Last week, I told you story of my old neighbour who helped build a deck.  He nicely represented the transition from strangers to neighbours to acquaintances to partners.  Today we’ll go one step further.  We’ll talk about becoming friends with those we work with, those we help, and those we live around.

When I was a volunteer paramedic, I remember one partner in particular.  We did several shifts together, and on calls he was always nervous, and second-guessing himself, which could be challenging to work with.  One day, he invited me to supper.  I met his family, saw his home and farm, and in the process learned about him and his values.  The next shift we had together was different.  I found we could communicate better, and I could anticipate his moves.  Debriefing the call afterwards was easier.  I knew this quirks, where they came from, and could work from a place of partnership and friendship rather than tolerance.

This has wider application than the workplace, but some good examples of how important this is follow from a few studies:

50 percent of employees with a best friend at work reported that they feel a strong connection with their company, compared to just 10 percent of employees without a best friend at work.  (A 2012 Gallup report which found that)

People planning to stick with their current job cited “good relationship with co-workers” as the major reason (67%) – above “job satisfaction” (63%), “flexible working arrangements” (57%) and even salary (which ranked seventh at 46%).  A 2013 survey of 2,223 business people across Australia

In the same way, being a follower of Jesus isn’t just about doing transactions, like dealing with other followers of Jesus because you have to, or caring for others in need simply because it looks good.

We’re actually meant to become friends with those we care for, and those we care with.  Not every single one to the same degree maybe, but we are actually meant to have a relationship with those we encounter in this life, and not simply use people or tolerate others.

We’ll focus this week on those we care for, those we’ve been talking about all along, and becoming friends.

Question: When have you unexpectedly “hit it off” with someone at work?

Ryan Sim - November 12, 2013

Tuesday - Study It - God in Worship

Becoming Like Family

This week, we’re exploring how a church community should be committed to connectedness to God in worship. Humans will never be more connected to God than in the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God. The Bible includes the book of Revelation, which recounts John’s vision of the kingdom of heaven. Here’s what he described about angels, and then humans: Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE Lord GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME." Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Revelation 4:8-11) Even in the kingdom, there is worship. The word may not appear in this reading, but the core meaning is there. Worship means “to give worth to something.” And the words “you are worthy” are right at the beginning of the words the elders say in their heavenly worship. You can tell what someone values by how they spend money, time. You can see what’s worth their limited resources. Worship is spending our limited time on God. It’s an expression of love. In our Marriage and Parenting courses, we introduce the five love languages. Some communicate and receive love through words, touch, acts of service, time, and others through gifts. In the same way, we can show love to God through various “languages”. Worship includes prayer, and music, confessing sins, asking forgiveness, reminding ourselves what we believe, reading the Bible together, and more. All aspects of how communities of Christians worship. These are all ways to communicate God’s worth in our eyes. You can see it in this reading. The elders say, “You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power” but then they tell him why: he is the creator of everything. He knows all this, of course. But this is a time for humans, mortals, to feed that back to him. To acknowledge he is at the cetner of our lives, not the periphery, and we’re not going to deny it. Question: How do you know someone values you? What do they say, do, or not? Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.

Related Topics: God, Worship | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

From Series: "Becoming Like Family"

This series looks at becoming “like family” with others learning to follow Jesus. We're exploring how the church is not a building, institution or event, but a community of people. It's important that explore what church means as we prepare to launch a new church in Ajax in 2014.

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