Do You Need A Best Friend?

Do You Need a Best Friend?

Pastor Glenn Newton August 10, 2003

RO 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for

the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good

man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us

in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

RO 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be

saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we

were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been

reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also

rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received

reconciliation.

Maybe you’ve experienced this same trama that I have in your life. As a Pastor’s kid, we

seemed to expect it after a while, but it didn’t make it any easier. Growing up, or maybe

even just recently, have you had to move away from your best Friend?

For some reason I have this one memory that just sticks out like a sore thumb..... My

brother and I were half-way through our 7th grade year, we were living in Forest Grove,

OR., and for 7th graders we were on top of the world. We were the one, two punch for

our 7th grade football team, my brother was the running back and I was the Quarterback,

and we went undefeated. We were making big plans you know..... We had made some

really good friends on the team.... and of coarse at the age of 13 or 14 all the sudden we

noticed there were girls in our school...... How does that happen anyway.... all the sudden

the lightbulb goes off and all the sudden girls matter?

You can guess what happened next. Family meeting. Were moving.... Where are we

moving too? Hick town USA....... they didn’t even have a football team for the 8th

grade.... some little logging town of under 1,000 people in Northern CA, Dorris, CA.

Look it up, you won’t hardly be able to find it.

When we moved, it took 3 1/2 to drive from where we lived in OR. to our new home... all

three kids cried the whole way. Why? We left our friends. I don’t know if you have a

story like that or not....but the truth is IT HURTS WHEN FRIENDS GO AWAY FOR

WHATEVER REASON.

This morning I want you to know that God wants to be your Best Friend. One of the best

things I’ve learned over the years.... no matter where I go.... He’s still there.

As I read this passage this morning, think about how much God loves You. In

fact, He demonstrated His Love for you and for me before we ever gave God a thought.

Listen.

Read verse by verse and explain. ^

Think about all the things that God represents to you. God is your Creator and Maker,

Lord and Master, Judge, Redeemer, Father, Savior, and much more. But the most

shocking truth is this: Almighty God yearns to be your Friend! Can you say THANK

YOU GOD!

Think with me about Adam and Eve, the ideal relationship that God had with these folks,

Adam and Eve enjoyed an intimate friendship with God. There were no rituals,

ceremonies, or religion -- just simple loving relationship between God and the people he

created. Adam and Eve were not hindered by guilt or fear, they delighted in God, and he

delighted in them.

The truth is we were made to live in God’s continual presence, but when sin entered the

world, that ideal relationship was lost. Very few people in the OT had the priviledge of

Friendship with God. Moses and Abraham were called “friends of God,” David was called

“a man after God’s own heart,” and Job, Enoch, and Noah had intimate friendships with

God. But Fear of God, not friendship, was more common in the Old Testament.

But Friends aren’t you glad for the New Testament?! Jesus showed up on the scene and

changed the whole situation, Amen?

Just as our Scripture tells us, When Christ died for us, redeemed us, when he paid

for our sins on the cross, the veil in the temple that symbolized our separation from God

was split in two from Top to Bottom, indicating that direct access to God was once again

available. Aren’t you glad that you can go right to God today through prayer?

In the Old Testament, the priests had to spend hours preparing to meet with God in the

Holy of Holies, we can now approach God anytime. The Word says, “Now we can