1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:02,960 Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:05,520 We hope today's message is encouraging to you. 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,160 Welcome everybody. My name is Tim. 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,320 I'm so glad to be here with you today. 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,440 Thank you for joining us here at Illuminate Church. 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,080 We help people find abundant life in Jesus and that's the 7 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:25,440 whole point of this series we're in starting today. 8 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,640 Welcome to Week 1 of Weeds in My Garden. 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:42,200 Yeah, it's, it's weeds. Yeah. 10 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:48,160 Just to clarify. Yeah, this is a series about 11 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:50,320 being honest about mental health. 12 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:54,240 I want to welcome everyone who's watching online. 13 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,000 I want you to know that we love you. 14 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,840 God loves you, This church loves you, and we're glad that you're 15 00:00:58,840 --> 00:00:59,680 here. I want to welcome you. 16 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:01,960 If you're brand new, first time you've ever been here at 17 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,200 Illuminate Church, it's very important that you do one thing, 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,440 and that's before you leave today. 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,360 Go outside into the lobby, right on the other side of this wall 20 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:12,600 right here. And there's a place called 21 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,120 Connect Central. And the people there, they're so 22 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,040 nice and awesome and amazing, but they'll help you to quickly 23 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,560 and easily feel like Illuminate Church is home to you. 24 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,240 And there's ways to do that that'll speed up the process 25 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:27,840 besides you just showing up here every week. 26 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:29,320 Like, I don't know what to do with myself. 27 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,800 There's so many people here and everyone's nice, but I don't 28 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,760 know anybody yet. And how do I get to know people 29 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:37,000 and how do I get to know about the church? 30 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:38,160 They're going to help you out with that. 31 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,200 So make sure you stop by that. But I'm going to jump in very 32 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,040 quickly here today and I need to let you know to settle in. 33 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:50,600 It gets real, real quick. It gets heavy right from the 34 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,960 git, OK, during the pandemic, I was regularly on a Zoom call 35 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:56,840 with pastors from all over the nation. 36 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,360 And I don't know if you were been on a Zoom call before where 37 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,120 there's like so many people on it. 38 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,720 They have squares and squares and squares and pages of squares 39 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,040 where their faces are. You know what I'm talking about. 40 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:12,000 And when you go on these Zoom calls, I don't maybe this is 41 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,400 weird for you to think about, but you really get to stare at 42 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,680 somebody's face that you don't normally get a stare at because 43 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,320 it'd just be weird to stare at one person's face for a long 44 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,040 time, especially if they're looking at. 45 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,760 But when you're on a Zoom call, I'm just looking at that 46 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,520 person's face for a long time. Is this getting weird for you, 47 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:30,760 Ed? Yeah. 48 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,880 Felt good to me. So I would look at the faces, 1 49 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,600 by 1 by 1 by 1, and face after face after face, dozens and 50 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,520 dozens of faces. You see the same general affect, 51 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:51,200 which is kind of downtrodden, weary, heavy lighting. 52 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,320 These are pastors from all across the nation. 53 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,920 We're dealing with decision fatigue, grief, anger. 54 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,680 We needed each other to have this safe place where we could 55 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:04,080 speak to one another about our gloominess, this darkness, 56 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,600 feelings of despair. Some people, we needed to talk 57 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,480 off the wall of quitting. They're thinking about throwing 58 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,960 the towel in. And they're just like, the whole 59 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,640 group just starts rallying around them. 60 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:18,200 Like, no, you're going to make it. 61 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,720 You're going to be all right. During these Zoom calls. 62 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,920 It just would kind of remind me of other seasons of my life, 63 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:28,320 other seasons of ministry where I felt kind of the same. 64 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:33,240 You just feel mentally drained. Not like I've done a lot of work 65 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,120 and I'm just tired, but I've got nothing left. 66 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:42,720 Weak, downtrodden, bleak, all of these things coming to mind. 67 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,680 And not just me, a lot of these pastors on the screen. 68 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,760 There are reports in the last five years of how mental health 69 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:54,320 issues have been on the rise in pastors all across the country. 70 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,400 At one point during these last five years they did a 12 month 71 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,880 study and they found that 38% of pastors are seriously 72 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,040 considering quitting the ministry and many of them 73 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,360 actually ended up quitting the ministry post pandemic, just 74 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:16,000 ejecting from the church. Pastors struggling me during 75 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,440 part of that time. Struggling pastors air quotes 76 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:26,720 here who are closer to God than the average Joe or Jane, pastors 77 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:32,080 who are in His word, pastors who proclaim His word, which is 78 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,040 truth in life, pastors who pray His word. 79 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,800 And these pastors are struggling mentally. 80 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,160 And you begin to wonder if it's true of pastors, then what about 81 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:48,320 the rest of the world? What about regular people? 82 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,560 I'm using air quotes on purpose because it feels weird to think 83 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,560 that pastors are closer to God than anyone else when everyone 84 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,240 has the opportunity to be close to God. 85 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,240 However, if pastors are struggling and what about you? 86 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,400 How's it feeling to you? There's a man, he's a pastor. 87 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,840 His name is Ben Catcherias. Some of you here know his name. 88 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:10,880 He's at Mountain Christian Church up in Maryland. 89 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,280 One of our elders and his family, Robin Kelly Allen, know 90 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,200 him, have been friends with him. He wrote in the Christian 91 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,880 Standard, which is a magazine read by any Christian, but it's 92 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,080 read by a lot of church leaders. So his words are to the church, 93 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,200 to leaders. He says this, we have a problem. 94 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,520 Emotional well-being is in serious decline. 95 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,520 He goes on to say these words, you won't see it up there, but 96 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,480 it's a palpable crisis that was bad before the pandemic. 97 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,160 Isolation, social people, polarization, massive changes 98 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,560 with work, school, home life, all have exacerbated the crisis, 99 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,920 which has created an extended ambiguity. 100 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,960 And the reason the word is, is ambiguity is because a lot of 101 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,080 people are struggling and they don't know why it's ambiguous to 102 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,040 them. Why do I feel this way? 103 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,320 Why am I tired? Why am I tired of living? 104 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:07,680 Why do I want to be isolated? Why am I isolated? 105 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,040 All of these questions arising, this ambiguity. 106 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:14,440 So it's created an extended ambiguity and heightened stress. 107 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,240 That's a perfect cocktail for burnout and emotional struggle. 108 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,320 If I had to raise your hand and say, could you identify with 109 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:27,320 these words, a great amount of us would raise our hands. 110 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,400 It's no wonder that the World Health Organization, the world 8 111 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,440 billion people Health Organization, has recently 112 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,840 stated in a scientific brief that global prevalence of 113 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:43,640 anxiety and depression has increased 25%. 25% may not sound 114 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,080 like a big number to you until you consider it's 25% of 8 115 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,480 billion. That's a lot. 116 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,880 Recent surveys reveal a radical downturn in attitudes and 117 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:58,280 soaring levels of anxiety and worry on all fronts. 118 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:00,880 Anxiety is now the number one issue for women and the number 2 119 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,040 issue for men behind drug abuse and alcohol, which really tells 120 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,600 me that men have an anxiety problem that they're masking 121 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:18,080 with weed and booze or worse. Mental disorders are the leading 122 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,040 cause of disability worldwide, and according to an article in 123 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,720 the International Journal of Epidemiology, I don't know how 124 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:33,200 to say it, so I say it fast. EPD demyology that one mental 125 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,760 health disorders now affect one in five adults. 126 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,760 So if you're sitting next to five other adults, there's a 127 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:48,040 high likelihood that at least one, probably more, are 128 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,080 struggling with a mental health issue right here, right now. 129 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:56,040 Generation Z, anyone born between 1999 and 2015, is 130 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,640 considered the most stressed out generation ever. 131 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,360 In recent years, the share of high school students who say 132 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,280 they experienced persistent feelings of sadness and 133 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:12,680 hopelessness rose from 26% to 44%, according to the 134 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,360 Association of Psychological Science, which means that 135 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:25,640 roughly half of our kids feel hopeless. 50% of parents and 136 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:31,680 teens Parents of teens report worsened or new worsened or new 137 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,720 mental health problems in their teens since the beginning of the 138 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,640 pandemic. Most times it's depression and 139 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:44,480 anxiety, so it makes sense that we would learn that many 140 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:51,120 children, many young adults are fearful, sad and struggling with 141 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,440 life. As a result, suicide has become 142 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,960 an epidemic. I hate to show you this next 143 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:02,720 step, but suicide is now the second leading cause of death 144 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:16,600 for young people 10 to 24, 10. It's heavy and it's real. 145 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,840 Part of me, honestly, as your pastor, candidly, just sharing 146 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:27,240 with you from Tim's brain to you, is I fret about the idea of 147 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,160 12 weeks of diving into this heart of darkness. 148 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:37,040 Well, at some point it become too much for us and you all will 149 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,480 revolt and leave the church and say we're going somewhere where 150 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:44,040 it's happy for a little bit and where it's all rainbows and 151 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:48,280 unicorns and marshmallow. Marshmallow cream, specifically 152 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:57,080 delicious because it is so heavy. 153 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:03,720 And it's some way I have. And church has preconditioned 154 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,200 you to come here expecting, aren't you going to make us 155 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,000 laugh sometime and make us feel good? 156 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,600 And I'm going to feel better about myself and leave here. 157 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:18,600 And so I, I'm concerned and considered like, should we even 158 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,280 do this? But listen to me After minimal 159 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:28,480 thought and very minimal prayer, the Lord has made it clear 160 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:29,600 because here's how the prayer goes. 161 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:34,240 God, should we care for people who are struggling with mental 162 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,240 health? And even before you finish 163 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,080 asking the question, you feel like an idiot for even asking 164 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,280 it. Like guys are like, no, I don't 165 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,920 think you should let them struggle. 166 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,000 Especially when you consider this our church. 167 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,560 We don't know the exact number because we don't count this 168 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:59,680 number. It's not really important to us 169 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:05,800 necessarily, but we think there's about 2500 people who 170 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:10,720 call Illuminate Church home. There was about 3500 people here 171 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,920 at Easter. There's about just over 1700 172 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,840 people attending on a weekend. And so I'm just putting the 173 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:19,360 number somewhere kind of in the middle. 174 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,680 There's probably 2500 people out there in the community say this 175 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:24,680 Illuminate Church is where I go to church, even if they come 176 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:31,520 twice a year. If you take 500 of those and 177 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:37,800 consider them to be next Gen. young adult, youth club, 56 kids 178 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,240 ministry, all of them having a great old time over there, 179 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:41,720 they're not talking about heavy stuff over there. 180 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:46,280 They're having a blast. And that leaves you with 2000 181 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:47,800 adults. And I told you that one of every 182 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,800 520% of all adults are struggling with mental health. 183 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,040 It means at the bare minimum, 400 adults in this church right 184 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,840 now are struggling with a mental health issue. 185 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,560 And I dare ask the Lord, should we care for those 400? 186 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,400 And if you take the statistic that almost half of our young 187 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,320 adults, teens are struggling with mental health issues, 188 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,480 that's about another 150 or so. I don't even really know the 189 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:19,200 exact number, but somewhere around 550 people in this church 190 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,920 right now are having a mental health crisis. 191 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,120 And so we absolutely must address this. 192 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,440 At which point in my mind, I imagined you all saying yes and 193 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,600 Amen. For those here who are 194 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,000 struggling, we must address this. 195 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,640 For those who are not here, people you know, in your 196 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,880 neighborhoods, in your workplaces, in your extended 197 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,880 family, we must go through the series for the healing of Jesus 198 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,880 to reach into the middle of this valley. 199 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:56,440 We're going to walk through the series. 200 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,360 We believe it's time to get honest about these issues and 201 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,480 address them head on. To begin, I want to show you a 202 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,880 video of a short video of a song that was the genesis for this 203 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,120 message series. It comes from a girl named 204 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,840 Kendall Inskeep. She herself going through her 205 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:19,240 own mental health issues and out of it was burst this song. 206 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:21,760 This song is called being honest. 207 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:25,160 I tell you that I'm whole, but I'm still healing. 208 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:28,440 I tell you that I'm happy, but I'm grieving. 209 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,520 I thought I was a fighter 'cause I was a fight. 210 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:39,720 I'm still in the fire, but if I'm being an artist, I'm not 211 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:43,760 being an artist. I'll give you roses. 212 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,160 Just hope and you don't see the weeds in my garden. 213 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:58,700 I'm in the darkest. I'm sitting waiting and praying 214 00:13:58,780 --> 00:14:12,520 for someone to show me what. They are cheering loudly as she 215 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,360 is making her great confession that she's been hiding what's 216 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:21,240 really going on. A church in Illinois called the 217 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,800 Crossing tracked down Kendall and find found out that she's a 218 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,120 believer and they brought her to their church. 219 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:34,360 They capture her story in a testimony video of why and how 220 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,360 she wrote this song. And just so you know, Kendall 221 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,200 was on The Voice. She was Season 17. 222 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,680 She was on Team Gwen. Any Team Gwen fans here? 223 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:49,320 Yeah. She's made a great career out of 224 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,120 having a so, so voice. I'm just saying. 225 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:51,920 OK, I might. Hi, Jimmy. 226 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,280 I just don't know why I said that. 227 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,760 I wish I never did. There's no take backs when it's 228 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:09,880 recorded forever in history. I want to show you the video of 229 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,440 Kendall giving her testimony and I want you just to try to put 230 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,120 yourself into her story. Here she is. 231 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:23,760 My name is Kendall Inskeep, I live in Nashville, TN and I'm a 232 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,360 singer-songwriter for Warner Chapel and Cornman Music. 233 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,800 There's a lot of hurt. There's a lot of pain that is 234 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:36,800 deep rooted in my story. Ended up kind of rebelling when 235 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:41,160 I was a late teenager. I was so angry at God. 236 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:45,840 I knew he was there, but I had never had a relationship with 237 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,400 him. I was at the point in my life 238 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,440 where I did not want to be here anymore. 239 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,000 My family, I hadn't talked to them in probably a year. 240 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:03,600 They're like, OK, you need help. So I went to a facility for two 241 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,160 months and I started journaling to Jesus. 242 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,520 And I had read this journal entry to one of my friends and I 243 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,560 read her this journal entry. We prayed about it. 244 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,320 We asked Jesus to just remove this from Kindle. 245 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:20,040 And I felt this overwhelming peace and joy. 246 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,360 That is the day that Jesus met me where I was. 247 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:28,680 Song House is this collaborative workshop for TikTok, Instagram, 248 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:33,640 social media platforms. The founder is Tyler Ward. 249 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,720 We all go into this loft on Wednesdays and Saturdays. 250 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,920 We're paired into random groups and we have 30 minutes to write 251 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:46,640 a pre chorus and a chorus. So the day we wrote on us, I was 252 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:51,840 just getting out of a really bad funk and my passions and my 253 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:56,400 desire to do the things that I love just kind of were just 254 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,280 depleted. I felt defeated. 255 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:02,000 And so I called Tyler that day and I was like, I'm not coming 256 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,680 in. I'm I'm not going to write 257 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,240 anything good. Just totally allowing the enemy 258 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,319 to get to me. And he's like Kendall, you're 259 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:11,800 going to put 2 feet on the ground, you're going to get your 260 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,359 butt up and you're going to come into song House today. 261 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,960 So I get there, we have around or whatever. 262 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,720 I asked him to leave again. Like I'm crying every 10 263 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:23,640 seconds. Like I'm just like a mess. 264 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:26,960 But messes become messages, you know? 265 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,000 He's like, no, you're staying. And then we get into the room 266 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:35,240 and we're all going through the same thing in different ways. 267 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:41,920 And the concept was honesty. And we're like, what if we're 268 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,600 being honest about not being honest with ourselves? 269 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,600 And it was like, and we wrote this song in like, I'm not even 270 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,960 kidding, probably 15 minutes. That raw emotion that you might 271 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,880 see it in the video. That was exactly how I was 272 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,040 feeling that day. Turns out a lot of other people 273 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,840 were feeling that way too. I think, you know, one of the 274 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:12,320 lines that everybody tends to go to is the, I'll give you roses. 275 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:14,560 Just hoping you don't see the weeds in my garden. 276 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,760 It made me stop in my tracks because it was like, if you 277 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:19,600 can't even be honest with yourself, how are you being 278 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,920 honest with the Lord? So that's not very authentic to 279 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,880 our relationship. And how are you going to be able 280 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,640 to fix me if I don't even give you those pieces? 281 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,280 And so it was a moment of surrender to anybody going 282 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:38,480 through a season of defeat. Allow yourself to feel it, but 283 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:45,800 do not allow you allow that specific pain or suffering to 284 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:52,240 determine your future. Your pain will be turned into 285 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:56,440 something beautiful. Your weeds will be turned into 286 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:00,000 roses at some point. So keep faith in that and know 287 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:05,040 that because she or he who believes that the Lord will 288 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:25,820 fulfill His promises is blessed. If I'm being honest, I was the 289 00:19:25,820 --> 00:19:29,420 problem. I want to read to you these 290 00:19:29,420 --> 00:19:32,260 words again that Kendall sings in the song. 291 00:19:33,580 --> 00:19:37,740 She says. I tell you that I'm whole, but 292 00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:42,380 then I insert this word. Actually, I'm still healing. 293 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,000 I tell you that. I'm happy, but I'm actually 294 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,080 grieving. I thought I was a fighter. 295 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,880 I'm still in the fire, but if I'm being honest, I'm not being 296 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,360 honest. I'll give you roses, just hoping 297 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:58,240 you don't see the weeds in my garden. 298 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,880 If I'm being honest, I'm at my darkest. 299 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,240 I'm sitting here waiting and praying for someone to show me 300 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,720 what love is. I'm just being honest. 301 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,200 And the message. Of the gospel, the message of 302 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,880 this church, the message of my heart today is to say to you, if 303 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,480 you are making this prayer, I'm waiting and praying for someone 304 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,720 to show me what love is, then you're in the right place. 305 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:26,200 Today you came, you've arrived at the right place, the right 306 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,880 house. We want to be a house that shows 307 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,240 you love. But more than that, we want to 308 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,520 show you the one who loves you. Amen. 309 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:44,200 As I was wondering if these words were true of anyone else 310 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:49,720 in the church, we sent out a survey to kind of take the pulse 311 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,880 of the mental health of the church. 312 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:58,800 We sent out a link, sent out the survey, and hundreds of you 313 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,720 responded. Thank you for doing that. 314 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:06,280 Thank you for being willing to share your journey with us. 315 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,560 I want to show you the results of that that survey. 316 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,720 First of all, you'll see how many men and how many women 317 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:24,220 responded. This is not a rebuke. 318 00:21:24,220 --> 00:21:25,940 What I say next, but this isn't funny. 319 00:21:30,660 --> 00:21:33,500 What it really shows me is that men are not willing to be honest 320 00:21:34,620 --> 00:21:38,200 about the fact that they're not being honest because men can't 321 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:43,760 quantify what's going on in here, don't have to give voice 322 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:50,200 to it, or our pride doesn't allow us to really say, hey, if 323 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,680 I was being honest, I am in a mental health crisis right now. 324 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:57,960 And so we don't respond. The other flip side of it, you 325 00:21:57,960 --> 00:21:59,560 look and say, wow, women are messed up. 326 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,680 And the truth is there's a lot of women that are and, and the 327 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:11,400 word messed up is not the right term to use. 328 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,440 I apologize for using that word. But there is a lot of women 329 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,600 going through mental health crisis a lot. 330 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,280 And so if you are a man and you're looking at this thinking, 331 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:24,960 well, only 75, oh, excuse me, only 25% of the men in the room 332 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:26,200 need this. I don't need to be here for this 333 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:28,960 series. Let me tell you, your mother 334 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:30,320 needs you to be here for this series. 335 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,520 Your wife needs you to be here for this series, your daughter, 336 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,480 your granddaughter, your sister, your Co worker. 337 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,080 If there's a woman in your life that you love, there's a high 338 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:44,120 likelihood that she's struggling and she needs you to learn what 339 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:47,480 she's going through and she needs you to learn how to 340 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,520 minister the healing of Jesus to her. 341 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,640 So even if you're pretending like it's not you, you know 342 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:57,840 somebody who it is. Amen. 343 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,160 Here are the ages. I think it's important to see 344 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:06,520 that it's from young to old. I don't know why the 30 to 39 is 345 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,280 so high. Maybe that's just a proponent of 346 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,800 who answered the most to the survey. 347 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:18,280 But from 10 to 80 included. Now here are your answers, your 348 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,400 responses. We said, what are you? 349 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:21,640 Do you have any thoughts of these? 350 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:23,480 Are you dealing struggling with any of these? 351 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,880 And here's how you responded to anxiety and worry. 68% burnout 352 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:32,000 stress, 60% depression, 30% self esteem. 36 skipping that one 353 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,280 trauma 27.4. The one I skipped is hard to 354 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:40,120 even imagine because if this is a Church of 2500 and 5% of the 355 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:43,280 people in here are struggling with suicidal thoughts or self 356 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,760 harm, that's 125 people in the church. 357 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,760 They could be sitting right in front of you, right next to you. 358 00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:00,720 It could be you. 20% of the people said none of the above, 359 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,720 which is totally fine. I don't want anyone to generate 360 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,360 something that's not true. Like wow, I don't want to be the 361 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,520 only healthy person here and I'm just going to make something up 362 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,120 so I can like fit in. Like praise God, if you're not 363 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:18,440 struggling with any of these, 20% of you, which means 80% of 364 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,800 us are saying we are, we're struggling. 365 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:25,920 No matter how big or small it is. 366 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:30,400 At some level, you're having a mental health issue in your 367 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,840 life. If our church was being honest, 368 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,840 we're not being honest. We're giving each other roses 369 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:38,920 and hoping you don't see the weeds in our garden. 370 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,120 Meaning you show up the church like I'm blessed and highly 371 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:43,240 favored. Give me a hug. 372 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:44,560 Bring it in, man. Prince. 373 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:45,720 Gone. Yeah, please gone. 374 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:53,440 Let's talk about the weather or sports because. 375 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,960 Because we don't know how to deal with the reality of where 376 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,240 we really are. So I'm going to give you some 377 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:04,560 roses. Hope you don't see this mess. 378 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:07,960 I'm hiding it from you. This sermon series is going to 379 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,480 be very similar to a book with 12 chapters. 380 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,440 And I'm going to encourage you. You need to go on the journey. 381 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:18,720 Read all 12 chapters. I know that we live in the era 382 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:24,640 of church is an option. And so if a better option comes 383 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:35,760 along, deuces the beach, the Mickey Mouse, the golf course, 384 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:40,520 every man has his temptation. That's mine. 385 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,440 I'm asking you to choose this to be the better option for your 386 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:48,720 health and for the health of those people that you love. 387 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:51,360 This week is the introduction, Chapter 1. 388 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:54,360 The next three weeks we're going to tackle 3 lies of the enemy 389 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:56,880 with God's truth. Am I known? 390 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,760 Am I accepted, am I loved? After that we're going to go 391 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,040 into 5 specific issues, suicide being the first one. 392 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:09,000 Deal with it head on. Depression, anxiety, burnout, 393 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:10,480 stress. We're going to talk about all of 394 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,160 them in this series. Near the end of the series, 395 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,840 Doctor Wes Bevis will be here. You don't know who he is, but he 396 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,120 is a well sought after man of God in the church. 397 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:23,200 He's a clinical psycho, LMHC. He's got a lot of dot name 398 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,160 letters after his name. You know what I'm talking about. 399 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,680 He's got all the all the credentials, but he loves to 400 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,600 come to churches and sock to talk to the root of the mental 401 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,880 health crisis. What's really great about Doctor 402 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,160 W is that he's going to be with us here on Sunday morning. 403 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,280 Then Sunday afternoon, the times and the details will be 404 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:42,080 released. And later he's going to meet 405 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:47,400 with parents, teachers, administrators, anybody who has 406 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:49,960 teenagers or soon to be teenagers in their lives and 407 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,040 talk about teenage mental health specifically. 408 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,440 An incredible class. It's going to be free to you to 409 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:59,720 come and invite your friends. If you got teenagers living next 410 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:03,960 door, say, hey, if your kids are ever suffering or I've ever 411 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,800 suffered or you think they may ever suffer, come with us. 412 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:09,520 And then Monday, he's going to stick around and meet with our 413 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:14,520 ministry staff, some leaders here at the church, looking 414 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:16,040 forward to having him. And then we'll wrap up the 415 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,400 entire series with what we're going to call Hope Weekend, 416 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:23,880 because that's the point of the series, help and hope and 417 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,560 possibly, and we believe it, healing. 418 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,440 It may take longer than 12 weeks for your healing to come, but by 419 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,640 the end of the series, the idea is that you have help and hope 420 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,760 that heads towards your healing. That was a bunch of ages. 421 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:38,720 That's what's pastors do bunch of. 422 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,240 So what I want to do today is just give us some principles to 423 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,840 guide us, some constructs by which we will understand the 424 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,320 series and understand mental health. 425 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,840 Here's the first one. Don't be quick to judge a 426 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:55,280 problem without considering perspective, context. 427 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,640 Say it another way. Don't be quick to judge a person 428 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:02,360 who's going through a mental health crisis without 429 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:09,640 understanding context. We tend to be a narrow minded 430 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,600 church, not illuminate the church in general when it comes 431 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,880 to mental health, mental health issues. 432 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:21,800 We need to destigmatize mental health, especially in the 433 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,640 church. People can't be honest which 434 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,520 leads to their healing if they're afraid of being judged 435 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,280 or shamed in the church. So let's let this be a House of 436 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:36,480 healing by making it a House of freedom, by eliminating our 437 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:42,800 judgment and understanding context, asking questions, 438 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,840 listening, refusing to be narrow minded. 439 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,800 Oh what's wrong with you? It must be XYZ. 440 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:59,160 You need to fix that. There are three components that 441 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:04,760 make up mental health and really every mental health struggle is 442 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,160 a combination of these three components being affected and 443 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,880 usually they go in order. The first thing that happens is 444 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,960 typically something situational. Everyone say situational. 445 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:17,880 These are circumstances that happened to us. 446 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:22,560 Trauma from another person, a horrific event, overwhelming 447 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,080 stress. Something hits US incredibly 448 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:26,760 difficultly. If you want to think about it 449 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,200 this way. Situational mental health 450 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,880 happens when we stand at the edge of the lake and the waves 451 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,560 come. They're buffeting us now. 452 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,800 Sometimes the waves happen because somebody drove a 453 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:44,720 speedboat right near us, somebody on a jet ski, something 454 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,920 external, and you stand there and either wiped out by the 455 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:54,640 waves or you learn resiliency. Other times we're standing at 456 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,120 the waves hit and the waves have come simply because the wind 457 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,720 blew, meaning life sometimes just happens. 458 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:13,160 Health crisis, death in the family, loss of a job, even 459 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,240 something as simple as a blown tire. 460 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,240 What it does to that day, you know what I'm talking about. 461 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:26,920 We stand there and these waves hit us and we did follow. 462 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,320 Or we grow resilient. Or sometimes the waves are there 463 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,320 because we walk over here, we pick up a boulder ourselves, we 464 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:33,640 stand at the edge of the lake and go. 465 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:42,200 And because of our own doing, these waves come and they impact 466 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,120 us. The situational mental health 467 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,440 begins to happen, then you move from there, and typically what 468 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,040 happens is because of whatever situation is happening, 469 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,920 something physiological happens. We have situational now we have 470 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,520 physiological meaning your body is responding as it's been 471 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:03,960 designed to respond to trouble, to trauma, to harm, to these 472 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,560 waves. The amygdala, it's part of your 473 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,560 brain. When you touch an oven the 474 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:15,280 amygda goes pull your hand away hot right? 475 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,440 Same part of your brain that says this is painful, fight 476 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,680 fight freeze engages the autonomic nervous system. 477 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,040 This tells your body to do things without even thinking. 478 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,240 You just are responding. Chemicals are dumped, adrenaline 479 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,040 dump, cortisol dumped into your body. 480 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,240 And when this happens enough, here's what happens. 481 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,520 Your brain literally gets re hardwired. 482 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,840 It was made one way, now it's being shapeshifted into another 483 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:46,120 way based on the trauma that's happened to the extent that now 484 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:53,160 this is your new reality. And I've been the situational, 485 00:31:53,440 --> 00:32:00,480 the physiological, and then the spiritual. 3 components that 486 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,640 make up mental health. The spiritual is the root of all 487 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:06,880 things. We believe that you have a 488 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,640 spirit that leads your body, and when you go through trauma and 489 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:17,120 stress, the body starts to lead the spirit and it feels out of 490 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,640 control. And the more out of control it 491 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:21,360 feels, the more terrifying it is. 492 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,560 And that's when hopelessness starts to set in. 493 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,000 Now, just for a minute, step with me to the side and realize 494 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,640 that the the original design, there was no trauma and stress. 495 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,360 Trauma and stress was entered into the equation because of 496 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,280 sin, and sin is often the root of spiritual mental health. 497 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:47,200 Whether somebody sinned against you or you sinned against 498 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,640 yourself, it traumatizes you, starts to change your 499 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,160 physiological nature so that you think this is your new reality 500 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,720 and there's no way out. The original design in the 501 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:02,640 garden, perfection, sin enters the equation and their bodies 502 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:08,080 changed. They're now able to die broken, 503 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,560 and we live in that reality. We're in this middle ground 504 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:17,920 where the brokenness of our bodies is experienced by all of 505 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:21,120 us, including mental health. Mental health is impacted 506 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,560 physiologically. And then you think of final 507 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:29,280 destination, which is renewed presence with God because of 508 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,080 faith in Jesus, in the perfection of the garden. 509 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:38,280 No more weeping, no more cancer, no more mental health issues. 510 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,240 And we're existing right now in this middle. 511 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:47,160 And what I'm asking you to do in this series is to be patient 512 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:53,200 with all of us because we're in the middle to reserve judgement, 513 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,120 to not say, well, I know why you're there. 514 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,360 And here's the answer. You need to pray more. 515 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,480 You need to have more faith, or you need not to ever take 516 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,720 medicine. Listen, sometimes when people 517 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,360 are in the middle, they're going to need medical help. 518 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:09,560 Sometimes when people in the middle, they're going to need 519 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:11,880 clinical help from a counselor. Sometimes when people in the 520 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:15,560 middle, they're going to need to remove themselves from certain 521 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,080 triggers and stressors and situations and people. 522 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,639 But here's what I want to say to you because it starts originally 523 00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:25,960 perfected and it ends originally perfected and this is spiritual 524 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,159 work that God is doing. The middle also is ministered to 525 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,639 spiritually, and that's why we're addressing this 526 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:36,920 spiritually. If you're in the middle of a 527 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:41,360 mental health crisis, we are in support of you seeking medical 528 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,920 help if that's what you need to get through the middle. 529 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,400 But at the root of everything, the message of the church is 530 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:53,000 that Jesus is able. If you have a physiological 531 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,920 issue, he can heal it. If you have a mental health 532 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,080 issue, he can heal it. And really, the two are tied 533 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,280 together for me. I just want to tell you my story 534 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,240 again. When I went through crippling 535 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:05,600 anxiety. Listen y'all, I could barely 536 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:09,800 function. I could barely sleep for years. 537 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:13,840 Four years roughly. It started situationally. 538 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,320 Fear of heights, overwhelmed, stress. 539 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:18,000 This is my whole story through unrest. 540 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:19,440 You already all heard this story. 541 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:21,200 I'm just putting it in context of the message. 542 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,640 If you didn't hear the story, go watch it on YouTube. 543 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:28,080 All the messages are there. Starts situationally. 544 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:32,800 It changed my Physiology so that my brain was rehard wired so 545 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,480 that anytime the smallest trigger happened, my body 546 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,280 responded to my new body's makeup. 547 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:42,600 Tons of stress, tons of stress, tons of stress to unwind both of 548 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,880 these things. I tried counseling and it was 549 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:48,200 good. It was helpful. 550 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,160 I tried changing the way that I approach situations, but the 551 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,680 total unwinding of it happened at the feet of Jesus. 552 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:59,840 The healing of the physical and the healing of the situational, 553 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,120 the trauma happened at the feet of Jesus. 554 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:10,520 So as we go through this, we're going to give grace context to 555 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,200 everybody in the room as you're walking through the middle. 556 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,000 But we want to address this as a church from the spiritual side 557 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,520 to say Jesus is able. Listen to me. 558 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:23,800 Yeah, you can cut for that. But listen, I'm not telling you 559 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,560 that if you're still struggling and you've prayed a lot that you 560 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,360 failed. I'm telling you that God is 561 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,480 still working. And there may be things that 562 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:36,240 you're going to learn in this series, modalities, practices, 563 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,760 trauma, healing that is available to you that you've 564 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,880 never heard of before and you've never processed before. 565 00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:48,000 I am standing here as witness. There are people in my life who 566 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,640 are witness that what we thought was impossible to cure and 567 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:53,920 taking way too long to be healed. 568 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:58,680 God was working it out the whole time for His reasons and His 569 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:00,760 purposes. So while people in the middle 570 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:06,440 don't judge what God's doing, and if you're in the middle, 571 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:08,040 don't give up on what God's doing. 572 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,560 Psalm 1/19/68. I say it 100 times. 573 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:15,960 He's good and all He does is good. 574 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,600 Romans 828. He's working all things out for 575 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:25,080 good. Even the process of your healing 576 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:33,200 he's using for good. Let me move on #2 don't. 577 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,520 Don't underestimate the power of your community. 578 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:39,480 I'm going to say some obvious things. 579 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,920 We have become so busy that we don't have time for the very 580 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:46,960 things that could be having a massive positive impact on our 581 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:51,440 mental health. Most of all, real deep 582 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,560 friendships. We don't make time for it 583 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:59,880 anymore here at the church. This staff that works here, we 584 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:04,000 love you. We want good things for you, not 585 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,120 to take from you. And sometimes when we invite you 586 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:09,920 to church, it feels like what we're doing is taking away your 587 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,200 Sunday morning. I wanted to sleep in. 588 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:14,360 I want to do whatever. And now you're making me feel 589 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:18,560 bad about not coming to church. Listen, what's in our heart is 590 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:21,960 what science proves. Those people who attend church 591 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,440 regularly get into the House of the Lord with other believers 592 00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:30,720 have a massive decrease in the amount of mental health issues 593 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:36,720 in their life studied fact. So when we're inviting you to 594 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:40,720 church, we're inviting you to something good to say it's good 595 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:43,200 for you to be in the House of Lord is good to you to for you 596 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:50,480 to be with other people constantly community that lifts 597 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:51,880 you. I love and can I just speak to 598 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:53,400 everyone who's watching online today. 599 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,960 I love that you're there. I love that you're watching. 600 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:01,720 I'm grateful. But online leaves something to 601 00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:05,600 be desired. It serves a purpose 100%. 602 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:07,960 If you're like in the hospital, if you're on vacation and want 603 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:11,480 to stay connected, if you want to catch up, I don't know what 604 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,160 circumstances you're there. So sometimes it's purposeful, 605 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:18,760 but better to be in the house because here's what happens. 606 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:22,040 Satan will deceive you into thinking that you're getting all 607 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,640 that you need by watching church online while eliminating from me 608 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,440 what you need as well as a message. 609 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,640 You need the community. You need the people with you. 610 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:35,400 Otherwise what happens is when you fall down, there's no one to 611 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:38,760 pick you up. Ecclesiastes chapter 612 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:44,240 Ecclesiastes chapter 4 says 2 are better than one because they 613 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:45,600 have a good return for their labor. 614 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,120 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up, but 615 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:51,080 pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 616 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:55,040 We're going to be a church that helps one another up. 617 00:39:55,720 --> 00:39:57,360 Will you help me out when I fall down? 618 00:39:58,240 --> 00:39:59,440 I will help you when you fall down. 619 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:08,320 Amen, Galatians. Paul writes that we are to bear 620 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:12,880 one another's burdens, and you can't bear anyone's burdens if 621 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:16,440 you're by yourself. And no one can bear your burdens 622 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:20,720 if you're by yourself. If you're not invested in 623 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:22,440 relationships, Here's what happens. 624 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,760 You will be isolated. Mental health crisis will come. 625 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:28,480 I'm not declaring these things, by the way. 626 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:30,440 I'm just saying this is typically what happens. 627 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:35,600 And then in your crisis, you will look around for people 628 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:40,360 because suddenly you realize I am in trouble and here's what 629 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,880 happens. In your desperation, in your 630 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:48,320 neediness, you reach out to people who can't really help 631 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:53,960 you, and you find yourself partnering with people who end 632 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:56,560 up doing damage to you instead of helping you because you're 633 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:59,160 reaching out in desperation. I just need love. 634 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:00,840 I need somebody pay attention to me. 635 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,120 I just need to be wanted. And all of a sudden you find 636 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,320 yourself in a situation you don't want to be in because 637 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,360 you're desperate for relationship. 638 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:15,800 So better to have relationship before you're desperate. 639 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:20,480 When we bear one another's burdens, it's like I should come 640 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,520 to you and say, what can I take from you? 641 00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,680 But when I'm desperate, I come to you and say, here's what I 642 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:29,080 need, here's what I need, here's what I need. 643 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:34,160 So better to start now and not forsake your community. 644 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,560 Think of it this way, your community, when it comes to your 645 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,880 mental health, is your spiritual safety net. 646 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:46,760 There for you before you get into the fire, there for you 647 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:49,160 already. Don't underestimate the power of 648 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:55,120 your community #3 watch your intake, watch your intake. 649 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:58,720 The eye is the lamp of the body, says Jesus. 650 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:01,520 So whatever you put into the eye is good, the body will be good, 651 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,160 But if you put into the eye that which is bad, the whole body 652 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:09,160 will be bad. Philippians chapter 4 says that 653 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,840 this way. Finally, brothers and sisters, 654 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:15,280 whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, if 655 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:18,800 anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such 656 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:22,920 things. Fill your hearts and minds with 657 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:26,800 excellent and praiseworthy things, which means make sure 658 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,200 that you're spending time in the word of God. 659 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,040 Because if you want to put into your eye that which is good, 660 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:34,560 there's nothing better than this goodness. 661 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:37,320 It is a variable garden of goodness. 662 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:46,160 And please make sure which you intake off of social media that 663 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:51,240 you're very careful about. Everything is spiritual on some 664 00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:53,320 level. If you're going to be online, 665 00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:57,280 make sure that you're careful about who you are allowing to 666 00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,280 influence your heart, soul and spirit. 667 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:02,640 And make sure you're careful about who you follow. 668 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:06,480 Jesus says follow me. And there's all sorts of rabbis 669 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,400 on social media. Not really rabbis, they're 670 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:11,120 teachers who are trying to get you to follow them. 671 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:17,080 Political pundits, people setting, culture, people 672 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:19,880 defining things for you that are opposite or different are 673 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:24,200 slightly skewed from how the word of God would say it to you. 674 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:27,120 Social. Social media is great at two 675 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:32,200 things really Great Depression and anxiety. 676 00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:40,560 The studies are in social media does not impact positively your 677 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:42,800 mental health at all. Period. 678 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:51,840 It doesn't. So what are we doing? 679 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,520 I said at youth camp. Death scroll when? 680 00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:01,480 I guess it's called doom scroll. But isn't it really death 681 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:06,120 scroll? Some people would say about 682 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:07,880 social media? It's a really cute bear. 683 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:14,800 That's what people who own pet Bear say. 684 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,200 It's a cute bear. Such a cute bear. 685 00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:20,520 I love my cute bear until the bear eats them. 686 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,720 Some parents would say to me, like I I don't want to tell my 687 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:30,080 kids to get rid of the bear because they love the bear. 688 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:33,440 It's a cute bear. If I take away the cute bear, 689 00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:37,960 they're going to be upset at me. All I'm trying to say is the 690 00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:43,800 bear looks really hungry. Hope that doesn't sound too 691 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:50,800 redneck, but here we are. The winds will blow, the waters 692 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:56,040 will rise, the rain will fall, and your foundation against such 693 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:58,320 things will be whatever your intake is. 694 00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:07,360 So what is your life built upon? Social media feed the gospel of 695 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:11,680 Jesus Christ. All I'm trying to say is watch 696 00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:13,880 your intake. Here's the last thing. 697 00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:18,080 It's OK to admit that you're not OK. 698 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:23,600 The thrust of the gospel is that Jesus came into the world that 699 00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,920 was broken and fallen. Jesus came to save and to heal, 700 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:29,320 which means people were in need of saving and healing. 701 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:33,960 Jesus himself said, is the sick that needs a doctor, and then 702 00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:36,440 the doctor came. We want to be a kind of church 703 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:41,800 that creates this incredibly beautiful, safe hospital so that 704 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:45,400 the doctor can do his work in Jesus name, Amen. 705 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:53,600 In fact, it will be your honesty, your candor about where 706 00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:58,160 you are that will give hope in life to somebody else. 707 00:45:59,240 --> 00:46:02,040 We often will be in situations where people are hurting and 708 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:05,160 they've hurt to the extent that they've hurt themselves or 709 00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:07,760 worse. And you just say to yourself, I 710 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:10,000 wish they would have been honest with me. 711 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:13,640 I wish they would have called me up and told me their truth so 712 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:15,920 that I could journey with them. And the reason that they're not 713 00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:18,920 reaching out and being honest with you is because you are not 714 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:24,480 reaching out and being honest to them about how things are really 715 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:31,360 going for you. The world is hemorrhaging hope, 716 00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:34,920 and the local church is the hope of the world. 717 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:39,600 And sometimes the greatest way that you can give another person 718 00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:44,800 hope is by saying to them, Me too, I get it. 719 00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:47,280 I understand. I've walked where you're 720 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:48,320 walking. I'm walking there. 721 00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:50,760 Now let's walk together. You're not alone. 722 00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:53,320 You're not the only one. That's the lie of the devil, by 723 00:46:53,320 --> 00:46:54,560 the way. When you're going through a 724 00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:57,320 mental health crisis, you're the only one and you're the worst of 725 00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:01,360 them. It's not true. 726 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,280 That's why Jesus said that 2nd is this Mark chapter 12, verse 727 00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:10,000 31. The second command is this love 728 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:13,400 your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment 729 00:47:13,720 --> 00:47:15,600 than these. Love your Lord, your God, and to 730 00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:19,000 love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, our marching series, 731 00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:22,760 our marching orders in this series is this love your 732 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:24,960 neighbor as you want to be loved. 733 00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:28,840 All you have to do is think, if I were going through a mental 734 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:32,760 health crisis, what would I want somebody to do for me, to pray 735 00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:38,440 for me, to encourage me, to walk with me, just to be with me and 736 00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:40,400 whatever it is that you think that you would want done for 737 00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:43,560 you. Jesus has commanded us well. 738 00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:49,680 Love those people the same way. Do for them what you want done 739 00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:51,640 for you. That's the command. 740 00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:54,080 And I believe that we can do this. 741 00:47:56,160 --> 00:48:00,960 This last thought, maybe today you feel like you're struggling 742 00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:05,320 mentally, really struggling, and you think to yourself, I'm not 743 00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:07,560 sure anyone can help me. I'm not sure anyone can 744 00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:10,200 understand me. I don't even think Jesus can get 745 00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:13,680 into my mind and understand my mess and feel what I feel. 746 00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:20,600 Hebrews chapter 4, We get this promise, for we do not have a 747 00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:24,760 high priest that's Jesus who is unable to empathize with our 748 00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:28,880 weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way 749 00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:30,840 just as we are, yet he did not sin. 750 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:35,160 What am I saying to you? I'm saying in Matthew chapter 8, 751 00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:36,600 we learned that Jesus was homeless. 752 00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:40,320 We learned his family was thinking that he was crazy. 753 00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:43,760 In Matthew chapter 12 and in Matthew chapter 26, it says his 754 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:45,800 best friends turn their back on him. 755 00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:48,360 His closest friends sold him to be killed for money. 756 00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:51,000 That's Matthew 26. He stood face to face with the 757 00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:53,120 devil and endured all of his demonic tricks. 758 00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:55,640 That's Luke 4. He dealt with death, John 759 00:48:55,640 --> 00:48:58,160 Chapter 11. He endured gossip and slander. 760 00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:03,680 Matthew chapter 12. John chapter 8, this happens to 761 00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:05,720 a lot of people going through mental health crisis. 762 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:12,760 People just gossip about you, slander you want you to know 763 00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:15,840 Jesus has experienced that he endured suffering for 764 00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:18,040 righteousness sake. John chapter 15, he was shamed 765 00:49:18,040 --> 00:49:20,240 publicly. Mark chapter 14 he endured 766 00:49:20,240 --> 00:49:22,760 periods of hunger. Mark Chapter 11, he received 767 00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:26,880 criticism of his ministry. Who would criticize? 768 00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:28,680 Like you can criticize me, I get it. 769 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:33,720 There's lots of criticize, but Jesus, his theology was mocked. 770 00:49:33,720 --> 00:49:36,360 You can pick any verse. His message was rejected, pick 771 00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:38,480 any verse. His preaching was critique. 772 00:49:38,720 --> 00:49:42,240 Luke chapter 4. His disciples didn't get it. 773 00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:48,200 So the writer of Hebrews also says for this reason, he, Jesus, 774 00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:50,720 had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order 775 00:49:50,720 --> 00:49:54,040 that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in 776 00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:57,000 service to God. And then he might make atonement 777 00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:00,600 for the sins of the people because he himself suffered when 778 00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:03,120 he was tempted. He's able to suffer. 779 00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:06,320 He's able to help those who are being tempted. 780 00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:11,200 In this series, let's be the hands and feet of Jesus. 781 00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:14,840 You've heard me say before, as the body of Christ, we should be 782 00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:16,920 doing what Christ did while he was in his body. 783 00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:19,400 And what Christ did while he was in his body. 784 00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:23,920 He took his pain and gave it purpose so that he could 785 00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:27,120 identify and empathize with other people going through pain. 786 00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:31,560 And we get the opportunity to do the same. 787 00:50:32,720 --> 00:50:35,240 So I've walked through this difficulty. 788 00:50:35,240 --> 00:50:37,080 I'm walking through this difficulty. 789 00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:40,080 And I want to use this pain to help minister and give hope to 790 00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:44,760 another person, to read life and help and hope to them. 791 00:50:45,600 --> 00:50:51,920 But listen, church, none of this happens if we don't start being 792 00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:55,280 honest about the things that we're not being honest about, 793 00:50:56,880 --> 00:50:59,400 about what's happening in and through this. 794 00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:01,760 I want you to know that you are in the best place you could be 795 00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:03,880 if you're walking through a mental health crisis. 796 00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:09,240 You are not alone, not at all. Many around you are also 797 00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:11,680 struggling. And so you made a fantastic 798 00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:14,840 decision to be here today. And I want to say to you, well 799 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:16,640 done. Don't let the enemy discourage 800 00:51:16,640 --> 00:51:20,280 you from coming next week and being here for hope and for 801 00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:26,360 healing now, while Jesus is in the process of making all things 802 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:32,200 new and we're in the middle ground from original design to 803 00:51:32,200 --> 00:51:35,560 final destination. I want you to know this. 804 00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:43,360 One day is coming where there will be no more weeping, there 805 00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:47,760 will be no more gnashing of teeth, no more sorrow, no more 806 00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:51,280 brokenness, and you will be healed. 807 00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:56,920 But listen to me closely. If you do not have a 808 00:51:56,920 --> 00:52:02,400 relationship with Jesus, you have no chance to the war in 809 00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:05,240 your minds. If you do not have a 810 00:52:05,240 --> 00:52:09,480 relationship with Jesus Christ, you do not have a chance against 811 00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:12,920 the attacks of the enemy. If you don't have a relationship 812 00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:15,640 with Jesus Christ, you have nothing in your power, nothing 813 00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:20,120 that you could pay to cover the penalty of sin. 814 00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:23,000 Bible says the wages of sin is death. 815 00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:24,720 What is owed to us when we sin is death. 816 00:52:24,720 --> 00:52:29,600 But thanks be to God that Jesus has paid the price and made it 817 00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:33,280 possible for anyone who believes in their heart, confesses with 818 00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:46,100 their mouth and be saved. This is the promise of God for 819 00:52:46,100 --> 00:52:52,420 anyone who's willing to believe. So if today you haven't yet 820 00:52:52,420 --> 00:53:00,320 believed, today's your day to allow Jesus to save you from 821 00:53:00,320 --> 00:53:03,880 what only Jesus can. So we're going to pray. 822 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:08,560 If you bow your heads, close your eyes, don't go into 823 00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:14,480 religious mode, and don't let fear speak to you. 824 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:18,920 Let faith arise. And consider that the Holy 825 00:53:18,920 --> 00:53:22,960 Spirit drew you here to this space so that if you've never 826 00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:27,360 believed on Jesus today you would believe, confess with your 827 00:53:27,360 --> 00:53:31,360 heart, confess with your mouth, believe in your heart that Jesus 828 00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:33,200 is Lord and the Bible says you will be saved. 829 00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:36,400 So whole church, would you pray this prayer out of your mouth 830 00:53:36,400 --> 00:53:42,040 nice and loud together saying, Father, in the name of Jesus, I 831 00:53:42,040 --> 00:53:49,520 recognize my need for a Savior because of my sin. 832 00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:58,400 I am due death, but I believe and confess that Jesus is Savior 833 00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:05,680 and Jesus is Lord. Now come Jesus into my heart and 834 00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:10,040 live your life through me, I believe. 835 00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:15,000 Thanks for joining us today. We hope God is speaking to your 836 00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:17,560 heart through this message. If you'd like to connect with 837 00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:25,240 us, you can text Connect to 4:07 588-0115 or visit Illuminate dot 838 00:54:25,240 --> 00:54:27,400 Church. Have a great week.