The Gospel & Mental Health

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Let's pray together.

Lord, this is our prayer.

It is our desperate need.

We need to hear from you today, not a man.

We don't need a speech about religion or behavior modification.

We need to hear from the God of the universe.

Because in every time we open your word, you speak.

Because, Lord, here's why we need to hear from you.

One of the many reasons is because when life gets hard, we're not going to need the sweet stimulation of frosting.

We're going to need the nourishing reality of cake.

And you're going to slice off a big chunk of cake today and say, taste and see that the Lord is good.

Holy Spirit, you're here today to equip our your people to push back against things that come against us that we don't see, that we can't touch, that we don't taste, but we definitely feel.

And we're not at the mercy of that.

And we have dominion over that in Jesus' name.

Holy Spirit, equip us, show us, reveal to us how we exercise and occupy our space out of our identity and with authority.

This is our prayer, God.

We pray it in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

You can have a C.

If you got a Bible, where I'm going to invite you to open it up to Psalm 42, the 42nd Psalm.

We're going to the book of Acts, and we'll get back into that here in a couple of weeks.

But today I want to just do a one-off.

It's kind of a uh the seasons are changing.

I don't know if you know that.

It's gone from 106 to 101.

There's a cool front coming through.

Uh school is starting back this week.

Amen, students.

Yeah, yeah.

Your parents could not be more excited.

Uh and so uh I was reading recently.

Uh, it was like 318 in the morning.

I was up, I had my nights and days a little mixed up after my surgery.

Uh, and so I was reading, and I and uh this is a uh a little devotional, really it's a little book.

I don't know where I got it, somebody gave it to me.

Basically, it's divided in, it's got every day's a reading, it's five Psalms and then a proverb.

Five Psalms.

And some days, not every day I read five Psalms and a proverb, some days I just read one, uh, but but it's the middle of the night.

I'm laying in bed, sweating, taking pain pills.

Uh uh, if you're visiting today, that's not my normal habit, but I had surgery recently.

Uh, and some of you are like, I relate to this guy.

Uh and so, uh, but there was a moment, kind of like a little dip emotionally for me, and I was just kind of like, Am I always gonna be like I had my hip replaced for the second time?

Uh and and and so I was kind of like, is it always gonna be this way?

It seems like there's a lot of stuff happening.

This broke, uh, our washer flooded, a little hose came off in our washing machine and flooded a couple bedrooms in our house.

And so I'm just kind of sitting there and I can feel it kind of coming on me.

This dark sense of this just just brace, it's gonna be this way forever.

And so I'm like, I don't want to just sit here and just feel this.

And so I didn't have my Bible on the bed.

I had a stack of Acts commentaries I'm reading.

Uh, and so I just reached over and grabbed this, and I had a light on my phone.

And uh, this is the New Living translation, by the way.

I'm gonna read from the New Living this morning.

All right.

Don't come, don't send me emails about, you know, John Piper says the ESV is the only version.

Uh that's a false set standard of righteousness, okay?

We normally use the ESV.

Today I'm just gonna read from this because it's all I had at like 4:17 in the morning.

Um, Psalm 42, uh uh starting in verse 1.

Now, let me give you the context.

This is Old Testament, Holy Spirit's not been given.

And so to be in the presence of God, they've got to go to the temple.

This is a man that longs to be in the presence of God, to experience God.

It's been a long time.

He's dry and he can't get to where God is, and his emotions are crushing him.

Okay.

Psalm 42, verse 1 says, As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.

Psalms 42:1

I thirst for God, the living God.

When can I go and stand before him?

Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, Where is this God of yours?

My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be.

I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration.

And then he begins to ask this series of questions.

Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God.

I will praise him again, my Savior and my God.

Now I am deeply discouraged.

It's not getting better.

I was discouraged.

Now I'm deeply discouraged.

But I will remember you even from the distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mazar.

And we'll just stop right there for this morning.

Basically, it is a picture of a man who cannot get into the presence of God.

He says, I remember the last night of youth camp when we all sang and cried our eyes out and snotted on each other, and it was incredible.

But that was a long time ago.

I've been to two days of school, and these people are as crazy as I remember, and I hate them already all over again.

When am I gonna get back to this feeling that felt so good?

I want to talk to you this morning about the gospel and mental health.

The gospel and mental health, and basically I'm gonna pull out of the text basically five what I call gospel questions that kind of stimulate and reframe mental health.

Here's the first one: where did I lose my courage?

Where did I lose my courage?

He says right there in verse five, he says, Why am I discouraged?

Why am I discouraged?

It's really uh the the better question is where did I lose my courage?

Or said differently, here's the question: has anything happened that affected the confidence that I have in God myself and others?

When you look back over your life, is there anything that has happened that affected the confidence that I have in God, myself, or other people?

And when you get to that place where you ask that question honestly, you also have to ask yourself this question Did I make an agreement with the belief that from now on, everyone's gonna respond the same way?

So in order for me to feel safe, I can never display courage again.

Let me say that again.

That's a mouthful.

You gotta, because we make an agreement with our experiences, especially those that are traumatic or impressionable, or they really have power over us.

The way we cope is we make an agreement.

We just say to ourselves, hey, I I from now on, everyone's gonna respond the same way.

So I should never act this way.

I should never be courageous and put myself out there because this is what happens.

For example, years ago, a man came to me and I was kind of, we had taught a financial peace university class, David Rand, which by the way, we're teaching again in the fall.

Highly recommend.

It's a great course.

Um, and he said, Hey, I can't make the class, but I just need some help managing my money.

And I was like, you know what?

Uh my experience with that is I would I would be better at managing my money if I had more of it.

Amen.

Uh and and he said, Pastor, you think you could help me?

And I said, Uh here, here's my money managing philosophy.

Spend less than you make.

That's crazy, isn't it?

Yeah, a visa card is not money, it's responsibility.

Okay, and he didn't want that little two-step process.

And so, anyway, no, when we say he said, I need some help making management money.

I said, Tell me what you spend money on.

He said, Well, I like to travel, he's very successful, he's a great uncle.

He said, I spoil my nieces and nephews.

I go on cruises, I go to Malibu, I go to the wine country, I go to the fall foliage in New England.

I'm just kind of thinking, are you like a travel agent?

And he's just unpacking this glamorous lifestyle.

And I'm just like, whoa.

Now, by the way, I said to him in the context of just the conversation, I said, you can never find in your experiences what God created you to have in relationships.

And so be careful that you don't have this relationship with experiences, but but not with people.

I noticed that you never take your parents, you take your nieces, you take your nephews, you took a lot of your family on a cruise, your brothers and sisters, and their adult children, I mean, and they're uh not adult, but they're they're children.

That's a lot of money to spend, but where's your partner?

And he kind of put his head down and I was like, Well, what what's going on here?

And he said, Well, a long time ago, I said, How long's a long time ago?

Seven years.

Uh, I was in a work group.

He worked at an oil company.

I was in a sport group, and and I was, there's this lady, and she was single, and I was single, and we were kind of hitting it off, and we were in two different work groups together over the course of about three years, and we were flirting back and forth, just cut up.

And one day we're riding the elevator down, and I just said to her, Hey, would you ever like to get dinner sometime?

I'd love to buy you dinner and just see if we could take this to the next level.

And this woman laughed in his face and said, Oh, I I enjoy the banter back and forth.

This is just a game for me.

Here's the thing, like a spear in his heart.

I would actually never go out with you.

And in that moment, he made an agreement.

He just said, you know, memo, I said, What did that feel like?

Brace for it.

And this was, I was like, but very self-aware.

I said, What did that feel like to you?

He goes, honestly?

I said, No lie.

It's it's it's a Tuesday early in the week.

No, I said, Yeah, what did that feel like?

What did you feel?

What did you want to do?

And he goes, I wanted to kill her or myself.

I was so embarrassed.

And I would never harm anybody, but I've I said, that's a very strong emotion.

What'd you do with that?

He goes, I don't know.

And I said, I'm here to say to you that one of the reasons, that's where you lost your courage in that elevator.

You got to go back and kind of reclaim that moment.

But one of the reasons that you have all these experiences is because you're afraid to have a relationship.

And so one of the questions you have to ask yourself, you know, the psalmist says, Why am I discouraged?

The question that's helpful for us to ask is, Where did I lose my courage?

It's an experiential question.

What experience did I have that taught me things that aren't really true or in keeping with the gospel?

Here's the second question from the text.

Why is my heart so sad?

He says, Why am I discouraged?

Verse five.

Right after that, he says, Why is my heart so sad?

Why is my heart so sad?

This is an emotional question.

The first one is an experiential question.

We come to conclusions about ourselves and the world based on experiences that we have, but this is an emotional question.

Now, the first thing you gotta do when it comes to emotions, positive and negative, especially negative emotions like sadness and grief and depression, what we call feeling bad.

I'm a little bit off, I'm a little bit down today, blah, blah, blah.

The first thing as a Christian you have to do is realize, and if you if you take notes at all, let this be the only thing you write down.

Like I'm gonna write down two sentences, let this be one of them.

The first thing you have to do as a Christian is realize that what we call negative emotions, uh, this is not a sign of spiritual failure.

If you have feelings like that, God's not in heaven looking down, going, Really?

Are you kidding me?

After all I've done for you, this is the way you repay me by feeling this way.

That's not a sign of spiritual failure.

It's just, hey, I I I feel some things really deeply sometimes.

They're not always happy, shiny, positive.

Here's some examples of what I mean by how Christians have have a un what I call an unbiblical take on negative emotions.

Here's some statements.

I brought them for you.

Anxiety is not a sign that you don't trust God.

I have more people come to me and I say, Well, tell me why you're here.

Wow, I really struggle with anxiety.

And and it's it's everything from my parents to my counselor, to the counselor at my high school, uh, just said, you know, one lady's like, yeah, my mom just says you just need to trust God more.

You don't trust God enough.

That's why you have anxiety.

Stop saying that to your kids if you say that.

Because all you're doing is telling your kids, go to my bedroom and feel even worse and more lonely and more isolated in the house full of people who are supposed to love me and get me the most.

That's not the gospel.

Sadness doesn't mean you're weak.

Grief doesn't mean you aren't believing God for the future.

Depression doesn't mean God has given up on you.

Now, we Christians, we're so afraid of emotions that we we get like negative emotions, we're definitely afraid of positive emotions.

Here's some here's some statements that Christians uh struggle with.

Um, being happy doesn't mean you love the world too much.

Does that make sense to anybody but me?

Because sometimes you guys, something good will happen.

You'll get a new truck, or you'll get a promotion, or you'll get a raise, and you'll be like, young pastor, be careful.

I don't want to fall in love with the world.

I just think the same thing every time.

Why are you telling me this?

Do you think I'm looking at you going, oh, you got a new house, you must love this world too much?

No, not the gospel.

Here's another one a sense of accomplishment over a job well done, is it pride?

You should feel good.

One of the reasons I think there's a mental health crisis in America is we don't know how to feel positively or negatively.

We feel bad about either one.

Here's another one an extended sense of joy doesn't mean you don't care about other people.

Yeah.

It's the kid that has his birthday, he's so excited, and it's like, oh man, I got 15 presents, and his dad goes, Yeah, you be grateful.

There's people in the world that ain't got nothing.

Okay, dad, enough of me on my birthday.

Back to the world.

Hey, the world is doing okay without you feeling bad for the world.

Matter of fact, I would say the world's not helped by you feeling bad for the world.

The world is helped by you enjoying your life in a responsible way.

That's a whole nother sermon.

There's two things I want us to see here in this emotional question.

Number one, without emotional self-awareness, we never get the right answer to the question.

Without emotional self-awareness, we never get the right answer to the question.

And so what do we do?

We pour food or alcohol on it, or we smoke weed.

Uh, parents, please stop asking me why marijuana use has gone through the roof with students these days.

Here's why.

Because here's what makes you parents crazy is you ask your, you catch your kids smoking weed, you're like, Wow, are you smoking marijuana?

That's not, and your kids say something stupid argument like, well, it's legal in 21 states, none of which you live in, moron.

Stop saying that.

Uh thank you, Mr.

You know, Bill Adler.

I've got I'm I you're not a lawyer, okay?

You're a pothead.

Stop talking.

Uh, but see, here's the thing.

We okay over here?

You're good.

I'll just talk to you pot smoking kids over here anyway.

Uh here's the thing.

Here's what your kids say.

You catch your kids smoking, wait and your kids go, here's their you you pin them down.

Why do you do this?

You're not getting out here until you tell me.

And then they pull this up and you're like, What?

But they mean it.

Here's what they say.

They shrug and go, it relaxes me.

Yes, yes.

And so one of the reasons there's a spike in marijuana use is because there is an incredible spike in this mental instability, this emotional sense of overwhelmness, like I cannot take much more.

And so I'm gonna reach for something that's gonna help me cope.

Am I condoning it?

Absolutely not.

Not at all.

I'm just saying without emotional self-awareness, you never get the right answer to this question.

Here's the second thing I want us to see under this point.

Unprocessed emotions produces unchecked behaviors.

Unprocessed emotions.

You feel something and you can't quite reach it or get in touch with it or get a handle on it to even figure out what's going on.

Unprocessed emotions produce unchecked behaviors.

Here's a simple question to help you get at what I'm saying.

Here's the question: what do I do when I'm stressed, sad, lonely, angry, overwhelmed, or emotionally activated?

That's your favorite sin.

Now, this is the way we come at it.

Well, that's your favorite sin.

Stop doing that.

I would say that's your favorite form of relief or comfort.

And sometimes it is sinful.

Yes, absolutely.

It's just as wrong, Dad, for you to drink too much bourbon as it is for your son to smoke weed.

So this is what you have to ask yourself.

I remember years ago, uh I met with a lady and and she said that you know, I think I have an unhealthy relationship with food.

I said, okay, what do you mean?

She goes, I I just I depend on food.

I said, is food comfort for you?

Uh is it is it just nourishment?

She goes, no.

I I I went through puberty, my body changed.

I was one of the first ones to kind of, you know, guys started noticing me.

And I this was a great, very self-aware statement.

She said, on the outside, I look like a woman, but on the inside, I was a little girl.

And I said, Let me guess, you comforted yourself with food.

And she goes, I have to this day.

And she goes, I just I'm ready to be in a relationship, and I've never had a serious relationship because I don't trust guys because of the way they made me feel.

And I and I said, Oh, by the way, just to correct things, you've had a relationship.

You've had a boyfriend since you were 12, but your boyfriend was food.

And she kind of did, she goes, Oh my gosh, say that again.

And we made great progress because she wouldn't realize it.

I I just found a lot of comfort in this.

Because instead of asking, why am I so sad?

She just engaged in self-medicating behaviors.

The issue isn't your behavior.

Again, I'm not saying that the behavior doesn't matter.

Hear this carefully.

The issue isn't your behavior as much as the emotions that you are unwilling or unable to process.

Here's a third question from the text.

He says, First of all, why am I discouraged?

Where did I lose my courage?

Secondly, why am I so sad?

That's an emotional question.

Uh, here's a third question.

In who or what have I placed my hope?

This is an eschatological question.

This is an eschatological question.

How do you use a big word?

Because it's been a while since I've been before you.

Have you missed that?

Big words?

Aren't you glad?

You're like, oh, eschatological.

I'm glad you said that, you idiot.

What does that mean?

Basically, here's it means basically uh the ultimate destiny of humanity and and and your soul.

Uh, I I call it the big picture.

The big picture.

And who or what have I placed my hope?

And the the eschatological is what is ultimate.

When when all this goes down, what's gonna matter most?

Uh and so uh this is the thing.

You got to ask yourself, how do I think about this against the big picture as God defines it?

The big picture is God defines it.

Because without this, every experience, every picture becomes the big picture.

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

You've got to have this thing where you can kind of say, okay, this is the ultimate big picture standard against which I hold up and compare everything.

Because otherwise, every every emotion is the big picture.

Oh my gosh, it's the most important, it's the most crucial thing.

No, no, no.

You gotta have some reality by which you hold up all non-reality to get clarity about what you really should feel.

And who or what have I placed my hope is a great question because to put our hope in anything besides God means we have turned to some degree or another from God as our hope.

It's not a totally, hey, I'm turning my back on this whole thing.

You can be looking at God and just kind of turn a little bit to your grandkids and expect them to meet needs in you that they don't think are theirs to meet and they will not meet them.

And so to put our hope in anything besides God means we have turned to some degree or another from God as our hope.

Whatever we put our hope in has to some degree has power over us.

Let me say that again.

Whatever we put our hope in in that scenario, to some degree has power over us, unless we see it through the lens of our ultimate hope.

For example, if I'm a guy and I like this girl, okay, to some degree, if I'm in the tenth grade, there's no 10th graders over here, guys that like a girl.

But if I'm a 10th grade guy and I like a girl, or I'm a ninth grade girl and I see this guy and I think, oh, he's kind of cute.

To some degree, that guy or that girl, depending if you're a guy or a girl, has power over you.

You kind of notice, you walk in the room, you if they're in the room, you feel certain things.

Uh, and I'm not saying, oh, you shouldn't do that.

I am saying that your hope should be like an inverted V instead of a straight line.

Let me say it again.

Your hope should be like an inverted V instead of a straight line.

Let me show you on a graphic right here.

Uh, see, if it's just you and your hope, you, me, and whatever I have hope in, by the way, hope is not just a vague cloud, like I'm trying to catch this.

Sometimes hope is in an early retirement, or I'm I'm hoping I make enough money to retire.

Uh, my hope is I'm gonna get married one day.

My hope is that I'm gonna make it.

I remember I went to a small private uh Christian school, and a lot of athletes, that was where their hope died.

A lot of basketball players realized they were not gonna make it in the NBA.

A lot of baseball players realized they were not gonna make it in the major league, and they'd come to my room and just cry their eyes out.

And I remember just thinking, this is one of the sadder things.

Why?

Because it's the thing they put their hope in their whole life.

They had no regulating reality between them and their hope.

And so it was either that and that didn't come through, then they were hopeless, and nothing they could say.

All the king's horses and all the king's men could not put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

But I would just submit to you that the biblical model, and now I draw this out and counsel people on a little card and give it to them.

Basically, the the proper way to approach hope is there's you, an arrow up to God, and then an arrow down to your hope.

This does two things.

It prioritizes and it protects.

It prioritizes and it protects.

You say, What do you mean?

Uh it prioritizes that God, not just whatever you hope in, but it also protects you because if your hope, if the thing you hope for, does not come through, you're not left all alone, overwhelmed, and looking up at God kind of like, hey, we both know I kind of left you out of the equation a long time ago.

And so it just deepens a sense of isolation and aloneness.

I brought my Pentecostal dabbing rag today, amen.

Yeah, yeah.

Somebody gave me a rag.

They said, Preacher, I noticed you sweat, it's because I work a lot uh and pain pills.

But anyway, uh, there's me and there's God, and then there's my hope.

If you approach your hope, look at me.

This is the last thing I'm gonna say about it.

I'm gonna leave you alone, okay?

I know y'all have been getting sweet sermons from Leo, and now the whole for now the homeroom teacher is back.

And he in a spanking mood.

Y'all are like, this is a lot to think about on a Sunday.

Do you know school starts?

Yes, I do.

Uh here again, this prioritizes, but it also protects.

Because if I relate to this hope through God, through my relationship with God, then it If what I hope for doesn't come true, I realize that God is sovereign and none of this caught God off guard.

I can go full board.

But see, if I'm just me and my hope, just a straight-on relationship, that's idolatry.

And your idol will ultimately disappoint you.

Your idol will let you down.

Or you will actually get it and then realize this wasn't as satisfying as I needed to be, thought it would be, was told it would be.

And that's equally, equally devastating and disappointing.

The Bible talks to it like this.

This is from Hebrews chapter 6, verse 13.

Hebrews 6:13

See, the Bible gives us certainty.

Our hope is in the certainty.

And so it becomes the hope through which we see all the other things that we hope for.

Hebrews chapter 6, 13, verse 13 says, For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, Surely I will bless you and multiply you.

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes, an oath is final for confirmation.

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise, that's you and me.

When God desired to show more convincingly to the people who are going to inherit the promises of God, he wanted you to see the unchangeable character of his purpose.

He guaranteed it with an oath.

So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having to become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Again, the hope that God wants us to have.

He's not saying don't hope for things, he's saying don't idolize things such that if they don't come through, or if they come through and they're less than you thought they would be, you're not overwhelmed and you feel shame in your posture towards God.

The hope that we have in Christ because of Christ is the filter through which we pursue and see all the other things in life that we hope for.

So what am I saying, ninth grade girls?

I'm saying you should notice a cute guy.

You should be kind of like, oh, I feel kind of different when he's in the room.

That's not bad.

That doesn't mean, oh, you're kind of a Jezebel.

You need to go to more Bible school.

No.

It's a reminder, hey, God made me for a relationship.

And maybe I can't have the kind of relationship I want to have in the ninth grade, but this sure feels good.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Go home and tell your parents today I said that.

Here's a fourth question from the text.

How is my worship?

He says, I am, why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I'll put my hope in God.

He says, I will praise Him again.

This is where we get the question, how is my worship?

This is an enjoyment question.

This is an enjoyment question.

By the way, you can make your kids sing, but you cannot make them enjoy God.

You just can't.

Stop trying to make your kids enjoy.

I remember years ago I was in Massachusetts speaking at a Christian preparatory academy, and I got in a little trouble because I said something I wasn't supposed to say, I guess.

I had to go see the headmaster up there.

And I asked, I went as came in his office and he said, Well, how do you think it's going?

I said, It's not going great.

Basically, I walk in every day into your gym with a bunch of girls wearing khaki skirts and the guys wearing khaki pants and they mouth words they don't believe about a God they don't enjoy.

And he said, I'll have you to know we are the finest Christian preparatory academy on the East Coast.

Our kids go to Harvard and Brown and Yale.

I said, I don't care where they go to college, they do not enjoy God.

And apparently that's not what you're supposed to say.

Because he said, Well, we're gonna have to come to an agreement that we're not gonna invite you back next year.

I said, Please don't.

Please don't, because I did this is brutal.

This is like walking through dead bodies up to your chest every day.

I go to my hotel every night and I pray that Jesus comes back before I have to speak to these kids again.

He hasn't so far, so I'm on the hook for three more talks.

Well, I never now by the way, these kids keep inviting me to their house for dinner.

Yeah.

The institution hated it.

The kid.

Because I would just say, Hey, here's y'all's problem.

You don't know Jesus.

You figured out the system, you wear the uniform, but you're like a deaf kid at the dance.

You can't hear the music.

You're just looking around and see what he else is doing.

And they were like, Yeah, I hate this place.

Well, maybe this place hates you.

It's just your parents pay a lot of money to give you something else to complain about.

So when I say, How is it my worship?

I'm not asking, are you singing?

Do you like singing?

Do you like the songs we sang this morning?

That's not what I'm asking.

Here's what I'm asking when I say, How is my worship?

You have to ask yourself, you have to gospel yourself with this question.

Because what you're really saying is, hey, am I enjoying God such that when I come to gather with the church and the church worships, my enjoyment comes out?

That's the biblical way to think about when it comes to worship.

Now, there's a few things I want you to understand about worship.

Just let me just tick them off here.

Worship is an expression of spiritual warfare.

You say, why is that?

Because we're singing and celebrating the gospel.

Worship is where we subject our emotions to the truth.

Worship is where we say, What he's done, what he's done, all glory and honor to the Son.

My sins are forgiven.

My future is heaven.

So I live in this space in between my past doesn't have power over me, and my future is only going to get better.

And when I die, I'm not going to be unclothed.

I'm not going to strip off this bad body.

I'm going to be further clothed.

When when?

Instead of, well, I will, I really don't like this song.

It's not my favorite, I tell you.

And you know, but if we sing this one song, I would get up and no.

No, it's not about singing, it's about enjoying God.

And worship is where we subject our emotions to the truth.

And if the enemy comes and accuses you about something you did three years ago or this earlier this summer, when we sing a song like that, you just go, My sins are forgiven.

And you're bringing Kool-Aid to a gin party right now, my man.

And you don't stand a chance.

Here's the last thing about worship: worship changes our posture, which sometimes means we bow down in recognition of the greatness of God.

Other times it means we stand up into our identity as the people of God.

But let's be clear about this: worship is not feeling bad set to music.

Because one thing these kids, this is why I got in trouble.

Y'all wonder why'd you get in trouble at the school?

Here's why I got in trouble, Lisa Deal.

Because the minute the music would start in chapel, which was led by students that none of the other students respected, they were just popular.

Okay.

And but the minute it would start, all the kids would leave their seats and rush to the stage.

And just stand down there and do this.

And I would get up and go, go back here, seats.

You don't mean a bit of this.

Please stop.

Go back.

No one believes you anyway.

And they were like, Yeah, you're right.

It was like Pavlov's dog.

Here's worship.

Here we go.

We're gonna throw our hands in the air and wave them like we just don't care.

I was so like in a negative headspace that week.

I was like, can I go out and get a BB gun?

Just one of those one cock ones, and just you know, just pick them off.

Yeah, that wouldn't break the skin, it would just sting a little bit.

And the Holy Spirit was like, No, you cannot.

So, yeah, yeah.

Worship is an enjoyment question.

Here's the last question from the text.

So you still with me?

Say amen.

Yeah, here's the last question from the text.

He says, look up in verse five, why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I'll put my hope in God.

I will praise him again.

I remember how to do this, my savior and my God.

Now I'm deeply discouraged.

It hasn't gotten better.

Look at this.

But I will remember you.

Even from my situation and circumstance, even from this distant place, I'm a long way from the temple, man.

I'm a long way from where I want to be, experiencing what I want to experience, feeling what I want to feel, but I remember God.

I have not forgotten Him.

See, here's the last question, and it's this What have I forgotten?

This is an eternal question.

What have I forgotten?

I'm deeply discouraged, but I'll remember you.

You see, we're so acclimated to relief that it, if it doesn't come immediately, the first hostage we kill is the truth.

We're so acclimated to relief in this country.

Therefore, it's helpful to ask a real simple question like this Is the God you believe in is He eternally satisfying and eternally interesting?

Is the God you believe in eternally satisfying?

Not like, oh, and I was in the third grade and I was making crafts over here and Fruit Loop bird feeders, Jesus was awesome.

But I'm now in the tenth grade and I've gone through puberty, Pastor Sunshine.

So Jesus is kind of an obstacle to me being who I really want to be.

I've been online, people have hit me up in some DMs, and I realize I'm a liberated feminist or whatever.

Thank you very much.

But Jesus is not as satisfying anymore.

Did he lose his ability to satisfy?

Or did you relate to him as a little kid?

And now that you're a young woman, he's not that interesting anymore.

Is the God you believe in eternally, unchanging, interesting and satisfying?

Or did you worship a situational God when you were a little boy?

And now that you're a young man or a grown-up, you don't know how to relate to a God who comes with eternality to every circumstance and situation.

You say, What do you mean, eternality?

God has these character traits, they're called attributes.

There's what's called communicable attributes, like a communicable disease that can be transmitted to someone else.

There's things that are true of God that can be true of us, but listen very co listen very carefully.

There's also incommunicable attributes.

These can only be true of God.

And I want to finish this morning, and I want to encourage you this morning by reminding you this is what makes God, and this is what makes God great.

These are things that are only true of God, and they were not only are they only true of God today, they will always and only be true of God.

This is why you should want to know this God.

This is why God has put a void in you that cannot be filled with smoking weed or getting your freak on or hooking up or whatever you do to self-medicate, your emotional dysregulation.

None of that is going to satisfy.

You are spitting in the Grand Canyon.

Good luck.

Because this God says, I made you for me.

So you should know what I'm like.

I'll just read what God is like to you, some of his incommunicable attributes.

First of all, he's infinite, which means God has no limits whatsoever in his person or his dominion.

He is self-existent.

God depends on nothing for his existence beyond himself.

Smoke that, kids.

There's not a big Jimmy hole in Jesus.

There's a big Jesus hole in Jimmy.

Stop talking to Jimmy like Jimmy's sovereign and God is not.

Because Jimmy's gonna hate you.

I love Jimmy, whoever Jimmy is.

Anybody over here named Jimmy?

Okay, good.

It's a safe name.

Yeah, because here's what happens, Mom and Dad.

You talk to your kids about God like God's some little peon that wants to be on, what wants them to hit them back on their socials.

The God of the Bible depends on nothing for his existence beyond himself.

The whole basis of his existence is within himself.

At one time, nothing but God himself existed.

He added nothing to himself by creating.

This means within himself, God is able to act, that is, to bring about his will without any assistance.

Although he may choose to use assistance, it is his good pleasure, not his need, that governs that choice.

He's immutable.

God is always the same in his nature, his character and his will.

He never changes.

He can never be made to change.

Sounds like this.

Well, my God's a God of love.

He gives me permission to live in immoral sin.

No, he doesn't.

You're a liar.

Stop reading therapeutic nonsense.

He's omniscient.

God knows all.

He has perfect knowledge of everything that is past, present, and future.

He is omnipotent.

He put God possesses all power.

He's able to bring about anything he has decided to do, with or without the use of any source beyond himself.

He is omnipresent.

God is present everywhere in all the universe at all times in the totality of his character.

He never shows up like, oh, I forgot my holiness.

I'll be right back.

No, he shows up in the fullness of his nature to everything.

He's sovereign.

God is totally, supremely, and preeminently over all his creation.

There is not a person or thing that has escaped his control and foreknown plan.

He is transcendent.

God is above his creation.

He would exist if there were no creation.

His existence is totally apart from his creatures or creation.

Now you may be thinking, okay, that's a lot.

Why did you go through all of that?

Wait, are you kidding me?

No.

No, because look at me.

We, me, if I'm not careful, I can forget that God.

And just wallow in self-pity and give myself permission.

The gospel never does.

Well, you know, I don't have as many friends as I did in the seventh grade.

It's because your friends, quote unquote, are selfish, wicked sinners, and they will turn on you in an instant.

They're not like God, they're not immutable.

They change every 15 minutes.

You're welcome, kids.

Enjoy school.

I'm available to come speak in your chapel.

No, I'm not.

No.

And I'm not, I'm not, don't leave and roll your eyes and go, Pastor Gilly's making fun of my friends.

I don't even know your friends.

But I know God.

And you were created for God.

You should ask yourself, do I know this God?

Is he anything like?

Oh, he's he's that and more so.

And so you should just ask yourself this question: why would you not want to know this God?

Why, why, why would you not want to find your deepest pleasures in him?

That's what you were created for.

Not religion, relationship with a living, active, personal God.

This is how you push back against mental health when you when the worms start crawling and the thoughts get dark.

You don't just stay there like, well, you know, uh yeah, medication, use medication, glory to God for medication.

But you also got some weapons that you can use.

Let's pray together.

If you're our guests, just relax.

We like to preach the Bible and give you some space to think about it.

Some questions will come up on the screen.

Don't try to write them all down.

Just take a picture if you'd like.

I'm gonna voice a prayer and then we're gonna marinate in these juices just for a few minutes before we get out of here this morning.

God, thank you for the tangible demonstration that you're a God that's very relevant to where we are today.

We're not on our own, left to figure it out, to try harder or do more.

No, you're very involved in the lives of your people.

That's not the issue, God.

Is God involved in the life of his people?

The issue is, are the people who profess to be God's people, are they involved in living the life that God makes them capable of living?

And so, Holy Spirit brood over us now.

Press in, press the truth into all the nooks and crannies, all the loopholes that we've kind of made agreement with in our mind because it allows us to sin in ways we want to sin.

So we've got to lie about you.

We've got to make up some, we've got to believe some things that aren't true.

Because to sin against such a consistent being horrible, makes no sense whatsoever.

And yet you're that consistent, you're that constant, and you're that available.

So, Holy Spirit, brood over us while we think now.

God, again, that's our prayer.

Teach us to abide.

Left to ourselves, we'll get off the reservation, we'll cut corners, try to be little jumping jimmy and get over on you.

As if that could ever happen.

Your character and your nature is a great source of hope for us.

It's a comfort, it's not an obstacle, it's a reminder of what we're capable of because of who you are.

And so thank you that you are who you are.

Not thank you for all that you do.

That's overwhelming in itself, but just who you are is sufficient.

That you stand in the solitude of yourself and you're enough for yourself.

You're enough for us as well.

And so we say thank you for that in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen, amen.

If you're a guest, let me say thanks for being here.

Thanks for looking into a new church.

If you have any questions about anything you saw or heard today, we'll be available down front.

We'd love to help you process any questions you have.

We'd love to answer any questions that are stirring in you and help you help you take your next step, okay?

We've always got things going on in the life of our church.

This is a big day today.

Today's promotion Sunday, which means our third graders are moving out of the children's ministry into the bridge ministry, which is over here in the uh the adult building, the old sanctuary, and our sixth graders are in the bridge.

They're moving to the student building, which is down here with Ian and Annie.

So today's a big day.

Also, today's the last day for our summer residents, Sophie in Brooklyn.

So, students, be sure to express your gratitude to them for investing in you this summer.

Uh, but here's some things that are going on we want you to be aware of.

So check out our video announcements.

Here's what's happening at Ground Parkway Baptist Church.

If you're new, text welcome to 281-626-5707.

This way we can know you're here and get you connected with the church.

Here are the classes we offer at our fall midweeks.

On Tuesday morning for women only, Christian Beliefs answers what are the most important things for us to believe.

In Financial Peace, you'll see that money can be an experience of rest and not chaos.

Our emotion class addresses how does God want me to deal with my biggest feelings?

Christian Formation answers what are the most important practices to grow as a Christian.

Bridges to connecting will help you have a meaningful relationship with your Muslim friends.

And true worship, since we're always worshiping, answers how can I be sure I'm worshiping God.

The Bridge Ministry is exploring what does God reveal about Himself through the heroes in the Bible.

And Adventure Kids answers how can a kid walk with God and experience his power?

The midweek meal is back where we take care of dishes and we take care of what's for dinner.

Six dollars a person,$24 for a family of four or more.

Now to register for midweek experiences, select the links we send via email or directly through our website.

Over the next two weeks, students and teachers in our area will be returning to the classroom.

Join us in praying Matthew 5.14 over the Christians in our schools.

You are the light of the world.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

There will be prayer cards at the front of the stage that can be picked up after the service.

Finally, we will be meeting in front of Oyster Creek Elementary School tonight at 7 p.m.

to circle the campus in prayer and pray for all staff and students going back to school all across our city.

Oyster Creek is one of our missional partners.

We're honored to be invited to pray on their campus tonight.

So swing by to pray for a few minutes.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

Oyster Creek, in case you're wondering, it's right here at the red light, West Airport.

You go right, and it's the first route you take.

It's right there.

We'd love for you to be join us there tonight at 7 o'clock.

We're gonna fan out, pray over it.

You don't have you just like my kids don't go to it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter.

Uh you can't complain about, oh, they took prayer out of schools if you're not willing to go pray for a school.

That makes sense to anybody but me?

Yeah, it'll be sweaty.

Bring one of these.

We like to include our service with a spoken blessing, so stand to your feet if you would.

Hold your hands out.

Everything you feel is valid, meaning you really feel that.

You're not crazy, you're not weak, you're not unspiritual.

However, everything you feel is not truthful.

The task is to subject your feelings, your emotions to the truth of God and gospel.

Because this is where freedom comes from.

And it was for freedom that Christ set you free.

Depart now, live in frolic, enjoy the freedom that is yours in Christ because of Christ.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Bless you.