Jordon Gilmore

Friendship Series – Part 3

Main Text: John 15:12–15

• Jesus calls us friends, not just servants.
• Friendship with Jesus is both a gift and an example for how we should live with one another.

Key Recap from Previous Messages

1. Friendship is a gift from God.
2. We are called friends of God.
3. Jesus is the perfect example of friendship.
   • True friends know and understand each other.
   • They genuinely like each other.
   • They share common interests.
   • They desire to spend time together.
   • They help and protect one another.

Transition to Human Friendships

• God designed us for companionship (Gen. 2:18 – “not good for man to be alone”).
• Friendship runs as a theme throughout the whole Bible—from Genesis to Revelation.
• C.S. Lewis: “Friendship is unnecessary … it gives value to survival.”

Challenges with Friendship

• Many resist friendship due to hurt, fear, or personality defense mechanisms.
• We often default to family ties (“blood is thicker than water”), but Proverbs reminds us:
  • “A friend sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24).
  • “Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away” (Prov. 27:10).
• Real friendship requires vulnerability and effort.

Biblical Example: David & Jonathan (1 & 2 Samuel)

• Unlikely friendship: Jonathan (royal heir, trained warrior) & David (youngest shepherd boy).
• Despite natural rivalry, Jonathan loved David “as his own soul.”
• They formed a covenant, symbolized when Jonathan gave David his robe, armor, and weapons.
• Their friendship endured family conflict, jealousy, and political tension.
• David later honored Jonathan’s son (2 Sam. 9) because of this covenant.

Joshua Boyd

Continuing our series Parenting 101 this morning, let’s build off the previous topic of imitating those who imitate Christ. If you aren’t sure how to act or what to say, watch someone else who does. Just as a child imitates their parents, we should both be the proper example for others to imitate by finding examples to mirror.

In church, imitate those who are imitating God. Listen to their testimonies and learn their patterns. Find those in the Bible who trusted God in situations and were triumphant, then imitate them. It takes humility to do something someone else is doing. Pride wants to do its own thing, it wants the credit. Humility submits.

God is a God of order. In creation, in the church and in our homes, order brings His presence. Chaos and strife send Him away. God keeps order in His house. Like a good parent, He expects His children to listen and obey. We can find that the vessels who God selected for the Master’s use, were the ones who kept their own house in order. Don’t think that it is important? Let’s take a look.

Abraham

Genesis 18:17-19

17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

God needed someone who would pass down the commands and teachings of the Lord. He knew that what He promised Abraham would take generations to complete, so if those generations were trained, God’s purpose could continue through them. What was the defining trait that God was looking for on the earth? Someone who was faithful to train his children.

Jordon Gilmore