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- Morning Worship Service: 10:00am
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- Afternoon Worship Service: 2:30pm
- Afternoon Song Service: 3:30pm
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- Midweek Service: 7:30pm
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Daily Devotion
Befriended
*Befriended*
"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
The big news in spring 2008 was that Facebook removed a limitation
restricting users to no more than 5000 friend connections. Originally
Facebook capped the number of friends because they wanted to make sure
people only added "real" friends to their account. With millions of people
using social networking and the ability to add hundreds or thousands of
"friends," you would think that loneliness would be obsolete. But the
question is: Regardless of how many "friends" you have on Facebook, how
many do you actually have in "real" life?
All of us have contacts we cross paths with at the grocery store or casual
friends we converse with about sports or similar hobbies or common
interests. But you'll probably find it hard to name more than one or two
people in your life who qualify as a "committed friend" - who "sticks
closer than a brother/sister" and sacrificially gives to your friendship.
In the Bible, David and Jonathan were committed friends. Their friendship
didn't depend on status - son of a sheepherder versus royalty. It didn't
just thrive in good times - there were plenty of difficulties and obstacles
to their friendship. There was no manipulation or attempt to use the
friendship for each other's selfish purposes. And their friendship was so
committed that it even extended unto the next generation.
God's cure for human loneliness is friendship - committed and sacrificial.
And not only does He give us human friendships, He ultimately gave us
divine friendship through His Son Jesus Christ. Take a lesson from David
and Jonathan, who went through life-threatening trials and yet their
relationship remained secure, steadfast and committed. Do you just
"friend" people on their Facebook? Or do you actually befriend them in
"real" life? If you want to have a lot of friends you need to be friendly
and befriend others.
*There is a scarcity of friendship, but not of friends. (Thomas Fuller)*
"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
The big news in spring 2008 was that Facebook removed a limitation
restricting users to no more than 5000 friend connections. Originally
Facebook capped the number of friends because they wanted to make sure
people only added "real" friends to their account. With millions of people
using social networking and the ability to add hundreds or thousands of
"friends," you would think that loneliness would be obsolete. But the
question is: Regardless of how many "friends" you have on Facebook, how
many do you actually have in "real" life?
All of us have contacts we cross paths with at the grocery store or casual
friends we converse with about sports or similar hobbies or common
interests. But you'll probably find it hard to name more than one or two
people in your life who qualify as a "committed friend" - who "sticks
closer than a brother/sister" and sacrificially gives to your friendship.
In the Bible, David and Jonathan were committed friends. Their friendship
didn't depend on status - son of a sheepherder versus royalty. It didn't
just thrive in good times - there were plenty of difficulties and obstacles
to their friendship. There was no manipulation or attempt to use the
friendship for each other's selfish purposes. And their friendship was so
committed that it even extended unto the next generation.
God's cure for human loneliness is friendship - committed and sacrificial.
And not only does He give us human friendships, He ultimately gave us
divine friendship through His Son Jesus Christ. Take a lesson from David
and Jonathan, who went through life-threatening trials and yet their
relationship remained secure, steadfast and committed. Do you just
"friend" people on their Facebook? Or do you actually befriend them in
"real" life? If you want to have a lot of friends you need to be friendly
and befriend others.
*There is a scarcity of friendship, but not of friends. (Thomas Fuller)*