Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected or to give online, go to hcv.church or give.htv.church.
If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text
change me to 970-00. Thank you and enjoy the message. Hey good morning everyone. How's
everybody doing? Feels good to be down on your level so I can see everyone and make eye contact
and all those good things. So first before I get started, I want to correct Steven's mistake. He
was so excited about his sunglasses during announcements that he forgot to mention our
bike blessing is next Sunday. It's not this Sunday. So if you have a motorcycle you want to get it
blessed, it's in between first and second gathering next Sunday. So be sure to ride it. We'll have a
place for you to park and in between services we will pray over each and every motorcycle.
So why I'm sitting here? Well I want to have a conversation. Okay. If you have not noticed,
our community of faith is growing. Okay. There's been a lot of people coming over the last six
weeks. In fact, four consecutive Sundays where it wasn't a holiday, we have experienced our largest
numbers wise attendance in the history of our community of faith. And again, it's not anything
I'm doing. It's not anything we're doing. It's just what God is doing and I want to encourage you
to continue to invite people, continue to include people because that's what it's all about. Now,
what you may not know is with all this growth, our kids wing is rapidly growing as well. In fact,
we've had to add classrooms and each and every classroom that's back there is basically busting
at the seams with 20 plus kids per class. With that said, we are severely understaffed in our
kids wing. Okay. We don't have enough teachers to cover classrooms. We're grabbing teenagers to help
which we love teenagers and we want them to help. But it's about time the church stepped up and met
its responsibility. Okay. So I want to share with you Jesus's words in Matthew chapter 19. Again,
these aren't mine. Jesus said, let the children come to me. Don't stop them. For the kingdom of
heaven belongs to those who are like these children. And he placed his hands on their heads
and blessed them before he left. And please realize before Jesus said those words, the disciples
were yelling at the parents not to bring the kids. Jesus had to correct his own disciples.
So my point in sharing this with you is step out. If you're a parent and you have children,
all we're asking you to serve is once a month. That's 12 times a year. Okay. The last time I
checked, that's not very often. I promise when we say serve one Sunday a month, we mean it.
Because if each parent that has children in there served one Sunday a month, we'd be more than
covered. Right. We're not going to bury you in the kids ring. You're never not going to see the
auditorium again or experience God's presence. We're talking about once a month. Okay. So
once a month. Amen. Why don't we become a community of faith that sets an example for
every church in the nation that children aren't thought of last, but they're actually put first
like Jesus wants us to. Amen. So I'm challenging you here. Listen, step up, you know, volunteer
once a month, serve in the kids wing because according to numbers, and this is from Barna,
the most rapidly growing age group that are giving their lives to Jesus and seeing God transform
their lives is eight to 18. You have an opportunity if you become a teacher to see lives transform for
eternity. And there's no greater reward you could ever want. Okay. All right. Thank you.
Now let's talk about depression. What is depression? You may ask. Depression is a common and serious
mental disorder that negatively affects how you feel, think, act, and perceive the world. Nearly
three in 10 adults, 29% have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives with 20%
of our current adult population struggling with depression right now, according to a 2023 national
survey, women are more likely than men to struggle and younger adults are more likely than older
adults to experience depression. While depression can occur at any time and at any age, on average,
it first appears during one's late teens or young twenties. Depression among adults in the United
States, listen to this number, tripled in early 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, jumping
from 8.5% to a staggering 27.8% in eight short months. Eight short months because of isolation
and people being disconnected from one another. Now this blew my mind. Depression is a new disease
impacting modern populations, which we consider ourselves living in the United States. Modern
populations are increasingly overfed, malnourished, sedentary, sunlight deficient, sleep deprived,
and socially isolated. Welcome to America. These changes in lifestyle can contribute to poor
physical health and affect the incidence and treatment of depression. What is it like for a
person that struggles with depression? Daily, an individual struggling with depression makes a very
conscious and difficult decision just to get out of bed in the morning because they quite often
don't want to or don't even feel up to it. When on the outside, an individual may look happy,
on the inside, they feel hopeless, empty, dark, afraid, and alone. Ongoing chronic and crippling
depression can cause serious suicidal thoughts that will plague an individual for years to come.
Please understand depression is not a sadness, it's not discouragement, it's constant darkness.
It's sometimes feeling like I have no feelings at all, I have no motivation, I have no hope.
And what's really sad is that the church should be the safest place to talk about feelings of
darkness and depression, yet when it comes to this topic quite often, it's not. Sometimes in faith
communities, depression can carry a stigma with it, where someone who feels hopeless also feels
ashamed to talk about it or may even be guilty, like spiritually they're just not doing it right.
Then other well-meaning followers of Jesus might say, hey, it's time to get over it, smile,
it's not that big of a deal, come on, let's move forward together, put all your faith in Jesus,
everything would be just okay. Then the depressed person doesn't feel safe opening it up at all
and withdraws more and more into their minds where it just compounds the issue.
Let's look at it this way. If you're in a growth group and someone says, hey, I've had a sore
throat for over a week, chances are you're going to recommend them to leave the group and go see a
doctor. Chances are if someone breaks a bone in your group, you would encourage them to go call a
surgeon. I know for a fact when my back was hurting, I received so many recommendations about
different chiropractors, my head was spinning about which one was the best. Yet, if someone is
battling depression, sometimes the implied message in the churches, just keep on smiling,
keep on smiling and keep it to yourself. See, if you're a one or just like many people today,
especially in this painful culture that we're living in currently fighting with depression,
which by the way is one of the biggest mental health problems in our culture, you will identify
with this verse that I'm about to read and in fact it might make you a little angry. Proverbs 12, 25
verse, anxiety in the heart of man causes depression. Well, obviously, right? Anxiety,
fear, worry, stress, what does it cause? Depression. Then this verse goes on to say,
but a good word makes it glad. Everyone say good word. Now look at your neighbor and say,
I need a good word today. See, if you're battling with depression right now, maybe even watching
online, you might say, but Chris, it's not that simple. Really? A good word? A good word doesn't
pull me out of my darkness, but may I quietly remind you that this is the Bible. This is the
word of God that we know is a living and active word. It's the inspired truth of God. And if that
last part feels, it's just a little too simple. This morning, my prayer is somehow by the power
of God's word, that a good word might give you a little hope. That a good word might bring you a
of healing and actually set you free. So the title of today's message is dealing with depression as
we continue our mental health series in the month of April stretched thin. And I felt that it was
important that we open in prayer this morning. Holy Spirit come. God, I'm just thankful for each
and every appointment that you've scheduled with those of us gathered here and watching online.
That it's not a coincidence that we're sitting in these seats, that we're hearing these words
being spoken. Use me, God. And it's our prayer that chains are broken today and that those that are
oppressed are set free in Jesus' name. Amen. So that prayer leads us to our first thought this
morning. The four root causes of depression are biological, relational, circumstantial,
and spiritual. Okay, the first is what experts call a biological cause. So if you're battling
with depression right now, you may not have done anything wrong whatsoever in your life.
You might actually have a chemical imbalance in your body or in your brain that's causing
you to feel a certain way. You may have chronic pain that's not your fault that's just leading
you into a state of darkness. You might have a nutritional deficit. You might have hormonal
changes. For example, if you've just had a baby and suddenly you feel postpartum crazy, the reason
you're postpartum crazy is your hormones aren't functioning like normal and you have all these
unusual thoughts and feelings. Heck, you might not be sleeping enough. You might not be exercising
enough. You may not be getting enough sunlight. These are all biological causes of depression.
But there's also what experts call relational causes. In other words, you might be having a
really big problem with one of your children. You may have a life-threatening issue that's
simply weighing you down or your marriage is falling apart. Maybe you have issues with people
that you love or you're going through a divorce or you've been rejected. Or could it be that
all of us went through a global pandemic and had isolation for 18 months and received no good news
whatsoever? No wonder our culture now is struggling with depression and living in darkness.
So you might have some biological reasons. You might have some relational reasons or you might have
circumstantial causes. At the root cause of your depression, you might have lost somebody. Somebody
may have died that was close to you and you're just dealing with those feelings of darkness.
And you just wish if I could talk to them one more time. Or maybe you experienced trauma in an early
age or in an auto accident or financially you did everything you could to hold it together,
but you couldn't and you still filed for bankruptcy. Or it could be even that something
appears to be good. You look forward to retirement. Oh, this is a good life. Now I'm going to have fun.
But then you find yourself asking questions like, well, who am I now? And what's my purpose? Or
you're in my age group. There's a lot of people in my age group that are sending their kids
out, right? They're going to college. They're getting married and suddenly they're becoming
empty nesters. And that feeling of loneliness can be overwhelming. There's a reason Jesus said this
in John 16 33. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world,
you will have trouble. And friends, everything that I just discussed is trouble. But then Jesus
says, take heart. I've overcome the world. So it could be biological. It could be relational,
circumstantial, or you might have depression from real spiritual attacks. We have to remember
Ephesians 6 12. If you're in a relationship with Jesus, look, we're not fighting against flesh and
blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world against mighty
powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Friends, they want to
steal, kill, and destroy everything that matters to God. And nothing matters to God more than you do.
He loves you that much. So there's all these different root causes. And please remember,
I stated this in week one. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a licensed counselor. I'm simply a pastor. And
today I want to talk to you from a very spiritual perspective. We acknowledged at the very beginning,
this is a complex issue. So I want to encourage you. Get holistic hope. But I want to focus on
the spiritual side today and give you my spiritual perspective. And we're going to dive into the Old
Testament, into the book of Lamentations, and we're going to meet a very depressed man of God.
And I want you to understand this was a prophet of God. This was a guy who spoke on behalf of God,
and he represented God, and he told the people what God told him to say. In other words,
he was meeting with God regularly. He was deeply committed to his faith, but we also are going to
discover he was in a very deep, dark, desperate place of isolation and depression. So we're going
to look at Jeremiah the prophet in Lamentations chapter three. But before we jump in, let me give
you a little context to what was causing his depression. You may remember Solomon's Temple.
Solomon's Temple was one of the greatest tributes to God ever built in the history of mankind. It
stood for 400 years, and it was tragically destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC.
Jeremiah lived during the destruction. He would have literally witnessed his loved ones being
murdered, his close friends being taken captive. He would have seen family members being deported
away from his city, away from the homeland, away from the house of God, which was completely
destroyed. And when he saw all this happening, it left him in a state of depression, which leads us
to our next thought. Friends, anyone can struggle with depression. I mean, if you're feeling proud
and you're feeling so spiritual that you don't battle with depression, don't, because depression
doesn't discriminate. In other words, if you don't have it, it doesn't make you more spiritual than
someone else. It can hit anyone at any time. There's not one size fits all with depression.
And when we talk about this, I just want to acknowledge and say depression is a very complex
issue. Jeremiah was depressed. He didn't know where to turn. And I want you to listen
to the descriptions of a man of God who found himself for a moment with no hope. And if you
listen to these descriptive metaphors, right, if you've never battled with depression,
this is an incredibly accurate description of what someone may feel like. He says this in
Lamentations 3, 1 through 2, 5 through 8, and 17 through 20. I am the one who has seen the
afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord's anger. He has led me into darkness, shutting out
all light. He has besieged and surrounded with me with anguish and distress. He's buried me in a
dark place like those long dead. He has walled me in and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy
chains. And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers. Peace has been stripped away and
I have forgotten what prosperity is. I cry out. My splendor is gone. Everything I had hoped for from
the Lord is lost. The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never
forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss. The prophet of God, the man of God, we find him
broken. And in this very moment, he has no hope. And if you're here this morning and you feel like
you have no hope, there's two things I want you to grab ahold of. There's two things I want you to
remember when you're battling depression. And the first truth that will help you to pull out of it
is this. Your emotions are valid. Your emotions are valid. And see, a lot of times, quite often in
church, people say, it doesn't matter what your feelings are, don't believe your feelings. Don't
even pay attention to your feelings. But I want to show you, your emotions are valid. This is a true
statement, but it's incomplete. Everyone say incomplete. See, your emotions are valid. Now say,
but they are not permanent. See, your emotions are valid, but they're not permanent. How do I know
that? Well, Colossians 3 tells us about our emotions and things that happen within my mind,
in our minds. Notice it says, but now is the time to get rid of anger and rage and malicious
behavior and slander and dirty language. Don't lie to each other. Right? All those things that can
happen when it comes to depression. We get frustrated. We get negative. We get down. We
focus on others. We push others away. But then it says, put on your new nature and be renewed as
you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. They're not permanent. When you're hurting,
when you don't know where to turn, when you feel like you've done it all and you can't get out,
I want to tell you, your emotions are valid. They're real.
They're actually an important part of your healing. See, an expert would tell you that one of the
ways to heal and to actually change your emotions is to start by acknowledging your emotions and
naming your emotions. See, if you're here and you feel hopeless right now, what I want you to do is
think in your mind and literally say it within your mind, I feel hopeless. I feel hopeless. If
you're watching online and you feel that way, type it into the comments section, say, I feel hopeless.
And it may not even be hopelessness. Name what you feel. You may say, well, Chris, I feel angry.
I feel hurt. I feel betrayed. I feel depressed. You might say, I feel empty right now. I feel numb.
You name your feelings. You might say, I feel afraid. Speaking of being afraid, how many of
you by show of hands, I want you to be honest, are afraid of snakes? How many of you by show of hands
are afraid of snakes? Okay, keep them up. Now you may get real scared because
those of you that are afraid of snakes,
okay, is Rudy in the house? Is Rudy in the house? Okay, there he is. There's Rudy. Now, if you don't
know what I'm talking about, okay, our assistant pastor posted on Facebook this week that he needed
prayer because he had a one foot long Gardner snake in his yard. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. There's
two of them. And then he goes on to tell me, let me tell you this story. He goes on to tell me he's
afraid to go out and mow the grass. And I look back at him. I said, Rudy, you do know you have
a pretty powerful weapon that you're pushing. A one foot Gardner snake is not going to stand up
to a lawnmower. Okay. So just pray for Rudy. He needs help. He needs freedom. So what we chose
to do is my friend John brought out a five foot long tree snake. Okay. Now this snake
is perfectly harmless. But when I look at it, I don't think harmless. Okay. And let me,
let me encourage you. There is a reason for this. I'm not going to grab its tail and we're not going
to become a snake handling church. I promise. Okay. We're not going there. We'll leave you
that for West Virginia. God bless the Mountaineers.
But there is a reason that this snake is on the stage. So I want to share with you information
from a study that was done with people who were afraid of snakes and I'm afraid of snakes. Now,
now this study, okay, the experts use the King Cobra, which of course is one of the deadliest
snakes in the world. Um, but to many of us, I don't want to get near that. Okay. I don't,
that's good enough for me. So, so experts took some people who were afraid of snakes.
They exposed them to a King Cobra in a cage. So it was in a glass container. And then they
broke these people into four different groups. And here's what they did. They gave the groups
four different assignments. The first group, they said, when you see the snake label your feelings.
In other words, I feel afraid of that large snake, right? Label your feelings. The second group,
they said, make observations or just general emotionless, feelingless observations like
that snake is in a tree and it's green. The third group, they said, just say something irrelevant.
So just say it's Sunday. Uh, it's cold outside this morning. And then the fourth group, they said,
don't say anything at all. Right? So they gave the groups four different assignments, label what
you're feeling, make observations, say something irrelevant. Don't say anything at all. Then they
took the people that were afraid of the snakes and they brought them back a week later and exposed
them to a snake. This time, not in a cage. So in other words, just like this. Now, they
just prefaced it. It wasn't a king cobra. It wasn't poisonous. It was just a snake that was free.
Then the experts measured their physiological responses. Did they sweat? Did their heart rate
increase? They didn't, did they become anxious? Did they pee their pants? Like, like what did they
discover? This is what they learned out of the four groups by far, the four groups that were
groups by far, the ones that labeled their feelings a week previously did exceptionally
better around the snake. They were less nervous and many of them were actually able to touch
the snake. And I'm not going to try to touch that snake. And what they learned from this study and
many more, and they now teach, is that naming your emotions opens the door to changing your emotions.
Your emotions are valid. Name your emotions. Right? You're not hyper spiritual to pretend like your
emotions are not a part of your life. They're there. God gave you emotions. They're valid,
but they're not permanent. Right? When you recognize they're not permanent and you identify them,
I feel alone. I feel desperate. I feel hopeless. I feel afraid. It opens the door to God being able
to what? Change it. And because our emotions are temporary, and this is very, very important,
everyone hear this, we're not going to make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.
Right? When we're feeling down, when we're feeling depressed, we're not going to make permanent
decisions based on that. Right? And not only are we not going to make permanent decisions,
but we're not going to make permanent conclusions. Right? So many people, when they're depressed,
when they're down, they make statements like, all people are the same. They judge me. Men are always
like that. Churches are the same. They don't want to accept me. I'll never overcome. I'm just not
good enough. Right? They label themselves based on that temporary emotion. But we have got to learn
that we cannot base it on something that's temporary. Right? When you feel afraid, when you
feel threatened, right? What do you want to do? If you were to see this in your backyard, you want to
run. Right? You want to get out of there. And there's so many people, when they feel afraid
or threatened in their marriage, what do they do? Instead of dealing with it, they run. They leave.
They escape. Right? So many people, when they can't overcome, when they feel like God's not setting
them free, what do they do? They run from the church. They leave the church. And I want to
encourage you, if you feel like running, don't run. Right? Because listen, running to a bottle of Jack
Daniels is only a temporary relief, and it's not going to end up well in the long run.
And your spiritual enemy, your spiritual enemy that wants to steal, kill, and destroy,
that's when he begins to whisper, you'd be better off if you weren't here.
And in that moment, it may feel true. But in that moment, that's when we have to realize
God knew what he was doing when he made you. He knew you before you were formed in your mother's
womb. He has plans for you that you're not even walking in yet. Why? Because he loves us so much.
So we're not going to make permanent decisions or permanent conclusions based on temporary
emotions. Your emotions are valid. Your emotions are real. God gave them to you. Right? We're going
to feel them, but don't be ruled by them. Don't want to allow them to overcome you because they're
not permanent. They're not permanent. Now does anybody want to come up and get the snake down
for me because I'm done? Okay. John, come on out and get your snake. Can you give John a hand,
please, for helping me out? He loves his snakes. He raises them, takes care of them. And he was
nervous about bringing his snake out on stage because he thought maybe that she was going to go
somewhere, but instead she loves her tree and wants to stay in it. So see, there's nothing to
be afraid of. Thank you, John. There we go.
So all of that leads us to our final thought. Your situation feels hopeless. If you're depressed
right now and you don't know what to do, you don't know where to turn, and you don't know how to get
out. Maybe for some of you, it's been years you've tried to pray, you've tried to read your Bible,
you're trying as hard as you can to believe, but you don't know where to turn, and you don't know
where to get out of your house. You've tried to read your Bible, you're trying as hard as you can
to believe, but it's been going on for so long, you've lost all hope. Well, what if I was to tell
you that those truths, what I just shared is completely true, but remember, they're incomplete.
Your situation may feel hopeless, but with God, there's always hope. With God, there's always hope.
When we're in the presence of God,
even when we don't feel it or we don't see it,
even when everything else feels hopeless,
with God there's always hope.
God always can give you hope.
In fact, what I wanna do is I'm gonna get back
into our text today in Lamentations,
and let me read for you first, verses 19 and 20.
Listen to Jeremiah's pain.
The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
I will never forget this awful time
as I grieve over my loss.
And notice he's hopeless, he's depressed,
he's walking in darkness,
then in the middle of his darkest moment,
he calls to mind the character and the goodness of God
in verses 21 and 22.
Yet, I still dare to hope when I remember this,
the faithful love of the Lord never ends,
his mercies never cease.
Now think about that, in the middle of his darkness,
he declares God's faithful love never ends.
I call this to mind, I bring it into my thoughts,
because of God's great love, we're not consumed.
Because of his love, we are embraced and welcomed.
The word love in Hebrew is a plural form of the word hesed.
And it's a powerful word,
but it's very difficult to translate.
It's recorded 248 times in the Bible
and it's packed with meaning.
Now we must remember many Hebrew words,
they're more like a sentence or a thought,
almost like a mini story.
So when they're translated into English,
a lot of times we lose their meaning.
And the word hesed, when it's translated,
translators use God's loving kindness,
which is a good translation,
but it doesn't give it its full value.
Okay, because it's impossible to describe,
apart from just meeting and connecting with God,
like Moses did on the mountain, God's character.
Two definitions that I like that translators use is,
hesed is a covenantal commitment to God's character.
Because of his love, we're not consumed.
Listen to Psalm 236.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love
will pursue me all the days of my life.
And I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
See, Jeremiah, in his deepest, darkest moment,
he goes back to God's love.
And it wasn't even God's love,
he also says, God's mercies never cease.
And the word compassion or mercy
is translated from the Hebrew word,
ruha-ma, which is the very same root word
and means a mother's womb.
And think about what happens in a mother's womb.
The womb is a safe place.
The womb is the sanctuary where life begins.
In the womb, life is nourished, strengthened, and protected.
It's in the womb that mercies never cease.
Mercies are new every morning.
The grace of God is new every morning.
God's presence is available to us every morning.
Every morning that we wake up, he gives us our daily bread.
He gives us our grace.
He gives us our compassion, his goodness.
All of this is available to us every single day.
There's always hope.
Isaiah 54, 10.
For the mountains may move and the hills disappear,
but even then my faithful love for you will remain.
My covenant of blessing will never be broken, says the Lord,
who has mercy on you.
So friends, what do we do when the whole world,
when our whole world is falling apart
and we're just consumed with darkness?
Well, four simple steps that can break us free
from this darkness, and the first one is
you gotta acknowledge it.
Again, remember Colossians 3, get rid of anger,
rage, malicious behavior, slander, dirty language,
don't lie to each other, don't judge, right?
Just constant.
Put on the new nature, be renewed, right?
What we have to do is when you're struggling,
if you're hopeless, if you're depressed,
if you're full of anxiety, call it what it is.
Right, I feel depressed, I'm overwhelmed,
I'm exhausted, I'm hopeless, I'm tired, I'm worn out.
What do you have to do?
Your first step in healing is acknowledge it.
Speak it, share it, give it to God,
which is our next step.
So you acknowledge it and then you cry out.
Psalm 34, 17, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears them.
He delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and save those who are crushed in spirit.
I wanna encourage you friends, this is a safe place.
This is a safe place where you can cry out for help.
And like I said in week one, remember asking for help
is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of wisdom.
It's making a wise choice.
If you need help, then get help.
And what type of help may you need?
You may need to talk to a counselor, right?
You may need to go to a doctor
and be prescribed helpful medicine
that balances your hormones.
That's wise, that's not unwise, that's not unspiritual.
You may need to change your diet and the way you eat.
That's wise.
You may need to begin to exercise and move
and you may journal your progress.
Or dare I say, you may need to get in a growth group.
Right, with all the isolation
and people just escaping into their minds,
it's time to get around people and be encouraged and loved
and embraced and prayed for.
This is a difficult culture that we're living in
and if you don't have people around you,
if you don't have community friends, we're better together.
And if we learned anything from the opening statistics,
it went from 7.5% to 30% in eight months.
Why?
Because we are better together.
And if you have friends that are struggling with depression
anxiety, worry, and they're overwhelmed in their minds,
never give up on them.
Text them, call them, encourage them, invite them,
allow them to be welcomed.
Right, that is a part of crying out.
That is a part of asking for help.
Listen to Psalm 142.
I cry out to the Lord.
I plead for the Lord's mercy.
I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.
I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought.
No one will help me.
No one cares a bit what happens to me.
Then I pray to you, oh Lord.
I say, you are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in my life.
Hear my cry, for I am very low.
And when we do these different things, you know what happens?
Let me tell you what happens.
You start to change your posture,
which leads to our next step.
You acknowledge it, you cry out, you look up.
I mean, now think about it.
If you're talking to a depressed person,
how do they look, right?
Their countenance, their body language, it's down, right?
Their shoulders are hunched.
They're down.
They speak softly and quietly because of the darkness.
Do they smile?
No, their face, it's motionless.
Their posture's down.
Now I can't prove this, but I can almost guarantee it
that Jeremiah, when he's telling us about his darkness,
his posture was down.
When he says, I've lost all hope, he's looking down.
But something changed about his posture.
When he says, I still dare to hope,
I still dare to hope,
suddenly what happens with him, he begins to look up, right?
Your posture, it reflects your mood,
but your posture can also impact your mood.
And Jeremiah said, I dare to hope.
And I don't know if he did this or not,
but perhaps in the midst of his darkness,
in midst of being overwhelmed with pain,
he was looking down, he chose to suddenly look up.
And as he looked up, not only did his head
and his eyes go up, but his arms went up as well.
And anytime you raise your hands towards heaven,
what happens if you raise your hands to heaven, right?
What does this mean?
All this means is surrender, right?
Think about any police officer
that is about to arrest someone.
When they ask them to surrender, hands go up, right?
Hands go up and surrender.
And all this means when we lift hands
in a community of faith is, God, I'm surrendering to you.
I can't do it on my own.
But this doesn't just mean surrender.
You know what else this means?
This means victory.
This means I'm winning, right?
This means I'm losing.
This means I'm defeated, right?
This means I don't know what this means.
This means you're confused.
But the point is, if this is victory
and this is surrender to him,
then suddenly as we do these things,
as we change our posture,
then we're reminded of Romans 8.
And Romans 8 tells us, I'm convinced that nothing,
everyone say nothing,
nothing can separate us from God's love.
Neither death nor life nor angels or demons
or fears of today or worries about tomorrow,
not even the powers of hell
that are trying to tear you down
can separate us from God's love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below,
indeed nothing in all creation
will ever be able to separate us from the love of God
that was revealed in Jesus.
So we acknowledge it.
We cry out, right?
We look up and finally we preach to yourself.
That's right.
It's time to start talking to yourself.
Lamentations three, 24 to 26.
Notice what Jeremiah does.
I say to myself, he says it, he speaks it out.
And sometimes you just have to preach to yourself.
And if you've never preached to yourself before,
start doing it, it doesn't make you crazy, right?
Jeremiah says, the Lord is my inheritance.
Therefore I will hope in him.
The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.
Sometimes you need to preach to yourself.
Sometimes you need to share, Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows.
He leads me beside where?
Peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk through the darkest depression,
I will not be afraid.
For you are close beside me, your Rah and your staff.
They comfort me.
Notice Jeremiah says, why am I so depressed?
Your feelings, they're valid, they're real,
but they're not what?
They're not permanent.
You feel like you have no hope,
but with God, there's always hope.
There's always hope.
When God, when Jesus is on the throne,
there's hope in your home.
There's always hope.
Because I'm convinced that nothing can separate us
from the love of God.
Right, not death or life or angels or demons.
Nothing can separate you from the love of God.
And you preach it to yourself.
This depression won't win.
It's not that dark.
Nothing in all creation can separate me
from the love of God.
Now is that gonna solve everything?
I don't know.
But I believe if you start renewing your mind
and you correct your body,
yes, I get it, it's complex
and we're not gonna make light of it.
But if you surrender it to God and you give it to God
and you cast it back to God,
friends, that's how we fight our battles.
We fight our battles depending on Jesus
and allowing him to guide and direct us.
We fight our battles at the presence of God.
Anxiety weighs us down, depression can overwhelm us.
But friends, a good word can change your life.
cough
You