What difference does it really make if someone accepts Christ? Is it that big a deal? From a recent Harvest Crusade, Pastor Greg Laurie answers: The Bible says, If any man be in Christ, he is an altogether different kind of person. Old things have passed away, behold, everything becomes fresh and new. And that's what happens when you become a Christian.
It's like you go from black and white to color. You go from death to life. And in your future, you go from hell to heaven. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when I begin. We can sometimes feel like we're drowning in life, but we don't know how to get help. Today on a new beginning.
Pastor Greg Laurie points us to the one who rescues us when we're caught in life's riptide. From a woman trapped in shame to a man trapped in self-reliance, we see how Jesus changes everything. As we visit a recent harvest crusade, we'll discover that Jesus sees us, knows us, and has a better plan than we ever imagined. Is a day a day when life begins. The title of my message.
Is Jesus? And you. You know, we have a big crowd here tonight. But when God looks at a crowd, He sees an individual. Jesus sees you.
You. Jesus cares about you. You know, it's a funny thing, people are so enamored with superheroes. Did you know? Over three billion dollars of our hard-earned money has been spent on superhero movies from.
all the studios out there. And here's the thing, I hate to break this to you. These superheroes They're not real. I know Aquaman can breathe underwater and Wonder Woman is superhuman strength and the Wolverine can heal rapidly from injury, though he's a manicurist's worst nightmare. Imagine giving a manny and a petty to Wolverine.
The Hulk, he has superhuman power. You just have to get a med and super green. But they're fictional, they're not real. But there was a man Who walked on our planet who had unlimited power. He didn't breathe underwater, he walked on the water.
Yeah. In his name was Jesus Christ. And he is the king of kings. And he's the Lord of Lords. And he's in this place right now.
He's here with us. You know God. God can seem so unapproachable. He's so powerful. He's so mysterious.
But Jesus was God walking among us. I heard a story about a little boy who was scared one night. And he called up from his bedroom to his father, Daddy! Daddy, I'm scared. The father said, Son, you're okay.
God is with you. And then the little boy said, but daddy, right now I need someone with skin on. Jesus was God with skin on. Jesus was not just a good man. Jesus was the God-man.
Jesus was God spelling himself out in a language we could understand. God had come near. God had a face. You know, we like to celebrate certain people. If you're a powerful person on social media, you'll have millions of followers.
The guest of honor at a celebration that's called the Man or Woman of the Year. Time magazine every year picks the person of the year, and every 10 years they pick. The person of the decade, but there's only one person that literally divides human history in half, and that's Jesus Christ. There's never been anyone like him, and we're fascinated by him. 77% of American teenagers.
According to one survey, he said, want to know more about Jesus. Three-quarters of millennials say they're searching for a purpose in life. Listen, you've come to the right place because I want to talk to you tonight about Jesus and you. And I want to start with this. I know you've heard it before, but I got to say it, people.
God loves you. Jesus Christ loves you. He really does. You say, oh, but Greg, he doesn't know me. Oh, actually, he knows you very well.
Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. He knows every detail about your life. And did you know that not only does he love you, but he has a special, unique plan for your life? God is not mad at you. God is mad about you.
Here's what God says in one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11. God says, I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Now, if God had simply said, I know this singular thought I once had about you for a fleeting moment, I'd be happy with that. But he says, I know the thoughts, plural, more than one, that I think towards you. And then we think, yeah, but what kind of thoughts are they? They're good thoughts. God says, thoughts of peace and not of evil.
He loves you. He has a plan for your life. And listen to this: God's plan for you is better than your plan for yourself. It really is. It really is.
And he loves you and has a purpose for you. And I want to look at a story in the Bible. about a woman who was down and out. A woman who messed her life up. A woman who was living immorally and got caught.
in the act of sin, got caught in the act of adultery.
Now in case you don't know what adultery is... That is sex. Outside of marriage. The only place that God will bless sex is in a marriage relationship, you see. That's sexual sin.
This woman was caught in the act. But look at what Jesus did for her. I'm reading from John chapter 8. As Jesus was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who'd been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
Teacher, they said to Jesus, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says she should be stoned to death. What do you say? They were trying to trip him. Saying something they could use against him.
Listen to this. Jesus stooped down. and vote in the dust with this finger. They were demanding an answer. He stood up again and said, All right, let the one that is among you who has never sinned cast the first stone.
Then he stooped down again and he wrote in the dust. And when the accusers saw this, they left from the oldest to the youngest. And then there was left just that woman and Jesus. And Jesus turns to her and says, Woman, where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?
She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I. Go and sin no more. Isn't that a great story? Love that story.
So, this woman's caught having sex. A bunch of religious dudes, known as the scribes and Pharisees, catch her in the act. Who knows, maybe they even set her up. And it was really a trap for Jesus. And she's thrown on the ground in front of him.
And Jesus starts writing in the sand. What do you think he wrote? Tic-tac-toe, your move. Maybe a little cartoon? I don't think so.
We don't know what he wrote, but Maybe he wrote, You shall not commit adultery, and then wrote someone's name next to it, like Caleb, then looked over at Caleb. And then maybe you wrote another commandment and looked over at that other guy. Hey, Josh, you broke that one, didn't you? And they left. I gotta go.
I have a roast in the oven. You know, let's go. They left from the oldest to the youngest and all that's left is just this woman. And Jesus. And he looks at her and he said, Where did all of your accusers go?
Now it's interesting because we read Jesus looked at her, and the word look means he looked right through her. Have you ever had anyone look right through you? Let me restate the question. Do you have a mother? Maybe you're up past curfew.
Mom says, where have you been?
Nowhere, Mom. Look at me. Look at me. And then you start confessing things you didn't even do, right? But Jesus looked through her, but it was not a look of anger.
It was a look of love. And here's a really amazing thing. He says, Woman, where are your accusers? And the word he uses for woman is a term of respect.
Now, listen, this girl had been called a lot of things in life, but she had never been addressed this way. But this is why Jesus called her that. He didn't see her for what she was, he saw her for what she could become. You see? You know, you see a failure.
God sees your potential. You see the past. He sees the future. And then these words: go and sin no more. Go and sin no more.
Now you think, wait, when did this woman become a believer? I think in the moment he dismissed her accusers, she said, I believe in Jesus. You know how long it takes to become a Christian? Not very long.
Sometimes people say, you know, I'm in the process of converting to Christianity. Yeah, it doesn't take long. Doesn't take a year. It doesn't take a month. It doesn't take a week, it doesn't take a day.
It doesn't even take an hour. It can happen just like that. In a flash, in a moment, you can go from non-belief to belief. You really can't. I think it's happened for some of you already.
You're thinking, preacher, get done with your stinking sermon so I can become a Christian, right? Because it's a move of God's Spirit on your heart. And maybe that's already happened for you. And Jesus says, go and sin no more. It's implicit in this statement where he's really saying, don't keep living in this lifestyle.
Okay, I'm forgiving you. But don't live this way anymore. Listen, God loves you just as you are. But he doesn't want to leave you this way. He wants to change you.
He really does. The Bible says, if any man be in Christ, he is an altogether different kind of person, old things have passed away, behold, everything becomes fresh and new. Right? I love it when it rains. Because everyone gets a free car wash.
And the birds come out and maybe you'll see a beautiful rainbow. And that's what happens when you become a Christian. It's like you go from black and white to color, you go from death to life, and in your future, you go from hell to heaven. That's what it means to be a Christian. You see, but Greg, I'm really messed up.
I've done a lot of horrible things. You can put your past behind you tonight and become a new person if you'll put your faith in Jesus Christ because He died on the cross for all of your sins. And he rose again from the dead. And he's here right now, standing at the door of your life, and he is knocking, and he's saying, if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
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Well, we're visiting the Harvest Crusades today as Pastor Greg brings us a message called Jesus and You.
So we talked about this immoral woman.
Now let's talk about this religious man. He's identified as the rich young ruler. We don't know a lot about him, except that. He climbed his little corporate ladder very quickly. It was very successful.
Came up to Jesus and said, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Probably had it tricked out. BMW chariot. Custom wheels lowered. Holding a latte.
A lavender latte.
Well, what is the lavender? Where did this lavender come from? Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said, well, you know the commandments. Don't steal, don't kill, don't commit adultery.
Oh, yes, the guy says, I've done these ever since I've been a little kid. Jesus said, Have you?
Well, I'll tell you what, buddy. Why don't you take all of your stuff, get rid of it, give it away, and come and follow me, and you'll have eternal life. Isn't that interesting? Jesus never said that to anybody else. Because Jesus could see that in this guy's life, his stuff was more important to him than God.
Listen, everybody worships something.
Some people worship things.
Some people worship relationships.
Some people worship a career. And some people worship God. And I wonder: who is your God tonight? You have a God. And there might be something that's keeping you away from Jesus.
And I'm telling you right now: whatever you give up to follow Jesus will be more than made up to you. to someone struggling with drugs. Jesus might say, take your trugs and flush them down the toilet. Follow me.
Well, could I sell them? No, that's called drug dealing. No, get rid of them. I'm struggling with alcohol. Yeah, pour it down the toilet too.
Put it all in the toilet. Make sure you flush it.
Someone might be in a relationship, right, that's pulling them away from God. A girl, a guy. They don't want you to follow Jesus Christ. Maybe Jesus would say, You know what? You're going to have to break off that relationship and follow me.
I wonder if there's someone listening to me right now that would say, I would really like to follow Jesus, but I wonder what the person sitting next to me would think if I did that. The person sitting next to you is thinking, I would really like to follow Jesus, but what would happen to the person next to me if I did? Who cares? Really, who cares? One day you'll stand before God all by yourself.
And this man was wealthy. We think wealth is going to solve all of our problems. A well-known psychologist whose clients include some of the world's wealthiest people said, you might start off making a million dollars, but then you need two million, and then you take more risks, end quote. That's not where the answer is. What you're looking for is Jesus Christ.
He's right here. I'd add one other thing about this rich young ruler. He was religious. And religion can keep you from Jesus. Let me say something that might surprise you.
I think it's possible that when it's all said and done, religion may keep more people away from God than all of the other sins and vices put together. It's true. Because You know, when you're doing certain things, you know, maybe it's a sin, maybe you don't, but. You know, you're living a life you're not proud of. But when you're religious, you're so, hey man, I don't need that, I'm a religious person.
You might be saying, but Greg, aren't you religious? I hope not. I don't want to be religious because I think religious people are just flat out weird. I really do. I don't think religion made them weird.
I think they were weird to start with, then they just got religious. That's all. They're just weird people, and the problem is, weird people never know they're weird, but they are. I am not interested in being a religious person. I'm not talking to you tonight about religion.
I'm talking to you tonight about a relationship with Jesus Christ. But you know, uh a religious person. They'll say, well, I go to church.
So I'm good. But do you really go to church on? I'm a CEO Christian. What's a CEO Christian? Christmas and Easter only.
But I'm not so sure about Christmas this year. Maybe just Easter. We'll see. There's people like that. But religion can keep you from God.
Because you're self-righteous. You need to realize you're a sinner. That needs a savior. Years ago, I was with my son Jonathan, and he was a little guy, and I was taking him out surfing. And so I'm kind of keeping him above the water, helping him to catch waves.
And all of a sudden, I got caught in a riptide.
Okay, but here's the problem: I'm only a few feet from the shore, but somehow I'm in this riptide. I'm getting pulled out, and I'm holding him aloft, trying to keep his head above water. And I'm thinking, this is ridiculous. I'm so close to the shore, I can't call out for help. And there's a lifeguard looking at me.
I thought I'm holding him up. I'm starting to take in some water. And then she comes down from the lifeguard stand and she's running toward me. I'm like, oh, no, no, I don't want to be saved. I am okay.
And she started swimming toward me, and I'm going, oh no. And then suddenly I got my footing. I said, I'm okay. She waved. I said, thank you.
But that's how we can be. I don't want to be saved. I don't need to be safe. Hey, I was caught in a stinking rift tide. Bottom line, I needed some help.
You're caught in something worse than a riptide. You're caught in sin, and there's only one person who can save you. And that's Jesus Christ. He's the only one. Clean living won't get you to heaven because you're not clean enough.
Good works won't get you to heaven because you've not done enough. Only Jesus Christ. Can give you that hope. and that change and that purpose you've been looking for.
So let me close. What do you need to do? to come into this relationship with God. Number one. You have to admit you're a sinner.
The Bible says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every one of us have broken God's commandments, every one of us have fallen short of God's standards. But the good news is the Bible says why we get sinners, Christ died for us.
So I have to realize I'm a sinner. Number two, I need to recognize Christ died on the cross for me. See, that was his plan from the very beginning. Nails did not hold Jesus to that cross 2,000 years ago. Love did.
Love for you. Love for me. Jesus said, For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, and whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. As I said earlier, God loves you. He died there for you.
If you had been the only person on planet Earth, Jesus would have gone to the cross and suffered and died for you. And no. He did suffer. He loves you so much it hurts. They drove spikes through his hands and his feet.
They tore his back open with a Roman whip. They put a crown of thorns upon his head, and he bled and suffered and died for the sin of all the world. But he bled and suffered and died for your sin. Jesus loves you and gave himself for you. Then you must repent of your sin.
The Bible says God has commanded people everywhere to repent. The word repent means to change your direction. It's a military term. It means like an about face. Right?
So instead of running away from God, you run toward God, you turn from that sin, you're sorry for that sin. And you change. And then you must receive Christ into your life. Jesus must come and be your Savior and your Lord, and only you can ask Him to come in. I can't do that for you.
Your parents can't do that for you. Your friends that may have brought you here tonight can't do that for you. You have to say, Jesus, I need you. Come into my life, be my Savior, be my Lord. And He'll do that for you.
And lastly, you must do it now. You must do it now because the Bible says today is the day of salvation. He said, Well, Greg, I'll clean my life up and come to Christ. No, don't clean your life up. Come to Christ, and He'll clean your life up.
You just come as you are tonight. You come as you are. Let's pray now, Lord. I pray that your Holy Spirit will convict and convince every person listening of their need for Jesus and help them to come to you and believe. We commit them to you now and we ask this.
In Jesus' name. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie. from a recent harvest crusade. And before today's edition of A New Beginning goes any further, if you'd like to make the same change in your relationship with the Lord that the thousands of others did that night at the Crusade, join Pastor Gregg now in a word of prayer.
You pray this prayer, God will hear you. The Bible says, Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
So you pray this prayer. out loud after me. Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Savior.
Who died on the cross for my sin? and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin. I repent of my sin. I choose to follow Jesus.
From this night forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer. in answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen. And if you've just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and have meant those words sincerely. The Lord has heard you and forgiven you of your sin. And we'd like to help you begin to walk with God each day. Pastor Gregg would like to send you his New Believer's Bible.
It'll walk you through the basics of the faith. It's a great tool to answer your questions and help you build a strong spiritual foundation. And we'll send you the New Believers Bible without any charge. Just ask for it as you call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 number, 1-800-821-3300.
3300, or go online to harvest.org and click Know God.
Well, Pastor Greg, that was a Harvest Crusade message you presented at the Honda Center in Southern California. That's right. And that weekend, more than 7,000 people responded to the gospel. You know, it's a message that's still transforming lives, and it's evidence that the Lord is using this ministry, isn't it? It is.
And, you know, it's all about Jesus and you, isn't it? I mean. He's a Savior of the whole world. He died for the sins of the world. But I love how the Apostle Paul personalized it when he said.
He loved me, and he gave himself for me. And Jesus loves you, and he gave himself for you. And I think there are so many people out there who've never heard that before. They don't know that there's a God in heaven who loves them. A God who loves them so much, he sent his only son to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary, then to rise again from the dead three days later.
And now he stands at the door of every human heart, and he knocks, and he says, if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. You know, I don't think most people in America have heard inaccurate. Presentation of the gospel. And so, here at Harvest Ministries and through our radio broadcast, The New Beginning and other platforms that we work through, we want to bring that message to people. Tell them there's a God in heaven who loves them, tell them they can be forgiven of their sins, tell them that they can go to heaven when they die by believing in Jesus.
So, if you share this passion, If you want to see our generation reached with the gospel, I encourage you to number one, pray for us. We really do appreciate your prayer. And number two, to give through us. Notice I didn't say give to us because we just take what you give and we pass it on. And that's what it is.
You're investing in the lives of people that need Jesus. If that's something you would like to do, and I hope you do want to do that. then become a harvest pardner. Here's Dave to explain what that means exactly. Yeah, harvest partners are close friends of the ministry who believe in the importance of sharing the gospel, and they recognize the fruit that this ministry is bearing.
And they choose to partner with us on a monthly basis. The amount they invest is up to them, and we have some special ways to thank them for their generosity and consistency. Find out more at harvest.org. Just click on Donate or call us anytime at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, Pastor Greg offers some encouraging insight from the story of David and Mephiboshah in 2 Samuel. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
