From a Bible Study to 100,000 People — "You Don't Get There by Yourself"

About this sermon

How does the message of the gospel stay the same while the world around it changes completely? In this conversation, Greg Laurie and Chuck Swindoll dig into how evangelism has shifted after Greg's 50+ years of preaching — from a biblically literate culture that understood references to Noah's Ark and Adam and Eve, to a young generation that's "almost completely biblically illiterate" and requires every term to be explained from scratch. Greg shares the advice Billy Graham once gave him about preaching the cross above all else, and how he's adapted his approach the way Paul did at Mars Hill — building a bridge to the culture before delivering the unchanging message of Scripture. Greg also tells the story of how a small Monday night Bible study became Harvest Crusade — Chuck Smith's bold idea to move to the 18,000-seat Pacific Amphitheater ("we serve a pretty big God"), then to Angel Stadium, and eventually to AT&T Stadium for a crusade of over 100,000 people. Chuck Swindoll shares his own story of a bold, late-in-life step of faith: becoming president of Dallas Theological Seminary at 59 — and the surprising thing he did there that brought grown men to tears. Timestamps: 0:00 – How evangelism has changed over 50 years 0:45 – Billy Graham's advice: preach the cross 1:37 – A biblically illiterate generation 2:22 – Learning from Paul at Mars Hill 3:04 – The Bible study that became Harvest Crusade 3:54 – "We serve a pretty big God” 4:31 – 100,000 people at AT&T Stadium 5:20 – Chuck Swindoll's bold move to Dallas Seminary 6:08 – Telling grown men "I love you” #GregLaurie #ChuckSwindoll #Evangelism #HarvestCrusade #ChristianTestimony 🌐 Sign up for Pastor Chuck's daily devotional and explore our various resources at https://www.insight.org ❔ Have questions about following Jesus or about the Bible? We'd love to help you. Please visit https://www.insight.org/connect/faqs/biblical-counseling 📲 Take Pastor Chuck's resources with you on our Insight for Living app! - Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/IFLappleapp - Google Play: https://bit.ly/IFLPlay 🎧 Listen to Pastor Chuck Swindoll on . . . YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLteVs-tVfPH8ffZKyrqgAJVXNbutlHyOd&feature=shared Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/IFLapple Spotify: https://bit.ly/IFLspotify TuneIn: https://bit.ly/IFLTuneIn PodBean: https://bit.ly/IFLpodbean Podbay: https://bit.ly/IFLpodbay 📻 You can also find the radio stations that are airing our Insight for Living broadcast at the bottom of this page: https://insight.org/broadcasts/station-finder 📱 Pastor Chuck Swindoll's social media: Facebook: https://bit.ly/SwindollFB Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuckrswindoll/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/chuckswindoll 📱 Insight for Living, the Swindoll's international Bible-teaching ministry, social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insightforlivingministries Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insightforlivingministries/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/IFL_USA 🤝 Insight for Living operates only on generous gifts and donations. We would be honored to have your support in providing this practical and accurate Bible teaching to those around the world. If you feel led to partner with us, you can visit https://give.insight.org/ or you can watch this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga9nwCtp5bU Copyright © 2025 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (CRS, Inc.) All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.

Topics

• Bible Study