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Harvest with Pastor Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie - Hot Button Issues

August 17, 2025 | S25 E196 | 29:0

Greg Laurie - Hot Button Issues
Join Pastor Greg Laurie for a time of encouragement, worship, and Bible study.
#inActive #Bible #Truth #Culture #Witness/Witnessing #SpiritualGrowth #LightoftheWorld #Church #Change #Boldness #Faith #Courage

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Harvest with Pastor Greg Laurie | Greg Laurie - Hot Button Issues | August 17, 2025
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  • Greg laurie: today, folks, we live in an abc culture:
  • 00:00:05.151 --> 00:00:09.489
  • 'anything but christ.'
  • 00:00:09.622 --> 00:00:11.691
  • If you dare to pull out one of these books and quote from it,
  • 00:00:11.825 --> 00:00:14.961
  • You're gonna be canceled, you're gonna be opposed.
  • 00:00:15.061 --> 00:00:15.929
  • They want us to just be quiet, keep our opinions to ourselves.
  • 00:00:18.565 --> 00:00:23.002
  • As christians, we need to engage our culture, we need to
  • 00:00:23.002 --> 00:00:26.806
  • Influence our culture.
  • 00:00:26.806 --> 00:00:28.441
  • We need to try to the best of our ability to change
  • 00:00:28.441 --> 00:00:31.511
  • Our culture.
  • 00:00:31.511 --> 00:00:32.846
  • We are, according to jesus, to be salt and light in the world.
  • 00:00:32.846 --> 00:00:36.649
  • ♪ this is the day, the day when life begins. ♪
  • 00:00:39.385 --> 00:00:47.193
  • ♪ this is the day, the day when life begins. ♪♪
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  • Greg: there was a time when maybe the best known verse
  • 00:00:57.604 --> 00:01:00.940
  • In the country, maybe even the world, was john 3:16.
  • 00:01:00.940 --> 00:01:04.811
  • We all know that verse, right?
  • 00:01:04.811 --> 00:01:06.579
  • Let's say it together, john 3:16: "for god so loved the
  • 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:10.517
  • World that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever
  • 00:01:10.517 --> 00:01:14.787
  • Believes in him should not perish but have
  • 00:01:14.787 --> 00:01:17.457
  • Everlasting life."
  • 00:01:17.457 --> 00:01:19.392
  • That's a good verse to know.
  • 00:01:19.392 --> 00:01:21.394
  • That's the gospel in a nutshell.
  • 00:01:21.394 --> 00:01:23.630
  • But i think probably the most popular verse today would be
  • 00:01:23.630 --> 00:01:26.900
  • Matthew 7:1, especially among nonbelievers.
  • 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:31.037
  • And i don't even think they know the reference, but they know the
  • 00:01:31.037 --> 00:01:34.541
  • Statement which is, "judge not lest you be judged," right?
  • 00:01:34.541 --> 00:01:39.279
  • You ever had that verse quoted to you from a non-christian?
  • 00:01:39.279 --> 00:01:42.682
  • And usually the context is you're making a statement.
  • 00:01:42.682 --> 00:01:46.252
  • You're saying, "well, i don't really agree with that.
  • 00:01:46.252 --> 00:01:49.455
  • I think this because the bible says," and then they retort,
  • 00:01:49.455 --> 00:01:54.260
  • "yes, but doesn't the bible say, 'judge not lest you be judged?'
  • 00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:58.031
  • How dare you have an opinion?
  • 00:01:58.031 --> 00:02:00.500
  • How dare you believe in absolute truth?"
  • 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:04.571
  • Because there's so many people today that reject that outright.
  • 00:02:04.571 --> 00:02:08.841
  • You know, i find that the most narrow-minded people out there
  • 00:02:08.841 --> 00:02:12.445
  • Today are the ones who claim to be the most broad-minded.
  • 00:02:12.445 --> 00:02:16.950
  • I find those that say they are the most accepting are actually
  • 00:02:16.950 --> 00:02:21.187
  • The most unaccepting.
  • 00:02:21.187 --> 00:02:23.256
  • Because not only do they not want to hear your opinion, they
  • 00:02:23.256 --> 00:02:27.360
  • Want to stop you from expressing your opinion.
  • 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:31.564
  • Today, folks, we live in an abc culture.
  • 00:02:31.564 --> 00:02:36.302
  • Abc: 'anything but christ.'
  • 00:02:36.302 --> 00:02:40.139
  • You can believe in anything you want, say anything you want, but
  • 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:43.276
  • If you dare to mention the name of jesus christ, if you dare to
  • 00:02:43.276 --> 00:02:47.814
  • Pull out one of these books and quote from it, you're gonna be
  • 00:02:47.814 --> 00:02:50.917
  • Canceled, you're gonna be opposed, you're gonna some will
  • 00:02:50.917 --> 00:02:54.921
  • Even try to silence you altogether.
  • 00:02:54.921 --> 00:02:57.490
  • They want us to just be quiet, keep our opinions to ourselves,
  • 00:02:57.490 --> 00:03:02.128
  • But the bible teaches, we should do the very opposite.
  • 00:03:02.128 --> 00:03:05.298
  • As christians, we need to engage our culture, we need to
  • 00:03:05.298 --> 00:03:09.168
  • Influence our culture.
  • 00:03:09.168 --> 00:03:10.837
  • We need to try to the best of our ability to change
  • 00:03:10.837 --> 00:03:13.873
  • Our culture.
  • 00:03:13.873 --> 00:03:15.208
  • We are, according to jesus, to be salt and light in the world.
  • 00:03:15.208 --> 00:03:19.178
  • Now, as we do this, people are not gonna always love it, but we
  • 00:03:19.178 --> 00:03:24.117
  • Have to say what is true.
  • 00:03:24.117 --> 00:03:26.185
  • Now, i wanna talk about some hot button issues, some would call
  • 00:03:26.185 --> 00:03:30.957
  • These controversial.
  • 00:03:30.957 --> 00:03:32.525
  • I don't think, if you're a believer in the bible, anything
  • 00:03:32.525 --> 00:03:35.194
  • I'm about to say to you is controversial.
  • 00:03:35.194 --> 00:03:37.630
  • But for some of you, some of the statements i will make today
  • 00:03:37.630 --> 00:03:41.067
  • Will be controversial.
  • 00:03:41.067 --> 00:03:42.735
  • Some of these statements i'm about to make might offend you.
  • 00:03:42.735 --> 00:03:46.172
  • But let me just say at the outset, i am standing on what
  • 00:03:46.172 --> 00:03:49.609
  • The scripture says and that's where i get my opinions and
  • 00:03:49.609 --> 00:03:53.713
  • That's what i'm gonna be speaking from: what does the
  • 00:03:53.713 --> 00:03:56.749
  • Bible say?
  • 00:03:56.749 --> 00:03:58.117
  • What does the bible say about the family?
  • 00:03:58.117 --> 00:04:00.820
  • What is a family?
  • 00:04:00.820 --> 00:04:02.422
  • What isn't a family?
  • 00:04:02.422 --> 00:04:04.023
  • What is the place of sex in our life?
  • 00:04:04.023 --> 00:04:06.926
  • What about homosexuality?
  • 00:04:06.926 --> 00:04:08.761
  • Is that ever acceptable?
  • 00:04:08.761 --> 00:04:10.596
  • Are people born gay?
  • 00:04:10.596 --> 00:04:12.765
  • Is it wrong for gay people to marry?
  • 00:04:12.765 --> 00:04:15.902
  • What about abortion?
  • 00:04:15.902 --> 00:04:17.870
  • Is it really that big of a deal?
  • 00:04:17.870 --> 00:04:19.706
  • And what if the mother's life is in danger?
  • 00:04:19.706 --> 00:04:21.974
  • Now, some would say, "greg, stop.
  • 00:04:21.974 --> 00:04:23.309
  • Stop right now, you're getting political."
  • 00:04:23.309 --> 00:04:26.746
  • Well, listen, for thousands of years, these topics were
  • 00:04:26.746 --> 00:04:29.615
  • Regarded, that we might regard as political, have been spoken
  • 00:04:29.615 --> 00:04:33.419
  • About in scripture.
  • 00:04:33.419 --> 00:04:35.388
  • Just because something has political ramifications doesn't
  • 00:04:35.388 --> 00:04:40.860
  • Mean that i'm gonna avoid that topic if the bible addresses it.
  • 00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:45.765
  • Slavery was once a political issue as well, a controversial
  • 00:04:45.765 --> 00:04:50.570
  • Issue even in our nation and around the world.
  • 00:04:50.570 --> 00:04:54.006
  • But slavery was always wrong, it was always an evil.
  • 00:04:54.006 --> 00:04:58.478
  • Back in england, there was a man named william wilberforce.
  • 00:04:58.478 --> 00:05:02.682
  • He was a british parliamentarian and he came to christ, and he
  • 00:05:02.682 --> 00:05:07.820
  • Felt impressed by god to overturn slavery in england.
  • 00:05:07.820 --> 00:05:12.592
  • And then of course, abraham lincoln, our president,
  • 00:05:12.592 --> 00:05:17.163
  • Contributed to that as well.
  • 00:05:17.163 --> 00:05:19.165
  • So that's an evil.
  • 00:05:19.165 --> 00:05:20.566
  • It had political ramifications but that doesn't mean we should
  • 00:05:20.566 --> 00:05:24.270
  • Avoid it.
  • 00:05:24.270 --> 00:05:25.638
  • But before i address these hot button issues, i wanna ask you
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  • A question.
  • 00:05:28.674 --> 00:05:30.009
  • Do you believe the bible is the word of god, yes or no?
  • 00:05:30.009 --> 00:05:34.013
  • Okay, so we start there.
  • 00:05:34.013 --> 00:05:36.215
  • If you believe the bible is the word of god, then what i'm gonna
  • 00:05:36.215 --> 00:05:40.753
  • Say--you're gonna say, "well, of course, the bible says that."
  • 00:05:40.753 --> 00:05:43.556
  • And here's how to tell if you have a biblical worldview
  • 00:05:43.556 --> 00:05:47.026
  • Or not.
  • 00:05:47.026 --> 00:05:48.394
  • If you find some of these subjects uncomfortable or you
  • 00:05:48.394 --> 00:05:52.932
  • Don't agree with them, your disagreement is not with me,
  • 00:05:52.932 --> 00:05:56.402
  • Your disagreement is with what the bible says.
  • 00:05:56.402 --> 00:06:00.573
  • Now, we all have a worldview.
  • 00:06:00.573 --> 00:06:02.642
  • Some have a biblical worldview, some have a secular worldview.
  • 00:06:02.642 --> 00:06:07.980
  • So you have to get your worldview, in my opinion, from
  • 00:06:07.980 --> 00:06:10.550
  • The right place.
  • 00:06:10.550 --> 00:06:11.918
  • Because far too often our worldview is based on our
  • 00:06:11.918 --> 00:06:15.521
  • Emotions, "i feel this, i think that."
  • 00:06:15.521 --> 00:06:21.294
  • Okay, so we don't want to reason that way.
  • 00:06:21.294 --> 00:06:23.930
  • We want a reason from scripture.
  • 00:06:23.930 --> 00:06:25.731
  • What does the bible say about this particular topic?
  • 00:06:25.731 --> 00:06:29.335
  • God has given us absolutes to live by.
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  • He's given us ten poles, if you will.
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  • He has given us the commandments, the
  • 00:06:35.608 --> 00:06:37.610
  • Ten commandments.
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  • So if you're taking notes, here's point number one: god
  • 00:06:39.779 --> 00:06:43.649
  • Starts with the family because he created it.
  • 00:06:43.649 --> 00:06:47.153
  • God starts with the family because he created it.
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  • Just as he created us male and female, and brought adam and eve
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  • Together, he brings the man and the woman together in
  • 00:06:54.760 --> 00:06:59.031
  • A marriage, and that is the foundation of everything else in
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  • Our culture.
  • 00:07:03.803 --> 00:07:05.137
  • Number two: our very existence as a society is contingent on
  • 00:07:05.137 --> 00:07:09.408
  • The success of the family.
  • 00:07:09.408 --> 00:07:12.178
  • Maybe that's why satan hates it so and has declared war on it.
  • 00:07:12.178 --> 00:07:16.215
  • Listen to this.
  • 00:07:16.215 --> 00:07:17.884
  • Most societal ills in america today are the result of the
  • 00:07:17.884 --> 00:07:22.421
  • Breakdown of the family.
  • 00:07:22.421 --> 00:07:24.056
  • We throw billions of dollars at our problems and they just
  • 00:07:24.056 --> 00:07:28.494
  • Get worse.
  • 00:07:28.494 --> 00:07:29.862
  • What's the real problem?
  • 00:07:29.862 --> 00:07:31.197
  • The real problem, greater than drug addiction, greater than
  • 00:07:31.197 --> 00:07:35.067
  • Homelessness, greater than all the things we deal with, it's
  • 00:07:35.067 --> 00:07:38.504
  • The breakdown of the family.
  • 00:07:38.504 --> 00:07:41.474
  • And i can prove it with a bunch of statistics.
  • 00:07:41.474 --> 00:07:44.277
  • I'm gonna kind of bombard you with them for a moment, but let
  • 00:07:44.277 --> 00:07:47.346
  • Me start with this, children born out of wedlock used to be
  • 00:07:47.346 --> 00:07:50.616
  • The exception, not the rule.
  • 00:07:50.616 --> 00:07:53.019
  • But now today, there were 624,828 live births in 2021 in
  • 00:07:53.019 --> 00:08:01.627
  • Which 320,713, that's 51%, were registered to women who are not
  • 00:08:01.627 --> 00:08:08.568
  • In a marriage.
  • 00:08:08.568 --> 00:08:09.936
  • So for the first time in our history, there's more children
  • 00:08:09.936 --> 00:08:12.972
  • Coming now from families, single parent families or broken
  • 00:08:12.972 --> 00:08:17.777
  • Families, and they aren't coming from intact families.
  • 00:08:17.777 --> 00:08:20.680
  • Now, we talk about homelessness.
  • 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:22.148
  • How do we cure homelessness?
  • 00:08:22.148 --> 00:08:24.083
  • We have spent billions of dollars fighting homelessness in
  • 00:08:24.083 --> 00:08:28.888
  • California alone.
  • 00:08:28.888 --> 00:08:30.823
  • But listen to this: 95% of all homelessness and runaway
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  • Children are from fatherless homes.
  • 00:08:35.962 --> 00:08:39.031
  • It's broken homes.
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  • That's at the root of it.
  • 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:41.734
  • 71% of high school drop outs are from fatherless homes.
  • 00:08:41.734 --> 00:08:45.304
  • 85% of all youths sitting in prison are from
  • 00:08:45.304 --> 00:08:49.475
  • Fatherless homes.
  • 00:08:49.475 --> 00:08:51.410
  • A child from a fatherless home is 68% more likely to use drugs
  • 00:08:51.410 --> 00:08:56.015
  • Or alcohol.
  • 00:08:56.015 --> 00:08:57.350
  • 63% of teens who attempt suicide are from fatherless homes.
  • 00:08:57.350 --> 00:09:02.421
  • Fatherless daughters are 111% more likely to have children as
  • 00:09:02.421 --> 00:09:08.461
  • Teens, and 164% more likely to have an out of wedlock birth.
  • 00:09:08.461 --> 00:09:13.899
  • You see how the cycle repeats itself over and over again, and
  • 00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:17.870
  • It just goes on and on and on?
  • 00:09:17.870 --> 00:09:20.740
  • That's why the home, that's why the family is so important.
  • 00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:24.110
  • Point number three, listen: god's order is to honor your
  • 00:09:24.110 --> 00:09:28.614
  • Father and mother.
  • 00:09:28.614 --> 00:09:30.316
  • It doesn't say honor your father and father, it doesn't say honor
  • 00:09:30.316 --> 00:09:36.022
  • Your mother and her live-in lover or partner, it's father
  • 00:09:36.022 --> 00:09:41.527
  • And mother.
  • 00:09:41.527 --> 00:09:42.895
  • We tamper with god's order at our own peril.
  • 00:09:42.895 --> 00:09:46.098
  • And there's a movement happening right now to redefine marriage
  • 00:09:46.098 --> 00:09:50.970
  • And the family.
  • 00:09:50.970 --> 00:09:52.304
  • Something that's very popular now is same-sex marriage.
  • 00:09:52.304 --> 00:09:55.875
  • The normalization of homosexuality is gaining
  • 00:09:55.875 --> 00:10:00.179
  • Momentum, especially among young people.
  • 00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:02.982
  • Now, you would think with all the emphasis on this, that we
  • 00:10:02.982 --> 00:10:07.486
  • Must have a huge gay population.
  • 00:10:07.486 --> 00:10:09.255
  • And they have a whole month, gay pride month.
  • 00:10:09.255 --> 00:10:11.691
  • How about a happy christian month?
  • 00:10:11.691 --> 00:10:14.160
  • You know, there's a lot more christians.
  • 00:10:14.160 --> 00:10:22.068
  • And then there's all these extra holidays, and so we say, "wow,
  • 00:10:22.068 --> 00:10:25.004
  • They must be a huge part of the population."
  • 00:10:25.004 --> 00:10:27.406
  • Recent survey was done, among 121,000 people, it revealed that
  • 00:10:27.406 --> 00:10:32.311
  • 3.4% are gay.
  • 00:10:32.311 --> 00:10:34.513
  • So that's a very small part of our population identify
  • 00:10:34.513 --> 00:10:38.751
  • As lgbtq.
  • 00:10:38.751 --> 00:10:41.787
  • But here's where it's interesting and alarming to me.
  • 00:10:41.787 --> 00:10:45.624
  • 9.8% of millennials identify as gay, and 20% of generation z
  • 00:10:45.624 --> 00:10:54.200
  • Identifies as gay.
  • 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:55.568
  • Now, those numbers are higher.
  • 00:10:55.568 --> 00:10:57.002
  • So something is happening with our young people.
  • 00:10:57.002 --> 00:11:01.173
  • But you say, "well greg, hold on now, if two people of the same
  • 00:11:01.173 --> 00:11:04.043
  • Sex love each other, why can't they be married?"
  • 00:11:04.043 --> 00:11:06.612
  • Because homosexuality is outside of god's order.
  • 00:11:06.612 --> 00:11:11.584
  • Look, don't get quiet on me, you applaud that point.
  • 00:11:11.584 --> 00:11:16.055
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:11:16.055 --> 00:11:21.727
  • Do some of you have a discomfort with what i just said?
  • 00:11:21.727 --> 00:11:24.663
  • This is clearly in the bible.
  • 00:11:24.663 --> 00:11:26.265
  • Will it make you more comfortable if i say
  • 00:11:26.265 --> 00:11:28.434
  • Extramarital sex is out of god's order?
  • 00:11:28.434 --> 00:11:31.303
  • Will it make you more comfortable if i say premarital
  • 00:11:31.303 --> 00:11:34.306
  • Sex is outside of god's order?
  • 00:11:34.306 --> 00:11:36.408
  • Well, see, they all are, that's the point.
  • 00:11:36.408 --> 00:11:39.345
  • God gives us his absolutes.
  • 00:11:39.345 --> 00:11:41.347
  • This is the lane you stay in, this is the way you live.
  • 00:11:41.347 --> 00:11:44.717
  • These things are not my plan, they're not my purpose, and this
  • 00:11:44.717 --> 00:11:50.356
  • Is what is happening.
  • 00:11:50.356 --> 00:11:51.957
  • And god is anti-sin no matter how it is expressed.
  • 00:11:51.957 --> 00:11:56.662
  • I'm sorry, but you cannot be a gay christian.
  • 00:11:56.662 --> 00:12:01.000
  • Any more than you can be an adulteress christian.
  • 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.536
  • We just say, "hey, how are you? i'm an adulteress christian."
  • 00:12:03.536 --> 00:12:05.938
  • What?
  • 00:12:05.938 --> 00:12:07.740
  • Same thing as saying, "i'm a gay christian."
  • 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:10.409
  • "oh, hi, i'm a christian that is engaged
  • 00:12:10.409 --> 00:12:13.078
  • Constantly in premarital sex."
  • 00:12:13.078 --> 00:12:15.581
  • You're not defined by your sin or what you're drawn to.
  • 00:12:15.581 --> 00:12:20.052
  • And so, that's what you call an oxymoron.
  • 00:12:20.052 --> 00:12:23.422
  • An oxymoron is something that sort of contradicts itself.
  • 00:12:23.422 --> 00:12:27.026
  • Now, we all struggle with different temptations, we're all
  • 00:12:27.026 --> 00:12:29.562
  • Tempted to do sinful things.
  • 00:12:29.562 --> 00:12:31.363
  • Sometimes we act on those things, but that doesn't define
  • 00:12:31.363 --> 00:12:35.167
  • Me, what i'm drawn to or what i'm attracted to.
  • 00:12:35.167 --> 00:12:38.904
  • Here's the biblical statement on the topic.
  • 00:12:38.904 --> 00:12:41.574
  • Verse 6--1 corinthians 6:9: "don't you know that those that
  • 00:12:41.574 --> 00:12:45.911
  • Do wrong will have no share in the kingdom of god?
  • 00:12:45.911 --> 00:12:48.314
  • Don't fool yourselves.
  • 00:12:48.314 --> 00:12:49.682
  • Those who indulge in sexual sin, or idol worshipers, adulterers,
  • 00:12:49.682 --> 00:12:54.820
  • Male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people,
  • 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:59.058
  • Drunkards, abusers, and swindlers--none of these will
  • 00:12:59.058 --> 00:13:02.962
  • Have a share in the kingdom of god."
  • 00:13:02.962 --> 00:13:06.232
  • So yes, homosexuality is a sin that can keep you out of heaven.
  • 00:13:06.232 --> 00:13:09.935
  • So is premarital sex, so is extramarital sex, so is being
  • 00:13:09.935 --> 00:13:14.306
  • An idol worshiper, so is being a drunkard.
  • 00:13:14.306 --> 00:13:17.042
  • This is what the bible says.
  • 00:13:17.042 --> 00:13:19.078
  • Now, some would say, "well, i don't agree.
  • 00:13:19.078 --> 00:13:21.280
  • I don't agree.
  • 00:13:21.280 --> 00:13:22.615
  • My god would never say that to a person.
  • 00:13:22.615 --> 00:13:25.784
  • Judge not lest you be judged."
  • 00:13:25.784 --> 00:13:27.953
  • Okay, hold on.
  • 00:13:27.953 --> 00:13:29.321
  • Your god?
  • 00:13:29.321 --> 00:13:30.656
  • Who is your god?
  • 00:13:30.656 --> 00:13:32.024
  • "well, my god"--did you just make up your god?
  • 00:13:32.024 --> 00:13:34.793
  • See my god, he's in the bible, he reveals himself.
  • 00:13:34.793 --> 00:13:38.330
  • And if you say my god would never judge a person, or my god
  • 00:13:38.330 --> 00:13:44.136
  • Would never deal with the person according to their sins, you're
  • 00:13:44.136 --> 00:13:49.008
  • Effectively making up your god, and you're having another god
  • 00:13:49.008 --> 00:13:52.544
  • Before him.
  • 00:13:52.544 --> 00:13:53.879
  • "but greg, you're wrong.
  • 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:55.247
  • Gay people are born that way."
  • 00:13:55.247 --> 00:13:56.582
  • I don't agree with that.
  • 00:13:56.582 --> 00:13:57.950
  • I think we're all born as sinners.
  • 00:13:57.950 --> 00:14:00.152
  • Now as sinners, we all have our temptations.
  • 00:14:00.152 --> 00:14:04.523
  • Most are drawn to the opposite sex, some are drawn to the
  • 00:14:04.523 --> 00:14:08.694
  • Same sex.
  • 00:14:08.694 --> 00:14:10.029
  • And now we add transsexualism, and transgenderism, and gender
  • 00:14:10.029 --> 00:14:14.533
  • Dysphoria, where people feel today, a lot of times kids, that
  • 00:14:14.533 --> 00:14:20.205
  • Their biological gender does not match what they perceive
  • 00:14:20.205 --> 00:14:23.442
  • Themselves to be.
  • 00:14:23.442 --> 00:14:25.477
  • And so they want to change their pronouns and they maybe wanna
  • 00:14:25.477 --> 00:14:29.782
  • Change their sex altogether.
  • 00:14:29.782 --> 00:14:31.984
  • It's just reinforced with tampon machines in boys restrooms, and
  • 00:14:31.984 --> 00:14:37.957
  • Men entering women's sports, or women's bathrooms.
  • 00:14:37.957 --> 00:14:43.062
  • And some engage in hormone therapy and gender
  • 00:14:43.062 --> 00:14:46.265
  • Reassignment surgery.
  • 00:14:46.265 --> 00:14:48.367
  • And this trend has become a social contagion, especially
  • 00:14:48.367 --> 00:14:52.905
  • With the young, and that is why it's impacting millennials,
  • 00:14:52.905 --> 00:14:56.075
  • And especially gen z.
  • 00:14:56.075 --> 00:14:58.410
  • And it's reinforced on platforms like tiktok,
  • 00:14:58.410 --> 00:15:01.380
  • Where influencers come on and say, "yes, i'm gay, or
  • 00:15:01.380 --> 00:15:05.818
  • I'm getting a gender reassignment surgery, and this
  • 00:15:05.818 --> 00:15:08.554
  • Is wonderful, and this is liberating."
  • 00:15:08.554 --> 00:15:11.090
  • And impressionable young people are drawn to this.
  • 00:15:11.090 --> 00:15:15.461
  • And i think there's a deeper issue here than all of this.
  • 00:15:15.461 --> 00:15:19.398
  • And i think young people are looking for identity.
  • 00:15:19.398 --> 00:15:22.634
  • They're looking for purpose.
  • 00:15:22.634 --> 00:15:24.603
  • They're asking the questions, "who am i?
  • 00:15:24.603 --> 00:15:27.506
  • What is the meaning of my life?
  • 00:15:27.506 --> 00:15:29.174
  • How can i be happy?
  • 00:15:29.174 --> 00:15:30.542
  • Maybe this will make me happy.
  • 00:15:30.542 --> 00:15:31.877
  • Maybe that's the problem.
  • 00:15:31.877 --> 00:15:33.212
  • I was supposed to be a boy and i'm a girl, or vice versa."
  • 00:15:33.212 --> 00:15:36.582
  • No, you know what you're really looking for?
  • 00:15:36.582 --> 00:15:39.051
  • You're looking for god, that's what you're looking for.
  • 00:15:39.051 --> 00:15:42.855
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:15:42.855 --> 00:15:46.892
  • This surgery where young people, or any people, are mutilating
  • 00:15:46.892 --> 00:15:51.230
  • Their bodies, but especially with young people,
  • 00:15:51.230 --> 00:15:53.766
  • It concerns me.
  • 00:15:53.766 --> 00:15:55.134
  • Because that's such a permanent decision.
  • 00:15:55.134 --> 00:15:57.503
  • That's not gonna bring them meaning and happiness.
  • 00:15:57.503 --> 00:15:59.671
  • Sweden is ahead of us in a way, if you want to use that phrase.
  • 00:15:59.671 --> 00:16:03.642
  • They've been doing this for quite a long time, and they've
  • 00:16:03.642 --> 00:16:06.545
  • Done an extensive study on it over 30 years.
  • 00:16:06.545 --> 00:16:11.617
  • And they found that after ten to 15 years, the suicide rate of
  • 00:16:11.617 --> 00:16:15.721
  • Those who had undergone gender reassignment surgery, rose to 20
  • 00:16:15.721 --> 00:16:20.592
  • Times of their comparable peers.
  • 00:16:20.592 --> 00:16:24.096
  • See, you don't need to change your gender, you need to have
  • 00:16:24.096 --> 00:16:26.899
  • Your heart changed by god.
  • 00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:29.401
  • That's the bottom line. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:16:29.401 --> 00:16:35.607
  • Coming back to same sex attraction, all of us
  • 00:16:35.607 --> 00:16:38.577
  • Are sinners.
  • 00:16:38.577 --> 00:16:39.912
  • All of us are attracted to do certain things.
  • 00:16:39.912 --> 00:16:42.081
  • That doesn't mean i should act on that thing any more than
  • 00:16:42.081 --> 00:16:45.350
  • A heterosexual man or woman should act on their attraction
  • 00:16:45.350 --> 00:16:50.489
  • To a member of the opposite sex.
  • 00:16:50.489 --> 00:16:52.357
  • Paul wrote in romans 7: "i don't understand what i do.
  • 00:16:52.357 --> 00:16:56.061
  • And what i want to do i don't do, and what i hate, i do.
  • 00:16:56.061 --> 00:16:58.797
  • It's no longer myself that does it, it's sin living in me."
  • 00:16:58.797 --> 00:17:03.302
  • Again, you're not defined by your sin, you need to resist it,
  • 00:17:03.302 --> 00:17:08.574
  • You can change.
  • 00:17:08.574 --> 00:17:09.942
  • Christ can help you to change.
  • 00:17:09.942 --> 00:17:12.077
  • "no, you can't.
  • 00:17:12.077 --> 00:17:13.412
  • You're born gay.
  • 00:17:13.412 --> 00:17:14.746
  • You'll always be gay."
  • 00:17:14.746 --> 00:17:16.115
  • Nonsense, i've heard the stories of many people who've come out
  • 00:17:16.115 --> 00:17:19.952
  • Of a gay and lesbian lifestyle to follow christ.
  • 00:17:19.952 --> 00:17:23.322
  • So here's our position, we love people no matter how they
  • 00:17:23.322 --> 00:17:27.226
  • Express their sin.
  • 00:17:27.226 --> 00:17:28.894
  • We want to enter their world.
  • 00:17:28.894 --> 00:17:31.230
  • We want to show them that there's a god in heaven who
  • 00:17:31.230 --> 00:17:34.233
  • Loves them, and has a plan for them, and will fill that void in
  • 00:17:34.233 --> 00:17:37.536
  • Their life they're trying to fill with other things.
  • 00:17:37.536 --> 00:17:40.239
  • So, summation point, homosexuality is a sin.
  • 00:17:40.239 --> 00:17:44.943
  • So is premarital and extramarital sex.
  • 00:17:44.943 --> 00:17:48.213
  • God's order is that a man and a woman live together in marriage,
  • 00:17:48.213 --> 00:17:52.384
  • In a monogamous relationship.
  • 00:17:52.384 --> 00:17:54.520
  • You're not born gay, nor are you born a different sex in your
  • 00:17:54.520 --> 00:17:58.157
  • Biological gender.
  • 00:17:58.157 --> 00:17:59.691
  • And if you turn from this sin, god can and will forgive you,
  • 00:17:59.691 --> 00:18:03.495
  • That's my summation.
  • 00:18:03.495 --> 00:18:04.830
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:18:04.830 --> 00:18:09.968
  • That's the biblical world view, do you accept it or not?
  • 00:18:09.968 --> 00:18:14.339
  • For some reason, there's a discomfort with this topic.
  • 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:17.709
  • So let me shift gears and talk about another topic: let's talk
  • 00:18:17.709 --> 00:18:21.446
  • About sex in general.
  • 00:18:21.446 --> 00:18:23.582
  • Sex is created by god--let's not forget god created sex, okay?
  • 00:18:23.582 --> 00:18:28.153
  • And sex can be good in its proper context.
  • 00:18:28.153 --> 00:18:32.824
  • Sex can be blessed in the proper place, which is in a marriage
  • 00:18:32.824 --> 00:18:37.496
  • Relationship, period, that's it.
  • 00:18:37.496 --> 00:18:42.134
  • And hebrews 13:4--oh, now we're clapping again?
  • 00:18:42.134 --> 00:18:51.143
  • Alright, wait till i get to abortion, we'll see if it gets
  • 00:18:51.143 --> 00:18:54.980
  • Quiet again.
  • 00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:57.816
  • Woo?
  • 00:18:57.816 --> 00:19:01.186
  • Hebrews 13:4 says, "give honor to marriage, remain faithful to
  • 00:19:01.186 --> 00:19:04.890
  • One another in marriage.
  • 00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:06.258
  • God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who
  • 00:19:06.258 --> 00:19:10.095
  • Commit adultery."
  • 00:19:10.095 --> 00:19:11.463
  • And then proverbs 5:15 says, "drink water from your own
  • 00:19:11.463 --> 00:19:14.933
  • Well--share your love only with your wife."
  • 00:19:14.933 --> 00:19:17.903
  • Sometimes people will characterize sex as, it's there
  • 00:19:17.903 --> 00:19:20.739
  • For procreation.
  • 00:19:20.739 --> 00:19:22.074
  • Christians teach it's just there for, you know, reproduction,
  • 00:19:22.074 --> 00:19:24.676
  • That's all.
  • 00:19:24.676 --> 00:19:26.011
  • Well, no, i mean it is there for reproduction.
  • 00:19:26.011 --> 00:19:27.679
  • Thank god for sex, we wouldn't be here without it, right?
  • 00:19:27.679 --> 00:19:31.483
  • But god gives it to us for pleasure in its proper place,
  • 00:19:31.483 --> 00:19:35.320
  • And god also gives it to us as a way to express our oneness.
  • 00:19:35.320 --> 00:19:39.057
  • When a man and a woman come together sexually, a oneness
  • 00:19:39.057 --> 00:19:43.262
  • Takes place, the two become one.
  • 00:19:43.262 --> 00:19:45.998
  • Paul writes in 1 corinthians 6:15, "don't you realize your
  • 00:19:45.998 --> 00:19:49.601
  • Bodies are parts of christ?
  • 00:19:49.601 --> 00:19:52.137
  • Should a man take his body, which belongs to christ, and
  • 00:19:52.137 --> 00:19:54.573
  • Join it to a prostitute?
  • 00:19:54.573 --> 00:19:56.108
  • Never!"
  • 00:19:56.108 --> 00:19:57.509
  • If you join yourself to a prostitute you become one with
  • 00:19:57.509 --> 00:20:00.512
  • Her because the bible says, "'two are united into one.'
  • 00:20:00.512 --> 00:20:03.849
  • So run away from sexual sin!
  • 00:20:03.849 --> 00:20:05.884
  • No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does."
  • 00:20:05.884 --> 00:20:09.354
  • But we marginalize it, "oh, no, it means nothing.
  • 00:20:09.354 --> 00:20:12.357
  • It's just a hook up, it's just a one night stand."
  • 00:20:12.357 --> 00:20:15.761
  • No, it means a lot and it matters, it's not a toy.
  • 00:20:15.761 --> 00:20:19.431
  • "well, it doesn't hurt anyone as long as it's consensual."
  • 00:20:19.431 --> 00:20:22.734
  • Doesn't hurt anyone?
  • 00:20:22.734 --> 00:20:24.603
  • Well, first of all, it separates you from god because of your
  • 00:20:24.603 --> 00:20:27.272
  • Sin, but then there are longer lasting repercussions.
  • 00:20:27.272 --> 00:20:31.209
  • The university of tennessee did a study among young women had
  • 00:20:31.209 --> 00:20:34.579
  • Found there seems to be a direct correlation between illicit
  • 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:38.250
  • Sexual behavior and serious emotional problems.
  • 00:20:38.250 --> 00:20:42.688
  • Also, it will hurt your future marriage.
  • 00:20:42.688 --> 00:20:45.691
  • The university of oregon did a study among young men and found
  • 00:20:45.691 --> 00:20:49.795
  • That those who engage in premarital relationships make
  • 00:20:49.795 --> 00:20:52.864
  • Poor marital risks.
  • 00:20:52.864 --> 00:20:55.834
  • And the trend today of course is we'll just live together,
  • 00:20:55.834 --> 00:20:58.737
  • You know, enjoy the benefits, right?
  • 00:20:58.737 --> 00:21:01.273
  • Friends with benefits.
  • 00:21:01.273 --> 00:21:04.276
  • Well, that's not a trial marriage, that's basically
  • 00:21:04.276 --> 00:21:08.313
  • A trial divorce because studies have been done and reveal that
  • 00:21:08.313 --> 00:21:13.151
  • Those that lived together before marriage have a far higher
  • 00:21:13.151 --> 00:21:17.422
  • Divorce rate than those that don't.
  • 00:21:17.422 --> 00:21:20.192
  • God has set this up the way it's supposed to be set up.
  • 00:21:20.192 --> 00:21:24.296
  • It's there for your own good.
  • 00:21:24.296 --> 00:21:26.765
  • You know, is that ride still at disneyland, autopia?
  • 00:21:26.765 --> 00:21:31.036
  • You know, the one, the little car he's driving?
  • 00:21:31.036 --> 00:21:33.472
  • But really you're, you know, when you're a little kid,
  • 00:21:33.472 --> 00:21:36.041
  • It's so exciting.
  • 00:21:36.041 --> 00:21:37.409
  • "i'm driving the car."
  • 00:21:37.409 --> 00:21:38.777
  • Well, you kind of are, but not really.
  • 00:21:38.777 --> 00:21:40.479
  • First of all, you can't reach the pedal, okay, let's deal
  • 00:21:40.479 --> 00:21:42.981
  • With that.
  • 00:21:42.981 --> 00:21:44.316
  • So you need your mom and dad to get their foot on the pedal, but
  • 00:21:44.316 --> 00:21:46.852
  • You're moving the wheel around.
  • 00:21:46.852 --> 00:21:48.220
  • But in reality, you have little barriers there to keep you in
  • 00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:51.857
  • Place and those are there so you don't kill yourself, okay?
  • 00:21:51.857 --> 00:21:56.094
  • We're not gonna put you out on the freeway and let you drive
  • 00:21:56.094 --> 00:21:58.997
  • Your little autopia car, you know?
  • 00:21:58.997 --> 00:22:01.166
  • You get yourself in trouble again, back to the barriers,
  • 00:22:01.166 --> 00:22:04.369
  • They're there for your own good.
  • 00:22:04.369 --> 00:22:06.204
  • They're there to protect you from harming yourself.
  • 00:22:06.204 --> 00:22:09.775
  • But then there's a connection between sex outside of marriage
  • 00:22:09.775 --> 00:22:15.714
  • And pregnancy, of course.
  • 00:22:15.714 --> 00:22:18.250
  • One million teens become pregnant every year, many of
  • 00:22:18.250 --> 00:22:21.920
  • These babies never make it to term.
  • 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.323
  • And here's the thing about abortion, this is not an unclear
  • 00:22:25.323 --> 00:22:29.694
  • Message in the bible.
  • 00:22:29.694 --> 00:22:31.163
  • The bible clearly teaches life begins at conception, not at
  • 00:22:31.163 --> 00:22:35.667
  • Birth, at conception.
  • 00:22:35.667 --> 00:22:37.469
  • The moment conception takes place, you are a living soul.
  • 00:22:37.469 --> 00:22:41.706
  • David writes in psalm 139:13, "you made all the delicate parts
  • 00:22:41.706 --> 00:22:47.279
  • Of my body.
  • 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:48.647
  • You knit me together in my mother's womb.
  • 00:22:48.647 --> 00:22:50.816
  • Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
  • 00:22:50.816 --> 00:22:54.352
  • Your workmanship is marvelous--how well i know it.
  • 00:22:54.352 --> 00:22:57.389
  • You watched me as i was being formed in utter seclusion, i was
  • 00:22:57.389 --> 00:23:01.059
  • Woven together in the dark of the womb.
  • 00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:03.195
  • You saw me before i was born.
  • 00:23:03.195 --> 00:23:05.163
  • Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
  • 00:23:05.163 --> 00:23:07.833
  • Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."
  • 00:23:07.833 --> 00:23:11.403
  • Showing that god has a plan for us before birth, god says in
  • 00:23:11.403 --> 00:23:15.207
  • Jeremiah 1:5, "i knew you before i formed you in your
  • 00:23:15.207 --> 00:23:19.344
  • Mother's womb."
  • 00:23:19.344 --> 00:23:21.713
  • So it's so important that god had a plan for you even before
  • 00:23:21.713 --> 00:23:24.916
  • You were born.
  • 00:23:24.916 --> 00:23:26.284
  • And you say, "well, what if the baby is conceived out
  • 00:23:26.284 --> 00:23:28.253
  • Of wedlock?"
  • 00:23:28.253 --> 00:23:29.588
  • I was conceived out of wedlock.
  • 00:23:29.588 --> 00:23:31.223
  • I am the result of a one-night stand of my mother in
  • 00:23:31.223 --> 00:23:34.993
  • Long beach, california.
  • 00:23:34.993 --> 00:23:36.528
  • But thankfully, she carried me to term.
  • 00:23:36.528 --> 00:23:38.697
  • Thankfully, she did not abort me, god spared my life.
  • 00:23:38.697 --> 00:23:42.167
  • Every child has a right to live. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:23:42.167 --> 00:23:51.710
  • We don't think about the repercussions of abortion.
  • 00:23:51.710 --> 00:23:54.145
  • It's celebrated in the magazines, they make a joke out
  • 00:23:54.145 --> 00:23:57.682
  • Of it as though it's nothing.
  • 00:23:57.682 --> 00:24:00.151
  • And they don't talk about the depression that follows, they
  • 00:24:00.151 --> 00:24:05.490
  • Don't talk about the higher suicide rate.
  • 00:24:05.490 --> 00:24:08.093
  • A university of minnesota study on teen suicide found that the
  • 00:24:08.093 --> 00:24:12.497
  • Rate of attempted suicide increased ten times for teens
  • 00:24:12.497 --> 00:24:16.434
  • Who had aborted during those previous six months.
  • 00:24:16.434 --> 00:24:21.506
  • And, and i've talked to women who had an abortion maybe much
  • 00:24:21.506 --> 00:24:25.744
  • Earlier in their life and it came back to haunt them later in
  • 00:24:25.744 --> 00:24:31.216
  • Life, because they sort of mark time like the day of that
  • 00:24:31.216 --> 00:24:34.619
  • Abortion and ten years later.
  • 00:24:34.619 --> 00:24:36.555
  • They see a ten year old young person and think, "wow, that
  • 00:24:36.555 --> 00:24:39.758
  • Would be the age that my child would have been."
  • 00:24:39.758 --> 00:24:42.394
  • Oh yeah, but we don't want to think of them as a child
  • 00:24:42.394 --> 00:24:44.529
  • That--what was that?
  • 00:24:44.529 --> 00:24:45.897
  • They're just the product of conception, or an embryo, or
  • 00:24:45.897 --> 00:24:49.768
  • A fetus, or some other word we would use.
  • 00:24:49.768 --> 00:24:52.237
  • They even say what was a potential human being.
  • 00:24:52.237 --> 00:24:54.839
  • Oh really, what else would it become?
  • 00:24:54.839 --> 00:24:57.943
  • Okay, so sometimes the full implications of getting
  • 00:24:57.943 --> 00:25:01.680
  • An abortion doesn't hit you till later in life.
  • 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:05.250
  • And it's a very hard thing to deal with.
  • 00:25:05.250 --> 00:25:07.819
  • It's not a potential human being, it's a human being with
  • 00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:11.122
  • Incredible potential.
  • 00:25:11.122 --> 00:25:13.625
  • God sees what you can become and christ can transform you.
  • 00:25:13.625 --> 00:25:17.862
  • That's the biblical worldview and that's what god wants for
  • 00:25:17.862 --> 00:25:21.366
  • Every person.
  • 00:25:21.366 --> 00:25:23.068
  • But we must come to him, and admit we're sinners, and stop
  • 00:25:23.068 --> 00:25:25.737
  • Making excuses for our sin, and be willing to turn from our sin.
  • 00:25:25.737 --> 00:25:29.975
  • The bible says that we will confess our sin, he's faithful
  • 00:25:29.975 --> 00:25:33.345
  • And just to forgive us our sin, and cleanse us from
  • 00:25:33.345 --> 00:25:36.014
  • All unrighteousness.
  • 00:25:36.014 --> 00:25:37.349
  • Now, look, every one of us have sinned, and if we haven't done
  • 00:25:37.349 --> 00:25:41.019
  • It in actions, we've done it in our minds.
  • 00:25:41.019 --> 00:25:43.588
  • And we all need god's forgiveness.
  • 00:25:43.588 --> 00:25:45.824
  • And there might be somebody here that's trapped by
  • 00:25:45.824 --> 00:25:49.127
  • An immoral lifestyle.
  • 00:25:49.127 --> 00:25:50.462
  • There might be somebody here that's trapped by an addiction
  • 00:25:50.462 --> 00:25:54.165
  • To drugs or alcohol.
  • 00:25:54.165 --> 00:25:55.967
  • There might be somebody here that is under the control of
  • 00:25:55.967 --> 00:25:58.870
  • Some other sin, or vice, or whatever it is, and you don't
  • 00:25:58.870 --> 00:26:01.873
  • Think you can ever get free again.
  • 00:26:01.873 --> 00:26:03.842
  • That's a lie, you can be changed by christ.
  • 00:26:03.842 --> 00:26:07.679
  • Jesus died on the cross for your sin.
  • 00:26:07.679 --> 00:26:10.715
  • He bore all the wrongs and sins that you've ever done on
  • 00:26:10.715 --> 00:26:15.286
  • Himself and he rose again from the dead.
  • 00:26:15.286 --> 00:26:17.822
  • And now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says
  • 00:26:17.822 --> 00:26:20.825
  • If you hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in.
  • 00:26:20.825 --> 00:26:26.531
  • Greg: hi, i'm greg laurie. i've got some good news for you.
  • 00:26:30.669 --> 00:26:33.104
  • God loves you and god has a plan for your life.
  • 00:26:33.104 --> 00:26:37.075
  • Here's the problem: we're separated from god by our sin
  • 00:26:37.075 --> 00:26:40.412
  • Because we've all broken his commandments.
  • 00:26:40.412 --> 00:26:43.581
  • But the good news is, is 2,000 years ago,
  • 00:26:43.581 --> 00:26:46.384
  • God sent his son, jesus christ, to die on the cross for your
  • 00:26:46.384 --> 00:26:50.188
  • Sin, and then to rise again from the dead.
  • 00:26:50.188 --> 00:26:53.091
  • The same jesus who died and rose is alive and ready to
  • 00:26:53.091 --> 00:26:57.095
  • Come into your life right now.
  • 00:26:57.095 --> 00:26:59.698
  • Would you like your sin forgiven?
  • 00:26:59.698 --> 00:27:01.332
  • Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven?
  • 00:27:01.332 --> 00:27:04.602
  • If so, pray this simple prayer with me right now.
  • 00:27:04.602 --> 00:27:07.839
  • Just say, "lord jesus, i know i'm a sinner but i believe
  • 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:11.509
  • You're the savior who died on the cross for my sin.
  • 00:27:11.509 --> 00:27:14.579
  • I turn from my sin now and i choose to follow you
  • 00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:18.183
  • From this moment forward."
  • 00:27:18.183 --> 00:27:20.618
  • Did you just pray that prayer with me?
  • 00:27:20.618 --> 00:27:22.921
  • If you did, god in heaven has heard you.
  • 00:27:22.921 --> 00:27:25.957
  • Congratulations, and welcome to the family of god.
  • 00:27:25.957 --> 00:27:29.694