📄 Transcript
My name is Jake, and I want to tell you about this incredible adventure. But as usual, I suppose I'd better start from the beginning. You see, I always like to do exciting and cool stuff, and explore things. And last summer, my friends and I attended a church camp. And, well, I did something pretty stupid. Something I will never, ever forget. Anyway, it all started around a campfire with Christina. She was our camp counselor. Have you ever been in a place that's really, really dark? Yeah. What about a place that's been really, really light? Yeah. So what's the difference between those two places? Glad you could make it, Jake. Yeah. No problem. We were just talking about light and darkness. Now, imagine being in one of these caves around here without a light. You know, I've been in there myself, and you know it's so dark that if you don't have a flashlight, you can't even see your hand in front of your face. That's what it's like to live your life without God. Michael, could you look up John 8, verse 12 for us? Sure. Did you know that the Bible says that people love darkness more than light? That's why we've been talking all week about the need to receive God's Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior, and as the one who can forgive us of all the wrong that we've done so that we can walk in God's light. Michael, can you read that verse for us? Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That's right. You see, Jesus came from heaven as God's gift to us. He came to take the punishment that we deserve, to pay for our sins so that we can become children of God. But we have to do something first. Yeah? Like what? We have to be willing to receive Jesus Christ and his payment for our sins. Payment? Like having to dish out some dough? Not quite. It's a gift, and he paid for it with his life. What we have to do is believe that he is the only one who can save us from our sins and make our lives right with God. And we have to receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. Now, I know that most of you have already done that. But some of you still haven't. So let me ask again. Is there anyone tonight who's ready to receive Jesus as their Savior? Who wants to ask him to forgive your sins so that you can become a child of God and walk in the light? Good. Anybody else? Great. Now, you two stay for a while and we'll talk. And for the rest of you, it's getting late, so let's call it a night. Tomorrow is our last day together. There's a long hike in store for us, so let's get plenty of rest tonight. Lights out in 30 minutes. Guys, guys! That was cool. Listen! What? You will not believe what I just discovered. What's that? A cave. A cave? This place is full of them. Not like this. It was huge, and there were no paths or anything leading to it. I bet you it's, like, totally undiscovered. Yeah? Yeah. Cool. Let's go tell Christina. No! Don't you get it? If it's undiscovered, there might still be neat stuff inside. Like buried treasure or something. Or maybe ancient Indian things. Exactly. How far away is it? Just over the ridge. You want to come see it? Sure. Let me go get my jacket. Okay. You won't get your light. I want to get some out from the store, Chef. Guys! Guys! Guys! Come on, start here. Let go slip away See what we can find Who stands in our way who can change our mind why not take a dare, why not give a try, nothing can go wrong, we're too young to die. Hey, check it out. Looks like an old mine. Hey, I bet that's where the treasure is. Come on! Jake, you better stay in this main passageway. Yeah. Come on. Jake, no. There's a reason this is boarded up. It could be dangerous. Don't! Sean's right. Stop. We should be heading back. I don't believe you guys. Here we are, making the discovery of a lifetime. And you're a chicken! I'm not a chicken. It's just, you don't know where that leads. And... Jake! Jake! You can stay if you want, but I'm going to check this out. Give me that light. Hey! Jake! Jake! Jake, come back. Come back, Jake. Jake, come back. Jake, Jake. What do we do now? Well, we just can't leave him. I'm sure not going in after him. Me neither. I guess all we do is wait. Great. Just great. I tell you, part of me was getting really excited about going in there. But part of me was also getting just a bit nervous. Jake! Jake! Jake! Jake! What do we do now? We have to help him. But Sean! I'm going in after him. Fine, then I'm going in too. No! What do you mean? We both can't go in there. If Jake's hurt or something happens to me, you've got to be the one to run back to camp and get help. But Sean! I'll be right back! Sean! Sean! Great. Just great. I see him as right. These caves are really dark. Jake! Jake! Dear Jesus, please. Please help Jake to be okay. And help Sean to find him. Jake! Are you alright? Jake? I'm down here. I'm down here. Jake? I'm down here. Jake! I see the light. I'm down here. Are you okay? I think I hurt my leg. Where's your lamp? It must have woke when I fell. Can you climb out? I don't think so. Okay, here. Reach up and take my hand. Jake! Are you all right? Jake! Yeah, I'm okay. Sean! Sean, are you okay? Yeah, I'm alright. You sure Yeah So what do we do now One of us has to get help But how Where that rope he brought I left it back there. Why? One of us has to go back and get it. How's your leg? It still hurts. I can stand on it, but that's about it. Okay. Come on, I'll boost you up to the opening. I'll wait here till you bring back the rope and pull me up. But why you? Molly can take the weight. Yours can't. Come on. Come on. Sean! Did you hear that? Are you okay? I'll be okay! But hurry! Sean, Sean, did you find... Where's Sean? He's back there. Hand him out. I have to get back to him. He's trapped. Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! We have to get help. Hughes, we can't move these long. Sean! They're too big. What's the matter? I don't understand it. There'll be me in there. He turned up places with me. Sean! We have to get help. Come on. Sean! Come on! Sean! Come on. Sean! Come on. We have to get help. Christina. Christina! What? What? There was a rock slide by the caves. Sean's trapped. We gotta hurry! Come on! We're gonna need rescue workers out here. There's a little boy and he's been caught in the caves. He's 11 years old and he's been down there now for probably... Hello? What? My son? Jake was hurt? What happened to Jake? No, he's fine. He... Thank you. Jesus, in the night, when we're blind, he's our sight. Please, God, please. Thank you. In the night, the light that shines in the night. Jesus, in the night, when we're blind, is our sight. We never get to a shower from here It going to take a miracle to get this kid out of here Jesus in the night the light that shines in the night Help! Hello? We found no way in or around the rock slide. But this whole area is honeycomb with shafts. Our only hope is that we can find one that will reach him. Okay, so there's something we can do. Not now, but soon. Until then, I'd pray, and pray really hard. All of our parents had come, and when the firemen reminded us to pray, well, I remembered everything Christina had told us. It was then that I realized that I had to be the one to pray. I knew that before anything else, I had to make some things right with the Lord. Jesus, I'm the one who caused all this mess. Please, forgive me. Forgive me for everything. Please, come into my heart. Make me your child like Christina's been saying. Like you did with Shawna McKenzie. Please Come into my heart Make me a Christian too And Jesus Wherever Sean is Help him not be afraid down there in the darkness Keep him safe Please Jesus You be his light down there Amen Thank you. Dear God, be my light. Show me the way out of here. Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! Sean! What's out here? Sean! Sean! Wait, listen! Where? Down here! What? Down here! Down here! Down here! Sean! Sean! Down here! There, it's coming from there! Down here! We found him! Sean! Sean! If we throw a cable ladder down to you, you think you can climb up? You bet I can! Boy, I tell you, that was some day. I must have been the happiest kid in the world. Not only did we find Sean, but someone also found me. Jesus. That day, He'd become my own personal Savior and Lord. I knew that with His help, I could become a new person. I was now His child, and He would always be my light and my friend.