Sermon Recap: In Good Company - Panel
Speaker: Pastor Carey Tanzola
Read: Proverbs 27:6; Matthew 4:18-22, 28:19-20; Romans 12:15; Hebrews 10:23
Restoration comes as we embrace who we are and allow our false masks to be stripped away through genuine relationships. Relationships matter to God for Scripture tells us that we are to love God, love ourselves, and love our neighbors as ourselves. Note that we need to love ourselves in order to love our neighbors. Loving our neighbors suggest that we take action to create authentic relationships. To develop strong relationships requires the following five elements:
Proximity – Some of us have friends far away, but we need to have people near us that we see and communicate with on a regular basis. Even Jesus was in close contact with His disciples as He called them to literally follow Him and live life together.
Vulnerability – This requires that we remove the false masks we wear and reveal our true self, thoughts and feelings. We can only be healed when we are vulnerable and when we are, it also allows others to be vulnerable.
Generosity – We must be caring and giving towards others such that we can rejoice when they rejoice and mourn when they mourn.
Common Mission – It is important that we have somethings in common such as common interest, goals, situations etc. As Christians one common mission we have is to display the love of God in a broken world.
Consistency – Developing relationships is a process so it is important that we keep working on them, allowing them a chance to grow and not give up on them too soon.
GROUP QUESTIONS:
1. What resonated with you as you listened to this sermon and reviewed it?
2. It was said that social media allows us to connect on a surface level, but despite that, people are lonelier than ever. Why do you think some people are consistently engaged in social media, but hesitant to develop friendships in person with others?
3. When have you realized that you kept yourself busy to keep from dealing with loneliness or some other specific issue in your life? How did this work out for you?
4. It was said that sometimes when others are in need, we think we need to “fix it.” When have you tried to “fix” others’ situations? How did that work out? When have others tried to “fix” your situation? How did that work out? How did you feel about it?
5. It is difficult sometimes to be vulnerable-to unmask our false self and allow others to see our real self. What does it mean to you to “be vulnerable?” How do we go about unmasking ourselves? What keeps us from doing it? When have you allowed yourself to be vulnerable? How did that work out for you?
6. It was said that a good friend will tell us things we don’t want to hear. It was also said that those close to us can trigger things that others can’t. What do these statements mean to you? When have you had this experience?
7. What are things we can do to develop stronger relationships with others, to get to know people we don’t know or to develop new friendships?
