Jesus Offers Hope and a Future to Those Considering Suicide *

Despair can make a temporary season feel permanent, but Scripture points to a God who still gives hope, help, and a future. Pastor Chris Teien looks at the story of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 and shows how God used Paul and Silas to interrupt a moment of crisis with truth, compassion, and the message of salvation. Find encouragement in the reminder that Jesus brings life, hope, and purpose even when someone feels overwhelmed.

In This Message

1. Suicide Is Not God’s Plan for Your Life
   (Exodus 20:13; John 10:10; Proverbs 3:5–6; Hebrews 9:27)
   The sermon begins by emphasizing that suicide is not a good option because God can still change a life, open a new season, and bring hope where despair feels final. Pastor Chris contrasts Satan’s desire to steal, kill, and destroy with Jesus’ promise of abundant life.
2. We Are Surrounded by People Going Through the Motions
   (Acts 16:16–24)
   The Philippian jailer was doing his job without realizing that God was working through the suffering and witness of Paul and Silas. This point reminds listeners that people around us may be carrying hidden pain, and God can use believers to speak hope at the right time.
3. Faith Can Shine While Being Mistreated
   (Acts 16:25–26)
   Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns after being beaten and imprisoned. Their faith became a testimony to the other prisoners and the jailer, showing that worship and trust in God can speak powerfully even in suffering.
4. God Can Use Someone to Interrupt Despair
   (Acts 16:27–28)
   When the jailer assumed the prisoners had escaped, he prepared to end his life, but Paul cried out and stopped him. This section highlights the importance of being present, taking despair seriously, and offering truth before someone acts on hopeless thoughts.
5. Jesus Brings Salvation, Hope, and a New Future
   (Acts 16:29–34)
   The jailer asked what he must do to be saved, and Paul pointed him to faith in the Lord Jesus. His life changed that night, his household heard the gospel, and despair gave way to faith, ministry, and joy.

I hope this message helps you understand and apply God’s Word. Find sermon transcripts at Well.faith, learn more at ChrisTeien.com, or come visit us at Rockwell Church in Virginia, Minnesota. If this message encouraged you, I’d love to hear from you at wellfaith24@gmail.com.

Transcript

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Chris T 0:16

I had a message on my heart, and I've talked to people over time, and it was a year ago or almost a year ago, a little over a year ago, that the community asked me to bring some people together to talk about suicide. As a young man in town had committed suicide, and uh parents were terrified that there would be more, that there'd be copycat suicides, and we're all terrified of that happening to the ones that we love. And um there are a ton of resources and a ton of uh things that scripture has to say, and there's no way I can cover it all in the time that I have, but I want to cover some things and also share um the story about the Philippian jailer. So I'm gonna start it out with a video here in a second, but just real quick uh to summarize what I would say if I only had 30 seconds, suicide is not a good option. No matter how bad your life is, God can change it, things can turn around. Uh sometimes people are in they're in like junior high or high school and they think that that is their world and that it's never gonna get any better than that. And why should I continue to go on because so and so dumped me or I don't have those friends or whatever? But strange thing is you get to the end of high school and then you're free to go wherever you want. Or at the end of college, you're free to go wherever you want. Pick your own friends. Sometimes your work situation's not great. Pray for a better job, find new friends, move to a different place. Pray and ask God to guide you and direct you. But suicide is not a good option because God can do so much in your life if you would just hold on and wait. God could do so much in your life if you would just pray through and be faithful and go through that difficult season. Kind of like the winter season here. I mean, sometimes it's just so cold and so snowy, we're just stuck inside and we're all sick of it, saying, Oh, I wish I could get out, I wish I could go outside, and we go to the Mall of America and we walk laps just because we're so sick of being inside. But with a new season comes and new things happen, and God can do great things in the future if you would just pray, hold on, and wait. Uh Exodus 20, 13 says, You shall not murder. God said that we are not to murder, we are not to murder ourselves. Suicide is self-murder. The Bible says that the thief, Satan comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus says, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. So Satan wants you to destroy destroy your life. He wants to destroy your life, your reputation, your relationships, your marriage, your integrity. He wants to do anything he can to destroy you, and that would let him win. We don't want that. As soon as you or a person commits suicide, uh, their next stop is to stand before God, uh, just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment, and it would be a sad thing as a believer. Uh, there's a bunch of resources I'll share later, but it is possible to be a believer in Christ and end your life and still be saved and still go be in the presence of the Lord. But what disappointment would that be to have Jesus say, Wow, I had these plans for you and you checked out early. You didn't trust me enough to keep going. If you would have just waited a little longer, this was gonna happen and this was gonna change, and these people were gonna even be out of your life, and it would have just changed if you would have just held on. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways submit to him, and he will make your path straight. Crystal was about to give up until someone came along and offered her hope in Jesus. Now she gives hope to help others.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

I grew up in New York. In my teen years, I kind of went on a different path and started to do things my own way. I started to date a young man and I wound up pregnant. And things were pretty bad in the marriage. After that, we realized that it just wasn't going to work. So we separated. So once the divorce was final, I think I really, really felt the brunt of pain. My house was in foreclosure. I was deep in debt. The pain that I started to know was something that I didn't think I could handle. Uh, it became suicidal. Um I went to take my trash out, and the next door neighbor was leaving her home as well.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

And I was just led to go talk to her, and she began to tell me what was going on in her life. And I, you know, I said, God loves you. I said we all go through tests, but guess what? God is there to help guide us and lead us. She started crying. And I said, May I pray with you? I wanted to encourage, strengthen, and comfort her.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

And I started to feel something that I hadn't felt in a long time. I started to feel hope. So I immediately thanked her, you know, for speaking that word into my life when I was at such a low, low point. It just basically sparked something in me to do better for myself and do better for my children. I started to attend a church out here, and people were so kind, and you know, I found myself smiling again. I remember coming across a young lady at my job and she was distraught, and I remember speaking to her and saying, You're no your life is not over. Everything is going to be okay. And I felt honored to say that because somebody said that to me one day. So sometimes it's great to speak to others and remember where you've come from and remember what God has done for you in order for you to bless another person.

Chris T 6:04

Alright, so there's a woman that was helped, and now she helps others. She sees her opportunity to help others, and it is a great thing to be able to help others. Um a lot of times God will do things to get in the way of people if they are going to commit suicide. Um in another church that I was in, uh a wife would call me and tell me that her husband was left a note and he was going to she thought he was going to commit suicide. So I'd go search for him, find him, talk to him, and um anyway, did all we could to help them. But um God got in the way of his attempt. Uh he went up to a motel far away, and he was going to go into this hotel and uh motel and end his life. But somehow he tripped on the way to his room and he dislocated his shoulder. And the hotel people called for an ambulance, and then the police came to check things out, and then he started to confess his plans and everything else, so they checked him into the hospital and he got some help and changed his medication and everything, but God totally got in the way of his plans because he tripped and fell and dislocated his shoulder and kind of alerted people that that was gonna go on. Um, if you have somebody that you know that has died of suicide or something like that, that's not helpful at all because you say, Why didn't God get in the way of my friend or my family member or whatever? Um, and I totally know what that feels like. But on the other hand, um there are stories, true stories, of God jumping in and intervening. So, Acts 16, 22. So Paul and Silas are out proclaiming God's word, and there's this woman that is running behind. She's basically demon-possessed in Acts chapter 16, and she's able to tell um people's future. These guys are making a bunch of money off of her, but uh she is being an annoyance. So, uh let's see here. Um Acts 16, 16 about Paul and Silas. One day, as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved. This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and instantly it left her. Her master's hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews, they shouted to the city officials. They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice. A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods, and they were severely beaten, and they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape, so the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stalks. Verse 25. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations, and all the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off. The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, Stop! Don't kill yourself, we are all here. The jailer called for the lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Then they replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household. And they shared the word of the Lord with him, and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed God. The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, Let those men go. So the jailer told Paul, The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave, go in peace. But Paul replied, They have publicly beaten us without a trial and put us in prison, and we are Roman citizens. So now they want us to leave secretly? Certainly not. Let them come themselves to release us. When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, so they came to the jail and apologized to them. Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city. When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with believers and encouraged them once more, and then they left town. So I see some things in that that are really applicable to uh to us today, and that is number one, we are surrounded by people going through the motions, the jailer's doing his job. So all around us, there's people that are just doing their job. They're doing what they need to do to make the money to pay the rent, and they're just about doing whatever. And when a believer comes by and does something unusual or shares a testimony or shares their faith, sometimes they take notice. They might not say anything to you. You might not ever know that you have been used by God to encourage somebody in their in their faith. But so the jailer, he's doing his job, he's doing what he's supposed to do. He's ordered to put these guys in prison, put them in the inner dungeon, in the inner cell, lock them up, don't let him escape. He's doing what he's told to do, he's doing his job. I have no idea if this is the job that he wanted in life or if he got stuck with it. I don't know how he became the jailer, but this is what he does for a living. It's an important job. You mess up, you lose your life. So his fear, the problem was if he lost the prisoner, he could be killed for it. If he were to um, like if all the prisoners were to escape, I mean maybe they would turn on him and try to kill him. But when his boss found out, he would get fired. He would get killed. So he's like, Well, you know, I'll just do it myself. So, number one, we're surrounded by people. So don't forget that there's people all around. God might be wanting to use you. You might be able to talk to somebody at just the right time. You don't know what their intent or what's going on in their heart. We had a testimony of a guy that uh used to go to church here a while back that said when he first came, he had dropped off his kids because he was heading out to end his life. He decided to drop his kids off at church and go out and end his life, but instead he came in and he was greeted and felt cared for and started coming to church, didn't end his life that day. He shared that on his own. We didn't we didn't try to get him to share it. He thought it was important to share. I'm resharing it because that's important. You don't know where people are at or what they're thinking. If people are talking about um ending their lives or hating their lives or whatever, you might want to see if you can offer some hope. Anyway, we're surrounded by people, number one. Number two, Paul and Chas Paul and Silas chose to show their faith even while being mistreated and persecuted. So it's not just that they were thrown into prison, but it's like, hey, wait, we're Roman citizens. You can't do this to us. They could have like demanded their way, they could have said, you know, God, why are you allowing this to happen? Obviously, we can't trust you with our lives because this is a mess, and that beating hurt, and but instead, they're like in jail and praising God and probably sharing their testimony and making all sorts of noise. People are listening. I'm sure the jailer was listening, thinking that maybe they're crazy, maybe he was interested, maybe I don't really know. But Paul and Paul and Silas chose to show their faith even while being mistreated and persecuted. Uh, they eventually got an apology from uh the government at the end, but um still, are you willing to do that? Sometimes I get bad service and I just want people to know I want to talk to the manager. I, you know, not as much as I used to when I was young, but I still want people to know that something needs to change. And uh they could have done that, but instead they were humble and they kept Christ as the priority, and they used the opportunity that they had to glorify the Lord and to tell others about the Lord and to sing hymns, and uh they were living the Christ's life, they were living for Jesus at that time, and there was going to be a result. Number three, the jailer immediately decided to end his life, but there was someone, Paul, he was there to talk him out of it. So, again, I mentioned already that the jailer, if he lost the prisoners, that he might suffer the same fate as the prisoners or be killed by his by whose ever in charge, by the boss, by the government. And so he took information that he had or that he thought, and he was immediately gonna act on it. He was going to take the information that he thought, he's like, oh, the doors are open, all the prisoners must have escaped. How did I fall asleep? How did that happen? And he's like, Great. I guess the only honorable thing for me to do, the safest thing for me to do, is just end my life because they're gonna end it for me. And he took information that was coming to his mind, that wasn't true, and people that think about ending their lives are doing the same thing. They're thinking, nobody loves me, nobody cares, there's no reason for me to go on, people might be happier, I might be doing everybody a favor if I was gone. Um, this will never change, there's no hope for my future, and they're taking information, and maybe it's a chemical imbalance, maybe it's something that could be treated with medication, maybe they've gone through some hard thing that they think their life is ruined. Um, sometimes sexual abuse causes um people, especially women, to think about ending their lives. But so he took information that wasn't correct, and he was about to do something permanent based on the temporary situation, and then somebody was there to talk to him, to talk him out of it. Maybe God can use you to be that person to stand there and talk to them, to walk them through it, to help them. I think there's in a lot of people's lives this season of time where they felt so low that they just wanted to end it all, and then they got through it and their life changed. So the jailer immediately decided to end his life, but someone, Paul, was there to talk him out of it. Number four, the jailer was now ready to act on the message he heard from Paul and Silas. So when the lights came up and he realized when Paul's like, hey, all the prisoners are still here, but didn't leave. I don't know why the prisoners were still there. Maybe there's an earthquake and they're like, ah, where are we gonna go? Or maybe they're like, man, this is amazing, and these guys are pretty special. Maybe there are angels at the door that kept him from going. Nonetheless, nobody escaped. This jailer did not have a problem because everything was alright, except a miracle just happened because the chains just fell off of all these prisoners and the doors just open wide, and that doesn't happen every day. So the jailer is probably like, Wow, God's doing something here. So he's like, What must I do to be saved? And I don't really know if that's the exact words. Bible scholars don't know if that's the exact words he used. What must I do to be saved? But he needed Jesus, he wanted what Paul and Silas had, so he said, Hey, I want what you want. How do I get that? So Paul spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. So I don't know if he lived uh next to the prison, if his family was right there, or how that worked. But this guy, he's like, This is so good for me that I want my whole family to experience. Something just radically changed, a miracle from God, and I want my wife and my kids and everybody to know about it. The jailer was now ready to act on the message he heard from Paul and Silas. So maybe it was the seed planted. Maybe he had heard through the um accusations and the charges against them this message that they were preaching, and so he's like, hey, I want some of that. And so Paul was there, Paul and Silas were there and ready to answer, ready to respond, ready to give hope. Number five, the jailer and his entire family came to Jesus and ministered to God's apostles. So the family came to Jesus, the whole family did, and now they're in they're following Christ, their life is now totally transformed and changed, and on this path to walk with Jesus, uh, there's now hope. There everything has changed in just a short time. And then Paul and Silas were let off anyway, and so they weren't guilty of what they were accused of, really. They were just doing what they should have been doing, and then accused by these greedy merchants who lost their meal ticket through this demon-possessed girl. Uh they should all be celebrating that the girl was set free of the demon. But nonetheless, I can only imagine that what she was saying about these men are uh telling you how to be saved. I'm guessing that wasn't like the announcement, you know, that like brings people in. It was probably more like mocking, like a mocking kind of thing. That's why it annoyed Paul probably. So, but anyway, so those are some things that I had on that. So now another video clip about Anna, who is now enjoying a life that she never would have if she would have jumped off that bridge.

SPEAKER_04 18:51

So growing up, I was the youngest of four kids. I had two older sisters and an older brother, and my parents got a divorce when I was really young. When I was in fourth grade, everything kind of hit the fan. I think my mom realized everything about the divorce was kind of my mind in her mind, and like in the kind of took over the mumble in the hand. Somebody had a cleaning and make sure the mum and make sure that the kills are getting sure that the things are happening in the hands and out of my shoulders and it was really too much. I don't have a little bit of production, I would predict for somebody know that it's going on. I remember when they took a hand green turned. I will still I would steer my bill and I would tear up my window and stick a little more and I would steer in our handy over. And I would feel it. Jumping out of the window. And so freedom working over hurting my family and making them feel like they didn't do good enough to jump. Then it wasn't probably called weird i i did a new level of depression. You know, I can make it to the day. I felt a fork crying and just after myself in the mirror, kind of glimpsing myself in the mirror. I'm just keeping this thing for other people because nobody cares anyway. I took on the I took myself on the screen and giving out the team. And then I look too bridge and I sit there and then I walked up to the end and I looked in and I think that's gonna be that's gonna be pretty ugly, but it's just me clean enough and move on with their days and it's funny stepping forward again to do it and then let my phone ring. My brother's the last person. I mean I didn't get a called as it was, but if I were to get a call, I would never expect it to be from my brother. And then when I entered and he said, Hey, I'm at your apartment I just want to come see you. It was a whole new level, and I knew God was really he was really pursuing me. He was really trying to show me something after my brother picked me up from the bridge. I remember I remember on the way home uh my brother and his girlfriend were there. He brought her and she sat in the vaccine, and he let her sit in the vaccine, which was huge for me to have my brother ask me to sit next to him. And then he held my hand on his on his sticks-tip the whole time. He wouldn't let go of my hand and he was the gears of my hand on the stick-tip, and he didn't want to let go of me. It was the first time in a really long time I felt like somebody telling me I didn't feel like it was just my brother. I felt like it was God next to me. Um, hey, I'm not gonna let you go. I'm not gonna let you go under here and you can't get away that easily if I would have taken my life. On that bridge almost 10 years ago, I would have missed out on my husband's old the love of my life. He is the most amazing man, and God has blessed me tremendously through him. And even more blessed that our marriage, through our marriage, we were blessed with our son Caleb. Now that I have Caleb, he he shows me every day what I'm capable of through God's love.

Chris T 22:55

Alright, so if she would have given up, she would have missed out on all of that. She would have missed out on what God had for her in the future. And her brother showed up and was like an angel to help her. So I have this week been searching suicide resources all week long. So I'm really surprised that somebody from Google or the NSA didn't come to my door and ask me if I was okay. I did notice on Facebook, though, I no longer get advertisements for life insurance. So my guess is they're on to me. I've listed a ton of resources that would help you. There's like I said, there's no way to like share everything with you. The sheet that I gave you is just a highlight sheet from uh Hope for the Heart resources, uh June Hunt. So if you can't get a hold, if a person can't get a hold of the suicide prevention lifeline, they can call her. She has a radio program, uh, great ministry resource. Uh you have like a three-sheet highlight sheet. Uh the booklet that I bought has like 71 pages or something like that. But a bunch of resources in the videos you're seeing are from RightNow Media, the free video service we offer to people that uh have come here. But I've just got this ton of resources uh like uh if someone commits suicide, can they still go to heaven? Is suicide the unpardonable sin? Uh grieving after a suicide, seeing suicide through scriptures, which is actually from another church, which is really awesome, which I could have shared with you too. Um but there's links to that. Rick Warren's son uh committed suicide uh out of depression. They tried to help and treat, but Saddleback has uh there's a link here, has a bunch of resources in a video training class that you can go online and learn from their video training class. Um Campus Crusade has Giving Life another chance, and Dawson McAllister has What to Do If You Want to Kill Yourself and Feel Suicidal. Uh there's a bunch of things from Got Questions, uh some videos. Uh there is a on I Am Second.com uh article that somebody wrote to their friend who committed suicide called 13 Reasons Why Not, an open letter to my friend who committed suicide, which is totally worth reading. Uh and then an interesting thing accidental overdose or suicide, coroner rulings complicated. And then there is this resource on right now media from um silent images, it just came out, but it's got like 30-minute programs for anxiety, bipolar, depression, addiction, eating disorders, PTSD, and suicide. And I really wanted to show you some video clips of that, but it wasn't appropriate for church because it was a little too violent, a little too sad. But you should really watch that, that would be good. And then some video links. Uh there's a I am second white chair film about an MMA fighter who was gonna end his life, but that's like super kind of violent, kind because he's an MMA fighter. But anyway, those resources are there for you. And I always have these great ideas that we're gonna have more time together to share all the resources and go through them. But really, if this is something that interests you, you need to uh become a student of that. And I guess it's time to start reading and watching videos and learning. Um I think it's interesting on the sheet. I'm not gonna confuse you by going through the whole sheet or anything, but I think it's interesting that it lists some different types of suicide, and there's so there's the deliberate act that you can tell, and then there is the um, you know, suicide, you know, by copper or whatever, where somebody does something where they want to die and they try to make that happen, or they uh kill other people and then kill themselves, and that's all really sad. But one interesting one that I think that we don't take notice of that maybe we should is when people have self-destructive behavior, when they are trying to drink themselves to death or they're trying to uh they just take chances or they don't care for themselves. I mean, even a diabetic can say, Well, you know what, I'm just not gonna take my insulin and then I'll die, and my family can still get life insurance and nobody will know. A few of the godliest people I've known have taken their lives. Uh a leader from a church gassed himself in the garage, just overcome with depression, didn't see how he could go on anymore, and it's so sad. And then also on the sheet are seven reasons uh to say no to suicide. Uh suicide rejects God's offer of inner peace. Suicide rejects on page two God's sovereignty over the length of your life, God's right to be Lord over your over your life, God's commandment not to murder, God's ability to heal your hurts. Uh, number six, God's plan to give you hope and God's power already within you to make you godly. So, anyway, there's links to this resource online too. I hope that you will look more into it. I really think that the experts have more to say than me. Um, if you find somebody in that situation, um one, be with them. June, in this resource here, there's the idea of a contract that you would make with somebody that you would uh they would like sign that they wouldn't do anything to hurt themselves until they contact you. They'd have maybe a contact list of all the people they could call down the list if they think that they want to end their life. But I'm not an expert on this, but there are experts. And the guy, like all this is on RightNow Media, every everything I'm showing you, which means it's all available to you. Matter of fact, if you go to RightNow Media and just search suicide and scroll down, you'll find a ton of resources. But this guy, he's a doctor professional, he's got a couple uh suggestions. It's four minutes long, I'll show it to you. Dr. Mike Emlett shares wisdom on how you can help a suicidal friend.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

I think the first thing is to take them seriously. That's probably the most important uh thing that if someone has expressed to you that they've been thinking about uh harming themselves, thinking about suicide, you need to take them seriously. Now, what you do after that I think depends on how much experience you have in assessing people with with suicidal thoughts. So if you're if you're just a a great friend but don't have a lot of training in terms of how do you actually probe someone in their in their thinking, then I think the appropriate next step is get get someone else involved who has some greater experience. And do it do it right then, you know, with the person in your presence. Is there someone that we can call right now? Who else can we bring into the loop to help you with uh with this struggle? It may be a pastor, it may be a friend who's a counselor, there may be other other people. But that would be, I think, the the first thing is to enlarge the the group of people who are who are helping this person and can walk with them and assess their level of suicidality. If you're someone who has that kind of training, has um feels pretty comfortable assessing where where someone stands in terms of their suicidal thinking, then I think you you continue to probe with with questions and very specific questions. Well, tell me what tell me what you mean by that. Or um sometimes people will give more of a more of a vague, I I don't want to live anymore, or I wish I were dead. And it's more of a it is more of a passive kind of thing. And when you when you ask them further about that, they will say, I don't I don't want to do anything to harm myself. I've not really thought about doing anything to harm myself, but I just I wish I would die in my sleep, or I wish I would get hit by a car, or something like that. And it's um that's a different level of danger than someone who, as you ask questions, they you find that they actually have a well-developed plan. Um maybe they're going to take a bunch of pills, or they've thought about using a firearm, and you find out that in fact they have a firearm and they have a gun in their house. And as you ask further questions, well, have you have you do you have ammunition? Yes. Um, have you loaded the gun? Yes. Um, have you have you put the gun to your head? I did. Well what kept you uh from from pulling the trigger? Um getting getting that kind of information is going to help you to know just how imminent um this this person's risk is. And so there's a there's a lot more, there's a lot more to that in terms of the kind of assessment you need to make, but you need to make sure that you and someone else at least know where this person stands, that they actually not leave your presence if they um if they truly are imminently suicidal. Many people, as you talk with them about their suicidal thoughts, you find they actually don't have a well-developed plan. Uh, and they are honestly not wanting to do anything, but they're but they're scared and they're hopeless and they're struggling. And sometimes even talking that out actually is a beacon and a ray of hope. But I think the thing that I would stress the most is this is this is something very uh very serious. You want to take it seriously and you want to make sure as uh whether it's you or someone else who's more experienced is going through a proper assessment of the person's level of danger. And if they are truly a danger to to themselves, then then there may be other steps that need to be taken in terms of hospitalization and other things like that. But you have to get to that level of clarity and detail to know where a person really stands.

Chris T 32:27

Alright, so some of those videos that I was watching on right now media, um, there was a boy whose grandpa died, I believe it was, and he felt so depressed that he wanted to end his life and he was doing self-destructive behavior, taking unnecessary risks, doing all these things. But then when it really came down to it, he's like, My grandma's still here, and I wouldn't want to hurt her, hurt her, and it's the love that he had for his grandma that kept him going. Uh and that um uh other the resource that I showed you, um the one that had the seven in the series, the one that just came out, um there's uh um in the video that they have on suicide, uh, there's a guy that was dealing drugs and got in a gunfight, got shot, woke up in the hospital, realized he was paralyzed, wanted to end his life, was accumulating his pain pills because he was gonna take them all at the same time, and the nurse came in and found it, and she's like, What is this? And she's like something like she's like, Oh baby, you don't want to do this. Uh you need Jesus. And so he was a mad and he's like, Where was Jesus when this happened? And where was Jesus when that happened? But eventually when he got out of the hospital and went to rehab, I think he said she was there, and then he uh prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And um so it changed him because somebody was there, somebody was there to confront, somebody was there to talk, somebody was there to make a difference. Can we be that somebody that was there? It's interesting that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in America, resulting in the loss of 38,000 lives a year. Approximately 250,000 people a year become suicide survivors. It is the second leading cause of death in the world for people between the ages of 15 and 24. Males represent almost 80% of successful suicide attempts in America, and only one in every 25 uh attempts is successful. Uh men are more successful at it than women. But anyway, uh so many resources. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, what a terrible thing to have to talk about. But it is something that we see in scripture. Elijah was so depressed after doing a great miracle, uh being used of you, uh, all these things that were so good that he found himself worn out in a spiritual depression and just wished that he was dead, wished that his life was over. There was a time when Job felt despairing, and um scripture talks a lot about people that went through hard times and felt like ending their lives, and even some people did. Some people made a mess out of their lives and thought there was no way to go on, like Judas Iscariot. Uh but Lord, there are so many things that we could learn. But we pray that your Holy Spirit would prompt us to be at the right place at the right time, that we would entrust our loved ones to you, and Lord, that we would, if we've suffered this, if somebody that we love has gone through this and we're left and we don't know why, we pray that we would trust you with that too, Lord. We thank you that just the act of suicide isn't the unpardonable sin. If somebody has received you as their Lord and Savior and then gone through some type of depression or difficulty or some compulsion that caused them to end their life, that they can still spend eternity in heaven. But Christ followers shouldn't uh not trust you, uh, shouldn't end their lives because you can get us through even the hard times. So Lord, I pray that you'd make sense out of the things that I've shared and shown, that the resources would be helpful, that you would protect our loved ones and protect our hearts, and help us to be your ambassadors, your ministers of reconciliation, and that we would be that hand that holds people up when they're so low in despair and uh sadness. So we ask this all in Jesus' name, amen.