Suicide | Clayton Hentzel

Well, I'm so glad that every single one of you guys are here

today, when we began this sermon series, I told you that I was

more than a little nervous. There are all kinds of people

who've been helping with this sermon series.

There have been people who've been praying for this sermon

series and I am just so amazed at the faithfulness of our God

through it. So far, the very first weekend

that we launched the sermon series, our attendance jumped by

10% and I thought it was for sure.

Going to go the opposite direction.

Yeah, and got amazing. We have already had 88 baptisms

across our different locations during this sermon series.

You guys know that. I am a hardliner when it comes

to social media it. But if you're going to be on it,

you at least might as well follow what our church is doing.

Because people who are sitting in the road, next to you are

working with our media team and they're filming unbelievably

powerful stories that will encourage you and help you

realize. What God can do.

And to those of you who are sharing your story, they are

heartbreaking stories, but they are powerful and they are

encouraging my favorite one. This is just our church.

I got a very sweet email this week from a lady who goes who

watches online and she was telling her story and I mean, it

was awesome. And her shirt said, heifer, I

will put you in the trunk and I was like, like that's our

church. Like we're just being completely

if we're real that's us and like of course it is.

What sure what other shirt would you wear?

What you do? It just like, praise God for

this. I love, I'll absolutely love

that. Our church is like that.

For those of you who've been emailing me, hear me.

I'm doing my best to keep up with your emails, but you are

emailing faster than I can read return, an email and still do my

job. So I'm going to get to a mall,

just be patient, but the courage that you You guys have had to

share. Your thoughts has been

incredibly precious to me. I know that there are some of

you across all of our different locations, who may not be

inclined to this sermon series and I just want you to know that

I am incredibly thankful for you for loving and leading.

Well through this series, one of the signs of spiritual maturity

is the ability to be others focused when you can say, it's

not about me and I do hope that you will continue through

continue to lean in through the sermon series.

Because all of you and all of our locations are going to

interact with people that you love and care for that, have to

wrestle with one of these issues that were talking about and I

want you to be prepared in that moment to be a light in a dark

place. I want you to be ready to love

and Lead. Well, I want you to be prepared

to offer solid Council. A Biblical framework and above

all. Hope, one of my favorite things

that we've done during the sermon series is create

additional resources. Where Cinnamon our social media,

as well as our website. There are testimonies there is

new released. This week are is video teaching

from a dear friend of mine and Difference Maker at ARC Macomb.

No are Keokuk campus. Mike Maher who is a professional

counselor and you can watch those videos and they will put

you in a position to provide hope and help for the people

that you love. The other thing that we did is

biscuit here at our 48th Street campus who works on our Tech

Team created a Spotify. A playlist called weeds in my

garden, and I listened to those songs on Non-Stop.

It's the only thing I have listened to when I've been

writing the sermons. They are the soundtrack to the

sermons that I have been preaching and I promise you you

will enjoy listening to those songs.

I want to welcome all of you who are joining here from our

different locations online. Inside I want to offer a

special, welcome to those of you who are joining us for the first

time, we are so glad that you are here in At any point during

the sermon, you want to connect with our church, or maybe take a

next step or learn more about our church or take a step of

Faith. You can either use the QR code

on the chair in front of you or you can talk to someone after

the service. In one of our lobbies, I want to

encourage you to make contact with one of our campus pastors

staff members, or difference makers.

They are some of the very best people on planet Earth, and I am

so thankful that I get to do ministry alongside of them.

And to those of you who are new, we are In a sermon series, about

being honest about mental health, called weeds in my

garden, it has been a more somber and serious collection of

messages. But a survey we did internally

at our church revealed to us that we desperately needed to

speak into these issues. And it also showed us that there

are so many people that we love and care for that are having to

navigate weeds in their Garden. If you want to get caught up on

this sermon series, you can watch them on our website or a,

perhaps an easier place for you to get caught up is for you to

go to YouTube, look for our logo, and then, all of those

sermons are posted there. This very well may be the most

difficult message. I'm going to preach this year.

You'll notice about anytime Bring this bad boy, out needing

Jesus to help me. And I've got all of the words

I'm supposed to stay right here because I don't want to say

anything wrong. So if you were going, hey, you

should really come hang out and here, Clayton, preach this

weekend. He's, he's young, he's hip, he's

fat. And he's funny.

That's the only joke you're getting this week, okay?

Because we were going to be talking Well, for two weeks I've

been trying to figure out the best way to actually talk about

this in a meaningful way and in a conscientious way because

today we're going to be talking about suicide and there may be

some of you who are going. I'm not suicidal and I want you

to hear me most people who died by Suicide at one point in time,

weren't thinking about it either.

There are some of you who are going but I'm not going to do

that and I want you to know that most people who die by Suicide

at one point in time didn't think that they were either and

you might be thinking this will never happen to me and I want

you to know that some of the people out there who died by

Suicide, who are one point in time.

Numbered among you weren't thinking it was going to happen

to them either. And as I preach this sermon,

there are three groups of people that I cannot stop thinking

about. I keep thinking about those of

you who are Christians, you love God.

And you want to love people, well you care deeply for the

people around you and you know that some of them are dealing

with deep battles. You can hear the darkness and

their words and in their voice. You can see the pain in their

face. You want to do something, but

you don't know what to do. You want to say something, but

you're not sure what to say. You want to help but you're not

sure what that looks like. I'm thinking about those of you

that have lost a loved one to Suicide.

There isn't a hole in your heart, your heart is not broken,

it is shattered. There are so many pieces and so

many different places that you cannot even begin to articulate

the pain. It comes in waves.

It could be in a man your ISM that you see in a stranger at a

grocery store the smell of a deodorant cologne or perfume

that they used to wear. It shows up when their favorite

band comes over the radio or when you're at a friend's house

and they unknowingly make their favorite meal.

It could be when you walk down the hallway, past the room, that

is left exactly the way it was. It shows up when you look at the

pictures on the wall or during a celebration of their favorite

holiday, It happens during the changing of the seasons.

As you enter the one that they enjoyed the most It shows up as

guilt and shame, when you finally have a long-awaited good

day and then you feel guilty and horrible for having one in the

first place. I'm also thinking about those of

you right now, who are self harming or inundated with

suicidal thoughts, Your mothers fathers, husbands wives, Sons,

daughters and behind the smiles, are long showers never-ending

fatigue and the endless are erosion of Hope the thoughts

become Whispers, The Whispers become shouts, except when you

cover your ears, it only gets louder.

Because the noise is coming from the inside.

Suicide is now the third leading cause of death for teens and

young adults between the ages of 15 and 24. 25 percent of adults

between 18 and 24, reported having seriously, considered

suicide in the past. Month.

Eighteen percent of high school students reported seriously

considered suicide in the past year. if you want to understand

how big of a problem, this is when you hop on Zillow to find

out where you're going to go live and where you want to move

and you worry about the crime rate in the murder rate, there

were 24,000 homicides in America last year and there were 45

thousand suicides. Which means that in America you

are twice as likely to die from suicide. and by homicide, There

is a suicide death in America, every 11 and a half minutes.

And there is one death for every 25 attempts.

That means that there is an attempted suicide, every 27 and

a half seconds. That means from the moment, our

service started at 6 p.m. on Thursday until our services and

on Sunday at noon, 66 hours, later there will be 8640

attempts in the United States of America.

If we bring this closer to home when we did the survey here at

our church 1 out of 11, people in our church struggle with

suicidal thoughts, and self-harm 1 and 11 were women and 1 in 12

or men. 20% were in their teens 22% in their 20s 24% were in

their 30s. That means that 66% of the

people in our church who struggle with thoughts and

ideations about suicide are under the age of 40.

So today what I want to do is I want to answer some very simple

and basic questions surrounding suicide and self-harm.

The first question is, does the Bible talk about suicide?

The answer is yes, depending on how you count, they're either

six or seven suicides mentioned in the bible.

There was a bit Melech and Judges chapter 9, he was an evil

Judges 9 · chapter mention

King. He had burned down a temple with

a thousand people in it and they died.

He went to another town and as he approached the tower to set

it on fire, a woman dropped a huge Millstone on his head and

At his skull unwilling to Bear the humiliation of being killed

by a woman. He ordered his armor Bearer to

run him through with a sword. There were same sin in Judges

chapter, 16 some consider his act of suicide and others do

not. Which is why there's a

discrepancy between whether there were six or seven but his

final Act was that he wished to die with his enemies who had

captured him, blinded him and humiliated him.

And he pushed with all of his might and the temple pillars,

collapsed around him and he killed all of those.

In it and around it. There was King saw the very

first king of Israel, he was the one who brought David into the

palace. He was the one who gave David

permission to go and fight Goliath in a battle.

He was wounded with arrows and he ordered his armor Bearer to

run him through with a sword. But his armor Bearer refused.

And so Saul fell on his own sword.

One verse later and first Samuel chapter 31 verse 5, the

1 Samuel 31:5

armour-bearer sing that Saul was dead.

Fell on his sword. And so, he died alongside of

him. In second, Samuel chapter 17,

verse 23, where he read of the death of ahithophel.

A one-time companion of David, whose relationship with David

turned sour and he ended up fighting against David and tried

to overthrow David by installing David's, son, Absalom as king,

he became distraught over the events of a battle and his vice

was not being heated. And so he went home, put his

house in order and then he hanged himself.

First Kings chapter, 16 verse 18 tells of an evil King by the

name of zimring who plotted his way to power through deception

and betrayal. When it all caught up to him, he

went to the palace and set it on fire around him and then there

is the most famous suicide of all.

Judas, who betrayed. Jesus, Matthew chapter 27, verse

Matthew 27:1

1, through 5 early in the morning, all the chief priests

and Elders of the people made their plans to have Jesus

executed, so they bound him. Led him away and handed him

over, to pilate the governor when Judas who had betrayed him

saw that. Jesus was condemned, he was

seized with remorse and returned.

The thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the

elders. I have sinned.

He said for I have betrayed innocent blood.

What is that to us? They replied that's your

responsibility. So Judas threw the money into

the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged

himself. Second question is suicide a

sin? The answer that question is yes.

Exodus 20:13 States. You shall not murder.

Exodus 20:13

This is the sixth of the Ten Commandments that God gave to

the people of Israel. And suicide is self murder.

We are told in the Psalms that God is The Giver of Life.

Some 36 9 says for for with you is the Fountain of Life, in your

light. We see like God is the giver,

the Breather of life that you and I have.

We are also told that our days belong to him.

That's what it says. In job Chapter 14 verse 5, a

Job 14:5

person's days are determined You have decreed the number of his

months, you have the set the limits that he cannot exceed.

Suicide is a sin because suicide is against the will of God and

it robs us of our potential and Christ and participation in his

glorious Mission. There's no doubt about it.

Suicide is a sin. The next question that I'm going

to answer is one of the most common questions that I get from

people. It is easily in the top 20.

If you invite me over to your house to answer, all of your

questions, I will place all the money in my bank account that

somebody in there, will ask me this question.

Is suicide and unforgivable sin. The answer to that question.

And if you only take one thing away from this message, the

answer is no. Is suicide an unforgivable sin.

The answer is no. I am absolutely amazed at how

well this lie has creeped into our hearts and Minds that people

think that a person who committed suicide is not worthy

of the grace and forgiveness of God and shame on anyone who has

taught this. Or spoken this over you.

I can't imagine looking at a family who are trying to pick up

the pieces of their lives and speaking something that is so

foreign to the Bible and the gospel message.

I'm listen to me. the reason people say this, Is because they

say you can't repent of the sin of suicide.

And maybe they're saying hey, make suicide, the unforgivable

sense that people will be worried about committing suicide

because it will put up a barrier but lying to people is not how

you treat people. When people say that suicide is

an unforgivable sin because you can't repent of the sentence

suicide. Listen to me.

We are not saved based on our repentance of each of our sins.

There are sins. You commit every single day that

you do not repent of some of them.

You are aware of. And some of them, you are not

aware of. We are not saved based on our

last act on Earth. We are saved by the blood of

Jesus. We are not saved.

Based on our sinless state. We are saved by a sinless,

savior. The Bible is clear.

There is only one sin that is unforgivable.

And so, I'm going to teach this to you.

So, that way, when somebody says something like this, you can

address it. Matthew chapter 12 verse, 31, to

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

32, and so, I tell you, this is Jesus, talking.

Every kind of sin, and slander can be forgiven.

Blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven.

Anyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven,

but anyone who speaks against the holy spirit, will not be

forgiven either in this age or in the age to come.

What kind of sin can be forgiven?

Every kind of sin? And suicide is a kind of sin

which means suicide can be forgiven What cannot be forgiven

is when the Holy Spirit who convicts us and Wu's us and

draws us to the heart of Christ, exposes us to the gospel,

message and Christian Community, and reveals the truth of God's

word in our life. And a person says, I don't want

anything to do with that, that is the unforgivable sin because

that person refuses to accept the Forgiveness that God bestows

upon them. They See refused to receive the

gift of God's forgiveness. That's why it's unforgivable

because I never take hold of the forgiveness in the first place.

Listen to what Paul who wrote a majority of the book in the New

Testament wrote In First Timothy chapter 1, even though I was

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

once a blasphemer and a persecutor and violent, man, I

was shown Mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief the

grace of our Lord was poured out on me, abundantly along with the

faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Paul committed egregious sins and blaspheming against God and

the Holy Spirit. But then Received and responded

to the wooing of God's grace. So what do I do?

If I know if someone I know is struggling with suicidal

thoughts, take it seriously. It is never a joke.

It is so much better to be safe than sorry.

Talk about it. It is a myth that asking a

person about suicide will encourage the person to attempt

suicide. The exact opposite is true.

Think about the work that Satan has done wonder, how many of you

would have raised your hand that talking about suicide increases

the chance of a person committing suicide.

So Satan actually comes in gets us to believe a lie that

actually makes matters worse. Do you see the work that he is

trying to do in our communities and in your family's asking,

somebody directly about suicides are directly about their

suicidal feelings, will lower their anxiety, level and act.

As a deterrent your openness and concern and asking about suicide

will allow the person experiencing pain to talk about

their challenges. This may allow the person with

suicidal thoughts to feel less lonely, less isolated and

perhaps a bit relieved. This is an a little side note.

When you talk about it, talk about it carefully.

This is when you are not ministering to a person who is

struggling with the idea of suicide, but people who have

been impacted by the suicide of a family member or a friend.

Don't use terms like committed suicide or killed themselves,

refer to it as death by Suicide or simply that they died.

And I know for some of you that might seem incredibly trivial

but words have power and we want to use our words to bring hope

and help and not push people away in pain when they need

Community. The most when you are talking to

somebody who has struggling with Suicidal Thoughts, talk about

it. Directly.

When you notice warning signs of suicide, it's important to ask

direct questions. Don't ask.

Are you planning on harming or hurting yourself?

That may be too vague and the person may not be sure what you

mean, ask are you thinking about killing yourself?

Are you thinking about suicide? If they say yes, have you

thought about how you would kill yourself?

Have you decided when you would do it?

Have you done any, have you done anything to get the things you?

Need to kill yourself. And if they answer yes to any of

those questions, call 911 tell the dispatcher.

That the person is at risk for suicide.

If available ask for a mental health crisis, professional, and

you stay with them until help arrives, I want you to love

them. The way you would want to be

loved, I want you to fight for them the way you would want

someone to fight for you. Mark 12:31 the second greatest

Mark 12:31

Commandment that was given to all of us to live out, is to

love your neighbor as yourself. How would you want to be loved

in that moment in those moments? We, as Christians must rise to

the occasion and being all in friend.

I'll go with you. I'll check you in.

I'll make the call, I'll mow the lawn, I'll help out.

It is better to save a life than worry about what they might.

Think about you, or them being offended about you get Over

yourself and focus on them. I would so much rather us be

safe than sorry. Look what it says in first John

1 John 3:18

3:18, dear children let us not love with words or speech, but

with actions and Truth, our love must motivate us into action,

Galatians 6:2 calls, each? And every single one of us to

Galatians 6:2

carry each other's burdens. And in this way, you fulfill the

law of Christ. What is the law of Christ?

The first one is to love the Lord, your God, with all your

heart, mind, soul and strength. And the second one is to love

your neighbor as yourself when you carry somebody else's bird.

You are fulfilling the command to love, God, and love people.

I want you to remember it is not a sin to be sick.

No looks of disdain. They are in a fight for their

life and Satan is trying to take the gift of Life.

Put in them by God himself, there are chemical malfunctions

situational trauma and clinical challenges that are all crashing

down on them. The last thing they need is your

condescension. They just need your help.

What do I do? If I lost someone, I love to

suicide. One remember that God knows what

it's like to lose a child. He's been through the pain and

he knows the pain of death and the beauty of the Resurrection.

You can trust him. To, I want you to remember that.

God is closed. Cling to these words, Psalm 34

Psalms 34:18

Verse 18. The Lord is close to the

Brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit and I

can't think of a more broken. Hearted crushed in spirit

circumstance than coming home to a letter or getting the

unforgettable phone call or discovering the body of a loved

one. God is close to you and his

strength will get you through. Third thing.

Let go of any guilt or shame that you carry, it was not your

fault. Any guilt or shame that you feel

is not coming from God. It is coming from Satan and he

is using the terrible choice of a loved one.

And the horrible pain that you feel to isolate.

You deceive you and Rob you of Joy purpose and a future.

You did what you thought was best.

If you knew then what you know now of course you would have

done things differently. But you didn't know then what

you know now And even if you did something wrong, God's love for

you and Christ has conquered it. Isaiah 43:18 says forget what

Isaiah 43:18

happened in the past, do not dwell on events from long ago.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6 trust in the Lord, with all your heart, and

Proverbs 3:5

do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways

acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths, you

are in a horrible spot, a gut-wrenching life-altering spot

and you cannot rely on your own feelings and you cannot rely on

your own strength to get you through.

You are going to have to trust fully on the word of God and the

spirit of God and the strength of God to pull you through.

Otherwise you will make decisions that will only make

matters worse. He will take a suicide in your

family and turn it into a divorce financial problems.

Relational woes, you are going to have to cling to the Good

Shepherd and he will pull you through.

I believe we serve a God. Who loves you cares for you and

has a purpose for you. I believe that we serve a God

who can bring Beauty out of ashes and strength from

weakness, I believe we serve a God who makes all things

beautiful and his timing. I'm not asking you to forget

them, or stop mourning their loss or hurting in their

absence. I am telling you not or am

telling you to stop carrying the guilt and shame that Satan is

trying to put on you to expand the devastating toll, that he

already levied on your family. Finally.

Clayton. What do I do if I'm struggling

with self-harm or Suicidal Thoughts?

One. Call the new hotline number

effective January or July 16th of this year.

The number is nine eight eight. You call that number.

Hear me. Suicide is a permanent solution

to a temporary problem. Rick Warren.

Who lost his son to Suicide says that this way.

Most people don't want to die. They want out of their pain.

And I want you to hear me say this, you don't have to end your

life to end your pain. Suicide is using a nuclear bomb

to get rid of the mosquitoes. No emotion lasts forever, they

come in waves. They come in, they crash and

then they dissipate and fall away.

No matter how, intense the pain, no matter how intense the

struggle it cannot last forever. So, never make a permanent

decision based on a temporary feeling.

Realize you are not thinking clearly It is not possible to

think logically when you are deeply, depressed, overwhelmed

and exasperated. It is a lie.

It is a lie to think that those around you would be better off

without you. if you had to sit in the homes

of the people that mourn you It is a lie.

It is a Lie from Satan. Your family wants you don't ever

doubt that recognize that Satan is trying to use this moment to

rob you and your family. God has placed you in your

family. You are one of God's gifts to

them. Don't let Satan win.

Get in community. You are never meant to do life

alone. We Are Better Together.

You need the safety. Net of God's Community.

Joy is doubled in community and pain is cut in half.

And finally you cannot fight this fight on your own strength.

You may need counselors. You may need medication.

You may need a support group. You may need therapy and for

sure, 100%, you are going to need the power of Jesus, and the

work of the holy spirit in your life.

They're going to be dark days, devastatingly, dark days.

And we don't get to pick when they come.

But when they come, I want to make sure that you have

everything you need. And the most important thing

that you're going to need is the spirit of God working in your

life and you can have that, you can have that Holy Spirit a lie

when you are in an intimate personal relationship with Jesus

Christ. Were moving to a time of

decision. so to those of you who are in this room here at 48th

Street, and there are those of you who are watching online, I

know that some of you this was way too close to home and for

some of you this was like, why why this It's because suicide is

on the rise. So while your generation, Maybe

not, maybe not, have navigated it by the time, your grandkids,

or your great kid, grandkids, get around, it will have

multiplied drastically. And so, you're going to have to

be prepared, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, you're going to

have to be prepared to know how to walk, and navigate and love

and Lead very well. And there's some of you in this

room that have never started an intimate personal relationship

with Jesus. And I believe, I believe that

Jesus is the first answer to every question.

I just do. and, And the lies that Satan has woven into the

fabric of your life. You will never be able to fight

those on your own power, and on your own strength.

And so, if you are not in an intimate, personal relationship

with Jesus Christ, you are a sheep without a shepherd and the

wolves are coming. Here's the Story of My Life in a

nutshell. I will make 999 really great

decisions. And then I will make one bad

decision. That is so, blatantly stupid and

out of character. You'll be like, how does this

guy put his pants on? Like, how could you be so dumb?

And when I was in high school I you know 99 good decision 998

and then good decision 999 and then it was my turn.

And I made an absolute mess of my life.

And I was not convicted of my sin.

I was didn't really give a rip. I was worried about the

consequences. And I didn't want to be around

for what was coming. And I remember that whole night

having unbelievably deep dark thoughts.

And I remember going in high school, this is it.

And I was like you know I can't I can't necessarily do that.

I can't do what I'm going to do without my family notice and

I'll have to just get up in the morning.

I don't know how serious I really was in my heart and in my

mind that night but but I can tell you this, I woke up in the

middle of the night thinking that I was going to go do the

unthinkable and my mom was at the core at the edge of my bed

holding my ankle I think about the marriages, I've been able to

be a part of and the counseling. I've been able to provide in the

baptisms, I've been able to minister to in the sermons.

I've been able to preach, then Satan could have wiped all of

that off the map. Because he got me to think of

just my situation. And not my savior.

God did a mighty redeeming work in my life and I would tell you

that that's the, I wish I could tell you.

That's the only time I've had that but I would say like, I

don't know how many years ago I went through like a 3-day spell,

where I wasn't highly suicidal, but I started just hearing over

and over again, main things would just be better off if you

were And I know that there's some of you that you're going

Clayton, three days. Sounds like a vacation of that

because I can never Escape it. I can't shake it.

I can't get away from it. I can't get rid of.

It is just knocking on the door of my head all the time.

And what grounds me? What pulls me through is that.

I'm spending time with the word of God, having the spirit of

God. The people of God around me.

My intimate, personal relationship with.

Jesus makes not just made makes all the difference if you have

questions about that. Or what that is.

I want to encourage you to today, come over, find someone

talk to them about what it means to start that intimate personal

relationship to those of you. In this room who are Christians,

you have family members who are hurting and suffering, would you

be willing to just get down on your knees and lift them up?

You know, people who are going through incredibly difficult and

dark times right now, and maybe Been dismissive.

Would you just bombard the Gates of Heaven on their behalf?

Maybe some of you would be willing your teachers, your your

service providers and you hear on a regular basis, people

around you who are struggle? Would you just get down on your

knees and say, God help me to be a support system for those who

are hanging on. Be on one us to be a church that

wants to help and wants to point people to Hope.

And I hope you guys will join me in that mission.

Would you guys stand with me? God, one of the things I don't

understand about you. Is how you see?

All the pain in this world. How you're there for every hurt?

I don't get it. I don't know how you manage.

Car crash, after car, crash train, wreck after train wreck.

At the same time. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

But while I don't understand how you do it, God, I'm so thankful

that you do. I'm thankful that you are there

for every hurt for every trial for every dark thought.

God, I'm thankful for your son, Jesus, who died on the cross,

who conquered the grave and made sure.

That this is, that all there. Is that there is something

coming. Something better something,

brighter, something beautiful. And God, we await that day where

you wipe every tear from our eye.

But until then, God, Give every person within the sound of my

voice, the strength to carry on the wisdom, not to fall victim

to the lies of Satan in the courage to help and hope those

are giving give hope those to those around us.

You never pray. Amen.