YMCA OpenAir Text

May I have your attention? Thank you. Welcome to Teen Night, at the YMCA.
My name is Keith; I live right around the corner on Silver Firs Drive. I'm not associated with the Y, but I whole-heartedly support their work with youth like you. I have their permission to speak with you for a moment about a crucial matter.
May I share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you? Gospel is Bible talk for Good News. I have some REALLY Good News for you.
But first, I have some Bad News I need to give to you. The Bad News is that none of us can make it to heaven on our own. The Bible says, "that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
Do you think you are a "good person" and because of that you'll get to heaven? Well, lets check and see if you're really a good person. Lets look at ourselves in the mirror for a moment.
God says in the Ten Commandments, "You shall not lie." Have you ever told a lie, a half-truth or even a fib? I would have to say, "Yes, I have." That makes us liars.
The eighth commandment is, "You shall not steal." Have you ever taken something that wasn't yours, no matter how small or insignificant? I have to confess, "I have." That makes us thieves.
Have you ever murdered anyone? Probably not. But Jesus said "if you are angry with [or hate] your brother [sister, mother, father or anyone], you will be in danger of judgment in hell." That's because if you hate someone, you'd like to kill them.
That's only three of the Ten Commandments. We could go through all ten, but the Bible says if you are guilty of breaking even one commandment, you're guilty.
If you were to die right now, and stand before the God who created you, would He judge you innocent or guilty on the basis of your performance of the Ten Commandments?
Since we're all lawbreakers in the eyes of God, there's a penalty we all have to pay. We all have a death sentence on our heads.
You're all young and you probably haven't thought much about death. But it is very real! Death is the only 100% statistic. Ten out of ten people die. Since we're all guilty, we would all spend eternity in hell.
So that's the Bad News. Now here's the Good News. God became a man in Jesus Christ, and he lived a perfectly righteous life. The Romans nailed Him to the cross where He bled and died a horrible death. Your sentence has already been served. Jesus paid your fine for breaking God's Law. He took the penalty for your sins and was punished on your behalf. He's willing to give you His righteousness in exchange for your sin.
He will forgive you of all your wrongdoing and give you eternal life. You can go to heaven and live with Him forever. You have to repent -- change your mind and turn away from sin and turn to God.
It doesn't mean you have to be perfect, or clean up your act before you turn to God and it certainly doesn't mean you can't or won't have fun.
Place your trust in Jesus now. Ask Him to forgive your sins and come into your life and His Spirit will dwell within you. He will give you new life now and eternal life in heaven with Him when you die.
Please consider these words carefully. Thank you for your attention.