Community of God's Friends

Sabbath, March 4 - Part 9 of 13 - Pursuing a Compelling Vision. John 15 gives us a vision of our relationship with God - as friends. The key characteristic of this friendship is that God opens up God's self to include the other in the circle of His knowledge. We are invited into the very life of God - into the fellowship of the Trinity. For the church, this means our vocation consists in being the community of God's friends, befriending the world.

Download the sermon here - and enjoy this quote from Paul Waddel's book, Becoming Friends -

Still, for Christians, friendships have a purpose far beyond one’s own moral and spiritual development. Every friendship should make our world bigger, and Christian friendship should link us to the kingdom of God. Ultimately, the purpose of friendship in the church is not primarily our mutual edification but to make us the kind of community that can faithful enact God’s narrative of love, healing, and redemption in the world. If God has befriended us, how are we to befriend the world? If God has served us faithfully, how are we to serve others, particularly those who may not know God? One way is for the church, the friends of God, to be a community that embodies and exemplifies virtues that can transform the world in hope. (118)

Comments

[JPA]

Just listened to the Community of God's Friends podcast; great message! That's the gospel, being a friend of God, and sharing that friendship with the world around us. I really liked the handle you used to deal with our baggage from friendships, and the way we relate to God.

Thanks for finding the heartbeat of the gospel in 2006!

[Ryan Bell]

Cool, John. I'm happy you can "tune in" from time to time while you're away. Peace, brother...and hope to see you soon.

[Brenton Reading]

I agree with John, heartbeat of the gospel...really good stuff.

I was intrigued by the idea of a 'common space.' I'd like hear what comes to mind when you and others think about 'common spaces.'

[Ryan Bell]

Zygmunt Bauman addresses this better than anyone in his book, In Search of Politics (see my booklist to the right). There is no more "common good." Instead there is individual good. The assumption is that everyone pursuing their individual good will yield the common good. This is the so-called invisible hand of capitalism. The consequence of this loss of a shared sense of public good is a loss of public "space" - space in which to be together, enter into discourse about the public good. I'm not sure when this ever existed, but you catch glimpses of it in small European towns where life is still village centered. There is a rebirth of interest in this subject as new urbanism is trying to create places where the public can gather that are not commercial spaces. Although most public spaces end up being "malls" - the modern public space, when you think about it - there is at least an awareness that we have lost something deeply valuable. Well, way too long for a comment. Maybe deserves a separete post.