Nick Vujicic – Bring A Friend series

guys I just want to be real with you I want to tell you that I love you I don't want to tell you that I understand your pain we all have ups and downs but I want to tell you that there is hope in the name of Jesus and I don't know what your life's looking like but I really hope and pray that this morning you'd be blessed to be reminded of the promises of God that we can always go back to you know we always have stress right we always have ups and downs see my foot ups and downs ups and downs are too bad right and you're not eight-year-olds of stress I'm like why you stress oh because the homework is so hard and my parents didn't give me everything I want you know like the homework and and my brother and sister they pull my hair every single day like you know like they're fully stressed out I love eight-year-olds you know some of them they come up to me and they say what happened and I save cigarettes right but then you know thirteen-year-olds you know they're like trying to be cool you know the guys that try and say the f-word you know to be cool and you know I need big biceps to be cool man you don't need big biceps to be cool my biceps are so big there fell off all right and then girls you know which sounds more pretty wish I was more beautiful you're beautiful just the way you are forget about the outside its who you are and how you know the truth of your value that you're a child of God you're royalty and man when you're 13 years old you know there's so many things attacking you and thinking in your mind you know I need a boyfriend to feel loved look I'll tell you right now sex is not love you can sleep with someone but still not know if they actually love you and for as long as you're looking for a boyfriend you'll get a boyfriend but I'm telling you right now my own daughters they ain't gonna be looking for a boyfriend they're gonna be looking for a husband can I hear an amen I'll tell you that right now but man 13 year old wife it's stress with everything around me is changing my parents they don't understand me they're freaking me out I put a Do Not Disturb sign on my door and they still come into my room they don't respect my privacy and I'm freaking out right now my parents they backstab me I thought I could trust them they invite me to the party then they uninvite me to the party maybe I just need a boyfriend right that's what they think and it's so stressful but man then you go to the 17 year-olds and they gotta get out of high school they got to get into the right College man if I can just get into that College then everything's gonna be what okay you get into collagen is everything okay no now what do you need money Oh God if you could just give me a job and everything's gonna be okay you finally get your job and after two days you look at your boss in the face and you look to the heavens and you say really you give me hell I hate him then all the single people if I can just find the one you ought to talk to some married people you know they'll tell you honey if you ain't happy single you ain't him you happy married can I hear an amen those are the married people saying Amen and clap it right there who are you what do you want for me I wanted arms unless you know someone when I was 12 years old I was at an airport she came up to me she said were you born this way I said yes she said have you ever wondered why I said yes she said well I know why and I'm thinking wow a stranger's gonna tell me why and my doctors don't know why I was born this way Lady gaga don't know why I was born this way if she's gonna tell me why she said in your previous life I'm thinking did she just say previous life like she said you were a very bad boy in your previous life and now you're being punished for it and I'm thinking whoa whoa whoa whoa I didn't even have fingerprints to this life how did you find me let it she said but don't worry in your next life you'll come back like a butterfly and I'm thinking I don't wanna be a butterfly you know how many butterflies I've squashed in my wheelchair and I go to school and I get teased and thinking about well wait a second I need to be cool but why do they have more than I and I went home every day especially in elementary school mom and dad I don't want to go to school coz they're teasing me they're bullying me don't worry what they say we love you God loves you you're beautiful you're special hey y'all I'm like I don't want to be special I want arms legs and if I just an arms and legs and everything's gonna be okay now maybe you're thinking at 50 years old my brother's the providers the planners and my sisters for your children if I can just pay off the house and get a couple rental properties but guess what it's got nothing to do with arms and legs it's got nothing to do with stuff the temporary things of this world they never satisfy your heart you get something you want some more money drugs sex alcohol pornography fame and fortune it does not satisfy and you still feel poor I've seen more poor people happy than rich people happy that's the truth it's got about it's got nothing to do with what we see it's about what we know is true and the value of knowing the truth far exceeds far exceeds anything this world could ever give you let's look at Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 it says for I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart I will be found by you declares the Lord have you ever started a journey on trying to seek out God but in the end you feel like he's just playing hide and seek or when you know that he it says in the Bible that he's a loving God and he can do all things and when I prayed for something it wouldn't happen then where is God for me we are so blessed I have had in my family the parents that we've had my father unfortunately passed away in I just this may past at 62 years old from cancer now did we pray that he would be healed absolutely do we know that God can do all things absolutely not just because this but I'm actually seen and I've seen blind people seeing deaf people hearing lame people walking crooked backs come straight even in my own back I have a Western doctor report to say I have a medically unexplainable something that was reversed that scientifically cannot be reversed it was my spine becoming hollow I had three holes in my spine and they can do anything the prognosis was that by age 40 I would have metal rods in my back restricting my mobility and I'm like thanks so funny he came out and he said I have some news for you he said what I said what's that he said you were born with a rare disease I said I know he said no your backs solving into nothing 10 years later we got an MRI scan and from 2002 three holes 2012 two holes in ears like mmm I don't understand this I'm like mm-hmm thank you Jesus that's me raising the roof right 2014 one whole 2015 no holes I have a pair of shoes to my closet in case God gives me arms and legs that's the truth are we sad that my dad's not here yes but we can bury him in peace in knowing that God has a plan and our plan that when we live in in his plan it's not about just this 90 years 80 years or 62 years if you were my like my dad 62 or like my first cousin 27 years old he died about cancer there are many people who have pain and suffering in the world but this world is not our home we are citizens of heaven passing through and I used to think that God is this mean unfair God because look at my pain well when you read the Bible you find out really quickly God did not give us pain in fact he created Adam and Eve with no belly button and no pain right did you get the belly button power yeah you got that one right why did he allow the serpent in the Garden of Eden that seems unfair if God's are loving God why does he allow suffering in this world well how unfair God would be to say to Adam and Eve I created you with free choice but you're just gonna be with me and all you're gonna hear is my voice that's why he allowed someone to say something different compared to what he told them so then they can actually exercise free choice because if there's no opportunity to exercise free choice then is there really free choice they're in on the fall of man sin death sickness and disease came but what the enemy tried to use for bad God can turn into good and now we have a temporary life to hear what God says and say yes God I believe in you I believe in your plan will say no for me at age 8 I told him no I said I understand the gospel I understand that if I lie once I'm a liar if I sin once I'm a sinner I know I'll never be holy I've even been jealous of people and I realized why I didn't think jealousy was that bad that's a sin and I believed with all my heart that Jesus is and was who he said he was and did what he did and I thought that God's plan would be those that he would give me arms and legs I mean how cool would it be if God would give me arms and legs and then go around the world and show the world that Jesus lives I told you about my back I told you about 13 miracles I've seen this is all true did it change your life couldn't it be that even if God gave me arms and legs right here that you could possibly tell someone else but that doesn't change their life and the only people's lives that would really be changed is right here yet God sends me on two and a half thousand planes 16 presidents books in 55 languages to go on TV in front of 200 million people at a time in Russia and Latin America to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ arms and legs you see the beautiful thing about this life yes we can pray for healing and the beautiful thing about this God that we serve is that he can do it but even when he doesn't give me a miracle he can still use me to be a miracle for someone else if my dad didn't die of cancer he's eventually gonna die of something else I'm being on planes three planes that nearly crashed in my lifetime I nearly been on a couple head-on collisions still never been in a car accident in my life it's unbelievable the grace of God in fact to the point where in the mid 2000s 2005 I went to a southeast country in Asia and about 50,000 people gave their life to Jesus Christ in one week and we got an email saying if Nick come saying if Nick comes back to this country we're gonna kill him straight to my office three years later we went back there about 70,000 people came to Jesus that way and guess who was one of them that guy who threatened to kill me you see truth Ori his whole family's still serving in that church where he got saved I want you to understand that when you find something to live for you found something to die for and when your perception of your life is from God's eternal perspective what is 90 years compared to helping one person know that God loves them I'll never forget when I was 24 years old speaking in front of selling Southern California congregation I look out and I see a man hold up a little boy no arms no legs and a little foot like me and I'm like wow I want to wrestle him later wrong I've got the father up here bringing little Daniel up he is looking up at me and I put my little foot in his foot he smiles and everyone cries I hugged his mum she was crying she said now I know God has a plan for my son today Daniel knows God's got a plan for him because God had a plan for uncle Nick you see your story's just as powerful for someone else you can be used by God if God can use a man without arms and legs to be his hands and feet then why can't God use you yes he can I told his mom hey when Daniel goes to school and if he gets bullied because bullying actually brought me to an attempted suicide at age 10 if he gets bullied at his school I'm coming in my wheelchair and I'm gonna run them all over no you shouldn't be clapping that's not the Christian thing to do but I went to his school when he was about under six seven eight years old and after that 15-minute speech that's all it took for him to become the accepted and actually now admired and coolest kid in the school I actually had to sit him down and talk about humility I'm just joking but if I could help someone else he's that enough what do you want that's what I want one day for me to stand in front of God and know that I was never perfect I was never the perfect husband but I strive to be the perfect husband I was never the perfect father to my children but I strive to be the best father I could be to be the best child of God that I can be yet still know that every time I failed that every day I can ask for forgiveness of sins and God come into my life and change me and renew me and change my heart teach me your word that I may know you knowing God is the greatest purpose it's not to be in ministry I don't care what Minister you have unyk if you ever open up your mouth to somebody about Jesus the greatest purpose is to know your Savior Jesus Christ to fall in love within he is mine and I am his and he is with me and when I cannot walk he will carry me and that day that I see him he'll say well done my good and faithful servant not because of how righteous I was perfectly living but because I accepted Jesus Christ and the gift of the forgiveness given by his death on the cross see no one died until sin was there Jesus if he died for my sins then I don't die for mine and he says well done my good and faithful servant welcome home and then the next thing I'm looking forward to in heaven he's hearing my name hey Dad now look Daniel Martinez running to me with his new legs hugging me with his new I'm saying thank you brother for helping me believe that this place called heaven was real what compares to that when you know the truth of the purpose that God has for you you also realize that there is God's plan for your life and the lines that take you away from it I tell you I'm not an atheist and I'll never be an atheist because when you see demons 10 foot tall 4 foot wide walking through your San Francisco hotel wall room and you feel him before he even comes through the room you ain't a theist after that baby for anyone who only believes that science is real just go to a rural place where there are no hospitals or doctors and there are only witch doctors as as as prominent as coffee shops are here in America a prominent witch doctor offices voodoo black magic the whole deal they witness it every single week so there is this war in the spiritual realm and the lies take you away from the Word of God you're ugly just give up there is no God you'll never get married even if you got married you can't even hold your wife's hand you can't even hold your kids when they're crying well I'm not ugly I'm wonderfully and fearfully made according to God I'm not forgotten in Psalm 139 it says he has more precious thoughts of me than all the grains of sand in the world in Philippians 4:13 he says I came to all things through Christ who strengthens me in Romans 8:28 it says all things come together for the good for those who love Him who have been called according to his purpose 'as when you realize it's just the lies - the lies you can go you can talk to the foot because the ears ain't listening and you turn around and you start that journey with one step every journey starts with one step how long will you put your faith in your intellect or in money or in your planes or waiting for another seasonal circumstance how long will you believe the lie that you need to fix yourself up and that you overcome your pornographic addiction before actually God loves you and accepts you the way that you are the Bible says that he loves you and he sent his son to die on the cross even while you were still Yetta Sinha the most beautiful example of this of God's love for people who don't deserve I am first but man when I went to Mumbai India in 2008 we team challenge to go speak to 650 sex slaves and after that I went into some brothel houses 10 acre district 250 houses 6 girls in each 6 storeys high we went into one and there was his woman on the floor she was 90 years old started talking to her about Jesus through a translator her sister says I don't want to hear about your God let me see your God I'm sick of you people coming in from the West and talking about your God I'm done with this Jesus man show me he's real excuse me she said make my sister walk I said excuse me she said this woman is my sister if your God is real we carry her everywhere for four-and-a-half years right now let me see you so I said a quick prayer to God I said God just in case you're not aware of what's going on right now I'm about to pray for a woman who apparently hasn't walked for four and a half years we prayed and the first time she tried to get up and my my heart just sank as she tried to get up with my help of my friends she couldn't put any weight down with her feet I could see the excruciating pain I'm just trying to get in a physical position she was hunched up like this with the tremor first time didn't didn't happen set her down prayed again all of a sudden the tremor stopped she went straight in the seat and I'll give you the short story she walked but you know was amazing about this story that's not why I tell you another miracle let me tell you the miracle behind the miracle I didn't know who that woman was she was just a old woman I knew she wasn't one of those slaves but I didn't know who she was she was the one I found out later who after the miracle gave her life to Jesus two weeks after that miracle but guess who she was she was the woman who saw that red light district become what it is that ten acre city red-light district was just a rare block piece of land raw and she said we're gonna stop slavery here she recruited the kidnappers and all the pimps and all the Madonna and all the planes she's the chief of evil 40,000 slaves what have you done wrong in our human mind well I haven't done that bad but if you have sinned then you were a sinner ten thousand sins or one sin compared to God we're all unrighteous and Jesus died for her and God healed her right there it's incredible what's stopping the love of God coming to you there is none and you got to turn away from these lives and take that step and in front of those 650 slaves I spoke about Jesus do you have hope is Jesus your hope do you have that hope and peace and rest that you know that you're complete and lacking nothing I stand before you complete and lacking nothing because Jesus is all I need do you go to sleep at night knowing that if you do not wake up you know where you're gonna be I do and if your hope is not in Jesus then what is your hope try to put that hope to the test real quick with me Jessica can I ask you to play some piano please I'll play piano but I'm not warmed up yet but you know that your hope is real when you put it to the test how do you put hope to the test well what would you say in front of 650 slaves who were kidnapped at 10 solved by their mother some of them be positive reincarnation better luck next time don't ever be a Christian just because someone tells you to be a Christian don't be a Christian because of a church or a Christian be a Christian because a Christian in definition is because of Jesus a follower of Christ research look for truth seek God and you'll find him I couldn't tell these girls to even be there national religion because in their religion they're an outcast and always will be in other religions never a reassurance never an assurance of salvation nothing amount on some levels how to forgive your enemies and even forgive yourself some other religions is we'll just do this be good do good and good will happen you really have courage to tell that to one of these girls could you know it's not real the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous it's what the Bible says but I could talk about Jesus and how he took our sin I'll shame our guilt on the cross he swept blood out of fear when he died for you and me that we may live forever and these girls went to a Jesus camp got totally transformed totally transformed got a job saved up money not for a house 700 bucks in their back pocket went back to the brothels where they were once a slave in with a bucket of water and a towel and knocked on the door that they were once a slave in and saw their former master said hello I used to be one of your slaves and I want to tell you that I love you then I found Jesus in my heart he needs help me to forgive myself and let go of my past and move forward I never thought that God could give me a brand new life but he's he's done that he's forgiven me and I know that and now that he's forgiven me Who am I not to forgive you I want to tell you that I forgive you and then I love you and I'm praying for your soul cause I know you're still lacking coz I know you're still broken but God can do something beautiful with your broken pieces too like he did for me I'm here to wash your feet washes their feet gives him 700 bucks I'm taking a slave home makes that slave their sister and adoption basically Jesus camp finds a job and they both save up money to then go back and rescue another one and another one and another one and another one if that's not Redemption do you know God and his redemption for your life do you have an active relationship with him teenagers don't tell me you're just a Christian because you come to church you tease someone at school on Monday I don't think you know Jesus you ain't real with him yet sorry the first thing you realize is how much God loves you and how much he loves everyone that's the first step are we real with Jesus and in the moment I'm gonna call you forward to actually say your prayer with you yes in your extension campuses as well to the screen and I'm gonna call you forward to actually say a prayer to say yes God forgive me on my sin I want your plan change me change my life I'm not gonna lay hands when you're anything and the reason why I call you upfront listen is because of this if you can't stand up in a church building in a moment like this if you can't send up for your faith in here then how do you expect to stand up for your faith out there that's why I call you forward so right now the altar team in all the extension campuses and the overflow rooms here in this campus please come up the front and can we first just ask you every one just initially because of I don't want people to jump over your legs or anything like that but can we just stand up all of us and kind of scooch back against your seat to make it really easy right now all across this place from the front to the back if you know in your heart for real that this is the day that you don't want to live another day without Jesus in your life right now in this campus in the overflow rooms in all extension rooms at campuses right now if you know that you need to say yes God come into my life take over take over I need you I want to start my active relationship with you this is not a rededication Steinem and journey it starts with a prayer I'm going to lead you in that prayer krabi things right now grab your things and put one foot in front of the other in the name of Jesus you don't want to come along that's okay simply turn to the person next to you and say hey I really want to go up there I really want to give my life to Jesus but I don't want to go alone will you please come with me guess what they're gonna say absolutely so right now gateway and all the campuses right now hear a wait for every single person to come forward if you know you need to make your life right with Jesus come now and when you see someone moving forward let's clap them on down don't wait for the first person be the first person right now come on down that's one - come on down the front come on let's give God a shout of praise her people moved in all across this place three four five six seven eight all across the extension campuses nine ten all from the top I see you coming down we're gonna wait for you come on down you know you need to make your life probably Jesus that's another three and all the campuses come on down to the screen volunteers we will wait at the very end to talk to them just receive them don't talk to them yet come on down come on you know God is calling you come on down right now this is another - this is another - this is another three four five six seven eight nine ten if you know you need to make your life right with Jesus this is the final poll right now come to receive Jesus run on down [Music] keep coming awesome [Music] thank you Jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] everyone here at the front I want you to know that we love you so much god bless you in this prayer is the beginning volunteers we're just gonna stop praying for them right now and stop talking with them and I just want everyone at the front full attention let's all bow our heads and please repeat this prayer after me say dear God I come to you today thank you for your plan come into my life thank you Jesus for the cross forgive me change me forever and give me faith to live for you to walk with you and know you one day at a time I receive you as my Lord and Savior Holy Spirit fill me give me your comfort your peace and strength one day at a time in Jesus name I pray amen

Channel: gatewaychurchtv

Views: 42,312

Rating: 4.9383941 out of 5

Keywords: gatewaypeople, Gateway, Pastor Robert, sermon, Dallas, Texas, Southlake, relationship, Jesus, God, Honor, love, Nick Vujicic

Id: _Ypv44jmdd8

Length: 33min 19sec (1999 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 02 2017