[0:00] Hello, everybody. I'm Rick Reynolds. I was a member here for when I was a teenager and then I came back last October.
[0:10] ! I just, you know, this morning I thought about it and I wanted to share a little bit! about the opportunity that the Lord given me.
[0:22] It was basically what I call a second opportunity because statistically I shouldn't be here. Statistically the way that I lived my life for 25 years I should be dead.
[0:37] And you know, I never figured I would make it to 50 years old. And with the Lord's good will and all, I'm 51 this year.
[0:51] But, uh, to make a long story relatively short, I don't really want to share who I was.
[1:02] I'd rather share who the Lord has helped me to become now. And, uh, here's how it went. I was sitting out at my mom's talking to her back last November.
[1:19] And I said something about Brother Calvert and I said, man, I'd really like to talk to him sometime. Mama says, hey, uh, do you want his number? I said, actually, Mama, I do.
[1:29] So, Mama gave me his number. I decided, hey, well, I'm going to call Brother Calvert and I'm just going to go, uh, talk to him. Things aren't exactly going the way that I feel they should be going in my world and in my life.
[1:44] And, you know, I just want to, you know, I want to at least do that. Because, uh, for many years, I, uh, you know, I wanted to make sure that this was what the Lord was calling me to do.
[2:02] I checked out different religions. I checked out pretty much everything you could check out. And the funny thing is, y'all, is after, after all these years, the Lord led me right back to where I started.
[2:18] Which was right here in this little church that my mom brought me when I was four years old when she adopted me. And she made me come every Sunday until I was 18 years old.
[2:31] There wasn't any question about whether I was coming or not. I was coming whether I liked it or not. That was on the, that was in the Lord's heart for her. And, you know, the Lord, he did have a plan for, for me.
[2:47] And, you know, in hindsight, looking back on my life, you know, I wouldn't be here without Jesus Christ. I'll just tell you, you know, like I said, statistically, I shouldn't be here.
[3:02] All the things that I did. And, and, and the life that I led, I'm an alcoholic. I've been sober for about two and a half years now.
[3:17] And, you know, I was, I was a heavy drinker for 25 years. Every day. And, you know, I figured, I figured out from that that you can't run from your problems.
[3:32] That's, that's what a lot of people do when they want to go that route is run from their problems. You know where it led me, y'all? It led me, it took a while, but it, you know, it, it led me on my knees asking the Lord to help me.
[3:45] Because that's the, that's the only way I was going to be helped. You know, I told my wife when I quit drinking, I said, I said, I said, I'm not going to be here another year if something don't change.
[3:59] I said, I'm done with this. And, and I ain't had a drink since. And, you know, it, it worked slowly. I got to talking to, to Brother Calvert, which I, I joke with Brother Calvert, you know.
[4:14] I, I told Brother Calvert, I don't think that there's any other pastor that could work with the Lord to get me back on the right track of where I need to be with the Lord working within my life than him.
[4:28] Because Billy Joe understands me. Billy Joe, he doesn't, he, he's not judgmental of me. You know, he understands that, you know, the, the Lord has a plan for all of us.
[4:40] You know, so, but, uh, I came and then I came again. And, you know, the Lord, he just led me. Hey, I told Brother Billy Joe, I said, you know, I said, I was saved when I was 15.
[4:55] I said, but, you know, I don't think I did it for the right reason. And, uh, you know, I said, at, at this juncture, you know, and who I was and the life I lived, I don't think I took it very seriously at that time.
[5:11] Well, uh, I told Brother Billy Joe, I said, man, I really want to get rebaptized and, uh, you know, I want to, I want, I want to let the Lord and I want to let his people know that, that, you know, Jesus Christ is my savior.
[5:28] And that I'm going to be a different person than I was. And so he's like, well, when do you want to do it? I said, this Sunday. I said, you know, no time's better than the present.
[5:41] I mean, we could all leave this afternoon and, and, you know, get hit by a drunk driver and get killed. And we'd all be home with the Lord. But, you know, if you're not, uh, if you're not on the right track with the Lord, you don't get that opportunity once you're gone.
[5:57] Now, you know, that's my opinion on it. You've got, you've got all the, you've, you've got the time, you've got, you've got the time to minister to people and to share.
[6:09] And while you're here on this earth, if you, if you wait till you're gone, then, you know, you're done denied the Lord and the Lord, you're going to get to heaven.
[6:20] And the Lord's going to say, did you ever ask me into, did you ever ask me to save you? Did you ever ask me into your heart? And, you know, that, that's where it got to me, you know, uh, going back a couple of years, I guess.
[6:37] And I won't make this all night thing, y'all promise. But, uh, you know, me and my mom, we used to have the biggest arguments because my dad, he worked out of town.
[6:50] And when he was home on the weekends, I wanted to stay home with my daddy. I didn't want to come to church because I never got to see my dad. And, you know, my mama, she prayed and she prayed for my dad.
[7:03] Wonderful dude. Any of you that knew my daddy, he was a great dude. And finally, she got him to come to church. And the change that that man made in his life really touched my soul.
[7:17] Because, you know, my dad was never a bad man, but he wasn't a Christian man for a long time. And so, you know, the, the, in the joy that I saw in my mama's heart when, when daddy started coming to church, when he got saved.
[7:37] And, you know, I was, I was still struggling for a long time. And then, and then daddy left us and I got to thinking about it. I got to thinking about all those years that I could have been going to church with my mom and dad, doing the right thing.
[7:53] That I could have been out to the house instead of, you know, running amok or whatever. And it, it just, you know, Jesus works with us.
[8:05] He works with us in mysterious ways. And Jesus, you know, I'm so thankful today. On my birthday, I'm so thankful that, that I made it.
[8:18] I never thought I'd be 30 and live. I never thought I'd make it to 40 and live. But 51 and living and getting to spend my Sunday with the people I love in, in the Lord's house.
[8:31] You know, having, having the, you know, having the privilege that we have in this country that a lot of people don't have in other countries. To come together and serve the Lord together and, and worship together and share in each other's fellowship.
[8:47] I mean, you know, we are a lucky people. And it was just overflowing this morning. That's why I wanted to come up and say something. Because I love the Lord.
[8:58] I love my church. I love all the people I've met. All you guys are, you know, all you guys are a blessing to me. Because I could come to any one of you and say, hey, I need to talk to you about something.
[9:11] And any of you would stop what you were doing and talk to me. And try to help me with whatever's going on. So, but anyway, I love you all.
[9:22] And I want to say praise Jesus for me making it 51 years. And let's make it 51 more. Thank you guys.