Deion Sanders’ Pastor Says, ‘God Is Raising You…To Be a Nehemiah’

deion sanders
Deion Sanders during an inverview in 2022. 7 Figure Squad, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Pastor Dewey Smith: ‘God Is Our Heavenly Quarterback’

Smith, whose latest book is titled “Preaching on Every Channel,” was in Boulder on Sept. 9 to support Coach Prime at the Buffs’ home opener. The next day, in a “Sunday Sermon” posted to Thee Pregame Show YouTube channel, Smith shared an inspirational message about God’s purpose. “This is personal for me, too,” he said, echoing the team’s theme that week.

The pastor described how God changed his own life at age 16, as he was headed either to jail or an early grave. When God gave him a church to lead at age 19, Smith said, “Few people believed I was qualified.” But he has endured in ministry for more than three decades “because I took it personal.”

Smith told listeners, “When God gives you a purpose, you live by that purpose.” Then he asked, “What’s personal for you?” The pastor encouraged people to forget the haters, avoid distractions, and raise their level of expectations. “You are the chosen ones,” he told CU football players. “Don’t take this moment for granted.”

Using a football analogy, Smith described God as “our heavenly quarterback.” Our responsibility, meanwhile, is to get to the right spot at the right time and then just “lift up your hands.” If you don’t know your assignment or perform your role well, he added, “then the team won’t be victorious.”

RELATED: 10 Christian NFL Players Who Plan To Play for God in 2023

Coach Prime Wants To ‘Please the Lord’

Earlier this year, Deion Sanders told GQ magazine, “I’m not living my life to please people; I’m living my life to please the Lord.” Pleasing God makes him happy, the coach added, because it leads to “peace and serenity” and no “bad days.”

“My life is so good and purposeful that I don’t run out and think what to do or what to say or how to be,” said Sanders. “I don’t run out of nothing. I’m full. I’m like an electric car, man. I don’t need no gas.”

Although Sanders has the pedigree to coach in the NFL, he said he has “no desire to coach rich men.” Instead, he said he wants to “have an impact on a younger man that needs direction.” To further motivate his players, including sons Shedeur and Shilo, Sanders regularly brings in star athletes to address the locker room.

Next up, CU hosts in-state rival Colorado State on Sept. 16. After that, the Buffs face PAC-12 powerhouses Oregon and USC.

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Stephanie Martin
Stephanie Martin, a freelance writer and editor in Denver, has spent her entire 30-year journalism career in Christian publishing. She loves the Word and words, is a binge reader and grammar nut, and is fanatic (as her family can attest) about Jeopardy! and pro football.

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