Pastor Greg Laurie presents the Amazon Prime hit series The House of David, now on DVD. The House of David, which has been just a smash hit on the Amazon streaming platform, is now available in a box set format. And you can watch it when you want to. We're also including something called Beyond House of David, which is a four-part documentary series.
So order your copy right now, The House of David. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org. God is bigger than your problem. And if you have a big God, you have a relatively small problem. And if you have a big problem, do you realize how big your God actually is?
We should call out to God when our problems overwhelm us. But Pastor Greg Laurie reminds us how God can overwhelm our problems. It's okay to call out to the Lord for help, but remind yourself of the power, majesty, and greatness of God, and it puts your problems in perspective. This is the day when the Lord. Master Span.
This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. But can you hear all the angels singing? This is the day, the day will lie in. Every kid has known a bully.
The bully is often bigger and meaner and is a force to be reckoned with.
Well, when your new best friend happens to be the linebacker of the school football team, it's amazing how the bully isn't so threatening anymore. What problems are bullying you right now? Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how God stands ready to meet us at our point of need, and His problem-solving resources are limitless and reassuring. This is the day, the day when life begins. You know, when a child Is afraid of the dark, they need someone to reassure them.
And the best thing to do is turn on the lights so they know there's actually not a monster under the bed. That there is no boogeyman, there is no threat to them, they need the reassuring words of an adult that can help them get a proper perspective.
Well, in the same way, like little children, when we're frightened, when we're scared, we We need the reassuring words of our Heavenly Father to help us in times of anxiety.
So let's read some words, some scripture. John chapter 14, a very To know your passage, one that I really love. Jesus says And let's get the context of who he was saying it to. He said this to his disciples in the upper room. This is after it had become known to them that he was going to be crucified, that he was going to be leaving them.
So needless to say, they were very stressed. They were filled with fear and deep anxiety.
So with that backdrop, Jesus says these words. Let not your heart be troubled, but You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. There where I am. You know. And you may be there also. Where I go, you know, in the way You know.
We'll stop there. The word that Jesus uses here for trouble is a. Picturesque word. It means don't let your heart shudder. You ever had your heart shudder?
Just really bad news.
Something that just was a shock to your nervous system. He says, Don't let your heart Shudder. Jesus did not say, worry and get super stressed, I'll mull over your problems. Rather, he said, don't be troubled, and hey, life is full of troubles. No matter how much money you make or where you live or what you do for a living, you'll never be able to create a trouble-free life.
Job says in chapter 5, verse 7: People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire. I hate to break it to you, but it's always going to be something. It's always going to be something. Just when you get through that one conflict or that one difficulty or that one hardship or that one trial, hey, another one's coming. I don't say that to depress you.
I say that to prepare you.
So, you understand the troubles may come and what you need to do when those troubles do come. There's big things that Seem to overtake us, and they're small, irritating things, but know this. While there are reasons to be troubled, there's a greater reason not to be. Jesus says in verse 10 from the New Living Translation: trust in God. Trust also in me.
In other words, Jesus is saying, Look, I haven't brought you this far to abandon you now. I know what I'm doing.
So I'm asking you to believe. I'm asking you to trust me. Here's something to consider. When I don't understand what is happening, fall back on what I do understand. Let me say that again and direct it toward you.
When you don't understand what is happening, fall back on what you do understand.
So what don't you understand?
Well, whatever it is you're facing, whatever hardship, difficulty. Why, why, why, we ask.
Okay, fall back on what you do understand. What do I know?
Well, if I'm a Christian, I know my sin is forgiven, right? If I'm a Christian, I know that one day I'll go to heaven. If I'm a Christian and I know that God is in control of my life, And if I'm a Christian, I know that God loves me. And if I'm a believer, I know that all things work together for good to those that love God and are the called according to his purpose.
So though I don't understand these circumstances, I'm going to fall back now on what I do understand. And I have found that when those what-if questions start rolling through your mind, I like to go back to what I do understand, what I know is true.
So here's something to consider. I love this little verse.
So much packed into one verse of scripture. Luke 12:32. Jesus said, Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom. We learn a lot from that verse.
Number one, fear not little flock.
So my point is this, God is our shepherd and we are his sheep. You know, I don't know how much you know about sheep. I don't know a lot about them. But I've read some things and I've held them occasionally, but I'm not real familiar with them. But I know they're basically pretty defenseless creatures.
Uh sheep Don't bite. Sheep can't run very fast. Sheep don't even have claws. Honestly, a cat has more going on than the sheep does.
Now we have this little cat that walks around our neighborhood. I actually like this cat. He's like the exception to cats for me because he's just kind of his own little cat. And he was standing in the middle of the street. Who does this?
This cat. It's like, I'm going to sit here. And I don't care. Everyone goes around me. He's just sitting there.
And a dog is yapping at him and kind of coming toward him. He's just like, come on, bring it on, you know. I thought, I like that cat. Cats have more going on than sheep because at least a cat can claw. Or a cat can climb a tree and run.
But sheep, they're just like Leg of lamb for the taking. They had to just carry mint sauce around with them, like, here I am. Eat me now, I'm delicious, yeah. That's where the sheep is. A sheep is totally dependent on its shepherd.
Why? Let's be kind and just put it this way delicately. They're really stupid. They run in flocks. They do what the other sheep do.
They're easily frightened. They're skittish. And there have been more than one occasion where one sheep goes off a cliff and the other sheep follow him off the cliff.
So No wonder the Bible says, All we like sheep have gone astray. Big picture, you're defenseless. Big picture, you can't really defend yourself ultimately. You need the shepherd's care. That's why David was sitting around.
One day when he probably wrote Psalm 23, and you know, he was a musician as well as a warrior and ultimately a king. And he's maybe just kind of, you know, strumming some chords, G, C, D, looking around. He's looking at his flock and he's saying, you know what? These sheep are dependent on me, and the Lord, He's my shepherd. I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He prepares a table. For me, in the presence of my enemies, and my cup runs over, and Yea, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
And even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because he is with me. That was the picture he was painting for us: that just as those sheep need me, I need God. Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. God is our shepherd, and we are our sheep.
Number two, God is our father. Who loves us and cares for us. Notice he says it's your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
So, why should I not be afraid? Because Jesus. He is my shepherd watching over me, but he's also my father. Caring for me, and I can approach him at any time with whatever is troubling me, and he will listen. But not everybody can call God Father.
People will say today, well, I believe in the brotherhood of man, and we're all children of God, sons and daughters of God. Actually, that's not true at all. We're not all children of God. We're all created by God. We're all made in the image of God.
And we're all separated from God by our sin. But the only way to become a child of God is you must be adopted into the family. And the Bible says, for as many as received him, he gave them the power to become sons of God. But once you believe in Jesus, you can call God Father. After Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, he appeared to Mary Magdalene and he says to her, Don't cling to me.
Some translations put it, don't touch me. But I think she was holding on to him so tightly, and he says, For I have not yet ascended to my God and to your God and to my father and your father. That was a revelatory statement. That was a radical thing to say to a first-century Jewish person, and especially a Jewish woman. Because women were looked down upon in that culture.
You know, people like to say Christianity oppresses women. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christianity and the Bible elevated women to their proper place, made in the image of God.
So he says to this woman, who was once possessed by many demons, I'm going to my God and your God. I'm going to my Father and your Father. Mary, guess what? He's your father now. You can call him Father now, not just me.
We get the fact that Jesus calls God Father, but now we can because of what he did. Yeah. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message 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.
Well, today, Pastor Greg is pointing out how God's children have a special relationship with God the Father. and how that should bring us comfort during our times of worry. Calling God Father hits us in different ways. Because a lot of it depends on what kind of an earthly father you had, right? I never had a father really growing up, so when I thought of God as father, I just had a big blank.
Like, I don't even know what that is to have a father.
Some of you had fathers that were cold and distant. Others of you had fathers that maybe left you when you were young.
Some of you may have even had fathers who were abusive and harsh with you. Or maybe incommunicative, but it was not a loving image of a father. But then others of you had a warm, loving, hands-on, involved dad. How many of you had a really good dad growing up? Oh, God bless you for that.
How many of you did not have that experience? Raise your hand. Yeah, okay.
So I understand what that's like. My wife, Kathy, or her father, Richard Martin, lived to be 95 years old. And he was a very, very good father. And I think because of that, when Kathy and her Three sisters and her brother heard the gospel. They were they very quickly embraced God as their father.
They had such a great father figure. And so this is this family that they lived in the Far East. Richard Martin was very educated, very smart guy, very successful guy. And so there's a very cultured family, great manners. And then one day, Kathy brings me home to meet the parents.
It looked like something the cat drug in, right? I had long hair past my shoulders. A thick red beard. You know, and like, here's my new boyfriend, Dad, and he didn't take to me very well. But uh nor did his wife uh Pilar.
But um so finally we Decided we wanted to get married, and so I took a walk with him. I said, Well, Mr. Martin, I want to marry your daughter. And I wanted to ask for your blessing. And he looked at me and said, well, no.
He's very calm. No. Yeah. And Can I ask why, Mr. Martin?
He said, well, you don't have a stable income and And we're concerned about that and concerned for the welfare of our daughter. And I reassured him it'd be okay, and he said no again. But so but ultimately, when we got married, he gave his daughter away. But an interesting experience happened. When Kathy was younger, she is the middle daughter.
She has her older sister Mary, and then there was Dodie, and then there's Kathy, and then her younger sister, Jackie, and then finally her brother Ricky.
So she had an uncle. This was the brother of Richard Martin's wife, Pilar. And he was not able to have children with his wife. And so he came to Apilar, his sister, one day, and said, You know, you already have two daughters, now you have a third one. Can can we just have your daughter?
And um Interesting request. And so she said, let me talk to my husband about it. This shocked Kathy. Like, you went to talk to dad about this? Like, this was on the table, but fortunately, Richard dad said no, and but he eventually gave her away to me on our wedding day, and I'm thankful for that.
But here's the good news: when you are a child of God, no one is going to take you out of his protective care. And we're afraid. Oh, what if I lose my salvation? Oh, what if the devil gets me? Are you kidding me?
You're a child of God, and Jesus said in John 10:29, I will give them eternal life. They'll never perish, and no one can snatch them away from me. God is your shepherd. God is your father. And finally, he is your king.
Because Jesus said, Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you. their kingdom. Notice he says it's his good pleasure. I think sometimes we think of God as stingy. God doesn't want to give you that.
God doesn't want to bless you. God wants to hold all the good stuff back and just kind of make your life hard. Nothing can be further from the truth. It's his pleasure. to give to you The kingdom.
But also, when we think of God as king, it reminds us of the sovereignty. and the power of God.
So, when you're filled with anxiety and fear and worry because of a problem you're facing, consider this: God is bigger than your problem. And if you have a big God, you have a relatively small problem. And if you have a big problem, do you realize how big your God actually is? That is why in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And then ultimately, we get to the request: give us this day, our daily bread. But effectively, Christ is saying, when you pray, Just contemplate the awesomeness and the greatness of God before you start firing off your petitions. It's okay to ask God for things. You should. It's okay to call out to the Lord for help, but remind yourself of the power, majesty, and greatness of God, and it puts your problems in perspective.
Have you ever wondered why when you leave church, a lot of times you feel better than when you came in? The reason is is because I'm amazing preaching. By other pastors here at Harvest. I think the preaching plays into it, but I don't think it's any person. I think.
What is it all about? I come in, and what do I spend a good part of my time doing? Magnifying God. Magnifying God. And so, as I'm thinking of God's glory and His power, and I'm sort of casting my problems aside and I'm worshiping Him, then I hear a message, hopefully, that reminds me of God's love and His sovereignty and His power, and all those things I need to be reminded of.
And I leave, and now I have the same problems. Leaving that I had coming in, but all of a sudden I don't see them in the same way. It's all about perspective, isn't it? And so he's your king who's in control. of your life.
Yeah. Pastor Greg Laurie, with great perspective today on how we should view the challenges we sense in light of the God we serve. a good reminder of our shepherd, our father, our king's promise of protection and provision and care. And there's more to come in this message here on a new beginning. And then, Pastor Greg, I know you had a further word you wanted to share.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.: So, as you've been listening today, maybe you've thought to yourself: man, I wish I had this relationship with God that. Is being talked about?
Well, you can. He is only a prayer away. You see, becoming a Christian, it doesn't take years, it doesn't take months, it doesn't take weeks, it doesn't even take hours, it can happen in a moment. The Bible describes it as turning from darkness to light. And from the power of Satan to God.
But before that happens, the Bible says you need to have your eyes open. And here's the amazing thing. It's just like in a flash, a light goes on, and you say, This is all true. That's how it happened for me. I just heard the gospel, and all of a sudden, I realized this is all true.
And maybe you've realized that as well. Let me ask you. Would you like Jesus Christ to come into your life? Would you like Him to forgive you of your sin? Would you like this relationship with God we've been talking about today?
If so, why don't you just pray a simple prayer with me? You could pray it out loud if you like, but Say this to God, Lord Jesus. I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you're the Saviour. who died on the cross for my sin.
and rose again from the dead. Jesus, I turn from my sin. And I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Saviour and Lord, as my God and Friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. And I ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. Hey, did you just pray that prayer? If so I want to send you at no charge. what we call a New Believer's Bible. Here's Dave to tell you more, and let me just say Congratulations, you've made the right decision.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. And listen, to help you begin to live this new life, let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It's the perfect resource for someone who's new to the faith, with scores of helps for new believers. We'll send it free of charge if you'll just contact us and request it. Call 1-800-821-3300.
Again, that's 1-800-821-3300. Call anytime. or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Yeah. And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue.
Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online you'll find us at harvest. org, and there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now.
That's harvest.org. Or call us at one eight hundred eight two one three three zero zero. We're here around the clock to take your call, again at 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, Pastor Greg provides more helpful insight on keeping our eyes on the Lord. when our fears and anxieties threaten to detour our walk of faith. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day the day when life begins.
