Friendship

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