0:00
Speaker 2We've been we've been missing the drummer. So we're we're doing more acoustic lately, if in case you're wondering. But all the same, it's it's a chance for us to worship. Can I share a verse from you? It's it's just a great one.
0:14
It's from Romans five. And the verse is, since we've been justified through faith, that's how we're right with God. It's through faith in Jesus. We have peace with God through Jesus. And that's what this opening song is about.
0:28
So can I encourage you to sing out, sing loud? How about we stand for the first two? How's that sound? Check this out from Acts two. God raised Jesus from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its
3:09
Speaker 1hold on him. Isn't that awesome? It was impossible
3:13
Speaker 2for death to keep its hold on Jesus. Could not do it. God, that great truth is why we're we're gathered here right now because you overcame sin and death. And because you overcame, we overcome. And that's a gift.
7:00
It is just good news. It is something that fills up the soul. It gives us strength for the day, and I'm grateful. We're grateful. Amen.
7:08
You guys can have a seat if you want. I I don't normally do this, but I'm going to. I was thinking of it. The song we're gonna sing is great are you, Lord. But would you just throw out some things?
7:19
Why is God great? Can just would would you throw some things off? Why is our God great? Saves. He saves.
7:27
He's merciful. He's merciful. He forgives. He forgives. Oh.
7:31
Snap. Jinx. Yeah.
7:33
Speaker 1Did anyone look out the window?
7:35
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. Creation screams his name. Absolutely. Are there other things?
7:45
Well, named up some really good ones right there.
7:49
Speaker 1She was singing his greatness.
11:16
Speaker 2Amen. I would like to invite up Lauren, and Lauren is gonna be sharing with us tonight. And she's been through a lot, and I know she'll share it. Come on. Come on.
11:29
But here's the here's the here's the thing. Why why do we ask people for testimony? Well, because testimony is this. It's we hear God's word. Right?
11:40
We pre Ray and I are preaching every every right? But this is where the rubber meets the road. Right? This is where faith comes into action. And I thought about that all day and I thought, thank you, Lord, that your word is doing its work in people's lives.
11:57
Really? And that's that's my thought today. I was like, thank you, Jesus, that your word is is sticking, and it's still it's it's working. The gospel works, by the way. Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension works.
12:12
It's the power of God within the believer, and it works. It transforms life. And that's what you're gonna hear tonight. And so can we let Lauren know that we love her, we're glad to hear.
12:25
Speaker 1Woah.
12:29
Speaker 2So good. Sit here where where you are. That doesn't happen every time.
12:33
Speaker 1Enjoy. That's a nice choice.
12:34
Speaker 2Ray and I don't get a boss like that.
12:36
Speaker 1It wasn't me. Can I The last guy? Let's see. Can you guys hear me okay? This is too high.
12:47
It's good. So like always or like the one time I was up here, I'm gonna try and not run far over on time. But I'm looking around the room, and there's, of course, a lot of familiar faces. And I just wanna first thank all of you who've been praying for me and my family and my dad and all of us. And I just wanna thank you all.
13:14
For those of you who don't know me well, I've been going to first be here for probably the last four years. And what I wanna talk about tonight is a story that's not necessarily my story, but it's my dad's story. And my dad was diagnosed with cancer this past April and recently passed away a couple weeks ago. So before you start crying and all sad and mopey because my dad isn't here with me anymore, I'm actually sharing this story because I think it's really helpful. And God has shown me something really incredible in the last couple weeks, couple months, and I'm kinda eager to share it with you guys.
13:58
Carl convinced me to do it tonight, and I've only been home for a week. But I think it's great to do it because God has done all the work in it, and I think it's time to give him credit with exactly what he's done. So the poor guy's in the back. Well, Blake's gonna try and follow along along with me. Oh, man.
14:19
We can just push that. Yes. There's like a magic contraption they came up with that does this. Good. Because I might not stick to my notes.
14:28
But I want to share this story, and I want to share some scripture that I think has been so relevant throughout it. So bear with me because it's probably not gonna follow perfectly. But I'm calling this my dad's story and my father's story because I think our heavenly father is like, this is just a crazy parallel to me because I wanna share his story, but really God did all the work. So let's start there. So this is me and my dad.
14:59
We came out here together, well, five years ago this August, and he came out with me. I knew no one. Dropped me off, you know, at an architecture firm here to interview one morning, and and then we had a week of vacation, and I moved out here the following year. So that is him. His name is Mike and big papa as sometimes we called him and papa fry as some of you know him, and he is a great guy.
15:33
He's got a great sense of humor. He's probably one of the most loving people you would ever met. Just absolute gem to our whole family and probably taught me everything about being compassionate to people that you could ever ask for. And then I got my mom's gift to talk, so we have that going on here. So anyway, I wanted to put up here why share.
15:57
I found a a verse in Romans, and you can read it along with me. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also the Greek. For for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.
16:19
I think I'm learning what it means to not be ashamed of the gospel because God has shown me the impact of it. So with that said, I guess I want to start part of my dad's story with telling you where we all come from, which is kind of living on our own strength. And my dad was no different than all the rest of us. He had definite struggles in his life. He had definite high points.
16:49
But I've seen some of his lowest lows. He struggled with alcohol for majority of my life, but the undercurrent of who he was is you know, it's always been there. And I think even in this whole time, God allowed him to drop his addictions and his struggles and just be, like, one on one with God and trusting in in him. And so, anyway, I thought it was important just to talk about how we all start living on our own strength and that no one, you know, no one seeks God necessarily in in what they're struggling in can be so powerful to them so early on. And so I have a couple slides just you can kind of breeze through the the scripture here.
17:43
But one of the next ones I found that I thought was kind of relevant was that even though we start living on our own strength, the underlying truth is that all things are created through in him and through him and for him and for his glory. And I think I've I've somehow understood that for a while in things I saw my dad struggle with. And I think that actually came from something my dad instilled in me is that people might be hurting and suffering, but in the end, there's there is good in people. So I think this verse applied to me because I realized that still God used all those things. He used every struggle he went through, and he used it for his good in the end.
18:36
My dad could relate to anybody. The week after he passed, we were putting together some thoughts on a service for him, and and we all kind of joking jokingly recalled the time that my dad met this homeless guy in San Francisco, and we were down near the wharf or something. And and the guy's son said, why lie? It's for beer and cigarettes or something. And so my dad immediately walked up to him and said, hey, man.
19:04
I just like that you're honest. And he gave him $10, and we all kinda laughed because that's kinda guy my dad was. Like, he would've you know, he didn't have a stranger. And a lot of people affirmed that to our family as we met him through calling out. He's like, your dad nobody was a stranger to him.
19:21
You know? Like, he could relate to the low man, to the high man, and he would treat you all the same. And so I think God used the high points and the low points for his good throughout my dad's life. Let's see. What else do we have here?
19:38
So this slide actually, a little bit of it got cut off because I gave these guys a tough task. But the top of it, had put that God seeks us. And I saw this so clearly in my dad that it's like God was knocking all the way along his life. He didn't want to listen. He didn't, you know, it's it's not for me, or he didn't quite understand it.
20:06
He grew up Catholic, and we had a discussion one day, and he said, you know, when I grew up and was going through being an altar boy, like, I just didn't understand why I was up there going through these really monotonous prayers, and it didn't mean anything. And why am I doing this? You know? And and so I think even though God was there and planting seeds of seeds of truth throughout his life, you know, he still struggled with, you know, why God? Or, you know, a couple probably six or seven years ago, I remember a time where my dad and I talked about in kind of a heated conversation like, well, how can there be a God?
20:44
There's all this evil in the world. Like, how is there God if these things happen? And at the time, I didn't have the knowledge and wherewithal to know an answer for him. And I saw that as a definite struggle for him. That's a time where I certainly doubted that my dad even trusted that there was God, even had it in his thoughts because it seemed like he had dismissed him.
21:10
And I I'm putting these verses about God seeking us because I think I know they're relevant, especially John six here where it says, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. Some of you who know Gary Geek has, he's told me this verse a couple times too about God drawing you. And I think I can now look back and say, there were so many times where God just kind of was trying to draw my dad and and he had those walls up and didn't see it. But in God's goodness, on our next slide, he allows crisis sometimes. And I think I can fully believe that it's for his good and for his glory.
21:58
And I do believe that it's our choice how we respond to that. So in April, when my dad was or end of April, early May, actually while I was in Guatemala, he was officially diagnosed with lung cancer. He had been kind of sick and not feeling well for a while and they realized there was a tumor and it was a pretty immediate something serious, you know, like that's a moment of crisis, which Ray has talked to me about, Carl and many of you, you know, like God can use crisis and sometimes he does because there's no other way that we're gonna listen or pay attention. And I think many of us probably have heard stories of people having cancer and that's kind of their moment of crisis. So certainly I think this was for my dad.
22:50
He gave up alcohol immediately like it wasn't a second thought. And his whole life changed to this, like, I want to live. And he told me I was able to go home a week in June. And he said, Lauren, he goes, I just started to see, like, this other stuff is just not important. You know?
23:10
He said, I wanted to drop these things that are not important. And he would watch a lot of TV, and that stopped. I mean, he wouldn't even you couldn't get the guy to sit sit down. He was he had some steroids helping him, but he was all over the place. He was cleaning through things.
23:27
He was this, that. I mean, you had to we got in arguments in June. Said, dad, sit down. Like, go to sleep. Like, he said, I can't you know, I got things I gotta do.
23:36
I said, okay. But still with with that crisis came a realization of the things that are important. And he was starting to allow us to pray for him and be kind of like, okay. That's about enough. You know?
23:54
I'm good. You know? Like, he could pray a little bit, and that was that was sufficient. And it little by little started being a little more accepting to that. And, you know, when he could kind of process what he might he might add a little bit to the prayer at the end.
24:12
But he would mostly let us pray for him very early on. And a lot of you were instrumental in praying for him during that time. And like I said, I mean, lot of you know, and I'm thankful that our church body and other believers have reached out in prayer. So so even in crisis, I think the next slide I wanted to include was that nothing separates us from God's love. I think that so many people go through far more difficult crises that I can't even imagine.
24:49
And it's probably easy to think, how does God love me? And like, where is he in this? And I thought that this was encouraging because still at the end of the day, you know, the first part has a pretty exhaustive list and still nothing can separate you from God's love. And even back to how God seeks us, think, he kept seeking my dad's heart to tell him, you know, it's okay. I'm here.
25:18
And, in June, I went home and was having a tough time kind of one day with my dad and seeing that he was still struggling with the addiction of smoking and and, like, trying to, you know, like, trying to quit, but it had such a grip on him. And one day, I just I wanted to follow him and chase him and, no. You just stop. Like, I know what you're doing. And I was praying about it, and God's just like, you know, that's not your time.
25:47
That's not your place. And you can't say that because that's not a loving thing to help him right now. I'm like, really? What? You know, what am I like, I wanna do something.
25:56
That's our eagerness to do everything we can. So I just kept praying, and that was very trying for me. And he came back in, and I remember just kind of tearing up at the kitchen sink saying, dad, you know, like, the only thing God would give me is just tell your dad how proud you are of him. And I thought, really? So he came in, and I said, dad, I don't know how you're doing this.
26:25
I said, was not at the time, was not ever diagnosed with a terminal level of cancer, but it was very serious and it would have entailed an operation this August. So I told my dad, I said, dad, I'm I'm proud of you. I said, I don't know that I could do and could be as stable as you are right now if I was given the same news. And he said, well, Lauren, he's like, you know, I gotta tell you, he said, I guess. He's like, you know, I don't know how to pray like you and your mom do.
27:00
And he goes, and I don't go to that Bible study she goes to. And which is very true. He was always adamant that he could pray for me, and he goes, don't tell your mom. She'll make me go to Bible study. And that was just who my dad was.
27:12
He didn't, you know, he didn't want you telling him what to do. And he goes, well, he said, I know how to pray in my own way. And he said, well, I prayed about it. And he said, I realized that I can't do anything about this. And he said, it's really in God's hands.
27:31
And he said, so I'm trusting God with my cancer. And I was like, woah. You know? And I think I started crying more than, I don't know, the the girly side of me came out, and I said, dad, that's so that's amazing. You know?
27:46
And he said, Lauren, I I actually am really peaceful about it. He said, it's kinda weird. And I said, dad, that's actually the peace that surpasses all understanding. I said, that's what that is, I think, you know. And he said, oh, okay.
27:57
Really? And I asked him and we got to pray together a little bit then, and I was praying for him like he would let us do in the previous couple months. And then at the end, he started to pray. I prayed a little more, and I prayed a little more, and he prayed a little more, and then that was it. And that was kinda early on in my trip home early in that part of the week, and there would be a couple other times where I always felt like, I don't wanna force it, but we'll talk about this or we'll see if he wants to pray about it.
28:30
And there'd be some more times where we did. So this slide to me, there's nothing I can do about it, and I'm trusting, like, those words are gonna be with me forever. They just really are. And so with that, as you can imagine, God starts changing some things. And so the next couple slides, I might just kind of peruse through quickly.
29:01
Trust. He builds trust, especially when we trust him with everything. And, you know, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Straight doesn't mean without trouble. Does anyone recognize that?
29:17
I mean, it it might be straight, but it's can have some struggles in it. And so I tried to point out whenever I could to him and my mom something I had been learning, which is to pray for God's will. Because sometimes that's a lot better than our idea of how something should go down. And I would just try and help him recognize, you know, or not even help him as much as just say, you know, praying for healing and that God's will be done. And that's a really open ended statement because you really don't know what you're asking for when you when you sincerely pray for that.
30:02
But as we see in Jeremiah, that God has his own plans for you. And sometimes, most of the time, we don't know exactly what that is. So he also creates a new heart for you. And that was so obvious for my dad, I felt. You could see a guy who is a great natured guy.
30:29
He had a lot of old lady friends that he did housework for, and he'd fix anything. And sometimes he said, I don't wanna go down and help her today because she's gonna wanna talk for a long time. You know? But he would go anyway, and he took care of a lot of his his childhood friends' parents who lived in our same town, and they had long since left. And, you know, so he had a good heart, if you will, but I think God still changes your heart.
30:56
And like this says, he puts a new spirit in you. And that was exactly what he was doing in the last couple months to my dad, the moment he trusted him. And like I mentioned earlier, he gave dad his peace. He gave a peace that surpassed all understanding. A peace that didn't make sense when you said, I could die from this.
31:22
This could be really serious. I could really struggle and have a lot of pain, and all these things could happen. Anything could happen, but I don't know, but I have peace. Because it's not in my hands anymore, like I gave that to God. So with that peace, we definitely get hope.
31:40
And I fully believe this hope does not put us to shame. Because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So in a little bit, I'll tell you a little bit about the spirit. But also, just some verses on not fearing because when you trust, there's no room for fear anymore. There really is no reason to have fear if God, who's the creator of the universe, has this whole thing in his hands.
32:17
But has anyone trusted? And then boom. There's still some scary moments. There's something that rattles your cage. There's a moment that makes you doubt.
32:27
There's a struggle. Right when you're at the high point, it comes back again. And I certainly saw this a couple times, especially through the hospital visit. Last two weeks with my dad were in the hospital, so it was very prevalent at those times too. There was times where he could fear, but the spirit was working in him and was drawing him to him to pray, to to start praying for other people in the hospital.
32:57
Another thing that will be with me forever is how much my dad at the end of every prayer, would start praying for the other people in the hospital. He said, Lauren, don't forget them. You know, we gotta pray for them and their families. I thought, God is changing your heart. Oh my.
33:14
You are not praying for everybody else even though you got a lot of things to worry about. So so with that, you know, what do you do when you hit the bumps in the Road and you rejoice in hope? You are patient in tribulation and constant in prayer. And I kinda came back to this when I found this verse, like, right before I left to go home, and then I forgot about it for a little bit. And then I thought, oh my gosh, that's what we were doing.
33:43
And we didn't know it because it wasn't us doing it. I think the spirit was leading that. So with that, you get God's comfort in affliction. He comforts us. I've seen this especially with my dad's passing and just prior to.
34:00
He comforted us in ways that would have never ever imagined or understood prior to this. So God comforts us and gives us freedom. I think the freedom from worry and from doubt and hopelessness allows exactly what God did in my dad's life. It allows him to start praying for other people, start worrying about other people. We ended up at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, And my sister-in-law, who's a nurse, just happens to absolutely love the James.
34:39
Her dad was there for his bout with cancer, and she loves everything OSU. And so my sister-in-law and my dad have had a little bit of a rough year, I would say. And, you know, she's kinda distant, and families aren't always easy. And I guess my family probably is I mean, I don't know. I guess we're not all easy people to get along with.
35:02
But so her and my dad had a few bumps in the road, but somehow during this whole time, you know, God used her gifts as a nurse and her experience and my dad's need were perfectly met. And she started just calling more and by communicating and sharing. And and so I could tell that God used that to change their hearts towards each other. And where where I say this freedom we have, it lets you kind of let the walls down and lets that person back in, a person, people, whoever. So one of the first things or one of the first couple days of the hospital, one of the nurses left was leaving the room and said, Mike, is there anything else I can do for you?
35:50
And they like to say that, and it's kinda cool because sometimes you get coffee or cookies or whatever, you know, which is my dad's weakness. But rather than asking for the things that he loves to ask for, the first thing he said was, well, my sister-in-law or my sorry. Daughter-in-law is cuckoo for this place, and he goes, you got any more of these OSU water bottles? And so the nurse said, well, yeah, see what I can find. You know, they give you the hospital issue water bottle, and I just thought it was so great that the first thing he did was basically ask how he could do something for her.
36:25
And he would generally do things like that anyway, but as his last couple weeks were drawing near, which I had no idea that that's what we were walking into, God started putting more and more and more clarity into each day that went by. And I think that gave me and my family more assurance of just how active God was in every moment. So I can look back at this now and tell you that that freedom allowed him to serve other people, and which is just what God would do is to love other people and put him above himself. And I love to now identify these things and be like, God, that's awesome. He used that.
37:08
You know? So, anyway, I'm digressing a little bit. So back and forth, there's more challenges. There's high points. There's low points.
37:20
It's what life is all about. So when we're challenged again, the hard thing to do is say, why is this happening? You know, like we're praying for this, what's going on? And something that I just kept drawing on was like, God is the author and perfecter of our faith. And I started to pray that with my dad, God's God is using this for our faith and for our good.
37:48
And he said, yeah. He's like, alright. I agree. And so when you see where God is perfecting your faith, it's it can be encouraging when you go through those low points. And then another point on that, which maybe Ray knows.
38:18
It's in Hebrews twelve two, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. Is it also in Isaiah 53? Okay. So one verse that really kept, man, it was all over in my brain, like, throughout this stay in the hospital was Isaiah 53 is the prophecy about Jesus. It is.
38:43
Yes. Ray shared this. I had never heard it in my life. A couple years ago during Easter, and I was like, wow. That's the coolest thing I've ever heard.
38:51
It's the step by step by step, all these things about Jesus and how he suffered and why people thought he was despised and rejected by God. And I actually ended up reading that whole verse one day to my dad in ICU when all I knew was he can probably hear you. And he certainly could the first several days. He kind of sat up and waved and, like, opened one and a half eyes for me, and I thought, wow, he knows I'm here. So I said, I'm gonna read scripture to him, and I just keep identifying more and more and more things like these parallels that are going on.
39:28
God's showing me things he's doing, which is like when you start to surrender your life to Jesus, it's like God's actually now gonna help you identify with him, and sometimes that means struggles. And just the line, he's a man of sorrows. Looking at my dad's face and realizing he is sorrowful. Right? Like, there is pain, and there is suffering, and there are hard things he's going through.
39:58
And then this, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. And I think it's probably hard to remember that through our trials, we can, like James says, count it all joy when you endure trials of various kinds for the testing of faith produces perseverance, steadfastness, hope, and hope doesn't put you to shame. Something like that has been really put back on my heart. So trying to remind my dad that through the struggles, like, okay, like, we can have some joy, and we can start prayers with thanksgiving because there tended to be something to be thankful for. And we also were recalling and remembering when we're praying for God's will in a time we're having something hard happen.
40:53
Is also remembering this. Like, who tells God what to do? Who was there with him when he created the world? And who knows a way that's better than God does? Well, not me.
41:04
So that just gosh. Some of these verses hounded me, and I didn't even know, but they just surfaced. And that was awesome. And so you could thank God for that too. It's like, God puts stuff in your heart because you're gonna need it someday, and he brought it right back out.
41:23
So what do we do? Found this one just recently. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I can't say that my dad made a confession in the presence of many witnesses by his verbal statement of trusting in God.
41:52
But I can tell you that every person who worked with him in that hospital got to see his life proclaim Jesus' love for us. He almost, you know, like, in just being who he was, but now with God's spirit in him, gave back that same love to the people who were around him. So I also feel like the part that says, take hold of the internal life to which you were called. God gave me the most specific example and the most comforting piece of assurance you could ever imagine. And I'll digress a little because I'm almost done.
42:41
But I am wearing a little wooden cross necklace right now, which was first given to me when I first came to Jackson, I went to the Lutheran church for, like, one Sunday, and they gave him as a nice little welcome gift. And so this is my necklace. And so a couple years later, it turns out that a woman who works at Edward Jones, who's our financial adviser person for the office, and mine, I had to go sign a piece of paperwork before I left, the day before I left. And I just happened to kind of feel like all the way along, she seemed like she's a Christian, and it turns out she is. And I spoke with her late on a Friday afternoon, her husband was there, she's getting ready to leave, and telling them why I'm going home tomorrow.
43:24
I'm like, what's going on, and why I need to sign this because I don't know when I'm coming back? And she came back out of the office before I left crying, which caused her husband to start crying and me to start crying, and we were a big mess. And there she gave me a wooden cross, and she's kind of choked up about it. She said, Lauren, I want you to give this to your dad. She said, my husband makes these, and I kind of knew the side story of they've used them for fundraising, this, and the other.
43:55
She said, but I want your dad to have this one. And I said, okay. Well, I'll take it to him. Well, the first week in the hospital, I gave my dad that cross, and he goes, well, I really like this. He said, I got a special place at home, which everyone in my family knows is the top drawer of his dresser where all the special things go.
44:14
And and so I thought, well, I didn't expect him to wear it around because he's a dude, but he likes you know, he's kind of a craftsman in his own right, and he likes wood. And I like wood jewelry, so, like, both of us, we kinda have that thing in common. So he kept it on his hospital tray that week, and I'd also given him a really cool rock because I like rocks because my dad liked rocks. And how many rocks do I have, Mike D? It's, like, 87,000 rocks.
44:42
Yeah. Of rocks. I took one of my absolute favorite rocks home for both my mom and my dad, and I wrote a message on it for him. I said, dad, I love you more than words can express, and still God loves you more. And it was one of these nice smooth river rocks, and he held it in his hand, he's like, oh, this is really nice.
45:02
And I said, I know. It's one of my favorites, but you get it. Know? And he said, Lauren, the nurses have been commenting on this all week, they want to know where it comes from, you know? And so he got to share the story all the time with them.
45:13
And so he had his rock, and he had his cross, and we moved into ICU, and he for those of you who know that drill, it can be pretty intense, and they kinda tie your hands down so you don't fight and grab for the tube. So they loosely restrain you, but nonetheless, it doesn't give you a lot of mobility. Well, as the week was going on, I just kept coming back, putting the cross back on his belly, and kind of pressing it against him like, dad, this is your cross. I'd put that rock in his hand, you know, smooth and it's cool, and his hands were hot, and I thought, well, that'd be nice, you know. And then I pushed the cross against his belly, and then I told the nurses, I said, if it gets in your way, you know, like, feel free to move it, you know.
45:57
If he needs have a new gown on, you know. And they would always come back and they'd put it back. And one nurse one day said, no, I think that's a good place for it. I said, Yeah, I think so. So my dad passed on a Friday, but on a Thursday, which he hadn't done much moving on Wednesday, and he hadn't done any moving on Thursday, my mom and I were sitting on either side of the bed, and he started stirring, which happens a little.
46:22
Come out of sedation a little, and you can get a little fussy. He's stirring a little bit, and all of a sudden, he just kind of reached up. He grabbed his cross, and he set his hand back down with the cross in it. And I just said, okay. You like your cross.
46:38
You know? So he held it there, and I didn't bother at all to take it out of his hand that day. And I know without a doubt that God allowed that so that I could see that my dad was literally clinging to the cross. And I just thought, I can't even believe it. Like, that was awesome.
47:06
So here is his cross on his gown, right on his belly, and it is the last thing I witnessed my dad grab for. It's the last movement I saw him make. It's the last strength he had, because we never felt a hand squeezer and pull beyond that. And I can look at that now and tell you, wow, like, God also assured us. Like, he showed me your dad now has, you know, he has it.
47:45
Like, he's clinging to this, and he's gonna be okay. Amen. And so I wanted to share that with you guys too. Like, I I can't tell you how much hope that gives me because he was at a point where he was not able to verbally communicate with us, and we had to do a lot of trusting, like a lot. And every time we trusted, God answered so specifically.
48:13
I can't sit here and bore you with every detail. I know Ray has been praying and praying and praying and praying praying, but, Lord, I want you to be able to see because a lot of people don't get to see how God works. And I'm so thankful that God blessed me to be able to see it. And that's why I knew I wanted to share with all of you what he's been doing, and what he's done. He is the author and perfecter of our faith.
48:42
And I think at that point, he had perfected it, and it was done. Just like Jesus says, it is finished. You know? And even that, it's in a different term, it was finished, but God finished the job he was there to do. And not one of us could have done it for him.
49:01
You know? That was not one of us could help him give up his struggles in his life, and not one of us could help him get to that point of faith, but God did the work. Allowed the crisis and he brought him fully to faith through it. And so just a couple things I wanted to share with you guys as like a final thought. The verses about kind of the shortness of life have become so much more clear to me right now.
49:36
It is brief and it's unexplainable and it can happen instantly. And it can happen when you don't expect it. And I just want you guys to also hear what's down in Psalm 90. It's teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. And praying for wisdom so that you know how best to hear God in the days that you have, which none of us know what those are.
50:06
And then there's still some hope, not some, there's still hope in something eternal because through the spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. So there's like an eagerness to be filled with the spirit and exercise that faith and be completed. And one of the last two here is it's for whoever believes in you. Like, before I left, I knew and I had asked Ray and some other of my friends and everyone like, how would I ever be able to answer a question? Like at that time, I knew my dad was really sick.
50:52
I did not know this was coming, but I did know because you tell me, and some people do, to listen to the still small voice. And God's used that for me this year, and I'm learning to listen to it. And the thing I knew was I wanna know how to answer to my dad. How do you know you have salvation? Like, I went home with a number of verses to speak to that.
51:16
And I was really only able to read them to him in the final week where he could not respond. So there had to be a lot of trust, and I prayed a lot that the spirit would put that truth in his heart because there's a lot that can go on. I remember in Guatemala at the dementia home, them praying that those people hear truth and not the darkness getting in. And if that wasn't with me, I wouldn't have even known to pray that the spirit be there and hold off that truth and that darkness that can happen when you're completely helpless. So anyway, I digress a little bit, but whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
52:02
And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? And I think that my dad believed that. Amen. You know?
52:10
I think he heard the truth, and I think God helped show that to us, and that helped us let go in a way that I don't think I ever would have totally understood. And so I'm giving God the credit for that. That's what he did. He brought something to completion, and he showed us. It was okay.
52:33
So my last slide is just about going and sharing it because that was convicting to me. So but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. So I'm thankful that God is gracious and a good God.
53:18
And I'm that's as Carl would say, that's the good news. And I just hope that you guys also can hear all along the way how much this is actually God's story. And it's my dad's story, but it's God's story. So he's given me that, and I'm gonna carry that with me because that's a gift that not everyone gets. And so thanks for listening, and I'm glad to bore you with more details as all my friends know that I'm really good at doing.
53:51
But they're way more than what I shared with you tonight. So I hope that gives you hope as well, and seeing God's faithfulness, and seeing how God answers prayers. When you pray for someone's salvation, I fully know that he hears you, and that he is so excited to do it. That I would just say, family members, friends, whoever, extend that prayer that God saved them. Because I understand and I now see he does that work and he's eager to do it.
54:26
So that's all.
54:43
Speaker 2I want every Sunday to be like that. I do. And like I said, this is it's it's where faith and life collide, and you hear that the real life story of how God changes. And so can I pray? Yes.
54:57
I'd like to do that. God, it is incredible. It is incredible to see you work, to hear you working, and it is incredible how your word touches people's lives and resurface once we hear it. It's incredible how your spirit works in us. It's incredible how you cross to yourself.
55:17
And everyone everyone's story is different, and I'm so thankful we got to hear Lauren's dad's story tonight. I thank you for the the legacy of faith that will continue on. I thank you for the hope that we have in you. I thank you for the assurance that we have when we put our faith and trust in you, Jesus. And I'm praying, God, that if there's any doubt that in this room about it, that tonight, that would be erased.
55:46
And there'd be assurance. There'd be life. He who has the son has life. Thank you, Jesus, for the life that you give. Amen.
55:56
Amen. How about we stand up and stretch a little? Good words in this song. What a fellowship and what a joy to mine leaning on these everlasting arms. What a blessedness.
56:09
What a peace is mine. These are these are are are written because these things are true. And I pray that it gets stuck in your head this week. Alright. What a fellowship.
58:26
So I pray that you would go out this week, lean on those everlasting arms of God. They're big, and they got a lot of love for you. And they give you hope, and they give you strength through everything. Amen. Amen.
