Believers Church of Statesboro

Lightning McQueen and the incomparable tow truck, Mater, take their friendship to exciting new places in Cars 2 when they head overseas to compete in the first ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But, the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world.

Cars 2 is a celebration of friendship. Mater and Lightning McQueen exhibit the kind of friendship that all of us long for.

Lightning McQueen and Mater Had An Authentic Friendship.

Authenticity seems to be the heart cry of people today.

Authenticity means that you are not trying to be something that you are not. Fanciness may attract people for a while, but friendships will never last unless it is a truly authentic, transparent, and real relationship. This was a lesson that Lightening McQueen learned in the first Cars movie.

But, what about Mater? He is the poster child for authenticity. Mater is just Mater. What you see is what you get.

We should all be more like Mater. But instead, many of us like to put up a front and pretend to be something that we are not so that we will have “friends”.

If you don’t give others a chance to love the “real you,” you will never know that it is possible.

Your fear of rejection is really the fear of man.

Proverbs 29:25-26: The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. Many seek the ruler’s (husband’s, wife’s, friend’s) favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord.

Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

Lightning McQueen and Mater Had A Fanatical Friendship.

Luke 5:17-20 / Mark 2:3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.

Now, that’s fanatical friendship. Sometimes, we do radical things that we wouldn’t normally do, but we do it for a friend.

Lightning McQueen and Mater Had A Splinter-Free Friendship.

It should be obvious that you cannot have a loving, fruitful relationship if it is not built on honesty and trust. In all relationships, there is a temptation to want to “keep the peace at all costs”. This attitude just might “cost” you your relationships if left unchecked.

Like a splinter left in your finger, little misunderstandings, hurts or disappointments that are left inside to fester and get worse will end up controlling your friendship if you don’t get rid of it at the first available opportunity.

Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

When you are hurt in a relationship, you need to say, "Ouch!" That means revealing yourself and coming out of hiding.

Lightning McQueen and Mater Had A Friendship that Believes the Best.

1 Corinthians 13:7 Amplified Bible (AMP) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

Another area that we need to be careful in is coming to wrong conclusions about other people’s actions.

We don’t believe or expect the best out of them. But instead of believing the best, we assumed the worst. How can we hope to know what’s happening in someone’s heart if we don’t care enough about them to take the time to find out?

How Do You Find Real and Authentic Friendship?

1. Show Yourself Friendly.

Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (NKJ)

2. Hang Out With People.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

People aren’t just looking for a friendly church…people are looking for friends.

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (NIV)

3. Be an Encourager.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Who doesn’t love to be around someone who is encouraging them?

Elbert Hubbard wrote, “Your friend is a man who knows all about you, and still likes you.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! (NIV)

“There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being

- to help some one succeed.” Alan Loy McGinnis

4. Join a Life Group or Start Your Own.

Most of us love the thought of an intimate circle of people who know and accept us for who we are and aren’t. We love the idea of belonging and having long-lasting friendships!

It’s this very idea that makes church, and especially “Life Groups”, so appealing.

Life Groups are a place to: Find Answers / Feel Love / Make a Friend.

People have a need to belong.

The traditional church model has implied to people: Behave – Believe – Belong

Life groups reach out to people on the basis of “felt need” or “common interest”, and they say:

Belong – Believe – Behave

Belong first, and when you belong, you will probably start to believe. As a result of believing, you will behave.

Life Groups offer us the opportunity to BELONG, not just to BELONG to other people, but BELONG to Christ Jesus. Like the paralytic man in Luke 5, we need friends who not only take care of us, but also friends who will take us to Jesus as well.

When we group together, Jesus groups with us.

Matt 18:20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (NIV)

We all BELONG to each other.