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)
Jesus’ Words were – SIMPLE / “Love God with all . . .” Most of us understand this is a LIFE TIME of Discovery!! As we Strive to Grow - CHRISTIAN Walk – means developing Relationship With GOD!!
Some Say “I have a Personal Relationship with God”“Just me & GOD!” “I worship God alone, in my OWN Way” While that Sounds Good – Is it what the Bible TEACHES? Do we discovered God alone?
I’ve Read & Studied this Verse for YEARS. But I Caught something Only THIS WEEK!! “LIKE"
Jesus said the second command is LIKE or literally “Same”
What is Jesus saying? [LISTEN] It is Just as Important to Love Others as it is to Love God
Life Time of Discovery in getting to know God ALSO includes OTHERS. In fact – Read the NT with this lens, you’ll DISCOVER - Relationship with God Grows Deeper as Relationship Other Believers Grows
Who are you GROWING WITH? Who Knows YOU - the Real You? All of your WARTS - All Flaws?
"If people say, "I love God," but hate their brothers or sisters, they are liars. Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have never seen. And God gave us this command: Those who love God must also love their brothers and sisters." 1 John 4:20-21 (NCV)
My Reasoning: “If people say they have a relationship w/ God – no w/ Bro or Sis – Liar
If People say they don’t mind being Honest with God – Not Bro or Sis – Liar!
You & I learn to have a Relationship with God – Through our Relationship with one Another
Might say, “I’m not a people person!” / LEARN – Grow / Asks God to help you Get past that
Whether it’s a cup of Cold Water / Food for the Hungry / Or a deeper Walk with other believers, Jesus said, "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me." Matthew 25:40 (CEV)
In A Network of Real Friends . . . I Come to Know God
2. I Find a Place to Belong
[outloud] “Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.” Romans 12:5b (NLT)
What have professional athletes learned that You & I should learn? Success comes from Belonging
Remember Ecclesiastes 4:12 "A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break." WHY? Multiplied Strength in Numbers!! Your Strength is Multiplied – thru OTHERS
Sept. 19, 2001 - New York Times ran a story called Aboard Flight 564 - Peter Hannaford
As it was at most US Airports, last Saturday was the first near normal day at Denver International since the terrorist attacks. On United Flight 564, the door had just been locked and the plane was about to pull out of the gate when the captain came on the public address system. I want to thank you brave folks for coming out today. “We don’t have any new instructions from the federal government, so from now on we’re on our own.” The passengers listened in total silence. He explained, “Airport measures had pretty much solved the problem of firearms being carried aboard, but not weapons of the type the terrorists apparently used, plastic knives or those fashioned from wood or ceramics. Sometimes a potential hijacker will announce that he has a bomb. There are no bombs on this aircraft and if someone were to get up make that claim, don’t believe him. If someone were to stand up, brandish something such as a plastic knife and say, ‘This is a hijacking’ or words to that effect here is what you should do: Every one of you should stand up and immediately throw things at that person: pillows, books, magazines, eyeglasses, shoes, anything that will throw him off balance and distract his attention. If he has an accomplice or two, do the same with them. Most important: get a blanket over him, then wrestle him to the floor and keep him there. We’ll land the plane at the nearest airport and the authorities will take it from there.”
“Remember,” the Captain continued, “there will be one of him and maybe a few accomplices but there are 200 of you. You can overwhelm them. The Declaration of Independence says, ‘We the people’ and that’s just what it is when we’re up in the air: we, the people, vs. would-be terrorists. I don’t think we are going to have any such problem today or tomorrow or for a while, but some time down the road, it is going to happen again and I want you to know what to do. Now, since we’re a family for the next few hours, I’ll ask you to turn to the person next to you, introduce yourself, tell them a little about yourself and ask them to do the same.” The end of this remarkable speech brought sustained clapping from the passengers.
What if the Passengers of the Planes that crashed into the Twin Towers or Pentagon had gotten that speech? How many of them sat helpless by – not Realizing that if they only banded together?
YET – How many of US sit quietly – while our Lives go down in Smoke – never band together?
"Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian." Ephesians 2:19 (LB)
In A Network of Real Friends . . . There’s a Place FOR YOU to Belong
3. I Experience Real Life
Bible says – When we Come to Christ – we are CONNECTED – Like the Parts of a Body
To the Christians in Rome – Paul says in Chapter 12 – only in the Body – Find MEANING.
Church in Corinth – he said That NO MATTER the significance or insignificance of the PART - ONLY TOGETHER and JOINED TOGETHER can the Parts Function & Have Meaning. A CUT OFF TOE or CHOPPED OFF FINGER – Wouldn’t AMOUNT TO MUCH – Would it?"
“As each part does its work, it helps the other parts grow, so Christ’s whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)
These are FOUND by being Connected with others / Relationships of Openness & Honesty THROUGH A NETWORK OF REAL. . . FRIENDS.
That’s what a young women named MARTHA Found One Day – When She walked into PCC
[Video or Live Testimony about coming to the church, experiencing life change, and getting connected and growing in a small group]
One day Charlie Brown and Linus were sitting around– when Charlie Brown asked, "What would you do if you felt that nobody liked you?" Linus Thought for a moment and then said "Well Charlie Brown, I guess I would take a real hard look at myself and ask myself some tough questions; Am doing anything that turns people off? Do I need to change in some way? How can I improve myself? Yep that’s my answer Charlie Brown." Charlie Brown said, "I hate that answer."
We might not LIKE God’s answer to Finding a Better & Fulfilled Life – But it IS The Answer!
God doesn’t want to Make things TOUGH on You. But he DOES Want you to Grow!
He’s not wanting to make you MISERABLE. He KNOWS that Change can be uncomfortable
God isn’t TRYING to Control your Life (Neither am I. Wants you to Realize that with the Help and Strength of OTHERS – You can take BACK CONTROL, a Life out of Control.
It’s what over half the Adults & Students in this Congregation have Found this Past Year.
It’s the Support Martha Found [Testimony] When she Stepped out and took a RISK. It’s the Encouragement and Strength I’ve FOUND – In My OWN SMALL GROUP. AND IT’s WHAT YOU’LL FIND – As you Plug Into the NETWORK of Real Friends in GOD’S FAMILY
[PRAYER]
What’s your Next Step?
Sign Up for a Google Small Group Today!
Attend a small group weekly
[The audio and graphic resources for this series are available at the website of Pinellas Community Church - www.PinellasChurch.org. Click the "PCC RESOURCES" link]
