AM/PM OpenAir Before School

I'm very excited about something the LORD used me for this morning, and I just want to tell someone that might be interested. By way of background, I've only OA'd once, and I had a prepared hardcopy that I read from. So the effectiveness was questionable. Anyway, on Friday of last week, I had to take my wife's car to the dealer for some repairs. As I drove to the car dealer, around 7:00am Friday morning, I noticed a huge group of high school kids gathered at an AM/PM gas station mini-mart, which is located adjacent to their high school (Cascade HS in Everett, WA). I thought and prayed LORD, is this an opportunity? So I staked out the AM/PM yesterday, and witnessed not only the same huge group of kids congregated outside the gas station mini-mart, but there was a policeman arresting a Goth kid. I thought, oh dear LORD, these kids need You. So I planned and prayed to go OA this morning to the kids. I felt that the LORD had given me an assignment to go preach to the high school students, but when I got there this morning about 7:10am, I got so scared, I felt frozen. There were about 50 students outside smoking and talking, etc, I had the hardest time getting out of the car. I grabbed a stack of PocketTestaments, and prayed my hardest that the LORD would help me overcome my fear. I got out and preached to them about the real "Final Exam" that we all have to take some day. They were very interactive and responsive. They came up individually while I was preaching and asked for Bibles and I gave them all away. I was kind of bummed though, because they lit a couple of the Gospels on fire. Then after I finished, I handed out a stack of about 50 Million Dollar bills.

Here is the Text of the Message...
Good morning, My name is K. R. I've been given an assignment to speak to you high school students. So if I could have your attention for a few moments, I'd like to share a brief but important message with you.

Now, I know that you are all high school students at Cascade High. And I know that at the end of the semester, your teachers are going to give you Final Exams. I want to talk to you about a Final Exam that we all have to take. At the end of our lives, we're all going to have to stand before God and He's going to examine our lives. The stakes for this exam are no less than your eternity. So lets see how you'll do on that day. I'll give you a pre-test, and you can grade yourselves.

God is going to judge you based on whether or not you've kept the Ten Commandments. Take the 9th Commandment for example, have you ever told a lie. What would that make you? A liar some girl responded. The 8th Commandment, you shall not steal. Have you ever taken anything that didn't belong to you? What would that make you? A stealor, the same girl responded. I said , the steelers are in Pittsburg. I heard a few chuckles. I said you'd be a thief. The 7th commandment, you shall not commit addultery, I know probably none of you are married, but adultery is cheating on your wife, but Jesus said "if you've even looked at another person to lust after them, you've committed adultery already with them in your heart. And the 6th Commandment, you shall not murder. I know none of you have committed murder (a couple of guys raised their hands jokingly.) I said but Jesus said if you've even hate someone you're guilty enough to deserve the judgement of hell.

So if you've admitted to breaking these Laws, you'd be a Lying, Thieving, Adulterous, Murderer at heart. Those are only 4 of the 10 Commandments, there are 6 more where those came from. You have to stand before God on Judgement Day, and you'd be guilty. What would you deserve. "Hell", a couple of the guys responded. Yes, and hell is forever.

God doesn't want you to go to hell, and I don't want you to go to hell, so how do you avoid hell? God requires 100% perfection on the Final Exam of life and there are no re-takes of that test.

But you can receive forgiveness for your sins. 2000 years ago, God became a Man in Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin. He lived a perfectly sinless life. But they crucified Him. They nailed Him to a cross where he bled and died. They buried Him in a tomb, but three days later He rose from the dead and proved He has the power over death.

Jesus didn't die for anything He did wrong. He died to give Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He took our guilt, and shame and punishment upon himself on that cross. He purchased forgiveness for us. Now to receive that forgiveness, you need to do two things: Repent and Trust. Repent is Bible talk for change your mind. You need to change your mind about sin, and turn from your sin and turn to God for forgiveness. Secondly, you need to place your trust in Jesus Christ to save you. Its like this, if you were on a sinking ship, you wouldn't just believe in the life-boat, you'd put your faith into the life-boat and get into it.

So get right with God today. None of us know when we're going to die, so don't wait till its too late. Place your trust in Jesus Christ and repent today; don't wait.

God bless you and thanks for listening to me.

God bless...