June 04, 2023 | Pastor Joel Christiansen
Passage: John 15:9-17
Write down the names of your three closest friends.
The quality of your marriage is determined by the quality of your friendship with your spouse.
“The determining factor in whether wives feel satisfied with the sex, romance, and passion in their marriage is, by 70%, the quality of the couple’s friendship! “For men, the determining factor is, by 70%, the quality of the couple’s friendship!”
Friendship begins with the identity of God.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are My friends . . . I no longer call you servants . . . instead I have called you friends.” John 15:13-15
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now love one another.” John 15:9
Friends stick! “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks (cleaves) closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24.
Friends counsel and confront.
“Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” Proverbs 27:9
“Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted; but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:5,6
A true friend is someone who always lets you in and never lets you down.” Tim Keller
Friends are open and vulnerable.
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15.
Jesus is the best friend you will ever have.
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” John 15:16
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