WEBVTT 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:13.359 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:18.480 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:32.560 Father God, we're grateful that you brought us here today just to worship you, to tell you how great you are, and just to thank you for what you've done in our lives. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:39.520 And so pray you take this time just to uh look at your word, let it speak to us, and uh let it heal us. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:41.039 Uh so Father, we thank you. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:41.759 Amen. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:44.079 Y'all can be seated. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.719 So a good thing is I did this one service before. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:52.399 I think I got all my jitters out. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.359 You know, um a little bit nervous about being up here today. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:01.439 Um those of you that know me, this isn't uh what I normally would do. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:07.920 Um I'm I'm more the type that I love doing missions um and I love working and I love fixing things. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:14.879 And so um, but putting together and trying to organize my thoughts and communicate it in a way that everyone understands, that was a challenge. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:16.400 And so, but I think I'm good. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:17.359 I feel much better. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:24.560 So um yesterday I was inviting you know uh family and friends to remind them to come out today and tell them what time it was. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:29.200 And I put a little note in there that said, um, Haley's Comet may come again before I preach again. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.319 So Haley's Comet is anticipated in 2061. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:36.799 I'll be 81 years old, so you know I feel pretty good about that. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:58.000 Um I grew up in Richmond, kind of been here most of my life, lived in Dallas for a little bit, but early on we went to uh First Baptist Richmond, and um the pastor was John Lockhart, but while he was out, our youth pastor, Mike Kipp, he would fill in for the pastor, and he was a big Aggie, played football for him, got all this you know paraphernalia in the um his office. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:01:59.840 So any of y'all Aggies will pray for you. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:01.439 I don't see too many out here. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.400 Um I see one in the back, I'm worried about them. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:20.879 Um but we we always loved it when he would preach because he, um, being a big football guy on Sunday, man, he'd hit the 22 and a half minute mark and it was time to close, do the invocation, and you had to be home in time to make sure that you saw the oilers or cowboys or whoever it was. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:23.120 Um good for thing for you. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:25.439 There's no football today, so I got all the time I want. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:28.960 I don't I don't I don't have to really you know cram anything in. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:34.159 Um but uh today I'm just really grateful that Neil gave me the opportunity to share with y'all. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:39.840 Um when Neil called me, um I thought he was calling to say, hey, can you help me fix something at church or do this? 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:40.719 And I was like, great. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:46.400 He's like, hey, would you mind sharing what God's been doing through this whole journey of infertility? 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:48.639 And I was like, ooh, hold on, let me think about that. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:49.759 I'll call you back. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:57.599 Um so a few months later, I kind of gathered my thoughts and uh kind of what God's been doing with Catherine and I through this time and told Neil, I think I'm ready. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:02:59.520 And then he's like, Alright, we'll see you in three months. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:00.560 I was like, all right. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:08.319 Um so give me plenty of time to kind of remind myself of what God did for us during this time, and so that's what I'd like to share with you today. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:12.800 Um Don said, I do really enjoy missions. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.439 Um I'd like, you know, I love getting out there and being able to work and serve people. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:23.120 Um, even if it means taking orders from Brian McKee and some hideous sandals, um, I'll take it. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:35.599 Um but uh you know it it's really I've God used it in my life many times and to uh teach me things about himself and to show me um really just to declare himself in my life. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:41.280 And so I've I've I treasure those times and I've been able to serve with the church in Costa Rica the past two years. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:45.439 And um so if that's something that you've ever kind of been on the bubble, encourage you to think about it. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:48.400 It'd be crazy what God can do with you uh in that time. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:52.159 Um so be careful when Pastor Sunshine calls you. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.080 You never know what he's gonna ask you. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:59.840 Um for those that know me in Grand Parkway, you kind of have a little idea about me. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:07.280 But those that may not know me from Grand Parkway, I graduated from the school right across the street in uh class of 1999. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:13.039 And with that, you may be wondering, what is this punk doing up there gonna teach me anything about the scriptures? 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:25.439 Um what it does teach me is that God has been good in my life, he's been gracious, and has really taught me a lot since I left uh Austin High School almost 20 years ago, which doesn't seem possible, but it um it is. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:30.319 Um so, like I said, God's grace and love in my life for sure. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:36.000 Um, Catherine, my wife, um we just celebrated our 15th year of marriage, which that blows by too. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:37.839 Um I start thinking about that. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:49.199 Um it's funny because I'm actually three years older than Catherine, and um I actually asked her to marry me when she was still in high school, which today I'd probably be carted off to jail. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.639 Um but I did ask her dad for permission. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:05:00.319 I think he failed to communicate that to my mother-in-law because when she came home after I asked her and she said yes, her mom was quite shocked. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:07.199 Um so I don't see Scott Rinfrew in the crowd here, but I know he's got a lot of daughters, and so he's probably mad as a Canadian can get. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:11.920 He's you know, probably mad about talking about his daughters getting married in high school, but that's not me. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:18.560 Um so if you know my father-in-law, y'all can give him a hard time later for me. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:21.439 Um but I want to tell you something. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.360 God confirmed early in my life that Catherine and I were to get married. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:27.839 Um I may you may think I'm this tough guy. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:28.720 I'm a softie. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:32.639 If I can get through today without getting teared up, choked up, then it's a miracle. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:44.160 So bear with me if I get a little uh uh teary-eyed, but I'm not afraid, I'm not sad to admit it, it's just today's a big day just to share what God's done, and so there's some emotion involved in that. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:51.439 But I want to share what God did years ago to confirm Catherine um really how what her role in my life. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:58.240 But we had some friends, um, we used to go downtown, and McDonald's had 29 cent cheeseburgers. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:06.959 So for 20 bucks, you can buy, I mean, a couple sacks of cheeseburgers, and go talk to homeless guys, talk to them about the Lord, pray with them, and hear about their struggles. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.720 Well, one day we're in McDonald's parking lot, and it's sunny. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:18.399 Landon and my friend Shane were all sitting there praying, and this homeless guy just breaks our circle, puts his hands in there, and starts praying with us. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:23.199 And at the end of the prayer, um, he said, You know you love her, you just need to do something about it. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:24.240 I was like, whoa. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:26.160 All my friends knew that I like Catherine. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.800 All my friends knew that I was too shy to really kind of step out and initiate this. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:39.199 So the homeless guy speaking to me at McDonald's that I didn't know or meet really, you know, was God's way and an unusual way of speaking to me in my life. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:45.600 Um so I knew that Catherine and I were to get married, and that's why we got engaged in high school. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:49.360 Took us a little while to get actually get married, but we were there. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:54.560 Um getting married so young, we received quite a bit of unsolicited advice. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:04.480 Um I remember uh how many times we were told we're making the wrong decision, you don't know what you're getting into, um, you've got your whole life to think about this, and I was like, you don't get it. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:07.199 I know this is what God has for us right now. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:17.360 Um, we were told we'd be barefoot and pregnant in no time, um, which, if only that were the case, you know, looking back years later and struggling to have kids. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:28.800 Um but one commitment I did make to Catherine and her parents was that she'd finished college, and you know, a lot of people go off to college and kind of get lost and disappear and do all sorts of stuff they regret and never finish college. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:30.959 So I felt like we did pretty good. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:37.600 Um life early on for us, you know, we were in school, but life wasn't stressful. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:43.199 Um, our jobs, you clocked in, clock out, um, didn't have to really think about work once we got home. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.480 Um, it was real common, like we'd love to stay up to 1 a.m. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.199 and watch Craig Ferguson, the late, late, late, late show. 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:52.079 You know, you gotta be work the next morning, it's no big deal. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.800 So that was, you know, we kind of did life. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:02.399 Um, it wasn't hard, we didn't have big challenges, we didn't, you know, it wasn't easy uh uh at the same time, but it wasn't a big deal. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:11.680 And so God was always providing for us and giving us um what we needed, not necessarily what we wanted, but we were always in good shape. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:19.360 Um the funny thing is I think about staying up one o'clock at any time now, and I can't do that anymore, um, for any reason. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:26.800 Um but um what I wanted you know kind of get into is Catherine and I we moved back to Houston in 2011. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:35.200 And around that time we started thinking, okay, we're out of school, we've checked all these boxes, you know, we really would love to you know start having kids. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:40.480 And so this is a process that you know you kind of think it's gonna happen. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.559 Everyone warned us it's gonna happen, so we think for sure it's gonna happen. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.559 Um, but it was it was a struggle. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:53.840 It wasn't something that happened, it wasn't something that right away that we were able to say, hey, you know, we're gonna have a kid. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:58.000 And uh it was I think October of 2014. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:02.320 And on my birthday, Catherine woke up and she's like, Hey, we're pregnant. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:04.320 I was like, Yes, this is awesome. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:11.519 This is something that we're excited about, we've been praying about and um really hoping uh that God would provide. 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:16.399 Um but only a few weeks, you know, we were cautious, we didn't tell a bunch of people. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:28.960 We had friends and um that have gone through this where you get excited, you tell the whole world, and then you know, you have a miscarriage, you gotta go through the struggle, and you gotta go and relive it with everyone, you know, time and time and time again. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.840 And just a heartache with that, so we kind of kept it quiet. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.320 Not that we weren't trying to celebrate anything, just we were trying to be careful. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:45.360 And a few weeks later, Catherine did end up having a miscarriage, and uh it made kind of a you know, it was a tough time. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:49.679 I mean, it's not easy, it's not something that we just you know bull rush through. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:52.320 But um, so that was my birthday. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:56.000 She told me she was expecting, and then later to have a miscarriage. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:05.600 And so I came home from work one day, and Catherine was in the shower, and she asked me to come over there because uh she wasn't feeling very good, and I was like, okay, you know, this is weird. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:11.360 Next thing I know, she just collapses, passes out, stops breathing, eyes closed, everything. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.120 I was like, man, what is going on? 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:16.879 So as I'm dragging my wife out of the shower, I feel like, is this breaking bad? 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:18.960 Are we gonna roll up on carpet and take her out? 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:20.159 Or what's going on here? 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.159 You know, I didn't was not expecting this. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.720 I'm talking to my wife and thinking, God, what is going on? 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:34.879 Well, about 15 seconds later, she kind of came back to and had a call family and say, hey guys, um we didn't tell you we're expecting, but now we gotta tell you we're not expecting. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.320 Um, and we're going to the hospital. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:39.440 So if you want to come up there, um, that'd be great. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:49.519 Um but you know, that was that night at the hospital, the doctor kind of explained just all her blood loss, her body kind of just hit reset button, kind of restarted. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:54.720 We're all used to our phones and computers doing that, so her body took key and kind of did the same thing. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:56.559 Um this was new. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:58.080 Um I don't know about y'all. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:03.919 Um guys don't sit around watching a baseball game or something and talk about miscarriages. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.399 At least my f guy friends didn't. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:13.840 And so um this was a new subject to kind of deal with the disappointment and the hurt and the loss that we we experienced through that time. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:20.639 Um but this kind of I look back and in our journey that we went through. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.759 This is kind of when the journey of infertility got real. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.440 This is the time when um I thought, man, we'll get pregnant again. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.600 We got pregnant once, we can do this again. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:31.120 This won't be a problem. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.080 Um, but little did I know what God was you know putting us through this next couple years. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:46.159 Um so after a result of that, you know, we had a few doctor visits and this and that, and then the doctor kind of said, Hey, I think it's probably best y'all go see a reproductive enchrinologist. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:47.919 Never heard of that before. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:59.039 Um, and so after you know, you're going to that and we got a diagnosis of you know what was causing infertility and kind of the challenges we faced with that, it's kind of like the doctors love to play money ball. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:02.159 You'll go there, and he's like, All right, you're 30, this little chart. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.240 Oh, you have a 3% chance of having a baby. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.000 Oh, three, that's it. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:14.879 I don't know about y'all, but I wasn't very excited every time that and he's like, oh yeah, then you gotta pay to hear that news about how little chance you have of having a baby. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.200 Um and it was every time, you know. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.639 Oh, like if you're 30 in a day, you got 2% chance now. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:22.559 It's like, wait a second, that was yesterday. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.039 You know, two weeks later, we're already going down. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:34.399 Um and so it's that seeds of doubt that you know the the numbers and the things would plant in our head about what God can do in our lives. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:41.039 Um so now we got this diagnosis, we know the challenges we faced, and we start these treatments. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:48.799 And mind you, remember I told you October of 2014 was when we first thought we were pregnant and then went through the miscarriage. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:55.200 The next October, every October 2015, 2016, was all um hard times. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:00.559 We'd either had an IVF transfer that didn't work, or we had bad numbers or these bad status. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:02.559 Always October was a bad time. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:07.279 But I want you to remember that because I want to come back to how God redeems October here in a minute. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:12.639 Um, I feel like I'm doing better. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:14.000 I was nervous last service. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:14.480 Wow. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:16.480 So feel more comfortable up here. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.000 Feel like they got the bad end of the deal, so y'all, you know, y'all feel good. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:23.759 Um but forgive me, I just pick up here. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:31.039 Um one thing that was hard for us to understand is you know, we did marry young, but Catherine and I made a commitment early on to one another. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.759 Um, you know, when we dated, we tried to honor God with our relationship through our purity. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:37.759 When we married, we were both virgins. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.200 And when we married, we had not kissed until two days before the wedding. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:47.919 I told her we didn't want to embarrass ourselves in front of the whole crowd, so at least we needed to practice, you know, get get that out of the way. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:52.720 So, but the whole time I'm wondering, God, did you not honor our commitment we made to one another? 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:54.240 Did this this, you know? 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:59.039 But God, you've got to remember we serve a mighty God and He can do big things. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.200 And I don't think He didn't honor our commitment. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:03.519 He just had other plans for us at the time. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:06.000 Um, but at the time I didn't understand it. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:09.039 Um I asked myself, are we no longer God's children? 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:13.200 Have we lost his benefits and the rights and the pleasure of being his children? 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:19.840 And like, you know, when a child asked his dad for something in providing, what happened that God didn't hear our prayers? 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:25.519 What happened that we you know we didn't get experience this great thing that everyone I see around us? 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.399 I see kids coming into terrible um circumstances. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:37.440 Watch the news all the time about kids that are abused or not wanted or left out in the hot car or whatever you hear about, thinking, man, God, I'll I'll I'll take care of one. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.600 You know, I'll take care of mine, please. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:43.519 Um so that that was hard to hear and go through. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.639 But earlier I mentioned we had this routine of life. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:54.399 It was kind of life was easy in the sense that we didn't have big challenges, that we didn't have big struggles, we just kind of were able to get through. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:56.320 This is when life got real. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:03.360 This is when uh infertility kind of brought out the bitterness, the loneliness that we experienced through that time. 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:11.200 There's not uh, at least I didn't know about it, just you know, where you could just go talk to people about the struggles. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:26.000 Um you know, and through this time I got to meet a lot of good people in our lives that really uh changed uh friendships that changed us and helped us through this time, but this is unlike anything that we had ever experienced. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:36.799 Um and one thing during this time, like I mentioned, when a little kid asks you, like if you're a dad, and a kid asks you for a toy or even for something, you're happy to give it to him. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:39.120 And I was wondering, well, God, what what about it? 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:42.240 You know, and I almost felt like has anyone ever had a kid throw a tantrum? 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:45.840 You're at the store and the kid loses it because you won't buy X. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.559 I mean, anyone happened? 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.960 I felt like that was me with God. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:55.759 I was starting to get bitter and get frustrated in my soul about, God, don't you hear us? 00:15:55.919 --> 00:16:00.639 Don't you know our heart and know that we want we want this child and we want to be parents? 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:06.240 And it was it was a it was a struggle and little by little um that kept ha happening, happening. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:08.320 But little I know, you know, God is a good God. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:15.919 Even when your parent told that kid no at that time, that parent still got home that night and took care of them, provided for them, had a roof over their head for them. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:18.159 It's not like they abandoned the kids. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:19.440 Kids just don't see that. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:24.320 At the time, I didn't see what God was doing to provide and protect and sustain us. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:36.480 But that daily exercise of Satan being in my ear and trying to create, see the doubt of why I should not believe that Yahweh, the God of creation, was able to provide for us. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:42.799 But something that um I don't want to sit up here and think, oh, poor me, even though I've I've probably done a good job. 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:44.159 Y'all feel bad for us now, right? 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:45.120 We look like good people. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:47.840 I mean, we should have no problem to have kids. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:52.080 My wife Catherine was stuck dealing the bulk of this burden. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:17:04.799 The countless appointments that she had to go to, leave work, go to the parking garage, fight for a spot, get up there, take your blood, do this, um, you know, was a constant thing that she had to experience all the time. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:07.599 And if you know me, I love fixing stuff. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:10.000 I love building, fixing whatever I can. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:11.200 That's how my brain works. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.640 Like walk away, like it's it's it feels great. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:18.400 But my wife and I were broken, and I couldn't fix that. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:22.720 It was a crazy feeling of just being, oh man. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:27.279 I mean, it very isolating to say the least. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:32.079 You know, here I am, my wife's dependent on me, and you know, and I I can't help her through this time. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.720 This is something that you know she had to struggle. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:55.759 And not to mention, during all these times of you know, wondering, is God gonna provide, you know, we this child is you know, all the struggles, all the doubt you deal with, and then they mess with her hormones, all this stuff to make her think she's really gone crazy, that she really doesn't know what you know day it is, who she's mad at, or what she's mad at, or why for. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:00.720 But just the fact that you know, part of this process of infertility is they mess with your hormones. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:08.240 So if you're just a pre-warning, if you didn't know that, um, that's just a the burden that she had to bear in this process. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:11.680 Um, but I want us to think about this. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.119 God does all things for the glory of his name, not ours. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.000 So we serve a mighty God and a big God. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:27.279 And I want to keep saying that a few times today because during this whole process, um, God reminded me of that, that it's not about us, and it's about his name and his glory. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.960 But at the time I wanted to say, hey, look at us, God, feel bad for us. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.559 So as long as I've got y'all to feel bad for us right now, I'm doing good, right? 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:38.319 Well, I want to I want us to keep thinking bigger than that. 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:40.720 Um, should I give it up? 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.599 You know, God, you know, we've been faithful, we've trusted, you know, we've prayed. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:47.599 Why, why haven't you answered? 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:54.559 Um do y'all think that, you know, the first year we were going through this, we thought, okay, we got this. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:58.960 You know, God's been good to us, it's a little roadblock, we'll get through it. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:02.640 It wasn't until after about the first year we're like, God, we need you. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.559 We can't do this on our own. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:08.559 This is a struggle that um is beyond what we can do. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:17.200 Um I remember going, uh I called Neil, because I don't know if you many of y'all know Neil Marcy struggled with infertility years ago. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:24.880 And um, so he was kind of like the first person I knew that I could trust and kind of helped me just flesh out my frustrations and struggles. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:33.680 But I haven't you ever like in when you play sports or you're wrestling with your brother or sister and you get the wind knocked out of you, and you can't really breathe or you can't really talk. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:36.720 It's just that I mean anybody, am I the only one? 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.799 Have you been knocked knocked the wind out? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:40.480 That's what I felt like with God. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:44.319 I'd sit down and you know, we go to pray, and it's like, what can I say? 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:46.640 What else can I say that I haven't said already? 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:48.000 Has God not heard me? 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:50.400 I mean, I've done it 762 times. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.519 This is the 763rd time, now he'll hear me. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.240 It was that doubt and that that frustration. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:06.799 And um, I remember sitting down with Neil thinking, okay, I can get Neil to kind of feel bad for me, and he'll kind of take some of this burden off of me, and you know, like I'll I'll feel good about it. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:12.400 And sat there and, you know, Neil's got his legs crossed, kind of pointing away, and he's like, This is not how it works. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:14.400 You know, we serve a big and mighty God. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.000 It's time to pray and trust God for that in that. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:25.359 And so having people that um kind of go through that process was a big deal for us. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:30.559 Um but at the same time we struggled, and it it was real clear. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:37.200 Um, I got my good friend Marty here today, and um I told you I'm a softie. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:41.119 You know, many times we set up Whataburger and uh he would just pray for us. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:21:01.519 Um he would listen to me, kind of um express my frustrations, but knowing that he was praying for me and Kelly and all these people, little by little, the more we talked about it, the more people were praying for us, the more we knew that we weren't alone, um, that we were trying to figure out what this means for us, but God had put people in our life. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:11.359 Um I don't know if you remember a few years ago, Lindsay's husband Brandon, shared with her at the church one day about their struggles with infertility. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:23.519 And um, that was a great time for us to build a relationship with them, and uh they end up not skip not giving you a spoiler alert, but they had a baby, and then a week later we end up having a baby, but we'll get there. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:29.519 Um so this brings me to the heart of what I wanted to talk about today. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:32.240 Um, and obviously is prayer. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:38.160 Um many times we've prayed and we asked God for things, many times we pray and we confess God to things. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:40.319 Um, many times we pray and we worship God. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:42.079 Just say, God, thank you for doing this. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.599 Look what you've done, look how you did it, is beyond what I expected. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:47.599 I never thought you would have done it this way. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:51.440 I wouldn't have done it this way, but we give you the glory because this is how you did it. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:57.440 Um so, thinking about that though, I want to say something today. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759 Prayer is asking God for something, and it's simple. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.359 Form coming to God and asking God for something. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.240 Like I said, there's many aspects to it. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:12.079 We, you know, we'll confess, we'll uh tell God where we failed him, where we've done wrong, but we'll give him praise. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:16.400 But at the very core, um asking God for something. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:24.000 Um but I like to think prayer is the belief that we can ask God to intervene and affect changes in nature and it changes the course of world events. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.640 Remember earlier I said we serve a big and mighty God? 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:27.759 Let's think about that. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:33.039 Do we believe that God, praying to him, can change the world, change everything around us? 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:38.640 Because I'll be honest, I'll be the first to say many times when I pray, I think I can affect a box about like this. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.079 I don't think outside of my box on what God has the ability to do. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:52.799 But trusting God that he has the ability to do more than what's around me, that he can change the world and change the people around me is a big deal because we serve a big and a mighty God. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:58.000 So I want to go to the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, 7. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:01.920 Um something I just wanted to start off with. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:07.039 But it's kind of, I'm sure we all know if we had to, we could recite the Lord's Prayer by mind. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.480 You know, I mean, we've all heard it probably many times in our life. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:12.880 It's something that we've come accustomed to hearing. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:18.880 But I want to challenge us today, like the way we think about it and way we go about reading it is important. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:22.240 Uh so I'll read it first off. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:28.720 It says, And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.559 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:40.559 Pray like this our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:49.039 Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:54.640 The f the first thing about this that kind of strikes me as funny is God tells us, you know, to pray like this. 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:59.119 He says, But when you do, don't don't repeat the same thing over and over. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:02.240 Because that's kind of what um the pagans would do. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:10.400 Pagans, you know, in in that time, you know, they thought if they kept saying the same prayer over and over, it'd give validity to their false God and say it over and over. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:17.519 And now it seems like a large sect of um certain areas of Christianity and and Catholicism, this is what they do. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:21.200 They say this prayer over and over again, and that's what he told us not to do. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:24.640 So take heart to what we pray and have meaning behind it. 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:27.599 Don't just repeat it to repeat it, is what I take away first. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:32.960 Um, first thing, there's three things that are asking God to do big for his name here. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:37.680 Um lot of times when you get a book on prayer, it says, make your name hallowed. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:47.680 It's got this idea that uh, you know, God, make your name hallowed, be revered and come and respect your name. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:48.799 That's what we're doing. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.119 But the Greek reads as an imperative. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.279 It's a little different than what we use in English. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:59.759 Um, and I'll be honest, when I left that school across the street, my English was very poor, probably because I wasn't a very good student. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:07.039 So when I went to school and had to take Greek and Hebrew, I learned English a lot better by taking Greek and Hebrew than I ever did across the street. 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:15.279 So I speak to you about Greek today, not that I'm some expert or very proficient in it, but it does it does speak to us a little bit here. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:20.799 Um so the imperative verb is used as a command or an instruction. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.759 But the third person imperative in the English is a little tricky. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:29.279 If you were to write it exactly, it would say, um, he cleaned his room. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:30.319 It's kind of vague. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:32.880 We know it's not the right English, something doesn't add up. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:35.359 Um, or you can say, let him clean his room. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.680 It's kind of how we work around to make it work. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:45.200 Right here, it says, hallowed be my name, but if you really get into the literal, it says, make your name hallowed. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:47.680 He's saying, God, make your name great. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:49.359 Restore your name here. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:51.119 Because people don't respect it. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:58.079 So let's think about if you're a Jewish person at the time reading that, they would have thought of Ezekiel 36. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:00.720 It says, I will vindicate and hallow my name. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:02.640 So I'm gonna read it real quick, so give me a second. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:10.240 It says, Therefore, say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, Is it not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act? 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:25.920 But for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came, and I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them, and the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:34.880 When though I will vindicate my holiness before their eyes, I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you to your own land. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:41.839 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanliness, and from your idols I will cleanse you. 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:46.640 So that's saying, You didn't respect my name, my name wasn't revered. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:48.799 And so God says, I'm gonna vindicate my name. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:58.000 So when we say make your name hallowed, we say, God, restore your name, make your name great here among us, among the nations, so people know and respect your name. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:00.720 To me, that's different than saying, Make your name hallowed. 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:02.799 So I like I like that. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:05.759 I think about God vindicating his name and making his name known. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:11.759 It's clear, it's established, it's not vague, it's not politically correct that we can say one thing or not the other. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:15.200 God's name is great, and that's what we we're asking him to do. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:19.039 The second thing that says, make your kingdom come. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:26.640 And so we got this idea, we're talking about prayer and asking, and so the second thing he asks in here is make your kingdom come. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:29.680 Or I like to say, cause your kingdom to come. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:33.200 So when we're praying, we're saying, God, make your kingdom come. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:35.440 Cause your kingdom to come here on earth. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:41.680 I don't know about y'all, but in my prayer times, rarely have I said, God, your kingdom come. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:55.759 And I don't know if that's just my own fault for not thinking bigger than what's around me and thinking bigger than what's around here in Fort Bend County, but thinking about God's kingdom coming back and being on earth, um, and the call that we have for that. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.440 Um I wanted you to think about Revelation 8. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:15.839 And it's in there opening the seventh seal, and there's a lot of craziness going on, and you know, God establishes a kingdom, and it says this and another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censor, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints of the golden altar before the throne. 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:21.759 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:27.519 So when he says, Make your kingdom come, these prayers, you know, kind of get all taken together. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:31.200 When his kingdom's coming, it gets offered up as a sacrifice. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:36.400 And to think about that, we get to play a role in that when we're asking God to make his kingdom come. 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:42.079 But again, key word, we're asking in that prayer for his kingdom to come. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:47.359 The next one says, Um, your will be done on earth as is in heaven. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:49.440 Now, this would make life easy. 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:55.200 I don't know about you, we got a lot of sin is clearer in our life, in our culture. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:29:02.079 We got all this strife, we got all this disappointment, heartache, everything associated with living in a broken world. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:06.640 Right here it says, Um, your will be done on earth that is in heaven. 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:09.920 So if we had heaven on earth, will we have all those problems? 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:15.200 Will we have our struggles, the aches and the pains and the groans that we have of sin in our life? 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:19.119 No, we'd be worshiping God because we'd be heaven on earth. 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:24.079 So, another thing, when's the last time we asked for God to bring heaven on earth? 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:35.359 But again, we're back to that, my idea about asking and asking God to do something big, and whether it be bring his kingdom or do something big in our life, in our prayers, we're asking. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:40.160 The next three parts of the Lord's prayer are the needs for our interim. 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:44.559 You know, we talk big picture, talking about God, asking him to do something big. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:49.759 Well, the next three, we're asking God to do something, sustain us and keep us in our lives. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:53.200 Um daily bread. 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:56.960 It says, uh, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:00.640 So the word here is it's a rare word in Greek. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:05.599 It's not used anywhere else in Greek literature, but it literally means day-by-day bread. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:09.119 So we're asking God, hey God, we need you to sustain us. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:11.200 We need you to give us our day-by-day bread. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:17.119 Now he didn't say, hey, I need a piece of cheesecake at lunch, I need flan at dinner, and cream billet for dessert. 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:19.440 You know, that's not how he's communicating here. 00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:20.799 It's about meeting our needs. 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:24.240 We're asking God, hey, we need you to meet our needs. 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:36.480 That was me struggling with this infertility thing, saying, God, I have this need that I'm asking for you to provide and sustain us and um and to provide this child that we're praying for. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.880 I drive a lot, just kind of out and about and with the job. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:45.359 Um y'all ever fill up at the shell gas stations, and it's like this little TV. 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:48.960 When you're filling up, they try to like make you watch TV while you're pumping gas. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:50.880 Has anyone else seen that? 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:51.759 Alright. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:58.079 So you watch, they have little sports, they'll have a little news, a little cooking show, and then they always have like a word of the day. 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:03.599 And I was sitting there the other day and I was I got embarrassed last service because there's three people in here that heard of this word. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:07.279 So we'll see how many of y'all have ever heard of the word heuristic. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:10.240 Man, where were y'all first service? 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:12.319 I could have oh, we got one. 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:15.440 Oh, he was in first service, so that's why he knows that one. 00:31:15.680 --> 00:31:19.440 Um it was a you know, it's a very definitive word. 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:24.240 It's something that if you or I use in normal conversation, I think you look at me like, what'd you say? 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:25.680 Or I mean, who do you think you are? 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:26.319 You know. 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:32.640 But what it means is the diver involved learning and discovery, problem solving by experience. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:38.319 The diver used a heuristic approach to figure out where he put his hands for the best dive. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:49.279 I think this word here, being used only once in Greek literature, is a really, really like sharp arrow pointing to what he was trying to say about God providing day by day. 00:31:49.519 --> 00:32:02.000 It's a very uh the the thought that um God sustains us, and he's not we're not worried about tomorrow, we're not worried about yesterday, but each day he's given us and provided for us enough to get us through that day. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:03.519 So, y'all following me there? 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:05.440 So this very specific word. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:14.400 Um, and now next time you're at the gas station, you can pay attention to the words they're trying to tell you, or at least it's 10 minutes not to have to look at your phone or do something. 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:15.680 But anyway. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:22.480 Next part it says it talks about um forgiving those who sinned against us. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.279 It's not referring to salvation, but he's talking to the disciples. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:29.359 Um, has anyone ever done you wrong? 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:34.240 Have you ever walked away mad and angry and ticked off about what you couldn't believe what someone did? 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:36.480 Am I the only one that's ever had that? 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:39.039 That was my struggle back in the day was anger. 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:40.559 Boy, I could get mad. 00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:44.400 And you know, I think that's something that God really has worked in my life. 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:47.680 And if you know me, I don't really get fired up about a whole lot these days. 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:49.359 Um, except for the Astros. 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:50.319