BUILDING LOVING RELATIONSHIPS                              EAST BAY FELLOWSHIP

(Series, #3)                                                                                                 March 19, 2006

GETTING CLOSER TO PEOPLE

TEXT: Luke 6:12-13

INTRODUCTION

· One of the first intentional acts in Jesus’ ministry was to gather a small group of men around him and develop their relationship from a mentorship to a friendship.

1) TALK TO GOD

· The consistent pattern in Jesus’ life was that he prayed late at night or early in the morning and the people he bumped into that day experienced a closeness to God they had never felt before.

2) FIND OR MAKE A GROUP

· Without a small group of friends the problem is manifold:

a. We will not have people there for us when life hits the fan

b. We will not have people to question us when we start to veer off track

c. We will not have a place for giving away the deep lessons of growth

3) CHALLENGE PEOPLE

· A moment of challenge from someone who loves you creates relational depth that no discussion of current events or philosophy can do.

4) SHARE LIFE

· I do not call you servants any longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.   John 15:15 (TEV)

5) ASK FOR HELP

· Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.   Proverbs 16:18-19 (NKJ)

CONCLUSION

· We have Christ inside us, and he is the living power to read and rescue each other’s hearts.