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May
22
F Leader

Friendship, part 1

Friends generally make life better. Our very own LIFE Group leader Ken Marler has learned in his LifeWay research that one of the primary indicators about whether someone remains in the church (and groups in particular) is whether or not they make a friend in the church. Such is the same for those yet to believe among our unchurched neighbors and co-workers: can we be Christian witnesses to them through authentic friendship? For this week, reflect on this list about biblical friendship from biblestudytools.com: “What Does the Bible Say about Friendship”.

May
15
F Leader

Loneliness is Killing People . . . well, Sorta

I wanted to kickoff a series about loneliness as one of the major contemporary curses in our community. A meta-analysis study published in 2015 show an increased likelihood of mortality of 29% for social isolation, 26% for loneliness, and 32% for living alone.1 Loneliness is actually shortening lives.
Reflect on Acts 2.46 as you read the statistics below: “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting TOGETHER in the temple, and broke bread from HOUSE to HOUSE.” From a Cigna survey of more than 20,000 adults ages 18 and older concerning loneliness measured against the UCLA Loneliness Scale:

  • Nearly half of Americans report sometimes or always feeling lonely or left out;
  • One in four Americans rarely or never feel as though there are people who really understand them;
  • Two in five Americans sometimes or always feel that their relationships are not meaningful and that they are isolated from others;
  • One in five people report they rarely or never feel close to people or feel like there are people they can talk to;
  • Only around half of Americans have meaningful in-person social interactions on a daily basis;
  • Generation Z (adults ages 18-22) is the loneliest generation.2

Groups are the remedy. The church has been designed to do community better than any other “institution” in history. We’re created for it; liberated for it; and empowered for it through the work of our Triune God. Begin praying about battling loneliness in your neighborhood.
 

1. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Timothy B. Smith, Mark Baker, Tyler Harris, David Stephenson, “Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review,” in Perspectives on Psychological Science 10, 2 (2015). Accessed https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691614568352?journalCode=ppsa on May 15, 2019.
2. Ellie Polack, “Research Puts Spotlight on the Impact of Loneliness in the U.S. and Potential Root Causes.” Accessed https://www.cigna.com/newsroom/news-releases/2018/new-cigna-study-reveals-loneliness-at-epidemic-levels-in-america on May 15, 2019.