Chosen to Love: Jesus Calls Us Friends

And hey, if you brought your Bibles today, that's what we're getting into right now because this book is active and alive. It's unlike any other book. Get out your Bibles. Let's receive from the Lord. I want you to hold it up in the air like a weapon. This is your word today. And on the count of three, everyone can participate. On the count of three, everyone shout. Here we go. 1 2 3. Word. We're getting into God's word. So God's word gets into us. That's what we want to receive today. You know, friendship in the world that we live in today has been reduced to a follow button. Yet, statistics show us that we're living in the loneliest generation in human history. We are more connected than ever through the information age. Yet, so many are going to sleep isolated, feeling

invisible, all alone. You can have hundreds of friends on social media or you can even have thousands of followers and still feel like you don't have a friend. We're surrounded by people yet we're still starving for connection. And if we're not careful, here's what the human heart has a tendency to find some type of substitute. You'll find a pill to help you numb the pain that you're going through. You'll grab a bottle and you'll you'll try to forget what you're experiencing. And you'll you'll try to chase the arms of a lover just to feel seen. Or you you'll seek the need for a counselor week after week trying to fix what's broken inside of you. Now, I I thank God for counselors. As we've learned in the the word of God in the book of John, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the helper. In Greek, it's

pericletus. It could be translated counselor. So, I thank God for counselors. They're necessary. And I thank God for me medicine when it's needed. But I I want us to be cautious that we're not replacing something that only the great physician can heal. Amen. It's too easy to try to find a a substitute for what only God can heal in our hearts. And Jesus gives us everything we need. And we're living in a culture that's trying to medicate what only Jesus alone can give us. And today, instead of escaping that pain of isolation or loneliness or even depression or whatever you're going through today, when our hearts cry out, Jesus still speaks to us.

He meets us in our need. He meets you right where you're at. And you you don't need another substance. You don't need a quick fix or another false comfort. What every single one of us needs, and there's no exception, is we need a savior. And that's found in Jesus. He can be your savior today. And what you're going to actually see in Jesus, he's so much more. He can be your best friend. So before we go any further, may I speak to the person that came in? And maybe you even look like you have it all together. You are not alone. You have a friend in Jesus. You are not forgotten. You are not unseen. And I pray today what God's going to give you through his word is you have a friend that has laid down his life for you. and through his very own words, he's a friend that will never leave you. He will never forsake you.

And he promised that once you have this revelation and believe in him. He will be with you always, even to the end of the age. Now, just to be really clear here, this is not a casual friendship. This is a covenant love relationship and it can get uncomfortable at times. This is not built on convenience. It's built on commitment. It's not rooted in what you can get out of it. Because once you've believed in Jesus and understand who he is, how much he loves you, how much he's given to you, well, this love and this friendship is not about what you can get, but what you can give. Today, we pick up in the book of John. If you're just joining us, we've been looking at the life of Jesus, which is absolutely incredible. It's lifechanging. And John not only tells us

about Jesus life, that he is God that came in the flesh. John chapter 1, but he lets us know Jesus very heart for each and every one of us. We pick up today in John 15. We're going to start with verse 12. And before we get there, to to put this in context, Jesus is in the final hours of his life before he's crucified. He knows he's going to be betrayed. He knows he's going to be crucified. He knows the darkness and the pain that he's about to go through. And he's not so concerned about being comforted himself. He's concerned about what he has to offer us. He wants us to hear his heart. He wants you to know that he's thinking of you as he's going to the cross. So today, as we better understand this, it ought to change how we live our lives. If you would stand for the reading of God's word, we're going to

read John 15:es 12-1 17. I'm going to read the text and then we'll dissect this together to better understand the application for our lives. Jesus is speaking. He's on a journey to the garden of Gethsemane and he says, "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends. For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but

I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask in the Father's name, he may give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Amen. I praise God that you would get into his word and get to know it greater. Scott, I'm going to have to get you a Bible because you're reading yours so much. It's falling apart as we're reading it just now. That's how you read your Bible, friends, where you read it so often the pages are starting to fall out. So, uh, but somebody get this guy a new Bible. So, uh, this seems kind of odd

that a a friend would demand something of you. Or if we look at the actual translation here, is do you really have a friend if he commands you to do something? I command you to come over and watch football with me. I command you to hang out with me this Friday night. I mean, typically, we don't command something of our friends. Yet, Jesus, he says in this text that he calls us friends. And that's exactly what he does. Yet, if you look carefully in this text, and certainly if you look at it in context, Jesus knows what's best for your life. Jesus knows what's best for you. In fact, he knows a plan for you better than you know for yourself. And what we see in this command is he's not asking any of us to do something that he's not already done. So today, I want to see simply what does Jesus have

to say to us. And the first thing is it's really crystal clear. Here's the command to love like Jesus. That's his command for your life. That you would love like Jesus. Not love someone the way they deserve. Not love someone the way that you want to love them. Not love someone the way that you want to be loved. But Jesus makes it clear in this command. You ought to love one another as I have loved you. He he leaves no room for our own interpretation. Rather, he he allows us to look at the text and see clearly just as the has been our theme for the year of 2025. We ought to love like Jesus.

We first heard this in John chapter 13 when Jesus made this statement, "A new commandment I give to you." Now, it doesn't sound so new at first. Love one another. But Jesus clarifies what's new about this commandment is you need to love one another as I have loved you. You also ought to love one another. Now when you look at the life of Jesus, oh, he loved the least of these. When you look at the life of Jesus, he was willing to touch the untouchable. He was willing to go to places no one else would go to. He would forgive the unforgivable. Jesus when he would wash the feet, when we understand the cultural context, he did what a slave should do.

And he serves us. And now he says, "What you've seen me do, I want you to do. You do not serve so that you can shine. You serve so that someone would glorify your father in heaven." You love unlike the world. You love because God is love. So when Jesus says, "As I have loved you," we've got to understand what that looks like. Because Jesus says, "You're going to pray for your enemies." He says, "You're going to turn the other cheek." He says, "You're not going to do what everyone else is doing. You're going to do something so supernatural, you're going to need the help of God to do this." And it is absolutely impossible to love like Jesus unless you have been loved by Jesus. And this is what's life transforming is when you know what kind of love God has for you. When you

understand the depth of his love for you, it changes you. You cannot stay the same. You're set free from your old identity. You're set free from what others have said about you. You're set free from what you even thought about yourself. And now you are who God says you are, a beloved child of God. And it's so much more than just a song that we sing on Sunday morning. It has to be the reality of our lives or else you can never do what Jesus is commanding you to do. To love like Jesus. In the wisdom of Proverbs, we're told that a man of many companions may come to ruin. It's is almost like the wisdom of the days of old would look forward to our day and say, "You could

have so many friends on social media and your life might still be miserable. Your life could still fall apart." Have you ever seen someone on social media look like they had their life together only to find out it's falling apart privately? And the wisdom of Proverbs said, "It's not having many companions that makes you look great." But here's what the Bible says. But there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Let me just declare to you today, Jesus is a friend that will stick closer than a brother. Whatever you've ever experienced in your own family, I need you to know Jesus is greater. Jesus loves you so much. He sees you as a friend. This is an intimate friendship that will stick with you. Is going to be

there till the end. And and he stresses, he underscores in the final moments of his life, here's what matters most. I'm not asking you to preach louder. I'm not asking you to build bigger buildings. I'm not asking you to have more programs. Here's all I'm asking you to do. You love as I've loved you. That his kingdom is a kingdom, not a force as many suspected it to be in the days of old. They expected a conquering kingdom. But this kingdom comes in and it flips it all upside down. And this is a kingdom that when you put your faith in the King of all kings, Jesus Christ, everything changes. You love people who don't love you back. There there's a unity instead of rivalry. There's a trust instead of suspicion. There's obedience instead of rebellion. This is the way of Jesus and this is the way of his kingdom.

And for his kingdom to come, the first thing we ought to do is hear his command. We ought to go love like Jesus. John when he writes a short letter, he writes three of them. We find at the end of the Bible. You might find four John's in your New Testament. John, 1 John, 2 John, and Third John. And those the first, second, and third John are little letters to accompany this this biographical look of Jesus. And in 1 John 3:16, he says, "By this we know love." You want to know what love is? That he Jesus laid down his life for us. He proved it to you. He's demonstrated his love for you and now we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. It's not enough to say Jesus died for me. Now I've got to prove it by loving other people the way he's loved us. So what's

the command? Would you just say it with me? Love like Jesus. That's what we ought to do. Love like Jesus. How far will love go? Love will go so far. Here's the standard. Jesus gives us a standard of what this love is. It's not like the world's love. It's not where you get something back. This is a greater love. The standard is a greater love. In fact, Jesus says this. You want to know what the greater love is? The greater love, John 15:13, greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. What is greater love? That word greater in the Greek is really easy. It's mega. Me e g- a. Yeah, it's an easy Greek word. You could say it. Say with me, mega. Mega. Mega is not just large. It's not just in charge. It's not like just

going to Costco and getting the mega love. The actual definition of mega in in the Greek is surpassing, unmatched, ultimate. It means there's none like this love. This love stands out. This love is unlike other love that you've experienced. This is a mega love that Jesus says. And the standard is don't just love a little. Don't just love like you've been loved by other people. No, you love like Jesus. And when you do, it's a mega love. It's a greater love that's willing to do what needs to be done. Now, Jesus did not just talk about love. He walked this out. He lived this love. Romans 5'8 tells us, "But God shows his love for us. He's shown you." If you've ever wondered, God, do you love me? The Bible says he has shown you

that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Which means he died for you when you didn't deserve it. He died for you not because you earned it and got your life right first and now he says, "Okay, now I could love you." Jesus doesn't love you because you got the polished version of who you are. In your worst, he was willing to die on the cross for your sins so that you don't have to carry those sins. You don't have to hold that offense any longer. But he actually sets you free from the tyranny of every single sin. And we just sang it today. And if you know it, you're going to sing it like you believe it. I'm no longer a slave to sin, to fear. I'm no longer a slave to Satan. I'm no longer a slave to my past. I'm no longer a slave to my old identity. I have been set free because

of Jesus. He died for me while I was a sinner. He has shown us his love. He did what needed to be done. And here's the shocking truth now. He says, "Here's the standard. You go do it, too. Here's what I want from you. I want you to see that love is not convenient or easy or comfortable. Love is sacrificial. It requires a commitment. Love is you willing to give up your life not so that you get something the out of it but simply to give it all away. And as we acknowledged earlier this Tuesday is Veterans Day where our nation recognizes all of those who serve in our armed forces. These are the ones that voluntarily step up and say, "I'll go to the front lines. I'm willing to lay down

my life for this great nation that we live in so that we can have freedom to do what we're doing right now. And we hear of these stories of platoon, a band of brothers and a we hear of a grenade being thrown and and one who's willing to jump on the grenade to save the band of brothers. And we look at that and we say, "Oh, that's a hero." And Jesus says, "That's actually a reflection of the divine love of God." And Jesus just didn't die so that we would be saved. No, Jesus died to set us free. He died to give us the standard of our identity to make sure that we know who's we are. He didn't just die so we can keep living the same. Look at verse 14 and 15. He says, "You are my friends if you do what I command you.

You are a friend of Jesus if you go love like Jesus. If you go live like Jesus." No longer, he says in verse 15, "Do I call you servants? For the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I, Jesus says, have called you friends. For all that I've heard from my father, I have made known to you. So here's the shift. When you've received the command to love like Jesus, when you see the standard, a greater love, there's a shift from a servant to a friend. There are a lot of Christians that don't act like friends of Jesus. But he says, "I I no longer see you as a servant." If you really think about this, this ought to rock your world.

This is one of the most stunning statements in scripture. If you go to Genesis 1, the Elohim in the Hebrew, the creator, God that created everything says, "You're my friend." the one in Hebrew who's called El Shai, God Almighty. He is the sustainer, the allsufficient one. He says, "You're my friend." He is the one described in the scriptures as the Lord of hosts, the Lord of angels, armies, and he calls you friend. He is the one in Hebrew that is Adoni, Lord. And he says, "I call you friend." The alpha, the omega, that

means the beginning and the end. The one that is eternal, all powerful, all knowing. This God says, "I am your friend. He's not a distant deity. He's not just a big guy in the sky." He says, "I want intimacy with you. I want you to know me and I know you. And I want us to live life together." Because when you have a friend, as Jesus taught in one parable, when you have a need, you can go to him in that time of need. It could be the midnight hour and you can go to his door and knock and knock and knock until you receive what you've been asking for. You might need to be persistent because sometimes God's teaching us something through prayer.

But he is a friend that's going to give it to you if you see him as a friend. Sometimes you got to remind him, remember Jesus, we're friends. You you told it to me, so I'm going to take you at your word. I'm telling you today, you're my friend because of what you've done for me, not because of what I've done for you. Everything changes when you understand who you are in Jesus. You are a friend of God. The Bible says, "You're no longer an enemy. You are a friend of God." Jesus gives us a visual that it's hard to understand in the cultural context of our days. In the days of Jesus, slavery was a norm. There were more than five million slaves just in this region that the Roman Empire ruled over. Slaves were common. Almost every house had a slave.

In fact, slaves were found in in every sector of the the society. There were slaves that were lowly who would wash feet. And then there were slaves that served the king that were at his right hand. And they knew things that other people didn't know. slaves would be the ones that would cook and they would clean and they they would do all sorts of different jobs. They they weren't relegated to one particular area. And the problem with the English, particularly for us in the Western world, is translators have turned this word, which is dulos, which is found throughout the New Testament, the actual translation of this word literally is slave. But for the sensit sensitizing of our western world that we live in, almost all translations have this word servant.

Because of the nature of the world that we live in, particularly the the last 250 to 350 years and the the place that we live in, we we've seen the horror of slavery. We've seen the abuse. We've seen the misuse of humankind through slavery. But in the days of Jesus, it was very different. In fact, if we go back to the Old Testament prior to Jesus birth, I I need you to understand a cultural relevance of what happened that some people wanted to be slaves because they had no means for food. They had no means for shelter. And to be a slave means that you would be protected, you would be cared for. They would be offered dignity. God's actually offered in the Old Testament that every 49 years, it was called the year of Jubilee, 7* 7, that slaves would be set

free from their masters. For whatever reason, they were a slave in that household. Now, the Bible says that if a slave loved being with that master, they could actually go to a woodpost and they could pierce their ear and they could simply say, "I do not want to be set free. I want to stay with this master." Meaning my world is better with this master than it would be being set free. And when Jesus talks about being servant, we have to understand that he is Messiah. He is the king or in the Old Testament Adoni which means lord. Now to understand in the the Roman Empire, Caesar called himself lord. He said he is the lord of all lords. So if he's the Lord, that means everyone else is a servant. Or we could say quite literally

they are a slave to the Lord. Quite literally the Roman Empire. Jesus steps onto the scene and his followers are saying actually Jesus is the Lord above all lords. Are you still tracking with me? Because what he says is such a big shift. It should change everything that you understand inside of you where you should be a servant to the Lord of all lords. He says, "Hey, I want you to be in my inner circle of friends that what I know from the father, I'm going to give to you. I'm not going to hold anything back. Do you want to know the heart of God? It's yours, but it's going to be found in Jesus. It's not through greater information or greater revelation on your own. It comes through friendship with Jesus."

This is what will reshift your life when you now see yourself coming into church and you're looking forward to hanging out with your friend. Giving your friend some glory for all that he is and all that he's done in your life. When you know who he is and what he's done, you want to tell your friend, "Thank you." You want to ask more of that friend for Jesus lets us know that there's more. See, this is s such a revelation because if you go to the Old Testament, there were very few people who were called friends of God in the Old Testament. There was Abraham, there was Moses, but now Jesus steps onto the scene and he says, "This is no longer limited to just anyone. This is extended to anyone that believes in me and says, "I will follow you. I will no longer call you servants or slave. For the slave does not know what his master is doing." You see, a

slave just has to do what his master says. and you're not given an explanation. But when you're a friend, how good is it that you get to talk to God? That when your God asked you to do something that you get to have a living conversation with him because he's not dead, my friends. He is the living hope and he is alive. Friends obey because they share the heart of their friend. This is intimacy, not distance. And when Jesus says, "Everything I've learned is yours." That ought to make you say, "Oh, friend, I want to know some more. Tell me more. Tell me more." Jesus defines this friendship and one simple term, obedience. You know how you're a friend of Jesus when you want to do what your friend has to tell you.

He He's no casual acquaintance here. We have to remember who he is. John 1 says he's God that's wrapped himself in flea flesh and now he's requesting a partnership with you and he's not saying he just wants to use you or abuse you. He wants to have a friendship with you and he's declared to the world what this looks like. God's made his purpose known in your life. He's calling you into a new season of life. He's given you a command to love like Jesus. He's given you the standard that is a greater love. We've seen the shift from slave or servant to friend. And now I want you to hear the calling because he cannot just leave you the same. He's got great plans for you here. Here's the calling. You are chosen and appointed.

You are chosen and appointed. Every single one of us. Here's what Jesus says just to make it clear. You did not choose me, but I chose you. Jesus said, "And I've appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask, whatever you ask the Father in my name," Jesus said, he may give it to you. My friends, you have a purpose and a plan for your life. And Jesus says, when you understand that you're chosen, when you understand you're appointed, something's going to be produced in you that you could never produce on your own. We looked at this last week carefully earlier in John chapter 15. Jesus says, "I'm the vine, you're the branches." He doesn't say, "Get near to the vine and you're going to bear fruit." No, he says, "Abide in me, dwell

in me, stay connected to me, and then you will bear much fruit." But it may come with some pruning because God knows what we need. But pruning is not the end of your story. Pruning shows God's purpose in your life. Pruning is a representation of God's presence for he represents the the father, the gardener in your life. And Jesus now says this, when you realize that you're chosen and you realize that you're appointed, you're not only going to bear fruit that you could never bear on your own, you're going to produce something in you that God's going to give to you. You can't muster this own with good behavior. You can't muster this up with religious rituals. It happens through the presence and the person of the Holy Spirit.

something comes out of you. The love of God, the peace of God, the joy of God. Jesus said it. He says, "My joy I give to you, not so that you could have a little joy, but that it would be full." We read this in the previous chapter, John 14:27. Jesus says, "My peace I give to you." The prince of peace says, "You want shalom, perfect peace. Oh, it's not found in a world without conflict. It's found with the person, the presence of God. It's his peace. And he says, "Friend, I want you to produce this fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness. It's yours. Self-control. It doesn't happen

by trying harder. It happens when God transforms you. When you realize he's called you. We didn't earn this relationship. We were chosen into this. You were chosen before you performed. You were chosen before you could even earn this. You were chosen before you could prove anything. In fact, the Bible says you were chosen before you were born. You are God's idea. You were not your mama or your daddy's idea. You are God's idea. And I thank God for that. In fact, Dave Gobel just reminded me in the lobby that I am the best of the best, the very, very best. And sometimes that's humbling when someone says that to you. But the Bible says that God made you. He loves you. And Jesus just reiterated it. I chose you. I picked you. You're not a leftover. You're not an accident. God doesn't say, "Well, this is what's left.

I guess I'll use it." No. God says, "I chose you for my purpose and plan." And as he's speaking this to the 11 disciples, because Judas is already left to betray Jesus, he's letting them know this did not happen by accident. This was not by impulse where I just I'm just going to tell you this. No, Jesus says this is all intentional. And when you start to discover this, Jesus didn't choose you because you're the smartest or the prettiest or he didn't choose you because of the attributes that you have. But he's going to show off who he is through you. You are a friend of God. This changes things. But you have to understand that if he chose you, he's appointed you not to keep looking like yourself, but to bear fruit that is going to stay connected to Jesus so that when you need something, you're going to ask for it.

You know, there is nothing that God can't do. Nothing. Too many of us give up because we didn't get what we've asked for. God never says that he's a vending machine and you just pray one time, it's going to pop right out. If we actually look at the verb that Jesus used to ask and it will be given to you. It actually means to keep asking and it will be given to you. So don't stop short of your blessing, your breakthrough because you haven't received it. Too many people give up on God because they say, "Well, I prayed for this and this didn't happen." I'm telling you today, God is sovereign and he can make it happen. And we've got to see beyond the flesh of what we feel in our lives. Listen, you prayed for your grandma and your grandma died. I'm going to tell you your grandma's going to die someday. Do you understand me here?

So if you didn't get what you were asking, you don't give up on God because of that. You ask of God. You're a friend. So God, teach me your ways. Teach me to make the most of my life because your days are numbered. And it doesn't matter if you're young or you're old or somewhere in between. Your life is his. He made you. And when he's chosen you and appointed you, you want a life of asking. This is a life of prayer. That's why this intercess uh intercessory gathering is so important to understand that God has a calling on your life. He's appointed you to pray for other people. And as we look, what's the commandment? To love like Jesus. Which means your prayer life flips and you're no longer praying for yourself. I loved Pastor Noah's definition of intercession. It's standing in the gap.

You want your life to be changed, start praying for other people. Change your prayers from about you to others. And something's going to shift in your life. Because all of a sudden, that love that's in you is going to be produced in others. That joy that's in you is going to be produced in others. That peace in you is going to be produced in others because the p proof of your friendship with Jesus is the fruit of your life. You ever known someone that called themselves a Christian, but they had no fruit? I know I say this often around here, but Jesus says, 'You ought to know a tree by its fruit. And there will be false people that will come saying one thing, and John uses really harsh language in his first letter. He calls them antichrists. So, so they're using the proclamation of Christ, Christian, but it is not the real Jesus because the real Jesus, if you have him,

you're going to love like him. doesn't mean you're perfect or you don't make mistakes, but his grace is so good. You better receive that grace so you can give that grace. You can't keep living the same way. And you might even examine your own heart and say, "Well, man, I don't have a whole lot of love, joy, peace right now." That just means you got to keep coming back to Jesus. He He's going to receive you back. So, finally, this is the charge that we end the way that we began. Here's the charge. love one another. It's almost like Jesus knew we we would have the proclivity to go back to our old ways. So we end today in John 15:1 17. These things I command you so that you will love one another. The charge, love one another.

Everything in this passage points us to love because as John says in 1 John 4, he says God is love. So no love, there's no Jesus. So, so you keep coming back because if we love like Jesus, it's a visible evidence of the faith that we have. Our faith is the assurance of things that we hope for. We can't see it. So if it's not love, it's not Jesus. And he repeats the command as if he knows you're going to go back to the old ways that when you've been hurt, what do you do? You hurt. When someone has offended you, you hold on to that offense and instead of relieving it, giving it back to God because he cares for you, you hold back on to this. Unless anyone mistake me today, I am not saying you should ever be misused or abused by anyone. But what

I am saying is God doesn't want you to hold on to any offense. It will grow into anger which turns into bitterness and before long it's a cancer that's eaten up your soul and you can no longer produce the fruit of love, joy, peace or patience or kindness or goodness. My friends, keep coming back to Jesus and this love is going to do some heart surgery like a scalpel. It's going to go in and cut out of your life what shouldn't be there any longer. And it might be painful for the moments, but it's going to heal and you're going to be a better person for it. The charge today is not that we're going to do things the way that we want to do them. We look at Jesus command and he tells us to love. He tells us what his expectation is. He says all of this before he goes to the cross. He knows what he's about to do. He's going to die for you.

This is a love that when we look at the life of Jesus, it crosses divides racially, socially, economically. This is a love that forgives all offenses. This is a love that lays down its life. This is a love that prays such big, bold prayers that you do it because you know who God is. And you want to live out the commands of God, not because you have to, but because he's your friend. So my challenge to you, who do you need to love like Jesus? And if there's someone that comes to your mind, maybe it's a child that's gone astray, or maybe it's a parent that caused you trauma, maybe it's an ex that you still have hatred in your heart from decades ago.

Do you know there's some people in this room who are still holding on to an offense of of someone that's died and you're still angry about that and there's no way that you're ever going to reconcile that but by going to your friend. [snorts] Spew it out. Get real with God. Too many of us in the world that we live in, particularly the longer you're at church, because wherever there are people, there are problems. And so what we start to do is we label problems problem. But we're no longer going to see anyone as a problem. We're going to see them as a person. We're going to see them as potential. We're going to say, "If God could save me, God could save them. If he could do it with me, he could do it with them." So I'm I'm going to pray. I'm going to ask God for the grace to to do exactly what he tells me to do.

Some of us has written off certain people that there's no way Jesus could save that person. But today I declare that we are chosen people called to love. Chosen to love. And the when the world sees what's in us, when they see a God Almighty that we get to call friend, the same Jesus that chose you can choose them, all of a sudden everything changes. We walk around as children of God, forgiven, set free, healed. He walks with me and he talks with me. And if you're here today saying, "Well, I I need a friend like that. I need a love like that." I want you to know it can be yours right now.

Not another day, not a better day. This is your day to call Jesus. Friend, I'm so excited for what God's doing because we've been declaring revival in this city. We declare out loud, Central Oregon shall be saved. And let me just tell you, that's not going to come with some strategy. It's not going to come with us giving all of our money away. Because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13, you could do the greatest things in all of the world, but if it's without love is worthless. Revival is going to come when we start loving like Jesus. But it can never happen unless we're loved by Jesus. There's two people I want to call to action right now. The first person is that that you need to believe in Jesus for the first time. You need to say in your heart, "I believe in you." You need to be willing to say it out loud because when you say it out loud and you believe in your heart, the Bible

says, simply put, you are saved. You do not have to earn that salvation. It's through a belief. It's through faith. It's trusting your eternity in the hands of Jesus. And he's got a mighty right hand that's for you. And today, the Bible says, is the day of salvation. And if you want to be saved, you can. You just call Jesus your friend. You receive the invitation to be his friend. He says he's chosen you. Now say thank you. There's a second person I want to speak to to you today. You have believed in Jesus, but your love has grown cold. Jesus warns us in the book of Revelation of what happens when our love has grown cold. You're to remember who Jesus is. You're to repent, which means change your thinking, come back to who he is and what he says.

So, I want to just simply call out those that want to come back and those that want to do this for the first time. If that's you, would you just raise your hand nice and high? Just say, "That's me. I I want to be a friend of Jesus." Ra raise it nice and high from this day forward. Just say that's me. You don't even need to close your eyes. You could just I want to see who you are. I want to say yes. Praise God. Cuz if you're a friend of Jesus, you're my friend, too. We are family. Anybody else? Just raise your hand high. Don't keep living the same. Praise God. Praise God. Anyone else today? Just right right where you are. Just raise your hand and say, "Yes, I'm coming back. I want a friend in Jesus. I want to be set free from my sin. My addiction is gone." Praise God. So proud of you. From this day forward, we'll give you a little booklet that just simply says there's next steps.

This is a journey. This is not a destination. Like you arrived today and you got it all figured out. When you got friendship, you keep working on it. You keep growing. I I I believe today some of you came into church empty and today God spoke to you and said you you need to come back to the intimacy of friendship. If that's you, just raise your hand. Be unashamed. This is your day to say from this day forward, I don't care what anybody else thinks of me but [music] Jesus. Because when you got a friend in Jesus, it sticks closer than a brother. You're unashamed. Praise be to God. Amen. So proud of you. Anyone else today? Just you coming back. Some of you might say, "Coming back to what?" Well, he's never left you. The Bible says if you draw near to God, he'll draw near to you. The problem

isn't God. The problem is we've been looking for a solution in the wrong places. He doesn't want you to be alone. He doesn't want you to be isolated. And when you become a friend of Jesus, my friend, you see other people as friends wherever you go. They could be strangers and you love them the way Jesus loved you. That's what changes the world. You are meant to be chosen and appointed by God to do what he's commanded today. And yes, it's a great standard, but my friends, you don't do it alone. God's going to do it through the Holy Spirit through every single one of you. Those that raise your hands, God's about to do greater things in you. Greater things. I want to pray with you today. And I'm just going to keep it really simple. And all of those that are a friend of Jesus, could you pray out loud with me? Just really simply put, let's just say, Jesus, Jesus, thank you for loving me. I surrender my life to you.

I surrender. Forgive me of my sins. Forgive me. I receive your commandment. I receive Help me love like you. Help me. Fill me with your holy spirit. Lead me Lord in Jesus name. We all shout amen.