A New Beginning presents a great book to show you how to easily share the gospel by Pastor Greg Laurie. The book is called Tell Someone You Can Share the Good News. And I wrote it with this thought in mind. I acted as though I were sitting down with an individual and sharing truths I've learned about evangelism. And it's something that is really important to me.
And I want to share what I've learned with you in this book, Tell Someone. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org. I cannot convert anyone, nor can you. My job is not to convert people. My job is to deliver the message of the gospel.
Pastor Greg Laurie points out, we're not responsible for outcome, but we are responsible for outreach. Today, on a new beginning, good encouragement on sharing the hope of Christ. Friends, it's his harvest, it's his job to convert. Our job is to deliver the good news that God has given to us. 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 all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day when life begins. When we invite someone to dinner, They may say yes or no.
But the fear of them saying no doesn't keep us from asking. Yet so many of us don't invite someone to Christ because they may say no.
Well today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the right attitude to have as we share the gospel. It's a special presentation to Christian leaders at the European Congress on Evangelism in Berlin, Germany. Presented by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I want to look briefly with you in Acts chapter 17. This is the story of The Apostle Paul bringing the gospel to his generation of the first.
century and and though although many things have changed A lot of things are still the same from generation to generation.
So here's Paul. He's going to Athens. Athens at that time was the intellectual and cultural center of the world. It was the base of the great philosophers like Socrates and Plato, Aristotle and many others. And so Paul walks around the city, and he notices that there's all these altars erected to various gods and deities.
And he sees that something there is missing, that they have a a God for everything, but just in case they miss one, they put up one altar that said to the unknown God.
So with this in mind, Paul now addresses these people. I'm going to read a number of verses. I'd encourage you to read along with me if you have Acts 17 open in front of you. And by the way, the title of my message is The Gift and Calling of the Evangelist. Acts 17, verse 16.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. He went to the synagogue to debate with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles. And he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. He also began to debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and the resurrection, they said, this babbler has picked up some strange ideas, and others said he's pushing some foreign religion.
And then they took him to the council of philosophers and said, come tell us more about this new religion, because you're saying some rather startling things and we want to know what it's all about. It should be explained that all the Athenians, as well as the foreigners in Athens, seem to spend all of their time discussing the latest ideas.
So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows. Men of Athens. I see that you're very religious. And I was walking among many altars. I came to one of them with this inscription: to the unknown God.
You've been worshiping him without knowing who he is.
Now I wish to tell you about him.
Okay, so how do we reach this culture? If you're taking notes, here's my first point. Effective communication begins with a burden. Effective communication begins with a burden. Look at verse 16 of Acts 17.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. The word used here for distrust. means He had an outburst. He was grieved. to see all of these false gods.
We need to understand that We should love the sinner but hate the sin, not hate the sinner. And sometimes we forget that. You know, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. If you want to reach people, you have to care about people. And God wants to put a burden on your heart for people.
The Bible says of non-believers in 2 Timothy 2:26. We should pray they would come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap, for they've been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. And that phrase held captive could be translated, they're caught alive by the devil. They're trapped by the devil. And we want to pray that God will turn the lights on, so to speak, and they'll see their need for Christ.
So you have to care about the people you want to reach. Paul had a burden. He was concerned. He was stirred. Number two.
We need to be culturally relevant. Paul built a bridge to his audience, so to speak. He took time to understand the culture he was speaking to. The objective of a communicator is to build a bridge, not burn a bridge. And I think sometimes we are not culturally relevant as preachers and communicators.
Sometimes we're answering questions no one is asking. And we're not answering the questions they really are asking.
So it's important to know the world you're speaking to and the people that you're communicating with. And Paul certainly did that. And he even says in verse 28 of Acts 17, Hey, I saw one of your own poets said, In him we live and move, and we are his offspring.
So he took time to build the bridge to his audience. Thirdly, Paul's message aroused the interest of his audience. You know, he said, you're very religious. That was a diplomatic way to begin his message. I perceive you're very religious.
He could have said you're you're pagans and you worship a false god and you're all going to hell. Would that have been accurate? Yes. Would that have been a good way to build a bridge? No, it would not have been.
So he just starts with: hey, I see you're very religious. Today we might say, oh, I see you're a spiritual person. Person. But ultimately, he's going to take them to the message they need to hear. That brings me to point number four: we must preach a biblical message.
There's a place in a message for illustrations. There's a place in a message for cultural connection. There's a place in the message for humor. But ultimately, the power of a message is in the Word of God. Your message must be filled with the Bible.
Uh the Bible says that it's inspired by God. It teaches us what is true, helps us realize what is wrong in our life. God says in Isaiah 55, My word will go forth from my mouth, it will not return unto me void.
So, give them the word of God. That's what's going to impact a person's life. And don't be boring. Don't be boring. I've heard far too many boring preachers.
That takes the life-giving, action-packed power of the Word of God and somehow make it dull and uninteresting. Don't be that person. Billy Graham used to tell a joke, and his joke was. A pastor was asked to say a few words at a meeting. He was given five minutes and the preacher went on.
He's speaking for 10 minutes.
Now it's 15 minutes and the preacher is not stopping.
So the moderator pounded his gavel a couple of times to get his attention. The preacher's continuing to speak.
Now the moderator pounds his gavel to stop the preacher.
So the preacher is speaking.
So in frustration, the moderator took his gavel and threw it at the preacher. He missed the preacher and hit an elderly man who had fallen asleep in the front row. The old man woke up, hearing the preacher was still speaking, said to the moderator, Hit me again, I can still hear him. Don't be that preacher. Don't be the person who, the one who is listening to you says, hit me again.
I can still hear them. When you're giving the gospel, your message must focus on Jesus Christ crucified. and risen. This is the power of gospel preaching. Far too often, we add too much to it or we leave out what must be in it.
It's effectively a simple message, not simplistic. But simple. And you must keep it in the parameters God gives it to us in. Paul says in verse 31, He's pointed a day in which He'll judge the world in righteousness, but that many is ordained, and He's given assurance of this by raising Him from the dead. It's been said to us before here that we need to preach Christ and Him crucified.
I once had the opportunity to be in Billy Graham's home and have lunch with him. Franklin was there. Franklin's mother, Ruth, was there, and she was such a wonderful lady. Billy and Ruth Graham, two of the most godly people I ever met. And so after we were done eating, I turned to Billy and I said, Billy, if an older Billy could speak to a younger Billy.
What would you say to yourself? What would you Tell yourself to emphasize more after all these years of preaching. And Billy said, I would preach more on the cross and the blood of Christ because that's what the power is. Never forgot that. Preach more on the cross and the blood of Christ because that's where the power is.
Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his presentation in just a moment. Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Casher Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more.
Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more.
So go and download the Harvest Plus app. You've tuned in for Pastor Gregg's special presentation from Acts 17 to a group of Christian leaders gathered in Europe several weeks ago. The title, The Gift and Calling of the Evangelist.
Now After preaching, Paul trusted God for the results.
Someone asked me while I was here. Uh in an interview, what is a successful evangelist?
Well, we would hope that we would reach as many people as possible. You know, it's a good thing to want to see a lot of people come to Christ, of course. You know, some people would say, well, I'm not into numbers.
Well, actually, God is. You know, on the day of Pentecost, it says 3,000 believed.
So someone was counting the people. That's not to say only big things are successful. Because in the Bible you have what is sometimes called mass evangelism.
Sometimes people want to dismiss mass evangelism. I don't believe in mass evangelism. I believe in personal evangelism.
Well, actually, the Bible gives us both. The day of Pentecost was mass evangelism. But when Philip went to the men from Ethiopia and shared the gospel, that's one-on-one evangelism. And so it's all good. But the ultimate success of evangelism is faithfulness.
Being faithful to what God has called you to do. I cannot convert anyone, nor can you. My job is not to convert people. My job is to deliver the message of the gospel. When I was a young man, I was a peeper boy.
Do you have paper boys in Europe?
Well, I don't think you do because you're looking at me rather quizzically.
Okay, so a paper boy was someone that rode around on a bicycle and delivered papers to people, the newspaper, right? This was a long time ago. And so I would write around, I'd take the paper, and I got pretty good at throwing those newspapers. I could get it over the hedge in front of the house. Uh I could do an underhand throw.
So, my job was not to write the news. My job was not to make the news. My job was to deliver the news. That's it. Just deliver the news.
The results are in the hands of God. Because when you stand before Jesus in that final day, He's not going to say, Well done, good, and successful servant. He's going to say, Well done, good, and what? Faithful servant.
So you have to be faithful.
So here's now the Apostle Paul. Needless to say, he was a great preacher. Needless to say, he was a powerful orator. But yet, here is the great Apostle Paul on Mars Hill delivering the message, and only a handful of people responded. Look at Acts 17, verse 32.
When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, Some mocked, others said, We'll hear you again on this matter. And Paul departed from among them.
However, some men believed, among them Dionysius, a Areopagite, and a woman named Demaris, and others with them. Isn't that interesting? Not a big response.
Some mocked, and sometimes when you share the gospel, people will mock you. They'll make fun of you. The Bible tells us that as we preach the gospel to some who are perishing, it's foolishness, others to lay. They delayed.
So uh I came to faith, I started preaching the gospel. And my own mother had not come to Christ. And it's very hard to reach your own family, isn't it? My mother was an alcoholic. She was married and divorced seven times.
And Every time I'd bring the subject of my faith up, my mom would say, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. And one day I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to go have a conversation with her. Has that ever happened to you? Like, I need to have this conversation with this person.
So I drove over to my mother's house, I sat down. She said, what are you doing here? I said, I want to talk to you about your soul. She said, I don't want to talk about it. I said, today we're going to talk about it.
And I'm glad I had that conversation because It resulted in my mother finally committing her life to Christ. And tragically, one month later, she died and went to heaven. But I'm so glad I had that conversation because you never know when it's going to be the last conversation. My mother. I told you she was married and divorced seven times.
She married a man named Bill. And we had kind of a tense relationship, Bill and I. And so after my mom died, I didn't have much to do with Bill. And one day someone came to me and said, Greg, Bill is very sick and he's dying. He's in hospice care.
Would you go see him? And I really didn't want to go see him. I hate to admit that. I really didn't want to. I was on my way to go preach somewhere, and I said, Well, I'll go see him when I get back from my trip.
So I'm driving to the airport to catch my flight, and God's Holy Spirit spoke to me as clear as day. He said, you go talk to Bill right now.
So I drove over to the house, and here I'm in the house where I'd led my mother to the Lord, and he's in a hospital bed there in the front room, obviously not long for this world. And I shared the gospel with him one last time. And I said, Bill, would you like to accept Christ into your life right now? And he said, I would.
So I led him in a prayer. He prayed and asked Jesus to come in his life. Then, as I drove away, I was so thankful I'd done that. And I caught my flight and I landed on my destination and I turned my phone on and I got a text that said, Bill just died. He got in under the wire.
And the Holy Spirit is going to prompt you to initiate that conversation with strangers and family members and other people. Be obedient to the Lord.
Some marked.
Some said we'll talk about it later, and some. Believed. Jesus said, Pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers. Into his harvest. Friends, it's his harvest.
It's his job to convert, our job. is to deliver the good news. that God has given to us. You probably heard about the Titanic. In case you haven't heard, it sunk.
They made a movie about it. I still think Jack could have fit in that door with Rose, but that's. It's another story. That's the fiction. But they're obviously, and this is no joke, it was a real Tragedy, one of the greatest tragedies.
Thousands of people died. And they said this boat is unsinkable. And of course, it was said, even God Himself could not sink the Titanic. Wow, famous last words.
So, as the Titanic was going down, there was a real hero. I don't know if you've heard of him, his name was John Harper. John Harper was a well-known evangelist in Scotland. And he was asked to go speak at the Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois. And as the Titanic hit the iceberg, it was beginning to sink.
And of course, on board were some of the most wealthy people in the world. And Harper was traveling with his daughter. His wife had tragically died a couple of years earlier. Harper made sure his daughter was safely on a lifeboat. And he gave his life best away to someone else.
He decided he was going to spend the last hours of his life. Telling people about Jesus.
So he just went up and down the deck of the Titanic, asking people, Are you saved? Are you saved? Believe in Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. And then, as the boat began to go down, he's in the water now and he's swimming from person to person. He's saying, Are you saved?
Believe in Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. He finally went to one man. and said that and then tragically John Harper drowned. Uh that same man. in a public meeting four years later remembered that fateful night.
He said, there I was, alone in the night. two miles of water underneath me. John Harper came and told me about Jesus. I was his last convert. Can you imagine?
One day we'll have our last convert. That last person we reached that our job. is to just be faithful to deliver this news. Jesus said again, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel.
He's given you the power. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in this world. We can reach our generation. We can see a great move of God, and I pray that a spiritual awakening will sweep Europe like a wildfire that will change everything here, and it can happen. It can happen.
Well let it start with you. Revival is national. But revival can be personal. Revival is just restoration. It's restoring to original condition.
So we need to say, Lord, revive me. Give me that passion. And use me. To reach others. Let's pray.
Now, Father, we've heard your word. Help us to do this. We admit, Lord, it's overwhelming. We admit, Lord, we. Are weak.
But at the same time, we acknowledge that you've given us all power in heaven and earth. And we acknowledge that you've opened up tremendous doors for us. And I pray that you will use every person in this room. to first have a spiritual awakening in their own life. And we do pray for a great outpouring of your Holy Spirit on this continent.
Lord, we're way overdue for another revival in this part of the world. Send it, Lord. And let it begin with us. And like Spurgeon said, We pray God give us converts or we will die. We pray for more converts.
We pray for more opportunities. We pray for more boldness. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you.
Today on a new beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie with an inspiring message at the European Congress on Evangelism in Berlin, Germany. And our thanks to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the host of the event, for making this recording available to us.
Well, Pastor Gregg, let's speak to the person listening who's sort of on the other side of this subject. What would you say to the person listening who just doesn't know if they're really a Christian? They can't think of a time when they made a deliberate decision for the Lord. It it's just not a good idea to assume everything's just going to work out okay, is it? No, this is one area of your life you want to be sure about.
Where you're going to spend eternity. The Bible says, These things we write to you that you may believe on the Son of God and that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen, I know I have eternal life. I know I'll go to heaven one day. And I hope that doesn't sound boastful.
And if it does, I'm boasting in what God has done for me, not in what I've done for God. The reason I know these things is because I've turned from my sin and I've put my faith in Christ, you see, and if you do the same, you can have the same hope. You just need to call out to the Lord and admit you're a sinner and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your life. The Bible says, Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you call upon Him right now?
I'm going to pray a simple prayer, and I'm going to ask you to pray this prayer. After me, if you would.
So, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want to know for certain that Christ. Is living in your life? Then pray this prayer with me. Just pray these words, Lord Jesus. I know I am a sinner, but But I know you are the Saviour.
who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from my sin now. And I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Saviour and my Lord. As my God. And my friend.
Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Gregg and you've meant those words sincerely, the Lord has forgiven your sin and you're now a Christian. And we want to help you get started in living this new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible. It's in an easy-to-understand translation, and there are scores of features to help a new believer build a solid foundation.
So get in touch and ask for the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. You can call any time, 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God.
And 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. Ever failed? Ever come up short in your walk with the Lord?
Next time, good news as Pastor Greg points out the Lord's response to a man who needed a second chance. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lord. This is the day, the day when life begins.
