We Are All Still Here: A Talk on Suicide

hey this is pastor Josh just want to thank you so much for watching our videos if you'd like more information about legacy city church and go to legacy City Church comm and if you really enjoy these videos please don't forget to subscribe below god bless you we're gonna be an axe chapter 16 in our Bibles Acts chapter 16 if you want to turn there and we're gonna talk about something very specific today and it is very specific to my life and some things that I've gone through and experienced you came on the right Sunday no doubt but today we are going to talk about the issue of suicide startling as it may be it is something that is not spoken about the church very often and one that we get away from and one that we don't want to bring up and trust me this is not a message that I look forward to sharing or even want to but I think it is necessary and you'll see why in just a few moments the title the message today is we are all still here a talk on suicide we are all still here every year more than 1 million people take their lives on the earth did you know that more than 1 million every single year and over 40,000 people take their life here in America to compare that is to look at the murder rate each year this is double the murder rate in America 40,000 people taking their own lives is double the murder rate here in America and the number one killer of young people ages 15 to 24 is suicide the number one the reason this is so close to home is because this is the story of my brother and this happened three years ago yesterday so it's not something that I even look forward to sharing but I think it is necessary a pastor told me a long time ago don't waste your pain and even as you'll see something I'll share a little bit later is that what you'll come to find legacy family the things that you want to talk about the least are the things that will bring forth the most ministry in your life the things I don't want to share the things I want to stay away from they're the most genuine real things that you have to share with another person and it is your greatest gold and that is what I'm hoping is that not only will you eat a bit today and be able to share in it and enjoy it and that it will minister to you but that in doing so maybe this will minister to people watching this in the future maybe thinking about taking their own lives or trying to figure out how to minister to somebody who's working through it themselves one month into our church plant September 21 2014 this was our start date we were worshiping the Lord celebrating here in this gym it was so hot do you remember so hot we didn't have air conditioning we didn't have those nice chairs either the eight we had white plastic once there was hundreds of people packed in this place as we launched the church sucking all the fresh air out of the room it was both our greatest and worst day as a church right but little did I know that two surprises - beautiful surprises the first one one month later and one month into our church plant just four weeks later on October 19th 2014 my brothers Jake and Jes were here stage right here and they were worshipping with us both of my brothers all here together it was our first Sunday that we ever were all able to minister together we went to Lert lunch after church and had a great time laughing and hanging and I gave Jake a hug in the parking lot I told him I loved him and I had a pair of shoes I was gonna give to him and he almost came over to the house but I knew he had a long drive home to San Diego so I said you know Jake just get it next time you know and then Monday came around again we had celebrated this amazing experience one month into the church and I just couldn't believe that God would let all of my family be here to worship together and serve God together it was the most beautiful moment one of the most beautiful in my life Monday Jake text me you know a few things about his phone because it was cracked or something and we were you knows I'm always working deals on Craigslist and getting phones and doing all kinds of stuff and so we were talking about that and then he was texting me about some stocks that our grandpa had put away for us a long time ago and that we had been given and we're now able to manage and we were talking about investments and where to put that money and how to reinvest and he also had talked about possibly if I had any connections with Disneyland because he wanted to take the kids to Disneyland here in this next couple weeks and their birthdays were coming soon everything seemed fine then I didn't hear from him the next day on Tuesday but then October 22nd on Wednesday I received a call from my brother Jeff's my youngest brother I'm the oldest of three boys sometime around lunchtime I believe and I didn't pick up and he left a voicemail just saying to call him back asap and I called him back and I heard the worst news of my life and my brother Jacob had taken his life and that his car was found on a bridge and I was in shock and I kept trying to reason through it didn't make sense this this must be a mistake they got the wrong car that's not my brother everything was fine but everything wasn't fine he was mad and upset the night before about something and had been going through stuff we didn't know about for a long time and he thought the only way to solve it and get away from his pain was to take his own life but that was the wrong decision that was a great mistake in a sin that we now can't change he made the wrong choice legacy what you have to understand it's people who take their own lives they don't want to end their lives they want to end their pain but they need to know they don't have to take their own life to end the pain there's another way and that's what I want to talk about today there is another way there is another plan I want to share my story because I believe it can help a lot of people this message is for my brother and it's for those thinking about suicide you know there could be people in this room right now who have been thinking about this the last month or those who have lost loved ones to suicide it's for them too it's those who will have friends and family members struggling with suicide and depression you may have been thinking about taking your own life you need to know there's a better way you need to know God loves you and we love you and we need you you are important and valuable and we need you here we're gonna look at a texts in the Bible where guy goes to take his own life and someone intervenes and he lives it's found in Acts chapter 16 verse 25 to 28 can we stand for the reading of God's Word the text says that about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them and suddenly there was a great earthquake so the foundations of the prison doors were the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened when the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open he threw he drew his sword and was about to kill himself supposing that the prisoners had escaped but Paul cried out with a loud voice do not harm yourself for we are all here let's pray father we thank you for this text and we thank you for your word and we thank you for your promises we thank you for the gift of life we thank you for the resurrection we thank you for the cross in which you have conquered death and you brought forth resurrection and we pray that you would illuminate our eyes and our hearts in this moment that you would change us that we would look at this topic more difficult more different than ever that we would look at this issue that people are struggling with right now here in LA in Studio City maybe even in our church and we pray Lord that you would empower us to minister to love and to serve at such a high level that people would step away from this and turn to you and find rest in their storm teach us we pray in jesus name amen you can be seated if you don't know the context I'll tell you Paul and Silas on their way to daily prayer were met by a slave girl who is demon-possessed this slave girl she was a slave in their masters home and she was demon-possessed and the Masters were losing her demon possession for fortune-telling and they were making money off of her and when the slave girl came close to Paul and Silas and they were actually the text says if you read it's kind of funny it says that Paul and Silas were annoyed by her because she kept following them around for days at a time saying these are sons of the Most High these are sons of the Most High these are sons of the Most High walking around town saying this over and over and Paul's just like huh I'm so annoyed it says there in the text and then he casts out the demon you know what happens the masters of that slave girl are so ticked off that they cast out the demon because now she can't fortune tell anymore and they can't make any more money so the master Reports Paul and Silas to the authorities it says these men are messing up our city and our business you know it happens verse 22 the crowd joined in attacking them there in your text the magistrates tore the garments off them they ripped off their clothes gave orders to beat them with rods and when they had inflicted many blows upon them they threw them in prison ordering the jailer to keep them safely having received this order he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet to the stalks for casting out a demon and preaching Jesus they were beaten bloodied and thrown into prison and their feet and hands were put in shackles so here they are it's beaten blooding sitting in prison for helping a demon-possessed girl they're in the inner prison and they have chains on their feet and verse 25 are you ready what would you do at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them what praying and singing hymns to God thank you Lord for letting us be persecuted for your name we love you and we will rejoice even in these chains right like who are these guys and it says that the prisoners are all listening to them is that singing I hear is that prayers to God I hear merciful prayers of peace prayers of rest verse 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake would you say great with me great one more time great earthquake not a small one we're familiar with those huh a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's bonds were unfastened so a great earthquake comes and the doors fall off the jail cell again picture this yeah those old stones salt dirty they're sitting there stone floor they're sitting there in their chains in an earthquake everything starts to shake and they're moving around they can see the rock shifting and all of a sudden the prison doors these steel gates just fall off the hinges and their chains come loose talk about a miracle when the jailer woke up when the jailer woke up that's a joke in the text he was actually sleeping right all prison guards sleep right every single movie even in the Bible when the jailer woke up and saw that the prison doors were open he drew his sword and was about to kill himself supposing that the prisoners had escaped this jailer thought all the prisoners were going to escape and do you know what that meant for his life torture imprisonment probably death he saw pain coming he saw pain in front of him he saw terrible life and he was saying to himself I would rather die have to face this or go through this this is the mindset of someone who wants to take their life all I see is red all I see is pain and I don't want us live this way any longer but verse 28 praise God but Paul cried out with a loud voice do not harm yourself for we are all here do not harm yourself for we are all here don't hurt yourself we are all here we are here we are with you we're here we're not leaving and the jailer called for lights and rushed in trembling with fear he fell down before paul and silas verse 30 then he brought them out and said sirs what must i do to be saved and they said believe the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household and they spoke the word of the Lord to him the gospel and to all who were in his house and they took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds look at washing the wounds upon Silas and he batty and he was baptized at once he and all his family then he brought them up into his house and set food before them and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God this man was saved Paul's response brought salvation for this guy Paul cried out with a loud voice do not harm yourself for we are all here what an impact Paul and Silas must have made on this jailer singing praises worshiping the Lord praying in their broken bloody bodies in Chains Paul doesn't unbelievable he should have ran out those doors on any one of us would have ran out of that joint are you serious look at the Lord delivered us the the the doors fell off we were praying and asking God to deliver us the doors fall off and my Cheng's no key the handcuffs just fall off and we got an open door we can leave but Paul instead of running and leaving this guy to his death shows grace to him he says hey we're not leaving we're here we love you more than our own we love you more than our safety we love you more than our condition we love you more in this moment and we're not going anywhere it shows grace to the jailer and look at the authority Paul must have had with the prisoners how in the world do you yell out to a bunch of thieves and murders hey no one's going anywhere we're all staying here so that guy can live on I want to do that for that jailer no they heard Paul and Silas singing and praying and blessing God what a witness we're all still here no one is going anywhere I want you to look at it closer when I read this for the first time I didn't see it but when I read it over and over I saw something more in the relationship between Paul and that jailer listen to what is being said to the man that is about to take his life listen to this do not harm yourself for we are all here he is saying a lot of things in that one statement number one he is saying the obvious jailer we aren't going to leave our jail cell so you aren't going to be in trouble we love you number two don't hurt yourself and the jailer says why do you care Paul is loving this guy don't hurt yourself we care about you we want you to live number three he's saying please don't die there's a better way number four he's saying we are all here that means something more than just we are staying in ourselves because look at the man's response he falls on his knees and says what must I do to be saved like you Paul Paul was saying we are all still here we aren't leaving you we are here for you we are here for you friend brother we want you to be saved it's amazing Paul did the very thing that we need to do we've got a few things that I want to talk about after reflecting on this text number one is to the person thinking about taking their own life listen to me listen closely for the person who is contemplating suicide you need to hear that we are still here your family we are still here your friends we are still here your church we love you we aren't going anywhere we want you to live we need you to live we are with you there's a better way don't take your life we are all still here do not harm yourself suicide is never the right answer it does way more damage than you ever want it to you think in that moment of chaos and depression anger and stress that this is the right move this will stop the pain but it's only the beginning of pain for everyone around you it's like a nuclear bomb trying to wipe out a nest of mosquitos it does far more damage than you want it to way more damage there are other ways to end the pain and never act quickly do not act quickly the emotion can't last forever emotions are like waves they come in and they crash and then they disappear they come back again and they disappear it will not sustain we are not thinking straight when we are depressed stressed angry don't make a permanent choice based upon a temporary feeling or emotion the hardest thing about suicide and taking your own life is this you can't change it you don't get a second chance most of the time you do any other sin any other sin in the Bible and it seems that you have a second chance but this one you don't get another chance it shuts everything down you make a permanent choice based upon temporary feelings in that moment and it ruins everything want to encourage you and ask you please to remove anything from your life that would make it easy for you to take your life in an impulsive moment get it out of your house get it away from you because you may not be thinking clearly for a moment but you will in a couple days it's good for all of us to have a safety net when the waves of life come to crush us a group of people around us that we can call and talk to about any issue we need community it is not good that man or woman should be alone ever you need to reach out to somebody never face suicidal feelings by yourself do not do it don't make a big decision when you are depressed and said talk to someone about it Galatians chapter six verse to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ find one person you can trust and tell them how you are feeling confess open up that you may be healed it's part of the process we need to share we need to talk we need to build relationships that can be open like that do you have someone like that in your life that you can call that you can caught talk to closing off hurts us I wonder if I actually I just I know my brother so so well three of us we were the hoodlum little boys running around the neighborhood terrorizing everything and I know Jake I know him well and I believe that if he would have reached out to Jess or I on that night where my dad something would change no texts no phone call to any of us his closest family the ones who know him the most just a text that's all that I need just a phone call I'm driving there right now but it wasn't there and that was a mistake maybe you feel trapped or maybe you're watching this on video and you literally don't have anybody in the universe to talk to there is a National Suicide Prevention lifeline twenty four seven one eight hundred two seven three talk 1-800 273 talk you can talk to someone yep who doesn't know your situation you can be completely vulnerable and dump everything out right there on the phone and guess what they do know what you're going through because they're probably someone who has struggled with the same they can talk to you through this there are suicide survivors everywhere in this city did you know that now groups that meet together who have survived suicide in our city in your city talk to someone the world your family friends would not be better off without you we love you we need you God loves you and God wants you close to him God says to those struggling in Isaiah 43 there's your scripture but thus now says the Lord he who created you O Jacob he who formed you O Israel fear not for I have redeemed you I have called you my name you are mine when you pass through waters too deep you feel like you're drowning I will be with you through rivers they shall not overwhelm you when you go through the fire you shall not be burned with me the flames shall not consume you for I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your Savior I give Egypt as your ransom cush and Seba in the exchange for you because you are precious in my eyes and honored the Lord says in verse 4 I love you sometimes were tempted to think that God has forgotten us Isaiah 49 15 write this one down but Zion said the Lord has forsaken me my Lord has forgotten me you know God says can a woman forget her nursing child can a mom forget a nursing child that she would have no compassion on the son of her womb even if she forgets he says I will never forget you behold you want to know how I have engraved you on the palms of my hands God has engraved you on the palms of his hands his people and a very mystical jump that I love is the cross of Christ God has told us I will never leave you nor forsake you don't take your life God loves you we love you we need you you are important you're valuable you have gifts and abilities that need to be used on this earth in your family in the church in this city number two to those suffering or have lost someone to suicide listen I've had so many people reach out to me his father took his life whose daughter took their life you step into a club you don't exactly want to be a part of but what I'm realizing is that this is now part of my ministry ministry comes out of your pain God will probably use greatest the things you want to talk about the least pain you know what happened after that month were one month into the church plan my brother's gone in heaven you know it did it so it sobered me up so fast in my mind and the clarity of what the mission is here in this city Oh fun church plan you know let's go after it let's minister to people in LA let's go surf in Malibu let's eat good food let's hang out with great people all the fun and games are still there but they were dwarfed in comparison to the pain and suffering that my family and friends had to go through and it sobered up my mind so much to see clearly one months in the church plant of why we are here in LA we're not messing around we're here to see people come to Jesus we're here to teach the Word of God when I hear to police people I don't care what the masses think I care what God thinks and if I can entertain you for a day it's just not enough we need people's hearts and minds transformed and it's only coming through this it changed everything for me I'm thankful 2nd Corinthians 1 this is a great scripture you should write down as well 2nd corinthians 1 just listen to this you know why you're going through the pain here's a part of it blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in our fliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God for as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort - if we are afflicted it is for your comfort and salvation if we are comforted it is for your comfort which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer our hope for you is unshaken for we oh that as you share in our sufferings you will also share in our comfort God is comforting you through this pain so that you can comfort others you were to take the comfort that you've received in any type of pain in life and use it in the future to comfort others what is your trial what is your tribulation what's your hardship what did you go through don't hide it I'm not saying you got to throw your dirty laundry everywhere that's not what I'm saying but I am saying use the comfort that God has given to you in your dark moment to minister to other people it's the most powerful thing you can do the Apostle Paul knows would you say the word no no one more time no to no knowledge he knows that they share in suffering and that they will be able to share and comfort as well his hope for them is unshaken because they know the promises of God they know God is faithful and they know he has a plan listen if you are prepared for suffering you're going to enter it a lot better than the person who is not it's like the soldier going into war if you haven't gone through boot camp and you haven't done lots of muscle memory and training when you get in war you're gonna freeze you don't know what to do but if you've gone through it over and over and over you have the knowledge you have the experience you know what you're getting into when you show up into the battle you know how to take it on it hits you it's not easy it's still difficult emotionally but you know how to react people who fall away from Christ when they go through a hard time do not know how to react and suffering they don't know their God like they should want to give you an illustration the illustration of a chair one of the brothers and I were talking about this the other day when you look at a chair like the one you're sitting in maybe you glanced at it but you're trusting that that thing is holding you up huh you're trusting that we didn't loose up the screws earlier today just to play a little trick on you right but you know that it's gonna hold you and you know because you've seen chairs but if I brought in the guy who designed it who engineered it the guy who put it together and welded together a bunch of that metal and I said please tell us how this thing works he says well these welds will hold up to a thousand pounds you could literally put a thousand pounds on this chair and it's not going to break we use these kind of screws and we use this type of Steel to make sure that it's reinforced and we engineered it this way with with the different angles to make sure that it pulls from different angles and and it's perfectly balanced when you sit on it you would say wow I know that thing is gonna hold me up and the more that you know and about it the more that you trust it the same is true about our god listen you have faith in that chair that it's gonna hold you up but the more that you know about it the more that you are able to hope into the future that it will hold you up for decades and you can keep sitting in it over and over and you can keep hoping and know that it's going to pull through so is the same true with God the more you know about him in detail the more you will trust it the more you will trust him you knows more powerful more faithful more solid than a traitor and than a chair Almighty God who created the universe the King of Kings the Lord of lords the unshakeable king who sits on his throne now who will never be moved he is far more sturdy than a chair and he will hold you until the end the more you know about him the more you know him the more you experience him through the storms of life you the more you will know you can trust him he is never breaking down he will carry you through all things with that understanding you were able to comfort others in the midst of your storm with the comfort you have received from God through your storms and help them see their God their Savior those suffering and hurting that is your mission to comfort others as God has comforted you through the storms of life to say he is a God of hope he really does take care of his people and you can trust him you can put your faith in Him if you don't know listen if you don't know the right truths you can't stand spiritually strong in the storms it goes from knowing it in your brain to experiencing it in the storm and watching it sink into your heart as you watch God sustain you and his promises through the hardships of life it comes to life and then you are able to reassure the people next to you that God will carry you this was a great storm in my life probably the greatest storm I've ever faced we were knocked down but we were not knocked out oh no my faith and trust in God is stronger than ever before and what will move me now what hardship cancer what difficulty losing a house there are many storms that can come but God will show up faithful once again as he has for thousands of years from generation to generation his faithfulness remains 2nd Corinthians 4 we are afflicted in every way but not crushed perplexed but not driven to despair persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifest in our bodies you know what that means we get knocked down but never destroyed you want to know why because Jesus is living in me and if you're going to crush me you have to Christ because he is the one propping me up from the inside he is the rebar he is the reinforcement he is the concrete to this house because we have Jesus living in us nothing can crush me nothing can stop Christ in me Psalm 112 for the righteous will never be moved he will be remembered forever he is not afraid of bad news his heart is firm trusting in the Lord his heart is steady and he is not afraid you know we got through this and are getting through this my life is built on the rock not sand and this house will not fall because it's built on Jesus the rock you will never fail never fall apart never break down this house will stand forever Matthew 7:24 everyone who hears these words of mine Jesus said and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall because it was founded on the rock but verse 26 everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against the house and it fell and great was the fall of it if your house is built on the rock Christ it will never fall to the church I want to say this rescue the hurting please you are called to rescue those who are hurting and are in pain if you have a friend or family member struggling with suicide take it very seriously do not brush it off if you hear or see someone just less full-of-life more than usual you think something is wrong there probably is ask them initiate love them help them it's ok to ask if they've even thought about hurting themselves or taking their life make sure they're okay don't offend but don't hesitate either make sure they know how much you care about them and appreciate them how much they matter to you and need them in your life let them know you'll do everything you can to help them get through depression go with them to find a doctor or a pastor or counsellor or whatever they need initiate why do bad things like this happen why the big question we don't know the specifics of this answer but we do have general answers this happens because there's sin in the world you know the whole earth is broken all people everybody's broken that's why we still can't figure out how to love each other we've got thousands of years to figure it out still can't do it every generation keeps hating and hurting each other we have to start all over every single generation I think its new we think we're on the cutting edge of sin trying and doing new things no it's ancient go read The Book of Isaiah you'll see if ancient times of old the people doing the same stuff they even talked about locking their doors so that thieves don't come in and steal from them we live in a broken world everything on the whole planet is broken infected with sin and that's what makes us do stupid terrible hurtful things but that's why Jesus came to die for that sin and to raise us to life so that we can show the world around us how to live what it looks like to walk with the God who made us sin has separated us from God and broken the relationship we were supposed to have with the only way to repair that sin in our lives that infection that disease is to come into relationship with Jesus through the work that he did on the cross in his death burial and resurrection he brought life he took your sins on the cross so they could be forgiven and taken care of covered so you can actually come close to the God who loves you and all we need to do is confess him as Lord and Savior over our lives and he will heal that sin and give us new lives and we're able to show the world what it looks like to walk and live with the God who made us that's our mission on the earth to invite people to come worship the God who made us why else do bad things like this happen do you know that trials actually grow us I'm telling you that if you don't go through the fire many times we never grow it's like working out no pain no gain right the pain is actually what brings forth growth and the muscle and many times we don't want to go through the pain but I have noticed in my life that as I go through pain and I walk with God through it it anchors me even more it grows my roots deeper in the midst of the storm we can also use our pain to help others we just talked about that and finally God is somehow given great glory through the sufferings that we go through God is causing all things to work together to those who love God just to those who love God not everyone just to those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose but God is working even the terrible things in our lives for his glory and our ultimate good this doesn't feel good Lord somebody was just sharing it with me before the service and I just loved it that we get to rip the devil off for trying to destroy my family and tear us down by preaching a message like this and my brother Stan's in heaven and watch his fruit be brought forth on earth in Studio City through this terrible thing now people are able to be given life God is working it if you don't believe that go talk to job if you don't believe that go talk to Joseph who was sold into slavery but God had a plan to make him the king of Egypt to save that country from the famine if you don't believe that go talk to Jesus the worst thing that ever happened in history the worst thing the most painful the most difficult thing ever was the cross of Christ and watch this the darkest moment in history brought forth the most beautiful moment in history salvation for the world so I have to look at the darkness in my life and see that God why God is doing something greater that's why and I don't understand it and I don't know the details I don't know the specifics but I'm able to trust him Romans 5 puts it this way verse 3 not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings what rejoice and sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance endurance produces character character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame but God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us legacy family church one day we will understand why but today it's not needed what we need is God what we need is a close relationship with him finally what does God think about suicide what does he think about this he thinks it's in its self murder it's wrong it damages his image in people his design but did you know that there's only one unforgivable sin the unforgivable sin is not suicide it is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit it is rejecting Jesus as Lord and Savior Jesus said this are you ready I tell you every sin and blasphemy every sin and blasphemy every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or the age to come the impart noble sin today is the state of continued unbelief the spirit currently is convicting the unsaved world of sin righteousness and judgment John 16 to resist that conviction willingly is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit and to reject Christ and if someone rejects Jesus and walks in rejection of him throughout their life you have blaspheme the Holy Spirit of God which is pointing you to Jesus and telling you to repent of your sins put your faith in Jesus and that is what will be condemned and will never be forgiven what is the worst sin taking a man's wife getting her pregnant then killing her husband to cover up the sin or suicide this is King David the greatest king of Israel the man after God's own heart what is worse killing Christians in the first century beating them in prison them and putting them to death or suicide this is the Apostle Paul the greatest leader of the New Testament church the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit my brother Jacob did not resist the Lord he loved the Lord he worshiped the Lord he is forgiven and he is now in heaven this decision was a bad decision his decision was bad and they're still repercussions of this day and I know in heaven now he wishes he would have never done this but I know he is thankful for the gift of the Resurrection because he has been raised to life and we will be raised to life with him in Christ one day into heaven I'm so thankful for that I think about this all the time I've written some lyrics to a song that I wrote for him and it's not recorded I probably will never record it but I you know I want to ask questions like you know like what what is it like up there you know what are you doing every day you know I picture him walking around all the time and does the wind blow up there you know is what does this smell like you know what's the food like you know I how's the music you know do you guys walk around or fly or drive cars or how are you doing what's going on what do you been up to and either we can sit at funerals and memorial service and say things like rest and peace I'll see you one day and all this kind of stuff it's just not true we're just saying that to ourself because it's really not true or it really is true and the gospel of Jesus Christ has made that way available I'm thankful for the cross I'm thankful for Jesus and I want to tell you today you need a relationship with the Lord to help you carry through all things in life you need a church people around you to help you you need to confess and be honest God will carry you through all of these things it's not over God has great plans we are all still here we're here you're here too we don't need to go to heaven before the time is right let's live a life for God's glory let's save a lot of people here on this earth for the kingdom let's do everything that we can to help those around us struggling amen

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Views: 11,723

Rating: 4.9298244 out of 5

Keywords: We are all still here, A talk on suicide, Suicide Prevention, suicidepreventionlifeline, Suicide, ACTS 16: 25-28, ACTS 16, Pastor Josh Thompson. Pastor Josh, Legacy City Church, Church in LA, Church in Los Angles, Church in Studio City, Christian Church Studio City, Christian Church Los Angles, Christian Church LA, Legacy

Id: lrdL6Fb5hcE

Length: 51min 50sec (3110 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 24 2017