The Crowd gathers

6:47 pm - The doors have been opened, and people are beginning to fill the seats.

6:50 pm - A CD is playing over the PA System.

6:55pm - We just went live on the internet.

7:15 pm - The Wollongong Entertainment Centre is about one-third full.

Sing Praises to the Lord!

7:30pm - Welcome video is playing.

7:37pm - The Harvest Crusade Band is playing "Our God Is Great".

7:41pm - Aussies are welcoming the Harvest 2000 Praise Band.

7:45pm - Praise Band is singing "Let Everything That Has Breath".

7:46pm - Praise Band is singing "My Redeemer Lives".

7:50pm - Bruce Clark welcomes the audience. Ian Barnett from Shellharbour Anglican leads the opening prayer.

7:51pm - Bruce Clark introduces Paul Colman. Paul Colman sings "One Sweet Voice" and "Mr. Religion".

8:04pm - Bruce Clark introduces Kevin Wilcock. Kevin Wilcock prays before receiving the offering and a video is shown as Crystal Lewis sings "Shout To The Lord".

8:11pm - Crystal Lewis is singing with the Harvest 2000 Praise Band, which is made up mostly of locals.

8:15pm - Ricky Ryan introduces Jennifer Knapp.

8:22pm - Jennifer Knapp sings three songs.

8:28pm - Jennifer Knapp's third song is "Hold Me Now".

8:30pm - Steve Grace is encouraging people to prepare themselves to hear Pastor Greg's message. Before he speaks, Crystal Lewis will sing one song.

8:31pm - Steve Grace also encourages you to leave your worries and cares from the day aside in preparation to hear the message.

The Gospel is preached

8:37pm - Pastor Greg is now giving the message entitled, "What is the Meaning of Life?"

Spiritual IQ...search fo the meaning of life. What is your Spiritual IQ? You have the Job,the Fancy Car, bur somehow it's not enough. In our materialistic modern world, more of us are searching for some true meaning. But we're coming up short.

The reason is we live in a culture of "Spiritual Dumbness". We value our IQ but we are neglecting our Spiritual Intelligence. Human beings are essentially Spiritual Creatures because we are driven to ask the "Ultimate Questions" like:

1.Why was I born?

2.What is the meaning of life?

3.Why should I go on when I am tired or depressed or feel beaten?

4.What makes it all worthwhile?

After you're born and live a life and grow old, you die. What happens after that?

All of us have something we live for: some passion or ideal that drives us on, giving our lives purpose, some sense of meaning raising it above the level of mere existence. What would you say is the "Master passion" of your life right now? If you are young this is an especially important question to ask because it is going to affect the direction your life takes (and your eternal destiny as well!!!) The Apostle Paul said, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain". How would you fill in that blank? To live is......?

Consider the man Solomon. He lived hundreds of years ago. This man "tried it all". He had eveerything...money, possessions, sex, pleasure. and in the end, he saw the emptiness and futility of it all.

His father was King David who close to his death gave some great advice to his son - "Know the God of your father and serve Him with an undivided heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the immaginations of the thoughts." David was saying, "Son, you CAN'T live off your Father's faith. You need to have your own." Solomon decided he would personally experience every pleasure this world offers. Ecc.:1-2 says, "I said to myself, 'Come now, let's give pleasure a try. Let's look for the 'good things' in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless. "It is silly to be laughing all the time," I said. "what good does it do to seek only pleasure'?"

As Solomon says, "There is nothing new under the sun..." Here is the basic conclusion Solomon came to in the book of Ecclesiastes: * Life without God is empty.* He tells us that nothing on Earth will satisify us completely. Having told us what the "Meaning of life isn't", he now tells us what it is. Ecc. 12:1 "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth. Before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them'." Your youth is obviously a very important time in your life (building foundations, setting our corse, habits developed, attitudes formed, decisions made which WILL affect us for the rest of our lives.)

That verse continues with an important point. "Don't let the excitement of your youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor Him in your youth before you grow old and no longer enjoy living." The older you get, the more set in your ways you become. It will get harder and harder for you to make change, though NOT impossible. This is why you would want to decide to follow Him NOW, not later when you might forget about it. You will never regret this decision. I have never met a single person who regretted following Jesus Christ, but I have met many who regretted squandering their lives.

This brings us to Solomon's final conclusion about his search for the "Meaning of Life". Ecc. 12:13-14 "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Solomon is saying, "Look, take it from a seasoned pro!" If you leave God out of the picture, your life is going to be empty, meaningless, futile. You want to have a full life, a life more abundantly? "Fear God and keep His commandments." The 10 Commandments and all of the absolutes of the Bible are there for your own protection. "Don't have any other gods before Him." Everybody has a god. Even the avowed Atheist bows at the alter of someone or something. They may worship Themselves, Pleasure, surfing, golfing, whatever. The big question is "Will your god be able to rescue you in the end?" The commands tell me not to commit Adultry, which includes extramarital as well as premarital sex. Marriage is meant to be shared with that person you have committed yourself to in Marriage. But Jesus said, "You have heard that the Law of Moses says, 'Do not commit adultry'." But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his (or her) eye has already committed adultry with her (or him) in his/her heart." Have you ever done that? If so, then you've broken the Commandments.

The Commands tell us not to Murder. We also murder when we hate! 1 John 3:15 says, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Do you hate someone because of the color of his skin? It's a sin!

The Commands tell us not to steal. The temptations to steal are constant. Here are some examples: when you sell a house or car to make a litte more money, when you receive too much change at the store and keep it, or when you take office supplies home for personal use.

The Commands tell us not to lie. In the US, at least 91% of us lie regularly. The majority of us find it hard to get through a week without lying. 1 in 5 can't make it through a single day without lying-- If you say You keep the 10 Commandments, you're lying right now! The Law shuts our mouths but opens our eyes. It condemns but it does not convert. It challenges but it does not change. It points the finger but it does not give mercy. It leaves us without excuse. Romans 3:19 says, "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin."

Because I cannot keep the Commands, I am driven into the Loving arms of Jesus. He died on the Cross and took the judgement I should have taken. Court of Law with Satan as prosecuting attorney. So Solomon is telling us "Life is empty without God." *We need to enter into a relationship with Him and live by the standards He has given to us. *You have a hole in your heart. *A void that cannot be filled with anyone or anything apart from God. JESUS CHRIST holds the missing piece you've been looking for.

Do you like puzzles? I don't but my wife does. God holds the missing piece. You might say, "That's good for all those empty people out there. But I'm pretty happy, so thanks, but no thanks! I'll give some thought to what you are saying." But there is one other issue you need to consider. Don't forget Solomon's conclusion. Ecc.12 "For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." Know this! Ther is a day of judgement coming. The Bible says, "It is appointed unto a man once to die, then comes the Judgement." In other words, there is a appointed time. There is nothing you can do to postpone it. Every sin you have ever committed is recorded and you will have to come face to face with it.

But in that final day, it is not about being "Good enough to get to heaven". Because No one is good enough! When you stand before God, "Every secret thing" will be judged. And all the "Good deeds" you may have done will not even come close to Evening the score".

You might say, "I'll take my chances, besides, I'm not so bad. There are worse then me!" That may be true, but you need to know that ONE SIN is enough to keep you out of Heaven. It will really be a "Sin" question as much as a "Son" question. What have you done with God's provision for you, Jesus Christ?

It would be as though you were drowning and a helicopter came overhead with a rope. THE BIBLE ASKS THE QUESTION, "How can we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation"? But we don't necessarily know when that day will come. That is why we need to "Prepare to meet God"! But where you will spend Eternity is entirely up to you. Accordng to the Bible, there are only 2 options. God wants you to join Him in Heaven, that's why He sent Jesus. The only way to be sure of "Life during life" as well as "Life after death" is to have Jesus Christ come into your heart and life. If you say "Yes" to Him now, He will say "Yes" to you then. If you say "Come into my heart, Lord" now, He will say to you, "Enter into my kingdom" then. But if you say No to Him now, He will sadly, but firmly say, "Depart from me" then. The meaning of life is to have a personal relationship with the God who created you. The meaning of life is to discover God's unique and special plan for your life. And you can discover it right now!

What you need to do to find the "Meaning of life?"

#1 Admit that you are a sinner.

#2 Realize that Jesus Christ, God's Son, died on the Cross for your sin.

#3 Turn from your sin and put your faith in Him.

#4 Receive Him into your life as Savior and Lord.

#5 Do it publically.

#6 Do it NOW!

The work of the Holy Spirit