When COVID-19 is finally over, I think church should have a party.
A non-socially distant party.
 
A party where everyone who enters gets good, old fashioned, human contact.
 
There’ll be…
High fives!
Hugs
Even European cheek kisses?
 
There’ll be Juicy Juices available in the snack area – with two giant straws for you to share with a complete stranger!
Out back, we’ll have a giant game of twister…
And we’ll end the party by doing one of those things where everyone puts their hands in and then raise them by shouting something encouraging like: “Go Social Near Proximity!”
 
A non-social distance party sounds nice…
 
But…
 
We aren’t there yet.
Not at all.
 
And maybe…
 
Some of you wonder.
When will that party happen?
 
Or maybe…
Will that party EVER happen?
 
Yes.
 
That party will absolutely happen.
In fact, the Bible guarantees such a party.
 
Only this party, it doesn’t happen on earth.
 
Today we hear from God’s Word about the ETERNAL VICTORY PARTY awaiting us in heaven. Before we get into it, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. A Vision of the Party
 
The lesson comes from the very last book in the Bible. It’s called Revelation. Revelation was written by one of Jesus’ 12 disciples named John. John was very close to Jesus. He had spent three years learning from Jesus, he was at the cross when Jesus died, he saw Jesus risen from the dead, and interacted with his risen Savior on multiple occasions. John was a key part of the early church and spreading the Gospel.
 
Unfortunately, that got John into trouble. He was exiled to an island called Patmos where he finished life by himself.
 
Think of it like his own quarantine.
 
But God didn’t let John’s time go to waste. While on the island of Patmos, God revealed to John some amazing things about the future. God came to John in several vision to reveal truths about the end times. These visions are written down in Revelation.
 
That’s why Revelation is called Apocalyptic Literature. Apocalyptic literature is pretty fantastic. It includes otherworldly creatures, strange metaphors, and complicated similes.
 
It’s like verbal art. Each word is like an artist’s brush stroke. The strokes come together to create a fantastic piece that speaks deep truth about the end times. For us, the challenging part is that the Holy Spirit’s work in Revelation is something like a Picasso – strange, out of place, hard to understand at first glance.
 
That’s important to keep in mind.
 
The temptation might be to take it apart piece by piece. To focus in on singular details.
But the Holy Spirit motivated John to write the vision as one continuous piece.
There’s value in backing up and looking at it in its entirety.
 
So…
 
Let’s dive into the vision.
 
John was having a normal day.
It’s quiet on an exile island.
 
I imagine he woke up at the rays of sunlight.
He went and poured his drip coffee, “Patmos Perk Blend.”
He grabbed his scrolled copy of the first three chapters of Revelation.
Because these were Jesus’ words.
He went outside to use them for his morning devotion.
 
As he’s sitting on his patio, with the waves gently crashing in the background, he warms his hands on his mug and takes a deep breath:
 
“What a beautiful sunrise.
What a beautiful skyline.
Nothing could be more beautiful.”
 
Just then, something happened.
 
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. (v.1)
 
And John did a double take.
It wasn’t as if the clouds parted.
It wasn’t as if the sun was shining more brightly.
 
The physical, earthly atmosphere opened to reveal the hidden, metaphysical realm of heaven
 
Then, a loud sound.
 
A trumpet.
No, a voice.
No, a voice like trumpet.
No, a trumpet like voice.
 
The same voice that had spoken to him as he wrote those letters.
The same powerful voice that had spoken God’s Word.
The voice of Jesus.
 
(Jesus’) Voice…said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” (v.1)
 
No sooner had Jesus’ voice spoken, than John was in the Spirit. (v.2)
 
John was suddenly looking back at his body.
His spirit was entering the spirit realm and he was being led by the Spirit…
Through the air.
Through the sky.
Through the clouds.
Through the Ozone Layer.
Through the metaphysical doorway.
 
Into heaven.
 
Once John got his bearings. He looked around.
And there before (him) was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. (v2b)
 
It was hard to make out who that someone was.
Because this Being.
And this Throne.
Were shining.
They were gleaming.
They were glowing with an otherworldly glow.
 
And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby.
 
Jasper is a beautiful, clear, diamond-like rock.
Ruby is a gorgeous, dark red gemstone.
 
John had seen them before as tiny stones worn by the religious leaders back on earth. The high priests wore the stones on his breastplate. They served as a beautiful reminder of the God’s grace and sovereignty.
 
Thus far in John’s life he had only seen these stones worn by someone.
Never as someone.
 
Above the One seated on the throne was an emerald-colored shape. (v.3)
 
It encircled the throne.
It encircled the jasper & ruby like being.
It encircled them like a rainbow.
 
In the Old Testament, the rainbow was given by God as reminder of God’s grace and mercy.
Unfortunately, all the rainbows that John had seen…faded.
 
Not this one.
This rainbow – endured.
Where God’s grace – stayed.
 
It took a couple of minutes. But John noticed that there were others in the room.
Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. (v.4)
 
They looked like princes.
All in uniform.
All in a holy, divine uniform.
 
John was about to compliment the nearest elder on his golden head gear, when…
 
BOOM!
 
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. (v.5)
 
It was louder than any storm John had ever heard before.
Probably because he was closer to the source of a storm than John had ever been before.
 
This was the throne room of heaven.
This is the place where God controlled the weather.
This is the place where God told tornadoes where to go…
 
…and hurricanes to develop into category 4s.
…and earthquakes to rumble.
…and volcanoes to erupt.
…and wildfires to burn.
 
Speaking of burning…
In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. (v5b)
 
They didn’t seem to be going out.
Not at all.
They weren’t fading.
But burning.
Eternally.
 
Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. (v.6)
 
In fact, that water was unlike any water John had ever seen before.
Most of the water he had seen was murky.
This greenish, brown from algae and mud.
Even the shores of the Mediterranean Sea on his island, which were clearer than lake water, weren’t as clear as this divine deluge.
 
This sea and how it got that way?
Was surpassing all John’s understanding.
 
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures. (v.7)
 
And you’ll have to forgive John for the description. Because these creatures were unlike any creatures he had ever seen on earth.
For starters, they were covered with eyeballs all down their front and all down their backs. It would be enough to give anyone jitters.
 
But not John.
Not beside that peaceful water.
Not in the protection of the One on the throne.
 
The first living creature was like a lion, powerful and wild.
The second was like an ox, domestic and loyal.
The third had a face like a man, wise and beloved.
Th fourth was like a flying eagle, soaring and free.
 
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. (v8)
 
John couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
This was incredible.
It was awesome.
It was worth giving a shout.
 
The living creatures beat him to it:
 
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” (v.8b)
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
 
It was a beautiful symphony.
 
But it wasn’t over.
 
Suddenly, the elders got down from their thrones.
They turned to face the Seated One.
They fell to the ground.
They took off their crowns.
And joined in the worship of the Seated One.
 
They cried, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (v.8)
 
John smiled.
He didn’t need to be afraid.
He didn’t need to be worried.
He didn’t need to be anything anymore…
 
Other than joyful.
 
He was with God.
 
II. Truths about the Eternal Victory Party
 
This revelation paints a beautiful picture for us of that eternal victory party. There’s a lot to talk about. But I’m going to limit myself to five things that will have value for our lives right now.
 
TRUTH 1:
GOD is at the CENTER of the Victory Party.
 
The first things John sees is the One seated on the Throne. (v.2) His eyes are naturally drawn to him.
 
Then, there are these concentric circles going out and around the throne.
 
Verse 3 says the rainbow encircled the throne.
Verse 4 says the 24 elders were surrounding the throne.
Verse 6 says the 4 living creatures were around the throne.
Verse 9 says the elders bow down and praise the One on the throne.
In fact, if we read a bit farther in chapter 5:11, it says that 10,000 times 10,000 angels encircled the throne to praise God.
 
The point? God is at the center of this victory party.
 
Since God’s there? This is a good party.
This is a DIVINELY good party.
 
It’s not like human parties.
Sometimes human parties aren’t very good.
 
The punch isn’t bitter.
The taco dip isn’t overrun with too many refried beans.
The Enya music in the background isn’t ruining the mood.
 
This isn’t like a human party.
This party is good.
 
Sometimes human parties have sin at them. Sin that spoils the party and gives you a bad after taste for days!
 
Like the headache you have because you drank too much.
Or the drunken text message you need to explain because you were mad at someone.
Or the two of your friends who aren’t speaking together anymore because one got together with the other’s boyfriend.
 
This isn’t a human party.
This is a GOD party.
 
It isn’t a sinful party with horrid after-effects.
 
This is a God party.
With amazing forever effects.
 
At this party…
 
There’s no sadness.
There’s no pain.
There’s no fighting.
There’s no backstabbing.
There’s no gossip.
There’s no embarrassment.
There’s no sickness.
There’s no sin.
There’s no COVID-19.
There’s no economic downturn.
There’s no loss of job.
There’s no anxiety.
 
There’s only good.
 
TRUTH 2:
The guest list includes ALL BELIEVERS
 
John describes 24 elders in front of the throne. This seems very likely to be a summation of two very important groups from the Bible. One from the Old Testament before Jesus and another group from the New Testament at the time of Jesus.
 
There were 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament. (This nation was chosen by God to preserve the promise of the Savior.)
There were 12 apostles in the New Testament. (These were chosen by the Savior to work closely with him.)
 
Putting those two together seems to symbolize a complete gathering of the Chosen from the Old and New Testament.
 
In other words:
Believers.
 
Do you grasp what this means?
If you are a believer in Jesus as your Savior, you will be at this divine party.
 
That’s what happened when the Gospel was preached to you.
God wrote up one of those little invitations cards and sent it to you.
Of course, he didn’t send it on one of those Pinterest level cuties cards – although if the first way you learned about Jesus was through a Pinterest card with “Jesus Loves You” written on it, I suppose that’s exactly what he did.
 
And if you aren’t a believer, this is your invitation right now!
You are invited to the party.
A party without any pain, shame, or sadness.
 
If you’d like to be in that party, you’ve got to listen to the instructions on the invitation.
 
What are those instructions?
 
Well…
 
Do you remember how John got to the party?
 
He didn’t use GPS.
He didn’t use Google maps.
He didn’t ask Alexa.
 
The voice called to him.
That voice?
It was the voice of Jesus.
 
TRUTH 3:
The ONLY way to the eternal victory party is through JESUS.
 
And that’s good news.
 
Cause while these the most impressive party of all time,
There isn’t an exclusive list.
 
You don’t have to pay your way in.
You don’t have to be invited based on your humanitarian efforts.
You won’t be disqualified because you have that one sin in your past.
 
Jesus is your way to the victory party.
 
It’s only through Jesus that you get into the party.
He lived for you.
He died for you.
He rose for you.
 
It’s as simple as trusting Jesus’ invitation.
And you’ll be at that party.
 
TRUTH 4:
The party is JOYFUL!
 
The living creatures with the eyeballs and the wings. I don’t know exactly what they represent. It seems the safest and easiest choice would be a representation of all living creatures.
The lion represents wild animals.
The ox represents domesticated animals.
The human represents humans.
The eagle represents birds.
 
Don’t ask me why there isn’t a slug with a bunch of eyes on it representing mollusks.
 
But did you notice this?
These living creatures praise God.
So do the angels.
So do the elders – aka – the Redeemed.
 
Everyone and everything are joyfully praising God!
 
No one is stopping to complain.
No one is stopping to argue.
No one is thinking about COVID-19.
No one is worried that they need to get home by 9 so they don’t get charged double by the babysitter.
 
They’re just…
Joyful.
 
Do you remember the last time you were just joyful?
…
…Me neither.
 
You will be.
 
When you join the eternal victory party, you will be joyful!
 
But here’s where it gets interesting. Look closely at verse 9 again:
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four…worship the one who lives forever and ever…saying: You are worthy, Lord our God! (v.9-10)
 
Did you catch that?
It isn’t a one-time occurrence.
It isn’t a thing in the future.
 
It’s a “whenever” occurrence.
 
As in, this praise for our God is going on right now.
 
TRUTH 5:
You don’t need to WAIT to join the party.
 
Whenever you see a beautiful sunrise and you are amazing at God’s artistry? Praise God!
Whenever you see a majestic wild animal on one of those National Geographic shows and you are amazed at God’s power? Praise God!
Whenever you look through your kids’ books on animals and you see a photo of one of those weird fish with the light on its head and you think: “That’s so creative.” Praise God!
 
Whenever you wake up to the beautiful face of your bride and think, “How blessed am I?” Praise God!
Whenever your family gathers together on the sofa for game night, safe and healthy? Praise God!
Whenever you see the gorgeous smile of your child on the screen saver of your cell phone? Praise God.
 
Whenever you wake up and realize you woke up. Praise God! It’s a day worth partying!
 
Whenever you hear about what your Savior did for you on the cross. Praise God!
Whenever you are reminded that you are redeemed? Praise God!
Whenever you think of the eternal victory party awaiting you? Praise God!
 
Friends, we’ve got all kinds of reasons to celebrate. Join God in the eternal victory party today!
Amen.

We’re in the middle of a sermon series called FRESH. This week our topic is refreshing friendships. We want to learn how to seek refreshing friendships and how to be refreshing friends. Before we do that, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.

I. Friendship and Its Blessings

To start – a bit of a study on the Greek word for friendship: “Philia”. Philia is actually one of four Greek words for “love”:

Storge is the word used for parental love. In parental love, love develops downward between the parent and their child. The parent loves the child because he sees the child’s need for love. The child loves the parent because of their providing.
 
Eros is the word for romantic love. In romantic love, love develops between two people that are facing each other. Picture them looking into each other’s eyes romantically. This is a back and forth relationship. The man loves the woman because she is gorgeous. The woman loves the man because he is studly.
 
Philia is a bit different. Rather than a love that involves people looking at each other, friendship love develops between two people that are standing side by side. They are side by side as they face something together.

To put it another way, friendship develops as you go through life together:

Friendship develops as you cheer for your favorite football team together.
Friendship develops as you talk about being a mom together.
Friendship develops as you watch The Bachelor together.
Friendship develops as you pretend to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together.

Unlike the other two types of love which point the people at each other, philia love points people at their shared goal.
Friendship is a love between two people who share a common goal.

For me, some of my best friends have come from my time playing football. I shared some common experiences with those guys. I remember sweating with them. I remember getting bruised with them. I remember waking up at 5am to go and run sprints around the football field with them. I remember rolling around in the mud in the middle of a torrential downpour with them. I remember practicing in 10-degree weather, snow falling everywhere, wearing these big yellow, football coats in order to stay warm with them.

I remember winning with them.
I remember losing with them.
I remember sharing the common goal of playing football with them.

And here’s the thing – I can call up some of those friends even today and instantly get into an argument about whose fault it is that in round 2 of State tournament. We gave up a 65-yard TD run to lose the game in the closing minutes (Spoiler: It wasn’t me. My assignment was the fullback)

Maybe you have a few friends like that, too. The Bible describes the blessings of friendship:  

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. (Ecclesiastes 4:9) This is like that old Math problem. If I can paint a house in 45 hours and you can paint it in 40 hours, how fast do we paint it together? The answer is – that it’s faster. Two people with the shared goal of work, have the blessings of doing that work together.  
 
If one falls down, one can help the other up. (v.10) You get the picture of two friends whose shared goal is running a Tough Mudder. If one of them falls down into the mud, the friend will stop to help them up. Their shared goal develops a bond where it is mutually beneficial to help each other along the goal.

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. (v.11) This is the blessing of protection. Remember – this is written at a time when people walked dangerous ancient roads from city to city – where bandits could easily attack a solo travel. Two people? That increases your eyes on attack; it increases your hands in the fight; it increases the muscle power on your team. Modernly speaking, two sets of thumbs increase your chances of defeating other teams in Fortnite.

Friendship is a Biblical concept. The Bible agrees that it is a blessing for people go through life together with other people.  
 
II. Where to Avoid Friendship

But…

The Bible also has something say about where to find our friendships.
It has something to say about the difference between a beneficial friendship and a not so beneficial friendship.
 
Take a look at James 4:4-5 -
Don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who choose to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  

The Bible is not saying, “Don’t be friends with anyone in this world.” Nope.  If that were the case, we’d have to pay closer attention to NASA’s trips searching for life on other planets. Chewbacca or ALF might be the only options.

But the Bible is telling us to be careful that earthly friendships do not lead us to loving the world – and worldly things – more than God.   
Specifically – I think it warns against two types of friendships:

1) Sin Based Friendships.

This may seem obvious… at least…theoretically.
Friendships that lead you into sin are not refreshing. 
Again – obviously, in theory; but oblivious in practicality.

It’s so easy for friendship to revolve around sin:

The friend with whom you share the goal of getting drunk – and the guilt of having done stupid things.  
The friends with whom you share the joy of gossiping about others – and the insecurity that they’re probably doing that about you in some other group.
The friends with whom you share the goal of getting together and bad mouthing the government – and lack giving of attention to my own inadequacies and failures.

Friendships that revolve around sin also revolve around guilt.
Around shame.
Around sadness.

There’s nothing refreshing about guilt.
 
2) Material Things. 
 
This is more challenging to see, because material things are not inherently sinful.

It isn’t wrong to have money.
It isn’t wrong to like politics.
It isn’t wrong to enjoy the sandwiches at Chick-fil-A.
And it isn’t wrong to have friendship that are based on these things.

But…what happens when material things are your focus?
 
Let me tell you about the Corinthian congregation. The Corinthian congregation was a group of believers that lived in a very materially focused society. Corinth was a trading area. Corinth had a big marketplace. Corinth was about money, money, money, money. The here. The now. The everyday. The material.

And some of the Corinthians had a lot of friends that were very focused on material things.

So…the Corinthian believers had a bit of a disconnect going on in their lives.
On Sundays, they’d gather for worship and be reminded: “It’s all about Jesus! He is our Savior. He leads to eternal life.”
The rest of the week? “Jesus doesn’t matter. He isn’t real. Worry about money. That’s real.”  

The end result? Quite a few of the Corinthian believers stopped believing in the resurrection.  

That’s why Paul writes this: “You know that bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Cor. 15:54)
It’s like adding one rotten, fuzzy, moldy apple to the apple cider mixture. As soon as that apple’s is a part of the mixture, the whole thing gets disgusting.
The Corinthians were believers, but you have so many friendships based on non-believing things – Christianity started to fall away.  
 
This is a big deal question -- Do you have friends like that?
Friends who threaten to take away your faith?  
Understand -- the Bible isn’t telling us to drop all of those friends. Nope.

But it is telling us this:

The more time you spend on friendships that have little to no focus on the spiritual, the less you will be focused on the spiritual.
The less you are focused on the spiritual, the less you are focused on your Savior.
The less you are focused on your Savior, the more your faith will weaken.
The more your faith weakens, the closer you are to drifting away from faith forever.

III. Where to Seek Friendship

But if that’s where we should avoid seeking friendships,
What kind of friendships should we seek?
 
The Centurion paced back and forth in his office.
If ever he needed friends, it was right now.
 
You see – one of his trusted associates, a comrade, a friend, a coworker was very ill.
Deathly ill.
Incurably ill.

He was in need of a friend…
 
…But not just any friend.

He didn’t need a friend who could express platitudes and offer his “thoughts” being with them.  
He was in need of a friend who could help.
A friend who could heal.

Because of his high position in the Roman government, he had plenty of places to look for that friend.
He could ask his higher ups for access to Caesar’s doctors.
He could ask his wealthy friends for contact in upcoming medicine.
He could ask his well-travelled commanders if they knew anyone from their travels who might be able to help.

But he didn’t turn to them.

Instead, he turned to the country he had conquered.
Instead, he turned to someone who wasn’t a doctor.
Instead, he turned to a lowly carpenter’s apprentice that he had never met.

Jesus.

And he said, “Heal my servant, but Lord, don’t trouble yourself (to come here), for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (v.6-7)

Jesus, I don’t deserve your help.
I might be a Roman centurion that commands a myriad of soldiers that enforce their rules of the country that you are but a lowly traveling minister of, but…I know, full well…that I don’t deserve your friendship.

Because you are more than a lowly carpenter.
You. Are. God Himself.

Help.

And…
Jesus didn’t ignore Him.
Jesus didn’t say, “I have other friends.”
Jesus didn’t say, “And…who are you?”
Nope.

He simply healed his servant.

1. Jesus

There is no better friend than Jesus.
There is no friend more helpful.
There is no friend more worthy of being sought.
No friend more kind.
No friend more powerful.
No friend more merciful.
No friend more forgiving.
No friend who loves you more than Jesus Christ himself.

In fact, John 15 says this: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Understand – that’s what Jesus did for you. He not only said, “I’ll be your friend…even when you’ve sinned against me.”
He’ll said, “I’ll be your friend. And as my first act of friendship, I will die for you.”

And then, look at what Jesus says in John 15, “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
 
Jesus calls you His friend.
And it means – you can call him YOURS.

And it means – there is no greater friendship that you can seek than your friendship with your Lord.
 
2. People who Point You to Jesus

If your friendship with Jesus is the number one friendship to seek, then a secondary type of friendship is people who point you to Jesus.

Maybe you’ve got a friend like that.
A friend who points you to Jesus.
A friend who reminds you of your Savior.
A friend who encourages you in the faith.

If you you’re having trouble thinking, look around. Do you see all these people? That’s why they exist.
You need them.
They need you.

In fact, Hebrews 10 says this, “Let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The point? Find friends who point you to Jesus.
Be a friend who points people to Jesus.

IV. WHAT NOW?

1) Meetup with Church Friends
 
This is essentially the writer’s point in Hebrews when he says, “Do not give up meeting together.” The reason is twofold: (1) Don’t give up meeting with those who can refresh your faith. (2) Don’t give up meeting with those whose faith you can refresh.

And this isn’t just a Sunday thing.
It’s not just friends that you see for one hour a week each Sunday.

Nope.

These are friends that God’s Word tells us to uplift throughout the week.

Question – You ever hung out with anyone at church during the week before? You should do it.
Are you nervous to ask them? Don’t worry they’re nervous, too.

Grab a coffee.
Send a Facebook message.
Have them over to your house.

And don’t just make a text message group. Is there any wonder that we are more connected now than ever before? Social media apps, 15 different ways to stay connected all within the palm of our hand – and yet – suicide rates are higher than ever in the U.S. Depression rates are high. Loneliness is high.

Because even though this is a blessing, if it is our only form of communication – we are missing something.

Actual. Physical. Interaction.

A high five.
A hug.
A fist bump.

The Bible says, “Meet together.” Christians at the time of writing Hebrews, would have longed for a safe place to meet together, without the Roman government that wanted to KILL them.

We have the ability to meet together.
Let’s do so.

2) Encourage Each Other

Then, when we do meet together, look at what we’re to do:  Encourage one another.

Notice it doesn’t say: “Let us not give up complaining to each other.”
Nor does it say: “Let us not give up gossip with one another.”
Nor does it even say: “Let us not give up getting together to fight.”

Nope.  

Meet together and encourage each other.
May I dare say that if you’re looking for something encouraging to say – there is nothing more encouraging than the message of Jesus.

3) Bring God into the Friendship

Because God doesn’t want you to only associate with believers.  Look at Matthew 5, “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before people that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.”

If your light is going to shine before people who are in darkness, it necessitates that you interact with those in darkness.
Make friends in the world. Make friends with people who don’t believe. Make friends with those who aren’t focused on Jesus.

But…
Then…
Quietly…
Patiently.
Kindly.

Tell them about Jesus.
Bring them the light of the world.
And I’ll tell you this – you will be the most REFRESHING friend they’ve ever met!

Because…

Do you remember earlier? We mentioned there were four types of love.  I only talked about three. The fourth type of love is called AGAPE. Agape love is different than all the other loves. Because all the other loves are conditional.

I’ll love my child; if he acts like my child.
I’ll love my spouse; if she loves me.
I’ll love my friend; if we have things in common.

But Agape LOVE? It’s unconditional.
It’s one sided.  
It’s love that just loves because that’s what this kind of love does.

That’s a kind of love that humans aren’t very good at.
But it is a kind of love that GOD specializes in.

And now, think about this: The God who has undeserved, constant, undisputed love for you – is the same God who is your friend!
The God with Agape love is your God of your Philia love.

That’s Refreshing.
And that’s the same refreshing message that God has called you to prepare for others.
Because the hearts of a REFRESHING friendship is none other than Jesus.
 
Amen.