A Day Of New Beginnings

A. Welcome to Friend Day.

1. Every year when Friend Day arrives, I get really excited, because I know that Friend Day is often a day of new beginnings.

2. We have seen many people over the years who experience a new beginning with God on or because of Friend Day.

3. Maybe today is your day!

4. Maybe today is your day to feel drawn to explore who Jesus really is and what it means to become a follower of Jesus.

5. Everyone starts that journey from different places and with different backgrounds and experiences.

6. God is continuously working to draw people to Himself and we are privileged to be His helpers in coming alongside people as we together journey toward God.

B. Thankfully, people turn toward God every day and that turning toward God is what we call the conversion process.

1. Conversion happens to dogmatic atheists and determined agnostics.

2. Conversion happens to gifted physicians and brilliant scientists.

3. Conversion happens to popular coaches and superstar athletes.

4. Conversion happens to famous musicians and renowned artists.

5. Conversion happens to former criminals and everyday sinners.

6. One by one, these unique individuals get to the end of life’s rope and experience life’s emptiness and begin searching for life’s meaning.

7. That search often leads to Jesus, and when they discover the claims and hope of the good news of Jesus, many believe and turn their lives over to the Lord.

C. When well-known individuals convert to Christ, the public often responds with amazement and skepticism.

1. The question that always looms is: Has the person really converted and will it stick?

2. But what we must keep in mind is that there is a difference between conversion and maturity.

3. The late Alan Redpath, longtime preacher and author, put it best when he said: “The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.”

4. No person, no matter how bright, how sincere, or how submissive, comes to Christ and instantly becomes spiritually mature.

5. Becoming a mature Christian is a lifelong process that begins at the moment of salvation.

D. Sensational and surprising conversions are always so inspiring, let me share a few with you.

1. Let me begin with the story of Jim Vaus.

2. In the 1940s, Jim was a gangster who was deeply involved in all kinds of organized crime.

a. He eventually agreed to work with the Los Angeles Police Department to help search out members of the growing crime network.

b. After years of being under the constant stress of living a double life as an undercover informant, Vaus faced his own misery and emptiness.

3. Vaus decided to attend a Billy Graham tent crusade being held by the young evangelist in downtown Los Angeles.

a. Amidst a crowd of over six thousand people, Jim Vaus grasped for the first time the message of God’s grace and forgiveness.

b. According to an article printed in The Los Angeles Times, the notorious mobster rose to his feet and “walked the sawdust trail” to respond to the invitation.

c. Literally in the shadow of young Billy Graham, Vaus knelt there weeping in the dust as he declared his desire to surrender his life to Christ.

4. Who would have thought an infamous gangster like him would become a follower of Jesus?

E. Another amazing conversion story is the story of Chuck Colson.

1. In the political world of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Chuck Colson was known as President Nixon’s hatchet man.

a. Colson performed the behind-the-scenes dirty work for Richard Nixon, his boss and friend.

b. Someone once described Colson this way: “Chuck is the kind of guy who would run over his grandmother if necessary to get the job done.”

2. Chuck’s rapid ascent to political power and stature brought with it all kinds of pressures.

a. Add to that the pain of a failed marriage, and Colson found himself at a crisis point.

b. As the Watergate tangle intensified, Colson descended deep into despair and began to search for peace.

c. By late 1972, after Nixon had been reelected, Colson resigned as Special Counsel to the President and tried to retreat into private life.

3. In 1973, Colson visited a friend named Tom Phillips, who was a believer.

a. Phillips shared the good news of Jesus with Colson and read him this portion from C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

b. Later that night, Colson sat in his car in the dark and the iron grip on his emotions began to relax and he sobbed.