For America's 250th birthday, Greg Laurie recommends a great film about the man behind the spiritual awakening of our nation. Just as surely as George Washington is our founding father, George Whitfield is our spiritual founding father. Two Georges played a role in founding the United States.
So find out more about George Whitfield in this film that's called A Great Awakening, and we'll send it to you for your gift of any size. Available on DVD at harvest.org. Good morning, everybody.
Well what? Hello, say say something back. Thank you. You can all be seated. Let's pray together.
Father, we're glad to be here today in your house with your people. Worshiping you because you are worthy. And Lord, we think of all those people who made a profession of faith only days ago at Angel Stadium. We pray that you will bless everyone. We pray that they will be seeds sown on good ground and that they would bring forth much spiritual fruit.
And Lord, we pray for our time now as we open your word to learn more about.
Well, the golden key that leads to spiritual growth. Help us to discover that together as we open scripture. We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Okay, why don't you grab your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 8? And the title of my message is The Golden Key to Spiritual. Grow. You'll notice that when we talk about people that Responded to the invitation to follow Christ that we call them professions of faith. We don't call them conversions, and here's why.
We don't know if they're conversions. We hope and pray they are, but time will tell if those people are really people who put their full faith in Christ. Because it's not enough to just go forward or to come forward. You need to go forward spiritually. And really the key to the Christian life is consistency.
It's sort of putting one foot in front of the other every single day and it's walking with God. As one person defined the Christian life, it's long obedience in the same direction. You may know we have a church over on the island of Maui. Called Harvest Kumalani, and one thing that's really popular over there is stand-up paddling. Do you know what I'm talking about?
How many of you have tried stand-up paddling? Quite a few of you. Uh so The thing with stand-up paddling is you get on your board and you paddle, right? And you have to stand up, hence the title. And I struggle with it.
My wife, she took to it immediately, cutting across the face of waves, and I'm still trying to stand up. I keep falling. And when you get good at it, you can stand with no effort at all. They're out there standing, talking to each other like they're on a street corner, but they're on these boards. I'm still struggling, but I noticed that when I moved, I did better.
So it came down to this: stall and you fall. The momentum helps you. The same is true of the Christian life. It's been said that Christian life is like a grease pole. You're either climbing or slipping.
Stall, you fall, constant movement, constant growth. as you walk with the Lord. And so I want to talk to you about the golden key. To spiritual growth. A while ago, we had the privilege to be at the White House, and we went into the Oval Office, and President Trump presented Jack Graham, my friend, and Franklin Graham, my other friend, I only have two friends, and myself with this.
It's a box, and on the box is the presidential seal. And inside of this box, there is this ornamental key right here. It says, key to the White House.
Now I tried it on a number of locks, it did not work. That's when I discovered this is this is not an actual key It's a symbolic key, but I appreciated the gesture nonetheless.
Well, I want to talk to you about a key that does work: a golden key, if you will, to spiritual growth, because I'm going to address the question. That asks, why do some people succeed and others fail as Christians? And I think you're going to be surprised by my answer. The answer is simply this, it's a result of choices. Every single day we're faced with choices, starting with your alarm clock going off.
Are you going to get up or are you going to hit the snooze button? Then, what are you going to wear? What are you going to have for breakfast? And then, as the day progresses, what are you going to have for lunch? I had the privilege recently of interviewing Pastor Chuck Swandahl.
How many of you know who Chuck Swindahl is? I think he may be the greatest living preacher today. He's now 90 years old, and we did a podcast together. We talked for about an hour and a half, and we're going to release it this coming Tuesday on our podcast platform.
So, if you haven't subscribed yet, you might want to tune in because he just had so much to say. But we talked about a lot of very important things, but then I asked him, What is your favorite food? Like, what is your go-to food? And he said, The chili my wife makes, and I like to put Fritos on it. And then I said, Have you ever been the In-N-Out Burger?
And he said, oh, yes. He got very excited. Yes. What do you order at In and Outburger? He said, I get a double-double animal style.
Said, that's funny. I get animal style too.
So now you know what Chuck Swindoll orders. But you know, not a lot of choices at In-N-Out Burger, but good ones. But now there's important choices, spiritual choices. When I get up in the morning, am I going to open my Bible or am I going to scroll on my phone? When I'm commuting to work, if you have a commute, what are you going to listen to?
What are you going to expose yourself to? Then the weekend comes. Is it going to be church or no church this weekend? To me, it's surprising how people would consider church optional when God considers it essential. And it should not be something we negotiate or maybe I'll do it this time and not that time.
But these are choices that we make and they're important. Because you make your choices and your choices make you.
So, the same is true of spiritual growth. We have choices before us. Deuteronomy 30:19, God says, I call heaven and earth. His witnesses today against you, I have set before you life and death. Blessing and cursing.
Therefore, choose life.
So if a person stumbles and falls spiritually, it's because they chose to.
Sort of like if you took your car and you parked it at an incline and did not put it into gear, nor did you put your emergency brake on, guess what's going to happen? Your car is going to go backwards. And in the same way, if we're not moving forward, we're going to by default be moving backwards. The choice is ours.
So here's the bottom line: what choices are we going to make? Listen to this. Everything you need for spiritual growth and progress is found in your relationship with God. 2 Peter 1:3 says, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. God's given you everything you need to make it.
Do you want to grow spiritually? Do you want to finish the race of life well? that if you yield to the Holy Spirit, you will. Do you not care about this? Is this not important to you?
Then, very easily, you could become a spiritual casualty. That brings us to the parable of the sower. And this had been a long, hard day for Jesus. He had dealt with a lot of challenges. His own mother and brothers thought he had lost his mind and wanted to take him home.
The scribes and the Pharisees who are saying that he was speaking by the inspiration of the devil. And so he just retreats to the beach. His version of the beach. It was a Sea of Galilee, which is actually a large freshwater lake. But it's so vast and big, it looks like the ocean or the beach.
And Jesus spent a lot of time on the shore. A lot of time hanging out there. He gave some of his greatest teachings there, including the Sermon on the Mount. Speaking of the beats, we just had our Jesus Revolution baptism yesterday, it was fantastic. And there was one little girl I was talking to.
She was eight years old, and she was scared to be baptized. And I said, Why are you scared? She said, Because in the Jesus Revolution movie, you were sinking down really deep. You know what I'm talking about? Have you seen the Jesus Revolution movie?
I think we have a little B-roll from it there. Remember that scene where I'm just sinking? She thought that was going to happen to her. I said, No, no, no. Listen, that was just in the movie.
The funny thing is, I was shot in a water tank. And they took the actor that played me. And put him in a water tank in Alabama, put weights on him, and he sunk to the bottom all day long. And then they had guys down with scuba tanks on, they gave him air, and then he would go to the top where a spotlight was shining down. But when you see it in the movie, Greg's on the beach, then he's sinking down.
It's a metaphor, it's a way to make the point of what happened. But this little girl was scared. Here's a little conversation they had as she was in line getting ready to be baptized. Check it out. Say lunch.
Are you still scared? Do not be scared. It's going to be fun and you're going to be so happy. I promise you. Bring her to church and I'll give her a yellow dog plush toy.
Have you seen those? We'll be there tomorrow.
Okay, my little character. We made him into a little plush toy. Yeah, I saw him at Christmas.
So I'm giving you a toy now.
Something to look forward to. She seems very excited. Yeah, so Even with bribery, she just wasn't sure. If I see her, I'm going to give her that little yellow dog, blush doll.
So Jesus is at the beach. He's at the Sea of Galilee. Probably in the distance, there was a sower sowing seed, a farmer distributing seed.
So Jesus draws on that and gives us what we call the parable of the sower. And it goes as follows. A sower went out to sow seed.
Some seed fell on the roadside. and the birds came quickly and ate it. Other seed fell on soil that was embedded with rocks and thus it shot up quickly, but because it could not get its roots deep into the soil, it withered in the blazing sun. Other seed fell on certain soil that was embedded with thorns and with weeds, and the growth of the seed was choked out. And finally, some seed fell on good ground and brought forth great fruit.
What does that mean? Jesus gives the meaning of the parable of the sower in Luke chapter 9, verse 11. Where he says, this is the meaning of the parable, excuse me, Luke chapter 8, verse 11. This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is God's word.
The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message. But only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. His seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy, but since they don't have deep roots, they believe for a while, but they fall away when they face temptation. His seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell in the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
We'll stop there.
So, here's the question. Which one of these four categories represents you? Which soil are you? Your heart is like soil. The seed is God's word.
You determine what kind of soil your heart will be. It's interesting to note that only one out of four made it. Out of four categories, only one group had productive response. And we could look at this last crusade and we had 4,000 plus professions of faith.
Now, let's just say only one out of four makes it. That would be 1,000 people having a genuine conversion.
Now, my question is: was it worth our effort?
Well, the answer is yes. Absolutely, and it may be far more than 1,000. It could be 2,000 or 3, God knows. But we did our job. Our job is to sow the seed.
Back in these days, they sowed seed differently than we do today. They would just indiscriminately throw the seed far and wide.
So it went on various types of soil.
So the rest of the work was done later. And in the same way we throw the seed of the Word of God out. To as many people as we possibly can, but it's God that does the work of conversion. But we have a role to play, all of us do. The Apostle Paul says that, my job is to plant the seed in your hearts, Apollos.
Another preacher watered it, but it was God who made it grow. And the ones who do the planting and watering aren't important, but God is important. He's the one who makes the seed grow. Remember that young man I was talking to standing in line to be baptized? I asked him what happened to him, and he said, Well, You know, he had been out drinking and had a really bad night, had an accident, and it was kind of a wake-up call for him.
And what did he say? He said, get me my grandmother's Bible.
So what that says to me is that grandmother of his was a woman of faith. Who no doubt prayed for him, and he knew she had the answer, and he got the grandmother's Bible and he made a commitment to follow the Lord.
So, you grandmothers out there, you You grandfathers out there. You husbands and wives who have faithfully sown the seed of the Word of God in the hearts of your children and grandchildren, don't ever feel your efforts are in vain. They may not break ground until a month from now, maybe years from now. My own mother waited 70 years. To recommit her life to the Lord, though she was raised in a Christian home.
But the question comes, which is, well, what if a person says they are a Christian and they walk away and never return? Was that person a Christian? And then another question that is asked is, did they lose their salvation? I suggest to you The question should not be, did they lose their salvation? The question should be, did they ever have salvation to begin with?
Because in 1 John 2, 19, it says, these people left our churches because they never really belonged to us. Otherwise, they would have stayed with us. And when they left us, it was proven that they did not belong with us.
So, the real test of conversion is you will stay with it.
Now, that doesn't mean you can't walk away. It doesn't mean you can't stray. That doesn't mean you can't be a prodigal son or daughter. But a prodigal will always find their way home. But if you have someone that says, Oh, I became a Christian and then I no longer am a Christian, I tried the whole Jesus freak thing and it didn't work for me.
And now I'm reconstructing. Oh, shut up. I suggest you never constructed to begin with. You didn't need to reconstruct. Were you converted to start with?
I shouldn't have said, shut up. But I meant it. But the point is, were you really a believer in the first place? Did you know it's possible to have your spiritual eyes opened? and see something is true and yet not act on it.
Paul standing before Herod Agrippa in Acts 26 lays out what the gospel is, the gospel he was preaching. He says, God's called me to preach this message where God's opens a person's eyes spiritually. And they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God and receive an inheritance from the Lord. You can have your eyes open. That's good.
All of us who are Christians had our eyes opened spiritually, right? It's just a moment where boom, I get it. I know it's true. I believe it. But now you have to take the next step, turn from darkness to light.
From the power of Satan unto God. Only God can open your eyes, only you can turn. From darkness to light. Only God can convict you of your sin, only you can repent of your sin. You see, there are some things only God can do, and some things only you can do.
Effectively, the ball's in your court.
So it's possible you could have your eyes open to the sense that you say, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe He's the way to God. And then it even appears that you are a follower of His, but it doesn't stand the test of time. The first category: the hardened heart is the person that hears the word of God, but the devil comes immediately and snatches it away. It's interesting that.
A picture of birds is are used. Birds in the parables are always symbols of evil. And so, you know, birds are always waiting for free food, right? Go to a take-out restaurant, there's birds somewhere. They're waiting for that fry to hit the ground.
Sometimes they don't even wait for it to hit the ground. Just fly down and take it from you. And they get the word out in the bird community that the food's here. They do it by a tweet, of course. Or now X, they use X I think instead.
They communicate. They take your food away, then there are the seagulls at the beach that fly away with your lunch, sometimes with your children.
So that's the picture here. The birds come immediately. And when you share the gospel with someone, you better recognize that a spiritual battle has begun. And the devil's going to fight you tooth and nail for that person.
So don't be surprised by that. That's category one. They hear it, but it doesn't take root. Category two, their hearts are shallow. It shoots up quickly.
They have an emotional experience, but it doesn't stand the test of time. And so they're not really engaging in the way that they should, and they wither away. Why do they do that?
Well, probably just impulse. We all do things impulsively. Have you ever bought something on Instagram you didn't need? I have. Have you ever bought anything on Instagram you didn't want after you bought it?
I have. In fact, I read that half of people who buy things online regret it within a week, but they don't return it. It just sits there in the garage, still in the box. That's good for the person who sold it to you, right? Not so good for you.
I also read that of those that buy exercise equipment, 80% of them don't use it. And of those who buy treadmills, only. 20% end up using it. Oh, it sounds good. I'm going to get a treadmill.
I'm going to run on my treadmill every single day. And maybe you do for the first week. And then week number three, well, maybe you know, once in a while. Week number four, not as much. Week number five, you're hanging clothes on it.
It's just a very expensive clothes hanger, right? That's an impulse buy.
Sometimes people say, well, I'm going to follow Jesus because my friends are doing it. And the problem with that is Maybe your friends say, Well, I don't want to do this anymore. Oh, well, I won't either then. Or maybe you meet somebody that is not a good representative of Christ. They disappoint you.
You say, oh, see, that person's a hypocrite. I'm not going to be a Christian anymore. Listen to me, people are going to disappoint you. And you're going to disappoint people. But Christ will never disappoint you, you see.
So put your faith in Him, build your life on Him. Others fall away because of persecution. In Mark's treatment of this story in Mark 4:17, it says they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. and they have problems when they are persecuted. If you're a follower of Jesus, you will face persecution.
One of the first things that happened to me. Is my friend started making fun of me, and I didn't like that because I was the mocker. I was the one making fun of everybody else, and all of a sudden, the mocker became the mocked. And I thought, what is this all about? It was called persecution.
But if you live a godly life in Christ Jesus, you will be persecuted. But that's actually something you should wear as a badge of honor. Jesus said, Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for so persecuted the prophets that were before you. But some people saw, oh man, I didn't sign up for this.
I don't want someone to make fun of me. I don't want to get canceled. I don't want to be isolated, so they walk away because of that.
Now we come to the third category, infested hearts. Verse 14, the seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message. And all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and they never grow into maturity.
So come back to the soil. This is soil with weeds.
Now weeds don't kill plants overnight. You don't plant a little seed and it begins to grow. And the next day, the weed just bursts out of the ground, flexes its biceps, it starts choking your plant. No, it's ever so gradual. Just a little bit here, a little bit there.
These are people that make a profession of faith. But slowly but surely, other things become more important. Notice that it's not overt, sinful things that choke the growth of the seed, though it could be that. But it's other things that become more important than the most important things. It's been said more have been killed by food than by poison.
It's also been said the second best is often the worst enemy of the best. It might be things that you're just doing in life.
Well, I'm pursuing my career. I don't have time for God. Or, I just got married, I can't do this, I can't really be a follower of Jesus Christ, or whatever thing you may offer up.
Some people, my goodness, it could be a dog. When did people become so obsessed with dogs?
Now I'm a dog lover. You've got to know that about me. But I don't want to push a dog around in a stroller. And I don't want a dog to sit next to me on an airplane. And I don't want a dog at my table eating next to me.
But people are so into their dogs, and literally, you can say to someone. Why don't you come to church with me Sunday? And they say, Oh, we can't. Why? We can't leave the dog alone.
Give me a break. Leave the dog on dog alone. Get to church, he'll somehow or she will survive it, right? But another thing that chokes it out is worry. Worry.
Because Jesus says it's crowded up by the worries of this life. And we can be filled with worry. We worry about so many things. We worry about how long we're going to live. We live in a time where people are obsessed with extending their lives.
with supplements, diet plans, workout regimens, biohacking. You know, and it goes, and that's fine. I mean, yes, live as long as you can live, be as healthy as you can be, but ultimately, the length of your life is determined by God, not by you.
So stop worrying about it. When God's going to call you home, he'll call you home.
So walk with him, be prepared for eternity, live your life to its fullest, but don't let that obsess you. Studies show that 80%, excuse me, 85% of the things we worry about never happen. Think about that. 85%. Of the things we worry about never happen.
And of the 15% that do happen, most people report they handle it better than expected.
So stop worrying. The Bible says, don't worry about anything, pray about everything. That brings us to the last category of hearers. That brings us to the golden key of spiritual growth. Verse 15, the seed that fell in the good soil.
Represents honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. This is the golden key. This is the ultimate hack. Here it is. It's how you hear the word of God.
You decide How will you respond to God's word? Good ground is made that way by the work of the gardener. They hear and accept God's word. Consider this. The first two categories, these are religious people, if you will.
These are people we would sit next to in church. People that might nod at the right moments in a sermon or write some notes down. People that might join us in worship, but it isn't taking root in their heart. It comes down to how we hear God's word. Listen to this.
Success or failure in the Christian life. Is determined by how much of the word of God you get into your heart and mind on a regular basis and how obedient you are to it. Let me say it again. success or a failure. In the Christian life is determined by how much of God's word you get into your life on a regular basis and how obedient you are to it.
I mean, you can fill your mind and heart with the word of God, but not obey it.
Well, that's not helpful. You don't want to just be a hearer of the word, you want to be a doer of the word. It's not enough to mark your Bible. Your Bible must mark you. It's not enough to go through the Word of God.
The Word of God must go through you, you see.
So the golden key is hearing it. Believing it. and obeying it and then you will bring forth spiritual Fruit. And you know what the hardest part? A Bible study is.
You ready for it? I'm going to reveal it right now. Watch. This is my example. What's the hardest part about reading the Bible?
Here we go. This.
Okay. Opening there. Right? Opening that.
Well talk about our Bibles. I have a beautiful I have a green Bible with gold pages and look at all the ribbons my goodness have so many ribbons It's an amazing Bible. Do you read it? No, but look at it. Open it because you have a choice.
Coming back to what they said earlier in the morning, you can start scrolling or you can start studying. And set the pace for your day. Opening the Bible, it's like going to the gym. I don't like going to the gym. I hate going to the gym.
But I do go to the gym. And for me, it's not like I'm trying to bulk up, become super muscular, obviously. I go to the gym for this reason. I want to be able to do this. Reach down and pick something up.
That's it. I want mobility. I don't want to have to go to the doctor after that happens, you see. I want to be able to function. And be flexible and be as strong as I can be.
I don't want to fall over when I'm just walking.
Okay, those are the goals I have now. And so I go to the gym and I don't like it. And I begin the work, I don't like it, I'm not enjoying it, but by the time I'm done, I feel better and I'm glad I went, right?
So when I open up the Bible, it's not always like, oh, this is so exciting.
Sometimes it's the discipline. I just open it. And I start reading it, but then God speaks to me through it.
So that's something we must do.
Someone. The happy man He does. Oh, my back hurts from when I bent over. Not really.
So the happy man. Of someone. Blessed is the man that doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the word of God, and in it does he meditate day and night. It could come down to this. You could call it RPGs.
What? Rop rocket propelled grenades? No, no, RPGs. are for read the Bible daily. Pray, P for pray about things, G for go to church regularly, S.
Share your faith. These are the disciplines of the Christian life. You don't outgrow these, you don't move beyond these. If you want to keep growing spiritually, if you want to discover the golden key that leads to spiritual growth, read your Bible daily, pray about things, go to church regularly, share your faith, that produces forward momentum. And as I said earlier, the moment you stop going forward is the moment you can begin to go backwards.
Let me close with three Quick stories of people that had the seed of God's word sown in their hearts and what happened. First, there's a man that wrote me and said, Now thank you, Pastor Greg, for leading me to Christ over the radio in 2007. I was deep into meth addiction. And I was at the end of my life. On this earth, have you ever seen what happens to a person when they become addicted to meth?
It's absolutely horrifying. God used you that morning to say, listening on the radio, and I prayed this sinner's prayer. Instantly, a power hit me and I was set free. Since then, I have hungered for his word and never went back. I'm a living miracle.
Isn't that a great story? You see? That's the seed sown on good ground. Another man writes me, my dearest Pastor Laurie, I like that. You should call me that.
Dearest Pastor Laurie. My dearest Pastor Laurie, he writes, my name is Richard. I've been an alcoholic for 45 years. 45 years of slavery. Three years ago, I heard your radio program on the Fish FM.
I prayed this sinner's prayer. I've gotten into rehab. I would appreciate any materials and a Bible to help me.
Now that I'm a new creation in Christ, thank you and God bless you. That's wonderful. The power of the Word of God, you see? But here's one last story. The man writes: Both of my sons accepted the Lord through harvest ministries.
The oldest was at a harvest crusade, and the youngest was on the way to school as we listened to Pastor Greg on the radio. When he gave the altar call, my five-year-old looked out the window and prayed the prayer. He had tears in his eyes, so precious and sweet. You remember that tragic day that Charlie Kirk was assassinated. And a young lady was watching this online.
and actually saw it as it happened in real time. She was deeply traumatized by this. Her parents, who live in Utah, said you should tune in to the Harvest Crusade. Greg's going to be preaching in Utah at the very university where this event happened. And so she tuned in.
and she heard the gospel. And she gave her life to the Lord watching online. She's here with us, sitting right over there. Stand up and say hello. There she is.
So, my job is to throw the seed out as far as I can.
Sometimes people say, Greg, why are you still preaching? You're getting old. Aren't you at the age when people retire? In fact, you look like you're beginning to decompose. That's just not true.
Sad thing is, my wife said that to me this morning. No. Why do I do what I do? Why have I continued to do it for 50 years? Because of stories like this, because I love to see people come to Jesus Christ and have their lives transformed, right?
But here's the thing, we're all called to do this. Everyone should be sowing the seed.
Well, that's your job, Craig. You're a preacher. Yeah, it's my job. I accept that. But it's my calling.
But it's our calling, isn't it?
So I have a friend named Larry, and he's here at church today sitting in the front row. Larry is 88 years old. I went to his 88th birthday. He's a very successful businessman. He has an optical company.
People come from all over the place. around the state even from other states. To meet him in person, to see his incredible designs. And what I love about Larry is he uses his position to share the gospel. And I've stood in awe and watched him tell people about Jesus.
And I think to myself, we need more people doing this. And he said to me the other day, why don't more Christian businessmen use their business and their careers as a platform for the gospel? I said, that's a good question. And they should. It's not just for the preachers to do.
We have our job, our role, our place, but we all have a place. in this and we all have seed to sow.
So in closing. What kind of soil is your heart right now? Is your soil, is your heart receptive to the word of God? Or is it resistant? Listen to this.
Every time you hear the gospel, your heart can get a little harder. The Bible says, He who is often reproved hardens his heart, and he will be cut off, and that without remedy.
Okay, so you hear it. You say, Well, I don't want to do this, I don't want to follow Jesus, and your heart can get a little more calloused. You hear it again, yeah, yeah, I'm busy, I got things to do, got to go hang out with the dog some more. Yeah, your heart gets a little harder. Hear it again.
Yeah, I got to go look at that treadmill I bought and never used. I'm busy, can't do it. Heart gets a little harder. And then one day it gets irreparably hard. That's why the Bible says, harden not your heart if you can hear his voice.
You decide what you'll do. What is the gospel? I think you know, but in case you don't, I'll tell you. The gospel means good news. And the good news is, God loved you so much, He sent His Son to die on the cross for your sin.
The bad news is You needed Jesus to do this because you are a sinner. And you've broken God's commandments and fallen short of his standards. We all have sinned. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the Bible says. And he rose again from the dead, and now he stands at the door of your heart and knocks and says, If you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.
So in closing, I'm going to give you an opportunity to believe, like this guy who is. a meth addict or another who is an alcoholic. You say, well, I'm not a drug addict or alcoholic. Yeah, but You may be the nicest, hardest working, most moral person around. You still need Jesus.
He came for the down and outer. He came for the up and outer. He came for everyone. We all need Christ. And he's ready to come into your life and change your story.
But it's up to you. You can have your eyes open, meaning, like, you go, you know what? I believe what you've said, Greg. I believe this is all true.
Okay, good. You're getting there. You're close. But now you must turn from darkness to light.
Now you must say, not only do I believe this is true, but I'm ready to take the next step in belief. And I'm ready to turn from the power of Satan to God. I'm ready to follow Christ. That's the step you must take.
So the ball's in your court right now.
So we're going to pray, and I'm going to extend an invitation for anybody here. Who would like Jesus Christ to come into their life? Let's all bow our heads and pray, Father. Speak to the hearts of those that do not yet know you. Here, Those that are watching, those that are listening, wherever they are.
If they don't know you yet, let this be the moment they believe.
Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together. How many here would say, I need Jesus? I want him to forgive me of my sin. I want him to fill that void in my life. I want to go to heaven when I die.
I want to find the meaning of life. Pray for me. If you want Christ to come into your life, If you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that when you die, you will go to heaven. Wherever you are, would you just lift your hand up and let me just pray for you? Just raise your hand up saying, I need Jesus today.
I'll pray for you. God bless you. Raise your hand up where I can see it. Let me pray for you today. God bless you.
Yes, God bless you. Anybody else? Lift your hand up and I'll pray for you today. God bless you. God bless you back there.
Yes, amen. God bless you too. And you and you. Yes, one more moment. I'll wait.
Anyone else? Raise your hand if you want Christ to come into your life today. God bless you, all that raise your hand.
Now pray this prayer out loud after me. You that raise your hand, pray this out loud after me, Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin?
It rose again from the dead. I choose to follow you, Lord. From this day forward. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Let's congratulate those folks that just prayed that prayer. God bless you all. Uh Amen.
