Pastor Rex Writes

“With a little help from my friends”

[Together We Can Make A Difference]

God used Paul to accomplish tremendous spiritual victories throughout his life. But Paul did not accomplish these things as a soloist. He was the leader of a team of close friends who worked as a team under the leadership and empowerment of their heavenly Father. Together, they accomplished far more than Paul could have ever accomplished on his own. He did not take the credit but gladly included his team in recognition for what had been able to be accomplished.

1. Choose friends that serve – Tychicus (vs. 7)

• I'm not talking about friends that will serve you, but friends that will serve God with you.
• Every reference to Tychicus has to do with him being sent somewhere by Paul with a message; he was a messenger boy
• Most people want to be served rather than being a servant

2. Choose friends that endure through tough times – Aristarchus (vs. 10)

• Everywhere that Aristarchus accompanied Paul, there was trouble. He got dragged through the city by an angry mob, he was there when the people of the city plotted to take Paul’s life, and he was there when a major storm caused Paul and all those with him to be involved in a shipwreck. And here, Paul refers to him as a “fellow prisoner”. If I had been Aristarchus, I would have chosen friends that didn’t get into so much trouble.
• “A true friend is like toothpaste, when it is put under pressure, it appears!”

3. Choose friends that pray – Epaphras (vs. 12)

4. Choose friends that keep you accountable – Paul to Archippus (vs. 17)

• Promise Keepers is coming up. Much of what Promise Keepers is about is men keeping each other accountable for their actions.
• My expectation is that the men who go on this experience will come back tighter in fellowship than they could have ever imagined.

Conclusion

One of the ancient kings of Persia loved to mingle with his people in disguise. Once, dressed as a poor man, he descended the long flight of stairs, dark and damp to the tiny cellar where the fireman, seated on ashes, was tending the furnace. The king sat down beside him and began to talk. At meal time the fireman produced some coarse black bread and a jug of water and they ate and drank.

The king went away but returned again and again for his heart was filled with sympathy for the lonely man. They became very good friends as time passed. At last the king thought, “I’ll tell him who I am, and see what gift he will ask.” So he did, but the fireman didn’t ask for a thing.

The king was astonished and said, “Don’t you realize that I can give you anything—a city, a throne?” The man gently replied, “I understand your Majesty. You have already given the greatest gift a man could receive. You left your palace to sit with me here in this dark and lonely place. You could give nothing more precious.

You have given yourself and that is far more than I could ever deserve.”

Give the gift of yourself.

Pastor Rex