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Harvest with Pastor Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie - Hot Button Issues

March 10, 2026 | 27:29

Greg Laurie - Hot Button Issues
Join Pastor Greg Laurie for a time of encouragement, worship, and Bible study.
#Jesus #Persecution #Culture #LightoftheWorld #Politics #Family #Marriage #Homosexuality #Sin #Transgender #Sex #Pregnancy #Abortion #GregLaurie

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Harvest with Pastor Greg Laurie | Greg Laurie - Hot Button Issues | March 10, 2026
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  • Greg laurie: today, folks, we live in an abc culture:
  • 00:00:04.147 --> 00:00:08.485
  • 'anything but christ.'
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  • If you dare to pull out one of these books and quote from it,
  • 00:00:10.820 --> 00:00:13.957
  • You're gonna be canceled, you're gonna be opposed.
  • 00:00:14.090 --> 00:00:14.991
  • They want us to just be quiet, keep our opinions to ourselves.
  • 00:00:17.560 --> 00:00:21.998
  • As christians, we need to engage our culture, we need to
  • 00:00:21.998 --> 00:00:25.802
  • Influence our culture.
  • 00:00:25.802 --> 00:00:27.437
  • We need to try to the best of our ability to change
  • 00:00:27.437 --> 00:00:30.507
  • Our culture.
  • 00:00:30.507 --> 00:00:31.841
  • We are, according to jesus, to be salt and light in the world.
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  • ♪ this is the day, ♪
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  • ♪ the day when life begins. ♪
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  • ♪ this is the day, ♪
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  • ♪ the day when life begins. ♪♪
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  • Greg: there was a time when maybe the best known verse
  • 00:00:56.499 --> 00:00:59.836
  • In the country, maybe even the world, was john 3:16.
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  • We all know that verse, right?
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  • Let's say it together, john 3:16: "for god so loved the
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  • World that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever
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  • Believes in him should not perish but have
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  • Everlasting life."
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  • That's a good verse to know.
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  • That's the gospel in a nutshell.
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  • But i think probably the most popular verse today would be
  • 00:01:22.525 --> 00:01:25.795
  • Matthew 7:1, especially among nonbelievers.
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  • And i don't even think they know the reference, but they know the
  • 00:01:29.933 --> 00:01:33.436
  • Statement which is, "judge not lest you be judged," right?
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  • You ever had that verse quoted to you from a non-christian?
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  • And usually the context is you're making a statement.
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  • You're saying, "well, i don't really agree with that.
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  • I think this because the bible says," and then they retort,
  • 00:01:48.351 --> 00:01:53.156
  • "yes, but doesn't the bible say, 'judge not lest you be judged?'
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  • How dare you have an opinion?
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  • How dare you believe in absolute truth?"
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  • Because there's so many people today that reject that outright.
  • 00:02:03.466 --> 00:02:07.737
  • You know, i find that the most narrow-minded people out there
  • 00:02:07.737 --> 00:02:11.341
  • Today are the ones who claim to be the most broad-minded.
  • 00:02:11.341 --> 00:02:15.845
  • I find those that say they are the most accepting are actually
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  • The most unaccepting.
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  • Because not only do they not want to hear your opinion, they
  • 00:02:22.152 --> 00:02:26.256
  • Want to stop you from expressing your opinion.
  • 00:02:26.256 --> 00:02:30.460
  • Today, folks, we live in an abc culture.
  • 00:02:30.460 --> 00:02:35.198
  • Abc: 'anything but christ.'
  • 00:02:35.198 --> 00:02:39.035
  • You can believe in anything you want, say anything you want, but
  • 00:02:39.035 --> 00:02:42.172
  • If you dare to mention the name of jesus christ, if you dare to
  • 00:02:42.172 --> 00:02:46.709
  • Pull out one of these books and quote from it, you're gonna be
  • 00:02:46.709 --> 00:02:49.812
  • Canceled, you're gonna be opposed, you're gonna some will
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  • Even try to silence you altogether.
  • 00:02:53.816 --> 00:02:56.386
  • They want us to just be quiet, keep our opinions to ourselves,
  • 00:02:56.386 --> 00:03:01.024
  • But the bible teaches, we should do the very opposite.
  • 00:03:01.024 --> 00:03:04.194
  • As christians, we need to engage our culture, we need to
  • 00:03:04.194 --> 00:03:08.064
  • Influence our culture.
  • 00:03:08.064 --> 00:03:09.732
  • We need to try to the best of our ability to change
  • 00:03:09.732 --> 00:03:12.769
  • Our culture.
  • 00:03:12.769 --> 00:03:14.103
  • We are, according to jesus, to be salt and light in the world.
  • 00:03:14.103 --> 00:03:18.074
  • Now, as we do this, people are not gonna always love it, but we
  • 00:03:18.074 --> 00:03:23.012
  • Have to say what is true.
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  • Now, i wanna talk about some hot button issues, some would call
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  • These controversial.
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  • I don't think, if you're a believer in the bible, anything
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  • I'm about to say to you is controversial.
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  • But for some of you, some of the statements i will make today
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  • Will be controversial.
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  • Some of these statements i'm about to make might offend you.
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  • But let me just say at the outset, i am standing on what
  • 00:03:45.068 --> 00:03:48.504
  • The scripture says and that's where i get my opinions and
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  • That's what i'm gonna be speaking from: what does the
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  • Bible say?
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  • What does the bible say about the family?
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  • What is a family?
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  • What isn't a family?
  • 00:04:01.317 --> 00:04:02.919
  • What is the place of sex in our life?
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  • What about homosexuality?
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  • Is that ever acceptable?
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  • Are people born gay?
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  • Is it wrong for gay people to marry?
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  • What about abortion?
  • 00:04:14.797 --> 00:04:16.766
  • Is it really that big of a deal?
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  • And what if the mother's life is in danger?
  • 00:04:18.601 --> 00:04:20.870
  • Now, some would say, "greg, stop.
  • 00:04:20.870 --> 00:04:22.205
  • Stop right now, you're getting political."
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  • Well, listen, for thousands of years, these topics were
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  • Regarded, that we might regard as political, have been spoken
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  • About in scripture.
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  • Just because something has political ramifications doesn't
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  • Mean that i'm gonna avoid that topic if the bible addresses it.
  • 00:04:39.756 --> 00:04:44.661
  • Slavery was once a political issue as well, a controversial
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  • Issue even in our nation and around the world.
  • 00:04:49.465 --> 00:04:52.902
  • But slavery was always wrong, it was always an evil.
  • 00:04:52.902 --> 00:04:57.373
  • Back in england, there was a man named william wilberforce.
  • 00:04:57.373 --> 00:05:01.577
  • He was a british parliamentarian and he came to christ, and he
  • 00:05:01.577 --> 00:05:06.716
  • Felt impressed by god to overturn slavery in england.
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  • And then of course, abraham lincoln, our president,
  • 00:05:11.487 --> 00:05:16.059
  • Contributed to that as well.
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  • So that's an evil.
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  • It had political ramifications but that doesn't mean we should
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  • Avoid it.
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  • But before i address these hot button issues, i wanna ask you
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  • A question.
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  • Do you believe the bible is the word of god, yes or no?
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  • Okay, so we start there.
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  • If you believe the bible is the word of god, then what i'm gonna
  • 00:05:35.111 --> 00:05:39.649
  • Say--you're gonna say, "well, of course, the bible says that."
  • 00:05:39.649 --> 00:05:42.452
  • And here's how to tell if you have a biblical worldview
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  • Or not.
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  • If you find some of these subjects uncomfortable or you
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  • Don't agree with them, your disagreement is not with me,
  • 00:05:51.828 --> 00:05:55.298
  • Your disagreement is with what the bible says.
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  • Now, we all have a worldview.
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  • Some have a biblical worldview, some have a secular worldview.
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  • So you have to get your worldview, in my opinion, from
  • 00:06:06.876 --> 00:06:09.445
  • The right place.
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  • Because far too often our worldview is based on our
  • 00:06:10.813 --> 00:06:14.417
  • Emotions, "i feel this, i think that."
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  • Okay, so we don't want to reason that way.
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  • We want a reason from scripture.
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  • What does the bible say about this particular topic?
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  • 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
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  • Ten commandments.
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  • So if you're taking notes, here's point number one: god
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  • Starts with the family because he created it.
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  • 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
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  • A marriage, and that is the foundation of everything else in
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  • Our culture.
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  • Number two: our very existence as a society is contingent on
  • 00:07:04.033 --> 00:07:08.304
  • The success of the family.
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  • Maybe that's why satan hates it so and has declared war on it.
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  • Listen to this.
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  • Most societal ills in america today are the result of the
  • 00:07:16.779 --> 00:07:21.317
  • Breakdown of the family.
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  • We throw billions of dollars at our problems and they just
  • 00:07:22.952 --> 00:07:27.390
  • Get worse.
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  • What's the real problem?
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  • The real problem, greater than drug addiction, greater than
  • 00:07:30.092 --> 00:07:33.963
  • Homelessness, greater than all the things we deal with, it's
  • 00:07:33.963 --> 00:07:37.400
  • The breakdown of the family.
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  • And i can prove it with a bunch of statistics.
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  • I'm gonna kind of bombard you with them for a moment, but let
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  • Me start with this, children born out of wedlock used to be
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  • The exception, not the rule.
  • 00:07:49.512 --> 00:07:51.914
  • But now today, there were 624,828 live births in 2021 in
  • 00:07:51.914 --> 00:08:00.523
  • Which 320,713, that's 51%, were registered to women who are not
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  • In a marriage.
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  • So for the first time in our history, there's more children
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  • Coming now from families, single parent families or broken
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  • Families, and they aren't coming from intact families.
  • 00:08:16.672 --> 00:08:19.575
  • Now, we talk about homelessness.
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  • How do we cure homelessness?
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  • We have spent billions of dollars fighting homelessness in
  • 00:08:22.979 --> 00:08:27.783
  • California alone.
  • 00:08:27.783 --> 00:08:29.719
  • But listen to this: 95% of all homelessness and runaway
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  • Children are from fatherless homes.
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  • It's broken homes.
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  • That's at the root of it.
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  • 71% of high school drop outs are from fatherless homes.
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  • 85% of all youths sitting in prison are from
  • 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:48.371
  • Fatherless homes.
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  • A child from a fatherless home is 68% more likely to use drugs
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  • Or alcohol.
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  • 63% of teens who attempt suicide are from fatherless homes.
  • 00:08:56.245 --> 00:09:01.317
  • Fatherless daughters are 111% more likely to have children as
  • 00:09:01.317 --> 00:09:07.356
  • Teens, and 164% more likely to have an out of wedlock birth.
  • 00:09:07.356 --> 00:09:12.795
  • You see how the cycle repeats itself over and over again, and
  • 00:09:12.795 --> 00:09:16.766
  • It just goes on and on and on?
  • 00:09:16.766 --> 00:09:19.635
  • That's why the home, that's why the family is so important.
  • 00:09:19.635 --> 00:09:23.005
  • Point number three, listen: god's order is to honor your
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  • Father and mother.
  • 00:09:27.510 --> 00:09:29.211
  • It doesn't say honor your father and father, it doesn't say honor
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  • Your mother and her live-in lover or partner, it's father
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  • And mother.
  • 00:09:40.423 --> 00:09:41.791
  • We tamper with god's order at our own peril.
  • 00:09:41.791 --> 00:09:44.994
  • And there's a movement happening right now to redefine marriage
  • 00:09:44.994 --> 00:09:49.865
  • And the family.
  • 00:09:49.865 --> 00:09:51.200
  • Something that's very popular now is same-sex marriage.
  • 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.770
  • The normalization of homosexuality is gaining
  • 00:09:54.770 --> 00:09:59.075
  • Momentum, especially among young people.
  • 00:09:59.075 --> 00:10:01.877
  • Now, you would think with all the emphasis on this, that we
  • 00:10:01.877 --> 00:10:06.382
  • Must have a huge gay population.
  • 00:10:06.382 --> 00:10:08.150
  • And they have a whole month, gay pride month.
  • 00:10:08.150 --> 00:10:10.586
  • How about a happy christian month?
  • 00:10:10.586 --> 00:10:13.055
  • You know, there's a lot more christians.
  • 00:10:13.055 --> 00:10:20.963
  • And then there's all these extra holidays, and so we say, "wow,
  • 00:10:20.963 --> 00:10:23.899
  • They must be a huge part of the population."
  • 00:10:23.899 --> 00:10:26.302
  • Recent survey was done, among 121,000 people, it revealed that
  • 00:10:26.302 --> 00:10:31.207
  • 3.4% are gay.
  • 00:10:31.207 --> 00:10:33.409
  • So that's a very small part of our population identify
  • 00:10:33.409 --> 00:10:37.647
  • As lgbtq.
  • 00:10:37.647 --> 00:10:40.683
  • But here's where it's interesting and alarming to me.
  • 00:10:40.683 --> 00:10:44.520
  • 9.8% of millennials identify as gay, and 20% of generation z
  • 00:10:44.520 --> 00:10:53.095
  • Identifies as gay.
  • 00:10:53.095 --> 00:10:54.463
  • Now, those numbers are higher.
  • 00:10:54.463 --> 00:10:55.898
  • So something is happening with our young people.
  • 00:10:55.898 --> 00:11:00.069
  • But you say, "well greg, hold on now, if two people of the same
  • 00:11:00.069 --> 00:11:02.938
  • Sex love each other, why can't they be married?"
  • 00:11:02.938 --> 00:11:05.508
  • Because homosexuality is outside of god's order.
  • 00:11:05.508 --> 00:11:10.479
  • Look, don't get quiet on me, you applaud that point.
  • 00:11:10.479 --> 00:11:14.950
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:11:14.950 --> 00:11:20.623
  • Do some of you have a discomfort with what i just said?
  • 00:11:20.623 --> 00:11:23.559
  • This is clearly in the bible.
  • 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:25.161
  • Will it make you more comfortable if i say
  • 00:11:25.161 --> 00:11:27.329
  • Extramarital sex is out of god's order?
  • 00:11:27.329 --> 00:11:30.199
  • Will it make you more comfortable if i say premarital
  • 00:11:30.199 --> 00:11:33.202
  • Sex is outside of god's order?
  • 00:11:33.202 --> 00:11:35.304
  • Well, see, they all are, that's the point.
  • 00:11:35.304 --> 00:11:38.240
  • God gives us his absolutes.
  • 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.242
  • This is the lane you stay in, this is the way you live.
  • 00:11:40.242 --> 00:11:43.612
  • These things are not my plan, they're not my purpose, and this
  • 00:11:43.612 --> 00:11:49.251
  • Is what is happening.
  • 00:11:49.251 --> 00:11:50.853
  • And god is antisin no matter how it is expressed.
  • 00:11:50.853 --> 00:11:55.891
  • ♪ for god so loved the world that he gave us ♪
  • 00:11:58.661 --> 00:12:03.466
  • ♪ his one and only son to save us ♪
  • 00:12:03.466 --> 00:12:08.270
  • ♪ whoever believes in him will live forever ♪
  • 00:12:08.270 --> 00:12:17.947
  • ♪ the power of hell, forever defeated ♪
  • 00:12:17.947 --> 00:12:22.685
  • ♪ now in his will i'm walking in freedom ♪♪
  • 00:12:22.685 --> 00:12:27.389
  • Greg: now, we all struggle with different temptations, we're all
  • 00:12:31.560 --> 00:12:34.230
  • Tempted to do sinful things.
  • 00:12:34.230 --> 00:12:36.031
  • Sometimes we act on those things, but that doesn't define
  • 00:12:36.031 --> 00:12:39.835
  • Me, what i'm drawn to or what i'm attracted to.
  • 00:12:39.835 --> 00:12:43.572
  • Here's the biblical statement on the topic.
  • 00:12:43.572 --> 00:12:46.242
  • Verse 6--1 corinthians 6:9: "don't you know that those that
  • 00:12:46.242 --> 00:12:50.579
  • Do wrong will have no share in the kingdom of god?
  • 00:12:50.579 --> 00:12:52.982
  • Don't fool yourselves.
  • 00:12:52.982 --> 00:12:54.350
  • Those who indulge in sexual sin, or idol worshipers, adulterers,
  • 00:12:54.350 --> 00:12:59.488
  • Male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people,
  • 00:12:59.488 --> 00:13:03.726
  • Drunkards, abusers, and swindlers--none of these will
  • 00:13:03.726 --> 00:13:07.630
  • Have a share in the kingdom of god."
  • 00:13:07.630 --> 00:13:10.900
  • So yes, homosexuality is a sin that can keep you out of heaven.
  • 00:13:10.900 --> 00:13:14.603
  • So is premarital sex, so is extramarital sex, so is being
  • 00:13:14.603 --> 00:13:18.974
  • An idol worshiper, so is being a drunkard.
  • 00:13:18.974 --> 00:13:21.710
  • This is what the bible says.
  • 00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:23.746
  • Now, some would say, "well, i don't agree.
  • 00:13:23.746 --> 00:13:25.948
  • I don't agree.
  • 00:13:25.948 --> 00:13:27.283
  • My god would never say that to a person.
  • 00:13:27.283 --> 00:13:30.452
  • Judge not lest you be judged."
  • 00:13:30.452 --> 00:13:32.621
  • Okay, hold on.
  • 00:13:32.621 --> 00:13:33.989
  • Your god?
  • 00:13:33.989 --> 00:13:35.324
  • Who is your god?
  • 00:13:35.324 --> 00:13:36.692
  • "well, my god"--did you just make up your god?
  • 00:13:36.692 --> 00:13:39.461
  • See my god, he's in the bible, he reveals himself.
  • 00:13:39.461 --> 00:13:42.998
  • And if you say my god would never judge a person, or my god
  • 00:13:42.998 --> 00:13:48.804
  • Would never deal with the person according to their sins, you're
  • 00:13:48.804 --> 00:13:53.676
  • Effectively making up your god, and you're having another god
  • 00:13:53.676 --> 00:13:57.213
  • Before him.
  • 00:13:57.213 --> 00:13:58.547
  • "but greg, you're wrong.
  • 00:13:58.547 --> 00:13:59.915
  • Gay people are born that way."
  • 00:13:59.915 --> 00:14:01.250
  • I don't agree with that.
  • 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:02.618
  • I think we're all born as sinners.
  • 00:14:02.618 --> 00:14:04.820
  • Now as sinners, we all have our temptations.
  • 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:09.191
  • Most are drawn to the opposite sex, some are drawn to the
  • 00:14:09.191 --> 00:14:13.362
  • Same sex.
  • 00:14:13.362 --> 00:14:14.697
  • And now we add transsexualism, and transgenderism, and gender
  • 00:14:14.697 --> 00:14:19.201
  • Dysphoria, where people feel today, a lot of times kids, that
  • 00:14:19.201 --> 00:14:24.874
  • Their biological gender does not match what they perceive
  • 00:14:24.874 --> 00:14:28.110
  • Themselves to be.
  • 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:30.145
  • And so they want to change their pronouns and they maybe wanna
  • 00:14:30.145 --> 00:14:34.450
  • Change their sex altogether.
  • 00:14:34.450 --> 00:14:36.652
  • It's just reinforced with tampon machines in boys restrooms, and
  • 00:14:36.652 --> 00:14:42.625
  • Men entering women's sports, or women's bathrooms.
  • 00:14:42.625 --> 00:14:47.730
  • And some engage in hormone therapy and gender
  • 00:14:47.730 --> 00:14:50.933
  • Reassignment surgery.
  • 00:14:50.933 --> 00:14:53.035
  • And this trend has become a social contagion, especially
  • 00:14:53.035 --> 00:14:57.573
  • With the young, and that is why it's impacting millennials,
  • 00:14:57.573 --> 00:15:00.743
  • And especially gen z.
  • 00:15:00.743 --> 00:15:03.078
  • And it's reinforced on platforms like tiktok,
  • 00:15:03.078 --> 00:15:06.048
  • Where influencers come on and say, "yes, i'm gay, or
  • 00:15:06.048 --> 00:15:10.486
  • I'm getting a gender reassignment surgery, and this
  • 00:15:10.486 --> 00:15:13.222
  • Is wonderful, and this is liberating."
  • 00:15:13.222 --> 00:15:15.758
  • And impressionable young people are drawn to this.
  • 00:15:15.758 --> 00:15:20.129
  • And i think there's a deeper issue here than all of this.
  • 00:15:20.129 --> 00:15:24.066
  • And i think young people are looking for identity.
  • 00:15:24.066 --> 00:15:27.303
  • They're looking for purpose.
  • 00:15:27.303 --> 00:15:29.271
  • They're asking the questions, "who am i?
  • 00:15:29.271 --> 00:15:32.174
  • What is the meaning of my life?
  • 00:15:32.174 --> 00:15:33.842
  • How can i be happy?
  • 00:15:33.842 --> 00:15:35.210
  • Maybe this will make me happy.
  • 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:36.545
  • Maybe that's the problem.
  • 00:15:36.545 --> 00:15:37.880
  • I was supposed to be a boy and i'm a girl, or vice versa."
  • 00:15:37.880 --> 00:15:41.250
  • No, you know what you're really looking for?
  • 00:15:41.250 --> 00:15:43.719
  • You're looking for god, that's what you're looking for.
  • 00:15:43.719 --> 00:15:47.523
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:15:47.523 --> 00:15:51.560
  • This surgery where young people, or any people, are mutilating
  • 00:15:51.560 --> 00:15:55.898
  • Their bodies, but especially with young people,
  • 00:15:55.898 --> 00:15:58.434
  • It concerns me.
  • 00:15:58.434 --> 00:15:59.802
  • Because that's such a permanent decision.
  • 00:15:59.802 --> 00:16:02.171
  • That's not gonna bring them meaning and happiness.
  • 00:16:02.171 --> 00:16:04.340
  • Sweden is ahead of us in a way, if you want to use that phrase.
  • 00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:08.310
  • They've been doing this for quite a long time, and they've
  • 00:16:08.310 --> 00:16:11.213
  • Done an extensive study on it over 30 years.
  • 00:16:11.213 --> 00:16:16.285
  • And they found that after ten to 15 years, the suicide rate of
  • 00:16:16.285 --> 00:16:20.389
  • Those who had undergone gender reassignment surgery, rose to 20
  • 00:16:20.389 --> 00:16:25.260
  • Times of their comparable peers.
  • 00:16:25.260 --> 00:16:28.764
  • See, you don't need to change your gender, you need to have
  • 00:16:28.764 --> 00:16:31.567
  • Your heart changed by god.
  • 00:16:31.567 --> 00:16:34.069
  • That's the bottom line. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:16:34.069 --> 00:16:40.275
  • Coming back to same sex attraction, all of us
  • 00:16:40.275 --> 00:16:43.245
  • Are sinners.
  • 00:16:43.245 --> 00:16:44.580
  • All of us are attracted to do certain things.
  • 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:46.749
  • That doesn't mean i should act on that thing any more than
  • 00:16:46.749 --> 00:16:50.019
  • A heterosexual man or woman should act on their attraction
  • 00:16:50.019 --> 00:16:55.157
  • To a member of the opposite sex.
  • 00:16:55.157 --> 00:16:57.026
  • Paul wrote in romans 7: "i don't understand what i do.
  • 00:16:57.026 --> 00:17:00.729
  • And what i want to do i don't do, and what i hate, i do.
  • 00:17:00.729 --> 00:17:03.465
  • It's no longer myself that does it, it's sin living in me."
  • 00:17:03.465 --> 00:17:07.970
  • Again, you're not defined by your sin, you need to resist it,
  • 00:17:07.970 --> 00:17:13.242
  • You can change.
  • 00:17:13.242 --> 00:17:14.610
  • Christ can help you to change.
  • 00:17:14.610 --> 00:17:16.745
  • "no, you can't.
  • 00:17:16.745 --> 00:17:18.080
  • You're born gay.
  • 00:17:18.080 --> 00:17:19.415
  • You'll always be gay."
  • 00:17:19.415 --> 00:17:20.783
  • Nonsense, i've heard the stories of many people who've come out
  • 00:17:20.783 --> 00:17:24.620
  • Of a gay and lesbian lifestyle to follow christ.
  • 00:17:24.620 --> 00:17:27.990
  • So here's our position, we love people no matter how they
  • 00:17:27.990 --> 00:17:31.894
  • Express their sin.
  • 00:17:31.894 --> 00:17:33.562
  • We want to enter their world.
  • 00:17:33.562 --> 00:17:35.898
  • We want to show them that there's a god in heaven who
  • 00:17:35.898 --> 00:17:38.901
  • Loves them, and has a plan for them, and will fill that void in
  • 00:17:38.901 --> 00:17:42.204
  • Their life they're trying to fill with other things.
  • 00:17:42.204 --> 00:17:44.907
  • So, summation point, homosexuality is a sin.
  • 00:17:44.907 --> 00:17:49.611
  • So is premarital and extramarital sex.
  • 00:17:49.611 --> 00:17:52.881
  • God's order is that a man and a woman live together in marriage,
  • 00:17:52.881 --> 00:17:57.052
  • In a monogamous relationship.
  • 00:17:57.052 --> 00:17:59.188
  • You're not born gay, nor are you born a different sex in your
  • 00:17:59.188 --> 00:18:02.825
  • Biological gender.
  • 00:18:02.825 --> 00:18:04.359
  • And if you turn from this sin, god can and will forgive you,
  • 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:08.163
  • That's my summation. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:18:08.163 --> 00:18:14.736
  • That's the biblical world view, do you accept it or not?
  • 00:18:14.736 --> 00:18:19.108
  • For some reason, there's a discomfort with this topic.
  • 00:18:19.108 --> 00:18:22.478
  • So let me shift gears and talk about another topic: let's talk
  • 00:18:22.478 --> 00:18:26.215
  • About sex in general.
  • 00:18:26.215 --> 00:18:28.350
  • Sex is created by god--let's not forget god created sex, okay?
  • 00:18:28.350 --> 00:18:32.921
  • And sex can be good in its proper context.
  • 00:18:32.921 --> 00:18:37.593
  • Sex can be blessed in the proper place, which is in a marriage
  • 00:18:37.593 --> 00:18:42.264
  • Relationship, period, that's it.
  • 00:18:42.264 --> 00:18:46.902
  • And hebrews 13:4--oh, now we're clapping again?
  • 00:18:46.902 --> 00:18:55.911
  • Alright, wait till i get to abortion, we'll see if it gets
  • 00:18:55.911 --> 00:18:59.748
  • Quiet again.
  • 00:18:59.748 --> 00:19:02.584
  • Woo?
  • 00:19:02.584 --> 00:19:05.954
  • Hebrews 13:4 says, "give honor to marriage, remain faithful to
  • 00:19:05.954 --> 00:19:09.658
  • One another in marriage.
  • 00:19:09.658 --> 00:19:11.026
  • God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who
  • 00:19:11.026 --> 00:19:14.863
  • Commit adultery."
  • 00:19:14.863 --> 00:19:16.231
  • And then proverbs 5:15 says, "drink water from your own
  • 00:19:16.231 --> 00:19:19.701
  • Well--share your love only with your wife."
  • 00:19:19.701 --> 00:19:22.671
  • Sometimes people will characterize sex as, it's there
  • 00:19:22.671 --> 00:19:25.507
  • For procreation.
  • 00:19:25.507 --> 00:19:26.842
  • Christians teach it's just there for, you know, reproduction,
  • 00:19:26.842 --> 00:19:29.444
  • That's all.
  • 00:19:29.444 --> 00:19:30.779
  • Well, no, i mean it is there for reproduction.
  • 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:32.447
  • Thank god for sex, we wouldn't be here without it, right?
  • 00:19:32.447 --> 00:19:36.251
  • But god gives it to us for pleasure in its proper place,
  • 00:19:36.251 --> 00:19:40.088
  • And god also gives it to us as a way to express our oneness.
  • 00:19:40.088 --> 00:19:43.825
  • When a man and a woman come together sexually, a oneness
  • 00:19:43.825 --> 00:19:48.030
  • Takes place, the two become one.
  • 00:19:48.030 --> 00:19:50.766
  • Paul writes in 1 corinthians 6:15, "don't you realize your
  • 00:19:50.766 --> 00:19:54.369
  • Bodies are parts of christ?
  • 00:19:54.369 --> 00:19:56.905
  • Should a man take his body, which belongs to christ, and
  • 00:19:56.905 --> 00:19:59.341
  • Join it to a prostitute?
  • 00:19:59.341 --> 00:20:00.876
  • Never!"
  • 00:20:00.876 --> 00:20:02.277
  • If you join yourself to a prostitute you become one with
  • 00:20:02.277 --> 00:20:05.280
  • Her because the bible says, "'two are united into one.'
  • 00:20:05.280 --> 00:20:08.617
  • So run away from sexual sin!
  • 00:20:08.617 --> 00:20:10.652
  • No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does."
  • 00:20:10.652 --> 00:20:14.122
  • But we marginalize it, "oh, no, it means nothing.
  • 00:20:14.122 --> 00:20:17.125
  • It's just a hook up, it's just a one night stand."
  • 00:20:17.125 --> 00:20:20.529
  • No, it means a lot and it matters, it's not a toy.
  • 00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:24.199
  • "well, it doesn't hurt anyone as long as it's consensual."
  • 00:20:24.199 --> 00:20:27.502
  • Doesn't hurt anyone?
  • 00:20:27.502 --> 00:20:29.371
  • Well, first of all, it separates you from god because of your
  • 00:20:29.371 --> 00:20:32.040
  • Sin, but then there are longer lasting repercussions.
  • 00:20:32.040 --> 00:20:35.978
  • The university of tennessee did a study among young women had
  • 00:20:35.978 --> 00:20:39.348
  • Found there seems to be a direct correlation between illicit
  • 00:20:39.348 --> 00:20:43.018
  • Sexual behavior and serious emotional problems.
  • 00:20:43.018 --> 00:20:47.456
  • Also, it will hurt your future marriage.
  • 00:20:47.456 --> 00:20:50.459
  • The university of oregon did a study among young men and found
  • 00:20:50.459 --> 00:20:54.563
  • That those who engage in premarital relationships make
  • 00:20:54.563 --> 00:20:57.633
  • Poor marital risks.
  • 00:20:57.633 --> 00:21:00.602
  • And the trend today of course is we'll just live together,
  • 00:21:00.602 --> 00:21:03.505
  • You know, enjoy the benefits, right?
  • 00:21:03.505 --> 00:21:06.041
  • Friends with benefits.
  • 00:21:06.041 --> 00:21:09.044
  • Well, that's not a trial marriage, that's basically
  • 00:21:09.044 --> 00:21:13.081
  • A trial divorce because studies have been done and reveal that
  • 00:21:13.081 --> 00:21:17.919
  • Those that lived together before marriage have a far higher
  • 00:21:17.919 --> 00:21:22.190
  • Divorce rate than those that don't.
  • 00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:24.960
  • God has set this up the way it's supposed to be set up.
  • 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:29.064
  • It's there for your own good.
  • 00:21:29.064 --> 00:21:31.533
  • You know, is that ride still at disneyland, autopia?
  • 00:21:31.533 --> 00:21:35.804
  • You know, the one, the little car he's driving?
  • 00:21:35.804 --> 00:21:38.240
  • But really you're, you know, when you're a little kid,
  • 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:40.809
  • It's so exciting.
  • 00:21:40.809 --> 00:21:42.177
  • "i'm driving the car."
  • 00:21:42.177 --> 00:21:43.545
  • Well, you kind of are, but not really.
  • 00:21:43.545 --> 00:21:45.247
  • First of all, you can't reach the pedal, okay, let's deal
  • 00:21:45.247 --> 00:21:47.749
  • With that.
  • 00:21:47.749 --> 00:21:49.084
  • So you need your mom and dad to get their foot on the pedal, but
  • 00:21:49.084 --> 00:21:51.620
  • You're moving the wheel around.
  • 00:21:51.620 --> 00:21:52.988
  • But in reality, you have little barriers there to keep you in
  • 00:21:52.988 --> 00:21:56.625
  • Place and those are there so you don't kill yourself, okay?
  • 00:21:56.625 --> 00:22:00.862
  • We're not gonna put you out on the freeway and let you drive
  • 00:22:00.862 --> 00:22:03.765
  • Your little autopia car, you know?
  • 00:22:03.765 --> 00:22:05.934
  • You get yourself in trouble again, back to the barriers,
  • 00:22:05.934 --> 00:22:09.137
  • They're there for your own good.
  • 00:22:09.137 --> 00:22:10.972
  • They're there to protect you from harming yourself.
  • 00:22:10.972 --> 00:22:14.543
  • But then there's a connection between sex outside of marriage
  • 00:22:14.543 --> 00:22:20.482
  • And pregnancy, of course.
  • 00:22:20.482 --> 00:22:23.018
  • One million teens become pregnant every year, many of
  • 00:22:23.018 --> 00:22:26.688
  • These babies never make it to term.
  • 00:22:26.688 --> 00:22:30.092
  • And here's the thing about abortion, this is not an unclear
  • 00:22:30.092 --> 00:22:34.463
  • Message in the bible.
  • 00:22:34.463 --> 00:22:35.931
  • The bible clearly teaches life begins at conception, not at
  • 00:22:35.931 --> 00:22:40.435
  • Birth, at conception.
  • 00:22:40.435 --> 00:22:42.237
  • The moment conception takes place, you are a living soul.
  • 00:22:42.237 --> 00:22:46.475
  • David writes in psalm 139:13, "you made all the delicate parts
  • 00:22:46.475 --> 00:22:52.047
  • Of my body.
  • 00:22:52.047 --> 00:22:53.415
  • You knit me together in my mother's womb.
  • 00:22:53.415 --> 00:22:55.584
  • Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
  • 00:22:55.584 --> 00:22:59.121
  • Your workmanship is marvelous--how well i know it.
  • 00:22:59.121 --> 00:23:02.157
  • You watched me as i was being formed in utter seclusion, i was
  • 00:23:02.157 --> 00:23:05.827
  • Woven together in the dark of the womb.
  • 00:23:05.827 --> 00:23:07.963
  • You saw me before i was born.
  • 00:23:07.963 --> 00:23:09.931
  • Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
  • 00:23:09.931 --> 00:23:12.601
  • Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."
  • 00:23:12.601 --> 00:23:16.171
  • Showing that god has a plan for us before birth, god says in
  • 00:23:16.171 --> 00:23:19.975
  • Jeremiah 1:5, "i knew you before i formed you in your
  • 00:23:19.975 --> 00:23:24.112
  • Mother's womb."
  • 00:23:24.112 --> 00:23:26.481
  • So it's so important that god had a plan for you even before
  • 00:23:26.481 --> 00:23:29.684
  • You were born.
  • 00:23:29.684 --> 00:23:31.052
  • And you say, "well, what if the baby is conceived out
  • 00:23:31.052 --> 00:23:33.021
  • Of wedlock?"
  • 00:23:33.021 --> 00:23:34.356
  • I was conceived out of wedlock.
  • 00:23:34.356 --> 00:23:35.991
  • I am the result of a one-night stand of my mother in
  • 00:23:35.991 --> 00:23:39.761
  • Long beach, california.
  • 00:23:39.761 --> 00:23:41.296
  • But thankfully, she carried me to term.
  • 00:23:41.296 --> 00:23:43.465
  • Thankfully, she did not abort me, god spared my life.
  • 00:23:43.465 --> 00:23:46.935
  • Every child has a right to live. [congregation applauding]
  • 00:23:46.935 --> 00:23:56.478
  • We don't think about the repercussions of abortion.
  • 00:23:56.478 --> 00:23:58.914
  • It's celebrated in the magazines, they make a joke out
  • 00:23:58.914 --> 00:24:02.451
  • Of it as though it's nothing.
  • 00:24:02.451 --> 00:24:04.920
  • And they don't talk about the depression that follows, they
  • 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:10.258
  • Don't talk about the higher suicide rate.
  • 00:24:10.258 --> 00:24:12.861
  • A university of minnesota study on teen suicide found that the
  • 00:24:12.861 --> 00:24:17.265
  • Rate of attempted suicide increased ten times for teens
  • 00:24:17.265 --> 00:24:21.203
  • Who had aborted during those previous six months.
  • 00:24:21.203 --> 00:24:26.274
  • And, and i've talked to women who had an abortion maybe much
  • 00:24:26.274 --> 00:24:30.512
  • Earlier in their life and it came back to haunt them later in
  • 00:24:30.512 --> 00:24:35.984
  • Life, because they sort of mark time like the day of that
  • 00:24:35.984 --> 00:24:39.387
  • Abortion and ten years later.
  • 00:24:39.387 --> 00:24:41.323
  • They see a ten year old young person and think, "wow, that
  • 00:24:41.323 --> 00:24:44.526
  • Would be the age that my child would have been."
  • 00:24:44.526 --> 00:24:47.162
  • Oh yeah, but we don't want to think of them as a child
  • 00:24:47.162 --> 00:24:49.297
  • That--what was that?
  • 00:24:49.297 --> 00:24:50.665
  • They're just the product of conception, or an embryo, or
  • 00:24:50.665 --> 00:24:54.536
  • A fetus, or some other word we would use.
  • 00:24:54.536 --> 00:24:57.005
  • They even say what was a potential human being.
  • 00:24:57.005 --> 00:24:59.608
  • Oh really, what else would it become?
  • 00:24:59.608 --> 00:25:02.711
  • Okay, so sometimes the full implications of getting
  • 00:25:02.711 --> 00:25:06.448
  • An abortion doesn't hit you till later in life.
  • 00:25:06.448 --> 00:25:10.018
  • And it's a very hard thing to deal with.
  • 00:25:10.018 --> 00:25:12.587
  • It's not a potential human being, it's a human being with
  • 00:25:12.587 --> 00:25:15.891
  • Incredible potential.
  • 00:25:15.891 --> 00:25:18.393
  • God sees what you can become and christ can transform you.
  • 00:25:18.393 --> 00:25:22.631
  • That's the biblical worldview and that's what god wants for
  • 00:25:22.631 --> 00:25:26.134
  • Every person.
  • 00:25:26.134 --> 00:25:27.836
  • But we must come to him, and admit we're sinners, and stop
  • 00:25:27.836 --> 00:25:30.505
  • Making excuses for our sin, and be willing to turn from our sin.
  • 00:25:30.505 --> 00:25:34.743
  • The bible says that we will confess our sin, he's faithful
  • 00:25:34.743 --> 00:25:38.113
  • And just to forgive us our sin, and cleanse us from
  • 00:25:38.113 --> 00:25:40.782
  • All unrighteousness.
  • 00:25:40.782 --> 00:25:42.117
  • Now, look, every one of us have sinned, and if we haven't done
  • 00:25:42.117 --> 00:25:45.787
  • It in actions, we've done it in our minds.
  • 00:25:45.787 --> 00:25:48.356
  • And we all need god's forgiveness.
  • 00:25:48.356 --> 00:25:50.592
  • And there might be somebody here that's trapped by
  • 00:25:50.592 --> 00:25:53.929
  • An immoral lifestyle.
  • 00:25:53.929 --> 00:25:55.297
  • There might be somebody here that's trapped by an addiction
  • 00:25:55.297 --> 00:25:59.000
  • To drugs or alcohol.
  • 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:00.702
  • There might be somebody here that is under the control of
  • 00:26:00.702 --> 00:26:03.605
  • Some other sin, or vice, or whatever it is, and you don't
  • 00:26:03.605 --> 00:26:06.608
  • Think you can ever get free again.
  • 00:26:06.608 --> 00:26:08.577
  • That's a lie, you can be changed by christ.
  • 00:26:08.577 --> 00:26:12.447
  • Jesus died on the cross for your sin.
  • 00:26:12.514 --> 00:26:15.550
  • He bore all the wrongs and sins that you've ever done on
  • 00:26:15.550 --> 00:26:20.121
  • Himself and he rose again from the dead.
  • 00:26:20.121 --> 00:26:22.657
  • And now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says
  • 00:26:22.657 --> 00:26:25.660
  • If you hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in.
  • 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:29.397
  • Greg: have you watched the news lately?
  • 00:26:31.666 --> 00:26:33.101
  • It seems like the world is coming apart.
  • 00:26:33.101 --> 00:26:36.071
  • War in the middle east, instability all around us, and
  • 00:26:36.071 --> 00:26:40.275
  • I'm telling you right now, the bible predicted these things
  • 00:26:40.275 --> 00:26:43.445
  • Would happen in the last days.
  • 00:26:43.445 --> 00:26:45.380
  • But here's what you need to remember: jesus said, "when you
  • 00:26:45.380 --> 00:26:48.617
  • See these things begin to happen, look up, for your
  • 00:26:48.617 --> 00:26:51.920
  • Redemption is drawing near."
  • 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:53.488
  • He didn't say, "freak out;" he said, "look up."
  • 00:26:53.488 --> 00:26:57.359
  • I want you to know that i've read the last page of the bible,
  • 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:00.328
  • And we win in the end.
  • 00:27:00.328 --> 00:27:02.097
  • We need hope in this crazy, hopeless world, in this world of
  • 00:27:02.097 --> 00:27:06.034
  • Chaos and confusion.
  • 00:27:06.034 --> 00:27:07.836
  • Jesus christ has everything you're looking for in
  • 00:27:07.836 --> 00:27:11.539
  • A relationship with him.
  • 00:27:11.539 --> 00:27:13.942
  • I encourage you to call out to the lord and ask him to come
  • 00:27:13.942 --> 00:27:18.346
  • Into your life.
  • 00:27:18.346 --> 00:27:19.681
  • Let me send you, at no charge, a bible to help you get started
  • 00:27:19.681 --> 00:27:24.452
  • In your new relationship
  • 00:27:24.452 --> 00:27:26.121
  • With christ.
  • 00:27:26.121 --> 00:27:26.121