Care Enough

i [Music] know i've been changed you know that i [Music] know i've [Music] i [Music] you know [Music] you know [Music] [Music] [Music] my you know [Music] [Music] [Music] well [Music] time [Music] heaven [Music] you know [Music] i [Music] know i've been changing [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] my name is come on put those hands together let's praising that they need this present yes [Music] [Music] hey [Music] well i think [Music] that it's gotta be [Music] [Music] sunday morning [Music] praising [Music] every day i thank you god lifting up your holy name singing praises every day because your loving never changed lord [Music] [Music] that's why i've got to say thank [Music] that's why i've got to praise your name your name your name oh lord thank you jesus lord who am i to know your way and who am i to stand here and there are others who don't know [Music] lord i'm so undeserving of your grace [Music] [Applause] [Music] that i could be out there [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] now i wanna take the time to [Music] oh and i'm so glad to change [Music] i just want to say thank you i just wanna say anything you [Music] let the church say amen amen let the church say amen one more time amen god has been awfully good to us it's been a good day that god has blessed us to see and when we lay down to go to sleep tonight it will still have been a very good day amen one of the greatest passages of scripture in the entire bible perhaps the greatest song that has ever been written read and memorized is psalm 23. the message says god my shepherd i do not need a thing you have bended me down in lush medals you find me quiet pools to drink from true to your word you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction even when the way goes strong or through death valley i'm not afraid when you walk at my side your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure you serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies you revive my drooping head my cup brims with blessing your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life i'm back home in the house of god for the rest of my life surely goodness and mercy going back to the king james surely goodness and mercy we're led by the god of our shepherds and then we have goodness and mercy following us up so that we don't get lost amen let's have a great worship today and may god bless our servants if you love the lord say amen if god has been good to you say amen amen we are blessed to be in the house of the lord again we'll begin our worship service this morning with we're marching to zion we're marching to zion please lift your voice and praise the lord us [Music] [Music] [Music] who never knew [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] guess we're marching through [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] amen amen beautiful gleanings bring beautiful cleanings brain all together let us lift our voicemail [Music] is [Music] [Music] indeed [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] won't you come and go [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] today [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Applause] [Music] won't you come and go [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Applause] [Music] won't you come and go [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] amen as we prepare for our opening prayer this morning my mind turned to philippians the fourth chapter and the sixth verse where it says the anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through jesus christ i've had a song on my heart this week what a friend we have in jesus and we want to sing that at this time it's a confusing and chaotic world and the lyrics of this song it's an old hymn as you know provides so much comfort and we just turn to jesus what a friend we have in jesus friend we have in jesus [Music] [Music] everything to [Music] peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] because we do not care [Music] we should never be destroyed [Music] [Music] of faith [Music] [Applause] yes jesus [Music] oh [Music] yes [Music] just [Music] [Music] we'll find us [Music] please [Applause] yes us [Music] good morning church good morning let's uh together bound the word of prayer father in heaven we come before your throne of grace father so unworthy but yet father we come yes sir father we come because of jesus the author and finisher of our faith our true redeemer the one who sticketh closer than a brother so thankful father for all that christ has done for us for helping us to be here on this time side of life realizing and recognizing father that we are here not father because we are so good neither father because we have been so careful we heard the psalmist say the other day that thou art good thou mercies are everlasting thy righteousness endureth through all generations and so father in our coming we come just so thankful father for your love thank you father for your mercy and we're thankful father for salvation realizing and recognizing that salvation can only be found in your son come father just so appreciative for life for our health for our families for the love that we have one another for one another in this community of believers here at camp creek we're asking father to continue to be with us and to give us those things that we need to continue to be the types of christians that you'd have us to be to strive to do those things well pleasing with a nice sight we look realize father that we are in a world a steep father right now with confusion just so many things just seem to be going on that are difficult challenging we're just asking father that you do what you do best and that's to lift us up please lift us up as we navigate through this treacherous world as we are hit on every side by things that try to bring us down but through it all father please continue to lift us up do what you do best father lift us up through all the struggles through all the turmoil through all the confusion just asking father that you please lift us up help us father to navigate and to do all that we can to continue to strive for heaven because we realize father heaven is our home we're in prayer right now father for the word that your manservant will be bringing to us shortly praying father for his preparation for the presentation for the content that it might encourage us that it might challenge us that it might help us to leave this place more the better for having come just so thankful father for all that you do for us and we're just asking that you continue to bless us continue father to lead the way show us the way help us to get to that place where we will be with you for eternity and father when we have done all that we can on this time side of life we're asking father that you lift us up to a place of unclouded sky to a place where there will be cloudless days we're asking father you please let's lift us up to your heavenly home and father that will be enough we're asking and offering this prayer father on the wings of hope and love what is the glorious name of jesus christ that we ask this prayer let us together say amen all right baseless sing and praise the lord come on and sing come on come on and sing come on [Music] come on [Music] i'm gonna crazy [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] children [Music] [Music] everywhere you go [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] everywhere you go [Music] everywhere you go [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] my mother [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] everywhere you go [Music] is [Music] [Music] you want to take [Music] amen amen as we prepare for brother jameson to bring us god's word this morning will sing hallelujah by and by i don't know about you but i plan to be in that number amen lord's will when we reach that city [Music] [Applause] together [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] let's go [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] everybody [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] see [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] everybody [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is me [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning and welcome to our worship service here at kent creek church of christ we want to thank all of our family camp creek family for joining in with us and we also want to send a special thank you and also a special welcome to the creek here to our guest we know you could have logged in anywhere you could have jumped in anywhere for worship you could have gone physically anywhere else for worship but the fact that you chose to log in and zoom in with us this morning and worship with us means everything so thank you thank you thank you i don't know about y'all but i'm ready to jump into the word today would you turn with me to acts chapter 16 and we're going to jump down to verse 25. now as you're turning there you may be thinking to yourself weren't we just in acts 16 even looking at verse 25 about a couple of sundays ago why we why are we back in acts 16 again well just for those who may be wondering that because i know our our our strong mature christians are like man you you can keep going to the same scripture over and over again but just just for others who may be sitting there saying yeah why are we back in the same text well i think there's more that we can unpack amen if we give it another look amen so as you're turning there i want to bring your attention to our focus for our time together today you know this month is actually suicide prevention month and this week this week that we are in the week that has just passed is actually suicide prevention awareness week and so today i guess you could say today will be both educational and spiritual so i want you to just kind of sit back get comfortable not too comfortable to where you fall asleep but comfortable enough where you stay locked in from start to finish because i believe there's a word here in acts chapter 16 that every single one of us need in our life today look with me at acts chapter 16 where we will begin reading verse 25. the bible says in acts 16 beginning at verse 25 but about midnight paul and silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to god and the prisoners were listening to them and suddenly there came a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everybody's chains were unfastened when the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open he drew his sword and he was about to kill himself he was about to end his own life supposing that the prisoners had escaped but paul cried out with a loud voice saying do not harm yourself but we are all still here he called the lights and rushed in and trembling with fear he fell down before paul and silas and after he brought them out he said sirs what must i do to be saved the most important question any of us can ever ask at any point in our life amen they said believe in the lord jesus and you will be saved you in your household and they spoke the word of the lord to him together with all who were in the house and he took them that very hour of the night and he washed their wounds and immediately he was baptized he and all his household and he brought them into the house and set food before them and rejoiced greatly having believed in god with this whole household i want to talk to you all about a man named kevin hines i want to talk to you about a man named kevin hines a man that some of you all probably heard of way back in 2000 in 2000 there was a young man named kevin hines who at the age of 19 after experiencing so much falling into a state of depression and wanting the pain to just end decided it was time for his life to be over and that he would be the one to do it so on september 25th after hugging and kissing his father after hearing his father plead with him that entire morning to just spend the day with him so that he can show his son that he cares about him and that he's not in it alone after kevin refusing to allow his dad to be with him all day he had his dad drop him off at his college in kevin on september 25th took a bus from his college to the golden gate bridge in california on his way there as he rode the bus all he wanted was for someone to say something at any point to him he felt like no one cared at this point in his life he felt like it was too much pressure and so he thought that maybe just maybe if he jumped off the golden gate bridge in his own life that that would be the answer to all of his troubles and yet all the way there to that designated location where he decided he would end his life he waited and yearned for someone to say something to him he wanted so badly for someone to speak to him and say the right words because he wasn't able to say it for himself well he knew what he wanted to do on the inside and yet at the same time he knew he wanted somebody to say something to him because he could not find the words to say for himself he wanted to talk about it but he didn't know how he wanted the pain to stop and he thought death was the answer and yet he still did not want to end his own life would somebody just anybody stop and say something to me he already believed that no one cared and yet he was still open to somebody proving him different and so as he rode that bus to the bridge and he sat back in the bus on the back row in the middle seat crying his eyes out weeping he thought to himself somebody would surely see me weeping somebody will surely see me in emotional despair and say something reaching out to me and as he sat there on the drive to the golden gate bridge somebody did say something it was a man across the way who leaned over and said to another man next to the young boy what's wrong with this guy he had an opportunity to show that he cared and instead he poked fun at the man at the boy who was in need this was an opportunity for somebody to show they cared but they showed the opposite instead playing into the belief that kevin had that no one cared he just hoped for somebody on the bus to say something to him he even walked up to the bus driver with tears flowing from his face hoping that the bus driver will say something as he was about to get off but instead the bus driver said nothing of kind words instead the bus driver said come on kid get on off i have to go he only wanted somebody to ask him one of three questions he only wanted somebody to say something and in his mind he said if somebody just asked me one of these three questions then maybe just maybe we can do something about it he said i just wanted somebody to ask me one or three questions he said he wanted somebody to ask him are you okay [Applause] he said he wanted somebody to ask him is there something wrong he said he wanted somebody to ask him can i help you but no one said anything so he got off that bus settled within himself that what he thought was to be true was actually true and that was that no one cared at all so with tears still flowing from his eyes he leaned over the rail on the golden gate bridge he walked back towards the street and then he ran towards the rail and he jumped over the rail falling 220 feet from the air crashing into the water kevin was one of 34 people though who actually survived the jump off this bridge and he was actually one out of over 19 who said that immediately when his hands left the rail he regretted what he was doing and said to himself i want to live suicide will someone or anyone choose to care enough suicide will someone or anyone choose to care enough there is so much yet at the same time so little disgust about those who choose to end their own life and so for just a moment i want us to lean in for the educational piece and maybe even take notes as we look into some details surrounding the subject matter of one ending their own life do you all know that every year over 800 000 people choose to end their own life over 800 000 people every year choose in their own life if you were to break that down in seconds that means that every 40 seconds one person chooses to end their own life after every 40 seconds if we sat here for 40 seconds after that 40 seconds pass somebody somewhere in this world chooses to end their own life it is the 10th leading cause of death in north america it's the we are in north america it is the 10th leading cause in the country that we live in and it's even foremost the cause of death worldwide among adolescents one of the dangers and there are many get me wrong there are many dangers but one of the dangers behind suicide is the many lies that our society believe which is why i want to share with us for a few moments several myths surrounding the subject of ending your own life y'all ready to take some notes because this could be helpful for us because we all know myths are lies that society buys into we got myths about marriage saying that uh uh once i get married that's the end of my world that's a myth right or we have myths that says uh for sexual partners i have to have sex before i get married to make sure that i want to be married to this person that's a myth right we deal with myths all the time misgovern the way that we go throughout life right there are myths about men men don't cry that's a myth right if there's a myth that says women don't like to listen to anything that's a myth these things that we uh govern our lives by that our lives right are falling into the category of myths but if we are not careful our entire life will be led and directed by a myth that has not proven itself to be true that even falls in the same bracket when it comes to someone who chooses to end their own life myth number one there's a risk that asking someone about suicide will make them start thinking about it that is not true you asking somebody about it won't make them think more about it than they already are nor will it spark a thought in their mind if it's not there right that is a myth and if we believe that myth that myth will keep us from saying anything to anyone at any time myth number two there's a risk of making the situation worse if i try to help somebody who is thinking about suicide that's a myth that's a myth sometimes we feel like i'm inadequate so i can't do anything i'd rather try to do something and be wrong than try to do nothing and they go through with their thinking another myth is that it occurs without any signs nothing just pops out y'all know how with the israelites when moses came down from the mountain uh and he saw this golden path what did aaron say to him and said it just popped out out popped the cab nothing just pops out what they had to do was they had to throw their jewelry into the fire and then they had to fashion it and then they had to take it out check it put it back in and make sure that they can hold it some more nothing just happens without signs there are signs the question is not was there signs leading up to it the question is were you watching the question is where you looking the absence of your perception the absence of your outlook the absence of your watching is not the same as there not being any science right no you just want to look another myth is that people who make suicidal threats rarely kill themselves people who make suicidal threats rarely kill themselves you all this is one of the biggest myths that we have to correct right now we have what is called passive suicidal thoughts passive suicidal thoughts occurs on a regular but just because they are occurring on a regular somebody's mind doesn't mean that they necessarily want them there or that they want to act on you but what we have to keep in mind is that every time someone brings up the idea of ending their own life they may keep bringing it up for the purpose of growing more comfortable with the idea yeah yeah so so somebody comes oh they always say that be careful yeah because the 10th time they said it that tenth time could be the very time that they grew so comfortable with the idea that they finally decide to follow through on it when we say things out loud sometimes we just trying to see what people say sometimes we just try to read the room sometimes we just trying to uh hear ourselves saying y'all ever say something out loud and you say and that's the first time i said that out loud but i just need to hear myself say it yeah because maybe if i say it out loud then it's true i need to take my own life the idea that just because somebody talks about it don't mean that they're gonna follow through don't believe that lie it may not happen today it may not happen the first time they mention it but it could happen the tenth time the question is not when will they do it the question is when they say will you walk with them each time another myth once a person has made up his or her mind about suicide no one can stop him or her kevin hines made up his mind about ending his life as he drove to the golden gate bridge but the entire way kevin hines just wanted somebody to say something to him that's right he's not alone in how he felt there are some people who are very much so dedicated to following through on their idea yeah but we don't know that amen i think too often we try to position ourselves in the seat of judge and we try to determine who is who and who feels what who can be saved who can't be saved right y'all ever notice that in the bible when uh in mark chapter four when it talks about sowing the seed there's a difference between sowing and planting right we try to make every situation a planting situation where we identify the soil where we test the soil where we dig up the soil where we put seeds in the soil where we uh cultivate the soil every situation ain't a planting situation that's why in mark chapter four the sower and the seed is so interesting not only to when we talk about the gospel and saving the world through jesus christ but also when we talk about dealing with individuals when you talk about sowing you just saturday the season where the seeds fall it's not up to you what soil it falls on ain't up to you stop trying to decide who's too far gone for you to reach out to because you may choose to not reach out to the very person who was yearning for somebody to say something dude myth continued only people who struggle with a mental illness struggle with thoughts of ending their life that is not true we're going to talk about that a little bit more in a second last minute this is specifically for us here at kent creek and those who fall within this category a last myth that we need to talk about regarding suicide is that black people don't take their own lives black people don't take their own lives now can we can we take a little bit more time on this myth and let's go back up real real quick let's talk real quick about only people who struggle with mental illness struggle with thoughts of ending their life let me tell you why this is a myth having a mental illness could in fact make you more susceptible to following through with your thoughts of ending your own life but there are other factors that can lead to such actions as well because even even mental illness could be considered a predisposing factor what is the predisposing factor a predef disposing factor is something that exists in your life already that makes you more vulnerable to certain things such as a mental illness or suicidal ideations right so predisposing factors could be uh and this is not an exhaustive list this is just a few things that i want us to keep in mind a few factors that could lead uh to someone uh ending their own life or wanting to in their own life or even thinking about it could be previous attempts to end their own life trauma any form of trauma childhood sexual abuse right family history of suicidal behaviors uh if you lose a parent and you lost the parent because the parent decided to take their own life those are considered predisposing factors meaning that those things occurred in your life making you more vulnerable to thoughts or actions of ending one's own life so you may not even have a mental illness you may just have some messed up stuff that has occurred in your life or occurred in the life of those that you care about and because of that you become more vulnerable to the idea or even the follow-through of ending your own life then we have precipitating factors we have precipitating factors these are triggers right these are events or occurrences or situations that can act as a trigger for one to think about ending their life or follow through with ending their life this includes and again this is not an exhaustive list but a few things is when you have difficulty in a really serious relationship okay a separation or a divorce could really take somebody into a dark space yeah well they feel like you know what everything is done yeah and the only answer is to end my own life yeah right divorce i'm telling y'all there was a reason there was a reason why uh marriage is considered to be a covenant yeah yeah right it's a reason why some covenant is not a contract because when you destroy the covenant it destroys you in more ways than what we oftentimes like to talk about death of a loved one could be a trigger for the thought or the action right someone close to you ending their life a medical condition a chronic medical condition people who find out i have cancer people who find out that i will never walk again people who find out that they have to take my leg or they have to take my arm people who find out i have copied mercy mercy assault victims or those arrested and even imprisoned but then you have the situation where the predisposing factor starts working together with the precipitating factors when you start meshing those in it starts to mess you up on the psychological level right and now you start to feel alone you start to feel abandoned you start to feel hopeless you start to feel burdensome well i'm a burden on them and you start thinking that when you become a burden on somebody that the best option is to relieve the burden off of them by ending your own life when you start to feel guilty when you start to feel overwhelmed or that people will be better off without you and you start to feel like the only way that you can capture peace or provide peace to others around you is by ending your own life which often times leads to social isolation and then finally you have social factors when you have economic or educational adversity do you know that oftentimes my wife who works for a crisis hotline as a therapist oftentimes she will receive calls at 3 4 in the morning from students who are saying i'm about to fail this class and i don't know what to do and the only thing that i can come up with let's jump to though this last myth that i want to spend some time on black people don't take their own lives you know so often the act of even the thought of ending one's own life is considered to be a white person thing and that is so far from the truth ending one's own life is not just a white people thing amen unfortunately if i had to tell you the truth the number of people committing suicide in black communities are constantly increasing especially among adolescents it is actually the third leading cause of death in 15 through 24 year old african-american males the third leading cause of death for our african-american males between the ages of 15 and 24. just between 2001 and 2017 the uh suicide rates among black females increased to over 182 percent 182 percent and for the children between the ages of 5 and 12 yes i said 5 and 12 within the african-american community they are ending their lives at a much faster rate than any other age group from any other ethnicity or racial background i was listening in on a conference that my wife was on and the instructor at the time was telling them of a situation where a nine-year-old boy would lean over his bunk bed and think to himself if i just jump off head first and in this i will be okay the thought and the act of ending one's own life is hurting us in the black community amen the idea that what happens in this house stays in this house is hurting us in our black community the idea that because i survived slavery and because my ancestors survived slavery we should be able to survive anything it's hurting us in the black community the idea that we don't talk about our feelings especially as black men is hurting us in the black community the idea that mental illness means spiritual weakness is hurting us in the black community it's not just white people's concern is our concern to church suicide will someone will anyone care enough let's go back to acts chapter 16. because we've got some folks in here right now who worshipping with us may be saying all right we got the facts where's the bible let's jump to acts chapter 16. and be careful what you asked for right that's what you asked for look with me again at verse 25 as we work our way through verse 34 one last time acts chapter 16 verse 25 25 says but about midnight paul and silas were praying and singing hymns of phrases to god and the prisoners were listening to them and suddenly there came a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's chains were unfashioned when the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors open he drew his sword and was about to end his own life supposing ozin supposing that the prisoners had escaped but paul cried out with a loud voice saying do not harm yourself when we are still here and he called for lights he rushed in and trembling with fear he fell down before paul and silas and after he brought them out he said sir is what must i do to be saved and they said believe in the lord jesus and you will be saved you in your household and they spoke the word of the lord to him together with all of those who were in his house and he took them that very hour that very night and washed their wounds and immediately he was baptized in all this household and he brought them into his house and said fool before them and rejoice greatly having believed in god with his whole house but two of those things i have to say to those who may be in the midst of feeling like you want to end your own life i have two things i want to say to you and then i have three things i want to say to the christians in the room two things to those who wish to end their own life number one it's not as bad as it feels it is not as bad as it feels you know when the jailer woke up in acts chapter 16 and thought after seeing the jail doors open that the prisoners had escaped the worst thing that could possibly happen to this jail happened in this moment because in this particular society in this particular time frame the jailer was the one who was responsible for the prisoners and if the prisoners had escaped on your watch then whatever right whatever consequence was supposed to be given to the prisoner is now given to the guard so if the prisoners had a stake and it wouldn't have just been paul and silas it would have been everybody else that were in there that some of them may even had a death sentence and so if they escaped because of the rules of this time if they escape the jailer is held responsible and if they escaped and they were supposed to die then the jailer receives the consequences of the prisoners who escaped so if they were supposed to die and he was there well guess who dies him the worst thing that could possibly happen to a prison guard in this time just happened to him he failed he failed his assignment he failed in his job he failed and executed his responsibility to him he failed and now all hope was lost i guess you can say his life flashed before his eyes because at this point ending his own life was the only answer to the entire situation are y'all following don't forget what we talked about earlier to him he was so filled with despair and hopelessness so much so that the jailer drew his own sword preparing to end his own life to the jello the situation was bad as bad as it could possibly get as bad as he could possibly get due to his perception of the situation it was so bad that the only answer he could come up with was to end his own life there may be times in our lives where we feel as if things are as bad as they could possibly be [Music] it may feel like when we get an f on a test after promising our parents that we were going to do our best in college it may feel like that is the worst thing that could possibly happen to us and so because of that the only answer we can come up with is to end our own lives it may feel like getting a divorce at the age of 50 that there is no hope of a life of happiness any longer when you're this late in the game it may feel like that's the end of it all for you it may feel like the social pressure to be constantly be uh more and more and more especially as a teenager is too overwhelming to continue forward and i want you to know this you may very well be right in your feelings that's right i love the dialogue that job has with god in the book of job because uh job had some moments where he just felt like it's the right thing to just end it all amen but if you notice god never attacked job fulfilling the way that he feels that's right he never attacked him fulfilling the way that he felt job would go through after all his thoughts that he experienced he would talk to god and god just be like okay i hear you i validate you i get it it's messed up i hear you but i got something for you that's right yeah man i only hope to offer up the jailer and kevin kevin hines as a moment of clarity if you will allow me kevin thought that no one cared about him because on the entire way to the bridge he kept waiting for somebody to say something to him the man sitting on the bus along with him failed the woman who began to walk up to him when he was on the bridge who he thought was going to reach out to him and say something but instead decided to ask him to take a picture of her on the bridge failed the bus driver who saw his eyes filled with waters as they fell down from his eyes down his cheek down his chin down his face fell but then when you listen to him tell the story he goes back to his father that morning his father who pleaded with him to stay with him for the day because his father could sense that something in kevin wasn't right he knew kevin's been going through a lot and he asked kevin please stay with me unfortunately kevin could not realize that what his father was doing was an act of care yes yes look at the jailer even the jailer through uh the worst thought the worst had happened because all he saw were the doors to the jail cell opened and he immediately assumed he immediately assumed that everyone in the jail had escaped and yet they were still there yes what do i want to say to you who are in the moment right now it may not be as bad as it feels let's go on to number two don't act too quickly don't act too quickly i know these things these two things sound uh cliche and they sound very light but i'm telling you these two things may very well help you out of this moment help you through this moment you are experiencing where you feel despair and hopelessness and you feel like the world is falling apart and you feel like you are at the bottom of the bottom i'm trying to tell you it feels like the bottom to you but there's way more down to the bottom than you actually are so number one it may not be as bad as it feels and number two do not act too quickly uh because when you look at acts chapter 16 you all another observation is in the sequence is in the sequence of events that the jailer end up taking uh between his observation and his action the bible says when he woke up from his sleep after the earthquake came he saw the doors to the cell open what's the next thing that happened the bible says that after seeing the jail doors open he drew his sword yeah wait you saw the jaw the jail cell goes open and then it almost seems immediately because there's nothing in between those two statements you woke up the earth okay let's step back earthquake wake up doors open take my life yeah how did the jail not realize that the prisoners were still there it's because he moved too fast yeah he moved too fast when you asked kevin hines what would he say as a survivor right he when he's asked on some interviews and you can youtube several of his interviews when the uh people interview him will ask them what message would you say to those who may be in a moment where they feel like they want to end their own life kevin says the only thing he would say to them is stop and breathe can get blurry when we act too quickly acting too quickly in both mind and body can lead us to making some hasty decisions without all the proper pieces of information needed to make an informed decision in studies surrounding the topic of suicide one thing that keeps coming up for those who move from thought to act is impulsivity they're moving too fast impulsivity is the inability to slow down so if you are in the middle of all of this right now i ask you not to act too quickly slow down because maybe just maybe when you slow down stop and breathe you will see that it may not be as bad as it feels two things to those in the midst of it it's not as bad as it feels and don't act too quickly now can i talk to my christians i want to talk to my christians and i pray that for those who have ears to hear let them hear and if those who are sitting right now with hardened hearts i pray that god will soften your hearts because as you can see this is a real situation that we're dealing with in our world and i believe that god has called us as christians us as the church to stand in the gaps that exist in this world of brokenness number one to our christians care enough to slow down [Music] care enough to slow down we move so fast throughout our day focusing solely on ourselves that we overlook so much that occurs around us but if we wish to help fight against the raging thoughts and actions of people wanting to end their own lives we must care enough to actually slow down i know this is a big thing to ask of us we like moving fast moving fast it makes us feel productive moving fast makes us feel important i got stuff to do you know i got places to go get off my bus i gotta go young man hey take a picture of me when we move fast we're so invested in ourselves we can't we fail to see others every single time slowing down requires selflessness in a heart for god that extends to other people when those doors opened up for paul and silas they could have easily stepped away if they wanted to move fast enough they could have dipped up out of that place along with all the other prisoners i don't think people get this paul and silas just worshiped and praised god they just prayed and praised god at midnight their answers you will say that they received their answer right there all the silence prayed praise god and god showed up and showed out for them by busting open the doors and releasing the chains that mountains and yet they stay put yeah they stay put long enough to stop the guard from harming himself and ending his own life church we must slow down but that requires us to care we must slow down but that requires us to care well how can we observe someone in need if we don't slow down long enough to even see people faces care enough to slow down and not just with adults but with children too did you all see that i said the uh rates for suicide is higher for those all the way down to five years old some of us have five-year-olds in our house are we slowing down long enough to see where they are mentally emotionally spiritually are we moving so fast i gotta go to work i gotta turn into this assignment i gotta plug into this ministry i'm telling y'all it's reason to understand that your family is your first ministry yeah right well yeah i'll say that for later today you're trying to start all right if jesus could slow down long enough to save us by using his own life we can slow down long enough to be a helping hand to somebody else care enough to slow down number two y'all still with me christians number two care enough to say something amen care enough to say something i yeah again this is real simple i get it i it starts to get a little bit more difficult when you start trying to practice these things slowing down is very hard especially in the world of the society that is moving at 100 miles per hour when the speed limit is 30 miles per hour somebody got it i care enough to say something we don't just need to slow down for the sake of observing we need to slow down so we can know what to say and when you're saying we must care enough to slow down and care enough to say something paul said to the jailer don't harm yourself we're still here he took the time to address the misconception and the uh the bad perception i guess you could say that the jailer had in his mind of the situation around him paul cared enough to make the gentleman aware of the reality of the situation and that it was not anything like he thought it was and that the gentleman didn't have to take his own life as well right yeah there are some people who we encounter throughout our life that really need us to call out to them and to tell them everything is going to be okay to tell them that we care to tell them that they're not alone to tell them that they're more to the story than they're given a chance to experience there are some people that we walk past that is just waiting for somebody to say something that's worthy that's rooted in love and wounded and concerned cause i'm gonna tell y'all the truth sometimes when we slow down and we see people in in bad shape we slow down long enough to be petty i'm asking us as christians to slow down long enough to be loving amen that's right there's definitely a difference between the two amen those prisoners could have escaped but they stayed there and paul decided to say something there are so many people in this world that are going through stuff and because sometimes we struggle with knowing what to say i'm going to share something with you today that you should remember to ask those who you believe are going through horrible situations in our life and they may look like they want to end their own life there are three questions i think we should get comfortable yeah you don't have asking get comfortable asking these things but if you see somebody in emotional despair these are three questions that can help you engage them and maybe even help them question number one are you having thoughts of ending your life don't don't be scared of that question don't be scared i'm more scared of not asking the question than i am of actually asking amen if you don't know what's going on with your children i just told you all that adolescents are at a greater risk of ending their own lives in the world that we have today you need to get comfortable with this question christians people in our society it's the 10th leading cause of death in our society here in north america 800 000 people are ending their own lives every single year we need to get comfortable with this question and you know why it's okay for us to say these words because those who are going through them need someone else to say it for them because they can't tell you themselves they're waiting for you to ask them because they cannot bring themselves to say it to you out loud get comfortable with this question are you having thoughts of ending your life we can talk at fatherhood of while i'm using the word in life as opposed to other words that you can use so if you want to continue this conversation join me in mercedes tonight at five o'clock and we'll try to unpack some of these you know ideas and some more information we'll share some more information regarding uh people who have thoughts or decide to act on ending their own life number two do you have a plan so number one question number one that you ask and sometimes they'll probably even tell you without you asking number one so in the event that they tell you you don't need to ask them number one you need to jump right on down to question number two question number two is do you have a plan how do they look to carry out this desire or this thought do you have a plan is it jumping over the golden gate bridge is it overdosing whatever the case may be do you have a plan and then last question is do you have access to means yes i know this is uncomfortable for some people i know some people are right now worshipping at home and you're cringing you're like this is not the typical sermon i'm praying that this helps us be better at what god has called us to be and these questions sometimes we have so many sermons and it's just so vague and they don't give us direct takeaways i'm hoping that these three questions can be some direct takeaways i can't sit here and tell you care enough to say something to not help you know what to say question number one are you having thoughts within your life question number two do you have a plan question number three do you have access to means you wanna you wanna go you wanna go jump off the golden gate bridge well do you live in california do you have money to buy a plane ticket do you did you already purchase one i'm trying to figure out how far we are in this process because it's one thing to have thoughts it's another thing to have a plan and there is another thing to actually develop the means to execute the plan i'm trying to figure out where you at so i know where i need to be at and my involvement in your life right now i know these questions sound awkward i know these questions sound uncomfortable but these questions could lead to a person's life being saved from themselves we will not always get it right but maybe just maybe we can at least start trying by saying something care enough to call out and say don't do it we're all here care enough to slow down care enough to say something and finally you all care enough to invest christians care enough to invest i love witnessing how paul uh how paul after the jailer uh kept the jelly from ending their own life uh shared the gospel with him i love witnessing that to me that's that's that's the peak of all of this uh but paul went so far as to even do the same with his entire family leading to the whole household being saved paul went beyond just stopping the sword that was set to end this man's life paul shared with him the one and the only who gives life and gives it abundantly do we care enough to invest beyond an initial conversation do we care enough to follow up do we care enough to get involved with this person further than simply uh pass by jesus loves you yeah this i know the bible tells himself do we love them more to go beyond that i hope so because the kingdom is calling for it amen the reason jesus wanted us to take the truth to take the gospel to everyone everywhere is so that everyone everywhere can have a chance at a life that's right a life living and then i i want to share this with you because i thought this was interesting the apa the american psychiatric association already revealed to us that african americans are less likely to receive guideline consistent care yeah all right less frequently included in research on all matters and i know this for a fact because i promise you all the research i'm doing for school right now i'm telling you when it goes through the demographics the presence of african americans in those studies they always tell you what's the limitations in the study and you don't know how often i write the limitation in the study is that it doesn't cover a diverse group of people correct it biologically but this is true and then finally we are more likely to use as black people we are more likely to use emergency rooms and urgent care rather than mental health specialists so if the miracle world won't invest in us i sure hope we do and we do so in the name of god i was saddened when i dug into the golden gate bridge and this is not political this is emotional to me i was saddened when i looked into the golden gate bridge when i looked into this history do you know that the first recorded jump off the golden gate bridge was back in 1937. since then over 1700 people have used that as a means of ending their own life and those were just the ones that were recorded or the bodies that were actually found they started discussing putting up barriers to prevent people from being able to use that as a means to end their own life they started this conversation back in 1950 now running all throughout the world bridges that have been used for this act have been moving swiftly to put up guardrails uh put up nets and things of that nature so that people can't use it as a means of ending their own life but the golden gate bridge started this conversation back in 1950 the idea of putting up next do you know allegedly let me say allegedly they have not done so because all the designs that have come their way seem to be eyesores to the beauty that is the bridge now a couple of years ago they started putting up a few nets but since then the project has ceased into further notice i share all this to say it's my hope that we don't allow what we perceive to be an inconvenience our level of discomfort keep us from caring enough to invest when we see someone in need it's not political it's emotional for me it's spiritual for me i shared all that with you to say that i it's my prayer that we care enough to invest enough amen and those who we see are in need the next time you see someone obviously emotionally distressed care enough to slow down yes care enough to say something and care enough to invest amen if you don't know go find out you ask them when put it in their head if it's not already there you asking won't further them along in the process if they're already not there we have people in our congregation right now that have lost loved ones check on them yeah we got people in our congregation right now who have went through a relationship uh a separation where they've been divorced check on them we got children who are not doing so well in school who are not doing so well in our social circles check on them and honestly all of us are going through a pandemic even still check on us we all need somebody checking on us maybe just maybe if i check on you you check on me we check on them they check on them maybe if one person check on another person maybe just maybe we can help somebody but the question is do we care enough yeah if we do our care may be the very thing that can help prevent somebody from ending their own life there may be somebody who is worshiping with us today and you may be thinking to yourself that you are currently feeling the descriptions i gave earlier regarding someone who wishes to end their own life if so i want you to know that life is definitely hard and it can be real difficult for some more than others which is why god blessed us with each other so that we don't have to go at this world alone you have a family over here at the creek i want you to know that you have a support system in us here at the creek i want you to know that but i love god because god knew how fallible of beings we are as humans and god knew that we mess up sometimes and we are not always there as much as we should be which is why god decided to go a step further beyond his creation to his son and so he sent us on to down this earth so that through his death all of us could experience the life so that when humans mess up he never will so i asked you this morning if you're going through some things i told y'all last week that what seems like a major storm to us is nothing but a raindrop to him if you want that peace if you want that hope if you want that life lived abundantly if you want that grace and mercy if you want that clarity you find that at the cross you find that in jesus i know there may be a lot of steps along the way to your health mentally emotionally and physically and i'm just trying to offer you today one solution to all them that's jesus he can do way more in our lives than we can in our own i told a class that i was teaching last thursday i said god can do more with your reality than you can do with your fantasy and i believe that i believe that give him the chance to show up and show out in your life as he has done in many of ours and i promise you he won't fail you whatever you're going through whether you need prayer or whether you stand in need of giving your life over to god i'm just going to ask you do you believe that jesus christ is the son of god and with that confession and a repentant heart we will take you down into the water we gave a baptism and when you come out of that water you will be made new and you will have not only the church in your corner but god amen whatever you need let us know here at the creek call us email us uh visit our website text us the number is on your screen right now in church the only thing i gotta say to you is will you care [Music] enough amen [Music] jesus [Music] oh [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] he's [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] let the church we want say thank further alex for that very inspiring message the biggest things i take away from that is if i care enough i just need to slow down slow down thank you so much for that brother alex i appreciate that we have several of our members who have come forward this morning with prayer requests in their hearts and i'm going to go through those who have sent in their uh their requests online please keep in mind that you can still send in your prayer requests as you can see the number that is listed on the screen right now by all means please do so and we will continue to pray for you as you send those messages in i start with brother aikens who comes forward today and says i have sinned and repented of sin and asked for prayers of the church we want to keep brother akins in our prayers michelle birds comes forth says we want to thank the church family for extending us love and condolences in the loss of my father since he was in christ we celebrated his 83 years of life thank you for your support and calls cards gifts and prayers love in christ the birds families we appreciate that furniture peterson comes forward this morning and says thank you for your prayers i am improving daily uh from kobe please pray for a full recovery we appreciate that we thank you so much for that our sister andy molden comes forward and says i am asking for prayer for a close friend he has covert and pneumonia he was admitted to the hospital yesterday his name is vincent freeman and also keep his family in your prayers we appreciate that and we'll keep them in our prayers visiting carol mitchell come forward this morning and say god good morning church family please pray for the mitchell family we have two oh we've had two family deaths this past week thank you so we appreciate that and we want to make sure we pray for the mitchell family and the death of two family members mercy daniel lucas comes forward this morning and says please pray for my co-worker denise stanley um and her family as they mourn the ultimate the untimely uh passing of her son j.r stanley due to a tragic car accident mercy we want to keep that family in our prayers we have shirley jose comes forward this morning and says please continue to pray for me that i get well soon i am planning to be here on december 12th on the december 12th weekend can't wait to see you all continue to pray for my daughter misty and family keep her safe and watch over her by god's grace and mercy she's part of my heart we appreciate that endorse sister dorsett thank you we would definitely uh keep them in our prayers sister lily menos comes forward this morning says church please pray for me as i travel this week for a little rest and relaxation thank you so much i'm sure that's well deserved sister meadow so we'll keep you in our prayers we have priscilla saunders who comes forward this morning and says dad is being transitioned for hospice care tomorrow requesting continued prayer for strength our family and for traveling grace for elizabeth allen who is heading home to florida tomorrow heading home from florida tomorrow so we want to keep her and her family in our prayers these the individuals i have have right now again i'm sure there will be more that will be coming in here and we're just asking that each and every one of you remember these individuals in your prayers you don't have to remember their names just remember that you just need to pray for them and god will take care of the rest we'll ask brother wright if he doesn't mind to come in here and lead us in a corporate prayer for these individuals at this time thank you as i look out into our small audience this morning it is apparent to me that we have lost loved ones we have suffered the sickness of loved ones we have been taking special care of loved ones the sermon this morning certainly hits home in a very real way amen let's bow our heads as we go to our heavenly father at this time heavenly father we're grateful we're thankful we are appreciative and we thank you so much for blessing us to hear this lesson today help us to be more concerned about the thoughts and the ideations of our loved ones as they go through trauma as they go through chronic illnesses as they go through difficult circumstances bless each person who called the hotline and asked for prayer one person in particular is concerned about their travels bless them as they travel bring them back safely after they've had the time that they wanted to have bless each person who asked for prayers because of difficulty the pandemic has caused difficulty in our lives we are aware that we are going through tough times but as we go through tough times help us to think about others of us who go through even tougher times help us to reach out help us to be concerned help us to care for other people help us to think about how paul cared for the jailer who was about to commit suicide amen help us to think about how god cares for each one of us as we go through tough times on a regular basis bless us bless the church that meets here camp creek help us never to forget that jesus is still the way he's still the truth he's still the life and nobody can come to jesus except they humble themselves and look to him it is in his name that we pray world without end let the church say amen [Music] good morning church we have come to that portion of our service where we're to give back to god luke chapter 6 and verse 38 give it and it will be given to you a good measure pressed down shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap for with the measure you use it will be measured to you let us pray the heavenly father we thank you again for this beautiful day that you have given us father we thank you for this opportunity to give back to you a portion of what you have given to us we thank you for allowing us to get up daily to heavenly father go out thank you for providing for our families and our friends thank you to heavenly father to allow us to this opportunity at this time to give back that portion that you have blessed us with not only through a physical means to heavenly father but through our time and all in all and all the heavenly father these are all the many blessings we're asking your son jesus name amen you can also give online through alexio or you can also visit our website and give online as well the communion the bible tells us in first matthew 26 chapter beginning at verse 26 and it says and as they were eating jesus took bread blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood the new test the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but i say to you i will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now from now on until the day when i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom let us pray the heavenly father we thank you for your son jesus christ we thank you for the grace and the mercy you have shown to allow him to die for our sins he died a cruel death on the cross to heavenly father so they may we may see this day we will never forget the ultimate sacrifice we do this in remembrance of your son jesus christ father bless those who are taken of this cup that represents his blood and this bread that represents his body that they do so in a manner which is pleasing and acceptable unto you we love you father and we thank you we thank you for your son jesus these are all the many blessings we ask in your son jesus name amen [Music] after all the things [Music] you know after all [Music] we want to thank brother jameson for an impactful and outstanding sermon thank you so much we want to remind all of you who are joining us online today that at five o'clock this evening we will gather virtually again to talk about today's sermon to get more information on this important topic of suicide and its impact in our community we invite you and encourage you to please join us at five o'clock this afternoon soon very soon [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in this place at this time thanking you lord for the blessing of this another lord's day allowing us father to gather to worship you in spirit and in truth father is our prayer in your son jesus name at this moment that everything we have done in worship to you has above all lord been pleasing and acceptable in your sight father we ask and pray that as we enter into this another week that we carry your word with us that we carry your will with us that father we take what it is that you have taught us take what it is that we have learned from your will and use it to make our lives more of what you would happen to be help us to be impactful with everyone we come in contact with help us to carry the message the gospel message to all that we see by the help of the church to continue to be what you would happen to be help each one of us continue to grow in your word your will and your way protect us lord be with us as we in this worship service so that we may come back together at the next a point in time it is in jesus precious holy and perfect name that we pray has every heart a degree said in his name amen you

Channel: Camp Creek Church of Christ

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Length: 110min 17sec (6617 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021