1 Samuel 18:1

I'm going to sing with your friends in me. I will worship. I will talk my fears. I dance upon disappointment. And I, I will worship. Yeah.

I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, at your feet, Lord, I, I will worship. In the midst of confusion, Lord, I, I will worship.

Oh, I will worship. Yeah, yeah. I, I will worship.

Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh, I will worship. Oh

This fire, he is lost

Through the light

As they crash against

This fire, he is lost

He is lost

Through the stormy dust

How a soul run

Wings like acres

Oh God, you carry me

This way

There is power

Victory

Hope for the broken hearted

Healing meant for me

There is goodness

Justice

Rest

For the weak and weak

Love

Is man

Free

This fire, he is lost

Through the darkness

To the light of day

This fire, he is lost

Love and mercy

And amazing

And my hope is lost

In the shadows

This promise

You have made

Love and mercy

There is power

Victory

Hope for the broken hearted

Healing meant for me

There is goodness

Justice

Rest

For the weak and weak

Life

Is man

The water

Is crashing over

He's gonna

Save us

Water

The water

Is crashing over

He's gonna

Rescue us

When the water

The water

Is crashing over

He's gonna

Save us

Water

The water, the water is crashing over

He's gonna rescue us

When the water, the water, the water is crashing over

He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna save us

He's gonna rescue us

Because there is power

Bigotry, no, for the broken

Healing, let go

Father, right now I'm just so burdened by a friend of mine who is worried about some things that are going to happen tomorrow And God, I believe in the power of the prayer of the saints And I know these people in this room do too

And they don't have to know who she is And they don't have to know the circumstance, God But the water is crashing over So God, we stand right now in the gap for her God, we stand right now in the gap for the child over which she is praying Over which she and her husband are praying God, we stand in the gap for the safety of a child

Who is helpless right now, Father Except for you Because you are his protector And God, as a body right now, we ask that you would speak To the people who need to be spoken to That you would cover this family With your peace that passes understanding In this moment, right now, God Because you are ahead of each one of us Because you have already gone before us

Because you have made the way Because you have made the way Because God, you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again Because you love us So God, it doesn't matter what the circumstances are, God Or who these people are, Lord Because you know

You're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do it again And you're going to do

Save them, the water, the water, the water is crashing over

You're gonna rescue them

Oh, the water, the water, the water is crashing over

You're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna

Save them, the water, the water, the water is crashing over

You're gonna rescue them

Cause there is power, victory

Hope for the broken healing

Land for death

There is goodness, justice

Rest for the weak and fear

Love that's a land for death

Say that again

There is power, victory

Hope for the broken healing

Land for death

There is goodness, justice

Rest for the weak and fear

Love that's a land for death

The water, the water, the water is crashing over

You're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna save us

Water, the water, the water is crashing over

You're gonna rescue us

You can praise him right there if you wanted to

I heard it

You're gonna save you away

I heard it

You

Thank you.

This love that can't lead to me From head to heart You take me all in to me And there you go To keep us to me From head to heart You take me all in to me And there you go Keep us to me From head to heart

Thank you.

I will receive your light, but you give me faith like a child, in you, my mother's womb.

It's more than words, more than good ideas.

I found your love in your dreams.

It's more than words, more than good ideas.

I found your love in your dreams.

Take hold of you, yeah

So there's no shame

I'm looking like a fool

But I'll give you what I can't keep

Take hold of you, yeah

Take hold of you

I'll take hold of you

I'll take a hold of you

There are over 110 scriptures that talk about the hand of the Lord

And they all talk about his strength and his power

Over all kinds of different circumstances

It's really easy to forget how mighty God is

Because of the way that he works

He works through the body

He works through the spirit

All the ways that he works

And this song, you know

Is such a powerful song

Because it really only talks about

How glorious God is

The simplicity of not just his hand

But his name

You know, and how his name is tied into his hand

That's really not in this lyric

But just when I think about his name

I think about his hand

Because I think about

When we call on his name

Then his hand begins to move

It's pretty exciting when you think about

The power of the hand of God

And the power of calling on his name

Because you are the word of the gift

The one with God

Your hidden glory

And creation

Now relieved

In you

Our Christ

What a beautiful name

It is

The name of Jesus

Christ

What a beautiful name

Nothing compares to this

What a beautiful name

It is

In the name of Jesus

You didn't want heaven that was

So Jesus

You brought heaven that was

Your sin was greater

Your love was greater

What could somebody

What a wonderful name It is In the name of Jesus Christ What a wonderful name It is In the name of Jesus Christ What a wonderful name It is

Nothing could somebody What a wonderful name It is In the name of Jesus Christ What a wonderful name It is In the name of Jesus Christ What a wonderful name It is In the name of Jesus Christ

Thank you.

Your name

It is The name of Jesus Christ Our King. Over all things Cause nothing can stand against The name of Jesus Christ Our King. Nothing can stand against Nothing can stand against

looking you

Man can stand against you. Henderson, Phallong, Gotti,ロie. Thank you. That nothing stands against you. No decision of man can stand against you. No plans a man can stand against you. Nothing can thwart your will, God. Thank you for that. Because we sometimes do that, God. We think that we know the way and we know better ways, God. But we don't.

So God we give it up to you God

We give you our trust

We give you our plans God

We give you our visions God

Because we want yours

And God we want to thank you now

That we have the mind of Christ

If we have Jesus

So God help us to see that mind

Help us to think those thoughts

Help us to see that vision

And give us the strength

And the faith to step into it

To take risks God

Because oh God

Have we seen your glory

When we do that Father

Have we seen your hand move

When we do that Father

Have we seen our faith strengthened

When we do that Father

And God most of all

Have we seen your glory God

And God we will be faithful

To give you praise and honor

And glory for the things that happen

Because God it's you

It's not us

It's you

And who are we without you

We are nothing

We want to thank you

That the power of the Holy Spirit

Is so far beyond

Anything that anyone could do

God you are stronger than the storm

God you are bigger than the waves

God you made those things

You control all things

And God when we say that

Sometimes we have fear behind that

Because control of all things

Sometimes means we don't get

What we think we need

But you know what we need

Far beyond anything

That we could think of

Oh God what hope there is

What hope and promise

There is in that

What encouragement

There is in that

What ability to move forward

There is in that

Even when the things

That are in front of us

Look hopeless

Where helpless God

Oh God is there glory

On the other side

And we want to stand

In that glory

We want to stand

In the freedom

Of the storm

Around us God

But yet we are not

Faced by it

Because you are there

With us

Because the light

Is with us

What hope is that

We have no words

To say thank you

But God we will

We will thank you

In our humanity

We will thank you

In our imperfection

We will thank you

In our difficulty

We will thank you

In our times

Of seasons of peace

God we will

Thank you

God we couldn't have this

If you didn't

Give up your son

For us

How do we thank you

For that

As I think about

Friends who have

Lost loved ones

Recently and they say

No no no

There is joy

Because my loved one

Stepped into glory

God

What a gift

That you have given us

Because we can

Walk in glory today

Thank you

What a powerful

Name you have

The name of Jesus

What a powerful name

You have

The name of Jesus

Amen

Good morning, everybody. Morning. We just want to welcome you all here. We want to welcome the visitors who are here as well. We thank you all for coming out for choosing to worship here with us. What a powerful

God we serve that we get to call Father. So if you are here visiting, please take time to fill out a visitor registration card. They are located in the chairs directly in front of you or in the chairs directly behind you if you're on the front row. Please take the time to fill that out so we can connect with you as well. If you have any prayer requests, you can also fill that out on that card and we will be faithful to pray for those along the way.

Please drop those along with you. Please drop those off in the churches either on either side of the stage or at the church in the back. That's also where we receive our tithes and offerings as you continue to be faithful to give. We will continue to be faithful to serve. A couple of announcements. There's a baptism tonight for Mr. Matthew. Baptism tonight at 5.30 on Jekyll Island at Great Dunes Park. I know the home groups will be out there celebrating.

If you are not part of a home group, please feel invited. Please come on out as we celebrate. Matthew, he continues to walk in the newness of life. Sarah, formerly Bork, and I've already forgotten her last name. Alexander, sitting right back here next to the back row. She is moving and she has a U-Haul in that parking lot directly after service.

She is going to be at Canal Crossing storage facility. Please, she will take any and all help to help her get that emptied and the people who are helping her will appreciate even more hands to make that load even lighter.

So please come on out. We'll laugh and carry on. Also, Mickey and Brad Kirkland, right up here, they're going to Howard Coffin Park between 2 and 4 to give donations for the Dorian Relief.

So there is a truck leaving out of there. They're collecting from 2 to 4. If you have anything with you and want to give it to them, please, please get with them.

Or if you don't and you want to go out to Howard Coffin Park at the Sleigh facility, they will be there collecting donations for that as well.

I just wanted to take this moment just to give a scripture as well. The last three weeks, Pastor Curtis has been talking about the powerfulness of the Word of God,

how that needs to be the most important things in our life, the thing that we need to be led by scripture first and foremost in all things.

Psalm 19, 7 through 11, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold. They are sweeter than honey. By them is your servant warned. In keeping them, there is great reward.

Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Thank you, Fred.

For the baptism tonight as well, if you guys do not have a Jekyll pass, if you'll just go to the visitor station,

Steve Hemingway said he'd pay everyone's way on to the island tonight, so just get with Steve after the service today.

Yeah, Steve said, just wait for me there. Yeah.

That's good, Steve. Keep waiting for me there. Yeah.

At this time, we want to...

One of Kate's co-workers is in the Navy. Her husband...

In the what?

Her husband's in the Navy.

There's a naval ship that has flipped over, and there are four men stuck in the engine room right now.

They've gotten all the rest of the men off, but...

We need to cry out to the Lord right now to get those men off that ship.

Does somebody want to pray for them?

Bobby, do you want to pray for them?

Amen.

Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus God, we thank you for life and strength, oh God, and the recognition of you.

endurance, give courage, oh Heavenly Father, that whoever is trapped in that ship, oh God, may be rescued. That they, their life will be spared, oh God, not for their sake, God, but for your own, for your glory, for us to cry out to heaven, oh God, for the mighty things that you have done, that men may see you in your strength and your power, oh God, and know that you, oh God, alone rescue.

Father, it is a helpless situation in our hands, oh God, but with you, all things are possible. So God, we ask that you reach into your bag of impossible things, oh God, and make this possible. Make this miracle, oh God.

And Father, for all those who are involved in rescue efforts, oh God, we ask that for safety. We ask for great wisdom and guidance, oh Heavenly Father, that when training is outside of the realm of possibility, oh God, that you would give insight, that you would give intuition, oh God, to make things even more safe than they already are, oh God.

We ask for you to just do what only you can do. We are helpless but to pray, oh God, but you have commanded us to pray. And it is in faith that we cry out to you, that you would send your word and your word would accomplish that only you can do. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Amen. Thank you, brother. Thank you.

We want to dismiss our children right now, K5 through 5th grade.

If you guys will follow Miss Debbie out the door there.

The rest of us, let's turn to 1 Samuel chapter 18. 1 Samuel 18 today.

We are in, again, we are in our third week here. We're taking a break from our expository study of the book of Genesis.

We'll pick that up in a few weeks. But I've wanted to take a brief kind of pause and do a short series on encouragement.

I hope that you guys have been encouraged by the messages so far.

The series is entitled, Lord, Breathe on Me.

Because I know there's many times in our lives where we just need to feel a breath from the Lord.

We just need some encouragement somehow, some way.

I mean, haven't we all been there to where we just, I just need, I need some blasted encouragement today, you know.

We've gone through that. We all need encouragement.

But, you know, I want to say this morning, too, today we're going to talk about something that's near and dear to me that will tie it into encouragement.

You'll see how it all comes together.

But that's the power of friendships and how powerful friendships are.

You know, life was never meant to be lived arrogantly.

It was always meant to be lived with gratitude and always meant to be lived with appreciation.

Because, in all honesty, we need God and we need one another.

We just do. We were built, we were made for community.

And last week I talked about the fact that we need to be, each of us need to be sources of encouragement to one another.

To encourage one another.

Because the reality is, is one day it's going to be your turn.

You're going to need encouragement.

And so there's value in sowing into other people.

And again, today I want to talk about the power of friendship.

And let's look at some verses in 1 Samuel 18.

But let's just back up a little bit and get the context here.

Let's start in verse 55 of 17.

And the scripture says,

And the son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.

As soon as he had finished...

Because he loved him as his own soul. I'm sorry. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David and his armor. And even his sword and his bow and his belt. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him. So that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servant.

Friendship means encouragement. Friendship means encouragement. The very gift of friendship means encouragement. And theologically and biblically, we were never created to be alone. To live life alone. Even in the very nature of creation, the plural pronoun tells us. It says, God says, Let us make man in our image. The pronoun states that.

And so the intentionality there is he's talking about the relationship of the Trinity. The inner Trinitarian love relationship that they have together. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The friendship, if you will, or the intimacy of the Trinity.

And so reality, you kind of check it out. Mankind was created to reflect in his or her relationships that same sense of community. That the triune God is representing. That same love and that same intimacy.

In other words, we were born to love and that same intimacy. In other words, we were born to love and to care for one another. We were born for relationship. We were born for friendship. Friendship.

We're going to dive into this this morning. That's the reason why we don't make it if we try to live in isolation. When we try to live in isolation, we find ourselves more and more separated from people, from things, from stuff.

And so when sin entered the world, sin in its essence is the breaking of relationship. Relationship with God was broken, but also relationship with one another was contaminated that we have within it, making it very difficult to have relations with one another.

Where there once was a sense of community. Once it was a sense of oneness and togetherness. And there was a sense of this wholesome neediness for one another. Now you have all the maladies of relationship. You have competition. We have envy. We have jealousy. All this stuff happened when sin entered the world.

Relationships as it should be. Relationships as it should be has been tainted. It's been distorted. Okay. And all of these things have come about because sin has contaminated all of that.

And so now we live, now we tend to live in isolation with one another. You ever get a sense of that? You know, I'm with you, but I'm isolated. And we hold a lot of people at arm's length.

And we go to the other degree as well, too. We'll talk about it in a second. But friendship in the Bible is at the very heart of God. The very heart of God.

Friendship is at the very heart of the Trinity. Friendship is at the very heart of deity. It really is.

And even to Adam, God said that man should not be alone and I will make for him a helpmate that will be suitable for him.

And in the broader sense, it means that we were not made for isolation.

But a lot of times that's our go-to thing, isn't it? When we get upset, we get hurt, we get distracted, we isolate ourselves.

That brings no encouragement to you, I'm telling you, when you decide you're going to isolate yourself.

I would even go so far to say that a person is not whole unless they're in relationship.

Unless they have relationship. Relationship, you know, relationship this way represents relationships this way.

The way God intended it to be.

And so, when I line up with this model, then all of a sudden my other relationships tend to be a lot smoother.

You ever notice that? They tend to work out a lot better.

And that's the theological basis of friendship and relationship.

Now, what does genuine friendship look like for good and bad?

And all of us are products.

All of us are products of relationships.

All of us are.

You know, every last one of us.

Some of us, some of our downsides of our personalities.

14.

15.

because people have come alongside of us and they have whispered in our ears, I love you. I love you and I'm going to stand by you. I'm going to keep pushing you forward. Those are real friendships. And so, I don't know where I would be apart from the real friendships that I have in my life. And I hope you can look on your life and be able to say the same thing. There comes a certain point in your life when you realize you just aren't as smart as you think you were.

That you are, you get to a point where you realize, man, I am more foolish than I give myself credit for. I have represented myself as being a pretty smart cookie. And the reality is, I'm really not all that. And you begin to realize, man, God has put some loving people in my path from time to time to pull me out of knucklehead land. And I praise God for that. I absolutely, I absolutely do.

And I want to say at the very beginning, before we get into this text, the problem is, you can't experience authentic intimacy without authentic humility. You cannot experience authentic friendship without authentic humility. You cannot be a good friend apart from humility.

You cannot. You cannot receive what a friend wants to give you apart from humility. And that's the reason why proud people end up isolated and alone and living their lives in that way. Because pride is the great barrier to intimacy.

It's the great barrier to it. Just like in a marriage. Just like in a marriage. Now, there's a whole bunch of things that we could pull out of this text this morning.

But I just want to say that I'm going to give us what I believe is in this relationship between Jonathan and David.

I think that there are three fundamental characteristics of genuine friendship.

And again, but I don't want to, but I also don't want to give this any, a lot of stage time this morning.

But I will say this. I don't want to give a lot of stage time to a perverse interpretation of this scripture that's in our culture.

And it's very prevalent in our culture about an inappropriate relationship.

This defines an inappropriate relationship between David and Jonathan.

And it's been polarized because of the intimate language here.

It's amazing how we can read something perverse into something that's so pure.

But that's what's happening in the culture.

We need to resist reading this scripture through the glaucoma of the culture.

All right? That's not what, there is nothing perverse about what's going on right here.

And this is a special relationship, a special friendship.

It is a gift from Almighty God.

So friendships, friendship.

The first characteristic I want to give you this morning is that,

that friendship emerges from a strong bond.

A strong bond.

We see that in the scripture here this morning.

And you might look at this and say, you read the text and you think, well, wait a minute.

Jonathan didn't really know David.

They didn't know each other that well.

How can you say there was a strong bond, a strong connection?

Well, immediately after David's conversation with the king,

his relationship with the royal family changes forever.

Okay?

David had, he had no intentions on going and living at the palace whatsoever.

And if you read the story, in fact, David had no intentions on killing anybody,

killing Goliath at all.

He was just sent there by his father to take some food and to check on your brothers

and see how things were going.

And he's over there and something rose up in him called the anointing of the spirit of God.

When he gets over there, he hears that someone is defying the armies of the living God.

He turns around.

Nobody's raising up to fight these guys.

And so the scripture says that God fills him with courage.

And so before you know it, he has a slingshot.

Bam!

This guy's dead.

He's got the guy's head in his hand.

The next thing he knows, he's at the palace.

That's kind of how it all unfolds.

And he gets to the palace and he meets this young dude named Jonathan.

And they're probably very close in age.

And the text says here in chapter 18, verse 1,

As soon as he finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David,

and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

Now notice it was Jonathan's soul that was knit to him.

It's interesting here.

David is coming in.

view he's not jealous of David he doesn't compete with David at all but it says that his soul was

knit to him and although the text doesn't actually say this I think it strongly implies that I think

that what probably happened Jonathan probably thought man this guy he's a long way away from

home dad's brought him in dad's brought him into the household he could use a friend he could use

a friend and I think their commonality didn't feed competition whatsoever it but it fueled a bond

I think that they were very similar they were both young warriors they were both courageous

and and and as you read about the character of Jonathan Jonathan had a lot of David in him and

David had a lot of Jonathan in him but I also think that they both loved the Lord I believe there was

a commonality there I mean have you ever met somebody you met somebody you just knew you

didn't do anything to nurture that relationship you didn't do anything to grow that relationship

but you met that person like man I feel like I've known you my whole life I mean that's what's taking

place here that commonality that that bond here and they had this bond in this friendship that was

forged and I also think that their friendship was forged partly um I mean particularly at a needy time

especially for David David is at a very vulnerable place in his life and Dave and Jonathan sees this

and he takes the initiative little did Jonathan know and little didn't did David know what was going

to happen warp speed soon where David is going to be running for his life but David was very vulnerable

you know and it just really begs us the question look in your circles around you is there anyone that's

in your circles of of contact that you have around you who just needs a friend and we're so busy

we're so busy and we're so focused on us we can't be a friend to somebody who needs a friend

I just need a friend I could I get convicted of that a lot I could convicted you know I'm busier

I'm I'm convicted I'm more busy now in my life than I ever have been maybe some of you can stand up

say this I was like you know you think well when I get older I won't have no it gets crazier it just

gets crazier and life starts speeding out of control and you know there are there are times when I'm so

busy I don't leave enough white space in my life to pay attention to somebody around me whose shoulders

may be a little slumped and you know sometimes people don't need this counseling sometimes people

don't need your amazing insight sometimes people just need a friend just need a friend

and Jonathan's love for David inspired him to do something extraordinary and that thing he did was

he made a covenant with him look at verse 3 in chapter 18 then Jonathan made a covenant with David

because he loved him as his own soul that defines covenant loved him as his own soul there's a

difference I mean there's a there's a reference here to the intensity of the commitment that David has

right there that he loved him as his own soul the covenant a covenant is a is a is a sacred call

solemn binding agreement and I speak about that in the weddings that I officiate okay Jonathan is saying

listen you know I don't want to just make him comfortable I just don't want to show hospitality

to him I don't want to show him where all the fruits and veggies are if he gets hungry at night

I don't want to just show him where his room is I'm not about just taking him out and just

showing him where we all eat eat dinner and this is where you're going to sit when we get to the table

okay all that you know he says there is something in David that Jonathan is so profoundly connected with

and I happen to believe that that thing is is that Jonathan saw the hand of God on David

he saw the hand of God on him he was moved by that he was captured by this and this covenant implies

you know a bond that cannot be broken except by death and you will see that Jonathan kept this covenant

with David his entire life now I'm not suggesting that we have to go around and sign covenants with people

that are around us okay and just to in order that we have these these connections

you

you know a lot of people they are acquaintances let's let's get this straight in here okay you cannot share your heart with 200 people in the manner that this is talking about right here it just it can't happen it you just can no one has the capacity to do that I tell younger people all the time you know be slow be careful when you enter into this kind of a relationship let that relationship mature naturally let it develop naturally but I I I

I I don't think you know I don't think besides your wife or your husband honestly that you can have any more any point in your life any more than three or four friends that this is trying to talk about right now in all honesty we have a lot of acquaintances and people you know but I think the problem is is that we're trying to be emotionally attached to too many people and we're getting hurt we're getting hurt

and that's part of the problem and that's part of the problem and that's part of the problem in the rapid growth of the suicide rate for for for people who are under the age of 25 there's this longing for relationship and they have this disenfranchisement that they feel from people or they have all this comparison on social media and all this other stuff and I think part of the solution is helping them to understand you can't manage that

you can't manage that stop looking for 30 or 40 or 50 people to provide that longing for you that God only only designed you to have three or four people other than your spouse to fill that gap for and we're such an emotional wreck we can't be a true friend and we don't we don't even have any true friends and we don't know how to be a true friend David and Jonathan in this relationship they show us now that's not to suggest that we're jerks

to anybody else who aren't our real friends I'm not saying that so don't send me an email about that this week pastor said I don't have to like you but it's understanding your capacity you weren't made like that so he establishes this covenant relationship with David and again although the text doesn't point it out

the life of David shows that the life of David shows that it's reciprocal this is important you know it shows we're in this for the long haul you know I'm not going away and so listen if you have those true friends don't throw your friends away sometimes we have these issues that come up in life we don't want to deal with the hard stuff I'll just find another one I'll unfriend you now I got new friends

oh how quickly we unfriend right the tragedy of our time is that we're just just too utilitarian in our relationships too many of us have too many different agendas and we end up hurting folks or we end up using them

don't go there don't develop relationships with someone just because they can help you to get some place that you want to go

that's not a friendship either

you know I understand well you may have a business that you have to develop certain I get that listen but be very careful that you're not

pretending on an intimacy that you can't pay for

you with me

that's the reason why so many people get hurt in church

we got motives that are all jacked up all over the place

it's crazy stuff okay

and we end up taking advantage of folks and Jonathan and David have this incredible bond

incredible bond

secondly I want you to see that this relationship was sustained by mutual affection

mutual affection

to have a friend means to display love

the scripture tells us that Jonathan loved him as his own soul

verse 3

he loved him as his own soul

this type of friendship

and affection

implies two things

commitment

and care

commitment

and care

there's a there's a love

that underscores the

you

and to have this kind of friendship means that you are committed to your friends I'm committed to you you see friendship is expensive true friendship is true friendship will cost you friendship is expensive one of the things that I've discovered as I've gotten older is a lot of times guys will come up to me younger guys come up there and they'll say they'll ask me to mentor them and that's what happens when you get to be

almost as old as dirt and people think that you know what you just must have wisdom because you're just old and bald headed now so you know will you will you mentor me and they're surprised that I turn a lot of them away I turn I turn a lot of them away but I tell them listen I don't have the bandwidth to be able to pay the price that you're asking me to pay right now now let's define this this mentor are you asking for a phone call once or twice a month we can do that we can do that

but if you're talking if you're talking about a consistent basis like I have with a small group of guys that I really try to pour into and I am trying to mentor I can't do that because I don't want to frustrate you number one and I don't want to verbally write a check that I don't have the capacity to pay for in all fairness and so it's another reason why we need to stop trying to have so many intimate relationships with so many people because if you're

you're going to be a friend you're going to be a friend at this level that we're going to be a friend at this level that we're talking about today that brings about true encouragement encouragement in the life of one another okay then you know it requires that you need to give them time you need to pay attention to them you need to care for them you need to spit it they need to feel like they're a priority in this relationship they have access to your heart

so really what we're talking about is what what you love is what you give to right what you love is what you give to and a lot of times we can look at the emotional checks in our lives and we can see what really what we give to and what's really important to us and so Jonathan said I've made this solemn covenant with you and what motivated that is I love you

I care for you I care for you I care for you you know I care for you as my own soul that's deep that's deep the root of all genuine friendship is God's love you know the root of all great friendship is love if you're not if you're not willing if you're not willing to really love this person as love a person as your own soul don't call

tell them your friend they can be an acquaintance I got lots of acquaintances I care for deeply I care for deeply but on this intimate level I praise God I just have a small group of people that I know I can turn to and it's reciprocal as well too listen the third the third thing I want you to see is that this kind of relationship this friendship requires

requires sacrifice and it requires selflessness I've alluded to this already but notice what Jonathan does in verse 4 it says that Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt and so as a sign of this covenant relationship he didn't just sit there and make promises

he didn't just sit there and verbally make promises to him Jonathan gave David incredibly valuable stuff and this incredible valuable stuff it belonged to him it belonged to Jonathan okay you know and I agree with a lot of scholars that say this that somehow or another although Jonathan may not have articulated this Jonathan felt deeply in his heart that David had a special anointing

and a special call by God on his life and in doing what he did he said to David you know you know I am I am willing to take the subordinate role in order to see the program and the

to hear the program and the

Thank you.

So you might take my place one day. You might take and I need you to know that not only am I not jealous of you. I need you also know that I support what God is doing in and through you. And I give you my sword which also symbolizes you know what I will never be your enemy. I will never be your enemy. I'm always going to be your ally and we will always fight together. He gives him his stuff because he is his friend.

He's his friend. He's his friend. And let me just share this with you because it took me many years to learn this lesson. Okay. You lose nothing. Hear me. You absolutely lose nothing by supporting someone else that is close to you who has similar gifts and similar talents that you have and blessing them and helping them to get to where they need to be.

So many of us don't want to help people who are similar. We think we're going to be losing something if we help someone else really fulfill all that God has for them in their lives because what God has for you, you specifically, no mortal human being can take that away if God has this for you.

Okay. Um, you don't, you don't, you don't have to compete with others. You don't have to compare. And so many of us have assigned ourselves to misery because we have cultivated a spirit of jealousy, our whole stinking life.

And we're miserable people. And we're miserable people. We can't be a friend because we're so jealous of everything.

Oh, that person got a new car. Well, they needed a car. Yeah, but I didn't get a car.

Well, it's just a, it was just a Honda Civic. I know, but well, you got to, I know, but it's not as new as theirs.

You can't be happy for somebody. You can't be happy because God has blessed them.

Well, I still need some, this porch fixed on my back house. Well, get off, get off your rear end and fix it then.

That's a whole nother sermon right there.

And nobody wants to get, to get close to us because we view other people with similar talents and similar gifts and all these, all these things as, as competition.

It's unnecessary. It is unnecessary. We can never be a friend to, or a friend of anyone like that.

Nobody is going to take away from you what God has for you.

And we see Jonathan is modeling this. You need to see that in the scripture.

He's modeling this. Whatever God has for you, David, I want to help you get there.

And I'm only, I'm not only not going to stand in your way, I'm going to sacrifice for you to get it.

That's a friend. That is a friend. And that's huge. And this was tested.

This was tested, you know, over in chapters 19 and 20.

We're not going to read the whole thing.

And listen, before we talk about this, let me just say, both Jonathan and Saul, Jonathan and Saul both knew that God's hand was on David.

Both of them did. You got to read the scriptures and know that.

Both of them. However, Jonathan realized that David was under the hand and the leading and the guiding of the Lord and the Holy Spirit

and had a special destiny and had a special mission.

The difference is that Jonathan, between Jonathan and his daddy Saul, is that Jonathan sensed it and he supported it.

Saul sensed it and he wanted to control David and he wanted to deny him of his future.

You see the difference between the two?

They both realized God's hand was on him.

You know, and so let me give you just a helpful hint.

Don't you ever, ever get in God's way.

Don't you ever get in God's way.

Don't ever allow jealousy to try to put a lid on someone that God is blessing and using because you are about to get royally burnt.

There's your feel good passage for the day.

You won't read that in Oswald Chambers, a little fun devotionals in the mornings, will you?

a certifiable nutcase, okay? He was an absolute certifiable nutcase. And what ends up happening is Saul is seeing God's hand of favor and God's hand of blessing on David, and he can't handle it. He can't handle it. And the reason why he can't handle it is because he is conscious of his own sin. He knows that he's conscious of his own sin. But see, if you do not repent of your sin, you are always in a state of temporary sin.

Temporary unsanity. If you do not repent, it makes you crazy. You know you have sinful things in your life. You refuse to repent. Guess where you find yourself? In a state of temporary insanity. Yeah, I'm losing my mind over this. I say things and make decisions that are so out of character. Anybody with me?

Because I'm unrepentant. I'm not saying, I'm not repenting. Because I'm not as bad as, I'm not as bad as Taylor. Right. I'm not as bad as Gene. You know what I'm saying? We're some crazy, but see, it's foolish. You know, all Saul needed to do was to repent of his sin and God would have blessed him.

But he got jealous of David. And he starts saying all of this crazy stuff. Jonathan overhears his dad's plan to kill David.

And, you know, Jonathan could have, Jonathan overhears it and Jonathan could have said, you know what? I did the best I could. I tried.

I mean, I took him in. I tried to love on him. I tried to show him some friendship. I made a covenant. We pinky swore each other, right? Okay. We made a little cup back together.

I did all I could, you know, but dad's king. And, you know, I'm next in line. Maybe when I get to be king one day, I know this is not good for David, but one day when I get to be king, I'm going to change some things around here.

I'm going to change some things. And no, no, he made a covenant with David. He made a covenant with David. And so, so he tells David, hey, listen, he's all the things that his crazy dad is about to do.

Read chapters 19 and 20. It's amazing. Jonathan tells David, you have got to get away from here. You got to go. Okay.

And he puts together this plan to protect David from his own father. So they're at the dinner table and Saul is looking at the empty seat where David usually sits for dinner.

David's not there and he sits there and wonders where David is. And so Jonathan, he starts covering for David.

Saul smells the coffee. Something ain't right in this whole thing. And he picks up a spear and he throws it at his own son.

This man is a certifiable nutcase. He throws a spear at his own son. So Jonathan goes out to where David is hiding.

And he says, man, you have to run. My dad has lost his flipping mind. You got to go and fast and not look back.

And so for 16 years, 16 years, and I'm not trying to speak profanely here, but for 16 years, David lived in a hell hole where he's in a cave hiding, running for his life on a day to day basis.

But David never forgot about Jonathan. He never forgot about, he never forgot about his friend.

Never. And I can't prove this from the scriptures, but, but I believe that David sat there, man, this man is trying to kill me.

I didn't do anything wrong. All I tried to do was serve him. Okay.

But I think what, what, what, what helped David from losing his mind in those 16 years is the memory of Jonathan.

And I met, that guy loved me. I know I'm on the run. I've lost everything, but I remember those days. I remember the, I remember, man, he saved me.

He saved me. He saved me. The, that, I believe that friendship helped David keep his sanity.

And we know that for the rest of David's, David's life, David never forgot Jonathan. Ever.

David never, David never forgot.

Yes, there's a young man named Mephibosheth.

And you know what?

He was trying to run away.

And he fell.

And he's crippled.

He can't walk.

He's maimed.

And he's an outcast.

And David says, bring him to me.

Go find him.

I don't care where he is.

Bring him to me.

Sit him at my table.

That boy will want for nothing the rest of his life.

His daddy loved me.

I loved him.

Come, he's my friend.

I will not stand for this.

This is what friends do.

They lay down their lives for one another at serious and for serious cost at times.

Many of us have never been pushed to the brink.

We say that word so freely that you're my friend.

You're my friend.

But we don't know what it really costs to be a friend and to have a friend many times.

You know what it costs God for us to say that we're a friend of God?

It costs him everything.

You need to see that, people.

There's an intimacy.

There's a beauty in friendship that we have one with another.

But it all flows from our Heavenly Father.

He's given us and he's shown us that example.

David said, bring him to me.

That boy will want...

Friendship made David great.

Friendship made him great.

There are some people and God wants to use some of you to make them great.

He does.

And he wants you to take your eyes off of where you are going and come alongside.

Maybe it's a young woman.

Maybe it's a young man.

I don't know.

Maybe they're unusually gifted and they're having a hard time.

They might need a mother figure.

They might need a father figure.

They just might need a friend.

Just might need a friend.

And help them get to where they need to be.

Some of us here this morning need a friend like that today in our lives.

You know?

We've been going it alone.

And God says, I've never designed you to be like that.

I never have designed you to be like that.

You need a friend.

And you know, let me just wrap this up.

Let me wrap this up by asking you a question.

Do you have anybody in your life that you could call at 3 o'clock in the morning?

And they would simply ask you two questions.

Now, praise God, I've got a few of these in my life.

You would call them at 3 o'clock in the morning and they would simply ask you two questions.

Hey, Curtis, where are you?

Curtis, what do you need?

I don't have to give them a song and dance about an explanation about why I'm calling so late,

why I didn't call this, that, the other.

No, I don't have to give them any of that.

Where are you?

Man, what do you need?

I'm there.

We need people like that in our lives.

Absolutely.

We need to be that for people in our lives.

We need to be people who can be trusted with the gift of friendship, the gift of friendship.

I'm telling you, within friendship, that is where profound encouragement comes from.

Profound encouragement.

Let me give you four suggestions.

We're going to wrap this up real quickly in this whole arena.

First off, listen.

We need friends who love us.

They just love us.

There's no agenda.

They just love us.

We need friends who just love us.

Yeah. If they say yes to everything, oh, it's okay, baby. It's okay. It's all right. I know it's sinful, but it's okay. No, it's not okay. I love you. I love you, but it's not okay. There is nothing that will take the love that I have in my heart away from you, but that is not okay. Which leads into the next one. You know, we need friends who are honest with us.

We're honest with us. Tell us the truth about ourselves. Curtis, that decision you made was worse than stupid. Don't do that again. In the name of Jesus. Don't do that again. That was stupid. Okay. Okay. Listen, one of the things that I've learned in life is that not everybody who rebukes you is your enemy.

Not everybody who rebukes you is your enemy. Not everybody who compliments you is your friend. Well, we tend to want to surround ourselves with people who fill the juice tank up with, man, I'm a good guy, man. I'm good. I am good.

Man, there are a lot of people that really, that care for you. Maybe care for you. Let me put it this way. Do they care for you? Or do they care for you as their own soul?

Hmm. You think on that. You pray on that this week. That's not even the three questions I'm going to leave you with here this morning.

That's the dividing thing. As your own soul. Jonathan loves him as his own soul.

Oh, yeah. I had one more. Sorry.

We need friends who will shower us with grace.

Grace.

You know, because in that, here's a sliver of honesty.

Some of us want more grace than we're willing to give.

Oh, you guys are just amening all over the place today, aren't you? Yeah.

Some of us, if somebody crosses us, man, we are worse than Pharisees.

Friends. Man, we're going to be on you. We're going to be on you.

Yet, if we make a little mistake, we want them to move the world.

Get over it.

How about a little grace, man?

How about a little grace?

I think there's a little bit to that in all of us.

There can be, you know.

But we need to be friends who are sources of grace.

Who are sources of grace.

Greater love has no man than this,

than he who lays down his life for his friends.

Lays down his life for his friends.

You see, friendship is a portrait of the gospel.

It's a portrait of the gospel, is it not?

Friendship is a portrait of the gospel.

There's a common bond.

God created us and longs for a relationship with us.

Why?

Because we were created in his image.

No matter how sinful we are, we're created in his image and he longs for a relationship.

We still bear his image.

Demonstrated by affection and driven by love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only, one and only son.

That whoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Might be saved through him.

Driven by affection and driven by love.

And so, friendship involves selflessness and it involves sacrifice.

Selflessness and sacrifice.

And God demonstrated that love.

God demonstrated that love.

That yet while we were still sinners, yet still sinners, you didn't get yourself right.

No, no, no.

Christ died for us.

That's what it means to be a portrait of the gospel.

A portrait of the gospel in someone's life.

bandwidth here, okay? And I want to leave you with a few questions. Our home groups, some of them are discussing some of these questions that we end our sermons with on Sunday mornings. You know, one thing I want to throw out to you, do you got a 3am friend that we talked about? You got some 3am friends? I'm not talking about closing the place down 3am friends. You know what I'm talking about. I mean some real 3am friends. Are you a 3am friend to anybody else?

You know? You know? And how do we really show support for one another without enabling? Well, we could have some good discussions on that. That's hard. It's hard. And how am I showing grace in my friendships? Showing the grace in my friendships that I desire for myself.

And so, before the worship team comes up this morning, one of the ways, Gene, Sintel, will you guys come on up? One of the ways that we are helping and trying to give you avenues to grow friendships, grow those relationships, is within our home groups.

This month you'll hear us talking a lot about our home groups and what we're doing as home groups.

And so, I just, we have, we had Lonnie and Connie share with us a couple of weeks ago.

And I've asked Gene and Sintel if they would share a little bit about home groups.

And maybe they can find a way of tying some of this in together so I don't look like I'm talking out here all by myself.

And so, I don't want to say too much to put words in your mouth, but the floor is yours, brother.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning. My bad.

Before we talk about small groups and all that good stuff, I just wanted to let you guys know what I feel about church.

Church is supposed to be a family.

I grew up with that mindset of serving and being able to lend a hand whenever it's called on.

With that, a small group, I feel like, is an intimate family within the church family that we have.

We celebrate everything from birthdays to raises, accomplishments, and we are sure to be there for you, to hear your word.

And if you're sad or lonely or whatever the case may be.

And sometimes, just like Curtis said, it's just a hug, and sometimes it's just an ear.

You know, somebody can hear your voice and you can be honest and truthful within that group.

Now, with that, I myself try my best to confirm friendships and just aligning myself with godly people.

And in my small group, I find myself being aligned with godly people from the worship in the morning to the afternoon.

What did you hear about that?

What did you think about that?

We had a great discussion on those.

But with the small group, I'm not sure how my wife feels about her lady friends and all that good stuff in her small group.

But for me, I have a workout buddy in my small group.

You know, I have a golfing buddy in my small group.

You know, I have a buddy of mine that we get together every morning, not every morning, once a week and figure out what the word is telling us.

You know, we're in Matthews right now.

And I also have a buddy of mine that could fix anything.

Well, to me, he could fix anything.

So within the family of Ramah, I have a more intimate family in my small group, which, just like he said, I could call at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Oh, I can get a call at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Babysitting or let's go to the beach and just hang out.

We got a babysitter.

Great, let's go do that.

You know, and somebody to, again, open your heart to, and you can be a hand, a feet, an eye, whatever the case may be.

So, anyway, I just wanted to say that I am really appreciative of my small, intimate family here in Ramah and my small group, and obviously the big family here as well, like cousins and nephews.

But we got, you know, brothers and sisters in our small group, and I am really thankful for my small group.

Hey there.

I just wanted to tell you guys how much we've appreciated you as a family, a church family.

So, we have searched for a church family for many, many years, 20 plus years, to be honest.

We've been.

I don't give my friendship away, just because of the past, a lot of what Curtis said this morning, from hurts and from lack of reciprocity and things like that. So, I hold on to that.

And I just love the fact that when I go to our small group and our home group, that they'll let me be if I don't want to talk. And a lot of times, I won't say much of anything. And that's okay.

And if I do have something that's on my heart, that they'll pray over me, and how special that is, that I've never had that opportunity in other churches.

And again, we've been in the church for many, many years.

But to have that such a special place in my heart, to know that not only they're praying for me, but my dad, he passed. And that was during a time that we were in transition, trying to find a new church.

So, we didn't have any church family to go to. But several months later, we found Ramah.

And in the midst of that, I was dealing with a widowed mother.

And all the trials that surrounded in our family, one of the hardest times in our lives.

And they really came together and prayed over us and was willing to go above and beyond for that situation, which just touched my heart.

But I feel like, you know, how many of you guys are either in a home group or are interested in looking into a home group?

Can you raise your hand for me?

Hi, hi, hi, hi.

Hi. So, guys, if you are there, I encourage you to stay in it.

If you are not there, please, there must be a sign-up sheet somewhere or somebody to talk to, Taylor or Curtis.

Please speak up because we want you to feel that sense of community, that sense of love, and eventually friendship.

And I think that that's all I needed to say.

Amen. Amen.

Thank you.

Love you.

Love you, brother.

Love you, too.

I ask the worship team to come on up.

And we're going to close out this morning.

And I just simply want to give you a charge this morning.

If God's put somebody in your path to invest in, invest in them.

Invest in them.

You're worth it.

Many of you are where you are today because somebody has invested in you.

Amen.

And, you know, let me just say this on a side note, too.

I know I spent a couple of weeks, a couple of moments, I guess, the last two weeks, going a little crazy on social media stuff and this, that, and the other and things people put out there.

And I'm all for that.

God's calling you to do that.

But one of the things that I want to say is, instead of just talking and not saying, man, do this, do this, do this.

One of the things I love about our church is that we're putting things in place to where if you feel like something needs to happen and there's some changes that need to be made, I need you to know that our fellowship is involved in areas to help bring about those changes to the beginning of this community.

You are broken for the orphans and the widows.

Guess what?

Part of the huge DNA of our church here is foster care.

There are kids that need to be cared for and loved in this community.

You are brokenhearted for the families that are being destroyed and the families that are broken and maybe the men and women that are making just poor choices.

And guess what?

Faithful love can help you in this situation.

To minister to the ladies in this community that desperately need to hear truth from the Lord.

You want to help the homeless in this community?

There needs to be some serious changes in the laws and all this stuff with our jail system. There needs to be some serious changes. And so, you know what? How can I really make, you can, I can write legislation, you can do, yeah, but you know what? You can go to Chuck Westcott. Every fourth Sunday, he goes to the jails and he brings the gospel of Jesus Christ. All you gotta do is fill out a form and show them your background check. If you don't have a, if you got a really bad background, just don't see Chuck, okay?

Because they might not let you out. There's ways that we can get involved and be about it. And not just voice, not just voice our, our frustration, but to be a part of the solution. One heart, one life at a time. Growing friends. Growing friendships. Your boat's already full. You don't have enough. Give them to David. David needs more friends. Kidney, David. You might have enough.

Put them in the path of somebody else. Put them in the path of somebody else. You with me on this? Let's stand. Father, we just love you so very much. Thank you for the love of Jesus. We thank you, Lord, that you call us friends. Call us friends.

We thank you, Lord, that you don't take that light. God, we give you thanks and praise for your word. It's your word that brings about truth and change in our lives.

And I thank you, I thank you, Lord, that you give us the opportunity to join Matthew tonight on Jekyll Island to celebrate his baptism.

5.30, folks, if you can make it, come on out. Hug Matthew's deck.

Thank you for just the work that you're doing and continue doing his life as well, too.

We give thanks and praise in the name of Jesus and all God's people said, come on. Amen.

Amen.

Oh, take control, I trust you.

Thank you.

I surrender, I surrender all.

Thank you.

I surrender all.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling us to community.

Thank you for all the many blessings that you just fill our lives with.

But friendship is so special.

It's so important.

It's so necessary to your vision, Father.

Thank you for placing those people in our lives.

Thank you for the message today.

Thank you for what you're working on in my life, but that I can see that you're working on in everybody's life here.

You deserve everything, Father, and we will give it to you.

We love you.

Amen.

Lets listen to me.

You guys should become into the gate next week.

Thank you.

You tell me the truth and show me that you believe in me.

You believe in me.

You know me as honest, you know me as good.

You know me the way that I wish I could.

You know me worthy, you know me love, you know me better.

When I don't know where to find me, show me where to start.

Show me who you are, so I know who I am.

You know me as honest, you know me as good.

You know me the way that I wish I could.

You know me worthy, you know me loved.

You know me better.

You know me completely, you know me true.

You know me as someone who looks like you.

You know me perfect, you know me strong.

You know me better.

I am who you say I am.

Your world will never change.

I am who you say I am.

Your world will never change.

I am who you say I am.

Oh, you know me.

You know me as honest, you know me as good.

You know me the way that I wish I could.

You know me worthy, you know me love.

You know me better.

Oh, you know, you know.

You know me completely, you know me too

You know me inside when you look like you

You know me perfect, you know me strong

You know me better

I am who you said I am

Your world will never change

I am who you said I am

You know me Griffin rinse sugar ykaad you prefer to pull it off Ambarota, JohnR

Potty руки roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses rosesjoy koiadea Egypt roses roses blossoms roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses rosesẏ騙受 garbage roses paternity or женщ gardening s

Wood 윤 Particularlywei rose roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses roses rose roses roses roses roses roses roses rose roses roses roses roses roses

Thank you.

Scripture

Outline