Hello, and welcome to this
message from Calvary Church. We're excited to hear from our
special guest speaker, Franklin Graham. Franklin is the president
and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
and Samaritan's Purse. He also oversees
Operation Christmas Child, and has met the needs of poor,
sick, and suffering people in more than 100 countries. If this message impacts
you, let us know. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And if you'd like to support
the ministry of Calvary Church financially, you can
give online securely at calvaryabq.org/give. Now, we invite you to open
your Bible as Franklin begins. [APPLAUSE] Thank you. It is good to be with
you this morning. And I just want
to thank everybody for the support of
Operation Christmas Child. Every box counts. My father-- many of you have
asked after how he's doing. Well, he's in his 100th year. He turned 99 this last-- this past month, on
the 7th of November. And he told us when
he was 90 that he was going to live to be 95. None of us believed him. Well, then, when he got to
95, he moved the goal post. And he said, I'm now
going to live to be 100. We believe him. So he's in his hundredth year. He's at home. He's resting well. He's got staff that
take care of him. And so we're grateful for the
fact that he's still with us. Even though he's not able,
really, to do anything anymore, his ministry's prayer. And I believe in the
importance of prayer and the power of prayer. And so I know he would
appreciate your prayers for him. Operation Christmas Child-- I don't know how to begin to
thank each and everyone who's packed a box. These boxes go all
over the world. I had a girl here last
night from Bolivia, an exchange student living
with a couple from your church. And they brought her-- they bring her to church. And so she saw, two weeks ago,
all the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. She began to cry. She said, I know this. She said, I have
gotten this box before. And she began to cry, and
began to tell her host family how she had gotten
a box when she was a young girl in Bolivia. Well, she came by
last night to meet me. Nice young lady. And last night, I gave
an invitation for people to put their faith and
trust in Jesus Christ. She came, and she
stood on the front to give her life to Christ. [APPLAUSE] A couple years ago, I was
here with your pastor, and we were up in his study,
just between services. And a young lady
wanted to see me. And so one of the
pastors came up. And they said, Franklin,
there's a girl downstairs, and she would like to
give you her shoebox. OK. And so she came up and she
called me "Mr. Gra-ham." Well, I knew she wasn't
from Albuquerque. [LAUGHTER] And she handed me her shoebox-- her little hands were shaking,
and she handed it to me. And I said, well, thank
you so much for the box. I said, where are you from? She said, I'm from Bosnia. She said-- during the war,
she said, we lost our home. Lost my parents. And I was a refugee
at a refugee camp, and you came with shoeboxes. And I got one of the boxes. And it meant so
much to me to know that somebody cared
for me, that there were people in the world
that knew about the problems that I was facing. She said, I got adopted by a
family here in Albuquerque. I'm going to the
University of New Mexico. I got a job at Wal-Mart. And I want to know if
you would take my box, and give it to a child
like I was 10 years ago. And so these boxes-- God uses them. And you know, the
power behind it is God. And God uses prayer. We ask people to pray, as
you pack that shoebox-- just to pray for the child
who's going to get the box. I don't know who's
going to get the box. God does. And this year, we'll
collect about 12 million. And can you imagine 12
million people praying? What God might do with your box? And where he may send your box? And how he may use your box? So thank you for every box. And every one of
them is special. And no two boxes are alike. They're all different. People put their
personalities in the boxes. It's kind of fun to
watch children open them, and the giggles
and the excitement. But we use the boxes
for evangelism. I want every child to
know that there's a God. I want every child to
know that God loves them. I want every child to know that
God sent His son from heaven to this earth to take our sins. That Jesus Christ died
on a cross for our sins. I want the children of
the world to know that. And not only do we present
the Gospel to every child, but we have a follow-up program. We have a discipleship
program, a 12-lesson program that they go through, for those
that have received Christ. And then, we encourage the
children to share their faith. So it's evangelism,
discipleship, and it's multiplication. We had this last year. We had-- and I can't tell you
the country, because the guy would get his head cut off. But it was an imam in a
city in the Middle East. And he was giving candy
to all the students that came to the mosque
to memorize the Quran. And he heard about
Operation Christmas Child. So he asked if we would
bring the shoeboxes over to give to his kids. Well, we're not going to reward
kids for memorizing the Quran. We can't do that. So we explained
to the imam, we're sorry we can't do this because
this is a Christian program. We want the children to know
about God and His son Jesus Christ, and that He died
for our sins on the cross. And so we just won't
be able to do that. He said, you can do that. And you say, what? This is a Muslim imam. And he's now giving
us permission to hand out the shoeboxes and to
give the Gospel in his mosque. So the team gave
out the shoeboxes, presented the Gospel,
and gave an invitation. 200 kids raised their
hands to receive Christ. [APPLAUSE] Now, are all 200 of them saved? I have no clue. Only God knows that. Only God knows that. And the imam allowed it, and
encouraged it, and wanted it. You never know how God will use
these boxes, because there's prayer behind them. There's power in prayer. And we want children to know
about God's son, Jesus Christ. There was one
pastor in Tanzania. And he wanted to go to a
Muslim area to plan a church. So he bought a little piece
of property in this community. And the piece of property was
about the size of this stage. He was just going to
put up a little metal building that would hold
about 30 people or so. Well, he was told
by the local elders that he could not
build a church. He asked why. They said, because this is
a predominantly Muslim area, and the people won't
want a church here, so you can't build one. OK. Well, the next
year, he came back with Operation Christmas Child. And they gave shoebox
gifts to all the children in the community. The community was so touched
about this act of kindness-- these gifts that had
been given to the kids-- They gave permission for
him to build the church. Not only has he built a
church, but Muslim kids that got saved-- over a hundred of them-- they are now part
of that church. And so he's gone down to another
village, about 20 miles away, and it's a Muslim area. He's bought a piece of property. They told him the same thing--
you can't build a church here. OK. This year, he's going to take
Operation Christmas Child down to that village, just to
see what God might do. So pray for him. [APPLAUSE] Thank you again. Every box is important. Have you noticed how
divided our country is? It just gets worse, doesn't it? The level of hatred that's
in the political world-- the media against
the politicians, politicians against the media. Political party against
political party. There used to be cooperation. There used to be give and take,
and things seemed to move. But we're kind of at
a point in our country where people don't
want to work together. And it's all about winning. And we need to pray
for our politicians. You see, the Bible
tells us in 1 Timothy, "Therefore I exhort all of
the supplications, prayers, intercession. And giving of thanks
be made for all men, for kings, for all who
are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful
life in all godliness and reverence." God commands us to pray. And if things aren't
going well, maybe it's because we as Christians
are not praying the way we should be praying. We need to pray for
the mayor of your city. We need to pray
for your governor. For those that work in
the state legislature. We need to pray. We need to pray for the
senators and congressmen that go to Washington. We need to pray
for the president, for the vice president. Why are we to do this? So that we will have a
quiet and peaceful life. God wants us to put
some skin in the game. He wants us to pray. And if we do this,
then things are going to go better
for us-- if we pray. But if we don't pray,
and things get bad, there's no one to blame
except the church, because we didn't pray. So I want to encourage everyone
to pray for those in authority. Say well, but Franklin, I
didn't vote for that person. It has nothing to do
with who you voted for. This verse doesn't say, only
pray for those you vote for. It's to pray for all those
that are in authority. Regardless of how they got
there, we have to pray, because they make decisions that
affect our lives, don't they? They pass laws that
affect our lives. So we need to pray. Pray. I cannot emphasize the need for
prayer, more than ever before. Our country is in trouble. And I have no hope in
the Republican Party. I have no hope in
the Democratic Party. The only hope that
I have is in God. [APPLAUSE] God and His family. In the recent
months, we have seen three devastating hurricanes. Never seen anything
quite like that. Hurricane Harvey, in
the southeastern part of the United States--
southeast part of Texas, the entire southeast part
of Texas went underwater. They'd never had
rainfall like this. Many people did not
have flood insurance because the areas where they
lived weren't near a river, weren't near a stream. And they had never
flooded in their history. They went underwater. They said it was a
thousand-year flood. Now, I have no clue who was
around a thousand years ago to be able to compare
this to, but they must have found somebody. The highest recorded rainfall
in the United States. Many people ask what's going on. Is this climate change? Global warming? Are we-- mankind-- are
we responsible for what we're seeing? I don't know. A few days later, we
had Hurricane Irma, with the lowest
barometric pressure that had ever been recorded
in an Atlantic hurricane. The category 5 storm ripped
through Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, St. Martin,
Turks and Caicos, Went across the Florida
Keys, and then kind of boomeranged up
the west coast of Florida. Then, a few weeks later,
here came Hurricane Maria. It came through Guadeloupe,
the US Virgin Islands, and absolutely
destroyed Puerto Rico. And then, a few days
later, Hurricane Nate went up the Mississippi
River Valley into the Ohio, and dumped water and
caused floods all the way to the mid-Atlantic states. And people want to
know what is going on. Is God trying to
send a message to us? Is He trying to
tell us something? Then we have the
shootings in Las Vegas. 58 people were killed. 489 people wounded. Then we had the church
shooting in Texas, with 26 who were killed. People want to know
what in the world has happened to our world. It's upside down. Something's wrong. Jesus made mention,
in Luke, chapter 13. He said, "There were
present at that season some who told him
about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices." These people had come
to make sacrifices, and Pilate had them killed. And he took their human
blood, and he mixed it in with the blood
of their sacrifices. "And Jesus answered
and said to them, do you suppose that these
Galileans were worse sinners than all
the other Galileans, because they
suffered such things? I tell you, no. But unless you repent,
you likewise will perish. Or the 18, on whom the tower
in Siloam fell, killing them. Do you think that they
were worse sinners than all the others
who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you
all likewise will perish." So when we see these
storms, these hurricanes, and these people that have
lost so much property, that have been killed in
places like Guadeloupe-- or take places like Puerto Rico,
or St. Martin's, or wherever-- were those people that
died in those storms-- were they worse sinners than
everybody else in Puerto Rico, or everybody else in Guadeloupe,
or everybody else in St. Martin, or wherever? No. Jesus said, but unless we
repent, we too will perish. Or how about the people
that died there in Vegas? They just went to hear a
country western concert. Country music. Having a good time,
minding their own business. And they die. Were they worse sinners
than everybody else in Las Vegas at that time? Jesus said no. He would say no. But unless we repent,
we also will perish. Repentance-- that's what I want
to talk about this morning, to you-- is repentance. You see, this gets
God's attention-- when we repent. What is repentance? It's to turn from sin. To dedicate oneself to the
amendment of one's life, Webster's dictionary says. To feel regret or contrition. To change one's mind. Jesus warns, unless we
repent, we too will perish. You see, there is a judgment. God is going to judge sin. Period. Slam-dunk deal. He's going to judge sin. The Bible says-- and this is in
1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, chapter 6-- "When Your people go out to
battle against their enemies, wherever You send them,
and when they pray to You toward this city
which You have chosen, and the temple which I
have built for Your name, then hear from heaven their
prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. When they sin against You-- for
there is no one who does not sin-- and You become angry with them
and deliver them to the enemy, and take them captive
to a land far or near. Yet when they come to
themselves in the land where they have been carried
captive, and repent, and make supplication to You
in the land of their captivity, saying, we have sinned. We have done wrong. And we have
committed wickedness. And when they return to
You with all of their heart and with all their soul in
the land of their captivity where they have been
carried captive, and pray toward
their land, which You gave their fathers and the
city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which
I have built for Your name. Then hear from
heaven Your dwelling place their prayer,
their supplications, and maintain their cause. And forgive Your people who
have sinned against You." Now may God, I
pray, let your eyes be open and let your ears be
attentive to the prayers made in this place. What God is saying
in this Old Testament passage is that if we sin,
and God brings judgment, and we call out on His
name, we confess our sins, tell him that we
have been wicked, and turn from those
sins, that God will hear. God will hear. And some of you may
say, you know, Franklin, I feel like God has
judged my life already. My life is in a mess,
my marriage broken. My kids are a mess. You may be on drugs or
alcohol, and maybe you've been kicked out
of school, and you feel there's just no
hope for your life. There is-- God. God is here. He hasn't left. All we have to do is
to call on His name. Tell him that we have sinned. Be willing to repent. Repent is to turn
and to leave that sin and to follow His son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. God will hear from heaven. He will forgive our sins,
and He will heal our heart. The Bible says,
"What man of you, having a hundred sheep,
if you lost one of them, does not leave the
99 in the wilderness and go after the one which
is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it,
he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes
home, he calls together his friends and neighbors,
saying them, rejoice with me! For I have found my
sheep which was lost. I say to you that
likewise there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than the 99 just
persons who need no repentance." This is how heaven responds to
just one sinner who repents. And I believe this morning-- and I'm going to give an
invitation in a few minutes-- and I believe
there's going to be many of you this morning
that will repent, and turn from your sins, and put your
faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And the Bible says
all of heaven-- think about it--
millions upon millions, hundreds of millions of angels-- rejoicing and singing
praises to God over one-- just one sinner who
is willing to repent. Are you willing to
repent this morning? The Bible says we have
all sinned and come short of God's glory. All of us are guilty of sin. Franklin Graham's guilty. And the Bible makes it clear
that the penalty of sin is death. God has put a death sentence
over all of mankind. We were born into sin. We have all sinned. You say, but, Franklin, come on. This is a new millennium. The culture has changed. Hold on, wait a second. I agree, cultures change. God doesn't change. The Bible says, I'm the Lord,
thy God and I change not. You see, His word is the same-- yesterday, a million
years ago, today-- as it's going to be a
million years from now. His word doesn't change. His word is the same. And that's what's so
wonderful about God. He doesn't change. He's the same. And whatever He said,
He keeps His word. He keeps His oath. He's a good God. And if you can't
remember anything else-- [APPLAUSE] --if you can't remember anything
else, you remember this, this morning-- God loves you. He loves you. And He's willing to
forgive your sins, if you're willing to
call on Him this morning and turn from those
sins, and by faith, believe on the name
of Jesus Christ. You say, but, Franklin,
what do you mean by sin? Lying is a sin. Have you ever lied? Maybe some of you say, well,
no, I haven't done that. Well, you're a liar. All of us-- I'm pointing the
finger to myself-- all of us have sinned. All of us have lied. Stealing. Well, when I was young I took a
dollar out of my mother's purse and I bought some candy with it. Does that count? Yeah, that's stealing. Put the dollar back in your
mother's purse, and tell her you're sorry. Coveting. That's right--
coveting is a sin. Looking at something
that somebody else has, and desiring to have that for
yourself is a sin against God. Adultery. Any type of sexual relationship
out of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. Marriage is defined by
God as a man and a woman. Not two men. Not two women. I don't care what
the state says. [APPLAUSE] I don't care what the
Supreme Court says. God defines marriage as
between a man and a woman. Any type of sexual relationship
outside of a marriage relationship is a sin. Now, there are many of you
that are here this morning. You're guilty of sexual sins. You have been with your
boyfriend, or your girlfriend, multiple partners,
you have cheated on your wife-- whatever the
case may be, the fact is God will forgive you this morning. He'll forgive you and
He'll take that shame. He'll take that guilt,
and He'll cleanse you. Murder. You say, well,
Franklin, come on. This is New Mexico. They lock you up in jail. You can't go around
killing people. Really? How about abortion? That's right. Some of you here this
morning-- you're guilty. And some of you
women not only are guilty of having an abortion. But you men-- a boyfriend or
a father that has approved, or a husband that has
approved, and given approval, you're guilty too. I had a woman, a
number of years ago, told me that she had had an
abortion 20 years earlier. She said, it's haunted
me every day of my life. Every day, I wake
up in the morning. I wonder what that
child would have been. When it turned 16, I thought
about what-- that would have been, maybe, their first date. What they would have done, and
where they would have gone. And she said, it has haunted me. Can God forgive me for
what I did 20 years ago? I said, you betcha. God's in the forgiving business. That's why He sent
His son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came from heaven
to this earth to take our sins. And when we repent, this
gets God's attention. When we repent, and we say,
God, I had that abortion. I have sinned. I have lied. I have stolen. I've done all of these
things, and I'm sorry. I want to turn from
that right now. And I want to trust Your
salvation, Jesus Christ. I want to put my faith
and trust in him. God will hear that prayer. And He'll forgive
you this morning, if you're willing to call
on the name of His son Jesus Christ and
repent of your sins. [APPLAUSE] We're under the death sentence. And there's no one who
can pay the debt of sin. You cannot pay the debt of sin. If you pay the debt of
sin, that means you die. Someone has to pay
that debt for you. And there is only one
who can pay that debt, and that's Jesus Christ. Jesus came from heaven to
this earth to take our sins. And He went to the cross, and
He died and shed His blood on a cross for you. And they stripped
Him of His clothes. They nailed Him to the tree. And while He was
on the cross, God poured out on His son
all the sins past. He poured out on His son
all the sins present. He poured out all
the sins future-- that's you and me. And Jesus Christ
died on that cross. And He was buried for our
sins, and on the third day God raised His son to life. Jesus Christ isn't dead. [APPLAUSE] The Bible says that
God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but should have
everlasting life. God sent Jesus on a rescue
mission to take our sins. Would you put your faith
and trust in Him tonight-- or this morning? Remember this. God loves you. He made you. He created you. He knows everything
about your life. But sin separates us from Him. And the only way we can
have a relationship with God is to tell Him we're sorry. And to turn from those sins, and
by faith, accept His salvation. You see, no one else
has died for your sins. No one else paid that debt. Mohammed-- he never claimed
to take the sins of the world. Shiva never claimed to
take the sins of the world. Buddha never claimed to
take the sins of the world. There's only one. That's Jesus. And He came from heaven
to this earth for you. If you had been the only
person to ever live, He would have come for you. But you have got to
be willing to repent. The Bible says,
"Repent, therefore. Be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, so that the time of
refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Repent, therefore,
of your wickedness. And pray God that perhaps
the thought of your heart may be forgiven you." You see, God judges the
thoughts of our hearts. The Bible says, if we hate
somebody in our heart, it's like murder. Or if a person has lust
for another man or a woman, it's the same as
committing adultery. The thoughts of our heart
have to be forgiven. Truly, these times of
ignorance, the Bible says, God overlooked, but now
commends all men everywhere to repent. And that's what I'm talking
about this morning-- about repentance. Are you willing to repent,
to tell God you're sorry? You say, Franklin, I wish I
could turn from the sexual life that I've been living. I know it's wrong. I wish I could turn from drugs. I wish I could turn from alcohol
and the parties and the things that I've been doing. The stealing. The lying. But I can't change. That's right-- we
can't change ourselves. God can change you, though. If you tell God you're sorry,
and turn from your sins, and put your faith and trust
in Christ this morning, guess what? The Holy Spirit of God
will come into your heart and to your life. God will help you to change. You can't do it, but
God will do it in you. I was 22 when I gave
my life to Christ, and He's been working
on me ever since. And I thank God for
that decision I made. How about you? [APPLAUSE] The Bible says to believe on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved. Will you believe on
Him this morning? Jesus said, I'm the way,
the truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by me. There's no other way to
God except through Christ. So I want to ask you-- are your sins forgiven? Have you told God that
you're sorry for your sins? Have you turned from them? If you would like to
do that this morning, I want to invite you to
get up out of your seat and come stand right here. And we'll have a word
of prayer together. And you can go back to
be with your friends. They won't leave you. I promise you that
they'll stay here. But this is maybe the
most important decision of your life. God loves you. He wants to have a
relationship with you. But your sins separate you. You have to repent And believe
on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're willing to do that
this morning you'll be saved. Let's all stand. And if you're here this
morning, and you're not sure that your sins are
forgiven, I want you to get up and
come right here, and just stand right here, and
we'll have a word of prayer together. Wherever you are,
just get up and come, and we'll have a word of prayer. But you're coming-- not
to Franklin Graham-- I can't save you. You're coming this
morning to God, through faith in His
son, Jesus Christ. Come on. [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC - "JUST AS I AM"] (SINGING) Just as I am, without
one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me. And that Thou bid'st me come
to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. Just as I am, though tossed
about, with all my conflicts, all my doubts, fightings
and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. Jesus, take all of me. And I run to You. I run to You. I lay everything at Your feet. Let my life be Yours. Are you sure that your
sins are forgiven? You say, Franklin, I think so. I'm not talking about
thinking nothing. Do you know it? Are you convinced? You see, this is life or death. It's heaven or hell. You have that
choice this morning. But you've got to come
to God, repenting. Telling God you're sorry. Telling Him you want to turn. And you've got to come believing
on the name of His son Jesus Christ. Come on. If you're not sure, come on. Do it quickly. Come on. God loves you. Come to Him. (SINGING) Jesus take all of me. And I run to You. I run to You. I lay everything at Your feet. Let my life be Yours. Anyone else? We got just another minute. You say, but,
Franklin, I don't like to come in front of everybody. I'm a shy person. That's embarrassing, to
be in front of a crowd. Remember, Jesus Christ
died publicly for you. They stripped Him
of His clothes. They beat Him. They nailed Him to a tree. And a person that had
never sinned before-- all your sins were
poured out on Him. And He did that publicly. So I'm asking you
this morning to take that stand publicly for Him. If You have never
done that, come on. Do it now. [APPLAUSE] (SINGING) Just as I am, Thou
wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve. Because Thy promises I
believe, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. [APPLAUSE] Anyone else? You've still got a
couple of minutes. Anyone else? Do this now. You may never have
another chance. Do it now. (SINGING) Jesus, take all of me. And I run to You. I run to You. I lay everything at Your feet. Let my life be Yours. [APPLAUSE] (SINGING) Jesus, take all of me. I run to You. I run to You. I lay everything at Your feet. Let my life be Yours. I want to say a word to
those of you that have come. By coming, you're saying to God,
I'm a sinner, and I'm sorry. And I want to turn from my sins. You say, but, Franklin, doesn't
God know that I'm a sinner? Yeah. He knows that. He just wants to
hear you say it. And by coming this morning,
you're saying to God, I believe that Jesus
Christ is Your son. That He took my sins. That He died in my place. And I want to trust
Him as my savior. And I want to follow
Him as my Lord. And I'm going to lead you
right now in a prayer. And a prayer is just
simply talking to God like I'm talking to you. So just repeat this
out loud after me. OK? Dear God-- Dear God-- I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Help me to turn from my sins. Help me to turn from my sins. I believe that Jesus
Christ is Your son. I believe that Jesus
Christ is Your son. I believe that He took
my sins to the cross. I believe that He took
my sins to the cross. That He died in my place. That He died in my place. For me. For me. I believe that You
raised Him to life. I believe that You
raised Him to life. I want to trust
Him as my savior. I want to trust
Him as my savior. I want to follow Him as my Lord. I want to follow Him as my Lord. From this day forward. From this day forward. Forever. Forever. I pray this in Jesus' name. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. [CHEERING] We hope you enjoyed
this special service from Calvary Church featuring
our guest speaker, Franklin Graham. Did this message strengthen
your relationship with the Lord? Tell us about it. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And, just a reminder-- you can
give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/give. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary Church.
