The Vibrant and Enduring Church

God has called the church to be vibrant, enduring and built on friendship. We see in Acts that the apostle Paul's ministry is boosted by friendship and we understand that Jesus in his darkest moment on the cross became lonely so that we could be together--with him and with one another. May we be a church that pursues the Holy Spirit and invite friendship into our lives.

References:

• Seinfeld
• “The glorious thing about all the prayers of Lent, is that they presume a loss of zeal. Over time we get comfortable in our sins. They become a part of who we are, a portion of the spiritual architecture of our lives. They are a limp we get used to walking with.” – Esau McCaulley, Lent, 18
• "That is why those pathetic people who simply “want friends” can never make any. The very condition of having friends is that we should want something else besides friends. Where the truthful answer to the question, “Do you see the same truth?” would be “I see nothing and I don’t care about the truth; I only want a friend,” no friendship can arise... There would be nothing for the friendship to be about, and friendship must be about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow travelers." - C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, 66-67.