Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick addresses mental health and emotional distress in the Elephant in the Room series. Beginning with Psalm 118:24, he recognizes that rejoicing can be difficult and points listeners toward hope in Jesus. He also encourages people to seek counseling.
Pastor Keith considers biblical accounts of distress and failure. He reads Paul’s letters as acknowledging severe hardship alongside continuing hope. He contrasts Judas’s remorse with Peter returning to Jesus after his denial. Psalm 42 and Lamentations 3 become examples of remembering God amid turmoil. Elijah’s story shows God responding with care when the prophet is afraid and exhausted.
Pastor Keith emphasizes the influence of repeated thoughts and encourages prayer and praise grounded in God’s faithfulness. He uses Philippians 4 and 1 Peter 5 to encourage reliance on God rather than comparison with others. He closes with Romans 8:28, Hebrews 4:15, and a call for mutual support in the church, followed by prayer and an invitation to follow Jesus.
Take this with you
Struggle is not a faith failure
Pastor Keith uses 2 Corinthians 1 and 4 to show Paul acknowledging severe hardship while continuing to trust God. He teaches that following Jesus does not remove trials, and that people facing distress are not alone in Scripture.
The difference between Peter and Judas
In Matthew 27 and the Gospel account of Peter's denial, both disciples failed Jesus and both felt remorse. Judas sought help from religious leaders and was turned away; Peter wept but did not let his mistake become his identity. The pastor's point is that admitting wrongdoing and coming back to Jesus is the way through, not pretending you are perfect, and that self-awareness means you cannot save yourself.
What you repeat is what you believe
Using Psalm 42, Pastor Keith encourages listeners to address their own thoughts with reminders of God’s faithfulness. He warns that repeated accusations and comparisons can shape belief and erode contentment. He connects this with Matthew 28:20 and Jesus’ promise of continuing presence.
Praise and prayer as weapons
Drawing on Psalm 42 and Philippians 4, Pastor Keith describes praise as a deliberate act of trust during distress and encourages thankful prayer. He connects this with God’s peace and uses 2 Corinthians 10:5 to urge listeners to evaluate thoughts in relation to Christ.
You are not meant to be isolated
The pastor says no one is exempt from tribulation and points to Jesus' words in John 16:33 about overcoming the world, so the answer is purpose in the pain rather than an easier life. He calls isolation dangerous, points to Hebrews 10:24-25 and friends who love in adversity, and encourages early counseling rather than waiting until it is too late.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
amen amen you may have a seat hey i want to welcome you to journey church i'm going to ask that we start by reading a bible verse out loud together so if you're watching at home online on television or if you're in person i want you to get out your preacher voice we're going to read this verse together psalm 118 verse 24. here we go out loud together this is the day the lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it come on do you believe that today all right all right hey can we get relentlessly real for just a moment some days it doesn't feel like the lord made that day there are some days you wake up and you just don't feel like rejoicing to rejoice means to choose joy let's just get real some days you're not glad about the day that you're about to
face you don't want to get out of bed you're not singing psalm 118 verse 24. we're in a series here at journey church called the elephant in the room these are the tough topics that we often want to ignore these are some subjects we just don't want to talk about and today's elephant in the room is mental illness mental health now let me just be really clear as a preface to the message i'm not going to cover the great vastness of mental health when it comes to the different diagnosis or even the the the difficulties of the physiological mind i could spend a lifetime trying to figure out how the
brain and the mind works i'm not going to cover the medical area i will not be giving any medical advice today i'm not a doctor nor do i claim to be i just want to be really clear i'm going to cover the areas of our mind that most of us if not all of us will struggle with in our lifetime and that's the area of depression anxiety and suicidal thoughts this will impact all of us in one way or another we will all struggle with this some of us are struggling with this right now so we we've got to ask god why do you allow us to go through this and what is the solution so when we come up against hiccups and hang-ups and these hurdles is just hard to get over today i want to point you to the hope that's found in jesus christ
as a pastor i'm so familiar with what happens in the mind if we don't allow jesus to control it i have officiated the funerals of those that have taken their life by suicide there's no exemption if you're single or married i've done both funerals of those who are single who have committed suicide and those who are married i i live in a generation where my peers pastors are taking their life by means of suicide right here in this church we have law enforcement military men and women who are impacted by ptsd now today those in the medical field this pandemic that we've all been through simply put mental health on the back burner of life and then we turned up the flame ignoring
it hoping that it would go away and now mental health is a crisis not in only in our nation but around the world we've got to talk about this elephant in the room scholars say this society is the loneliest society that has ever existed yet god does not want us to be alone in genesis 2 18 the lord god said it is not good that man should be alone yet one thing we experienced this last year and a half every one of us was isolation the elderly were left alone without visitors single people were left alone broken marriages were left alone at home kids an entire generation were left alone and not able to go
to school and this pays a toll on the mind the cdc said last year one in every four young people thought about committing suicide divorce went up 20 in 2020 from the previous year drug use alcohol use and pornography all went up in 2020. all addictions are simply a self-medication of a pain that is real in your life now the problem with the self-medication of any addiction is that the pain does not go away it's simply pushed aside this elephant is only getting bigger so how do we then learn and look at how do we live our lives we can look to the past
the late prince of preachers charles spurgeon arguably one of the greatest pastors of all time struggled with depression most of his ministry all the way to the point of his death and he tells us consider how precious a soul must be if both god and the devil are after it spurgeon identified that what we go through is not simply just physical or physiological there's something spiritual happening that god wants you to surrender your life to him but the devil's going after you as well and he's going to go after your mind and spurgeon did not allow depression to stop him he used it as an opportunity to depend on god he used it as an opportunity to
minister to other people who are also hurting so today i won't claim to understand everything you're going through nor will i claim to have all the answers but i do want you to know that god does not want you to feel bad god does not want you to stay depressed god does not want you to stay right where you are god is in the business of changing i would you hear the words of psalm 16 11 that says you god make known to me the path of life and your presence is the fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore god is the giver of good things he wants you to know the path of life he wants you to have joy in fact he doesn't want you to be withheld from pleasures he wants you to know who he is
and if there's a path of life there must be a path of death jesus famously in the sermon on the mount in matthew chapter 7 verse 13 and 14 says enter through the narrow gate jesus is the great inviter this is an invitation today enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it this wide road to destruction is a path that so many are on this is a wide pathway to destruction that when you look around you're in good company but it's not leading to life the pathway to destruction is listening
to others listening to the ways of this world rather than listening to god this pathway to destruction includes filling your mind with the ways of this world instead of the ways of god this pathway of destruction is to think that somehow this world is your home and you do not long for something greater see jesus in implying that this is a narrow road that leads to life is not saying it's a difficult road to life jesus did everything possible so that you would have eternal life it's not difficult you simply need to surrender your life to his it's believing what was done for you in jesus christ it's trusting in him we call that faith that by believing in jesus you receive the gift of grace
that is not about you aren't you glad that jesus didn't make it difficult to get into heaven it's not about how good you are it's not about following enough rules it's not about what family you're born into or how many days you went to church it's all about jesus jesus wants you to know this path to life earlier in this same sermon just a few verses earlier to the same audience he says ask here's the invitation again and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be opened to you for everyone who asks receives the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks the door will be open jesus is letting us know god is for you when you keep coming back to him he
doesn't send you away you can ask and you'll discover that it's already been answered when you seek you discover you're already found the father has sought you out and has been pursuing you when you keep knocking those doors of opportunity to grow in faith hope and love are right in front of you when you come to jesus you realize is he uses your whole life everything you've been through nothing is wasted with god jesus wants you to know that you could be on that path to life today yet when you look around and you're in good company on the pathway to destruction you begin to compare your life and comparison will kill contentment when you compare your marriage to someone else when you compare your looks to someone
else when you compare your job to someone else when you compare your life to someone else all of a sudden you wonder why your life is not as good as someone else's i love how teddy roosevelt said comparison is the thief of joy when you start to compare yourself to others it's no wonder we live in such a lonely society when we have all the information age in front of us we have all this social media but what i'm doing is comparing myself to you and what the scriptures teach us is that if we're going to rejoice in this day that the lord has made joy is a choice joy is my job joy is not your job and my life joy is not my
spouse's job to give me joy or my kid's job or it's not even my my government's job it's not my my work's job to give me joy joy is my choice i choose joy today because i know where real joy comes it comes from jesus jesus said in john 15 11 these things i've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full i wonder what version of jesus you have in your mind some of us think that jesus gives us joy sometimes that we sing about the joy of the lord at christmas time or that joy comes in good times but jesus came not to give you some joy but you would have a joy that's so
significant that no one can take it from you you could have nothing and yet you have everything because if you have jesus your joy is full now let's just be clear following jesus does not exempt you from problems or trials or tribulations i believe all people have problems so wherever there are people there are problems so you can't escape problems you look in the mirror there's a problem you try to find the perfect church you can't go there because now there's a problem if you go there you start to look at the reality of how do these things happen here's what we do learn of jesus so if there are problems we're going to go through seasons of depression anxiety and even suicidal thoughts and
and with jesus it doesn't mean you won't have those things it just means you now have the solution to those things it just means this is not the end of your story as the writer of hebrews describes jesus he calls him the author which means when you surrender your life to his he rewrites your story it doesn't negate the fact that you've been through a lot it doesn't mean you haven't gone through trials tribulations depression anxiety or suicide it just means jesus the author is now going to rewrite your story and it can have a tremendous ending so today what i'm going to do with the remainder of our time is we'll look at a plethora of people throughout the scriptures that struggle with the same stuff we struggle with and we'll actually see we're in good company and then we'll see what they did we can do as well i want to start with paul the apostle
paul is the greatest influencer in the early church he wrote more books in the new testament than any other author and paul this one sent by god writes in his second letter to the corinthians in chapter one verse eight he says for we do not want you to be unaware brothers of the affliction we experienced in asia for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself here's a guy sent by god doing the work of god and he says i was so burdened i didn't have strength have you ever felt like that all the new moms say amen have you ever felt like i just can't get out of bed today i don't even have the strength to go on and paul in this opening chapter to
the corinthians actually says we all wonder why does god allow bad things to happen to us and he says it's an opportunity for god to comfort you to counsel you so that now you can comfort and counsel others so that you see that you're not stuck in this burden that's beyond strength a few chapters later paul writes he says listen we are afflicted in every way but we're not crushed we're perplexed but not driven to despair like a coach he begins to identify yes you're going through difficult days but there is a purpose and he says in second corinthians 4 is to manifest jesus to show the world that jesus is greater than anything you're going through see the message of jesus is not a better life we've bought into the this lie that somehow if we believe in jesus we're
gonna have an easier better life but that's not the gospel gospel means good news the gospel is jesus gives you new life he's the resurrection and the life so he doesn't make your life better he doesn't make your problems go away he gives you purpose in your problems he gives you purpose in your pain he lets you know that you're living for something greater than the temporary not only did paul go through some difficult days i want to compare two other guys that were followers of jesus two of the twelve disciples both of them betrayed jesus in unique ways in the final hours of his life before the cross one is judas and the other is peter in matthew chapter 27 we learned after his betrayal of jesus he you can imagine why did judas do what he
did he he seemed to want to take a career step he wanted to go up in the world he he thought maybe money would satisfy him and in this last moment of jesus life matthew 27 verse 3 then when judas his betrayer saw that jesus was condemned he changed his mind he brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priest and the elder saying i've sinned by betraying innocent blood they said what is that to us see to it yourself let me just pause right there before we read the next verse judas saw some counsel he saw some help and the religious leaders of his day he went to religious people and said i regret doing what i did i don't want to do that anymore help me and they said what's that to us
we're not here to help you and what happens next is shocking in verse 5 matthew records and throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple money would not make him happy he departed and judas went and hanged himself he's remorseful he's full of regret he's in despair he's in the darkest season of his life he made the ultimate mistake he betrayed his boss he betrayed his teacher he even betrayed the savior of the world and what will he do when he messed up miserably does this define him the rest of his life and when he seeks spiritual counsel he doesn't get what what he needs and his only solution is i've got to take care of this myself by taking my life
judas did not need to commit suicide suicide is not of god ever god will never ask you to take your life ever suicidal thoughts are not of god jesus warns of the real enemy the devil satan that he's a thief in john 10 10 he says the thief that's who satan is he's a thief he wants to rob you of joy he wants to steal your peace he wants to make sure to destroy anything good that god do in your life and he will always work with the mind the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy and he'll typically go after your mind to make you think it's over to make you think it's the end to make you think is
helpless and hopeless that you would stop there and put that on repeat but jesus clarified who he is i came that they may have life and not just any life but have it abundantly jesus doesn't want you to have a half-life he doesn't want to have the life of someone else he wants you to have the life that's found in him that you would not be identified by anything mental inside of you mental health does not define you it is not your identity but your identity should be in him that your life's purpose would be all about jesus just imagine just imagine what would have happened if judas would have waited
if judas would have just stepped back for just a moment and said wait wait wait god is bigger than this god is bigger than just imagine if he would have waited three days and experienced the resurrection because if he would have waited three days he would experience the grace of god that he gives grace upon grace and i'll tell you every funeral i've ever done that's the question of every family member of every loved one of every friend what if what if what if i knew what could i have done what should i have what could what would have happened if they just live what would have happened if they would have gotten married and had kids what would have happened if they'd if they would have allowed god to rewrite their story and this was not the end how could they have ministered that's the ultimate question suicide never helps anyone and yet it's very real because the pain the darkness the hurt that's happening in the soul
is real it can happen to any one of us no one's exempt spiritual or not spiritual intelligent young old you see the thing about depression is there's absolutely no prejudice the thing about anxieties there's no prejudice if you're male or female if you're young or elderly if you're black or white we all can experience the same pains in our heart and the solution is the same as well peter was another disciple of jesus he was told by jesus that he would deny him three times and and pride peter puffed out his chest put his shoulders back his chin up i would never do that you know that word never is never good in any situation don't say i'll i'll
i'll never move to fill in the blank and luke tells us then they seized jesus and led him away bringing him to the high priest's house and peter was curious what was happening was following at a distance and when they had kindled the fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together peter sat down among them then a servant girl seen him as he sat in the light looking closely at peter said this man was also with him but peter denied it saying woman i do not know him in the original greek he cursed at this girl and a little later someone else saw him and said you also are one of them but peter said man i'm not and after an interval of about an hour still another insisted saying certainly this man was also with him for he too is a galilean but peter said man i do not know what you're talking about
and immediately while peter was still speaking the rooster crowed and the lord who was still present who could make eye to contact with peter and the lord turned and looked at peter and peter remembered the saying of the lord how he said to him before the rooster crows today you will deny me three times and i want you to know what happens next and he went out and wept bitterly he was remorseful he was full of regret he was sorry all of the same things that judas experienced but the difference between judas and peter is peter did not give in to his emotions and take action see the the difference between peter and judas is peter
acknowledged his wrongdoing he didn't pretend that he was perfect he didn't pretend that he didn't just do that bad thing but rather peter held on and just a few days later this would be after the resurrection peter and his friends would be out fishing out in the lake and jesus would be on the shore and peter and seen jesus the resurrected jesus fully clothed dives off the boat and swims to jesus peter does not let his mistake be his identity he finds hope in jesus christ not in what he can do but in who jesus is and what jesus can do for him this this dark season was real but through jesus
he had hope see god says so much in the scriptures about people who have made mistakes because you two might be like peter you you too may have made a mistake like judas you too may look back in your life and say this defines who i am and jesus wants you to make yourself self-aware that you can't save yourself you need a lord and a savior in john 16 33 jesus said i have said these things to you that in me you may have peace this is where you're going to find peace not on this wide road to destruction not on a self-actualization and not in the things of this world but in me you may have the shalom the peace
of god and then he makes a promise in this world jesus said you will have tribulation but take heart i have overcome the world i want you to know this is a promise there's no exception everyone you will have tribulation if you're still living and breathing you will have tribulation if you're young you will have tribulation if you're not so young you will have tribulation if you're beautiful you will have tribulation if you're rich you will have tribulation no exemption jesus promised you're going to struggle in this world now you might say well pastor this is a pretty negative message today
could you just be a little more positive yes i am positive you will have tribulation jesus said it and what he says happens so why are we surprised when a world pandemic happens jesus said it would happen why are we surprised when we have problems with relationships or with our health or with with finances but but jesus notes take heart the phrase means have courage i have overcome the world he's overcome everything that's needed to be done you see jesus is the solution to your tribulations he doesn't stop just saying you're going to have problems he says i am the solution
to your problems throughout the psalms we see much turmoil it's a great place to remind yourself that you're not alone king david one of the most significant figures in all of the bible wrestled with what we probably would call today depression a deep depression in psalm 42 verse 3 he says my tears have been food day and night while they say to me all day long where is your god these things i remember as i pour out my soul how i would go with the throng and lead them in the procession to the house of god with clouds shouts of songs and praise a multitude keeping festival why are you cast down on my soul why are you in turmoil within me david acknowledges where he's
at and he's hurting he's in turmoil he's in place of darkness he looks back and says oh i remember going to church and just praising god singing songs oh i remember i would lead people in those songs oh but i'm so downcast you know self-talk is the most influential talk of your life it's not the preacher at church it's not the president of the united states it's not someone at school self-talk is the most influential talk because what you put on repeat in your mind is what you will believe if you think you're worthless and you replay that in your mind you'll live like you're worthless if you think that life is helpless or hopeless and you begin to put this on
the repeat of your mind then you will think that life is hopeless if you think that what someone else did to you earlier in your life defines you you will always be a victim what you put on repeat is what you believe and the mind is so powerful and what we learned from david is he does not stay there it's okay to acknowledge that you're hurt it's okay to acknowledge you're depressed and downcast it's not okay to stay there so david in psalm 42 5 says why are you cast down o my soul why are you at turmoil within me there's the self-talk and then he he puts on the boxing gloves and enters the ring of his mind and he fights the good fight and he says hope
in god for i shall again praise him my salvation i'm not done my hope is not in myself my hope is not in someone else my hope is not in my family or anyone other than god hope in god three words that change everything say with me hope in god it's as if david is telling us just put this on repeat every time you're downcast hope in god you remind yourself that who i was is not who i am now but i will yet again praise him for praise is the weapon of your mind praise is the weapon against depression praise is the weapon against anxiety praise is the weapon against stress praise as the weapon against uncertainties and fear of your future
it is praise that will remind you that god is god and i am not so i will praise him in the storm i will praise him in the silence i will praise him when i'm facing the giants i will praise him not because i'm going through a good time but because my joy is found in him my peace is found in him my hope is found in him so what we learn of the ancients of old is that self-talk is powerful talk so i've got to remind myself hope in god hope in god hope in god you can't go off of a previous season our middle school kids just went off to camp today and would you pray for the middle school students to experience jesus not just to find somebody to hold their
hand or to find their identity in someone else pray that they find jesus but you know what your whole life cannot be defined by a camp moment these are catalysts these are milestones these are moments so that you look back and remind yourself that what i did before i have to do again so just because you don't feel it right now doesn't mean that god's not god paul writes to the church in philippi from prison is there any darker place than a dungeon and he writes from prison philippians 4 4 and it seems a bit contrary to what he's going through he says this rejoice in the lord always again i will say rejoice those words sound good at church they sound good from a man wearing a robe behind a pulpit but from a dark
dungeon rejoice in the lord rejoice is praise it's choosing joy here's what david is saying even if you're in prison choose joy okay let me just say it again rejoice it's as if he knew it's like he he knows he knows listen i'm not unique it's as if history is telling listen what i'm going through is not unique you're going to be in a dark place too so let me just tell you praise is your weapon then he makes sure that you don't overreact in your emotions he says let your reasonableness be known to everyone what he's saying is one day there's going to be this thing called social media and you're not going to look reasonable you're going to get so heated in your emotions you're going to want to react
in your emotions thinking you're right and you have to tell the whole world you're right which never proves a point not even to your own soul so let your reasonableness be known to everyone including your family that you can't stand including uh your own soul that feels like you have to take your own life including your spouse that you wonder why you married including your boss that you're ups come on act like you love jesus your praise is your weapon on the way to work what are you doing rejoicing rejoicing rejoicing rejoicing rejoicing rejoicing and then then he goes on i believe and gives us the antidote to anxiety he says this do not be anxious about anything now i don't know about you but i'm not quite sure i've ever done that
do not be anxious about anything it's not some things or the easy things it's anything this is an instruction from god that you cannot carry your burdens jesus gave a great invitation if anyone's heavy laden or burden come to me you can't handle this i want to give you rest so how do you not be anxious about anything it's not just by claiming it it's not just by putting that on repeat he tells us but by prayer with supplication by by supplication and with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god see prayer is a conversation with god i think paul's pointing that out that prayer is not before a meal it's surrendering your life it's being thankful that you know god's gonna work this out you're thankful that god is god it's through prayer and supplication and thanksgiving you pray and you pray and you pray
and you pray and you pray he told the thessalonians pray without ceasing that means just what it says you you so believe god for who god is that you pray when you don't feel it you pray when you don't see it and you keep praying and then what he says next is the key here and the peace of god remember what jesus says remember what he said i've said these things to so what so that in me you would have peace so when you pray when you pray when you pray when you pray the peace that surpasses all understanding that no one else can give you except for jesus will guard your hearts and your what your mind in christ jesus so when you're in the dark dungeon of the soul like
paul was experiencing you come to jesus remember that peter that denied jesus three times and wet bitterly he learned from his experience he didn't stay there that's wisdom it's not living a perfect life it's through your mistakes you keep coming to jesus and you learn and he writes in first peter 5 6 humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of god so at the proper time he might exalt you is there anyone better than peter that can say hey humble yourself i know you think you got this but if anyone had it i had it but i didn't have it and then he says this casting all your anxieties on him peter had to learn that he's putting what he's going through into practice why should you cast all your anxieties in him it's as if
peter wants to remind you because he cares for you some of you think that god doesn't care for you because of what you're going through some of us think that in our darkest hour that somehow the lord has left us no he cares for you he cares for you he'll never stop caring for you he'll never stop loving you jesus did not shame peter and say you know what we can't be friends anymore peter did not hear from jesus you know you're condemned now he he was welcomed into the family and then peter says this here's what we have to do be sober minded be watchful so your mind is a fight and you've got to be careful because your adversary the thief the devil satan he's the enemy he prowls around like a
roaring lion seeking someone to devour and he wants to fill your mind with lies this is who you are you messed up you're a loser you feel alone you have no friends you didn't get you were looked over in that promotion you'll never have enough money you'll never be good enough this is always will you where you will stay and so you put that on repeat and i'm here to tell you those are not true statements of god he's the life giver he's the path of life he gives you joy and he wants to make sure that you have pleasures so the statements we're going to repeat over and over is matthew 28 20 jesus said before you ascended into heaven behold i am with you always to the end of the age he's going to be there the writer of hebrews reminds us jesus said i will never leave you never forsake you so that's what you put on repeat he's not going to leave me he'll be there in the end
he'll never forsake me jesus is with me oh but pastor i'm going through the dark valley right now exactly you go to psalm 23 and say even though i go through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil why because he's with me he's going to comfort me he's going to get me through this i'm not going to stay in that valley of the shadow of death forever i'm just going through this so that he can comfort me so that i can comfort someone else another example in the scriptures is jeremiah he was known as the weeping prophet he wrote a whole book about crying called lamentations it's lament and he says in lamentations 3 verse 17 my soul is bereft of peace i've forgotten what happiness is that's some of you today you've forgotten what happiness is so i say my endurance is perish so so is
my hope from the lord remember my afflictions and my wanderings the warm wood and the gall my soul continually remembers it is bowed down within me jeremiah is stating his reality he's acknowledging where he is he's hurting but he was not without hope he begins to replay in his mind what he knows he says in verse 21 but this i call to mind he puts on the boxing gloves and enters the good fight and he says therefore i have what hope the steadfast love of the lord never ceases his mercies never come to an end they are new every morning great is your faithfulness the lord is my portion says my soul therefore i will hope in him the same message from david
might not be happy now might be hurting now but i will hope in god oh i hope you can acknowledge you look through the scriptures you're not alone the greatest lie of the enemy is to say oh what you're going through no one understands no one knows how bad your life is right now so you keep it to yourself you bear the burden but this is not the end for those who are hurting this is the mission of jesus when he opened up the book of isaiah he said the spirit of the lord is upon me because he's anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor he sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives the recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed the picture here is of clay pots that are crushing you he came to release the burden to take your anxiety this my friends is the year of the lord's favor see
jesus came not just to forgive you of your sins jesus came not to leave you the same he came to give you liberty to set you free from what you're going through this is the gospel message our god works in a tangible way he's not a religious god he's not a distant deity he's not a god to be experienced on sunday at church he is with you he is for you and he wants to bring life to you today and the ultimate goal of this message was not to fix you it was to point you to jesus that if you can find hope in him there's hope for everyone that you would choose today to fight for your mental health because it impacts you spiritually and relationally to realize the power of the mind that what you think about you become paul says to the corinthians he says take every thought captive you've got to destroy those arguments that are of the enemy second
corinthians 10 5 we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of god and take every thought captive to obey christ you see where your mind goes there your life goes see what you think about you become your beliefs ultimately shape your behavior so you won't really praise god if you don't believe that praise is your weapon but when you believe praise is your weapon on some sundays you're going to praise a little bit harder and when you see those people praising a little bit harder here's what you need to know they're in a fight so sometimes you may not even know them join the fight you believe that what we sing is true you make it a prayer and all of a sudden praise is your weapon let me just give you one last example it's elijah arguably the greatest prophet that's ever lived oh elijah's wonderful read
about his life in first kings first kings 18 is like victory after victory after victory after victory it's what we all want in life we look at victory success and so we think hey i'll be defined by success if i make it to the pinnacle of my career if i make it to multiple millions of dollars if i have these amount of kids we look at success and elijah has success it's an awesome story he goes against the priests of baals and he's victorious and he calls upon god and god answers and the answer of prayer is so good first kings 18. and then first kings 19 comes after victory after success after 2019 comes 2020 and ahab told jezebel this is an evil king with a wicked and evil wife jezebel all that elijah had done and how he'd
killed all the prophets with the sword then jezebel this wicked woman sent a messenger to elijah saying so may the gods do to me and more also if i do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow her theology's all whacked there it's not even accurate and then verse three then elijah was afraid i want you to note this if you have your own bible i was under elijah the greatest prophet of all time just had victory was afraid and arose and ran for his life and he came to beersheba that was the place of his calling you'd think he's going to find hope but instead he left his servant there he went and lived in isolation verse 4 says but he himself all alone when a day's journey into the wilderness came and sat down under a broom tree and he asked that he might die suicidal thoughts saying it's enough
now lord take my life for i'm no better than my father's okay what would cause elijah to run in fear what would cause elijah have suicidal thoughts what would cause eliza elijah to feel all alone it was a message it wasn't even a warrior that came to kill him it was a message hear me loud and clear it was a tweet it was a comment it was a post it was an email it was a text message that was put on repeat and he ran in fear self-talk is powerful so god comes to elijah and he he doesn't tell elijah listen you need to pray more you need to read your bible more and go to church more sometimes we tell people that you want to get out of this slump be a better christian there's nowhere in the bible
here's what god tells elijah this is in first kings 19 says i want you to get up and eat sometimes what happens subconsciously is we control what we can control so we either don't eat when we're stressed or we eat too much in this case elijah wasn't eating and so what god said to him in first kings 1905 is hey get up arise and eat eat some good food in fact it was good food it was cake sometimes you just need some cake some of you think i can't eat cake right now you don't know what i'm going through that's why at the end of every funeral that i've ever done guess what you do after you like talk about the person that died eat it's biblical you can't grieve forever now we all deal with it differently that's not the cure for everyone some are overeating some are in
isolation you need to come to church you need to praise some of you need to get away from people and go on a hike and just see the the greatness of god what you fill your life with will overflow but i'm here to tell you god will use anything paul said when i'm weak then i'm strong that's where you learn that god's grace is sufficient god loves you he has a purpose and a plan for you psalm 139 verse 13 and 14 says for you formed my inward parts you god knit me together in my mother's womb you didn't do this to yourself don't think you're better than you are god made you but then notice this he says i praise you god here's why for i am fearfully and wonderfully made wonderful are your works god my soul knows it very well do you know this very well god made you and he doesn't make mistakes
now if you made a mistake guess what your mistake does not define you the god that made you does so let your identity be in him and if sin marred that identity i've got great news he's the savior of sins i'm not your counselor is not a spouse is not let me just say today and we even have one maybe two or maybe even three in our midst today we've got great christian counselors that attend journey church and call this place home if you need counseling that's okay go seek counseling we send dozens maybe even hundreds of people a year to to counseling i'll tell you why the holy spirit is called a counselor so if god himself is a counselor who are we to say we don't need counseling can you just raise your right hand right now raise your hand raise your hand you need counseling all right listen
all right but here's what i see a journey and i've gotta i've gotta wrap this up i'm gonna wrap this up here's what i see a journey this happens too often as a pastor typically people call the church for counseling when it's too late you need to recognize early the signs that something is wrong i love how the late bill bright he put it this way he says our emotions can't be our only source of wisdom they're great warnings but lousy maps so god gave us emotions but he did not give you emotion so that you would do whatever your emotions feel that's a dangerous place to be but rather you can hold fast to the promises of god that jesus is for you let me share some last scriptures hebrews 4 15 reminds us 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 jesus knows what betrayal is like he knows what isolation is like he knows what physical pain is like he knows what it's like to go through what you're going through so when you come to jesus you're coming before god that knows what you're going through and now you see your pain is not wasted all that you've been through romans 8 28 says and we do know this for a fact the longer you love jesus you discover that god will work all things together for good for those who are called according to this purpose he made you he has a plan for you and he's going to do all this so that verse 29 says this god that made you and predestined you he wants you to be conformed to his image so that you would look more like him in humility he lifts you up
you cast your anxieties on him see we're in this together you're not alone proverbs 17 17 says a friend loves at all times it's easy to love someone in good times but a brother is born for adversity we're brothers and sisters we need to help each other we need to love each other we need to pray for one another we need to bear one another as burdens we need to be together here hebrews 10 24 says let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works and do not it says in verse 25 neglect meeting together we can't be alone we can't be isolated here's where we look at this elephant and say suicidal thoughts not of god anxieties god does not want you to bear them depression i'm not alone god's not done with my story
we can talk about this but what i put on repeat is what i believe so from this day forward the pastor made it really simple there's one point to this message it's three words hope in god that's what we teach our kids i'm not your savior hope in god i'm disappointed at work i've let someone else be the lord and savior of my life and for many of us if we just get really real there's a self-awareness i end up playing the role of god i'm a terrible savior sometimes i think i can do it sometimes i think i got it and then all of a sudden before i know it i'm denying jesus i deny the very one that loves me so just in
a moment of prayer can we have a response time just in your heart if you would just close your eyes i don't speak to right now those who are hurting right now i realize you came to church and you came to church for a reason maybe you didn't even know why you came to church but god brought you here so that you would turn your hope to him if you're hurting right now you don't have to tell me what it is it could be individual could be family oriented it could be marriage it could be an addiction it could be work related it could be financial it might just be an emotional place that you can't even describe if you're hurting right now and you want to see a change in your life just keep your eyes closed would you slip up your hand i want to pray for you right now you're hurting desperately bad hands all over the room i imagine watch it on tv and at home too all right praise god praise god praise god praise god king you put your hands down
i want you to know if you're hurting you're not alone dozens and dozens and dozens of people just raise their hands you're not alone so father would you please minister to those hearts i pray that your hope would be so evident today that light just broke forth through the darkness that satan would have no dominion in their hearts that right now the promises of god ring true that you are for those who are hurting and if you're for us who could be against us we thank you jesus that by your blood you've proven that you can defeat death you've proven that you could defeat the devil so we pray today in the name of jesus christ there would be a shift in this room for those who are hurting that hope would be the cry of their heart that praise would be their weapon we join with the father of faith before us and say we hope in god we thank you that god you gave us your word that teaches us we're not alone
so i ask right now in the mighty name of jesus be glorified in families be glorified through your church show the world what you're able to do that nothing can stop you god nothing god nothing god so we're just praying right now i have to ask you if you've never received jesus and today you want to surrender your life to him it's your day jesus did not make it difficult today is the day of salvation and if you want to start following jesus today for the first time you can i would be honored to pray with you with all eyes closed right now with those who are in the room if you want to follow jesus would you slip your hand up boldly and just say that's me i want to follow jesus it's never too late with god you want to surrender your life to jesus right now praise god is anyone else here today amen praise god yes i'll tell you nothing
makes god happier than you coming home because now you have a heavenly home praise god anyone else this is the most important part of what we're doing today we've crossed over from death to life the bible says it's just simple as this believe in your heart jesus died for all of your sins on the cross but now you can't do it alone you got to confess it that you believe in him that he rose from the grave church when we pray with those that are making this decision pray this prayer out loud anyone that's believed in jesus and if you haven't just listen to this there's power in this pray these words out loud lord jesus i surrender my life to you forgive me of my sins my identity is in you [Music]
thank you for heaven help me to live because it's real i know grammatically that probably wasn't right but it's true if you prayed something like that in your heart you are saved you are born again you may not always feel different but you are different because now when you die you get the gift of eternal life would you just open up your eyes today can we celebrate who god is praise god listen if you made that decision we want to know you made that decision there's several ways you could tell us if you're watching online please text us you can click a link in the comment section if you're here in person or if you're watching on television text us it's a simple word just one word life text us life to this number 541-527-7277 we want to pray for you by name we want
you to know you're not alone we want to connect with you so if you made that decision let us know so that we can pray with you give you some next steps if you don't have a bible we'll give you a bible my friends we want to finish with what we've talked about today finish with one song of praise this is our response to god would you stand to your feet as we celebrate who he is we celebrate what he's done we love
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Joy and hope in difficult days
Pastor Keith begins with Psalm 118:24 and acknowledges that rejoicing can feel difficult. He interprets rejoicing as a deliberate response to God rather than a reflection of easy circumstances, and directs listeners toward hope in Jesus.
Psalm 118:24
- How does Pastor Keith explain rejoicing in Psalm 118:24 when the day ahead feels difficult?
- How does he connect joy with trust in Jesus rather than circumstances?
Two roads and comparing lives
Using Psalm 16, Matthew 7, and John 15, the pastor contrasts the broad road of listening to the world with faith that receives grace. He ties comparing yourself to others to loneliness and calls joy a choice rather than something a spouse, child, or job supplies.
Psalm 16:11 · Matthew 7:13-14 · John 15:11
- The pastor says joy is your choice, not your spouse's or your children's job. Who or what are you tempted to make responsible for your joy?
- What comparison most often keeps you from contentment?
- What does the pastor mean by choosing joy as he discusses John 15:11?
Failure, remorse, and returning
Pastor Keith contrasts Judas’s remorse after betraying Jesus with Peter’s return to Jesus after his denial. He emphasizes that failure need not determine a person’s identity and that people need Jesus rather than pretending to be perfect.
Matthew 27:3-5 · John 10:10 · Luke 22:54–62; John 21:7
- What difference do you see in how Peter and Judas handled what they had done?
- Where have remorse or shame become an identity for you?
- The pastor says self-awareness means you cannot save yourself. How does that land with you?
Self-talk, praise, and prayer
Using Psalm 42, Pastor Keith encourages listeners to address their own thoughts with reminders of God’s faithfulness. He connects this with Philippians 4’s encouragement to rejoice and bring requests to God with gratitude, and 1 Peter 5’s invitation to trust God’s care and remain alert. He describes praise as a deliberate act of trust during distress.
Psalm 42:3-5 · Philippians 4:4-7 · 1 Peter 5:6-8
- What phrase do you currently repeat about yourself most often?
- How does Pastor Keith describe praising God in difficult circumstances?
- How does Pastor Keith connect thankful prayer in Philippians 4 with trusting God’s peace during distress?
Elijah, care for body and soul, identity, and community
Pastor Keith describes Elijah’s fear and despair after a threatening message in 1 Kings 19. He emphasizes God’s practical care for the prophet rather than condemnation. He then connects Psalm 139 with identity as God’s creation, Hebrews 4:15 with Jesus’ understanding, and Hebrews 10 with the need for mutual support.
1 Kings 19:1–5 · Psalm 139:13-14 · Hebrews 4:15 · Romans 8:28 · Hebrews 10:24-25
- The pastor notes God responded to Elijah's distress with food rather than a scolding. What does that say to you about how God treats you in a hard season?
- Psalm 139 says God forms and knows you. Where do you struggle to believe that about yourself?
- Where is isolation keeping you from the community Hebrews 10:24-25 describes?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Does being a Christian mean you will not struggle with depression or anxiety?+
Pastor Kirkpatrick teaches that following Jesus does not remove hardship. He connects this with John 16:33 and biblical accounts of people facing deep distress. He presents hope in Jesus as a source of purpose and courage within difficulty rather than a guarantee of easier circumstances.
Why does the pastor say comparison is so damaging?+
Pastor Kirkpatrick names comparison as a thief of joy: comparing yourself to others erodes contentment, and he ties this to a lonely society saturated with information and social media. Grounded in the call to joy in John 15 and Psalm 118, he treats joy as a choice rather than something gained by measuring your life against someone else's.
What is meant by calling praise a weapon?+
Drawing on Psalm 42 and Philippians 4, Pastor Kirkpatrick describes praise as a deliberate act of trust during distress. He connects it with reminding oneself of God’s faithfulness rather than allowing repeated accusations to shape belief. He acknowledges pain while encouraging listeners to continue directing their hope toward God.
