The Foolish Wise Man | Sunday Message

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. We are going to turn to two passages and the message that is titled, The Foolish Wise Man. Okay, so I was having dinner with my family last week and my little grandson, Christopher, turns to me and he says, Papa, will you remember me tomorrow? I'm thinking, of course I'll remember you tomorrow. Then he says, that's Christopher there on the screen.

Good looking little guy, isn't he? And then he says, will you remember me one week from now? I said, of course I'll remember you one week from now. Christopher, will you remember me one month from now? Of course I'll remember you one month from now. Then he says, knock knock.

I responded, who's there? He said, I thought you said you would remember me. That's pretty clever. Here before us are the words of David to his son Solomon, things that he wants Solomon to remember because Solomon was going to now carry on the reign of the house of David. He was going to rule in his father's place and so he says, son, remember what I'm going to tell you.

These are things that we can learn from as well. See, David had done his job. He completed his task that God had set before him. I love Acts 13, 36 that says, for David, after he served the purpose of God in his generation, fell asleep. By the way, this phrase fell asleep means to die.

It's only used to describe the death of a Christian, never a non-Christian. I love this picture, fall asleep. I don't know about you, but for me, happy hour is a nap. When you're young, you hate to sleep. You fight going to bed at night, but it means a believer dies.

He fell asleep, but what did he do before he did that? We read, he served the purpose of God in his generation. What a beautiful and concise statement that is. It shows what our objective should be as Christians because to fall asleep, of course dying, now have we done the job God set before us. You serve the purpose of God, so what is the purpose of God?

Let me restate that. What is your purpose in life? I think for some people, it's just long life. I hope I live long, which is not a bad thing to aspire to. But long life is not the objective. Fulfilling God's purpose for your life is the objective. Life is not measured by duration, but by donation. What have you donated?

What have you done with your life? There has to come a moment when we pass from money to meaning, from possessions to purpose, from success to significance. I mean, really, what is success? We're gonna see Solomon break it down for us in a few moments where he chased after all the things our culture says are the measures of success, and he'll give us his conclusion about those things, but ultimate success is serving the purpose of God in our generation. So David had a big dream. He wanted to build a house for the Lord, a temple. Up to this point, the Israelites had a tent set up, also called the Tabernacle, that kept the Ark of the Covenant in there. David wanted to build a house for the Lord, so he had been saving up all of his money, getting the building supplies ready, but the Lord was not gonna let him do what he wanted to do. So 1 Chronicles 28, verse 2, we read, David rose up to his feet and said, My brothers and my people, it was my desire to build a temple where the Ark of the Lord's Covenant, God's footstool, could rest permanently. I made the necessary preparations for building it, but God said to me, You shall not build a temple to honor my name, for you are a warrior, and you've shed much blood.

Stop there. Sometimes God says no. Sometimes God says slow. Sometimes God says grow. Sometimes God says go. Well, we don't usually like him when God says no. Oh, no, why no?

Well, we don't always know why he says no, but he has his reasons. Maybe God has said no to some of you. You had certain dreams that you did not realize. You dreamt of a successful ministry, and it didn't happen.

You dreamt of a greater success in your business, and that didn't happen either. Maybe you had hoped for romance and marriage, and that didn't happen for you, and so you feel God has let you down. But look at what David does here.

Instead of crying over spilled milk, has anyone ever cried over spilled milk? Anyway, instead of crying over it, David wisely pivots to what God has done for him. First Chronicles 28, verse four. Yet, David says, the Lord God of Israel has chosen me from among all my father's family to be king over Israel forever, and he's chosen the tribe of Judah to rule. He chose my father's family. So he's saying, hey, I wanna talk about what God has done for me, not just what he didn't do, what I wanted him to do.

That brings me to point number one. If you're taking notes, focus on what God has given you, not on what he did not give you. Focus on what God has given you, not on what he did not give you. Have you been blessed by God? Yes. Can you count his blessings?

There's so many. That's a good thing to do. Because you can say, well, why didn't this happen, or why didn't that happen, or this is really a letdown. Yeah, maybe it is, and maybe you'll look back later in life and say, thank you, Lord, for saying no, on that occasion. But then on the other hand, look at all that he has done for you. So David immediately reflects on all that God has done for him. He chose me, David says. I was just a little shepherd kid watching a bunch of sheep, and the Lord chose me and made me the king over all of Israel.

So focus on what God has given you, not on what he did not give you. Now David is gonna give his final words to his successor, Solomon, his son. This is David's son with Bathsheba. And one day, we too will give our final words.

Maybe we won't even know we're giving our final words, but we will. First Chronicles 28, verse nine. Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your father intimately, worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. So if you wanna serve the purpose of God in your generation, number one, focus on what God has given to you, not on what he did not give you. Number two, have an intimate relationship with God. Isn't that what the Christian life is all about? A friendship with God, a relationship with the Lord.

Verse nine, learn to know the God of your father intimately. You know, I think there's a lot of people that know about God that don't know God. You know, people may think they know you because they follow you on social media. Okay, fine, they know about you. In fact, they know what you want them to know about you. Right, because you posted what you wanted posted. You never posted an unflattering photograph of yourself or you posted a certain life you wanted people to believe perhaps that you were living and they think that's reality.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but the truth is you have to have a relationship with someone to really know them. I wonder if David could already see a wayward bend in his son. He could see that Solomon was kind of skewing the wrong direction. David would reflect back on his own sins and they were considerable. He didn't want to see Solomon repeat that but what you have to say for the credit of David is despite his sins, he always knew where to turn. He always turned back to God. David said in Psalm 27 four, one thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after and I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

So David had that priority. The apostle Paul also had it when he said my determined purpose in life is to know him. So know the God of your father. How else can we serve the purpose of God in our generation? Number three, serve God with a whole heart and a willing mind.

Serve God with a whole heart and a willing mind. You see when a person really knows God they'll want to serve God. Serving God to me is not drudgery. It's not a duty. It's a delight and it's a privilege.

Let me say it another way. I think it's really fun to serve God. In any way he wants me to serve him. If it's a one on one exchange with someone where perhaps I can help them or speaking to a group of people it's really up to the Lord. I just think it's a privilege that God Almighty would say I want to speak through you.

I want to use you. And sometimes I hear people say man I've just burned out. I burned out in ministry. Well I've been doing this 50 years and I haven't burned out yet.

So I don't know what to say to that. Maybe you burn out because you're not walking intimately with God. Because the reality is when you're walking closely with God service to the Lord is the overflow of that. It's not something you force yourself to do.

It's something you want to do. So David says serve God. Now listen I get tired like anybody else. I never get tired of the Lord's work. I do get tired in the Lord's work.

So I take a little time off recharge and come back. Thankful for the opportunities before me. But serve him with a whole heart. You know some people are afraid to completely commit their life to God. Well if I say Lord I'll go where you want me to go and I'll do what you want me to do you're gonna make me do the worst thing ever. You're gonna make me marry a really ugly girl.

A really lame guy. And you're gonna call me to the mission field in the worst place on earth. What is wrong with you? God's plan for you is better than your plan for yourself. You see? And so the point of it is you need to re-look at God in a new light in the way that he's presented in scripture. And I love also what David says. He says serve the God of your father. He modeled this. Later Solomon talks about how David faithfully served the Lord so he was a good example.

Not a perfect example as we've seen but a good one. And let me ask this. Could you say this to your son or your daughter or your grandchild. Hey listen, serve God like dad served God. Serve the Lord like mom has served the Lord. Follow my example. Live for Christ as I have lived for Christ.

Someone said oh that's a lot of pressure. Well the apostle Paul said follow my example as I follow the example of Christ in 1 Corinthians 11. So David is saying look I've modeled it for you.

You should walk in this now. Now Solomon is ascending to the throne. And what a beautiful throne it was. Chuck Sandel points out in his excellent book on the life of David. All that David had accomplished during his reign. The nation of Israel is now unified under one flag. They have a royal capital Jerusalem. The Israeli army is in position and is respected by their enemies and they've literally conquered the Philistines at this moment. Righteousness and a hunger for God was prevalent. The boundaries of Israel have been extended from 6,000 to 60,000 square miles. Prosperity has been brought in by extensive trade routes David had set up.

The sounds of the songs and psalms of David can be heard in the air and throughout the land. What a legacy. It's all yours son. Know the God of your father. Serve him with an undivided heart.

Here you go. And if that wasn't enough the Lord himself appears to Solomon in a dream and that's found in 1 Kings 3. I'll just tell you the story but we read that the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and God said what do you want and I will give it to you.

Imagine that for a moment. If God appeared to you tonight and said ask whatever you want and I will give it to you. I was telling this story to two of my granddaughters Estella and Lucy the other night and I said Lucy what would you do if God said I'll give you whatever you want. Lucy said I would order chocolate lava crunch cake from Domino's.

I don't even know what that is. But you have to understand Lucy loves sugar so much. You've heard of a heat seeking missile. She's a sugar seeking missile. If there's some cookies hidden somewhere in the house behind other things on the top shelf Lucy will find it.

So she's kind of kidding. Okay but really what would you ask for? The Lord appears to you I'll give you whatever you want.

Ooh really? Yeah whatever. Any house, any car, any relationship?

I said whatever you want. What would you ask for? Solomon was smart.

He's just a kid. He says well Lord this is a big responsibility. I need wisdom to rule over your people because I'm just a young man and I don't even know what I'm doing here and you've blessed my father and now I need that blessing in my life as well so give me wisdom to rule your people. The Lord said oh Solomon you asked for the right thing because you didn't ask for wealth or riches or honor or even the death of your enemies. I'm gonna give you what you prayed for. I'm gonna make you the wisest man alive and not only that but I'm gonna bless you with wealth. I'm gonna bless you with power and all these other things.

So that brings us to point number four. Put God first in your life and everything else will find its proper balance. Put God first and everything will find its proper balance. Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Okay what was he talking about? Prior to that he said don't be like non-believers because all they think about is what they're gonna eat, what they're gonna drink, what they're gonna wear and we might add what they're gonna drive, where they're gonna live, what their career will be.

He says but seek first God's kingdom. That's not to say you shouldn't think about what you wear. I look at some of you, you should think more about it. And I'm looking at you right now. No I'm not. No there's nothing wrong with I'm gonna have this for lunch. That's okay.

I wanna pursue this career path, that's fine. But he said seek first the kingdom of God. So he's not saying don't think about the other things, he's just saying think more about God's rule and reign in your life.

Put God first in your life. Is this not what prayer is? Jesus said in John 15, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.

Wow what an awesome promise. Another translation would go as follows, Jesus speaking, if you maintain a living communion with me and my word is at home in you, you can ask at once whatever your heart desires and it will be yours. But the reality is if I'm maintaining a living communion with God, an intimate relationship with him, and his word is at home in me, I'm not gonna be praying for chocolate lava crunch cake. Maybe I'll get that too. But I'm gonna say Lord I need wisdom. I wanna be in the center of your will. I wanna live a life that honors and glorifies you.

I want to serve you in my generation. That's what prayer is. Aligning myself with the will of God. So everything is going Solomon's way. He is a man of great wisdom. So wise in fact that the queen of Sheba came to sit at his feet.

It was just his to own and enjoy. But somehow Solomon managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Despite the fact that he had this all given to him, despite the fact that God himself appeared to him and gave him this incredible wisdom, Solomon starts a slow descent into sin. Starting with compromising his relationship with God. He prayed a beautiful prayer when they did build and dedicate the temple in 1 Kings chapter eight. He tells everybody in Israel okay, let's keep the commandments of God.

Let's do what God says. But apparently Solomon thought more about doing as he said, not doing as he did because he himself contradicted that. Straight out of the gate he goes and marries a non-believing woman. A woman that does not believe in the God of Israel.

1 Kings three says he made an alliance with Pharaoh and married one of his daughters. Next thing you know he's offering sacrifices to her false gods because one thing always leads to another. Effectively Solomon was unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. You say well what does that even mean? Well the Bible says don't be unequally yoked together with non-believers for what fellowship does light have with darkness?

Now we don't think a lot about yoking today but this is basically a yoke. Like you have two oxen right? You're plowing your field. So one of your ox is oxen. Is it ox or oxen? I don't even know.

What is it? Tell me. Oxen, thank you very much. What are you experts now?

I don't know. Okay so one of the oxen is vibrant and strong and alive and he's pulling his weight and the other oxen is dead. Okay, just dead. You're dragging a corpse of an oxen down. What way do you think your plow will pull? Okay now take a relationship.

You have a living vibrant believer and a non-believer who's dead in their sin. Which way will the relationship pull? Well no, I'll pull them up you say.

Hey, what if they pull you down? Now we'll get into this when we get into our relationship series that we're titling Am I Doing This Right? Talk about the importance of finding that believer when you do get married.

But another translation of 2 Corinthians 6, 14 it talks about the unequal yoke puts it this way. Don't become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That's not partnership, that's war.

It's like best friends with dark. Excellent translation there. But that's exactly what he did. He enters into this relationship of the non-believer and then he just goes further down.

He compromises his morality. If it wasn't enough to marry one non-believer he started a collection. 700 in total. 700 wives and 300 more concubines, what?

You know how many mothers-in-law that is? Wow. This guy is just going down in flames right now. And now he talks about it and we go over to Ecclesiastes chapter one, I ask you to turn there. And he talks about what happened. Basically Solomon says, okay here's what I'm gonna do.

I've heard certain things are wrong. And I know God says certain things are sin, but I don't know that personally. So I'm gonna go out myself and experience everything this culture offers and then decide for myself if I agree with God.

We know how that's gonna go. So he says in Ecclesiastes 113, I set my heart to seek and search out my wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven. That phrase seek means to seek and explore, to investigate the roots of a matter. He's going to experience it himself, starting with the pursuit of knowledge. And that's a pretty noble pursuit. I'm gonna pursue knowledge and learning.

And he writes about it in Ecclesiastes 116. Look, I'm wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them. I work hard to distinguish wisdom from foolishness, but now I realize this is like chasing the wind. For the greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.

Wow, really? And some people think, well, if I get a degree, if I get a college education, that's now being paid for by other Americans. Which I don't agree with, by the way. But where are you gonna get that education? And what kind of college are you gonna get it from? There's so many universities, indoctrinating students with this crazy, woke ideology today.

I'm wondering if we're helping or hurting some of these kids, not to mention the fact we're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for it. I actually Googled some courses that some universities are offering. None of these are made up. These are for real. At Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, they have a course titled What if Harry Potter is Real?

That'll really help you in life. Columbia College in Chicago has a course, Zombies and Popular Media. Tufts University in Medford, Oregon has a course, Demystifying the Hipster. I don't even find them mysterious to start with.

Why should I demystify them? A college in Portland, Oregon offers a course on juggling. Yeah, so we're looking to hire somebody. What did you major in?

Juggling. And I'm also an expert on demystifying hipsters. All right?

Another university, I just read this this week, is offering a course on Taylor Swift. Oh, you're ready for anything in life now, aren't you? Now here's the real point. The pursuit of knowledge is a good thing, but if that pursuit of knowledge does not include God, it's not a good thing. So God needs to be a part of it. That's what Solomon is really saying. So Solomon shifts gears. Okay, I'm gonna go from being a brainiac to a party animal.

I've done that whole education thing and I found it rather empty. I'm gonna just party. I believe what the Beastie Boys said. I've got a fight for my right to party.

I don't know if Solomon had heard the Beastie Boys. I doubt it. Ecclesiastes 2, I said to myself, come on, let's give pleasure a try. Let's look for the good things in life.

I found this too was meaningless. It's silly to be laughing all the time. What good does it do to seek only pleasure? And he did it by drinking.

Ecclesiastes 2, three, I thought, I'll cheer myself with wine while still seeking wisdom, but I just found it empty. People love to drink. They get a little tipsy, a little high, a little drunk, and they start laughing. They laugh at everything. Everything's funny to a table full of people drinking.

They think it's all hilarious. Oh, we had a great time last night, whatever. I don't know, I was pretty drunk, but hey. It's sure fun except when that cop pulled me over the DUI, that wasn't so much fun.

Yeah, but here's the thing. I have seen the destructive power of alcohol in so many lives. I was raised in an alcoholic home. I dealt with drunk people for the first 17 years of my life. I saw what alcohol does. I saw adult relationships destroyed. I saw the havoc it brought into my own life, and that's why I don't drink today. I don't see any reason for it.

I don't see any value in it, and not only have I seen, it's getting quiet in here, I like that. And not only have I seen this in the lives of nonbelievers, I've seen it in the lives of believers. You know, they come to Christ. Oh, we don't live that way anymore. We've given those things up, and now we're drinking a little bit, now a little bit more, and all of a sudden, you're having the same problems that nonbelievers are having because it is what it is, and I've even seen this affect people in ministry and churches be destroyed by drinking. Solomon's saying this is a dead-end street.

It's silly to do this. It's empty to do this, so he's, through process of elimination, finding out what it isn't about before he finds out what it is about. Then he talks about building huge homes. Okay, I tried drinking and partying.

I tried the education. I was built a massive estate. I'll build multiple estates of the most incredible gardens and the most amazing singers on earth. Anyone Solomon wanted, he could have come and sing for him.

He writes about it in Ecclesiastes 2.4. I had beautiful vineyards. I had huge homes. I had beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire, but I looked at everything. I worked so hard to accomplish. It was all so meaningless.

It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. So, okay, it's not here, it's not there. It's not in this other place.

Where is it? So now Solomon is whittling it down. He's coming to his conclusion.

The house of David is passed from David to Solomon. Here's what I've learned. Guess what he learned? Ah, dad was right all along. All that advice he gave me was spot on.

I should have taken it. So here is the conclusion. Ecclesiastes 12.1. Remember the creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them.

Another translation. Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget you're a creator. I know some of you are young. I know some of you think you're young. But you who are young, please learn from the mistakes of generations before you.

You don't have to go out there and make the same mistakes. That's what Solomon is saying. I wasted so many years of my life. I wish I'd discovered this earlier. And now his conclusion.

Are you ready? Ecclesiastes 12.13. Let's hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments. This is man's all. And God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it be good or bad. Solomon's saying, listen, take this from a seasoned pro.

I know what I'm talking about. If you leave God out of your life, you're gonna be empty and your life will be meaningless. But if you want a full life, then do what God says.

So here it is. Fear God and keep his commandments. First, you fear God. That doesn't mean be afraid of God. Some people are afraid of God.

Don't be. He loves you. To fear God means to reverence God. It means to respect God.

And it means to be in awe of God. You know, he's not your celestial good buddy. Hey man, Jesus is my homeboy.

No, he isn't. Jesus is the Lord and he's the savior and he's the creator. Have some respect. But yet, this loving Lord and powerful creator does want friendship with you. So you enter into this friendship, but you fear God. One good definition I heard of the fear of God is a wholesome dread of displeasing him. A wholesome dread of displeasing him.

I think that's pretty accurate. So fear God, Solomon says. This is what I've learned. Fear God and keep his commandments. He had thrown away most of his life trying to figure this out and we bristle at the idea of commandments and absolutes.

That's why America is unraveling before our very eyes. We're pushing on every God-given boundary set there for our own protection. We're trying to redefine what God has clearly defined. Keep his commandments. Don't think of the commandments as bars of a cage keeping you in. Think of them as walls around your home keeping the enemy out.

They're there for your good. How many of you have been to Disneyland? Raise your hand.

Don't be embarrassed. Okay, how many of you have been on the Autopia ride? Do you know what I'm talking about?

I like that. I went on that not too long ago as an adult. Remember, there it is, the Autopia ride. Those funny little cars made out of fiberglass. And then when you get in them, you do have an accelerator and a brake but there are these big concrete barriers that are gonna keep you inside of the safety of the Autopia ride.

It's okay. They're there for your protection so little kids can pretend they're driving right, having a good time. But I wouldn't take an Autopia card out on the streets of a major city and drive around, would you? That's not safe. That guy's vulnerable. That car was not designed. Put that back up there.

We did this in the art department. You have to enjoy it for a moment, okay? So this isn't what this car is designed to do.

It reminds me of a time a number of years ago. I was riding a Vespa, a scooter. And it said it was freeway rated. And I thought, how could a scooter be freeway rated?

It can go fast enough to go on a freeway? So I was riding around in Santa Barbara and there was this one spot where I could get on the freeway and there was an immediate off-ramp and it would save me a lot of time instead of taking the surface streets so I revved up that little scooter as fast as it could go with those tiny little wheels. And I got it as fast as I could go and I entered the freeway.

It was so scary. Everyone was passing me. Semis are going by.

I'm like. I couldn't wait to get back off that freeway. That scooter was not designed to go on a freeway.

They are not freeway safe. Let's make that very clear. But God is giving you the commandments to protect you. Solomon says, fear God and keep his commandments. How many of us have gone through life thinking this doesn't apply to them? How many marriages have to be destroyed?

How many children need to be deprived of both parents? How many more lives need to be destroyed by drinking and substance abuse? How many more people need to live only to consume things and never think of others? You know, some people love people and use money. Other people love money and use people. Which one are you?

Don't waste your life. Solomon did largely. He was the foolish wise man.

He self-destructed in slow motion. The house of David. Ups and downs, highs and lows, victories and defeats. A house just like ours.

A family like ours. One day you're gonna wake up like David and have more life behind you than you have in front of you. And I hope you won't say, wow, I wasted my life. You know, we have two major dates in our life. The date of our birth and the date of our death.

We really don't decide either. But we have everything to say about the dash in the middle. Right?

Born this year, died that year. But there's that dash. That's your part.

Live that dash well. Let me loop back to what David said about life. To Solomon. Know the God of your father. Know him.

That's the most important thing. You know, Jesus said in that final day of judgment, many will come to me saying, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not do miracles in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? And Jesus says, and I will say to them, depart from me.

I never knew you, you workers of iniquity. And the phrase that Jesus uses there for knowing him means I never knew you intimately. See, these people knew about God. They didn't know God. You can't live off the faith of your parents.

Doesn't matter if your mom or dad loved the Lord or your grandparents. That's great. Good legacy.

It's up to you. You have to embrace it as your own. And really what this is all about is a relationship with God. Hey, knock knock. Jesus. Jesus Christ.

That's right. Standing at the door of your life and knocking, saying if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in. Only I can open the door of my life. Jesus says I want this relationship with you. I want to forgive you of your sins.

I want to help you find the purpose and meaning of life because I have a plan just for you. But that's for you to say come in. Or for you to say go away.

No, I'm not answering the door. So we're gonna close with a prayer. And I'm going to extend an invitation for you to come into this intimate relationship with God. For you to ask Christ to come into your life so you can be forgiven of your sin and know that you'll go to heaven when you die but also so you'll know what your life is really all about and you can live it well. Let's pray. Father, I pray for everybody here, everybody watching, wherever they are. If they don't know you yet, help them to come to you now and believe. Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together, how many of you would say, Greg, I need Jesus Christ right now.

I'm kind of like Solomon. I've done those things or I'm even doing those things and it's empty and I don't like it and I don't want to live this way anymore. I want Christ to come and live inside of me. I want him to forgive me of my sin.

Or you might say, hey, I've drifted away. I'm a Christian, I know better but I've wandered off and I need to return to the Lord. If you want Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you've fallen away from the Lord and you want to return to him again, wherever you are, would you just lift your hand up and let me pray for you. Lift your hand up saying I need Jesus Christ today. I need my sin forgiven right now. I want to go to heaven when I die. Pray for me.

Raise your hand up where I can see it please. God bless you. God bless you. Now some of you are watching this screen.

They're Harvest Riverside in the outdoor, one of our overflow venues. This is for you too. Do you need to commit your life to Christ or recommit your life to Jesus? Raise your hand up as well wherever you are.

Anybody else? You need to get right with God today. You want Jesus to take residence in your heart, raise your hand up. Let me pray for you.

God bless each one of you. Pray this prayer out loud after me. Again, as I pray this, pray this out loud after me. Pray these words if you would please. 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 and rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my life. I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord, as my God and friend. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.