2015 September Crate Celebrates Friends!

This month we are celebrating Friends!

A friend loves at all times ~ Proverbs 17:17

There are many scriptures relating to friends and friendship, here are a just a few of them:

• Proverbs 18:24, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, John 13:34-35

“I went out to find a friend,
But could not find one there.
I went out to be a friend,
And friends were everywhere!”
– Unknown

As always, you can certainly keep all of your Crate’s contents for yourself, but we think it’s fun to share some of your Crate’s contents with a friend or a special person in your life. Maybe there is someone you know who could use a little lift, who’s life you can touch just by sharing a little token of inspiration from your Crate. Sometimes the smallest gestures make the greatest impact.

Another great thing about getting a Crate every month is that you will never be caught without a gift. You’ll always have a little stash of inspirational goodies to give as birthday gifts, hostess gifts or for that last minute or unexpected gift!

ChristianCrate is brought to you with the hope that we will bring you inspiration for a closer personal walk with God.

We hope that you will enjoy all of the contents of your Crate, that we bring a smile to your face and that something in your Crate will inspire you to explore your relationship with God on a deeper level.

Until your next crate arrives…we wish you many blessed days!

FRIENDSHIP

PHILIPPIANS 1

What is the meaning of friendship in Israel and in the world of the New Testament? In what way did New Testament writers use cultural notions of friendship to communicate something of the challenge of Christian relations? In what ways do these understandings shed light on or challenge contemporary experiences of friendship?
From the beginning, the Bible recognizes that human beings are social creatures who need one another. God said in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” and from that time forward, there is a recognition that part of what it means to be fully human is to be in relationship with other people.

A great example of friendship in the Old Testament is the relationship between Jonathan and David. Jonathan had many reasons to avoid relationship with David, not the least of which was that David has been anointed to be the next king (1 Samuel 16:1-13), a position that by birthright should have belonged to Jonathan (1 Samue1 20:30-31). But Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself (1 Samuel 18:3) and proved it by contending with his father, Saul, over his treatment of David (1 Samuel 19:1-7).

Friendship is also a very important topic in the thoughts and writings of the Greek and Roman philosophers, who considered true friendship the most valuable of relationships and taught that apart from friendship, life was not really worth living.

Paul used this friendship vocabulary in his letter to the Philippians: “I thank God for the help you gave me while I preached the Good News” (1:5); “all of you share in God’s grace with me” (1:7); “standing strong with one purpose…work together as one for the faith of the Good News” (1:27); “do we share together in the spirit?” (2:1); “make me very happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and having one mind and purpose” (2:2); “do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others” (2:4). Given the importance of true friendship in the Greek world, it is significant that Paul thought of his relationship with them in friendship terms and called them to this kind of relationship with one another.

But something else was going on here. The Greek friendship ideal was between two good men, alike in integrity and thought. But Paul commanded that type of friendship be between all believers. Moreover, Paul insisted that the unity of friendship be preserved, even though the participants were not always alike. Paul and the Philippians were different in many ways: he was a Jew, while they were Greeks; he was a man and some of them were women (4:2-3); he was an apostle, and they were his converts. How could their friendships cross the ethnic, gender, and status barriers? Where was their commonality, their sameness? Paul taught that their relationships must be rooted in the Good News (1:5), in the fact that they all shared God’s grace (1:7) and his Spirit (2:1). Thus the common bond they shared did not originate in themselves, but in God. Another difference between Greek friendship and what we find in Philippians is that their relationships were to go beyond equality to serving one another (2:3-4, 5-11). As Jesus himself taught, they were not to show their power over one another, but to serve each other (Mark 10:42-45). Finally, their relationships were not just for their own enjoyment; they were to work together for the Good News (1:27-30). It was friendship with a purpose.

What does this mean for us today? As believers, we are called not only to God, but to one another, in love, unity, and service. Relating to other Christians is a command, not an option. In particular, this means making a special effort to reach out to those who are different than we are. Friendship with those who are like us is much easier, and it is certainly more comfortable. But we are to have friendship – not just friendly feelings – with people across social status, ethnic, and gender boundaries, rooted in God’s grace toward us all; Jesus himself modeled this lifestyle (see note on Matthew 1 1:19). By sharing God’s love across these barriers (barriers which are mostly uncrossed today, both inside and outside of the church), we demonstrate the transforming power of God’s Good News in our lives, for the believing community, and ultimately, for our unbelieving society.

[Article excerpted from The Holy Bible, New Century Version, The Everyday Study Bible, copyright 1996, pg 1295, used with permission.]