God's Cure for Our Loneliness
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But there is a God, He is alive, he is powerfu
Turn your bible to Matthew chapter 1. This time of your is a double edged sword. Its a time of great happiness and joy, but or many people its a time of incredible sadness and loneliness. Especially if you have had tragedy strike during these months. Christmas is such a highly emotional and impacting holiday, and many remember the first Christmas without their loved one.
Last week we looked at Colossians chapter
too top it off suicides increase during this time of year, family fights and addiction increases during this time of year. Many people suffer from a nagging sense of loneliness, even if you are married. Now don’t get the idea that the only people that get lonely are people that are alone. But you can feel lonely in a house full of people. You can feel alone, in a church full of people. You can be married and see each other every day and still feel like you are alone.
On top of this the devil will speak lies to you to further isolate you. He will speak words like people don’t really appreciate you or they are just using you. Your husband could care less if you are around or not, in fact that is why he is always trying to get out and hunt, or ride his dirt bike or spending all his time at work. Because He is just trying to get away from you.
Don’t forget the Lords words concerning the enemy He comes to Steal, kill and destroy. He will steal your joy, your contentment and your happiness, He will kill your soul with lies and trying to make a spiritual pact with you. No one cares for me, (then you repeat) No one cares for me. No one loves you (no one loves me), And he will destroy your soul, your vibrancy. He will do everything, move you elsewhere to keep the world from feeling your impact. he will do anything and everything to keep you from coming alive and Christ and letting that light of yours shine.
If you don’t remember anything else I say today, remember this JESUS, The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s answer to your loneliness. And when you get things lined up with him
Now the irony of this is that the Lord came as a cure to our loneliness.
matthew 1:18
Matthew 1
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Underline that last verse in verse 23. God with us
You see God did not only send His son to come and die so that you might experience the sweet By and By. He came also to walk with you and I in the nasty Now and now. Jesus is God’s answer to your loneliness.
I. Loneliness Is a Common Fact
The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly. -F. Scott Fitzgerald
The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly. -F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thomas Wolfe, who is a famous novelist, said, “Loneliness is far from being a rare and curious phenomenon. It is the central, inevitable fact of human existence.”
Thomas Wolfe, who is a famous novelist, said, “Loneliness is far from being a rare and curious phenomenon. It is the central, inevitable fact of human existence.”
And Dr. Paul Tournier, who is a famous Swiss psychologist, had this to say. He said, “Loneliness is the most devastating malady of the age.” Now that is a big statement: “the most devastating malady of the age.” And again, Dr. Abraham Maslow, famed research analyst, estimates this amazing thought. Listen to this. Here’s a direct quote from this man: “The truth is that the average American citizen does not have a real friend in this world.” That
And Dr. Paul Tournier, who is a famous Swiss psychologist, had this to say. He said, “Loneliness is the most devastating malady of the age.” Now that is a big statement: “the most devastating malady of the age.” And again, Dr. Abraham Maslow, famed research analyst, estimates this amazing thought. Listen to this. Here’s a direct quote from this man: “The truth is that the average American citizen does not have a real friend in this world.” That
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive I. Loneliness Is a Common Fact
And Dr. Paul Tournier, who is a famous Swiss psychologist, had this to say. He said, “Loneliness is the most devastating malady of the age.” Now that is a big statement: “the most devastating malady of the age.” And again, Dr. Abraham Maslow, famed research analyst, estimates this amazing thought. Listen to this. Here’s a direct quote from this man: “The truth is that the average American citizen does not have a real friend in this world.” That
What is loneliness?
What is loneliness?
Its not the same thing as solitude.
Solitude is good ists where we can get away from all the hustle and bustle and recharge. Its a place where we can rediscover our heart after we are burnt up on life.
2. Its not the same as lonsomeness- That is yearning for and missing somone.
Its not the same as lonsomeness- That is yearning for and missing somone.
LONELINESS IS MUCH MORE sinister than that, and it is a state of being were the sinister minister of misery can take your heart and gouge it, wound it and ultimately destroy it . Loneliness is the feeling of being unneeded, uncared for, unwanted and unneccesary.
LONELINESS IS MUCH MORE sinister than that, and it is a state of being were the sinister mionister of misery can take your heart and gouge it, wound it and ultimately destroy it . Loneliness is the feeling of being unneeded, uncared for, unwanted and unneccesary.
Every person has three great needs:
You have a need to love and to be intimate with other people
You have a need to be understood, somebody who knows and really understands you- In fact this is how many affairs start. There comes someone in your life who begins to pay attention to you when you are not getting it at home.
You have a need to be needed and wanted. Husbands this is why the Bible commands you to love your wives and dwell with them with understanding. Because if you don’t watch the enemy will bring someone into her path that will give her the attention she wants to get her in bed. Wives this is why the Bible commands you to respect you husbands. A man doesn’t need to be loved, his great desire is that he is respected.
Reasons People are Lonely
A. People are lonely because they have rejected in the past
Tis is my greatest hurrdle in helping people find healing at this church, to find family and community at this church. We have all had times when someone has rejected us. We have all had people that have handled our heart wrong, maybe they misused and abused the heart and finally rejected you all together. This is what I have discovered hurt people hurt people, and healed people heal people. Maybe it came from a parent that rejected you, or maybe a father that was never there. You know you would think if he was never there in the first place it wouldn't be hard, but the enemy is really good at speaking lies from an early age, and you begin to believe the lie because he was sorry and didn’t stick around mayber there is something wrong with you. People suffer rehection when a spuce walks out on. Or maybe a church, a minister that has rejected you.
Mark Twain said one time, “If a cat sits on a hot stove, he’ll never sit on a hot stove again.” And then he said, “As a matter of fact, he won’t sit on any stove again.” If you’ve been hurt, you’re just afraid to try again. And that’s one reason that people are lonely
B. People Are Lonely Because They Have a Poor Self-Image
Another reason is that some people just have such a poor self-image. They have a basic insecurity. They don’t see themselves as worthy of having friends. They don’t see themselves as worthy of being loved. And they’re afraid to reach out, because they’re afraid that no one will reach back. They have this deep-seated insecurity. They can’t accept others and be accepted by others, because they’ve never really accepted themselves as God has accepted them.
C. People Are Lonely Because They’ve Gone Through Pain and Suffering
C. People Are Lonely Because They’ve Gone Through Pain and Suffering
C. People Are Lonely Because They’ve Gone Through Pain and Suffering
Maybe its the loss of a child, a mate, and they experience such levels of pain that they think to themeslves that no one else could possibly understand what they’ve been through. This is the reason why support groups are so affective. Becasue when you feel like someone can empathize with your pain. But the danger is thinking that you have to have empathy before you can experience intamacy with another person.
When you go through this type of pain it is easy to sink back in your shell and put a do not disturb
D. People Are Lonely Because They Are Self-Centered
Now this is a bigger problem than you might imagine but if you are a self centered person, more than likely you are a lonely person. Yes you may have aquitances, but more than likely you have very few friends if any. I have a relationship like this with a friend that I have been buddies with forever. But you know what he has pushed me out because of his self centeredness. Self centered people are all wrapped up in themselves. They focus all thier time on looking for numero uyno, they get wrapped up in their little hobbies and gadgets, and if they have money they spend excessively on themsleves, They never serve, never encourage. And when they do its usually for some special reason
C. S. Lewis said once, talking about about self-centered people. He said, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one … Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket … of your selfishness … It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” Maybe you’re that way. Maybe you’ve just kind of locked yourself up. But you’re receiving the loneliness that comes with that self-centeredness.
II. Loneliness Is a Crippling Forc
Now, here’s the second thing I want to say: Loneliness is a crippling force. Now we’re not just talking about something incidental. Again, the man said it is a devastating malady.
A. It Cripples You Emotionally
Loneliness may cripple you emotionally. There are few hurts that are deeper than loneliness. This Christmas season there will be people sitting at home whose hearts will be crushed. They imagine everybody else is having a wonderful Christmas but them. One report that I read in doing research on this message said that eighty percent of psychiatrists’ patients say that they sought help because of loneliness—eighty percent! Now if that’s anywhere near true, that’s an amazing thing. It cripples us emotionally.
B. It Cripples You Physically
Let me give you another statistic. It cripples you physically. Another survey pointed out that fifty percent of heart patients were lonely and depressed before they had a heart attack—fifty percent! Physically, there can be a loss of appetite, or maybe overeating. Have you ever seen a lonely person in a restaurant overeating? Watch, you’ll see a lot of them sitting there eating to make up for this loneliness.
C. It Cripples You Spiritually
It can cripple you spiritually. As I say, people become spiritual dropouts. They don’t come to church, because they are closed up in themselves, and they cut themselves off from the very thing they need.
III. Jesus Is God’s Answer to Man’s lonliness
Emmanuel Means: God with us
Isaiah 53:3
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
Hew knew rejection
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Think about his birth- He was born in an INN and there was no room for Him
Think about his birth- He was born in an INN and there was no room for Him
He died alone on a cross- stuck between heaven and earth.
His disciples forsook him.
He couldn’t even die in the city walls. he died outside the city walls in a garbage heap
He bowed his head and cried out Father why has thou forsaken me? he knows what its ike to even be forsook by God . Even His Father had to look away when he was bearing the sins of the world
What does this all mean for you and I?
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Now, listen. If you were listening, in the introduction of this message I told you that human beings have three basic needs.
1.One is to love and be loved: someone that we can be intimate with. Now Jesus meets that need. He is someone that I can love, someone that loves me. I am totally intimate with the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows things about me that even Joyce doesn’t know. He is a friend who knows my heart. He knows all about me.
2. Secondly, we said that we have need of somebody who can understand us, somebody who knows the hurts, the wounds, the joys, the victories, the needs, the frustrations. Jesus understands. I love the prophecy of our Lord in
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
psalms 1 Jesus meets that need. He knows me. He understands me
Jesus meets that need. He knows me. He understands me
3. And then we all have a need to be needed, to be desired, to be wanted. Listen to me. Forget anybody else is here. I’m talking to you up there in the balcony, or down here, over here, over here, or back here. He loves you personally and individually. He does not love all of us; He loves each of us. He is as much your friend as if He had no other friends in the world. He is your own personal Savior. Jesus meets that deep need.
A. Friendship with Jesus Elevates YouB.
A. Friendship with Jesus Elevates YouB.
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive A. Friendship with Jesus Elevates You
A. Friendship with Jesus Elevates You
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
B. Friendship with Jesus Enlarges You
B. Friendship with Jesus Enlarges You
C. Friendship with Jesus Enriches You
C. Friendship with Jesus Enriches You
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive C. Friendship with Jesus Enriches You
“You know, I don’t call you servants; I call you friends, because the servant doesn’t know what his master does.” (John 15:15) What’s the difference between a servant and a friend? A servant is not necessarily told why; he’s only told what: “Just do it!” “Why?” “Because I said so.” “Do it!” But Jesus calls us friends. You see, the slave is told what; the friend is told why. When
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Conclusion
Jesus loves you. Not just all of us; He loves each of us.
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive B. Friendship with Jesus Enlarges You
B. Friendship with Jesus Enlarges You
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.\
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive B. People Are Lonely Because They Have a Poor Self-Image
Another reason is that some people just have such a poor self-image. They have a basic insecurity. They don’t see themselves as worthy of having friends. They don’t see themselves as worthy of being loved. And they’re afraid to reach out, because they’re afraid that no one will reach back. They have this deep-seated insecurity. They can’t accept others and be accepted by others, because they’ve never really accepted themselves as God has accepted them.
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive B. People Are Lonely Because They Have a Poor Self-Image
B. People Are Lonely Because They Have a Poor Self-Image
Bring back up when dealing with pride
Now that is quite a statement. Have you ever had the thought that there is no one out there that can understand you, or there is no one there to help you. Or have you ever came to that place in your life where you thought, is there really a God out there?
When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person’s body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings. Elizabeth Gilbert
Rogers, A. (2017). God’s Answer to Man’s Loneliness. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person’s body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings.
When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person’s body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings.
Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive I. Loneliness Is a Common Fact
Thomas Wolfe, who is a famous novelist, said, “Loneliness is far from being a rare and curious phenomenon. It is the central, inevitable fact of human existence.”