Best friends. Old friends. New friends. Kind friends. Weird friends. Hilarious friends. Sad friends. Forgotten friends. Facebook friends. Forever friends.

Let’s really think about our friendships across a lifetime. Who was your best friend growing up? How did your friendships shape you in your twenties and thirties? What do you hope your friendships will look like in your forties, fifties, and beyond?

The terrain of friendship is well- travelled by some, and less familiar to others. There are days when you just know you wouldn’t make it without your friends. But other days you find the rules of friendship shift right under your feet.

We’re asking what the Creator’s intention is for friendship. How did Jesus extend radical welcome and still hold his best friends to a high standard of love and loyalty? Why do we need friends to find the Spirit at work in our lives? Bring all your experiences to the conversation on friendship and be reminded why this work of love matters so much in the end.

Why Friends? - Jeremy Duncan

Discussion Notes

Today we look at the place friendship occupies in our social world and the role it played in the life of Jesus.

Bonus Material

Sometimes the Gospels invite us to read between the pages in order to encounter the fullness of Jesus.

We’ve also created a page with links to some of the research cited in the sermon.

Vulnerability - Jeremy Duncan

Discussion Notes
Today we are talking about vulnerability and how it shapes both us and our friendships.

Bonus Material

The fact that Jesus has to learn who he is, speaks to the fact that your journey of self-discovery is holy and sacred as well.

Forgiveness - Bobbi Salkeld

Discussion Notes
Today we are talking about what to do when you are sorry and why it matters.

Unfriending - Bobbi Salkeld

Discussion Notes
Last week we talked about Peter’s denial, today we will see Peter’s transformation and talk about new chapters in friendship and the option to unfriend. 

Bonus Material

Forgiveness is what we do for our own health. Holding on to bitterness and anger eventually becomes toxic. Reconciliation though, requires both people to come to the table and when the other person isn’t willing to do that you need to remember that you can’t control that.