1. The Way of Friendship
Been to church all my life, but I did not have the goods.
Ethan Ware is a lawyer in Columbia, South Carolina. Ethan invited me to his church. My journey as a disciple began.
Eddie and Dryna Rains had been my Sunday School teacher.
You may be here today because someone invited you.
Everyone wants to feel like they are “in.” They want to know what it is like to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Friendship is the key that unlocks the doors and makes relationship possible. God has wired us this way for a reason.
I have two things to share with you today.

2. 1) Jesus has chosen to be our friend.
The Way of friendship
1) Jesus has chosen to be our friend.
Colossians 1:15-20
Christ is the author of creation.
He is the Lord of all and the King of kings. Everything has been made by Him and for Him.
He is the firstborn from the dead.

3. The Way of friendship
Colossians 1:15-20 NIV The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

4. The Way of friendship
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

5. The Way of friendship
Proverbs 18:24 NIV One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Jesus is the one who fits this description perfectly.
He has said that he will never leave us or forsake us.
John 10:27-30 NIV
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

6. The Way of friendship
John 15:13-15 NIV Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Jesus has invited us to be a part of not just something bigger than us, but something that is eternal and divine.
He has let us in
Heaven
God’s heart
His family
His mission

7. 2) God’s kingdom grows through friendship.
The Way of friendship
2) God’s kingdom grows through friendship.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that we can’t make disciples without making new friends.
Listen to the Great Commission
Consider the reaction of Andrew.
Why did Jesus gather twelve disciples and live with them for three years?
Friendship is an important part of discipleship.
Jesus modeled it. Our mission demands it.

8. The Way of friendship
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

9. The Way of friendship John 1:40-42 NIV
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

10. The Way of friendship Are you making room for new friends?
What do you have to offer people?
How many new friends have you made in the last year?
Are you making room for new friends? What do you have to offer people? (Yourself)
How many new friends have you made in the last year? If we aren’t making new friends, we probably aren’t living the lifestyle of making disciples.