Good afternoon to everybody. Thank you all for your patience today. Thank you for um patience in the parking lot trying to find a seat here and next door and up in Westminster. Um wouldn't you say it's truly amazing what God has done through this event and the tragic death of Charlie. Amen. My name is Pastor Jeff. I'm the senior pastor here at Brave Church. Welcome to everybody. We are so glad that you are here to do two things today. One, we want to worship and honor uh the Lord Jesus Christ. And number two, we want to honor the life of our friend and brother in Christ, Charlie Kirk. That's why we're here. I want to read from the scripture as we get started today because I think in times of challenge, it's where we want to go. And in Psalm chapter 34 and verse 18, it says this, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Also want to read Psalm 42 or Psalm 46 rather verses 1 and two that I know Erica posted on Acts just prior to her husband being taken. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea. I want you to know that God is our safe place. He He's our refuge. He's an everpresent help in time of trouble. And we will not give way to fear. Amen. >> Amen. We will not do that. So, we put together a couple things today to to honor Charlie's life. I'm going to encourage you. When we sing, sing. That's what Charlie would have wanted. Uh when we pray, pray. That's what Charlie would have wanted. You're going to get to hear from several different people that knew him. Some of you that aren't speaking knew him even better. Unique thing about Charlie is for every single one of us that knew him. He made you feel like you were the most important person in his life when you were with him and he'll be greatly missed. So, let's spend time today honoring the Lord. Let's spend time today honoring the legacy of Charlie Kirk. And would you just uh pray with me as we get started? Our father in heaven, we give you all the glory and honor and praise. Lord, it's been an absolute tragic week. I know several words will be shared about that throughout our day. But Lord, here's what we do know. That you are near to the brokenhearted and that you save those who are crushed in spirit. Lord, minister here today. Let us truly hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ that Charlie would have wanted us to share. Lord, be honored in the way that we honor you and let us honor our brother who is now in your presence with you. hearing the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Lord, we love you and we bless you and we praise you for who you are. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Before [Music] I go on a college campus, I my prayer is very simple. God used me for your will. >> Amen. >> Because there's a plan above us all. God is sovereign above all. And the capacity and ability of our agency or action is very debatable. So what is God's plan when I go on a college campus? I just believe I will only tell truth. I will not compromise and I'll love on the lost. The specific teachings of Christ is go make disciples of all nations. I'm trying my best to do that. And I'm trying to do it first in this nation because this nation impacts every other nation on the planet. Uh Jesus called us to love children. God Jesus called us to tell truth. God. Jesus called us um to contest in the public square for his purposes. I'm far more interested in what God wants of me than what I want of from God. >> And what God wants from me is a life fighting for truth. >> Charlie pointed up. He had this authentic real love for Jesus Christ and his conservative philosophy was an outgrowth of that. But he would go to these campuses. I would speak at his women's event and he would speak to lonely people who were lost on social media, felt empty, felt depressed on college campuses and he would give them hope in Jesus Christ. And the last thing I would say, Sean, is I know that I know that I know that I know this. Charlie Kirk did not die today. Yes, he left his body, but I guarantee you when he took his last breath, the first words that he heard were Jesus Christ saying, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] If you're able, would you stand and sing with us today? [Music] Oh Lord my God, when I in awome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made. I see the stars. [Music] I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe display is played. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou are. How great thou art. [Music] And when I think that God his son not sparing sent him to die, I scarce can't take it in. At on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my savior God, to thee, how great thou are. [Music] How great thou art. Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee. How great thou are. How great thou are. [Music] Then Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home. What joy shall fill my heart. Then I shall bow with humble adoration and then proclaim my God how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee, how great thou are. How great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou are. How great thou are. How great thou are. How great thou are. [Applause] You may be seated. At this time, I just like to introduce those that are going to be speaking today, and I'll let them come up one right after the other just to save us some time. But today you're going to be hearing from Heidi Ganol, Jeff Hunt, Reagan Harris, Ashley Meyer, and Victor Marx. Okay. So, Heidi, if you'd like to come and start us off, Hello everyone. I'm honored to be with you today to honor our friend Charlie. I'd like to start with one of my favorite passages as I've faced politics in Colorado and all of you are so brave to be here and speak out and continue this battle for Charlie. The Lord and my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Charlie roared this truth. He was a lion of liberty, a beacon for our youth, a blaze whose vision for America will burn eternal. In early 2016, Charlie and my dad Harve, who many of you know, sparked a friendship at a conference, and soon our family, too. As a new regent at the University of Colorado back then, I shared a common vision with Charlie. I was on fire for free speech unchained and small government unbowed and crushing communism that was starting to attack our country. We stormed the front lines at CU together, reclaiming classrooms for truth and building confidence in young conservatives to find their voice and growing the turning point chapters across Colorado campuses, especially Boulder, and launching the freeto coalition to host feisty but healthy debates on our college campuses. I love the movement so much that I enthusiastically joined the Turning Point Advisory Board, seized by his mission to rouse a generation. Now, Charlie forged Turning Point in 2012 from a teenager's passion for all things America, but more importantly, his love of Jesus Christ. His future mentor and friend, Bill Montgomery, dear soul, saw an amazing potential in Charlie as a high school student who was speaking back then. He took him off stage and convinced Charlie to skip college and ignite a whole movement. I'm sure glad Charlie didn't go to college. [Music] [Applause] That's rough coming from a previous su region. But I'm sure that Bill greeted Charlie at the doors of heaven on Wednesday and cried, "Well done, good and faithful servant." What a story. But that story will continue if we proclaim it. So Charlie's heart was for free speech and bravely debating one-on-one, not to dominate, but to understand every view. Churchgoers, immigrants, souls across the planet. He sparked turning point in the UK and Australia and beyond with vigils now across the the entire world over the last few days in Spain, Korea, the UK. He's lighting a global fire for the truth. Thank you. Now, Charlie set my family ablaze, too. My daughter Tori Tori blazed a trail at the University of Oregon in all places in 2017. Charlie's favorite football school as one of the first student slates to run for student body government nationally under the campus victory project for Turning Point, which was pretty covert back then, not so much now. And um Holly, her younger sister, who's here, now helps lead the Valor Christian Turning Point chapter. And they had over a hundred students storm their first meeting. Next one's on Tuesday. [Applause] And of course, Charlie was a rock for me, taking my text messages and calls whenever I got into a panic over what to say next to Kyle Clark. Mostly nothing, he said during my 22 run for Colorado governor. And his lessons served me so well on the debate stage when I got to go after Jared Polus. It was awesome. That came from Charlie. But now you guys, it is time for all of us to be a rock for Erica. As most of you know, I lost my young husband, my first husband, in a plane crash at the age of 27. And I know the depths of grief that she is going to face, and it is brutal. Please give her so much grace and so much love and prayer. She's going to need every ounce of it. We also need to pray for the young leadership team at Turning Point and for Lena and Vega who are here and Ashley who's the regional director because they are overwhelmed right now with people who want to get involved now to the tune you guys to the tune of over 30,000 students that have signed up since Wednesday to help and support them. Now, I'm going to wrap up by saying I know it's scary. He knew it was scary. And Erica knows it's scary. But his beautiful wife's rallying cry Friday night was to double down, not to back off, to push fear aside, and to trust in the Lord and go, go, go, go. Patriots, we stand at destiny's edge. Charlie's light was ambushed, but his fire rages in us. and we owe him and our kids and our nation to surge forward hearts ablaze. So, let's proclaim together that we will work feverishly in his honor to reach the 300,000 high school students across Colorado, over 600 high schools that need our eyes on them, that need a turning point chapter launched in every single one. Are you ready? Rest in glory, fierce warrior, our dear friend Charlie. The Lord is our light and our salvation. Whom shall we fear? No one. We won't fear. We will act. God bless you, Charlie. God bless you, Erica, and your children, Tyler, and the whole leadership team, Justin. God bless Colorado and America, too. Thank you. [Applause] Well, good afternoon. My name is Jeff Hunt and I want to say first of all, I am so proud of Brave Church for being willing to stand up and host this event. Thank you, Pastor Jeff. Seriously, thank you. And thank you to Heidi. Wonderful remarks. Charlie Kirk is a classic American story. It is in part why we connected with him, why we love him, and why we honor him. America was founded and its traditions of being a Christian nation made up of the consent of the governed were because of people like Charlie. Charlie is exactly the type of person America was founded by and what America produces. America's founders were overwhelmingly Christian, idealistic and young. They improvised. As David McCulla, my favorite historian, points out, none of the founders had built a nation before. Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Washington, the oldest of them all, was my age, 43 when he took command of the Continental Army. They had no money. They had no navy. and they faced insurmountable odds. 32,000 British troops landed in the months following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That was the size of the entire population of Philadelphia at the time. Charlie Kirk faced seemingly insurmountable odds on college campuses. The same way the entire institution had been captured by leftist ideologies from the students to the faculty to the curriculum to the administrators. They rejected everything Charlie Kirk was and everything he stood for. Charlie Kirk didn't stand a chance against these odds. And true to form, like the American heroes we celebrate, Charlie was brave. He was courageous. He was hardworking. and he was innovative. American history honors those who gave the last full measure of devotion. I can tell you from our private conversations. Charlie's devotion was to you, the American people. He loved you. He loved the discussions. He loved the debate. He loved the opportunity to inspire. Charlie would have never put a glass partition between himself and the college students. It wasn't his way. The human connection to his American brothers and sisters is what he longed for above all else. There will never be another Charlie Kirk in American history. We shouldn't expect there to be one. However, my encouragement particularly to the young people is the recipe I witnessed in Charlie that led to his success. And I love this line from the book The Little Prince. What's essential is invisible. Charlie had faith in Jesus Christ. Charlie had character. Charlie had devotion. Charlie had inspiration. And I beg you from the bottom of my heart to the young people in this room, please do not wait for permission to build your movement. It will never come. Charlie never asked for permission. Like the great American leaders we admire, he addressed our country's biggest challenges with bravery, tenacity, boldness, and ingenuity. You have the recipe. It's the American recipe. Go forth and carry on not only Charlie's work, but the work that is the United States of America. God bless you all. [Applause] Good afternoon, Brave Church. My name is Reagan Harris. I'm 13 years old and I attend Colorado Christian Academy. I came to know Charlie personally in 2023 at a school event. At the event, he spoke about how we are only one generation away from losing the hard-fought freedoms that built our nation. Charlie discussed how many in our country seemed to be so willing to give those freedoms away. Meeting Charlie and hearing him speak about our country's freedoms inspired me to conduct my own research, to spend more time in the Bible, and tackle the apologetics that I know I will need to be prepare to be prepared to defend my faith in the world. [Applause] I began to crave what other messages he could share with me. And I think I've probably watched every podcast and certainly every campus video of his. My parents don't allow social media, but they made an exception for anything with Charlie Kirk. His [Applause] messages touched me deeply. Charlie met youth and individuals with opposing views with a kind, listening ear. However, he never held back in sharing truth. The truth we all know is only given to us from God. [Applause] I was blessed to share more moments with Charlie over the last two years, including a Turning Point Trump rally, which was one of the most impactful and encouraging events I've ever attended. But my favorite memory of Charlie was sitting at the dinner table with him at a Hope Haven Rwanda event. While we sat together, we discussed the book of Genesis. His brilliance was truly unparalleled and his ability to not just retain and speak scripture but to apply it to modern issues and conversations made him so successful in his intellectual arguments. [Applause] He was truly a gift from God to this nation and that blessing shall not perish with his passing. [Applause] Charlie liked to quote Aristotle that courage is the greatest virtue and Charlie lived that virtue for Christ. Yes, [Applause] >> he was martyed for living out his Christian faith so publicly, so openly, and so fearlessly. Now I'm even more committed to my courage and to our generation's continued fight for our nation under God. [Applause] I used to look at my call to action as the efforts that would happen once I started my career. But this terrible event has emboldened my commitment to bringing faith back to our nation, to our schools, and into our homes. Now, Charlie's work has to be continued now. [Applause] So, my call to action to all of us is to step up. Let's be the millions of soldiers for Christ that can carry forward Charlie's work. [Applause] Be bold. Live fearlessly. Step into action through love and truth. Jesus always wins. [Applause] Erica Kirk and children, turning point in our nation, our prayers are with you. May God protect each of you in your efforts and may God bless America. Thank you. [Applause] Good afternoon. My name is Ashley Mayer and I met Charlie Kirk in June of 2017 at TurningPoint USA's Young Women's Leadership Summit. I introduced myself to Charlie and told him I was a student at the University of Colorado Boulder. I showed Charlie the latest Marxist poster going around campus and he said, "Text me that and call me if you need me. Several months later, I became president of CU Boulders's Turning Point USA chapter [Applause] and assumed my role for three semesters. Throughout my time in Turning Point, I attended dozens of conferences, hosted multiple events, and became the Spitfire that Charlie always told others I am. [Applause] The other day I was looking through this notebook and I brought and that I bought right before I attended the Young Women's Leadership Summit in 2017. I want to read what I wrote down after hearing Charlie speak. Charlie Kirk, how to combat the left. Know your surroundings and who you're trying to convince. Ask questions. Keep heart rate low. Style means as much as substance. What follows in the pages of this notebook are an archive of my personal journey of political activism. Everything that I planned, attended, and hosted as recorded in my notebook would not have transpired if it were not for Charlie Kirk. Charlie was a true leader who believed in each of us and lifted us up with him. As Turning Point continued to grow, he changed the scope of political activism in America and transformed a generation of freethinkers. As we mourn the death of Charlie, we must turn our anger and grief into action. We must promise not to cower to those who hate us or hide our beliefs for fear of repercussion. [Applause] Now is the time for each of you to go by your notebook like I did many years ago and fill it with pages of bold plans for action, activism, and truth. [Applause] My name is Victor Mars and I'm privileged to be here with you today. Plus, that's really good. I'll speak to you from a little bit different perspective and it's one where I just flew in with my bride and team from Phoenix because we were with Erica these last few days. I've been receiving texts. My phone's blown up. because of a couple of posts I made that have reached 12 13 million in the last 24 hours. And the text that I get from people that I know is, "I didn't know you knew Charlie so well." Because one is me holding Erica and another one is my bride hugging her sometime the presence I call the ministry of presence you're just there words can't solve the hurt and the the ache but sometimes a hug sure can relieve a lot of pain. When people say, "I didn't know you knew him so well." I I chuckle thinking back to a trip I took with them to multiple campuses. And when he asked me to go, especially one of them was a that real liberal one up in Northern California. It was a good one. I said, "Why do you want me to go?" He goes, "Well, I want you to pray. You can open them in prayer and if something goes sideways, I just feel better." He goes, "Bring that dog." [Applause] I remember after we hit a few universities, we're flying back. We loaded up in the plane and as we're just taking off, he comes up to me, says, "Can I sit next to you?" I said, "Well, Charlie, it's your jet. You can sit anywhere you want." He sat down and I was humbled and shocked, honestly, when he he leaned to me. said, "Victor, would you mentor me?" [Applause] >> I said, "Charlie, what's that mean to you?" Because for me, as a man in my background who's made leaders, it's not an easy path. My goal is to make dangerous gentlemen. [Applause] >> And that's what he wanted. As a matter of fact, when I wrote the book, he did the forward to it. And you know, three things I remember that he absolutely applied that I taught him was making decisions. Don't ever make a decision based on fear. And Charlie dealt with fear just like anybody else. But what he had was the antidote to fear, which is courage, which engage to do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. [Applause] Next is don't make decisions based on your ego or pride. So many do that and it's such a waste of an equation to make the right decision. And the last one is don't make decisions based on comfort or ease because that's poison to do the right thing when it needs to be done. I have led young men and older men in some of the most hostile places around the world in order to rescue women and children from ISIS and other nefarious folks and we were always successful. [Applause] And it's just not men. My bride sitting right there, she has helped lead missions. The last one we did together, she was the point person to recover and rescue a girl who had been held captive for nine years by ISIS. Nine years. [Applause] But I know with that training young men to be men of courage and character that the ultimate decision may have to be made. And Charlie was willing to risk in order to do what was right. [Applause] Charlie loved Colorado. The day after his life was taken short from us, he was scheduled to speak at a conference here in Colorado. Erica, we left this morning and when we were visiting with her yesterday again, she sends her love, her greetings. You can see the grace of God on a widow and that for the enemy is a dangerous thing. I'll close with this. Hearing these young folks talk about these chapters being started, that's why Charlie was killed. Because the enemy of our soul hates it when we go after young people. >> Whether we're rescuing them physically, whether we're helping them emotionally or building them spiritually, that's what the devil cannot stand. And one thing Colorado will need if we're to change this state with these young people, it needs top cover. And I I asked recently a gentleman who is on a ballot to run for governor. I said, "Sir, I have one question for you. Can you win?" And he looked at me, his body language changed, and then he said, "Well, there's always hope." Of which I thought, "Hope's not a strategy, for often times it's an excuse for somebody who ain't in all the way." And I'm telling you, come October 1st, I'm going to let all y'all know if in fact God is calling me to run and win for governor. Good afternoon. My name is Stephanie Hancock. I'm a faithful follower of Christ and I currently serve on the Aurora City Council here in Colorado. [Music] Amazing [Music] grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. [Music] I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. [Music] It was grace that taught my heart to feel and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believe [Music] when we've been there 10 years bright shineing as the sun. We days to sing God's praise. Then when than when we first began. Y'all sing this with me. Y'all come on. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. He's worthy. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. [Applause] I don't know about you, but this has been so fantastic for my soul, has it not? >> I'd just like to share a few words. Charlie James Kirk was born October 14th, 1993 in Arlington Heights, Illinois, which is a northwest suburb in Chicago. And he died tragically September 10th of 2025 at the age of 31. As been said by so many people, Charlie accomplished more in 31 years than most people would get in seven different lifetimes. He was brilliant. He was articulate. He was smart. He was sharp. He studied. He was humble. Every time you were around, he was learning. He was trying to learn something new. He did great things for the church, great things for our nation, great things on our college campuses. My wife and I had a chance to meet Charlie at National Religious Broadcasters. He was on a platform with Eric Mataxis and Vodie Bacham. And Kim's nudging me the whole time. You're like, "You got to bring him to Brave. You got to bring him to Brave." And uh I went and met him. You'll remember in 2020 and 2021, it was really odd for churches. We as pastors were trying to get our head around what's reality and what's not and what to do and what not. And the Lord really showed us here at this church that we needed to be a courageous church that opened our doors and continued to meet because that's what the Lord Jesus Christ would have us do. And unfortunately, what's been strange in our profession is it's difficult to find pastors that are brave enough to do the right thing. >> And I think one of the reasons, and you'll see things said uh about Charlie that are negative or wrong. And and one of the reasons it's not just that he's misunderstood, but what Charlie did, he had the ability to call people out in truth. And there's a lot of people that saw that truth, but instead of owning up to the truth in their own lives, it's easier to point a finger and blame. Charlie Kirk is a a hero to me. He was an encourager to me when he came to our church. He was such a big encourager. We were up in our green room for about a hour before he came down here and I was asking him, "Hey, Charlie, you know, as we as we platform you and bring you out, first question I'm going to ask you is about your faith in Jesus Christ because our people at the church need to know that you're more than just a political activist." And he said, ' I'd be happy to do that. Jesus Christ is the most important person in my life. Amen. We sat right here on this stage. Very first question I ask is, "Charlie, our church knows you. They know your political activism. They know your conservative values. We champion so many of those things. But what does Jesus Christ mean to you?" and he just began to spell out the most important decision I ever made was to repent of my sins and trust Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He and he alone are number one and will always be in my life. [Applause] And for Charlie, it wasn't lip service. He lived it. One of the problems that people in the church had with Charlie is he was actually doing what we're all supposed to be doing. Charlie took his faith and he put it into his family. He loved his wife Erica and his two kids. And then he used his family to impact culture. And then as he was impacting culture, he realized decision makers need to be impact. So he was out there doing exactly what Jesus and every other leader in the Bible did. And he called pastors. He was so good with pastor. He wanted pastors to stand up for truth because he knew that if pastors did what he was doing, he wouldn't need to do what he was doing. Amen. God used him in a special way. He's a special guy. I I was looking on X this week. I think he has 5.5 million followers. And I was telling our church, I quickly did the math and I think that's about 5.5 million more than I have. And what you've seen happen all over this world, as you've already heard, it it's bigger than Charlie. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm here today just to bring you comfort because I I know if if there was anything Charlie would want shared at his memorial service, it would be the gospel of Jesus Christ clearly. So that you knew because here's the reality. If if you knew Charlie, I mean, if he were still here, which he's not, and those of us that are believers will spend time with him, Charlie would want this more than anything. Charlie would want his asalent to come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, I know a lot of us have had different feelings. I know I have. They haven't been linear. They've been cyclical all week. From shock and awe to confusion to disappointment to anger to rage to sadness to numb and all of them happening simultaneously. And the Bible says what we do when that happens. Psalm 121, I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Amen. [Applause] I want you to know the Bible says it's okay to be angry, but the Bible says be angry and do not sin. Do not let your son go down on your anger. Jesus said, "You, you've heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemies." But I tell you this, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. The Bible says, "Do do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good." It doesn't mean that we can demand justice. I could give you a biblical exposition on why I believe in the death penalty, and I want to see justice done, and I want to see it done swiftly, as I know you do, too. But but at the same time, my heart would be the same as what Charlie's heart, which would certainly be the same as Jesus Christ's heart, that he would want his asalant to come know Jesus. >> And I do, too. I really do. And so, what I want to share with you is the gospel because we can share all the same conservative political values and still be far from God. Just because you're conservative in your political opinions, just because you value and champion the family, and just because you love our nation, doesn't give you access into heaven. Just because you're American doesn't give you a pathway. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the father except through me." And here's what we need to understand. What did Jesus do? Yes, God loves you because you're created in his image. That's why we value life in uterero from womb to tomb because every life is created by God. So, we all value life. So, God values your life because he created you and everything God creates is good. However, there's a problem that we have. We were born in sin. It doesn't mean that we just did sinful things. It means we're born sinners and because we're sinners, we actually sin. And you caught that virus. You caught the sin DNA from your parents who caught it from their parents who caught it from their parents all the way back to the garden. Because when God created the world and we had Adam and Eve and it was a perfect place and everything was great and good. God's God gave a command. Eat whatever you want. Do whatever you want. This is your world. I only have one thing I'm asking you not to do. Do not eat off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The day you eat off that tree, you will surely die. And they made it about a half a chapter. And Eve was playing with the fruit. saw it was good for the eye and saw it was delightful, thought it would taste good. Why? Why would God hold this back? We can be like God, knowing both good and evil. All they knew at the time was good. So, they thought that was a good thing, she ate the fruit. But you know what the Bible says? Romans 5:12 says, "For sin entered the world through one man, Adam." Because you know what he was saying? Instead of doing what God commanded him to do, because he was created before Eve and God gave Adam the command instead of leading like a man should lead, instead of leading with bravery and courage, he was a passive coward. And instead of cutting off the head of the snake or kicking it away and saying, "Eve, let's go talk to the Lord," he let that snake talked to his wife. And then when she ate, you know what he said? "Baby, give me some, too. Don't hog it." And sin entered the world. And when you get two sinners that produce offspring, you get sinlings. And that's what all of you are. And you've had a track record from the time that you were born that you're a sinner, which may not sound like a big deal because we can look around the room and we can admit, well, you're a sinner and you're a sinner. You up there for sure a sinner and you're a sinner and all those things. We we see all that, but we're just comparing ourselves to each other. And so we feel okay with it because as bad of a sinner as I may be, I compare myself to somebody else. I'm like, at least I'm not as bad as him. At least I'm not as bad as her. At least I'm not a liberal. I mean all those things, but we're comparing oursel to the wrong one. Because when you compare yourself to the perfect God man, the Lord Jesus Christ, all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Amen. All of us have broken all the ten commandments. Every single one of us. You shall have no other gods before me. It means from the time you take your first breath, all you do is think about, honor, worship the Lord in every action, thought, and deed. We've all broken that one. Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and you may live long on the earth. You broke that one, right? Do not lie. Do not cheat. Do not steal. Do not murder. Okay, I'm I'm safe now. Do not murder. Yeah, but Jesus said, you heard it say do not murder. But I tell you, if you think that your brother's an idiot, you're a murderer. So if you have siblings, you're guilty. Do not commit adultery. Well, I haven't done that. Yeah, but Jesus said if you look lustfully at someone that's not your spouse, you've committed adultery in your heart. So, if you've hit puberty, you're guilty on that. I mean, you go through all these and even if you say, "Well, I haven't broken everyone." James says, "If you've broken just one part of the law, you've broken it all." And when you stand before the Lord, the righteous judge, on judgment day, the only thing that will matter is God only takes that which is perfect. And you and I aren't. But God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, Jesus, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. Amen. And here's what he did. Jesus Christ, God of God, always existing, never a time he didn't exist, born of a virgin. Because he was born of a virgin, he was born sinless. Amen. came into this world, lived the perfect life, fulfilled everything that God required, and then at the end of his life, he took your place for your sin. And he allowed God to punish him the way God wanted to punish you for your sin. And he stepped in your place. I heard Charlie sharing the gospel on a Tik Tok video recently, and he said, "The gospel in four words, Jesus took my place." The gospel in three words, him for me. The gospel in two words, substitutionary atonement. the gospel in one word, grace. You do nothing to get to heaven. You do nothing to earn it. When you stand before God, if you think you're going to go up there and be welcomed in because of something you've done or something you've said or the good deeds that you're bringing with you, you're grossly mistaken. There's only one way that there's admittance into heaven. It's to believe that you're a sinner, that you're an object of God's wrath, that he's ready to pour it out on you. But you turned from your sin. You repented. You trusted that Jesus took your place on the cross and that here's the beautiful thing. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Do you know what happened on that cross? Here's what happened on that cross. Anytime you repent, you take all your sin and you put it on Jesus. And God treats Jesus like he would treat you for all your sin. And in exchange, he gives you all of Christ's righteousness. And he looks at you as perfect as just like he looks at Christ. And it has nothing to do with you. It's all grace. But like any gift, you must receive it. You must take it. You must own it. And in churches and religious circles, we ask people to pray a prayer of repentance or we ask people to, you know, did you come to the altar? Did you fill out a card? Did you do this? And if you grew up in the church, you probably did it about 383 times before you hit seventh grade. But I'm not asking you, did you perform a religious act? I'm asking you in your life, when was it, if you were born dead in your sins, if you were born an object of wrath, if you were born a sinner, if you're apart from the grace of God, when was it that that was transformed? When were you translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved son? Because here's the reality. When you do, God sends his Holy Spirit to indwell you forever. And the Holy Spirit is powerful. You'll know if the Holy Spirit comes into your life. Amen. I mean, I I I borrowed this illustration from another preacher that I've heard. But I mean, imagine you were out on I25 and had a flat tire and you were fixing it and a lug nut rolled out onto I25 and without paying attention, you quickly reached out to grab it when a semi was coming 75 miles an hour and hit you. Would you remember that? I mean, it would alter every single part of your life. Question, what's more importing at 75 miles an hour or the Holy Spirit in your life? So, if the Holy Spirit's there, how come you don't know? Well, I think I'm a Christian. I I think I've done the right things. I think Don't think no. I know that I know that I know that if I die, I go to heaven. It's not because I'm a pastor. It's because I've repented of my sins and I believe in the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. And guess what? Three days later, he rose from the dead. He's as alive as he's ever been. He conquered death. And so, the way I want to end my message today is just to give you an opportunity to respond. And I want to do it in a way that I know Charlie would do it because Charlie did everything publicly. You know that? It wasn't private. It wasn't close your eyes, fold your hands, bow your heads, let's have a moment. M I mean, Charlie didn't do that. He would have called you out to say, "Stand or don't stand." And some of you here know. I mean, you already know that. You know, I I know if you I died right now. 100% sure I go to heaven because I've repented and believe I I've done that. I can point you to the date, time, place. I know that. But for some of you here who would share many of the values of everybody else in the room, you've never done that. And I'm sharing on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know what Charlie's wishes were that you'd have an opportunity to say, "I want Jesus to be the Lord of my life." >> And if you do, in a minute, I'm just going to ask you to stand right where you're at. Now, you've heard enough people here. There's enough brothers and sisters in Christ, they'll cheer for you because the Bible says there's more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents than over 99 that don't need to. But I'm telling you today, if you hear the Lord's voice, do not harden your heart. God is doing something special across our culture to draw you to himself. He's drawing you home. He's calling you home. And if you know him, like I know him, not only will you meet Jesus Christ someday and hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant," like Charlie did, but you'll see Charlie again. >> Amen. Now, before I end, I'll tell you this. It's okay to grieve. We do a terrible job as a culture grieving. We think we can come to an hourlong service like this, pray a little bit, and then we're going to be fine. You won't be. That's not how grieving works. We grieve, but we don't grieve as those who don't have hope. Even when Jesus went to the funeral of his best friend, Lazarus. I mean, there's a Bible verse in Johnap 11. If you're terrible at scripture memory, this is a great place to start because it's only two words. When Jesus saw what sin had caused in his best friend and knew he was in the tomb and knew he was dead and saw all the people weeping, you know what Jesus did? Jesus wept. He didn't just tear up. He didn't just he wept because he saw what death brings. And yet at that same time, you know what he said? I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me, even if they die, yet shall they live. And then he asked this question. Do you believe this? Here's my question. Do you believe this? I love that you're conservative. I love that you love America. I love that you've championed the family. I love that you share a lot of values that are biblical that we share. Here's my question. Have you ever repented and asked Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life? If you've never done that, I'm just going to ask you to stand right where you're at right now so that we can hear the Lord speak to you and say, "Welcome home." If that's you, would you like to stand today? I don't care if you're on a campus. I don't care if you're home. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Heat up here. You may be seated. I you know it it's it's great to rejoice with the angels, isn't it? There's a party going on in heaven because you came to Christ today. Just so you know, want you to know a couple things. If you if you don't have a home church, you are always welcome at Brave Church. We are a church. We're not the church. We're a church. And you are welcome here. We would love to have you. If you came to Christ, we'd love to help you grow in your faith. If you want to come check it out, we're we'd be glad to have you as our guest. We'd be glad to have you as part of our family. We love you. We love this city. We love our state. It's the only reason I live in Colorado is to pastor Brave Church. I promise you that. And uh and we trust the Lord is going to do and continue to do great things. So, if if for no other reason, I know the Lord was honored today. Uh I know that Charlie was honored today. But what I wanted to do was have a little time of prayer. And it takes courage sometimes to pray in a group. I remember we started prayer in our church. We started teaching people to pray out loud in our services. We planted the church 15 years ago. We had grown to about 800 people. And when we started praying out loud in services, I lost about 200 people who wrote me letters said, "Pastor Jeff, we love the church. We just don't feel comfortable praying out loud." And I was thinking, if we can't pray out loud in church, where are we ever going to pray? And so I'm going to invite you to pray today and to get in groups of three, four, five, right where you're at. And here's what we want to pray for. We want to pray for Erica Kirk. Want to pray for her daughter and her son. We want to pray for their family. We want to pray for Turning Point USA. Friends, I know we're here to honor Charlie, but we want to pray for the the victims of the U shootings in Evergreen this week. I want to pray for anything that's on your heart. I want to pray for our nation. Want to pray for Victor as he runs for governor. Amen. Do the Bible tells us to pray for our leaders and all those in authority. We pray you would win. And I'll tell you this, as your pastor, I'll do everything in my influence to ensure that you do. And I believe you can. So, you know, so if I can invite you where you are just to stand and uh if you would feel comfortable turning to the group next to you, get in groups of three, four, five, and let's just take a few minutes. Let's seek the Lord in prayer and let's trust that he hears us. [Music] [Music] [Applause] Do you [Music] feel Heat. Heat. [Music] Our [Music] Father in heaven, we give you praise. We give you glory. We give you honor, Lord. What a privilege it is to gather with so many people that love you, Lord. What a privilege it is to see more people come into the body of Christ and the family of God today. Lord, what a privilege it is to serve you. Father, we give praise for who you are. We give praise that we could honor your name and the legacy and life of Charlie Kirk. pray that it would live on in and through our hearts and in all the ways that you're calling us to honor you. Father, we do pray for Erica Kirk and her do three-year-old daughter and one and a halfyear-old son. Pray Lord that you would give them supernatural grace and help them to grow. And Lord, that we would understand that the grieving process is not we just love you now and wish you well. But Lord, for those of us who know them at the right times that we can continue to stand by them and champion them. Father, we pray for Turning Point USA and Turning Point USA faith. We pray for all of the organizations that want to honor you first and see our culture changed for Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you, Lord. So many people represented from so many churches, yet we're all part of one body, the body of Christ. And we give you honor and praise for that. May you be lifted up, Lord. May you continue to heal our hearts. We give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise in Jesus name. Amen. And amen. Can we give God some praise? If you are interested, I'm going to dismiss you in a minute. when you if you're interested when you dismiss here in Englewood uh in our lobby and near our basketball court in our gym uh we have cards if you would like to write a card to Erica Kirk and their family. You can fill out a card. We'll make sure that she gets that and can read it uh when she's ready to do so if you'd like to do that. Uh again, I thank you for coming today. I want to just read one scripture to you from the book of Lamentations when they were going through a really difficult time. Here's what was written in Lamentations 3 21. This I recall to mind. Therefore, I have hope. The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease. For his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I hope today you walk away and you realize this that Jesus is alive. Evil does not win. And we're going to keep moving forward for the kingdom of God. Amen. Amen. again. Thank you for coming. Like I like to tell our church before they leave, you are loved. Have a great day, everybody. Thank you. [Music]
