Sermons on Alcohol, Drugs, Suicide
I Spent 44 Years in the Darkness of Sin (23 min)
Scott Smith had a troubled childhood, marked by confusion and violence. He never felt like he belonged. As he hit the party scene in adulthood, he soon found himself lost and empty. He tried to find answers on an online forum, only to receive death threats! Then a Gospel Tent – featuring preaching from the Bible – came to his neighbourhood, and he and his wife Jenn plucked up the courage to attend. That’s when the light of the gospel…
I Had a Pagan Altar in My Bedroom (26 min)
As a teenager, Ken Biddington got into heavy darkness. He was a drummer in a heavy metal band, lived a drugs-and-party lifestyle and even had an altar in his bedroom. But in 1993 God intervened in his life. The transformation shook his entire neighbourhood. Listen to find out how it happened. Reading: Acts 26:17-18, John 3:16. (Recorded in Victoria Drive Gospel Hall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, on 5th May 2024)
There’s Something Very Wrong with This Place: What Am I Doing Here? (14 min)
Steve Faviere started taking drugs at the tender age of 12. He soon became a party-loving young man with a fast lifestyle. Every now and then he was given pause for thought, by the premature death of a friend, or by people sharing the gospel with him. Watch to find out how Steve finally became saved. Readings: Rom 3:19, John 3:16, Rev 20:11-15. (Recorded in Newmarket Gospel Hall, Ontario, Canada, on 21st April 2024) To listen to Steve preaching in…
I Don’t Need Jesus; I Don’t Want Jesus (19 min)
Richard Pardy hated Sunday School and thought Christians were hypocrites. As a young man he lived the party lifestyle. He told his Christian friend “I don’t need Jesus, I don’t want Jesus and if you’re going to talk to me about Jesus I’m leaving.” Years later a work colleague asked a 27-year-old Richard, “If you were to die today where would you be?” Listen to hear how this led to Richard and his wife Pauline being saved. (Recorded in Canada…
My Life Was a Broken Mess (32 min)
Dave Chisolm grew up going to church, but as a young man he got into drink, drugs and fighting. By the age of 33 his life was a broken mess, living daily on the edge of suicide. He kept crying out to God for help, and God answered his prayer through the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. Dave was saved by the grace and power of God on 16th Jan 1983. 40 years later, he told his life story in…
Saved in Tesco’s Car Park (31 min)
Steve West tells the story of how the Lord first saved his wife Lucy, whose life was beset by an alcohol addiction, and then, through the transformation Steve witnessed in her, eventually brought Steve to salvation too – a husband and wife united in Christ. (Testimony given in Chalfont St Peter Gospel Hall, 3rd Dec 2023)
One word exploded in my mind: “Eternity!” (37 min)
Ben Sutton (1922-2007) grew up in a drunkard’s home. Hardship turned to tragedy when his mother died while he was still a boy. When Ben left school he became a coal miner and then, during WW2, served in the Merchant Navy. He saw the horrors of war close-up, as German U-boats targetted the British and US ship convoys. With the War over, Ben returned home to South Shields in the north east of England, where his favourite places were the…
I Didn’t Really Care if I Lived or Died (24 min)
Theodore Chiasson, born and raised in a Roman Catholic home in Cape Breton Island, Canada, relates his story of conversion as a 24 year old young man back in the 1970’s, after hearing the gospel for the very first time. Theodore had a wholesome God-fearing childhood, but at college he went into drugs and ended up disillusioned and empty. Then a Christian witnessed to him and gave him a Bible…and the Lord saved him that same day. (Recorded 7th April…
From Drugs to Christ | Peter Orasuk’s Testimony (55 min)
Raised in a strict home and taught traditional values as a child, Peter Orasuk (1948-2005) got in with a rough crowd in his youth and ended up a drug addict and dealer, and eventually behind bars. His was the party lifestyle, constantly flirting with danger, always knowing his next fix could be his last. But, in 1976, by a remarkable series of events, light came into Peter’s darkness. Through the gospel message in the Bible he was completely and miraculously…
“Pleasure was putting myself right out of my mind” (26 min)
Mark Thomas was born and bred in “the West country”, a few yards from the scenic Cheddar Gorge and just half an hour from the epicentre of the UK’s festival scene in Glastonbury. So, when Mark got into the drug and rave lifestyle as a young man, he had every opportunity right on his doorstep to dive into the ‘ecstasy culture’ where pleasure was defined as “putting yourself right out of your mind”. Despite a couple of close shaves with…
A Wild Night on Mount Rushmore (36 min)
Mr Ward, an alcoholic purple heart WW2 veteran, used to beat his wife and get his 8 year old son Art (pictured right) drunk, much to the amusement of the men at the tavern. Small wonder that Art’s tragic childhood turned into a wild adulthood filled with drink, drugs, violence and fast motorbikes. Art heard the gospel message as a young man, but it made little impact on him. Then God intervened in his life. On a bike trip to…
Drink and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll (49 min)
Paul Thomas grew up in a traditional Christian family with wholesome old-fashioned values. He went to church meetings every week. But Paul wasn’t the type to just blindly follow his parents. You know how it goes. First cigarettes, then drink, then drugs…eventually the whole lifestyle associated with the rave scene and events like the Glastonbury Festival. But God intervened to stop Paul in his tracks. First a near heroin overdose, and then the death of his grandfather in 1999, whose…
From Bulgaria to Britain…to Christ (24 min)
George Rassovsky relates his story of conversion at the age of 19. Growing up in a godly home in Bulgaria, George rebelled and became involved in drugs and crime. Yet he could never shake off the conviction of the truth he had heard in his childhood. Moving from Bulgaria to the UK to study, George came in contact with the gospel again and was converted to Christ in 2010. This is a joyful story of the grace of God in…
