LONELINESS It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

LONELINESS

ALBERT EINSTEIN

“ It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.”

NEW-SITUATION I’M DIFFERENT NO-SWEETHEART NO-ANIMAL NO-TIME-FOR-ME

TYPES OF
 LONELINESS

UNTRUSTWORTHY-FRIENDS QUIET-PRESENCE

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC? INSIDE OF THE CHURCH OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH

How the World's First Loneliness Minister Will Tackle 'the Sad Reality of Modern Life'

APRIL 2018

“For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life,” May said when announcing the new position. According to a report last year from the Jo Cox Commission

• n Loneliness, more than 9 million people in

Britain—around 14 percent of the population —often or always feel lonely. That costs U.K. employers up to $3.5 billion annually

Tracey Crouch - Minister for Loneliness , UK

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC?

“More Canadians than ever live alone, and almost

• ne-quarter describe themselves as lonely. In

the United States, two studies showed that 40 per cent of people say they’re lonely, a figure that has doubled in 30 years.”

November 2013

Life of solitude: A loneliness crisis is looming

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC?

“ […] the manly pursuit of status, power, wealth and autonomy leads to great rewards in work and play but at the expense of loving, caring friendships.”

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC?

Lonely At The Top - Thomas Joiner

Is the Church Breeding Loneliness?

“ Many of our churches today have left behind that picture of the family of God, though. The contemporary Western church’s “absolutely low or nonexistent culture of family of God” has fostered an unparalleled depth

• f loneliness, with single women

in particular buried at the bottom.”

The Gospel Comes with a House Key - Rosaria Butterfield

Is the Church Breeding Loneliness?

“ There’s a sense that our church structures have made people more lonely […] People can just come as they please. If they’re really unknown, they’re not getting plugged into any smaller forms of community.” […]

Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much - Ashley Hales

Is the Church Breeding Loneliness?

“ […] Part of it is changing cultural expectations of church […] We want church to be this customizable religious experience […]”

Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much - Ashley Hales

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC?

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC?

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone;

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC?

the man should be alone;

LONELINESS: AN EPIDEMIC?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT LONELINESS TO INDIVIDUALS & COMMUNITIES?

the man should be alone;

INDIVIDUALS COMMUNITY

PSALM 142

1 With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my

voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before

• him. 3 When my spirit faints within me, you know

my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.

PSALM 142

5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my

portion in the land of the living.” 6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me!

7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to

your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

INDIVIDUALS

THE LONELINESS OF DAVID

INDIVIDUALS

THE LONELINESS OF DAVID

INDIVIDUALS

THE LONELINESS OF DAVID

INDIVIDUALS

THE LONELINESS OF DAVID

THE LONELINESS OF DAVID PSALM 142: 03 PARTS

INDIVIDUALS

• 1. DON’T WASTE YOUR LONELINESS (1-3a)
• 2. DON’T BE SUPERFICIAL ABOUT

YOUR LONELINESS (3b-5)

• 3. DON’T TRY EVERYTHING TO DEAL

WITH YOUR LONELINESS (6 & 7)

THE LONELINESS OF DAVID PSALM 142: 03 PARTS

INDIVIDUALS

01 - DON’T WASTE YOUR LONELINESS (1-3a)

1 With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my

voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before

• him. 3 When my spirit faints within me, you know

my way!

INDIVIDUALS

DISTRESS FAINTING DESPERATE

C.H. SPURGEON

“ You will never know the fulness of Christ until you know the emptiness of everything else but Christ.”

02 - DON’T BE SUPERFICIAL ABOUT YOUR LONELINESS (3b-5)

3 In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap

for me. 4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. 5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

INDIVIDUALS

DESCRIBING AFFIRMING ASKING

INDIVIDUALS

03 - DON’T TRY EVERYTHING TO DEAL WITH YOUR LONELINESS (6 & 7)

6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low!

Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! 7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

UNDERSTANDING PROTECTING PROVIDING

JESUS

“ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” Matthew 27:46

JESUS’ OWN LONELINESS

INDIVIDUALS

If loneliness means rejection (not loved) and disconnection (not-belonging) , in Jesus, he loved you before the foundation of the world, and welcomed you into God’s Family.

JESUS’ OWN LONELINESS

INDIVIDUALS COMMUNITY

JESUS

HOLY SPIRIT

?

JESUS WAY TO END LONELINESS

INDIVIDUALS COMMUNITY

JESUS

HOLY SPIRIT

?

16And I will ask the Father, and he will

give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. - John 14:16,17

JESUS WAY TO END LONELINESS

INDIVIDUALS COMMUNITY

JESUS

HOLY SPIRIT

?

JESUS WAY TO END LONELINESS

INDIVIDUALS

6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low!

Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! 7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

PSALM 142

1 SAMUEL 23:15-18

15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his

• life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at
• Horesh. 16And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and

went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to

• you. Saul my father also knows this.” 18And the

two of them made a covenant before the. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

1 SAMUEL 23:15-18

15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his

• life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at
• Horesh. 16And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and

went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” 18And the two of them made a covenant before the. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

• REMIND OF GOD’S PROMISSES (1 Sam 23:17)
• A COVENANT ( Sam 23:18)
• TAKE INITIATIVE (1 Sam. 23:16a)
• POINT TO GOD (1 Sam. 23:16b)

LONELINESS: INDIVIDUAL & COMMUNITY

INDIVIDUALS COMMUNITY

JESUS

HOLY SPIRIT

YOU

JESUS WAY TO END LONELINESS

When life hits us hard When sorrow comes at night If our hopes are high If our chances, tight You are here When the days are longer When the week is tougher If the storm arrives And despair endures You are here Lord, we depend on You When it starts to rain Or when we see the sun We depend on You When all we planned has failed When everything is well We depend on You When we feel that all is lost Or we can’t pay the cost If our will is strong But the pain is long You are here Oh God, fill us with your presence Oh God, renew us with your grace Oh God, inspire us with your kindness Let your love flow strong on us!

WE DEPEND ON YOU

(A. Buarque / M. Rosa)