Brand new Christians can learn a lot from those who've known the Lord for a while. But coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that the help goes both ways. New believers need old believers. Old believers need new believers. Having a new believer in your life can have a reviving effect on you.
As they discover truths for the first time, you can rediscover them. You stabilize them, they energize you. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
Again, you hear the relationships are singing. This is the day, the day when I begin. There's a good chance you've seen a two-man saw. With handles on both sides, it's an excellent example of teamwork. One man pushes, the other man pulls, and then vice versa.
Some of those saws were 12 feet long. The Christian Life has many examples of teamwork. Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us focus on discipleship. It addresses the push and pull of daily life as a believer, where a new believer and a veteran believer each have something to offer the other. Discipleship.
The next step is and following Jesus.
So, let me tell you some things now that new believers need, and I'm addressing these remarks. To two groups of people. Number one, to new believers. But I'm also addressing my remarks to older believers because this is what you need to do for younger believers. The new believer needs acceptance.
We need to say to new believers, we accept you, we welcome you. Because you know what? New Christians have a lot of rough edges. They haven't learned the new Christian vocabulary yet. In fact, they might have a few words left over from their old vocabulary that will pop up now and then.
Be patient with them. Be loving toward them. I think of how little I understood when I came to Christ. And thankfully, there were people that were accepting. Number two, a new believer needs assurance.
They need assurance. They need to know that they're saved.
So we need to assure them. 1 John 5 says, These things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. They can know, and we need to assure them. And if you're a new believer, we want to assure you as well. Number three.
The new believer needs protection. New believers are vulnerable. to their own emotions. They don't understand it when they had a sense of euphoria. When they accepted Christ, and two days later, it's gone.
Maybe they thought, oh, it will always be this way, but it won't. You'll have days where you don't feel anything, right?
So we need to say, that's okay, that's normal, nothing bad has happened. You need to learn how to walk by faith, not by feeling, because the Bible says the just shall live by faith. New believers are also vulnerable to false teachings. We have to ground them in scripture. And old friends are going to show up that will try to drag them down.
And old girlfriends and old boyfriends will suddenly materialize, and temptations they never had will suddenly appear. And the new believer, number four, needs fellowship. That's why we want to involve them in our lives. That's why small groups are so good. Because some things are learned in rows, and other things are learned in circles, where you're together and you can talk about it and you can ask questions.
And so we need to bring a new believer into the church. New believers need old believers. Old believers need new believers. Having a new believer in your life can have a reviving effect on you. As they discover truths for the first time, you can rediscover them.
You stabilize them, they energize you. This is illustrated with spending time with children.
Someone asked me in an interview recently, what do you like to do with your free time? And I said I like to spend time with my grandkids. I call them up or text them: hey, what are you doing? You want to go somewhere? Yeah, we want to go do this, Papa.
We want to get ice cream. Then we're going to get ice cream. We want to walk around on the mall. Let's do it. We want to do this other thing.
Let's do that. See, my job is not to parent them, my job is to grandparent them. Fill them up with sugar and send them on home. Right? No, but seriously.
It's to enter into their life, do what they want to do. You say, Well, that's a nice thing for you to do. Actually, I enjoy it. It's good for me too. And I think when you have a new believer in your life, it energizes you as well.
You know, some grandparents. Have collected a lot of things over the years that they have in their home. And they say to the grandkids when they come over, don't touch anything. That's fragile. Don't break that.
You know, get rid of all that junk, okay? Put it in a box. No one likes it anyway. It's funky old stuff. Put it away, go admire it sometime on your own.
When your grandkids come in, make your home a welcoming place. And the same is true spiritually, have a life. Have a lifestyle. Have a home that's welcoming to new believers. It's good for them and it's good for you.
Because a new believer might ask questions that you don't have the answers to. Therefore, you got to get back in the Bible again. And they'll remind you of things that maybe you have forgotten. I read an article about a number of billionaires who are trying to find a cure for aging. And some of them are getting blood.
I'm not making this up. This seems insane to me. They're getting blood transfusions from healthy young people from the ages of 16 and 25, believing it will reverse the aging process. What they didn't plan for was the fact that after getting these blood transfusions, they moved back into their parents' house and played video games non-stop. Listen, you want a blood transfusion.
Get a new believer that you can help grow spiritually. New believers are the lifeblood of the church. You show me a church that doesn't have a constant flow of new believers in it, and I will show you a church that's beginning to stagnate. As I've said before, we have a choice, evangelize or fossilize. We don't want to live in the past.
We rejoice in what God has done, but that's then and this is now. And we want to keep reaching new people. And help them come into a relationship with Christ. And that brings us now to what we call. the Great Commission, here in Matthew twenty eight.
Verse 16: Jesus said to his disciples, I've been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all my commands I have given you, and be sure of this, says our Lord. I'm with you even to the end of the age.
Next point, before I can make a disciple, I have to first be a disciple. Are you a disciple? of Jesus Christ? And are you discipling someone else? Listen.
We should be either discipling someone. Or we should be being discipled by someone. In other words, we should either have a new believer in our life that we're helping out, Or we should have an older believer in our life that's helping us out. And guess what?
Sometimes you can do both at the same time. You can have someone that's mentoring you. And you can be mentoring somebody else. This is really important, and it's part of what we're called to do. What is the Great Commission?
Number one, he says, be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And what else are we to do? We're to teach people to obey His commands. And by the way, the Great Commission. Is it command?
In other words, Jesus says, Hey, if you can work it out in your busy schedule. Would you mind as a personal favor to go into all the world?
Now he says, I'm your Lord. I'm your commander, and I command you. to go into all the world and preach the gospel. I like to be commanded by Jesus, don't you? That's a great thing to do.
Remember years ago I had the privilege of being asked to be on the board of directors of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association by Billy himself. And so I was brought onto the board, and one day Billy said, I need a hat, because Billy was always losing his hats.
Somehow, he thought that a ball cap would disguise him. But people always managed to recognize Billy because he had a profile you could put on Mount Rushmore, you know, very distinctive profile. People always recognize him, but he wanted a hat. Craigie said, I want you to get me a hat. I felt like I was on a mission from God.
We were in some city where he was doing a crusade. I went down to the local mall and I found a hat store. I think it was called Lids, maybe. And I've never seen so many hats in my life. And I didn't know what his size was.
I'm looking and praying, God, give me wisdom. What's the right hat for Billy Graham? And then I finally found a hat. And I went to him, Billy, I got you a hat, so ball cap. He says, thank you.
He put it on. The next day, there was a picture of him wearing my hat. I said, That's my hat. I got him that hat. And then he lost it.
So, you know. But I love the fact that Billy Graham said, do this for me. It was my honor. It's my privilege to do anything to help a man of God like that.
Now, think the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, do this for me. Look at all that I've done for you.
Now, I want you to do the following: go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. It's a command. It's not given to Only the original disciples. Nor is it given to the so-called professionals alone, like Pastors or evangelists or missionaries, these words are addressed to every follower of Jesus. They're addressed to you.
So here's my question: Are you making disciples? When's the last time you've shared the gospel? When's the last time you've taken a new believer under your wing and helped them to grow spiritually? Mm-hmm. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
We love to hear how the various resources at Harvest Ministries touch lives. Pastor Greg. After watching the movie Jesus Revolution, it completely changed my life. I looked you up on YouTube and then found out that you also had a podcast. I am so thankful for your solid biblical teaching.
I listen to you every single night and use your messages to help me in my walk with Jesus. Thank you. If your life has been changed because of harvest ministries, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just drop him an email. Greg at harvest.org.
Again, that's Greg. At harvest.org.
Well, we're getting some important perspective on the discipleship process today, as Pastor Greg shows us how it helps equip new believers and long-time believers as well. The calling of God is the enabling of God. He will give you all of the power that you need. Look at verse 18. Jesus says, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
Go therefore and make disciples.
Now whenever you see the word therefore, find out what it's there for. It's always drawing on what was previously said.
So contextually, Jesus says, All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore. Wait, but you have the power. I don't have it. No, I'm giving it to you.
Says Jesus, go therefore. into all the world and make Disciples. What does it mean to go and make disciples? It means to lead others to Christ, establish them spiritually, and do it again. It's sort of like wash, rinse, repeat.
You've seen that? on some direction for cleaning something wash rinse repeat Or evangelize, stabilize. Immobilize. This is our job. You do it, you do it again, you do it again, and you do it a few more times, and then you keep doing it.
It never stops. It's a lifetime commitment somewhere along the line. We've separated evangelism from discipleship, but they're really one and the same. The Great Commission is not just gospel proclamation, it's follow-up. and it's discipleship.
And it would be like a doctor, you know, delivering a baby and then giving the baby a box of pampers and saying, Son, you gotta get out there. It's a rough world, but you'll do okay. That baby needs to be cared for. Speaking of babies, A study was conducted in a large hospital, and they discovered something interesting. They found that the people working in the nursery noticed that the babies who were in their cribs near the door did better than the babies in the cribs in the other parts of the room.
They wondered why. After a careful study, they discovered the nurses were more prone to give attention to the babies near the door as they went about their duties. This is what a new believer needs: they need care, they need attention. You need to take time for them. This is what we're all called to do.
And listen to what Christ says in closing. He says, Go into all the world. Make disciples of all nations. And then he says, And lo, I am with you even to the end of the age. Yeah.
This promise is not simply saying that Jesus is with us. But he is if you're a Christian. Because Jesus said I'll never leave you or forsake you. But this is a promise in its context. That is specifically saying to those who are fulfilling the great commission.
Allow me to paraphrase. Jesus is saying, as you go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, lo, I am with you. In other words, I'm going to be with you in a special way. I'm going to bless you in a unique way. I'm going to use you in a fantastic way as you go about.
doing this thing that I've called you to do.
So, this is a great promise. It's a blessing to us as well as to the person we are helping.
So, here's my question for you: Are you doing this? And if not, why not? Let's do it. This is a lifelong calling for all of us to be engaged in. But we can't do this on our own strength.
We're going to fail. We're going to fall short. But there's a promise of power to every Christian to do what God has called them to do.
Okay. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you to be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. I'll give you the power you need. And it's interesting, the word that Christ uses for power there comes from the Greek word dunimis. Dunimus.
which we translate into the word dynamite. You've probably heard of Alfred Nobel. Because there's something called the Nobel Peace Prize. Did you know that Alfred Nobel was an incredible inventor, and he actually invented something that we now know as dynamite?
So during World War I, this was a game changer to have something with that explosive power. And Nobel went to a friend who knew Greek and he said, What is the Greek word for explosion? And the man said, Well, it's dunamis. And so Nobel named it dynamite. But the problem was so many lives were taken because of dynamite Alfred Nobel decided he didn't want to be known for that.
So he developed something called the Nobel Peace Prize, which had A cash prize attached to it that was given to people who worked for the cause of peace, and today we know him more for that. But here's the point. Explosive dynamite power. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power, same word of God unto salvation.
There's power. And you need power. We all need power. We plug our phones in every day. My phone is constantly draining.
What about yours? And we plug in our cars now too. We plug in all kinds of things. God wants to infuse you with Holy Spirit power each and every day. The Bible says Don't be drunk with wine.
But be filled with the Holy Spirit. Speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. And that word that is used there for be filled means be constantly filled over and over and over again. You need refills, but it seems strange to you if. You had a car and drove it for maybe a week, and then it wasn't running.
You took it to the gas station, and you would think, Can you fix this car for me? And they would ask you, Have you refilled it with gas? Oh, I didn't know about that. No one told me. Yeah, you need to refill your car.
Listen, God gives refills. He'll feel you again and again. And you can ask him for that power.
So, we're going to close our service today by asking God to give us this power we need. to do this job he has called us to do. And this power is available.
So we'll pray together and say, Lord. Fill us with the Holy Spirit. You want to do that? Let's pray. Father, thank you.
For your promise, thank you for your calling. Thank you for the privilege of serving you, and you have promised power. You've said you will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask you.
So we ask now because scripture promises: asking it shall be given, seeking you shall find, knocking the door shall be open.
So we're asking. with this power in our life. Power to be a witness. Power to To overcome our fears. Power.
To take risks for the kingdom of God. Power. To share our faith, power to disciple. to take other believers under our wing and be a friend to them. Be an example to them.
Be someone who can mentor them. It helped them get mature and strong. And then go and repeat this process again and again. We see the calling, Lord. We fall short.
So we're praying now that you will fill us with your Holy Spirit. Why don't we just Pray this together. Just pray this after me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Just pray that.
There it is. Phyllis, Lord. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. Today Tonight Tomorrow Open doors of opportunity for us. Let us be sensitive to your leading.
Help us to not quench the Holy Spirit. But help us instead to yield to the Holy Spirit. And Lord, we know that you will guide us and empower us. and do things through us that will amaze us. It will just open up.
Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie. Praying that God would empower us to serve Him properly. Important insights on the dynamic of discipleship today on a new beginning. Glad you've tuned in.
Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further, isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in harvest ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women.
Boys and girls, and what is the value of a soul?
Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife? your son or your daughter. Oh, your mommy, your dad?
Or your best friend.
Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable.
Well, listen, God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with Him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, Than in the work of the kingdom of God.
So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in harvest ministries as we continue on to fulfill the great commission. Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. Or write us at a new beginning box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.
That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Are you receiving Pastor Gregg's daily devotions? They're a great way to start your day with extra insight and inspiration. Sign up for his devotions today at harvest.org.
Well, next time, Pastor Greg has good insights on our value before God. He looks past our failures and sees our potential. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lord. This is the day, the day when life begins.
