If I were to send my pastor on a renewal leave, this is what I would hope for
Be able to relax
Find a peaceful heart
Enter nature
Get inspired
Read some good stuff that will help me
Come back with ideas for staff and for our future direction
Most of all, I hope that my pastor would be gripped with a feeling of "I want to come back" I want to be here. I miss you.
All of this has taken place
Thank you for this time away
quote - first church I have been involved w that was secure enough to let its pastor be gone for a six week renewal leave
reading during this renewal leave I decided to preach on relationships - because I have felt again the truth that loving others and being loved by them is a key gift of life
week 1 - friendships week, 2-marriage week, 3 - when things go work, week 4 - rel w God
Read Scripture: Prov 18:24
If a man would have friends, he must show himself to be friendly, and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
The problem
In our culture, there's an unsettled feeling, a malaise, life is not giving me what I want. Spending our time on the wrong stuff.
We're so busy striving for income that there isn't time for friendship. The divorce rate also goes up when people become richer, and partly it's because their very effort to become richer is a strain on the family. In general, materialists are unhappy people. If earning and consuming are less satisfying than friendship, why do we pursue them so vigorously?
Friendship defined
Friends are people with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with them. They ask you to put on nothing, only to be what you are.
a small boy defined a friends as "Someone who knows all about you and likes you just the same."
Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies. Aristotle.
Biblical examples:
Abraham and Lot
Ruth and Naomi
David and Jonathan
Daniel and his three companions
Jesus and Disciples
Mary Martha Lazarus and Jesus
Paul and Silas
Paul and Barnabas
Paul and Priscilla and Aquilla
Jesus...I no longer call you servants but friends
Why are friendships important
Life is about relationships
Babies that are hot held develop "failure to thrive"
All of us need people to be connected to
Friends are those people with which we find special connections
- You want to hang w them
- You look fwd to seeing them
- They are good for you
- You can tell them your secrets--I call u friends...full disclosure
a writer described the significance in friendship: "The human journey is so short. We no sooner realize that we are here than it is already time for us to be leaving. The brevity of life gives a subconscious urgency to our desire to know ourselves. Dostoyevsky said that one of the greatest tragedies is that so many people live their lives without ever finding themselves in themselves. Perhaps this is what a friendship gives us. The real mirror of your life and soul is your true friend. A friend helps you to glimpse who you really are and what you are doing here." -- John O"Donohue, "Soul to Soul," Utne Reader
So where do friendships come from
If a man would have friends, he must show himself to be friendly
Tom Bales.......mowing the grass......came over and we sat down and visited
Do you wait around for others to be nice to you
Or do you go out and make friends
Joan and the man that she wanted to date
Quote
George Bernard Shaw asked his readers if we would be "a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievance, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."
Glass half full or half empty
See the good
Friendships are built and maintained on time invested
A Chinese proverb says, "the fifth cup of tea between friends is the best". Tea was made in old China simply by pouting hot water over loose tea leaves in a cup.
It is the fifth cup that becomes the symbol of friendship at its best.
We value friendship
Proverbs 17:17 - A friends loves at all times and a brother is born of adversity
From moments of pain, great relationships can arise
Because you have found someone that is trustworthy, who will care 4 yr heart
Jackie Robinson was the first black to play major league baseball. Breaking baseball's color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. The fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans jeered. Then, shortstop PeeWee Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.
Paul McClain - tears
When you find a friend, you have found a connection
- There is something inside of me that connects to you
- There is something inside of me that responds to you
- I want to hang around with you
- I am better because of you
Softball coach........................I want you on this team
Cathy's old work friends wanted a get together...........We are not going to do this w/o you
Friends say, you matter
Do you have room for one more friend in your life?
reach out
Meet them in the coffee bar
Conclusion
Relationships are the most valuable thing that we have
Let us celebrate friendship
Let us show ourselves to be friendly
Lion video
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