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. Wow, what an honor to be here. And what a joy to see all of you. And you know, as we were coming in, we were driving through Long Beach, and I was born in Long Beach, and I was not planned.
My mother was married and divorced seven times, and she had a fling with some guy, and I was conceived, voila. But even though I wasn't planned, God had a plan for my life. Mm-hmm.
So I was born in Long Beach. I happened to meet my wife Kathy in Long Beach.
So it was great to go through that city once again to come to this great conference. Here's the title of my message that I have for you tonight. Are we seeing another spiritual awakening? Speaking of my wife, now I don't know if you've ever seen her, she has the most beautiful, luxurious thick hair. And we were out walking the other day, and I said, Kathy, it's starting to rain.
She said, No, it's not raining. I said, no, it's raining. She said, no, she wouldn't know it's raining for an hour because her hair is so thick. I said, no, it's starting to rain because bald men always know when it's raining first, right? And I wonder.
I wonder if it's starting to rain. And by that I mean I wonder if God is at work. Let me tell you the rest of that story at that crusade in particular that just happened. When the invitation was given, we saw 5,500 people go down on the field and make a profession of faith to follow Jesus Christ. 5,500.
There were so many people that went down on the field, the fire marshals shut it down and they said, Nobody else can come in this field. We can't accommodate any more people. And I told the folks, you don't have to be in the field to accept Christ. You can do it in the aisle or wherever you are. One very resourceful guy who couldn't get in because they locked the doors when it was full, climbed over the fence.
I don't recommend this, but he did it. Climbed over the fence, got inside, heard the gospel, and he was one of those 5,500 people that went forward to make that commitment to Christ. This is amazing. This is not happening in the Bible Bell. This is not happening in the South.
This is happening in Southern California, right?
Okay, so. I have not given up on this state. I'm praying that we have another spiritual awakening. And if we don't, if we don't, I don't know what's going to turn our state around. We need the intervention of God.
And that's This is an amazing thing because we've had four great awakenings in American history, as most of you know. And the last one was called the Jesus movement. I'm praying the Lord does it again. And that was a A movement. That was a revival among young people.
Some of you are old enough to remember that. I came to Christ back then at the age of 17. I'm hobbling a little bit. I have to get a hip replacement soon.
So I went from being a hippie to needing a hip. Replacement, the sad. I've gone from acid rock to acid reflux. That's not a good thing, okay, but. But I was there.
And I had a front row seat to a genuine spiritual awakening. And one verse that we often quoted in those days was Acts 2:17. It says, In the last days, the Lord says, I'll pour my spirit out on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your old men. Will dream dreams.
Well, I was young then, I'm older now, so I guess it's time for me to dream the dreams. And I have a dream, and my dream is: Lord, do it again and do it in California.
Okay, so I talked to you about it starting to rain. There's a lot of encouraging things happening right now. There's been a dramatic shift in the culture. Toward The gospel and toward Jesus Christ. In the past, elders and baby boomers tended to be the more committed Christians, but in the last two years, that has changed, especially among young people and specifically among young men.
Gen Z men are making commitments to Christ at 15 percentage points higher than just two years ago, while millennial men have a similar spike of 19 points over the same period.
So, this is interesting. Usually girls, come on, you're the ones that are always ahead of us in this. But for once, the girls are not leading the way. Men are leading the way, and specifically young men. We need this to happen.
Bible sales are up 22%. And guess what? Grandma's not buying the Bibles. It's young people buying the Bible for the first time.
So this is new. Charlie Kirk, who of course puts on this conference, made this statement, and I quote: Gen Z and Gen Alpha are coming to Christ in massive numbers. They don't want fluff. They don't want a watered-down gospel. They want the tough, honest truth.
They want the unfiltered gospel of Christ crucified and the power of the resurrection. That's right. That is very true. And the spiritual movement is affecting everything. There's two Christian songs on the billboard, top 100 right now.
That's never happened before. The runaway success of streaming shows like The Chosen and House of David. It's unprecedented. And then all the people that have been baptized in California. We did a baptism on the heels of our crusade a couple of years ago that we called the Jesus Revolution Baptism.
I don't know if you saw the Jesus Revolution film, but it's. But so many saw that and were so inspired by the baptism scenes in the film that they wanted to be baptized in the same place where we used to baptize people 50 years ago. And since that film has come out, we did this baptism. On one day, we baptized 4,500 people. That's crazy.
Okay, so. Even in the glory days of the Jesus movement, we didn't baptize that many people in one day. And really what? Other hope is there for Gen Z and the Alpha generation. I mentioned they have the highest suicide of any generation.
72% of teens today use AI companions regularly instead of human interaction because they have no one else to talk to. 42% of high school students experience constant sadness. 22% of them have contemplated suicide. The hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the message.
This is the message that we need to hear.
So, I want to talk for a few moments with you about revival. We hear that word a lot. It's a good word. We hear the word awakening used often interchangeably with it. What is revival, technically?
I think we overly mystified this word. Revival means to come back to life, it's restoration, it's refreshment. Think about working out in the sun and you're hot and you have a drink of cool water and have something to eat and you're refreshed, you're replenished, or you have a little plant that's beginning to wither and you give it a little bit of water and it comes back to life. When I was a little kid, I had a little pet turtle and I kept him in this little enclosure with a little plastic palm tree.
So one day, my pet turtle disappeared. I had no idea where he went. I looked everywhere for this turtle. I couldn't find him. One month later, I found him in the sock drawer.
He was all shriveled up and dried up, laying on his back, poor little guy. I thought he's gone. He's left this life. He's gone onto the turtle afterlife, if there is one. But just out of curiosity, I thought, what if he's still alive?
And I put him back in his enclosure and poured some water on him, and that little turtle started coming back to life. He lived. He survived it. That's called refreshment. That's called revival, coming back to life.
And it's when we come back to life, it's when the church comes back to life again. It's returning to your first love. Jesus speaks to the church of Ephesus, and he says, loose paraphrase. I know you guys work really hard. I know you're discerning.
That's fantastic. But I have this against you. You have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen and return and do the first works quickly.
So it's the three Rs of getting right with God, the three R's of revival. First, you remember. Was there a time in your life when you were more passionate spiritually than you are now? I know I'm not just speaking to Christians here. I'm speaking to pastors and their spouses and those that work in the church.
I'm asking you, Pastor. Was there a time in your life when you were more passionate about Christ, when studying the Bible was your joy, not your job? When prayer was something you did naturally instead of what you're expected to do, when you shared the gospel, when you were just out and about in everyday life instead of just a little wrap-up, maybe at the end of your message on Sunday morning, have you left your first love?
So remember. Mark it in time. Was there a time when you were more passionate than you are now? Then he says, repent. Repent, that means to turn around.
And then repeat, do the first works quickly. As the Apostle Paul says, Get back, get back, get back to where you once belong. That's the Apostle Paul McCartney from the Beatles. That's the Beatles. But the sentiment of that song is actually biblical and accurate.
Get back, do those first works again. See, you know, sometimes being pastors... We can go from that love of teaching the word of God and wanting to make our church strong and healthy to. Wow, how can I get more people in my church? We can suddenly find ourselves becoming more competitive.
Now, there's nothing wrong with wanting to see your church grow. Your church should grow spiritually, and your church should grow numerically. We read in the book of Acts that the Lord added to the church daily those that were being saved. But listen. The best kind of growth in a church is the growth of new believers coming to Christ.
The best kind. New believers are the lifeblood of the church. Not church transfer growth, new believers. You show me a church that Doesn't have a constant flow of new believers coming in, and I will show you a church that is stagnating.
So we have a choice before us: we can evangelize or we can fossilize. And I encourage you. Leaders, pastors, develop an evangelistic culture in your church. You say, Well, I don't even know what that means. It means, first of all, get your passion back for telling other people about Jesus just as a Christian, right?
Start there. You know, if you want to start a fire in the pews, start it in the pulpit. You know, it'll start with you and then. Give opportunities for people to come to Christ in your services. Extend those invitations and invite people to come to the Lord.
You see, younger believers need older believers to stabilize them. Older believers need younger believers to energize them. Right? It's like going to Disneyland with a bunch of adults. What's that all about?
You see people now, they dress up like Disney characters. Little weird.
Okay. The best way to go to Disneyland is take a child. And see it through the eyes of a child. And there's something wonderful when you see a new believer discovering the truths of God for the first time. It excites you, it reminds you.
It reminds us. Of what really matters.
So, revival is coming back to life again. It starts with us. Revival is waking from sleep.
Sort of like you can be in a spiritual lethargy. The Pastor earlier quoted Romans 13: The time is more urgent. You know how late it is. Time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Sometimes I'll watch television with my wife and I'll fall asleep. Because she chose the program that night. I pick things that are exciting. She likes to watch cooking programs. or British people having extended conversations.
And their accents are so thick, we have to turn the subtitles on.
So I'll fall asleep and she'll say, Greg, are you sleeping? And I don't know why. I always deny. No, no, but. In fact, not only was I sleeping, I was snoring.
And sometimes we can be that way. One person put it this way, and I like it. If all the sleeping people will wake up. If all the lukewarm people will fire up. If all the dishonest people will confess up, if all the disgruntled people will cheer up, if all the estranged people will make up, if all the gossipers will shut up.
If all the true soldiers will stand up, if all the dry bones will shake up, if all the church people will pray up, then we can have a revival. Behind? The definitive verse on revival, of course, is 2 Chronicles 7:14, and we all should commit it to memory. And it says, Oh, I forgot. No, I did.
God says of my people which are called by my name Will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.
Now Contextually, that was given to the nation Israel. But principally I think it applies to any country. I think it can even apply to a person individually. If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face. You see, revival starts with us.
And not just with our churches, but it starts with you. Because nothing can happen through you until it has first happened to you. And you cannot take people any further than you yourself, as a spiritual leader, have gone. You set the spiritual pace. in your church and with your congregation.
Now in the little bit of time I have left, which is, as according to my clock, three hours. That's awesome. No, I don't. It's 13 minutes and 42 seconds. In my brief time that I have with you, I want to tell you a story from Jonah, a story most of us know.
But I want to read Jonah chapter 1, just a couple of verses. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai. Saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.
So God called a guy, a patriotic Israelite, to go to the avowed enemies of his people. the Ninevites. Nineveh was the capital of Syria. It'd be like God going to an Israeli and saying, go preach to Hamas. And preach so I don't judge them.
Your inclination would be well like well, why don't you go ahead and judge them, Lord? That's what God was saying to Jonah. Go preach to the people of Nineveh, people that were. No, they were famous for their cruelty and atrocities. that were so horrific it would make a Nazi blush.
And God says, go preach to these people. The population of Nineveh was about the size of San Francisco. And yet, because Jonah ultimately obeyed God, it resulted in the largest single awakening in all of history.
So God says, go preach to them. What does Jonah do? We read: Jonah rose to flee to Tarshis from the presence of the Lord, and he went down to Joppa and found his ship going to Tarshus and paid the fare and went down into it. And then there he went from the presence of the Lord. You see, he was called to do something he didn't want to do.
But he did it ultimately. But it took a little convincing. Because, you know, he's on that boat, and the Lord caused a great storm to come. And the boat began to pitch back and forth, and those seasoned sailors started calling on their various deities, hoping that one of them may have had the right god. But there's that visitor.
No one really knew this guy. Jonah, they said, get up here and call on your God. And he goes, okay, guys, I have to just come clean with you. I'm an Israelite. I'm a Hebrew.
I'm a prophet of the Lord, and I'm running from God. And this storm is happening because of me. And if you throw me over the side of the boat, the storm will stop. They're like, interesting. Bye.
Over the side he goes. And the Lord caused a great Fish to swallow Jonah. We say a whale. And it could have been a whale. There are actually recent stories in the news where people have actually been swallowed momentarily by whales.
But the word the Bible uses as sea monster. It might have been a custom-designed creature we've never seen since then. It's really not the point. There's only three verses in the book of Jonah about the fish. Because that's not the story of the book of Jonah.
The story of the book of Jonah is how God brought about the greatest revival in human history. God said go. Jonah said no. God said oh. God will always have the last word.
Maybe God's called you to do something you don't want to do. Maybe God's called you to a place you did not necessarily want to go to. But Jonah, to his credit, finally obeyed, but It was after he was in the belly of that beast that He finally turned to God and he had a personal revival. And then he was regurgitated on the shores of Nineveh.
So Jonah was believing and barfed. Digested and deployed, righteous and rouffed. Bleached and beached. Victorious and vomited. I have one more.
Barfed and born again.
Okay, so. But he but he went and what did he do? He said forty days in Nineveh will be overthrown. Listen. We need to say the truth.
We need to speak the truth. And we need to warn our flocks, we need to educate our people, and we need to teach them how to think and also vote biblically. It's very true. The days of being neutral, the days of not addressing these topics are behind us. We have to engage in the cultural conflict.
and speak up for what is right. But we also have to remember what our ultimate marching orders are. And they are to go preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. You know, I've had the privilege. With other pastors of visiting President Trump, and I've been criticized for it.
Why would you go there? The west 'cause the President invited me. And by the way, he's the only president who ever did. I would have gone if President Biden invited me. I would have.
I'd go if any president invited me. And share What the word of God says, but it just so happens that President Trump is the only one who ever has. And I can tell you being with him. Privately, he's a very gracious man. He's also one of the funniest guys I've ever met.
He's a very good listener. And when someone says, Mr. President, can we pray for you? He always says, yes. Because I think the President knows that God spared his life.
He knows it. There's no way he should have survived that assassin's bullet under normal circumstances. That was divine intervention. He actually knows this, and he welcomes prayer.
So that's a privilege. To pray for him and to pray for the other members of his cabinet. But I just realized, and I remember when I go in there, I walk in as a representative of Jesus Christ, and I want to point people to God. That's our job.
So I've talked about revival. Revival always leads to evangelism. In fact, if it's a spiritual awakening, so-called. Evangelism should happen. And when you look at the four great spiritual awakenings in America, the first one, And this was written about by my friend Eric McTaxis in his excellent book on the topic, What You All Should Read.
But he talks about how one of our founding fathers was named George, not George Washington. He was our first president. Our founding father spiritually was a guy named George Whitfield. They came to our shores and preached the gospel and thousands believed. And so that was spiritual awakening number one.
Number two was the frontier awakening. Then there was the Fulton Street revival in New York City, which started with a prayer meeting. And finally, there was the Jesus movement. But every one of those revivals produced evangelism. It wasn't uncommon to see people out on the streets talking to others about the Lord.
I mean, go back to the day of Pentecost after the Holy Spirit was poured out. We read that they went out and 3,000 were added to their number that day.
So they didn't keep it in the upper room, they took it to the streets. After Isaiah encountered the Lord in Isaiah 6. When he says, I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and he was high and lifted up, and his glory filled the temple. What did Isaiah say? He said, Here I am, Lord, send me.
So that's what we all should be doing. We should be saying, Lord, here I am, send me. Look. Revival is what God does for us. Evangelism is what we do for God.
I can't make a revival happen, nor can you. We cannot organize a revival, though we can agonize for it in prayer. But I'll tell you what we can do. And I'll tell you what we must do. We must preach the gospel, back to what I said earlier.
The great commission is to go into all the world and preach the gospel, making disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded us. And then he says, And lo, I am with you to the end of the age. And when he says, Lo, I am with you, that's not just a promise for short people. That's a promise for all people, and it's interesting in context. Effectively, what Jesus is saying is, I will be with you in a special way.
When you go about fulfilling this great Commission.
So let's do this. Let's do this together. Are we seeing another spiritual awakening? I hope so. I pray so.
And let it begin with you. And let it begin with me. I'm going to do what no preacher has ever done. I'm going to end before my time is up. But I'll tell you what, don't clap for that.
That's insulting. You should be saying no, no, preach longer, and you let clap. No, it's too late. You've already insulted me. It's okay.
Now I know I'm kidding. But I will take up a little bit of that time as we close in prayer. Father, Send a spiritual awakening to the state. Turn it around, Lord. Send a spiritual awakening to our churches.
I pray that you will bless every pastor in this room. Lord, give him a love for the people you've set before him. Help him to teach the word of God faithfully. Help him to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. And help him to be a bold proclaimer of the gospel.
Let our churches grow numerically, yes, Lord, we pray. But most of all, let them grow evangelistically. And let us be used by you to impact our culture and bring men and women and boys and girls to Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for this conference. Thank you, Lord, for this time to be with you.
Thank you for. The vision you've given to Charlie Kirk and his team. Bless them, Lord, as they press on into the future. And, Lord, bless our nation. Bless our leaders.
Bless our president. God bless America, and we ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. About the important work we're doing here at Harvest. You know, we've had the same goal these last 50 years, which is simply this: we want to know God and we want to make Him known.
And we do that in a lot of ways: documentary films, animation, radio, television, large-scale evangelistic events, and more. If you want to be a part of what we're doing to fulfill the great commission, you can support us with whatever you can give at harvest.org/slash donate. Again, that's harvest.org/slash donate, and thanks so much.
