More Than Friends Part 1 (Example #1)
Example #1: Your child hurts my child
What are we going to do when our children hurt one another? This is a sensitive subject isn’t it? We love our children, we defend our children, we protect our children, so when my little angel gets hurt by your little terror then it can get really complicated.
What are you going to do? We might gossip to the other parents and say something like, “Be sure to watch your children around that “one” over there. We might attack and say something like, “You need to do a better job of watching your children!” We might suppress and become bitter so every time we see them we think to ourselves, “Yep, there they go doing a horrible job of parenting!” When we are doing this we are telling ourselves God didn’t want this to happen and I need to do something to fix it! But what if we were more than friends then the gospel will shape our relationships with one another and we can:
More Than Friends Part 1
When we trust in Jesus’ work on the cross we become sons and daughters who are adopted into God’s family. Therefore, the relationships we have with one another is more than friendship. It is more than a way to meet new people or have someone to hang out with on the weekends. So much so that there is a supernatural quality to our relationships with one another, but sometimes those relationships can still be difficult. Consider a few of these possibilities:
- How many times have you been hanging out with someone from North Village Church, and there is someone in the group that you really rubs you the wrong way. You can’t explain it, but you are actually thinking about what other group of friends you could hang out with so you can avoid that person.
- How many times have you been in a conversation with someone and they talk to you about something that is really difficult? You empathize with them, but the best you can come up with is something like, “That sucks and I will be praying for you.” Inside you are wishing that you could have said something more meaningful.
- What do you do when you have a friend that seems to always have the same problem. You know every time they go down this road it is going to end up in the same place. You are thinking to yourself, “How come they can’t change?” But you never say anything because you are afraid you are going to hurt their feelings.
- How many times have we been trying to talk to someone, but they keep playing with their phone, checking email, checking updates, and texting, and it feels like what ever is going on in that phone is more important than having a conversation with you.
- Or, how many times do you show up at church on Sunday and you see everyone talking to everyone, and inside you are wondering, “How come nobody is talking to me?” Why does it look like everyone else is so friendly, but nobody is friendly with me?”
Scripture teaches us because of our faith in Jesus there is a quality to our relationships with one another. Below are 4 characteristics that shapes our relationships with one another. Take a moment and consider how they might apply to your relationships.
City Prayer
Every year pastors all over Greater Austin gather to worship Jesus, confess sin, and pray for the city. It is something really powerful to see and experience.
Vision of North Village Church
Vision: See every, man, woman, and child in Greater Austin experience the life transforming power of Jesus Christ.
How is that going to happen?
Partner with churches throughout greater Austin: We partnered with Acts 29 and Hill Country Bible Church to total 30+ churches in greater Austin.
Partner with churches in our geographical area: We partner with churches in North Central Austin like Hope Chapel, Glad Tidings, and Grace Covenant to see one another be successful for God’s Kingdom.
Personally live on mission with Jesus: We take personal ownership of the vision by:
- Connecting with Jesus
- Connecting with North Village Church Family
- Connecting with the Community
- Connecting Others with Jesus
Connecting with Jesus
We are going through a series called Invite and Invest at North Village Church. Throughout the 4-week series we are answering “Why” we have these values as a church, and we are asking people to come up and share “How” how they are living out the vision of North Village Church.
Click HERE to listen
2011 In Review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,000 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 33 trips to carry that many people.
Jesus as a baby or as a warrior?
It seems like around the holidays Jesus is just reduced to a rosy cheek little baby in a nativity scene. However, Jesus isn’t just a baby in a manger, but He is also our warrior.
He is our warrior because we constantly live in a world of opposition against God. When you turn on the television it doesn’t speak of His glory. No, the news comes on and tells us the world is falling apart and then a commercial comes on and tells us we need their product or we are never going to be able to make it in life. When we put on our clothes they don’t affirm that we are beautiful, and created in the image of God. No, they reveal our little bits and nibbles that we need to cover. When we eat a meal the food doesn’t declare the provision of His hands. We feel anxious about how many carbs, sugars, and how badly we want to eat that Snickers. When we go to work do we gather in the conference rooms and praise Him for the ability to create, manage, sell, teach, teach, organize? No, we carry the weight and responsibility to financially provide for ourselves. When our children come home from school they don’t walk in the door singing of His glory. No, they sing of their glory. They beckon for their snack, sit in their Dora chair, and sit to watch their favorite cartoon. Every day we walk into a world that is openly opposing God.
