Neighborhood Church

Philadelphia = Brotherly Love

SO FAR
Goodness
Knowledge
Self-Control
Perseverance
Godliness

TODAY
Mutual Affection

Such totalizing expectations for romantic relationships can leave us with no shock absorber if a partner falls short in even one area. While we weaken friendships by expecting too little of them, we undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them.
Rhaina Cohen, The Other Significant Others

Christianity is a WE faith, not a ME faith.

Over the past half century, we've become more and more...
• Isolated
• Invisible
• Insignificant

During my tenure as US surgeon general … [and] my years caring for patients, the most common pathology I saw was not heart disease or diabetes; it was loneliness. The elderly man who came to our hospital every few weeks seeking relief from chronic pain was also looking for human connection: He was lonely. The middle-aged woman battling advanced HIV who had no one to call to inform that she was sick: She was lonely too. I found that loneliness was often in the background of clinical illness, contributing to disease and making it harder for patients to cope and heal.
Vivek H. Murthy, US Surgeon General

Loneliness and weak social connections are associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

When we drew blood from our older adults and analyzed their white cells, we found that loneliness somehow penetrated the deepest recesses of the cell to alter the way genes were being expressed.
John Cacioppo, Loneliness

It takes a community for us to feel whole.

25% of Americans are estranged from their family

The antidote to loneliness is friendship.

What's needed to make friends organically?
Continuous unplanned interactions and shared vulnerability.

Stop looking for more friends.
Start being the friend you wish you had.

How do we embrace the gift of friendship?
• Positivity

How do we embrace the gift of friendship?
• Consistency

How do we embrace the gift of friendship?
• Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the core, the heart, the center, of meaningful human experiences…Vulnerability is about sharing our feelings and our experiences with people who have earned the right to hear them. Brené Brown

The greatest thing any person can do for another is to take the time to see what is most deeply there.
Eugene Peterson

How do we embrace the gift of friendship?
• Positivity
• Consistency
• Vulnerability