Easter 2021 / I Have A Friend

April 4th, 2021/Riverside & Lookout

Story: Friend in Adam & My Wife

Intro: Steps towards developing friendships, discover, dialogue, decide, depend on. Acquaintances stop at the dialogue step, there’s yet to be any commitment or decision. This is where we find most of our relationships. What happens next is critical.

Passage: Romans 5:10-11 NLT

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Pray:

Main Points: Best Friends with God

1. Discover - Make Knowing God My #1 Priority

   1. “More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” - Philippians 3:8
   2. Ask questions, listen to the answers, and keep learning and growing.
   3. “God, I want to love you more and know you better” - Rick Warren
   4. “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” - Jeremiah 29:13

   5. I’m as close to God as I choose to be (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life)

      1. Who moved?

         6. One thing that will keep you at a distance from God is worry you never bring to Him.

      2. Matthew 6. Jesus says that when worry runs my life I am living like someone who doesn’t know they have a Father. I want to control the situation, I don’t trust God.

      3. Dialogue - Slow Down, Listen, and Talk Back

         1. 5 “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either… “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” - Matthew 6:5-6 MSG
         2. Sit down, be still, slow down, and listen
         3. You don’t get fancy when you’re talking to a friend, you get honest, vulnerable, and passionate.
         4. What would cause you to not dialogue with God?

      4. Busy

      5. Angry
      6. Distant
      7. Ignorant
         5. Maintain A Constant Conversation
      8. Always be joyful. Never stop praying.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 NLT
      9. How often do you talk to your best friend?

2. Decide - Whose Friendship Do You Desire Most?

   1. Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. - James 4:4 CSB
   2. You can have a lot of friends, but you can’t be everyone's best friend. It takes time, intentionality, and at some point, you have to choose.
   3. Friends value what friends value
   4. “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” - John 15:14 CSB
   5. We are friends with God, but we are not equals. I may have a relationship with a king, but it does not make me his equal.

   6. We obey God out of love and delight

      1. 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” - John 15:9-11 NLT

3. Depend On - Trust God In Your Pain

   1. “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22
   2. I have a friend that will never leave me
   3. I have a friend I can depend on
   4. I have a friend in the middle of my ________.
   5. I have a friend that can ___________.

Closing: “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” - John 15:12-13 CSB

“We accept friendship with God on His own terms” - C.H. Spurgeon

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” - Romans 5:8-11 NLT

I am never alone, my friend sits on the throne

I am never alone, my king sits on His throne

You are a friend of God if you have been delivered by His grace through faith in Jesus. Those are His terms. And His friends delight in obeying His commands.