Cultivating What We've Lost
September 7, 2025
For centuries, families and communities were shaped by sharing meals, praying together, and telling stories—rhythms that form us in love. Today many of these rhythms seem to be slipping away, leaving us more connected online but lonelier than ever. How can we recover simple, life-giving practices that root us in God and reconnect us to others in the everyday stuff of life?
READ
Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Acts 2:42-47
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
REFLECT
1. Think back to your own childhood. Were there shared rituals, habits, or rhythms that shaped your faith or sense of belonging? Are there any that have been replaced or lost in your life today?
2. In what ways has technology strengthened your relationships, and in what ways has it left you feeling more distant or distracted?
3. How could your church community better reflect the early church’s devotion to being an intentional community consistently and daily? What could you contribute to that?
RESPOND
1. Consider drawing or write a “map” of your week showing where your time went and where God showed up. Celebrate and seek out moments of connection.
2. Commit to one half-day this week with no social media, emails, or screens, and replace screen time with a shared activity: reading, cooking, walking, or just talking with someone in person.
3. Pair up with someone younger or older in your church community to meet once a month for mentoring, storytelling, or simple companionship.