Episode Overview

Title: A Friend Who Sticks Closer
Date: December 17, 2025
Host: Sinclair B. Ferguson (Ligonier Ministries)

In this reflective devotional episode, Sinclair B. Ferguson explores the deep spiritual comfort found in Jesus’ abiding friendship, especially during the Christmas season—a time that can heighten feelings of loneliness and personal burden. Drawing from both Scripture and a heartfelt family anecdote, Ferguson invites listeners to experience the "expulsive power of a new affection" for Christ, the only friend who unfailingly stays closer than a brother.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Challenge of Loneliness at Christmas

[00:07]

• Ferguson acknowledges how Christmas, despite its festivities, can be a deeply lonely time, even when surrounded by others.

• He quotes Lamentations 1:12 to capture the sense of abandonment some may feel:

  “Is it nothing to you? All you who pass by, look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.”

• Personal or unshared burdens can intensify during the holiday season, making individuals feel isolated while the rest of the world moves on.

2. The Need for a New Affection—And Where It Comes From

[02:05]

• The central principle:

  “What we all need is a new affection for the Lord Jesus. And that's not something we can work up. Only the Lord Jesus himself can give us that new affection through His Holy Spirit. It needs to come from the outside to the inside and not the other way around.”

• Ferguson stresses that spiritual renewal is a gift, not a self-generated effort.

3. A Family Story: The Christmas Card

[03:10]

• Ferguson, typically private about family, shares a rare personal story.

• His young son made a Christmas card with a non-traditional verse: Proverbs 18:24.

• The card read:

  “There are friends who pretend to be friends...”
  (with ellipses running to the card’s edge)
  Turning the card revealed:
  “But there is a friend,” and on the back, the single word: “Jesus.”

• This imaginative use of an "obscure text" at Christmas was both amusing and moving, illustrating the unique insight children can have into the Gospel.

4. Jesus: The Friend Who Sticks Closer

[05:20]

• Ferguson connects the verse to its ultimate fulfillment in Christ:

  “Yes, there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And yes, his name is the name that he was given from his birth, Jesus, because he'll save his people from their sins.”

• The story symbolizes how the presence of Christ brings comfort, especially amid personal loss or loneliness.

5. Extending the Message—An Audible Christmas Card

[07:00]

• Ferguson offers an "audible Christmas card" to listeners:
  • Front: A stable scene.
  • Inside: “There are friends who pretend to be friends, and that's for sure.”
  • Turn the page for the main message: “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
  • And finally, on the back: “Jesus.”
• The point: No matter our circumstances or sense of solitude, Jesus is the true friend whose love has the power to “expel” gloom and loneliness.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On spiritual renewal and new affection:

  "Only the Lord Jesus himself can give us that new affection through His Holy Spirit. It needs to come from the outside to the inside and not the other way around."
  (Sinclair B. Ferguson, 02:15)

• On feeling exposed by his child’s card:

  "I almost felt as though he was exposing us as pretend friends. But then he added in smaller letters the words 'but there is a friend...' and after a moment of puzzle, we turned over the page to find the conclusion... Jesus."
  (Sinclair B. Ferguson, 04:15)

• The culmination of the gospel in the child’s creativity:

  "Yes, there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And yes, his name is the name that he was given from his birth, Jesus, because he'll save his people from their sins."
  (Sinclair B. Ferguson, 05:20)

• Summing up the takeaway:

  "He is the expulsive power in your life of a new affection that will dispel loneliness even if you're on your own. And I pray that that will be true for all of us today."
  (Sinclair B. Ferguson, 08:10)

Segment Timestamps

• [00:07] – Introduction & context: Christmas as a season of potential loneliness.
• [02:05] – The “expulsive power of a new affection” for Christ.
• [03:10] – Personal family story about the Christmas card.
• [05:20] – The fulfillment of Proverbs 18:24 in Jesus.
• [07:00] – An "audible Christmas card" for listeners with the core message about Jesus’ friendship.

Conclusion

With gentle encouragement and personal warmth, Sinclair Ferguson reminds listeners that, regardless of one’s circumstances, the closeness and love of Jesus Christ can dispel even the deepest loneliness. The episode frames Jesus not merely as an abstract theological figure but as the ever-present, compassionate friend who is the answer to the soul’s need for connection and affection, particularly in the Christmas season.