I started out with some Willie Nelson Trivia, such as when was Willie inducted into "The Country Music Hall of Fame", name one of his biggest hits, what movie did he appear in with Toby Keith in 2006, etc.  Then, mentioned that he does a lot of good things, such as raise money for "Farm Aid" and other charity events to raise money for the needy. 

When was Willie Nelson born? 1933.  He is almost 77 years old.  The average life expectancy for a person living in the United States is 77.7 years.  So, if we go by statistics, Willie has less than one year of life left on this earth. 

He's not alone.  150,000 people die each and every day in this world.  None of us think that it could happen to us, but for the 150,000 that died yesterday, they probably didn't think that it would happen to them, either. 

The Bible says, "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment".  Hebrews 9:27

We went through the Law, the Ten Commandments, to show folks that we are all sinners, and in need of a Savior.  None of our good works will get us into heaven.  The Bible says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags". Isaiah 64:6.  "There is none righteous, no, not one..."  Romans 3:10.  "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God..." Romans 3:23

Jesus said "...except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God".  John 3:3.  "...for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."  Acts 4:12

There are a couple of things we must do to be born again.  Repent.  "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."  2 Peter 3:9.  Jesus said, "unless you repent, you will perish."  Luke 13:3.  "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out..."  Acts 3:19.  "...whoever confesses and forsakes his sin finds mercy."  Proverbs 28:13

Repent means to not just ask for forgiveness, but to have a change of heart and mind in regards to what sin is.  You must be willing to turn from sin.  Do a complete 180 degree turn and head the other direction. 

The next thing we must do, is Believe.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  John 3:16.  

We are to believe in Jesus, trust in him, kind of like we would trust in a parachute if a plane were about to crash.  If the parachute was under our seat, we wouldn't just "believe in it", we would "take it and strap it on".  The Bible says "...to put on the Lord Jesus Christ".  Romans 13:14

Imagine yourself in court, guilty of breaking the law.  You had a large fine and didn't have the money.  You are headed for jail.  But, someone you don't know steps in and pays your fine.  Your debt to the law has been satisfied, you are free to go.  In the same way, we broke God's law and Jesus paid our fine.  

During the open air preaching, no one was rude or heckled me.  At the point when I was about to switch from the Willie Nelson trivia to the spiritual, one woman near me knew where I was headed with it, and said, "oh no, don't do it...".  Everyone seemed attentive and listened.  I told them that I am praying that the Holy Spirit will convict their hearts from the Word that they heard tonight.  

The rest of the night - basically until the concert opened at 8:00pm, we stood at various places on the sidewalk and passed out gospel tracts to folks going to the concert.  Some people took the gospel tracts and others did not.  We had less people take the tracts tonight than we do at a concert where there is a younger crowd.  It seems the older people are, the less they are open to accepting anything from you, or even hearing about the gospel. 

Greg Marlin with the cross he made

Greg, with Born of Him Ministries, built a cross.  His team took turns carrying it throughout the night.  It drew a good amount of attention...from people asking him, "Are you ready to be crucified?", to "Okay, you have 30 seconds to tell me what this is all about", to "Whoo-hoo, yes, we are ready", meaning they are ready for the concert. 

There were a few guys that were trying to get the concert attendees to sign a petition to get marijuana legalized.  There were a good number of folks who were drunk and/or smelled like marijuana who was attending the concert.