The Church of Eleven22 - Jesus and Your Mental Health - Elijah: Wk 6

Episode Date: August 24, 2025

Everyone says they’re “fine”—but what if you’re not? Depression. Fear. Suicide. These are real battles, and the Bible doesn’t shy away from them. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah goes from calling fire down from heaven to collapsing under despair. Pastor Joby Martin and guest Rebecca Maxwell cut through the silence to confront the mental health crisis head-on. You’ll hear raw truth, why the enemy attacks your mind, and how Jesus meets you in the darkest valleys. The question is—will you keep pretending, or will you fight back with the truth of God’s Word? 👉 Take Your Next Step: If you’re walking through a hard season, our Care Ministry would be honored to pray with you, connect you with trusted counselors, and walk alongside you toward hope in Christ. https://coe22.com/care/  ✨ Special Guest: Rebecca Maxwell, LMFT, combines 15 years of ministry experience with clinical counseling to bring biblically grounded mental health care to Jacksonville. She leads a counseling practice, speaks into church communities, and empowers believers to pursue emotional and spiritual well-being grounded in the identity of being beloved. 📣 Episode Mentions: Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 19:1-8 It Doesn’t Make Sense Sermon Series Jesus & Your Mental Health Book, Podcast and Book Study Jacksonville Counseling Services Here Tomorrow - Suicide Prevention Resources 📌 Supplemental Resources From This Week: From Brokenness to Freedom - Mason Story Depression, Suicide, and Hope - Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin S22E6 Elijah Sermon Series 🎙️ What We Discuss: 00:00 - Introduction: Hope for the Hurting 04:35 - Elijah’s Fear and Flight (1 Kings 19:1–2) 11:30 - When Fear Paralyzes (1 Kings 19:3–4) 13:30 - Our Lord Knows How You Feel (Hebrews 4:15) 14:00 - Jesus Tempted Like Us (Matthew 26:38) 14:45 - The Reality of Our Enemy 18:17 - The Enemy’s Schemes (Ephesians 6:10–15) 20:53 - Taking Every Thought Captive (2 Corinthians 10:3–5) 22:11 - Renewing Your Mind (Romans 12:2) 25:36 - Introducing: Rebecca Maxwell, LMFT, 27:22 - The State of Mental Health Today 30:11 - Doing the Next Right Thing 32:13 - Suicide Is Preventable 33:49 - Where Truth Is Found 34:10 - Rejecting the Lies with God’s Word 36:17 - Don’t Walk Alone 36:50 - Encouragement from a Spouse’s Words 39:58 - God’s Care for Elijah (1 Kings 19:5–8) 46:57 - You Are Not Alone 49:48 - Closing Prayer About The Church of Eleven22 The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://coe22.com/donate

Amen and amen and amen. Guess we're just going to get real today, right? If you've got your Bible, I hope you do, you better. First King, Chapter 19, grab them. There's one in front of you. First Kings, Chapter 19. We're going to talk about Jesus in Your Mental Health. I stole the title for my friend Rebecca Maxwell's book

called Jesus in your mental health, okay? She's going to come up here in a little bit, and we're going to get some free therapy, I hope, and that's what we're going to do. And I do need to kind of warn you. we're talking about some very, very serious and sensitive topics. And I'm not a very sensitive person. So that's very dangerous, right?

But the reason that we're doing this is because we're studying the life of Elijah, and this is just where the Bible goes. We're going to talk about depression. We're going to talk about suicide because this is where the Bible goes. This is not just some kind of ancient storybook. This is the living, active word of God. And it doesn't just tell us what happened. It tells us what always happens.

And whatever the problem is, in the world or in your world, the answer will be found in the scripture. And I've told you this before, man, I just ain't got time to play church. Too many church people got a bad case of a finitis. You know what I'm talking about? Like you show up to church and everybody asks you, how you doing? I'm fine, but you ain't fine. And I'm telling you, just like my man in the video said, if you want to be free, you got to learn to be honest. And so we're going to take an honest look and what the scripture says about Elijah, what it says about me and you, and I have a sense, as I was praying for you this week, I have a sense that God is going to do something special

in our time together, going to do something supernatural, that there are going to be some people that realize that they were made for more. There are going to be some people that realize that they were not made to tend to grave, that they are going to continue to choose life because they realize in our time together as the Word of God is preached and as we pray that you are going to be. and begin to see yourself the way God sees you, and the empty tomb and an alarm clock are empirical evidence that he's not done with you. He's got a plan for you, he's got a hope for you, he's got a future for you. I hope you realize that. Amen? So that's what we're going to look at.

And part of the reason we need to look at it is because we have a mental health crisis in our world, particularly over the last five years. I mean, as I was digging around in some statistics and studies and things like that. I read that in 2021, remember the pandemic that swept across everywhere, not as much in Florida, but in a lot of places? Things went bad, man, really, really bad. That for all of polling history, which I don't know how long that is, but every other mental health poll pre-20201, there would always be more people that would signify that they're

happy than there were people that said they were unhappy. from 2021 on that number reversed and has never gone back that there are more human beings that will say that they live in a continuous state of discontent than they do a state of contentment it's not good we have more therapists than ever more medicine than ever where we we have all the access to all the things and yet there's a major problem youth suicides are on the rise the most prescribed medicines that are consumed are antidepressants, depressants, and heartburn medication. It's not going good.

Anxiety and depression clinically diagnosed or higher than ever. Feelings of hopelessness and sadness and adolescent females are at an all-time high. Drug overdoses and alcohol-induced deaths are higher than ever. They have doubled since 2021. Why is this happening? We studied this for over two years

because there is an enemy and he's a third. thief and thieves take things that aren't theirs and this thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But the good news is that we have a good shepherd. And what he offers to us is life and life abundantly. And the word has a lot to say about this. And here's the thing, man, if you're struggling with this or you know somebody that is, you're in good company, our hero, Elijah, that we point to, that we've been studying for

all of these weeks, he's dealing with the same thing. And what you're going to see here in a little while in the next hour or so is God does not look at Elijah and go suck it up, Buttercup, that's not what he does. He is going to meet him in his time of need right where he is. First King's chapter 19, beginning of verse one, it says this, Ahab, that's our cruddy king. Ahab told Jezebel, his evil wife, all that Elijah had done. And what Elijah had done is called down the fire from heaven, burn up the sacrifices, and and slaughter 850 prophets of bail and Asthma.

Remember that? That was fun. That was awesome. Last week was rock and roll, man. If Elijah was a movie, you would stop the movie right here. There would be credits. Elijah would just ride off. Actually, he would run off.

Remember he outran the chariot? Like, that's how the movie would end. I like those kind of movies. I don't like movies with weird endings. I know you weird people do, but that's your fault. I like them to end good. I want the good guys to win, the bad guys to lose, okay? I don't need real life.

That's why I went to the movie. That's how the movie would end, but it ain't a movie. It's a real life. So Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed the prophets with the sword. And you know why Ahab does this? Because Ahab is weak. And he goes to running to his wife who's actually acting like his mama. She's like, Jezabel.

Elijah's mean. Killed all our prophets. And this wicked woman is happy to act like mama. In fact, if you keep flipping over a couple pages, Maybe I'll talk about this in a couple weeks. At one point, the king, Ahab, wants this dude's land and tries to buy Nabath's land. And he's like, no, he's selling my land. It's been in my family forever.

And then he comes back whining to his wife. So she goes and kills him. It's like, I got you a present. Okay? You talk about helicopter mama. That's how she's acting. It's saying good. Verse two, then Jezebel, she's going to do something.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life. life as the life of one of them, like one of the prophets you killed by this time tomorrow. Now listen, if you didn't know the end of the story here, based on Elijah's boldness last week, you would think Elijah would pull that long chair back up and start mocking Jezebel. Say, take your best shot, crazy lady. But that's not what he does. It's crazy.

You see, often our darkest nights come on the heels of our brightest days. You ever notice that? I mean, be careful, man. and when things are going good, when you're walking in obedience with Christ, when God is doing miracles in your life, pay very close attention because the birthmark of a Christian is a bull's eye. And the only thing he wants to do is kill, still, and destroy. And oftentimes your highest moments are followed by your deepest valleys.

Where do you get that? Pastor, the Bible. Just over and over and over. Jesus is on the mountain, mountain to transfiguration, displaying his glory. As soon as they walk down, there's a boy down here that is possessed by a demon, and the disciples can't cast him out because they're not praying. Right on the heels of Jesus' baptism, when the heavens open up and God the Father speaks out loud over his son and says, behold my son in whom I am well pleased. I mean, how good do you feel when your daddy brags on you? You want to hear a miracle?

My daddy's listening to every single sermon. He's a digital disciple now of 1122, and every week he's that good sermon, son. The only, I mean, when Gretchen tells me good, that one's better, but my dad is right there, one B. It just means something different. Imagine if the Heavenly Father spoke over you that way. That's a high holy moment for Jesus, amen. The next verse in the Spirit of God led him out into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Or how about the 23rd Psalm?

We love that one, right? The Lord is my shepherd. He's going to do all kind of cool stuff for me. He's going to leave me besides still waters and green pasture. He's going to restore my soul. He's going to leave me in paths of running. righteousness for his name's sake. You would think the rest of the whole Psalm would be, and my life was full of Cadillacs and

cotton candies from then on. That ain't it. Next verse, and yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. So listen, man, oftentimes our lowest lows comes after our highest highs. And so Elijah hears this. And again, based on last week, I would think he'd be like, bring it on, Jezebel. And instead, verse three. than he was afraid.

He was afraid. See, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. And that's the whole thing, like, with the enemy, when he can get between your ears because that's what he's trying to do. It doesn't make sense. And there's so many people,

and you wake up and your circumstances are not all that bad, right? I mean, you get to live indoors and eat hot food and you're married, your kids are relatively okay, at least compared to your neighbors and all that kind of stuff, and you look around,

and you should be full of, of joy and happiness and things should be okay and you just can't turn on happy, right? It just doesn't make sense. I mean, here is the prophet of God who has called down fire from heaven and he gets one threat from one crazy lady. One negative email and all of a sudden he can't get out of his own way. You see, a part of what happens here is he's going to take his eyes off of the Lord and he's going to focus on his circumstances.

You see, every single one of us get to decide what we are going to do with the faith that God has given us. The Bible says that faith is a gift from God. And if you take that faith and put it in your circumstances, I'm telling you, you will be gripped with fear. And what we have to constantly do, the most commanded thing in the whole Bible is don't be afraid. King James says it 366 times.

That's one for every day of the year, including leap year. What we have to constantly do is snatch that trust, that faith back from our circumstances, and put it in the hand of the side. sovereign king of the universe. And it will not be a natural inclination to do so. This is something that we have to do day after day after day. You see fear, I said this last week or a couple of weeks ago, fear is looking into the future and believing that the world or the enemy or your flesh is going to be in charge. And you'll be terrified. And fate that's looking

into the future and believing that God still has the whole world in his hands. And I've I told you this before, fear is not a feeling. Fear is a spirit. That Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 1-7, for God did not give you a spirit of fear. Fear and scared are not the same things. Circumstances can make you scared. When I went skydiving, I was scared. I was so glad on that video I showed you, my beard covered my mouth because you, Jesus says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, I've still got a lot of potty heart, okay, because I was potty mouth coming down. Scooby-Lon, Scooby-Lon, Scooby-Lon, to the ground. I was terrible. I was terrified. That's different because normal people shouldn't jump out of airplanes. That's dumb.

Okay? I'm not going to do that anymore. But fear paralyzes. That's the difference. And he is paralyzed with fear. So look what he does. So he was afraid. And he arose and he ran for his life. I mean, just think about that sentence. God has just sustained him through a drought. He sent ravens with food. He used him to bring a dead boy back to the life. life, he fed him with the widows, a little bit of oil and bread. If he looks back over his life, all he would see is the faithfulness of God in every chapter that has been recorded in his whole life. So do you think God's going to stop now? No chance. But again, instead of looking at the faithfulness of God, he looks at his current circumstances, and he arose and he ran for his life,

and he comes to Bereshiba, which belongs to Judah, and left his sermon there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. This is not good. This is not good when you're afraid. The worst thing you can do is be alone. Be in isolation. That's where he's going. And he came and he sat down under a broom tree and he asked that he might die. I don't even have to ask if you've ever been there. Maybe you haven't been suicidal, but if you ever been to the place where you thought, man, I'm done, it's over. This is not good. Here's what I want you to know, man. The Bible is You got it? So you don't have to fake it.

The fake you's doing just fine. Leave her on Instagram. She's great. Bring the real you when you come to church because the real Jesus died on the real cross for the real you. And he says, it is enough now, oh Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers. So what do you do when you find yourself in this kind of place? Whether it's all the way to the extreme of like you're thinking of not, you know, not, you're

not being alive or maybe you just find yourself in like a spiritual depression, what do you do? Here's a few things I want to give you. First of all, our Lord knows how you feel. This is going to mess some of you up, okay? If you were disciples like by veggie tails, this is going to mess you up a little bit. Jesus knows how you feel. Like, where do you get that, pastor? The Bible, Hebrews 415.

Ready? For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect. has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. So Jesus has been tempted to feel like I'm done, take my life. Are you saying Jesus struggled with mental health issues? I'm saying he was tempted in every way. We were tempted. Where do you get that? How about this? You ever read the Garden of Gessimony? In Matthew chapter 26, Jesus says these words, my soul is very sorrowful even to the point of death. He got to the place in his life because he knows what's coming and he felt like he was going to die. You ever felt like that? I'm here to tell you that we have a high priest that went to the

cross that lived a perfect life that loves you, that poured himself out for you. And when you pray and you're like, Lord, I feel like I'm going to die. He goes, I know exactly how you feel. This is how he can meet us right where we are. And secondly, you have to understand that we have an enemy that's trying to kill you, trying to steal from you, trying to destroy you. And so we have to understand, we did an entire series on this last year, all right, on how to fight. And that's exactly what it is. It's a fight. And in order to fight, you have to understand the schemes of the enemy.

First of all, you may ask yourself, why do I feel this way? If I love the Lord, because it's a hard thing for a Christian, okay? And honestly, very few churches talk about this because it makes people nervous. Because you read like the book of Philippians, and you read over and over and over that rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. and you're trying to turn rejoice on and it won't turn on. And you're like, why do I feel this way? I believe that Jesus died on the cross from my sin,

so why don't I just wake up full of joy every day? It could be direct oppression from the enemy. It could be. And if you don't believe there's an enemy, I'm just telling you, you're too dumb to talk to. And I mean this with all, like, do you know what a sucker punch is? A sucker, I feel like there's some people, there's some bros in here, and you know what a sucker punch is, right?

A sucker punch is when punch is starting, and you didn't know punches were about to start, that makes you the sucker. If you wake up every day, you don't realize there's a fight, you're done. And so there's an enemy, so you've got to realize it could be direct oppression. Secondly, it could be the result of the fall. We live in a broken world and everything's broken. At the micro level, this is why some cells don't do what they're supposed to do. At the macro level, that's why we get hurricanes and tornadoes.

It could be the sin of somebody else that has done something horrible. to you and you haven't dealt with it appropriately. It could be your own fault. I love you enough to tell you, man. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes, and some of you have stupid habits that you continuously fall into. Like you let this world constantly tell you who you are instead of receiving constantly who Jesus tells you who you are.

Some of you've got to quit listening to yourself so much and start talking to yourself. You need more preachers in your life than me. You got to just show up here every week and just get a little bit of help. So the Spirit of God in you and you with the Word of God over you can constantly tell you who you are. And then the reality of it all, and God is sovereign over every single bit of it. That even your mental health struggles, even depressive ideas, even when terrible things happen, God is sovereign over all and is working all things together.

for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. So if you find yourself in a place like Elijah, how do you fight to do what Jesus said the number one command was, to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? I'm going to give you four things. Ready? Number one, you got to know this. We have an enemy. You got to know we have an enemy.

John 1010, he only wants to steal, kill, and destroy. And listen, man, you better pay attention. of this. And it's not just you. He wants to take out the people you love the most. There have been people in my life that I love more than all the other people. And the enemy has tried to take them out. And you've got to go to war on their behalf. And a part of the reason that God calls us together as a family is we get to share testimony about how God has been faithful there and there and there and there. And if he's been faithful there, why wouldn't he be faithful right here? So we have an enemy. Secondly, he has schemes.

He has a plan. He's not omniscient, but he watches film on you and he's been around since the beginning of human history. So he's got a lot of film. And the way that the enemy is probably going to come at you, we've talked about this before, it probably won't be a full frontal assault. Because if you walk to your car tonight and the devil of hell, you know, with the pitch for it and the horns and the whole thing, as described it on Saturday Night Live, it's like, bha-

Then you're going to run back in here, we'll get the elders and we'll go kick some devil-tail. problem because Jesus has authority over that devil and he ain't got no space in your truck because that's your truck and it belongs to you and you belong to Jesus and Jesus has authority over your truck so you said get the hell out of my truck literally understand no problem come get me I'll come get him out of there for you so what he does it would be like I've told you like you know can you imagine if Canada tried to attack America be it what are you going to do kill us with kindness show up that little goofy red hats on their horses and be like oh we just go America it's over, dude, like that.

Well, the same thing is true all over the world. There's all kind of crazy people out there to want to kill us. They can't just full frontal attack. So what do they do, man? They launch a dirty misinformation campaign. It's what they do constantly. This is what the enemy does. This is what Paul is describing in Ephesian 6.

You see, every time the enemy speaks, he's a liar because it's his native tongue. And the first thing he ever is recorded as saying is, did God really say? You see, the enemy always wants us to question the word of God, the work of God, and the worth of God. The word of God. Did God really say? That's not what that means. He wants us to question the worth of God. If God really loved you, wouldn't he take better care of you? He's not worthy of your worship. And the work of God. When Jesus died on the cross, that didn't really count for you. This is his constant M.O. Paul talks about this in Ephesion 6. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, not our might, his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be in. able to stand, that's fighting words, against the schemes of the devil.

The Greek word is methodia, that he has schemes. He's trying to trick us, lie to us. Because if we believe the word of God, then we would feel what God feels about us, and then we would do what God says. It would change everything. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, therefore take up the whole armor of God.

So we've got to understand his schemes. It's a dirty war campaign of the mind. Three, you've got to take every thought captive. Don't believe everything you think. Have you met you? You think some jacked up stuff. You've got to identify. When you hear those, I call them the whispers, man.

I get them bad. I get them so bad. Oh, you don't even know. So bad. The whispers. And I have to identify them. I have to be like, okay, where did that come from? Is that my flesh?

Is that this world? Is that the enemy? Or is that the Heavenly Father? You see, Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 10, 3 to 5. He says, for though we walk in the flesh, like you can't help it, you're a flesh. Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. Who wants to destroy some strongholds in your life?

We destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey. Christ. Don't believe everything you think. And then fourth thing, you've got to renew your mind. You live in a world, I live in a world, spends billions of dollars a day, and we invite this lying enemy into our bedrooms, into the toilet with us, to just lie to us constantly and tell us what we are and what we are not. And we've got to say, no, no, no, no, no, I'm going to do what the Bible says. Romans 12, too, do not be conformed to this world. I've told you before. That word conform is a, it's a building. term. Have you ever built a form and poured concrete into it? I know you have it, but we're

opening a campus in Palacca, so they can tell all our Panavidia people what this is like, all right? You build a form and then you pour in the concrete and it takes the shape of the form that you have built. This world has a form that it wants you to fit into. And if you pour yourself into it, then guess what? You're going to do money and you're going to do sex and you're going to do life just like this world and then you're going to wonder why you're crazy and losing your mind like the world and so he says don't conform to the pattern of this world because all this world has to offer you and me is the pride of lights the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and it's just a trick to kill you so don't do that but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the

of God. What is good and acceptable and perfect. And so what we have to do is identify the lies that are leading us down the path that lead us to the place where we look at ourselves and don't believe what God believes about us. That you are fearfully and wonderfully made. That his works are wonderful, that you know that full will. That you don't, when you look in the mirror, somehow it's clouded because you don't hear the voice of the Heavenly Father speaking over you saying, behold, my son, my daughter, in whom I am well pleased. That when you have a hard time believing, what the Bible says about you if you are in Christ,

that you are more than a conqueror, that nothing can separate you from the love of God because you got too much of conforming to the pattern of this world and not enough transforming by the renewing of your mind to let Jesus tell you who you are. And then sometimes a sermon ain't enough. Now don't get me wrong. theological foundation of the truth of the Word of God is it, is it. And then sometimes you need

some more help, like from a professional. And we're about to invite one up here in just a second. But here is what I would say. If you do go to a professional to get help and they don't believe this, I would, it's fourth and long. It's time to punt. You understand? Because they don't believe there's an enemy that's trying to steal, kill and destroy. And they don't fundamentally. Actually, they think you're just like an accident. Do you think you're an accident? It was. if you're in accident, then who cares? Or if they just think you're an evolved animal, then why are people surprised?

If for two generations, we've taught our children that you're nothing but an evolved animal, then why are we surprised when they act like animals? But we were created on purpose for God's purpose, for his glory, and we have a God of the universe that loved us and gave himself for us. And if you go to the doctor and they don't ask you about your whole body, heart, soul, mind, and strength, if they don't ask you about relationships and what you're eating

and about your physical health and your mental health. And the first thing they want you to do is give you some kind of pill, forth and long. You need to punt. You gotta find some people and we'll help you find them that are rooted in this word, and then God uses all kinds of ways to heal people. He is the great physician.

And sometimes it's prayer, sometimes it's people, and sometimes it's pills, and it's usually a combination of all three. And so I don't wanna just give you a pep talk, I'm gonna give you some help. And so I've invited my dear friend, Rebecca Maxwell, you can start making your way up here, Rebecca, Rebecca wrote a book.

Rebecca wrote a book called Jesus and Your Mental Health. Best title I've ever heard in my whole life. Rebecca has been a dear friend of mine for a long time, many, many years, since our boys are playing T-ball, however long that is. We've been in a disciple group together. We send, if we could clone her a thousand times, we would send every person in need that needs therapy to her. I think you should get like five copies of this book, and I'm not kidding at all.

And the reason why is we all need to read it, right? Because all of us are going to find places in our life where we need to be tuned up a little bit. I think mental health is like physical health. It's not like, well, I did it. I'm in shape. The moment you stop, you're not anymore, right? Mental health is a similar way. Also, you could use it like a library so that like if you're struggling with depression or anxiety,

you just turn to that chapter. And the reason I keep a bunch of copies on my shelf is because I just hand them out like tick-tacks. you know you meet somebody with bad breath you're like you need a tick-tack you meet somebody and be like listen just go to chapter two here and so with all of that please welcome rebecca maxwell golly aren't you glad that we're at a church that talks about real life issues that doesn't put them in the closet and assume there for other people to talk about i love that i am at a church that gets to do that i thank god every day for that well friends church i was about 15 years old the first time someone I knew died by suicide. How about you guys? In a room this large,

that is maybe a general cross-section of the population, the number of people that have had suicidal thoughts equates to about 159 people. That's 5.3%. 5.3% of our population has thought about ending their life. And the CDC tells us that there's one suicide every 11 minutes in this country. And men, you guys have the highest suicide completion risk. Four times that of women. 80% of all completed suicides are men. That's a big deal. And Pastor Joby mentioned the teen mental health epidemic. Suicides have increased 62% since 2007. in our population. And the greatest risk for suicide is untreated depression.

And there's a lot of people walking around with untreated depression. And I bet there's a lot in our churches. You know, depression is a little bit like getting stuck under a big, huge wave that just won't let go. You know, our emotions are supposed to come in and go out like the ocean tide. But sometimes they don't. Sometimes that tide comes in and it just stays there and we feel stuck and completely hopeless. And this looks differently in different populations.

For girls, more likely than others, they are going to struggle with body image, guilt feelings, and deep sadness. But for boys, they have a loss of interest in things that they used to enjoy. They have a hard time getting up in the morning and they sleep a lot more. For women, you guys experience more stress, more sleep problems, more sadness. And men, your depression shows up like irritability and anger. The key driver in suicidality is hopelessness, hopelessness. And we see this in Elijah's story. He was helpless and he was hopeless under that tree.

And that depression manifested in his body. And we see later in the scripture, probably next week, where he exaggerates his condition, that he's the only one left. And often that's what depression feels like. We feel like the only one experiencing this thing. And then we see the angel of the Lord bring God's care. And there's so much wisdom in this moment of care. We see rest and food and water. And then the angel of the Lord is going to lead Elijah into God's presence. The way this looks for us clinically, I tell my clients, is doing the next right thing. When you can't seem to get up in the morning, when you can't seem to brush your teeth, take a shower, get to work, because it all feels so overwhelming.

Sometimes in this place, you can just do the next right thing. So family, what are we going to do? what are we going to do to take care of each other in our communities i want to remind you men men you make up 80% of completed suicides will you guys fight arm and arm will you be the men that see other men and see through the irritability and the anger will you take the step toward them will you take them to help women too but this is the year of the men and and men are 80%. This is a real problem in our country, and men are suffering too. You know, you don't have to be a professional to help someone who is struggling with suicidality. I bet a lot of you have taken CPR

classes before, and you know how to do CPR, and you might not be a nurse or a doctor, and it's the same way helping people who are dealing with suicidal thoughts. You can learn how to spot the sometimes very subtle symptoms of suicidal thoughts. You can learn how to question people in the right way, very directly about what they're thinking and feeling. This doesn't actually make them want to commit suicide. It actually makes them take a deep breath because now it's out in the open, like Mason said. And you can learn how to get them to the right help. You know, suicide is a solution for people. It's the ultimate solution. And we have to walk arm and arm with people and help them see that there are other solutions to their temporary problems.

Because suicide is the most preventable death in this country. And we have to be the people that move toward. And friends, maybe I'm describing you. Maybe you're not the one that can help, but maybe you're the one that needs help. Maybe you've had thoughts of ending your life, of not being. being here anymore. Maybe you've even made a plan or daydreamed about how you might end your life. Maybe you're just finding yourself downright hopeless. And you should be scared about these thoughts. Because like Pastor Jobi said, these thoughts are not from God. They are not from the creator

who knit you together in your mother's womb. They are straight from the enemy. You might need hospitalization and stabilization. At minimum, I urge you to find someone after the service with a blue care team badge and tell them what you're going through. There are people here who want to help. And look, look into my face those of you who are struggling. You have got to amplify God's voice above the lies of the enemy. God speaks in that still, small, steady, and consistent voice. and the enemy speaks lies and he shouts them at you and he projects all of his shame and his self-condemnation onto you. You know exactly where to go to get the truth and it's all in here. You have to start reading this to yourself out loud and if you can't deputize somebody to read it to you.

Here are a few scriptures for you. I'm going to give you rapid fire to write down. Psalm 3418. Psalm 234. Psalm 4. Psalm 425. Psalm 147.3. Psalm 139. Matthew 11, 28, and 29. And Isaiah 41.10. Friends reject these lies. This happened to me today as I was preparing to come be with you. today. My biggest mistake on the day where I have to preach is opening up my social media. Took me straight down the rabbit hole. And I had to stand in my closet and rebuke the enemy with some choice words. I want you guys to know that you can heal. Healing is possible. It's not just managing, but it is healing. You can rewire your brain. It's neuroplasticity. You can find hope

again. Like Paul said to the jailer in Acts 16, don't hurt yourself. We are all here. You can get better, and I'll tell you my mother-in-law is a testimony to that. After many attempts on her own life, she lived 35 years with medication and therapy and a community of church folk who helped walk with her, and she never attempted suicide again. Friends, we want you to live. I love that song. Life is worth the living. And we want you to live. Please reach out to your church family

because you are in the right place if you are struggling. I love you guys so much. Thank you for letting me share today. Thank you, Rebecca. Rebecca will be with me in the lobby afterwards. If you want her to pray over you, sign a book, buy a bunch of them,

it is an incredible resource for you. The biggest thing I want you to hear, Just don't do this thing alone. Whether it's suicide ideation, you know, that's for sure the extreme. Or maybe you struggle with depression. Just don't do it alone. This is for men and women, for sure. But this is the year that we're going to stand firm and act like men.

And I'm going to close by telling you a time, which was a pretty dark time in my life. I wasn't suicidal at all, but I was not believing the truth of the Word of God. And again, ladies, hear this, okay? If you're a wife, look at me. Let all the defenses down, because that's what tends to happen. The words of encouragement on the lips of a wife are like gold in the heart of a husband. I just don't have, I just can't even explain it. And listen, every man you talk to inside of him is both a king and a jester.

And you're going to get the one you talk to. And so you can consistently use your words to crown him or to shame him. And guys aren't real good at saying, hey, babe, I need to talk about my feelings. I think I'm in a spiritual depression and I'm not believing it. It doesn't usually go that way. But ladies, you're intuitive and you're smart. And you've got to understand that the dude is not good for him to be alone. So he sent you to be wise, to discern, to see through what he is saying.

to see what he's actually saying so that you could be an echo of what God wants to say to the brother and speak life into him. And so your man might be crying out for help. Again, it might not be suicide. He might just be depressed or a little bit lost. And he's crying out to you. And oftentimes the reason they don't do it is because they have a bad experience the first time they do. I don't show a lot of video clips here, but I'm going to show you an example of how not to do it.

Watch this. Hey, what are you doing? I came out to check on you. Huh? What are you doing? Thought you were working. I'm looking at this. What is it? It's wire. It's a spool of wire. And I'm almost out of it. Can you see the spool of wire?

I'm almost out of it. Okay. And I've had this spool of wire for like 40 years. I bought it. it like this a long it's not a piece of a long time ago but it's like 40 years of my life is in the wire that's gone

does that make sense this is what's left I'm sorry to hear that and sad for you but you're wearing your Jets hat and I'm a little concerned right now that you're wearing your Jets hat I thought that's why you were crying okay I'm done I'm sure she's a lovely woman she probably nails it most of the time not sure why she decided to

video this one instance and then put it on YouTube to live forever for all of us to see. But can't you see that guy? He, I mean, he's not a poet. He's got his work built on. And he's having like this existential crisis that his life is disappearing, like the wires disappeared on this role. And he's not sure where he's going. He's not sure about his purpose.

And that's his way of screaming out. I'm alone. I feel alone. I don't know what to do. And he gets picked on. back back to our text verse five Elijah's alone that's not good man that is not good he is alone and yet God is not going to allow him to be alone and he lay down and he slept under the broom tree and behold an angel an angel just means messenger in Hebrew I don't know if you know that

that God saw Elijah alone and said I see you I feel you I'm not going to let you be alone so he sends a messenger You know, you could be that messenger in somebody's life, right? That doesn't mean you're going to, like people don't turn into angels. I know people talk about that all the time. That's not theologically accurate. But you could be a messenger of God and God sins and behold, an angel touched him and said, arise and eat. God doesn't send him a message, be like, suck it up, buddy. I got plans for you.

No, no, no, no, no. He sends an angel and says, arise and eat. And he looked and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones in a jar of water. And he ate and he drank and he lay down again. Listen, sometimes you just need some cake and a nap. And somebody to love you enough to touch you and to be there with you. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.

You see, this angel is speaking hope. This angel is speaking purpose. This angel is not just wallering in the misery that he is in. This angel is saying, God's not done with you. And he arose and he ate and he drank and he went in strength. of that food for 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb the Mount of God. So there was a time a long time ago, 1999, 2000, that was like 2002-3 is about where it's beginning to manifest itself.

I was working at a church in Athens, Georgia. Things were going great. I was doing college ministry at UGA. If you ask why I'm a Georgia fan, that's why. We were on campus there all the time. Gretchen was a student there, and that's where we were. And things were going great. There were some college ministry things.

that I was a part of was going awesome. And I was at the wrong church. The pastor that brought me there, I love him dearly. He was awesome. But the people of that church did not believe the Bible like I believe the Bible. And they stood in authority over the Word of God, and I stand in authority under the word of God. And I constantly got beat down and beat down and beat down and criticized.

They said I was too Jesus-y, and people were offended. Can you just imagine how that went? It didn't go good. It didn't go good. We got to the point where Gretchen says, if we have children, we cannot raise them in this church. I mean, there were Sunday school teachers that didn't believe Jesus was the way the truth in the life and the only way to the father. And so it just didn't go good for me. And then I got these two job offers.

One was to be like an executive coach for this person and their two primary clients were like Rigglies gum and Xerox or something. So we'd be flying back and forth to Chicago all the time. And he would tell me, he was like, man, you're a good communicator. Just do that thing. Just leave out the Jesus stuff. And you pick, pick the neighborhood you want to live in. You'll finally, he said these words, you'll finally be able to give your wife all the things she's ever wanted. I was making $33,000 a year and they were offering me six figures.

And then another guy comes up and I get another job offer to sell caskets and funeral plots. in the county north of Athens. And it was a family-owned place. He's like, dude, I think you'll crush it. Because you already own a suit, and only about one person dies every two weeks so you can hunt and fish. You don't ever have to do anything.

And you can convince people to believe in something they can't even see. Surely you can upgrade their casket and their tombstone. I think you'd be good at this. Also offered a six-figure salary, and I came to Gretchen and said, I think I'm done with ministry. I think I'm out.

I mean, I tried. I've had a pretty good run, you know, 10 years or so. But I just don't think I have what it takes anymore. And we've got these offers over here, you know. I mean, we could get some stuff, who don't want some stuff. And we don't have to worry about this. Don't have to get beat up all the time. And, you know, I think I was fateful in that season,

but seasons don't always last. And I think I'm done. And I had resolved in my prayers to God. and beginning to admit it to her out loud, it's over. I think it's over. And it was a dark, dark place. Again, I wasn't suicidal whatsoever, but I was not hearing the word of God.

And God sent me an angel. And it wasn't a winged being out of heaven. Her name is Gretchen Martin. And she didn't make fun of me when I began to share my heart with her. And she didn't dismiss it like it wasn't important. it and she began to speak life in me that I didn't know was there. And she began to speak truth over me that I didn't see in myself. And she began to tell me, I don't think God's done with you.

What if? What if? She didn't even tell me what to do? She just said this, what if you just give it one more chance? Would you do that? Would you just be willing to give it one more chance and see if God is done with you in ministry or not? And I said, thank you.

And I said, okay, I'll give it one more chance. And she sent my resume out and beat church called. And we moved to Jacksonville, Florida. Right? And listen, man, ain't nothing special about me. Oh, my gosh, there's nothing special about me. But none of this is happening now. None of this.

The 2,000 plus salvation this year, the 395 salvation. Salvation is just two weeks ago, the 1,958 people that got baptized at the beach, the thousand people that are about to get baptized at saturated, none of that happens if a messenger from the Lord doesn't step into what God has told her to say and speak truth into somebody whose ears, for some reason, had closed up to the truth of the Word of God. When I say to you, you have no idea what hangs in the balance. You're sitting in it. You're sitting in the imperious.

of what can happen when somebody is depressed and somebody is believing in the lives of the world and somebody just for whatever reason doesn't have ears to hear the truth. And then God sends you, an angel, a messenger to speak truth and God can do miracles through your words. So I want to talk, listen, if you are here and you're on the struggle bus, you are not alone. Please get help. It starts with this. front line of this attack to defend against the attack of the enemy is the local church. And so you find somebody with a blue badge, somebody from the care team, and the way that we

close our services, it matters so much. I hope you realize this, because we won't pray. And maybe you're not on the struggle bus right now, but maybe you know somebody that is. You remember Mark chapter 9, the dad with the sick kid. You see, he can't. He came to Jesus, not on his behalf, but on behalf of somebody else that the enemy was trying to take out. Maybe there's somebody that you know, and the enemy's trying to take them out. And so when we pray, I'm going to invite you to come and on behalf of God, pray for them, beg them, say, God, would use me if you can.

Pray for their heart. Pray, pray, pray, pray like crazy. And when we worship, do you realize it's war against the enemy? It's war against the devil of hell himself. We're going to speak the name of Jesus over these things. And what we're doing is we're looking at him and we're going, you can't have them. They're his. And every single time we bring our first and best, don't you know that the reason we are able to stand in the gap

and help so many people all over the places because of the generosity of God's people, we have an enemy that wants to steal, kill, and destroy. And there's some people in our congregation. There are some people right now that are living in the devastation of losing loved ones to suicide. And we need to pray for them and pray over them. We need to pray that the God that transcends all understanding would guard their hearts and their minds in Christ Jesus. And that God could even use their darkest days. for somebody else to hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So listen, ain't got time to play church, ain't got time to fake it. If you need to scoot out, I swing you and the Lord. I believe there are lives hanging in the balance and our prayers and our worship and our generosity are going to make the difference and you have no idea what hangs in the balance. So as we close, I want to go to war. I want to go to war on our knees in prayer. I want to go to war in worship.

I want to go to war in generosity. Because you have no idea how God might use you in the life of somebody else. Would you please stand and let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father. God, I thank you so much that when you see us in trouble, just like when you saw Elijah in trouble, you don't just give us a pep talk. You send us a messenger that speaks truth over us.

God, that we have a hope and a future. God, I pray for any person. this believing the lives of the enemy right now Lord I pray oh I pray supernaturally you would pour out your grace upon them God for people that this this whole subject is just the most painful thing they've ever walked through God I pray that you would give them the kind of peace that can only be described as miraculous Lord I pray that every single one of us would be that kind of messenger Lord I thank you so much for my wife Gretchen that in a dark dark time Lord she shone your light And we had no idea what hung in the balance.

So, Lord, I pray that this is a dividing line in some people's life. Lord, I pray that the chains of addiction would fall off. God, I pray that depression would be surrendered to you. God, I pray that anxiety would dissipate as grace moves, spirit, as you move in, Lord. I pray that those suicidal thoughts would leave because we would know that we are your children bought and paid for by you. and God that we would know if the tomb is empty, anything is possible, and we could walk in freedom because you walked out of that grave. Spirit of God, would you minister to us? Would you equip us? Would you strengthen us? Would you give us eyes to sea and words to say that bring life? We pray

this in Jesus' name. Amen. If you're ready to go to war, for your own heart or on behalf of somebody else, I invite you to come and pray to the living God of the universe who hears and sees you. And words, it'll make your mind explode if you think about it. The sovereign king of the universe says, I want you to agree with me on what I want to do in the people that you loves life. And I want to move, but you got to pray because you have not, because you ask not. And I want to sing, I'm telling you, like the people we love's lives depend on it. We're going to speak the name of Jesus over these things because where his name is, darkness has to flee. And we are going to bring, we are going to bring, because we are funding the army of God against

and his minions trying to take out those that we love. Let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's go to war.