Synopsis

We live in an increasingly lonely world. This was true before the Covid pandemic. The pandemic exacerbated and deepened our experience of loneliness. Often the church is not any better. In church people are friendly but they are not friends. Yet the earliest negative we encounter in Scripture is God’s declaration that it is not good for humankind to be alone (Gen 2:18). In John 15, Jesus makes this incredible statement that he loved his disciples as friends. Then he commands us to love each other as he loves us. Therefore, the normal Christian life is one where we follow Jesus in the company of friends. We need spiritual friends, friends in Christ. In this course we will look at:

• what is spiritual friendship and why we need it;
• the obstacles to spiritual friendship;
• practical ways we can experience spiritual friendship today; and
• the importance of spiritual friendship for ministry.
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Biodata

Rev Dr Tan Soo Inn is a director of Graceworks, a training and publishing consultancy committed to promoting spiritual friendship in church and society. He runs this ministry in partnership with his wife, Bernice. Bernice and Soo Inn have four sons. Soo Inn has worked as a dentist, pastored two churches, and served in a number of parachurch organizations. He is an adjunct lecturer in various seminaries and serves as the chaplain of the Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship, Singapore. Soo Inn has a BDS (dentistry) from the University of Singapore, a ThM in New Testament from Regent College, Vancouver, and a DMin from Fuller Seminary. His primary passions include connecting the Word of God to the struggles of daily life, and the promotion of the discipline of spiritual friendship.