Greg Laurie 50th Ann Generations

A photograph of one million people was taken at a Billy Graham crusade in South Korea. The speaker emphasizes the importance of spreading the gospel to every generation. They mention the success of the film Jesus Revolution, which has led to many people getting baptized. The speaker expresses hope for a revival in America and invites a guest pastor to speak. The pastor praises the faithfulness of the church and encourages them to stay focused on the Lord's coming. The speaker concludes with a prayer and mentions the availability of In-N-Out Burgers. Wow. So you wonder what does one million people look like? Well look at this photograph here and you'll see that's a million people. So that photograph was taken in South Korea at a Billy Graham crusade. I think that may have been the largest gathering of people for any evangelistic event in history. And there it was. So that you think, you know, the Bible says there's joy in heaven over one sinner that comes to repentance. So we're just so thankful that God has allowed us to do that. So what's next? Well what's next is we're going to just keep what we're doing. Keep doing it. You know, continue on. I know culture changes. I know time has changed. But the basic need of every person is still the need for a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That is never going to change. When I started, I was preaching to an older generation. That would be my parents' generation. The World War II people, often called the greatest generation. Then there was my generation, the baby boomers. We were the youth of the day. We're not the youth of the day anymore. One of our anthems was Forever Young. That's over with, clearly. Now we've gone from Acid Rock to Acid Reflux. It's really very sad. But then we have Gen X. And you know, a lot of times Gen X gets overlooked because the Millennials sort of took all the air out of the room. But there's Gen X and there's the Millennials. Now there's Gen Z. And they say that the next generation is called the Alpha Generation. So I know these things have changed. But the gospel is for every generation. That's what the Bible says. Psalm 119 verse 90 says, Your faithfulness continues from generation to generation. Speaking of generations, in Acts 13 it says, David served the will of God in his generation and then he fell asleep. So you know, we're each called to our generation. And one day I'll fall asleep. I already do that. But when the Bible uses this phrase, actually it's speaking of death. And one day I will go on, you know, and then I pass the baton on to the next generation. And then they carry that baton and they pass it on to the next generation. This is not a solo thing. This is something that we pass on from generation to generation. Because it's never going to change. And this is what we believe so strongly. So here's the commitment I'm making to this church for the future. I will continue to offer theology without apology. I'll continue to teach the Word of God. Because that's what people need. Some people say, oh no, this young generation, they have a short attention span. You have to make everything small and short. And little sermonettes. The problem is sermonettes produce Christianettes. And we don't need that now, do we? I think people develop an appetite for what you feed them. And I think if you feed them the Word of God, they'll come wanting more of the Word of God. So we'll continue to do that. We'll continue to preach the gospel everywhere we can. Attempting to reach unexpected people in unexpected places with an unexpected message. What we've been able to do in film has been so thrilling. And my friend John Irwin, who directed Jesus Revolution, is here tonight as well with his wife Beth. It's been fantastic. Did you know that 25 million people have seen Jesus Revolution? And all around the world. All around the world. And ultimately it may be as many as a hundred million will see it. And people have come to Christ watching this movie. You know, one of the things that was so amazing is, on the heels of the film, so many people wanted to get baptized. And specifically baptized at this beach where the scenes were shot, where the original baptisms took place. It's called Pirates Cove Beach. And so we announced the baptism after the film had shown. And 20,000 people showed up. We've never had anything like that happen. And 4,500 people were baptized in one day. It's crazy. So it literally was the largest baptism in American history. So here's the thing. You know, this gives me hope for the future. Because we'll talk about what happened 50 years ago. Wasn't that glorious? Yeah, it was. But guess what? What just happened at that baptism was bigger than anything we did back then. I've been often asked, do you think we'll see another revival in America? My answer is, I sure hope so. Because that's our only hope to turn our nation around. It's sort of like when Kathy and I go on a walk. And as you saw, she has beautiful thick hair. And I have no hair. And so we'll be walking. And I'll say, Kathy, it's starting to rain. She'll say, it's not raining. Kathy, it's starting to rain. No, Greg, it's not raining. I'll say, Kathy, bald men always know when it's raining first. But sure enough, she'll say, it's raining. I told you five minutes ago. And what I'm seeing right now are little drops of rain. Like when it begins to rain, a drop here, a drop there. Then it's more. And all of a sudden, it's a downpour. I see hopeful signs that God may be at work bringing a spiritual awakening to our country into this next generation. Let's pray for that. And I'm going to invite my good friend who came all the way from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to be with us to say a few words. Pastor Skip Heidsig. So I came here when the church was up on the hill back in 1974, 1975. And I knew Greg, your pastor, when he had hair. And I have watched God be faithful. And this is a testimony of God's faithfulness. But it's also a testimony of the faithfulness of a man of God and his wife and family to God. And Greg's been faithful to teach the Bible. He's been faithful to preach the gospel. And, you know, only heaven will know. We'll get the full extent of it on the other side. Just how many people have been turned around, changed, self-included by the ministry that took place here at Calvary Chapel of Riverside, it was called originally, before it was Harvest Christian Fellowship and now Harvest Church. But there was a couple things I remember back in those days. And I think it wouldn't even be bad to bring them back. One is that people would hold up the one-way sign when worship songs were being played. You remember that? And just, you know, we're saying there's one way and it's all about Him. It's just a reminder. It's all about Him. And the other is the word Maranatha, which is the Bible word. It means the Lord is coming. And it's a reminder to one another, hey, the Lord is coming quickly. So let's be about the Father's business and stay at the task and stay faithful to the God who has been faithful to this ministry. Thank you. God bless you. It's just not fair that not only does Skip have all that hair still, but he's so much taller than me. Really taller than almost anyone in this room, perhaps. But Skip has been such a great friend over the years and a faithful teacher of God's word. And God's used him to impact the whole state of New Mexico and all around the country. And we're thankful for Skip and Lenya. So I thought we would have a prayer together and ask God to do it again. That's how we open this service. Lord, do it again. And then a couple more worship songs. And then I'm going to unleash you to enjoy seeing each other. We have 2,000 In-N-Out Burgers here for you tonight. OK, so they're available for you to purchase. And I thought it only fitting that we have In-N-Out Burger on this night, because I'm always referencing In-N-Out Burger. And it's one of my favorite places to eat. So we're glad they're here with us tonight. And I encourage you afterwards to go and check out our little exhibit, our little miniature museum, where you can walk through and sort of experience the history of Harvest. But let's pray. In fact, let's all stand as we pray.