This is a moment in our history as a nation when people are probably more open to the gospel than maybe they've been in decades. And harvest is at the right place at the right time. We've seen 1,200,000 professions of faith in the history of harvest. 10,000 people baptized through harvest since 2023.
So, this is a really good time to pour some rocket fuel on a burning fire. When you give, you're investing in this revival fire. Just go to harvest.org. The gospel is not designed for you to keep to yourself. The gospel is designed for you to share.
And one of the great things about sharing is it helps in your own spiritual growth. And if you don't listen to me, you will stagnate spiritually. The Great Commission was given to all believers. And today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out: sharing our faith keeps our own faith alive. You have a choice, you can evangelize or you can fossilize.
This is the day we. When the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Oh, can you hear all the angels singing?
This is the day the day will live begin. Nearly 25 million real Christmas trees decorated homes last Christmas. And about 25 million Christmas trees became kindling not long after the holiday.
Well, there's a spiritual parallel. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how to keep our faith from drying out. We'll learn how to keep it rekindled by sharing the hope we have with others. Glad you're along for a new beginning. As Pastor Gregg brings some practical pointers on effective evangelism, it's a good opportunity to take notes.
When we talk about sharing our faith or preaching, a lot of us get very uptight. There's one thing that believers and non-believers have in common. They're both often about evangelism. Non-believers are uptight about being evangelized, and believers are uptight about evangelizing them.
Okay, so we're in a new series. Recalling that Faith 101. And the title of this message is A Crash Course on Evangelism and Discipleship. Let's remember a point from our message last time. It was simply this: to be a growing Christian.
You must go into all the world and preach the gospel. We call it the Great Commission. Two variations of it. One is in the Gospel of Mark, the other is in the Gospel of Matthew. Mark's gospel simply states it this way.
Mark 16, 15, Jesus says, go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone. Matthew's version states it this way in Matthew 28, and that's our text for this message, by the way. We read in Matthew 28, verse 16, Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubt it. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. That's a great commission. To go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations.
Preach the gospel and make disciples. Point number two. These words are directed to every follower of Jesus Christ, not just the so-called professionals, the pastors. The evangelists, the missionaries, everybody is supposed to do it. We are all called to go to all people everywhere.
So here's my question for you. Are you doing your part to fulfill the Great Commission? Point number three, this one might surprise you. To not share the gospel can be a sin. You might say, Greg, you've gone too far.
Well, understand that sin. It has many definitions. There's a sin of commission and sin of omission. A sin of commission is when you break a commandment. When you cross the line.
When you do a wrong thing, a sin of omission is when you don't do a right thing. The Bible says, to him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
So, how could failing to share my faith Possibly ever be a sin. Let me illustrate. Let's say that you were in a house that caught fire. And you rushed out to save your own life, but you knew there were other people in there, innocent people who could not get out, and you didn't lift a finger to help them. You didn't even call the fire department, you just walked off and acted as though it didn't happen.
Is that wrong? Yes, it is. That's even a criminal act. Or let's say you're a doctor and you run tests on a person and found out they have a certain problem. And you know a course of antibiotics could correct it or a simple surgery would make it right.
But you're uncomfortable telling people bad news. It's kind of awkward for you.
So you don't tell them anything and you say, you're good to go. Go on your two month vacation. Enjoy yourself. You're an irresponsible doctor.
Okay, so those are illustrations that say, how much worse is it for me to know the way to heaven? The way for a person to be forgiven of their sin and find the meaning and purpose of their life and not tell them. You see, that's how not sharing the gospel could potentially be a sin. Why is this important? Point number four, the primary way people come to Jesus is through hearing the gospel.
Romans 10, 14 says, How can they call on him to save them unless they have believed in him? How can they believe in him if they've never heard about them? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? Go to everyone you can and share the gospel.
Now, what is the gospel? We throw that word around a lot as Christians. What does it actually mean?
Well, I'm going to define it in a moment. But we want to get this one right. Because if we don't get the gospel right, everything else is wrong. Point number five. We're not only to preach the gospel, we are to make disciples.
Let me say that again. We're not only to preach the gospel, we are to make disciples. Remember, he says in Matthew. That we are to make disciples of all nations. I mean, to only preach the gospel and not make a disciple would be like a A doctor delivering a baby.
And then giving the baby a little box of pampers and a little handle.
Okay, kid, it's a tough world out there. I gotta go, but. I hope it works out for you. Bye. No, you need to help the little baby.
The baby needs to be nurtured and protected and cared for. And when someone accepts Jesus, they're like a little baby. But they're a baby Christian. And they need to be discipled. What does that mean to disciple someone?
It means help them to get up on their feet spiritually and come to a place of maturity, and then encourage them to repeat the process. You know, we have a great tool here at Harvest that we make available to people, and I mention it pretty much. Every time you see us, it's called the New Believer's Bible. Let me explain what this is. This is the New Testament.
It's filled with hundreds and hundreds of notes that I wrote geared to a new believer. I wrote them in a very easy-to-understand way, almost as though we're sitting down over a cup of coffee, and I'm just going through the basics of the Christian life with them.
So, this is a resource we offer to people. You want to get a bunch of these and have them on hand, and then hopefully get a new believer. or a young believer in your life and do what you can for them. But somewhere along the line, we've separated evangelism and discipleship, and we should not do it because it's all part of the great commission. Think of Saul of Tarsus.
He came to faith in Christ. Saul of Tarsus was a notorious Christian killer. He was hunting down followers of Jesus, torturing them, putting them in prison. And Saul of Tarsus was responsible for the death of the first martyr of the Christian church, Stephen. But while he was on his way to arrest more Christians, who does he meet on the Damascus road?
He meets Jesus. Who Says, why are you fighting with me, Saul? And Saul believes in Jesus.
So when it comes out that Saul's now a Christian, no one believes it. It would be like announcing, oh, Howard Stern just became a Christian and he's going to a Bible study now. Oh, Bill Maher, he's a strong follower of Jesus Christ. Or, hey, Lady Gaga's leading worship over here at this church service. We'd say, what are you talking about?
Unexpected people. And don't think that. God could not reach any of those people. He could reach them and anybody else. But people weren't believing it.
So the Lord directs a man named Ananias to go to the newly converted Saul. It's recorded in Acts 9. And God says to Ananias, go visit Saul. He's a brother, and he's in prayer.
So Ananias went and helped Saul and introduced him to people. Later on, a guy named Barnabas came along and encouraged. Saul later to become Paul as well.
Now, we don't know that much about Ananias and Barnabas, but we know a lot about the Apostle Paul. And so here's my point. God wants to use you to be an Ananias to a Saul. He wants to use you to be a Barnabas to a Paul. He wants to use you to be an Andrew to a Peter.
He wants to use you maybe behind the scenes to help someone that needs to grow in their faith. Don't be overwhelmed by this. Discipling someone just means to show them what a Christian looks like. Maybe this is one of the reasons we don't want a new believer in our life because we don't want them to examine us. Oh, this is how a Christian drives.
Oh, this is what a Christian watches on TV. Oh, this is what a Christian does in their free time. I don't want them judging me. No, you need to be an example for them. Let me tell you something.
After I accepted Christ at the age of 17 on my high school campus, I was really oblivious to what I had done. The school bell rang. Lunch was over. I did not realize what had just happened to me. Nobody was there saying, oh, Greg, here's a new believer's Bible.
Why don't you read this? No one was there to say, Greg, why don't you come to church on Sunday with us? No one was there to do anything. I just walked away, not really sure of what I'd done. But thank God there was a guy named Mark.
who came up to me a day or so later, said, hi, is your name Greg? I said, yeah. Said, my name is Mark, okay. He said, Hey, I saw that you went forward and prayed to ask Christ into your life the other day at our lunchtime Bible study. I was sort of defensive, and I said, Yeah, what of it?
He goes, Well, I think that's great.
Okay.
Well, I want you to come to church with me. Mark said, I said, I don't want to do that. No, Greg, I want you to come to church with me. I don't want to go to church with you, Mark. I really don't.
And he goes, Okay, where do you live? I'm going to come pick you up. No, I don't want you to come to my house and pick me up. I don't want to go to church with you.
Well, Mark wouldn't take no for an answer.
Next thing I know, he's at my house picking me up and he takes me to church. Mark, Introduced me to the church. He introduced me to his Christian family. He took the time to explain the basics to me. In short, he began to disciple me, and I could have fallen through the cracks.
And there's a lot of people that do fall through the cracks. Will you be a mark to one of those people? Will you fulfill the great commission? Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
So many listeners have commented on the encouragement they receive from these daily messages. I appreciate that God has never left my side, even when I wasn't living for Christ. I would still call out to God in times of need. After living in my own strength for many years, I found Pastor Gregg's podcasts. God obviously gave Greg a gift by helping draw his listeners to the Word of God.
I am so thankful that Pastor Greg has now helped me to find my way back home to God. Thank you. How have Pastor Greg's studies touched your life? Would you let him know? Send him an email.
Greg at harvest.org. That's Greg at harvest.org.
Well, we're talking today about our role in fulfilling the Great Commission. Pastor Greg is presenting a message today titled A Crash Course on Evangelism and Discipleship. There's another reason we should seek to fulfill the Great Commission. Do it for your own good. See, God has given us these blessings that we experience as Christians to share.
Not to be hoarded. You are blessed to be a blessing. You ever see those shows on TV of people who hoard stuff? and they have like Florida ceiling newspapers from days gone by and they usually have a lot of cats. I don't know why the cats and the newspapers go together, but they often do.
But this is crazy.
Now, I'm sort of a micro hoarder. I don't have my home filled with all those things, but I do save a lot of stuff. And we can be this way with. Our faith, oh, I just want to hear another Bible study, and I just want to grow more and learn more. That's good, do that, but it's not designed for you to keep to yourself.
The gospel is designed for you to share, and one of the great things about sharing is it helps in your own spiritual growth. Say, I don't get it.
Well, what would it be like if you only ate and you never exercised? You literally sat in a giant chair and you never moved. I have a friend who has this weird thing, it's like a pod. And it's sort of like a massage chair meets a pod, and you lay in it, and it closes up on your arms and on your legs, and all these rollers are going back and forth. You're, oh, yeah.
I mean, it was great. I have to admit, I was in it for one week. No, not really. But you know, we want to just get into our little Christian pod. Bring me a meal now, and I'll eat my meal.
You need to get out of your pod, and you need to get to work, and you need to take what God has given you to other people. And if you don't, listen to me, you will stagnate spiritually. You have a choice. You can evangelize. Or you can fossilize.
And if you only take in and you never share your faith, it's detrimental to you spiritually. Listen to this. A new believer needs an older believer in their life to stabilize them. An older believer needs a younger believer in their life to... energize them.
Take cartoons as an example. I like to watch cartoons with my grandkids. Generally, when they're not around, I don't watch cartoons. But when they come over, they say, Papa, can we watch a cartoon? I'll enter into their world and I'll laugh at the cartoons and enjoy them, but I'm enjoying them because they're enjoying them.
I'm seeing them through the eyes of a child. And what happens when you have a new believer in your life? as you begin to rediscover truths you've forgotten about. As they're discovering them for the first time, you're saying, wow, that is amazing. This and that, I don't know if I'm as appreciative to God.
As much as I should be for what he has done for me.
So you need it as much as they need it, because we often forget things that really matter.
Now I keep saying preach the gospel. What is the gospel? We way overcomplicate this, people. The gospel, literally defined, is good news. The gospel teaches that we're all separated from God by our sin.
The gospel teaches that there's nothing we can do to satisfy the righteous demands of God on our own. The gospel teaches not that I'm good, but that I'm bad and I'm separated from God. But the gospel also teaches that. 2,000 years ago, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins, and he rose again from the dead. And if I will turn from my sin and ask Christ to come into my life, he will forgive me.
He'll fill that hole in my heart. He'll give me the purpose and direction in life I've been seeking. And best of all, he'll give me the absolute. assurance of heaven for the afterlife. That's the gospel.
We need to share that with people. Point number six. We need to seek to lead others to Christ. We need to seek to lead others to Christ. Yeah.
The Bible does teach that this is a work of the Holy Spirit. No man comes to the Father. unless the Spirit draws them. That's true. But God reaches people through people.
And I think one of the reasons we've never led another person to Christ is we have not asked them the question. We can call it popping the question. Let's apply it to marriage. I've heard of a lot of imaginative proposals that have taken place. One that I'm reminded of is of a friend of mine who went out snorkeling with his fiance, well, not his fiancé, just his girlfriend at that point.
They were underwater, and he had one of those little underwater tablets, and he wrote out, Will you marry me?
So that's very imaginative.
Now, my wife says, I never properly proposed. She says that we're sitting in a restaurant and I looked at her and I said, well, I guess we're gonna get married, huh? I thought, really I said that? She said, yeah. I said, wow.
Well, at least I said something. I didn't do a very good job of it. But my point is simply this: you've got to ask the question that's awkward for you to ask, but do it anyway. And here's the question: ready for it? Would you like to accept Jesus Christ right now?
I was in a restaurant a while ago with a some friends and we had a waitress come. And take our order. And she said, You guys are all pastors, aren't you? Yes, yeah, we are. And so she said, What are your church services?
And I said, Well, they're at this time and this time. She goes, Okay, okay. And so she's taken an order, and I don't normally do this, trust me. But I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit. I said, you know.
I'm glad you want to know when our church services are, and I'm glad you want to come to our church, but you don't have to wait till Sunday to get right with God. Would you like to accept Jesus Christ right now? And she said, Yes, I would. She's standing there, you know, like with their little order book. And the good news is the owner of the restaurant is a Christian who attends our church.
So I knew she wouldn't get in trouble. I said, why don't we pray right now? She said, pray here? Yeah, let's pray. You want to pray and ask Christ to come into your life?
She said, yeah. So we prayed. And right there, the Lord came into our life. And this is my point: you never know when the Lord will prompt you to ask that question. And I trust that a lot of us are going to be asking this question.
Would you like to accept Jesus Christ right now? And I'm telling you, if they say yes, get ready for one of the greatest blessings you've ever experienced in life. There's great joy in sharing your faith. Jesus said, There's joy in heaven. over one sinner.
that comes to repentance. Let me close now. with a question for some of you.
Now I've been talking to Christians about Sharing the gospel. Let me talk to someone that's watching that. Is hearing this all for the first time. And let me ask you this: Would you like to accept Jesus Christ right now? Say, well, yeah, what do I need to do?
You need to admit you're a sinner. and acknowledge the fact that you're separated from God. And then you need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sin. And rose again from the dead, and you need to ask him into your life. You see, only you can do that.
I can't do that for you. But I can lead you in a prayer where you ask him into your life to be your savior and Lord. And in a moment, I'm going to pray. And I'm going to ask you that want Christ to come into your life to pray this prayer with me.
So again, if you want your sin forgiven, If you want to know them when you die, you will go to heaven. If you want that big hole in your heart filled, If you want your guilt taken away, If you want this relationship with God I've been talking about, I want you to pray a simple prayer with me right here, right now. And as I pray this prayer, you can pray it out loud if you like. You can pray it in your heart quietly, but... You pray this prayer.
The Bible says, Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord. will be saved. The Bible says, For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, and whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's what you're doing right now. You're believing in Jesus.
So if you want Jesus to come into your life, If you want him to forgive you of your sin, Pray this prayer with me right now. In fact, pray this prayer after me. Pray these words if you would. God, I know that I'm a sinner. But I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin.
and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now. And I choose to follow you, Jesus. from this moment forward. Be my Savior and my Lord.
Be my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie. Today here on A New Beginning we've been talking about the good news, and some have just accepted that offer of forgiveness. If you've just prayed with Pastor Gregg to accept Jesus as your Savior, Well, first of all, let us welcome you into the family of God. And second, let us send you something free of charge to help you get started. It's Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible.
It'll answer some of the questions you might have and help you build a strong foundation for your faith. And it's in an easy-to-understand translation as well.
So ask for your free New Believer's Bible as you call 1-800-821-3300. 1-800-821-3300. or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. You know, Pastor Gregg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives.
So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. That's right. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue. Yeah, it's really true, Dave. You know, and even a little bit helps.
You know, people need to hear the gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it, and I'm called to do it, and I'm thankful for it. But I can't do it alone.
So I'm going to ask folks that are listening: if you think more people need to hear the gospel. If you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the Word of God, then Preferably consider investing in harvest ministries and maybe even become a harvest partner. Which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving. And that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us.
So thanks for that. Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us any time day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.
or just go online to harvest.org. You know, reasons for worry and anxiety are all around us, but the Lord has an antidote. Pastor Greg discusses that next time as his series Faith 101 continues. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. Mm-hmm.
Is a day, the day when life begins.
