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Message from Chuck Allen on July 29, 2022
In this episode of the Sugar Hill Church weekday podcast, Pastor Chuck Allen shares an encouraging message about the discovery of true friendship, inspired by Proverbs 27:9. He points out that while we may have many acquaintances, genuine friends are fewer and are marked by honesty, transparency, and wise counsel. Quoting C.S. Lewis, he emphasizes that friendship begins when we find common loves and values. He also highlights how Christian faith can form powerful bonds between people from diverse backgrounds, all united by Jesus, the ultimate friend of our souls. Pastor Chuck encourages us to cultivate and deepen these friendships.
Thank you folks for joining me. Today we want to talk on this weekday podcast about the discovery of friendship.
Now, if you're like me, you've got a ton of acquaintances, but you got a handful of friends. And then when you start thinking about who your best friends are, they even pare down more.
Well, listen to what Proverbs 27: 9 says, "Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice." So I want you to listen to that text and let that sink in for a minute.
It comes from heartfelt advice. You know, the people that we truly have the deepest friendships with are the people that we would want their advice and we would want direction and wisdom from them. Friendship is pleasantness.That means literally sweetness. Let me say that again. Scripturally, when we read that text, friendship means pleasantness, meaning sweetness.At the time of Proverbs, people could not create sweetness in food, only discover it. Friendship is just like that, the Proverbs is saying. We can work at it. We can work at it, you know, consistently and we can work at the constancy of it. We can work on transparency and sensitivity and we can work on the counsel. But friendship begins when we discover someone that truly is honest with us.We have to find people with common loves and vision.
Yes. Well, C.S. Lewis once said, Where the truthful answer to the question, do you see the same truth would be, I see nothing and I don't care about the truth. I only want a friend. No friendship can arise. There would be nothing for the friendship to be about.Those who have nothing can share nothing. Those who are going nowhere can have no fellow travelers.
The Christian faith, the basics of it can create this deep affinity between people who are different in every other way.And that's why friendship between followers of Jesus from diverse racial, spiritual, educational, socioeconomic backgrounds can be so powerfully formative. They are empowered by faith in the ultimate friend of our souls, the Lord Jesus.
Check that out in John 15:13. "It is his constancy, his vulnerability and his love that cannot be surpassed and what holds us together."
Friend, I pray that you have Christian friendships across racial and national barriers. How could you cultivate new ones and deepen the ones that you already have? That, my friend, is the question for today's weekday podcast.
Thanks so much for joining us today for the weekday podcast. We would love to see you at Sugar Hill Church for one of our gatherings each Sunday at 930 and 11. And we are always streaming live at live.sugarhill.church.
Again, thank you for joining us today.
Chuck is the Lead Pastor at Sugar Hill Church. He’s been the Lead Pastor since 2011, but he’s been around Sugar Hill Church since 2008. Since day one, Chuck’s passion has been to encourage others with this one big belief: “You can do this! You can love God with all your heart, mind and soul and be normal!" You will often hear him say, “the Bible is a very big deal, Jesus is the very biggest deal and living that out always involves serving people here and around the globe.” Chuck's passion is to graciously lead people to Jesus and create a simple path for them to grow in their faith. Some of his goals are to reduce the dropout rate in our local schools, serve with our missions partners well, lead our church and families with a healthy fiscal plan, and in the future, to provide transitional housing for single moms. Chuck and his wife, Jenny, stay plenty busy with six daughters, three son-in-laws, five grandkids and an awesome dog, Kirby. They are foodies and enjoy eating through the Atlanta Magazine Top 50 Restaurants. Chuck’s favorite things to do include fishing, reading, writing and cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs!
Bobby serves as both the Associate Pastor and the Teaching Pastor at Sugar Hill Church. He has been on staff here since December, 2008 (where he started part-time in Student Ministry). Bobby’s passion comes from a love of seeing the light-bulb go on for folks. Whether it’s in a small group, a NEXT gathering, or during a weekend message, he loves seeing people “get it” and apply the truth to their lives. As one of our pastors here, Bobby helps individuals take the next steps in their faith, he helps the church fulfill its God-given mission, and he gives day-to-day direction to our Adult Ministries, Communications, and Finance teams. In his spare time, you can find Bobby riding his motorcycle, working out, reading, or eating gas station tacos. He and his wife, Laura, have been married since January, 2011, and they have a very “manly” 10lb cockapoo named Ollie. He would love to connect more, so find him on social media (@bobbymcgraw) or check out his blog at yourbetterstory.com.
