When Friendship with the World is Good

James 4:4 tells us that “Friendship with the world is hostility toward God.”  So, when can friendship with the world be a good thing?  We experienced the blessing of friendships with the world this past weekend at Good News Church.

We hosted more than a dozen church planters and some of their families for our Global Outreach Conference.  For some, it was a return to Good News from previous visits.  Adrien Baussels returned to Good News for the sixth time.  As I talked to Adrien and other guests during the weekend I began to realize that we had become friends over the years.  We had learned things about each other, our personalities, our passions, our dreams, and our fears. That is special, and a blessing from God.

Friends relate to one another differently.  They don’t go to work on each other.  They don’t butter each other up.  They don’t spin their successes or cover up their failures.  These friendships make planting Churches different too.  We have more in common with many of the churches in Brazil than churches in our own community because we have  become friends.

Thanks for helping us welcome our friends back to Saint Augustine again this year.  Isn’t it great when friendship with the world is good?

Thoughts on Friendship and the Best Friend

Since the message Sunday I have been thinking about friends and friendship a lot.  One thing I know, friends are hard to come by.  They are a treasure worth preserving.  I have also discovered that to be a friend and to have close friends requires having Jesus Christ as my best friend.

My interests too quickly collapse into my own priorities, perceptions, and preocupations without the corrective and trans-formative grace of Jesus.  When He is my best friend He sets me free to be a friend to the people around me.

This is the great hope of Biblical Community.  When we find a group of friends to do life with we experience what we were made for and saved for.

But what about when everything goes wrong?  When my own sin, or the sin of someone else crashes the biblical community party, my friendship with Jesus once again takes center stage.  It is is Jesus’ friendship that makes me humble enough to ask forgiveness from the people I have hurt, and to offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me. 

With Jesus as your best friend take the journey down the pathway of Biblcial community.  You’ll love where you end up as long as its Jesus who takes you there, and Jesus who remains the center of the community you discover.

Record Numbers finding the Pathway to Biblical Community

One of our key goals for 2012 is to “create clear and simple pathways to meaningful relationships and ministry.” We want more and more people to be able to experience a lifestyle of biblical community.  When we are velcroed into biblical community, our deep need to be wanted is satisfied.  We want more and more people to experience a lifestyle of service.  When we are engaged in a lifestyle of service, our deep need to be needed is fulfilled.

We have a long-term goal that 70% of our congregation is velcroed in to Biblical community.  In 2011 the participation small group grew throughout the year, averaging between 50-55% of the worshiping congregation.  In 2012 we have experienced a double blessing.  First, participation in weekly worship has grown.  Second, participation in small groups has grown.  Last week 485 people participated in adult small groups.  This is a record, breaking the previous record of 480 set in January.  60% of our congregation has been participating in small group this year.

Not in a small group?   Join the hundreds of people who have discovered that biblical community is essential to the Christian life.  Send me an email to dave@gnpc.org and I will help you get connected today.

Clear and Simple Pathways to Meaningful Relationships and Ministry

Last spring our family spent a week in the North Carolina mountains with friends.  One of our activities during the week was going on hikes on the trails scattered throughout the area.  As we hiked, many of the trails were cleared, well worn, and very easy to follow.  Others made us wonder, “Are we still on the path?” 

We don’t want anyone’s experience at Good News to be one that makes them wonder, “Am I still on the path?”  We want to create clear and simple pathways to meaningful relationships and ministry.  Our hope is that as these pathways are cleared and marked they will become well worn by hundreds of people who discover a lifestyle of biblical community and a lifestyle of service.

Check back to this blog for encouragement along your walk with God, and news about others who are walking God’s trail with you.