The Power of Your Personal Story // Pastor Greg Laurie

0:00 well good morning Calvary Chapel and obviously I'm not with you today and for you that's a very very good thing because for the first time on a Sunday morning we have the opportunity to host the man that got used in my life to hear the gospel for the very first time it was June 20th 1977 a young man walked out to the stage to the podium and began to deliver the gospel from the book of Revelation chapter 20 and I was in the audience that night and I was sitting there and I heard Greg Lori preach on a message about how to inherit hell and as he went down that list I began to realize in my conviction that I was doing all of these things that had offended God and he gave an opportunity

0:47 to make a decision for Jesus Christ and I took him up on that challenge and so it's with an incredible honor that I introduce to you today a brother a friend a man who for all time and eternity I will be grateful for for introducing me to Jesus Christ please give a warm welcome to Pastor Greg Laurie Wow thank you thank you very much good to be here I want to add one detail to Pastor Jack's story what he left out was the reason he came to Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa is because he saw a car full of cute girls

1:34 he sold you that right to confession time and then he came in and heard the gospel and by the way that's sort of a parallel to my own story because I was on my high school campus and I saw a cute girl with a Bible and I thought why would a perfectly cute girl become a Jesus Freak what is wrong with her but it got me to go to the meeting and listen and I ended up coming to Christ as well so cute girls got us a mission for you right how many of you are married today raise your hand up how many of you are happily married raise your hand oh you better all race it okay how many of you are single you're not married raise your hand okay keep your hand up Singles keep your hand up now look around look around these are the

2:21 options people these are the opposites okay honestly I can't think of a better place to meet that person inferred a you would want to marry ultimately than in the church that's where I met my wife I actually saw her when I was speaking now don't misunderstand it's not like I was checking out girls while I was preaching but I was I think 17 years old then and I saw her sitting there with her three sisters and there was sort of a light from heaven coming on Cathy then I realized later her sister was holding a flashlight over her but now but we met in church and became boyfriend and girlfriend and we just celebrated 45 years of marriage together so so I know you guys love the Word of God here at calvary chapel chino hills' am i right yes you do

3:08 if you don't mind what you hold your Bible up let me see your Bible nice sir why do you have a Hello Kitty Bible I don't understand I didn't know they made Bibles I want one soon all right I have this Smurf Edition here nah I'm kidding well we're going to look at the Bible in just a moment and I want you to turn to Acts chapter 26 x26 the title of my message is the power of your personal story let's pray together Lord we're glad to be here at church today and we've come to hear your word and we know you've called us to go and preach the gospel in the world and sometimes that's not the easiest thing to do sometimes we're afraid we're intimidated or shy we're afraid some of

3:57 the last gets that question we don't have the answer to so Lord we're just praying that you will speak to us now and we'll learn more about how to effectively communicate this message to others we commit this time to you in Jesus name we pray amen again the power of your personal story you know everybody loves a good story and you have an amazing story to tell the story of how you came to believe in Jesus and guess what you are an expert on your own story now maybe you're not an apologist you're not a theologian you're not a Bible scholar but in fact you are an expert on you you say well so

4:44 what well one of the best ways to start an evangelistic conversation is by beginning with your own story because then that can be a bridge to the greatest story ever told people can argue with you about the Bible but they can't argue with your own story of what God has done for you it's also called a personal testimony and every Christian has one over in revelation 12:11 we read about these Christians who are in heaven who overcame the enemy and it says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives until the death and so these are people that use their testimony to overcome the devil so when

5:30 you move into a new neighborhood or you go to place to work and you put it put that stake in the ground and say I'm a Christian now in effect numb believers are gonna hold you accountable they're gonna want you to see if you live up to what you say you believe and if you slip up they're gonna work use the numbly vers favorite word about Christians can you guess what it is yeah you went to miles over the speed limit with a Harvest Crusade sticker on your car you're a hypocrite years ago I was getting pizza and I was a brand-new pastor I had only been a Christian for a

6:15 few years we had started our church had very long hair back then I wish I had any hair now but I had long hair parted in the middle in a full beard I look like one of the duck dynasty guys okay this is back in the hippy days so we had just started this church now when I was in school I got into a lot of trouble I was always being sent to the principal's office always making wisecracks and goofy enough I was a troublemaker and I was a prankster so now I'm a Christian I'm a pastor and I'm in a pizza place with my friend waiting for my pizza that we just ordered I look over at the table next to me and there's this guy I recognized from elementary school and he looked exactly the same it's weird how some people don't change they just get bigger right this is Satan this guy I

7:02 said is your name Paulie says yes what's your name I said Greg Laurie he's whoa cuz all the hair in the beard and everything I didn't recognize you Greg I said yeah Paul you know I've changed a lot yeah Wow guess what Paul no what great I became a Christian he really oh yeah I'm a Christian now and you know what else Paul I said I'm a pastor of a church I think he was shocked he's thinking they're giving churches to people I can know and I said Paul I'm a different person Oh Greg I remember how you got in trouble at school Paul said always smart enough to the teacher always at the pranks and the jokes yes that's true Paul I said but I'm not that way anymore I'm a different person Wow so you should think about this well I will nice to talk to you Greg nice to

7:49 talk to you Paul feeling very good about myself so my friend went to the restroom and the pizza arrived and I thought it would be really funny to put red pepper flake so my friends side of the pizza but I unscrewed the top because I want to put a lot on on his side laughing forgetting about the guy just talked to while I'm pouring the pepper flakes I hear Paul say haven't changed much have you great yeah busted right I wasn't the best example good question I know you guys know the word of God here at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills how many Gospels are there in the New Testament no for us not the answer the answer is five yeah Matthew Mark Luke

8:35 John and you you're the fifth gospel and you're the only gospel some people are ever going to read it's been said that Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by men so you overcome by the word of your testimony you put that stake in the ground my question to you is to people in your neighborhood know that you're a Christian to people in your workplace know you're a believer to people in your family know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ I hope so and you know here's something to consider the best way to not go backwards is to go forward and one of the best ways to go forward is by sharing your faith we've heard lately in the news about a couple of fairly

9:22 well-known Christian leaders who've said they're no longer Christians and some people are shocked by that and it alarmed some well let me just remind you one of the signs of the last days is some would fall from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines of demons so people will fall away but sometimes people deny the Lord and then they repent and get right with the Lord think about Simon Peter so I don't write these people off I pray for these people but having said that don't worry that that's going to be you next because the person that falls away from the Lord they make a series of choices that leads to that that's why every day you want to learn more from the Word of God you want to grow more as a Christian

10:09 you want to become more Jesus Christ the moment you stop going forward will be the moment you begin to go backwards so don't do that these believers overcame the enemy by the word of their testimony so what is your testimony I can tell you what it is without even knowing you here's your testimony in a nutshell once you were blind and now you see once you were lost but now you're found once you were going to hell now you're going to heaven that's your testimony by the way that phrase once I was blind but now I see is really a statement that was made by a man that was healed of his blindness by Jesus he asked the Lord to heal him and the Lord spit in the ground wiped it in the dirt and put it in the

10:57 guy's eye here's mud in your eye buddy that's a very unusual way to heal someone can you imagine if you came for prayer pastor would you pray for me no problem wait what are you doing pastor it's in the Bible just one time but the point is this guy's healed so immediately the religious leaders show up and they begin to attack him saying you know who healed you he goes some guy named Jesus I don't know much about him well we don't think that he's really sent from God we think he's a sinner here's what the guy said I love it he says look whether he's a sinner or not I don't know all I know is this once I was blind but now I see now that is a testimony and you know people can argue with a lot of things but they can argue what the changed life remember

11:44 the story of the woman at the well she was an immoral woman married in divorce five times living with some dude and Jesus meets her at the well and Kjus her in an extended conversation she argues with him at first she's disrespectful even but ultimately she believes and the Bible says she went into her town in told people John 4:39 and many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified he told me all that I ever did that's the power of a change life and by the way this is how the Apostle Paul started most of his evangelistic messages he started with his personal

12:30 story Paul was a great intellect Paul was a brilliant orator Paul was a scholar but Paul almost always started by telling the story of what happened to him on the Damascus Road and I think that's a great template for us because we all have a story to tell as well here's how your testimony or your personal story breaks down if you're taking notes number one your life before Christ number two how you came to Christ and number three your life after you came to Christ I have a homework assignment for you when you get home get out a single sheet of paper and write your entire testimony and one page in three categories your life before Christ just a paragraph or two don't go

13:16 into detail number two how you came to Christ what happened number three what your life is like now the reason I say on one sheet of paper is so you'll sort of memorize it and internalize it and learn to tell your story because it's a great way to brill build a bridge to a person so we see Paul did this first he started with his life before Christ acts 26 verse 9 and also verse 11 he says to Herod Agrippa the King I used to believe I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of jesus the nazarene many times I had them that's Christians punished in the synagogues and got them to curse Jesus I was so violently opposed to them I even

14:02 chased them down in foreign cities and that's hardcore he forced Christians to denounce their faith and curse Christ that was this life before then he talked about how he came to Christ acts 26 verse 12 one day I was on such a mission to Damascus armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests and about noon your majesty as I was on the road a light from heaven brighter than the Sun shone down on me of my companions we all fell down and I heard a voice voice saying and Aramaic saul saul why are you persecuting me it's for you to fight against my will Paul formerly Saul had a radical testimony he was a murderer he was a Christian killer

14:49 but yet God got hold of him and by the way I believe that he was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit when he heard the voice of Jesus on the Damascus Road and I think that conviction really began when he presided over the execution of the first martyr of the church the courageous young Steven and remember Steven said to the Lord Lord don't hold this sin against them and then Stephen says hey I see the heavens open and I see Jesus standing on the right hand of God never ever noticed that Jesus standing every time we read of Jesus in heaven he's sitting at the right hand of the Father but in Stephens account he's standing why is that maybe because the Lord was

15:35 standing in honor of the first martyr of the church and this drove Saul insane he was under the conviction of the Spirit and it became worse after that and I bring this up because sometimes the most vocal opponents of our faith are closer to the kingdom of God than you may think you may have someone at work that every Monday has five new questions to harass you with hard questions to stump you reasons why they're not a Christian and then there's another person you see that's very nice and pleasant and you invite them to church and they say one day I'll come maybe but they never come but this other person always with the arguments always with the disagreements always are the contention and you say that person is so far from God it could

16:21 be their very opposite of that maybe they're closer to coming to the Lord but they're under the conviction of this spirit and that's why they're acting the way they act there's an old proverb not a biblical one that says when you throw a rock into a pack of dogs the one that barks allowed us is the one that got hit so sometimes a person that's barking the loudest so this B got hit so here's Saul he's on his way to hunt down Christians on the Damascus and suddenly he hears a voice say to him Saul Saul why are you persecuting me Saul's thinking oh no huh no he says who are you Lord and he's thinking don't say Jesus don't say Jesus don't say Jesus and

17:06 Jesus says I am Jesus ssssss technically I am Jesus that's who you are persecuting Saul says nope no that's not in the Bible but he felt that way and that's when Saul was converted and ultimately became the great Apostle Paul I've heard some crazy testimonies amazing ones I have a friend named Michael Franzese former member of the Mafia he was a meat man a good fella as they call them a mobster he was being groomed to become the next dawn or Godfather of the Colombo crime family in New York City and he got arrested and sent to prison predictably prosecuted by none other than Rudy

17:52 Giuliani and there in the Hall solitary confinement some guard gave to Michael Franzese a copy of the Bible which he began to read and he realized that Jesus Christ was the ultimate man some man which I found interesting he thought there's never been a man like Jesus he became a Christian I have another friend who I'm gonna interview Sunday night named Darryl Strawberry a great baseball player of course played for the Yankees and Dodgers and such but Darryl's off field antics are as well-known if not more well-known than his abilities as a player he got arrested he was sent to prison but the Lord got hold of him so you think whoa man I don't never testimony like Darryl Strawberry or

18:38 Michael Franzese I've never been addicted to drugs there was that Oreo cookie binge and the second grade but I got over it there are a lot of timeouts on my terrible twos but I don't think my testimony is very legitimate yes it is remember your testimony still is once I was blind and now I see once I was lost but now I found it's the same for everyone you might say well you know what I I never did drugs I never got drunk I I never got into trouble I was never arrested in fact I worked very hard I graduated from high school I went on to college I graduated with honors and a degree I pursued my career I checked all of those boxes that one should check to

19:24 be successful and happy and I got to the very top and there was nothing there and I was empty and then I realized they needed Jesus that'll preach that's a testimony someone else might say well actually I was raised in a Christian home in fact I was home-schooled and I couldn't watch Spongebob Squarepants I had to watch VeggieTales only at the age of seven I asked Jesus to come into my life I remember I interviewed dr. James Thompson once and I said dr. Dobson when did you become a Christian I think he said age five and I'm thinking you know what is a five year old even repent tough I mean but he says that is the moment when Christ came into my life and

20:11 they marked my deal conversion back to that day amazing so your life before Christ how you came to Christ and now Paul transitions to the gospel which is the true objective of her personal testimony look at verse 22 he continues on to Herod Agrippa I teach nothing except with the prophets and Moses said what happened that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and in this way he says God announced God's light to the Jews and the Gentiles alike he's transitioning now this is a whole point of a personal testimony you're transitioning it's not about you it's about him it's about telling the

20:57 greatest story the story of the life death and resurrection of Christ it's called the gospel and the Apostle Paul said the gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes and the word that he uses therefore power the Greek word Dunamis translates into our English word but and no it doesn't I just wanted to see if you're listening the English word dynamic or dynamite Cipolla is effectively saying there is explosive dynamic dynamite power in the message of the gospel how many of you believe that raise your hand up I mean I do you've seen it you've seen how it changed us lives remember years ago I was in Billy Graham's house having lunch which is

21:43 kind of a surreal experience I have to tell you because he was such a great man of God and even though I got to know him pretty well I still whenever I was around him I was somewhat intimidated you know it's Billy Graham sitting there and we're eating his wife Ruth made us a wonderful meal sort of country food black-eyed peas you know I think collard greens maybe Fried Chicken and so Billy turned to me and says would you like to have a coke and I I've never heard coke said like that it's just the way he's a coke it's just I didn't even want to cook I said yes because Billy Graham just said coke like that so I'm sipping on my coke and trying to think of something to ask him about my mind is going blank and then I

22:29 suddenly thought of something I said building let me ask you a question if an older Billy Graham were speaking to a young younger Billy Graham what would you say to yourself what advice would you give yourself and for all these years of walking with the Lord Billy turned and looked at me with those steely blue eyes of his and says I would preach more on the cross of Christ and the blood because that's where the power is I never forgot that and it's the thing to remember the cross of Christ and the blood that's where the power is listen the gospel is more important than anything else it's more important than our programs it's more important than our preferences it's more important than our priorities it's more important than

23:15 politics the gospel is the message we're called to go and preach and listen to this the primary way that God has chosen to reach lost people is through the verbal articulation of the gospel I want to see that for emphasis the primary way that God has chosen to reach non-believing people is through the verbal articulation of the gospel Paul asked in the book of Romans how are they here unless someone tells them and how will someone tell them unless they've been sent and then Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 1:21 in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God but God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those

24:00 who believe some translations say the foolishness of preaching well foolishness of the message preached as a better translation I've heard some foolish preaching I've engaged in some foolish preaching but there's power in the message that is preached now think of all the ways that God could have accomplished this if you were God would you have chosen people to do this knowing people as we do being one of them God could have done it in the heavens imagine watching an awesome sunset all of a sudden written across the sky hello humanity this is God and I think you all should believe in me right now I'd be very impressed by that our

24:48 God could raise up a mighty army of angels to do it how cool would it be a pastor Jack said next nd we have a very special guest to speak today let's all give a warm Calvary Chapel of Chino Hills welcome to Michael the Archangel Michael comes walking out kind of floating a little bit how's it going radiating like we're all just believe in Jesus now as he's flying over you with a sword drawn okay okay seems like that would work God could raise up animals to do it right didn't he speak through the donkey of Balaam well he could speak through your dog wouldn't that be nice walking

25:34 your dog hey my dog does some amazing tricks want to see yeah watch this sit dog sits roll over he rolls over shake dog puts up his paw then you say preach dog jumps up in his back legs hello I used to have a hole in my heart it says hi imagine a dog's voice would be I used to have a hole in my heart I tried to fill the hole with chasing cats drinking toilet water and eating roadkill but then I heard about Jesus how would that be very impressive but God has not chosen to reach us through talking animals or through angels or

26:19 riding in the sky God has chosen to reach humanity through people that's why he wants us to tell someone let me illustrate let's say you were a brilliant scientist who unfortunately became a victim of cancer you dedicated your life to discovering a cure to this dreaded disease and one day you were successful a certain combination of ingredients produced a single capsule that have taken one time would completely cure you of cancer you took it and you were cancer-free now what are you gonna do with such a message well I don't really feel comfortable talking to strangers who cares what you feel comfortable about you have one of the most important discoveries of all time you need to get

27:07 that message out there and we have something even more important than the cure for cancer France we have the cure for death it's the gospel and it still changes lives but let's be honest a lot of us don't share this message we're intimidated we're afraid someone might ask just a hard question now let me take a little poll how many of you have ever told someone about Jesus Christ raise your hand the kids almost all of you very good how many of you have shared your faith in the last two weeks raise your hand up good excellent how many of you have ever had an opportunity to personally lead someone to Christ raise your hand him great great that's very good and it doesn't surprise me honestly

27:52 at this church and we have a similar response at our church as well and by the way camber Chappell Chino is the number one supporting Church for the Harvest Crusade so thank you for that chino hills' but this is the idea we want to bring this message but I think we choke on the word preach Jesus has gone to all the world and preach the gospel oh I don't want to be a preacher preachers are seen in a negative light aren't they when I'm traveling on a plane and someone see the next to me and we start chatting you know what do you do and the moment I tell them what I do oh well I'm a preacher they want to change their seat preachers are not held in high regard in our culture today when you're

28:38 saying some there's someone you know you should do this oh man don't preach to me it's seen as a negative so when we think of preaching I don't want to be the preacher I don't want to be that person okay let's just take the word preach out it's put in another word go into all the world and recommend the gospel endorse the gospel share the gospel tweet the gospel the ideas just communicated by the way to preach does not mean you have to elevate your volume you could keep it conversational listen if you want to win some be winsome be friendly be nice sometimes Christians come off as

29:23 know-it-alls and with a bit of arrogance and talking down to people listen I'm just one bigger telling another beggar where to find food I know better than anybody else better off yes better know so you come with the humility and you share that message because our objective is to build a bridge not burn a bridge our objective is to be a stepping stone not a stumbling block so first we engage them hopefully with our personal story and then recommend the gospel listen we recommend stuff all the time you're maybe in a town you've never been to before and you're wondering if this is a good restaurant to eat at so you check out Yelp let's see what complete strangers have to say and people oh we

30:10 should go here because yo gives at a high rating then you go in and it's not good but we listen to what people say to us I mean if you ask me my opinion on things I'm a very opinionated person I'll always have some kind of answer he great if you're visiting California for the first time what's the best takeout burger in California you serious in-n-out burger don't say McDonald's it in our burger yeah go there but you know I don't know what it is but when I go to in-n-out burger I find out only like it when I go late at night I went there dope for lunch the other day and I didn't enjoy it as much I think I see it more as a guilty pleasure like you know after I preached I'm driving home and I'm thinking I think I'll go to in-n-out burger and get a burger animal-style

30:57 with chopped peppers really bad decision but there's something oh I love to do them and my favorite takeout Mexican I have to tell you as Taco Bell it is don't tell me you till tunku's bitter no it isn't and that's my opinion Taco Bell I like a breed of supreme is defended this lady she's walking out I do like tell taco del tacos good okay so you know I like the Dorito she'll Gregor aren't you so three preaching let me finish this thing I like the Doritos shell taco I used to order the in Torito but they stopped making it that's great no hey what's a good movie oh I just saw this movie check it out what's a good TV

31:43 show Oh watch this so we all give recommendations all day long about all kinds of stuff and then someone says well what is kind of the purpose of your life uh I don't know seriously you recommend all this secondary stuff and you're not gonna recommend Jesus Christ going to all the world and recommend the gospel going to all the world and share the gospel going to all the world and preach the gospel that's what we're called to do coming back to your testimony let me give you some tips before I wrap this up when you're sharing your faith and using your story don't use Chris ginnis do you know what I mean by Christianese it's our own language I

32:28 mean we understand it imagine a visitor and they're here in church and they heard one Christian say to the other pray for me bro I'm going through with storm okay yeah I've a real burden on my heart right now - yeah let's pray they're going like what I don't see a storm what it wouldn't and so you go up to a non-believer you see I'm standing over there and you say hey uncircumcised philistine come here I have a question for you you unregenerate sinner have you repented of your sin have you been washed in the blood of

33:16 Christ are you now part of the body of Christ now the numbly we're thinking you're freaking me out man what are you talking about washing people and blood and putting them some body somewhere what is this so you need to break things down you know people have asked me what has changed over the years and your Crusades because we're celebrating 30 years well the Lord has changed George HW Bush was president when we began that one of the top artists was Vanilla Ice Ice Baby right MC Hammer - you can't touch this number one movie pretty woman the

34:02 closest thing we added to a tweet back then was a burn in our backyard no social media 56k modems do you remember those right you've got mail right that's how it sounded in the old days so we've changed our technology we've updated our music sounds different today and it sounded back then but I'll tell you one thing that hasn't changed and that is the essential message of the gospel that we continue to proclaim but let me add something in some ways I've sought to make it even more simple believe it or not I work harder and longer on my crusade messages than any message I do all year long you say but

34:48 Greg they're so simple exactly because I want to make it understandable to people I don't assume that my listener knows what I'm talking about when I even use terms like accept Christ or Heaven do they even know what heaven is why should they believe the Bible so I try to make it as understandable as they possibly can but you know number one don't use Christian ease number two listen to this when you share your personal story don't glorify or exaggerate your past don't glorify or exaggerate your past I've heard some testimonies that get more dramatic with the telling and by that I mean I hear at one time and then maybe five years later I hear them give it

35:33 again and it's like whoa I didn't hear that stuff before if you do a bunch of sinful stuff between ahmen or that you just remember some things or are you literally making things up don't exaggerate it and another thing I would add don't make your path sound better than the present you know what I'm talking about I've heard some testimonies and they talked about what they used to do and we were doing drugs in these cars and the women and it was so so much fun and living this life and then I came to change this that's it wait what happened they even talked weird all over that I came to chase us and now I'll carry the old wooden cross like what's wrong with you you're making your past sound better than your present can I be blunt with

36:19 you here's your past you're an idiot doing sinful things on your way to judgment and God lovingly and graciously reached out to you and responded to him but don't make your path sound better than your present and it's not about you it's about him the whole purpose of telling my story it's appointed Jesus that's a message we have to a lost world that's the gospel that's the hope and we're facing these young generations the Millennials and Generation Z as they call them now a Millennials use more pharmaceutical drugs antidepressants than any generation in history they're the most depressed generation the most

37:05 suicidal generation Generation Z has been dubbed the hopeless generation and I think there's one reason for this avvocato toast it just stopped eating avocado toast you could buy a house for what you spend on ever cutting I'm joking okay seriously nothing yeah the reason is they don't have Christ hope has a name and it's Jesus and you have that message and you've been commanded by Christ himself to share that message with others so don't make your pastime better than your present don't boast about what you gave up for him boast about what he gave up for you what did you give up you know people say I made

37:52 such sacrifices to follow Jesus you don't shut up you gave up nothing he gave up emptiness and guilt and God gave you his forgiveness and the hope of heaven you gave up nothing here's the way Paul puts it over in Philippians 3 from a modern translation and Paul was a very accomplished individual but yet he says this all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my master everything I once thought I had going for me now is insignificant dog dung then he says it's dumped in the trash so I can embrace Christ and be embraced by him that's an accurate translation some translations have it as rubbish those

38:38 things I had before our rubbish that's a very British word isn't it oh that's just rubbish rubbish you know he used the word that is translated dog tongue or excrement that's the word he used so you know if you have a dog and you take your dog for a walk please carry the little doggie bags clean up after your dog very irresponsible to not do that because the other I stepped in something that reminded me of why that is important somebody else's dog so when you clean up after your dog I'm trying to put it delicately here and you have the poop in a bag do you carry it around with you for the rest of the day I hope not you're at lunch with your friends Hey look at this I got a new

39:24 iPhone oh yeah check this out you got your little blue bag dude what is that you know what it is why are you carrying it around because I'm proud of it you're crazy throw that in the trash that's it so in the same way when someone's boasting of what they gave up for Christ or boasting of their all light it's no different throw it in the trash put it behind you that's where it belongs again your story is a bridge to his story the message of Jesus Christ so look we're going to do this next weekend quick poll how many of you are coming to the Harvest Crusade next weekend okay how many of you are

40:09 not coming you tell me honest answer you're not really could I change your mind well Greg can now listen it's awfully crowded down there and the parking is is kind of expensive okay carpool well yes but I don't really like the music it's a little loud oh well guess what someone likes the music they're probably younger and it's not about you it's about them see so you get a big old vehicle and load it up with a bunch of people that need to hear the gospel and bring them out and I'm gonna make you a promise and I'm gonna guarantee this promise and if you bring someone who does not know the Lord to

40:55 the SoCal harvest next weekend at Angel Stadium and they accept Christ that's gonna be one of the greatest moments of your life and if it isn't I'll give you your money back wait you didn't charge me I know I don't have to give money back because I know it's going to happen I mean when you stand field or you sit in the seats even and you see 3000 people pray and ask Christ to come into your life that to me is a little taste of heaven you know I wrote my book about Steve McQueen it's very interesting the way McQueen came to Christ here he was the number one movie star in the world had everything a person could want the ultimate car collection motorcycle collection women literally throwing themselves at him global Fame money everything the one kid

41:41 want to make them happy and McQueen was empty he moved away from Hollywood moved to Ventura California living sort of an isolated life McQueen always wanted to learn how to fly he was a great motorcycle rider and and of course driver he drove in in professional type races as well you want to learn how to fly so he bought an antique Stearman plane and there was only one person qualified to teach people to fly it was a guy named Sammy Mason so Steve called him hi I'm Steve McQueen I'd like to take flying lessons Sammy is like huh hung up on him I know he calls back this is Steve McQueen I'm an actor I Sam he says never heard of you and then Sammy asks his son he ever heard of a guy named Steve McQueen yeah dad that's the guy in the Great Escape okay

42:27 so he says Sammy I heard that you are qualified to teach on this plane would you teach me the guy says no I don't really want to know please will you teach me finally he said ok so they spent hours up in the air flying Steve McQueen and Sammy Mason Sammy was a former stunt pilot kind of a man's man Steve saw something in Sammy he admired he goes you know Sammy he seemed to be a peaceful guy there's something about you what is it because Steve it's my faith in Jesus Christ then they began to talk about the Lord and Steve is intrigued Steve a semi if he could go to church with him and he did and he accepted Christ one Sunday Steve did not find him what he was looking for in a soundstage in

43:12 Hollywood he found it in the balcony of a church in Ventura California here's my point Sammy earned the right to share the gospel because of the life he lived see when you live a godly life and people see it in you when you go to the non-believer and say I would like to take you as my guest to an event next weekend at Angel Stadium it's called the Harvest Crusade to be heard of it yes they probably have maybe thing of it I'd like to get you dinner afterwards or on the way there in-n-out burger animal style chop peppers brie the supreme and then Torito if you can find it but anyway I'd like to take you there with me here's why they're gonna say yes because you've earned the right to be heard by the godly life you've been

43:58 living so start using your Loveridge you have leverage you've earned goodwill because of the way you've lived the things you've said the things you've done now you use that leverage and you invite them out and I pray that we'll see the greatest response of this crusade of our thirty years of history because Jesus Christ is coming again so let's get on with this folks and do it well I'm almost done which is a preacher's way of saying I'm going to speak for another hour no not really not an hour just a few more moments literally I want to just close by talking to some of you that

44:44 aren't sure if your sin is forgiven some of you that don't have the hope of heaven I've been talking about how to reach people like you now I would like for just a moment to reach out to you personally and ask you as you've come here to church today do you know God maybe you're like McQueen you know you you see these things you know a Christian you admire them but you say how does this happen even like what does a person need to do to come into this relationship with God you have to be born into this like born in a Christian family no you don't need to be born in a Christian family you need to be born again that's what Jesus said unless a person is born again they will not enter the kingdom of God but how you

45:30 ask is a person born again the way it happens is when you admit you've sinned against God and by the way everyone has and you realize that Jesus Christ the Son of God went to across two thousand years ago and died there for your sin why because you're separated from God but the sins you've committed and no matter how good of a life you try to live you're never gonna be good enough Oh granted some people are better than others but no one is good enough to get to heaven and besides heaven is not for good people heaven is for forgiving people are you a forgiving person you say well I've done so many horrible things job well Jesus paid for all of those things on the cross I mean if Jesus could

46:16 forgive a guy like Michael Franzese who was in the mob or Darryl Strawberry who was in all kinds of trouble or McQueen or Johnny Cash surely he could forgive you surely he could give you a second chance in life say but what do I need to do you need to ask him to come into your life Jesus died on the cross he rose again from the dead three days later and now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and he says if you'll hear his voice and open the door he will come in only you can open the door of your heart so to speak only you can say Jesus I need you in my life right now the person who brought you here today can't do that for you your parents can't do it for you your kids can't do it for you

47:03 nor can a friend you need to say Lord I'm a sinner you're the Savior and I need you imagine if you were drowning and there was a lifeguard and you were in trouble what do you need to do you need to call out for help and the lifeguard will come to your aid in the same way you're drowning and sin separated from God and if you call out Jesus Christ will save you and forgive you and you can walk out of Calvary Chapel of Chino Hills a different person than when you came in he's just a prayer away in a moment we're gonna bow our heads and pray and I'm going to extend an invitation not unlike what we do it harvest Crusades and I'm going to ask you to believe in him if you don't yet I'm also going to extend an invitation

47:50 for anybody that needs to come back to the Lord coming back to Johnny Cash he struggled he made a commitment to Christ at a young age but he struggled through life and then ultimately made a recommitment to Christ and then went to be with the Lord so maybe some of you have been struggling with sin you've been doing things you should not be doing you've done things you should not have done but God can forgive you of that sin there's no sin too great for God to forgive Jesus carried that heavy cross to the streets of Jerusalem so you don't have to carry that heavy load of guilt and shame and sin one day longer but you must come to him and ask for his forgiveness so we're gonna give you that opportunity as we close now in prayer

48:36 it's all bow our heads and pray together if you would please everybody praying father I pray now that you will speak to every person in this room and every person listening and watching wherever they may be if they don't know Jesus yet if they don't have a relationship with you if they're not sure that they'll go to heaven when they die help them to come to you and believe we pray now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together how many of you would say today Gregg I need Jesus I need to be forgiven of my sin I want to know that I will go to heaven when I die would you pray for me listen if you want Christ to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to fill that big

49:23 hole in your heart if you want your guilt and shame taken away if you want Jesus I want you to raise your hand up right now wherever you are now I'm gonna pray for you raise your hand up if you want Christ to come into your life god bless you god bless you raise it up however I can see it please I can see everywhere in the room all the way to the back and I see you in that back row down here toward the front god bless you as well anybody else raise your hand up let me pray for you today god bless you god bless you might be young this is the right time to come to Christ you might be older and you see I'll Greg it's too late for me no it isn't God can forgive but you must come to him raise your hand up if you want Christ in your life today

50:10 I'll pray for you god bless you when our heads are still bowed maybe some of you have been struggling and sinned and need to make a recommitment of Christ you need to return to the Lord you've been a backslider and you want to now follow Christ if that's you would you raise your hand up if you need to come back again to the Lord god bless you raise your hand up if you need to come back to him god bless all of you lord I thank you now for each one and I pray you give them the strength to follow you and we ask us now in Jesus name Amen listen to this everyone that Jesus calls he cults openly and publicly and in a moment our worship band is gonna lead us in the song of invitation and I'm going

50:55 to ask that when the song begins that you that raised your hand saying that you wanted Christ in your life or you raised your hand saying you wanted to make a recommitment I'm gonna ask all of you that did that to get up out of your seat and walk down these aisles and stand here in the front and when you all get here I'm gonna lead you in a prayer I'm also gonna ask that nobody leave right now because the only movement we want to see is the movement of those coming forward to make this commitment maybe you did not raise your hand but you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Jesus you come as well say Greg why you asking me to walk down some aisle because Jesus said if you will acknowledge me before people I'll acknowledge you before the Father in the angels in heaven but then he added if you deny me before people I'll deny you

51:41 before the Father and the Angels this is a way to acknowledge him before people so again if you raise your hand even if you did not if you want your sin forgiven if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die if you want your sin removed in your shame taken away and you want Christ to come live inside of you are you falling away from the Lord you want to come back to him again right now wherever you are get up out of your seat walk down these aisles come to this platform and I'll lead you in prayer when you get here get up and start coming right now come on get up and come make your public stand for Jesus Christ so I'm gonna lead you in this prayer and I would just sound Casca you would pray this prayer out loud after me again mean

52:29 this from your heart and pray this prayer out loud after me if you would okay it's all bow our heads and pray this after me now Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you are the Saviour and I believe you died on the cross for all of my sin I'm sorry for my sin I turn from my sin and I choose to follow you Lord from this moment forward is my Savior and Lord as my god and my friend thank you for hearing this prayer in answering this prayer in Jesus name I pray amen

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