Updated: 11/8/2024

Sermon Prep

So unlike the majority of sermons I’ve uploaded onto the blog here, this one was never preached by me. In fact, the teaching pastor of our church shared this message last minute instead for me. God had other plans this Sunday.

On this Sunday morning, my wife Glory woke up and had a lot of blood like more than a period. When you’re pregnant 15 weeks that means one of two things: a miscarriage or a UTI. It could be other things certainly, but we’re not medical experts so for us that’s what we assumed in the moment.

Our urgent care opened at 8am that morning, so we rushed to go there and figure out what the hell was going on. We were both in a huge panic that day and I was emotionally distraught. I was so angry with God that we got our hopes up to be parents and then he ripped our child away before we could ever meet her.

Before we left to the hospital, I quickly typed up my handwritten notes so that Andrew the teaching pastor could preach using them to cover for me. I would’ve loved to preach this sermon since I had a large focus on my relationship with my Dad, but God’s will won out. Here’s the notes for the untaugt message:

Sermon Notes

Opening Line

• My Dad is built different.
  • Knows deception, yet fell in love with truth.

Intro

• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
  • Latter-Day Saint summers meeting with missionaries.
  • Ministry verse = 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Transition To Main Point

• Like my Dad with me, Paul encourages Timothy in the same way.

Main Point

• Avoid deception, embrace completion.
  • Let’s read how Paul does just that.

• 2 Timothy 3:10-13 | Persecution vs Deception
  • Paul alludes to the past to remind Timothy.
    • See Acts 11:19-16:13 (reference only).
  • Persecution is a reality, not a fantasy.
    • Definition: Hostility towards a type of people.
  • Deception is easy to allow and hard to avoid.
    • We would rather be deceived by comfortable lies than confronted by unpleasant truths.
• 2 Timothy 3:14-17 | The Sacred Scriptures
  • Paul encourages Timothy to pursue completion.
    • See Philippians 1:6 and Colossians 2:9-10 (read 1 passage aloud).
  • God and his scripture guides us to completion.
  • We need to trust Jesus through the spiritual journey into completion and escape the deception that we know better than God.
• 2 Timothy 4:1-5 | Timothy’s Great Commission
  • Paul demands Timothy to stay committed.
    • See 1 Corinthians 15:58 (read passage aloud).
  • We love self-deception more than finding completion in God. We like to be fooled.
  • We need to avoid deception, embrace completion.

Why This Matters

• Everyone wants a purpose in life, yet no one wants the painful path to get there.
  • See Matthew 7:13-14 (read passage aloud).
• Following Jesus on the spiritual journey and finding life’s purpose is difficult.
• Are you on the narrow road or the wide road? Where are you on the spiritual journey?

Final Thoughts

When we got to the hospital we were scrambling to get someone to see us. Glory and I really thought this was it. She had a miscarriage and we lost our baby, but God was doing a work in my heart that morning.

As we were waiting for results from tests for hours and I mean hours, I was wrestling in my heart with God. Hating him for taking our daughter, yet God pressed me and made me consider if I had made our unborn daughter an idol above him. Was she my god? Did I value her above everything else and the answer was yes I did.

It was a revelation that I needed and I apologized to God for elevating someone above him. I recentered and had to humble myself before God for my idolatry. Trusting that God will make all things good and that he is good, whether or not our daughter is born. My faith matured in a big way that day.

After nearly 7 hours at the hospital we were discharged and everything worked out, even though we never found out what happened to Glory. Our daughter was okay and healthy, Glory was healthy as well, along with me having a newfound trust in God’s goodness. Through life’s highs and lows, God is good and is the constant we can all completely rely on through it all. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.