Life Conference 2024 – Plenary 2
Pastor Philip Lyn
Not alone in Community: Making True Friends
A Friend: Divide Your Grief but Multiply Your Joy
Proverbs 17: 17
A friend loves at ALL times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
Proverbs 18:24
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
- Substance of Friendship
- Synergy of Friendship
- Solidifying of Friendship
- Strength from Friendship
The mark of true friendship is a constant availability through thick and thin.
“You can trust us to stick to you through thick & thin to the bitter end. You can trust us to keep your secret.
But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone and go off alone.”
Lovers vs Friends
Lovers are always talking about their love for each other
True friendship is not esteemed in modern culture
But romance is celebrated!
“Friendship is based on a foundation that cannot be created but has to be discovered…”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Friendship does not ask: “Do you love me?”
but “Do you see the same truth? Are you passionate about the same thing?”
“What! You too? I thought I was the only one!”
~ CS Lewis
The synergy of friendship is in the “uniqueness” of its shared passion
That is why people who simply want friends can never make any.
The very condition for making friends is that you would want something else besides friends.
Proverbs 27:9
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.
Four things needed to forge true friendship
- Constancy
- Connect
- Candidness
- Counsel
Connect Emotional Sensitivity
Proverbs 25:20
Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart!
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
Proverbs 27:6
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
- Enhances self-worth
- Enhances self-belief
- Lightens burdens
- Diffuses loneliness
