Not Alone - Pastor Bradley Peters

Loneliness sets the picture with a school kid in the cafeteria, tray in hand, milk carton there, waiting and hoping somebody will sit down. That feeling is sad for a day and heavier after a week, and it grows deeper as life goes on. The child may still have a home to run back to, a place where the skinned knee makes him say, “Daddy, I wanna just go home.” But adolescence starts pulling a person out of that comfortable home, into the place Father Rolheiser calls essential discipleship, where identity is being built and the question becomes, who am I supposed to be?

Essential discipleship names that stage where a person is no longer content simply to belong where he was born. Work, friends, dating, church trips, a truck, a place, a future, all of it starts to become part of the search for a new home. Acts chapter nine then gives a picture of someone who has moved beyond that search into a life given away. Tabitha, also called Dorcas, lives so deeply in her community that when she dies, the widows gather around Peter crying and holding up the robes and clothing she had made for them.

Dorcas shows what it looks like when a single woman is not alone because she has become part of a real household of faith. Her life had weight because her love had hands. Peter kneels, prays, and says, “Tabitha, get up,” and the Lord gives her back alive, especially to the widows who missed her so much. That miracle does not just show power; it shows how precious a person becomes when a life has been poured into people.

Aeneas gives the other side of the picture. A paralyzed man for eight years could not have made it without people around him, people to move him, wash his mat, help him when the rain came, and carry him through ordinary days. The question becomes plain: who are the mat holders? A church community is not just a crowd on Sunday; it is the place where encouragement, correction, help, and presence become real.

Jesus shows the final stage, giving death away. Gethsemane, Judas’ kiss, the council, Pilate, Herod, the whip, the thorns, and the cross all reveal the Son letting go in humility. The end of life asks every attached heart to say, “I would rather have Jesus than this.” Hebrews gives the refrain for every lonely stage: God will never leave or forsake, and the Lord is the helper who drives out fear.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Loneliness begins at the lunch table The lonely child with the tray is not just a school memory; that image tells the truth about many adult hearts. A person can be surrounded by noise and still feel like nobody is coming to sit down. The church that sees that table learns to notice the one who is present, but not yet at home. [30:27]
• 2. Discipleship searches for a home Essential discipleship names the unsettled season where a person is pulled out of old comfort and starts asking who God made him to be. That search can happen in teenage years, but it can also return after divorce, death, job loss, or any sudden undoing of life. God does not despise that searching place; he meets people there and leads them toward a truer home. [46:02]
• 3. Dorcas gave love with hands Tabitha’s community grieved with garments in hand because her goodness had taken a shape they could touch. Her faith was not vague kindness; it had stitches, robes, names, widows, and memory. A life given away becomes deeply missed because love has become practical enough to be seen. [38:44]
• 4. Every Aeneas needs mat holders A paralyzed man for eight years could not live without people who stayed near enough to help with ordinary needs. The question of “four guys” is not sentimental; it asks who will carry a person when strength, clarity, or courage has run out. Christian community becomes real when help is specific, inconvenient, and close enough to carry weight. [47:21]
• 5. Jesus teaches death as surrender The cross shows Jesus giving not only his life, but his death, into the Father’s hands. The end of life strips away even good attachments, family, work, place, plans, and the familiar shape of home. Faith learns to loosen its grip before the final hour, trusting that “to die is gain” because Christ is the better home.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [28:08] - Prayer for Students and Schools
• [30:27] - The Lonely Lunch Table
• [32:18] - Home, Belonging, and Adolescence
• [36:24] - Essential Discipleship and Identity
• [38:14] - Tabitha, Dorcas, and Community
• [43:53] - Peter Raises Tabitha
• [46:34] - Aeneas and the Need for Help
• [47:21] - Finding Four Mat Holders
• [50:24] - The Final Stage of Discipleship
• [54:13] - Jesus Gives His Death Away
• [56:29] - Letting Go Before Heaven
• [59:01] - Becoming Hands and Feet
• [60:46] - Prayer for the Lonely and Hurting

Bible Reading

Acts 9:36-42
“Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, ‘Tabitha, arise.’ And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.” [38:44]

Acts 9:32-35
“Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.’ And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.” [46:39]

Hebrews 13:5-6
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” [53:39]

Observation questions

1. In Acts 9, what do the widows bring into the room with Tabitha, and what does that show about the kind of care she gave them? [38:44]
2. What details in Aeneas’s situation make it clear that he would have needed other people around him during those eight years? [47:21]
3. What words does Peter speak to Tabitha, and what words does he speak to Aeneas? What is similar in the way both miracles happen?
4. What picture is used for loneliness at the beginning: what is the child doing, what is he hoping for, and why does that image stay powerful even later in life? [30:27]

Interpretation questions

1. Tabitha is described as “full of good works and acts of charity,” and the widows can point to actual garments she made. What does that suggest about the difference between vague kindness and love that has taken visible shape? [39:00]
2. Aeneas is healed by Jesus through Peter, yet his long years on the mat also point to the quiet faithfulness of others around him. How does this help explain why Christian community is not optional, especially in seasons of weakness? [47:21]
3. Hebrews says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” How does that promise speak into both the search for belonging and the fear of being left alone later in life? [53:39]
4. Jesus’ path from Gethsemane to the cross shows a person surrendering even what is most precious. What does it mean to say that a believer must eventually learn, “I would rather have Jesus than this”? [55:32]

Application questions

1. Many people still feel like the child at the lunch table, even as adults. Where has that kind of loneliness shown up recently—in church, at work, at home, or in some other setting? What has that experience done to the heart? [30:27]
2. A person in a searching season is often trying to answer, “Who am I supposed to be?” Is there an area of life right now where that question feels especially close—after a loss, a change, a disappointment, or simply a long stretch of waiting? [46:02]
3. Tabitha’s love had hands, names, and memory. What is one practical way love could become more visible this week for someone who is lonely, grieving, elderly, or overlooked? [59:01]
4. Every Aeneas needs mat holders. Who are the people that could be called at a hard moment for encouragement, correction, or help? If that list feels thin, what might be a wise first step toward deeper community? [47:39]
5. Some people find it hard to walk into church or any close community alone. What makes that so difficult? What small act of welcome or friendship could make it easier for someone else to come in and not feel like a stranger? [43:53]
6. The end of life exposes how attached the heart can become to good things—family, work, place, plans, and comfort. What is one good thing that may be held too tightly right now, and what might it look like to loosen that grip before it is forced away? [56:29]
7. “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear” is not only a verse to admire but a truth to lean on. In what present fear or lonely place does that promise need to be spoken over the heart right now? [53:39]