On a college campus where two months ago tragedy shocked the nation, the Gospel message penetrated the hearts of hundreds as California pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie and musicians Chris Tomlin and Phil Wickham proclaimed the power of Christ to save and transform.
Nearly 8,000 people packed the Events Center Sunday for the “Harvest Utah, Hope For America” event at Utah Valley University—where on Sept. 10 conservative activist and evangelical Christian Charlie Kirk was gunned down at an outdoor rally.
Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California, had initially scheduled a 2027 Harvest Crusade in Salt Lake City at the request of local evangelical churches there, but Kirk’s death gave impetus to Harvest and local church leaders to move the date up and change the location to the campus about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Laurie posted on X afterward: “Our one-night event at UVU in Utah was an astounding success! The people were so open, worshipful, and responsive to the Gospel. Many came to Christ.”
After a worship concert with Wickham and Tomlin and an introduction by his son Jonathan, who is also a pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie opened the Bible and preached a simple message of redemption from the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15.
Acknowledging that just 67 days earlier tragedy had struck on that very campus, Jonathan Laurie pleaded with the crowd, “We want to talk about the hope that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s a message from my dad, Greg Laurie, that could literally change your life. Pay special attention to hear what the Lord is saying to you.”
When Greg Laurie took the podium, he told those gathered: “Our friend Charlie Kirk [was] tragically killed, but when he took his last breath on earth, he took his first breath in Heaven. Not because of what he did, but what Christ did for him,” according to reporting from CBN.com and Baptist Press.
“[Jesus] shed His blood on the cross so you can be forgiven of your sin,” he said.
Laurie told the crowd that he, too, had been a prodigal before God the Father welcomed him into His family through faith and repentance.
“It’s all about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ entered in and changed my story,” Laurie said.
“God has a plan for you,” he said. “And I am talking to somebody right now who is lonely, who is empty. I am talking to somebody right now who has contemplated suicide. I am even talking to someone who has attempted suicide, and I want you to know that God loves you and He has a plan for you. Don’t entertain that thought another day.”
