April 23, 2023

Hope in the Face of Suicide

Speaker:
In Hope In the Face of
Hope in the Face of Suicide

Sermon notes

In 2021, in the US, there was one death every 11 minutes due to suicide.

  • 12.3 million adults seriously thought about suicide.
  •  3.5 million adults made a plan.
  •  1.7 million adults attempted suicide.

Suicide is currently the leading cause of death for young people ages ten to twenty four. Approximately two out of every three young people who have suicidal thoughts never get help.  – 3 Big Question by Kara Powell 2021

Possible causes

  • Biological
  • Relational
  • Circumstantial
  • Spiritual attacks
  • Substance abuse
  • Mental struggles

Psalm 31

How to address mental anguish

  • Take your laments to God.
  • Make relational connections with others.
    SLAP (specificity, lethality, availability, proximity)
  • Serve someone else
  • Seek professional counsel and listen to the right voices.
  • Learn from the stories of others.

How to respond biblically when someone you love and care about has died by suicide

  • Suicide is not the unforgivable sin.
  • We are free to remember their life, not focus on their death.
  • We should not dare to contemplate it ourselves.