The Crowd gathers

6:47 pm - Welcome from The Wollongong Entertainment Centre! The doors have been opened, and people are beginning to fill the seats. Today has been a beautiful day. One thousand people, 20 churches, showed up for a baptism at the local harbor. Many were baptized

7:18 pm - The Wollongong Entertainment Centre is now about 2/3 full! Peope are waiting to get in. The young people "are in the house"!

7:20 pm - Dave Rietvolt, the youth pastor of Figtree Anglican Church, welcomes the audience and introduces Richard Chin who is a Wollongong University student-evangelist to say the introductory prayer.

Sing Praises to the Lord!

7:30pm - Welcome video is playing.

7:34pm - The Paul Colman Trio takes the stage. He is singing 5 songs: "Run", "One Sweet Voice", "If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands", "Dip", and "Killing Tree". He is talking quite a bit to the crowds and the crowds are responding. They are yelling out the Aussie war cry right now in between songs.

7:53pm - Ricky Ryan is talking about the products which are available out at the T-shirt booths. Several people, including Paul Colman, are throwing T-shirts up into the stands. The people are very loud and excited!

7:55pm - Jennifer Knapp takes the stage. She will sing 4 songs: "Into You", "Undo Me", Lay It Down", and "A Little More".

8:05pm - Jennifer Knapp is singing and the people are singing along with her.

8:11pm - Dave Rietovld introduces Paul Bartlett who prays before receiving the offering.

8:15pm - A video is shown during the offering. THE WHOLE STADIUM IS FULL!!!

8:18pm - Ricky Ryan introduces The Kry. The Kry will sing 4 songs. Everyone is standing up, clapping their hands, and having a great time. Many of these young people had The Kry come to their school as their "Religious teaching" for the week. Australia requires one hour of "Religious teaching" per week and this week in and around Wollongong, it has been The Kry and the message of True Salvation!

8:30pm - The Kry is still rocking the house with "The Woe, Woe, Woe,yeah, Yeah, Yeah" song, "What God Says", "Spin", and "I Believe It".!

8:42pm - The Kry sings "He Won't Let You Go" to prepare us for the message.

The Gospel is preached

8:45pm - Pastor Greg begins his message entitled, "A 2nd Chance in Life".

Have you ever wished you could have a 2nd chance in life? A fresh start? Maybe you did something you are so ashamed of. But now you feel it's too late for you. I have Good news for you tonight! God gives 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. chances, no matter how radically you have sinned, or what horrible things you have done. You can be totally forgiven. I'm going to tell you a story that Jesus related some 2000 years ago that shows how God gives 2nd chances. It is a story that shows God's attitude toward us, even when we have failed. It may surprise you.

In this story Jesus gives us a "snapshot of God" that shows He is personally and very interested in every aspect of your life. Jesus portrays God as a loving heavenly Father, who deeply loves us and desperately misses us when we sin or go astray. The rest of the Bible says the same. God has a wonderful plan for your life. God Himself says, "I know the thoughts I think toward you says the Lord..." Here in the story before us known as "The Parable of the Prodigal son." We see the story of a young man, who is a picture of us running to His loving Father who is a picure of God. This boy was tired of the Rules & Regulations of living at home. He decided his dad was keeping him back from the "Good Life". The bright lights of the big city were calling and this boy wanted to experience everything this world had to offer. After all, he probably thought, "What does Dad know about this sort of thing?" So, off he went with $ in his pockets. He partied, got drunk, had sex with prostitutes, and spent $ like crazy. But soon his $ ran out & his friends ran out with it. He ended up working for some farmer feeding pigs. The Prodigal son was so hungry the food the pigs are was starting to look good to him. He finally started to "Wake up" and come to his senses. Read Luke 15:17-24

He came to his senses, confessed his sin, and returned home. While he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love & compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. Perhaps you have come from a broken home or you yourself have been divorced, feel betrayed, and hurt. You are out on your own trying to find meaning and purpose in your life. You feel lonely and isolated. You are looking for Someone or Something to fill that void in your life.

This world doesn't have the answers to these problems young people face. That is because the Heart of the problem is a problem of the heart". The problem is inside of you. That is why it is almost laughable when people say "The answer is within..." The Bible teaches that "The problem is within!"

We are looking to the wrong things for happiness and fulfillment. That is what the Prodigal was doing. He was separated from His Father and family. We too will be empty when we are separated from our Heavenly Father and the Family of God. And when the Prodigal's money ran out his "Friends" ran out with it. Taht's how a lot of "Friends" are. Do you want to find out how many "Real Friends" you have? Totally commit your life to Jesus Christ and you will know real fast!

Maybe you too have "Hit Bottom" recently. Perhaps you were raised as a child in the church and as a child had a faith but something happened in your life and you became angry at God. Someone "Misrepresented" God to you! Maybe some of you were raised in a Christian home, but you have rebelled against it and gone your own way. You don't care about what effect it has on your parents or on your God. You may justify it by saying you've been exposed to Hypocrisy in the Church. There unfortunately is a lot of that today.

Allow me to apologize for all hypocrites that are in the Church. Christians should wear a sign around their neck "Under construction." Yet let me add that that excuse won't "hold water" on Judgement Day. For Jesus did not say "Follow my people" but rather "Follow me"! Perhaps as an adult you at on time had a walk with Jesus Christ but you have fallen away or "backslidden". Prov. 14: "The backslider in heart shall be filled with all his ways." 2 Peter 3:20: "When people escape from the wicked ways of he world by learning about our Lord Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become it's slave again, they are worse off then they were before..."

The prodigal was feeding the pigs, but yet he still didn't come to his senses and go home: Instead he prolonged his miserable situation and sank deeper. That's sin for you!

It promises freedom, but brings slavery.

John 8:32 "Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is the slave of sin!"

It promises sucess but brings failure.

It promises life, but "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).

It promises pleasure but ultimately brings misery!

But there has to come a point where you "own up" to what you have done! Jer. 17:9 "The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve."

But the Holy Spirit worked in this young man's life and he "Came to his senses".

He realized his problem was inside of him.

It wasn't a famliy problem or race problem, but rather a sin problem. The Prodical son "came to his senses". Sometimes it is somewhat gradual, dawning on one over a period of time. But often often it's instantaneous, like a flash it comes to you. It's not these Christians who are crazy! It's Me!

The Prodical son learned that everything he was looking for was in his father's house.

Don't settle for this world's cheap imitations!

#1 The world offers you friends. Most of them stab you in the back. God offers you a new family, called the Church.

#2 The world offers a fleeting happiness that comes and goes. This happiness is dependent on one's circumstances. God offers a joy and happiness inside of your heart regardless of circumstances. The Bible says "Happy are the people whose God is the Lord"(Ps.144:15).

#3 The world says, "Take drugs, get drunk, party, that's where it's at!" god says; "don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit!"(Eph.5:18).

#4 The world offers pleasures that are passing and temporal. They leave people guilty and destroyed. The bible says, "In His presence is fullness of joy, and on his right hand pleasures forevermore"(Ps.16:11).

DON'T LET ANOTHER DAY PASS BY SETTLING FOR CHEAP SUBSTITUTIONS! Get right with God right now... To do this, I must must utter 3 ifficult words: "I HAVE SINNED." God cannot forgive the sin we will not confess: And how does the Father react to His returning prodical? the father runs to his boy & kissed him!

You might say "I need to 'Clean my life up' and come to God!" No, you need to "Come to God" and He will "Clean your life up." Notice how the Father blotted out the past. He ran to embrace the son as if nothing had happened. He commanded that this son's rags be striped off! He removed every reminder of his past.

God will do that for you.

"Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more..."

"Old things are passed away..."

But notice that the Father did not leave him the way he was. While it is true God will accept you as you are, He doesn't want to leave you that way. Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart.

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. 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. Know this! There 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 an 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!

#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