Jesus and the Great Commission | Sunday Message

Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend the bestselling book Cold Case Christianity from former detective J. Warner Wallace. That's a book we're offering this month to our listeners, Cold Case Christianity, written by detective J. Warner Wallace.

A homicide detective investigates the claims of the gospel, so get your own copy of Cold Case Christianity. It's our offer for this month for your gift of any size. Request yours for a limited time at harvest.org. Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. So let's turn in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 28. We're in our Jesus and You series, and the title of my message is Jesus and the Great Commission.

Jesus and the Great Commission. So, you know, people have interesting things put on their tombstones. Sometimes they're a bit humorous. Sometimes they're a bit tragic. And I heard about someone that actually put this on their tombstone.

I told you I was sick. Another person put, here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go. Even another wrote these words, I don't know if they wrote them, someone else wrote them. Someone else said these words inscribed on their tombstone, don't cry, I'm just changing addresses.

I think that's pretty good, and that's really true. I did hear the story about a man who had the unfortunate last name of Odd. Imagine going through life with a last name of Odd.

You can imagine the jokes as well. Oh, Odd, that's Odd, you're Odd. He got so sick of it. So knowing that eventually he was gonna die, he gave instructions to his family, I don't want my name on my tombstone. I want my tombstone left blank. I don't want anyone to comment on my name after I'm gone.

So they did exactly what he said. But people would be walking through the cemetery, they would read inscriptions on tombstones. They would come to a blank tombstone and read it and say the tombstone is blank.

That's Odd. So I guess he couldn't escape it. But often people would give their last words from their deathbed. Karl Marx, the founder of communism, was asked by his housekeeper what he wanted his last words to be. His response to her was get out, last words are for fools who have not said enough.

Well, he said far too much. Queen Elizabeth I gave her last words which were all my possessions for a moment of time. Voltaire, a famous philosopher and atheist, gave his last words which are so tragic when he said, quote, I am abandoned by God and man, I shall go to hell.

Wow, is that a hopeless statement? But then there are the last words of those who had faith for those who trusted Christ, like the great apostle Paul, who in his final letter to Timothy wrote these words, I fought the good fight, I kept the faith, I finished the course. Henceforth there is later for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me and not to me only but to all who love his appearing. And we come now to the last words of Jesus. Now you might think that would be the seven statements from the cross and indeed those were his last words before he died but then he rose again from the dead, spoiler alert in case you didn't know that. But he rose from the dead and then he ascended to heaven and before he ascended to heaven he gave his final words, something that we call the great commission. You know, sometimes people will say to me, Greg I love it when you do invitations in church and have people come forward.

I love it too but let me ask you a question. When's the last time you brought someone who's not a Christian to church? So let's talk now for a few moments about this great commission, bringing me to point number one, God has called every believer to preach the gospel and make disciples.

It's on the screen. I want us to repeat this together out loud. Say this with me. God has called every believer to preach the gospel and make disciples. That means you.

That means me. We're all called to do this. This is why we call it the great commission and not the great suggestion. So there are two primary passages we look to that are effectively the last words of our Lord before he ascended to heaven. The first is in Mark chapter 16 verse 15 where Jesus says go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person. And now we have the version we're going to focus on in this message, Matthew 28 and verse 18, Jesus says all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them, I would underline that, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you for lo I am with you even to the end of the age. Couple of things jump out from the statement of Christ. Number one, they're a command. They're a command from Christ, our Lord and Savior, our master and commander. Our God says to you, he says to me, I command you to go into all of the world and make disciples of all nations, go into all of the world and preach the gospel.

Secondly, contextually, they're not just addressed to what we might call the professionals. The evangelists, the pastor, the missionary, they're included, but they're addressed to every follower of Jesus Christ, every one of us, no matter what you do, man or woman, young or old, we're all called to do this. And actually I found that some of the most effective evangelists I've ever met are just everyday people. They're not preachers. They don't walk around with a pulpit.

They just have a gifting to engage people in conversations about Christ. And so this is something we're all called to do. Another thing is God will give us the power we need to do this. Look at verse 18. All power is given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore. Now, whenever you see the word therefore, find out what it's there for.

It's drawing in what has been previously said. So Jesus is saying, all power is given to me in heaven and on earth, therefore, in light of this fact, go into all the world. You see, he's giving you this power as well. Acts chapter one, verse eight, Jesus says you should receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you to be witnesses for me. God will give you the power to do what he has called you to do. And then the last thing I wanted to point out is that he will be with us in a special way when we do this.

Look at verse 20. I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Now, look, if you're a Christian, wherever you go, Christ is with you. You're never alone again in life.

Isn't that great to know? Jesus said I'll never leave you or forsake you. And there are many verses that confirm the fact that Christ is with us, but this verse has a different sort of meaning to it.

In context of what has been previously said, Jesus is saying, if you'll allow me to paraphrase it, when you go and fulfill the Great Commission, when you go and preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations, I will be with you in a special way. And you will sense the presence of God when you engage people with this message. But it's weird because this is a subject some Christians cringe at. There's one thing that believers and non-believers have in common. They're both uptight about evangelism. Non-Christians are uptight about being evangelized and Christians are uptight about evangelizing. But we should all be engaged in this, and so for some, the Great Commission has become the great omission, and that's a tragedy. Now let me say something that may surprise you. To not share your faith can be an actual sin.

Let me say it again. To not share your faith can be an actual sin. Now, we think a sin is breaking a commandment.

Of course it is. But there are sins of commission and omission. A sin of commission is when you do what you should not do. A sin of omission is when you don't do what you should do. The Bible says, to him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Let me illustrate. Let's say you're walking down the street in some neighborhood and there's a house on fire, a crowd standing around. The fire department has not arrived yet.

Someone says, there's a small child in that house. You might be a hero and run into the flames and try to save the child. At the very least you call 911. But if you take a selfie of yourself in front of the burning house, that's messed up. I mean, that's a crime in a way. Maybe it technically is a crime, but you can't do that.

See, that would be like the worst thing you could do. Let me illustrate in another way. Let's say that you had cancer and you were a medical researcher and you spent all of your time and energy trying to find a cure for cancer. And somehow you came up with a single pill that one could take one time and be instantly cured of cancer.

So you took it and you were cured and you never told anybody else about it. Imagine having the cure for cancer and not telling anyone else about it. So to apply it to the point, what we're doing for people is even more important than getting someone out of a burning building. We're saving them from a burning judgment in eternity. What we have is even better than the cure for cancer.

As wonderful as that would be, we have the cure to sin, the cure to hopelessness, the very cure for life. We've got to share this with others. We can't keep it to ourselves. You can applaud now. Go ahead. I know that didn't come from your heart, but that's okay.

I just thought it was a good thing to applaud for. So every one of us is called to do it. So if you would be daring enough to pray this prayer, you might be surprised by what happens. And the prayer is simply this.

It's a prayer of Isaiah. Here I am, Lord. Send me. Want to say that out loud together?

On the count of three. Here I am, Lord. Send me. Ooh, watch out.

Watch out. God might answer that prayer before the day is over. See, far too often we're more like, here he is. Send him. Or there she is.

Send her. Not me. That was Jonah. God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them because they needed to repent. Because judgment was coming and Jonah didn't want to go to them because they were his enemies, the enemies of Israel.

Of course, God had the last word in that scenario. But the point is, you need to go where God calls you to go. Let's localize this.

Let's personalize it. Instead of going to all of the world, let's just put it this way. Go into all of your world and preach the gospel.

Your world. You have a sphere of influence. You have people that will listen to what you have to say. So go into all of your family and preach the gospel. Do your family members know you're a Christian? I don't just mean your immediate family.

I mean your extended family. Do they know you've put your faith in Christ? Go into all of your neighborhood. Do your neighbors know that you're a Christian? Go into all of your workplace.

Go into all of your campus. Do your co-workers or other students you know know that you're a follower of Christ? Go into all of your world. I like to call it frangelism. Frangelism. No, that does not mean only evangelize people with the name of Fran. Is there anyone named Fran here? No, Fran. Okay, this is a Fran free zone. But Fran, it's an acronym. F-R-A-N. F for friends. R for relatives.

A for associates. N for neighbors. Go into all of your world and tell people because Christ has the answer for everyone. And notice it's addressed to whosoever. John 3 16.

Whosoever. I love this verse. Let's put John 3 16 on the screen. Listen, if you forget everything else that I said, I want you to remember this. Every Christian should have this verse memorized.

Let's say it out loud together. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Isn't that a great verse? It's called the gospel in a nutshell. Whoever or whosoever as the King James Version puts it.

Whosoever. Which means the gospel is for everyone. Now there are some people of a reformed type of theological thinking also known as Calvinists. And in this case we might call them extreme Calvinists that believe in double predestination. Which means they believe that God in heaven has predestined some people to go to heaven and He's predestined other people to go to hell.

So it works like this. You guys, you're all going to heaven. You're predestined. You guys, you're all going to hell. And you say, but wait, wait, I want to believe in Jesus and go to heaven. No, you can't because you're not predestined.

Interesting. Here's what the Bible says. Whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The gospel is for everyone. Well you might say, well Greg, don't you believe in predestination?

Well of course they do. It's in the Bible. Well what do you do with those verses where you have predestination and free will? How do you reconcile them?

I don't reconcile friends. They're both in the Bible. They're both true. God chooses. God predestines.

But we have a say so in this matter. Listen, you decide where you will spend eternity by what you do with Jesus Christ. Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. I like the statement of the old evangelist D.L.

Moody who said, Lord save the elect and elect some more. So look, my job, your job, our job is just to give the gospel out to whosoever and leave the results in the hands of God. But we say gospel a lot. What exactly is the gospel? I frankly don't think most Americans have heard an accurate and biblical presentation of the gospel. Sometimes I wonder if some Christians know what the gospel actually is.

There are certain elements that must be present for the gospel to be the gospel. Now I know that you probably are aware of the fact that the word gospel means good news. So the good news is there's a God in heaven who loves you. The good news is you can be forgiven of all of your sin. The good news is you can go to heaven.

But sometimes before I can fully appreciate the good news I have to first know the bad news. The bad news is that you and I and all of us are sinners and we fall short of the glory of God and we've broken the commandments of God. And there's nothing we can do to satisfy the righteous requirements of God in our own strength and ability. And that's where Christ comes in.

The word sin in the Bible is translated different ways. One translation of the word means to miss the mark. So think of a game of archery. And you and I are competing. So I go first and I have ten arrows. My first arrow hits a tree. My second arrow hits a cow grazing in a pasture. My third arrow, we don't know where that one went. By the time I've done one of my arrows has hit the outer rim of the target. Now you get up, you're an expert archer. Every one of your arrows hits the bullseye except one. So you say I win.

No you didn't win. You missed the mark. Well I was closer to the mark than you were but you have to hit the mark. So the mark that God has set for humanity is perfection. And the Bible says if you have been in one point of the law you're guilty of all. Granted some sin more than others but one sin is enough to keep you out of heaven. So how can I be perfect we ask? Well you can't be and that's where Jesus comes in. That's why Christ and Christ alone was uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between a holy God, excuse me, that we've offended and humanity.

I choke up thinking about it and if we'll turn from our sin we can be forgiven. You go Greg I already know this. Okay good. I'm glad you know it. When did you tell someone about this recently?

Have you told them that they can come into this relationship with God? You know we talk about everything. We talk about the new hamburger place we just found.

I found the best smash burger of all time. I've got pictures. 25 pictures on the gram. Look at it. Whatever.

I've got a slow-mo video. Okay. Oh I just binge watched this series on Amazon Prime Video.

It's called The House of David. That's worth talking about. Or maybe something else. Right. Oh I'm so excited. Oral politics. Oh don't get me started on politics.

Okay that's fine. You're entitled to your opinions. But we'll get all fired up about every subject under the sun. When's the last time you got fired up about talking about Jesus? That's what you need to be the most excited about.

Tell us about your epic smash burger. Maybe keep some of your political views to yourself depending on where you stand. But the point is I want to hear you talk about Jesus.

It's so very important. That's the gospel. Okay so we're not just called to preach the gospel. We're also called to make disciples. Look at verse 20. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you.

Lo I am with you even to the end of the age. Listen to this. You should either be discipling or be being discipled. You should be discipling someone or they should be discipling you and sometimes you can do both at the same time.

You say I don't even know what you're talking about. To disciple someone means that you take them under your wing and you become a friend to them. You don't have to be a theologian. You don't have to be an expert on all of the Bible. I think you know the Bible better than you may think you know the Bible.

And you just haven't been challenged to put it to use yet. But you need to model for them what a Christian looks like. So they're a brand new believer. They need to see what Christians do. Not just sitting in church because some things are taught and other things are caught.

There's only so much that I or Pastor Jonathan or anyone else standing behind this pole can do from this position. We can teach certain ideas and principles but they have to catch things by observing a Christian in real life. How do Christians drive? This is why I never have new believers drive with me anywhere.

Because I drive too slow. You see I don't want to frustrate them too much. But the truth is you know let them see how a real Christian lives.

This is very important for them. And I had someone do this for me. And I'm eternally grateful to him. His name was Mark. So I'm a brand new believer.

I came to Christ on my high school campus. Nobody told me what I just did. Nobody said hey Greg here's a new believers Bible. It hadn't been written yet. Well the Bible had been written but this particular version hadn't been.

Read this it'll help you. No one gave you that. No one said Greg go to church on Sunday. No one said Greg you need to pray now.

Hey hang out with me. No one said anything to me. And I could have fallen through the cracks so easily. But this guy I didn't know from Adam's house cat. I don't know if Adam had a house cat. But I didn't know him. I'd never seen him before.

He comes up high. I'm Mark. Is your name Greg? Yeah it is.

Yeah well I saw that you prayed the other day and asked Christ to come into your life. I'm a little defensive. Yeah so? No that's great. That's wonderful.

Oh okay. Yeah you know what Greg? Why don't you come to church with me?

No thank you. No Greg I want you to come to church with me. I want to take you to church. No I don't want to. Oh there's this church called Calvary Chapel.

There's all kinds of young people there and the place is overflowing. And you've got to come check this out. I said no no no I don't want to. He goes yeah where do you live? I said no no I don't want to go to church with you.

When shall I pick you up? No next thing I know I'm in his car on my way to church. I commend that guy for not taking no for an answer.

Right? Be persistent. You know just give up. Oh okay.

No no you've got to come man. Ask him again. Ask him again. So he takes me to church and my life literally changed. And you couldn't get me out of the place after that.

Because I just wanted to learn as much as I could. But Mark said hey come on over and meet my family. Now I've never been with a family like this you know. I came from a broken home. My mom's an alcoholic.

I never had a dad. And I'm sitting at a table with a mom and a dad and the children eating a meal. You say grace before the meal. I thought this is only on television right? No it was real.

They were a real Christian family. And after we had dinner well let's talk about the Bible. And I'm hearing things for the first time. It's literally blowing my little 17 year old brain.

Like I can't believe this stuff is true. I needed someone to model it for me. And you can be that person for someone else. You can be that discipler. And not only can you be you've got to be.

Because it's not going to just help them. It's going to help you. Sharing the gospel and discipling others energizes and refreshes the Christian. You know sometimes as we walk with the Lord for a period of time. We may say I'm feeling kind of lethargic spiritually. I feel like you know what do I need to do now? I don't have the excitement I had before. And the passion. I actually feel a little bit spiritually dry.

What's wrong with me? Now let me say something that might surprise you from a preacher. There can come a point where you literally don't need more Bible study. Though you probably always do in one sense. But that's not what it is.

What it is is you need an outlet for what you're taking in. Let's just say you ate a big meal. We'll use Thanksgiving as an example. That day when all of America commits a sin of gluttony together. And I love Thanksgiving food once a year.

I don't know why I never have it any other day of the year. And my wife Kathy owns a Thanksgiving meal. I'm telling you I've had Thanksgiving in other homes.

It's fine and I don't want to offend anyone in case I came to your house. But my wife does it better than you. I'm just telling you she does. Starting with the turkey. She cooks it perfectly. Turkeys are so tricky.

They can end up too dry. And it's just right crispy on the outside. And then the stuffing. I don't like mushy stuffing. She does the cornbread stuffing. It has a little crisp on it. Is this making you hungry? Then there's the sweet potatoes and she melts marshmallows on them.

And they're really good. And then we have, you know, potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy in the rolls. And then I think it's a law in America. You can only eat pumpkin pie afterwards. Some people, some of them mince meat pies made it. That's rubbish. But I guess it deserves to exist somewhere.

But anyway. But how do you feel after you've eaten this wonderful meal? You feel like you want to go into a food coma. So you fall asleep and you wake up and what do you do?

Let's have a turkey sandwich, right? So you go in for round two. But here's my point. If you just eat and eat and take in and take in and don't have an outlet for what you're taking in. You're going to grow lazy, spiritually fat and lethargic. You need a new believer in your life.

Right? An older believer needs a younger believer because they will energize you. And the younger believer needs an older believer because you will stabilize them.

You need each other. This is what discipling is all about. And this is part of the Great Commission. And you know, I liken it to going to Disneyland. It's a lot different to go to Disneyland with adults than it is to go with children. I've always found it's more enjoyable with children. To see it through their eyes. Because when you go with adults, it's different.

You know, they complain more. It's too expensive. The lines are too long. It's too hot. It's too cold.

Is there something called Nappland here that I could go to? You know, this ride isn't realistic. I mean, there's rides now at Disneyland I used to go to when I was a kid. And now I don't want to go on anymore. Recently I went on the Matterhorn.

I thought I was going to have to get back surgery afterwards. I'm thinking, is there like suspension in this thing? It's insane.

That hurts. And even the mild roller coasters like that Mickey Mouse roller coaster. I don't know what they call it over at California Adventure. I used to think that's my kind of roller coaster.

Not too crazy. Now it's too crazy. Now I don't want to go on that anymore.

So it changes. But when you're a kid, a kid enjoys it. And my son Christopher, I used to take him there along with his brother Jonathan. And one year we went and we were standing on Main Street and they had the big parade. And there was a movie out years ago.

Some of you may remember it called The Rescuers. And there's this big giant bird that flaps his wings. And so this bird's flying, you know, running down Main Street. It's a man in a bird costume obviously.

I'm not deluded. Okay so. So he's running down and I'm watching him. I'm standing there with Christopher. And he starts coming toward me. And I said, yeah, he's coming my direction.

Oh he is. He's coming closer, closer, closer. Finally he comes right up to me and throws these giant bird wings around me. And I'm face up to the little screen. And he says, praise the Lord Greg. I'm like whoa.

There's a Christian in the bird. He says, I go to your church. Oh that's great. Hey you want to see me afterwards and meet some of the other people that are characters?

Sure. He takes me behind the scenes at Disneyland. I'm thinking this is going to be amazing for my son. Until they started taking their heads off. Christopher is just this little guy. Tiny little guy. And he sees Donald Duck take his, keep moving.

Do not loiter. Okay he takes Donald Duck's head off and there's this man inside. And he's just freaking out. I'm thinking I've just traumatized my son.

Yep. So maybe it wasn't so magical that time. But in general it's a wonderful thing to see it through a child's eyes you see. Now there's a lot of adults that like to go with other adults. Some even dressing up like Disney characters. They even have a name for them.

Weirdos. Josh I'm talking to you. No he doesn't do that. But he does come to work dressed as a Disney character. No not really. But no they call them Disney adults. Okay whatever.

I'm just saying this. I personally find it more enjoyable to take a child with me. Now play that to church. I come to church and I have all of my complaints. You know it's too hot here. It's too cold here. This church is too big. This church isn't big enough. The music's too loud. The music's not loud enough. I don't like this. I don't like that.

Et cetera, et cetera. Bring a new believer with you and rediscover it through their eyes. Because they hear these truths that you've heard so many times for the first time and you watch it revolutionize their life. It will re-revolutionize your life.

Right? I'll bring a non-believer with you. Oh my. You'll be praying. Oh Lord help Greg not mess up like he normally does. Oh I pray he gives an invitation. I pray he calls a person to Christ. I want my friend to come to Christ.

Yeah well it changes. So wrapping this up. Years ago I was in North Carolina at what is called the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove. Billy was still alive and we would do little teaching sessions there and he was there that night. And a friend of mine named John said would you introduce me to Billy Graham? I said sure. We walked over. I said Billy this is my friend John.

And John extends his hand. Shakes Billy's hand and he says Mr. Graham I want to thank you for all of your years of faithfulness to the Lord. And Billy looked at him and said I wish I'd done more.

I never forgot that. I thought if Billy Graham wished he had done more where does that leave the rest of us? And I don't think he was trying to put out a fake humility. He really meant it.

I wished I'd done more. But I just thought that was a powerful testament. And you know in this day when from time to time we hear of a spiritual leader falling we never celebrate the thousands and thousands who never fell and served God faithfully to the very end. But having said that it is a wonderful thing when you see a man or a woman of God start and finish their Christian race well. And we can rejoice in that.

And that's what we all should want in our lives. We want to finish our race well. The Christian life is like a race many times the Bible says. And if it is a race and it is it's a long distance run. And it's also a relay race. So we have the baton. I'll use this microphone as a baton.

So I run for my time and when my time is up I pass the baton on to the next runner who takes it and then they run with it for a time and then they too pass the baton on. And the baton is the gospel. Each generation has the gospel. We take it through our generation like it said of David.

He served God in his own generation and fell asleep and he was buried. We want to do this well and we want to finish well. And we want to hear Jesus say, Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord. One day you'll give your final words. What will they be?

I don't know. You may know they're your final words and you may not. Heard a story of an opera singer who was performing and he was on the top of a ladder for his song. And he sang these words, Too bad you only live for so long. And then he had a heart attack and died on the stage.

It was sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. But one day we'll give those last words. I think of young Stephen the first martyr of the early church. Who was being stoned for his faith.

And he prayed, Lord don't hold this against them. And then he said, Lord Jesus received my spirit and the Bible says he fell asleep. What an interesting way to describe a man dying a violent death. But actually it's a perfect way to describe it. Because this phrase falling asleep is only used to describe the death of a Christian.

Never a non-Christian. Do you fear falling asleep? I look forward to falling asleep. I was watching an interview with a famous actor the other day. And the interviewer said, What's your greatest fear? He said, Not being able to take my nap. I had to laugh out loud.

He says, well you know if I'm on a you know we're shooting a film or something. And I just hope I have time to go take my nap. I like to take like a 10 minute nap.

I thought that's funny. But we don't fear it. We fall asleep. We enter the presence of the Lord. That's the hope we have. Life with Jesus is endless hope.

Life without him is a hopeless end. And then comes the afterlife. I decide in this life where I will spend the afterlife. Coming back to the statement of Jesus. Whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. How could a God of love send someone to hell?

He doesn't. You send yourself there. By the decision you make. The last thing a loving God in heaven wants is for anyone made in his image to spend eternity separated from him in a very real place called hell.

It is God's desire that we all join him for all eternity in heaven. But he gives you a choice in the matter. You choose. And you either choose for him or against him.

So I want to close by offering you that choice. Maybe you're here today. You're brought by a friend. That's a very good friend if they brought you to church by the way. And you're hearing these things for the first time.

You've never heard any of this before. But you've thought wow I always thought if I'm a good person I'll go to heaven. No you have to be a forgiven person. You have to turn from your sin and ask Christ to come into your life.

And Jesus who died on that cross and rose from the dead and gave his final words and ascended to heaven. Now stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says if you'll hear his voice and open the door he will come in. Would you like Christ to come into your life? Would you like your sin forgiven?

Would you like a fresh start in life? Do you want to go to heaven when you die? Then say yes to Jesus.

You say okay how do you do that? Through prayer. So we're going to close in prayer. And I'm going to give you an opportunity to put your faith in Christ if you haven't done that yet. Let's all pray. Father thank you for your word to us.

Thank you for your love for us. And I pray for any person right now who has never put their faith in you. Maybe they're here at this location. Maybe they're watching another at another campus.

Maybe they're watching online or I don't know where they are. But help them to see their need for you right now and help them to come to you and believe. Now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together. Is there someone here that wants Jesus Christ to come into their life? Someone here that wants to go to heaven when they die. If you want Christ to come into your life. If you want him to forgive you of your sin. If you want to join him in heaven one day.

If you want to fill that big hole in your heart. Wherever you are I want you to raise your hand up and I'm going to pray for you. Just raise your hand up if you want Christ to come into your life. And I'll pray for you right now. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up high where I can see it please.

Just lift your hand up. I want Jesus today. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.

Anybody else? God bless you in the back. Raise your hand up high where I can see it please. Let me pray for you. God bless you young lady there.

Now you guys in the other campuses I can't see you there but that doesn't matter. The Lord sees you. You can raise your hand as well saying yes I want Jesus today. Pray for me. Anybody else in this final moment?

Raise your hand up. Let me pray for you. God bless. God bless. Now Father I pray for every one of these folks and I pray you'll give them the strength to stand up and follow you.

For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you. Amen. God bless. Hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to Harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally go to Harvest.org and click on Know God.