Our Spring series is dealing with the theme of friendship.
We are looking at the lives of Bible characters who teach and model for us some great qualities that we should possess and seek in those who would be friends on our life journey.
An overriding principle we've learned is the importance of choosing wisely those who would be closest to us.

Today we're looking at one of the friends of Jesus who could be the poster child for the words grateful, helpful, and faithful.

On Thursday we celebrated National Best Friends Day which congress made a holiday in 1935. The purpose was to devote a day to celebrating close friendships.
Research shows that spending time with close friends has some pretty surprising health benefits.

Last week we talked about the Apostle Paul and how he continually was gathering people around him as friends and coworkers in the ministry.
This was very characteristic of Jesus also. He was very people oriented.
As we read through the Gospels, we can try to think about who some of the Lord's friends were.
We know the Apostles were but there are others like Lazarus, Mary & Martha. Also John the Baptist, and mysterious guys like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
There was Peter's mother-in-law who was healed from an illness and then waited on the Lord. Because Jesus spent time in this home, a relationship would have grown. There were crowds of people who Jesus would have spent days walking to and from Jerusalem with during the many religious pilgrimages.
And we can't forget the Samaritan woman (at the well), the royal official of Capernaum whose son was healed by the Lord, or the tax collector named Zacchaeus.

Questions:
Have you met Jesus on your life road? Would you call Him your acquaintance, friend, or best friend and Savior? What would He refer to you as, when He talks to His Father God?

This morning we are looking at a single person who spent a lot of time with the Lord. This person's life could easily fit into a dictionary to define what we mean by the words, grateful, helpful and faithful.
Luke 8:1-3 is the first chronological introduction to this person. But it is obvious from the text that the relationship between these two had existed for a long time.

The character we are looking at today is Mary (called Magdalene).
She is associated with the town called Magdala, which was a prosperous fishing town on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee.
Background:

1. Mary was referenced 12-14 times in the New Testament (depending on your version) making her the 8th most mentioned woman in the Bible.

2. What we know about Mary is what the Scripture teaches us and not what religious or cultural history has formed out of guess work or personal preferences.

3. Christ had met this woman before Luke 8, but the details of that meeting are not given.

4. Mary had been delivered from evil spirits (7 in total).

5. Mary and other women had followed Jesus for a long period of time. It seems as if they had some degree of wealth and privilege as they could be called "financial supporters" of Jesus' ministry.

6. Mary is listed with other groups of women and her name is always first indicating that she had a place of honor and respect.

7. Mary was with a few others as Jesus suffered on the cross and she remained there until His body was taken down. Then she stayed and watched where He was buried.

8. She and other women, followers of the Lord, approached the tomb on Easter Morning and discovered that the tomb was empty.

9. Mary was the first witness of the empty tomb. She met the risen Lord and shared that "Good News" with the Apostles.

Again, as with all the characters we've been talking about in this series, there are a great many truths, lessons, and applications that we can gather for our lives.
Today we're just going to focus on three lessons that we can learn from Mary's encounter with Jesus.

Mary's encounter with Jesus...

1. CHANGED her life and made her GRATEFUL.

1 John 4:4
If you have truly encountered Jesus - been forgiven and born again - then your life should show signs of change, outwardly and inwardly. Your friendship with the Lord will be noticed by others and influence their life.

2. CAUSED her to be HELPFUL to the Lord's ministry.

True conversion leads us to understanding that life isn't all about me, life is all about Thee. Where are you serving in your local church and in your community? Are you building friendships with people and then helping them practically and spiritually?

3. COMPELLED her to be FAITHFUL in spite of life's circumstances.

Mary stayed with Jesus even when almost everyone else had deserted Him. She stayed faithful because she really loved Jesus and was committed to Him.

Birthdays and Anniversaries We're Celebrating This Week!

Saturday, June 10th - Brennan Sensiba
Sunday, June 11th - Nichole Hansen
Monday, June 12th - Val VanDuser, Jason Sears, Brooklyn Snider
Tuesday, June 13th - Claire Schafer, Kennedy Schafer
Thursday, June 15th - Alex & Jasmine Bosworth