Rev. David Holwick M The Holes of Life #1
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 19, 2009
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
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I. Lurking dangers.
A. They're everywhere...
There's one under the Wharton fire station.
There's at least two under Route 80 near the Route 15
interchange.
Another in Wharton held up the construction of a senior housing
project for more than three years.
They are mine shafts, test pits, ventilation shafts and other
man-made holes produced during more than 300 years of iron
ore mining in Morris County.
Lorraine Dawkins was so concerned that her rental home might
collapse into a hole that she moved away.
Where dwas her rental home? Xenia Court in Wharton.
That's the same street Nadine Montgomery lives on.
In 1988 Xenia Court was the site of two mine shaft collapses.
In one of the incidents, a homeowner peeked in his basement and
found a 20-foot-wide, 200-foot-deep hole where his cellar
used to be.
I always thought Nadine Montgomery offered her house to the men's
Bible study because she had a generous heart.
The truth is that if she was going to die, she was going to
take us with her.
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B. We have all been in holes.
1) It might be losing a job, or a child struggling with
addiction, or a difficult marriage.
2) Perhaps your life has seen a progression of holes.
3) This sermon series is designed to help you to avoid those
holes, or give God's advice on how to climb out of them.
4) The first hole we will explore is ... The Depression Hole.
II. Anyone can get the blues.
A. Some are famous, some are not.
1) A young Midwestern lawyer suffered from such deep depression
that his friends thought it best to keep all knives and
razors out of his reach.
He questioned his life's calling and the prudence of even
attempting to follow through with it.
During this time he wrote, "I am now the most miserable man
living.
Whether I should ever be better, I cannot tell.
I awfully imagine that I shall not."
But somehow, from somewhere, Abraham Lincoln received the
encouragement he needed.
The achievements of his life completely vindicated his bout
with depression.
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2) Hugh Laurie, the star of "House," makes over $300,000 an
episode.
a) Yet he is plagued with doubt and depression.
b) Last year he told an interviewer:
"Every show we do, every scene we shoot, is a disaster,
I'm convinced of it.
I go home at the end of the day and my head is full of
all the mistakes I've made.
I beat myself up about what I've messed up the day
before.
I'm looking for things to go wrong.
I'm not rejoicing or lying back and enjoying it."
c) Larry King, Harrison Ford, Marie Osmond, and of course
Brittney Spears know exactly what he is talking
about.
They also have suffered from depression.
B. Can Christians be depressed?
1) Several in our church have given testimonies about their
struggles.
2) But depression is hard for Christians.
a) There is the whole spiritual dimension.
b) Your friends may question whether you are walking with
God. Maybe there is hidden sin in your life.
c) If you have a real faith, shouldn't you feel the joy
of the Lord?
d) This is why so many Christians hide their dark feelings
behind a fake smile.
Other Christians only make them feel worse.
III. Believers have struggled with depression for ages.
A. Perhaps you recognize some of the signs.
1) Loss of appetite.
2) Loss of sleep or energy.
3) Loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities.
4) Overcome by feelings of hopelessness or uselessness.
B. Several things can triggers a feeling of gloom.
1) Failing health.
a) Physical pain can lead to mental anguish.
b) Depression itself an imbalance of chemicals in the brain.
2) Life events.
a) Losing your job is usually not an occasion for a party.
b) Big changes like a move or a new baby often triggers it.
c) The breakup of a marriage or the death of a loved one
almost always result in a period of depression.
1> Mourning is a natural reaction to such an event.
2> It is when it lingers without lifting that it
becomes soul-killing depression.
3> There should be a point at which a decision is made
to move on from mourning and choose to be
life-affirming once again.
3) Spiritual struggles.
a) Guilt from having wronged and hurt others can bring it
on.
b) A sense of having failed to live out the will of God
can give rise to depression.
c) Certainly the fear of death and what might follow can
sap the joy out of life.
IV. Paul knew hard times like this.
A. His struggles had an emotional dimension.
1) He had faced multiple beatings and imprisonments.
2) Christians had failed him.
3) Sicknesses almost killed dear friends.
B. In all these things, he was not crushed or destroyed.
1) He admits being perplexed and knocked down.
2) He had been discouraged but it never turned into despair.
3) Paul's secret was that he had a strong God.
a) In all his troubles, he never felt abandoned.
b) Even the prospect of a gruesome death just made him
think of what Jesus had done for him. 4:10
c) Every trouble had a divine purpose behind it.
V. How Christians can cope.
A. Like Paul, we must cling to our God.
1) God has helped us overcome in the past, and he can again.
a) In the psalms it says weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
b) Depression is real but not eternal. It can pass.
c) Just don't give up on God.
2) The great reformer Martin Luther wrestled with
discouragement throughout his life.
He once spent three days in a black depression over
something that had gone wrong.
On the third day his wife came downstairs dressed in
mourning clothes.
"Who's dead?" he asked her.
"God," she replied.
Luther rebuked her, saying, "What do you mean, God is dead?
God can't die."
"Well," she replied, "the way you've been acting I was
sure He had..."
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3) Remind yourself that God is alive.
a) Maintain habits of time with God.
1> Reading the Bible or spiritual books.
2> Spend time praying and meditating.
A> When you feel you can't pray, remember that
God's spirit can pray for you.
b) In times of depression you'll want to abandon them.
1> Don't. Do it even if you don't feel like it.
2> Eventually you will feel God's encouragement.
B. We must seek other Christians.
1) The importance of close friends.
a) Everyone needs people who care.
b) Set up a special appointment to share your struggles
with them.
2) The benefit of counseling.
a) Someone who is trained can make a difference.
b) Going to counseling is not an admission of weakness or
failure.
1> Instead, it is a sign of strength.
C. Decide to choose life.
1) A woman once approached a man who had a sour look on his
face.
She encouraged the grumpy man to be thankful.
He replied, "Thankful for what? I don't even have enough
money to pay my bills!"
The woman thought for a moment then said, "Well then, be
thankful you are not one of your creditors."
We experience so many blessings in life that it is so easy
to take them for granted.
If you look only at the cloudy side of life you'll see
darkness and despair.
Choose to crawl out of that hole and into the light.
2) Tony Campolo says we should pray for the will to be joyful.
There's a woman he knows whose health has failed in
many ways.
She can only breathe with the help of oxygen tanks;
her husband has deserted her;
she needs charity to survive.
But she is determined to be happy - and she is.
Abraham Lincoln once said that most people are about as
happy as they decide to be.
In the end, you may have to pray for the grace and
courage to decide to say "yes" to life.
By so doing, you prove to the world that you have
indeed been saved: "by grace through faith."
To make such a decision is not to be a Pollyanna.
It is being willing to will the will of God.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon series was inspired by one done by Rev. Jeffrey Stratton,
pastor of American Baptist East in Evansville, Indiana.
#30954 "Acting Like God Died," by Ray C. Stedman in his sermon "The
Incredible Hope," quoted in Wit And Wisdom at
http://www.witandwisdom.org by Richard G. Wimer, April 19, 2006.
#35816 "Pits Are Everywhere," by David Holwick, using material by Michael
Daigle in his article "Old Mines, Lingering Headaches," Daily
Record newspaper, Parsippany, New Jersey, May 8, 2004. I found
the article in http://sierraactivist.org/article.php?sid=45187
#35821 "Christians: Take Depression Seriously," by Tony Campolo; edited by
David Holwick, http://www.beliefnet.com/health/emotional-health/~
christians-take-depression-seriously.aspx#
#35822 "His Friends Hid His Knives," by Rev. Jeffrey Stratton, pastor of
American Baptist East; Evansville, Indiana, Kerux Sermon #19680,
February 3, 2002.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Notes
I. Autobiography in five short chapters....
A. how can we keep out of holes?
II. Warkenin causes:
A. Lives without an anchor.
B. Wanting what you can't have.
C. Fears of tomorrow.
D. Loneliness.
E. Disappointing circumstances.
III. Warkenin on overcoming depression:
A. Begin building your life on a firm foundation.
B. Thank God for making you unique.
C. Communicate with someone who is not depressed.
1) Share with a friend.
2) Talk to God.
D. Start giving your life away before you're old.
E. Accept your weaknesses and limitations and give them to God.
F. Let God love you.
IV. How to handle depression.
A. Let God confront you. (admit the truth)
B. Seek God with all your heart.
C. Draw aside and speak with God.
D. Do what God says, immediately.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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