Matt Weber: Young people, you’ve got to understand some things about the world and the way the world works, especially in regards to Christianity. It doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter the opportunities that you’ve had in life. You guys have an amazing opportunity.

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. I didn’t have the Bible read to me every night. I didn’t have mother’s prayers for me, or even grandma’s for that matter. My dad left when I was a kid. He left me when I was little. He left my whole family. I was the naive kid who would always ask questions. When’s dad coming home? Oh, that’s just Matt. He doesn’t know better. He doesn’t know that dad left home, never to come back. See, my dad, when he left, he never came back. He married another woman. He had a whole other family and left us all to ourselves. 

And I got angry. And I got bitter. And I got sad. At 12 years old, I began to drink whiskey out of my mom’s cabinet. And whiskey led to smoking cigarettes, which then led to smoking marijuana. And in high school, we would get high in the locker room while the rest of the class was at gym.

I left high school, moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and got hooked up on crystal meth, crack cocaine, ice, heroin. Then I moved home, 145 pounds, and got hooked up on cocaine again, and then moved back to Phoenix, Arizona, got hooked up on crystal meth again, moved back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And at the age of 25 years old, a friend of mine introduced me to a little pill called Oxycontins.

You must understand this, that your generation and your peer group is not just experimenting with pharmaceuticals, but they are dying at the hands of pharmaceuticals at a rate unseen in our history. In fact, I read an article the other day that says, your generation is 60% likelier to die on pharmaceuticals out of your mom and dad’s cabinets than on heroin and crystal meth together. 

You have an amazing opportunity. You say, Pastor Weber, this does not sound like an amazing opportunity. Oh, my friends, this is an amazing opportunity. 

See, at 25 years old, my friend introduced me to this little pill called OxyContin’s, and he would show me how to do them. I won’t explain it to you for the sake of time, but the reality is this, that in three years, three years, I was snorting 10 pills a day at $20 a pill. At 28 years old, I was $40,000 in debt. 

And all I ever wanted to do was succeed in life. But the things in life began to consume me and consume my life and took me over. And I ended up in a really bad place. 

March 24th, 2006, my sister called me up. And this was the sister that brought so much conviction into my life because she actually was salt and light. And I hated it because I wanted it so bad. She calls me up when I’m in the lowest part of my life and I was thinking the only way out is suicide and I was like this guy self-mutilating doing whatever it took to try to express the hurt and anguish and looking for anything to fill the hopelessness in my life.

She calls me up and tells me about Jesus and in my heart I’m thinking this is exactly it this is exactly what I want this is what I need this is what I need. But I just can’t, not right now, I just can’t do it. And on that day, March 24th, 2006, the Spirit of God was so real to me that I didn’t have another choice. It was either Jesus or nothing. And on that day I chose Jesus, March 24th, 2006. And I’ve got a story to tell and so do you.

You say, “Pastor weber. I don’t have a story to tell. Are you kidding me? I mean, listen to that story. That’s amazing. Years of drug abuse and God totally delivered you.” 

Yeah, I prayed two prayers that day. Number one, ask Jesus to wash away all my sin. And you know how many sins Jesus washed away, my friend? Every single one of them, past, present, and future, all of them, gone. Gone under the blood. They disappeared. I don’t know where they went. They’re gone. I don’t care. I’ve got Jesus. 

And then I asked Jesus to do this, number two. Jesus, if you’ve got the power to wash away all my sin and take me to heaven, then you’ve got the power to do anything, right? So it made sense. Well, Jesus, if you can do anything, then I’m gonna ask you if you can take away my sin, then you can take away my drugs. And if you can take away all my addictions, I’ll give you the rest of my life. They were all gone. It was like somebody reached down from heaven. 

You might say, “Pastor Weber, that’s an amazing story. I don’t have a story like that.” Don’t you ever tell me that. I’m sick and tired of your generation giving me excuses while you can’t get out there and tell people the amazing things that Jesus has done for you. 

Don’t you think I would have loved to have grown up in a home like yours? I would have loved to have a mom read me the Bible every night, pray for me, tell me about Jesus when I was a kid so I didn’t have to go through all that garbage. 

Don’t tell me you don’t have a story to tell. Shame on you for not telling people about what Jesus can do for them. Watching those crazy people walk by without even giving them a whisper of hope. I shouldn’t have had to live 28 years like that. You should have reached me before then. I got brothers and sisters and I got moms out there. People we’re praying for. And maybe they’re gonna come past you one day. What are you gonna tell them? What are you gonna tell them? Because you got an amazing story, no matter what your background is. Because it’s all the same.

You see, at the cross, at the ground of the cross, it’s all level, my friend. Jesus didn’t die on two crosses, one for people like me and one for people like you. He died on one cross. We’re all in bad shape without Jesus. We may have come down different paths, but my friend, we’ve all got the same story. Without Jesus, we’re in big trouble. And because of Jesus, we’ve got an amazing story! You got an amazing story! You ain’t got my story, but you got your own. Friends, it all starts right here. Total surrender. Are you willing to submit to the Word of God? Are you willing to forsake all and follow Him? Throw away the things of the world that are only going to come back to hurt you. I speak from experience.