Capital City Christian Church | Podcast Capital City Christian Church

"Now, not everyone who is depressed will feel all of these descriptors; but they probably feel some of them. You feel down. You’re irritable, maybe. Maybe a sense of hopelessness. You’ve lost a sense of purpose. Those things you used to enjoy, you don’t enjoy them anymore. There’s this oppressive pessimism – everything is half-empty. Sadness, dejection. Some people eat when they are depressed. Some don’t eat. Some people sleep when they are depressed. Some can’t sleep. You may feel constantly tired and listless. You may have a hard time thinking clearly, concentrating, and processing. You may have this self-loathing, maybe feeling like a failure. You may even … you may even have thought about ending it all. Does any of that stuff ring a bell with any of you? And if this stuff settles in, if it stays too long, after a couple weeks, they might label it as a clinical depression. Ever been there and felt that?" Stephen "Doc" Pattison

"Anxiety and worry exist on a spectrum. At one end, you have worry and anxiety that are present but manageable … and even beneficial. They press us and push us to fulfill our responsibilities. They act as a prod to do our jobs well. But that's not the complete picture. I think that's a small piece of the picture. Anxiety and worry are usually not good. Most of the time, anxiety and worry are irrational or vague. They paralyze us instead of motivating us. The most often outcome is that anxiety and worry make our lives worse." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

"When we let that lie take root, it grows and grows until, eventually, we say, "You're unlovable." It's not that you're never going to be loved; you lie to yourself and think your problem is that you aren't worth loving. No one’s ever going to find you lovable. Eventually, that grows until you begin believing that you don't even love yourself. How is it possible for anyone else to love you, right? These lies are like digging a hole. And you tell yourself that you are trying to dig yourself out of the hole … but it's only getting deeper and darker. Our pain gets deeper and deeper, and our hope gets smaller and smaller.
And we find ourselves unhealthy. We find ourselves in a very dangerous place. People who don’t feel loved are likely to struggle with anxiety and depression, as well as many other mood disorders. We're talking about moments in our mental health where we've accepted these lies: that life has no meaning, that I am ruined, or that I am not loved. They begin to destroy us. We accept them as true, and it puts us in dark places. These lies especially destroy us when we don't recognize them as lies. The best way to identify a lie is to know the truth." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

It’s a word we all understand – “ruin.” Something was beautiful once, but no longer. It was useful once, valuable once, but no longer. It has been damaged and wrecked. It has been spoiled. You can ruin a shirt; you can ruin a phone; you can ruin a vacation; you can ruin a career; you can ruin a relationship; you can ruin a person. Have you ever ruined someone or tried to? Have you ever felt ruined? I’ll bet most of you know the feeling.

"So, a lot of us … in fact, most of us, maybe … kind of put on these masks. And our masks usually look better on the outside than we feel on the inside, right? And we kind of fear that everyone around is as good on the inside as their masks look on the outside. So, when we compare our insides to their masks, we don’t look too good, we don’t feel too good, right? … Listen … Bottom line, the reality is, you are not alone. Chances are you either have in the past, or are now, or someone you care about deeply is struggling with some mental health issue. Especially … especially … if you are around kids because they’re struggling, guys. … We’ll see.

And too often, when we have some kind of mental or emotional problem … we respond by hiding, isolating, disconnecting … which damages our relationships with the people who care for us. We disconnect in marriage, we disconnect from our parents, our kids, our friends; we disconnect from our church family … and we wither … alone … as our mental, emotional, and even spiritual health deteriorates. Do you get that? Do you feel that? Do you do that?"

"We talked about raising godly children – which is hard work and requires discipline. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. We talked about money – which requires hard work and discipline to handle well. It wasn’t groundbreaking information. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. We talked about our hurts, and we talked about friends. All these things take work and discipline. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. And today we’re going to talk about marriage." Ben Webb, Associate Minister