12/26/2021 - New Year New Love - John 15:12-17 - Pastor Jason Fritz

2021 is almost in the record books and 2022 is right around the corner. What will this upcoming year bring for you? Joy, sorrow, pain, pleasure and sometimes all in the same day. Many of us will make a new start. We’ll put forth the effort to change things in our lives..at least that’s our intention. However, some things never change like our desire to be in meaningful relationships. It’s the desire to be loved and love others. This longing is at the heart of Christianity. Many think Christianity is little more than a self-imposed code of conduct. Not so. The Bible describes Christianity as a relationship with Jesus. It might surprise some to know that Jesus wants to be your friend. Now if you think about it, this raises an interesting question – How in the world does one be a friend to the co-creator of the universe? Well the answer is found in John chapter 15. The author was one of Jesus’ best friends. We know this because Jesus asked John to take care of his mom as he was dying on the cross. But there’s more here than meets the eye because Jesus was demonstrating his love for John at that very moment. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 Jesus was laying down his life for John…and me…and you. Friendships are built on the pillars of respect, trust and communication. Of these three, I think perhaps the one we struggle with the most is trust.  In my life the greatest hindrance to developing a close friendship with Jesus is my bent to live my life in my own strength, to rely on my own insight, to think that I know what God wants me to do. I can easily distance myself from Jesus by trusting my feelings and my inclinations. Remember your friend group from High School? You shared a similar appearance, listened to the same music and probably got into the same trouble. In other words there were identifying characteristics that connected you as friends. The same is true with Jesus. His original group certainly didn’t start this way but overtime you could see them praying, choosing self-control, resisting anger, showing love to all and serving others. These are the marks of Jesus’ friends. We should never forget that Jesus was the one who initiated the love himself through his death on the cross. No better compliment can be had than to be called the friend of Jesus.