“Holy Risk” Sermon Series, Week 1, Fifth Sunday of Easter – Rev. Kollin Absher-Baer (First on Chatham)

First Cary UMC’s First on Chatham Sermon – Rev. Kollin Absher-Baer – May 3. 2026

The Risk of Friendship: Choosing Vulnerability: There’s a popular joke that Jesus’s greatest miracle was keeping twelve close friends in his 30s. In the digital age, analog friendships are becoming increasingly rare. True friendship requires risk - the risk of vulnerability, loyalty, and love that mirror the enfleshed heart of God in Christ, who walked with close friends. Cue Jonathan, the son of Israel’s first King, Saul. Jonathan could have easily sided with his father’s plot to kill David, but instead risked status, power and safety to befriend David, becoming his closest ally. Their covenant friendship mirrors God’s faithful love toward us. Faith grows when we risk being known and loved - and when we choose to love others without guarantee.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 18:1–5