Building God-Honoring Friendships for Spiritual Growth
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Be genuinely interested in other people. We just talked about that. Number two, smile. Only three of you? Okay, four of you. Really? Some of you need to learn this. You know what's the best part of you? I just feel like hanging out here for a while. Can I do this? Yeah. It should be something that marks a Christian life. If they can't find joy, in the kingdom, where is the world going to go for this? Show your teeth, somebody. When you're here, this is where you practice. This is just where you get equipped. When you leave those doors, come on, when you're shopping, I know, it's tough. When you go to work, you can conquer road rage just by deciding to smile." [32:35]
2. "Sowing takes sacrifice. Somebody say sacrifice. Not a word we like so much, but John 15, 12 to 13 says this. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. If we're not ready to be somewhat sacrificial in our approach, it takes time, it takes energy, it takes emotional stamina, it takes some sacrifice to build quality friendships." [35:39]
3. "If you've found friends that are okay sinning with you, it's a quick skip and a jump to the friends that will sin against you. Somebody say, oy. Seriously, because just me making a decision to follow, Christ revealed the true nature of my actual friend circle. And I'm talking about my inner friend circle, the dudes that I hung out with literally every week and talk to all the time. Only, only one of them sort of encouraged my walk with the Lord." [14:28]
4. "One of the most important decisions that we're going to make throughout our life and not just in our teen years, but all through our life is choosing who's going to, who we're going to be friends with. Often the quality of friendships you choose dictates the quality of life that we're experiencing. Come on, especially the quality of your God journey. And this is where it gets really critical. Make no mistake. Your friendships either enhance your walk with the Lord or they hinder it." [09:21]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Guard your field. Guard your house. Guard your heart. The field is the place that is the inner you and the inner person of you in your personal life. That's what I'm talking about right now. Guard your heart. Guard your house, right? Y'all just let your front door open. Let anyone in overnight that wants to come in? Well, there are some homeless people. Why don't you want them? No? Okay. I don't either, right? Why? Because it might not be safe, right? You should have a say." [21:23]
2. "Building quality of friendships means sowing into others before you can reap a harvest of good friendship. You have to start down the journey of one anothering. If you want to get good people in your inner circle, they have to look at you and say, he's not just about himself. She doesn't just talk about herself. She's about others. And he likes to do what others prefer as well. How often do you think about what around you prefer? Somebody say conquer selfishness." [31:09]
3. "It takes time to tend relationships. It's the part that takes the most work in a relationship, so what I'm saying is don't shrink back. Proverbs 16 says this, in verse 28, a dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. What's a whisperer? A gosperer. Somebody say, spray that bug. See, you got to pull that weed, and this is the tough stuff because when you've left a bestie into your life, and they start to just, you know, they start to just, you know, spread toxic behavior, and they're gossiping about everybody." [38:36]
4. "Sow in quality friendships and then reap quality friendships back to you. Sow kindness and reap kindness and sow encouragement and reap it. And then you sow love and attention and time and energy and prayer and dedication and fun and laughter even into people's lives and then start reaping what you sow. And I believe that Scripture, Scripture is clear that if we want to reap something, we can sow it with expectation." [45:28]
5. "Who you surround yourself with is critical and it's crucial. And it's even imperative to who you will become, how you walk with God and how you fulfill the calling that is on your life. Now, let me say this about the devil, the enemy of our souls, Satan, the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy, right? And from John 10, 10, he comes to kill, steal and destroy, right? He's not fond of healthy relationships. In this sense, we all have a common enemy. He doesn't like healthy God honoring connections." [18:33]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "Be genuinely interested in other people. We just talked about that. Number two, smile. Only three of you? Okay, four of you. Really? Some of you need to learn this. You know what's the best part of you? I just feel like hanging out here for a while. Can I do this? Yeah. It should be something that marks a Christian life. If they can't find joy, in the kingdom, where is the world going to go for this? Show your teeth, somebody. When you're here, this is where you practice. This is just where you get equipped. When you leave those doors, come on, when you're shopping, I know, it's tough. When you go to work, you can conquer road rage just by deciding to smile." [32:35]
2. "Sowing takes sacrifice. Somebody say sacrifice. Not a word we like so much, but John 15, 12 to 13 says this. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. If we're not ready to be somewhat sacrificial in our approach, it takes time, it takes energy, it takes emotional stamina, it takes some sacrifice to build quality friendships." [35:39]
3. "If you've found friends that are okay sinning with you, it's a quick skip and a jump to the friends that will sin against you. Somebody say, oy. Seriously, because just me making a decision to follow, Christ revealed the true nature of my actual friend circle. And I'm talking about my inner friend circle, the dudes that I hung out with literally every week and talk to all the time. Only, only one of them sort of encouraged my walk with the Lord." [14:28]
4. "One of the most important decisions that we're going to make throughout our life and not just in our teen years, but all through our life is choosing who's going to, who we're going to be friends with. Often the quality of friendships you choose dictates the quality of life that we're experiencing. Come on, especially the quality of your God journey. And this is where it gets really critical. Make no mistake. Your friendships either enhance your walk with the Lord or they hinder it." [09:21]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Guard your field. Guard your house. Guard your heart. The field is the place that is the inner you and the inner person of you in your personal life. That's what I'm talking about right now. Guard your heart. Guard your house, right? Y'all just let your front door open. Let anyone in overnight that wants to come in? Well, there are some homeless people. Why don't you want them? No? Okay. I don't either, right? Why? Because it might not be safe, right? You should have a say." [21:23]
2. "Building quality of friendships means sowing into others before you can reap a harvest of good friendship. You have to start down the journey of one anothering. If you want to get good people in your inner circle, they have to look at you and say, he's not just about himself. She doesn't just talk about herself. She's about others. And he likes to do what others prefer as well. How often do you think about what around you prefer? Somebody say conquer selfishness." [31:09]
3. "It takes time to tend relationships. It's the part that takes the most work in a relationship, so what I'm saying is don't shrink back. Proverbs 16 says this, in verse 28, a dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. What's a whisperer? A gosperer. Somebody say, spray that bug. See, you got to pull that weed, and this is the tough stuff because when you've left a bestie into your life, and they start to just, you know, they start to just, you know, spread toxic behavior, and they're gossiping about everybody." [38:36]
4. "Sow in quality friendships and then reap quality friendships back to you. Sow kindness and reap kindness and sow encouragement and reap it. And then you sow love and attention and time and energy and prayer and dedication and fun and laughter even into people's lives and then start reaping what you sow. And I believe that Scripture, Scripture is clear that if we want to reap something, we can sow it with expectation." [45:28]
5. "Who you surround yourself with is critical and it's crucial. And it's even imperative to who you will become, how you walk with God and how you fulfill the calling that is on your life. Now, let me say this about the devil, the enemy of our souls, Satan, the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy, right? And from John 10, 10, he comes to kill, steal and destroy, right? He's not fond of healthy relationships. In this sense, we all have a common enemy. He doesn't like healthy God honoring connections." [18:33]
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