What Makes Someone a Friend of God

Ever wonder if the Creator of the universe actually wants to know you personally? Dave Connolly explores how the God who created galaxies doesn't just want our worship - he wants our friendship.

In this refreshingly honest conversation, Dave challenges religious assumptions and reveals what it means to move from being God's servant to becoming his friend. Through biblical examples of Moses and Abraham - ordinary people with flaws who became God's friends - discover that friendship with the divine isn't about perfection but about trust and authentic relationship.

[03:00] When "Friend" Became Just Another Word

Dave helps us reclaim what real friendship actually means in a world of Facebook friends and social media followers.

"True friendship requires investment. Friends are people you spend time with, people you're walking through life with. You can't have friendship without relationship."

What we discover:

• Why modern culture has diluted the meaning of friendship
• How genuine friendship requires consistent investment over time
• The difference between acquaintances and true friends
• Why friendship survives distance when built on solid foundation

Key takeaway: Real friends support you through loss, challenge you when needed, and invest in the relationship consistently.

[08:00] Biblical Models of Divine Friendship

Dave explores how Scripture gives us compelling examples of humans who became friends with God - Moses, Abraham, David and Jonathan.

"Thus, the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." - Exodus 33:11

Biblical insights:

• Moses spoke with God face to face despite his limitations
• Abraham was called "friend of God" based on his trust, not perfection
• These weren't perfect people - they had flaws and made mistakes
• God chose to relate to them as friends, not just subjects

Key takeaway: God's friendship isn't reserved for the perfect - it's offered to those who trust his character.

[12:00] From Servants to Friends

Jesus revolutionised the relationship between divine and human, moving his disciples from servants to friends.

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." - John 15:15

The transformation includes:

• Moving from following commands to understanding purposes
• Being invited into intimate knowledge of God's heart
• Sharing in God's plans rather than just obeying orders
• Experiencing two-way relationship rather than one-sided service

Key takeaway: Jesus doesn't just want our obedience - he wants to share his life and purposes with us.

[18:00] What Divine Friendship Looks Like

Dave outlines the practical characteristics of friendship with God that mirror healthy human relationships.

"I believe friendship with Jesus can be characterised by love, trust, forgiveness, honesty, and loyalty. What I receive from him, I should be freely giving to others."

Practical aspects:

• God's support is constant - he never leaves or abandons us
• He accepts us exactly as we are, exactly where we are
• Prayer becomes natural conversation rather than formal duty
• His faithfulness remains steady even when we don't feel his presence

Key takeaway: Friendship with God transforms both how we relate to him and how we treat others.

[28:00] Conversation Street: Real Questions About Divine Friendship

"How is being God's friend different from just being his follower?"

The discussion revealed that friendship involves two-way relationship rather than one-sided devotion. Followers might admire from distance, but friends engage personally and share life together.

"If God already knows everything about us, why does he want friendship?"

Jan beautifully captured this: just as she knows her children well but still enjoys spending time with them, God delights in our company. He doesn't need our friendship, but chooses it because relationship brings mutual joy.

"Is calling God your friend too casual or irreverent?"

Dave emphasised that true friendship with God includes proper reverence. Using the example of potentially being friends with a Prime Minister, the friendship wouldn't diminish the respect due to their position. Friendship with God deepens our awe rather than reducing it.

"How can someone develop a closer relationship with God?"

Dave's simple but powerful advice: "Draw close to God, and he'll draw close to you. If we live our lives from a distance, we have a distance relationship."

Key insight from Conversation Street: God genuinely enjoys our company and wants us to experience the security of unconditional friendship.

About Dave Connolly

Dave brings decades of pastoral experience and personal testimony to this topic. Coming from a broken family background where he initially held everyone at arm's length to avoid rejection, Dave discovered how God's personal love transformed his understanding of relationship. His journey in pastoral ministry provides authentic insight into how divine friendship works in real life.

Hello and welcome to Crowd Church coming to you live

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from Liverpool this Sunday night.

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My name is Matt Edmundson, and whether

this is your first time or whether

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you've been part of our journey since the

beginning, it's brilliant to be with you.

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We are a community of people figuring

out what it means to follow Jesus.

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In real life, not the polished,

perfect version, but you know, the

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messy, genuine, brilliant reality of

this whole thing called Christianity.

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So let me give you a little

roadmap of what's gonna be

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happening over the next hour.

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We'll have a talk, lasts about 20

minutes looking at the topic of

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relationships, which is the section of

our series becoming whole, that we are

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looking at exploring how Christ makes

us whole across every domain of life.

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After the talk, we've

got conversation streets.

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Oh yes.

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This is where we dig into what

you've just heard, and you get

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to be part of that discussion.

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So if you're with us live, jump into

the comments, share your questions,

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your thoughts, and your stories.

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And of course, if you are watching on

Catchup or listening to the podcast, then

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thanks for being part of the Crowd too.

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Right?

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Let's meet your hosts

and let's get started.

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Dan Orange: Hello and

welcome to Crowd Church.

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Well, it's been, this is my first

time back after this summer.

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Yeah,

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Jan Burch: me too.

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Dan Orange: And I'm joined today by Jan.

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Jan Burch: Yeah.

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Hello everyone.

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Dan Orange: How are you, Jan?

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Jan Burch: I'm very well, thank you.

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Yeah.

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Dan Orange: Um, have you

had a, had a good summer?

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Jan Burch: Uh, yeah, had a lovely summer.

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Um, me and my family went

to Spain for, um, 10 days.

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Dan Orange: Very nice.

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Jan Burch: And, um, had,

yeah, had a great time.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, I really enjoyed the the time.

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Dan Orange: Yeah.

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Oh, brilliant.

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We went to Spade for a lot less days.

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We planned, I know.

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We had a very eventful summer.

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Yes.

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That's a another story.

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Yeah.

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Um, yeah.

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Sometimes, sometimes plans change.

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Jan Burch: They do.

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They do.

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We least expect.

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Dan Orange: Oh yeah.

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Someone did talk to that.

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Matt did a great talk about it,

which we listened to as a family.

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My wife.

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Absolutely.

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He did.

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Yeah.

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When we came back, no,

I enjoyed them to help

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Jan Burch: us.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Dan Orange: It was good talk.

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Jan Burch: Yeah.

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Dan Orange: Um, today we're

continuing, uh, the, the whole,

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um, body series like, um, being.

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And we're onto relationships.

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Yeah.

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So Matt did a great talk

last week about adoption.

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Oh, absolutely Loved it.

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Jan Burch: I learned,

I learned such a lot.

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Dan Orange: Yeah, I, I did.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, it was great.

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Um, and today we got

the amazing day, Conley.

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Woo,

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Jan Burch: woo woo.

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Dan Orange: Hello.

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And he's gonna talk about friendship.

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So looking forward to this talk.

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Yeah.

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Um, and next week we'll

continue on with relationships.

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So we're looking at marriage.

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A three parts series.

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Okay.

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That should be interesting as well.

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Yeah.

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'cause the Bible's got a lot to say.

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Jan Burch: Yeah.

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Dan Orange: About these things.

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Yeah.

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Um, great.

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I think,

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Jan Burch: yeah.

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Without further ado, yes.

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We

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Dan Orange: go Mr.

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Con State after to you, Dave.

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Dave Connolly: Thank you.

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Good to be, um, with you

and, um, hello folks at home.

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Um, trust you are having a good Sunday.

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Um, we're gonna continue, um, this evening

by looking up friendship as, um, Dan said,

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well, it's friendship with God and um.

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I wanna give you an assignment at the

very beginning 'cause I'm not gonna

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cover during this talk just for time's

sake in the Gospel of John chapter 15.

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Yes, it faces one to 15 really worth you.

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Um, just taking a moment and

reading it for yourself to see

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what God has to say about this.

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There's so much really useful material

information in that portion of scripture.

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I wanna start off by saying this evening

that, you know, God created each of us.

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For relationship with him.

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And we could say that God created

us for relationship, for fellowship,

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for communion, and for friendship.

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And um, I want to look at the word, um,

friendship, um, what it looks like today.

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But it is really important that

when we talk about friendship

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with God, we are talking about

friendship with God Almighty.

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You know, and if we really wanna.

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Grab a hold of how amazing that is.

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Just think for a moment.

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The God who created the universe,

Hey, how big is that Jan?

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How huge is that thought?

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The God who created the universe wants

to be friends with little old you

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and me, which just like a spec when

we think about, you know, things in

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the universe, but you are created.

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To have relationship with God.

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So it's important, you know, and we

were just saying before, before we

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started that, you know, friendship, um,

we, it, it's a strange word, you know?

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Um, you, I'm in a conversation with

somebody and they're saying, oh,

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I know them, they're my friends.

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And as you start to talk, you realize that

it's nothing more than an acquaintance.

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You know, a friend is somebody

that you invest time into.

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You know, it's a, somebody

you spend time with today.

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Many of us, um, when we're

talking about friendship, we

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think of the program friends.

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If you, you know, if you're of that era

or we think about friends on Facebook

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here, people say, yes, I've got x number

of thousands of friends on Facebook.

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Mean I don't.

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Um, but, but you know, that means that the

word friend has been reshaped, redefined.

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Friends or people that you've took

time to get to know where each

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party has took time to invest.

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Into each other.

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There's no, there's no

short way in doing that.

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Friends or people that you have,

you're walking through life with.

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You know what, I've got one really

good friend and um, I met him the

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day after I became a Christian.

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So you're sort of like back when I was

19 and I was 67 now and then, oh, oh,

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maybe two decades ago he moved to Exeter.

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Well, he moved different places, but

he's in Exeter now and um, I probably

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see him three or four times a year.

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And because we have invested in our

relationship, when we see each other,

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it's just like we pick it up from where

we left off and, and we deliberately

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make sure we keep in contact with

each other in all the different ways,

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through media, et cetera, et cetera.

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We pray for each other, we think

about each other, so we are able to

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pick up our relationships, and that

means that's a value relationship.

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So his son suddenly dropped dead a

couple of years ago at the age of 40.

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And if I hadn't have maintained that

relationship with him, it would've

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been very difficult to support him.

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I could say all the right things

like, I'm here for you, thinking

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of you, I'm praying for you.

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Relationships have to be,

uh, sustained by investment.

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Other words, spend time with each other.

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Okay, let's, let's just, um,

draw some things outta the Bible.

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'cause the bible has a lot

to say about friendship.

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It models it for us.

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And I'll just give you three

examples straight away.

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And, um, like, the first one many

people will know is David and Jonathan.

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Dan.

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That's a, that's a great for guys,

David and Jonathan to, you know.

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One's a prince, future king,

and the other one isn't.

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Well, he is in God's eyes, but you

know, not that time whether he is

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two men who find partnership, they

find something that connects them

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and they are really connected.

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I think they model a great

sense of friendship there.

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And then ladies, there's um, you,

you read in Ruth chapter one, verse

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16 and 18 about Ruth and Naomi.

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Oh, wow.

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What, what a lovely

relationship they have.

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And then if you zoom into the New

Testament, you got Paul and Timothy.

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Now, here's a friendship

in a different way.

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This is like father and son, but you

know, Paul doesn't stop being a father.

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To Timothy to be his friend.

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And, um, you know, I think as

an older man now, you know, I

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sometimes think I hear, um, parents

say, I want to be their friend.

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You're missing out if you do.

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First of all, you need to be

the parent you call to be.

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And friendship will

naturally flow outta that.

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It's true, honestly.

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Um, you, you want to,

you want to be friendly.

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You want to be a friend.

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To your children, but don't give up that

wonderful privilege of being a parent.

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So these three very simple ones from,

um, from scripture, but what, what

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about individuals and God, because, you

know, um, that's what I, I just wanna

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mention too here, um, God and Moses, for

instance, those of you, I'm sure most

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of you will know something about Moses.

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And, um, you can read the

Moses story in Exodus and, um.

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And let me just say what it

says in Exodus 33, verse 11.

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Thus, the Lord used to

speak to Moses face to face.

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Isn't that, that's awesome.

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That's awesome, isn't it?

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You know this big guy, he speaks to Moses.

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Face to face.

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Face-to-face.

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Moses was no, no one special.

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Moses knew what it was to mess things up.

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Moses had his great limitations

just like us, but God chose

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to speak to him face to face.

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And I wanna tie this in

that God, um, Moses knew.

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The presence of God.

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He knew the holiness of God.

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That's why he could be

called a friend of God.

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And it goes on to say, as a man speaks,

sorry, let say from the beginning.

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Thus, the Lord used to speak to Moses face

to face as a man speaks to his friends.

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When Moses turned again into

the camp, his assistant Joshua,

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the son of none, a young man.

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Would not depart from his tent because

you know, there's something guys, when

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you know, when you, when you meet people

who regularly are in the presence of

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God and have some, they carry something

of God, there's just something, whether

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you wanna call it attractive about them,

there's just something you just think,

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I want to hear what they have to say.

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I wanna be around them because it

there something deep within each of us.

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And, and there's lots we

could say about Moses.

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And then we could look at Abraham

and I'd encourage you, um, to

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check out scripture, check out the

Bible, check out these stories.

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Because the, I wanna clearly

say, when we say stories, we're

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not talking about fiction here.

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Yeah, these are accounts of, um, God

interacting with men and women throughout

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the ages, so, you know, God and Abraham.

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Um, we can read a great thing about

Abraham in James chapter two, verse

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23, and it says, of Abraham, and

the scripture was fulfilled, which

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says, Abraham believed God and it was

accounted to him for righteousness.

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And listen to this.

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And he was called a friend of God would,

I'd love to be known as a friend of God.

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Dan Orange: Yes, exactly.

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Isn't that just beautiful?

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Dave Connolly: You know, Danny, friend

of God, you know, you're like, wow.

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You know, and that might mean

anything to you, but, but I just

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think that's an amazing statement.

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He didn't say about himself.

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It was written of him and, um,

you know, only Abraham and Moses.

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We are previously called

God's Friend in scripture.

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Let's talk about Jesus.

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Jesus himself.

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Jesus the son of God.

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Distinguished between servants

who follow commands without

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understanding the purpose behind them.

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A servant does what he's told or what

is requested of them by their master.

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And Jesus distinguishes the

difference between servant and friend.

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A friend is invited.

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This is this.

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I was really blessed

with this, um, statement.

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A friend is invited into the intimate

knowledge and understanding of the

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relationship and the intentions

of his master, so he moves them.

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Jesus moves them from being

servants to being a friend.

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If you think of the disciples,

Jesus walked with them.

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He shared his life with them.

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He shared his day.

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He shared all that he was doing with them.

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He answered the questions.

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He tolerated the frailties, but he

shared all that he had with them and then

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commissioned them to go and do the same.

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For the brief time that we have, I wanna

focus our thoughts briefly on this.

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And it's about a personal

relationship and friendship.

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See, friendship is relationship.

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Okay.

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It's not, um, can I be, you know,

can I click on and be your friend?

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You can't have friendship

without relationship.

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And where we do try to have those

things, we find that they're just

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fickle, they're frail, you know,

there's no substance to them.

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Um.

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So without relationship, we

can never have friendship.

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And God wants relationship with you and I,

he wants that closeness that friends have.

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You know, I, I'm so blessed that,

you know, o over the years I've had

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people come into my life and, um.

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I, I don't know how, how good

a friend they would say of me,

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but they, they have been great.

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They have been faithful,

they have been encouraging.

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They will, a friend will tell

you, your frailties, your friend

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should really challenge you.

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And I'd say, you know, if you don't have

people in your life, if you know the

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Lord Jesus, and it may be true if you

don't, but I'm not talking about that.

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If you know, we need to have people in

our lives who will tell us where we are.

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Because they want the

best for us, you know?

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And, um, I wanna encourage you to seek

out friends who will walk with you.

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They'll stand with you in the hard times.

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They'll rejoice with

you in the great times.

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We are moved from being

servants to be in friends.

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And let me read, um, just two verses

from, um, that portion of scripture

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that I meant mentioned to you

before in John 15, verse 13 to 15.

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It says this greater love as

no man than this to lay down

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one's life for one's friends.

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You are my friends.

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Wow.

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You are my friends.

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If you do what I command, I no longer

call you servant because a servant

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does not know his master's business.

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Instead, I have called you my friend

for everything that I have learned

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from the father I have made known to.

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You see, friends share,

friend share intimacy.

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They share the value things of life.

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That, you know, a master does

not confide in his slaves.

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Understand that we are moved from

being servants to being friends.

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This echoes how God shares.

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Um, he, he, he just shares his

plans with Abraham and with Moses.

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I, I, I just found that would be,

I dunno, I would respond, you know,

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if I saw God face to face, but

you know, God will speak to you.

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In ways that you understand, it may

be through how you think it may be.

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You know, in the stillness,

it may be through creation.

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He may give you a picture.

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You know, he will, you know, he

will speak to you very, very,

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very clearly, if you will listen.

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There's no greater example

of true friendship than

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that, what we see in Jesus.

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And if any of you have ever watched, um.

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Oh, it just dropped outta my head.

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What's it called?

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The tv um, program.

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Um,

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it's gone now.

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It's all about Jesus, sorry.

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Um, and it, it just shows Jesus's life.

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Do you know which program?

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I mean.

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The chosen.

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The chosen.

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Thank you, Jan.

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I'm having a senior moment then.

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Thank you for the prompt.

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Um, if any of you have ever

seen the Chosen, you know, it's,

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it's a dramatization, but you

know what I love most about it?

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That it does capture the story, but

you see the interaction between Jesus

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and those disciples, the ones who

knew him and the ones who he didn't.

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I just love it.

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Because it shows the humanity of Jesus.

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And it is a drama dramatization.

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I understand that.

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But you see the investment

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in those verses there.

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Talk about, you know, laying

down your life for a friend.

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Say again, friend.

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Which is exactly what God has done for us.

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Jesus who elevates his disciples from

being his servants to being his friends.

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It's an indication of close relationship,

shared relationship, shared experiences.

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It's not about knowing about

Jesus, it's about sharing.

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Jesus.

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It's about being in.

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He wants to invest in you,

and you have to invest.

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In him, as it were.

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'cause if the relationship is too white,

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I'm not talking this evening about

some, um, fluffy type of relationship.

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Relationships are hard work.

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The moment you stop

investing, you start losing.

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And many of us have been

here by relationships.

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So we don't bother.

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Especially, it's a, that

might just be a guy thing.

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You'll be able to tell us about that John.

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Um, you know what it's like for a woman?

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Almighty God has demonstrated it through

the life of Jesus about drawing close,

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drawing close to each other,

investing in relationship, and we

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can add that personal relationship,

that personal, um, relationship and

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friendship with Jesus the moment.

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We surrender our lives to him.

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And if you are a Christian, I wanna say to

you, don't miss out on having a friendship

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relationship with your Lord and Savior.

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It's a real important part of

being a Christian, having that

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depth of relationship with him.

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Don't miss out on it.

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There's real intimacy.

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I want to hear what my

friends have to say.

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I might always like her.

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I can trust them and I'll listen

and eventually it'll sink in.

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'cause I trust them because they've been

with me through the wonderful experiences

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and they're not so wonderful experiences.

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I believe friendship with Jesus can

be characterized by the following.

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I, I, I like to look for evidence in

things like, um, you know, if somebody

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says to me they're a Christian and

they're being a Christian for X period

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of time, I expect to see certain things

in their lives transform from what they

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were before to what they should be,

and they should be what Jesus modeled.

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So I'm always, I look for evidence.

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I'm not judging, I'm looking.

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And if I was judging, scripture says it's

okay to judge certain things, and what I'm

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saying simply there is that we're looking

for something called fruits of repentance.

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You can't hang out with Jesus

without being convicted of your sin.

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You can't hang out.

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You can't give your life

to Jesus and not change.

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If you surrender your life to him.

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You can't continue to live in

bondage and walk with Jesus the

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Lord of liberty and freedom.

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So what am I looking for?

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The characteristics of being in

friendship and relationship with Jesus.

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The simply, these love, trust,

forgiveness, honesty, and loyalty.

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And you know what?

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We might like to hear this, but, but he

has an expectation of me to be like that

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with the people he's put in my life.

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They should be received.

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What I receive from him, I should

be freely giving that to them.

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I'm gonna say it again, love.

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He loves me unconditionally.

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He gives me trust,

forgiveness, honesty, loyalty.

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It's a relationship built on trust

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and.

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Amongst all this, there has to

be a desire and a willingness

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to draw closer, you know?

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Um, as, as I've said many times, you know,

I became a Christian when I was 19 and

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my walk was really like a rollercoaster.

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And I have to say, I suppose

I was unfaithful at times.

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I didn't really go with it.

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But my own faithfulness

was not his unfaithfulness.

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He was faithful to me

in my own faithfulness.

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When I was walking afar from him,

he was still walking close to me.

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When I drifted, he drew near.

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You can trust him.

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The other things are that I believe

that we, we see as we have real

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relationship with Jesus is simply this.

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His support, the knowledge that he will

never leave you nor or abandon you by by.

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We use the word forsake.

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You know what?

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That touches my heart so much

that I know his support is there,

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that he speaks.

422

Words of guidance is ever present.

423

Sometimes people say, you know, I,

I don't feel like God is with me.

424

Well, there, there's lots of

times there's, there's times.

425

I don't feel my wife loves me.

426

Thankfully, I know that she does

because she doesn't leave me.

427

And her actions demonstrate a lot.

428

Our feelings can lie to us.

429

So know that the support of God

is the, the, you know, his guide

430

and speaking the way and shown us

the way his presence is assured.

431

He accepts you.

432

I was speaking to somebody today and

he said, Dave, I'm not good enough.

433

I'm like, absolutely you're not.

434

I think they were a bit

shocked when I said that.

435

That was my pa pastor's Cushing out,

because that's the reality, you know?

436

Uh, we're not good, you know, but he is.

437

He is good.

438

Mm.

439

And he receives, you know, at Easter

time, we have this picture of Jesus

440

on a cross with his arms wide open.

441

Those, even though he's not on

the cross now, those arms are

442

still outstretched to you and me.

443

He's ready to receive you exactly as

you are, exactly where you are exactly

444

going through what you are going through.

445

He says, I'm here.

446

Jesus asked over as obedience, you know,

because he is obedient to his word.

447

My friends, you can

count on the word of God.

448

You can put your trust in the word of God.

449

When people let me down, when situations

let me down, the thing I am assured

450

of is that the word of God is true.

451

The other thing that I

see in this is Prayer.

452

If you've got a friend and you never take

time to communicate with him, you won't

453

have a, a, a friendship of any depth.

454

And we are called to be people who pray.

455

And you might think,

oh, well, you know what?

456

It's not.

457

It's, it's, it's not a

chore to speak to a friend.

458

There are people we meet in life and

you just love being with them, you know?

459

And I've got a friend and when we

meet, we both, I'm a chatter box, but

460

we both just talk at the same time.

461

It's just exciting being with them.

462

And I can't multitask, but we're

multitasking in that moment

463

as we're talking about Jesus.

464

'cause we're excited about

him and it works for us.

465

And the other thing is that, you know,

Jesus has modeled to a saving hood.

466

And he expects us to muddle

up to those around us.

467

And then the sacrifice,

468

he sat, God sacrificed

his son Jesus freely, gave

469

himself as a living sacrifice.

470

And we are called to sacrifice in a

whole host of ways, and that's doing

471

it God's way rather than our way.

472

It's about reaching out to people who

sometimes we don't think deserve it.

473

Wow.

474

God says, love your neighbor as

yourself about being patience.

475

That's a challenge for some of

us, but you know, God can help

476

us with that because he says,

477

look at me and you.

478

When you don't feel patient, when you

are feeling frustrated, just press the

479

Rewind button and say, God, show me.

480

Show me those times when you being

patient and kind and tolerant of me

481

when I've really not deserved it.

482

And that should strengthen us and

encourage us to reach out to others.

483

I am a friend of God.

484

Um, wow.

485

That's, that's a, that's a big thing.

486

And um, you know what I've said,

whatever God is doing towards

487

us is goodness and kindness.

488

We need to look and see.

489

Are we mirroring that too?

490

Other people around us.

491

Let me conclude with this.

492

What does the Bible say about the friend

of God's statements, the Bible phrase,

493

friend of God, it's found in James 2 23.

494

Already before, but in closing, let

me say this, and the scripture was

495

fulfilled, that says of Abraham.

496

Abraham believed God.

497

It was counter to him, righteousness,

believed God, putting your trust in

498

God, and he was called a friend of God.

499

Our father, God longs to call you friend.

500

Dan Orange: Wow.

501

Thanks Dave.

502

I love that.

503

I love, yeah.

504

Well, let's, let's get into it, but I just

wanna start right, right at the beginning.

505

I love that, that we are

created to have a relationship.

506

It talks, isn't it?

507

Like before sin came into the world,

God came down and, and, and they talked.

508

I love that.

509

That loved it.

510

Yeah.

511

That was our, that's our design.

512

That's, that's part of who we are to be.

513

Absolutely.

514

Yeah.

515

Relationship with each

other and relationship with.

516

With God friend.

517

Can you

518

Dave Connolly: imagine then just

walking through the garden, can you

519

just, even if you're just looking

in and God is chattering away.

520

Yeah,

521

Jan Burch: I love that.

522

Yeah.

523

Dave Connolly: No effort.

524

Jan Burch: Yeah.

525

Dave Connolly: Adam's able to talk,

but the he knows he got a creation.

526

Yeah.

527

He's talking to him.

528

Wow.

529

Lovely.

530

Dan Orange: There's so many questions,

isn't there that you'd, that you'd have,

531

um,

532

the.

533

Oh, sorry.

534

Someone, someone's calling me.

535

Um, it's God.

536

Yeah.

537

What, what, what jumped,

jumped out at you, Jan?

538

Jan Burch: I meant all of it.

539

Um, I think it's a bit like, um, when

we talk about father having God as our

540

father and we think about earthly fathers,

sometimes I, I sometimes think, um.

541

Friendship with God.

542

Um, I can relate, I can think back to.

543

Friendships I've had in the past

that there's still, you know,

544

from when I was little Yeah.

545

In school, that were, um, you

know, weren't very loving.

546

Um, and sometimes I think I've, you know,

we can carry those things through our

547

life as into adulthood, but it's, it's

what Sharon talked about a few weeks ago.

548

It's about renewing our mind and trust.

549

Um, that whole thing, trusting that

God especially will not hurt us or

550

embarrass us or, you know, ridicule

us in any way, whereas a friend

551

in the past will or has, yeah.

552

Not saying it's happened a lot,

but, you know, we remember those

553

things, but I just love the fact

that it, we can't comprehend it.

554

That the God who put the stars

in the sky and called them each

555

by name wants to be my friend.

556

Yeah.

557

It's like, how can you even see me?

558

It's like, you know, um, I just

think it's, it's beautiful.

559

Yeah.

560

It's beautiful.

561

Dan Orange: It, it, it takes that.

562

I think this is where there's

lots of, there's lots of things

563

where Christianity differs from

other religions and thinkings.

564

Yeah.

565

But it's that there's no dictatorship,

is that you can't, you're not a friend

566

with a dictator, you're not friend

with just someone that just gives

567

out laws and has these commandments.

568

They're just, there we're,

we are friends with God.

569

We can, we can ask him

things, we can struggle.

570

Mm-hmm.

571

Yeah.

572

I, I, I like that with, I like

the Psalms because David has that

573

struggle and you can't do that if,

if it's not a friendship, can you?

574

Yeah.

575

Jan Burch: Yeah.

576

Dan Orange: You got to have that

ability to be able to, to, yeah.

577

To struggle and question.

578

And the

579

Dave Connolly: dictator doesn't

want you to be his friend.

580

He's just really wants you to.

581

Support, whatever Izzy's

doing, you are an asset.

582

We are here.

583

Mm-hmm.

584

God has created us.

585

And, um, I think Jan, you know about,

I'm sure we've all had experiences, um,

586

you know, with people around us and, and,

and maybe we feel they've let us down or

587

they've failed us or, or whatever it is.

588

Or maybe we've failed them.

589

Yeah.

590

Yeah.

591

I think what helps me when I start

to rationalize is they're not God.

592

They're just a frail human being.

593

Yeah.

594

Yeah.

595

They may be redeemed and loved

by God, but God isn't them.

596

Jan Burch: Yeah.

597

And

598

Dave Connolly: God is perfect.

599

He's all knowing.

600

He is all loving.

601

And that's why there, there is a

difference and that, and you know how

602

we see in Jesus with the disciples.

603

Mm-hmm.

604

That's the model that we ought to pursue

and I'm sure we, we mess it up many times.

605

But you know, being a friend

of God, he's the payback one.

606

Yeah.

607

You know, and he's called us.

608

Yeah.

609

You know, to be your friend.

610

I know.

611

It's incredible.

612

It's amazing.

613

Yeah.

614

It is.

615

Dan Orange: That relationship, I just

want to go back to that, you know, DIC

616

talking about dictatorship, it's something

we might not experience, but, but I

617

think sometimes we do with social media.

618

Mm-hmm.

619

We look at people and they are dictators.

620

They don't wanna be our friends.

621

They just want to put their.

622

Opinion.

623

Yeah.

624

And we might think, oh, I like them.

625

Influencers.

626

Yeah.

627

Influencers.

628

Exactly.

629

Yeah.

630

And how different to have a

good friend, not an influencer.

631

Um, we, this morning we went for breakfast

with Matt and Sharon, my, me and my wife.

632

And, and it was just a friendship.

633

We, we went and we talked and

we can challenge each other.

634

Can learn more about each other.

635

Yeah.

636

And that.

637

That, that example, that

that's what we can do.

638

You know, with God, we learn

more, more about him and we

639

can be challenged as well.

640

And you don't have

641

Jan Burch: to be on your best behavior or

you know, he sees it's the good, the bad,

642

you know, he sees the ugly side of us.

643

He's, you know, crying.

644

He's seeing you when you're

being at your nastiest and you

645

know, he see, he sees it all and.

646

Still wants to be your friend.

647

Yeah, yeah.

648

Which is just, just ama, he's not

a fair weathered friend ever, ever.

649

I, I think he see

650

Dave Connolly: it, Jan, I think, you know,

with father got, he see us at our worst.

651

Yeah.

652

And I think as, as he

sees us at our worst.

653

We, we become aware of that and mm-hmm.

654

And there's almost like,

there's a challenge, oh, how

655

can you love me like this?

656

This is, well, I love you.

657

And that's not giving us

permission to carry on No.

658

With, you know, poor

behavioral, bad decision.

659

No.

660

There's a challenge.

661

And he loves me in spite of that.

662

Yeah.

663

Yeah.

664

I'm gonna fix that.

665

Yeah.

666

I'm gonna surrender it to him.

667

Mm-hmm.

668

Dan Orange: Yeah.

669

Yeah, yeah.

670

Jan Burch: Yeah.

671

I, I think what you said about um.

672

Having a fear of God, that whole,

um, reverence and um, mm-hmm.

673

You know, the fear of

God brings us closer.

674

And I say that we're not on our

best behavior, but we, he calls

675

us to be the best version of us.

676

Yeah.

677

Doesn't it?

678

Yeah.

679

Yeah.

680

It's a, I dunno if it was yourself or Nick

Harding, one of the pastors in the past.

681

From here years ago, um, used to say we've

become like those we spend time with.

682

And that's true.

683

Is so true.

684

And I loved what you said about

people that we know who spend

685

time in the presence of God.

686

You can absolutely feel it.

687

Absolute.

688

Yeah.

689

You, I'm very aware of that.

690

Um, you know.

691

Very recently, I, every time I went

to someone's house, I just started

692

crying and I wasn't sad, you know, but

there was just a presence of God there.

693

Absolutely.

694

Yeah.

695

And, um, that, that was, I really

loved what you said about that.

696

I'm gonna think about that moment.

697

Yeah.

698

Dan Orange: We've got, um,

we've got loads to talk about.

699

We've got lots of of

questions and comments.

700

And I just wanted started with,

um, uh, a lady called Heather.

701

Has put in the comments, Noah.

702

Um, and she's put, this seems quite

strange to talk about friendship

703

because I think the reason I found

myself here is through the loss of

704

my best friend who died last year.

705

This is my first visit to Crowd and

it's through her that I'm here and

706

this, I feel is a move of healing.

707

Isn't that amazing?

708

To come, come today.

709

So welcome, Heather.

710

Yeah.

711

Yeah.

712

Thanks so much for Welcome.

713

For coming along.

714

Um, oh.

715

And yeah.

716

That, that friendship doesn't, it

doesn't, it doesn't die, doesn't

717

it like a earthly friendship.

718

It, we've, we've learned from it and

we, it's still part of who we are.

719

Dave Connolly: Yeah.

720

Heather, thanks for joining us.

721

Mm-hmm.

722

Um, you know, part of the loss that

you're feeling is because you valued your

723

friend so much and, and it, and it, it's.

724

Sounds strange to say, but it's right for

us to feel that depth of, of loss because

725

you had a bond, you had a friendship.

726

You will have had different

experiences in that.

727

And, um, you know, I, I would just pray,

you know, how did that in this season that

728

you would know God drawing closer to you?

729

Yeah.

730

And that he would walk through this sea.

731

It's not, it's not.

732

Get over that.

733

Mm-hmm.

734

Is as you walk through that season,

you know, um, SCRI, as I mentioned

735

before, he says, I'll never leave

you or abandon you, and he just wants

736

to walk through this season, be and

recognize how you valued your friend.

737

He says, I value you.

738

Mm-hmm.

739

And just let him draw close

to you and he's ready to draw.

740

Close as you are ready.

741

So God bless you, Heather.

742

Yeah.

743

Yeah.

744

Dan Orange: Um, someone also, which we, we

sort of answered this, this, um, question,

745

but they said, how is being God's friend

different from just being his follower?

746

I think we sort of answered

it really, haven't we?

747

That

748

Jan Burch: mm-hmm.

749

It's quite different.

750

Isn't Yeah.

751

Dan Orange: There is c is relationship.

752

Yeah.

753

It's a two way, yeah.

754

Yeah.

755

The, the two way part of something.

756

Dave Connolly: It's a little

bit like, you know, um.

757

Looking, looking in, you know,

um, and then actually engaging.

758

Um, you'd have to define what you

mean by follower, you know, for me

759

to be able to answer that properly.

760

Um, 'cause some people believe in God.

761

Yeah.

762

But they have no capacity

or desire to live for him.

763

And being a follower of Jesus is

about somebody who was surrendering

764

their own plans, their own ways, et

cetera, to follow him wholeheartedly.

765

And we'd have to define what we mean

by wholeheartedly, but don't look,

766

don't look on and think, oh, that,

that sounds great, blah, blah, blah.

767

You know, God wants you to,

he wants to walk with you,

768

just like with the disciples.

769

He had a different relationship

with each of those disciples.

770

Yeah.

771

But they all walked with him

and engage with each of them.

772

Mm-hmm.

773

Yeah.

774

Dan Orange: Here's, here's

another question as well.

775

Um, if God already know, God

already knows everything about us.

776

Why does he want friendship?

777

Why not just just worship?

778

Jan Burch: Because he, he just

enjoys spending time with us.

779

I think, um, you know, I, I know, you

know, I, I know my children really well.

780

Um, but I actually, part of that is, is is

enjoying who they are and being with them.

781

Yeah.

782

That's good.

783

Um.

784

And I think it's the same for God.

785

I think, you know, God, I mean,

it is mind blowing, but God

786

actually enjoys being with us.

787

Yeah.

788

And obviously it's not a, you

know, physically in the same room

789

at the moment, in, you know, in

eternity it will be different.

790

But at the moment we can, we

can feel the presence of God.

791

And we know that we can make him

happy and we can, um, you know, God

792

laughs um, he laughs at my jokes in

particular, and I know that for sure.

793

I think he does.

794

He does.

795

He told me.

796

He told me he didn't understand them.

797

Um, so I, I think it's a, you know.

798

Yes, he en enjoys our worship.

799

He, but he actually just really

likes hanging out with us.

800

Dave Connolly: Yeah, yeah.

801

Like we know each other.

802

Yeah.

803

Don't we?

804

You know, and I don't see

you guys as, as much now.

805

Um, but we have a, we

have a history together.

806

And, um, so I know somebody said, oh, you

know, Jano, you know, do you know Dan?

807

I'm like, yeah, of course.

808

Do.

809

I knew them really well

in, in that season.

810

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

811

But I still know you.

812

Yeah, yeah.

813

You know, so God is worthy of our

worship 'cause of who he is and

814

for what he's doing in our lives.

815

Yeah.

816

That's completely different than

I have a personal relationship.

817

Yeah.

818

That's why I worship him.

819

I can, you know, there's loads of

illustrations that we can give.

820

Mm-hmm.

821

Um, but it's not about knowing about him.

822

It's that personal thing.

823

Dan Orange: Yeah.

824

Yeah.

825

And.

826

Do.

827

This is perhaps, um, something for, for

people that they've been to church, but

828

that the church they've been to is perhaps

quite, quite a high church or quite, um, a

829

lot of, of, a lot of procedure and words.

830

Do you think that calling God

your friend is a bit too, um,

831

sort of casual or irreverent?

832

Dave Connolly: Yeah.

833

I think in because what type of church

you go to, I think it's about your heart.

834

Dan Orange: Yeah.

835

Dave Connolly: Some people, you know, bang

on about, um, a friend of God and they

836

have no understanding of the aura of God.

837

Yeah.

838

Yes.

839

You know, and it's a bit like

you need to reverence him.

840

Yeah.

841

You know, this has got almighty,

you need to reverence him.

842

And that aid us in having a friendship.

843

We may have like if, if,

if the Prime Minister.

844

It was, um, was he's the Prime

Minister and if he was my friend

845

and, um, you know, he would still be

the Prime Minister and I would want

846

yeah, to call him Prime Minister.

847

We had Cheryl Blair, um,

Sherry Blair come here.

848

And, um, she kept talking about

this guy called Tony and she

849

said, oh, give him a ring, Dave.

850

You know, I'm sure he can help you.

851

And he kept talking about Tony and,

and I'm like, what's his surname?

852

And, and she was lovely, you

know, and I'm like, Tony, who?

853

And she goes, Blaine.

854

I'm like, you should have

said the prime minister.

855

You know, because there's that, that.

856

There has to be that reverence.

857

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

858

Of, of the position.

859

Mm-hmm.

860

You know, and, um, I didn't call

him by the way, um, but it, it

861

is understanding who God is Yeah.

862

To connect with him.

863

Yeah.

864

Dan Orange: Yeah.

865

And we were talking just before we,

we, we did talk about a friendship.

866

If it, if it doesn't have that reverence

and it doesn't have that honesty.

867

It loses its power, doesn't it?

868

Yeah.

869

Jan Burch: Yeah.

870

Dan Orange: You can, you can break

a friendship if you are not honest.

871

Jan Burch: Yeah.

872

Dan Orange: With someone.

873

If you are not open, if you

are, you lose that closeness.

874

Yeah.

875

Yeah.

876

Absolutely.

877

And that flippancy can,

can, can destroy that.

878

The strength of a, a friendship.

879

Yeah.

880

Jan Burch: Even a, an earthly,

you know, human friendship.

881

There has to be respect.

882

Yeah.

883

Yes.

884

There has to be, there have

to be boundaries there.

885

Mm.

886

You know, we, you can't just say

anything you want That's right to anyone.

887

And expect, you know, them to, you know,

dismiss it or walk away or whatever.

888

We have to show our friends should

be someone that we honor, that

889

we, you know, really respect and

want to, uh, speak kindly of.

890

And too, and obviously our

relationship with God is, is based

891

on firstly, you know, absolute.

892

On your knees amazement

that he's interested in you.

893

Yeah.

894

But there has to be respect there.

895

Definitely.

896

Yeah.

897

Dan Orange: Yeah.

898

Yeah.

899

That's good.

900

Um, Heather's just replied back saying,

um, she's really grateful Dave for, for

901

that, for understanding where she's Yeah.

902

Where she's coming from.

903

Dave Connolly: Yeah.

904

Mm.

905

And don't rush it, Heather.

906

Honestly, you know,

God just wants to walk.

907

Today, we live in 90,

everything's 99 miles an hour.

908

It's almost get over thing.

909

And, and Jesus, that's

not how Jesus works.

910

He's like, I'll walk with you Sometimes

you'll know my closeness sometimes.

911

You won't feel me there at all, but

you need to be assured I'm there.

912

I know.

913

And he, you know, scripture talks

about, um, the God of all comfort.

914

Jan Burch: Mm-hmm.

915

Dave Connolly: And, and it's

really interesting that, uh, um,

916

you know, God wants to comfort

you if you find that scripture.

917

Um, it, it talks about that God wants to

comfort you in order that he will bring

918

people across your path and you'll be

able to comfort them, not from a theory.

919

From, from a personal experience?

920

Yeah.

921

That you yourself have known

the comfort of God with you

922

through this horrendous time.

923

There are no words to say.

924

There are no words, you know,

besides, you can trust him.

925

Jan Burch: Mm-hmm.

926

Amen.

927

Yeah.

928

Dan Orange: Um, sorry.

929

There's this question sort of how we

develop our friendship with God and, and

930

Psalm 20, um, five 14 says, the friendship

of the Lord is for those who fear him.

931

Yes.

932

And he makes known to them his covenant.

933

So he reveals himself

through that friendship.

934

Yeah.

935

Yeah.

936

Dave Connolly: So it's where we started.

937

Yeah.

938

Awe of God.

939

Yeah.

940

You know, and God isn't

asking for permission.

941

I think we need, you know, this,

why we need to know the awe of God.

942

You know, that He, he, he's not gonna

adapt his word in and around our life.

943

His word does His Word.

944

Dan Orange: Yeah.

945

Dave Connolly: And, you

know, that can be life to us.

946

Yeah.

947

You know, he can bring us peace.

948

It can, it can guide us through the

most darkest times and, um, through the,

949

you know, serious difficulties and, um.

950

Yeah, that's a, that's a great verse.

951

Can you read it again then?

952

Dan Orange: Yeah.

953

Um, the friendship of the Lord

is for those who fear him.

954

Wow.

955

And he makes known to them his covenant.

956

Matt Edmundson: Yeah.

957

Yeah.

958

Dan Orange: Um, Ellis said, he

said he likes this idea of respect.

959

You, you can love your parents

and get along with them, but

960

they're still your parents.

961

Um, and there's a way to be around

them and a respect they have for them.

962

And I think that's that's true.

963

And that's something, something that.

964

That we need to, to have that respect

for God and, and me as a parent,

965

I need to know that, like you, you

said, we want to be friends with

966

our kids, but we are their parents.

967

We have a, we have a responsibility,

we have a, that relationship is,

968

Jan Burch: it's a boundary there.

969

Dan Orange: A boundary.

970

Yeah.

971

And that, that, that.

972

That disappears sometimes in this,

this day and age, doesn't it?

973

Dave Connolly: It does.

974

And, and we become over familiar.

975

Dan Orange: Yeah.

976

Dave Connolly: And that's

why, you know, John said this

977

several times about boundaries.

978

Mm-hmm.

979

You know, sometimes you,

people think you don't.

980

We we're friends, you

know, I can say anything.

981

Where I don't think we can say anything.

982

I think we need to have a respect.

983

Yeah, no, absolutely.

984

Where we're aware of people's, but say,

you know, would it be okay then, you

985

know, would it be okay to share this Yeah.

986

With you, you know, and weigh it.

987

I love to add that, you know,

just weigh what I'm saying here.

988

Yeah.

989

And um, you know, I believe it's true,

otherwise I wouldn't be saying it.

990

But you need to take

responsibility for that.

991

Yeah.

992

And I'm saying it because I have a

conviction about it, and, and I love you.

993

But you need to weigh that

before you do anything with us.

994

Yes.

995

Dan Orange: Yeah.

996

And, and a friendship

sort of grows if it sees.

997

The same.

998

Um, it, see, it sees you doing the same

thing that you would to, to someone else.

999

Like you said, love yourself

as, um, as you love others.

00:48:04,545 --> 00:48:09,315

We seeing God, what he, he's

modeled, he's modeled what a friend

00:48:09,345 --> 00:48:11,145

should be, what a sacrifice is.

00:48:11,475 --> 00:48:16,515

And as we are friends to others, if,

if we model that, that'll be stronger.

00:48:16,605 --> 00:48:16,815

Yeah.

00:48:17,265 --> 00:48:20,355

When they, when they see it in us, you

know, they, they'll take it on more.

00:48:20,445 --> 00:48:20,775

Dave Connolly: Yeah.

00:48:20,835 --> 00:48:21,015

Yeah.

00:48:21,015 --> 00:48:21,360

And I, I think.

00:48:22,380 --> 00:48:23,850

For me, it's really important.

00:48:23,850 --> 00:48:27,060

If you wanna see how you're doing

with your relationship with God,

00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:30,900

I'll look how you are and how you

respond with the people around you.

00:48:31,290 --> 00:48:39,210

But you know, if you don't love you,

if you don't value yourself and if

00:48:39,210 --> 00:48:42,930

you don't care for yourself, how what

you do unto others won't be good.

00:48:42,990 --> 00:48:43,200

Dan Orange: Yeah,

00:48:43,290 --> 00:48:45,690

Dave Connolly: it's 'cause it's

a bit like, um, I dunno best to

00:48:45,690 --> 00:48:49,800

describe it, but some of us, we

spiritually and emotionally, self harm.

00:48:52,079 --> 00:48:54,029

I know that sound, but we do.

00:48:54,299 --> 00:48:54,419

Yeah.

00:48:54,419 --> 00:48:57,180

And we damage ourselves

and we injure ourselves.

00:48:57,390 --> 00:49:02,549

So when we see those things

in other people, we're harsh.

00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:02,910

Dan Orange: Yeah.

00:49:02,914 --> 00:49:03,265

Mm-hmm.

00:49:03,349 --> 00:49:04,859

Dave Connolly: And that's

because that's just a glimpse

00:49:04,859 --> 00:49:06,390

of how we are with ourselves.

00:49:06,390 --> 00:49:06,400

Yeah.

00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:08,184

Yeah, yeah.

00:49:09,809 --> 00:49:10,049

Jan Burch: Yeah.

00:49:10,259 --> 00:49:10,890

I think that's true.

00:49:10,890 --> 00:49:15,689

I've heard, um, many people

say, um, you should speak to

00:49:15,689 --> 00:49:17,879

yourself like you would a friend.

00:49:18,254 --> 00:49:21,974

You know, we can say, I'm

stupid, I'm ridiculous.

00:49:21,974 --> 00:49:23,624

I'll never do this properly.

00:49:24,044 --> 00:49:28,724

But if it was a friend that had come to

you saying those things, you'd be like,

00:49:28,724 --> 00:49:30,704

don't you dare say that about yourself.

00:49:30,704 --> 00:49:31,035

Yeah, absolutely.

00:49:31,334 --> 00:49:36,044

And I think we, we have to learn

that and, and practice that.

00:49:36,044 --> 00:49:36,104

Yeah.

00:49:36,285 --> 00:49:36,644

Yeah.

00:49:37,245 --> 00:49:37,664

Dan Orange: That's good.

00:49:37,664 --> 00:49:39,704

I don't, yeah, that's very good.

00:49:39,709 --> 00:49:39,950

Yeah.

00:49:39,950 --> 00:49:40,149

Yeah.

00:49:40,274 --> 00:49:40,634

Yeah.

00:49:40,634 --> 00:49:42,584

That's a very good point that, yeah.

00:49:43,964 --> 00:49:44,504

Um.

00:49:45,584 --> 00:49:49,785

I, I wrote down through

the talk this, that should,

00:49:52,095 --> 00:49:58,515

does God expect this love

and, and loyalty from us?

00:49:58,605 --> 00:50:03,375

Uh, um, and should we, I don't

really know what, what I'm

00:50:03,375 --> 00:50:05,924

saying, just that, that, um,

00:50:10,125 --> 00:50:11,595

a relationship to grow.

00:50:11,970 --> 00:50:13,410

Needs loyalty, doesn't it?

00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:15,630

It needs consistency.

00:50:15,660 --> 00:50:15,840

Yeah.

00:50:16,050 --> 00:50:18,570

Um, but it also feeds off as well.

00:50:18,570 --> 00:50:23,400

The more time you spend with someone,

the gra greater you get to know them.

00:50:23,550 --> 00:50:26,400

The more you want to know

them, the more you you learn.

00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:27,120

Dave Connolly: Yeah.

00:50:27,555 --> 00:50:32,430

I, I used to have a friend up, Mike,

sorry, you still a friend in, in America.

00:50:32,760 --> 00:50:36,180

And um, and, and he used to say to

me frequently, he used say, Dave.

00:50:37,755 --> 00:50:41,295

And it usually was after we'd been in a

really good meeting, you know, and God

00:50:41,295 --> 00:50:44,355

had done amazing things and, you know,

we'd be going home, we'd be having a,

00:50:44,355 --> 00:50:48,375

something to eat and drink and, and

he, he and He'd plums, and I'm talking

00:50:48,375 --> 00:50:53,085

about, he would frequently say to me,

Dave, why do you want to be my friend?

00:50:54,435 --> 00:50:59,895

And I'm like, my best answer at this

moment, I'm not sure, but before you

00:50:59,895 --> 00:51:01,755

started this little thing, it was because.

00:51:02,175 --> 00:51:04,965

I just like being with you.

00:51:05,295 --> 00:51:05,505

Yeah.

00:51:05,565 --> 00:51:10,335

I, I don't want anything of you, you

know, I just like being with you.

00:51:10,335 --> 00:51:11,535

I enjoy being with you.

00:51:11,535 --> 00:51:11,595

Yeah.

00:51:11,835 --> 00:51:16,455

And that relationship's been 25 years, but

I can think of three occasions it nearly

00:51:16,455 --> 00:51:22,365

finished because he, he just, if this

thing, why do you want to be my friend?

00:51:22,395 --> 00:51:24,615

Uh, and and that says more about him.

00:51:24,620 --> 00:51:24,860

Jan Burch: Yeah.

00:51:24,860 --> 00:51:25,060

Yeah.

00:51:25,320 --> 00:51:26,300

Dave Connolly: But it does put security.

00:51:26,970 --> 00:51:28,020

A pressure Yes.

00:51:28,020 --> 00:51:29,100

On me, if that makes sense.

00:51:29,100 --> 00:51:32,880

You know, so we need to be, you know,

we need to love ourselves rightly.

00:51:32,970 --> 00:51:33,270

Dan Orange: Yeah.

00:51:33,455 --> 00:51:37,200

Dave Connolly: You know, and, you

know, I wanna give people my best.

00:51:37,230 --> 00:51:37,470

Dan Orange: Yeah.

00:51:38,190 --> 00:51:40,350

Dave Connolly: Um, and I wanna be genuine.

00:51:40,350 --> 00:51:41,400

I want, I want to be real.

00:51:41,730 --> 00:51:44,250

And, um, and I know we're

all wired differently.

00:51:44,250 --> 00:51:44,670

Okay.

00:51:45,060 --> 00:51:51,330

Um, but for me, it's important that we

are authentic and that we are real, but

00:51:51,330 --> 00:51:53,235

we take responsibility for what we say.

00:51:54,615 --> 00:51:55,095

Do.

00:51:55,095 --> 00:51:55,544

Of course.

00:51:55,544 --> 00:51:55,845

I think, yes.

00:51:55,995 --> 00:51:56,265

Yeah.

00:51:56,504 --> 00:51:58,305

Jan Burch: It's a mature

maturity, isn't it?

00:51:58,365 --> 00:51:59,325

Yeah, that's, yeah.

00:51:59,330 --> 00:52:03,884

The the other thing I was thinking before

was, um, you know, even though Jesus

00:52:03,884 --> 00:52:09,524

was, as Dave said, he had a different

relationship with each of the disciples,

00:52:09,765 --> 00:52:14,714

and we know he had a special friendship

with Lazarus and Mary and Martha.

00:52:14,720 --> 00:52:15,044

Yeah, yeah.

00:52:15,194 --> 00:52:15,939

Um, you know, he.

00:52:17,340 --> 00:52:22,050

We know that they were his friends

before, um, the disciples came along.

00:52:22,530 --> 00:52:28,200

Um, but the, the point I'm gonna

make, uh, is that Jesus didn't spend

00:52:28,290 --> 00:52:31,290

every second of every day with them.

00:52:31,350 --> 00:52:36,570

Yes, he, he did go to be on his

own to speak with his father.

00:52:36,930 --> 00:52:42,720

So what I mean is you can still

be a really good friend, but not

00:52:42,810 --> 00:52:44,040

live in each other's pockets.

00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:44,700

Yeah.

00:52:45,180 --> 00:52:50,009

Um, and that, you know, that's

good news for me because, um,

00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:55,290

I'm busy and I, I can't, I'm just

not that I need my own space.

00:52:55,410 --> 00:52:55,924

Yeah, yeah.

00:52:56,009 --> 00:53:00,330

Um, so that's not a, um,

condemnation for people.

00:53:00,330 --> 00:53:04,109

I'm not a good friend because I

don't call up someone every day,

00:53:04,109 --> 00:53:06,000

or I don't go around every day.

00:53:06,709 --> 00:53:07,600

That That's okay.

00:53:08,325 --> 00:53:09,674

Most of us probably don't.

00:53:09,749 --> 00:53:12,495

Dave Connolly: There's a, there's a

great illustration just in that Jan,

00:53:12,825 --> 00:53:19,245

um, if, if you look at Jesus's story

are key times, like where he's about

00:53:19,245 --> 00:53:20,325

to do something really important.

00:53:20,504 --> 00:53:22,184

He needed a safe place.

00:53:22,214 --> 00:53:22,455

Yeah.

00:53:22,515 --> 00:53:26,399

And it was always with Lazarus and

the ladies, eh, Miriam, Martha, you

00:53:26,399 --> 00:53:29,265

know, um, it was really important

that that was his safe place.

00:53:29,269 --> 00:53:29,439

Yeah.

00:53:29,720 --> 00:53:30,999

'cause they knew him so well.

00:53:30,999 --> 00:53:32,875

He was just, it was just

different, you know, it was his.

00:53:34,095 --> 00:53:35,984

It was just a, a safe place for him to go.

00:53:35,990 --> 00:53:36,000

Yeah.

00:53:36,345 --> 00:53:36,464

Yeah.

00:53:36,464 --> 00:53:39,104

And he's moving from being,

can you imagine with pizza,

00:53:39,134 --> 00:53:40,394

how, where, when, what, why?

00:53:42,069 --> 00:53:42,359

Yeah.

00:53:42,365 --> 00:53:44,504

And how, where, what?

00:53:44,504 --> 00:53:46,394

Well, I've just answered you,

you weren't listening, you know?

00:53:46,634 --> 00:53:46,694

Yeah.

00:53:46,694 --> 00:53:46,814

And.

00:53:47,729 --> 00:53:50,039

And that's what the

relationships are different.

00:53:50,069 --> 00:53:50,580

Absolutely.

00:53:50,580 --> 00:53:55,439

You know, um, and it, there's a,

there's a book called, um, 12 Ordinary

00:53:55,439 --> 00:53:57,689

Men by a guy called John MacArthur.

00:53:57,689 --> 00:54:00,330

And it tells you, um, about the disciples.

00:54:00,359 --> 00:54:03,660

You know, it talks about

them as individuals.

00:54:03,720 --> 00:54:04,799

It's, it's, it's, oh, I love that.

00:54:04,799 --> 00:54:05,759

About two decades old.

00:54:05,759 --> 00:54:06,390

It's great.

00:54:06,390 --> 00:54:06,600

I love that.

00:54:06,749 --> 00:54:08,674

And, um, and it fills in some of the gaps.

00:54:09,675 --> 00:54:13,425

You know, but what it highlights a little

bit like the chosen, if I'm honest.

00:54:13,430 --> 00:54:13,815

Yeah, yeah.

00:54:13,815 --> 00:54:17,655

Um, you can, and it, again,

it is a dramatization, okay?

00:54:18,135 --> 00:54:18,225

Mm-hmm.

00:54:18,225 --> 00:54:21,075

But there's just showing

you the interaction.

00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:21,250

Yeah.

00:54:21,310 --> 00:54:23,130

The human of each of God.

00:54:23,655 --> 00:54:26,145

You know, little James, I love her.

00:54:26,145 --> 00:54:27,555

Oh yeah.

00:54:28,485 --> 00:54:29,210

I'm just love him.

00:54:29,310 --> 00:54:29,530

Mm.

00:54:29,865 --> 00:54:32,625

You know, am minor a character

in some ways, but his

00:54:32,625 --> 00:54:34,545

interaction with Jesus is soap.

00:54:35,609 --> 00:54:36,120

Personal.

00:54:36,240 --> 00:54:36,480

Yeah.

00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:37,500

And specific.

00:54:37,890 --> 00:54:40,259

And then you've got

Peter here and Matthew.

00:54:40,379 --> 00:54:40,770

Oh yeah.

00:54:40,770 --> 00:54:42,779

It it's just so wonderful.

00:54:42,779 --> 00:54:42,839

Yeah.

00:54:42,990 --> 00:54:46,685

And even though it is a dramatization,

I'd encourage you, you, you, you

00:54:46,690 --> 00:54:49,230

can learn something of the Hall

of God through that program.

00:54:49,710 --> 00:54:50,009

Yeah.

00:54:50,009 --> 00:54:50,250

I love, I love that.

00:54:50,669 --> 00:54:50,730

Dan Orange: Yeah.

00:54:50,790 --> 00:54:55,529

Um, Heather mentioned that she'd

in the past had like a, an arms

00:54:55,529 --> 00:54:57,060

length relationship with God.

00:54:57,540 --> 00:55:01,770

Um, so I was just thinking, Dave,

how, how can you have a closer.

00:55:02,670 --> 00:55:05,310

Dave Connolly: Yeah, we, we all

have a history, you know, Heather

00:55:05,370 --> 00:55:09,900

and um, and, and, and we all have

like social unique personalities.

00:55:10,290 --> 00:55:18,630

But, um, for me, my

background is I was a mess.

00:55:18,870 --> 00:55:18,960

Mm-hmm.

00:55:19,380 --> 00:55:23,460

And I was very is I did, I grew

up in a family where that I didn't

00:55:23,460 --> 00:55:24,930

live with, didn't really know.

00:55:25,140 --> 00:55:25,860

So, um.

00:55:26,775 --> 00:55:28,245

I was just a mess.

00:55:28,365 --> 00:55:30,825

I didn't have, I didn't really

understand what love was.

00:55:31,125 --> 00:55:35,325

I didn't understand people being

nice to me, so I would hold

00:55:35,325 --> 00:55:39,465

myself away from everybody before

they had chance to reject me.

00:55:39,944 --> 00:55:45,944

And, um, so I thought, um, when I become

a Christian, um, I was very fortunate

00:55:46,515 --> 00:55:53,444

to be taught that God loves me and

that he didn't wanna love me from afar.

00:55:54,029 --> 00:56:01,620

And that the relationship that he

wanted with, with me was personal and

00:56:01,620 --> 00:56:03,390

he wanted me to draw close to him.

00:56:03,779 --> 00:56:08,009

And, um, you know, I love scripture says,

you know, he, he, scripture says, draw

00:56:08,009 --> 00:56:10,680

close to God, and he'll draw close to you.

00:56:11,009 --> 00:56:15,870

If we live our lives from a distance,

we have a distance relationship.

00:56:16,140 --> 00:56:19,680

And I would encourage you as you

open up, as you walk through this

00:56:19,709 --> 00:56:22,020

really difficult season of your life.

00:56:22,904 --> 00:56:24,075

Invite God into it.

00:56:24,435 --> 00:56:27,374

You know, one of my prayers and when I

first became a Christian, and I still

00:56:27,374 --> 00:56:31,365

use it quite a lot, and that is, God,

you know how I'm feeling and if you're

00:56:31,365 --> 00:56:37,664

there, I need you draw close to me

and God will speak to you however you

00:56:37,664 --> 00:56:41,084

are wide, whether it's through your

thinking or you know, people say, you

00:56:41,084 --> 00:56:43,935

know, I've got this impression or I

felt in my heart or in my mind, and

00:56:43,935 --> 00:56:45,524

God will speak to you through that.

00:56:46,095 --> 00:56:48,615

But listen, if you ask, listen.

00:56:49,755 --> 00:56:53,625

And honestly I believe that

you'll be, uh, messaging in

00:56:53,805 --> 00:56:56,235

saying he's drawn close to me.

00:56:56,535 --> 00:56:57,944

'cause he always honors his word.

00:56:57,944 --> 00:56:58,390

That, that yeah.

00:56:59,295 --> 00:57:03,645

I can guarantee he always,

always, always honors his word.

00:57:03,674 --> 00:57:03,795

Mm-hmm.

00:57:04,125 --> 00:57:05,355

And he will draw close to you.

00:57:08,025 --> 00:57:08,174

Dan Orange: Wow.

00:57:08,174 --> 00:57:08,835

Thanks.

00:57:09,134 --> 00:57:09,825

Thanks very much.

00:57:09,825 --> 00:57:10,665

Thanks Dave.

00:57:10,725 --> 00:57:11,355

Thanks Jan.

00:57:11,444 --> 00:57:11,714

Thank you Dave.

00:57:11,955 --> 00:57:12,525

Um.