Have you considered the honor of being called God’s friend? What would the Lord want you to know about your friendship with him today? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Cash Box Top 100 1/31/76". Tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018 . Retrieved October 30, 2017. Lesson 4) We notice how different the temperaments of true Christians may be. The two sisters in this lesson were faithful disciples. Moore, Addie (April 28, 2020). "How C.W. McCall's 'Convoy' Became a Cultural Phenomenon". Wide Open Country . Retrieved May 5, 2023.

Luke 10:38 says, “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village; and a . . . woman named Martha received him into her house.”Unterberger, Andrew (April 4, 2022). "Forever No. 1: C.W. McCall's 'Convoy' ". Billboard . Retrieved May 5, 2023. In verse 40, we read, “But Martha (who) was cumbered about much serving, came to (Jesus), and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” Yet for some, friendship with Jesus seems to diminish his glory. I’ve often heard the sentiment, “Jesus is not our friend; he’s our King.” But we don’t have to choose, because both are true — Jesus is our exalted king and he is our truest friend. This doesn’t minimize his glory; it magnifies it — because it displays the immeasurable riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:6–7). Only grace explains the sovereign King welcoming sinners as his friends. In Malta, as in America and everywhere else, friendship is not only essential, but the love of friendship is a compelling basis for unity and enduring peace. In the Society of Christian Doctrine itself members try to avoid partisan political discussion. We greet one another with a reminder that our lives are hidden in Christ’s peace: “Peace be with you.” St Paul stated the basis for this reminder in Philippians 4:7; the peace of Christ, indeed, passes all understanding and is not dependent on the outcome of a political election or a constitutional decree.

Jesus calls us to love one another as he has loved us. Think of what that means. At this point, Jesus has just washed the disciples’ feet, taking on the role of a slave, the lowest of the low in his cultural context. And he knows that the very next day he will die on a Roman cross for them. That’s how Jesus has loved them and his command is to love each other with the same kind of love. That’s a big challenge! Dukes, Billy (February 17, 2022). " 'Convoy' Singer C.W. McCall Is in Hospice". Taste of Country . Retrieved March 24, 2023. And what does he mean by that? What does it mean to be friends? It’s actually quite a hard thing to define when you stop and think about it. Here in John 15, Jesus seems to imply that at the heart of friendship is love: ‘Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13). Jesus wants to help the disciples to understand what the greatest love is really like, and he doesn’t turn to marriage or sex, he turns to friendship. For Jesus, friendship is a relationship of deep love. Jesus embodied the life of God’s Servant and taught his disciples to do the same. This is surely at the heart of what the feet washing is about in John 13.

Jonathan’s friendship with David in 1 Samuel gives us a clear parallel. We rightly think of them as exemplifying friendship. But their story specifically pictures how we can be friends with the Christ, the messianic King. Jonathan was the friend of David, yet David was Israel’s anointed king. And when David called on Jonathan to demonstrate faithfulness, he responded, “Whatever you say, I will do for you” (1 Samuel 20:4). As David points forward to Jesus as the King, Jonathan points forward to all who follow Christ as friends. Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012 . Retrieved September 17, 2011. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit a "gift" who will guide us, lead us, and empower us. Yet many believers don't experience the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. This unique Christian Bible study provides a space in which we can explore what it truly means to "walk in the Spirit" on a daily basis.

Suffice it to say that drawing upon our entire heritage, both cultural and religious, a theology of friendship can be discovered as a trustworthy basis for building happiness and holiness in Christian community as well as everywhere else. Friendship, as delineated in St. John by the unnamed “Beloved Disciple,” can both enrich the individual lives of authentic Christians today and, at the same time, contribute to the renewal of the theology of the Christian life everywhere as called for by the Second Vatican Council ( Optatam Totius, §16). The Fourth Gospel is rich in many stories and examples of divine and human friendship. Combined with the Old Testament manifestations and amplified by St. Thomas Aquinas’s understanding of caritas in his great Summa, the Gospel of St. John is glorious, surpassing even the elevated Greco-Roman understanding of friendship. There seems to be a general longing everywhere to experience this dimension of theology, which heals all divisions, is long overdue in its development. Also, note that in John 15:17, Jesus repeats the command for us to love one another immediately after He has repeated the concept that He saved us so that we would bear fruit. The two are intertwined. When He gave His new commandment (John 13:35), Jesus said that others would know that we are His disciples by our love for one another. Here, He ties our ability to bear fruit with His command that we love one another. As people see the love between Christians, they will be drawn to the source of our love, our Savior who gave Himself for us on the cross. This later scholarship contradicts the consensus of many 19 th century British scholars, who tended to see the alternation of verbal forms in John 21:15-17 as not merely one of style but of substance. However, support for this archaic position has continued to dwindle in the face of the apparently irrefutable evidence that the Fourth Gospel regularly deploys synonyms for the sole purpose of stylistic variation. As Jesus speaks these words to his disciples, he is preparing them for his betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection. Jesus knows that he will love these disciples all the way to the cross and beyond. And he calls them to demonstrate the same kind of love for the Father, the Son, and for the children of God. Jesus did not simply profess his love; he lived it, and he died for it. We too are called to sacrificial love. Most of us will not be asked to surrender our lives, but rather our time, talents, and treasure. It might mean laying down our agenda or setting aside our pride to serve someone in need. That was the kind of love Jesus exemplified on the cross, and it is the kind of love that he called his followers to mirror.

1. Friends of Jesus love one another just as He loved us (John 15:12-13, 17).

In John 11, verse 27, Martha said to Jesus, “Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” Remember that in Luke 10, which we examined earlier in this article, Martha was best known for being too busy to sit down and talk with Jesus—but here we see Martha as a woman of deep faith. It is likely that Martha (though busy with food preparation) took time to memorize Scripture while she stirred puddings and prepared soups! Maybe friendship with Jesus is a ki The hymn writer wrote the hymn to assure his mother that though he couldn’t be there with her, Jesus is with her and he is a friend like no other. When Jesus arrived, Martha was there to meet Him (verse 20), and she said, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died” (verse 21). Jesus said to Martha, “Thy brother shall rise again” (verse 23). Martha responded that she believed in a general resurrection on the last day. But Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (verse 25). Those who live and believe in Jesus will never die spiritually and eternally. Those who serve the Lord will not experience a loss of communion with God, even though the physical body dies. How much is your home like the home described in our lesson? The presence of Jesus in your home will not remove the realities of life—but His presence will help you to live nobly through the crises that come—and to triumph over them! May God send special blessings upon your home in the days (and perhaps years) that may lie ahead.