Relationship Builders Pt.2 Series

INTRO: In the December 31, 1989 Chicago Tribune, the editors printed their photos of the decade. One of them, by Michael Fryer, captured a grim fireman and paramedic carrying a fire victim away from the scene.

The blaze, which happened in Chicago in December 1984, at first seemed routine. But then firefighters discovered the bodies of a mother and five children huddled in the kitchen of an apartment.

Fryer said the firefighters surmised, "She could have escaped with two or three of the children but couldn’t decide whom to pick. She chose to wait with all of them for the firefighters to arrive. All of them died of smoke inhalation."

There are times when you just don’t leave those you love.

Today we are continuing our look at building relationships. We all need relationships.

We need to take a serious look at what qualities we can focus on that will help us in our relationships.

Last week we looked at the concept of serving. Jesus was in the last stages of his life. Not only was he dealing with the suffering and death that lay ahead but a close friend helped set this up.

-With all of this weighing on him, he heard his trusted disciples bickering about who was going to be the greatest.

-I personally would have gotten upset. But Jesus did something amazing. He got up, put a towel around his waist and began to wash their feet. He did something no one else was prepared to do. That is, he served.

Summary: The first pillar to healthy relationships is to have a servant’s attitude. -Serving destroys that self-centered pride that is ingrained in us. Show picture.

Healthy relationships

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Serving Loyalty

-The second pillar to healthy relationships is loyalty.

TITLE: Relationship Builders

TEXT: 2 Samuel 11:6-15

I. Background to the text.

A. David is the king of Israel. It is a time of prosperity.

1. It’s in the spring. What would people do in the spring? The men would go off to war. -The king would usually lead them but this time David stayed behind.

2.One evening he got up and was walking around on the roof of the palace and he noticed this woman who was bathing. She was very beautiful.

3.David inquired about who she was. Her name was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam (granddaughter to an adviser) and the wife of Uriah.

-This didn’t matter; he had her brought to the palace so he could fulfill his desires. She returned to her home.

B. Bathsheba sends word that she is pregnant.

1.Imagine the plotting and scheming taking place in the mind of David.

2.David orchestrates a plan, so he sends for Uriah who was off fighting for David. TS: This brings me to my first point.

II. Loyalty will cost you your comfort. Uriah arrives at the palace to see what the king wants. They talk about how the war is going.

A. The king tells Uriah to go home to be with his wife and he sends him a gift.

1.V. 9, "But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house."

-It was his personal conviction not to enjoy the pleasures of home life while the Ark of the Covenant and his fellow soldiers were away from home; others were fighting a war and risking their lives.

2.Loyalty, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is an unswerving allegiance; being faithful to a person, cause, or idea.

-The Hebrew gives the idea of a parent with arms reaching down to a child to help support or steady him (to firmly support).

Simply put, loyalty will help support you in a cause or idea.

3.David hears about Uriah not going home so he questions him and finds out that he is not going to do such a thing.

B. David encourages him to stay, to dine with the king. So David gets him drunk, hoping he would go home and spend the night with his wife.

1.Uriah does not go home, rather he goes and sleeps with the king’s servants. -David is not going to move this man. Uriah is loyal to the king and his army.

2.Even being inebriated does not affect his loyalty.

Thought: Loyalty will cost you your comfort.

Example. Jackie Robinson was the first black to play major league baseball. While breaking baseball’s color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium.

While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. His own fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans jeered.

Then shortstop "Pee Wee" Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.