Central Point

how many of you have heard the saying when the rubber meets the road

To me this is when the action really begins

It makes me think of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17

He went and saw his brothers, and heard Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:24 says

1 Samuel 17:24 ESV

All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.

And David was ready to take him. A rubber meets the road moment

Saul tells him you can’t . You are just a youth and this Philistine is a man of war from his youth.

1 Samuel 17:37 ESV

And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

But then Saul tries to clothe him with his armor and cannot even walk in it. David says I cannot even walk with these, for I have not tested them. So he took them off.

And he picked five smooth stones and a sling that was in his hand.

He stood before goliath, not just himself, but he stood before him in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of isreal, whom Goliath had defiled.

and he said—this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you.

Talk about a rubber meets the road moment. David took action

His attitude was different from others. He saw Goliath not as a threat too bit to hit, but as a target too big to miss

Rubber meets the road can also be when you begin the job

or when you really get serious

or it refers to the moment when theory becomes reality and use the gifts and talents that God has already placed within you—that He created you to use

I have been with the Pregnancy Resource Center for 10 1/2 years of the 38 years it has been in existance

and if I could use two words that describe my journey so far it would be

Heated Faith

Trials and joy - that have continued to strengthen my faith

Using my story for His glory

Those that serve inside our locations are using their stories for His glory

I pushed God away for 10 years - I was really walking in disobedience

The bible clearly commands believers to surrender to God, to obey his word, and submit to his will

I remember for years just straddling the fence - and clingling to SELF while offering only a portion of myself to the Lord

A note in my bible says, “Surrender is not genuine until it is total.”

Facing my own unexpected pregnancy 25 years ago

and being pressured to have an abortion

really toying with the decision of life and death

but at the time I didnt know what abortion was

It wasnt talked about, it wasnt mentioned in my church

all i knew was that I was pregnant and wouldn’t be pregnant anymore

But something in me could not do what my boyfriend was pressuring me to do

I chose life for her

and when I was 8 months pregnant I knew I was lost in sin

and I called upon the name of the Lord

He heard me and answered me, and pulled me out of pit I was in and saved me

Romans 10:13 says that for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved -

And shortly after becoming a believer, I gave birth to an 8 lb baby girl

There is a photo

(if you can pull that up)

As they laid her on my chest - i just began to weep and cry —all of those hard things I walked through which is many other stories for another day

I was weeping and saying my baby my baby

and she was lying there on my chest at delivery - I knew I was going to do everything I could to fight for her

But was I really

i shared early God was calling me to share what I went through, but would I take that step and honor and glorify Him

But I wanted to stay silent and be comfortable

Until I surrendered and said here I am Lord—use me how ever you want to

A truly rubber meets the road moment

rubber meets the road is when action really started to begin

I love opportunties to share what God is doing at the Pregnancy Resource Center

Because it is HIs ministry

We just follow His lead - we die to self and walk in His way

Many of you are helping us carry out this life-affirming work day in and day out

and it’s truly needed—we are in a battle, but we can stand firm because as believers we have this hope to fight from a place of victory

You are drawing your line in the sand - and giving so our community funded ministry can continue

Maybe you arent doing any of those

I ask that today will be the day where truly rubber meets the road and you took action - because lives depend on it

when I first came on at the pregnancy resource center — we were seeing about 4-5 people a week

Many of which were happy and pregnant and just needed a hand up of support

I thought where are the girls like me—that think they are the only ones

that are being pressured to have an abortion

Do we even have a problem in our community

Lord where are they

He was about to flip my world upside down

I read a book called unplanned by abby johnson —which she now has a movie out

She was an abortion worker — sidewalk advocates would pray for her to leave this work and be an advocate for life

Those prayers were answered when she was assisting in an ultrasound guided abortion and saw that baby fight for its life

and she knew she couldn’t do this anymore

She fled to the sidewalk advocates and now is a huge outspoken voice for life

Reading this book and praying the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I needed to go and stand outside our local abortion business

I was connected to a lady who had been faithfully praying outside this abortion business for many years

Her name was Esther

Before I met Esther that Friday — I called the abortion business about where to park

They shared with me where to park, but also warned me that there would be protestors outside

Not to take their pink papers and also said I could be helped in the building if needed

she shared to me not be worried about my abortion that they do 5 on a slow day 25 on a busy day

Protestors - 5 to 25 lives

I didn’t sign up for this - I am not sure, But I told the Lord I would do anything He wanted me to do— I would—so I did

Parking that morning at a local church you had to walk over a hill, so I didnt see anything yet

I was nervous

As I came over the hill —no yelling or screaming

Only a lady about my height walking back and forth on the sidewalk—praying

she had pink papers in her hand

this was resources of where women could go to get the true help they needed

I remember thinking — they are being lied to

why couldn’t you offer women and their families alternatives to a decision they are about to make that cannot be reversed

That day was a busy day and my heart was crushed

Why why Lord would you send me out here to see this

Why aren’t they coming to us first

And He answered

You hadn’t prayed and asked me to send them - so that is what I started to do

We prayed I marched around that building we were in and told Him that I would not stop until He flowed women, men and their preborn babies down our road like a river - so we could offer the life-affirming help and support they deserved

We are walking in the days we have prayed for, not just praying but also taking action to do something about it

and this is a day where you too can say this is where rubber meets the road

You are kicking off your baby bottle campaign — which is a blessing as this is one way to help our community funded ministry serve families at no-cost

It takes roughly $420 to serve one family at the pregnancy resource center

that’s roughly committing to $35 a month —

To take action to help moms just like Tamara

She walked into our Maryvile office paralyzed by fear-

When she walked in like many of those that come for the first time —they are completely distraught

This mom was almost hyperventilating

As she approached the window crying and said “please tell me it’s going to be okay. I’m going to be okay, right? “ she was nodding and was crying while saying it.

She said I have a baby in my belly

And our front office team went straight into action

They came around out in the lobby and asked her if they could give her a hug

They reassured her it was going to be ok

And she just wept in the arms of our team

They embraced her and her anxiety and fears began to fade

She was being pressured to have an abortion by an abusive boyfriend

And thank goodness she was able to find us

We were able to confirm that she was pregnant through free pregnancy testing

and offer an ultrasound were she indeed saw her baby in her belly —Another life that God was creating, Tamara chose life

From that ultrasound we were able to start the process for insurance coverage and get her referred to a local OB for the care for her and her baby

we were able to gift her and all the pregnant moms we see a free 30 day supply of prenatal vitamins

Our support doesn’t stop at our medical services-we continue to offer support while they are pregnant and after they have their baby

She went through one of our faith-based support programs called Embrace Grace, rededicated her life back to the Lord, got her connected to a local church where she helps lead worship and is a beautiful momma to her sweet baby girl

We are able to do this day in and day out because of people like you and have for the past 38 years the pregnancy resource Center has been in existence

We don’t receive state or federal funds, it all comes from likeminded people like you that want to sow into where God is at work

To help meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs families have when they face unexpected pregnancies

We are able to serve brave families at 3 debt-free locations one in Maryville, in Sevierville, or on our mobile clinic that travels to various counties which is outside for you to see today

Our mobile clinic, like our brick and mortar locations are able to operate under the direction of a volunteer medical director

that enables us to offer the free life-affirming medical services we do and on our mobile — our mobile uniquely allows us to bring life-affirming education to schools and college campuses

For our life-affirming education events we do at schools we typically have one of our pregnant moms agree to be a model for us, so our nurse can perform an ultrasound.

This allows students to see that the life they are seeing is a living distinct whole human being.

One student remembers us being in her class educating them about fetal development in her life class

and a few weeks later she found out she was pregnant and called us and was asked on the phone—how do you feel

and this mom knew that we cared about her - she also chose life

One student, after seeing an ultrasound, said, 'I didn’t think it would be a baby yet.”

this continues to be An experience that students will not forget- they are being shown the truth not what the media tells them

We are grateful that this vision to go mobile was brought to life 6 years ago and now we have this upgraded one that continues to be an open door to travel the highways and byways and meet families where they live

A dad came up to us a couple of weekends ago at an outreach event thanking us.

His daughter was the first patient seen on our mobile clinic. He has a granddaughter alive today that just started kingergarten because we were there in her time of need

Our Sevierville location was gifted to us in March of 2022, Sevierville wasn’t on our radar, but it sure was on Gods.

Many of you know in June of 2022 was when the landmark case of Roe v Wade was pushed back to the states

We opened our Sevierville location in October of that year. If you know of someone that lives in the Sevier County area we would love that connection

That building has no parking and the number of people we are seeing now, we need a better location with adequate parking that will allow us to impact twice as many lives and have a space for our staff and volunteers to park

We kicked off our building fund at our banquet last month, so if you are looking to invest in our life-affirming ministry in another way this would be it

When you sow into what God is doing at PRC it allows us to get in the trenches with these families, maybe its budgeting to help be ready for this new baby,

or parenting as they never had that modeled for them, there are so many scenarios,

we see where they are and where they desire to be and we help them get there and on a path to thriving, healthy and whole parents

We had a dad walking out a couple of weeks ago with his girlfriend after a mentor session and they were so happy. They have been coming for some time

And she is close to deliver. I was thanking them for coming in and I looked at this dad and said I can tell you are already an amazing dad

he smiled real big and his said I sure hope to be — what a gift that we have men serving with us that speak into these new fathers, equipping them to be men, showing them what real fatherhood looks like --- our world needs this, our state needs this, our community is changing because of it

I mentioned earlier about becoming a Monthly giver of $35

That is truly the lifeblood of our ministry and helps us continue to serve families at no cost

Is it really free families will ask, they even have gotten to our check out window and the dad is pulling out his wallet asking how much he has to pay

and we can tell them we told you everything is at no cost

someone who loves you and cares about you— who you will probably never meet and has paid your debt which opens the door for gospel conversations

tears well up in their eyes as —many times they have never had someone love them the way that they have experienced at their visit and not charge them something

Through people locking arms with us and putting words to action, it helped us serve more people than we ever have in the history of PRC last year and continue to do so

We served 2,287 brave families last year which is 30% more than the year before

95 % of those made a decision for life,

We have this hope —He is the answer and we have many come to realize that and families are ready to make a change when presented with truth and tangible ways we can help

But not just a change physically, but eternally

We had 15 accept Christ as their personal Savior last year and 4 rededicated their lives to Christ

and this year so far we have had 12 accept christ and 10 rededicate their lives

We care about families, but we also care about where they spend eternity

God has given us a unquie opportunity to share His truth with those we see-helping us save and impact lives here on earth and for eternity

My question as I close is how will you respond, yes getting a baby bottle helps—we also have ways for you to pray, give, and serve

We would love for you to lock arms with us - we will be here for you to sign up to give, get a bottle, connect with us online, and ways to pray after the service

As I close Listen in to hear Desirees story

This is what happens over and over when rubber meets the road - when action begins