50GREAT SERMONS GREAT SERMONS - The Big Day

or two of the young women.
The sorority was called “the house of beautiful women,” and they were.
Sixty of them gathered in the living room to hear us speak, and, when I finished
my message, I said, “If you would like to know Jesus Christ personally,
come and tell me.”
I had prayed for one or two. But at least thirty of these beautiful college
women stood in line to tell me they wanted to become Christians.
Since this was my first group meeting in which people wanted to receive
Christ, I didn’t know what to do. So I did what any good businessman does
when he’s not sure what to do: I called another meeting.
“Vonette and I would like to invite all of you to our home tomorrow
night,” I announced. “We’ll talk more about how you can know Christ personally.
Would you come?”
Each of the women agreed, and most of them came—some with
boyfriends. All but a few prayed with us that evening, yielding their lives to
Christ. From this nucleus, the ministry called Campus Crusade for Christ
was born, and spread not only across the UCLA campus, but also across the
country and around the world.
These sharp young women and their boyfriends were hungry for the good
news. They were only waiting for someone to tell them, someone to show
them how.
—Bill Bright
Witnessing to a United States Senator
A few years ago, I was concluding a meeting with a group of executives
when one came up to me. “Bill,” he said, “next time you’re in Washington,
would you please go see my senator? He needs the Lord.”
The question startled me. “Don’t you think that would be presumptuous,
going to see a senator without an appointment to talk to him about the
Lord?”
“Tell him I sent you,” my executive friend laughed, for he knew that his
senator probably didn’t even know him.
Several months later, I was in the Senate office building in Washington,
where I met and prayed with a couple of other senators. As I walked down
the hall, I saw the name of the senator to whom I had been referred.
By this time, I had learned not to argue with the Lord. The natural man in
me would have said, “Who do you think you are, bothering the senator—
and he probably won’t even be interested!” But over the years, God had
taught me to be prepared for Him to provide unusual witnessing opportunities,
sometimes in the most unlikely circumstances. And He doesn’t expect
eloquence, just obedience.
So, with a quick prayer for God’s guidance, I entered the senator’s office.
“May I help you?” the receptionist asked.
“Good morning. My name is Bill Bright, and I’d like to talk with the
senator,” I said.
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“Let me see,” she said as she left her desk and disappeared through a
doorway to the back offices.
In less than a minute, she was back. “He’d be glad to see you right now,”
she reported.
In most circumstances it’s best to take the time to converse and establish
a good rapport with the person with whom you’re sharing Christ. However,
since I had arrived without an appointment, I wanted to respect the senator’s
time constraints. I got right to the point.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Senator,” I greeted as we shook hands. “I’m
Bill Bright.”
“Bill, it’s good to meet you,” the senator smiled. “Have a seat there. How
is your stay in Washington?”
“I’m having a good visit. I’m president of Campus Crusade for Christ
International, and I’ve been here to meet with several government leaders
who have committed themselves to Jesus Christ. Senator, are you a Christian?”
The question “Are you a Christian?” could come across as blunt and
insensitive. Yet, I have found that if I bathe an opportunity in prayer, and if I
make sure God is on the throne of my life and I’m reaching out in genuine
love in the power of the Holy Spirit, the person I’m sharing with invariably
responds to this question without taking offense. Such was the case with this
busy senator.
“I don’t know. . . . I think so,” he hesitated. His voice was quiet, and he
leaned forward, eager to hear more. His contemplative brown eyes looked
straight into mine.
“If you were to die tonight, do you know without a doubt that you would
go to heaven?” I asked.
His gaze dropped from me to the top of his desk. “No,” he whispered. “I
don’t.”
“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” I asked.
“You bet I would.”
I went through a brief presentation of the gospel, and the senator
responded that he would like to receive Christ.
—Bill Bright
What Is Important?
One fall day, I was in such a hurry to do something “more important”
that I almost missed out on a real blessing that God had waiting for me. I
was driving to speak to a group of Christian college students at Forest Home,
a beautiful conference center in the San Bernardino mountains. The uphill
climb proved a little strenuous for my car, however, and the radiator started
to boil over. I pulled into the driveway of a nice, rustic-looking house, which
turned out to be the home of a man who worked with the forestry service.
“Can I be of help?” he smiled as he came over to my car. With a garden
hose he filled the radiator, and we chatted while I let the engine run.
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