Choosing the Narrow Road: A Pastor's Testimony

Devotional

Day 1: Scripture in the Sibling Squabble

A mother’s voice interrupts bickering with Ephesians 4:29. Scripture wasn’t just recited but lived in the grit of family life. Truth became a rhythm, not a theory, shaping daily choices. This immersion in God’s Word built foundations deeper than habit. It trained hearts to recognize grace in ordinary moments. How might God’s Word interrupt your conflicts today? [09:24]

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
(Ephesians 4:29, ESV)

Reflection: When has a Scripture verse disrupted your frustration recently? How could you let God’s Words reshape your next difficult conversation?

Day 2: The Basement Altar of Childhood Faith

A six-year-old’s prayer in a church basement echoes through decades. Early salvation isn’t less real for being simple. Assurance wavers when faith feels inherited rather than personal. Yet God honors the yes of a child’s heart, even when understanding grows slowly. What childhood moments still anchor your walk with Christ? [10:39]

“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
(Luke 18:17, ESV)

Reflection: What simple truth from your early faith still sustains you? How might God be inviting you to trust Him with childlike boldness today?

Day 3: The Hallway Tears That Called a Pastor

A teenager weeps for classmates who know truth but reject Christ. Burden for others’ souls isn’t a personality trait but a divine nudge. Ministry often begins in holy discomfort, not confidence. God uses our ache for the lost to shape our purpose. Where do your tears meet others’ need for Jesus? [18:09]

“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.”
(Romans 9:2–3, ESV)

Reflection: Whose spiritual state weighs heavy on your heart? How might God use your concern, not just your strengths, to minister to them?

Day 4: The Guitar That Became a Pulpit

An introvert strums chords before a congregation, finding his voice. God equips through unexpected tools, not just natural talents. What feels awkward at first becomes holy ground when surrendered. Our “weakness” platforms God’s strength more than polished skill. What unlikely instrument is God placing in your hands? [18:24]

“But God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”
(1 Corinthians 1:27, ESV)

Reflection: What hesitant “yes” have you been avoiding because it feels uncomfortable? How might God multiply your small offering?

Day 5: The Narrow Road to Auburn, New York

Obedience leads to places we’d never choose—a Wesleyan college, Michigan snow, an unglamorous town. God’s will often feels illogical yet proves purposeful. Joy comes not from location but alignment with the Guide. Where has your “yes” taken you that surprised you? [21:19]

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
(Isaiah 30:21, ESV)

Reflection: What unexpected detour in your life might actually be God’s intentional path? How could you lean into His presence there today?

Sermon Summary

The Lord plants faith early and keeps it through ordinary means. A kid in a pastor’s home hears Scripture at the kitchen table, gets Ephesians 4:29 quoted when the siblings are sniping, and learns that truth lands best when it shows up in everyday life. A children’s Bible night lays out the gospel plain and simple, and Jesus saves a six or seven year old. That day stands as “the day Jesus saved me,” even if the child does not yet grasp the whole shape of discipleship. Assurance, then, becomes a slow work. The call to be saved keeps getting pressed at camps and events, and fear nudges a heart to pray again, just in case. An evangelistic play about sudden death turns the walk to the car into another sinner’s prayer. The Lord is patient with that.

A youth leader’s word about making faith personal shifts the center of gravity. The question turns from family habits to real followership. The walk with Jesus becomes intentional, not just inherited. The church, for all its hypocrisy and hurt, still remains a gift, and distance from it never feels like the answer.

The burden of being “the good kid” grows heavy. Parents of friends praise the behavior, but the conscience knows the wrestle. The tension between reputation and reality exposes the limit of human saviors. Only Jesus can be Jesus for friends, and the Holy Spirit alone sanctifies. That release does not cancel love for the lost. Tears come in a school hallway for classmates who know the truth yet reject it. The Lord uses even a quiet, type b heart.

Calling often comes through weakness. Nerves on a stage do not cancel usefulness. A guitar becomes a doorway into serving others, then gradually into leading. The Spirit does not wait for natural boldness to arrive before appointing work.

The narrow road proves better, even when it is not easier. The broad way flashes money, options, and ease, but saying yes to God carries joy, hope, and peace. Obedience sends a baptistic soul to a Wesleyan college, where theology jars but communion with Jesus deepens. Obedience moves a family to the Upper Peninsula, then to Auburn, New York, places not picked from a dream list, yet marked by clear confirmations and real blessing. The Lord’s will is not always logical on paper, but it is always good in practice. Saying yes becomes the path forward.

Key Takeaways

1. Make faith personal, not inherited. Secondhand habits can carry someone to church but cannot carry a soul in trial. Personal ownership grows when questions are faced honestly and practices become intentional. The shift is not louder, just truer, and it reorients the quiet places of life toward Jesus. [13:30]
2. Only Jesus can be Jesus for others. The pressure to be the “good kid” can turn into a savior complex that exhausts and condemns. Freedom comes when the Spirit’s work is trusted and witness is offered from weakness, not image management. Love deepens when the results are left in nail-scarred hands. [16:00]
3. The Lord uses unlikely strengths. Nerves on a platform and a soft-spoken bent are not disqualifiers. A simple instrument can become a doorway to ministry when surrendered to God. Calling often arrives through doors someone never planned to open, and grace fits the servant to the work. [18:24]
4. The narrow road is better, not easier. The broad way promises ease and options, but obedience births joy, hope, and peace. Saying yes to God may look illogical, yet it forges deeper communion and unexpected fruit. Hard providences still become clear confirmations along the way. [19:19]
5. Assurance grows as trust walks forward. Fear-driven rededications can mark a tender conscience, but assurance matures through knowing Jesus and obeying Him. Community, Scripture, and the long habit of yes build settled confidence over time. The Lord is patient while faith learns to rest. [11:27]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[05:48] - Getting into the story
[07:23] - Raised in a Christian home
[08:52] - Scripture in everyday life
[10:24] - Kids program conversion
[11:27] - Wrestling with assurance
[12:28] - Fear after evangelistic play
[13:30] - Make faith personal
[14:51] - Staying close to the church
[15:33] - The burden of being the good kid
[16:58] - Early stirrings toward ministry
[18:24] - Guitar opens a door to serve
[19:19] - Choosing the narrow road
[20:45] - Unexpected places on God’s path
[21:45] - Grateful to be in Auburn

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
- Ephesians 4:29 (ESV): Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
- Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV): Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
- Philippians 1:6 (ESV): And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Observation questions

In Ephesians 4:29, what specific instruction does Paul give about how our words should impact others? How was this verse applied in everyday family interactions in the sermon? [08:52]
According to Matthew 7:13-14, what are the key differences between the "narrow road" and the "broad road"? How did the sermon describe the outcomes of choosing each path? [19:19]
What example was given in the sermon of someone using a simple skill (like playing guitar) to serve others, even when they felt unqualified? [18:24]

Interpretation questions

Why might the "narrow road" (Matthew 7:14) be described as "better, not easier"? How does this align with the idea that obedience to God’s will can lead to unexpected places like a Wesleyan college or Auburn, NY? [20:45]
How does the pressure to be the "good kid" conflict with the truth that "only Jesus can be Jesus for others"? What happens when we try to take on the Holy Spirit’s role in someone’s life? [16:00]
Philippians 1:6 emphasizes God’s faithfulness to complete His work in us. How might this truth address the fear-driven need to repeatedly "rededicate" one’s life to Christ? [11:27]

Application questions

What habits or routines in your spiritual life feel more like inherited traditions than personal choices? What step could you take this week to intentionally engage with Jesus in one of those areas? [13:30]
Where do you feel the weight of trying to be a "savior" for someone else (e.g., a friend, family member, or coworker)? How could you intentionally release that burden to Jesus this month? [15:33]
What skill, hobby, or quiet strength do you have that seems unremarkable? How could you offer it to God this month as a "doorway" to serve others, even if it feels uncomfortable? [18:24]
Is there a decision you’re avoiding because the "broad road" of convenience or safety feels more appealing than God’s unclear path? What would it look like to say "yes" to Him in this? [19:19]
When have doubts about your salvation or worthiness caused you to shrink back? How could Philippians 1:6 reshape your daily trust in God’s patience and faithfulness? [11:53]

Sermon Clips

68s

#NarrowRoadFaith

“``And even to this day, like, I'm not there's there's still nerves, like, when I get up in front of people. And so maybe just an encouragement to somebody listening, like, you don't have to feel it's necessarily your strength for the Lord to use you in whatever you're doing. But I think just in regards to my my testimony, and we'll we'll wrap it up here in a little bit, but I think I found out quickly that it's better to take the narrow road even though it's not easier. And, you know, the world will present to you this broad road that can lead to even more opportunities and more money and more, you know, just pleasure or whatever. But I found out very early, it's just easier to say yes to God, to his will. And really for the Christian, you think about it, that's the only way forward, like, with joy, with hope, with peace is to follow him.”

85s

#NoPressureToBePerfect

“``But I guess the shift into high school, I kinda felt a pressure as my just my years went on throughout high school or throughout, yeah, just grade school in general. Like, I was the the friend who like, if I went to my friend's house, there would be their parents would be like, why is Jordan so well behaved? Why is Jordan so Oh, yeah. Yeah. Why is Jordan so good? And, like, for me, that really became a burden to, like, the point where it's like, don't know if I wanna because, I mean, it not only puts a burden on their kid Yeah. But, like, me as well. Like, I have to be this perfect person. Right? I have to be the one to, like, sanctify my friends when that's not my job. Mhmm. Right? That's a work of the Holy Spirit. And so, and at the same time, like, they're saying, oh, Jordan, he's such a good kid or whatever. And I know that I'm wrestling with sin. Like, I'm wrestling, you know, with this fact that I can't be Jesus. Right? I can't be Jesus for my friends, that only Jesus can be Jesus for my friends. And a lot of my friends even had heard the gospel. They know the gospel, so it wasn't like they didn't know the truth.”

57s

#AssuranceOfSalvation

“``Did my life change, or was it just part of the way that we lived? And so I dealt with just growing up not not being assured of my salvation, not knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was saved. So many, like, conferences and, like, Christian events, especially geared towards youth, were really stressing this one thing that you need to be saved, like, obviously. And that's a good thing to stress, especially the kids but then you hear it over and over and over again and you're kinda like, well, am I? Like am I really saved? Because the more times you're like, well, I don't actually, you know, Maybe yesterday I got in a fight with my brother, so I don't know. Would a saved person do that? You know what mean? Like and so these just doubts would creep in.”

60s

#SavedThatDay

“``And I remember then, like, asking the Lord to forgive me of my sins, invite him into my life. And so I I would point to that day. I know a lot of people can kinda be like, well, I don't know if that's when I was really saved or whatever, but I would point to that day and say, that's the day that, you know, that's the day that Jesus saved me. But what did that mean to me then? I don't I didn't fully grasp the the whole obviously, all the all the Christianity, all the ways of scripture. I memorized bible verses back then, but, like, I didn't know necessarily what that meant to me. So was that just a way of life, or was my life really changing? You know, that kind of whole thing. Growing up in a Christian home, that's something you kinda ask yourself.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Second Baptist Church - Auburn, NY This sermon · AI assistant

What causes doubts about assurance of salvation?

How can upbringing shape a lifelong faith?

How can introversion still serve God's kingdom?

Choosing the Narrow Road: A Pastor's Testimony

Devotional

Day 1: Scripture in the Sibling Squabble

Day 2: The Basement Altar of Childhood Faith

Day 3: The Hallway Tears That Called a Pastor

Day 4: The Guitar That Became a Pulpit

Day 5: The Narrow Road to Auburn, New York

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Choosing the Narrow Road: A Pastor's Testimony

Share