A Friend Called In Jesus

Heavenly Father, we give You praise, we give You honor, we give reverence to Your holy and devine name.
We lift Your name above every name Lord God and we sing praises to You in the highest.
We thank You Lord for all that we have and for all that we are.
We bless the name of Jesus. Thank you Lord for our salvation, for Your love, for the life that You have breathed into us.
Thank You for being a blessing to us all. In the name of Jesus.
Amen.

Our scriptures for this sermon are taken from the following:
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; John 15:12-17; Psalm 31:11-14;
Psalm 38:11; Psalm 88:18; Proverbs 17:16;
Proverbs 18:24; Proverbs 27:10

What A Friend --- Jesus

Ecclesiates 4:9-12
The word given to Solomon Son of David
9} Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work;
10} If one falls down, his friend can help him/(her) up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
11} Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
but how can one keep warm alone?
12} Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves,
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Let us pause here in our walk with the Lord through His word to reflect on what a wonderful friend we have in Jesus.
Truly the Lord loves each and every one of us and cherishes us as His friends.
The word tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that who ever believed in Him would not perish, but have eternal life. {John 3:16}
What a price to pay for someone you love. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ paid the price willingly.
Let us give the Lord praise and thanks for the sacrifice that He made so that we may be saved through Him.
Selah. Praise the Lord.

Section II of the Sermon - What A Friend We Have In Jesus

John 15:12-17 (The words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ)
12} My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13} Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
14} You are My friends if you do what I command.
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 have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit ---- fruit that will last.
16} Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name.
17} This is My command; love each other.

Not a suggestion, not a good idea, not a decision to make.
The Lord says, "This is My command: Love each other."
Let us obey the command of the Lord.
Selah. Praise the Lord.

Psalm 31:11-13
11} Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt
of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends --- those who see me
on the street flee from me.
12} I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.
13} For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side;
they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

Now you might assume from David's narrative that he is really really up against
a rock and a hard place.
But the word says; {Proverbs 18:24} A man of many companions may come to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
So even when your enemies and neighbors are against you;
Even as the writer says {Psalm 38:11}
My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
My neighbors stay far away.
Even if times seem so bad that you feel as though {Psalm 88:18...}
...The darkness is my closest friend.
Even when we think all hope is lost and we don't have any one to turn to.
We must {Psalm 31:24} Be strong and take heart, all you who hope
in the Lord.
The writer says, {Psalm 31:14}
But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, You are my God.
15}My times are in Your hands...

There is a spiritual song that says:
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our grief and pain
to bear.
What a priviledge to carry everything to God in prayer.
The Lord has called us His friend {John 15:15}
When we fall down, we have a friend to help us
get back up again.
That friend is Jesus.
When others dread our company, when those who
see us on the street avoid us. When we are forgotten
by many. There is a friend who will never leave or forsake us.
That friend is Jesus.
The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said,
{John 15:15} I no longer call you servants.... I have called you friends.

Do you have a friend in Jesus?
If your answer is anything but a definite yes, CLICK_HERE

John and More John ~ HELP!

Sometimes the best thing we can do as Christian Workers is to get practical help for certain times and occasions.

One very good method for doing this is to attend prayer and devotional meetings at the church of your choice.

For those who find it difficult to attend such meetings on a regular basis or who want added inspirational strength to the help they have received from attending prayer and/or devotional meetings, we offer this online prayer and devotional meeting to provide our Christian friends practical help for certain times and occasions.


Welcome to Abiding In Christ.

The following is selected reading from the 15th chapter of John:

Jn 15:4 Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.


The Lord invites us to be a part of His family and to remain a part of Him as good Christians.

He is the tree of our Christian lives and we are the branches. We can bear no fruit by ourselves, only by remaining a part of the vine that is Christ do we grow and bloom and mature as good fruit.

Stay in the Lord, be a fruitful branch.

May the Lord add many blessings to the reading and acceptance of His word.

Praise the Lord.


Jn 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.

Jn 15:6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Jn 15:7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.

Jn 15:10 If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love.


The following is selected reading from 1 John and 2 John:

1Jn 2:6 Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.

1Jn 2:28 And now, dear children, continue in Him, so the when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.

1Jn 3:6 No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.

2Jn 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.


Let us pray.

Jude 24: To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy --

Jude 25: to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, and forevermore!

Amen.