Better Together Part 6 "The Loneliest Man in the Bible" Traditional Service Livestream скачать в хорошем качестве

Better Together Part 6 "The Loneliest Man in the Bible" Traditional Service Livestream

Loneliness is an epidemic. According to studies, roughly half of Americans report feeling lonely, left out, lacking companionship, or feeling that no one knows them well. When asked how emotionally close we felt to others, only 39 percent of us said we felt very connected.  Loneliness affects every generation regardless of age. Older Americans experience isolation because of health issues and a shrinking social network. The rate of loneliness among younger generations is roughly 50 percent higher than that of those over age sixty. Only one-third of those between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five indicate they “often feel deeply cared for by those around me.” Only 17 percent report feeling a deep social connection with others. Jesus gets it. He understands what loneliness is and what it does to a person. Some suggest He may have been the loneliest human in history. Isaiah described the Messiah in bleak terms: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The Bible is full of lonely people. Practically everyone who tried to follow God experienced loneliness and isolation as a result. Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Elijah, Paul, etc. But the loneliest person in the Bible is Jesus. Jesus comes into the world alone and He leaves alone. Jesus is alone in the garden, alone in the desert and on the mountain and on the shore. When He hangs on a cross, He cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Feeling abandoned by God, betrayed by His friends, and rejected by the world. In that moment Jesus experiences the unbearable pain of loneliness. In our world, to be different is to feel and experience loneliness. And yet Jesus calls us to be different, thereby ensuring that at times we will feel alone. To the epidemic of loneliness, the church offers two remedies and solutions: community and Jesus. We were created for community. We were created for each other. Jesus gets us. He gets our feelings of loneliness. Jesus was lonely but never alone. If Jesus is with us, we are never alone.