Father's Day 2015

Give it up for the dads here today. Happy Father's Day all of you fathers, dads we love you we're so glad you're here and now let me ask all of you are you excited to have Dave Dravecki here at Twin Lakes Church. Well before he takes the stage direct your attention to the screen watch this.

Dave Dravecki the famous pitcher for the San Francisco Giants a 21st round draft pick who fought his way up the ranks to national stardom. Growing up I had two heroes Sandy Kofax and Vida Blue they were left-handed pitchers all I cared about as a little kid was I wanted to throw a baseball like they did. I would have to say he was a tremendous competitor he had this tremendous desire to win. Some people are born with just gobs of talent but they only use about this much and with David David had this much and Dave used it to the full extent.

At the zenith of his amazing major league odyssey Dave's doctors noticed a strange lump forming. Finally they said okay let's just get it checked and so we went to the doctor and had an MRI. We were in the waiting room waiting for the doctors to come back and talk to us and outside of the room we heard the doctors fooling around with the film slapping it up on the thing and then all of a sudden the doctor said oh my goodness look at that tumor. It was cancer in his left arm his pitching arm and so the doctors came in and told him they believed he had a fibroid tumor at the base of his deltoid muscle they would have to remove it along with 50% of his deltoid muscle.

The doctors said Dave Dravecki would never pitch again but 10 months after the removal of cancer from his arm. You don't never use the word finish when you talk about Dave Dravecki because he never finished. He stood on the mountain in Candlestick Park on August 10th 1989 and he stood there in amazement. The magnitude of that night I was unreal it was like a more like a World Series game the seventh game in the World Series and he got a stand ovation when he walked down by the bullpen when he first started warming up he got a stand ovation when he finished he got a stand ovation when he went to the mound.

It was just incredible to sit there I didn't really manage that game I just sat there and all. Dave returned to the mound to pitch eight electrifying innings for the Giants leading them to victory. But then five days later on the mound against Montreal Dave Dravecki threw the pitch heard around the world. The sixth inning and I'm back out on the mound and you know I rear back to throw a fastball to Tim Raines who's at the plate and all of a sudden as I let go of that pitch my left arm snaps in half. This incredible explosion in my left ear from releasing that fastball and my arm snapping in half. I went falling to the ground almost when in shock.

There was something going on in my life that was a whole lot bigger than baseball so much bigger than baseball. He was checked by the doctors and they told him the tumor had returned. His left arm shattered along with his dreams of a major league comeback. The man with the miracle arm must now face the future as an amputee. Baseball was just a stepping stone to something much greater. Twin Lake Church let's give a warm and enthusiastic welcome to Mr. Dave Dravecki.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. It sounds like Elvis. Not even close. As you guys can tell I've got a frog in my throat. He jumped in a couple days ago and I haven't been able to get rid of him but we're gonna work through this. It is so good to be back here. You know 15 years ago is a long time ago and to be perfectly honest with you I remember pieces of 15 years ago being back here. And by the way Mark, you and Val are two of those pieces that I remember.

And René, however, man being here for the weekend just just reminds me of how awesome it really was 15 years ago when I was here. You guys are amazing. This is an incredible place. What a wonderful place you guys get to call home. I mean I hope you realize how precious Twin Lakes is. I mean these people here really do care for you. You know if you haven't had an aha moment lately you might want to think about that as one of your aha moments of how special it is here every day.

You know speaking of aha moments I don't have my the notes but but the notes that you have there the white note where it has the title for my presentation. What if God isn't who you think he is and neither are you. I'm not doing that by the way. I just wanted to let you know in advance. Last night it was so amazing. I had this whole message prepared which is where I'm at today on my journey. And the last time I was here I didn't share what I'm gonna share with you today.

Now it still has pieces of my story but it's very different because it revolves around a very important question that relates to our worth. How do we define our true worth? So that's the question that we're gonna settle into this morning. And my aha moments are moments because it's been a series of events where God has done the aha thing for me that have helped me to be where I'm at today. And the peace around my worth is without a doubt the most significant aha moment of all. And so we're going to talk about that.

But before we move into that you know I was so appreciative of seeing all the young adults who are going to be involved in the camps. I mean I just think that's such a cool thing. It really is. And if you noticed on the shirts the phrase celebrates the story. That's such a powerful statement. You know ladies and gentlemen quite frankly I think we have we have created an environment in a culture today where we don't pause long enough to celebrate any piece of our story.

We're so caught up in trying to acquire things. We're so caught up in being busy because if we're if we're not busy then that means we've got to be still and we freak out over being still. We get caught up in a bunch of other stuff and we miss out on the significance of the story that is being written called our lives. Every person represented in this place this morning has a story that God is writing. Whether you realize that or not God is writing your story this morning and he's been writing mine.

And so what I want to do over the next hour and a half to two hours is to share in much more detail now that this is the last service my story. So one of the cool things about story that I've learned how many of you have you as you've journeyed through life and with God have tried to figure out where God fits in your story. How many of you have tried to figure out where God fits into your story? Yeah a lot of us do.

Well you know what I came across a quote that I don't remember but it's a really I understand the substance of the quote okay and it's a really powerful statement that says this it's not about us trying to figure out where God fits into our story it's about us journey with where we and our stories fit into God's greater story. That's the cool piece about life is discovering where you ultimately fit in God's story and trust me as I said he's writing your story so he desperately wants to be at the center of that story.

The question is will you engage with him so that he is? And that's the challenge of living life every day. So I brought a prop with I brought two props with me this morning. I brought the bling bling. Now this bling bling is the 2014 World Series ring for the San Francisco Giants world champions. This puppy is heavy. It really does shine a lot. They might have get a little glare in their eye around here. I mean is this amazing or what?

I mean absolutely incredible. You know what this service I'm gonna apologize in advance I have to digress. I'm going on a rabbit trail Jan. Yes I am. I just want to tell you one thing you lead us into worship with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords in the most beautiful way and I cannot thank you enough. Amazing. Amazing. As a matter of fact I may do something even weirder in this service than I've done in the first two by asking you to come back up for a moment in relationship to a song that just moved the living daylights out of me in relationship to my story. So hold on to your hat.

How do you and I define our true worth? The world defines worth for us in a very specific way doesn't it? Worth is based on how much you have or don't have. You can be worth a lot or you can be worth very little and it's rather interesting how we will relate in relationship with one another based on how much we have or don't have. It's really interesting isn't it? For me as a baseball player I was driven by worth because everything around the world of baseball revolves around performance and statistics and so the stats on the back of my card revealed how much I would be worth.

And ladies and gentlemen I think there's something so much more than defining us by that and yet that is what our culture presses in on us to do. And so as I share this story with you I challenge you to think about your own stories and as you think about those stories in the context of your worth there are three things you're gonna learn about me. The good, the bad, and the ugly because that's me. But guess what? I'm not alone because every one of you in this room represents the same thing.

But here's where the real kicker is. For some of us when we reach the bad and the ugly we go through it authentically. But for others we've learned to play a very significant game and that game is about wearing masks so that no one can really get to see the real us in the midst of those challenges of life. And you know what ladies and gentlemen? That was me. I had a tendency to put on a mask. But today, today I was reminded in a song about my freedom and that freedom comes by tearing off the mask and never putting it on again and realizing what you see is what you really get. That's my story.

And I'm on this journey and it's lifelong. But it revolves around those three key components. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The kind of lay the foundation for the journey that I have been on over these past 30 plus years of walking with Jesus. I grew up with a dream. I wanted to be a baseball player. I wanted to play in the major leagues. I wanted to be the next Sandy Kofax or Vida Blue. I'll never forget when I got the phone call from Bob Klok, the farm director for the San Diego Padres, who told me I was about to I was going to the big leagues.

I will never forget that phone call. It was two days after my daughter Tiffany was born. And Jan brought in to this world our little princess. By the way, before I go any further, I want to introduce my bride who really is the wind beneath my wing. Talk about a woman who has had grace. Talk about a woman who has had mercy. Talk about a woman. Well, we'll get to that part of the story. Let me just tell you, she's pretty doggone amazing. She really is.

And so here I am with this incredible dream. And all these wonderful things are happening to me as a young boy playing this game baseball. As a senior in high school, I remember in that phone conversation from the farm director telling me I was going to the big leagues. This wonderful flashback occurred to when I was in high school. You know, have you ever had those moments where you've worked so hard to try and get to a certain place and all of a sudden you've got the phone call and it's about to become a reality? That's amazing. That's amazing.

But let me say one thing, very important. Sometimes in life that phone call doesn't come. You've had a dream and for some of us it's been taken away. And there's a young man here today and I'm not going to ask him to stand up or point him out, but he knows who he is, who has had a dream stripped away. And I know it hurts, but the reality is what I've learned when you lose something is that God gives you new dreams to dream. He gives you new dreams. And so never forget that. Never.

Here I was this kid in high school wanting to play baseball. I'm like, holy smokes. Where am I gonna go? There's not one school, college or JC, that's recruited me to play for them. Not one school in the country wanted Dave Dravecki. You're sitting there going, Dave, how in the world did you get to the big leagues then? That's a good question. So I lived in Youngstown, Ohio. I went to Youngstown State University, the local university, and I walked on and I played for that baseball powerhouse, the YSU Penguins.

The YSU Penguins. And in that phone conversation with Bob Kluck, who was telling me I was not going to the big leagues, all I could remember were those four years at Youngstown State where I was a walk on. You know what happened, folks? When I walked on for spring break, I chose to go to Florida instead of staying back and practicing inside in Youngstown, Ohio because the weather was horrible and I figured go to Florida, I could play catch on the beach. Still get some sun, have some fun, and then come back and join the team.

Well, I did that and when I got back, guess what happened? It wasn't a uniform for me because I didn't stay with the team. Valuable lesson. I went off and did my own thing and as a result, I had to wait two weeks before I got a uniform to be a part of the YSU Penguins. But finally, the manager of the team said, "Dave, we're having a doubleheader against the Akron Zips, Akron University and you're pitching the back end of that doubleheader. It's a seven inning game." And that day, ladies and gentlemen, I threw a no-hitter against the Akron Zips and then I was offered a scholarship at McDonald's post-game meal. And so it was pretty cool.

So four years at Youngstown State University and then all of a sudden, I'm reminded of another phone call. A phone call went all of a sudden on the other end, on the second day of the draft, the summer draft for kids out of college and high school, I get called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates and they're telling me that I have just been selected in the 21st round by the Pittsburgh Pirates and I am the property of this organization that is only an hour and 15 minutes from my hometown. I am now a professional baseball player.

You know what kind of bonus money they give you in the 21st round? They offered me a cup of coffee and they gave me $500 a month. I thought I was rich. That first season, I played nine weeks. You can calculate my income. Came back and got married to my bride and was so grateful to supplement her income. But our journey began in professional baseball. In that phone conversation, another beautiful memory. 1981 spring training, working out with the triple-a team and all of a sudden, there's about a week left in camp and I'm actually looking at a few guys afterwards. We're kind of sitting around and we're talking about baseball and somebody says, "Hey, if you never get to the big leagues with the Pirates, the Pittsburgh Pirates, where would you want to play?"

Well, the consensus around the room from one guy was the best place to go and several guys agreed was the San Diego Padres. Well, we said, "Why?" And they said, "Well, we heard if you never get to the big leagues with the Padres, at least our triple-a team is in Hawaii." So we thought, "Yeah, man. That will be a bad gig." Well, a couple days pass and now there's only a few days left for us to break out of spring training and go to our respective teams and play for the summer. And I'm hoping to stick with this team because triple-a is only one step below the major leagues. That means I'm only a phone call away.

All of a sudden, the farm director comes into the clubhouse after practice that day and he's looking around and the next thing I hear is my name. Dave Dravecki. Here I am Murray. Murray Cook was his name. He says, "Come here. I need to talk to you." I knew it wasn't good folks and as I approached him, I was so scared because I didn't want to leave this organization. Only an hour and 15 minutes from my hometown, man, that would have been icing on the cake. He looks at me and he says, "We've traded you." And I was so disappointed because I wanted desperately to make it to the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

But I can't tell you how hard it was to hold back a smile when he said, "We've traded you to the San Diego Padres." And now all I'm thinking is, "Hawaii, here I come." And with that, he looked at me and said, "They're shipping you off to Amarillo, Texas." I was like, "Where on God's earth is Amarillo, Texas?" As I've shared in the other services, somebody said the panhandle and I said, "What is that?" Really didn't pay attention in geography. But off I went to Amarillo, Texas.

And you know, anytime you get traded from an organization to another organization, you realize one doesn't want you but the other one does. That's why they went after you, okay? So, it's a young organization. The Padres at the time were only about 16 years old as an organization. And so I'm sitting there and I'm thinking to myself, "Man, I can make my mark. I can show them on the next Sandy Kofax or Vida Blue. Those were my heroes growing up." And so I'm thinking, "You know what? I'm going to show them my stuff." Well, I started off one and four. Not very good.

But you know I had a wonderful manager. His name was Eddie Watt. You guys remember Eddie Watt? Baltimore Orioles back in the 70s. Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer. The moment some of you older guys know who I'm talking about. Eddie Watt was on that ballclub and he's now my manager. And he was incredible because this guy got into my head. He didn't take me down in the bullpen and try and fix my mechanics. He got into my head and he moved me from being a thrower to a pitcher. He taught me the art of pitching. And it was amazing.

Well, I started off one and four. But guess what? I ended up 15 and five. I had an incredible season and I was selected the minor league pitcher of the year. My wife and I were flown to San Diego. I got to sit in the suite with Ray Kroc, Mr. McDonald's. It was so cool until he started screaming and yelling at his players and they weren't nice words. You know, he had a tendency to do that. He actually went over the loudspeaker once and chastised them for their poor play and apologized to the fans. And so I'm sitting up here, I'm listening to this guy and I'm going, "Do I really want to be in this organization?"

But all kidding aside, he was a wonderful man. And actually a couple years later he passed away and the 1984 season was dedicated to him and we actually got to the World Series that year. But here I was and I was now the minor league pitcher of the year. But you know what folks? That success was wonderful. It really was. But it wasn't the most important thing that was going on in my life in 1981. Because you see at that point in my life, I thought I was a Christian. I went to church and as a baseball player, because I couldn't get to church on Sunday, I would always go to chapel.

And I would use chapel as my church because in baseball, we had baseball chapel. And it was 20 minutes set aside every Sunday with every team, even in the minor leagues where guys could go and have fellowship and then learn from the Bible. And I thought, "Man, you know what? I'm a Christian." But I meet my roommate and my teammate, Byron Ballard. And that summer he challenges me to take this book and to start reading it for myself and to ask a very important question. Who are you, Dave, in relationship to God?

And so that summer I went on a journey. And you know folks, I was raised Catholic. I'm a good Catholic boy. You sneeze, I say, "God bless you." And you know what? I want you to know something as I stand here before you this morning. I am so grateful for my Catholic upbringing that allowed me when the challenge came to open up this book and to read it. I am so thankful because I was raised to respect God. The peace that was missing for me was understanding as I read this book, his desire to journey with me, his desire to take up residence in me.

And that summer I learned that this thing called being a Christian, being one who follows Jesus, it's not about a religion. It's about a relationship. It's about engaging with the God of the universe through His Son Jesus Christ. It's about acknowledging as we did in another song. If you paid attention to those words, the power of those words is overwhelming. When you get discouraged and down, remember. Remember what He did for you. Remember His grace for you. Remember who you are.

That is such a powerful thing because God in that summer brought me to a place where I finally understood just how much He loves me. And it had absolutely nothing to do with religion. It had everything to do with what He did for me at the cross through His Son Jesus. It had everything to do with what He did in giving me this incredible gift, which by the way was free so that I could have life. And that summer I came face to face by embracing Jesus. I came face to face with His amazing grace.

And ladies and gentlemen, that grace isn't cheap. When you look at what He did on the cross, it was powerful. And that's why grace will never be cheap. Never. But it is freely given to imperfect people. Freely given. And when we receive that gift, guess what happened to Dave and Jan that summer? It became brand new creatures. How amazing is that? I'm made brand new. All because of what Jesus did for me. I'm made brand new. He doesn't come into my life to fix up all the mess. He comes into my life to make me brand new. Brand new.

And yeah, every now and then that mess is gonna creep into my life because I'm human and I still sin. I'm not perfect. But by His grace and through the love of others, I get encouraged to mature and grow up through that love. And that summer Jan and I embraced it and it became a very real part of our lives. 1982, I made it to Hawaii. That was so cool. Hawaii was absolutely awesome. 1983, a minute all-star game. My goodness, life couldn't get any better. 1984, we went to the World Series and the Detroit Tigers kicked a tar out of us. But you know what I discovered? Losers get a really nice ring too. And I actually possessed two Losers rings that I'm really proud of.

And trust me, up until I received the 2012 World Series ring and this 2014 World Series ring, those two were really special. They've kind of fallen off now. But they're still special. 1987, I get traded as I look at this baseball card. I get traded from the San Diego Padres who were in last place to the first place San Francisco Giants. Folks, do you know how powerful, do you know how powerful that is? To put that uniform on as a giant, knowing that Willie Mays wore the same uniform, knowing that Willie McCovey wore the same uniform, knowing that Gaylord Perry wore the same uniform, knowing that Juan Marras-Chal wore the same uniform and the Baby Bull or Llanlos Apeida.

Man, I mean just a few of some of the great names associated with the Giants. And I had a chance to put that uniform on. 1987, we went into postseason play and I pitched the two best games of my career. I'm thinking, man, 1988's gonna be my year. Opening day, Roger Craig gives me the baseball. Chavez Ravine, Dodger Stadium, David Ravecki versus Fernando Valenzuela. You couldn't have painted a better picture. We won that day five to one. And I'm thinking, man, this is awesome. Life is so good.

But by the end of 1988, a small lump had developed on the outside of my left arm. And now I find myself in an examining room waiting for the doctors to come and tell me what it was. And up to that point, the trainers and the physicians that were basically caring for me when we noticed the lump were thinking that it was muscle fiber tear and calcification. And basically, they thought what I had was blockers bruise until all of a sudden we were sitting outside that examining room and the doctors with the door open started looking at the films that they slipped underneath the lights and we heard the word tumor and cancer.

And I looked at Jan and I was shocked. And I just said, "Babe, we need to pray." You know what, folks? I don't wax eloquently when I pray. I'm a simple prayer because I'm a simple man. I'm not real complicated. I like keeping things simple. I like the acronym KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. I like that a lot. And so I looked at Jan and I just said, "God, I have no idea what we're about to face. But whatever it is, give us the strength to endure. That's all I ask. Just give us the strength to endure." At that point, the doctors walked in, confirmed that I had cancer.

And when I heard that word again, I went into another place. It was like an out-of-body experience. My wife, which I'm so grateful was there as an advocate, started listening to what the doctor was saying about my condition. But for me, I was not in that place. I was in a much different place. I was in a place where I was thinking about my own mortality. Am I going to live or am I going to die from this cancer? That was not a fun place to be. And then all of a sudden I start thinking, "If I die from this disease, who is going to marry my wife?" You know, you go to the practical places.

And then I thought that jerks going to sleep with my wife in my bed. I mean, this picture ain't getting any better. And then I thought, "Oh my gosh, he's going to be the father of my kids. He's going to raise my kids. Will this guy love my wife and my children as much as I do?" But then I thought, "Oh my gosh, will he love them more because I know who I am?" And when I look in the mirror, I haven't been the best husband. I haven't been the best dad. I'm not talking about being perfect, folks. But I was being honest. God was getting down to the nitty-gritty. He was shaking it up. And I had to stare at this face in the mirror and think about that.

Would this guy love him more because I know who I am? And it was a real gut check in my life. It was a real gut check as to how I lived life. You see, my life, I was always so black and white about stuff. There's a right and a wrong and you got to get them both right. That's just the way you live life. You know, I was finding myself in the midst of a lot of gray with what was going on in my world. The uncertainty of life was creating this really gray color. And I was struggling. It was hard.

Well, in the midst of that, I came back to reality and he looked at me and he said, "Outside of a miracle, you'll never pitch again." I thought, "Well, okay, that's what you say. I get that. You know what I've got to go up against." But I thought to myself, "You know, God, you're in control of all of this. And so if I'll never pitch again, that's fine. But you know what? I've got to try. So as we move forward, I'm going to take care of my health first. When I get to the other side of that, then we'll see if I can make a comeback."

And ladies and gentlemen, what was so amazing, what was so amazing was that 10 months later, I was standing on the mountain in Candlestick Park, which is almost torn down. And I was standing there and I was getting ready to pitch when the doctor said, "I would never pitch again outside of a miracle." And that day we defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 in my comeback game. And this is an actual picture of that day. This baseball card means a lot.

Five days later, you guys saw what happened. I threw a pitch and my arm broke. And my career came to an end. I was at the peak of my career. I was a late bloomer. And I had arrived at the peak of my career. I was about ready to engage in the multi-million dollar contracts. And I had to retire. But you know what's really interesting? After the comeback game, I was in a press conference. And in that press conference, I wanted to talk about the baseball game. But before I did, I just said, "Guys, could you please give me some space here and allow me just to acknowledge a few things before we talk about the baseball?"

And I just said, "You know, the first thing I want to do is thank my Lord and Savior Jesus for giving me another chance, an opportunity to play again." And you know, when I say that, a lot of people have asked, "What's that mean, Dave, when you say something like that?" Well, folks, you know what it means. It's simple. If God created us, then all those people that were in my life helping me to heal, the doctors, the nurses, the trainers, the physicians, all those people were there helping my arm to get strong enough to be able to come back and pitch. That was a good enough reason for me to thank Jesus because he used every one of those people to help me get to where I got.

Because what I've learned about life is that's how God works. Now, I'm not saying he doesn't perform miracles that are supernatural because God's God and he can do what he wants to do. But most of the time he uses people like you and me to come alongside, walk with people on their path so that they can get to the other side. And that becomes a very powerful thing about living this life. But the reality was that I stood there in awe. I was overwhelmed and so I had to give thanks in that press conference.

Now I've got a broken arm, the game's over, next morning I get up before I leave for San Francisco and they want another press conference. So I'm standing there waiting for somebody to ask me a question and all of a sudden there's total silence for about 30 seconds and then one guy goes, "So, Dave, where is your God now?" And I thought to myself, "That is the most amazing question that anybody could have ever asked me. Where are you, God? Where are you when you're in the muck and the mire? Where are you when things don't look good? Where are you when it looks like it's hopeless? Where are you? Where are you when I've lost a job? Where are you when I've lost a dream? Where are you when I've lost a loved one?"

And ladies and gentlemen, even though my circumstances were very difficult, even though life was very hard at that point because I was standing in front of this man with a broken arm and I knew my career was over and everything that I lived for was done, I could still stand before him and say that my God hadn't gone anywhere because he lives right here in my heart and he promised me when I met him he would never leave me and he would never forsake me. That's the God I believe in. That's the God I believe in.

And so from there, I announced my retirement. The cancer came back not once but twice. There were more surgeries, radiation therapy, and then a staph infection that lasted for 10 months. And anybody who's been through staph, that's worse than all the other stuff combined. And so here I found myself in this really, really bad place. And throughout this entire journey, I am really on an emotional rollercoaster and a spiritual rollercoaster. Because you know what folks, as I've shared, this experience has been really, really hard at this point in my life because I've got all this pressure from the outside to try and look, to try and talk, to try and act like I'm supposed to as a Christian to be a good witness for all of you as I was on this journey.

And I was hurting so bad and I was struggling so much that I didn't have the energy to do it. And so when I would come home, I would take it out on my family. I'd go out and everybody would go, "This is amazing. You are such a witness for Jesus. This is gonna help so many people." And this is unbelievable, Dave. And I'd go home and I'd go, "You know, Jesus, I don't even care to do this anymore. I don't even care to do this anymore. This is too hard. I can't be me." And in that moment, me was hurting.

So the doctors finally came to me and said, "It's time to remove your left arm and shoulder." I thought, "Oh my gosh. This is good. Get rid of the arm and shoulder. You get rid of all my problems." And I didn't know how to grieve. I didn't know how to grieve the loss of something that brought me so much joy. And that was so hard. I still don't know how to deal with it as I stand here before you. It's a lot better but I'm still on the journey of learning how to grieve. And don't any of you try to tell me how to grieve. Don't come up to me afterwards because there ain't no formula no matter how hard you try. There ain't no formula, folks. I can guarantee you that.

The only thing I know in grief is I've learned to lean into God more. And to be honest with you, I'm learning to lean on her more because she gets it. And so in the process of all of this, I hit this identity crisis and things are just not good. My career's over. My arm's gone. I'm at the end of a contract. I didn't make any... I did not make a million dollars in one season, folks. That came after I retired. Government got half of whatever I made. No, back then, as we all know, 14, 15, 16 percent interest rates. How much were they taking? A boatload. Over 50%. And so I'm stuck with wondering, "What am I gonna do to provide for my family? How are we going to survive? We just built a home. How are we going to keep that roof over our heads? Am I gonna have to file for bankruptcy? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?"

And I was at the end of myself. And then all of a sudden, that stuff that I had pushed down here, because when I came home, you know, I would take a lot out on my family, but there was still stuff turning in here. And it kept bubbling like Mount Vesuvius. And all of a sudden, it erupted. And I became verbally abusive to that amazing woman sitting right here to my left and two little kids that I love very much. And I beat them up horribly with my words. And I am so, so ashamed to admit that. But God's grace covers even that. His grace is sufficient to take care of that shame and that guilt. Because He understood my pain. And that's why Jesus died. So that all of it would be taken care of, folks. All of it.

And so when we find ourselves in that place, the most important thing to do is to get up off of our knees and run to Him and experience that grace that is so real. I was in the midst of that ugliness. And I had to ask a very important question about my worth, because I wondered if I had any, and that was this, if my baseball card now looks like this. Does Dave Dravecki still have worth? Do I still have worth? And you know what I discovered? I had to go back to Amarillo, Texas. Of all places in Amarillo, Texas. Remember, and remember who I am because of what Jesus has done for me.

Folks, it really is that simple. Now, the circumstances of life are still hard. Because at that point in my life when I was reminded that I'm a child of God because of what Jesus did, it didn't take away the pain. It didn't take away the hurt. It just made me realize my worth isn't in what I do. Ladies and gentlemen, you can strive all you want. But that ain't gonna get you nowhere. Because your worth isn't in the striving. It's in the embracing of who God made you because of what Jesus did on the cross. And he made you a kid. One of his kids. That's what gives you worth.

So, I've discovered it's not what I do that matters most to who I am. And who am I? I am a child of God. And so, every day I wake up, I get reminded of that. Dave, never forget who you are. Because as you face this day, it's gonna throw a bunch of stuff at you. But don't forget who you are. Never forget that. Well, is it Kurt? Trent, I'm sorry. What song are you gonna play for the offering? Don't play it. Don't play it. Play the song. Play the song that talks about what I'm talking about. The grace. Was it the second song it has? Pardon me? Made Alive. Yeah, please play that song again.

And as he plays it, and as you give, this act of giving is an act of worship. As you do that, listen to those words as a reminder. As a reminder from this poem that I'm gonna share with you. I once believed that what I did placed value on my worth. And walking where great men have walked, I saw my dream give birth. But dreams don't always last through life. In fact, they often die. The day I watch my dream pass on, all alone stood I. And in the searching of my soul, God gave to me new peace. Today, I'm living other dreams. The kind that will not cease.

In Jesus's eyes, I'm valued so much greater than I see. My worth is not in what I do. It's in Christ's death for me. Ladies and gentlemen, I've discovered that who I am is about relationship. It's about my relationship with my Heavenly Father through Jesus. It's about my relationship with this beautiful woman that God has given me. My two kids, my daughter-in-law and my son-in-law. My two grandkids. I am a grandpa and I am loving it. And it is amazing. And that's what it's about.

But at the end of the day, ladies and gentlemen, please, as you walk away from here, the one thing I would ask you to do that hopefully would stick is to ask yourself how do you define your true worth? And then think about what was said today in relationship to the one that gives you the most amazing worth in the universe. Because bottom line is that my worth isn't in what I do. It's in Christ's death for me. Our worth isn't in what we do. It's in Christ's death for us. Thank you and God bless you all.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I was going to have you come and do another one. Dave's title with the Giants organization is community. You can go have a seat. We're almost done. He's community ambassador for the Giants. But you know what, Dave, even more than that, you are a wise and warm and winsome ambassador of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Think about what Dave has shared as I read just these two verses. They're in your notes so you can take them with you from Galatians 2. "My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not mine, but it is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not going to back down on that." Amen.