Money and Politics | Sunday Message

A New Beginning presents a timely book from Pastor Greg Laurie called God's Answer to Fear, Anxiety, and Worry. Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Good afternoon. Welcome to church, everybody. Let's pray. Father, as we have just sang, morning to morning, great is your faithfulness to us. And you speak to us clearly and plainly in the Word of God.

And as we look at our world, our culture, and so many things that we think about and talk about, and decisions we need to make, we need to know what the Bible says. So speak to us from your word as we open it together now. Bless this time we have. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

You can all be seated. Well, who wants to hear a Bible study? Raise your hand up if you want a Bible study.

Okay, good, good. Grab your Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Wanted to mention that tonight is very special because we are going to have a prayer and worship service together at Harvest Orange County and Harvest Riverside. So you are all invited. And we are also going to have communion together and look at the Lord's Prayer.

It is going to be a fantastic time tonight at 6 o'clock, Riverside and Orange County worship and prayer. And I don't miss that. So you know there are two topics they say you should never talk about at church. And those topics are money and politics.

So the title of my message today is Money and Politics. And why shouldn't we talk about those things? Because they are considered controversial by some or it makes some people uncomfortable. I think we need to talk about everything that we can in light of the Scripture. Now we have been in a series that we are calling hot button issues. Things that are considered controversial. We talked about what the Bible says about sexuality and God's plan for men and women. We looked at why we believe Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. We looked at why there is a hell and how some people will end up there. We also looked at Christian liberties and what we should and should not do as followers of Jesus Christ.

We examined why God allows suffering and the importance of the church and why we need the church and the church needs us. Now we have one more message in this series. And we are going to talk about Bible prophecy in our next message and why it matters. And in particular why Christians should care about the nation Israel and the Jewish people. And in addition to giving that message I am going to be joined by my friend Joel Rosenberg. Now Joel is an expert in Bible prophecy. As a matter of fact he lives in Jerusalem. And so he will give us the latest information on what is going on in that part of the world. Joel is also Jewish. And he has embraced Jesus as his Messiah.

So I think he is uniquely qualified to help us as we talk about this. Today money in politics. Now people get uncomfortable when you bring up the topic of money. And by the way if this is your first Sunday at Harvest I don't want to apologize but I want to explain that this is not what we talk about every Sunday but we are talking about it on this particular Sunday. I heard about a preacher that was talking to his congregation about giving. And he said to us, and this is one of those churches in the south where the people responded back in real time. And so the preacher said to his congregation, you know we have got to crawl before we can walk. And they shouted back, let us crawl preacher.

Let us crawl. And he said, but we have got to walk before we can jog. And they said, let us walk pastor. Let us walk. And he says, and we have got to jog before we can run. Let us jog pastor. Let us jog. And then he said, but we have got to give money before we can do any of those things. There was a moment of silence. And one person said, let us crawl pastor. Let us crawl.

You know it is funny. We will accept what the Bible says about so many topics. We will embrace what Scripture says about God's love and forgiveness and promise of heaven. What the Bible says about the family and much more.

But when it comes to the topic of money and us parting with any of it suddenly there is a discomfort. But the fact of the matter is is Jesus had a lot to say about money and possessions and how we should get it and how we should use it. In fact 15 percent of everything Jesus said relates to the topic of money and possessions. More than half of His teachings on heaven and hell combined and half of the parables that Jesus told dealt with material things, money, and giving. In addition one out of every seven verses in the New Testament also deal with this topic. Now compare this with how many verses are on other topics. There are 500 verses in the Bible in prayer.

Fewer than 500 on faith but more than 2,000 verses on the topic of money. So it matters to God. Now I don't know why there is this discomfort with it but we need to acknowledge just one simple fact and this is my first point if you are taking notes.

And it is simply this. The Scripture teaches that you and everything you have belongs to God. You and everything you have belongs to God. First Corinthians 6 19 says don't you know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit that you have from God. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

You are not your own. One day the Pharisees, the religious leaders came to Jesus and they asked Him if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar or not. That was a controversial subject.

The people were overtaxed by Rome as we are overtaxed by our government. And so how is Jesus going to answer this. Someone is going to be offended no matter what. He asked for a coin. Someone produced one.

He held it up. He said whose face whose image is on this coin. Someone said well Caesar. That's correct. So Jesus says give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and give to God the things that belong to God.

You belong to God. I heard a story about a lady that went to a mall and ordered a little bag of cookies from one of those little cookie shops. And she sat down at a table where other people were seated to enjoy her cookies. And she took a bite of the first one. And there was a man sitting across from her and he reached over and brazenly put his hand in her bag and took one of her cookies. She couldn't believe it.

Who is this guy. How dare he take one of my cookies. And then a moment passed. She ate another cookie. He too reached in the bag and he also ate a cookie. She ate a third.

He also did. Soon they got to the bottom of the bag and there was one cookie left. He reached down and took it.

Broken in half. Smiled and offered her half of the cookie. She took it. Walked away in a huff.

She was so angry. And she opened up her purse to get her car keys and saw her bag of cookies in her purse. As it turns out he wasn't eating her cookie. She was eating his.

And he was nice enough to share the last one with her. That is us and God. God owns the cookies.

And we think they are ours. I own them. I made this money. Well maybe you did. But God says in Haggai 2a the silver is mine and the gold is mine.

You say hey man I work hard for my money so you better treat me right. To quote an old song. And that is not a good song to quote actually when I think about it contextually. But anyway forget it.

Donna Summer yeah. Who became a Christian by the way. Anyway. But the Bible clearly teaches it is the Lord that gave you these things. God is the one who gave us everything to enjoy in Deuteronomy 6 18 or 8 18 says the Lord your God gave you the ability to produce wealth. So no matter how you came by your possessions and your money I know it was through your hard work or ingenuity or your creativity whatever it was God gave you the ability to do all of that right. The beat of your heart is a gift from God.

The thought in your mind right now these are all gifts from God so everything we have comes from God. Now sometimes it says it said money is the root of all evil. And they will even say the Bible says money is the root of all evil. Did you know that the Bible does not say money is the root of all evil.

Oh Greg you are wrong I read it. No no. Here is what the Bible says. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. While some have coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. Money is not immoral nor is it moral it is amoral it is neutral.

It can be used for good and it can be used for bad. The problem with wealth is not in having it it is how we get it how we guard it and how we give it. Now let's read 2 Corinthians 9. Here Paul is speaking to the church of Corinth and he is giving them some principles on giving and they apply to us as well. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9.6 remember this a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop but one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

You must make up your own mind at how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure for God loves a cheerful giver. And God will generously provide all you need so you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. So number one everything you have belongs to God.

Number two every believer should give and do so happily. Because verse 7 says God loves a cheerful giver that could better be translated a hilarious giver not someone giving under pressure but because they want to and they even find joy in it. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than it is to receive.

Have you discovered that yet for yourself? Now I think when we are kids we think no no it is better to get than to give. And we are very possessive. You know you see little children even like little toddlers you know fighting over a toy. You can have a toddler sitting there with a toy that they care nothing about but another child next to them that takes an interest in the toy and a fight ensues right. That is called human nature. We don't necessarily outgrow that by the way.

Have you ever gone to a store where there is a sale and you find out there is one item left and you want that item and someone else wants that item and you are in that same tug of war you were in when you were little toddlers. So one day we will discover there is actually a joy in giving. In fact experts have said there is a description of this. It is called the giver's high. Now you have heard of the runner's high supposedly the release of endorphins when you run.

I have never experienced that. I have experienced the eater's high. But there is a giver's high.

They found that there are literal endorphins that are released in your mind that give you a sense of well-being when you do something for someone else. Okay so that is true for us as believers as well. It is more blessed to give than it is to receive.

Bringing me to point number three. It is a real joy to give. Paul talked about the believers in Macedonia. And he said in 2 Corinthians 8 for listen to this.

This is so interesting. They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift to the Christians in Jerusalem. So what he is saying is these believers in Macedonia begged us for another opportunity to give. When is the last time someone begged to give? We have heard people begging for money.

But what about people begging to give? And this happened with Moses as the tabernacle was being built. We read in Exodus 36 that the people were so excited to give toward the tabernacle which was the tent which was the dwelling place of God where they would keep the Ark of the Covenant. The people were so excited the Bible says they had to be restrained from giving.

And Moses had to actually say ok enough already. Stop giving. They had discovered the joy of giving.

And look at point number four. As we give to God, God will give more to us. The Bible says given it shall be given unto you pressed down shaken together and running over.

In the same measure you give it shall be given back to you. So the idea of a farmer. You sow a small crop. You sow a few seeds you get a small crop.

You sow more seeds you get a bigger crop. Listen you never out give God. So be a generous believer. And God will make it up to you according to 2 Corinthians 9. He will make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so there will not only be enough for your own needs but you will have plenty left over to give generously to others. So be a generous person. Do your giving while you are living. And you are knowing where it is going. And this is something we all can engage in as believers because one day we will come to the end of our life.

And all of the stuff that we have accumulated will be left. And as Corrie ten Boom once said a life is measured not by its duration but its donation. A life is not measured by its duration in other words how long you live but its donation.

The problem with wealth is not in having it. It is how you get it. How you guard it.

And how you give it. Now we shift gears. I said we will talk about politics.

Let's do that together. Now I know the knee jerk reaction is no we shouldn't talk about politics in church and you as a pastor should not talk about this subject. Well why not? My job as a pastor is to give you the whole counsel of God and certainly the Bible has a lot to say about a lot of the issues we are going to be voting on. Now I am not going to tell you who to vote for.

I am just going to tell you what I will be thinking about when I get ready to vote. Now someone might say well what about the separation of church and state. Did you know that that particular phrase is not in any of our founding documents. It is not in the Declaration of Independence. It is not in the Bill of Rights. It is not in our Constitution.

But often people invoke separation of church and state. Where did that phrase even come from. It was penned by Thomas Jefferson who was a prolific writer. Jefferson wrote up to 19,000 letters. He was a letter writing machine. A brilliant intellect. And of course one of our founding fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence.

And our third president as well. So in response to an inquiry Jefferson coined this phrase. It was a letter he wrote to a group asking about the role of religion in our culture. And so he wrote it in a personal letter.

It was not in executive order. And in this letter he wrote of a wall of separation between church and state. But the idea he was communicating was that the state should not interfere with the church but rather excuse me. The idea he was communicating was that the state should not interfere with the church. And the church was they have, well I am messing it up. Let me just say it.

I am trying to read a note I wrote. The idea was not that the church should have no influence on the state. It was that the state should not have the influence over the church. That is what I am trying to say.

Okay so. The church must have influence on the state. The church must have influence on its culture. This is part of what we are called to do as Christians.

To shine our light and be salt in the earth. So we have an absolute command to do that. And by the way our country, and don't let some revisionist historian tell you otherwise. Our country was built on Judeo-Christian principles.

It was. Going back to Thomas Jefferson. He said quote, it was God who gave us liberty.

And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? And then he concluded, again to quote him, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever. Our first president, George Washington, in his farewell address given in 1776 said quote, reason and experience both forbid us that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle. In other words this morality we should have, our sense of right and wrong comes from religious principle. Again back to our foundation. Patrick Henry a ratifier of the U.S. Constitution said this and I quote, it cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians.

Very clear. Harvard University and Yale University which are quite liberal today were founded on Christian principles. Harvard College's first presidents and tutors insisted that there could be quote, no true knowledge or wisdom without Jesus Christ end quote.

In Harvard's rules and precepts it was written quote, everyone shall consider that the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. So it is so important for us to speak up about these things and pray that we could get back to those spiritual roots that we have strayed from. The Bible has a lot to say about issues that we are facing right now including marriage, family, biological sex, parental authority, our relationship with the nation Israel and even national borders.

And I think we should talk about these things. The Bible says that we should submit to governing authorities for all authority comes from God and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So with this election coming up we should all vote. And having said that I will publicly pray for whoever is elected to be the next president of the United States if I voted for them or not. Because that's my responsibility.

Pray for those who are in authority. So I've had the privilege to meet a few US presidents over the years. I met Jimmy Carter on three separate occasions.

One was in Georgia when Billy Graham was doing a crusade. And he introduced me to President Carter who was with him on that occasion. And then I met President Carter on a plane once. I don't remember where I was flying to but he was on the plane and he walked down the aisle and shook the hand of every passenger on the plane.

I thought that was amazing and very impressive. So people could say I shook the hand of a president. And then the third time was when we were at the Billy Graham Library and we were dedicating it. And President George H.W. Bush was there and his wife Barbara and President Carter. Here is a photo of that occasion. So left to right that's Jane Graham, Franklin Graham, me, President Bush, First Lady Barbara Bush, Kathy and Jimmy Carter. But I have been invited on multiple occasions by President Trump to come to the White House. And let me say this.

Some would say that's partisan. I would go to the White House if any president invited me. If President Biden contacted me and said, would you come to the White House? I want to talk to you. I would like to receive prayer. I would go. No invitation has come so far. But I would gladly go.

I would do it in a heartbeat. No question about it and I mean that with all sincerity. But I have been invited by President Trump there along with other pastors and it has been our honor to go into the Oval Office a couple of times. And that is a very impressive place to walk into. First of all, it is oval. It's a very unusual shape for a room. An oval room. And the president sits behind the old resolute desk and you stand there and realize all the history that has happened in that room.

We weren't allowed to take our phones in so I was just sort of taking mental photographs of everything I was looking at. And we were able to speak with the president and at the end someone said, can we pray for you Mr. President? He welcomed that prayer. We prayed for him.

I went on another occasion with a smaller group and we were able to share things with the president, which I appreciated, and to pray for him again. And in person he is not the way you usually see him on TV. He is more relaxed. He is very personable. He is actually quite witty. And he is a good listener.

And I have enjoyed all those times we have had. But as I said already. I just think it is so important right now that we vote. Did you know there are 90 million evangelicals who are eligible to vote in this country?

An evangelical would be a Christian. 90 million of us. 40 million of them of us do not vote. And 15 million of them are not even registered.

This is not good. It is a privilege to vote. It is a responsibility to vote.

And every Christian should vote. Ok. Some would say vote your conscience.

Eh. I don't know. Depends on your conscience. I would say as closely as possible try to vote on the basis of the biblical world view. That is what it comes down to. Now we have two candidates running for the presidency, needless to say. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Let me say something. I hope you won't find shocking.

These people are both sinners. Just like you. Just like me.

They are all going to, they are both going to say things we don't agree with. Therefore I don't vote for personality. I vote for policy. See. Policy. I am not trying to elect the Messiah.

I already have one. So it is about issues. This is going to be a very close election. There is no perfect candidate. Jesus is not on the ballot. Some would say well they are both flawed so I won't vote at all. I will write somebody in. I don't think that is a good idea.

I think you should pick one of these two. And historically let me just say God has used flawed people to accomplish His purposes. Ok. King David comes to mind. He was a great king.

A powerful leader. Many regard him as the greatest king in the history of Israel. He was uniquely described as the man after God's own heart. But at the same time David was guilty of the sin of adultery and murder but God did use him.

We even look at leaders like King Nebuchadnezzar or King Cyrus of Persia who were moved by God to accomplish His purposes. In fact the Persian king Artaxerxes later wrote the efforts of Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So God used a secular man to help the Jewish people rebuild their city again. And speaking of walls that brings us to the topic of border security. The Bible supports the right and necessity of a nation to be secure. Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem to do what?

Rebuild the walls of the city. So there is a place for walls to keep enemies out. There is a right and a legal way to come into our nation. The Old Testament does talk about welcoming the stranger but that is only half of it. The expectation is the stranger will abide by the law of the land and assimilate. And there are people that have come to our country from other nations legally and some of them are among our greatest patriots because they believed in the American dream. And they believed in the values. And many times we born in this country take these values for granted. We don't appreciate the liberty that we have.

And sometimes someone coming from a communist country will come and say man we love the freedom we have in America. And so we should all have that same value. Now I am going to give you my opinion. You may disagree with it. But I am for less not more government. That is my view.

And today I am announcing my candidacy for the mayor of Irvine. No not really. Not really. I love the words of Ronald Reagan who once said quote will. I have always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are I am from the government and I am here to help. End quote.

That is true. So God is in favor of borders. Act 1726 says God made every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and determine their boundaries. So there is a place for national security and for borders.

Number two. The Bible supports the unborn and their right to live. This is not a debatable subject. This is not one that the Bible is not clear on. Life begins at conception. And David even said that he was fearfully and wonderfully made and knit together in his mother's womb. Think about this for a moment. The first person to recognize the Messiah was an unborn child.

Does that make sense? So Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist. Her cousin Mary is pregnant with Jesus. Jesus goes to see Elizabeth and what happens? John the Baptist leaps in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary walks in the womb. The first person to recognize the Messiah was an unborn child. Just last week we dedicated a bunch of families and children, babies.

It was wonderful. And there was one young lady. I don't know if you noticed her or not. But she dedicated her one-month-old baby. And she told me her story.

She had come here to this church maybe a month ago. She was pregnant. She was contemplating an abortion. And on that particular Sunday I said, do not abort your child. Do not take the life of that innocent baby. Carry the baby to term.

And she did. And I had the privilege of dedicating the baby to the Lord. So unfortunately both the Democratic and some in the Republican Party support abortion today. The Republican position basically now is abortion is allowed up to 15 weeks. Unfortunately 95 percent of all abortions happen in the first 15 weeks. So this is not something I support.

This is something I disagree with. But the Democratic position is far more extreme in the name of reproductive rights. They allow abortions up to nine months. So in a nutshell, and I think I am fairly stating the positions, Republicans believe in limited abortion. Democrats believe in limitless abortion.

They had a mobile abortion clinic if you will from Planned Parenthood at the DNC at the Democratic National Convention. And so this is something that you should factor in when you go and you vote. Religious liberty is another huge issue. Now sometimes people accuse us as Christians as being what they call Christian nationalists.

What does that even mean? Christian nationalism is not a theological or a sociological term. It is a political term used to stigmatize evangelical engagement in the public square. It is what I would call a straw man argument. And they set it up and say you Christians, you Christian nationalists believe in a theocracy.

In other words you want to take control of the government and force your views on the rest of the nation. That is false. I don't hold to that view. I don't want to force my views on anyone. Do I want to present my views? 100 percent. That is really the issue. I want the same freedom that everybody else has to state my views as a follower of Jesus Christ.

That is it. If I fly a flag in front of my house, which I do, does that make me a Christian nationalist? If I believe that our country needs to turn to God, does that make me a Christian nationalist?

I think of myself as a patriot and as a Christian. But I don't want to impose my view on anyone. I want to just have the same First Amendment rights that every American should have.

Right? And what are those rights? In the First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or the press. So we want that freedom.

We want to retain that freedom. Also the Bible supports marriage and the family. The family is the foundation of our nation. The family is the foundation of any nation. As I have said before almost every social ill in America today is a result of the broken family and specifically of the lack of fathers.

I have cited endless stats to prove this point. That you can take anything going on. Incarceration. Young women getting pregnant outside of wedlock. Criminal behavior. Addiction to drugs and alcohol. Homelessness.

You name it. It can be traced back to a broken home and to the lack of a father. So it has been said a family can survive without a nation but a nation cannot survive without the family.

And I believe that. And when I say a family I am going with what God defines as a family. Genesis 1 27. He made men in His image. In the image of God He created them. Male and female He created them. And so any attempt to redefine the family is something that obviously I don't support.

I also oppose the state overruling the rights of a parent in a child's life. Good idea. So let's pull this all together. We are children of God because we put our faith in Christ. We are citizens of another kingdom. The kingdom of God. So I have dual citizenship.

Right. I am a Christian citizen of heaven. And I am an American citizen as well. But because of my faith in Christ that affects everything that I say and do. It affects my moral decisions. My financial thinking. My voting.

And everything. But for our nation I believe our only hope is not going to be found in who we elect as president. Though that is important. But our primary hope should be in a spiritual awakening happening in America again. We need to pray to that end. We will pray for that tonight by the way in our prayer meeting.

Because we will say yes we need a revival in America. Let's pray. Ok we are praying tonight. Yeah I am busy.

Ok. So make some time and join us. C. H. Burgin a great British preacher defined revival as follows quote it is to live again. To receive again a life which is almost expired. To rekindle into a flame the vital spark that was nearly extinguished end quote. Another defined revival as a time when heaven draws closer to earth.

Oh I love that. We need heaven to draw closer to earth. Revival starts with the church and then it spreads to the culture. So one way you could sum it up is the church needs a revival and the culture needs a spiritual awakening. Now we have had four great spiritual awakenings in the United States. And we are due for another.

The last great spiritual awakening was what we called the Jesus movement. So we need to pray Lord do that again. Habakkuk 3.2 says, I have heard all about You Lord. I am filled with awe by the amazing things that You have done. And in this time of deep need revive Your work as You did in years gone by. Show us Your power to save us and in Your anger remember Your mercy.

I love that. Just Lord do it again. You know we have heard about it.

Do it again. The last great spiritual awakening was the Jesus movement. We made a film about it called Jesus Revolution. And it was our hope when we made that film to try to recapture it.

So people could experience it in a way. And I think John Irwin the director did a brilliant job with the team that he assembled. And I have had so many people come up to me all over the place saying not only that they loved the movie but many have said to me that movie changed my life. And it drew me closer to the Lord. And that was our hope and prayer for it. And there were a few times when we were filming when we really sensed the presence of God. And I thought it was captured.

And that you could almost feel it as though it were happening. And I think it is because God actually was at work. On occasion I remember we were baptizing people at Pirate's Cove Beach. And they baptized one of the characters for his scene in the film who was in his wardrobe.

His costume for the scene. And then afterwards that actor came to me and said, I want to be baptized for real. And I said, well you need to put your faith in Christ. And so I shared the gospel with them. And then I baptized them.

So they are baptizing actors and I am baptizing one of the actors who just accepted Christ a few feet away. That was happening. But you know you have heard the expression art imitating life. In this instance life was imitating art that was imitating life. So the film was a reflection of what actually happened. But then people saw the film and wanted that to happen in their lives. And we heard many stories of spontaneous baptisms breaking out. People would watch the film in the theater and they would baptize people in the fountain in the mall outside of the theater.

I heard of this two separate times. And then people going down to Pirate's Cove to be baptized. So maybe a year, maybe a little bit longer after the film came out we had what we called the Jesus revolution baptism. And we baptized 5,000 people in one day. That made it the largest baptism in American history. And then a year later we went back and baptized 2,000 more.

Now listen. Back in the Jesus movement we never baptized 5,000 people in one day. So I am just saying we can talk all day about what happened 50 years ago but this just happened recently. So God is at work and God wants to work. So we say we want a revival. What is a revival?

It is a return to original condition. And God has given this promise to send revival if we will do the following. 2 Chronicles 7 14 God says, if My people which are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways then God promises I will hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land.

That is it. Now we look at our nation. We look at the crime. We look at the addiction. We look at the homelessness. We look at the turmoil. And we say God our land needs to be healed. We need more of this. Throw more money over here.

Those things may or may not help depending on where that is directed. But ultimately we need God to move and we need our land healed. But listen. When God sees a problem in a nation notice where He points His finger. If My people. God doesn't point His finger at the White House. He points His finger at His house. If My people we can stand all day and say Hollywood does this.

Washington does that. God says yeah interesting. My people.

Now let's personalize it. If you if I will turn from My sins and pray and seek His face God will hear from heaven. Forgive Me my sin and heal the land. Let it start with you. If you want to see a revival do revival like things.

We overly mystify this. Just go back and do those things you used to do. As Saint Paul says get back. Get back. Get back to where you once belonged.

All the old people laughed. I quoted a Beatles lyric. Get back. Ok. You thought Saint Paul. Paul McCartney has said that.

But it is true. Get back to those things you used to do. In Revelation chapter 2 Jesus speaks to the church of Ephesus.

He commends them for certain things and then He says, but I have this against you. You have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the first works quickly. So there are three things we need to do to get right with God and have revival.

The three Rs of revival if you will. Remember. Repent. Repeat. So first remember it is a point of reference.

Was there a time when your Christian life was filled with more passion and zeal than right now. If so remember that. Mark it. Now repent. Change your direction. Stop living that way and repeat.

Do the first works quickly. Did you used to read the Bible more than you read it now? I was just out with my granddaughter Stella and she has a little group of kids and they get together for Bible studies. One of her little friends came and said, would you sign my Bible Pastor Greg?

I said sure. And I opened up her Bible. It had all these little stick it note things.

What do you call those little things? Her Bible is filled with them and it is all marked up. I go how old are you? Twelve years old. This girl just reads her Bible like crazy.

What a wonderful thing. So that you know once in a last time you read your Bible. Just open it up and read it. You need to do that all the time.

Number two. When is the last time you prayed? You talk about your problems. You complain about your problems.

You are concerned about your problems. Have you prayed about your problems? Thirdly we used to go out and share the gospel telling people about Jesus.

It wasn't unusual to see Christians out in public places walking around with their Bibles engaging people in conversations about Christ. Once in a last time you did something like that. Listen you go back and do those things you used to do and you will see revival returning to your life. You will see spiritual life coming back again.

Just do it. We can take God for granted. I heard about an older couple that had been married fifty years. They are having a little anniversary event.

Their family and friends are gathered. The wife is a little hard of hearing by the way. So the husband stood up and wanted to honor his wife and said my dear wife after fifty years I have found you tried and true. She said what? My dear wife after fifty years I have found you tried and true.

She said well after fifty years I am tired of you too. We can be that way. Return to your first love. Do those first works quickly and you will see the passion follow. Let's pray. Now Father we pray for this in our own life. We want personal revival. We want to have a love for the word of God. We want to have a heart for people that don't know you. We want to be a part of the work that you are doing and invest in it. Lord we want to be used mightily by you.

But some of us have drifted and we need to return to our first love. So we want to just pray right now that we would step back toward you into close fellowship and intimacy like we used to when we were brand new believers. When it was a privilege and a joy to open the word of God. When we came to church with a sense of expectancy and anticipation. When Lord we prayed about everything and anything and were looking for opportunities to be used by you.

Lord help us to return to that again. Let me lead you in a simple prayer. I am an evangelist.

I like to lead prayers. I am going to pray these words out loud and if you want this to happen in your life you pray them out loud after me. Just pray this.

Lord Jesus I need a personal revival. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Give me a hunger for the word of God.

Again. Give me a passion to pray. Give me a passion to pray. Give me a zeal to reach people that are not yet Christians.

Revive me. I ask in Jesus name. Lord you have heard that prayer and you have promised if your people which are called by my name your name brother will humble themselves and pray and seek your face and turn from their wicked ways you will hear from heaven. You will forgive their sin and you will heal their land.

And Lord we could personalize it. Maybe they need their marriage healed. Maybe they need their life healed. Whatever they need Lord. As each of us take this step forgive us and fill us with your Spirit. And revive us we pray. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.