A Letter from a Prisoner

Greeting

Lighthouse! We are stepping into one of the most important teaching series that we will do all year.

We’ve been teaching on this subject for several years now during this time of year because the nation leans into it. We’re going to be dealing with mental & emotional health. May is Mental Health Awareness month, and I’ve felt that it is so important that as you hear and receive messaging about mental health outside of the church, it’s important that you also hear about it from a Biblical perspective.

As followers of Jesus we have what is called a Biblical Worldview.

So let me just lay down some important disclaimers before we dig in.

First, I am a Pastor, and not a mental health professional. I am going to teach from the Bible and show you in the scriptures where the Bible speaks to your mental and emotional health.

Second, at Lighthouse Church, we are in support of counseling and therapy from a professional who also hold to a Biblical Worldview, and that it accompany the Biblical rhythms of prayer, bible reading and study, fasting, and being in a Small Group.

Third, we agree that in some cases medication is needed to treat mental health after all natural resources have been exhausted.

Here is your annual reminder Lighthouse Church… most of what you are dealing with can be treated by proper sleep, the appropriate amount of water, exposure to the sun, regular exercise, and feeding your body the right foods.

You cannot pray away a bad diet. You can’t. And in the same way, you need to evaluate if the mental condition you find yourself in is a direct result of how you put yourself there.

So all of that said, let’s dive into our scriptures for today.

Reading

Philippians 2:1–5 (NIV)

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

I’d like to also read this last verse, verse 5, from the King James Version for all of my seasoned saints in the room. What I mean by that is, all the people who learned their Bible in the King James Version

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5 KJV

A Letter from a Prisoner

Introduction

As we begin this series on Mental and Emotional Health I specifically wanted to take us to the writings of Paul in Philippians because this is one of his prison epistles.

If you don’t know what that is, it means that Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison. The fact that he is in prison should give us some perspective.

You see, you could have all the freedom in the world. Live in a beautiful city, like San Diego. Live near the beaches of Oceanside, Carlsbad, and Encinitas.

You can have access to mountains to hike, trails to run, neighborhood parks, award winning school, and still be a prisoner to your mind.

And, Paul shows us that you can be in physical prison and be so full of hope, and joy, and strength, that you have to write a letter and send it out so that the world will know that even though you are in a prison, you are as free as can be!

For the purposes of my introduction, can I just read to you the word of Paul contextualized in today’s language:

…everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.

Can you feel the joy that Paul is exuding?

That even from prison he’s learned to see the best in any of the potential outcomes.

Transition

How can we get to that head space where regardless of what is going on around me, I’ve got joy that is overflowing inside of me?

I believe Paul leads us to that place by telling us to “let the mind of Christ be in us…”

What I want to do is lead you there through the text and let the words of Paul speak to us this morning.

Text

Paul opens by saying:

Philippians 2:1–5 (NIV)

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,

I’ve underlined the verbs in this scripture because verbs lead us to action. And that’s what you’re looking for this morning, aren’t you? What do I do?

And so first off we see that we receive encouragement when we unite with Christ.

That’s telling me that if I know, that I have some things that are affecting my thoughts, my mind, and my emotional well being, the first and best thing I should do is to unite myself with Christ.

That means, I’m going to fully surrender my life to Christ.

Fully!

Not partially, not on big weekends, not when life is going good…

Can I tell you that as your Pastor, it’s abundantly clear to me when you come to church out of despair.

And, we fully welcome you to come as you are. I am not saying that to belittle you or demean you in any way.

But it’s obvious.

When life is good, “Who needs church? Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

But when the marriage falls apart… “Pastor I’m broken and I really need Christ now…”

You need him more now, but you also needed him when things were good. You were building a castle on the sand. You weren’t building on a strong foundation, and now that everything has come crashing down, now you think you need him….

But to unite your life to Christ is to say Jesus you are my Lord, you are my Savior, and you are my King!

I’m uniting my life to you in every season of my life. In the good, or in the bad. I’m here, Lord!

I don’t mean to harp on this, but when we only come to church when we are in need, we typically bring our kids in tow as well. And they’re seeing and learning from Mom and Dad that church is only a place to go to when life gets messy. They’re being discipled by your trauma.

Paul tells us to stay united with Christ! He is our ultimate encouragement!

Philippians 2:1–5 (NIV)

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,

And then the writer says, we receive encouragement when we are united with others.

What he’s talking about is living in community with other people who have united themselves in Christ.

Lighthouse, don’t go through your life alone!

So many times when we talk about joining a group or joining a team you think we want something from you. Lighthouse, we want something for you!

We know that when you are surrounded with others who are in faith, you’re not going to go through the darkest nights alone.

You are going to have people.

Come on, how many of you know that you need people?

We need people in our lives!

Our mental and emotional health is something one good coffee away… I’m not talking about the latte you had, I’m talking about sitting down with someone who loves you and will journey through life with you.

Look at Paul here in a prison, and yet he’s got people on his mind.

He’s not a lone ranger Christian - he is committed to the body of Christ.

[Transition]

Philippians 2:2

then make my joy complete

by being like-minded,

having the same love,

being one in spirit and of one mind.

In this verse there is one command and three participles… I know you didn’t come to an English class today, but it’s important that I teach you how to read your Bibles. I’ve actually broken it down for you.

Paul commands them to make his joy complete! That’s the command. That’s not the kind request, but he’s telling this church in Philippi that they need to do Paul this one thing for him.

And then he tells them how to do that… be like minded, have the same love and be one in spirit and mind.

Paul is urging his readers to unite. To come together. Not to go their own way and do their own thing, but to see the value of a tight knit community.

And then Paul hits them with another command

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Now that’s good advice right there!

Check your motives. Check your heart.

Are you being pure and genuine with others?

Or, are you using people to get things that you want.

Here’s the next command and where I want to spend the rest of my time…

Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another,

One of the things that has always fascinated me about research is when it catches up with what the scripture was already saying.

There are some people who will completely disregard the Bible, because it is the Bible, and then turn to the data and research and see that the data and the research completely validates what the Bible has been saying for over 2,000 years.

Paul, FROM PRISON, is telling the church to pull together! Not pull apart, but pull together!

Barna Research recently published an article called Gen Z Mental Health and Well-Being.

In that article, it references Six Practical Ideas for Christian Leaders and Parents to help Gen Z overcome the mental health epidemic.

Let me read to you some of their findings.

Research shows that the strength of social relationships is one of the most powerful predictors of mental and physical health. Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service.

The U.S. Surgeon General sees this “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” as a national crisis. Barna Group Gen Z, Vol 3.

Loneliness and social isolation in children and adolescents increase the risk of depression and anxiety, even up to nine years later. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 59, no. 11

One study found that more time on social media was associated with increased loneliness, even when accounting for age, living with a spouse or partner, employment status and anxiety about health. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine 11, no. 1

Now, the result of all this study was that we need to push ourselves into relationships with others!

Every single one of us needs to read Paul’s word of valuing others and looking out for the interest of others as being a part of something that is bigger than us!

If you live life believing that everything is about you, don’t be surprised when nobody wants to be with you.

And the pain of that is the feeling of loneliness and isolation.

Here are some encouraging notes and where faith and the church fits in.

Another 2024 study of over 1,000 high school students found that adolescents with interpersonal support reported decreased rates of mental health issues. This finding held true even for adolescents with multiple adversities. “Supportive Relationships Mitigate the Effect of Cumulative Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences on Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Suicide Considerations—The Arizona Youth Risk Behavior Survey,”

Research also shows that religious service attendance is different and more powerful than other social connections, such as interest groups and sports clubs. “Association Between Religious Service Attendance and Lower Suicide Rates Among US Women,” JAMA Psychiatry 73, no. 8

Religious service attendance is a stronger predictor of reduced risk of mortality, suicide and depression than any other type of social connection, including being currently married, number of close friends or relatives, having recently seen a friend or relative, and hours in social groups. “Religious-Service Attendance and Subsequent Health and Well-Being Throughout Adulthood: Evidence from Three Prospective Cohorts,” International Journal of Epidemiology 49, no. 6

I love this summary statement from Barna as a result of analyzing the research.

“Most people go from hopeless to hopeful when they go from being isolated and alone to being heard and met with compassion. Relationships generate hope.”

Conclusion

Paul said it this way…

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

When Jesus walked on this earth he didn’t walk alone. He didn’t need anybody to do his father’s will but he still chose relationships. We see that he had hundreds of followers… but of those hundreds, only 70 disciples. And of those 70 disciples, he had 12 apostles. And of those 12 apostles, he had 3 that were in his inner most circle.

Jesus lived in community with others not for himself but for us!

And Paul tells us, have that kind of mindset!

Don’t be alone!

Don’t look out for only yourself!

Call

I feel led this morning to pray specifically for anyone who has a hard time opening up becuase maybe you’ve been hurt by someone who should have never hurt you.

I understand that our earliest relationships in life will in large part impact every other relationship in our life.

If you have a hard time living in community and in relationship with others because of pain or a traumatic experience I want to pray for you right now and believe that God is going to remove that pain and that burden.