Christ With UsCS654 Spiritual Formation in Congregations

Friendship with GodAn expression of a loving heart

Community Groups

Starter questions◦Where did you live between ages 7 and 12?◦How was your home heated then?◦Who was the center of human warmth in your

family?◦When, if ever, did God become more than a

mere word to you?Scorgie questions – chapter 2

Barriers to Friendship with God

SelfishnessSinfulnessBusynessProductivityEgocentrismPerceptions

Positional and Official

Justified or declared righteousCovenantal – God’s commitment to us as

well as our commitment to God◦Drafters of the Heidelberg Catechism (16th

century)◦Asked their children to identify their only

comfort or greatest consolation in life and in death.

◦Answer: That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ.

*Have you ever felt like you have not belonged

or that you were not wanted?

*Describe what it means or could mean

to belong to God.

Blessing of God’s presence

Keeping company with God

Enjoying oneness of

purpose and intent

Learning to listen

attentively

Experiencing God’s

sufficiency

Blessing of God’s presence results in…

Enjoyment of full

acceptanceDepth of intimacy

Safety of disclosure

2 Peter 1:4

What did you discover about participation in the divine nature?

Reception of an ethical nature like God’s, which then leads to immortality—Peter Davids

The call is to the practice of the virtues or to participation in the divine nature.

Faithfulness to God in Jesus

Goodness – moral excellence

Knowledge of Christ through

wisdom and discernment

Self-control

Perseverance – endurance in

spiritual battles

Godliness – respect of God and those relationships that

God has sanctioned

Brotherly kindness – familial love

extended to all believers

Love – treat others with patience and

kindness

= Christian Virtue

*What does listening to God entail?• By listening I mean the widest prayerful,

discerning attentiveness to the Source intimated within us, evidenced through others. And discernible through the experiences of life. This kind of listening is not only auditory. It may be visual, kinesthetic, intuitive, or visceral as well, depending on the deepest attentiveness natural to the particular person. –Patricia Loring from Listening Spirituality

*How does listening to

God develop

friendship with God?

*Which of the aspects

of God’s character especially draw you?

What is a friend?

A person with whom one spends time and to whom one is well known.

Old Testament Friends of God

Abraham◦2 Chronicles 20:7◦Isaiah 41:8◦James 2:23

Moses◦Exodus 33:11◦Face-to-face communication meaning direct,

personal communicationIsrael – Psalm 122:6-9

New Testament Friends

Philos◦Broad sense – acquaintance◦Intimate sense – a personal and deep bonding

of real affectionNegative aspect of friendship

◦Friendship with the world◦James 4:4

Friendship with God

Represents confidence in disciples to know God

Brings a privilege to disciples in service and

intimacy Godward

Friends of Jesus

John 15:12-17

1 John 3:10-24

Believer (Larry Richards)

Not one who holds a certain set of beliefs or theoretical convictions about God

One who has responded to [Jesus by trusting him] and joining the company of others whose lives have found new focus in relationship with Jesus

Exercise

Think of a time when you felt like you belonged to God—that you were loved by God. Write down what you remember about that experience.

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