This woman made her living outside of Rio de Janeiro. She was very poor — dirt floor house — and her greatest fear was that she had a beautiful, beautiful daughter. And she knew that one day her daughter will live that house and go to Rio de Janeiro to try to make a better life. And she knew what would happen to her daughter if she went there.
One day, the woman came home, and her daughter was gone. There was a note on the table that said: I have gone to Rio to find a life. The mother knew what would happen. She took all the money that she had; She bought a bus ticket to Rio de Janeiro. And then she went to a little photo shop; a photo booth. And she spent a great deal of her money, the mother did, just making pictures of herself. And then the mother went to Rio de Janeiro and spent months there. She looked in every hotel, every restaurant, every movie house, all the discotheques, everywhere she looked. And everywhere she went, she left a picture of her face. Finally, she ran out of money and she went home.
One night, her daughter was coming down the stairs of a hotel. And she was with a man; she had become a prostitute; she looked like she had aged 15 years. And as she was coming down the stairs, she feels like she’s going to die, but she looks over in a mirror; she sees how she’s aged. Then something catches her eye, she sees a picture of her mother, she grabs it, she can’t believe it! She turns it over, and on the back, she read this: I do not care what you have become, and I do not care what you have done, please come home.
I know all about the sovereignty of God, about the great confession, and I embrace them all. I know about election and predestination and all those things I believe, but at the same time, when I look in the New Testament, this is what I hear God saying: I don’t care what you have become, and I don’t care what you have done, my son has paid it all on the cross, now come home!
Some of you young people out here are going to ruin your life. Some of you adults bear scars that will never be removed because of the sin in your life. And some of you, the only thing you’ve ever seen of Christianity is a dead religion. But I serve a living God! Who has sent us a living saviour! And He calls all men to turn from their sin and come back to Him, and those who come to Him, He will not cast out!
Trust in Christ! He is such a Saviour! He is mighty to save! Don’t let anything stand between you and coming to know Him!
One of the saddest things I ever have to do is preach, preach about the love of God. It is so sad because, no matter how hard you try to preach, you cannot describe the love of God for sinful men. GOD IS LOVE! And He has provided a saviour. And if you don’t come to him, the fault will be yours.
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