How many friends do you have?…No, not on facebook.  I’m talking about real, flesh and blood human beings who will sit across the kitchen counter, or in the living room, and listen to you, seek your counsel, weep with you at the loss of a loved one, or pray for your children as you pray for theirs?  People who will help you clean the house without judging; or who will offer help with work without looking for anything in return, except a handshake and a “thank you.”

So, really, how many friends do you have?  “I have called you friends,” Jesus said to His disciples.  He had just told them the intimate details of His Father’s will for Him, for them, for all of us who would follow in their footsteps.  Such connection doesn’t just happen.  It’s intentional.  It’s time-consuming.  It labors on through good times and bad, always looking for ways to support and encourage, as well as ways to tell the truth lovingly when it needs to be heard.

Friendship of this kind is what we pursue at Harvest Presbyterian Church.  Genuine.  Authentic.  Not always easy, perhaps, but always worth every effort.  It is the essential aim of what we call “fellowship.”  It’s why we create small groups.  In those groups, we can study together, pray together, work together, worship together, weep and laugh and grow together.  We can kid each other and be kind to one another at the same time.