Creating Our Culture : Unity COMMUNITY “Encouraging relationships that inspire us to become more like Jesus Christ.” CORNERSTONES Encouragement, Humility, Unity, Spiritual Friendships, Authenticity, Biblical Families

Spiritual Friendships : What They Are NOT : 1. Casual Connections. 2. Casual Camaraderie. What They Are : Relationships that are knit together at the soul.

55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this youth?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know." 56 And the king said, "Inquire whose son the boy is." 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

58 And Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man 58 And Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite." As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 1 Samuel 17:55 - 18:1 ESV

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 1. Shared values.

14 Don't team up with those who are unbelievers 14 Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 1. Shared values. “We may have many friends along our journey, but we will never be ‘knit to the soul’ with someone who follows a different god.”

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 2. Unselfish Love

“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 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.” 1 Samuel 18:1-4

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 2. Unselfish love. True love is expressive. True love is not jealous.

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 3. Authentic Loyalty.

“And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. 2 And Jonathan told David, "Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you."

4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?" 1 Samuel 19:1-5 ESV

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 3. Authentic Loyalty. Endangering his own life. “Chips are down” Man.

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 4. Real Transparency.

“Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to take my life?" 2 "Never!" Jonathan replied. "You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn't do anything, great or small, without confiding in me. Why would he hide this from me? It's not so! “But David took an oath and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes,

and he has said to himself, 'Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.' Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death." 1 Samuel 20:1-3

4 Marks of Spiritual Friendship: 4. Real Transparency. Communicating at ‘soul level’ about what matters most.

the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 1 Corinthians 11:23-29 ESV