Park, Pray, Praise | Eric Goodman Story

The second biggest outbreak in the world.

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 24 hours….

I also want to thank those of you...

Breaking news from the UK.

They admitted him, and he was released to me in my care on Thursday.

He still continued to battle the fever.

I was just told to give him Tylenol every four hours and to check on him.

By Sunday he was back in the hospital because his oxygen level was so low.

As soon as I dropped him off, they took him into the ER, where they ventilated him and put him under sedation.

And that's where he stayed for 13 days.

We were just told to stay at home and quarantine and we were given updates every 12 hours on how he was doing.

We weren't allowed to see him until one point the -- the hospital just wasn't sure if he was going to make it.

So they allowed me to visit him a couple of times for one hour each visit.

I didn't realize that that's what they were doing.

To be honest, I never once felt like he was going to not make it.

I always felt that God was watching out for us and He was in this battle with him and that He was making sure that Eric was going to wake up one day.

It was just a matter of time.

Personally, through this entire journey that has been an emotional rollercoaster, there were a lot of times where I felt like I did not know if my father was going to be coming home.

Or if he was going to make it.

It has been a really, really tough battle.

And I know that he just wants to come home more than anything else.

The first time that I was able to go visit Eric at the hospital, I called Amy and just asked her to pray for me, for God to give me the strength to get through seeing him in such a vulnerable way and not being awake yet.

While I was seeing him, Amy and several other members of the church came up to the hospital and they held a prayer circle and they just prayed for the staff and for Eric.

And it was -- it was just so amazing to have that kind of support and love.

We got together with as many people as we could come up with and just spread the word, and we thought let's not only just pray, but let's worship God, too. Because we know that the power that resurrected Jesus from the dead, the same Spirit that resurrected Jesus from the dead is the same spirit that lives in us and so we have authority to pray for victory.

And that's what we did.

And it was the next morning that I was woken up by a text on my phone and the nurse had sent me the picture of Eric sitting up and was off the ventilator.

It was the best thing I've ever seen.

The people that were there that night, the people that have given us any sort of support, these people are my family, and I cannot say thank you enough because you guys have made this so, so much easier.

And I can't say thank you enough.

It means the absolute world to me.

If you feel like you are unable to make a difference because you cannot be out and about, you don't feel like you can connect with people live, do not underestimate the power of prayer.

We know that the God of the Heavens bends to listen to His people pray.

We know that He answers prayer.

And He longs for His children to pray.

And we know the end of this story.

He wins.

We are on the winning team.

So, please, do not underestimate the power of prayer.

Hit your knees and pray.

Because it makes a difference.

And our friend, Eric, is a living example of the power of prayer.

You know, Eric Goodman is the first person in my circles to test positive for the coronavirus.

He's a faithful member of the Westside family.

Ironically, he heads up our safety team.

And on numerous occasions with the strong team of his volunteers, he has stood in the gap and has helped keep us safe.

The tables have now turned.

I started texting Eric pretty early on.

He was sick, but looked like he was going to pass over it in a few days.

Well, then it hit him hard.

And to be honest, we thought we were going to lose him.

Not an 80-year-old man in poor health, but a strapping 45-year-old dad.

It shifted our paradigm on the severity of this bug.

Now, history has proven out that the church does its best work during the most difficult crisis.

It is when it is the darkest that the light of Jesus stands the brightest.

We believe in prayer at Westside.

Not that God does everything we tell Him to do, thank God for that, but prayer changes things.

It activates positive motion.

I can't explain it other than God actually listens and has the power over all things.

This is just one of the many, many things the people of this church and other believers who are watching today who live in other areas are doing to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Can I get an amen?

Well, I want you to listen now to this personal video from Eric Goodman to you.

Hello, Westside.

The last 24 days certainly have been rough for me and my wife.

COVID-19 is a real disease, and it affects real people.

It doesn't care about your age, your socioeconomic status.

But I'm happy to say that I made it through.

In that process, I discovered in a fresh new way how awesome our God we worship is.

And how awesome my family is.

And especially how awesome everybody is at our -- at our church.

I cannot wait to see some of you face-to-face on Sunday.