(Shared at Trinity Baptist Church, Norman, Sunday night, July 6, 2025)
Many of you know that while I was serving at the First Baptist Church of Angleton, Texas, last August, my wife Cheryl experienced a devastating stroke which left her unable to use her left side. Cheryl & I are very grateful for your pastors, who have encouraged us, and for the prayers this whole church has prayed for us as we’ve gone through this time, and we are so thankful to be back at Trinity. Some of you know us from when we were here ten years ago, from 2013-2015, when I had an illness which had caused me to step down from the pastorate for a couple of years, and this church ministered to us in such a great way then as well. Trinity truly is our home church, and we are so thankful to be back here with you all!
While Cheryl was in the hospital that first week after her stroke, she told one of the doctors: I am so shocked and so disappointed this happened. She said, I was walking 3 miles every morning; why did that not prevent me from getting a stroke? The doctor told her: “The kind of stroke you had should have either killed you, or left you in a coma. Your walking saved your life.” Cheryl immediately called all her walking friends, and said, “Don’t stop!”
But upon further reflection, Cheryl later said: “The doctor said my walking saved my life, but God’s word saved me from the darkness” of those horrific months after her stroke. And when she says “God’s word” much of what she is referring to is specifically the Book of Psalms.
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