Who Are My People?

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Today we have officially kicked off our Fall Retreat. Are you Excited?

So fall is officially here, that means it is pumpkin spice latte season and I don’t know about you but since fall began 2 days ago I’ve already have 47 pumpkin spice latte’s. I’m the most basic unit you’ll ever meet.

How’s school going for everyone so far?

You know what I’ve learned about school experience? It’s that when you have the right people around you, school actually becomes a lot more fun.

You wake up more excited about going to school because you know your squad is going to meet you there.

What happens when you get a text about one of your people saying that they aren’t coming to school? Man I remember when one of my friends would say that they weren’t coming to school, i felt like “today’s gonna suck.” And it’s like a hundred amazingly awesome things happen that day that would’ve so much better if your friend was with you?

Transition - Tension

So here’s the thing, if you are excited about having the right people at school to make your day better, than just imagine having the right people around you to help you in your life.

the sad reality is that some of us have very low standards of who should be in our friend group.

We think that as long as they match our energy, or make us laugh, that its enough that they can be a part of your squad.

If we are not careful about who we let into our friend group we will end up living a careless life.

So the Question we need to ask ourselves is this:

Who Are My People?

Who are the people in your life that you call friends?

Who are the people you are willing to allow be a part of your group?

Why are you willing to let certain people in your group?

How do you treat the people in your group and how do the people in your group treat you?

If you want to live an unashamed life for Christ, than you better take note on your people.

If we’re not careful, we will end up falling away from all that God wants us to be.

Transition - Scripture

We are going to look at a passage of Scripture today in Hebrews 3:12-14

In context, the author is writing to Jewish-Christians and was reminding them about what happened when Israel rebelled and tested God in the wilderness. They ended up walking through the wilderness for 40 years because of their complaining and sinfulness. And it was because people were being influenced to think that God wasn’t doing enough. Which led them farther away from their faith. We can read all of Israel’s rebellion in the old testament, page after page. And so to stop this rebellion, the author of Hebrews writes this to the Christians:

Hebrews 3:12–14 (NLT)

(12)Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. (13)You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. (14)For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

State this After verse 12:

So if you are here today, and you need some encouragement on how you can make sure that you don’t fall away far from God, if you want to grow in your faith, if you want to stay close to Jesus Christ in an unashamed relationship, then this is what we have to do.

Read on verse 13-14

PRAY

In verse 13 we read you must warn each other every day

But this word for warn can translate also to encourage, to correct, and to ask.

I want to give you three points today on how we can make sure we have the right friends in our lives and how we can be the right friends for others.

1. My People Encourage Authenticity

And so when we talk about encouragement in authenticity, I’m just talking about being able to encourage others to be the real version of themselves who are committed to Christ.

Our friends ought to encourage us to be the real version of ourselves instead of encouraging us to be terrified of showing them who we really are.

If you are call yourself a Christian, then you ought to have people who encourage you to be more like Jesus instead of shaming you and causing you to be afraid of representing Jesus.

I like how this verse puts it, vs. 13- As long as it is still “today” So if the day of the week ends with “ay” then it’s a good day to encourage others to be authentic

Because of our current relationships though, we might be afraid to be real.

COVID was not the first pandemic to cause us to wear masks. The pandemic of the fear of authenticity has always been the reason we wear masks.

We are hiding who Jesus has called us to be behind our fears of others. Can I show you a quick passage?

Mark 8:38 (NLT)

If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Are your friends causing you to be ashamed of your faith in Christ, or are they encouraging you to grow in your faith in Christ?

Because if we want our friends to be with us in eternity, we better start making sure that they are living a life that makes Jesus the center of it all. And we better have friends that are concerned with the eternal state of our souls.

Everything applies to how you treat others also.

Are you encouraging others to be real with themselves?

Have you ever thought to just stop and ask your friends, “Hey do you feel like you can really be yourself around me?”

“Do you think that you can be comfortable about your faith around me or is there someone you feel like you can’t be that way around?”

We need to have much more conversations with our friends that encourage authenticity in Christ, otherwise we will find ourselves leading a fake life in the world.

We also must learn how to Be Authentic with Your People

Ephesians 4:25 (NLT)

So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

We have to be honest with each other. If you are in a friend group and you find yourself lying more often then telling the truth, it’s time to find a different friend group.

I really love how this verse puts it, “tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.” If you are in a friendship with another Christian, you are a part of the same body. If one part of that body starts to break down, it hurts the other members of the body too. So we have to learn how to be honest about what we are going through, what we are struggling with, and what we need help with, so that we can all function together as one.

Don’t lie for the sake of your pride. Be honest for the sake of your growth

2. My People Correct Me When I’m Wrong

Hebrews 3:(13)You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

a part of being a good friend is warning them about what their lives now could do to their future.

ILLUSTRATION-

In 2003, a 19 passenger flight plane took off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. When it lifted off, the nose of the plain kept rising uncontrollably causing an imbalance and the plane took a nose dive straight to the ground killing all 19 passengers.

Just days before the crash, inexperienced maintenance workers found somethings that were out of adjustment. The mechanics skipped 9 steps which caused a critical error in making sure the adjustments were fixed properly. The plane was also overloaded carrying 600 lbs over its carrying capacity.

Because of the lack of correction and the carrying capacity being over its normal weight, the plane could not fly correctly and flew straight down.

I wonder if there are people in your life, who see that you are in need of adjustment, and see you carrying heavy burdens, that are just willing to overlook you.

These “friends” of yours, are going to be a big part of the reason why your future will end up like this plane.

You might be trusting inexperienced people to guide you and tell you everything is ok, when in reality, they are setting you up for failure.

Can I suggest to you, don’t be surrounded by “yes people”

If you are surrounded by people that will encourage you to do stupid stuff, i’ll tell you right now, those aren’t real friends.

If your friends encourage you to break rules at home, to disobey your parents, to play online with them instead of doing your homework, then they are not good friends.

We need correction. The best friends I have in my life are the ones that tell me if I’m doing something wrong. And here’s the thing, if you need correction, you better listen. Don’t put up a wall and then start naming all the bad things in their life.

“how you gonna tell me how act in a relationship, when you’ve had 5 girlfriends in 2 months.”

Sin is deceiving and keeps us away from God. We need to be looking out for the best interest of our friends so that they can grow and not be hurt in their faith.

So the question becomes, Who are the people you trust to correct you in your relationship with Jesus Christ? And How are you going to lovingly correct those around you so that they can be more like Christ?

What we have to understand is that when we are correcting our people, we are redirecting their attention to Jesus.

We don’t just say, “hey stop that.” We have to say, “Hey, is what you’re doing causing you to be more like Christ or the world?”

If you are trying to correct someone and you are misguided, then you will only be taking your friend with you to nowhere.

Point to Christ in every correction, and when you are corrected, take it as your friend loves you enough to tell you that you are wrong.

3. I Can Ask My People for Help

James 5:16 (NLT)

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.