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. Listen to this. If you want to win some to Christ, be winsome.
Let me put it another way, just be a nice person. Be a caring person. Be a compassionate person. If we want to attract people to Christ, we can't repel them with our manner. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us consider how to share our faith more effectively.
The objective is not to win the argument, it's to win the soul. Don't come off as a know-it-all. Be winsome. This is the day we This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace can squeeze the sound.
But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day the day when I begin. In scholastic debates, they keep score. It's a competition, and each side wants to win big. All too often, believers think sharing their faith is some kind of competitive debate.
If they can score enough points, they win, and the other person automatically comes to Christ. But that approach can suddenly end the conversation and even end the friendship. Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how we're to win souls, not debates. Good encouragement coming today. The title of my message is.
Evangelism Jesus style. And here before us in John chapter 4 is a perfect illustration of that. We have Jesus engaging. A lady, we don't know her name, but we call her the woman at the well. She was married and divorced five times and was living with a man.
She reminds me a lot of my mother. Exactly my mom was married and divorced seven times.
Okay, she had two more on the woman at the well. But here is a woman. Who obviously was trying to fill a void in her life with a man? Oh, if I meet the right man. I will find fulfillment.
And Jesus used this as a metaphor. Telling her, if she drinks of this water, she'll thirst again.
So let's read it, John 4, verse 3. Jesus left Judea, departed again to Galilee, but he needed to go through Samaria.
So he came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, weary from his journey, sat by the well. It was about the sixth hour. That's 12 o'clock noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said, give me a drink. For its disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said, How is it that you, being a Jew, would ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her and said, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.
Stop there. You're taking notes, here's point number one. If you want to share the gospel Jesus style, Sharing starts with caring. People can tell when you care. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Normally, the Jews and the Samaritans had nothing to do with each other. There was this huge barrier between them. They didn't communicate. And she even brings that up to Jesus. Why are you even talking to me?
Don't you know we don't talk to each other? We have nothing to do with each other. But Jesus left his comfort zone and went to someone with the gospel, and we need to do the same. Think of the story of Jonah. God came to Jonah.
And said, I want you to go preach to Nineveh.
Now, the Ninevites were extremely wicked, evil, horrible people. And Jonah said, no way. Because his fear was they would repent and God would spare them, and he would prefer it if God judged them.
So he said no, and he got in a boat going the opposite direction. You know the rest of the story. Great storm came. And Jonah was thrown overboard, and he was swallowed by a whale or a great fish, we don't know which, but. And there in the belly of the whale of the fish, he repented.
So God said, go. Jonah said, no. God said, Oh? God will always have the last word. But Jonah didn't want to go.
You might say he was the original chicken of the sea. But One of these situations came to me. I told you my mom was married and divorced seven times.
So she married this one man. His name was Bill. He was her last husband before she died. Bill and I never really had a close relationship. And he was dismissive of my faith.
And so after I moved out, and some years had passed, and my mother had passed.
Someone called me and said, Bill is really sick. He's in hospice care. He might not even make it to the night. Maybe you should go talk to him about the Lord. That's the last thing I wanted to do.
I didn't want to talk to him. because I didn't really like the guy all that much. And I thought, oh, I was on my way to go speak at a conference, and I said, I'll tell you what, maybe I'll go when I get back from the conference. And I'm on my way to the airport, and the Lord speaks to me as clear as day and says, You go see Bill right now.
So I did a U-turn, I went over to the house. There were My mom lived. used to live and there's Bill and obviously not long for this world. And my heart just changed. I thought, look at this guy.
I said, Bill, I know I've talked to you many times about Jesus Christ, and I want to just ask you, because you are ready to face eternity. Do you want to ask Christ to come into your life? He said, yes.
So I prayed with him. And then afterwards, I was so glad I went. I caught my flight, landed. Moment I landed, pulled out my phone, got a text, Bill just died. See, the Lord will prompt you to engage people with the gospel because they have a divine appointment.
Don't miss those divine appointments.
Well, I'm not comfortable.
Well, I don't really like them. I don't really want to talk to them. It's not about you. It's about a lost soul that's loved by the Lord. And so We need to go to where people are and start with that burden.
Number two, if you want to evangelize Jesus style, you need to use tact. Tapped. Tact has been defined as the intuitive Knowledge of seeing the right thing at the right time. Isaac Newton said, quote, tact is the ability to make a point without making an enemy.
So Jesus begins a dialogue with this woman. And This is what I would tell you about one-on-one evangelism. It's a dialogue, not a monologue. Right now, this is a monologue. I'm just basically talking, and some of you are wishing it would end soon, but.
You know, it's a monologue. But when I engage people in personal evangelism, it's a dialogue. I listen to them. I ask them questions. I want to know more about them.
Listen to this. If you want. To win some, be winsome. If you want to win some to Christ, be winsome. Let me put it another way, just be a nice person.
Be a caring person. Be a compassionate person. Listen to what a person has to say. That's what Jesus is doing. He engages her.
Hey, could I have a drink of water? Why would you, would you ask for a drink of water from me, a Samaritan? Don't you know we have nothing to do with each other? Hey, you know what? If you knew who you were talking to, you would ask him and he would give you living water.
Living water. Where are you going to get this living water? Are you greater than our distant relative Jacob? This is his will. And on this conversation goes, and they continue on.
And this is a great way to engage people. Years ago, I caught an Uber. and I'm driving along the road. It's actually in Hawaii. And there were these what they call ghost bikes on the side of the road.
A ghost bike is a bike that was painted white to commemorate someone who died in a road bike accident on the road and there were quite a few along this road. And we're looking at the ghost spikes, and I started talking to my cab driver, whose name was Tom. And I said, wow, look at all these ghost bikes. He goes, yeah, man, people die in this road all the time.
So I said, Tom, what do you think happens after we die? And Tom, the Uber driver, gave me his philosophy. And I certainly didn't agree with it.
Well, I think when you die, you... Come back and you're reincarnated in another form. And he just went on: I didn't contradict him, I didn't interrupt them, I just listened. And after Tom. The philosophical Uber driver was done.
He asked me, well, what do you think happens when you die? I said, well, Tom, I believe that if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, You go into heaven, and I began to talk about the hope of heaven. After a few moments passed, Tom says, I like your version of the afterlife better than mine. I said, well, it's not mine, Tom. These are the words of Jesus, but you see, I listen to Tom, and that's the thing.
You listen respectfully to what a person says. Let them air their ideas out, and then you can appropriately bring the message of the gospel to them. Jesus is so tactful with this woman. He actually asks her for a favor. Could I have a drink of water?
Here's the problem.
Sometimes, you know, we can be armed to the teeth with all the information, and we can barrage a person and blow them out of the water. Listen, the objective is not to win the argument, it's to win the soul. Don't come off as a know-it-all. Well, I know so much. Yeah, but just chill a little bit.
Again, learn how to be a good listener. Listen to this, it's been said. Success builds walls But failure builds bridges. See, when I tell you my wonderful, exciting, successful life, you think, well, that's nice for you. I can't relate.
But when I share my vulnerabilities, my weaknesses, my struggles, You say, oh wow, he's just like me, right?
So when you don't come off as a know-it-all and you start to engage a person, that's very important.
Okay. 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 Cash of 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 presenting some practical principles to help us share our faith more effectively. Insights offered at an evangelism conference in Spokane, Washington. And here's another thing. If you want to evangelize Jesus style, Don't deal with everyone in the same way. Everyone is different.
Notice how Jesus adapted to each person he spoke to. In John chapter 3, it's Jesus and the religious dude named Nicodemus. who came to Jesus at night.
So it was literally nick at night. I have a lot of dated references. Young people are like, I don't know what nick at night means. What are you talking about? Anyway.
So Nicodemus was this Renowned religious leader who was supposed to know all the answers. And he comes and asks questions of Jesus, and Christ actually says, You are the teacher in Israel and you don't know these things? But then Jesus gently but firmly tells Nicodemus, the religious man, you need to be born again. After John 3 is John 4. Here's the woman at the well.
So we go from this moral religious guy to this very immoral Sinful woman. And he adapts to that. And then we see him with a woman caught in the act of adultery. And then we see him with Zacchaeus, the tax collector. And we see him with all these people.
And he dealt with everyone differently. Don't be robotic in your evangelism. Learn to engage. As I've said, learn to listen because everyone is different. Paul said it this way: become all things to all men that you may.
Win them over. That brings me to a really important point now. Jesus engages her. and confronts her with her sin. And sometimes we're afraid to do this.
We want to say, God loves you. God has a plan for your life. God wants to change you. It'll be so wonderful. And then you say, well, what if I don't want your God?
What if I don't want to go to heaven? What if I reject Jesus? What happens to me then? Um Do you like warm climates? Wait, hold on.
You got to give them the whole counsel of God. Holy council of God is if you believe in Jesus, he'll forgive you of your sins and you'll go to heaven. If you reject Jesus Christ, you will face a certain judgment and a place called hell. Oh, I can't say hell. Oh, you better say it.
Because it's the truth. That's the gospel truth. See, the word gospel means good news, and the only way I can fully appreciate the good news is to first understand the bad news. And I am a sinner. Hopelessly separated from a holy God that I have offended, a God.
who set standards that I have Miserably fallen short of, but that's where Jesus comes in. He was more than a good man, he was the God man who came to heaven on a rescue operation and died for the sins of the world and rose again from the dead.
Now he stands at the human heart and he knocks and says, If we'll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in.
So the woman's still kind of blown off, Jesus. Oh, yeah, well, whatever. Can you, you know, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob? And he goes, why don't you go ask your husband? Shoot.
And he says, You don't have a husband. You're living with some guy right now. Whoa. How'd you know that? He confronted her with her sin.
Not to destroy her, but to show her her need for God. And she believes right there on the spot.
Well, we've heard that. You know, when Messiah comes, he'll know all things. Lose paraphrase, Jesus says, you're talking to him, girl. And right there on the spot, she believes. You know how long it takes to convert?
It doesn't take years. It doesn't take months. It doesn't even take hours. It can happen just like that. All of a sudden, think about your own life.
All of a sudden, the lights went on. That's what happened for me. Non-believer, non-believer, non-believer. Just a moment, boom, I'm a believer. All of a sudden, I believe, I see it, my eyes were opened spiritually.
This happened to the woman. And she believes on the spot. And she goes into town and shares her story. Look at. John 4, 28, the woman left her water pot.
Went into the city and said to the men, Come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? That brings me to my final point. One of the most effective ways you can share the gospel is through your personal testimony. Everybody has a testimony.
Your personal story. We read of those courageous believers in the book of Revelation that overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.
Now granted, some testimonies are more dramatic than others. I've heard some crazy ones, amazing ones. I mean, Lee Strobel. You know, legal editor. at the Chicago Tribune, full-on atheist.
comes to Christ. I have another friend, his name is Michael Franzes. He was in the Colombo crime family. A maiden man, a good fella. And he was being groomed to become the next Don or Godfather of his family.
And he was arrested and sent to prison, and he wouldn't rat out any of his friends, so they threw him into solitary confinement. And while he was in solitary confinement, some guard took pity on Michael and said, Here, you need to start reading this, and gave Michael the Bible. Michael starts reading the Bible, first time in his life. He reads about Jesus, and the whole thing in the mafia was: be a man. You know, remember that scene in the Godfather when Peto Corleone slaps the guy that comes into his office, he says, be a man, right?
Be a man, and all of a sudden it dawned on Michael Frenzies. The maid man, the mafia guy. That Jesus was the greatest man who ever lived, but more than a man, he was God. And Michael gave his life to Christ. And then someone gave him a radio, and he used to listen to me on the radio.
So after he got out of prison, he served his time.
Someone said there's this guy named Michael Franzes that was in the mafia and he wants to meet you. My response was: Did he use the word whacked at any moment in? I don't want to be whacked. I don't want to sleep with the fishes. And I was suspicious.
I thought, this isn't real. This guy was never in the mafia, but I found out he was. And I met him, and he's a good friend of mine, a genuine follower of Christ. But listen, Not everyone was in the mafia. Not everybody was an atheist.
Maybe you were just living a nice moral life. But you needed Jesus too, didn't you? That's a testimony. See, someone may not relate to the hardcore gangbang testimony or the drug addict testimony or the alcoholic testimony, but they'll relate to you because you would say, I was living a good life. I tried to be a moral person.
I reached all of the goals I set in life, but there was something missing, and I realized I needed Jesus. That's a testimony. That'll preach. Let me tell you your testimony. Here it is.
Once you were blind, but now you see. That's it. It's the same for everyone.
So, when you share your testimony, this is a way to build. A bridge. In fact, we read in John 4:39, many of the Samaritans of the city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified.
So here are some tips in sharing your story. Don't glorify or exaggerate the past.
Sometimes I've heard people share their testimony, and their past sounds more interesting than their present. They talk about their life before Christ. Yeah, I was, before I was a Christian, I was out partying and doing all these things. And it was amazing. And we did all this stuff.
And then I came to Jesus. And all of a sudden, they start talking weird. I came to Jesus. And I carry the old rugged cross. I mean, he got it all wrong.
You're making your past sound better than your present. Paul summed it up so perfectly when he said, Over in Philippians 3. All those things I thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ as my master, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant. Dog dung, as one translation puts it.
I've dumped it in the trash so I can embrace Christ and be embraced by him. He said, my old life, the word he uses is excrement. Rubbish is one translation that's very British. It is all rubbish actually. But I like this translation: dog dunk.
How many of you have dogs?
Okay, you take your dog out for a walk. Really, when you think about a dog, who is the master here? I think the dog may be. I'm walking around picking up after him. to take him home and feed him.
so he can sleep all day while I go to work. And now it's even gotten worse. People are pushing dogs and strollers. It's weird. Pushing a dog in a stroller.
And putting them away in your Prius. You know you do it. But Paul says, Here's my own life. It's like dog dung. No, that's this bad illustration, but.
Let's say you clean up after your dog. Please clean up after your dog.
Some people don't do it. And I've stepped in it.
So you have your little bag.
Now, do you carry your bag around with you for the rest of the day? Hey, look at what my dog did. Like, get that away from me. That's gross throwing in the trash. That's your old life Quit boasting about it.
You were empty, you were lonely, you were guilty, and you were headed to hell. And Christ saved you from your sin, so don't glorify your past. Leave it in the past. But it's a good story. Because it gives you an ability to relate to a person.
So when I engage a person with the gospel, I don't say, let's turn in our Bibles to John 3. and pull out a little pulpit, you know, in wheels. I'm in the market pushing the pulpit around here today. Get the bread, have the pulpit? No.
I'll start talking to a person. Hey, hi, how are you? Where are you from? What do you do? Talk about this, talk about that.
And I'm looking for an opening, looking for an opportunity, and I'll usually start with my testimony. Let me tell you about what my life was about before. And I describe it and I use my story. to lead to his story.
So don't boast about what you gave up for Christ. boast about what he gave up. for you. Yeah. Good encouragement from Pastor Greg Laurie on how to share our faith by sharing our testimony.
And there's more to come here on a new beginning in the message called Evangelism Jesus Style. You know, Pastor Greg, you talked about sharing Christ today. Maybe someone listening is ready to come to the Lord. They want to start a new life and have their sins forgiven. What would you say to that person?
I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, it doesn't take years to become a Christian, it doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with...
You saying to God, I know I'm a sinner, but I know that you You love me? I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins, and then to rise again from the dead. And I want him to come into my life.
So here's my question to you: Have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on the cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now, and he's knocking and he's saying, If you'll hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now?
If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me? You could pray it out loud. You can pray it in the quietness of your own heart. But pray this prayer. to God.
Say, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Saviour. who died on the cross for my sin, and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin, and I turn from it now. and I choose to follow you.
From this moment forward, I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says if we will confess our sin, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So. God bless you. You've made the right decision. The decision to follow Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's right.
And listen, as you begin to live this new life, we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It's Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible. It's an easy-to-understand translation, plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps, especially for those who are new to the faith. It'll answer the questions you may have.
So get in touch for the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it to you free of any charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write a new beginning box 4000.
Riverside, California, 92514, or go online to harvest.org and click on Know God. Hey everybody, you can watch our Sunday services on a special broadcast that we call Harvest at Home. It's streaming on the Harvest Plus platform.
So download that app right away, Harvest Plus, and you can enjoy being a part of our extended church family every Sunday.
Well, next time, more insights on evangelism from Pastor Greich's presentation at an evangelism conference in Spokane, Washington. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lori.
