – Solomon lived in a Day when WAR or THEIVES could come without Notice! Our World – Difficulties & Hardships – W/O Warning / God’s Plan – Not to be ALONE

In A Network of Real Friends . . .

1. I Come to Know God

Approached by a Successful Young Man / Jesus was asked “What’s the Most important thing in Life . . .?”

[outloud] Jesus replied: " ’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)