Passage: John 15:12-17
Important: We recommend that you use all of our talks as a starting point rather than word for word. That is particularly important for talks like this which are based on personal information that needs to be adapted to you!
Talk:
How many friends have you got? Well I have 206. That’s right – 206 friends. You can call me Mr Popular from now on if you want. How do I know how many friends I have? Well that’s easy – I check Facebook.
Facebook is great. It is a really simple way to keep in touch with your friends and family or with people who live a long way away. But it’s pretty easy to become “friends” with someone on Facebook, in fact it only takes a click!
But is that what it takes to become friends with someone? Is it as simple as a click? Thinking back to primary school I think it wasn’t far from that – I remember being asked “will you be my friend?” and even asking others if they would be my friend. But it isn’t always that simple, and I’m not still friends with all the people I was friends with in primary school. Why is that? Well I think it is because real friendship isn’t just a one off decision, it is a process. It takes commitment and hard work. You get to know someone over a long period of time, warts and all!
Here are a few of my friends: If you have PowerPoint available then have a picture of two or three of your close friends. Explain how long you’ve known them, some of the things that you’ve been through together and some of the characteristics that make them a good friend. Try to include a friend who lives a bit further away and who you have to make a conscious effort to keep up with. If you have no PowerPoint then maybe a couple of photos instead!
In today’s passage we found out that you’ve got a notification. Jesus wants to add you as a friend. But be warned – this isn’t a click “accept” and forget kind of friendship. Just like some of our really close friendships is a friendship that will take time to develop, it will involve great times and difficult times. It will be a friendship that you need to work at on a day by day basis. It will involve commitment!
It is also the most valuable friendship you’ll ever have. Sometimes our friends let us down but in Jesus we have someone who will be there for us no matter what. Sometimes we let our friends down and the friendship breaks down – with Jesus we know that we are loved unconditionally and forgiven whenever we admit that we’ve done wrong.
So it’s up to you. God offers you his friendship – will you accept?
We originally followed this talk with these prayer stations: