Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church

06/07/2026

06/05/2026

How do we deal with anger?

Join us this Sunday as we continue How to Feel: Emotions in the Book of Psalms with a message from guest speaker Dave Strunk.

8:00 | 9:30 | 11:00 AM
Livestream at 8 & 11 AM
cspc.net/live

06/04/2026

What a sweet night celebrating our Rejoice Youth Choir at their Welcome Home Concert!

We’re so grateful for these middle and high school students who use their gifts to worship, lead, and share the joy of Christ through music.

Rejoice Youth Choir meets Sunday afternoons from 3:30–5:00 PM in the East Wing Rehearsal Hall and is open to students in grades 6–12.

06/03/2026

(4/4) Ryan: Even as we trust in God, and He blesses Deacon with the ability to play football, there are still questions. ‘Why do I have special muscles and my friends don't?’ he asks sometimes. And honestly, we don't have a perfect answer. We tell him God makes everybody different. We assure him God always has a plan, and this was the plan for him and for our family. But it's hard for a 7-year-old to truly understand that. It's hard for us, too. But he sits there, processes it for a minute, and then we just say, ‘We'll see what happens next.’ And somehow, that settles him. It humbles us every single time he accepts that.

Jessica: What we do every single night is pray together at bedtime. Deacon leads a lot of it. He thanks God for his medicine, and he prays for new medicines to come. He prays for his muscles to get stronger every day. Deacon genuinely understands that he has something others with his disease didn't always have access to- and he's deeply grateful for it. That kind of gratitude and awareness in a 7-year-old stops me cold every night, without fail.

Ryan: As his parents, balancing hope with reality is a daily battle. I'm a business guy, and the way I see it, we're almost at an inflection point. For decades, there was very slow progress on treatments for Duchenne. But in the last three to five years, it's like a hockey stick. One treatment gets figured out, then a second, then a third. There's gene editing research in the pipeline that could actually replace the missing dystrophin gene- as close to a cure as anyone has ever seen for this disease. Holding that hope and holding reality at the same time is honestly the hardest thing I do every single day.

Jessica: But we're not putting all of our hope in any earthly answer. What we've learned through this journey is to hold hope carefully- and to put it where we've always found it to be steady. We don't know God's full plan for Deacon. But we know that what He’s done so far has been nothing short of extraordinary. We're genuinely excited to see what comes next as we trust the One who’s kindly upholding our family through all of it. For now, we’ll celebrate the evidence of that one snap at a time.

06/03/2026

(3/4) Ryan: For me as a dad, this is just something I honestly thought would never happen. When we found out about Deacon's diagnosis, my mind went immediately to sports. I played sports growing up. And when it hit me what Duchenne really meant for his future, I just came to terms with the reality that sports would never be part of his life. So watching him walk out on that field -all in, completely committed to being a football player, getting down in his stance- means more than I can really put into words. When you're watching him out there, his joy is just infectious. It’s impossible not to smile.

Jessica: He’s been playing center a lot, and he absolutely loves it because he gets to snap the ball and touch it on every single play. He and Ryan have been out in the yard practicing snaps together, and those are moments I treasure. For me and my mama heart, just getting to see him on a team and doing what he loves is everything. I won't lie- I'm halfway holding my breath every time he steps on the field. But to see his excitement and happiness makes every bit of it worth it. And the other kids -7-and 8-year-old boys-have just embraced him, cheered for him. Their parents should be so proud.

Ryan: Looking back over Deacon's life, you can't help but see God's hand in the timeline. The first-ever treatment for Duchenne came out one month after his diagnosis- and it happened to target the exact exon he was missing, out of 79. The gene therapy was only approved for 4-and 5-year-olds, and Deacon was 5. Tight window. Stressful process. But it worked out. Every time we've truly let go and trusted God, He has done more than we ever knew to ask for.

Jessica: We know it's still a serious illness. There's no cure. But my goodness- right now, he is living his best life as a 7-year-old. On a team. Smiling every time he steps on that field. We don't know God's full plan for Deacon yet, but we know He has had His hand in every single step of this journey.

06/03/2026

(2/4) Jessica: And speaking of surprises, God has had a big one for us this year! I didn't think we'd ever get to see Deacon playing on a sports team. But since gene therapy, he’s become completely obsessed with football. We played family flag football (he named it that!) in the backyard all last summer, into the fall, even on cold winter days. We took him to a UT game and he was doing play-by-play commentary the whole time. An older gentleman sitting near us said they should just turn off the speakers and let Deacon do it- because he was doing a better job anyway. Deacon’s also a massive Titans fan. When he plays Madden, he picks the Titans every single time. He just puts his whole heart into it and loves every single second.

Ryan: He knows every position, every role. He'd talk about wanting to play linebacker, or safety, or running back- he just wants to be everywhere at once. And honestly, watching his joy out there is just contagious. No matter what kind of mood you're in, you get around Deacon when he's playing football and everything just gets better. Everything becomes fun again.

Jessica: So I was talking with a friend whose son has played CSPC flag football for years, and I mentioned how much I wished there was a way for Deacon to play. The hesitation was real: he tires easily, he can't play a full game, he needs breaks and water. And I didn't want to bring it up to him, get his hopes up, and have it fall through. I knew how heartbreaking that would be for him. But she encouraged me, so I sent an email to [CSPC Sports Ministry Director] Jeremy Johnson. It was a long shot, I thought to myself, and I really wasn't sure what to expect back.

Ryan: Jeremy called back and said, ‘Absolutely. We will find him a team. We will make it work.’ And he meant every single word.

Jessica: Deacon’s first game was mid-March. The way the rotation works -boys cycling in and out- I don't even think he notices he's sitting out a little more than other boys. Recently I took a video of him running imaginary plays on the sideline when he was supposed to be resting and drinking water. That little video says everything you need to know about Deacon.

06/03/2026

We’re Ryan and Jessica Hubbard. Here’s an update on how God’s enabling our family to live deeply.

(1/4) Jessica: Deacon asked me about Heaven. ‘Does Jesus still have scars on his hands there? And if there's no pain in Heaven, does that mean my muscles will work?’ Deacon, our son, is 7. He has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle-wasting disease with no cure. Many of you have walked this road with us since he was diagnosed at age 2, and we’ve felt every single prayer over these years. The last big update we shared with CSPC was Deacon’s gene therapy, which he received in August of 2024. Before it, his running was more of a fast walk that we couldn't even really categorize as a run. Now, he can actually run! He's not keeping up with his peers, but he’s out there running and playing with them on the playground. Watching him just genuinely run for the first time is something I will never, ever forget.

Ryan: In Columbus, Ohio, where we go every six months for evaluations, they time his running. Since gene therapy, he's about 20 to 25% faster than before. That's significant. A real, meaningful improvement from where he was. More ability has also meant more awareness, though. Getting into elementary school made Deacon realize even more that his muscles are different from those of the other boys his age. He'll come home and talk about it: playing at recess, the things he can't quite do, the frustration that comes from that. Those are hard conversations to sit in as a parent.

Jessica: And then there are the questions. He's asked why God made him this way. Deacon knows he was one of the very first boys in the world to receive this particular gene therapy, and we want him to truly understand that- to feel the full weight of that gift. He's thankful. He knows how much he's been prayed for- by us, by family, by CSPC. But then his mind just keeps going- and that's where questions like the ones about Jesus' scars, or whether his muscles will work in Heaven, come from. You’d be surprised at the conversations a 7-year-old can lead you into.

06/03/2026

You can bring every emotion to God.

Your fear.
Your anxiety.
Your sadness.
Your joy.
Your praise.

He is not distant from you. He loves you, delights in you, and invites you to come.

06/01/2026

Come Serve With Us this summer!

Join us for opportunities to serve alongside local ministry partners throughout Knoxville and discover where God may be inviting you to live deeply.