WHEN IS A FRIEND, NOT A FRIEND?
A friend of mine has well over 700 “friends” on his face book page and hopes to make personal contact with each one of them, and he hopes to photograph each one over the next 3 or 4 years. His project, will be called the “Friends I really know,” He wants to photograph each of his “friends” doing what they love—in their every-day activities. Through this project, he wants to combat the impersonal, superficial nature of what is known as “friending.”
A project of this type reminds me of John 1:14, and the way Jesus personally reached out to mankind. He became our friend when “[He] became a man and made his home among us”. Jesus lived among us –He looked into our eyes, healed others, ate meals with some, fished, and sailed with others, and He preached to many— all because He interacted with the people of the world. He came to earth so that we could get to know Him not only as God, but also as a fellow human and friend. As we sit under His teaching, read His Word, as we learn who He was and is we can get to know Him.
In John 15:15, Jesus told His disciples, “Now you are my friends”, and He proved it by confiding in them. He said, “I have told you everything the Father told me”. This level of sharing showed His care and it created joy in the hearts of His followers. As they knew Him more, they, also learned to love Him all the more.
The depth of Jesus’ friendship was also revealed by His sacrifice. Jesus said, in 15:13, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”, and then He allowed himself to be crucified for our sake.
The friendship Jesus offers us, is, a two way friendship, and not merely a one-click event— this friendship is an ongoing two way thing. (To Know Him, we must Make Him Known). He loves us deeply and has invited us into His inner circle, in order that we get to know Him— To know Him and remain in His love. Jesus wants us to know Him in a mighty way, a way that we can know and trust Him with our every day struggles. This close connection of knowing Him can minister to our souls when we feel disconnected from the people in our world. Get to Know Him; read your Bible- He wants to be your Savior, and your Friend.
God to person at the portals of Heaven; “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” Person; “Because I know Jesus.” God, “If you know my Son, tell me all you know about Him.” Person, “ Oh, you got me there, but, let’s see, I know he is in the Bible, I know he is in the church, I know he turned water into wine, but that’s about all I know.” God, “SORRY, wrong answer.” You can know the right answer! When asked, WHAT WILL BE YOUR ANSWER?
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THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS ABOVE ALL
“FROM WHENCE COMES WAR AND FIGHTING AMONG YOU?”
THE LORD’S TABLE (COMMUNION)
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Fill in the blanks. (Check answers below.)
NOTE! Filling in the blanks each week, could give a serious student of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible, an education equal to a Theological degree within 2 years. GIVE IT A TRY!
“From Whence Comes War and Fighting Among You?”
James 4:1-10; John 14:6
1. The secular world is beginning to notice the rapid increase in wars and corruption in the world, compounding the _______ of the world around us.
2. During the 18th century secular humanism flourished greatly. They felt mankind was better able to pilot his own destiny without ______. Their attack was on the authority of God’s word.
3. God will ____ be _________.
4. America’s founding fathers governed themselves by the simple basic premise that their world was ordered by the _______ of Almighty God. This gave society a good sense of absolutes.
5. This foundational presupposition has all but completely vanished from the ______ of our society.
6. Today God and the guiding principles of the Bible have been taken _____ of the equation.
7. With no absolute values to underline decisions, democracy in a society can very easily become polluted when people making _____ decisions become the majority with no real moral guidance.
8. As Christians who know the Lord Jesus as Savior, we have an absolute principle to stand by and that is to __________ God.
9. We need not apologize for the claims our _______ makes.
10. Jesus Christ is called the _________ of the world and the Light of Men. (John 1:4)
11. God has called us to bring ____ Light into this dark world.
12. We have a great God honoring task to show the Light of ____ to the world.
To find the answers to “fill in the blanks”, click here to view God Tube TV or here for Sermon TV.
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Truth Project
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Answered Prayer: As many of you know we have been praying that the Lord would send us an electrician to help us with our Electrical, Heating and AC problems. THE LORD ANSWERS PRAYER! Praise the Lord for Mike, a brother in Christ who just happens to be an electrician, came out on Saturday and located the problems. We now have heat and AC, Mike, you are truly an answer to our prayer. Additional work needs to be done, but we are, once more, bringing this before the Lord, trusting that He will supply the needed resources (approximately $500.00), to fully get this taken care of. Always remember The Lord answers prayer!
A nice visit with our Northern friends at HO HO KAM. We will miss you.
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In 130 miles and in less than three hours we went from Winter (25 degrees), to Summer (85 degrees). We Love You Arizona .
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A Reminder!!!
Our Church Service starts at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, followed by a food fellowship, with Bible Study (The Truth Project)at 11:30 a.m. Bible Study is repeated on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.CH_ _ CH, What’s Missing? U R!!
A QUESTION THAT DEMANDS AN ANSWER!
“Can you be a follower of Jesus, and NOT follow Jesus? AND, If you’re NOT a follower of Christ, are you a Christian?
Video files of our worship services are available on the Internet. Last week’s viewings totaled 501 on God Tube TV and 381 on Sermon TV for a total of 882. We pray that you were blessed by last week’s message and look forward to hearing from you. To view this week's message click here for God Tube TV or here for Sermon TV.
Continue to pray for us as we seek to serve the Lord here in Arizona.
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Thank you for always including me. you both are a real blessing to me.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for being my friend
Bless you