You Were Created to Connect
Nearly every page of the Bible declares that life works better with deep friendships.
Introduction
I have been the senior pastor at Christ Church for nearly eight years, and the theme I hope you've heard over and over in my preaching is that of the Good News of Jesus Christ—the gospel; that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. I stress this theme both because it is the main point of Scripture and because it's such good news that most people do not believe it. People continue to think that we are reconciled to God on the basis of our good works, not on the sufficient work of Jesus.
After the Good News, there are a half dozen other themes that I frequently revisit: the fact that we are not supposed to stop after we cross the line of salvation but that we are to always grow in the image of Christ; the fact that we are to give our lives away—to live and love and serve and share our lives with others; the fact that we are going to live forever and should be living each day in light of eternity; the fact that this is a broken world, and we should expect that it will be hard; the fact that this is a hard life to live and so we need to look out for one another and be intentional about cultivating friendship with a handful of people with whom we can walk through life.
When I talk about cultivating friendships, I am not talking about merely attending worship services. The level of connection you need cannot happen in this room, nor are worship services designed principally for friendship building. You can be courteous with 500 people, but you cannot share your heart, life, and burdens with them. I'm also not talking about anything that looks like a social club. There is a place for Kiwanis and Rotary and other ...
Mike Woodruff
http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/serm...
Introduction
I have been the senior pastor at Christ Church for nearly eight years, and the theme I hope you've heard over and over in my preaching is that of the Good News of Jesus Christ—the gospel; that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. I stress this theme both because it is the main point of Scripture and because it's such good news that most people do not believe it. People continue to think that we are reconciled to God on the basis of our good works, not on the sufficient work of Jesus.
After the Good News, there are a half dozen other themes that I frequently revisit: the fact that we are not supposed to stop after we cross the line of salvation but that we are to always grow in the image of Christ; the fact that we are to give our lives away—to live and love and serve and share our lives with others; the fact that we are going to live forever and should be living each day in light of eternity; the fact that this is a broken world, and we should expect that it will be hard; the fact that this is a hard life to live and so we need to look out for one another and be intentional about cultivating friendship with a handful of people with whom we can walk through life.
When I talk about cultivating friendships, I am not talking about merely attending worship services. The level of connection you need cannot happen in this room, nor are worship services designed principally for friendship building. You can be courteous with 500 people, but you cannot share your heart, life, and burdens with them. I'm also not talking about anything that looks like a social club. There is a place for Kiwanis and Rotary and other ...
Mike Woodruff
http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/serm...
