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   Number 1: Debt-Free in Heaven - #10351

   Our friend, Vicki, is one very happy woman. For many years now, she has carried a heavy load of nagging credit card debt. If you’ve ever been in debt for a while, you know how it always weighs you down like this heavy backpack on your back. Well, Vicki recently came into some money through an inheritance, and you know what she did with it! She had a party—a check writing party! All the debts are paid, and you can tell she feels like she just got out of prison! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Debt-Free in Heaven.” There is tremendous joy in knowing that your debt is gone and you’ve got a new beginning. Especially when the debt is the one you owe to God - we all owe God - for the wrong things we’ve done. We all have things we’ve done that we’re not proud of, that we’re ashamed of, that we wish we could do over, but we can’t. We’ve hurt the people we love, we’ve said so many things we wish we shouldn’t have said, and we’ve done things we thought we would never do. The weight of all that is a very heavy burden on the human soul. The weight even gets heavier when we read in the Bible what the penalty is for our spiritual debt. It says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). There is an eternal death penalty for the way that we’ve run our own lives instead of letting God run them. The prospect of a hopeless eternity makes the weight of our sin almost unbearable. But that’s why Jesus is such awesome good news. The prospect of being spiritually debt-free is wrapped up in three words Jesus spoke just before He died on that cross. They’re recorded in our word for today from the Word of God in John 19:30. “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’” In the original Greek language this was written in, that’s just one word, and it’s used as an accounting word that actually means “paid in full.” Like our friend’s credit card debt—nothing owed any more. So that when you stand before God on Judgment Day, where your sins once appeared in God’s book, it will simply say, “Paid in full!” Which means the only thing that could keep you out of heaven is gone! Wow! But you don’t pay the bill. You can’t! There’s no amount of doing good that can ever pay a death penalty. If you think your religion is going to get you to heaven, there's no way in the world it can pay that death penalty. But God loves you so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to that cross to pay for what only He could pay, so you won’t have an eternity without Him. Jesus absorbed all the guilt and all the hell of every wrong thing you have ever done, and then He declared once and for all, “It is finished - paid in full!” This very day you can experience the incredible joy of knowing that you are forever free from the weight of your sin; the joy of a brand new beginning. What Jesus did on His cross removes your sin when you tell Jesus you are putting all your trust in Him to forgive you and to take you to heaven when you die. No one else can. You will never have to face the judgment you deserve because Jesus faced the judgment you deserve. Your new beginning starts the moment you open your heart to Jesus. Would you let that be today? Wherever you are right now, tell Him, “Jesus, I know that what You did on the cross is my only hope of a relationship with God, of going to heaven, and of having my sins erased from God’s Book forever. And I know You walked out of your grave. You are alive! Would you walk into my life today?" There's some wonderful information that I'd love to give you on all of this. It's at our website appropriately named ANewStory.com. Would you check it out as soon as you can? I am praying that you'll be able to go to sleep this very night saying, “I am forgiven. I am free!”

   September 14, 2026·5min
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   Number 2: Only Knowing the Words - #10355

   My friend, Scott, told me about a man he knows who has been a professional bus driver for years. The driver is actually from Australia, but he has driven bus tours in places across the world. And he says there is this one classic movie that his passengers seem to watch on just about every bus tour. In fact, it’s been shown on his bus so many times he literally knows the script of the movie by heart! But the funny thing is this: because he’s always driving, he’s never seen the movie that he knows all the words for! I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about “Only Knowing the Words.” It’s not enough to just know the words; especially when it comes to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible describes people who are a little like that bus driver who knows all about the movie but has never really experienced it. These people know all the words about Jesus, but somehow they have never really seen Jesus, never really experienced Him as their personal Savior, their personal Lord. In fact, there’s probably someone like that listening right now. And Jesus is reaching out to you right now to become more than words to you. In Mark 7:6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord may be describing you or someone you know. “…These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” In other words, they talk a good game, they talk a God-game, they sound like they know Him but they’re far away. And only God knows it because they sound so good. This business of belonging to Jesus, of having eternal life, is so much more than something in your vocabulary or in your head or the meetings you go to. Romans 10:10 makes it clear that “…it is with your heart that you believe and are justified…” That means made right with God. It’s whether Jesus is in your heart that determines your destiny, not whether He’s in your words, or your head, or your beliefs, or your schedule. It’s possible to have Jesus all around you but not inside you. And if you’re missing Jesus, you’re going to miss heaven. Could it be that for all your time and experience in the world of Jesus followers you’ve somehow never really committed yourself to the Man who died for you? In Matthew 7, Jesus describes people who will come to Him on Judgment Day saying all the right words, having all the right background, having done all the right things, and then some of the most chilling words in the Bible. He will say to them, “I never knew you.” They had Christianity, but they missed Christ. Those who are in the deadliest danger zone may not be those who haven’t heard about Jesus, but those who have heard over and over again, and they’ve never responded. Could that be you? You’re risking a hardened heart that passes a spiritual point of no return. This is the day for you to say words to Jesus, not just all those words about Jesus. Words from your heart to His heart that say, “Jesus, beginning today I want to really belong to You. I am totally trusting You as my Savior from my sin, which You paid for when You died on that cross.” He has been waiting a long time for that invitation to come in and to take over your life. Don’t risk hardening your heart. Don’t risk missing what could be your final opportunity. If you want to be sure you belong to Him today; if you want to "cross over" as the Bible says from death to life and know Him in your heart, not just in your head, I think our website would be a great place for you to go next. It's ANewStory.com. And it will help you nail down your personal relationship with Jesus once and for all. You’ve had the right words, you’ve had the right beliefs, but it’s never satisfied your soul, has it? Now, this is the day you can finally know the Savior that you’ve known about for so long.

   September 18, 2026·5min
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   Number 3: Sunday Grins or Sunday Grouches - #10354

   You know, people in certain jobs end up being treated kind of like vending machines. Now, the state that I lived in for many years, we still had full service gas and we had gas station attendants. People just sort of drive up and grunt a couple of words to him, and then he would dispense his service, and people would drive off. Oh, of course, we did give him a little money. Waitresses—there’s another one. And the checkout people at a grocery store. Well, you know what? I’ve got a little personal crusade to help these service people feel human again; to get them to talk. Now brace yourself…even to get them to smile sometimes. I feel like I’ve succeeded if they’ll smile. I was at the grocery store late one week night, and I said to the woman who was checking out our groceries, “Well, I’ll bet you’ve had a long day today, huh? You almost done?” She said, “Oh yeah, I’m almost out of here, but it’s been a long day. I’ve had a lot of crabby people! I thought it was Sunday today.” That raised a question. I said, “Wait a minute. What did you mean you thought it was Sunday today?” She said, “Oh, we all hate to work Sundays. There are more grouches on Sunday here than any other day.” And then came the observation that cut the most deeply. She said, “Yeah, most of them just came from church; they’re the grouchiest of all.” Ouch! I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Sunday Grins or Sunday Grouches.” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 25. “Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. But let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” Well, that verse is often applied to us getting together in our Christian meetings or Bible studies in church, and that’s good. The verse before it says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Okay. These verses seem to be saying there’s a certain kind of result you can expect from Christians having been together. They’re going to come out more loving, more encouraged, more encouraging, and doing more good deeds. Unfortunately, there are too many arguments on the way home from church. There’s too much selfishness on Sunday afternoon about “Hey, it’s my day off! I want to do what I want to do.” There are just too many grouches on Sunday. I said to that checkout girl who had pointed that out to me, “You know, if you’ve just spent time with the Creator of the universe, you should feel pretty good don’t you think?” She said, “Well, I guess a lot of them just don’t look at it that way.” I wonder if we don’t get in a religious rut on Sunday and miss the purpose of the exercise? Maybe we even begin to resent the routine. Some questions for coming out with grins instead of grouches on Sunday. Number one, “Did I touch the Lord while I was there?” Ask yourself that every time you’re together in a Christian meeting. Did I touch the Lord? And that should not be dependent on how good the sermon was, or who preached, or whether the music was on key, or whether you liked the environment that morning. It’s dependent on the attitude of your heart if you went in looking for the Lord. Second question: “Did I leave with a mission or did I even go looking for one?” I mean, did you ask the Lord for something to do obediently as a result of something you’re going to hear or feel during that service - a mission. Thirdly, “Did I encourage someone today?” Church can become very mechanical and almost useless unless we go looking for three things: go in looking for the Lord, determined to get more of Him. Go in looking for a mission - I’m going to leave here with something I need to do. And looking for someone to encourage; Lord, help me be a ministry to someone here today. Then everything afterwards: the trip home, the afternoon’s activities, our treatment of the checkout girl. They all grow out of these discoveries. After all, time in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day should at least produce the Lord’s attitude.

   September 17, 2026·5min
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   Number 4: Things That Really Last Really Matter - #10353

   Our son had the privilege of playing on a state championship football team in high school. And that’s a really big deal! They were the toast of the school, heroes of the town, for a while, until next year. Some of those heroes came back from college to visit the old alma mater, and you know what? They just weren’t a big deal anymore. Some new guys were the ones wearing the jerseys now and getting all the attention. Sorry, guys! Last year’s glory - yesterday’s news. What do you bet those guys will still be looking for someone to tell about the big game when they’re 70 years old? I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Things That Really Last Really Matter.” Forgotten victory, tarnished trophies—that’s the story of most of life’s great achievements, isn’t it? A big deal for a while but quickly faded. The title we fought for and got will be someone else’s before long, and it won’t even take a day to change the name on the door. All those achievements that mean so much at the time, all the rewards we wanted so long—gone so soon…except for one. And it’s revealed in our word for today from the Word of God in Daniel 12:2-3. “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” Two eternal addresses—every person you’ve ever met, every person in your life will spend forever at one of these two eternal destinations—heaven or hell. The only thing they have in common is that they’re both “everlasting.” That ultimate values-clarifier provides the backdrop now for Daniel 12:3, the path to a greatness that will never die. “Those who are wise shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever.” Tell me, what have you done in your life, or what can you do with the rest of your life that will give you a greatness that will make you “shine like the stars for ever and ever?” Only one thing. Lead people to God’s way, and in so doing, help them change their eternal address from hell to heaven. That’s ultimate greatness. It’s the kind of spiritual greatness your heart is hungry for. What’s exciting about this greatness is it’s within everyone’s reach. You don’t have to be especially intelligent, or educated, or talented, or good-looking, or rich, or well-connected. This has nothing to do with your ability, only your availability for God to speak through you to explain what His Son did on the cross for the people you know. And, in fact, this helping people to go to heaven is the real reason why you are where you are. Jesus placed you there so people there could find Him. So, how are you doing with that? Your eternity-changing assignment is why you are who you are, why you’ve been through what you’ve been through, so you could talk to people like you and they’d listen to you when you tell them about what Jesus did for them. I don’t know what you’re focusing your best energies on right now, your influence, your prayers, your time, your ambitions. But if it doesn’t impact eternity, it is too small to matter. That’s why the Bible says, “He who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). I know you want to make a greater difference with the rest of your life than you’ve made until now, don’t you? There is no greater difference you could possibly make in the life of someone you care about than to help them be in heaven with you forever. Every person you know who doesn’t know Jesus - in your family, every person you work with, every person you go to school with, that’s a future in hell or heaven. Be the one who tells them how they can be a future resident of Heaven. Introduce them to Jesus and your Bible says you’re going to shine like the stars, forever and ever!

   September 16, 2026·5min
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   Number 5: You Can't See, But He Can - #10352

   The other night I saw one of the most adorable scenes I’ve seen in ages. I was coming out of a restaurant, and right ahead of me was a mother and a father. In between them was their little girl who was obviously a rookie at walking. She was just learning, and she had both hands extended upward. Mom had one hand and Dad had the other. She was dressed in this pretty little pink dress. She also had this cute, frilly little pink cap on. You can kind of picture it. I came up behind them and I said, “Hey, she’s thinking this is really a big deal isn’t she folks? She’s kind of going, ‘I can walk! I can walk! Look at me!’” I walked past them and Dad at that point said to me, “Yeah, but she’s got a problem.” So, I looked back to see what he meant, and her little cap had fallen down over her forehead and was completely covering her eyes. So she’s still walking, sort of staggering around, and her Dad spoke for her when he said, “I can walk, but I can’t see!” I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “You Can't See, But He Can.” Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Galatians 5. Verse 16 says, “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Verse 25: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Now, here’s the description of an exciting lifestyle. The Apostle Paul calls it “keeping in step with the Spirit.” The old King James Version says “walking in the Spirit.” Now, you can walk without the Spirit’s leading. Sure you can go through your day, make your choices, make your schedule, but there’s a problem. Like that little girl, you can walk but you can’t see. We make our plans. We make our schedule. We make our choices based on what looks best or what feels best, based on what we can see. We’ve got our cap over our eyes most of the time. We can’t see the long-range consequences of the choice we’re making today, but the Holy Spirit can. We can’t see what choice would fit best into God’s plans for us, but the Spirit can. We can’t see where the resources will come from or the people, but the Holy Spirit can. The Holy Spirit has been placed by God inside your personality to nudge you to the right place at the right time in today’s schedule. So our job is to learn to recognize and respond to those inner Holy Spirit pushes and pulls and nudges. How do you do it? Well, first you pray that God will sensitize you, “Lord, I want to be able to recognize those Holy Spirit nudges so I don’t disregard them. I want to know when you’re pushing me to do something.” Then frequently ask the Lord through the day, “Spirit, what’s the next step in this situation?” And then practice obeying those Spirit impulses: to make that phone call when He says to do it, to write that note, to go and just suddenly hug that family member, to post that message, to drop everything for a person that He drops into your schedule, to open up to a certain passage of scripture. The disciples had Jesus there and He said, “Follow me.” And it was easy, because He was right there physically. Well, we can do it today because we have His Spirit inside saying, “Come this way.” Don’t just pray in the morning and then go run off for the day with your pre-set course and then check back at bedtime. You need the security, the adventure of following the Spirit’s leading all day long. After all, you can walk but you can’t see.

   September 15, 2026·5min
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