Aug 23, 2026 "God Hasn't Failed (Me) Yet!" Worship Service with Pastor David Coggins preaching

Devotional

Day 1: Listening to the Track’s Vibration

The railroad track becomes a sacred instrument for discernment. Just as steel hums before the train arrives, the Holy Spirit sends signals through daily life. These vibrations might feel like persistent thoughts, sudden urgings to act, or quiet reassurances in chaos. To hear them requires leaning close – not with frantic striving, but patient attentiveness. God’s guidance often comes through ordinary moments charged with divine purpose. What might you hear if you stilled the noise to feel the track’s tremor? [01:06:43]

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
(1 Kings 19:12, ESV)

Reflection: What daily practice could help you better recognize God’s “vibrations” in your life? When have you last felt the Spirit’s nudge, and how did you respond?

Day 2: Ripples of a First Baptism

An eight-year-old’s baptism still shapes a man’s faith fifty years later. Sacred moments often seem small at the time – a splash of water, a trembling voice reciting vows, hands clasped in prayer. Yet these acts send ripples through generations. Ministry isn’t measured in crowds but in quiet faithfulness to ordinary calls. Exxum’s Bible left in his car became a compass; his father’s generosity a legacy. What eternal currents might your simple obediences stir? [49:25]

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
(Matthew 28:19, ESV)

Reflection: What seemingly small spiritual moment from your past still influences you? Who might be watching your faithfulness today as Exxum watched his father’s?

Day 3: Three-by-Five Cards and Divine Blueprints

God uses limited tools – three index cards, a teenager’s nervous speech, a hospital mop bucket – to draft eternal plans. The preacher’s first sermons fit on palm-sized notes; the chaplain’s calling began with cleaning typewriters. Our perceived inadequacies become God’s drafting table. What looks like a humble starting point – a part-time job, a tentative “yes” – often contains the seeds of lifelong purpose. The question isn’t the size of your resources, but your willingness to hand them over. [59:53]

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
(Proverbs 16:3, ESV)

Reflection: What ordinary tool or skill in your hands might God want to consecrate? How does your current season – even its limitations – mirror past divine preparations?

Day 4: Red Stoles and Unseen Wind

The red stole isn’t clerical decoration but a banner of dependence. Like the Pentecost flame, it signals surrender to the Spirit’s unpredictable wind. Ministry happens not through human strategy but through breath-driven obedience – whether preaching, baking fellowship cakes, or advocating for patients. The stole’s color reminds us true power comes not from titles but from letting the Spirit “wear” us. When did you last feel that holy wind filling your sails? [01:07:14]

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.
(Acts 1:8, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life does the stole’s symbolism challenge you – comfort in control versus Spirit-led risk? How might your daily work become “witness” through the Spirit’s power?

Day 5: “God Never Fails” in the Murder Trial

Faith clings to four words in hospital vigils and courtrooms: God never fails. Not because tragedy avoids believers, but because Presence outlives every storm. The preacher stood by bullet-wounded youth, buried his mother, faced cancer diagnoses – yet the promise held. God’s faithfulness isn’t a forcefield against pain but an anchor within it. Like David, we declare “The Lord will fulfill his purpose” even when fulfillment looks different than expected. What broken place needs this anthem today? [01:03:43]

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
(Psalm 138:8, ESV)

Reflection: When has God’s faithfulness surprised you by showing up differently than you hoped? How could declaring “God never fails” reshape your current struggle?

Sermon Summary

David’s confession in Psalm 138 holds the whole thread together: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.” God’s steadfast love does not quit halfway, and God’s calling does not always arrive in one clean, final form. Calling can begin with an inkling, a curiosity, a gift, or a door that opens at just the right time.

The call to ministry took shape through a small church in rural North Carolina, youth groups, camp worship services, college studies, hospital visits, and years of learning what God had in store. Ministry became more than a job title because “ministry is a way of life.” Gifts differ according to the grace given, and those gifts show up in all kinds of places: preaching, mental health counseling, hospitality, nursing, advocacy, business, caregiving, and quiet service outside church walls.

Romans 12:6 places the question plainly before every life: What gift has God given, and how is it being used? God works through personality, culture, life experience, people, dreams, successes, disappointments, and even the humility that comes when a blue ribbon turns into third place. The gift of gab, public speaking, youth ministry, and a call to visit the sick all became part of a path God was shaping long before its direction was fully clear.

Peter’s confession names the center of that path: Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Christ’s identity gives Christian service its purpose. Compassion at a hospital bedside is not about winning an argument or changing somebody’s belief. Christ’s love makes room for the dying, the grieving, the fearful, and those facing questions that have no easy answer.

God’s faithfulness has held through grief, violence, vocational disappointments, family illness, crowded schedules, and fifty years of ministry. “God never fails” is not a line for easy days only. God’s faithfulness has met real pain and real limits, often by providing another solution, another person, or a needed lesson in humility.

The Holy Spirit calls for a listening life. The railroad-track image makes the point: an ear close to the track can feel the vibration of a coming train. The Spirit’s nudge calls for agreement more than resistance. The red stole points to Pentecost, ordination, and dependence on the Spirit’s leading. Following and listening remain lifelong lessons, because Christ is the Messiah and those who confess him must follow his lead.

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Key Takeaways

1. Calling often comes in stages God’s call may begin as curiosity rather than certainty. A first direction can prepare the way for a later, clearer calling without making the earlier season meaningless. God uses every part of a life to shape the work still ahead. [55:48]
2. Gifts are given for faithful use Romans 12:6 does not make gifts a reason for comparison or self-importance. Grace gives different abilities so that ordinary acts of service can become ministry. A gift becomes clearer when it is offered where God has placed it. [56:10]
3. Christ defines compassionate ministry Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah gives Christian care its center. Christ’s compassion does not turn suffering people into projects or arguments to win. Love can sit beside mortality with welcome, affirmation, and reverence. [62:41]
4. God never fails in hard places God’s faithfulness does not mean that grief, illness, rejection, or loss disappear. God’s faithfulness means that none of those places stands outside God’s sustaining presence. A long list of trials can become a long witness to God’s keeping power. [63:43]
5. The Spirit requires attentive listening The Holy Spirit often comes as a nudge rather than a loud command. A life kept near the track can sense the vibration of God’s leading before every detail is visible. Following Christ requires laying down headstrong resistance and learning to agree with the Spirit.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[47:45] - Fifty Years Since Ordination
[51:28] - Purpose and Calling
[52:04] - Many Forms of Ministry
[53:50] - Ministry Is a Way of Life
[55:48] - Following Curiosity and God’s Call
[56:10] - Gifts According to Grace
[61:20] - The Call to Visit the Sick
[62:20] - Peter’s Confession of Christ
[63:43] - God Never Fails
[65:19] - Ministry, Time, and Humility
[66:43] - Listening for the Spirit’s Nudge
[67:14] - Red Stoles and Following Christ

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Psalm 138:8 — “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” [51:38]

Romans 12:6 — “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;” [56:04]

Matthew 16:16 — “Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” [01:02:32]

Observation questions

In Psalm 138:8, what three things does David say about God: God’s purpose, God’s love, and God’s care for the work of God’s hands? [51:28]
What different kinds of ministry and service are named, including work in mental health counseling, hospitality, nursing, advocacy, and service outside church walls? [52:22]
What experiences helped shape a sense of calling over time, from youth-group and camp experiences to studies and hospital work? [54:26]
What was the purpose of bedside visits for people facing illness and death, and what was specifically not the purpose? [01:02:46]

Interpretation questions

Psalm 138:8 says that the Lord will fulfill his purpose. How does this promise help explain why an early direction in life may still matter even when God later leads a person into a different kind of work? [55:37]
Romans 12:6 says that gifts differ according to grace. Why is it important to see abilities such as listening, hospitality, caregiving, advocacy, and business leadership as possible places for faithful ministry, rather than treating ministry as only a church job? [53:08]
Peter calls Jesus “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” How does that confession shape the way a Christian offers care to a person who is suffering, grieving, afraid, or near death? [01:02:38]
“God never fails” does not mean that painful events never happen. What does God’s faithfulness look like when the answer is not a quick rescue, but strength to endure, a new direction, help from others, or humility? [01:06:04]

Application questions

Where might God be developing a calling in your life through an interest, a repeated concern, a skill, or an opportunity that may seem small right now? What is one faithful next step you could take to follow that curiosity? [55:43]
What gifts has God given you—perhaps gifts you take for granted—and where are those gifts already helping others? Is there one setting at home, work, church, or in the community where you could use that gift more intentionally? [56:52]
Think about your personality, culture, relationships, successes, disappointments, and life experiences. Which parts of your story may God be using to prepare you to serve someone else? [56:21]
When someone around you is hurting, do you feel pressure to solve their problem, explain their suffering, or have the right words? What might it look like for you simply to offer the welcoming, affirming compassion of Christ? [01:02:59]
What hard place in your life has tested your confidence that God is faithful? Looking back, where have you seen God sustain you, redirect you, provide another person, or carry you when you had little strength of your own? [01:03:59]
What distractions, fears, habits, or “headstrong” tendencies make it difficult for you to listen for the Holy Spirit’s nudge? What simple practice could help you keep your “ear to the track” this week—Scripture, silence, prayer, worship, or a conversation with a trusted Christian? [01:06:37]
If Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of the living God, what part of your daily life most needs to come under his leadership right now? [01:07:35]

Sermon Clips

36s

“God hasn't failed me yet. I may have failed them him at times, but it was because I was headstrong or wasn't listening. Following and listening are lifelong lessons. I've been working at it for fifty years. No. Actually, longer than that. I don't know how many years I have left to continue working at it, but I'm going to keep on working at it. Will you?”

40s

“That's the core of our faith after all, isn't it? It defines what it means to be Christian. My bedside visits were not in anyone else's name. I wasn't there to evangelize or change anyone, convince anyone to change their belief. I was there to share the love and compassion of Christ, to be welcoming and affirming even as they face their own mortality and dealt with personal questions about faith in God.”

37s

“So I found that the best way to keep my life on course is to keep my ear to the track. I'm old enough now to use that expression. If you've ever walked the railroad tracks, you know what I'm talking about. You can put your ear close to the tracks, and you can hear a train coming when the track begins to vibrate. I try to listen to the Holy Spirit's vibration. When I feel the spirit or a nudge, I try to agree more than disagree.”

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