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Monday 20 August 2012

Sermon Review - Friendship..

Sunday August 19, 2012 - Sermon Review - Friendships

The service began with singing several songs which included  "To the River, I am going, bringing sins I cannot bear" and also the song "Great is Thy Faithfulness".
This was followed by a children's feature encouraging children to pray when they wake up at night.
The focus of the service today was worshipping in Relationships using Hosea 12:6 as the basis for the message. Pastor Ben was speaking today and he started out by repeating the definition of  worship as our reponse to who God for who He is and all that He has done for us.
Hosea 12:6 says Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually. That is from the King James Bible.
Pastor Ben used the NIV version of Hosea 12:6 and it reads a bit different there - But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always
Here is what Pastor Ben said-
Turn back to God, Maintain Love and Justice.
Isaiah and Hosea were contemporaries and both warned that God was not pleased with how worship was being given. God detested the worship since the people had abandoned love and justice
Cling as a kitten clings - hang on to love and justice
Bring love into justice
Love and justice is about right living
Cling to both love and justice

Becoming Practical
Cling and hold fast to love
Love is fragile and can seem to disappear
Love is to risk ourselves - to let people in to see what we are thinking and feeling
Love is a risk and we can get hurt - our heart could get broken
The alternative to risking love is to build safety walls around ourselves and we end up alone
Many adults have no friends
We need to allow people to be vulnerable with us.
There is more to people than we can see on the outside
We need to encourage people to open up in our friendships, and allow them to be different
Allow people to share their opposing views in our friendships
Ask people questions
Allow them to change to become closer to the Lord.
Draw Closer to God
God wants to change us to the image of Christ.
Love is not about power

1Corinthians 13: 4-7
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

The service ended with singing.

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