SLP330 - The Lost Art of Doing Life Together

Our world is changing at a pace that is mind-bending at best, and in some cases, troubling.

Gone are the days of knowing your neighbors, kids playing together in the streets, and families doing real life with one another.

Even if you do sit down to eat together with a group, everyone is on their smart phones, engaging someone who is NOT present in the moment.

We have lost something very sacred.

If you are like me, you are hungry for change; longing for the days where life was shared, not segregated.

We can change it!

Tips, Tools, And Resources:  ONE CONVERSATION:

• Have one person at the table “host” the dinner
• Instead of everyone chatting it up with whomever, pose a question, and everyone have one conversation around that question.
• Example: What is the most impactful book you have read recently? Why? How has it impacted you personally?

Be intentional. This will change your relationships.

Feature Presentation:

The good ol’ days when…

• Families cooked out together
• We were in and out of each others homes all the time
• If someone was sick, everyone pitched in to help
• Most people were church-goers, and those church people were our extended family
• We shared the joys, pain, challenges, and even losses of these people

Nowadays, it is different.

Everyone is isolated, segregated, going different directions, consumed with self-interests, and so on.

There’s no community IN the home.

There’s no community with others OUTSIDE the home.

WHERE DID WE GO WRONG?

The Bible teaches us that we are NOT designed to do this thing called LIFE, alone.

The answer is … let’s try something different!

It would be presumptuous of me to put forward a guaranteed, fix-all, non-negotiable solution to such an overwhelming issue, however …

I would like to invite you to consider a few things we can do as we begin exploring what it really means to DO LIFE TOGETHER.

1. Be honest with yourself; are you isolated or alone?
2. If so, are you willing to do something different, even if it is initially difficult or uncomfortable?
3. Do you know anyone else who is probably hungry for the same thing?
   1. Invite one or more families over to your home for a meal and fellowship (CALL THEM … no texting)
   2. Set ground rules for the evening
      1. TV is turned off … period
      2. All phones on silent; NO social media or texting

• One conversation (Books, inspiration, other)

1. No politics or current events
2. You model what heart-level sharing looks like
3. Invite them to share

• Encourage, comfort, share resources (you don’t have to have an answer for everything)
• Play games

1. Be present
2. Stop texting for 30 days; instead, CALL and talk to people
3. No Facebook for 30 days
4. Eliminate pretense and live honestly with family and friends