Pastor Greg Laurie presents the Amazon Prime hit series The House of David, now on DVD. The House of David, which has been just a smash hit on the Amazon streaming platform, is now available in a box set format. And you can watch it when you want to. We're also including something called Beyond House of David, which is a four-part documentary series.
So order your copy right now, The House of David. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org. Good to see you all. I'm your resident bald preacher tonight. And that was very encouraging.
We're going to have some more great music from our friend Chris Tomlin in a few moments. But you know, it's an amazing thing that we're even here. Because we only planned this six weeks ago. Can you believe that?
So, after our friend Charlie Kirk was called unexpectedly home to heaven. We talked to the pastors here in Utah that we had already been communicating with about doing one of our events here in 2027. And we said, is there anything we can do right now? And they said, come now.
So we did something we've never done before. We put an event together in six weeks, and so here we are. Here we are. I'm done with you.
So No, I'm kidding. I'll come back. I'll come back. But so we're so glad to be here. And thank you all for coming.
And we want to just start with a word of prayer, and then I'm going to share with you a message that is simply titled Home Before Dark. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful that you're in this room. You've said, when two or more are gathered together in your name, you are there in the midst. Lord, we sense your presence.
And I pray for every person here. I pray for every person in one of the 67 overflow sites here in the Utah Valley. I pray for the people that are watching online around the country and around the world. And I pray that you will speak to each one. And if there's anyone that does not yet know you, let this be the moment.
Tonight Everything changes for them.
So we commit this night to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. So I was in.
really planned, shall we say, delicately. My mother was a beautiful woman, genuinely a Marilyn Monroe. Look alike. Look at this picture of what my mom looked like. You get a sense?
Look at her, you know. And that's me. That's little Greg. And uh So my mother was a man magnet. She was married and divorced seven times.
Had a lot of boyfriends in between. She was a raging alcoholic. And I was a product of a one-night stand in Long Beach, California. I'm thankful I wasn't named oops instead of Greg.
So I wasn't planned by my mother, but thankfully she carried me to term and did not abort me. and gave me the choice. But though I was not planned by my mother, my life was planned by God. Just as your life is planned by God. And so my mama's out living La Vida Loca, you know?
She's living her crazy life, going from guy to guy, bar to bar. She would drink to excess every night and literally pass out. And so I would live with aunts and uncles. I did a couple of stints in military school, which I didn't like at all. And I lived for a time with my grandparents.
I was just a little boy. And at night I felt so lonely. I felt unwanted. And I would go into my bedroom and I would pull the covers over my head and talk to an imaginary person. I called him Mr.
Nobody. Sadly, I was 30 when this happened. No, not really. No, I was just a little kid. I was probably, I don't know, seven years old.
Maybe six? I talked to Mr. Nobody. I poured my heart out. To this person that did not have a name, but it was when I got a little bit older.
I realized that Mr. Nobody had a name. It was Jesus. I was reaching out to him. I would stare at this portrait of Jesus that hung in the front room of my grandmother's house that is there on the screen.
And I would just look at this face of Jesus and I would think to myself, I wish I could have known him. I wish I could talk to him. Imagine if you could sit down and have. A cup of coffee with Jesus. Excuse me.
A dirty soda. I don't know. They laughed more. I'm preaching to them. I like this.
I like them better. Yeah. I'm done with you.
But I mean seriously think if you would just Talk to Jesus. What would you say? By the way, Of course, you do have coffee here in Salt Lake City. I went to a coffee place today. And I walked in.
Excited coffee people there. And so I went in. And I said, I want to get a cup of coffee. And they said, you have your ID with you. I said my ID with me.
I said, I just want a cup of coffee. They said, no, we serve alcohol and it's a law in Utah that we have to get your ID. I said, clearly, I'm old enough to buy this coffee. And the guy said, how old are you? I said, I'm 72 years old.
And then Thank you. And then he said. You look good for your age. You call that accomplice salt. You know what accomplice salt is?
It's a complimentary insult, sort of like when someone says, To someone, you drive well for a woman. No, that's not good. Or you look good for your age.
Okay, but anyway, so I wasn't able to buy a cup of coffee in Salt Lake City.
Some of you are saying, see, I told you, you start with a coffee, then they're serving alcohol, and everything goes downhill from there. You may have a point, actually. But let's forget that if you could just sit down and talk to Jesus. What would you ask him if you're young? You would probably ask him questions like What is the meaning of my life?
Well, what is my purpose on this earth? If you're older, you might say things like, well, Did my life matter? What happens after I die? Life goes by so quickly. You know, you know you're getting old.
When you bend down to pick something up off the ground and you wonder what else you can do while you're down there. You know what I'm talking about? You know, you're getting old when happy hour is a nap. Right, so But what would you talk to Jesus about? And that's what I want to talk to you about tonight.
What is the meaning of your life? And I'm going to look at a story that Jesus told to show us what God is like.
Well, let me come back to my story. I said that little kid grew up to be a young man. I had to take care of my mother. In many ways, I was more like the parent in the relationship because she would pass out every night and have to get her safely into bed, you know, look out for her. And I thought, I don't want to live that alcoholic life of my mom.
But then the drug culture was coming on strong. And I thought, maybe the answer is in drugs.
So I started experimenting with drugs. I know there's a lot of LDS people. I was an LSD person, okay?
So. It's a little different, right? Not good at all. But um So, I did all of that. I experimented with all those things.
And for me, it was like a process of elimination. Where wasn't it? Where was the truth at? I didn't want to live the life of my mother. I didn't want to live the drug-fueled life that I had chosen temporarily.
And so, on my high school campus, there were some very outspoken. Christians, and we called them Jesus freaks, and that was not a compliment. And I thought, why would anybody believe this? These people are crazy. Look at them, the stupid smiles on their faces, this sense of peace and serenity.
Why can't they be more miserable like me? Because I was very cynical because of what I'd been exposed to already in my very young life. But they intrigued me, so I began to sort of listen in on what they were saying, and ultimately I heard the gospel.
Now, I'm gonna use that word a few times tonight. It means good news, and I'm gonna tell you what it means, but I prayed a prayer. And Christ came into my life. And that was the day when everything changed for me. It's like I went from black and white to color.
I went from Darkness to light. And it can happen that quickly. Conversion doesn't take years. It doesn't take months. It doesn't take days.
Everything can change for you in a moment, in a flash, just like it did for me quite a few years ago.
So they made a film about my life called Jesus Revolution. Have any of you seen it? Samadia.
So, um Here's a scene from Jesus' revolution. This is when young Greg Played by Joel Courtney. Uh sees uh Kathy played by Anna Grace Barlow. I later married. And I'll introduce you to in a moment.
The real Kathy is here. And I was baptized by a man named Lonnie Frisbee, played by Jonathan Roomi, who's on The Chosen. You know The Chosen?
So here's a scene from Jesus' Revolution that shows the moment when I prayed that prayer to ask Christ to come into my life. Check out the screen. Like, why are we doing this? It's just water. What?
I'm just saying, why is it gonna prune? Right, it's just water. It's where are you freaking out? I'm not freaking out. I'm not freaking out.
Okay, I'm freaking out a little bit. Many times. Do you fully accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Savior. And I baptized you, Room, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
They are a chance for them. The heart, the soul of life, will never be. Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah, I've been praying for this moment since I first met you. Did you decide?
Uh-huh. I don't know. You wanna decide right now? Yeah. Yeah, I do.
And pray with me. Lord Jesus. I know I'm a senior. Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. You are the Savior of the world.
You are the Savior of the world. I ask you to come into my life. I ask you to come into my life. I repent from my sins. I repent from all my sins.
And I accept you as my Lord and Savior, my God and friend. And I accept you as my Lord and Savior, my God and my friend. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Greg? I baptize you. In the name of The father. Never sadly. With the Holy Spirit in it.
How do you feel? What? Okay. And so. That girl, Kathy, I married her.
We've been married for 52 years now. Yeah. Yeah. Look at that picture. She um I don't know who that guy is photobombing us, but.
She looks so beautiful, and I look, I don't know, that tux, it's like I look like a pimp or something.
Something's not right. But Kathy is acting, the real Kathy is here. Kathy, stand up, she's right there in the front row. She looks the same. She looks the same.
I don't know what she saw in me. She saw that underneath all of that hair was a bald man, right?
So I want to talk to you now. about your life. Because many of you are searching. You're searching for meaning. You're searching for purpose.
You know, we have these things we carry around in our pockets now, these cell phones, and it's almost like it's accelerated so many of the problems that are in our culture today.
Social contagions. Depression. A sense of hopelessness is sweeping Gen Z, as they're called. And they give them out. They have baby strollers with iPad holders in them now.
Is that a good thing to give to a baby? They give them out to dogs. Cats don't want them. But, you know. And our lives are filled with the effect of these phones and you know.
This generation is drowning in entertainment, but it's starving for meaning. Gen Z is the highest suicide rate of any previous generation. 42% of high school students experience constant sadness. 22% of high school students have contemplated suicide. In fact, right here in Utah, the suicide rate is notably higher than the national.
average You say, well, there's things out there that will make me happy. I'll pursue these things. What if I was famous? Then I know I would be happy. Billie Eilish in her song Everything I Wanted sang, and I quote, I had a dream.
I got everything I wanted, not what you would think. And if I'm honest, it might have been a nightmare, end quote. That's someone who's made it. What about Tom Brady? He's described as the goat, right?
The greatest of all time.
Someone said to me the other day, hey, goat, get out of my way. But I don't think he meant greatest of all time. I think he just meant actual goat, move out of my way, but. Brady, who's won a total of seven Super Bowl rings. Said after he had won three, why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there?
I reached my goal, my dream. But I think, God, there's got to be more than this, end quote. Actor Brad Kitt said, we're supposed to care about the car, the condo, if that's true. Why does it feel like desperation, loneliness, and isolation? End quote.
And these are people that have it all. And they're telling you that it's all empty. And I'll tell you what you're really looking for right now. It's not going to be found on a phone. It's not going to be found in an object.
It's not going to even be found in religion. It's found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But what is God like? You know, is God... Like an angry judge out to ruin our life.
It wait, he's like a cosmic boss waiting to fire us.
Well, according to Jesus, God is like... A Father who loves us. He's like a father who loves us so much that when we go away from him, he misses us and he longs for our return. I heard the story about a father and son that went into a hardware store. And as they were checking out, the hardware store owner said to the boy, Son, grab a handful of candy at a big candy jar there.
Grab a handful of candy. Little boy just looked up at his father. Hardware store's owner said, Son, grab some candy, go get it, it's free. Little boy again just looked up at his father. Finally, the father said, Son, grab some candy.
He just looked again up at his father. In frustration, Dad just reached in, grabbed a big handful of candy and pulled it out, and they walked out of the store. Then the father asked the son, Buddy, why didn't you grab that handful of candy? And his son said, Dad, because your hand is bigger than mine. See, that's God.
His hand is bigger than yours, and his plan is better than yours. The Lord says, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. If God had simply said, I know the single thought I had momentarily about you once, I would be happy. But that's not what he says. He says, I know the thoughts, plural, more than one, that I think towards you.
But are they good thoughts? No, absolutely. Thoughts of peace and aught of evil to give you a future and a hope. God has a plan for you. And I'm talking to somebody right now that is lonely and empty.
And I'm talking to somebody right now that has contemplated suicide. I'm even talking to someone who has attempted suicide. And I want you to know God loves you and he has a plan for you. And don't even entertain that thought another day.
So, what is God like? I heard a story about a little girl that grabbed a piece of paper in her crayons. And she started drawing something, and her mom said, Honey, what are you doing? She says, I'm drawing a picture of God. Her mother said, Honey, nobody knows what God looks like.
She said, They will when I'm done. What is God like?
Well, there's no better person who could tell us than Jesus Himself. And He does so in the story we call the parable of the prodigal son. I'm going to call it the parable of the prodigal sons because there's two sons in the story. But as the story goes, Jesus says in Luke 15, a man had two sons. And the younger son told his father, I want my share of your estate now instead of waiting for you to die.
So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later, the younger son packed all of his belongings and took a trip to a distant land. And there he wasted all of his money on wild living. and about that time the money ran out. And a great famine swept over the land and he began to starve.
And he persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. And the boy was so hungry that even the food he was feeding the pigs looked good to him, but no one gave him anything.
So this kid is like a Nepo baby, right? He says, Ted, I'm tired of waiting for you to die. Give me my portion of the inheritance now. Father could have said, No, son. But the Father allowed the Son to exercise his free will even though he was making the wrong decision.
And that boy left town with a spring in his step and an excitement about what he was going to do and discover and experience. And when that money ran out, his friends ran out with it. Heard about a story about two guys that went camping in the forest. As they're getting up in the morning for a cup of coffee, they hear a rustling in the bushes, and suddenly they look and a giant bear is running toward them full speed. One of their friends starts putting his shoes on.
His buddy says, you don't think you can outrun that bear, do you? He said, I don't need to outrun the bear. I need to outrun you. That's how a lot of so-called friends are. They'll abandon you and desert you when things get hard.
So here's a boy who ran away from home and he went to a distant land and he came to the end of himself. And he realized that there was nothing out there. that he was going to find.
So he decides to go home again. He says, I'll just go back home to dad and say, Dad, I'm messed up. I'm sorry. I'm not even worthy to be called your son. Just make me like one of your hired servants because they're better off than I am.
But Jesus continues the story and he says, while that boy was still a great ways off, his father saw him and ran toward him. And he threw his arms around his son, and the boy starts a speech: Dad, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Just hire me. Forget about it. New York style, forget about it.
He says, My son who is dead is alive again. He who was lost is found. Let's have a barbecue. And they began to. celebrate.
That's how God feels toward you. If you've sinned, if you've failed, if you've fallen short, he will welcome you with open arms. By the way, did you know that in this culture it was considered undignified for an older man to run? That's not to mention that it's harder for an older man to run. I recently had hip replacement surgery, right?
and I was in so much pain I could hardly walk, much less run. But boy, it turned everything around for me. It's great. But the point is, it's not easy to run when you get older. I've had runners say, oh man, I go out and I get the runners high, the endorphins are released.
I've never experienced a single endorphin doing any kind of exercise. Maybe a few were released. The last time I had a hamburger, but not one with runny. But the father ran to his son and threw his arms around him and welcomed him home. And that's how God feels toward every one of us.
When we return to him again, he will forgive us. But Notice something. He didn't make his son clean his life up. To come home. He welcomed him as he was, but then he said, put a new robe on him and put a ring in his finger.
So listen, God accepts you as you are, but he doesn't want to leave you that way. Right?
So, you don't need to clean your life up and come to God. You come to God, and He will clean your life up. Jesus says, come to me. All you who are Bending beneath the weight of sin, and I will give you rest. But there's another prodigal son in the story.
There's two. The older brother, he was angry. When he saw everybody celebrating the return of his brother, He's upset, and the father comes to him out in the field and says, Son, what's wrong? What's wrong? You're throwing a party for my younger brother.
He blew our money and he was involved with prostitutes, and you have a celebration for him. And I've served you faithfully all these years, and I've kept all the rules, and I've done all the right things. And you should be treating me that way. The dad says, Son, I love you. But your brother who was lost is alive again.
See, see, we'll look at sometimes a good person. and a bad person. But you can be living a good life and still be separated from God. Just as much as a person who is living a bad life is separated from God. See, God sees things differently than we do.
And we look on the outside. God looks on the inside. Did you know that $26 billion a year is spent on cosmetic surgery? And that's Utah alone. No, I'm kidding.
No. That's why you all look so good. No. Though you do look surprised some of you. I don't know.
It's a Botox reference. I probably should get some myself quickly. And stop going to coffee places. But anyway. But you know, we look on the outside.
I mean, when a picture is taken with you and your friends, you say, don't post it till I look at it. And when you look at that picture of a bunch of people, who do you look at? You look at you. But God looks on the heart. And the heart of this boy.
Look good or was he seemed good on the outside. But it's hard. Was separated from his father. He lived a good life. He was a good son.
But listen, in a way, his goodness kept him away. There's two ways to be lost. You can be very bad. You can be very good. See, when you're very bad, maybe you know you're bad and you know you need to change.
But when you're very good and you keep all the rules and do all the right things, you think, well, I don't need to change. But maybe you do because it's all about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Is Christ living in your life? You'll know if he is. Do you know that you'll go to heaven when you die, our friend Charlie Kirk?
Tragically killed. But I'll tell you, the moment he took his last breath on earth, he took his first breath in heaven. And that's where he is now. Not because of what he did. Not because of what he did, but because of what Christ did for him.
He said in an interview: I'm nothing without Jesus. I'm a sinner. I fall incredibly short of the glory of God. We all do. But when I gave my life to the Lord, I had everything changed, and I want to be remembered for my faith.
And so he put his faith in the Lord. And that is the hope that we all have if we do the same. You know, you can be in church every Sunday and still be far from God, just like the older brother was keeping the rules, but he was not in a good relationship with his father. Or you can be like the other brother out there living the crazy life. But the good news is, no matter what you've done, God can forgive you of all of your sin.
Now here's the question. What do you need to do to know that you will go to heaven when you die? What do you need to do to find what the Bible calls a peace that passes all human understanding? What do you need to do to find the meaning and purpose in life that you're searching for? Number one, You have to admit you're a sinner.
The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And by the way, the word sin means to miss a mark.
So it's sort of like we're having an archery contest, and I have 10 arrows, and you have 10 arrows.
So you fire your arrows and they hit the target. None of them hit the bullseye, but you did okay. And then I fire my arrows and I don't even hit the target. I hit the cow over in the field over here and it's just a mess. But the point is we both miss the mark because what is the mark for humanity?
It's perfection. Jesus said, be perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect. Say, well, who can do that? Answer no one. That's where Jesus comes in.
He shed his blood for you on the cross so you could be forgiven of your sin. Yeah. And at the cross, Jesus said, it is finished, which means it is accomplished. There's nothing I do to add to that. It's a gift that God gives to you if you will put your faith in Jesus.
And you can have this relationship, but you have to start by admitting you're a sinner. And that boy did that. He came home and said, Father, I've sinned. I'm no longer worthy to be called. Your son.
But a lot of times we want to blame other people for our problems. Blame other people for our sins. I read about a gorilla named Coco. And what's amazing about this gorilla is she understood American Sign Language and could sign more than 1,000 words. Pretty impressive for a gorilla.
And Coco liked cats.
So, this Coco, this gorilla named Coco had a pet cat. And one day, something made her angry, and she ripped the sink. Off of her wall, that's how strong a gorilla is.
So they went to Coco and they were signing to her. Why did you do this? And Coco signed back: the cat did it.
So, you gotta take responsibility. Wear your own sin. You can say, oh, the cat did it, or it wasn't my fault. You know, if statistics played themselves out in my life, I would have been an alcoholic and I would have been divorced multiple times by now. But Christ entered in and changed my story, you see?
And it can change yours as well. Oh, it's not my fault. It's my parents' fault. It's somebody else's fault. The cat did it, whatever you want to say, admit you're a sinner.
Number two, you need to repent of your sin. The word repent means to turn around. See, that boy was sorry for what he had done. He was willing to change, and the Bible says God has commanded people everywhere to repent. It's a military turn.
That means to do a U-turn in life.
So you turn from that old sinful lifestyle and then. In addition to that. You must receive Christ into your life. This is the most important thing. Jesus says, Behold, I stand at the door and I knock, and if any men will hear my voice, I will come in.
Has Christ come into your life yet? Think of it as a gift. A gift that God gave to you. There's nothing you can do to purchase it. There's nothing you can do to deserve it.
He offers you the gift. Think about Christmas. Christmas is coming, right? We're all aware of that. I think it starts right after Halloween now.
We're just skipping Thanksgiving. A lot are. I'm not. I like Thanksgiving. But um So it's a gift.
Now, men and women receive gifts in different ways. You can wrap a package and give it to a woman with a cart. First of all, she'll open the envelope up, pull the card out, read it, maybe even be touched by what you wrote. Thank you. Carefully unwrap the ribbon.
She'll say, I'll save this for later. And then she opens the gift and enjoys it. That's a woman opening a gift. Give a gift to a man. He'll open the card, he's not reading it.
He just opened it to see if there's any money in it. And wrapping paper, that's a mere obstacle for him to get through, to find out what you actually gave him, and then find out if he can return it if possible. Look, I don't care how you open this gift that God offers to you. Open it. You receive it.
There's nothing you do to earn it. You say, Lord, thank you for the gift of eternal life bought for me by Jesus Christ when He died on the cross, and I receive this gift. And that's what can happen for you tonight. Then you must do it now. The Bible says today is a day of salvation.
Tonight is your night. You may never have another opportunity like this again. The Lord, I'm telling you, he brought us here. And he brought you here. And all of you that are watching.
He had you tune in, and you that are in an overflow site, you're there because the Lord directed you to that place. But now you must respond. The Bible says today is a day of salvation. Here's the problem: you don't want to put this up because your heart can get hard. The title of my message is Home Before Dark.
Back to my grandparents when I was living with them, they would let us play outside at night. It was a lot safer back in those days. And my grandmother would simply say, Greg, get home before dark. I knew that's what had to happen. And I'm asking you tonight: get home before dark.
Don't let your heart grow irreparably hardened. Because every time you hear the gospel, as you're hearing it tonight, and you don't say yes to it, your heart can get a little more resistant, a little tougher. The Bible says, He who is often reproved hardens his heart, and he will be cut off without. cut off without remedy. Don't let this opportunity slip by.
This is your moment. Do it now. Let me close with a story. From my life. Jesus said a man had two sons.
I too am a father of two sons. You met one of my sons earlier, Jonathan. And I had an older son. Yes, had. Because he's in heaven.
Sixteen years ago, my oldest son Christopher died in an automobile accident. It was the hardest day of my life.
Now I know that he's in heaven. I know that I'll see him again. But I miss him. And it was a very hard thing to deal with. But um Both my sons went prodigal for a while.
Th they both went astray. And made a lot of bad decisions. And Christopher came around. And he got right with the Lord. And he married a wonderful young lady named Brittany and they had a daughter named Stella.
And then they had another daughter on the way that they would name Lucy, and then Christopher's called. Home unexpectedly to heaven. And his brother, Jonathan, was struggling. And he knew he wanted to get out of the lifestyle of partying and drugs that he found himself in. And he was talking to his older brother, who he looked up to.
And Christopher asked his brother Jonathan, Jonathan, what's it going to take? What's it going to take for you to come around? And Jonathan determined the next day he was going to have another conversation with his brother. And then his brother was called home to heaven. But God got hold of Jonathan.
And that was the moment where his eyes were open.
Now look. I will always regard that as the worst tragedy of my life. But what I'm saying is, despite this horrible tragedy, of Christopher going to heaven. God brought a wonderful thing by bringing Jonathan to faith. And not Right?
So I think you know where I'm going. not far from where we're sitting. Charlie Kirk. was killed. And people ask, why did that happen?
Why did God let that happen? Why did God let that happen here? Why, why, why we ask? We don't know the answer. We don't know why.
But one of Charlie's favorite verses was Romans 8:28. He mentioned it in that video that we showed. Which says, We know that all things work together for good to those that love God. And there's a story in the Bible, you probably know it, of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers. And then ultimately, he was in a position to have them all executed, had he chosen to, but instead he decided to forgive them.
And he said, You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Here's the way I see it. This is a horrible tragedy what happened to Charlie.
However, despite this tragedy, God has done amazing things around our nation, and people are asking questions. I read that Bible sales are up dramatically, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, in the aftermath of Charlie's death. And there are young kids, there are Gen Z kids saying, I want to read the Bible. I want to know more about this.
So it was like a wake-up call for all of you, for all of us. This is your moment tonight. This is your wake-up call tonight. Don't let it slip by.
So, what do you need to do to start this relationship with God? Number one, admit you're a sinner. Realize that Christ died on the cross for you. Repent of your sin. Receive Him into your life.
And lastly, do it publicly. Jesus said, if you will confess me before people, I will confess you before my Father and the angels in heaven. But if you deny me before people, I'll deny you before the Father and the angels. In a few moments, I'm going to ask you to make a public stand to follow Jesus Christ. I'm going to ask you in a few moments to get up out of your seat and walk down here around this platform.
And in doing so, you're saying, I want this relationship with God. You've tried religion. You've tried effort. You've tried worthiness.
Now try Jesus. He's here. Salvation is not a lifelong process, it's a moment. They can happen for you. When you say to Jesus, I need you, he will come into your life.
This can happen for you. Just as it happened for me. And just as it's happened for so many other people.
So we're going to pray.
Now, I'm going to ask you to decide what you're going to do. Here's the. One thing that got my attention. when I was not a Christian. I was listening to what they were saying in one of their meetings and Lonnie Frisbee.
made one statement. He said, Jesus said, you're for me or against me. You're with me or you're opposed to me. I looked around at those Christians and I thought, well, they're for him for sure. And I'm not one of them.
Does that mean I'm against Jesus? I don't want to be against Jesus, like I said, ever since I've been a little kid. I admired Jesus. I'd look at that portrait on my grandparents' wall. I saw all of his movies.
And whenever I was in trouble, it was Jesus I called out to. But I didn't know that the Jesus in the portrait was a real person who died on a cross and rose from the dead and could live in my heart. And that was a game changer for me. When I asked him to come, so I ask you. Are you for him or against him?
To not say yes is to say no. If you've never said yes to Jesus, do it tonight. You will not regret it. Let's pray. Now, Lord, thank you for your word to us.
Thank you for your love for us. No matter How bad of a life we've lived, you will forgive us. Maybe we've lived a very good life, but we're not good enough. And that's why you died on the cross for our sin and paid the price for them and rose again from the dead.
Now I pray for every person in this room, every person watching wherever they are. If they don't have a relationship with you, let this be the moment they believe. Let this be the moment that they put their faith in you. We commit them to you now. In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen. Amen. Listen. If you want your sin forgiven. If you want to know that when you die, you will go to heaven.
If you want to fill that big hole in your heart. If you want to find the meaning and the purpose of life. If you want to start this relationship with God, I've been talking about tonight, I'm going to ask you to get up out of your seat, step into the nearest aisle, and make your way down to this floor and stand around on this platform. Again, why do I ask you to come publicly? Because Jesus said, If you'll confess me before people, I'll confess you before the Father and the angels in heaven.
But if you deny me before people, I'll deny you before the Father and the angels. This is a way to acknowledge Him, to confess Him.
So you come with your questions, you come with your sins, you come with your problems, you come as you are. And let Christ come into your life tonight. Get up out of your seat, step into that aisle, come down to the floor. Make your public stand for Jesus Christ. Come on.
All of you standing down here, I want to lead you in a prayer. I'm going to ask that you pray this prayer out loud after me. This is where you're asking God to forgive you. You're asking Christ to come into your life. Mean this prayer and God will hear.
You and answer it.
So again, as I pray, Pray this out loud after me, okay? Let's all bow our heads. Let's pray. Pray this after me, Lord Jesus. I know that I am a sinner.
But I know that you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for me. and rose again from the dead. I repent of my sin tonight. I turn to you.
Be my Savior. Be my Lord. Be my God. Be my friend. Fill me with your Holy Spirit.
I choose to follow you. From this moment forward. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. God bless you.
God bless each one of you. Mm-hmm. Hey, everybody, thanks for listening to my podcast. Before you go, I wanted to let you know about the important work we're doing here at Harvest. You know, we've had the same goal these last 50 years, which is simply this.
We want to know God and we want to make Him known. And we do that in a lot of ways. Documentary films, animation, radio, television, large-scale evangelistic events, and more. If you want to be a part of what we're doing to fulfill the great commission, you can support us with whatever you can give. At harvest.org slash donate.
Again, that's harvest.org slash donate, and thanks so much.
