Study Guides

¹²“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

First, Jesus brings us all the way in. He holds back nothing of God’s ultimate plan for us, and he leaves no questions unanswered about whether we are loved, whether we are saved, whether we are his. Nothing that we truly need to know remains unsaid between God and us. Jesus said to his disciples: “I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

Second, Jesus never lets us down. He lived for us, died for us, rose again for us, and is coming back for us. He has covered our past, our present, and our future, and he gives his Spirit to be with us until he returns. That’s never letting us down. And he calls us to be his friends. Only two people in the entire Bible prior to Jesus were called friends of God: Abraham and Moses. In John 15, suddenly there are twelve friends of God. Now, there are billions.

How can we give thanks to God for his friendship in this group? How can we celebrate the friendships that we have with each other in this group?

How can we give thanks to Jesus for his friendship with us?

Think about fruit. It is organic, cannot be forced, and is part of the integrated life of a plant. How can we draw others into friendship with God — not with programs or challenges or methods, but as part of bearing fruit? Remember that we do this with the promise that, “You will love one another.”

In light of all of this, take time to discuss your group’s successes and highlights from the year, as well as challenges experienced and expectations for the future.