Fearless Week 2: The Giant of Loneliness PDF

‭Fearless (Name TBD)‬ ‭Week 2‬ ‭ he Giant of Loneliness‬ T ‭ oday I want to talk to you about the fear of being alone. Let me start off by asking you some‬ T ‭questions.‬...

‭Fearless (Name TBD)‬ ‭Week 2‬ ‭ he Giant of Loneliness‬ T ‭ oday I want to talk to you about the fear of being alone. Let me start off by asking you some‬ T ‭questions.‬ ‭‬ D ‭ o you ever feel alone even though you are around other people?‬ ‭‬ ‭Do you ever feel an emptiness inside of you like you are missing something in your life?‬ ‭‬ ‭Do you ever feel like no one understands you and that God is a million miles away?‬ I‭f we are honest we would have to say the answer to at least one of those questions was a big fat‬ ‭“Yes”.‬ ‭ ven in the midst of a large crowd of people a person can feel so lonely. We find ourselves in a‬ E ‭crowded church, or a crowded restaurant or a crowded school and everyone else has seems so‬ ‭happy when you feel so lonely.‬ ‭ ere is what is interesting. Most lonely people won’t admit that they are lonely. They know how‬ H ‭to cover up what they are feeling inside. They tell people they are doing great and that everything‬ ‭is fine when inside they know everything isn’t ok.‬ ‭ et me give you a definition for what loneliness is. Loneliness is defined as being without‬ L ‭companionship. It is not the same as being alone.‬ ‭ he Bible tells us that we need time to be alone. Alone‬‭with our thoughts or alone with our‬ T ‭prayers. But God never wants you and me to be lonely. From the very beginning God made it‬ ‭very clear that we were made for relationships. He told Adam that it was not good that there was‬ ‭not another person for him to have a relationship with. The same is true for you and me.‬ ‭God created us to have certain relationships in our lives. The first relationship is…‬ ‭1.‬ ‭WE WERE MADE TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.‬ ‭ any of us here today have a gnawing sense that something isn’t right. You’ve been searching‬ M ‭for significance.‬ ‭‬ Y ‭ ou thought‬‭joining a certain club‬‭, or one day making‬‭a certain amount of money‬ ‭someday or driving a certain car or having a certain outfit would fill the emptiness inside‬ ‭of us.‬ ‭‬ ‭Some of us thing dating a certain guy or girl or one day marrying a certain guy or girl will‬ ‭fill the emptiness that you feel inside.‬ ‭‬ ‭Some of us think going off to school and being in college will fill the emptiness and the‬ ‭loneliness that you feel.‬ I‭ have done all of that and I am here to tell you none of that works. You can be in the midst of‬ ‭the best situation, where life is just going awesome for you. You can have all that you want and‬ ‭be married to a smoking hot guy or girl and still feel empty and lonely. In fact, that is how most‬ ‭people live their life.‬ ‭ isten, all the money and all the apps on your phone can’t fill what you feel inside. Maybe, just‬ L ‭maybe you need to allow Jesus to come into your life so that you might have a relationship with‬ ‭God and I am not talking about just praying some little prayer and then living as if he doesn’t‬ ‭exist. I’m talking about developing a real relationship with a real God who really does care about‬ ‭you. You see some of us are here today and you are lonely and empty and you have prayed and‬ ‭asked Jesus to come in your life but you don’t take Jesus seriously. This is just a one hour a‬ ‭ eek thing you do a couple times a month. Jesus doesn’t really mean that much to you and that‬ w ‭is why you are still so empty.‬ ‭ nderstand Jesus is so much more than what many of you have experienced so far. He wants to‬ U ‭walk with you and talk with you and do life, all of your life together with you.‬ ‭ hink about this. When God saw your loneliness and my loneliness, this emptiness caused by‬ T ‭our own sinfulness, he sent Jesus to live a perfect and sinless life. He died on the cross for our‬ ‭sin and shame and rose again.‬ ‭ hen Jesus was on the cross, he cried out,‬‭“My God,‬‭my God why have you forsaken me?”‬ ‭Now‬ W ‭why did he say that? Why have you turned your back on me God? Why this loneliness God?‬ ‭ hen Jesus was hanging on the cross God the Father turned his back on his only Son because‬ W ‭God cannot be in the presence of sin. Jesus felt a level of spiritual loneliness that to a point we‬ ‭can’t even express in words as he paid for our sins. He did not want us to go through this life‬ ‭alone.‬ ‭He experienced the depths and darkness of‬‭loneliness so you wouldn’t have to.‬ ‭Would you like to be lonely for the last time? You have a choice to make.‬ ‭ ou can take those feelings of loneliness and allow them to push you away from God or you can‬ Y ‭allow those feeling to draw you near to Him. When a person asks Jesus to come their life Jesus‬ ‭promises them that from that day forward they are never alone again. God’s Holy Spirit will live‬ ‭inside of you and according to God’s word there is nothing that can ever separate you from God.‬ ‭ omans 8:38-39 says, “‬‭For I am convinced that neither‬‭death nor life, neither angels nor demons,‬ R ‭neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in‬ ‭all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.‬ ‭Jesus said in Matthew 28:20,‬‭“And surely I am with‬‭you always, to the very end of the age."‬ ‭ hat are you going to do with that emptiness you are feeling inside? Are you ready to take Jesus‬ W ‭seriously?‬ ‭God not only wired you to have a relationship with Him but‬ ‭2.‬ ‭WE WERE MADE TO HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS.‬ ‭ hen God created the Heaven’s and the Earth, He said this is good. Then God made man in‬ W ‭his own image and he said this is very good. But then God labeled something as not good for the‬ ‭very first time.‬ ‭ enesis 2:18 says,‬‭“The Lord God said, "It is not‬‭good for the man to be alone. I will make a‬ G ‭helper suitable for him."‬ ‭So God made Eve to be a companion to Adam.‬ ‭We need each other.‬ ‭(You can tell a similar story to this next one if you want or tell this one)‬ ‭ hen our Pastor Todd headed to college, he didn’t know a single person on his college campus.‬ W ‭He had a choice to make. He could risk making friends or he could live a life of loneliness.‬ ‭ odd said,‬‭“I remember when my parents dropped me‬‭off for college. My mom and dad came‬ T ‭with me and they set up my dorm room. My mom made my bed and made sure things were put‬ ‭ way for me. I had made a pack with my mom. Don’t cry. You can cry all you want in the car but‬ a ‭don’t cry in front of me because if you lose it, I’m going to lose it too and I don’t want people‬ ‭seeing me cry on my first day of school.‬ ‭ y mom held it together pretty well but then it was time to leave. We started to walk down the‬ M ‭three flights of stairs down to the parking lot. She was walking ahead of me when I heard this‬ ‭“whimpering sound” like a… I thought “Oh no. She’s losing it.” We got out to the car and my‬ ‭mom lost it. Rivers of tears streamed from her eyes.‬ I‭ gave her a quick hug and I left as fast as I could. I ran back up to my dorm room and sat on my‬ ‭little portable fridge drinking a hot coke. I looked around that room and I realized I was alone and‬ ‭I had a decision to make. I could sit in that room and sulk my life away or I could take a risk and‬ ‭make friend so I walked out of my dorm room and took a risk and made some incredible friends.”‬ ‭ ome of us are sitting around here waiting for someone to take the initiative to be your friend.‬ S ‭You are waiting for someone to walk up to you and say, “‬‭Hi, will you be my friend.”‬ ‭That’s creepy‬ ‭and weird so don’t do that. The Bible says,‬ ‭“A man who has friends must himself be friendly.”‬ ‭Proverbs 18:24‬ ‭ ere is what many people do when they come to church. Week in and week out they walk in‬ H ‭here and they find a seat. They don’t talk to anybody, don’t play any of the games. They sit‬ ‭away from everyone else and keep their heads down and avoid making eye contact with anyone‬ ‭else. And then leave. After a few weeks of just sitting there they say to themselves,‬‭“This isn’t‬‭a‬ ‭very friendly church. No one talked to me.”‬ ‭And‬‭they stop coming because no one reached out‬ ‭to them.‬ ‭ od doesn’t want to hear those weak excuses. He wants you to take a relational risk. He wants‬ G ‭you to get to know the people who are sitting around you. He wants you to show up to the‬ ‭special events we have and bring a friend or two with you. He wants you to get in a small group‬ ‭where you study the Bible with other students. I am telling you some of the best friends you will‬ ‭ever have could be in this room. You have to take a risk.‬ ‭ n 8-year-old little girl started going to a brand-new school. Needless to say, she was nervous.‬ A ‭Would she find any friends?‬ ‭ he sat down to eat breakfast and looked at her dad. She said,‬ ‭“Daddy, I don’t know how to‬ S ‭make a friend.”‬ ‭Her dad looked at her and said,‬‭“You‬‭make friends by being a friend. You take‬ ‭the initiative. You start the conversation. You take the risk and if you do that you will find at least‬ ‭one friend in the first week of school.”‬ ‭ he went to school and she took a risk and by the end of the first day of school she made a new‬ S ‭friend. Now if an 8-year-old girl can pull that off I am guessing you can push past your fear and‬ ‭try this too.‬ I‭f you are lonely today you have chosen to be lonely because there are people around us all the‬ ‭time. You have to make the effort.‬ ‭ nd if you feel an emptiness inside of you today it could be that you have never taken Jesus‬ A ‭seriously in your life. You and I were made by God and for God and nothing will satisfy us except‬ ‭for him. Are you ready to leave loneliness behind?‬ (‭ Have the students bow their heads for prayer and have them raise their hands if they want to talk‬ ‭to someone about what a real relationship with Jesus is like. Have them stand after they raise‬ ‭their hand and take them to your decision room so you can talk to them more about what it‬ ‭means to make Jesus the center of your life.)‬