This week we look at what counter-cultural friendships look like and how they are unique, how to discover a friend, how to forge a friendship once discovered, and where we get the power for friendship. The 4 marks of true friendship are:
Constancy - a friend has chosen you not to make you a means to an end, but an end in yourself.
Carefulness - friends give the gift of emotional connection voluntarily.
Candor - truth telling.
Counsel - graceful truth telling with reassurance and sweetness.
It is only the Gospel of Jesus Christ that makes true friendship possible. Friendships based in Christ can be radical and exhilarating at the same time. Don’t be afraid to reach out in friendship.
We are starting a new series today that takes a trek through the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is not a linear book that travels a straight path from A to B, it is a textual/topical book with wisdom shared from various sages throughout the of the best Old Testament periods. Proverbs is about wisdom that teaches us to live in true freedom. As followers of Jesus we aren’t against the culture in which we live, we are for creating something that honors Jesus in all things.
