Sermons / Sermon Discussion | Let's Be Friends: Part 2 - Philippians 1:3-11

Scripture Reference: Philippians 1:3-11 Main Idea: To find friendship within the body of Christ, you need to be faithfully fulfilling the Great Commission and intentionally pursuing the people serving next to you. Christians Friendships should: - Find each other in the trenches of Gospel Ministry - Have relational clarity - Pray for each other - Care for one another physical and spiritual needs Applications Questions: - Are you living “on mission” for Jesus? - Where are you growing (training) and where are you serving? - Are you pursuing friendship with your fellow believers in those places? Questions: 1. I have a question about the sermon. We discussed the military illustration of fictive kinship. This thinking tends to produce an “us and them” mindset and to a degree this is true, there are believers and unbelievers. We discussed how friendship with the world is enmity with God. How should we properly orient our thoughts towards “them”, those outside of the Christian friendship? 2. I Believe there are many within our church family who desire deep and lasting friendships but I’m not sure that emotional vulnerability is the way to meaningful connection. Some definitions of vulnerability include opening yourself up to emotional or physical harm, or disclosing your deepest hurts without restraint. Could you please define more clearly your intention regarding emotional vulnerability? 3. In the spirit of finding ways to work together and build relationships towards the great commission, what kind of ministries does the church have available (or maybe is lacking?) that Growth Groups could rally around and serve in together? Are there gaps that these communities could help to fill? 4. The series seems to take on a battle theme with John 15:13 (not explicitly, but very implicitly) becoming central to the message. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”Most of us will not be asked to physically lay down our lives for another, but is this reference as much metaphorical as literal? What can that look like that we “lay down” our lives for each other in a non-literal sense? 5. Last week, I asked a question about sinful political positions that might necessitate boundaries in Christian friendships. While I agreed with the response regarding outsiders, that was not the intended context. The intended context of my question dealt with official church members. Let's say an official church member vocally persuades other members in their Growth Group to support pro-abortion and pro-LGBT political candidates and policies rather than pro-life and pro-family candidates and policies, and they are unrepentant even after confronted in truth and love by other members. Might that necessitate church discipline and distancing in the relationship? Reference 1 Corinthians 5:11-12 Thank you for listening and sending in your questions. As a reminder you can send your questions to SermonQuestions@ubcbeavercreek.com