Sermon
Spiritual Friendships
Mercy Hill Church - Cincinnati
Speaker: Ernie Bonnoitt
April 29, 2025 · 39 min
Summary
Spiritual friendship is God's design, not a sign of weakness but of health. Drawing from Acts 2:42 and the David-Jonathan relationship in 1 Samuel 18, the pastor identifies three marks of godly friendships: loving God's glory more than personal glory, loving unconditionally in all circumstances, and giving honest, wise counsel.
Highlights
A desire for friendship is not a sign of unhealth, but of health. The ache of loneliness is the only ache that doesn't come from sin—God made us so that we cannot even enjoy paradise without friends.
If you decide you don't need friends, you're missing out on a key aspect of Christianity. When calamity comes, you're going to need believers and people around you to lift you up. If you don't do that, you're going to be drowning alone.
No one loves you like Jesus. He knows all of your failures, all of your brokenness, and every sin you've committed against him, and when God saw you, he didn't run from you, but he put on flesh and dwelt among us.