Uh, 27. Uh, that's how many messages I've received, either through social media or direct to my phone from you. Uh, essentially saying, I can't wait to hear you speak on Sunday. So I'm gonna begin Sunday a little differently than I expected. A couple years ago I spoke, not with my friends at crossing, but with my friends up in Connecticut at a small little Christian school. It was about 40 or 50 little third graders. They gave me 90 minutes. Okay? Nobody can preach, not even Pastor Greg for 90 minutes and not to third graders. Okay? There's a reason they're not with us in this room right now. At the end of 90 minutes, I walk to the back of the room and I either fist bump or hug everybody that gets away from me. So no, no one gets away without a fist bump or a hug. One of the third graders approached Mr. John, gave him a fist bump, pulled back, shocked, looked at my right hand, looked at my left, looked into my eyes, and said, whoa. And then he goes, Mr. What happened to your hands? Uh, that, that was after 90 minutes of speaking with the third graders, sometimes life will serve you. Humble pie. Amen. Amen. So I take my slice, I kneel down, and I say, brother, how, how old are you? And he said, very proudly. Watch out for pride. He said, very proudly. I'm nine. So I said, man, when I was your age exactly, I got burned in a house fire. Spent five months in the hospital, lost my fingers, but I'm doing awesome today. And this little dude looks out the window, looks back at me and goes, Whoa, Mr. We had a speaker earlier today, and when he was nine years old, he was in a house fire too. And then, so I'd don't miss the point and neither will you. He goes, you two should meet. So what you need to know this morning family, before we really jump into this service, I have met John O'Leary. I shower with him this morning at five 15. I'm not that impressed by John. I'm not. 'cause I, I know, I know who I am. I know my brokenness. I know my innumerable weaknesses, but I also know my savior. I know also know when I got to the end of me, that's when I finally found what life was really all about and who made it worth living. Which brings us why we gathered here today. Pastor Greg shared an example of this from John, but it bears worth repeating that if you have fallen away, if you have sinned, if you feel broken or you were broken in the past, you are not alone. The grand apostle Peter joins you here. He was warned about 13 minutes before this thing goes down, what's coming. And it's important to note, it wasn't first a Roman centurion that was in front of him. It wasn't some big tough guy looking down and yelling at him. Don't I know you? It's a serving girl. And it wasn't even really inquisitive, it was just curiosity. Do you know Jesus? Not me, not me. And I've fallen away from my savior from time to time in my life, and I know I'm not alone. And then the rooster crows. And then you look in the one who you are called to recognize as the author of life and yours looks at you. If you're like me at all, or Peter at all, you weep. So today family, we're gonna be talking about weeping, but we're gonna be talking about ultimately weeping with this sense of salvation, of joy, of hope, and of grace. Is that a conversation we can have this morning? Yes or no? Yes. Alright. What if God wants to use your brokenness for good? What what if when you get to the very, very, very end of you, that's when you find him and that's when he can use you for the most good. Hang on to those questions as we dance through this story. Looking back at your life, by a show of hands, how many of you have ever done anything at all the campuses that you now realize was a big mistake? Okay, When I was a kid growing up just outside of de pair in St. Louis, Missouri, man, I witnessed boys in my neighborhood playing with fire and gasoline. What what these little fellows would do is they would strike a match, stand back two feet for safety, Throw the match on top in the liquid dances. And when you're nine, it's monkey. See, monkey do you become like the people you do life in proximity to? You chose brilliantly today. Look around, but you become like the people you party with. I want to be just like these 11-year-old. So that week, my parents are at work, the house is mine. I walk into the garage, bend over a can of gasoline, no one's even around. I wonder how many sins take place when no one's around. No one's even, no one's gonna catch me. I've seen it done. Pick up a piece of paper, light it on fire. Bend down over this can it's five gallons. Try to pour a little bit on top before the liquid comes out the fumes. Grab that flame, pull it back into the container, create a massive explosion, splits the can into, picks up the child and launches him 20 feet against the far side of the garage. When we were young, we were taught what to do when we're on fire. What, what are we supposed to do when we're on fire class? Do me a favor, say it like it actually matters. Stop, drop and roll. What do you actually do when you're on fire? Why are those different? And for the cynics of the room, because I know you're in here. I know it's early on a Sunday, you're probably wondering, why am I even here learning about fire safety right now? You're not. We train oftentimes up here, scripturally, maritally relationally financially in our lives and our health. But we live from a far more sacred source. Our, our job family is to make sure the two to come, come together as one separate is not equal. That, that day for me, panic kicked in. I got scared. Everything around me is a blaze. And I ran. It's a decision that ultimately changed this little fellow's life. One moment. I am a happy, healthy, I would imagine this morning you would agree. Extremely good looking. Okay, bangs like that. Okay, that, that, that's either a laser level. What, what, what else might it be? Bull children in the eighties. Just escort it out, baby. Lemme tell you. Bull. And that little white thing below my chin. What's that called? Turtle. It's not turtleneck. It's a Dickie. Okay? The west sider just got it. It is a Dickie. Some of you don't know what a Dickie is. Don't be Googling it in church. Okay? It's, it's the top part. It is just the top part of the turn. Like your mama makes you wear it. Okay? Some skin, some scars don't heal. Okay? But God is faithful and your life is good, and you're doing it all by yourself. And you got this thing. That's how Peter felt. I got this thing, man. I got this. And then the explosion comes. You heard about a charcoal fire earlier. You're hearing about another fire. Now, I'm gonna show you today one hard picture. And I promise you today, some of you may want to shut your eyes. So feel free to shut yours or the eyes of the person next to you. But sometimes life is hard. So shut your eyes. I found myself on my back down the street at Mercy with burns on 100% of my body. 87% is third degree. I'm laying there. I'm dying. There is no path forward in 2025. What they do. If you wanna do the math with me, take the percentage of the body burned. You got it? 100 at age. You got mortality in 2025. This kid dies in 1987. There's no chance. But for grace, I'm laying in this hospital bed, the light is coming down on me, man, you know, when you're dying, the light is approaching. And I remember thinking one thought as a 9-year-old, oh my gosh, My dad is what? That's gonna kill you. Boy, by a show of hands, church, how many of you had a disciplinarian growing up? Put 'em up high. People. Let us all see. Thank God for them. Shirt tucked in, shoulders back, be here on time. Mine went by the name Dad and I just blew up. Dad's house. Dad's gonna kill you. Boy, I'm, I'm, I'm running through the excuses as I hear my father getting closer. You ever done that? You ever you ever send, you ever done something really bad, broken and you start making up all the excuses? Your mind is the person approaches. I have. I'm broke. I told you this ahead of time. I'm so busted. I'm planning my escape route. As my dad comes closer, he walks over to me, points down, and then I hear my father's voice say very distinctly into my right ear, John, Look At me when I'm talking to you. So I, I look up and then my dad goes, I have never been so, so proud of anyone in my entire life, in my little man today. I'm just glad to be your dad. And in my mean type, a father says to me, I love you and there's nothing you can do about it. And as a little boy in that hospital bed arms crossed, I and I shut again. I remember thinking, oh my gosh, nobody told my dad what happened. He just doesn't know. Maybe I can get away with it. I am the prodigal son. I spent the inheritance and I finally at age nine, experienced the profound gift of grace. It's a word we're just gonna keep tapping on Profounding gift of grace. My dad showed up as grace. Right behind my dad came my mom, she takes my right hand in hers. She tells me she loves me. She offers mercy and grace again. I look up as a kid and I say, mama, knock it off. Am I gonna die here? And instead of saying, baby, you're fine. She looks at me and says, do you want to? And I say, mama, I don't want to die. I wanna live. And her response was good. Then look at me. Some of you need to hear me right now. I know it's early, but hear me. She looks at me. But I think she looks at us as Christ looks at us and says, John, take the hand of God. Walk the journey with him. You fight like he never fought before, but you're not alone. You're not alone. It, it was in, in our case, the beginning of the second chance, just the beginning when Greg reached out to me a couple months ago and said, John, would you share a story a second chances? The issue I faced was not, did I have one? It's which ultimate one should I really focus on today? That's what brokenness leads you to. Mistake after mistake after mistake in desperate need of grace. And so I'm gonna share, not those stories of brokenness, but the next one that you need to hear about. I, I, I'm laying in a hospital bed after my mom and dad leave. The doctors came in, they tied me down to the bed pretty quickly. Swelling begins to intensify. My eyes are swollen shut. So I can't move my arms or my legs for a couple months. My eyes are swollen shut. My lungs are burned. So they put a hole right here. What's that called? Trach. Trach. I got a trach. So now I can breathe, but I can't eat or drink. I can't talk. And my eyes are shut and I'm scared, and I'm desperately in need of a second chance. And I hear the door open up, the stone gets rolled back. I hear footsteps walk into my room, and then I hear a voice that woke me up, uh, in this community. There was one thing I loved as a kid. And I love, even today as a man, I love baseball. I hate the fact we gave up two runs on the top of the ninth yesterday. But I do love the fact that ADOS put us home happy. I love baseball and the way I like to watch baseball is not with my eyes. I think the best way to watch baseball, even in 2025 with our ears. There was an old time radio voice. Many of you might remember. His name was Jack Buck. I never met Jack Buck. He's a celebrity. I'm a nobody. But I loved him 'cause I loved his voice and I love baseball. And then I get burned that morning, that evening, I'm hanging out in darkness by myself. And then that door opens up, the stone gets rolled back, and I hear this voice say to me, kid, Wake up. You are going to live. Keep fighting John O'Leary. Date the ballpark will make it all worthwhile. Are you listening? So I bonded. So he responded. It's a true story, man. He responds, good. Keep fighting. He stands, he walks out. He leaves a child in darkness by himself on fire for life. I learned later on that Mr. Buck was told by the staff that the little boy was gonna die. That Mr. Buck was in the waiting room with his head, leaned against a glass door just weeping, which of course we all know is the sign of great weakness. Yes to, to weep. Is that weakness? Yes or no? Peter did. But who else did? Jesus, Jesus wept. It's not weakness to love somebody. It's not weakness to have your heart broken for good. Jack wept. He's gotta decide now what to do with the death sentence. He takes it home, he prays about it. And the following day, there's a little boy named John O'Leary hanging out in a burn center. When the door opens up, the stone has rolled back and light cuts through the darkness. When I hear the voice kid wake up, I'm back. Mr. Buck walked with me during the five months that I was in hospital, that encouragement changed not only in my life, but my families and the staff who were taking care of me guided me home from that hospital. August 26th, he picks me up in a Lincoln town car takes me downtown. That's me on the left. Okay, who's on the right? After we take that little picture, he puts me back into a wheelchair. He rolls me upstairs. And that evening we broadcast the ball game together. I don't know what your dream was as a young person. I, I'm about to live mine in my little wheelchair on a morphine drip microphone in front of me. Mike Shannon scooted off to the side. Now it's my turn. Jack begins to broadcast with these words. Kid. It's John O'Leary Day at the ballpark. The New York Mets are in town. Are you having fun? And this is the coming out party. I look up on national radio, KMOX baby big signal. And I say, Because I'm shy. And if you wanna go a layer deeper, I'm broken. I am Unlovable. Nobody knows that but me. I'm stuck in this wheelchair. My future is cut short. I've made mistakes in my past that are irredeemable. I can't hold anything with my hands. I'll never hold a pencil. I'll never go back to school. I'll never hold a hand of a loved one. I am unlovable. I'm unsalvageable. That's what that little boy in that picture knows about his life. So I don't have any courage yet. I don't use my voice that night. Jack sees everything that's wrong. Jesus sees everything that's wrong, but the story doesn't end there. He takes it home. He cries and prays and journals. And the following day, a little boy broken at home in a wheelchair, gets one baseball. Below that ball was a note. That red kid, if you want a second baseball, all you've gotta do is write a thank you letter to the man who sent the first, Uh, Just one problem. What's the problem? Class. Go ahead and yell it out. Class. You can't hold anything. We don't even know how you're holding the clicky thing, okay? You can't write night, But you want a second baseball. With the help of two others, I've noticed in my life about the only thing I do successfully by myself is sin. Two therapists come around me, two loved ones come around me. They push my hands together. They and I worked together. We mailed off this note and two days later we got a second baseball with a note that read Kid if you won a third baseball, why did so with the help of two others, they pushed my hands together. They broke through scar tissue. We endured that pain. We mailed it off. And then a few days later, we got a third baseball with a note that I've read. Kid, if you want a fourth. So we went to work, left foot, right foot. We just kept writing love letters to these ball players. We wrote nine and then 20, and then 33. Uh, the 39th was the hardest. It took me a long time to get the name Shadys just right. Okay, 1987, Jack bucks into one child, 60 baseballs, 60 teaching a little nobody. There's no such thing. You can be used for good. Your life matters. You're not that far gone. But I wasn't hearing that message. You can be in church, man. They can be singing all loud and clear and everybody else is singing along. Hands up. But, but I wasn't hearing the message. I did not see dignity in my life. Not yet. I did not see value in the scars and the brokenness. Not yet. I went back to grade school, able to write, but not really able to live. Went on to high school. I spent four years there. I got to spend nine years at college. You probably weren't expecting that in church this morning, but there it is. You graduated and graduation night, Jack Buck shows up with a package in a note. The first word on the note. Guess what it said. He never knew my first name. He did, he did not call me by name. Okay? Jesus calls us by name. Jack called me kid. Kid. This means a lot to me. Hope it means a lot to you. Open up the gift. Look inside. Lose my breath. The rest of the note reads. This is the baseball that I received when I went into the Hall of Fame. It is made outta crystal. It is priceless. Do not drop it. The final words, Jack spoke to me that, that night were these good. It's yours. Hands me this priceless gift. Turns around and walks toward the sunset. He walked with a limp. And I recognized it because it's the same, it's the same kinda limp my dad had at the time, Parkinson's disease. Jack Buck struggled like many of our family members with Parkinson's disease. So that tethered him down toward the end of his life, along with stage four cancer. He, if you received a ball like this, I ask you in your home, just think about it. Don't say it aloud. Where would you put it? A safe. A safe Boom. This thing is not going anywhere. It's mine or others. On top of the tallest trophy case with the bright light on it, showing everybody, yeah, kind of how great he is. But really how great I am for being honest about it. That's why we built trophy cases. Where did John O'Leary put his gift? I came home that night, opened up the top drawer of my dresser. It's where I kept my socks, put it in there and shut it in there. Not to protect it, but to protect my brokenness. I I, I did not want someone to know that I had been burned, that I was damaged, that I was different than everybody else. I was striving to be just right down the middle ordinary. And I knew if someone saw this, they may want to know a little bit more about the story. And that wasn't a place I was able to go quite yet. If you're not able to embrace the gifts you've received, you're also not able to give them and reflect them to others. It's important to recognize, if you're not able to fully recognize the talents, the treasures that you've received, how can you possibly be used for good? So I was not, I buried that thing. Jack butt got sick and then sicker and then sickest five months in hospital, which was exactly the amount of time I spent in hospital. Three times I went down to visit my friend Three times. I parked the car three times. I left it behind three times. I walked through those doors that open up automatically in front of you. And three times before the elevator picked me up and took me upstairs class. I walk back out to my car without seeing my friends. 'cause if you're not able to receive the gifts freely given you're not able to give to others, you're not able to be a light into a world that is longing for it, you're not able to be a friend to someone who is struggling. I hit my light. I never went to see my friend. I received a phone call from the Buck family that he had passed away, and they invited me to his funeral. And I figured, well, at least I should go to that. So I did. I got dressed up in my nicest suit that I bought about eight years earlier at Famous and Bar. I put on my little tie, got the not just right, I parked the car, I'm doing the tie again in the little mirror. And I looked to my left as I'm fixing this tie and there's a black, I think it's a Mercedes that pulls up next to me. And the door opens up and Dan Dedo pops out. I'm like, dude, that's cool. And then I started looking around this parking lot. You ever look around the parking lot to see who else is here? So I started looking around this parking lot and I recognized, well, there's Mike Shannon and there's the Dewitt family, and there's Joe and the family. And in other words, there are people who are people of substance. And then there's me. So I waited for everybody to go into the church. And this stinks to share, but it's part of the testimony. The last person walked in the door shut. I waited a few minutes, turned the car back on, put it into r, left the spot, and headed home. If I wasn't able to be a friend of his in life, why should I be able to claim a friendship of his in death? I made it about halfway home class church family before pulling the car over, turning the car off, hearing the rooster crow and weeping bitterly. Have you ever cried like that? Yes or no? Yes. I didn't hear you. Yes or no? Yes. Not, not because of what someone else did to you, but because of what you did. Your own sinful nature. You never saw it coming. You never, you never saw it coming. I didn't see it coming. I didn't know how broken I was. I thought it was a physical brokenness. It's a spiritual one. I wept bitterly. And as I thought and prayed that night and started working through, man, how, how do I redeem this? I realize I can't, but I can begin turning to the one who can. A couple things began to transpire. Then in quick order, one thing that happened is I decided to write a love letter to my friend Jack. I decided to try to make a bit of amends for being the lousy friend that I was, but committing to doing more going forward. Uh, so I started this letter with the word Dear Jack. And then I kept going. It turned into two pages, and then three, and then four. And then I had to figure out what to do with it. So I went to Jefferson Barracks and I read it to him and I wept bitterly. And then I called one of the people who loved him most. His name is Joe. And I said, Hey, Joe, I, I know I've never called you before, but can I, can I take you out for coffee? And uh, he said, yeah, we went to coffee. You may have seen us. We were at the front neck, Starbucks. I was the goofball weeping the entire time as I read to Joe Buck a letter I wrote to his dad. But it was the beginning of this redemptive relationship, this beginning of restoration. And where the story really leapt forward was not just with that love letter or reading it aloud, but in a church service. I found myself in the back row. If you are in a back row today, you are my kind of people. That's where I like to party, man. So I, I was in the back row of a church service. The pastor is preaching Matthew, the gift of talents. Those with five multiply, two multiply, and then there's those with one. What do we do with R one? Anybody remember? We bury it in a sock drawer. I buried mine. And then the pastor ended with a pretty profound and devastating quote to me, John, you will be sent out. There will be more bitter, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. And if that's where the story ends, it's like, dude, that is a rough Sunday morning. But he carried it forward. He said, for some of us, maybe this is the wake up call that the one talent you received or the two or the five is worth investing into others. It's worth being used for good. And then he shared a quote that changed my life. He said, John, and crossing your life, whether you know it or not, is a precious, priceless gift. And then he said, with that gift, you have a single job. Now it is to say yes, to being used for good. Your life is a precious, priceless gift. And with that gift, you have one job. Say yes to being used for good the following day. I find myself working construction down in ard. I'm, can y'all think of a, a worst job for a dude without fingers? Carpentry? I mean, so I'm doing carpentry, baby, but my phone rings. I answer it, pick it up. I say hello. And a little voice says back, Mr. O'Leary, will you speak it? My troop? I had never shared my story with anybody, but I received a message in church a couple days earlier that my life was a precious, priceless gift. I had a job to do. Anybody remember what the job was? I'm, I didn't hear you say yes. Say yes to being used for good. It doesn't matter how many times the rooster is crowed, it isn't that cool. It does not matter how many times the thing has cockle. Oodle, dude, what if Judas had heard that same truth? Wouldn't that be cool? Wouldn't that be like such an awesome story we had as Christians? But we have the story of Peter and we have your story. I said yes to this group of kids. Regretted the decision, walked into this room, never once looked up at the little monsters. At the end of the keynote, I finally made eye contact, not with hundreds and hundreds of friends, but with a grand total of three girl scouts. Third grade, I, I was not paid even a box of samos for the effort. So this is, if, if you came today to learn how to run your business, you came to the wrong guy. Okay? But sometimes you said yes because it's about making a difference for the one in front of you. I said yes to them. It led to another group, another group. Long story made very short. I've had an opportunity now over the past 19 years of speaking 2,700 times in 50 states and dozens of countries ultimately holding up a big old mirror, not only to the believers, but to those who do not yet believe, to remind them of the king of kings, that God loves you, that you're called by name, and that your life is a precious, priceless gift. You have a single job, now go do it. It's to say yes, to being used for good. One of the things that came outta this work is I wrote a book, it's called On Fire. A woman read that in Las Vegas and approached me after speaking at her event and said, John, have you ever thought about turning that story into a film? And like any reasonable missourian? I said, no. Why? Why would you do that? And she said, would, would you mind if I tried? Do you think I said yes or no? I said, yeah, I mean, I guess God's that big. I don't know this woman. And then a team of folks got behind this story. Uh, it's been worked on now for the last eight years. Last week it was picked up by a small company in California called Sony. And they changed the title to Soul on Fire. And when I asked them, why, why'd you buy this? They said, man, the world is so dark. We need to have conversations boldly in the country and beyond about Jesus Christ. So before you say anything, How's that possible? It's just Jesus. It's just grace. It's not your speaker this morning. It's not my sophistication and my network. It's just Jesus. It, it's just God's love. It's just grace. It's the fact that when the rooster crows, the story doesn't end. Maybe it just begins. I've received love in so many mighty ways in my life, and maybe none more mighty than being able to wake up this side of paradise, feeling like I'm already in it. I married my best friend. Her name is Beth. Uh, we have four children together. I'll go and youngest to oldest Grace, which is a pretty awesome name. Henry Patrick. And then my oldest Jack. I wasn't able to love him right this out of eternity. But he knows I'm working on it now. The story is not redeemed, but it's being redeemed. It is being redeemed. What about your story? Where are you looking right now in the mirror and you are recognizing an opportunity for your second chance at home in an illness with a brokenness, with a sin, with something you said or did or did not say or did not do? Where's, where's there an opportunity to say, God, I don't know what you're gonna do with this, but my answer's yes. Just use it and use me for good. The charcoal fire is built not only the night that Peter betrayed his best friend, but it was betrayed again. The night they took a walk together. Peter did what he maybe does best. I this, it's in fact it's my favorite quoting scripture. I'm going fishing. It's not an awesome quote. It's so manly. I don't know about you guys. I'm going fishing. And then he sees the Lord on the shore, man, and he jumps out of the boat. He gets wet on the way. They have breakfast together. They go for a walk after sitting around a charcoal fire. And the story is redeemed. The story is redeemed. It wasn't painless. It wasn't without tears, but it was redeemed. And so then Peter wept, But not tears of agony and sadness. Here's the joy and salvation, my friends. God is running after he's running after you. We need to say yes. This little boy would've benefited years and years ago from recognizing that God was running after him too. And all I had to do was say, yes, there were people with me and I did not see clearly God's hand through them working in me. One of those hands that came most clearly was the hand of a woman that I love and admire and am wild about. I call her mom. She's the fair, full-time caretaker for my dad these days. Uh, her life has been one of service of being used for good. And 37 years ago, she saw this little boy with so much wrong. And rather than just giving up on him, she made a phone call. She called a piano teacher. A um, I'm now a 10-year-old boy in St. Louis. Man, I don't like the piano and I don't have fingers. This teacher comes into my life. Her name was Mrs. Bartella. She put her big old right arm around me and she spoke these words. John, this is going to be hard. Welcome to life. And if the story ends there, it's a hard way to start a Sunday. But there's one more line. She goes, and we can do life together, John. This is gonna be hard. Welcome to life, and we can do life together. With that, she grabbed a little pen, put it on top of my right hand, the very hand that previously had only been used for brokenness, ugliness, scars. Put the pen right on top, rubs three rubber bands around it. My left arm is out. It's called an airplane splint. My right hand has a pen sticking out of it, and I'm playing the piano the entire time thinking I hate my mom. Some of you know exactly how I feel right now. They got you up early, they made you come here. I get it. And the only time I hated mom more than that, Tuesday was on Wednesday and on Thursday and on Friday, the very first song that Mean Teacher and my mother made me Learn is the one that I want to play with you for today. When, when the song began church, it was pretty busted and broken. Welcome to life. It sounded like this. Not bad. They, they did a surgery so I could then push one key at a time. Now, do you recognize it? They did a second surgery so my left arm could come down. So there, there are 236 verses in Amazing Grace. I'm gonna play two. You've already heard one. And then you're gonna hear me fade. And then we're gonna have an opportunity to let our voices be heard. Let that yes, sing out. I'm gonna play one more and then we are gonna have an opportunity to join the course. So here's my final verse.