Rise Up Session 2 | Pastor Steph

God, we just thank you. We thank you for today. God, you are our everything, Jesus. We just thank you for meeting us here this morning. God, we just thank you for meeting us in a real way last night. And God, we just create this space and place here in this moment. God, starting out the 1st of August, August 1st, new beginnings, new things, Jesus. God, new school years. God, new adventures that you have for us. Today, God, we just say, have your way. May you be our everything. And may we see you in everything when we look around and see how good you are. God, we just dedicate this time to you this morning. And everybody said in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Well, you guys can go ahead and have a seat, find a place to be seated. How crazy is it that it is August 1st? August 1st, is anybody excited to be going back to school? I'm sure the teachers, the professors, they feel probably the exact same way as you guys. But I'm like, how cool and amazing is this, the fact that we get to start out a brand new month. Think if it always is that way. Somebody told me that, don't wait for the 1st of the year to start, you know, New Year's resolutions. Every month is a brand new chance to start fresh.

Every day is a day to start fresh. His mercies are new every morning. I love that our God is a God of second chances. So this morning, it'll probably a little bit, if you've heard me speak before, many times I can come out super strong. But this morning, I just felt like as I was talking, I just thought, man, what would it be like? It is first thing in the morning, is everybody caffeinated up? Apparently this side did not get the caffeine this morning, but this side got the caffeine. Is there any caffeinated people over here? Oh, we got Riley on the front row. I was with her when we drove through Seven Brew this morning little shout out to Seven Brew. But I just thought, what would it be like if just this moment, we had just a few minutes together, just to have a chat. Maybe we had a cup of coffee, maybe we have an acai bowl, whatever it is, you know, an energy drink, you know, but we could just chat. What would I tell you if I could reflect and look back, something that really affected me to where I am today, and I know is gonna affect you, and is gonna help you to rise up by this very important decision that you will make. So we're just gonna have a chat this morning, we're just gonna talk about it,

and we're gonna talk about friends. So when we're talking, oh, somebody's like, mm. Somebody apparently needs a new friend group out there. So, but like with that, like when you say that, y'all can talk back to me here, but like when you're saying like, this is my friend, what do you normally say? This is my best friend, my what else? I can't hear you, my what? My BFF, what's the, this is my, maybe my sister in Christ, this is my tribe, this is my bestie, maybe it's, what's something else that you may call them? This is my ride or die, this is my person, these are my people, these are my people. Maybe we say that, and then in Instagram, you know, what do they say, not our 5,000 friends, but our close friends are what? What do they call those? Close friends only, your inner circle. And many times, we have so many people out here that we forget is really important, the people that we have around us, and that's gonna help us to rise up to be the men and the women that God has created us to be. I'm telling you what, if we are truly to rise up to be the men and women that God has called us to be, we have to look and see who our tribe is. So this morning, we're gonna go back to the very beginning. So what's the first book in the Bible? Genesis.

Look at you guys, let's go. We are waking up now, Genesis. We're gonna go very back to the beginning. So we're gonna look at Genesis 2, verse 18. And it says here, in Genesis 2, verse 18 in the NLT, then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him. Now, I promise you, today is not for you to find your perfect match, okay? That is not what we're gonna be talking about today. Now, this may help you in the future to make sure you do. the perfect match that God has for you. But what he wants us to know here, if he's talking about this in the very beginning of scripture, that he said, it is not good for man to be alone. I've got to create him a helpmate. And so with this, it shows us that God has hardwired us for friendships. God did not want Adam to be alone. So who did he make to be with him? Eve. And then after Adam and Eve were in the garden, who did they go walking through the garden with at night? God. He has created you, he has designed you for friendships, to be around people. And this even goes for you if you're an introvert. You know, so many times it's like, well, I'm an introvert, I get a fast pass. You were created for friendship as well. God hardwired you to not do life alone, to do it with other people, to be an influence to those around you. And what I thought was interesting as I was studying it, before there was even a sin problem in the world, because remember, the garden of Eden was perfect. Before there was even like a sin problem, there was a companion problem. There was a deficit for friendship, a deficit to like walk and talk with each other. That shows you how important it is for the people around us and to, it matters who our inner circle is. The deepest cry of the heart is to be fully known and to be deeply loved. And many times, unfortunately, unfortunately, like I use my cell phone. The kids can tell you, I use my cell phone. I get connected on social media, but we cannot use this to replace the people that we have around us. God has not made you for isolation. He has made

you for connection. And don't let this deceive you to think you have friends if you're not getting outside of your four walls. Even if it's gaming with friends, even if it's on social media, God wants you to be around people and it matters. The enemy wants to isolate you. Because if he can isolate you, you have no one to call you up. You have no one to call you out sometimes. And you just get to sit there in your own thoughts. And many times they're not good thoughts, right? God said it's not good for man to be alone. He wants to make sure that we are connected. And we're going to go into Proverbs today. Proverbs is a book full of wisdom. And what's one phrase that Pastor Tim always says? Proverbs a day keeps the stupidity away. Right? There's different variations, but a Proverbs a day keeps the stupidity away. Proverbs was written by the wisest person, Solomon. So if we're to gain wisdom in our life, surely there's something about friendships. And it is, it's packed all in Proverbs, the value of friendships and how we can create good friendships in our life. We cannot be wise men and women without great friends. But what's even better than a great friend? A godly friend. You can be a good person, but you're still missing the best piece, the hole in your heart that can never be filled apart from Jesus. So it's one thing to be a good friend. It's another thing to be a godly friend. We're going to look in Proverbs 13, 20, and this is in the message. And I mean, it pretty sums it up. There's no other way to describe it. I mean, it just like spells it out for us. We don't have to like figure out what it means. It says, become wise by walking with the wise. Hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. I'm like, how much more simple can it be? I'm like, I don't know about you, but I don't want my life to fall to pieces. I don't want to be like, I've been in those moments where it feels like everything is going a little crazy. And I want people around me who can pray for me, who can lift me up, who can pull me up out of the pit. But we have to choose to walk with the wise. If you walk with the wise, you become wise. If you hang out with fools, watch your life fall to pieces. Man, it tells you straight out, doesn't it? Friends have a powerful way of developing us into the men and women God wants or has called us to be. They're going to either influence us, they will influence us to where we are going to be going in life. And there's a wise saying that says, show me your friends and I will show you your future. That's why people now like in the business... This world, they hire coaches, or you hire somebody who's a few steps ahead of you,

because it matters who is around you. You become who you surround yourself with. Now, this is a funny story. I'm from Tennessee. I've been out of Tennessee, praise, that's right. I've been out of Tennessee for 27 years. You probably would not even recognize my voice if you heard me 27 years ago, okay? I'm not just from Tennessee, I'm from deep South country Tennessee, okay? You probably wouldn't be able to understand my aunts and uncles when we get together for our family reunion. But what I have noticed is when I go back home and I'm spending more time with my family, I'm spending more times with my friends who live in Tennessee, what happens? My Southern drawl just gets a little bit longer. All of a sudden I'm like, darling, what's going on? Where are we gonna go for dinner tonight? I mean, really guys? I mean, all of a sudden it comes out because I'm surrounding myself with the people who I grew up with, my family, the people who I love, but it's subconsciously. I remember growing up back in the day when we had like hard, you know, phones attached to the wall back in the day, mom would answer the phone and I would know exactly who she was talking to because why? Her voice sounded just like her friends.

I mean, I'm like, okay, she's talking to Brenda because that accent is definitely Brenda. Okay, now that's Rita, okay. Because subconsciously we don't even realize we're doing it. We become like the people we are surrounded with. And I'm proud of my Southern roots, just saying, okay? So it's a good thing, but it is funny. The people you listen to will be a preview of the future you. So who you're listening to, who you're watching on YouTube shorts, who you're watching TikTok videos, be very, very careful of who you're listening to. Make sure it lines up with the word of God. If you don't know, sometimes it's amazing to me when, you know, the devil came to Jesus in the wilderness, he used scripture against him. So if the devil and Satan is gonna try to trip Jesus up, how do you think he's gonna trip you up? He's gonna take something that almost sounds right. You're like, I think that's in scripture. But you will know when you have the word of God and you take it to the scripture to make sure it is right. The people you listen to are a preview of the future you. People with bad attitudes. You're hanging around people with bad attitudes, negative. Man, we went to Europe this summer and this is no shade, but we were just going through. I'm just listening and observing. Talking to this person, talking about

they were going to Europe and it was so hot, so hot, no cold water. Like, it was like, and I thought, you freaking went to Europe. Do you know what I'm saying? In my mind, I'm like, that would be amazing. Have you ever been around that? Man, we went to Disney, but did you see the lines at Disney? You went to Disney. Man, oh, we've got this for dinner tonight. You have food on your table. When you hang around people with bad attitudes, when you hang around people with negativity, they can only see the negative. They can't see the good. If it's right in front of them, what's going to happen to you? You're going to all of a sudden be talking a little more negative, looking at things from a negative perspective. What about authority issues? I know nobody in here has authority issues. Maybe you're living with your parents still. And in the house, they've said this, and you're just like, they just don't know. We are in 2026. The disrespect. God says, as Pastor Tim talked about in the Ten Commandments, honor your father and mother. Are you being around people that are disrespecting

their parents? You're hearing the way they talk to them, the way they're going behind their back and doing things deceitful. If you hang around that, you will become like that. Maybe at work, it's your boss. And your boss, instead of lifting them up in prayer, you're criticizing them to your coworkers. Maybe you're disrespecting them. They've told you to do this, and you're like, well, I want to do this. They've told you to be there at a certain time, but you're not coming in on time. But they don't know, so they don't have to clock in. Who you hang around is who you become. Watch who you hang around. Maybe it's lies. Maybe it's deception. You're around somebody who's constantly telling a little white lie. I remember when we lived in Tampa and Jaden was young. He was two turning three. And at Busch Gardens, all the way up till you're three, you can go for free. So praise you, Jesus, right? Literally on Jaden's birthday, we're pulling him in. I've got my double. stroller, and I'm like, Jaden, if anybody asks you, you're two, okay? He looks at me and he goes, isn't that a lie, mom? Yes, it is, son.

That is a lie. Mommy, you busted mommy on being deceptive, trying to save a few dollars. They had never stopped us before. Guess who they stopped on his birthday? Jaden, they literally, how old are you, buddy? He's like three today. They're like, go over there and pay for his ticket. I'm like, on his birthday? They're like, yes, ma'am, you go over there and pay for that ticket. I'm telling you, good news is, Jaden, he literally helped me think through that. I'm like, that was a little deception. I didn't think it was a big deal, but I was teaching my son that it's okay to fib if it benefits me. It's okay to not have integrity if I'm going to benefit. Are you hanging around people who just tell white lies? There's no such thing as a white lie. It's either truth or it's deception. You either have integrity when people aren't watching you, and you're also having integrity when people watch you. If you hang around people without integrity who are deceptive, guess what? All of a sudden, it's not going to be that big of a deal. What if Jaden hadn't called me out that day? I've just gone through on my merry way, but he taught me a lesson. And from then on, I made sure that I was always telling the truth. What if you're hanging around people with no ambitions? They just are, they're okay to just live life. They don't have ideas to reach their community for Jesus. They don't have ideas to grow in their company, to do big things. What if you just hang around people, they're like, I'm just going to live in my parents' basement for the rest of my life.

I'm going to eat my parents' food. I have no dreams and ambitions. We're just going to game all freaking day. Or on social media, or binge on Netflix, or fill in the blanks. Where do you think you're going to go? Into the basement with them. You'll probably have like a twin, you know, bunk beds down there, and maybe y'all can room together. If you're hanging around people like this, you're not going to go far. Maybe it's your mouth. You hang around people who have potty mouth, foul mouth. We talked about that in the Ten Commandments, taking God's name in vain. Not even taking God's name in vain, but just letting profanity come out of your mouth, coming out of their mouth. And when you're around it, all of a sudden you feel it slipping out. It's not that big of a deal anymore because I'm with them. Maybe it's crude humor. Humor that you know is not godly, but you're around them and you're just like, well, this is funny. I'll get a good laugh. What about a racist comment? You say something and you're just like, say that, and everybody's laughing, but you see the one person who isn't laughing because it's offensive. Are you hanging around people that are going to help you to rise up to be the men and women that God has called you to be? The people you run with will determine the direction you run in. What direction are you running? Are you running towards Jesus? Because one day you want to hear Him say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You did well.

Or do you want to hear Him say, man, who hindered you? You were doing good, but that friend group, man, they really pulled you down. Those people that you were hanging with that you thought that you could change, instead they changed you. We are living to run towards the one who will look at us one day and say, good and faithful servant. The people you run with will determine the direction that you run in. You know, as I was preparing this, I thought about just even reflecting growing up in high school just a few short years ago. And being in high school and growing up, my friends changed. And it's hard. It's hard when your friends change. And my parents made the decision to change my friends. And I started reflecting on that, and I'm like, I thought of this story. So I grew up with Melissa. We lived in the same neighborhood. We did fun things together. Her mom took her and her sister to church. So they went to church. It was different than our church, but they went to church. We hung out together. We did all the fun things. And then we started growing up. Started getting a little older. We're in middle school. We're in high school. And things started changing. We started doing different things. Our paths were going a little bit different, but it didn't seem that obvious. And I remember one day, we had four wheelers and we would go riding four wheelers.

They belonged to them, so we would go riding together. And my mom had always told us, if we are not home, my mom and dad, don't go on the four wheelers. I'm like, okay. Well, guess who called one day to go on the four wheelers while everybody was gone? It was Melissa. She's like, girl, they're cutting this path through the woods. They're putting this brand new road in. and we could ride all the fun stuff you can imagine. And she goes, do you want to go with me? And I was like, oh, mom said that I can't go. She goes, we'll be back before she gets home. And I'm like, okay, not a good decision, but I'm like, okay, that sounds like fun. I didn't want to miss out. So off we go, she's driving, I'm on the back of it. So we go off on an adventure. We're jumping these big gravel piles, all the fun stuff that you can imagine. And I'm looking at the time, and I'm like, well, we better start heading home. Well, as we're heading home, I'm on the back of the four-wheeler, and one of these gravel piles that we had jumped on, now remember, it's fresh asphalt, plus the gravels and all the stuff. I see her start to head towards the pile, and I thought, it was smooth going that way. It's not as smooth going this way, but it was too late. We hit that pile, flipped the four-wheeler.

There I go, sliding across the asphalt. Immediately, our adrenaline is kicked in. We pick up this, I don't even know how we picked it up. It was our adrenaline, and probably knowing I was about ready to get busted. Picked up this four-wheeler, we cranked it up and headed home. We're bleeding, and I'm like, oh snap, about ready to get busted. I still have scars to this day from where I slid across the asphalt. Thank God he spared our lives, but I got home, and mom had to clean us up, clean me up. She ended up going to the hospital. I didn't get punished that day, because I think she knew that I had been punished enough by what I had going on. I was in a lot of pain. But that was just one step in the direction where that friendship would have taken me. Fast forward, mom's like, she's still making not good decisions. I need you, you can't hang out with her anymore. I was upset, but I listened and didn't hang out with her. Right after we graduated high school, she hung out with friends. They did smoking, drinking, all the stuff. On the way home, she was in the back seat. Alcohol was involved. Car crash, she was gone.

What if I had still hung out with her as a friend? What if I didn't listen to my mom, my dad, the parents, the authority over me? Would I be here today? I don't know. Would I have been tragically injured where I had a big, huge recovery? But I listened, and I thought, man, God, thank you so much that I chose in that moment. Though it wasn't fun, she looked like she was having all the fun. She was going to all the parties. I was stuck at home wearing really conservative things and not doing fun things. I wanted to be with her. But I look back, and I'm like, man, thank you, God. I think of another friend, and I could list friend after friend. I think of another friend that mom's like, lifetime friend, our parents were friends, and she's like, you can't hang out with her anymore. And I was so mad, so upset. This friend became a teen mom, has to this day, three different baby daddies, not living for Jesus because my mom could see it, and I couldn't in the moment. And it's no judgment to her, but my parents saw this friend group is not gonna take Stephanie to where God has called her to be. And on...

Tim's probably laughing because the other part of the story, going back to Melissa, I was telling him the story, he's like, yeah, make sure you lean into that a little bit more when you tell the rest of that story. So when I pulled away from these friends that weren't leading me in the right direction, and I started attending more youth activities, I started hanging out with my youth pastor's wife and being like, okay, just doing fun things in the youth group and hanging out with her. It worked out my benefit because that was Pastor Tim's sister. And so where would I be today, right? If I hadn't hung out with her and started following things of the Lord, would I be here today? Who you choose to be in your circle really matters. Are you becoming the person that God wants you to be today? And make sure when your parents are trying to guide you, when your leaders are trying to guide you, when the people around you, and maybe you're in college, maybe you are living life and the Holy Spirit is now the one being like, is this your best? Yes. You don't have somebody right there telling you, don't do that, don't do that, don't do that. But the Holy Spirit is, that he's like, are your feet okay?

headed in the direction that I want you to go. Are you becoming the person, the godly influence that I'm wanting you to be? I'm wanting to set you apart. I'm wanting to pull you apart for you to rise up. You weren't made to be down here. You were made to soar like an eagle. You were made to rise. Don't settle for less than. Is the person or people you're hanging out with today the best, yes, in becoming who God has called you to be? Are you the person, when people say that about you, I shouldn't hang out with them because they aren't making me into the best person that God wants me to be? Are you a godly influence to other people? I think of the 70-30. Where is Ryan? Ryan, are you here? Is it Ryan? Sorry. Yes, come on. I already have an illustration I want to show. Because so many times in our friend, that's right, thank you guys. You can stand right here. Sorry, I've got to, you'll understand why. So many times in our friend groups, we want to be a good influence, right? We want to tell other people about Jesus. We want to be a light into the darkness. We want to be like, man, I'm just going to, sorry, you're my lost friend, okay? We want to help people around us. I want to help him. But what happens as many times is if I'm just helping him, you can turn around, I'm going

to try to pull Ryan up here. What's easier for Ryan? All of the sudden, what's going to happen to me? I'm going to fall off because I'm here by myself. I'm here alone trying to be like, I'm around people who don't know Jesus, but all of a sudden they can pull me down a lot quicker. Kelsey, come up here real quick. So what if I have, Kelsey, you can stand up here with me, sorry, we're the godly ones. So now all of a sudden we're going to grab and we're going to pull, but what can he do? No, not that easy. You can pull hard. I know he's afraid he's going to hurt us, but literally he can pull us right off the stage just like that. And it's not because we're weak. We're strong people. We're strong, right? We're strong, independent, godly women, right, Kelsey, yes. But at the same time, it's easy to be pulled down. So that's why, Logan, come up here. He's like, we're probably going to need 20 people to be like. You push him while we, okay, I'm just kidding. You get behind him and push him this way. I'm just kidding. But like literally the more people you have surrounded yourselves with like godly people, then all of a sudden you can hop up now. Then all of a sudden we can pull him up. But if I try to do this in my own strength and I'm hanging out with all people who aren't following Jesus, it's going to be so easy for me all of a sudden to be down here and be like, how did I get down here? I was supposed to be helping them and they pulled me down because I wasn't strong enough.

Make sure that you surround yourself with people. We want to reach people, but at the same time, we want the majority. You can go ahead and sit down. Thank you, guys. We want the majority of our friends. Give them a hand. I got to tie my shoe. I don't want to trip on this. Don't want to trip up. Don't want Satan to trip me up, right? Got to throw that out there real quick. It makes a difference. So look at 70-30. I was like 90-10. Tim was like, I like 70-30. That sounds a lot better than 90-10. I'm like 90% Christian, 1% unbeliever. And he's like, he goes, that means it's like nine to one ratio. He's like, I think it's a little better if you do 70-30. And I'm like, oh, darn it. I hate it when you're right all the time. But literally put people around you. Look around your circle. Is it 70-30? The people that you're trying to reach and bring to Jesus, we're going to pray for him. We're going to pray for Ryan. Man, believe with me, we're going to invite him to church. We're going to be like, you can do this. Make sure that your circle is large enough where they're not pulling you down, but you have more godly people in your life so you can lift them up to Jesus.

Y'all ask yourself, what are characteristics of a godly friend? What are characteristics of a godly friend or me being a godly friend to others? I'm going to give you five different types of friends before we leave. First of all, they point you to Jesus. That is the top one, Proverbs 27, 17. They are going to point us to Jesus. As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. a friend. You know, many time a friend like this is going to challenge you to grow in your faith. They're going to hold you accountable to a Christ-centered life. And in love, point out your blind spots in love. They're going to be the ones to tell you you've got blueberries from the acai bowl still in your teeth, right? Just in a practical way. And many times this is not fun, but it's necessary. And this is not us judging. We're not the judge police going out there and be like, I saw you girl. I know what you did. That is not love. That's not the love of Christ. That is not pulling people to Jesus with the heart of the father, but it is us iron sharpening iron. It is Jaden calling me out when I wasn't being 100% truthful. It is being a person of integrity. And they're like, man, I saw you do that. Is, is that leading you in the right direction? Man, I saw you at that, that party. Are you hanging out with this person? I've heard that they're not doing the things that they should be doing. Is that going to keep your feet headed in the direction that you want to go? And we can either do two things with that. We can either let our pride puff us up and be like, he's going to tell me what to do. Who do you think you are calling me out like that? But scripture says here, iron sharpens iron and iron when it comes a lot of times there may be sparks. There's a little heat. There's a little sharpening. There's something that has to happen to take the dull edge off for it to be sharpened. They're going to be people that point you to Jesus. And this is necessary. Are you pointing people to Jesus? Are you staying silent when a racist joke is being said by people who you know are believers? I was talking to a girl once and we were talking about like the whole racism and different, you know, topics. And I was asking her opinion and she said, it's so hard sometimes as a believer when I hear these comments and my believer friends just stay silent. And they don't say we shouldn't say that. That's somebody who was made in God's image. That was somebody

who God died for, that he loves. And instead when they sit there in silence, it makes me think that they agree with them and that they're okay. I was shocked because I thought, well, if I don't laugh, if I don't say anything, that means I don't agree with them, right? So, what are we doing? Are we iron sharpening iron? Are we standing up for truth? Are we standing up for righteousness? Are we helping us be a better version of us, our friend group in general? A great godly friend will point you to Jesus as iron sharpening iron. The accountability, a friend sharpens a friend, makes them better person. Number two, they've got your back. A godly friend has your back. They are loyal. Proverbs 17, 17 says, a friend is always loyal and a brother is born to help in a time of need. Are you just there for them when it benefits you? Are you there for them on their good days? And then all of a sudden, they're having a bad day. Their life is falling apart. They've got bad news. Something's happening. Maybe their family, like their parents are getting divorced and they're not fun to hang out with anymore. So, you're like, well, I'm just going to go over here with somebody who's a little more fun. Are you loyal? Are you loving them at all times knowing they're going through something that you need to be there for them to encourage them? A friend loves at all times in the good season and in the bad season. And we're all going to have bad seasons. We all go through it. I've had bad seasons. I've been where nobody, I didn't want to be around myself sometimes. I'm like, you are no fun to be around right now. And I'm a pretty positive person, but during seasons, I literally wasn't fun to be around myself. So, there are going to be times that you're going to need those friends to love you. Are you going to love people through their good days and their bad days? A friend loves at all times. They're loyal. They've got your back. They point you to Jesus. They've got your back. Number three, they tell you the truth even when it's hard. And this is something that I wanted to, you know, just kind of talk about for a minute. Proverbs 27.6 says, wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from the enemy. So many times it feels painful when you hear the truth. But that's a true friend. A true friend is like, I see you and you are better than this. They're gonna call you up and they're gonna call you out many times. And many times in your generation that I've noticed is something it's like, well, this

is my truth and if you don't agree with me, you're against me. That is not the truth. You can still love somebody, but not agree with them. You can still look at somebody and say, I know that is what your truth is. Let me tell you what the truth of God's word says about that. But I love you as a person, I see you as a person. Let's just separate the person from this. Love the person, but don't let that truth, don't let people make you think that you have to agree with them because that is their truth. What does the truth of God's word say? And it's hard. They may not agree with you. They may cut you out. They may say you're this, you're that. You know it's not the truth. Have you told the truth in love? Do you have the heart of Christ? Have you told the truth in humility? Have you been like, man, like, I just felt like I'm supposed to say this. You can still love someone and disagree with them. It's okay to have a different opinion, but still love the person. Take them to the truth of God's word. Show them the truth of God's word. Tell them the truth, even when it's hard. For they will pray for you. Pray it through. A good, godly friend prays for you. Do you pray for your friends? Galatians 6.2 says, share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. What we talked about, when you hurt, I hurt.

I'm gonna carry this, and I may not have all the words. You may say, well, I'm not a good, I've heard this a million times, I'm not a good prayer. I don't have good prayers. You have a voice. God wants to hear your voice. It doesn't have to be eloquent. It could be Jesus, help. I need help right now. He doesn't care about your words, it's your heart. And just start talking to him. It's just a conversation. Just be like, Jesus, I need you to be with this person. I need you to help them. Their parents are getting a divorce. They're struggling right now in school because they've gotten this diagnosis, and they feel like it's a label on them. Help them know who they are through you, Jesus. It's you lifting your friends up. Do you do that for other people? Are you lifting them up? James 5, 16 says, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. How awesome to know that as a friend, you have the opportunity to pray for someone and see them find healing through Jesus, to be a part of that. God wants to use you. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. God wants to use you. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. And something I know about prayer is the more you do it, the easier it becomes. I was talking to someone today, like, I remember being in situations where like, you're standing

down front and you're gonna pray with people, they're gonna come down to you. This was years ago and I was like, please God, help no one come to me as I'm standing down here. I'm scared to death. Don't look at people around you and be like, they're great prayers. We had to start somewhere. We literally had to open our mouths, start talking to Jesus and let Holy Spirit work through us. So, you get to start somewhere today. Let it be today. Who around you, which one of your friends need you to pray for them today? Which one of your friends around you today needs God to touch them and heal them in a certain area? Is it mental? Is it from the anxiety and the depression that is plaguing them where they feel unworthy of Christ's love? Maybe they need to be healed mentally and emotionally. Maybe a relationship needs to be healed. They're at fractures with their parents and you're praying that God's gonna restore the relationship with their family. Where is it in their lives that God wants to use you to help them find their healing? And last, a godly friend gives grace. A godly friend gives grace. Colossians 3.13 says, make allowance for each other's faults. And forgive anyone that offends you. Uh-oh, anyone? Everyone? There is nobody getting the fast pass, okay? You're like, God, you did not see what they did. He goes, yes I did, and forgive them anyway.

Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Real friendships aren't perfect. You're gonna mess up, they're gonna mess up, because we're human. That's why we need a savior. That's why we need Jesus. But a godly friend will choose forgiveness and will not keep the score. Who today around you do you need to let go and forgive? Who do you need to be like, man, I'm sure they didn't mean that. I thought that they meant this, but it was really this. And as you get older in life, if you learn this, you're still gonna use it at my age and beyond. I still have conversations with some of my closest friends. I'm like, I heard you say this, is this what you meant? If you're gonna have deep, lasting relationships, godly friendships, these are the tools that you're gonna need. You're gonna have to forgive, because if you don't forgive, you're gonna put up all these fences and you're gonna be lone, fenced in, and nobody's gonna be around you in solitude. And you're not gonna make a difference. You're not gonna be rising up to be the man and the woman God has created you to be. You've got to let it go. Let the forgiveness flow.

Release them to Jesus. Maybe they did intentionally say something that was hurtful. God can take care of it. He is your vindicator. You don't have to go around getting on social media, Snap, whatever, and blasting people. Don't be that person. That's not a good friend. If people gossip to you, they're gonna gossip about you. Don't put people around you that do that. And if somebody does come to you with that, you know what you do? You'll be like, have you gone to this person yet? Do they know that you feel this way, that they've done this? Why don't we call them right now? How do you think that would go? Maybe I shouldn't have talked about them. That is not being, a godly friend is bringing the person in who can have an opportunity to change the situation. Gossiping is not from God, and that is not a godly friend. Real friendships aren't perfect, but it's a difference. There's three different friendships. Friendships aren't perfect, and just remember, we've got to forgive a lot. And how you wanna forgive, that's how you wanna receive forgiveness. I need people to forgive me. I say and mess up all the time.

I'm like, oh, that did not come out how I thought it was gonna come out. When I said that, when I did that, I've gotta take some humility and ask for forgiveness. There's one last one thing I'm gonna leave you with is one thing that I learned over, like even at my age, there's reason, season, and lifetime friends. And you'll find in your life that God brings and weaves people in and out of your life, either for a reason, for a season, but then sometime God will give you lifetime friends. And ask him to show you who those people are around you right now. Sometimes in a season, I know, because so many times I wanna hang on to every friend as a lifetime friend. I'm like, this is gonna be my forever friend. You cannot go anywhere. I'm gonna grab onto your ankle and you can take me with you wherever you go. But now God is so good and the Holy Spirit, many times when I meet people, he'll be like, season, enjoy the season, because they may move away, situation may change. Maybe God brought somebody in your path for you to see things in a different perspective. Maybe God brought somebody directly into your path because they knew exactly what you were gonna be going through. Another friend's family just went through a divorce.

Another friend's family just had a big move where they had all of their friends regroup, changing. Like, oh my gosh, all of a sudden, God puts people into your life for a reason, a season, and a lifetime. And ask him today, God, around me, first of all, who in my life is a godly friend? And maybe you don't have anybody in your life right now that's a godly friend. Maybe you are that one person. I would encourage you to start adding, do some big changes, new directions. Think of what would your life look like if I hadn't changed my friend groups over here like I did? With Melissa and Shannon and others, where would I be today? Where will you be in ten years from now if your friend group stayed the same? Are they leading you to Jesus? Are they leading you away from Jesus? And are they going to help you reach the full potential that God has inside of you to be the best man and woman of God? Go ahead and close your eyes. I'm going to pray over you before we close out today and sing a few more songs. But just a time of reflection, you know, like I said, ask God. And I've been in seasons where my friends have changed. And somebody who I seriously thought would be a lifetime, they moved away and like that season was over, my heart felt so empty and I was feeling sorry for myself. And I'm like, I don't have anyone. And God's like, look around. Look around. You're going to be surprised at who I've placed around you. You just haven't noticed them yet. So ask God in this moment. Say, God, who have you put in my life that maybe I'm missing?

Maybe I think they're a little weird. Maybe they're too much of a Jesus freak or like they're too churchy or whatever. But God's like, no, that's the person that I want to put in your life for this season. Because you need that. You need someone who's going to challenge you. You need someone who's going to call you up, who's going to call you out and not let you live down here below who you are called to be. And ask God, say, God, ask God to to be like, God, am I that godly friend we were talking about today? Am I the friend? Could I say those characteristics about myself? That I point people to Jesus, that I'm a loyal friend, that I'm telling people the truth? Even if it's hard, that I'm praying for my friends, that I'm extending grace. God, help me to be the friend that you want me to be today. So that way I can rise up to be the man and woman of God you have called me to be. What type of friend are you and what type of friends do you have? Who is in your circle? Remember the phrase we said, the people you run with will determine the direction you run in. Jesus, I just thank you so much for my friends here this morning and God, how we just had a little chit-chat over coffee. God, talking about our friend groups and how it's so important. And it matters who's in our circle, God. Who's our ride-or-die? Who's our bestie? Who's our tribe? Who's our people? God, it matters. It matters so much. God, if you have called us to reach our friends, we can't do this alone. You have created us for each other, God. And I just thank you, God, that you're showing and revealing to people here today, God, who you want to be in their inner circle, who you want to be around them. Now, we just thank you that they're becoming the godly friends that you're calling them to be today. And God, I just thank you for this time. I pray that as we go into worship, God, you will just seal the words into our hearts and into our minds. And we just love you, Jesus, in your name. Amen. If you've ever experienced me and what I do, I am gonna pray for each of you that raised your hands. And I promise you I wouldn't embarrass you so I don't do that stuff.

But I'd love to pray over you. I'd love to pray with you. I'm down here. I'd love to pray with you. I'd love to just somehow lay hands on you and ask God to make his presence so real to you important that you'll never forget this moment. If you'd let me do that, I would love to. If nobody allows me to do it, I understand that. If one person comes and says, listen, will you pray over me? I need to commit to the presence of God. I need to stop taking the deal. Will you pray over me? If you're like that, you guys, have at it. Let's do some music. And if you want me to pray over you, we can do it. Come on, let me. If nobody comes, I'm just gonna pray over everybody that raised their hands. God bless you if you'll let me pray over you. It's awesome. Anybody else? Just want to pray over you, that's all. Do it. That's real, man. Come on, ladies. Come on, ladies. Let me pray over you. Here's what I need you to do. I want you to put your hand on the person's shoulder next to you. Put your hand on the person's shoulder next to you. Put your one hand on their shoulder. We're going to all connect. Folks, they're still coming. Put your hand on somebody's shoulder. Ladies, come pray. Put your hand on somebody's shoulder. They're still coming. There's young men and young ladies still coming. I just want you to put your hand on somebody's shoulder. Still coming. Still coming. Still coming. Put your hand on somebody's shoulder.

You're welcome to join us. We're not ready to go yet. Come on, God. Make your presence real. Tell her how amazing she is. God, do a work like only you can do. You're incredible, God. I pray none of these young men or young ladies will take the deal. I pray, God, that the presence of your presence will be more important than anything they could ever dream of. Put your hand on somebody's shoulder. Now, here's what we're doing. I'm praying over you. I got my hand on your shoulder so we're all connected. You with me? We're all connected. God, there's some amazing young men and ladies that are right here right now. Some raised their hands out there that didn't feel like they needed to come, and that's okay. Bless them in their journey. Help them, God. Be determined, God, for each person that's here now. On their knees, God. I pray over them, and I ask you, God, in the name of Jesus, touch their lives. May, God, they be like Moses and say, I will not take the deal. I will not. I won't go one more step without your presence. God, may your presence be sight, be real. May we have a passion, a desire for your presence to be about everything we do. Bless them. Bless them in Jesus' incredible name. Bless them.

Amen. God bless you, everybody.