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. God has the most exciting announcement in all of human history to make. The Messiah has arrived.
The Son of God has come to our world. Who should he tell first?
Well, how about the shepherds? What? Those are the ones that God chose to come to? The shepherds were some of the least important people in that culture. Pastor Greg Laurie says that choice was intentional and meaningful.
On the first Christmas, God came to ordinary people like you and me. This is the day we... Is it that God didn't know how to stage a spectacular entrance for his Son? The God who created heaven and earth, hung the stars in the sky, and summons forth thunder and lightning? Was the heavenly event planner on vacation.
Today, Jesus was born in a humble stable. No, today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how the birth of Christ happened quietly with little fanfare. and revealed to the least likely. It was on purpose, and it speaks of our purpose. You know, it's very important to.
pay attention. In marriage in communication. Constantly talking to your spouse, listening to them as well. I actually read that 83% of marriages that ended in divorce. attributed it to deficient communication.
But you know, men and women are so different, aren't we? I mean just the way we listen, the way we hear things. For instance, a man and a wife are driving and maybe you've lost your way and the wife turns to the husband and says, let's just stop and ask for directions. And what he hears you say is, You're not a man. Or the wife says, Honey, let's spend some money and redecorate our house.
And he hears you say, let's flush a bunch of money down the toilet. Or the wife says, can I have the remote control? And what he hears you say is, let's watch something that will bore me beyond belief. And then she says to the husband, you need to get in touch with your feelings. And he hears her say, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And then she says, Are you listening to me? And he hears her say, Blah, blah, blah. You know, so there's a problem in the way that we listen to each other. You've got to pay attention.
So, some years ago, we were in Florida. I spoke there, and we're flying back to LAX. Maybe the worst airport in the world. Certainly, the worst airport in America. Have you ever been to LAX?
It's been under construction for 50 years now. I think they're reconstructing what they started constructing. I mean, is this ever going to be done? Always the backup lines, etc. Anyway, we're flying from Florida to LAX, and I don't know about you when you travel, but when I take my seat, I usually put my headphones on.
I'm in my own world, I'm listening to something, and the flight attendants go through the instructions in case of an emergency landing. Here's where your little flotation cushion is, and the little whistle that will do so much for you. And they're going telling you where the exits are, you know. And I don't pay attention, and I didn't on that flight either.
So we're an hour, maybe 45 minutes out of LEX, and we hear the announcement over the intercom you never wanna hear. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot. We're going to have to make an emergency landing. This is not a joke. We've been told that our landing gear is not going down.
So we're going to have to go through the protocols again of what to do in case of an emergency landing. And this time I listened. Because my life depended on it.
Now, the end of that story, I actually told this in the earlier service, and I didn't finish the story. People say, What happened?
Well, obviously, I survived. I'm here, right?
Well, what happened was they had to do a flyby and they could look up and see that the landing gear was coming down, but they had all the emergency vehicles down there. All the lights were on. It was something, but we landed safely. But I listened because it mattered and we need to do the same. That's why I titled this message, Jesus and the Ones Who Listen.
So the story begins with the birth of Jesus in that humble manger in Bethlehem. Bible prophecy has been fulfilled. Isaiah 9, 6, unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
It's a miracle. The infinite has come to live among us as an infant, a helpless little baby. All of the waiting is now over, and the Messiah is here. God was spelling Himself out in a language we can all understand.
So, who's going to be the first to know?
Okay, how many of you have children? Raise your hand.
Okay, do you remember when your first child was born? Who did you tell first? Probably told your parents. Maybe your siblings, your family. He told good friends, you're excited.
So, God has the most exciting announcement in all of human history to make. The Messiah has arrived. The Son of God has come to our world. Who should he tell first?
Well, how about Caesar Augustus? After all, Caesar Augustus was described as the savior of the whole world. Tell him the real Savior has come. Or how about Herod the Great? This is a man who was given the title by the Roman Senate, the King of the Jews.
Now the real King of the Jews has arrived. Or, how about the religious leaders? No, God doesn't go to Caesar or Herod or the religious leaders. This announcement is made first. to shepherds.
Now, we've romanticized the shepherds. But you have to understand where they were in the pecking order of this culture. They were at the very bottom of the barrel. Shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. But here's the thing: shepherds had a bad reputation.
They were despised in these times. It was thought that a shepherd would never tell you the truth, and that's why their testimony was not even allowed in a court of law. There, we know certain people that, well, we don't expect them to always tell us the truth. We might know those people personally. And that person always exaggerates a little bit, or sometimes they're known to outright lie.
Then there are others we don't expect are going to tell us the truth all the time, politicians. The media. Uh a used car dealer. A mechanic? A marketer, an advertiser.
We know these people don't always tell the complete truth. We have our suspicions, that's how people feel.
So let's contextualize this and update it.
So instead of saying certain shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night and an angel came with this message, we might read, certain telemarketers were out calling people late at night and the angel came. Or used car dealers were watching over their cars on the lot late at night and the angel came. Or IRS agents were auditing people one night. I mean, what? Those are the ones that God chose to come to.
But in many ways, shepherds are given a bad rap. Actually, they did the work no one else wanted to do. But work that needed to be done, they had dirt under their fingernails. Notice it says they lived out there. They lived out in the open air.
So, when they heard about the Messiah arriving, being born in a barn, effectively, that made sense to them. That's how they had their children. And that brings us to point number one. If you're taking notes, on the first Christmas, God came to ordinary people like you and me. On the first Christmas, God came to ordinary people like you and me.
I love 1 Corinthians 1.27. Which says in the King James, God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. But a modern translation puts it this way. Take a good look, friends. At who you are when you got called into this life, I don't see many of the brightest and the best among you, not many influential.
Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks? God chose these nobodies to expose the hallow pretensions of the somebodies. I love that translation. It says it all. God went out of his way to reveal himself to ordinary people.
No one was more ordinary than a shepherd, but that was the M.O. Of Jesus, wasn't it? Throughout his ministry, he always went to that outcast, Zacchaeus the tax collector. Matthew, another tax collector, the woman caught in the act of adultery, the woman at the well. The list goes on.
God came to ordinary people like you and me. 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, you've joined us for a Christmas message today from Pastor Greg. We're learning that God chose to reveal the birth of Christ to shepherds, those on the lowest rung of that culture. Let's continue.
So, what was announced to the shepherds? Let's read about it. Luke chapter 2. There were in the same country shepherds. living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said, Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For there is born unto you this day in the city of David, that would be Bethlehem, of course. A Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign to you.
You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with this angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace and goodwill toward men. And so it was when the angels had gone away. From them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let's go now to Bethlehem.
And let's see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. We'll stop there.
So the first Message of Christmas is good news. And that's we're celebrating for three reasons. Number one, it's personal. Number two, it's positive. Number three, it's universal.
First of all, it's personal. I bring you good tidings of great joy. Secondly, it's positive. It's good tidings of great joy. And thirdly, universal, which will be to all people.
So, number one, Christmas is personal. Jesus came to this earth for you. I know he came for everyone. I know God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, and whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. But listen, He came for you.
Christ died for you. I love the way the Apostle Paul personalized it and said, He loved me and He gave himself for me. David said it so beautifully in Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd. He could have said the Lord's our shepherd, and he is, isn't he? But he's my shepherd.
He's your shepherd. This is personal. Jeremiah 29, 11, God says, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
So this is a personal message to each of us. of us. That's such a beautiful thing. To realize, and there's great joy in this message as well. Tidings of great joy.
You know, Christmas can be a real letdown. It underwhelms at best, it disappoints at worst, sometimes it even devastates some people. We gather together with family. That's not always a wonderful thing though, is it? Because we have family tensions.
Who has family tensions? Raise your hand.
You know, people say, I come from a dysfunctional family. Yeah, welcome to the club. I came from a dysfunctional family. I'm the head of a dysfunctional family. But I like to put the fun in dysfunction.
But we all have tension with family members. You've got the weird uncle, the crazy cousin. Grandpa's getting lunier every year, right? He keeps wandering away and we have to redirect him again. There can be that, but then even worse than that.
There can be sadness. because maybe you've lost a loved one. And that's why many people have a lot of Depression this time of year. One article pointed out the holidays can be filled with joy, but for others they can be filled with anxiety and stress. And why?
Because that loved one who has died. Was at your table last year, and they're not there this year. And all of a sudden, that holiday time when you gather with family and friends is filled with pain and sorrow. that you're dealing with. But this is the thing we need to remember.
Jesus was not born in a manger so we could go shopping. and trim our Christmas trees. and do all the things that we do at Christmas, which can be a lot of fun. Jesus was born. That he might die and that he might rise again from the dead.
The incarnation was for the crucifixion, which was for the resurrection of Christ. And the message of it all is. we can be reunited with our loved ones again. We'll see them again if they've died in faith. That's the good tidings of great joy.
Christmas is about God sending a Savior. Not an advisor, though God will advise us. Not a mere friend, though Jesus is the greatest friend you'll ever have. Not a mere great example, though he was the ultimate example. Jesus came to save us.
There is born unto you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The angel said to Joseph, You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. We needed a savior. You know, there are times in life when you need someone to save you. Like if you're out drowning.
You need a lifeguard, not a barista.
Now, later, you might seek out that barista and have a nice cup of coffee. But if you're in a burning house, you need a firefighter to come and save you, not your dry cleaner.
So the point is, there are times we need to be saved. If you're potentially the victim of a crime, you need a police officer to step in and help you, not a telemarketer, right? Jesus came to save us. That's the effective and essential message of Christmas. And what an amazing moment this was.
In Luke 2:13, suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest.
So it's like a portal was opened up into heaven. And here are these. Shepherds. Looking up into the night sky that radiates with the light and presence of God. And heaven and earth are connected for a moment here.
And that's such a powerful thing for them to have experienced. How great that must have been. You know I think sometimes when we have those moments at Christmas, and our loved ones aren't with us, we think, I wish they were here to see this. When we were at Maui, we had that Christmas event and those crazy drones. Did you see those drones?
So they program all these drones and they create these incredible images up there and it gets so dark in Maui at night.
So it's a perfect backdrop framed by silhouetted trees, and our tree was all lit up. And then these drones up there putting a manger scene and a cross and other things. And I thought that was so amazing. And so some lady came up to me and we're watching this, and she said, I wanted to tell you something. My daughter.
Who I raised as a Christian had wandered away from her faith, and she came back to the Lord listening to you on the radio. And I said, Oh, that's fantastic. Then she said, but sadly she died two years later. I said, I'm so sorry to hear that. And then she said, I wish she could be here seeing this with us right now.
I said, I do too. But you know what? What she's seen in heaven is a lot better than what we're seeing on earth, right? We see twinkling lights. But they're in color.
We see drones. She sees the glory of God. She sees the angels of heaven. It's so much better for her. But I said, but you will see her again.
And The dad said, I wish I could believe that, but I'm Jewish. I said, She believed in Jesus. She is with Jesus. And if you trust in him, you will see her again. That's the hope of every Christian.
Right? Jesus said in John 14, I go to prepare a place for you.
So, where I am, you'll be also. And let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. If I go again, I will come again and receive you unto myself. Listen, God keeps his promises, and he sent a little reminder of how he keeps his promises. And do you know what that reminder is?
A rainbow.
So every time you see a rainbow, you should be reminded of this. Coming back to Maui again, I guess I've never really left Maui yet, but. I got up one morning and I saw the most beautiful rainbow, so I pulled up my phone and I took a picture. And I looked at this photo and I thought, why can't you take pictures? of rainbows.
Now I'm sure some photographers out there could say, well Greg, you need this filter and then you go into post-production and okay I'm sure that's all true, but I'm just saying when I take pictures of rainbows, all of my rainbow photos are weak. And I have a whole grouping of them. None of them measured up to what I actually saw. And then it occurred to me: maybe rainbows are not meant to be captured. Maybe rainbows are meant to be experienced.
And then the same way, Christmas is loaded with so many memories from the past and new memories that you create. And you try to capture those and try to remember them. But I found that Some of the greatest moments of Christmas are the in-between moments. You know, we get all excited about. Giving the present.
We know they're gonna love this present, and we give it to them, and we see the look of disappointment on their face. Those moments sometimes are a letdown, or you don't get what you wanted to get for Christmas. Maybe those in-between moments are more significant. It's not the meal. It's maybe preparing the meal with your family.
Maybe it's not the opening of the present, but just wrapping them and getting everything ready. Savor those in-between moments. They're like rainbows. Remember them. Christmas is personal.
Uh Pastor Greg Laurie with some practical insights today based on the story of the Lord's birth. And there is more to come here on a new beginning, as this message continues. But it's important to remember the reason Jesus came. He came to save us from our sins. He came to give His life to save our lives.
Have you ever come to Him to ask Him to be your Saviour? Are you sure where you'll spend eternity? Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person listening who's not sure of those things? Yes, I think they need to make this commitment to Christ. Here's what the Bible says: Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
So you need to reach out to God. Not just think about it, not just say, one of these days I would like to, just do it. In fact, you can do it right now. You say, well, how do I call out to the name of the Lord? You do it through prayer.
God is just a prayer away. He desires a relationship with you. He wants you to know him. He wants to reveal himself to you.
So you just need to call out and say, Lord. Save me and help me. How about if I lead you in a prayer? And you could pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like.
You can pray it quietly in your heart, but. Direct this prayer toward God and you could pray it after me right now. You ready? Pray this after me, Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner.
But I know that you are the Saviour, and I want a relationship with you, so as your word says, I am calling on the name of the Lord. I'm asking you to save me from my sin. And I'm asking that we begin a new relationship today. Thank you for loving me and sending your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and then raising him from the dead. I now put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
And I ask this In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Gregg and you've meant those words sincerely, let us be the first to welcome you into the family of God. And we want to help you get started off right in this new daily walk with the Lord.
Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believers Bible. It's a special edition of God's Word for those who are new to the faith, with scores of helps for new believers written by Pastor Greg.
So get in touch and ask for the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it to you free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God.
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. Or 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.
Well next time, more from Pastor Greg's Christmas message called Jesus and the Ones Who Listen. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lorry. This is the day, the day when life begins.
