Adults

Posts Tagged groups

Aug
10
Group Leader

3 BIG Things for this Week: August 16

Each week we will share the NEXT step that Pastor Mike will present to our congregation, a Group CHALLENGE, and a BEST practice for groups. **BONUS** a special word from Pastor Mike video.

  • NEXT Step: Join a group – we all need a pattern to follow.
  • Group CHALLENGE: Are you and your group serving the community? See the following for a great opportunity from our local missions team:

As a church we are gathering names of people who have been on the frontlines during the Covid-19 pandemic. Will you help us form this list by passing on the names of those within your group (or even your sphere of influence even if unchurched) who fit this category, e.g. medical (doctors, nurses, any office or hospital worker), food service, front line (grocery, mail, etc.), teachers (admin, support staff, custodial staff), etc. We’d like to partner with you to provide them a gift basket or blessing box kind of outreach. Please send names to [email protected]

  • BEST Practice: Going in service to the nations is core to being a disciple. Have someone in your group share about a mission trip experience and what God did in their life through it. Then, lead the group in prayer about how you all can participate, go, or send/sponsor someone to the nations. Also, check out missions at Brentwood Baptist.

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.