Jesus on Love and Friendship

I had the opportunity to preach last night at the "Wednesday Night Bible Study" at my church. I talked on the topic of Love and Frienship according to Jesus. We looked at John 15:8-17 and examined Jesus' instruction on the importance of abiding in Him and following His example of laying down His life for our friends. As I said last night in the service, "this is easy preaching and hard living," but it is clearly what God has called us to do and the life He has called us to live. Here is an excerpt from my message last night that I think is challenging for us to consider:

I want you to think about a couple of people that you consider to be good friends.
Why are they good friends?
I would be willing to bet that it’s b/c they listen to you, encourage you, laugh with you, give you perspective on certain situations, and care about you.

Now, think of some people that consider you to be a good friend.
Why?
Probably b/c you listen to them, encourage them, maybe laugh with them, and care about them.

Almost everyone wants to tell their story (some people more than others) but finding someone (a friend) to listen and really care is rare!

If your friends/family were friends to you like you are to them would you be better or worse off?

Jesus commands us to love others as He has loved us.

I want to share two quotes from Jesus that give us a really good idea of how He loves us and how I think He expects us to love others. Jesus has just told His disciples that He is going away and they start to freak out asking where He is going, and notice how He responds:

1) “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” John 14:1
2) “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27

When you think about your relationships/friendships with others do you bring chaos or peace into the relationship?

Do you leave a conversation or get off the phone having people toward God’s goodness, God’s glory, God’s greatness, and God’s ability to “calm the storms in their lives”? Or do people leave you more fired up than when they came to you? Jesus had
Jesus had a supernatural ability to bring peace into situations, befriend sinners, and love people…How are we doing in those categories? He’s given us His spirit to call on…

Hopefully today you'll find a moment to turn someone's attention to the power and goodness of the living creator God, and encourage them to trust and have faith in Him to "calm the storms in their lives."