Foundry

Student Ministries
DONT WASTE YOUR SUMMER
Knowing and Loving Friends

Series text: Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a
town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit yet you do not know what
tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time
and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or
that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the
right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:13-17
Teaching text: John 15:10-17, Ephesians 2:1-10, Mark 2:1-12
Who comes to mind when you head the word friend? What makes them special? What makes
their care different than other peoples care? Friendship is a beautiful thing, but if we are honest,
friendship can also be a scary thing. Friendship demands that we move from novelty to intimacy.
And, intimacy is filled with unknowns.
In John 15, Jesus describes to us how He relates to His people. Jesus speaks, No longer do I call
you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,
for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you (15). The scripture tells us
that Jesus and the Father are one. Therefore, the invitation Jesus is extending is to know the
fullness of God. We get to know His mind, His heart, His passions, and His loves. The invitation
is to know God, in the midst of Him fully knowing you (Read, reflect, and respond to Psalm
139).
In the midst of us being known, we are also loved. Jesus makes the statement; Greater love
has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (13). Jesus is pointing
to Him hanging on a tree for you and me. He is describing the type of friend He is. In the
midst of God fully knowing how we have rebelled against Him and chosen to be the god of
our own lives, He chooses to say, I will pave a way for us to be together for eternity.(Read,
reflect, and respond to Ephesians 2:1-10).

We are fully known and fully loved by God. We are His friends. If this is the way the God
of the universe relates to us, this is the way we ought to relate to each other.

(Read, reflect, and respond to Mark 2:1-12)

Intimacy with God and intimacy with brothers and sisters in Christ will lead us to freedom.
In Mark 2, when Jesus sees the paralytic His attention goes to the men lowering the
paralytic to His feet. The scriptures say, And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralytics, Son, your sins are forgive (5). Who are the brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus
consistently lowering you down to the feet of Jesus, reminding you that He is a forgiver, a
lover, and a redeemer? (James 5:16) Who are you fully known and fully loved by, in a way
where both of you are walking with Jesus together?

To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our
greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It
is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our
self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.- Timothy Keller

Foundry Student Ministries

Questions:
What makes a friend a good friend?
Do all people need to fully know (the good and the bad) you? Why or why not?
How do you and how can you pursue being a friend people trust?
Do your close friends influence your walk with Jesus in a positive way? How so?
How do we pursue friendship with God and friendship with each other?