Amen. Thank you, Brian. This is literally what it's all about. That is the epitome of what we are talking about every time that we're gathering on Sunday.
Josh already said it. It's like the week is your main event. And we were just actually praying earlier this week. Lord, would you tear down every high and lofty opinion that has put itself up against the knowledge of God in our city?
And would you help us as a community, as your friends, to be ones who dismantle every lie that is being believed about you? There is so much wrong perspective on who he even is and what he's even about. And we're just going, oh, Lord, send us as ambassadors to show our communities what you look like and to make straight a path, to make straight a highway that leads right unto who Jesus actually is, like a real relationship. And so we're just, man, Brian, I know he just had to go.
He sat through the first service. But we just honor you guys as the everyday people that are going as ambassadors into your city and actually bringing the kingdom and not compartmentalizing the person that you worship on Sundays and leaving him here in a church building. But you're bringing him with you and you're listening to his heart and you're revealing him to people. You're changing lives.
So we love you guys. I love what Brian just shared. We're going to continue our identity series tonight. If you have not heard the last handful of messages in this series, I want to encourage you to go back and listen.
They all kind of stack on top of each other. And so I'm not going to be going back and setting a bunch of contexts. I'm just going to pick up where we left off. But I want to encourage you to go back and to listen.
We've been just dialoguing around, what is my identity now? Who am I now? Because of the finished work of the cross. Because of what Jesus accomplished on my behalf, who am I?
And so we've been talking about what does it look like to be a child of God, a son or a daughter? What does it look like to be a bride? And tonight we're going to talk about what it looks like to be a friend of God. And I want to encourage us as we go into, as we continue to look at our identity, I want to encourage us to first behold him.
And what I mean by that is if I'm trying to understand who I am as a daughter or a son, and I'm going, ah, I can't just start right there. I can't go, oh, I just want to grow in my revelation as a daughter. I have to start by encountering him as the father. And it's from the place of knowing him as father that I'll understand who I am as a daughter.
Does that make sense? It's like he loved us first before he knew us. And it's because of his love for us that we even have the ability to respond in love. We have to experience his love and affections before we can ever respond.
So same with a bride. If I do not know him as the bridegroom, I will never understand who I am as a bride. I have to start by beholding him, the bridegroom. What are you like tonight as a friend?
We need to know him as a friend. And I think that as a friend, for some of us, that comes really naturally. And for some of us, that's really challenging. I know for me, I grew up absolutely not seeing myself as a friend of God that would make no sense to me.
I grew up in the church, but I didn't know him intimately. I knew a lot of things about him. I knew what I should do and what I shouldn't do. Thought I knew very well.
I knew what was sin. I knew what would bring more separation between me and God and what might bring us closer, maybe, but more so felt to where, what would bring separation. I knew the do's and don'ts. And that was the foundation probably of my Christian faith.
So for some of us, when I look at the body, I think a lot of us are still in that, that we're in this servant mindset. And so I just want to even read a couple of things about what a servant approaches God versus how a friend approaches God. Servants don't have access to knowing what the Father is doing. But friends have access to the inner workings, the thoughts, the motives, and the passions of the Father.
The word says he does nothing without telling his secrets to his friends. Servants obtain favor and trust through their performance. A servant obtains favor or trust through their performance, through their good works. Friends obtain favor and trust through relationship and connection.
The servant's main role is just to do whatever the master says. The friend's main goal is connection. So you look at the role of a servant, approaches God through the because I said so mentality. Can anyone relate to that?
Don't ask me why because I said so. Okay, and sometimes we need to just because he said so. So I'm not saying, we're not throwing out obedience. If you want, you can turn to John 15.
I'm going to read it. If you, I'm going to be flipping around a bunch. So if you ever want to turn there, you go for it, but I may not pause super long. Okay, John 15, 15.
I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends for everything that I learned from my father. I've made known to you. I no longer call you servants because a servant doesn't know his master's business.
I'm not calling you a servant anymore because I want intimacy with you. I want relationship with you. I went to every cost possible to be intimately acquainted with your ways, to be so close to you. And so it's like he's looking at us going, I don't call you servant.
Do you understand that? He is shifting our paradigm around everything, around how we relate or orient ourselves around him. He's like, I don't want you. I'm not looking for robots.
Like I'm not looking for you to just be like, yes, I will. And us have no connection in relationship. Now we're not throwing out obedience, obviously, but it's like you think of a friend. And if your friend says, hey, can you do this for me?
It's like, oh, totally. Like I don't even have to think twice about it. It's my pleasure to do that, right? Obedience is one of God's love languages.
I'm convinced of that. But where does my obedience come from? Does it come from? I should.
I have to. You said it. So I will. Like that is beautiful.
If you're willing. If you're going, I don't get it, but I'll do it. That's beautiful. So I want you to hear me.
This is like a fine line that we're on. That is beautiful. But there is more. Does that make sense?
So it's like obedience. Yes. But with relationship. So in a relationship, you build history.
You build trust. You build connection. So then when the time comes that he says, I needed to do this. You go, I trust you.
You have a track record of being trustworthy. I know you have my good in mind. I know that you have plans to prosper me, not to harm me. Anything for you.
Anything for you. And then because of that trust relationship, in the moments where he invites us and asks us to do something that we don't understand, the trust is there to just go, I don't get it. But my answer is yes. And my answer of yes is coming from this place of love, intimacy, and connection, instead of I have to and I should.
Do you see the difference? OK. So I want to look at if we're friends of God, in some ways that could feel like, I don't really know how to conceptualize that. So let's just start by talking about what even is a friend.
Is a friend someone that you're like, oh, I want to obey you, so we're friends. So exactly. It's like that doesn't really even make sense. I want to serve you so we're friends.
It's like those two things don't necessarily go hand in hand. So what does it look like? What makes a friend? I choose my friends based on people I enjoy.
A friend is someone you enjoy. And if I wanted to, we could just say amen, let's stand and sit on that. We are invited to be his friend. A friend is someone we enjoy.
God, let's start there. Look at him first. He enjoys you. He delights in you.
If you are ever wondering if he values you, thinks you're worth anything. If he adores you, if his affections are toward you, you might look at the price that he paid on your behalf. If we're looking at, man, I don't even know if you love me or if I'm valuable to you, it's like, oh, he not only finds you valuable and loves you, he likes you and adores you and is infatuated by you. I mean, the word says that his heart is thrilled within him when you just give him a glance of your eye.
We have no idea what we do to the heart of the father. Like his heart is ravished, the word says. Undone when you just look at him, when you just lift your gaze. You aren't sure if he likes you.
I'm fairly certain that you do not want to create oneness with someone that you don't really enjoy or like. The Garden of Eden is the dream of his heart to restore Eden again, walking in the cool of the day, intimacy, connection, nothing separating you. He comes, Jesus comes. He makes all of that restore.
He says, I am restoring Eden in you, and not only will we walk together, I will make a home inside of you. He can't get any closer than inside your skin. He cannot get any closer to you. He said, Eden wasn't even enough.
I want to be inside of you. I want to be made one with you. He really, really enjoys you. So we sit in this.
We go, OK, you're my friend. You enjoy me. Maybe that's just where I have to sit. But I think there's also that invitation of, man, do I enjoy God?
That's just like a question to sit on. Do I enjoy him? A friend is someone who you enjoy their personality. You love talking with each other.
You could talk for hours and hours and hours and just passes, right? These are what a friend looks like. You can laugh with a friend. You enjoy each other because you're humor, maybe, connects.
Or you have fun memories that you've connected around. You've built history together. You feel like you can be yourself with your friend. This is what he's inviting us into.
You feel like you can be yourself with your friend. You feel like you can tell them anything. I want to look at Psalm 139. You can open there if you want to.
I feel like this, the beginning, I'm just going to read the beginning of the passage. And I feel like it's a really good example of how we've known him as a friend intimately. Are we there? All right.
Oh, Lord, you have searched me and you have known me. You know when I sit and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down. And you're acquainted with all of my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, the whole, the Lord, you know it together, all together. A friend is like, oh, I can finish your sentences, right? Like that's how he is with us. So we know his friendship toward us.
We can maybe look at our life and go, oh, you're faithful. Like I look at my life and I go, man, I know him intimately as a friend. When I have lost my friends, he's been my companion. When I have had no one else, he has been the one that I've been able to run to.
I know him in his faithfulness to me, me personally, as a friend. So this, I go, yep. And so maybe if for you, maybe you go, I don't. And so I would say, pause right there and invite him, say, Lord, I want to encounter you as a friend.
You've been a faithful friend to me, but I've been unaware. And I haven't experienced it. And I want to know I want to be aware of your friendship. I want to know of your love for me as a friend.
So you just pause there and you ask him to reveal himself to you as a friend. But I think for some of us, I want to look at the other side of friendship, because how many of us know that friendship is a two-way street? OK, so let's say have you ever had a friend where they would consider you their best friend, but you might not consider them your best friend? Can anyone, does anyone know about that?
OK. Are you like, am I that friend? OK. OK, so go with me here.
Aye, Benja, you'll be my example. So me and Ben are best friends. He is my best friend in the whole world. He knows everything about me.
He knows my favorite color, my favorite food, my favorite song, my favorite type of music. I love hanging out with Ben. He is the best listener. I share everything with him.
And it feels like I could share anything, and he'll never judge me. And I can just be so open. And I'm so myself with Ben. I love Ben because I feel like myself when I'm with him.
And it feels so good. And me and Ben have so much history. He knew me as I was growing up. He knows my whole life story.
He's seen the hard things that have happened. He's seen the good things that have happened. I love Ben. He's my best friend.
Now you ask Ben. Ben. And he'd say, well, yeah, I am for sure Katie's best friend. That's true.
I know everything about her. And I love her personality. I love how she's a verbal processor and the way that she just gets on these tangents, sharing about her heart, and the way that she connects these different things in her life. And I don't even know how she connected them, but she's connecting them.
And I love listening to her. I do know her favorite color, her favorite food, her favorite songs. I love spending time with her. She has a great sense of humor.
She's really fun. Do you feel like that may be how we connect with the Lord sometimes? He's acquainted with our ways. He knows everything about us.
We come to him, relying on him as a friend. It's all amazing. But I'm just wondering what it looks like to also be a friend back to him. If we look at Psalm 139, what if we said it to him?
Oh Lord, I have searched you and I have known you. I know when you sit down and when you rise up. I know the things that make you happy. I know the things that upset you.
I know the things that bring you joy. I know the things that bring a smile across your face. I know the things that make you cry. I discern your thoughts, O Lord, from afar.
I search out your path. I'm acquainted with all of your ways. I know, O Lord, where you're working. I know where you're moving.
I'm in touch with you. Even before a word is on your tongue, I know it. What would it look like? It's like he knows before I even say anything.
It's like, oh Lord, you just know. How often I just say that to him? I start to talk to him. I'm like, oh, you know.
You just know. What does it look like to ask the Lord something? And he goes to answer and you go, oh, I already know. I know what you're going to say.
We've talked about this before. I know what your word says. I love when you talk about your bride like that. You love her so much.
I know that because we've talked about it. How precious to me are your thoughts, O Lord. How precious to me are your thoughts. Not how precious to me is it that you would listen to my thoughts.
That's very precious. It's amazing. But the response of friendship, a two-way street, how precious to me are your thoughts, O Lord. When I started to discover intimacy, I would name everything we're talking about.
This is intimacy with God. This is a real relationship with a real personality, with someone who has thoughts, emotions, feelings, motives, desires, a real connection. And I started, this was foreign to me growing up. And in high school, I started to learn that I could walk intimately with him.
And I remember the song, I'd never heard a song like this before. And it captivated my heart. How many of you know who missed the Edward's is? Well, Jesus, here I am your favorite one.
What are you thinking? What are you feeling? I have to know. Jesus, here I am your favorite one.
What are you thinking? What are you feeling? I have to know. I knew that there was a key in question asking.
I knew there was a key in question asking. I want to give you that key, because it has transformed my life. And so I'm going to even just give you, I'm going to get practical for a minute, because I wish someone would have been practical with me. And so I'm going to give you practical things that I ask him all the time.
I remember I was in high school. I was obsessed with asking him questions. Like, I was going to say too much, but it's not too much. Like, this is what will strengthen you as his friend.
And it will tune your ear to hear him. And so I even want to say before I jump into that, this takes time. A relationship takes time. It would be crazy to go on a first-dater.
Let's just say a coffee meeting with someone that you met them here at a service. And you're like, you talked for two minutes. It's like, let's get coffee. It would be crazy to think that you would walk away from that coffee meeting fully connected and as if you had these years of history together.
That just doesn't happen. You cannot microwave relationship. You just can't. And so I encourage you, do not be discouraged when it doesn't work.
Because that's not what this is. Your desire is to connect with him and you're willing to take the time to cultivate that relationship. So patience, patience, patience. OK.
So I just ask him to remember, how precious to me are your thoughts? I want to know more of them. I want to know more about what you're thinking about, what you're feeling. So I'll ask him, just like you'd ask your friend, what have you been up to?
I'll ask him, where are you already at work? What are you already doing? So I'll walk into a space. I oftentimes will do that in a space where it feels like a harder soil, where, OK, let's say I walk into my workplace.
And it's kind of a toxic work environment. And it's hard to see what God would be doing, right? It's like, that's not on the surface. I am not seeing what God is doing.
I would walk into a space. And I'm his friend. I'm his friend. So I'm not just walking.
It's not just Katie. It's like, we can't even think that way. It's not just you going to work. It's you, the friend of God.
You, who, Holy Spirit is inside of you. We're like, we've got to grasp this. So I'm walking into work. I'm a friend of God, and I'm assessing the environment.
Where are you already at work? This looks like hard soil to me. All I see is issues. Where are you already at work?
And he goes, oh, he's like, Susie, I've been softening her heart. You're like, good to know. Good to know. Susie's my girl.
OK? Do you see how that changes your entire perspective? You have a hard work environment? Probably most of you do.
That is not going to change. It's not going to change. It's not going to change. Your mind will change, and your heart will change when you walk in intimacy with God.
So now, it's like the darkness isn't dark to him. It's like the light to him. This is a hard environment. No, it's not.
All I see is soft hearts. All I see is soft hearts. And there's a reason I'm here to partner with him. He's my friend, and he sent me to him as friend.
So good that I'm here, because now I'm praying for you. And Susie doesn't even know. Susie has no idea what is happening in the spirit, and you're just partnering with God. And sometimes he says, say something.
And sometimes he says, don't say anything. Your words to me are more impactful than your words to them. We'll ever be. Keep talking to me.
We need a revelation of our authority in the spirit that what your words to God are more impactful than your words before man. First things first, to him. Okay, so that's an example. Where are you already at work?
What about if you're going to hang out with a friend, you are like, hey, you're going, I want to spend time with that person. And so you're like, hey, what are you up to? And they're saying, oh, I'm going to go grocery shopping. And you're like, oh, I don't want to go grocery shopping.
It's like, but I want to spend time with you. So I'll go grocery shopping with you, just if that means we could be together. Let it hit. Okay.
Holy spirit. Where are you? Where are you going? It's like the other day I was like, I need to go to Target.
Which one, I both were equal distance room. Like which one should I go to? Holy spirit. Where do you want to go?
Okay. Where do you want to go? And if he's already working in a space that you don't want to go, you ask him, do you want me to come with you there? I'll come with you.
I wasn't planning to go there. I wasn't planning to talk to that person. But if you are and you want me to join you, I will. Sometimes, to be honest, 90% of the time he doesn't even have you go with him to that place.
That's where we actually get in trouble where it's like, oh, I'm supposed to move to somewhere overseas. And it's like, I'll go anywhere. And he's like, I actually do burn for that country, but you do not need to go there. But I love your heart.
I love your heart that you want to. So just don't let that trip you too much. Okay. What are your passions?
I ask him that. What are you passionate about, Lord? What moves your heart? I love asking him that.
What moves your heart? What do you think about that? Probably one of the most common questions. I ask, what do you think about that?
What do you think about that person that I drive past? It's like, oh, they're in their car. I'm in my car. But for some reason, I noticed them.
And then I go, what do you think about that person? And just in a moment, I'm not even going to talk to them. But I just want to know what he thinks. And lastly, I ask him, what do you want or what do you want to do?
So even I'll give you an example, like on a Sunday, even in this space, I usually am right about here during worship. And I'm coming in with a mentality that I'm his friend. It's just my lens. It's just how I am approaching life.
Like I am your friend. So we're coming into an awakening service. And I'm your friend. And I am facilitating connection between the bride and the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and listens for his voice or stands and listens for connection happening between the bride and the bridegroom and for choices at that sound.
So I stand here and I go and I look in the room a lot because I'm asking him questions. I'm not just, I'm not curious about anything other than asking him about you. And so in that moment, I'm looking at the room and I'm going, oh, Lord, what do you want to do? What's on your heart for our people?
And I'm looking at faces because he looks at faces and he knows names and he knows. He's so acquainted with each of you that he knows what you're coming in with, what you're carrying, the things that are the blocks for you as you're worshiping. He sees the traffic. He sees the doubt.
He's acquainted with all of it. But I don't know all of you. And so I'm just like, Lord, I'll ask him, what do you see right now? I say, Lord, what do you want to do right now?
And I'll tell me and sometimes I get up and I'll ask him, do you want me to say something about that? Most of the time, he goes, no. Just pray. He's wanting to give oftentimes.
I don't just let you into the secret. I feel oftentimes in worship that he's saying, oh, just give them more space. Let if there's people that are feeling tension right now, let them feel the tension and work through that with me. You don't have to hand hold.
I'm like, I want to hand hold. I am not. I am his friend first, not yours. So I am not looking at the room and going, what do they want?
How can I cook up what they want? How can I do a song and a dance to meet what they want? No. That's a trap, though.
That's real. Any leader will tell you that. You guys maybe have experienced it yourself. That's a trap.
What do they want? How do I meet what you want? Lord, what do you want? Because he's the shepherd of all.
And what he wants is for your good and your good and your good and your good. And they don't contradict each other. Somehow the shepherd of every soul in this room can find a way to shepherd us all at the same time when we need completely different things. If I look out at the room and go, what do you want, I should just go home and never come back.
But if I can look at him and say if he's here, he's not, he's right here, but I'm just trying to give you a visual. Okay. But if I can look at him and go, what do you desire? I know it's for your good.
And I can be, if I'm a faithful friend to him, I will be a much better friend to you. Does that make sense? Question asking. I want you to obsess over asking him questions.
What are you doing? What do you think about that? 90% of the time? No response.
At the beginning, 100% of the time? No response. Keep asking. Ask, seek, knock.
You will find him when you seek him with all of your heart. It's a promise. Ask, ask, ask. Those are situational, like question asking moments.
I want to anchor you though in question asking in the word. So where are you going to start? I would start in all of it, actually. I would just be asking him questions all the time.
Even like, oh, we're in worship. What do you think about this song? You might think you already know. Just ask.
You might be surprised what you might say. What do you think about that line? Just ask. So if you go on the scripture, this is how I read the word specifically when I am in a story.
So my favorite place to do this is in the gospels. I'm just trying to give you tools. Are we tracking? Everybody?
Okay. All right. So when I'm in the gospels, especially, I like to get into Jesus, what would you have been feeling in that moment? And so when you look at the word, okay, I'll give some examples.
Jesus, you're reading the story of him Palm Sunday, writing in on a donkey. What did you feel as you rode in on that donkey and you were declaring that you were bringing peace and not a sword? Okay. What did that feel like?
You knew that day would come. You knew that you would fulfill that prophecy. What did that feel like in your heart? Jesus, what did it feel like in your heart in those moments where you'd be in the temple and a scripture like from Isaiah, let's say, it would be read and you knew that you were the fulfillment of that passage, that you are the Messiah and you read it to the room.
What do you feel in that moment, knowing that you are the fulfillment, you in their midst, the one they've been waiting for, the one they've been longing for and they have no idea and they're looking at you and you have an entire world that they know nothing of and you just read this. What do you feel? Are you tracking with us? Jesus, what did you feel?
When Judas was going to betray you and you're washing the disciples' feet and you're bending down to wash his feet and you know what's coming, what were you thinking about? What were you feeling in that moment? Let's think Old Testament. Lord, what did you feel when you split the sea for your people?
When you watched the waters go back? What moved in your heart as you watched them move across? What did you feel when you had the waters swallow up the army that was coming against them? What did you feel in that moment, God?
What did you feel in that moment when you knew that there was coming a day that your covenant would cover them as well, that they would be grafted in and invited in as well? God, what did you feel in that moment? Lord, what did you feel in the garden when you found Adam and Eve hiding from you? After they had sinned, they realized they're naked and he finds them hiding and he's like, who told you?
Who told you that you were naked? What did you feel when you saw them crouching like that? What did that feel like? What did it feel like when in your kindness you had to kill and skin and animal to create clothes for Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness?
As you with your hands, this is what Genesis says, go read it. With your hands you sewed together clothes to cover them? What did you feel in your heart when you knew it was never supposed to be that way? What did you feel in your heart when you had to pick them out of the garden?
When you put a chair of them in front of the garden to keep them out so that they couldn't eat from the tree of life, so that they wouldn't live forever in this state, the kindness of God. What did you feel when you had to escort them out of the garden? What was that like? Jesus, what did you feel?
You just heard that John the Baptist died. He's his cousin. Jesus goes out in a boat to get some space after he gets word. He goes out in a boat to process.
He comes back, Lord, what did you feel? What did you feel as you were mourning his death? What did that mean to you? When he takes his boat he reaches shore feeding of the 5,000 right there.
Jesus, what did you feel in that moment when you saw the crowds? When you looked at your disciples who are all so grieving, what did you feel? Are you tracking with me? This changes everything about how you relate to him.
You're invited into it. John the beloved, the disciple John, you guys know what I'm talking about? He doesn't even remember how he referred to himself. He talked, so for context he wrote the book of John and his name is John.
And he throughout the book of John refers to himself in third person, not by name, but by a very specific name. John, the disciple who? Jesus loved. Did it refer to any other disciple in that way?
But referred to himself. Oh yeah, I was reading one of those. And in the distance was the disciple that Jesus loved. You're literally talking about yourself.
It's hilarious. It's so funny. For some of us we might go, well, that's so arrogant that he thought that. But I actually think that it's the design of God, that every single one of us would think we are his absolute favorite.
That we would be so confident, like Katie, the one God loves. Yes, exactly. Katie, God's best friend. That is like that's your portion in this life.
That you would be so confident in the love of God that you would have the confidence to know you're his absolute favorite. Do you think it's possible that God has the capacity to have a lot of favorites? You can have confidence to say here I am your favorite one. God, I have no idea what that means.
And that doesn't even make sense to me. But I'm going to start saying it about myself. God, Lord, you delight in me. Lord, you enjoy me.
I don't know how you could enjoy me, but you do. If that's where we start, start there in honesty. Here I am the one that you delight in. It's the last supper.
And Jesus just shared. This is the day before he goes to the cross. Jesus just shared that someone among them were the disciples was going to betray him. I just remember the story.
And he says one of you is going to betray me and the disciples are all wondering among themselves, well, who's it going to be? And no one had the guts to ask Jesus. Not even Peter, I will say, which is funny because Peter is kind of a loose cannon. So you think that he could just ask.
But even Peter, Peter leans over to John and he says, ask him who he's talking about. So even the disciples knew John had something special with Jesus. John had picked up on something with Jesus that the rest of them had missed. You even see that when you study as gospel.
If you are wanting to grow in intimacy, just live in the book of John. Live in the book of John. He knew God. He knew Jesus in this way.
You even see in how he wrote, John 14 through 17 are Jesus like, it's like the farewell discourse. It's like the end, his last words, his last prayers, John is the only disciple that actually wrote those things out. He was listening in. John was peering in and catching, I believe, what the other disciples were missing.
He was listening. He was a friend and Jesus knew that. He was listening. So Peter asks John, he says, you ask him, who's he talking about?
John doesn't even bat an eye. He's literally, they're reclining that table. He is laying on Jesus's chest because that's how I don't understand. But that's what they do.
But if you picture that, is there a closer position to be? He is resting his head on Jesus's chest and turns up to him and says, who are you talking about? That's friendship. That's intimacy.
Jesus responds. He's like the one that I pass this piece of bread to and he passes it to Judas. Right there. Jesus, what did you feel as you passed that piece of bread to Judas?
And it became realized in the room what was about to happen to some degree. What did that feel like? Those types of things. You get what I'm saying?
So then they go to the garden and you guys may know the story. He invites Peter, James and John, his closest three to join him as he's praying and Jesus is full of anguish. This is the, have this past, this past for me, this moment, sweating drops of blood. Jesus darkest hour, his darkest moment.
And do you remember what happened? He fell asleep and he came to them three times and asked them, please stay awake with me and they just couldn't. Jesus, what did you feel in that moment when none of your friends could stand watch with you? What did that feel like?
Then the guards come, Judas comes, betrays him with a kiss, his disciples are standing with him. Jesus just had rebuked his disciples, his friends. It was like, you couldn't tear me with me for an hour. You couldn't be up with me in the darkest moment in history for an hour.
You couldn't do it. He rebukes them. So then they're standing in front of the soldiers and Peter, who just got rebuked, again, kind of lose cannon. What does he do?
He grabs his sword, cuts the guys ear off. And you go, oh, Jesus, what did you feel when your friend in his misguided zeal just went for it? Oh, Peter, I love you. You don't get it at all.
But I love you. He's so patient with us. So Jesus reaches over, he heals this guy's ear. And I just wonder if Peter was missing it because Peter wasn't listening.
I wonder if Peter was missing it because Peter hadn't been asking questions. I wonder if Peter missed it because Peter fell asleep. If Peter had heard what Jesus had been saying, if Jesus heard what Jesus had been praying, he would know that Jesus' desire is as much for this soldier as it is for his disciples. That Jesus came as much for this man as he did for his disciples.
But Peter's missing it. He's going, no, I'll defend you. And he's like, no, no, you don't get it. You don't get it.
You go to the cross. And there's only a few people at the cross that haven't left. John is the only disciple. John is the only disciple that is there at the foot of the cross when Jesus is hanging there.
I believe that John's connection to Jesus, how he had experienced the love of God, strengthened him to be there in that moment in Jesus' darkest hour. Do you see the exchange of friendship and trust? Because what does Jesus say to John? He says, behold your mother to Jesus' mom, Mary, and mother, behold your son.
They became family in that moment. Jesus' brothers were still alive. And he said, mom, this is your son. This is your mother.
Take care of her. And John took her home and cared for her. They had built a trust. John knew his heart.
John was listening. John is tuned in. I love this. John is tuned in to more than just what Jesus said and did, but what Jesus desired and what he felt.
I pictured John being the one that's reading between the lines and trying to get to Jesus' heart. Stephen, if you want to come up, you can play. We're going to close pretty soon. John goes on to right first, second and third, John.
And it's so interesting to me the way that first John mirrors the gospel of John, where it's like John, as Jesus' friend, records the words of Jesus in the book of John. And then in first John, in his own words, he is mirroring the language that Jesus shared. It's like, Jesus, what do you want? I want it to.
Like at the end of the day, the language of the friend is I want that too. If you're sitting across the table from your friend and they're going, I just want to see my marriage restored. You go, I want that too. I want that too.
Has nothing to do with me. If your marriage is restored, that does nothing for my life, but I want that too. You want to see freedom from addiction? Oh, I want that too.
That's what I want too. You want it? I want it too. Lord, I am praying for my friend.
Oh, Lord, what's your desire for her? And he goes, oh, I'm turning her heart of stone into a heart of flesh. I want a soft heart against that she can experience my nearness and I go, oh, God, I want it too. What is it that you want?
I want to join with you. Connect my heart to your heart. I want to desire what you desire. That will be the most satisfying portion you could have as a follower of Jesus.
I want to be as his friend to have your heart move for the things that his heart moves for. It's the most fulfilling thing that you will ever touch. We can stand. You can get some space if you want.
You can spread out. We're going to give the Lord a little bit of time. Let's actually just grab your Bible. Let's just practice a little bit.
Why don't you grab your Bible? You'll do this by yourself. We're not going to get in groups or anything. Jay, do you want to give me?
Okay. Josh is going to give me a reference. We're going to look at the story of Jesus watching his disciples feet. I just want you on your own with him to practice what we just talked about with question asking.
What I want you to do is just read the passage. John 13, that's where we're turning. John 13, if you want a physical Bible but didn't bring one there in the pews underneath them. John 13, let's just read that passage.
I'm going to give us time. If you want to sit down, I know I may do stand up. You can sit or stand, whatever you prefer. I didn't know I was going to do that.
John 13, just the portion about Jesus watching the disciples feet. I want you to read it through and then I want you to start asking him questions. Remember, it may not be clear right away, but just go down the bunny trail, so to speak, of what comes to mind that he would be feeling in that moment and invite those emotions to actually move your heart as well. Wait, can I just say one thing?
Don't start reading. Oh, Josh said verse one through five. Really quick. I just feel like this is so important.
You were created to have emotions in your relationship with God. And for some of us, that is like a Eureka moment. You're meant to feel things. You're meant to feel the spectrum of emotion in your relationship with God.
And so as this is your on ramp to experiencing emotion in your relationship, can you imagine having a relationship with someone without any emotion? There would be no relationship. Some of us are going, I don't connect with this conversation of intimacy. And it's because you're thinking of an absent of emotion that isn't a relationship.
You need emotion in order to connect. Okay, I just need to say that really quick. Okay. So you invite him, Lord, I want your emotions.
I want to feel what you feel. My emotions feel like they're on lockdown. I have no idea how to access them. I don't know the first thing about accessing my emotions.
You do. So I just invite you. I don't even know what that means. But I just invite you to access the emotions that are locked up inside of me so that I can experience intimacy with you.
You just ask him. Okay, John 13, I'm going to give us like, I don't know, five minutes. Okay, five minutes. Let's read this and then I'll commission us out.
Lord, I thank you that you are taking hearts of stone and turning them to hearts of flesh. You're softening us, Lord. We just say that we are on the shores of all that you are. We have barely seen a glimpse of you.
We want to see more. We want to see more. We just say, Lord, there is more that we haven't touched. There's more we haven't seen.
There's more we haven't experienced in God. I just pray the same prayer I prayed at 13 and 14 and 15. Lord, if there's more, I want it. I want the fullness of you.