EVERYBODY NEEDS A FRIEND PART 1
TEXT - 1 SAMUEL 18: 1-4
Introduction
I was glancing through the TV guide and I noticed on several occasions there was one movie in particular that was shown ten different times. It wasn’t always on the same channel. The title of the movie was, “It’s a Wonderful Life” staring Jimmy Stewart.
How many of you have ever seen that movie before?
It’s a real classic. I’ve watched it many times in the past, but this week I watched it again. It is a movie that I think apply portrays our need today for friends.
In the movie, Jimmy Stewart is portrayed as one of those nice guys who always seems to come up with the short end of the stick.
He has all these fine plans and great ideas to travel throughout the world. He’s enthusiastic about what lies ahead of him in his life. But before he is able to do any of the things he desires to do, his father dies and he is forced to take over the family savings and loan company that they have been working in for many years.
So, now he must spend most of his time trying to keep the family company solvent, but at the same time he still has these hopes that he will one day see the world and do the things he has always wanted to do.
He thinks that when his brother comes home from college he will be able to leave town and go out into the world and see everything he has always wanted to see.
But when his brother does come home from college, Jimmy Stewart learns that he is married and that he wants to enter the Air Force because of the war.
As a result, Jimmy Stewart isn’t able to leave town and has to continue working the family savings and loan company. He’s stuck at home and unable to see the world.
His brother becomes a hero in the Air Force while he’s selling homes and doing special drives for the war effort.
When the it is learned that his Uncle has lost a bank deposit and that he might have to go to prison, Jimmy Stewart decides that life just isn’t worth living any longer.
He was feeling so bad, that he went to the local bridge and was getting ready to jump into the icy river when all of a sudden an angel jumped in just before him. As a result Jimmy Stewart jumped in to rescue the angel.
Afterwards, Jimmy Stewart tells the angel that he wished he had never been born, and the angel grants his wish. From that moment on, his whole life was different. It was as if he had never been born. No one knows him, not his friends, neighbors, not even his wife and mother. You know it’s a bad day when your own mother doesn’t even recognize you! All the businesses in town have changed. His families building and loan is no longer in existence. The wicked Mr. Potter, the local banker, now owns the entire town. Even the town’s name has changed to “Pottersville.”
Through all these experiences, Jimmy Stewart comes to realize that the life he had before was really wonderful compared to the life he now has.
Have you ever come to that point in your own life; when you realize that life is truly wonderful?
When Jimmy Stewart realized that, he then began to wish that he was alive again. As a result his angel granted his wish. As Jimmy Stewart ran back into town to his home and family filled with joy over being alive again his wife ran into the house and tells him that the entire town has rallied behind him and is on their way to help him with the debt he owes. As the people line up, they give him all the money they could spare to pay back the $8,000 debt so he doesn’t have to go to prison.
In the last scene at the very end of the movie, Jimmy Stewart says, “No man is poor who has friends.”
Our text this morning is found in 1 Samuel 18:1-4 and the title of my message is, “Everybody Needs A Friend.”
In life we have an assortment of friends. Some are casual friends, others are close friends and still others are intimate friends.
Most of us have a lot of casual friends, and few intimate friends. Every year we meet between 2000 to 2500 new people. Most of these people are just acquaintances. Some of these people will become casual friends. Even many of the people in our church are only acquaintances with each other. Many aren’t even casual friends. Some of you probably don’t even know the first and last name of the people sitting in front of you or behind you this morning.
Some of you might not have any friends at all here at our church. Is that what you really want? Most of you have never been to someone’s house. Is that what you want?
Only about 4 out of the 2500 new people you meet this year will ever become your best friends. Someone you can share your thoughts with, pour your heart out to, and confide in.
Do you have a best friend? In order to make a friend, you have to be a friend.
Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly. (NKJV)
This morning I would like us to look at three benefits of friendship that existed between David and Jonathan.