Frankie Mazzapica - Chance and Coincidences (11/23/2025)
In the sermon «Chance and Coincidence,» the preacher teaches from Romans 8:28 that God sovereignly weaves every detail of believers' lives—including troubles and needs—together for good, declaring there are no true chances or coincidences since God controls all outcomes, and He never wastes difficulties but uses them to move or change us.
Opening with Romans 8:28
I am excited about this message. It is called «Chance and Coincidence.» Let me dive right into it right off the bat. Let me share with you Romans 8:28. Let us read it together. I know it is still early, but let us read it together real loud. One, two, three.
And we know—oh, hold on a second. Not everybody was reading, so we need to do it all over again. Come on, Dr. Ray! I am going to do it over and over. All right. I love you. All right. One, two, three.
And we know—let us read two words together. The one that starts with an 'A' on the first line and then the word behind it. One, two, three. Let us just shout it like we are seven years old. Ready? One, two, three! That was awesome! Some of you are like, «Oh man, that was fun, but I didn’t participate.»
So everybody, one, two, three. So, hold on. Let me just make sure we are all on the same page. What we are saying is all things—God is involved in all things, like everything.
I like how this version of the Bible reads it. This is in the TPT. So we are convinced that every detail—I really like that—every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for good, for good. For we are His lovers who have been called to fulfill His designed purpose.
Every single detail, the smallest detail, is saying, «Okay, I am going to make that good.» I know every single one of us, I say it all the time, we are all believing God for a miracle.
Now, the miracle that you are believing God for is completely different from the miracle the person next to you is believing God for. But here is the deal: we are all believing God for a miracle. And when you are believing God for a miracle, that means you are in a state of need.
I am telling you this; according to the Bible, this isn’t Frankie talking. You guys aren’t interested in what I have to say. You are interested in what the Bible has to say. What it is saying is, «I am going to take the need, this area, this season where you are just like, I am going to take this and make it good.»
No Chance, Only God’s Control
Watch this. This is a statement I hope we can remember. If you don’t remember anything else this morning, remember this: if chance exists, then God cannot exist. Because that would imply that chance means there is something that God doesn’t control.
Do you know what? Man, this is a coincidence. Nope. This is—what are the chances? Nope. No chances. No coincidences there. It doesn’t exist. Just to emphasize it again: if chance exists, then God doesn’t, because He is involved in every single area.
Let me read a quote from a gentleman named J.C. Ryle. Man, Joe, you are on it today! I love you. Give our tech team a big round of applause. They only get attention when something goes wrong, so let us give it to them when it goes right.
Watch this: nothing—whatever it is, whether great or small, the smallest detail—can happen to a believer. Nothing can happen to a believer without God’s ordering and permission. There is no such thing as chance, luck, or accident in the Christian’s journey through this world.
How many parents in this room just kind of wave at me? You remember when your baby—maybe it is the case right now—your baby is like three weeks old, and you got no sleep. Did anything happen to that baby by chance?
You decided when it ate. You decided when it got wiped clean. You decided when you wrapped it up like a burrito. You decided. There was no chance. There was no accident. There was no luck. You didn’t walk in and go, «Whoa!» You wrapped up yourself pretty good.
God arranges every detail.
Illustrations with Dice and Coin
Let me dive right into the first point. There are no chances. Let me read this scripture. It is in Proverbs 16:33. I love this one. This is a really cool verse: we may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.
So here we go. I got some dice up here. I have no idea. This one fell on the floor. It is a two. I don’t know what is going to happen sometimes when I have rolled dice in a game or whatever.
Here, you blow. You blow here. You blow. You are hot. You roll it. You are hot here. Just throw it. Come on. God knows the number. Watch. He picked the number. Like I am just playing Monopoly. Details. Details.
I have lost my wife playing Monopoly every time. Every time you are like, «Is God really in that detail? Did he make your dice to make sure she won?» Yeah. You are like, «Why?» Because when I play Monopoly, I come in like this. Y’all are nothing. In another world, I am Rockefeller. You guys know nothing. Boom. Humble pie for you.
Open up every single detail. Look at this dice. He knows how it is in the Bible.
Belinda, will you come up here real quick? Come on. Yeah, you. Come on. Come on. Am I saying your name wrong? Melissa. Melissa. I like that name much better. Give her a big round of applause. Yeah. Come on. Come on up here real quick.
I just need you for a second. Okay. I have got a quarter here. Here, come on up here so everyone can see your cool boots. All right. Heads. Tails. Heads. Tails. Tails. What is it? What is it? What is it? What is it?
I am going to guess heads, but it is probably tails now. What is it? Heads. What is it going to be? Heads. Tails. Heads. What is it going to be? Heads. Heads. What is it going to be? Tails. Heads. It is my game. I decide whether it is heads or tails.
I invited her to come into the game. I brought her over. You come over here. God designed you and brought you into His world. He decides when it is heads and when it is tails. Sometimes it is what you wanted; sometimes it is not what you wanted. But it is always what He wanted. Big round of applause. You did so good.
Homecoming King Story
Sometimes I got time for this. So, if you know my son, he has got a fun personality, but he is not really a spotlight guy. So his friends came up to him a few weeks ago and said, «You need to run for homecoming king.» Okay, people love you. You are gonna win.
My son goes, «Never. Not going to do it.» They nominate him anyway. People love you. Don’t worry about it. Everybody loves you. You are going to win. Don’t worry about it.
Well, as whatever you call it, the campaign, the voting, we started the whole family getting sucked into this thing. Like, oh my gosh. You are about to be homecoming king, dude.
So, anyway, the five guys that got nominated, I think my son was the only one that was like, «I didn’t ask for this; it is freaking me out.» They are on the stage last Friday. So, the school shows up; or most of the school shows up, and Ally and I are there, and we are like, «Oh my gosh, this is crazy.»
Luke is up there with these other guys, and now we are sucked in, right? We are like, «Hey, he didn’t throw his name in the hat; it got thrown in.» And this is going to be pretty cool. Everybody’s going to win. You are going to win. You are going to win.
And the winner is this guy, right? Let us just call him Mitch. I don’t know what his name is. Mitch. Mitch wins. Well, now we all got sucked into this thing. And so now we are kind of disappointed, and Luke was like, «I never even wanted to be here anyway, but now I am kind of upset. I really thought everything everybody was saying was true, you know?»
Oh, I was like, man. So we backed up and we are like, «Okay, well, we learned a lot here.» And what we figured out was people like him more than they like you. There are more people who like him than like you.
And here is the deal. For whatever reason, I was getting in my truck, right? I was getting in my truck. I opened the door, but I had already prepared this message, and I was like, «God picked the other guy.» And I am like, «But it would have been so cool.»
It is almost like God says, «Look, hold on a second here. You don’t even know that kid. You don’t know what is going on in his life. You don’t know what is going on in his head. And you just needed to know I picked him. Now you have got one job: to listen to your own message.»
Does God ever say things to you, not out loud, just like right down in here, that you didn’t ask for that opinion? Like, God never takes my suggestion, but I don’t always ask for His opinion. So, it is an interesting relationship.
Point Two: God Doesn’t Waste Trouble
Let me go to point number two. There is no chance, but God doesn’t waste trouble. So sometimes you back up and say, «Hold on a second here. There is trouble that has been brought to me that I didn’t ask for, and I didn’t cause it.»
And you are like, «But God, there is no chance. That means You were a part of this somehow.» Jesus stood in front of the disciples and said, «Look,» to a whole bunch of believers. It was in Jerusalem. He says, «I am going to heaven right now.»
Like, in a second, you are going to see something that is going to blow your mind because I am going to go straight up to heaven right in front of you. But before I go, I am going to ask you to do one thing: I want you to go throughout the world. I want you to get out of Jerusalem and spread the gospel. That is what I want you to do.
And so, all of a sudden, He starts going up. Man, what a moment! Oh my goodness! He starts rising up to heaven. And what do all these believers do? They stayed in Jerusalem. I mean, you like being around people who believe like you.
So God looks down and says, «Well, hold on a minute. Look, some trouble is going to come to you.» And here we go. Let me show you. This is in the book of Acts. I think it is chapter 1, no, 8:1.
Now Saul, who was kind of running things, was consenting to his death. They were talking about Stephen at the time. At that moment, a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions.
Okay, listen to this. He tells the believers to go to the other regions. The believers do not go to the other regions. So, He arranges in His providence to cause a scattering.
Can I tell you that many of the problems that come to us are either to move us or to change us? It is God’s providence. It is, «I didn’t ask for this.» Have you ever thought to yourself, «I would not have any problems if you didn’t bring your problem to me»?
Have you ever thought, «My life was going great till you called»? But He is doing that as an arrangement.
Pastor James' Story
Let me give you an example. Pastor James is our marriage and family counselor at our church. Would you stand up? I want everybody to know who you are. If you need counseling, just call the church. You want to talk to him. And this is why you want to talk to him.
How old was your daughter before she passed away? Twenty-two. What was she fighting before she passed away? A terminal brain disease. Now, you have a dad who has a daughter with a terminal brain disease.
He didn’t do anything to bring this situation into his life. It came into his life. Remember, no chances, no accidents, no luck exists. It doesn’t exist. And so now we back up and go, «Hold on a minute here. This problem came into Pastor James' life.»
Now, 22 years of caring for his daughter, and then she passes away. No parent should outlive their children. That should never happen. Now, anyone who passes away, the only reason why they passed away is that their assignment is over. The impact they were supposed to make on this earth, they made that impact. They made that impact.
Now, what happened? Pastor James is probably one of the best marriage and family counselors I have ever met. Now, would he be that good if he didn’t have this horrible situation in his life? Would he be that good? Answer the question. Let me hear you. Let me hear you. No. No, he wouldn’t.
The Bible says we are convinced that all things work together. Whatever is happening to you, it works together. He didn’t arrange it, but He allows it to work together for your good.
How many of you have been through hell? Hell. And it almost killed you. But you look back on it and go, «If it weren’t for that, are you with me?» Come on, say yes if you are with me. Are you with me?
If it weren’t for that, that is when trouble comes to you. When trouble comes to you in the sovereignty of God, it is either to move you or to change you.
What do I mean by move you? Some of you have been fired from your job because God wants to move you from that job. And you say, «Well, why did I have to get fired?» Because you are too faithful to quit. You are one of those people that just say, «I am going to be faithful, hell or high water. I am not a quitter.»
And God looks at you and says, «That is why I love you, but it is time to move on.» And since I know you are not going to quit, you are going to have to get fired. Trouble comes to you either to move you or to change you.
But there is no coincidence, no chance, no luck, and no «I can’t believe this happened to me.»
Personal Story of Self-Caused Trouble
Sometimes you cause your own trouble. You did this. Now, here is the providence of God. Watch this. I am not going to say it exactly right, Joe, but you know what I am trying to say. So, go ahead and put it on the screen.
The providence of God allows for free will. He allows for free will. Uh, no, no, no. I will tell you which one it is, Joe. This one is on me. Did you get it? Yes, providence does not cancel free will. He allows you to make your own decisions.
It is like, «Bro, this is not what I wanted you to do, but I am still going to take all things and work them together for good.» But in my sophomore, junior, and senior years, in my freshman year of college, I went to Lamar University.
A paper airplane has a better chance of surviving in hell than I did of going to heaven. No exaggeration. If it was bad, I was doing it. No chance. No chance. I was the preacher’s kid. It is always the preacher’s kid, right? The preacher’s kid.
So now God says, it is not chance. It is not coincidence. I brought it upon myself. Have you ever brought trouble upon yourself? You have nobody to blame. You know you did it. Just me? That is fine. Put your church mask on. No, I have no idea what he is talking about.
If you are sitting next to your husband or wife, you are like, «He is alone on this.» So, what does God do? Because he works all things together for the good, right?
A pastor’s wife in Chicago, her name is Jeanie, came down to speak at our church. And the pastor says, «Hey, Frankie, will you drive her to Intercontinental Airport? She has got to fly home.» And I am like, «Really? I don’t even want to be in this church right now.» And you get whatever.
I drive her to the airport, and before she gets out of the car, she is like a spiritual mom to me. I am saying, «Mom.» She is calling me her third son. She has two boys. We talk every single day for six months. I think we missed one.
She tells me, «I want you to move to Chicago. I am 19. Move to Chicago. I have got an internship available for you. You are going to go to Bible school. God has called you to ministry.» And I am like, «You know how I am living?»
I go up there. God takes me out of Houston. I was raised here. «You are so messed up. I gotta get you out of this city.» God allowed me free will, but he is not going to leave me in it. Are you with me?
He moves me to Chicago. She goes, Jeanie goes to Vancouver and meets a girl who is driving her to the airport. She comes back and says, «I think I met your wife.» I am like, «Let us just find out.»
I see her across the sanctuary. I haven’t even talked to her yet. You know that envelope that is in front of you right now? It is a tithe and offering envelope. But for me, that is what I wrote notes on to pass down. «Hey, pass this down. Pass this down.»
And I wrote down, «I am going to marry that girl» and handed it to my friend. Three days later, we were dating. A year and a half later, we were engaged. Two years after that, or a full two years after we met, we are married. And we have been married for 24 years.
Let us give Ally a hand; stand up and wave at everybody. 24 years. She deserves a crown or something. And we have two dogs. One of them is blind and deaf, but we love it anyway. What? You should see it walk downstairs. It is really sad and really funny in a sick way.
I just lost so much respect from so many of you. Uh, I try to carry it down every chance I get, but sometimes I just hear, «What am I talking about? Oh, yeah. All for good.»
Let me just move on. God took me out of Houston, took care of me in Chicago. Then what did he do? He moved me back to Houston. It is like when you bring trouble on yourself, you brought it. But God’s providence says, «I am not going to let you stay there. I have got plans.»
I caused the dice to roll the way I want them to roll. I have got you. I want to let you know something: He has got you. He has got you.
I don’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence. I know you are an adult. But just say, «He has got me,» three times. Just say, «God’s got me.» Just say, «God’s got me.» One, two, three. Just, «God’s got me.»
God is like the director of an orchestra. He tells the brass when to be quiet and when the strings play. Then he tells the strings, and then he causes the brass to play. And sometimes you are in a season where it is just like, hey, you are not going to like it. Just sit for a minute and talk to me, and your season will shift. Just hold up. Just hold up.
Fixing Our Gaze
There is one last scripture I want to share with you, and then we will be done: Second Corinthians 4:18. So we don’t look at the troubles we can see. Rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
What is he saying? He is saying this: don’t just sit there and think about all the troubles. Back up and say, «This is not happening by chance. I am not going to focus on the troubles that I caused or that came to me. There are no chances. God, you got this. You got this.»
I was laying in bed the other day, and I was getting rocked. Rocked. What do I mean by rocked? Rocked because all I could think about was every single thing that I was perceiving that was not going well.
And I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, «Are you just going to lay there and get swallowed up in this? Is that what you are going to do? You are just going to lay there?» And it wasn’t out loud; it was just right down here.
You are going to be down. You are going to be depressed. You are going to be upset. You are just going to sit there and spiral. Is that your plan right now? And so I am like, no. I mean, it was my plan.
And so I am like, how am I going to push back on this? See, there was no chance. It wasn’t chance that my mind started getting flooded with that. It wasn’t coincidence. It wasn’t that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. There are no chances.
And I am sitting there, and I am like, the only way out of this is just to sit here and say thank you for everything I can think of. Thank you for my house. Thank you for my family. Thank you that I am not in the hospital. Thank you. Thank you.
There are no chances. There are no accidents. God, you got this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
So, I want to encourage you today. God’s got this. He has got this. Sometimes you get red lights, sometimes you get green lights, but He caused them to turn red, and He caused them to turn green. Every single detail. But He has got this.
Closing Encouragement and Altar Call
Let us all stand to your feet for me. You know, I want to just show for those of you who are really going through it right now. The future you is amazing. Can I say the future you is amazing because of what you are going through?
I had a friend of mine; he is an associate pastor at a megachurch. I think they have got like 15,000 people or something like that, and he was the number two guy in charge. He cheated on his wife. Boom.
Being a pastor is the only occupation on the planet that, if you have an affair, you lose your job. It is the only occupation. He is out. I called him every single day because he was suicidal.
I got another friend of mine in January, a senior pastor. He threw his life into the ministry, training adults on Monday night, youth training on Tuesday night, involved in something on Wednesday night, and his family just unraveled. So she left him in January.
So you guys know what happens then; he loses his church. We were friends before that, but now I am like, I am going to be his best friend. I got word someone found out we were together, and they were like, «Hey, that is interesting,» implying maybe I read it wrong.
It is possible I read things wrong a lot, but implying, «What are you doing with this guy? Don’t you know what he did?» And I am thinking, hold on a second. What is the other option? Do you want me to back up? Do you want me to create space so there is no association between me and him? Is that the other option?
Almost like emotionally, mentally just kind of throwing a stone at him, like I am going to throw a stone at you because of the sin and failure that you caused. That scene sounds very familiar, doesn’t it?
Where a prostitute was brought before Jesus, and they were all going to stone her, and then Jesus backs up and says, «Those of you,» what did he say? Yeah, «Those of you who are without sin, cast the first stone.»
You see, the moments in my life that have almost broken me—the years, the first seven, eight, nine years of pastoring this church—I would tell Ally, «We are going to fold. I am telling you, we are going to fold. We are going to fold.»
We would go to the financial meetings every single year, this annual meeting with the board, and they would say, «Hey, if God doesn’t move, we are going to fold. There is not enough money coming in. We can’t pay the bills. We are going to fold.» And when you have kids, it is scary.
And because of your faithfulness, this whole building is paid off. Isn’t that awesome? But I remember what it is like to feel like I am about to lose everything. So when people lose everything, who comes running? I come running.
And then when we start a church, put our church logo on there: Celebration Church. Where did that come from? That came from a person who knows what it is like to be scared to lose everything. And that ended up being my finest hour—not the hour of being strong, but the hour of feeling like I was going to break. But God used that.
Some of you are in your finest hour. It is your hardest hour, but it is your finest hour.
I would like for our prayer partners to come down if they would. Some of you need someone to pray with you. Some of you are in this room, and you know—nobody has to tell you—you know that if your heart were to stop beating in the next five minutes, you are not ready to see the Lord. You know it.
Some of you are just in a tough season, and you need someone to pray for you. In a minute, I would like for you to come out of your seat and come down and pray with one of the prayer partners.
There is no official dismissal; you can leave whenever you get ready. But let us sing this next song through one or two times, and then you can leave whenever you want.
May the Lord bless you. May He keep you. May His face shine down upon you and be gracious to you. May His countenance be lifted up on you and bring you peace, in Jesus' name. Amen.