Worship Service

If I ask you what the number one, mental health issue in our country is, you might know, or you might have other guesses. It really is so anxiety, depression, and PTSD, and that grouping together is a number one issue. Sometimes people describe that as the helpless as hopelessness syndrome and others would look at it and say, it's really kind of rooted in a basic fundamental fear and all those things kind of fit together. I hope that when I say that, you don't think that I'm minimizing it because that's not true at all. Depression, and anxiety, and PTSD are things that affect us on a daily basis. Many of us experience anxiety and depression, perhaps at levels that are clinical, but still it's part of our life is something that we deal with it. Something that Creeps in very very easily. It's very easy. Just start to get that helpless feeling when you get in your car and you drive to work and your car take up in just a little bit. Is there something wrong with the car? You're demanding? Boss is asking for way too much and you're irritating coworker is not making it better but they're making it more complicated of the school calls. Finally, you get out of work. You headed for home. Pick up a few things at grocery store and there's one item you were using for supper that night that they don't have. She got to start over and go on from there and by the time you get home and you're feeling really pressured, and then your spouse comes in and starts laying out things that totally take us to the New Direction, the bank called, then they're going to go ahead with the foreclosure the doctor called and it was in the news that we hope for I don't want to be here anymore. And we can easily slide into that, or I just feel helpless. I feel overwhelmed. I literally do come to the place where I'm freaking a big. Are you there isn't any way out? This month of October, we're looking at, Hope in the faith, hope and love Trilogy. And this morning, I really toy with the idea of changing the topic, but actually, this is with a few times that I'm doing a two-parter. We're going to talk more about positive, hope next week, then we are today. So this is a negative one hanging on because this is real, we do have issues of hopelessness and helplessness. Holy Bible characters, we could point to And Luke chapter 8 verse 2 it says and also some women who've been cured of evil spirits and diseases Mary Magdalene from whom seven demons had come out. Why was Mary such a diligent follower of Jesus or where had she been? Symbian in the Hopeless, helpless control of seven, demons, how she going to get out of that? Is there anybody? She could go to. There's only one answer that she had and she was able to have access to Jesus the Christ and he took that away from her and he gave her whole And he gave her the help that she needed. Mark, 10:46 47 as Jesus and his disciples together with the large crowd. We're leaving the city, a blind man Bartimaeus, which means, son of Timaeus was sitting by the roadside begging. We heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth. He began to shout Jesus and David have mercy on me. If you know the rest of that story, you know, that the people around him immediately said, hush, you're embarrassing us. This is an important visitor to our city, you know how? Well, show a little dignity and Bartimaeus, know, something that they don't know, This is his one shot. When is Jesus going to walk by him again? He's going to make every bit of noise. He's going to do everything in his power to get Jesus to notice in. And when they say he's calling for you, do you want to see?

1st Samuel chapter 17. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked, her till she wept, and would not eat. Hannah doesn't have children the other wife does. And so, she makes this a real issue and really makes it a hard experience. And we had those experiences where maybe you were at the family reunions and there's that one person in your extended family who gets under your skin and it's your turn at this particular Gathering or even in lesser ways when somebody it might be in your family's having a bad day. Hannah's frustrated by this and got this. You're going to have a child. She keeps that child until he swings and then brings them to Eli's. I freeze, I always thought going to do with a preschooler, here's my son, I'll be like oh please take him back and when he's in his 20s you know we'll find something for you to do but he'll I took him as a child and raise him. Very, very successfully and the big Paradox of that is Eli's a terrible father to his own Sons. But an excellent father to Samuel which I think tells us something about raising children in and going in that direction

Jonah 4:9. But John said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about the plant? It is he said and I'm so angry. I wish I were dead. Don't know, I said this before it. If you were to look at all the prophets, I think you'd have to include that Jonah is the least. Spiritual of all of them. His spiritual core just as pretty, pretty minimal. And yet, if you'd had big Workshop, he would have been the guy who's been the keynote speaker because he still got that fish story to tell, you know, he can tell everybody wanted to hear about Jonah has experienced, but John has a really bad attitude. He's unhappy with the people do what God wants him to do. And God causes this plant to grow up, provide some shade, and this is a little stration that God is sovereign. And there are times when maybe we expect certain things, we expect God to move in a certain way. And when he doesn't, then we start to believe that God isn't there, God isn't real or God doesn't really care and sometimes a message to Jonah is, I'm sovereign. I can do what I want.

Jobe. Joe 3:25 and this is a haunting verse. What? I, feared has, come upon me. What I dreaded has happened to me, I have no peace, no quietness. I have don't rest, but only turmoil. That's a passage that most of us can find moments in our life. For that was the appropriate thing. That was really good. What was going on in our lives and we just feel at times just completely and totally wiped out.

What do you do when you having those feelings? Lyrics to just a couple of practical thing. So they, you think that the existing two areas one is be careful of isolation and the other one is movement. We when we were hurt when were injured? We have this tendency to withdraw, I pull back and you're trying to find a place to hide a much like an animal will. And even if you try to help an animal of sometimes, you're going to get bitten or injured because that fear is just so strong in them, and it happens with people as well people get hurt, they feel hopeless, they feel helpless a pullback, and somebody tries to help them, that person gets bitten and then the word gets out to pull back doing some room and some room may be appropriate if something some moments. We need other people. And at the moment, swimwear, most helpless and most hopeless is when we need others, the most and it may be that we aren't as easy to get along with and it may be that we have to that. We do some things that other people might find uncomfortable. I hope that we can have a grab have the forbearance to forgive each other of those things you do maybe without even being asked. Pandemic was a good illustration of this interesting to the things that happened during the pandemic. I'm reminded of the apartment building in Italy. Were the people who go out on the balconies and sing together people who weren't necessarily connected, but they weren't being

What's that thing? We did.

Yeah, I was social distancing in the other side of it was well forget it to me tomorrow and I'll try to make it next week.

But they found comfort in doing that and then other people took it to a digital level, you know, when you see those digital course, has dozens, perhaps even hundreds of people all singing together. Why do we do that? So we needed that human contact when you did that connection and being a Sheltering in place, that's what it was. We were Sheltering in place, we lose that. When we get home you want to pull back and if we can overcome that, it's so much more positive for us. The other thing that we do kind of on an instinctual basis. Is we get still NS people, baby. We spend a lot of time in our house and we spent a lot of time in our room, are we spend a lot of time in front of our television set and we are thinking, I'm not getting any better. It's time to move some. Now, I watch the running Guru one time and he said that if you want to be a successful Runner, here's how you begin. Go out into the street and run as far as you can run. And when you can't run another step, turn around and run home. Well, maybe for an Olympic typewriter. That's a good idea. And unfortunately, sometimes we go. Okay, I need to move. I need to get something going to. I'm going to go out there and do this romantic thing and do both ends. I got you come home when you're so exhausted and you feel so bad that they each day that it's like, well, I'm not moving again. That didn't work. How about just a small trip and even if it's not this exercise movement involves more than actually walking or running, Journaling is a form of movement as we talk is a form of movement, a drawing, poetry dance, any kind of things that cause us to move will give us the energy and have a tendency to move us back. At least give us a launching Paso that direction we pulled gratitude. We pulled re-evaluations of the shoulds and shouldn't tell her how often do you say that or how often do hear somebody say? Well, I should have done this and I didn't until I feel bad about it and dealing with the guilt I'm pulled back and disconnecting and that's really a big trap. And there are times when professional help is what we really need and we are, I'm very grateful, but there are actually opportunities available to do that.

What do you say in this a spiritual problem? But I hear that a lot. If, you know, if a fiber is stronger, spiritual person. I wouldn't be depressed. If I were stronger, spiritual person, I wouldn't have anxiety.

as you look at it, clinically It's got to be around a while before you start the deal with it. I'll be going to your doctor take doc on depressed. How long you been depressed? Well, since the day before yesterday about 30 days and see where you are before, we actually make an intervention because these things do happen to us and with God's help we can get past them. 1st Peter, 5:7 says, simply cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you and we can read that and say that's what I'm going to do. Or we can read it and say that's why I have a problem. And I'm not casting my cares. If I can't do that, I'm not strong enough to do that. I don't have the resources to do that. And so we begin to hide back again and pull back again. We haven't failed because we've had one of these issues. We haven't lost in the battle between God and Satan. We aren't somehow categorizing ourselves as people who aren't the people of God. When these things creep into our lives, they're going to creep into our lives. We're going to experience them. It's not a question of whether we experience or not. It's a question of whether we give in to them completely. And are actually overwhelmed by them.

Look at Romans chapter 8. And I'm not going to go there, just going to plan some things but just take your finger and run down through there and see if there are things that could help you when you're feeling a little bit hopeless, or you're feeling helpless. First 14. It says we're led by the spirit of God. They're just 15 to 17. Talk about how we're a spiritual family and verse 18. It just says clearly that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that awaits us. Where's 26, spell? 435i talks about our hope 26. Our spirit helps us in our weaknesses because it's very, very easy to open your Bible and a fine. Those places where God says, look at me, David says in Psalms 46 verse 1. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

That's a passage for us at our own thought process, but it's also a passage to share with other people as well. It's a passage of encouragement and it's a passage. We can point people to are hundreds of passages, I did that same thing. Satan wants you to feel helpless and he wants that. Help us to lead to your feeling like you don't have any hope. Because when we get there we become very, very easy, multiple targets and he wants us to feel that and he pushes a store that place. And when it starts Then we have the opportunity, we have moments of Escape, we have strategies that we can use. We have people that we can talk to, we have God's resources that he provide, so we can move strongly in that direction. Fried deal with that problem.

Men also going to turn the TV off the app that goes on your phone. That will tell you on the other side of the world that your faucets broken. I'm like really going to help me all that much, iPhone vacation someplace trying to rest a little bit, but I am checking my phone is, there's always somebody he's going to sell us something that'll make us more stressed and more worried than and all of those things that we were trying to avoid and control. And I think God was for Suez. Let me be in control. And let me take this and move forward.

I want to share something personal with you. Go ahead that cancer scare last fall and so it's necessary that I do have a workout for every year and I did that the last week. And so, I spent time this week at the Coletta Cancer Center, at Mercy. and the stories and the interactions that you have, there are so Powerful their people there, who? Really shouldn't have any hope. But they do. They are, those are the people that you just like to really get in the corner with and see. Tell me about what's going on in your life. Tell me. How is it that you're able to do that? And many of them have a very spiritual basis, spiritual story, there are all kinds of things in life that scare us so badly. And our God says, I don't want you to be afraid. I don't want you to have fear, it's going to be okay.

And one way or another, it's going to be okay as Paul wrote to the sofa leaves. If I live, praise the Lord, I praise the Lord. I do, I'm living in Christ. And that's our opportunity in our strength. I hope you'll think about this, and I hope that we can really look to spiritual principles. When we deal with these mental health things, that actually come into our lives. Next week, we're going to talk in a more positive way about the excitement in the, the beauty of the hoe that God provides for us.

Would you play with me?

Dear God, we know that I hope rests only in you totally and completely, we know that you hand to us opportunities to move to the promises that you provide father. Give us the strength and give us the awareness. Give us the courage and give us a discipline to move in those directions. Father, we thank you that you loved us so much that you care for her, so much that you provided for us in all aspects of Our Lives. Father, we know that you intend for us to have an abundant life. We so very much want to move in that direction and demonstrate for others, the living victory, that you provide me. Thank you for your son asked. You to forgive us, our many mistakes and we pray this to Jesus.

This morning as always, we extend an invitation not man's invitation, but God's invitation, if you need to respond to that, we encourage you to do that. But we said sing together.