Skip to content The High Call of Friendship - Jim Manolio Oct 30 · 35 min ...more
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 I wanna speak to you today on the subject of friendships. I know it doesn't sound very spiritual, but you'll see how spiritual it is. Friendship with God, friendship0:11 with each other, and more importantly, the role that it plays in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. If there was ever a time that we need to be the church, it's0:23 today. The church needs to be the church. And I believe with all my heart that God is using Waters Church in a tremendous way. He's doing great things here. And I believe God0:35 wants us to grow deeper, deeper together, deeper in the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Can somebody say amen? Amen. This is not a time to quit.0:47 This is a time to dig our heels in with all my heart. That's what's in my heart. This message has been in my heart for like almost 6 months if you can believe it now. And I'm finally up0:59 here. But I'm gonna share with you what actually inspired this message later on in the message. But the title of my message this morning is the high call of friendship. The high call of friendship.1:12 Please stand with me and turn in your Bibles to Colossians chapter 4. We're gonna be reading from, verses 7 and 18. But first, I'm just gonna share with1:23 you briefly about my background. I'm from New York. Don't hold it against me. I'm from New York. But when I got saved, I got radically saved. God did a great work in my1:35 life, 19 84. And God was moving amongst the young young people And, I got to go to a Christian camp. How many of you have been to camp before? Amen. It's a great time. It's a fun time where you1:47 get to connect with people. Your friendships develop. They, solidify, and, it's an awesome experience. But what's even more awesome, is at the end when1:59 they show the slideshows and they show all the happy faces and the people that connected and just the good times together. Well, they usually also show at at the end of the, that time,2:12 like a roll call of all of those that served. All of those that made that weekend spectacular. Amen? And I believe that that's what Paul2:24 is doing right here in these verses of scripture. You look at these verses and they seem kind of like, really? It doesn't feel very inspiring, but they are very2:35 inspiring. So we're gonna read, it should be up on the screen. Colossians chapter 4 verses 7 to 18. Tychicus2:47 will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose2:59 that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. And with Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother who is 1 of you, they will tell you3:11 of everything that has taken place here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas concerning whom you have received3:23 instructions, if he comes to you, welcome him. And Jesus who is called Justice, these are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of3:35 God and they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, Epaphras, everyone say Epaphras. Epaphras. Who is 1 of3:46 you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.3:58 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician greets you as does Demas. Give4:10 my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nymphah, the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read4:22 in the church of the Laodiceans. And see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, see that you fulfill4:34 the ministry that you have received in the Lord. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains, grace be with you.4:45 Let's pray. Father we thank you Lord for your presence that is here. We thank you, we don't take it for granted. We thank you Lord that, you are present. We pray that you do something4:57 wonderful, that you reveal Jesus to us. We pray thy kingdom come and thy will be done here on this earth, oh God. We love you and we praise you in Jesus name. And everybody said,5:09 amen, amen. If I could just get some water, please. Oh, okay. He snuck it in there.5:23 This is Paul's Paul's closing statements or closing comments to the book of Colossians, in the book of Colossians. Colossians is an amazing book. But5:37 he spends 12 verses, 12 verses talking about 10 different people. And we're tempted, we're often tempted to maybe skip over these verses of scripture. Like they're just like, what's the5:49 what's the purpose Paul? Right? But it's kinda like we think that how many of you have junk drawers at home? Come on. We all have junk drawers. Right? We just throw all the loose pens, the chains,6:01 the change and, just the stuff that we don't care about. And that's the way we treat these scriptures sometimes. But I wanna give you 3 reasons why these scriptures are so important. First of all, in second6:12 Timothy 3 16, it says that that all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, and for correction, and6:24 for training in righteousness. Can somebody say amen? Amen. I don't know if you know this, but the bible says, that all scripture, that heaven and earth will pass away, but God's word will6:36 remain. The bible is like no other book in this world. It is God breathed. That's the first reason. The second reason is that what I love about Colossians is it's got a lot of theology in it, a lot of6:47 Christology, but what really puts the meat on the bones is that when he starts talking about people, this is these are real people. This is a real church and I love that and it humanizes it6:59 for for us. Also we see it reveals Paul's heart. Paul's heart for these people. He he only devotes 1 verse of scripture7:11 to things like anger, lust, husbands, and wives. Yet he devotes 12 verses to 10 people. That's saying something. It7:23 also reveals Paul's love and compassion for a people he had never met. See Paul didn't establish a church in Colossae, somebody else did. But he got word7:35 about them and we'll talk a little bit about that. We have we should have a map on the the screen. So it's always important when you're looking at7:46 scripture to understand the context, the context of what's taking place. And what was happening here is Paul Paul had preached throughout the region. And in Acts 19, I think it says7:58 that that the word of God got spread throughout the throughout the area. And it is believed that a man by the name of Epaphras, who is mentioned in the scriptures, founded8:10 the church in Colossae. Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus preaching the gospel and Epaphras started a small group. Can you say amen? He started a small group8:22 and it's believed that he was the pastor or the the founder of Hierapolis and and Laodicea, those those churches as well. But you can see8:34 on this map that that Colossae is located in modern day day Turkey. And this is a new church at the time. Epaphras, they were undergoing some issues but8:45 Epaphras traveled 1200 miles from Colossae through probably Ephesus and all the way to Rome to go and see Paul to talk to him because he needed some advice.8:58 And the problem was, and let me just say that this church reminds me of Woonsocket because he was only about 5 years old, this church. And I think that's9:09 super, but the problem was there was cultural opposition against this church. This, church at Colossae, they were growing. They were they were faithful. They were,9:21 you know, on fire for God. They would love God. And, but there was this cultural opposition. There was false philosophies that was coming in. There was these, works righteousness type of,9:34 preaching at that time. So it was like they were offering something better than Jesus or something, you know, you you need a higher knowledge or you need to speak to angels or, these various things that,9:45 Paul speaks about in chapter 2. And it's nothing new. It's the same thing that we face today. And let me just say, and 1, I think this is a warning for us, to be careful what you9:57 listen to because all you need is a little leaven to spoil the whole lump. And so we need to be careful of what we listen to. But religion is basically man trying to10:09 reach God, amen? They're just trying to reach God in their own means, trying to be, good enough or trying to, do the right thing or try to follow the right rules. And10:21 it's all, a false gospel. It's a false hope. And yet the Colossian church had the truth, but they felt in a sense this pressure and they felt disqualified. Ever feel10:33 disqualified or disheartened? They felt disheartened. They felt the world and the culture weighing in on them. And Paul's reaction to all this, he writes this letter. So he10:45 gets this word from Epaphras. He comes to him and Paul writes the letter of Colossians to the, to the people at Colossae. And he writes in the first chapter, he says, you know,10:57 we heard of your faith. Since you heard the grace of God in truth, we were praying for you and giving thanks to the father who has qualified you. And I want you to know11:09 if you feel disqualified in any way that the father is the 1 who's who qualifies you. And this next part,11:24 this next part of the sermon is kind of difficult to kind of express because it's kind of like he's talking about Jesus. I'm kind of like, you know, Paul probably was like, Ladies and11:36 gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you about this man Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God. He's the all sufficient 1. He's the preeminent 1.11:47 All of God's fullness dwells in Christ. These are all words from the first chapter of Colossians. All sufficiency, he has all sufficiency over this life and the life to come. He's the11:59 invisible God who made himself known. Can you say amen? Amen. Jesus is the all sufficient 1. There is no other religion. There is no other thing that that's got anything on12:11 Christianity. And the point is the thing is is that Christ came and died for us. Our sufficiency then becomes not in ourselves, but in the shed blood of Jesus12:23 Christ. He imputes his righteousness to us, and he delivers us from darkness. And it's through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are12:34 united to Christ in a wonderful relationship with God. And I love what it says in Colossians chapter 1 verse 27. It's Christ in you, the12:46 hope of glory. The hope of glory. Somebody say amen. Jesus plus nothing equals everything. He reminds them, the Colossian12:58 church, to stay faithful and don't let others disqualify you. And so here's the point about this is that our relationship with God always starts at the cross. Religion says13:10 do, but Jesus says done. At the cross, Jesus said, it is finished and you and I can have peace with God. And you can have peace with God today. Amen. And13:22 you know, throughout the book of Colossians and other books in the Bible, we see, we see 4 things about Paul's life. Paul was passionate13:34 about preserving the gospel. In second Timothy chapter 1 verses 13 to 14, it says, Paul says, follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me13:45 in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. Guard the good deposit13:57 entrusted to you. That's a good word for us today. Paul was also passionate about persevering in the gospel. Paul was relentless. And I love that about this guy. First Timothy14:09 chapter 4 verse 16 says, keep a close watch on yourselves and on the teaching. And he says, persist in this for by so doing you will save both yourself and your14:20 hearers. Paul was also passionate about prayer. He always asked for prayer that he might speak boldly the gospel of Jesus Christ. That he may preach it clearly14:32 and without hesitation. And we read in Colossians 4 verses 3 to 4, He says, pray that I may proclaim, that I may proclaim it clearly14:44 as I should. And there's also another aspect of Paul's life that's not talked about a lot, but Paul was passionate about people. He was14:56 passionate about friendships. And throughout scripture, we see Paul's passion for people reaching them with the good news of Jesus Christ. There was nothing stopping this man to bring the good15:08 news. He had the truth and he need to needed to speak it to people and get it out there. And 1 1 commentator said that if you look at the book of acts and the other epistles that Paul had over15:20 100 friends. Paul was a friend maker. You know there was a Harvard study also that was done that talked about, that studied happiness. And this is not gonna be a big15:31 surprise, but, happiness, doesn't come through success. It doesn't come through, working hard. It doesn't come through fame. It doesn't come through a career. It doesn't come through any of15:43 that stuff. You can have all the money in the world and be as empty as can be. But what was interesting about this study is that the opposite is even more enlightening when feeling15:55 rejected, feeling rejected, it activates the same part of your brain when you experience pain. And I know some of you experienced that.16:08 We experience pain through rejection. And we see throughout scripture, the scripture has a lot to say about friendships, but I wanna share with you and you can write these down in your notes. I'm gonna share with you 316:20 scriptures, pertaining to friendships. And the first thing is is that friendships provide companionship. They provide companionship. Genesis16:31 chapter 2 verse 18 says, then the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. You know, the Bible16:43 says that we are created in God's image. God the father, the son, the holy spirit, And there's a relationship there. And we were made to have relationships. We were made to be connected.16:57 Also friendships provide comfort. In second Corinthians chapter 7 verses 5 through 6, it says, for even when we came into17:09 Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within. But God who17:21 comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus. Don't you love that? Don't you love that that you have friends that can come alongside of you and comfort you?17:33 Not only that, but friendships bring joy. Paul writes in Romans 15 verse 32, so that by God's will I may come to17:45 you with joy and be refreshed in your company. Friendships bring joy. Friendships bring17:57 joy. And think about this, think about what Jesus said. John chapter 13 verse 35. And I think this is so important for the days that we're living in and the word that God18:09 wants to speak to us today. It says, by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for 1 another. The Bible18:20 says, and I don't know if you realize this, that in the last days, the love of many will grow cold. And if there's ever a time that the church needs to be the church, it's today.18:35 We need to be the church. Luke chapter 10 verse 27, he says, And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul18:47 and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself, your neighbor as yourself. Relationships are critical.18:59 Relationships are super important in spreading the gospel, how we connect together. That's why I'm gonna put a plug here for small group, but, that's why small groups are so important. And to get19:11 connected, we need to be connected. We need to be a praying people. We need to be a people that are people of the word and, you know, just fighting the good fight and not giving up in these days. Fight the fight.19:24 The fact that the greatest commands that God has given to us are about love points to the significance of relationships. Amen.19:36 So we see from scripture and we see from Paul's life, the words of Jesus himself, and even secular studies that friendships are really important. They're important not19:48 only emotionally or psychologically, but they're extremely important for the spreading of the gospel. They're important for the spreading of the gospel and God is about relationships.20:02 I'm gonna have a picture up here of our ushers from Woonsocket. These people inspired this message today. I just want you to know that. I was praying and I was asking20:14 God about to speak to my heart about a message. And these beautiful people behind me, they were serving 1 day and it was like the presence of God was just all over them. And they were so anxious20:26 to serve and just like little soldiers. I was like, look at these people. They were just anxious to serve God. And it was amazing.20:38 And you know what the Lord spoke to my heart at that time? He said, you know, they matter to God. And that's the word for myself as well and as well to you. You matter to God and you matter to the20:50 mission of God. You matter. I don't care what you think you have or you don't have, but you matter to the mission of God. And my encouragement to us21:02 today is to press in. Don't stop, don't quit, dig deeper. He's making something beautiful out of your life. And I see some of these people, they don't21:14 have anything They don't have it all together just like I don't have it all together. But God is making something beautiful and God is healing them. God is working in them. God's doing a beautiful thing and he wants to21:25 do the same in your life. Folks, we have work to do. We are living in trying times. God says, I'm working for you, in you, through you, and we need to be the salt and we need to be the light of the21:37 world. Amen? And sometimes we don't even see the work of God because it's so subtle sometimes. We take it for granted. My wife and I came in here yesterday and we were sharing21:48 afterwards. We met some new people, some of the serve team and stuff, and what a beautiful presence of the Lord there was. Such a beautiful presence, beautiful people. And22:00 I just wanna say I believe that the call of God is on Waters Church. God has a mission for us. God has got a work for us to do. God is doing something great here. There's no22:12 doubt about it in my mind. And God is raising up this church to be his army in these last days. We need to be the army of God. We need to press in like we've never pressed in before.22:25 And Paul understood this. He understood that it's not a 1 man job. Paul needed his friends. Paul needed his friends. And lastly, I wanna share with22:37 you some observations about, Paul's friends that helped spread the gospel. They were willing to be a channel for the gospel. They weren't perfect people, but man they just22:49 stuck by Paul and they fought the good fight. And I wanna share some observations about these friends, the scripture that we read. And they could be broken up into 4 groups. 4 groups of23:00 people. The first group was the friends that were sent in verses 7 to 9. The friends that were sent Because Paul had sent Tychicus and23:12 Onesimus. See Epaphras went to see Paul, but when after Paul met with him, Paul sent Tychicus and Onesimus back to the Colossae church. So they traveled23:24 1200 miles to bring the, the letters, actually the letters to Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon back to that area. And Tychicus in verse 7 and 8, he's23:36 the friend with a servant's heart. Paul writes and says, he is a faithful minister, trustworthy and reliable. How many of you know that we need trustworthy and reliable people in the23:48 church today? And it says in verse 7, Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord.24:00 I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. Then we read about Onesimus. Onesimus, he's the24:11 friend with a sinful past. The friend with a sinful past. Onesimus was a runaway slave. Onesimus is believed to have stolen from his master. And you know, slavery24:23 was very common during those times. And the Bible doesn't address the wrongs of society, but it does address Christian character.24:35 And what I love about Paul, what I love about Paul is Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him. And he just got saved. Onesimus was running away24:47 and he was running from something, but found by God. Can you say amen? Onisimus was found. He just got saved. And Paul, said he's a faithful brother. From the short period of time that he was with24:59 him, Paul had a high respect for Onisimus. He wanted him to stay with him but he sent him back to, actually he was, his master was Philemon actually at the time. He sent him back and he told Philemon, he says treat25:11 him as a brother and be kind to him. Amen. And so what this teaches us that our past doesn't have to define our Our past doesn't have to define us. Second Corinthians25:23 5 17 says, therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old things have passed away. Behold, the old the new things have come.25:37 The second group of friends are the friends that stayed. The friends that stayed. These are the people that really stuck by Paul. Verses 10 through 14. And you gotta love the names of these25:49 individuals. Nobody named these named their kids after these names today. Right? But if there was 1 guy that I would be named after, it would be Aristarchus. I think that's a pretty manly name, you know? He's the26:01 he's the friend with a sympathetic heart. 3 times in scripture we read about Aristarchus. Once in Acts chapter 9 where Paul was involved in riots and there was26:13 Aristarchus sticking by him. Acts 27 he was with Paul in a shipwreck on on the way to Rome. And in Colossians chapter 4 verse 14 we read about Aristarchus26:24 being in prison with Paul. And he wasn't in prison because he did something wrong. He was there to be alongside of Paul, to be a help to him. Imagine that. Proverbs 1726:36 17 says that, A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity. We also read about John Mark. John Mark, he's the friend with a second26:48 chance. I love this too. How many need a second chance sometimes, right? He's the friend with a second chance. Mark wrote the gospel of Mark. He was on the first missionary journey,27:00 but he got cold feet and he left for whatever reason. In second Timothy 4, let me just say Paul was quite upset with him. He didn't want him coming coming with him on the second missionary journey, because27:12 he got upset with him. Paul was very focused. He was out to bring the gospel and you know, he doesn't have time for cold feet. Right? And so Paul was upset with him. But in second Timothy chapter27:23 4, Paul says, Send me Mark, he is profitable to me. This is an indication that the friendship was restored. And what this teaches us is that friends forgive and we learn to27:35 tolerate each other. Amen? The other person is Jesus called justice.27:47 In verse 11, we know very little about Jesus called Justice, but he was the friend that soothes. I use the word soothes for an s. But27:59 he's the guy that comforts you. He comforted Paul. He was an encouragement and a comfort to Paul. And this is probably my favorite guy, Epaphras. He was the pastor of28:10 Colossae, the Colossian church. He's the founder of the church. And you know Colossae was never it's not even mentioned in the book of Acts. And if it wasn't for,28:22 Epaphras, they probably would never be mentioned. But he's the friend who summons heaven or the person that prays. The person that prays for you, the Bible says that28:34 he prayed fervently and he labored in prayer for the churches. And Paul says that he's a faithful minister. And like I said, he28:46 traveled from Colossae to see Paul to get advice. And the Bible says that he prayed fervently. Says in verse 12, Epaphras, who is 1 of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets28:58 you always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness29:08 that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. We all need friends that pray for us, amen? The next friend is29:20 Luke. Our friend Luke in verse 14. He's the friend that used his special talents to serve the gospel. I know there's many out29:32 there, you got special talents. And we got a lot of special talents in this church and thank God for it. He was known as the beloved physician. He was with Paul in the first missionary journey29:44 and the third missionary journey. And in second Timothy chapter 4 Paul says, only Luke stood with me. Only Luke stood with me. He was a faithful friend.29:58 There's another friend. There's the friend that strayed. The friend that strayed. Verse 14 b, the man's name is Demas. He's the friend that30:09 saddens us or disappoints us. He's mentioned 3 times in scripture and you can see the gradual decline of his life falling away from the Lord. In30:21 Philemon verse 24, he's mentioned Paul mentions him as a fellow laborer. In Colossians chapter 4 verse 14, Paul says, Demas greets you.30:34 And in second Timothy chapter 4 verse 10, he says, Demas has forsaken me. He loved this present world. So Demas teaches us that friends30:45 will, can, and often disappoint us. But it's a reminder that we always keep our eyes on Jesus. The last group of30:57 friends are the friends that Paul saluted. Verses 15 to 18. As Paul closes his letter, he speaks of a woman by the name of31:08 Nimpha, verses 15 and 16. And she's the friend that made herself sociable. Sociable. What do I mean by that? She opened her home like many of you have opened your homes for small31:20 group. Amen. So Paul recognized her. And there's also in verse 16. And it's believed that Archippus was the31:32 interim pastor while Epaphras went to go see Paul. And he's the friend with a special privilege because he received a special service of the Lord. He was called to the ministry.31:44 But at this time, he was feeling a little hesitant about his calling. And Paul encourages him and he says, Fulfill it and guard it. How many of you know that sometimes the31:55 pastors need encouragement? They need encouragement. They face a lot. Verse 18 Paul Paul's Paul says,32:07 I Paul write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Grace be with you. It's like a matter of fact, he doesn't care about himself32:19 Paul. He says, by the way, remember my chains. My challenge to us this morning is is that we learn to be better friends and understand its32:31 importance as it relates to the gospel. And I want you to know with all my heart that you matter to God. You matter Don't stand on the fringes. Don't stand on the outskirts, but get involved.32:43 Get involved. It's important. You're important to God. You're important to the work of God. You're important to the spreading of the gospel. Sermon in a sentence is realize32:55 that you're not a junk drawer Christian. You are sons and daughters of the most high God called to love God and to love people. Amen. Amen. Amen. As we close,33:07 if we would all bow our bow your heads. I believe God has spoken to many of you. And I want it to something that's especially on my heart are married33:19 couples. If you're going through a struggle in your marriage, don't give up on each other. Fight the good fight. Don't give up on each other.33:33 God can take you through. God can heal marriages. God can heal relationships. There may be relationships here that need be need to be healed. We're gonna have the small group leaders coming up in at in33:44 a at a point in time. But I also wanna pray just wanna speak to the believers. Maybe you need to set new priorities. Maybe you're not in a small group. Maybe you need to get involved33:58 in small group or in serving in some way. So make those new priorities. New believers, don't let anybody disqualify you. Don't let anybody disqualify you. You have the hope of God in34:10 you. The glory of God. Amen. And for those of you that are unbelievers or those of you that are here for the first time, this is your opportunity to receive Christ as your Lord and savior.34:22 As I said earlier, it's through the blood of the cross that peace. He brings peace in our relationships. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to if we had to earn it, there'd be no34:34 need for a savior.
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