THe Baggage of Isolation

According to a 2020 report by Cigna, over 60% of Americans reported feeling lonely, a notable increase from previous years. Also a 2018 survey by YouGov found that 30% of Millennials and 22% of Gen Z reported always or often feeling lonely.

Mental Health:

Loneliness has been linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. The CDC reports that social isolation significantly increases a person’s risk of premature death from all causes. And a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that social isolation is associated with about a 50% increased risk of dementia.

Physical Health:

Chronic loneliness is associated with a 29% increased risk of coronary heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke (Heart, 2016). Research from Holt-Lunstad indicates that loneliness and social isolation are twice as harmful to physical and mental health as obesity.

Behavioral Impacts:

Socially isolated individuals are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, excessive drinking, and lack of physical activity.

Economic Impact

Social isolation among older adults is estimated to cost the U.S. healthcare system an additional $6.7 billion annually (AARP, 2017).

Medicare spends an average of $134 more per month for socially isolated older adults compared to those who are socially connected.

The truth is we live in a loneliness epidemic.

Why? Because we weren’t created to be alone. The last Summer Baggage we need to get out of our lives is the baggage of Loneliness. The truth is this: We don’t have to be alone. God has given mankind the community of the church for His glory and our Joy.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

We were created for community (Genesis 2:18)

Genesis 2:18 ESV

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Community is in our DNA. It's the way we were created by our creator.

We have a BIBLICAL MODEL for Community:

Mark 1:16–20 ESV

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Created a Community with His Disciples.

Everything Jesus did was in community with these 12 men. He ate with them, traveled with them, taught them. He did everything with them.

Jim Putman in his book Real Life Ministry stated:

"The reality is that a lot of churches talk about community, but they do not actually live it out. Community is not just about being in the same place; it's about doing life together." — Real-Life Discipleship: Building Churches That Make Disciples

We are called to do life together. That’s what community is.

Jesus is the sovereign creator of all things. He has all the power of the entire universe at his finger-tips. And yet he understood and modeled this.

So why be in community? Well, several years ago, there were a series of books called Chicken Soup for the Soul. THey were filled with stories and quotes to help encourage people. Community is good for YOUR Soul.

Community is for our Soul's HEALTH ( James 5:16; Ecc. 4:9-12)

In this culture, we tend to avoid accountability.

We hide our sins through privacy and secrecy.

We shift the blame to others, deflecting the blame for ourselves saying it’s our family, culture or genetics that leads to our sin.

We embrace relativism that says there are no truths.

We seek out superficial relationships, where we surround ourselves with people who tell us what we want to hear.

We disconnect into digital worlds of facebook, twitter, or video games where we are always the hero and only those voices that tell us how great we are are heard.

James 5:16 ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

First, Community in the church is where accountability and encouragement is supposed to happen.

Paul David Tripp states, “"Accountability is a gift from God. It’s an opportunity to walk alongside one another, to speak truth into each other's lives, and to encourage each other in the fight for faith and holiness."”

i want you to hear this. Accountability is for your good. It’s a gift. James is encouraging this. If you avoid accountability, then you have a pride issue.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 ESV

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

How often do we seek out, not people how agree with us, but people who are honest with us. We need accountability.

Community is for our Spiritual GROWTH (Proverbs 27:17)

Proverbs 27:17 ESV

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Christ commands us to be in community with one another for our spiritual growth. A Christ-Centered Community matters for our growth in Christ. But we must be in community and willing to be a Christ-centered community.

Ephesians 4:15–16 ESV

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

A Christ-Centered Community:

Stirs Up

It isn’t just there to make each other comfortable. Comfort is the enemy of Growth. It’s inevitable.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. Comfort and ease are not part of the Christian call. We are to be prepared for suffering and sacrifice."

Speaks Up

It doesn’t just stir up, it speaks up. It speaks the truth in love, yes, but it speaks the truth. We grow because people love us enough to ask us the tough questions.

Community Accomplishes Our Savior's MISSION (1 Corinthians 12:20-21)

1 Corinthians 12:20–21 ESV

As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

Finally, community is essential for accomplishing our Saviors mission: To seek and to save the Lost.

So how can we do this?

We can invite people to hear the word of God preached in Church

Invitation Cards:

2. We can give a gospel tract to people we meet

Tracts at the back of the room.

3. We can write our testimonies out and share with other people.

Testimony worksheets.