Jack Jurgens's Ministry Library

Gospel tent meeting with Peter Ramsay and Kory Crawford.

Kory

[0:00] Now, if you have a Bible with you, I’d like to read tonight in the book of Acts, in chapter 14.
And what we’ve been doing in some of these nights in the tent is we’ve been going through this book of Acts and seeing really this book of Acts is how Christianity started.
The first preachers and who they were, and Jesus has died and been buried and risen again, and now has gone up to heaven.
And so we’ve been tracing the steps of these different men who began preaching the message.
And what we’ve noted, and what is really, we’ll note again tonight, is that the message does not change, even though it was preached some 2,000 years ago.
And the reason for that is this, is because us as human beings, we haven’t changed.

[0:43] And the God of heaven, the God who is on the throne, the Almighty God, he hasn’t changed either.
And so that’s why we can read from the Bible and preach the same message that was preached some 2,000 years ago on a different side of the world.
And that’s what we’re gonna read tonight of a man.
And we were thinking about him last night as well, Paul, a well-known man, and we’re gonna read about an encounter that he had and a message that he gave.
And we think back to last night, if you weren’t here, that’s okay, but Paul was preaching to a very religious crowd in Acts chapter 13, in Antioch.
And so he was using much of the Old Testament and different scriptures that they would have known to preach the gospel.
But here tonight, we’re gonna find him coming to a different city that was really known as the Wild West, you could say in those days, there wasn’t much structure, there wasn’t much education really, there wasn’t much religious knowledge.
And it’ll be interesting to see the sort of message that he preached to the people that day.
So we’ll read in Acts chapter 14 and verse number eight.

[1:43] And in Lystra, a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb who had never walked.
This man heard Paul speaking, Paul observing him intently and seeing that he had the faith to be healed, and with a loud voice cried out, stand up straight on your feet.
And he leaped and walked. Now, when the people saw that what Paul had done, they raised their voices saying in the Lycanian language, the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.
And Barnabas, they called, depending on your Bible translation, but it really means Zeus, but Barnabas, they called Zeus, and Paul here means because he was the chief speaker.
Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in the front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.

[2:35] But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, men, why are you doing these things?
We also are men with the same nature as you and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made heaven and the earth, the sea and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.
Nevertheless, he did not leave himself without witness in that he did good.
He gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
And with these sayings, they could scarcely restrain multitudes from sacrificing to them.
Now we’ve encountered here a story, an interesting story from God’s word, the Bible.

[3:26] That speaks of a man, it says, who was crippled from birth, living in that state his whole life.
And one day he came across a preacher and in that moment, his life was changed. He was healed.
And friends tonight, we are not here to preach some sort of physical healing because God is not very interested so much in the physical.
He is interested in the inward.
The God who sees the heart, the Bible says, he wants to heal you from the inside.
He wants to have you come to the realization that my sins can be forgiven.
I can be made right with God. And so as that crippled man that day, as he would have heard that invitation to stand up and walk, that is not the same invitation in that same sense that we give tonight, because we have no power to heal anyone here of their physical infirmity.
But we have the authority of the word of God to point you to one who has the power to heal you from all of your sins.

[4:25] Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the only one in whom you will find hope this evening.
The only one in whom you will find forgiveness. Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And in this city, as they’ve come to this city of Lystra, a city where so many people were known to be illiterate and of little knowledge, and they come here and they see this miracle.
They see this healing. And many healings you can read of, of Jesus Christ that he did, and the apostles in the book of Acts.
And much more to show the authority and power that they had because they did not have the Bible.
They did not have God’s word to convince the people.
And so that’s why tonight we did not try any sort of magicry or healing to try and trick you to believe that we point you to the word of God because that’s where the authority is found.
That’s where your hope can be found in the word of God.
And so they give these two preachers the name of a God. They call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, which means messenger of the God.
The God who created oratory, the creator of speech is what they believe.
And so as they heard Paul’s speech, they said, this must be the God of all speech that he’s come down and he’s dwelling among us.
Very superstitious people.

[5:41] It is recorded in their urban legends that before, many years before, according to the urban legends, that gods had come down to earth, And the people rejected them and it led to a great flood.
And so they were very superstitious to treat these men as if they were God, seeing what they had done.
And they give them these names, they give them Hermes and Zeus as their name.

[6:03] You know, they were so far off, concentrating on Paul and Barnabas as men who were God.
When these men were there to preach a message of the true God of heaven who came down as a man.

[6:15] As the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And he walked in this earth.
The Bible says, God was made flesh, took on flesh, was a real man, and he came into this world, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And as they’re bringing these accolades to the preachers, as the priest, it says, of Zeus comes out with these oxen and garlands to offer sacrifices to these mere men, they wanted them to know something very important that we’ve read in verse number 15.
He said, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you.

[6:53] Oftentimes, maybe in religion in general, the one who is seen the most, maybe that the pastor or the priest or the preacher, maybe try at times to give off an impression that they are somehow on a higher level than everyone else.
These men made very clear for their audience to know That was not the case.
He said, we all have the same nature as you. We are just like you.
In other words, we’re sinners just like you.
And friends and I, from my own heart and sincerity, I can say the same to you.
I am no, at no higher level or me, no greater accomplishment have I had in my life.
I’m a sinner, just like everyone here.
And that’s what the preacher wanted these men, these group of people to know that day.
We have the same nature as you.
And what was the message that they had?
A message that as they looked around them and maybe as they had passed through that city and seen all the different things that people were believing in, the temple of Zeus, maybe some with different idols outside their house, different temples, so many different gods.
And this was their message.
We’ve read about it in verse number 15.

[8:03] We preach to you this, that you should turn from these useless things, these vain things to the living God.
That’s the message tonight, friend. I don’t know what you’re trusting in.
I don’t know where you’ve put your faith, but according to what these preachers said and according to the word of God, it’s this.
If your faith is not found in God and his son, they’re vain things, they’re useless things, they’re worthless things.
That’s what the God of heaven says in his own word. To turn from these useless things, to serve the living God.
There’s the same word is used in a verse in 1 Peter. It says, you’re not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers.
Your useless conduct, the things that aren’t really doing anything to get you any closer to God.
And he says, my desire for you, seeing each one, He would say this, that you turn from these things.

[9:01] To living God. You turn to him, he’s the author of salvation. The only way salvation is found is in God of heaven and his son, Jesus Christ. You know this, wasn’t common just to them in Lystra. In the book of Romans, this same man, Paul, could write of those who said they were not thankful to God but they were futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. They, changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible men, they made an idol and they worshiped it. And Paul, as he addresses these people, he would call them this. They’re useless, things. You may say that’s a little strong, but he would be, convinced of it. He would say they’re worthless. They have no value. And that you would turn from those things. And he may say, in my life, I don’t have those things. Maybe less common, today we could say is the physical idolatry. Maybe you haven’t made up a corner of your house into an idol and worship And he would say this, how does this really apply to me?
When we think of idolatry in each one of our own lives, the things that we place on a higher value on those things than on God, the things that we worship in our life, the things that maybe are keeping us back from turning and looking to the living God, those external things, you could say the number one focus in my life is money.
I wanna get as much as I can, as quick as I can, and enjoy it for as long as I can.

[10:29] The message tonight from that preacher to you, from the Word of God to you, is turn from those useless things to the living God.
Materialism today in our society has become such an item that it is the most important thing in many people’s life, just like maybe the God of Zeus was so important to them some 2,000 years ago.
And we’ve carved down idols in our life.
The Word of God says, turn.

[10:53] Turn from those things to the living God. whatever it is and however that is materialized in your career, in your relationships, even some coming to the point of worshiping creation as we just read, more than the creator.
My sole focus on this world is just to make this earth last longer and all those things and we make it an idol. It’s the sole focus of our life.
The word of God says turn from those useless things, Worthless things to the living God.

[11:22] Some even may be going as far as worshiping the pleasures of this life.
And there’s some even that may have made sex an idol in their life.
The most important thing that can be obtained in life.
And the Word of God says this to you tonight, if that is your idol, turn from these useless things to the living God.
Turn from them, repent from them. Look to the living God. Or maybe you’ve put an idol in your life and you’ve fixed it and you’ve fashioned it and it’s the idol of religion tonight.
And for you, there is nothing more important in your life than to be a part of whatever religion you have found in your life, that you have made an idol of.
That all your efforts and all your concerns and all your believing and trusting is put in that.
A man-made religion. The Word of God says this, turn from those useless things.
Turn from them to the living God.
He’s the only one that can save you. Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Turn from these useless, worthless, aimless things. Trust in the living God.

[12:24] But yet we continue. And maybe some have, you’ve made the idol of philosophy in your life.
And if you could quote every philosopher there is, and I find philosophy very interesting as well, to see how people thought throughout the different centuries.
There’s no harm in looking into it, but some have made it idols in their life.
And they would put those famed philosophers on the same level as God, or even make them their own God.
And maybe that’s your idol tonight. The word of God says this, turn from those useless things to the living God.
There’s only true peace and hope found in him. Others
make their bodies their idol. You know, I enjoy exercising, I enjoy going for runs, staying healthy.
But sometimes we can get to the point where that is the most important thing in our life.
And that takes precedent over everything else. The Bible says, turn from these useless things to the living God.
And sometimes maybe, if you could say, I don’t really relate with all those things.
When we get right down to the idol we have made in our own lives, it’s ourself, our pride, our ego.
So I’m gonna ask you all, this is what I think God is. This is what I think God is like.
You made for yourself a God of your own imagination. If you’ve made yourself tonight your own idol, if you worship yourself, turn from these useless things to the living God.

[13:43] There’s only certainty, there’s only peace found in the living God and his son, Jesus Christ.
These things that we’ve mentioned, these idols, they’re useless in their power.
They might bring you some sort of satisfaction, some sort of joy and enjoyment for a time, but it’s always fleeting. It’s always passing.
They’re useless not only in their power, but what they promise.
Many of these things, they start out seeming so bright and so promising.
And we were just thinking in the Spanish meeting of the man left dead on the side of the road and the good Samaritan before he came, it says the priest came by and the Levite came by.
The religion and the works of this world that seemed so promising, But when we need them most to give us peace, they leave us dead on the side of the road. No true joy.
No true peace. Turn from these useless things to the living God.
They’re useless in their comparison. When you compare all these things, whatever idol you want to compare with the living God, the true God, the God Almighty.

[14:46] Isaiah 46 speaks of the comparison of the living God with the idols of that time, thousands of years ago.
This is how he described the idols of that time. He said, They lavish gold out of the bag, and they weigh silver on the scales.
They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
They bear it on their shoulders, they carry it. They set it on its place, it stands.
From place to place it shall not move. move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer, nor, save him out of his trouble. If you have cried out to the idol of your life to give you peace, and it has not answered. Why is, that? Because it’s useless in comparison to the living God. He, said, they picked them up, they put them on their shoulders. It requires you to move it. When the living God, his son, Jesus, Christ wants to pick you right up and carry you. Because on the cross of Calvary, he carried all your sins on his own shoulders.
He bore our sins and our iniquities, the Bible says, on himself on the cross.
They’re useless in their comparison. That well-known story, many of the children love to learn that story as a child.
They’re in Sunday school of Elijah and those prophets of Baal.
And they’ve been trying to convince the people that Baal is the true God and that Jehovah God, he’s not a real God.
And so Elijah has the great idea one day and says, we’re going to see, We’re going to compare, let the people decide who the true living God is.

[16:14] And so they build those altars and they say, call down to your God, fire from heaven.
And whichever altar ignites, that’s the true and living God.
And so the story in Scripture goes of those prophets of Baal, and they cry out, and they’re leaping about, and they’re dancing, and they get to the extreme, they start cutting themselves, trying to appease the God of Baal.
And this is what Elijah concluded. He said, cry aloud for he is a God.
Maybe he’s meditating, or he’s busy, or he’s on a journey, or perhaps he’s sleeping, and he must be awakened. Useless things.
When Elijah cried out to the living God, the God who has put eternity in each one of our hearts, the God who cares about every one of us, who knows the number of hairs on each one of our heads, even to the last who has not very many at all.
To each bald one here tonight, God knows. He knows the number of hairs on our head, and he says this, he reaches out, and he’s ready to say, His arm is not shortened that it cannot save. No matter your standing, no matter your condition tonight, how many sins you may have amassed in your life, no matter the guilt that you have and the secret sins that you have hidden away, no matter how many idols you have bowed down to in your life, the promise is this, that even this evening you can turn from these useless things to the Living God. He’s ready, He’s willing, and He’s able to save. The psalmist could say, and my soul longeth yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh crieth out for the living God.” I never wondered why.

[17:41] Why this preacher would go to these group of people, and it would give them a very direct and a very short message. The reason he could preach with authority.
The same reason we can share this evening without any hesitation.
That you could find peace tonight in the living God. Because there’s only one person, one person, not a religion, one person who has satisfied God.
And it’s not you, and it’s not me. And it never will be you, and it never will be me, despite our best efforts. 2,000 years ago, God sent his son into this world.

[18:14] His name was Jesus Christ. He lived in this world for 33 years, and he did something, he was different than us in this one aspect.
He was the only human being who never sinned. There was no sin in him.
Even to his belt, it says, no guile, no deceit found in his belt.
Perfect, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin.
Despite that, being holy.
Undefiled, without sin.
He would go to a cross and there be nailed to take the place of the sinner’s death.
He would die the penalty, the criminal’s penalty, the penalty of a guilty man.
Why? Not for his own sake. The Bible says so clearly to us, Christ died for our sins.
What a tremendous truth tonight. Were all these idols where religion would tell you, do this, do this, give that. The God of heaven comes down to him, he says this, it’s already done.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, he could cry out, it is finished.
What more security could you ever need than the very mouth of the Son of God, the living God saying this, it is finished.

[19:21] Each one of us tonight, we’re believing in something. We’re bowing down to something in our life.
In front of Jesus Christ is not Lord and Savior of your life.
If you’ve never come to a moment where you’ve understood why he died there, it wasn’t just for the sins of the world, it was for my sin.
Christ died for sinners.
If I’m a sinner, that means it’s not advanced, high-level stuff.
The Bible says, he that believes in Him, in Jesus Christ, has everlasting.

[19:46] That’s a promise you can take home tonight and you can take home to eternity when you die.
He that has the Son, he that believes in the Son, has everlasting life.
And tonight, whatever system of beliefs or whatever idol in your life you have been bowing to up until this point, when you compare it with the living God, with His Son, Jesus Christ, everything that He’s done for you, The exhortation tonight is the same that it was 2000 years ago.
Turn from

[20:13] these vain things. The only thing these things are doing is taking each one to hell.
When the God of heaven says this, he reaches out with his hand, come to me, all you who are labored and heavy laden, I will give you rest.
That’s the invitation of Jesus Christ today. Turn from these useless things to the living God, and you’ll be saved, even tonight.
May God bless his word to your heart. I am glad that the message of the gospel.

Peter

[20:41] Doesn’t point people to a church or to ourself.
You’ve been hearing to the living God, that’s our focus. I understand why people are skeptical.
There’s so much that goes on under the name of religion. There’s been so many church scandals and schemes.
I understand why people are very cynical about it all, but I don’t think you’ve heard over the last two weeks, those of you who’ve come most nights, I don’t think you’ve heard us preaching, about our church being the perfect church.
I don’t think you’ve heard us asking, leave your church, come to ours.
No, every night, the message is basically the same.
It’s come to Christ.
Look to the living God. Churches can let you down. Religion will definitely let you down, but Christ, the living God, will never let you down.
He will pick you up as you’ve been hearing and he will transform your life.
He will give you peace.
Probably you know somebody in your life that has a certain calmness, a serenity in their life, that you don’t have, and you’re missing. but God is brother.

[21:57] Someone who has something inside that you don’t have. Well, I suspect they have Christ and you don’t.
Now we’re gonna read in 1 Corinthians 15 in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 15.
And I want to leave you with five words tonight, five important words.
The apostle Paul is writing to Christians and I’ll just not read all of the context here.
So in verse three, he writes for, I delivered unto you, so he’s writing these Christians, first of all, or of first importance, or this cardinal number one truth, this core doctrine, that which I also received, here it is, how that, the five words, Christ die for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the 12, and so on.
I don’t know whether those five words mean anything to you tonight or not.
Christ died for our sins.
A few years ago, we were on a little family trip. We were on our way to Ocean City in New Jersey here.

[23:17] And we weren’t sure of the direction, and we got confused with Atlantic City and Ocean City.
And so it was late one night, and we were getting into, it wasn’t Ocean City, it ended up being Atlantic City.
And I remember reading about Atlantic City just earlier, there were several sex workers that were found dead, face down in a swamp, outside of Atlantic City.
And so we drove into Atlantic City and all the casinos were lit up and all the nightlife, It was just a buzzing and a humming, nightlight, going through those big glass doors, Atlantic City, lit up.
And then I remember just driving around be on the side of one of those casinos.
And I saw people stretched out on the sidewalk and leaning against the bricks of the building.
And I thought, wow, on this side, the bright lights, the glamor.
On this side of the building though, the effects of sin and the brokenness of sin.
My heart was touched and we just drove around one of the streets and I remember looking up, into the night sky and seeing on the top of a church building, Christ died for our sins.

[24:40] Lit up in that dark night.
And I wonder to those.
Or five women that ended up in the swamp, face down, dead. I wonder those nights that they worked the streets in their broken lives that they lived, did they ever once look up and see those five words, Christ died for our sins?
So I thought I would do a story about Atlantic City and those five words, and I would put it on our website.
And so I Googled Atlantic City, Christ died for sins, And I came across a blogger who had been to Atlantic City.
She’s from Manhattan. And she went to Atlantic City for the weekend, for a weekend of partying.
And she’s a writer and a blogger. And I was reading what she had written about her visit to, and here was the title of her blog that day.
Christ, how can I gamble now? That’s the title.
And then she said, here is the view from our first room at Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City before we switched to a new room facing the ocean.
Clearly, the ocean is not the only reason I wanted a new room.
In case you can’t see it too well, and she posted a picture, click on the sign on that church.
It says, Christ died for our sins.

[26:07] And she literally, she told, I was writing her, emailing her.
She literally went over and closed the blinds in the room, and she went down to the lobby, and she asked for a different room.
And she said it wasn’t just because of the ocean. She didn’t want to spend a weekend partying and sin, and every time she looked out of her Tropicana Hotel window, see Christ died for our sins.
And she said.

[26:38] For Our Sins is on that sign, and I don’t think it’s placement was accidental.
Right smack in your grills so you don’t fornicate and gamble your life away in Atlantic City, buzz kill.
Thanks a lot, Christ.
That’s what she had in her blog.
So I wrote her.
And I said, I’m trying to do a story about those five words that you saw out your hotel window.
Christ died for our sins.
She said, how in the world did you come across my blog? I said, I was just Googling and I said, would you happen to have a better picture of that church spire?
Because I wanted to show up better on the story and writing for her website.
She said, no, I don’t have a better picture of that.
I’m calling her a bird. I told her what I liked about the sign that no matter what the sin is, God’s love is non-discriminating.
He loves us all regardless of the color of shade of our sin.
Christ died for our sins, and through Christ, we can be completely forgiven of all our sins.
I told her that. Then she said.

[27:45] There’s actually another photo, she said. I believe of the very same sign, that I found accidentally not searching for it.
She said, if you give me a day or so, I think I can track down another picture of those five words.
And sure enough, within the day, She said, I saw this over Dunkin’ Donuts, much bigger letters. And she sent me the picture.
Christ died for our sins. And I said, thank you very much.
I’m putting it in the story. And she was amazed that I would come across that.
And I’d be interested in those five words.
And I said, Barb, don’t think that it is a coincidence. You write millions of words, about what you do for a living every year.
How is it that I came across one of your writings? I said, it tells me that there’s a God in heaven who has his eye on you, and he loves you, and he’s tracking you, and he wants to draw you to himself.
You didn’t see that sign up in the church or over Dunkin’ Donuts by accident.
God is trying in his kindness and love to get your attention.
Christ died for our sins.

[29:04] Those words mean anything to you tonight? There are people in this room, And have I asked out loud?
Did Christ ever do anything for you that you have thanked him for?
I see some heads already shaking, yes.
You know why? They understand that Christ died, not just for all our sins, but it’s very personal.
That’s what a Christian is, very personal. Christ died for my sins and we’re thankful.
And that’s why we don’t lift up a church or a way of life or some set of rules.
We lift up Christ to you tonight. Consider him, he died on the cross for our sins.
The most amazing words, the five most amazing words in the English language.
I don’t know what you think they would be. Like I’ve often got thought of that.
You know, if you got a text message, five words, what would be the coolest, most exciting text message containing five words that you could possibly get?
You have won a car, yeah!
Man, it would be such an exciting time.
Or this house is yours today.
Whoa, no mortgage to pay. Or Bill Gates paid your bills.

[30:29] Whoa, wouldn’t that be great? Let me tell you something far better, than Bill Gates paying your financial bills and debts is someone who went to a cross and paid your spiritual debt of sin.
And that’s what the verse says. Christ died for our sin.
Could you just drink that in?
You know how you chug down a water? It’s out there in the, should have taken mine up, and you just take the cap off it and you say, this is for me, you take it in.
So you know, that’s what a Christian has done with Christ. They’ve just taken him in person.
You died for me, you died for my sins. I will take you.
Oh, the refreshment that he brings. Jesus said, if you keep drinking at this, just an earthly well of water, if you just keep dipping in and taking like that, you’ll always be thirsty.
If that’s the only water you’ve ever experienced.
But he said, if you drink of the water that I shall give you, you’ll never thirst again.
And there’s people here, you can talk to them over the refreshments afterwards, and they’ll say, I’ve had a drink of the living water, and I’m not searching for anything else.
I’m not thirsting for anything else. Christ satisfies sin.
You get that message? If you forget what I say tonight.

[31:58] You take this with you, Christ satisfies.
Christ died for our sins.
So, I’m gonna get you to follow along in this little scenario now.
This is a little departure, a little variation from our pulpit norm.
I hope it’s not a breach of protocol. But I just want you to, I have a hypothetical scenario.

[32:24] I want you to just buy into for a few minutes. Say you’re sitting at your office desk, and you have never heard tell of Christ in your life.
I’ve had the privilege of speaking to people in a tent like this, much, much larger, in the city of Toronto, and people had never heard tell of Christ or Jesus in their life.
And when we told them that he died at the door, they say, good man died?
When?
When? Like did I miss it on the news? But you know about Christ.
You know about Christ.
But the way this little scenario works.

[33:07] Don’t know anything. You’re sitting at your desk at work, and you just, you know you have emptiness inside.
You know you’re not satisfied.
You’re thinking about how empty your life is and that you have no peace.
And you’re wondering where you came from and why am I really here?
And where will I be after this life?
And you’re having all these thoughts. You know, I don’t normally mention our little website Heaven for sure, But over the years, I’ve collected quite a few stories, written quite a few posts.
Kurt Cobain, his spiritual thirst, people who have climbed the ladder of success and what they had to say, how they summed it up.
Brad Pitt, frequently visited story on our site.
And he calls it a certain congenital sadness. No matter what success he’s had in life, still comes up dry and barren. Tom Brady, he said, I’m not satisfied with all my Super bull rings.
And the interviewers said, well.
You’ve lived the American dream. You’ve got all the rings.
If you don’t have happiness and peace, what is the answer?

[34:24] And you can watch this video. I think it’s still online. And he looks off to the corner of the room, Tom Brady does, and he just says, I wish I knew. I wish I knew, he says it twice.
Doesn’t he? He’s never found it. So this is not a far-fetched scenario, of someone sitting at a desk and thinking, What is life all about? I’m empty.
Michael Jordan, the story about him.
And when he retired from basketball, this is a direct quote.
How can I find peace outside of basketball?

[34:58] Elvis Presley, Lady Gaga, story about her. John Lennon, Michael Jackson.
Some of you are old enough to remember Michael Jackson when he was alive.
But some of you may still listen to his music and watch his amazing dancing.
And you know his brokenness in his life. You may not be very impressed with Michael Jackson.
But before he died, he was in London, England, and he was speaking at Oxford University, giving an address.
He was talking about the evils of greed and materialism. And this is his quote.
“‘This violation has bred a new generation.’ He called it Generation O. Generation O, let us call it.
The O stands for a generation that has everything on the outside, wealth, success, fancy clothing, fancy cars, but an aching emptiness on the inside, the cavity in our chest, that bareness at our core, that void in our center.

[36:07] And then he stopped, and for 20 long seconds, he wept on the podium as he thought, of the emptiness of his life.
And in that same speech, his speech was interrupted three more times by crying from the pulpit.
Life, people who have achieved success.
And so this scenario is, you’re thinking about how empty your life is and wondering, about all these things, you’re thinking about the skeletons in your closet, some, of them, that’s an English, for some of you who aren’t familiar with the English language, that’s an English idiom. Skeletons in your closet are things that you have done in the past that are secrets and they’re in the closet and you don’t want to think about them, you’ve turned the corner on them and the English idiom is called skeletons in your closet. And I suspect most people here tonight.

[37:04] In your closet, and you’re sitting there at your desk thinking about the skeletons in your closet, or what about my sins, are there consequences for sin, how do I get rid of my sin, and you’re looking out your window in your office and that big sign, that billboard out there, there’s one word that comes up on it, nine o’clock, and you look out the window and you say, Christ, what is that?
What is it, or is it a who, is it a person?
Christ. And you have a Christian friend, Christian colleague.

[37:39] And you say, come, look out the window.
It says, Christ. Do you know what that means, Christ? Oh, and your Christian friend, their eye.

[37:49] Their face lights up, and he’s a person.
Oh, you say, tell me about him. Who was he? And then your Christian friend begins to tell you about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of the living God, and you’re listening there, how he came down from heaven, God is love, he came down from heaven, he was born of a virgin, and then you might tell you there were all kinds of prophecies, not just like the old prophecies you read about in the trash papers or in the news, people say somebody’s gonna be shot in 2023, October.
Oh, it’s pretty safe prophecy. Someone’s gonna be shot.
No, these are real specific things, like 750 years, the prophet Isaiah said, A virgin will conceive and will bring forth a child.
And you’ll call his name, Jesus, and you’re sitting there saying, really?
750 years before? Yeah, he wrote, a child is born, a son is given.
You’re amazed, Christ, I’ve never heard about him.
And he became, God became man. He was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, labored in the Capernaum, and you’re listening intently. Your friend says, he changed homes, he changed lives.

[39:10] He reached out to those who were disillusioned by life. He reached out to those who were marginalized in life.
They would tell you about the goodness, the gentleness, the compassion.
He reached out to those who were beggars, to prostitutes, people who had issues and somebody who died and all of those things.
And you’re just saying, wow, Christ, This is amazing.
I’ve never heard of this man before. Tell me more. Well, he did many more miracles, signs.
He proved the word, idle words.
He proved that he was God and flesh.
By all these miracles, you know, one day he was out on a, one night he was on a boat and the wind was howling and the waves were beating on the boat. You never heard that story either.
And he just stood up and he said, peace be still.
And the waves went flat.
You’re quite amazed. The illnesses he cured, the food that he provided, the words, the truth that he spoke, the light that he shone in the darkened light.
Well, that was at night and you looked out your window.
Now all you can think about is Christ. Did you do any thinking about Christ?
Spent place in your life, you thinking about Christ?

[40:24] Mean anything to you? 10 o’clock, you look out your window, another word is on the big electronic billboard, digital billboard, Christ died.
And you have that awful sick feeling inside. He died. What a shock to learn that this good man died.
How old was he? Like 33, 33 and a half. And you say, how did he die?
He died upon a cross, really.
Oh, he was shamefully treated. He was beaten and he was bruised.
He was humiliated. He was bullied. And he died ultimately on a cross.
And you are flooded with so many questions.

[41:06] Christ died. And you think, well, I know that everybody dies.
The death rate is really 100%, everyone dies, but not everyone dies such a horrible death.
Not everybody dies in the cross. And you’re thinking like, was it an accident?
You don’t know anything about this story. It’s all new to you.
Was it an accident? Was it a case of mistaken identity? Was he a martyr?
Was it just bad luck?
Fate? You’re thinking he died, but I have to find out more. I need to know more about this death.
Tell me more. And you look out the window.
You say, I wonder, are they gonna do something every hour?
Sure enough, at 11 o’clock, you look out the window and there’s another word, Christ died for.
Your Christian friend says, you know that word for is a very specific word.
It actually means on behalf of, on behalf of.

[42:08] Oh, there was Christ died for, you mean there was a reason. I have to find out the reason.
It wasn’t a pointless death. It wasn’t a senseless death.
It wasn’t a, you mean it was a purposeful death?
You know, when you see car accidents and things, say, oh, it’s too bad that ever happened.
You know, I’m thankful for the death of Jesus Christ because it was a purposeful death.
It was a purposeful death. You’re sitting there at the desk and you say, well, like, I don’t know, like we die because of accidents. We die because of disease.
We die because of old age. but he died for something, he died for something.
Whatever could it have been for, he died for something. Would it be his own crimes, his own sins did he die?
Did he have a secret side of his life? It’s 12 noon. Now you’re not very high on the echelons of the hierarchy of the corporation. You’re still a frontline worker.
And when 12 noon comes, you don’t have any flexibility.
You’ve got to go and have your lunch. And so you look out the window one more time and it says Christ died for, and your jaw drops. Our?

[43:25] How am I a part of that?
Christ died for our? You mean this message has something to do with me? How am I a part of this message? How am I involved? Did you ever discover how you’re, involved in Christ’s death? Why it’s relevant? You can’t really settle on your mustard and ham sandwich. It’s just you’ve got too much on your mind.
You know what you were thinking about when you went to work, how empty life is, with all the success you’ve achieved, and yet there’s a gnawing inside a void.
And now you’ve seen Christ die for Al, and so it wasn’t enough.
You just get out the old napkin and you wipe the mustard off your face and make sure there’s nothing stuck between your teeth, and back to your desk you go, and the only thing you can think of, is there gonna be an answer to the story?
Christ died for our what? And you look out the window, and you know what’s on that sign?
Christ died for our sins, our sins, my sins.

[44:45] Why, why would he ever die for my sins? You mean this holy one, the son of the living God, who came to earth, who was absolutely sinless, and he only did what was good?
He died on the cross.
Christ died for our sins. Why would he ever do it for me? Ever wonder that?
A Christian is someone who wonders why He would never die for their sins.
I think if you were to go along with the rest of this story, you would probably say at your desk, that’s exactly what has been bothering me all along.
I never thought I would find a remedy for my sin. I’m the guilty one.
I’m the one who offended God.
I’m the one who deserves to be punished. I deserve hell. So still on the, and you look out the window again, There it is, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse three.
Christ died for our sins.
And right at your desk that day, as a story with.
I can just see you, oh, some people say I can’t, our daughter, when her grampy died.

[46:04] She finds it difficult to shed tears.
So she looked around and her older sibling, she was crying and very fusive with her tears, expressing her emotions and everybody else in the row was, and our daughter Stephanie, she licked her finger wet, and then she’s the only little girl and she rubbed her eyes like this.
So she could be seen to be crying because she really missed her grandpa too.
But you’re sitting at your desk and you don’t have to wet your eyes with your tongue finger.
The tears begin to flow and say, why would he love me so? Why would he die for a sinner like me?
I was the one who deserved to be punished, but God loved me and Christ.
Oh, I’m gonna put it up one more time and then I’m gonna pray.

[46:51] You know, if you could take these words from God’s words, God doesn’t lie.
If you could just rest on this, these five words, and just say, God doesn’t lie.
And it says ours, Christ died for our, and if you could find yourself included in that our, and appreciate that he died for you, just trust God.
Take him at his word. You would be saved tonight. You would have your sins forgiven.
You would have that wonderful joy in your heart, the peace that’s calm as a river.
You would experience the forgiveness of sins, and you’d become a possessor of eternal life, and you would be absolutely sure that when you breathe your last and your pulse is gone, you’ll be with Christ in heaven forever.
That’s what’s available to you tonight.
We point you to the living God and the Lord.

Filed under: Gospel Series, crawford-kory, ramsay-peter