A Cure for Loneliness
A CURE FOR LONELINESS
1 KINGS 19
What is Elijah dealing with? LONELINESS (And he’s not alone)
1. I am like a pelican in the wilderness, I am like an owl of the desert. I lie awake and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop (Psalm 102).
2. Loneliness is the most devastating malady of this age (Paul Ternier)
3. Loneliness is the number 1 illness in America (Billy Graham)
4. Loneliness is the central and inevitable fact of human existence (Thomas Wolfe)
5. I am very lonely (H.G. Wells)
6. Janis Joplin talking to a friend after a concert, ‘After I come off the stage all I do is sit around and watch TV. I am so lonely.’ She then overdosed on drugs and died.
7. 40% of Americans admit to frequent feelings of intense loneliness
8. An add in a Kansas Newspaper read, ‘I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.’ She ended up receiving 10-20 calls a day.
What is loneliness?
*Remember, loneliness is NOT the same thing as being alone
1. You can be most lonely in a crowded room
2. I was most lonely at college surrounded by kids my age
3. David Henry Thorough defined a city as ‘a place where hundreds of people are lonely together.’
4. Solitude, being alone, can be a great thing
a. Matthew 14:13,23
b. Mark 1:35,45
c. Luke 4:42, 5:16
d. John 6:15
e. 1 Timothy 5:5
5. Loneliness is not isolation. Loneliness is insulation. It is feeling cut off, unwanted, unneeded, unloved, unnecessary.
What Causes Loneliness?
L-Loss (ie. Death of a loved one)
O-Obedience ‘Be good and you will be lonely (Mark Twain)
N-Neglect ‘Loneliness and the feelings of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty’
E-Exclusion
L-Lord (Psalm 4:3)
I-Insecurity
N-Narcissism
E-Evolution (a recent study says college students are the most lonely group
S-Shyness (people are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges)
S-Society (automatic garage door openers, back patio, privacy fence)
What are the effects of loneliness
It’s crippling….(Job 7:16, 1 Kings 19:3-5, Jeremiah 20:14-15)
1. 50% of people that have heart attacks report feeling depressed and lonely prior to it
2. 80% of people seeking psychiatric help do so primarily b/c of loneliness
3. Suicide, alcoholism, overeating, under-eating, no sleep, too much sleep, etc
4. No wonder God said it is not good for man to be alone
What is the cure for loneliness?
Faith in God- God met with Elijah in a whisper
1. Deut. 31:6-8
2. James 4:4
3. There is no such thing as pure solitude, only feeling alone
4. Helen Keller had every reason to be feel lonely, but with the help of Ann Sullivan she learned to communicate with the outside world.
a. Ann: I want to tell you about God today, the one who created us
b. Helen: Good. I’ve been thinking about Him for a long time
5. God is real. He can reveal Himself to us in the loneliest places.
Fellowship- God made new contacts for Elijah
1. Friends
2. Family
3. Fellowship of believers
Yet, we still experience loneliness. Something is wrong with fellowship, something has corrupted it…but what?
Why does loneliness linger?
The yeast of the Pharisees
Hypocrisy
Luke 12:1
Gandhi- I like your Christ, I just don’t like your Christians
Hypocrisy is a show, it’s all external, it’s preaching w/o practicing, it’s lying
How might church people be hypocrites?
The yeast of the Sadducees
Doubt
Matthew 16:6-12
More political than religious
Sadduceeism is having to have everything figured out naturalistically
It is never being in awe
How do church people be Sadducees?
The yeast of Herod
Greed
Mark 8:15
Power and wealth was their goal
How do church people do this (TV)
The old yeast
Immorality
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Immorality can devastate a church
Divorce rates, etc are same in church and world
The yeast of the law
Legalism
Galatians 5:1-9
What is legalism?
What are some examples?
The church grows the right way when these 5 things are absent
The church grows the wrong way when they are present
It is interesting that church growth in Acts occurred when the opposite of these 5 traits were present:
When the people are sincere
When the people are in awe
When the people are givers
When the people are pure
When the people live under grace
If we copy the early church in these ways, the church will be part of the cure for loneliness
1 KINGS 19
What is Elijah dealing with? LONELINESS (And he’s not alone)
1. I am like a pelican in the wilderness, I am like an owl of the desert. I lie awake and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop (Psalm 102).
2. Loneliness is the most devastating malady of this age (Paul Ternier)
3. Loneliness is the number 1 illness in America (Billy Graham)
4. Loneliness is the central and inevitable fact of human existence (Thomas Wolfe)
5. I am very lonely (H.G. Wells)
6. Janis Joplin talking to a friend after a concert, ‘After I come off the stage all I do is sit around and watch TV. I am so lonely.’ She then overdosed on drugs and died.
7. 40% of Americans admit to frequent feelings of intense loneliness
8. An add in a Kansas Newspaper read, ‘I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.’ She ended up receiving 10-20 calls a day.
What is loneliness?
*Remember, loneliness is NOT the same thing as being alone
1. You can be most lonely in a crowded room
2. I was most lonely at college surrounded by kids my age
3. David Henry Thorough defined a city as ‘a place where hundreds of people are lonely together.’
4. Solitude, being alone, can be a great thing
a. Matthew 14:13,23
b. Mark 1:35,45
c. Luke 4:42, 5:16
d. John 6:15
e. 1 Timothy 5:5
5. Loneliness is not isolation. Loneliness is insulation. It is feeling cut off, unwanted, unneeded, unloved, unnecessary.
What Causes Loneliness?
L-Loss (ie. Death of a loved one)
O-Obedience ‘Be good and you will be lonely (Mark Twain)
N-Neglect ‘Loneliness and the feelings of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty’
E-Exclusion
L-Lord (Psalm 4:3)
I-Insecurity
N-Narcissism
E-Evolution (a recent study says college students are the most lonely group
S-Shyness (people are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges)
S-Society (automatic garage door openers, back patio, privacy fence)
What are the effects of loneliness
It’s crippling….(Job 7:16, 1 Kings 19:3-5, Jeremiah 20:14-15)
1. 50% of people that have heart attacks report feeling depressed and lonely prior to it
2. 80% of people seeking psychiatric help do so primarily b/c of loneliness
3. Suicide, alcoholism, overeating, under-eating, no sleep, too much sleep, etc
4. No wonder God said it is not good for man to be alone
What is the cure for loneliness?
Faith in God- God met with Elijah in a whisper
1. Deut. 31:6-8
2. James 4:4
3. There is no such thing as pure solitude, only feeling alone
4. Helen Keller had every reason to be feel lonely, but with the help of Ann Sullivan she learned to communicate with the outside world.
a. Ann: I want to tell you about God today, the one who created us
b. Helen: Good. I’ve been thinking about Him for a long time
5. God is real. He can reveal Himself to us in the loneliest places.
Fellowship- God made new contacts for Elijah
1. Friends
2. Family
3. Fellowship of believers
Yet, we still experience loneliness. Something is wrong with fellowship, something has corrupted it…but what?
Why does loneliness linger?
The yeast of the Pharisees
Hypocrisy
Luke 12:1
Gandhi- I like your Christ, I just don’t like your Christians
Hypocrisy is a show, it’s all external, it’s preaching w/o practicing, it’s lying
How might church people be hypocrites?
The yeast of the Sadducees
Doubt
Matthew 16:6-12
More political than religious
Sadduceeism is having to have everything figured out naturalistically
It is never being in awe
How do church people be Sadducees?
The yeast of Herod
Greed
Mark 8:15
Power and wealth was their goal
How do church people do this (TV)
The old yeast
Immorality
1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Immorality can devastate a church
Divorce rates, etc are same in church and world
The yeast of the law
Legalism
Galatians 5:1-9
What is legalism?
What are some examples?
The church grows the right way when these 5 things are absent
The church grows the wrong way when they are present
It is interesting that church growth in Acts occurred when the opposite of these 5 traits were present:
When the people are sincere
When the people are in awe
When the people are givers
When the people are pure
When the people live under grace
If we copy the early church in these ways, the church will be part of the cure for loneliness
posted by matthew at 3:56 PM
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