Northeast Christian Podcast

Have you ever felt like you're always behind, playing catch-up, and never "done" with your work or responsibilities? Is there an undercurrent of something in your life that doesn't feel right and never goes away?

Do you maybe even feel that way right now as you're reading this?

These are all signs of burnout.

If God and the people you're closest to feel distant, if you've lost sight of your dreams, or you find yourself a slave to the "urgent" instead of the "important", the way of Jesus offers a better way to live. In Week Four of Let's Talk About Mental Health, we're unpacking what the Bible says about Sabbath and how it can reverse and prevent the effects of burnout.

This might be the message you need to hear today, so take a break and tune in.

Grief is more than an emotion; grief is tangible, and it does not wait to be invited into your life. The apostle Paul says in the book of Romans that followers of Jesus can "Rejoice when we run into problems and trials, for we know they help us develop endurance". Do we really believe this? When we experience uninvited grief, how do we grieve "well"? In week three of Let's Talk About Mental Health, Jacob Stewart offers four guiding principles on biblical grief.

What do you do when your world turns upside down? The unexpected job loss, the death of someone you love, the diagnosis, the divorce, the shattered dream, the betrayal? How do you respond when deep desires go unfulfilled, or you find yourself in a dryness or loss of joy in your relationship with God?

After 2020, surely all of us have experienced this kind of challenge to our mental health in one way or another. Pete Scazzerro, author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, calls these seasons "Walls". Walls can't be avoided in our broken world, so we must decide how we will respond when they inevitably come. They have the power to damage us emotionally and mentally, but they can also have great power to grow us spiritually.

Rather than accepting secular narratives of karma, illusion, or fate when you feel "stuck" at a wall, we believe the Bible offers a response more hopeful and true. Intimacy with God and surrender to God can carry you through the wall and bring you out the other side with more maturity and wisdom than you had before.

Studies show that at least 1 in 5 adults in the United States experience mental health challenge. This number is even higher amongst teens. In 2020, the CDC reported that 40% of Americans were struggling with mental health or substance abuse.

What role does the church have to play in this mental health epidemic?

At Northeast, we believe in a wholistic approach to mental health. Mental health problems are rarely faith problems, but they can have faith solutions. We believe talking about our mental health with one another is vital, and the church should be a place where we share our burdens- not the place we hide them.

So, let's talk about mental health.

----------------------------------

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please immediately contact a hotline for help:

 

LOCAL (to Louisville, Kentucky):

Mental Health Crisis Line: 502-589-4313

Seven Counties 24/7 Addiction Help: 502-583-3951

 

NATIONAL:

Crisis Text Line: HOME to 471-471

Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK

Veterans Crisis Line: 800-273-8255 press 1

The Trevor Project (24/7 helpline for LGBTQ youth ages 13-24): 866-488-7386

 

WEB:

NAMI Louisville: www.namilouisville.org

First Hour Grief Response: www.firsthourgrief.org 

The stories we believe make and break our lives because they give us our answers to the big questions and realities of human life. What makes humans different than other living organisms is that, by nature, we must find a larger story to live into that explains our existence, purpose, meaning, morality, destiny, and more.

We're diving in to the Story of Popular Culture and asking, "Is it a true story? Is there a better story? Is there a story more in tune with reality?"

Do you know what story you're living? Let's unpack it together.

"Is it okay to question God? Is it okay to tell him what I'm really thinking?"

The Bible gives us many examples of real people who brought their doubts, their struggles, and their questions to the Lord. In this message, we're looking at five examples of ways God responded to people who came to him with questions, honesty, and even accusations. How does God respond to them? What might he say to us if we come to him? Let's find out.

If your deepest beliefs are driven and formed by vengeance, a desire or longing to be in control of your own life, or by fear and insecurity, the way of Jesus offers something different. In week two of Unpacking Faith, we're asking three clarifying questions that can help you process doubt and deconstruction.

We all wrestle with anger.

We would all like to think that other people or inanimate objects are the ones to blame for our anger, but with a brief survey of Scripture, we see this is simply not the case. Only you can control your anger. So is it worth the fight?

Founding Pastor Bob Cherry offers us six steps to controlling anger. You may be surprised by how simple they are once you really commit to placing your anger in the shadow of the cross.

God has you where you are for a reason. No matter where you work, you have an opportunity to love the people around you with the love of Jesus. We're passionate about helping you do just that.

Richard Mosqueda, our Spiritual Formation Team Lead, is passionate about helping people understand who they are so they can do what they're called to do. What might the Lord be calling you to do so you can unleash the love of Jesus in your workplace?