Well I thank your pastor for his kind words of welcome here tonight. It is a joy to be here tonight with you all. I just want to start here by reading one verse you don't have to turn to and it is Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 and the Lord says but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Well, I have to start at the start. So I was born on the 10th of May 1982. And I was born into a loving Christian home. I'm the youngest of three boys. And We all, we have great parents who loves us and would do anything for us. And having been brought up in a Christian environment, and church life was very normal to us. We went to church, Sunday school, children's meetings, and it was a great start in life. And as your pastor said, my dad's an elder, my mom is a children's worker in the church. And we've been truly blessed. And because from a young age, we were told that we were sinners. We were told that we needed Christ to save us. And if we don't be saved, when we die, we will go to hell. And that, in words and truth, we were told from a young age. And I can say Sunday school and church had a great impact on me. And that impact, and money can't buy that impact. You know, it was a great start in life. And as I go through my testimony, you'll understand. And my mom and dad owned a fruit and vegetable shop in Lurgan. I enjoyed working in that shop. I also lived in the Moorview area. I must be honest with you here tonight, I didn't like school very much. I could say that I hated school. I couldn't wait to get out of school, so at the age of 16 I left school and started to serve my time as a bricklayer. But at this time I started to have more money in my pocket and I started to dislike church and I did have, I was seeking the pleasures of this world. So I had my first bottle of beer. And then I drank as often as I could. First, without my parents knowing about it, in secret. But as time went on, I just didn't care about what my parents thought. I just wanted to go out and drink and just have a good time. And that's what I lived for. And you know, the world promises a good time. And as I look back, them good times was drinking, fighting, partying, all the sin. And young people tonight, I want to give you a warning not to go down that road. Not to go down that road in life. That lifestyle is wrong. It brings pain. It brings a lot of pain. It brings a lot of suffering and scars. That's what that lifestyle does. Alcohol wrecks lives. And I thank God I never touched drugs. because I counted myself as a loyalist so I believed that you couldn't take drugs you couldn't be a drug dealer or and be a loyalist and I counted myself a loyalist so I joined a loyalist band and I joined many bands but one I loved was a Pioneers flute band and the Pernod Slough Band carried the battle standards of the Ulster Volunteer Force and I always loved that motto for God and Ulster. You know I really enjoyed being in the band but as time went on in my life, in my life I got deeper and deeper involved in the sins of this world. The wild holidays, the partying, the clubbing, and all the rest of the sin that I was involved in. And I honestly can say I caused my parents a lot of grief, a lot of heartache over them years. I caused my parents' house to be raided by the police and I got into many, many situations that involved the police. I just wanted to live my life the way I wanted to and no one was telling me how to live But then a good thing happened in my life I met Ann and after some time of going out with each other we rented a house out in the Morby area And as Ann has already said, we lived very, very wild lifestyles. We partied every weekend and that was our party house, really. And after a while, we were expecting our first child, Kyle, so we decided to buy a house in the Warnestown area. And as Anne's already said, that when we moved into that house, the police would have came around to my house and told me that I was under threat and that my life was in danger. At one point I remember sitting with my son Kyle, he was only in the Moses basket, and I was hiding him behind the chimney breast because I was afraid of someone firing shots through the window. You know, and again, we had to think of security, bulletproof windows, security cameras, even a bulletproof vest that I would have wore many, many times, even when it was bricklaying, I would have worn that. And looking back now, I remember one of my friends, he was shot and wounded. And then I remember Another man being at a Lordist function with them one night and I remember standing beside him and then I think it was a week or two after that he was shot and killed and that was part of the Lordist feud going on at that time. But I remember a Christian man and he knew how I was living and he was a wild man himself before the Lord saved him. And I remember coming to my house one night and he says, Sam, I'm praying for you. And that's what he said, Sam, I'm praying for you. And as God had it, I went to work with a Christian bricklayer at that time, a man called Jim Russell. And his way to meet the Lord, he died a number of years ago. But he was a great Christian man, and he spoke to me in the right way. He didn't ram down my throat, as you want to say. He just spoke to me in the right way, and that means a lot. and but you know less than a year after our son Kyle was born we had our second son David and we got married in Lisburn Free Presbyterian Church. See I was always soft towards the gospel being brought up nourished in the gospel. I knew it was the truth but I didn't want to believe in it but I believed I really truly believed in that motto for God and Ulster. I knew the gospel but I didn't want to live it. I wanted to live my life again the way that I wanted to. I remember going into a nightclub in Barnbridge and it was coach and actually it is a church now but it was a coach in Banbridge and I remember a man giving me a gospel track and it says would you be ready to face God that was that's what the title was and then it says compare yourself with ten commandments and I also can say when I read that track when I got home I was looking down them Ten Commandments on tears, I was crying. I knew I was a great sinner. You know, my life was in a mess. And again, that time, my wife and I weren't getting on too good. And sin was bringing misery. Again, the partying, the clubbing and all that sin, bringing misery. But God had it that I wanted to work for a Christian builder at that time and there was another Christian working for him and he asked me to do a mission. a mission in Ballindale where the Reverend Thomas Martin was preaching at it and I didn't go to church much but because every time I went to church I just thought well I came out of that meeting being convicted, knowing that I wasn't saved, knowing that I wasn't ready to meet God. And, but I went to that mission, and Thomas is a good friend of the family. And I went to that mission and brought my mother with me that night. And the Reverend Martin spoke on Genesis 6, verse 3, where the Lord says, my spirit shall not always strive with man. And I came out of that meeting under deep, deep conviction. My state of mind was that I needed to be saved. But when you start to think that way, there's a battle that goes on in the mind. Satan puts all sorts of things on your mind. And you know, you have to ask yourself, if you're not saved here tonight, ask yourself this question. Is it worth going to hell for whatever reason that's keeping you back? You know what it is. Is it family? Is it friends, relationship, work? Whatever that excuse that you're putting in front of the Lord. Whatever that excuse is, is it worth going to hell for it? I want you to ask yourself that question. You know, when I was growing up, my granny was very, very close to us and she was a Christian. But on the 22nd of July 2008, I was with her in the nursing home when she had died and watched her take her final breath. I'll never forget being around the bed. and when she died. And her death did hit me very hard. And again, when death comes into a family, it puts life into perspective and gets you thinking about the afterlife, what comes after death. But again, when you start to think that way, you think about getting saved, prepared to meet thy God. But the old devil comes in with all of his lies. And I recall one night, a family friend came around and he spoke to me, and he's a Christian, and again, he invited me to church. And he spoke to me in the right way. And he says, that night before he left me that night, he said, seek and you shall find. And, you know, I prayed to God that night. I remember sitting in the car, praying to God. I says, Lord, show me a way. If you're a God, show me a way. See, I was crying out for peace with God. And I tell you, the world was not giving me peace. The world was not giving me peace. All the alcohol I took, all the partying, all what I was involved in did not give me peace. But you know, as time went on, I thank God, God's Holy Spirit was striding with me. And on Saturday, the 13th of September, 2008, my life was going to change forever. It was a Saturday night, so what I done on a Saturday night, always loved to drink on a Saturday night. And I can say my head was in a mess because conviction was so strong. I knew that I needed to be saved, but I just wanted to take alcohol just to forget about God. So I phoned up my friends, booked a taxi, I went the off license and bought a bottle of whiskey. And then we all ended up in the Banville nightclub in Banbridge. In Banville it was so miserable, drink wasn't doing the trick anymore. And actually I had planned to go to a party that night, all night party. But that time came, I just wanted to go home. So I got home and was walking home, got a taxi to drop me off at the end of the road and was walking home and I just needed to talk to someone about God. So I phoned my mum to talk to her about God in the early hours of a Sunday morning, talk to her. And after talking to her, And I remember going up to my own house. I built a wall, a garden wall in front of my house and sat down on the garden wall. And I remember just praying that The Word of God came to me so powerfully. It was John 14, verse 6. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. See, God was showing me the way. And that's the Word of God that I learned as a child. All them meetings I was going to, I learned as a child, the Lord. And you know, What I did, I went into my house, went into my living room, I got down on my knees and I cried on to the Lord to save me. And he did. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you know, the first person that I had to tell was my wife. And I went in and told, I wanted to get actually something out of the cupboard. And it was a Bible that I wanted, so I thought Anne was sleeping, but she wasn't. So I went over to the cupboard and got the Bible out, but she was thinking, like, expecting something else to come out of that cupboard. She probably thought, well, he's got in a fight again, and he'll be going out again. That's the way we lived. But you know, it wasn't the Bible she expected. See, I kept the Bible in the bottom of my cupboard because I used to read the Bible sometimes. When no one else was in the house, I used to get the Bible out and read it sometimes. See, I was crying out for peace And you know, I went over to her and I got saved. And again, you've heard what she said, you know, the drink talking. But I went, next stop was my mum and dad's house. And I went round, before I actually went round to my mum and dad's house, I remember going outside of the front of the house and putting the Bible up in the air. and just feeling the burden of sin lifted, even though I had alcohol in my system, I knew I was saved. I was saved. So I went around and told my parents that I got saved and I was so rejoicing in that house. But you know, that night I had to give my life to the Lord. In my heart, it was my last opportunity to get right with God. Again, the Word of God says, my spirit shall not always strive with man. And the question can be asked, is God's Holy Spirit striving with you? Again, you've had a gospel mission in the last week, and you've maybe been here every night or for some nights and you've been spoke to, but you put it off. Please don't put it off. Please don't resist the Holy Spirit. You know, I can tell you, and Ann has said, that what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. My sins, which were many, were all washed away since Jesus came into my heart. And you know, I want to tell you a few of these changes. Changes in my life, new creature, in Christ. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. Maybe you're thinking, well, if I get saved tonight, my life would be boring. I'd have a boring life. I'd have no fun. That's lies from the devil. That is lies from the devil. Don't listen to him. But I don't want to mislead you here tonight. I don't want to mislead you. Just because you're a Christian and it's as Zan has said, doesn't mean to say that all your problems will go away. But with your problems, the Lord will be with you because he has promised he'll never leave you nor forsake you. He'll never, never leave you nor forsake you. Again, my wife was so pleased that I got saved. Again, there was no more death threats. I wasn't getting into bar fights. I wasn't staying out all night and wasn't getting arrested anymore and so on. But again, The devil was using her and she was going out more and more and it was hard for me at that time. But you know, I prayed for my wife, and praise God, two years after praying for my wife, the Lord answered my prayer and saved her. And you know, I thank God. And it has made a big change in our lives, truly has. We're both members of Lurgan Free Presbyterian Church, again, with three boys, and they're saved, and I just thank God. You know, in September 2014, and this is one of the problems in my life. In 2014, my health went downhill. I ended up in hospital many times, but God's hand was upon me. And God has done many, many miracles in my life. And one such time was I was at work and I got hit in the head with a three-ton digger bucket. And only by the grace of God I'm here today. You know, life can bring many challenges and it has been hard. I took a condition called ME and a condition called fibromyalgia. ME is tiredness, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia is chronic pain. And many's a time I was in the wheelchair and had to push me, my children had to push me in the wheelchair and that was very hard for me. I used to work six days a week and then my body hit the wall as such and then that's what happened. But I want to fast forward to today. You know, I'm back to work and I could say many, many things about fibromyalgia and what the Lord has touched my body. I still have chronic pain. The AME has left me, thank God and also the prayer. It's amazing, and I'm back to work. I never thought I would have the trial in my hand again, but the great God who we serve, and the Lord has blessed again. I've actually started a building firm with my brother, and we, and my son, my older son Kyle, he's my apprentice bricklayer, so the Lord has been so good to us, and also, About a year or so ago, my boys wanted to join the Loyalist Band. must be in their blood. But they wanted to join a Loyalist band so I says well I'll have to join as well just to keep an eye on them. So I joined a band, upper band Fusiliers and have a lot of Christians, it's a well round band and I know some bands drink culture and all and that is wrong but you know We joined a band and the Lord has given us a great opportunity within the band. I ran a breakfast morning there about a month or two ago, in our church, which we invited our six local bands to the breakfast, representatives of the bands, and they came. It was well, well attended, and they heard a testimony of a bass man. and our church gave them, all the band members, 300 Bibles out. It was a great opportunity within, and sometimes we can look at the mission field in different foreign fields, and yes, we should support it, we should pray for it, we should go out, but sometimes the mission field is in our own backyard, if you want to say, at our own front door, and the Lord has opened that door to us, and you know, As Al has cut her testimony down, I cut my testimony down the night also, but I could go on so, so much more and tell you what the Lord has done for me and the wonderful things that he's done for us as a family. And through them times of illness, he provided for us through them times of illness. And it was so hard on me because I was being The breadwinner such to absolutely couldn't work. And I can say that I did have dark days. I didn't go into full depression, but I had dark days. I remember having to crawl up the stairs because of much pain that I was in. And And again, going to the shopping centre, I used to sit in the car and my family had to go in because they couldn't walk around it. And to be quite honest, I was embarrassed to be in a wheelchair, to be pushed around it. But then I got over that and then, you know, I was prayed and, you know, and then I took Bell's palsy a number of times. so many other things and I remember I've lost quite a many brain scans and MRI scans I've had and so much and even Before I actually went to the bricklaying again, I actually worked as a healthcare assistant just to break me into work again. So, and I worked in the hospital at Craighaven Hospital, which I attended a lot. I was rushed in many a time into it. And I remember one time just came into my mind are that I was so afraid, yes as a Christian, so afraid of the outcomes, I remember getting rushed in, so afraid, I remember being in the cubicle one, I remembered, and the fear came in and I remember praying in that cubicle. And I can tell you the Lord just came into a cubicle and took my fear away. It was so amazing. And then another time, I remember my wife had to get the ambulance for me and I was sort of, sort of fainting out. I was fainting out and then coming to. And I remember such peace. I never, never will forget it. The peace that I had, even going through that sickness and the peace that I had, the Lord was with me. And that's why, you know, that's why I like to, when I'm asked to give my testimony, to tell what the Lord has done for me. And when he's been, yes, he's saved me. He's kept me. But through trials in life, he will never leave you. And you know, dear Christian, Maybe you're going through a trial now. Maybe you're going for tests tomorrow or next week or next month. There's worry in your mind. I understand that worry. I understand that worry. But the Lord will be with you because he's promised you. You have to hold on to the promise. He'll never leave you. And he's just a prayer away. Though, to the person who's unsaved here tonight, I don't know who's saved and who's not saved. But my plea to you tonight is to seek first the Kingdom of God. You know, you'll never regret a decision for Christ. You'll never regret getting saved. And I can honestly say that. I lived a wild life, and people say, oh, you lived a wild life. And even I remember, A friend of mine was in the doctor's surgery one day, and he came to me afterwards. He came out of the surgery, and he came to me the next day, and he says, well, I was sitting in the doctor's surgery, and I was sitting and overheard a conversation, two people saying, oh, did you hear Sam got saved? And they said, well, he'll never keep it. He'll never keep it. And then they said, well, it must be some stunt to get the police off his back. Because he used to sit and watch me when I was building houses at the side of the road. He used to pull up and sit and watch me build houses. But you know something? And that was a number of years ago when I praised God that he's kept me. He has kept me. And he's using this for his glory. And you know, Dear sinner, please repent of your sin. Repent of your sin, turn away from your sin, follow Christ and you will not regret it. And please do it before it's too late. And you know, one more thing, time is running on here, but one more thing I want to say. I had a good friend and before I was saved, I got him I got it mixed up in different things, but when I got saved, I went and brought him to church, gave him gospel tracts, and he came to church one Sunday night, and our minister was preaching the word of God, and I truly believe he was spoke to. And in the car park, I remember I could bring him to the very spot, and he said to me, he says, Sam, I'm just not finished with the drink just yet. And me and him used to go partying and drinking all night and go in different countries. And you know, I said to him, that's what he said to me, he says, Sam, I'm just not finished with the drink just yet. And I always remember them words. And about, I'm not sure how long it was, a year, year and a half, two years, I got the phone call on Saturday morning and he said, or, and I was told that my good friend died. He was only 28 years of age, he had a problem with the heart, he liked the drink, and the And I don't know where he stood before the Lord. He maybe got the opportunity to call upon the name of the Lord, but I can't honestly say if he has. Only God knows who he is. And I pray that you won't make the same mistake. I don't want you to go out in the car park and say, well, some other night. Because that is the lies of Satan. Repent and believe the gospel. Thank you so much for listening. Amen.