Question 1: DOES GOD CHANGE HIS MIND?
I am the LORD, and I do not change.
(Malachi 3:6 – New Living Translation)
Every good gift bestowed, every perfect gift received comes to us from above, courtesy of the Father of lights.
He is consistent. He won’t change His mind or play tricks in the shadows. (James 1:17 – The Voice)
God is not a man that he should lie; He doesn’t change his mind like humans do. Has he ever promised, Without doing what he said? (Numbers 23:19 – Living Bible)
The one who lives forever, the God of Israel, does not lie and will not change his mind. He is not like a man who is always changing his mind.
(1 Samuel 15:29 – English Standard Version)
For Jesus doesn’t change— yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself. (Hebrews 13:8 – The Message)
THEOLOGICAL TRUTH: IMMUTABILITY God can never change!
THEOLOGICAL TRUTH: SOVREIGNTY God purposes are always accomplished!
THEOLOGICAL TRUTH: FOREKNOWLEDGE God knows everything before it happens!
Think about this. Wrap your minds around it. This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart. Remember your history, your long and rich history.
I am GOD, the only God you’ve had or ever will have incomparable, irreplaceableFrom the very beginning telling you what the ending will be,
All along letting you in on what is going to happen. Assuring you, “I’m in this for the long haul, I’ll do exactly what I set out to do” . . .
I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it. I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done.
(Isaiah 46:10-11 – The Message)
We may make a lot of plans, but the LORD will do what he has decided . . .
People may plan all kinds of things, but the LORD's will is going to be done.
(Proverbs 19:21 – Contemporary English Version, Good News Bible)
PERSONAL APPLICATION: I can trust God in everything knowing His purposes will be done
Question 2: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT DEPRESSION?
Everything on earth is broken. When sin and evil entered the world, it messed up everything.
And nothing on this planet is perfect anymore. Everything on the planet is broken. Nothing works perfectly as it once did.
The weather does not work perfectly. We have tsunamis and earthquakes and we have fires, floods and all kinds of natural disasters.
God didn’t want that for us. He created a perfect world and put humans in a garden of paradise called Eden. Sin broke the planet.
It broke the weather, it broke the climate. The economy doesn’t work perfectly. None of your plans work perfectly.
Your body does not work perfectly. No relationship works perfectly. No brain works perfectly. We all have broken brains. We’re all mentally ill.
And we have thoughts that we can’t control and compulsions and desires and fears and depressions and worries and rage.
You name it. Everything is broken in this world. We’re all mentally ill. We’re not insane.
Very few people are insane, but all of us struggle with mental illnesses, because everything is broken.
(From Rick Warren’s 1st sermon after the suicide of his son)
Depression is universal – it impacts everyone in some way
Depression is a struggle, not a sin!
Depression has two main causes biological or emotional
Biological: Chemical imbalances, genetics, brain disorders
Emotional: Worry, stress, fear, fatigue, anger
Depression starts small, but grows if untreated
STAGE 1: Discouragement
STAGE 2: Defeat
STAGE 3: Depression
STAGE 4: Despair
STAGE 5: Desperation
I cry out loudly to GOD, loudly I plead with GOD for mercy. I spill out all my complaints before him, and spell out my troubles in detail:
“As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away, you know how I’m feeling, know the danger I’m in, the traps hidden in my path. Look right, look left—
there’s not a soul who cares what happens! I’m up against it, with no exit— bereft, left alone. I cry out, GOD, call out: ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’ Oh listen, please listen;
I’ve never been this low. Rescue me from those who are hunting me down; I’m no match for them. Get me out of this dungeon so I can thank you in public.
Your people will form a circle around me and you’ll bring me showers of blessing!” (Psalm 142:1-7 – The Message)
Even Godly people often struggle with depression in their lives
Depression is incredibly painful and debilitating
Depression causes us to become negative and paranoid
When we’re feeling down, we need to look up and focus on God
We need other people to help us when we are depressed
We often struggle, but we’re never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down,
we get up again. . . BECAUSE WE KNOW God raised the Lord back to life. And just as he raised Jesus, he will also raise us back to life, and will bring us into his presence together . . .
So we don't focus on the troubles we see right now; instead we look forward to what we don’t see yet.
For the troubles we see now are temporary, but the joys to come will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 14, 18)
For I KNOW the plans I have for you, says the LORD. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you A FUTURE AND A HOPE. (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can have JOY even in our struggles BECAUSE WE KNOW that these struggles produce endurance. And endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
And this HOPE will not disappoint us, because God has poured his love to fill our hearts. (Romans 5:3-5)
Depression doesn’t have to be permanent
Depression can be overcome with God’s help
God loves us unconditionally and wants the very best for us!
Question 3:
DO I REALLY NEED TO COME TO CHURCH TO BE A GOOD CHRISTIAN?
All of you together are the one body of Christ, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it . . . Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body.
We are all parts of it, and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others. (1 Corinthians 12:27, Romans 12:5 – Living Bible)
The church is like a family - and all of us need to belong!
The church is like a body - and all of us need to connect!
The church is like an orchestra - and all of us have a part to play!
The church is on a mission - and all of us have a message to share!
From the very beginning of time it’s been God’s plan for us to be in relationship to each other, not to be lone rangers,
not to go through life on our own, but to be in family and in community in God’s family.
When God made Adam and he put him in the Garden of Eden it was a perfect environment,
and yet he looked down and he said, it is not good for man to what? Be alone. God hates loneliness.
And he doesn’t want anybody to be alone. So he created two institutions. Marriage and the church.
Now marriage only lasts on this planet. There is no marriage in heaven, Jesus said, but the family of God is going to go on forever and ever and ever.
And we’re all going to be related in God’s family. We belong together, and we need each other. We really do.
You see, you were made for God’s purposes, but you're never going to fulfill them on your own.
We need each other. You need me. I need you. We need each other.
And so today, I invite you to join the greatest movement in the world, the kingdom of God, which is going to last everything else.
God’s church going to go on forever. The amazing exponential power of the church is astounding; it’s greater than nuclear power or anything else.
When believers get together and they worship together and fellowship together and love together and serve and reach out and give,
and they join together, it is an unstoppable force. (Rick Warren)
Let’s Pray