SPRINGTIME BLUES
SERMON STARTER
On Friday April 15th we have two events coming up: one is the dreaded deadline for filing income taxes, the other is the Opening Day of trout season. Fishermen will line up this year next to stocked streams and attempt to catch their domesticated trout. As they do so they will have to avoid extra-slippery, recently snow covered stream banks. We are in the midst of one of the coldest Springs in my memory.
Cloudy, cold weather is the perfect environment for situational depression. We have all endured a prolonged winter, and suffer from a bit of cabin fever. We enjoy several warm days, the bulb-type flowers enjoy the warmth of the sun, then the cold strikes again.
I began my pastoral work 40 years ago and quickly discovered that the most prolific mental illness I was dealing with in my area was depression. We live in a region that suffers from a chronic lack of sunlight. This lack of sunny days, less than 150 per year, created a condition known as, "SAD," "Seasonal Affective Disorder." This restricted sunlight problem causes the human brain's hypothalamus to create less serotonin, the "feel good" chemical in the brain that causes the mood to lift.
It's amazing how many historical figures suffered from depression. Jonah, the reluctant prophet and Psalmist David and his nemesis, King Saul suffered from depression. Here's a list of well-known figures who have suffered from depression:
Jonathan Winters Oprah Winfrey
Robin Williams Dolly Parton
Jon Hamm Harrison Ford
J.K. Rowling Ernest Hemingway
Terry Bradshaw Ashley Judd
Tipper Gore Winston Churchill
Wayne Brady Sigmond Freud
Jim Carey General William T. Sherman
Boris Yeltsin Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Martin Luther Patty Duke
Americans spend more than 12 Billion $$ on Anti-Depressants yearly. My sermon this morning explores Spring time depression. Pastor Phil <><<
April 10, 2,016
Sheepfold Ministries, Pastor Phil Roland
SPRINGTIME BLUES
PSALM 42
Springtime Blues aren’t just the Blaughs. Depression happens when we repress, deny and hold inside the anger we feel out-of-control and helpless about in our lives and circumstances. Psalmist David shows us how he deals with it . Pastor Phil <><<
THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO ABOUT SPRINGTIME BLUES:
I. ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR ALONENESS - Verse 1
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”
A. N A M E I T - Identify your feelings of Loneliness
1. "I'm feeling alone, lonely, cut off, depressed
2. Don't blame the weather or your circumstances
3. The most often repeat promise in scripture is. . .
Deuteronomy 31:6b
"He will never leave you nor forsake you"
Exodus 33:13
"My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest."
Matthew 28:20b
". . .lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age"
B. F R A M E I T - Detach for a moment
1. Become a 3rd person looking down at yourself
2. See yourself cut off from God and man
3. Tell yourself, "It's just a feeling that comes and goes"
4. It is not necessary to act on emotions
C. C L A I M I T - Luke 6:45
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and
an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of
the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
1. Confess it out loud - "I'm just feeling lonely"
2. Say it to yourself
3. Multiple Causes of Loneliness: Loss of Spouse, Death or Divorce, Stressful job, Weather Rebounding, Aging, Health
Crisis, Long Vocational Commutes, Rejection, Isolation,
Substance Abuse
II. ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR OWN SOUL - Verse 5
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
A. Own Your Own Feelings - Job 9:20-21
20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I
were blameless, it would prove me perverse. 21 "I am blameless, yet I do
not know myself; I despise my life.
SPRINGTIME BLUES, cont. p.2
1. No one makes you feel a certain way
2. You're in Charge of your Thoughts
3. Your Thoughts determine your feelings
4. Thinking is before Feeling
5. Make a difficult Self-Examination
B. Change your Focus - Colossians 3:1-2
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
1. You may not be what you think you are
2. You are what you think - Philippians 4:8
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if
anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
3. Focus on Christ continuously - Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
C. Take Control of Negative Stinkin' Thinkin' - 2 Corinthians 10:5
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ,
1. You say, "It's impossible."
God says: "All thing are possible." (Luke 18:27)
2. You say, "I'm too tired."
God says: "I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28-20)
3. You say, "Nobody really loves me."
God says: "I love you." (John 3:16 John 13:34)
4. You say, "I can't go on."
God says: "My grace is sufficient." (2 Cor. 12:9 - Psalm 91:15)
5. you say, "I can't figure things out."
God says: "I will direct your steps." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
6. You say, "I can't do it."
God says: "You can do all things through Me." (Phil 4:13)
D. Stay Vigilant - 1 Peter 5:8
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
E. Two Positive Conclusions
1. “Hope” - “Put your hope in God.”
2. “Praise” - “I will yet praise him. . .”
III. APPROACH GOD IN PRAYER -
A. Approach God With Your Feelings - v. 6b
“My soul is downcast within me. . .”
1. T ELL GOD how you feel
2. A CKNOWLEDGE your problems
SPRINGTIME BLUES, cont. p.3
3. L OVE GOD with all your heart, soul and strength
4. K NOW GOD hears your pain, knows your anger,
loves you
B. Remember What God Has Done - v. 4
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I
used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, with
With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
1. God Is In Control - Psalm 55:22
22 Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall
never permit the righteous to be moved.
2. God’s Loving kindness Is Forever - Psalm 63:3-4
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall
praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands
in Your name.
LESSONS FROM SPRINGTIME BLUES:
1. God knows about your angry heart and loves you anyway
2. God has the ability to heal you from your anger and depression
3. I know He Heals the broken-hearted: He healed me
3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
SPRINGTIME BLUES
Psalm 42:1-11
1 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, "Where is your God?"
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me-- A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"
10 As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Kings 19:4-5 (NKJV)
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"
5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."
Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
SPRINGTIME BLUES
CLOSING ILLUSTRATION
During the 1st part of the 20th century, J. C. Penney was a real man who presided over a very real and powerful empire of over 1,700 stores. At the time he had the country’s largest chain of department stores, each one bearing his name.
Although his enterprise made him incredibly wealthy, J.C. Penney’s life was not devoid of setbacks and troubles. In fact, beginning in 1929, events took place that nearly cost Penney his life. . .
When the Great Depression struck the country, it came at a time of great financial vulnerability for Penney. In the good times, before the Depression, Penney had overextended himself and had borrowed heavily to finance many of his ventures. But when the Depression hit banks began to request repayment of his loans sooner than anticipated. Suddenly cash flow was tight, and Penney was finding it difficult to meet payment schedules. Constant and unrelenting worry began to take a toll. "I was so harassed with worries that I couldn’t sleep, and developed an extremely painful ailment," he said.
Concerned about his deteriorating health, Penney checked himself into the Kellogg sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan, (kind of the Mayo or Cleveland Clinic of its era). There, Dr. Elmer Eggleston, a staff physician, examined Penney, declaring that he was extremely ill.
Penney later recalled "A rigid treatment was prescribed, but nothing helped," He was constantly tormented by periods of hopelessness and despair.
His very will to live was rapidly eroding.
"I got weaker day by day. I was broken - nervously and physically, filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for, I felt that I hadn’t a friend left in the world, that even my family had turned against me."
Alarmed by his rapidly deteriorating condition, Dr. Eggleston gave Penney a sedative. However, the effect quickly wore off, and Penney awakened with the conviction that he was living the last night of his life. "Getting out of bed, I wrote farewell letters to my wife and to my son, saying that I did not expect to live to see the dawn."
Penney awakened the next morning, surprised to find himself alive. Making his way down the hallway of the hospital, he could hear singing coming from the little chapel where devotional exercises were held each morning. The words of the hymn he heard being sung spoke deeply to him. Going into the chapel, he listened to the singing, the reading of the Scripture lesson, and the prayer.
"Suddenly something happened," he said. "I can’t explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into a warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to Paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before."
In a life-transforming instant Penney knew that God with His love, was there to help. "From that day to this, my life has been free from worry," he declared. "The most dramatic and glorious 20 minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning."
The words from the hymn that spoke so eloquently and miraculously to J. C. Penney were these (sing it with me if you know it).
Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.
God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.
April 15th Humor
A businessman on his deathbed called his friend and said, "Bill, I want you to promise me that when I die you will have my remains cremated."
Bill said, "And what do you want me to do with your ashes?" He replied, "Just put them in an envelope and mail them to the Internal Revenue Service and write on the envelope, ‘NOW YOU HAVE EVERYTHING.’"
Fatalism Humor
A teacher said to her students, "Boys and girls, there is a wonderful example in the life of the ant. Every day the ant goes to work and works all day. Every day the ant is busy. And in the end, what happens?"
Little Johnny said, "SOMEONE STEPS ON HIM."
