Podcast appearances and mentions of greg speck

Greg Speck closed out our Spiritual Life Emphasis Week by challenging us to love and encourage those around us even when it might not be the easiest to do.

Greg gave the community ideas on how we can improve our family relationships to grow into the men and women God has made us to be.

Greg Speck opened our three day Spiritual Life Emphasis Week. He will be speaking Wednesday and Thursday as well.

Greg Speck shares with Judson about what it takes to help make a relationship thrive.

Welcome to our new show, SHERPA LEGENDS! Each month, we will present a conversation with a Youth Ministry Legend. Our conversations center around their story. How did they get into youth ministry, what has kept them in it, and what were some of their favorite adventures along the way? We hope you will tune in each month for the next SHERPA LEGEND!   Our second legend: GREG SPECK A post-college job at a home for emotionally-disturbed teenagers led Greg Speck into a nearly 40-year career in youth ministry. For the past 30 years, Greg has been speaking full-time to students around the world. From camps and weekend retreats to mission trips and international conferences, Greg's special blend of humor, storytelling, sincerity, and love for students have provided him with opportunities to share the Word of God with hundreds of thousands of middle- and high-school kids.  Sherpa host Steve Anderson first encountered Greg at an outreach in Pennsylvania many years ago when he was a new youth volunteer. Since then, Steve has heard him speak many times at various student conferences and retreats, and just last year saw middle-school students impacted by Greg's "Dad Hugs" after another powerful retreat. God's incredible favor on Greg for these years of speaking and traveling is a testimony to Greg's integrity and reliance on the Bible as his authority.  Greg is the author of several books for students, including Living for Jesus Beyond the Spiritual High. His latest book, Mustard Seeds on Youth Ministry, is a fountain of direct, clear, spiritual and practical counsel for young youth workers who want to build a ministry that will last. You can interact with Greg on Facebook and Twitter, or by emailing him at gregospeck@gmail.com. For books and bookings, you can find him at: http://www.gregspeck.com/ Greg and his wife Bonnie have been married for over 40 years and are the proud parents of four grown children. They live in Rockford, IL.    

Welcome to our new show, SHERPA LEGENDS!Each month, we will present a conversation with a Youth Ministry Legend. Our conversations center around their story. How did they get into youth ministry, what has kept them in it, and what were some of their favorite adventures along the way? We hope you will tune in each month for the next SHERPA LEGEND! Our second legend: GREG SPECKA post-college job at a home for emotionally-disturbed teenagers led Greg Speck into a nearly 40-year career in youth ministry. For the past 30 years, Greg has been speaking full-time to students around the world. From camps and weekend retreats to mission trips and international conferences, Greg's special blend of humor, storytelling, sincerity, and love for students have provided him with opportunities to share the Word of God with hundreds of thousands of middle- and high-school kids. Sherpa host Steve Anderson first encountered Greg at an outreach in Pennsylvania many years ago when he was a new youth volunteer. Since then, Steve has heard him speak many times at various student conferences and retreats, and just last year saw middle-school students impacted by Greg's "Dad Hugs" after another powerful retreat. God's incredible favor on Greg for these years of speaking and traveling is a testimony to Greg's integrity and reliance on the Bible as his authority. Greg is the author of several books for students, including Living for Jesus Beyond the Spiritual High. His latest book, Mustard Seeds on Youth Ministry, is a fountain of direct, clear, spiritual and practical counsel for young youth workers who want to build a ministry that will last.You can interact with Greg on Facebook and Twitter, or by emailing him at gregospeck@gmail.com. For books and bookings, you can find him at:http://www.gregspeck.com/Greg and his wife Bonnie have been married for over 40 years and are the proud parents of four grown children. They live in Rockford, IL.  

Doug is on a call with Greg Speck on today's Live Morning Drive.Read More →

Doug sits down with Reverend Kevin Starcher of Covenant Presbyterian in Boise.Read More →

Guest speaker Greg Speck talks about marriage.

Guest speaker Greg Speck talks about marriage.

God is bursting with love for each and every one of us. And if we let him, God will work through us beyond anything we can ask or even imagine. In this message, guest speaker Greg Speck explores the depth of God’s love for us and the simple ways that we can see that love played out in our daily lives.

God is bursting with love for each and every one of us. And if we let him, God will work through us beyond anything we can ask or even imagine. In this message, guest speaker Greg Speck explores the depth of God’s love for us and the simple ways that...

God is bursting with love for each and every one of us. And if we let him, God will work through us beyond anything we can ask or even imagine. In this message, guest speaker Greg Speck explores the depth of God’s love for us and the simple ways that...

The Bible tells us over and over again that we are loved by God. Guest speaker Greg Speck teaches from Zephaniah 3:17 and talks about the love that God has for us.

Zephaniah 3:17 Guest speaker Greg Speck. 4-9-17 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

God's Plan For Your Marriage. Greg Speck Marriage Conference: Session 2. 4/8/17 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

How Marriages Thrive. Greg Speck Marriage Conference: Session 3. 4/8/17 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

Greg Speck Teen Event: Sex By The Book. 4/7/17 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

Threats to Your Marriage. Greg Speck Marriage Conference: Session 1. 4/8/17 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

Greg Speck finishes out Encounter Weekend, our student conference, with a reminder to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.

What Does the Lord Require of You? Micah 6:8 Guest speaker Greg Speck by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

I'm Not Talking Because You're Not Listening - Greg Speck Marriage Conference 4/30/16 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

Why Can't We Get Along? - Greg Speck Marriage Conference 4/30/16 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

Sexual Intimacy (Adults Only) - Greg Speck Marriage Conference 4/30/16 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

Why Are My Parents So Strange (partial recording) - Greg Speck Youth Event 4/29/16 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

Real Life - Greg Speck Youth Event 4/29/16 by Cornerstone Community Church - La Crosse, WI

We are thrilled to welcome Guest Speaker Greg Speck, who speaks at national conferences, camps, retreats, and churches around the world. Greg delivers an impactful message about how we can create relationships that flourish.

We are thrilled to welcome Guest Speaker Greg Speck, who speaks at national conferences, camps, retreats, and churches around the world. Greg delivers an impactful message about how we can create relationships that flourish.

We are thrilled to welcome Guest Speaker Greg Speck, who speaks at national conferences, camps, retreats, and churches around the world. Greg delivers an impactful message about how we can create relationships that flourish.

You dont necessarily have to be somebody who follows the stock market or Wall Street to be aware of what happened in our country in the 90s, early 2000. A company named Enron really took off-an energy company that thought outside the box. They diversified the kinds of energy they dealt with. They would use innovative ways to draw investors into the market, really capitalizing on the internet as no other company had done. They made billions of dollars and thousands for their investors. Their stock climbed and had a great rate of return, so they became this paradigm for how to do business in the 90s. In fact, Fortune Magazine-six years in the running-said they were the most innovative company in America. Then, in 2001, the empire came crashing down. It turns out they were not a rich, successful company at all. What they were doing was hiding money in offshore companies, hiding their losses. Then, a reputable accounting firm, Arthur Anderson, was working with them. They were presenting books to the public and to their investors that were inaccurate. They were actually hurting. They then began to encourage their investors to buy stock, their company employees to buy stock, while they-the big wigs, the executives, were selling theirs because they knew of the impending disaster. So this entire insider trading went on while they sold their stock. Then, of course, the company went bankrupt. The stock plummeted to about a dollar a share. People lost their entire life savings. It was not insured. Retirement was gone; college funds were gone, everything. To this day, theyre still fighting to get some of the money back. There have been indictments; some people went to prison. There has been some justice that was merited out, but it was a wake up call to the business world, to investors. It was an example of what greed will do and what selfishness will do-that someone would put their own family and their own needs ahead of an entire company. They really could have cared less [about] the working man who kept the company going. They ruined his entire retirement. As long as they were fat and sassy, they were okay. It was just a sad story. Thats a true story; however, what Im going to say to you right now is not a true story. This is fictitious, but I want you to imagine what if there had been a congressional hearing. Enron executives came, those who had thought up the scheme and carried it out came, and then those who were the investors-the innocent parties, the victims-also came before Congress. Testimony was heard for days and weeks. Finally, the gavel was hit on the table, and the one who ruled over the meeting said, We find that Enron is guilty. We are going to pursue legal action. There are going to be indictments, and people are going to go to prison. We want you to know that youve done wrong. There is coming a day of reckoning. Youre living high in the land now, but there will come a day when youre going to pay the fiddler. You people who have lost everything, we promise you-we guarantee you-youll get back everything youve lost. Were going to give you back interest too. Your sorrow is going to turn to joy when you get that fat check in the mail. Youre going to have a happy ending because were going to see to it that you do. If you had been in that room that day-if this had taken place-those same words would have been both good news and bad news, depending on what side of the fence you were on. If you were one of the investors, that would have been really good news. If you were one of the swindlers, that would have been really bad news. Its a wake-up call that accountability is coming. Jesus in Luke 6 is going to say some words that for some are really good news and for others are a wake-up call. There is an accountability-there is a reckoning-coming. This is called The Sermon on the Plain. It sounds like The Sermon on the Mountain a little bit because it talks about the Beatitudes; but if you compare the two, the Beatitudes in Matthew are different than the ones in Luke. Instead of preaching from a mountain, Hes on a plain. This is called the Sermon on the Plain, and its the first time Jesus and the 12 Apostles are together as a team. Prior to this Jesus has either been by Himself or with a few, but now He goes into a mountain and prays all night on the mountain. He comes down and He chooses twelve. He appoints them as His Apostles. Then they begin as the team of Jesus and the 12 Apostles for the first time right here. So this is the first teaching out of the blocks as that team that were so familiar with. In Verse 17 (of Luke 6, page 1020 of pew Bibles), He went down with them and stood on a level place… Thus, the Sermon on Plain. A large crowd of His Disciples was there and a great number of people all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all. So, this is a hurting group; this is a needy group that has assembled to meet Jesus. (Continuing on page 1021, Verse 20), Looking at His Disciples, He said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in Heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. When we talked about these Beatitudes, the first thing we need to talk about is what this word blessed means because He uses it four times. Its a significant word. Its saying something they are, and we need to understand what it is. As often times is the case, in the original languages, there are several words that translate into our language as a common word. Love, for instance: we read the word love, but if you look in the Greek, it could be a different word. It could be Phileo; it could be Agape. It could be Eros. The same thing is true with this word, bless. There are two dominant words in the Greek for the word blessed. They mean two different things. When its translated into our language, it simply says blessed or blessing. Its the same word for us, but its really a different word that was used. The first word, and the most common-when we think of a blessing-is Eulogeo. That means to pronounce a blessing, to be blessed. Its a verb; its an action. That word was used when Jesus broke bread. He blessed the bread and broke it. It was used when He came into Israel, and they said, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. It was used when Mary went to Elizabeth, and she said, Blessed are you among women and blessed is your womb. That was the word. It meant divine favor, a verb of action-a blessing of somebody. Thats not the word He uses here. Thats the word we would think He would use, but Hes actually not using that word. Hes using a different word. Hes using the word happy. Now, its accurately translated as blessed. Thats an accurate translation, but it is an adjective, not a verb. It is talking about a state of mind, a state of being-an emotion. Jesus says, Happy are you. Ive heard this taught many times through the years that we shouldnt use the word happy or we shouldnt be happy. We instead want to have joy. Have you heard that? A few of us have heard that. Its not necessarily a bad teaching, but we should not teach happiness as thought its taboo either or some sort of Christian swear word we should avoid, Dont say happy. Thats based on circumstances. This word happy [is used for] circumstances, so if its happiness, that changes with circumstances and emotion. Joy, thats a constant regardless of the circumstances. Its true, but here Jesus said, Be happy or have happiness, so it cant be a bad thing, right? I have a friend who has Christian swear words. His name is Greg Speck. Hes a youth minister. If he hits his thumb with a hammer, hell say dance! or cigarettes! He even invented a word called ginortenfortz. He likes to play basketball, and he fouled somebody. He got mad at the ref and said, I got ginortenfortz. The ref said, What did you say? Ginortenfortz. Oh, okay? I guess. So thats what I think of when I think of the word happy. Oh, dont say that! like its some sort of bad word. Its okay to be happy, Jesus says. Its okay to have the emotion of happiness because in this situation, that emotion is based upon facts that do not change. Theyre based upon a God who does not change. He says, If this is your mindset, you will have the emotion of happiness. This is translated here, accurately, blessed. It is another word for the word blessed, not the one we would normally think of, but accurate nonetheless. Whats interesting is who He says is blessed. Youd think the people who are blessed would be the people who are rich, well-fed, happy, and well-liked. Jesus says, Blessed are the poor; blessed are those who weep; blessed are those who are hungry; blessed are those who are hated. How in the world can that be? Well talk about it in just a few moments, but what I want you to get right now is a different mindset because Jesus is teaching a radical thing here. Jesus is teaching a different mentality, a different way to see the world-a different way to look at the world. Since it is the weekend of Memorial Day, we remember our soldiers and the Military who fought and died for our country, for our freedom. Were going to take a look at an elite group right now of people who pit their lives on the line for humanity. Lets take a look at this, and then well talk about their mindset. This is from the movie, The Guardian. They didnt get paid much money, and there was a very good chance they would die at sea-slowly, cold and alone. Where do we sign up? Theyre saying sign me up because they see the cause. They see a bigger picture. Theyre living for something greater than themselves. Jesus, here, is going to deal with the hurting. Hes going to get them to see that something greater than themselves is at stake here. Notice who Jesus is talking to because thats really the key. If you dont catch whom He is talking to here, then you might read these words and think, Oh, its good to be poor. Oh, its good to be hungry. Its good to cry. Its good to be hated and rejected. Thats not what He was saying at all. Notice in Verse 20, He says, Looking at His disciples, He said… Who was He speaking to here? His followers. The first thing I notice when I read this passage is it communicates to me that even followers of Jesus will struggle in life. Even followers of Christ will experience hardship and loss. Its diverse too, isnt it? Its talking about the poor, financial hardship; he talks about those who are sad-emotional hardship; those who are hungry-physical hardship; those who are hated and rejected-mental hardship. Followers of Christ will suffer. There is a group or a school of thought that is called the Prosperity Gospel. They teach you that if you are a person of faith, youll never suffer or never go through loss. Everything is always going to be great. Everything you touch will turn to gold. Youll always be healed, and everything is always going to be wonderful and rosy in your life. Who lives that kind of life for long? Jesus and the Disciples certainly didnt live that kind of a life. Who am I to think that I should live that kind of a life? Thats not what God promises in His Word. God says, Reality check here. This life can be hard, and you will experience some struggles, but Jesus also says in this passage, God has the last word. He says, Just as sure right now as youre hurting, yours is the Kingdom of God. Just as real right now as youre suffering, you should rejoice because you belong to Me, and great is your reward in Heaven. Jesus says, Number 2: God has the last word. God is in charge. He says, Thirdly, what you see is not the end of the story. There is a bigger picture here. There is something we are working for, and in, and with, and that is the Kingdom of God, and it is eternal. There is going to be partial fulfillment of these Beatitudes here, but there is going to be ultimate fulfillment in Heaven. Jesus says, Thirdly, have a Kingdom mindset. See the big picture. Recognize, just as we saw the Coast Guard here: Yeah, youre not going to be paid much money here; yeah, youre putting your life at risk, but see the big picture. You are working to save lives. What a great cause that is! Jesus is saying, Understand the big picture. See the kingdom in the midst of your suffering! It reminds me of the passage we looked at weeks ago; maybe it was the Clinker Brick series. Remember what an irritant the Apostles were to the Sanhedrin, the men who wanted to shut them up? Remember Peter and John on their way to Solomons Colonnade? Thats where the early church used to meet. They didnt just meet in homes; they also met in a large group. They met in Solomons porch in the temple. They would meet there, and miracles would take place. Preaching would take place. Salvation would happen. They called them in and said, Stop preaching in that name. They didnt. They went back out and continued to do it, and more miracles took place. They called them in a second time, put them in jail and said, Youre going to have a trial tomorrow. Youre in trouble. During the night, and angel came and released them from prison. They left. The guards came in the morning. Peter and John were gone. A meeting was assembled, and they said, What are we going to do? Theyre gone! A guy looks out the window and says, Dont worry. Theyre back at it again! Right there they are. They go and get them a third time and bring them in. This time, they beat them. They flogged them. They stripped them of their robes, they took out a whip, and they beat their flesh. What does the Bible say they do on their way back? Do they get mad? Do they cuss? They dance! I cant believe this happened to me! Is that what it means to be a Christian? Are they crying? No, the Bible says in Acts 5, theyre rejoicing! Theyre happy! Why? Because they had been considered worthy to suffer for His name. Thats what Jesus is talking about here. Yeah, you will go through hardship, but God has the last word. God is in control, and its important that you see the Kingdom-you see the whole picture and know what God is up to. [You shouldnt think only] of what is here on earth, not just whats temporary, but look at life through the lens of eternity. Before we move on to these four woes here, before Jesus changes gears, I want us to watch a unique media. This media is more something we read, meditate and reflect on. It is really a summation of what weve been talking about, so just kind of let this soak in. Just have a mediation time here, and then well continue in Luke here in just a moment. Lets go ahead and show that. Now, were going to have Jesus talking to the Enron folks, the fatcats. Remember there are two kinds of people who are there that day. There are the Disciples, and there is the crowd-the onlookers, the curious. Many of them have lifestyles that definitely dont please the Lord. If you were there that day, you would know when He was talking to you. You knew when He was talking to His followers, and you knew when He was speaking to those who were not [His followers]. These four woes are not meant to be this is just the way it is. This is fate. This is your end. These are meant to be warnings. These are meant to be wake-up calls to do an about face with their lives. Verse 24 (still in Luke 6, page 1021), But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. If you dont understand the context, you might think Jesus is saying, Bad to have money, bad to have food, bad to be happy, and bad to be well liked. But what Jesus is talking about here is a consumer mentality. Hes talking about a person who is self-absorbed. Theyre not thinking about the Kingdom; theyre not thinking about others. Theyre thinking only of themselves. Its like the Enron executives who could have cared less what happened to the rest of the people, investors, as long as they had their wealth. That was all that mattered. So Jesus speaks to that consumer mentality, that me-ism that puts self first. That is certainly our culture. We live in a very self-centered culture, and Madison Avenue plays to that. Its easy to do because thats our bend. There is not a lot of ba-ba sharing going on in that nursery. There arent a lot of babies going, Oh, are you hungry? Did you not have breakfast? Heres mine. Did you like this toy? Sure, Im done playing with it. You play with it for a while. Thats not taking place back there. Its every baby for him or herself. Its a baby-eat-baby mentality. We have to teach how to share and teach how to give because it doesnt come naturally to us. Jesus is speaking to these people who have never grown up. All they care about is their own belly, their own popularity, their own name and fame. He says, You know what? There is coming a wake-up call for you. Anybody who trusts in riches, anybody who trusts in themselves, anybody who trusts in this life alone-everybody who does that has a wake-up call. One day, their fatcat lifestyles are going to be over. Theyre going to recognize that there is accountability. Theyre going to recognize there is responsibility. Theyre going to know there is a God that they answer to. Their joy is going to turn to sorrow. Anytime you get a wake-up call like that, its a hard thing, but hopefully its a good think for people. I know when I think of somebody who is selfless, somebody who could care less about the spotlight, somebody who basically lives only for the joy of others and gives all their possessions away, I dont know about you, but I always think of Paris Hilton (congregation laughing). In case you havent been following the news, this socialite, this heiress, was on probation with the law. While she was on probation, she received a DUI. She went before the judge, and of course, her defense was Im Paris Hilton. That was basically it. You know who my dad is. You know who I am, so give me a fine. Ill pay it, and Ill go home. The judge had the audacity to uphold the law and sentence her to jail, which I think she starts serving very soon here. They appealed to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, to set her free. The mother protested, This is unfair. She protested. The judge basically said, I dont care who you are, and I dont care who your father is. I dont care how much money you have. You drove while intoxicated. You were on probation. You violated the law, and heres what you get. Youre going to go to jail. That was a wake-up call. There were tears and mourning. The judge said, Youre accountable. Youre a citizen like everybody else. When somebody else does what you did, they go to jail, and so will you. Jesus gives a wake-up call here. A lot of these people remembered Matthew or Levi. He just comes to the Lord, and he invites his friends over. I bet you some of those people are there, some of these fatcat tax collectors. Jesus gives them a wake-up call and says, Listen! You have a responsibility! Theres something called the Kingdom of God. Right now youre living for the kingdom of self. You think you have the world by the tail, but youre going to find out that tail is attached to a tiger, and it will devour you. Woe to you who are well fed. Woe to you who are popular. Woe to you. Wake-up call time. Jesus still preaches this sermon. Did you know that? He preached it this morning, the Sermon on the Plain. Its still being preached. Every time somebody reads these words, Jesus is preaching this sermon. Guess who is listening? The same two groups of people: the Disciples and the crowd. It still encourages the Disciples, and it still challenges the crowd. You know who it also challenges? It also challenges the Disciples because sometimes you and I forget what it means to be a Christian. This passage causes us to reevaluate our faith. For some of us, our Christianity basically means we know the right answers. When somebody asks us a theological question, we know the answer. We maybe can even turn to the right page and quote it. Our Christianity is our knowledge. For some of us, our Christianity is defined by this: that we come together once a week and huddle up-either on a Saturday or Sunday morning. We sing some songs. We pray. We hear the Word, and we go home. This is our essence of our Christianity. So we say, What does it mean to be a Christian? Well, you go to church. Well, this is an important aspect of our faith, but its simply an aspect. What Jesus called the church to be and do was to be world changers. Remember in the Sermon on the Mount? It was kind of like the sister sermon of this in Matthew 5? He said, Youre salt. Youre light. Let your light shine before men. Salt gets on what it is called to preserve. Were called to be in the world. We get out of the salt shaker and get in the world. We come here and get equipped and prepared to go out and be ministers. We have the Kingdom responsibilities beyond sitting in a church for an hour on Sunday. So, I start to evaluate my life. I think of our church. I think of the good things we do, but is it enough? Could we-and should we-do more? Lets pray together: Father, we just come before You now, and were simply asking for wisdom. I pray for wisdom for myself and wisdom for our leaders, our elders, our trustees as we make decisions. We dont want to go ahead of You, neither do we want to go behind You, neither do we want to inhabit-in fact we cant. Your purposes will be accomplished. I pray that You would clearly lead this church, that we would know Your purposes and walk in them. God, we just ask You for Your will. Father, as we reflect upon this Scripture, we think of this sermon, which is still very much being preached to the same two groups. To the believers who are struggling, You still speak encouragement. You still say to Your Disciples, yes, in this world you have troubles. You have struggles, loss and hardship, but God has the last word. You still encourage us to be Kingdom-minded, Kingdom-focused, not just on what is temporary-what is seen. Father, You still speak to the other group, to the fatcats-rich, sassy, and lazy. In America, in the eyes of the world, were those fatcats. We have a consumer mentality, a me-first mentality. Lord, I pray that it would not be so in the church. I pray that in the church, we would be about the Kingdom, using our gifts, our passions, our talents, for the good of the Kingdom and for the good of humanity. I pray that we would live for a cause greater than ourselves. That cause is the Kingdom of God. Lord, if there are any who feel like they fall under that second charge, the woe, I pray that Your Holy Spirit would give them a wake-up call, let them know and speak to their hearts. I pray that they would change. I pray they would repent and follow after Your Kingdom. Thank You for teaching us this morning, for challenging us, for leading, guiding, and for providing. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Father, as we begin the world that we learned about you as a child, we freely sing the song that You Hold the Whole World in Your Hands. Sometimes, as we get older, we forget who You are and how big You are. Problems become bigger and greater and more intimidating. But, Father, help us to capture the faith of our youth, to see You for the God that You are, how big You are and how great You are. Let us see that greatness be manifested in our lives. I pray in Jesus name, Amen. Weve been sharing for 10 weeks in a row these scriptures. It would probably be good to recap the story one more time. As I read through it, my mind thinks of lessons that we talked about, about fear, courage, and patience. The story is rich in its content. We begin reading with Verse 22 of Matthew 14 (page 970 in pew Bibles), Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side while he dismissed the crowd. After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind against it. During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. Its a ghost, they said and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, Take courage! It is I. Dont be afraid. Lord, if its You, Peter replied, tell me to come to You on the water. Come, He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me! Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. You of little faith, He said, why did you doubt? When they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. And heres our focal point this morning, Verse 33: Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God. God had become bigger in their eyes. This morning, we ask the question, How big is your God? I want to read a quote from our book today. He tends to like to quote C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia. As you know, the lion figure represents the Lord. His name is Aslan. One of the children comes across Aslan after not seeing him for a long time. She says, Aslan, youre bigger. That is because you are older, little one, he answered. Not because you are? Im not, but every year you grow, you will find me bigger. And so its true with us. Every year we grow, and hopefully through this series that weve been on, we see God bigger than we did before. Were more willing to take steps of faith and spiritual risks, knowing that God is with us. Lets turn in our Bibles to 1 Kings, Chapter 18. Were going to stay here for a little while. This is a story about a man who really had a big view of God. His name was Elijah. Elijah lived in a time when Israel was trying to follow after many gods. There was the god of the Canaanites, the Baals and the Ashtoreth. There was Pagan worship that was everywhere in the land. Elijah was one of the few voices that stood up for the God of Heaven. One day, they squared off. Elijah verses 850 (count them), 850 Pagan prophets. It seems like hes outnumbered, doesnt it? The rules were Lets have it out. Lets have a show-down. Lets see whose God is the greatest God. Here are the rules: Were going to have a sacrifice, but were not going to start our own fire to consume the sacrifice. Were going to depend on the God of Heaven or Baal to send fire to consume the sacrifice. So, were going to see whose God is really powerful. Were going to see whose God really does answer prayers. So, Elijah says to all the people who had assembled to watch this spectacle, this showdown; in Verse 21 (page 350), Elijah addresses the people by saying, How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him. Theres not room in your life for two gods. If God of Heaven is God, He is so big that there is no room for any other gods. You need to make a choice. Are you going to follow the gods of this world, or are you going to follow the one true God? So the stage is set. Elijah, being the gentleman that he is, says to the prophets of Baal, You can have the stage first. So they do. They take the sacrifice, put it on the altar, and they begin to pray to Baal to send fire to consume the sacrifice. Things arent going well. From morning till noon, they cry out (Verse 26), Oh Baal, answer us! they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. This was not a beautiful dance like Elizabeth did this morning for us. They werent twirling and spinning. They were crying and moaning and cutting themselves. Now Elijah is going to go from being confident to cocky. Im afraid hes going to cross a line here. Elijah began to taunt them, Shout louder! he said. In sports, its called trash talking. Surely, he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened. All right, Elijah, youre trash talking. That takes nerve! It takes nerve if your opponent is 850 strong, and theres only one of you. But he knows how big his God is. So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. What a fun religion that is! Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. If we just cut ourselves more, if we just shout louder, maybe hell answer us. But there was no response. No one answered-no one paid attention. So it is with everyone who puts hope in a God other than the God of Heaven. Any other thing, any other person you make your God besides the God of Heaven, youre going to find the same thing is true: therell be no response. Then Elijah said to all of the people, Come here to me. Hed earned an audience. They were willing to listen. He had them prepare the altar, and he did something unusual. He dug a trench around the altar, and he had them take these large jars of water, these four large jars, and dump water on the sacrifice. Then he said, Do it again. Then he said a third time, Do it again. So after the third time, it was just drenched with water. He drenched the wood and filled the trench hed made around the sacrifice. Then Elijah was going to prepare to call on God to send fire from Heaven. Imagine if youre Elijah. Its easy for us to sit here because we know the end of the story, but what if that had been you that day? What if the prophets of Baal are looking at you to find out that they are worshiping the wrong God? What if the people of Israel are looking at you to see if your God answers by fire? The pressure is on, right? What if you get up there and say, Oh God of Heaven, send fire! and no fire comes? Youre on the line, right? People are going to say, Well your God is not powerful either! Its a tie! There is no powerful God. Now we really have problems! Then it rests on your shoulders. That took a lot of faith, didnt it? Its called Fire from Heaven. Well, I have a buddy who is a pastor who has a bold faith. Its one thing I respect about the guy. He just has a bold faith. He went on a missions trip recently to Kenya. In Kenya, theyre going through a drought, and it had not rained in months. They were explaining that to him, and he says, We need to pray for rain. The pastor agreed, Yes, we need to pray for rain. Rain is good. Weve been praying for rain. He said, No! We need to pray for it to rain today. Im not sure thats such a good idea, Pastor thought to himself. So my friend got up to speak, and he prayed for rain today. See, a lot of people had asked for it to rain, but nobody had ever asked for it to rain today. He prayed the prayer. The people got excited. They clapped and praised God. They were excited because they knew their God was a big God! The leadership of the church confronted him afterwards and said, You shouldnt do that! You shouldnt get the peoples hopes up like that. His response was, Is not God a big God? Didnt He send rain in the Bible? Well, yes. Well, why cant He deal with today? Well, He can. But what if He doesnt? they would say. Guess what happened that afternoon? Storm clouds rolled in. He said it rained for hours and hours. He said, I changed my mission. I began to go around Kenya praying for rain everywhere I went. He said, And God sent rain. So its a no-brainer that his new nickname is Rainman. So, now when I see him, I say, Hey, its Rainman. Yup, definitely. Yup, definitely its the Rainman. Remember that movie? If youve not seen that movie, I just looked like a total idiot saying that. If you havent seen it, its Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. Its a good movie, rent it, and then I wont seem so dumb. He is a big God, and God sent rain in Kenya. So Elijah looks to Heaven and he says, Oh, Lord God, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. In other words, he wasnt just there showing off. Answer me, O Lord, answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again. Then when he prayed that prayer, the fire consumed the sacrifice in the water. The fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, The Lord-He is God! The Lord-He is God! Was God bigger in their eyes at that point in time? Absolutely. God had become bigger. They began to realize who the true God is, that there was room for worship of no one else. I want to share a story with you. Do you like stories this morning? You could get some popcorn and come back and listen. I want to share a true story of a friend of mine. The reason I want to share this story is because it captures this truth. It brings it to modern times of somebody I know. His name is Greg Speck. He is a youth speaker extraordinaire. He was in youth ministry before I went into youth ministry, which was 1982, and he is still going strong, so hes like a guru. He travels around the world as a youth minister. Greg shared a story in the early 1980s. He was a pastor at a church called Temple Baptist in Rockford, Illinois. Its a good, solid church there. We worked with them when I was in Rockford. Pastor Ortberg who wrote the book that we just concluded studying was from that church. Gary Smalley, another well-known speaker, is from that church. Greg got his start there as well. It was after a Sunday night service that he received a phone call. One of his parishioners said, Hey, Greg, can you come out to the house? He said, Well, sure. Whats up? He said, Weve got a young man that showed up on our doorstep, and we think hes demonized. Were not used to doing anything about this because were Baptists. We dont know what to do. Can you help us? He said, Well, Ill try. So he gets in his car and drives over to the house. When he gets there, a young man, tall and thin in his early 20s, is on the floor on his hands and knees. He is making a growling sound. Greg says, What happened? He said, He rang the doorbell. We answered. This young man was covered in blood from head to toe. We began to clean him up, thinking hed been in some sort of an accident. When we cleaned him up, we saw no cuts, no injuries, nothing. We asked him what happened. He explained he was involved in a satanic ritual that night and had washed himself in the blood. He was confused and he was scared. They began to talk to him about the Lord, and as soon as they mentioned Jesus Christ, he went ballistic. He began to throw himself into things, crash into the wall. He ended up on all fours, and hes been like that ever since. Greg though he would just establish a rapport with him. So Greg said he went over to him and put his right arm on his left shoulder and said, Hi, Im Greg. When he put his arm on his shoulder, the young man reared up, eyes closed, and started swinging his arms in Gregs direction. Greg said, I reached up to cover because I knew I was going to get tagged, but then after a few seconds I realized not one blow was landing. He said that began a battle. And, Im not saying this is the best way to perform an exorcism, but what they decided to do was one man got on his left arm, one man got on his right arm, one man got on both legs, and Greg got on his chest. They said, In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to leave this young mans body. The young man would become, at certain points, normal. You could even talk to him. At other times, his pupils would dilate, and his voice would change. He would have this super-human strength and would be shouting, LEAVE ME ALONE! He would kind of lift them up with his arms. They would be like, WHOA! Were dealing with something supernatural here. A breakthrough came when Greg felt the Holy Spirit draw his attention to a ring on his finger. He said, Whats that ring? Can you tell me about that ring, Dave? (His name has been changed to protect his identity.) A voice came out of that young man and said, That ring is my life! You touch the ring, and I die! Greg says, I took the ring. I knew what we had to do. He went on, Not long after that, it broke. Whatever the spirit was, it broke. He had deliverance, and he was like, What are you guys doing on my arms? Where am I? I want out of here! And he was free. Greg took the ring and said, Im going to use this ring when I go to speak around the country. He had a cassette tape made of the exorcism because he wanted the young man to hear the torment he was going through after he was set free. He said, Ill just take this tape and this ring, and Ill play it for kids. Ill say, Dont get involved in the occult. Dont get involved in this kind of thing. The Holy Spirit impressed upon Greg that he needed to destroy the ring. So when he got home, he took the ring and smashed it up. He obliterated it. He went inside the house, thinking that was the end, and he had quite a story to tell tomorrow. Soon after that, the phone rings. Its a nice man, very polite man. He said, Hello, is this Pastor Greg Speck? He said, Yes it is. He said, Do you know a young man named Dave? He began to put two and two together and said, Kind of. Were not best friends or anything, but I know who he is. He said, Did you take from him a ring? He said, I did. He said, Mr. Speck, we need to have that ring back. Greg said, Well, weve got a little problem. I dont have the ring. The man said, That ring is very important to us, Mr. Speck. Were going to need to have it back. I dont have the ring. I destroyed the ring. Im very sorry to hear that, Mr. Speck. The man hung up the phone. Fifteen minutes later, he called back again. He said, Were going to need that ring, Mr. Speck. He said, I dont have the ring, but I will tell you this. If I did have the ring, I wouldnt give it to you. Greg said he had a boldness that was not from me. He said, Well, Mr. Speck, then youre going to have to get forgiveness. Greg said, What do you mean Im going to have to get forgiveness? He began to describe a ritual. Greg said, By the way, who are you? He said, I cant tell you who I am, but I will tell you where Im from. Im from the church of Satan here in Rockford. Greg thought to himself, Didnt know we had a church of Satan here in Rockford. Never saw that building before. He says, We will come to your home. They described a ritual in which they would sacrifice an animal. Theyd wash his hands in the blood and repeat an incantation, and hed have forgiveness. He said, Im not going to do that. Im not going to wash my hands in any…No! No! He said, Well, Mr. Speck, you know, animal sacrifice for forgiveness of sin is in the Bible. He had him look up a passage in Leviticus. He said, Its very Biblical, Greg. He said, Well come to your house, and besides that, whos going to know? Greg said, Ive heard the enemy say that to me many times when he temps me. Whos going to know? Ive never heard it in an audible voice before. He said, Two people: Gods going to know, and Im going to know, and the answer is no, and he ended the conversation. The phone rings again a half hour later, and its his buddy. He said, Its interesting how Satan describes himself as an angel of light. This guy didnt call (with a rough voice) and say, Im from the church of Satan. Ahhhh! He was as polite as could be. He said, Mr. Speck, Ive talked to our leader, our high priest, and shes very upset with you. She has destroyed men greater than you, Godly men. He said, Really? Have you seen her do it? The voice answered and said, No, but shes told me about it, and she can destroy you as well if we dont get the ring back. I dont have the ring. Ive destroyed the ring. I will not give the ring to you. Then his demeanor changed. He went from being friendly and nice to not very nice at all. He changed his tone and said, Well, then, Mr. Speck, Im afraid were going to have to destroy your church, and he hung up the phone. Well, thats not good news. He said, Well, this is wonderful. Ill show up in the morning for work, and there will be blood all over the walls, and there will be things desecrated and furniture broken up, windows smashed, and my pastor will say, Whos responsible for this? Ill say, ah ah ah. He says, I have to call him. So he called Pastor Gordon Hanstead and said, Pastor Hanstead, weve got a problem. He explained the whole scenario, and he said, Now, they said theyre going to destroy our church. Do you know what Pastor Hanstead said? Good job, Greg! Excellent work! Let them come and do something like that! Well call the newspaper. Well call the television. Well call radio! Well expose them! Excellent job, Greg! Greg was like, I knew that. So he felt like he could go to sleep and rest and know everything was going to be fine. The phone rings. Its his buddy, Mr. Speck? He said, Yes? Greg said he wanted to answer the phone and go, Hello, Won-Ton Laundry. Greg said, Do you need directions? Cant find me? He said, Mr. Speck, you know we need to have the ring. Greg said he wanted to say, What part of I dont have the ring; Ive destroyed the ring; even if I had the ring, I wouldnt give it to you dont you understand? The man ran through that dialog, and he said, Youll have to gain forgiveness. Those are your two choices. He said, I have a third choice besides giving you the ring and gaining forgiveness, and that is to do none of the above. Thats what I choose. He said, I want you to do me a favor. You quoted Leviticus to me tonight. Let me read to you from Isaiah, the 41st chapter. I want you to find your high priest, and I want you to read her this scripture from Isaiah. In Verse 10, you can read along if youd like, this is what Greg Speck read to the man from the church of Satan, So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. You read that to her, and you tell her that thats me. Then he continued to read, All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced. Those who oppose you will be as nothing and parish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 'Do not fear; I will help you. Tell her those verses are about her. He said, Well, Mr. Speck, I dont think Ill be able to do that. I just need to have the ring. He said, You can go ahead and destroy my church if you want to, but youre not going to get the ring. Then he said these words, Well, Mr. Speck, I doubt very seriously if youll see the light of day, and he hung up the phone. Talk about Satan as a roaring lion, ha? He said, Ive never had my life threatened before. Its not a fun thing. The thought of people from this church of Satan showing up at your house in black robes with daggers, that youre going to be a sacrifice of some sort, thats not a very pleasant thought. I was scared. My heart began to pound, my throat became dry, and my hands became cold. I walked around the house, and I turned on every light I could find. I lay in bed and just began to stare at the ceiling. I was listening for every sound. Do you know what it is? Have you ever been scared and every sound is just magnified? Whats that? He said, My neighbor would yawn, and Id go, wahhhh! I was just on edge. The Lord said to him, Greg, read your Bible. He said, So I began to continue to read in Isaiah, but if you would have asked me what I read, I would tell you I had no idea. He was reading the Bible, but his mind was someplace else. His mind was thinking, Ive got these guys coming to get me, and who knows what theyre going to do to me? Hes thinking about his wife; hes thinking about his child; hes thinking about his church. Hes full of fear. For a moment, Greg forgot how big his God was. He said, Then something changed as I was reading through the words, I came across Isaiah 51:12, and it came alive to me. This is what it says (page 729), I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass... God reminds him, these people are just men. …that you forget the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? Thats me! Thats what he said, Thats me! For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free… There he was, a prisoner in his own home, cowering in his own bed. Whos he going to call? Remember this is the early 1980s. Later on, the church of Satan would become almost obnoxious. Theyd be out doing rituals in our local parks, and wed read stories in the news about sacrifices going on. So, we woke up and said, Hey, this is real. Its not just the exorcist. There are people who really believe this, worship the devil and practice this kind of black magic and sorcery and Satanism. It really happens. But in 1982, or whatever year this was in the early 80s, you couldnt call the police and say, Hi, yeah this is Greg Speck. I was wondering if you could come to my home. There are some people who want to kill me. Yeah, from the church of Satan in Rockford. That wasnt going to fly. So, he said, Im just trapped in my own home. What do I do? God says, …they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar-the Lord Almighty is his name. Remember who I am, Greg. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand. Do you know what Greg did after he read that scripture? He said, I felt such a peace, such a presence that I went around the house, and I turned off every light. I came into my bedroom, and I got my pajamas on, turned off my light, and I lay down. Within a few minutes, I was sound asleep. The next sound I heard was the alarm clock. I saw the sun shining, and I heard the birds singing outside my window. I was alive. Nobody had come. Nobody had hurt me. He went to work and told the story to his pastor and his colleagues, this amazing story. He came home that night, and at 11 oclock, the phone rang. Its his good friend. He said, Hello, Mr. Speck. He said, Hello. He said, I want you to know something. Our high priest has decided that she will forgive you. He said, What? He said, She is going to forgive you. Forgive me? He said, You come and you say I need to gain forgiveness and wash my hands in the blood. Youre going to destroy my church. Im not going to see the light of day, and now youre telling me you forgave me? Let me tell you something. With all your leaders power, all her rituals, and all her ceremonies, and all of her incantations, the truth of the matter is, she couldnt even harm a speck. Little pun there. Then he confesses, I really didnt say that. I thought of that later. But what I said to her is, With all of her power, she couldnt hurt me because she serves a second rate power. We never want to try to take on the enemy in our own might and strength. The Bible says hes a fallen being, the highest angel who has fallen. Hes a powerful being, but as powerful as he is, if you are in Christ this morning, you need not fear him. If he were to manifest himself in your room tonight, physically manifest himself, little you, who says Im not that strong in my faith. Im not that knowledgeable of the Bible, little you could turn to him and say, In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve, leave my presence, and he would have to go. Greg said, With all her power, she couldnt harm me. He said, I want to meet your leader. Well go to McDonalds. Well talk face to face. I want a chance to talk to her. He said, I dont think shell do that Mr. Speck, but I just wanted to call and let you know that news. The turning point for the story, and that was the last contact he ever had by the way, was when Greg remembered how big his God was. Thats when he got out of the boat. He remembered how big his God was. The turning point for Elijah was to remember how big his God is. The turning point for you is to remember how big your God is. Its been my prayer that through this series that weve studied these principles of faith, that you see how big God is. In Elijahs words, If the gods of this world are God, then worship them, but if God in Heaven is God, then Hes worth everything! Hes big! Theres no room for another God. Our faith will rise to the point where we take those spiritual risks. We dare to believe God. We dare to trust Him. We dare to act upon His word. He is the God who sent the rain. Hes the God who caused Peter to walk in the water. Hes the God who consumed the sacrifice. Hes the God who protected that young youth pastor, and Hes your God as well. What were going to do this morning to end our service is something a little different. Normally, we have one of our pastors or me close in prayer. Our programming team does a wonderful job of bringing elements of programming into our services to help communicate a message-be it a clip, a song, a drama, or media. One of the things we did a while ago, I cant think of an element of programming in the service that elicited more of a response in a positive way than did this excerpt from this sermon. It talks about the greatness of God and the bigness of God, so I thought it would be appropriate to end our service in that same way, to reprise that clip. So this is something were going to listen to and look at as he talks about the greatness of God. This will conclude our service. Im not going to come back up. Nobody else is going to lead us in prayer. Were going to listen to this, and then what Id like us to do when its all said and done is just give the Lord a round of applause, thanking Him for His greatness, thanking Him for the principles of faith that we have learned and celebrating who He is. As soon as those applauds are done, our service is dismissed. (You can purchase a copy of it here: http://www.sermonspice.com/search/that+s+my+king/) Besides that, after the first time, I dont want to follow this guy again. Lets listen.