We’re going to start by watching a short clip from Forest Gump
In this clip Forest meets a girl called Jenny for the first time…they end
up been life long friends
[Forest Gump]
xx mins – Forest’s is waiting for the school bus
14 mins 50 seconds – “she was my very special friend…my only friend”
The middle bit
According to Forest, Jenny was his ‘special friend’
What makes somebody a good friend?
What do you expect from a friend?
Acceptance – take you as you are
Honesty
Trust
Loyalty
Understanding
Love
[Do your friends live up to your expectations?]
How important are friends to you?
Could you live without them?
Some people have lots of friends…some have only one or two…
Is it better to have loads of friends or just one ‘best friend’?
Do you ever fall out with your friends?
About what?
How does that make you feel?
The Bible tells us that we can be God’s friend, if we want…
Jesus said…
John 15:12 – 15 ”This is my command: love each other as I have loved you. The greatest love
a person can show is to die for his friends. You are my friends if you do
what I command you…I call you friends because I have made known to you
everything I heard from my Father.”
If that’s what the Bible says, how do we become God’s friend?
By following him…
By living our life for God, rather than living our life for ourselves…
According to the Bible, ‘the greatest love a person can show is to die for
his friends’
What do you think that means?
To love someone so much, that you’d be willing to give up your life for
them
That’s what Jesus did!
Conclusion
Friends are an important part of our lives…
They can be frustrating, drive us mad
They can bring us a great deal of happiness
So let us finish by praying for our friends…
What I’d like you to do, is to write the names of your friends on a piece
of paper and put them in the bowl…
Then when we’ve all done that, I’d like you each to pick a name from the
bowl and pray for that person