{"id":42295,"date":"2014-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/kay-warrens-advice-for-comforting-grievers\/"},"modified":"2014-04-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T00:00:00","slug":"kay-warrens-advice-for-comforting-grievers","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/kay-warrens-advice-for-comforting-grievers\/","title":{"rendered":"Kay Warren’s Advice for Comforting Grievers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rick and Kay Warren's son Matthew committed suicide at the age of 27 after a long struggle with mental illness. About a year after his death, Kay Warren posted the following advice on her Facebook page:<\/p>\n\n

\n

The truest friends and "helpers" are those who wait for the griever to emerge from the darkness that swallowed them alive without growing afraid, anxious or impatient. They don't pressure their friend to be the old familiar person they're used to; they're willing to accept that things are different, embrace the now-scarred one they love, and are confident that their compassionate, non-demanding presence is the surest expression of God's mercy to their suffering friend. They're ok with messy and slow and few answers … .and they never say "Move on."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Grief; Depression; Death; (2) Mother's Day; Infertility<\/strong>—This could also be an excellent quote on Mother's Day for those who are grieving the loss of a mother or for couples who are grieving the inability to have a child.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[409],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3548,3636,3649,3737,3762,4032,4101,4140,4335,4380,4457,4495,5103,5105],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-42295","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-caring","tax_ctp_tags-comfort","tax_ctp_tags-compassion-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-death","tax_ctp_tags-depravity","tax_ctp_tags-funerals","tax_ctp_tags-grief","tax_ctp_tags-help","tax_ctp_tags-lamentation","tax_ctp_tags-listening","tax_ctp_tags-mental-illness","tax_ctp_tags-mothers-day","tax_ctp_tags-suffering","tax_ctp_tags-suicide"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nKay Warren's Advice for Comforting Grievers - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/kay-warrens-advice-for-comforting-grievers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kay Warren's Advice for Comforting Grievers - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rick and Kay Warren's son Matthew committed suicide at the age of 27 after a long struggle with mental illness. 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