A real friend
The theme of the family retreat was wrapped around Intimacy with God and The value of friendship. 33 young married couples have participated to our event .About intimacy with God you cannot talk, you can only experiment it. To be able to experiment it you need to ask yourself two questions: Whom do you love?, and, How much do you love? "As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a
friend." (NLT)
True friends want to see us continue to grow. The writer of Proverbs has said, that friends help to sharpen us, to become sharp spiritually a little bit at a time. He compares this type of friendship to iron that is banged on by iron. Think of a blacksmith who makes swords. He takes a hammer and takes out a piece of iron and works on it slowly and continuously until it takes the shape and sharpness of a sword. Friends are always challenging us and even pushing us to be all that God wants for us to be. We, as married couples, need true friends, a healthy community in which we can grow.
Charles Swindoll has made the observation that, "The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit that there is to the fellowship Christ wants us to give his church. It's an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality - but it is a permissive, accepting and inclusive fellowship. It is unshockable. It is democratic. You can tell people secrets, and they usually don't tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers."So, for two days, we have emphasized the value of intimacy with God and friendship in all of our activities, and teaching.
The study passage was Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
1. A Real Friend Helps You When You're Down. (v.10) "For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up."
2. A Real Friend Is Someone Who Provides Emotional Or Physical Warmth In A Cold, Cruel World. (v. 11) "Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?"
3. A Real Friend Is Someone Who Will Fight To Protect You Or Your Reputation. (v. 12) "Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him."
Here you can find more photos form the retreat.
