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 Bible tells us that heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to repentance, just one. If we don't get excited when a lost person comes to Jesus, we need to ask God to change our heart.
Spurgeon said, Winners of souls must first be weepers of souls. Pastor Greg Laurie says we need to be brokenhearted over the lost.
Sometimes we're thinking too much about ourselves and we're not thinking about those people that don't know the Lord. Listen, God cares about lost people, and so should we. This is the day we. When the lost are found, this is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace has squeezed the sound.
But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when I begin. How many prodigals does the Bible tell us about?
Well, most Bible students would say one. Pastor Greg Laurie has pointed out before that the prodigal son had an older brother who could also be considered a prodigal.
So, too? Would you believe there may be three prodigals in the Bible? Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that Jonah could be considered the prodigal prophet. But when he turned his life around, he helped an entire city turn around and come to God. How many of you believe that the Bible is inspired by God?
Raise your hand up, okay? I believe it too. I believe the scripture is inspired by God for many reasons. I believe that The Bible is given to us from God because it is the one book that dares to predict the future. Not once, not twice, but hundreds of times with 100% accuracy.
I believe the Bible is the word of God. Because everything it has promised to me, I have found to be true. And I believe the Bible is the word of God because there's a Jonah chapter 4. Because if I was Jonah. And I was writing my own story almost.
Scholars believe Jonah wrote the book of Jonah. I would definitely not have put in chapter 4. The book would have ended on chapter three. Epic ending. Thousands of people believe, probably upwards of a million, in a great revival.
Thank you very much. Good night. God bless. Drop the mic. Exit stage.
But no? We have Jonah chapter 4. And to Jonah's credit, he wrote it. He literally throws himself under the bus in chapter four. And shows How ridiculous he was after this revival happened.
So I know. This is an inspired book because why else would a story like this be in it? Jonah 4, verse 1.
Now, remember to the backdrop: all these people have believed. It's a spiritual awakening, it's amazing. And this is what Jonah does. This change of plans upset Jonah and he became very angry. And he complained to the Lord about it, saying, didn't I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord?
That's why I ran away to Tarshis, because I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people.
So just kill me now, Lord. I'd rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen. Here is a guy who survived three days and three nights in a fish's stomach, a man who repents and prays and preaches the truth, and the people of Nineveh come to believe. And now look at the condition he is in at this point. He was in a state of spiritual failure.
And he was hoping to be entertained. You know, he predicted Nineveh would be judged. Pulled up a ringside seat. Got out some milk duds and popcorn. I'm going to just sit here and watch the judgment of God fall on the city.
But things did not go as planned. Look at Jonah 4, verse 5. Jonah went to the east side of the city, made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see if anything would happen to the city. And the Lord arranged for a leafy plant to grow there. And soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun and eve some of the discomfort.
And Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
Okay, here comes the worm, ready for it. But God also prepared a worm the next morning at dawn. And the worm ate the stem of the plant.
so that it soon died and withered away. Jonah and the worm.
So here's Jonah waiting for the judgment to fall. And it doesn't fall. Instead, mercy falls. And this reminds us that people that are more concerned with their comfort than the souls of lost people. You know, you can be in church, but the Bible's not alive to you anymore.
When you come to church, you expect everyone to cater to you, to wait on you. It's all about you. You can't remember the last time you've shared your faith with someone. You're more interested in being comfortable than you are in being available to God. And you're sort of like the older brother in the prodigal son story.
You know, a lot of times they say the parable of the prodigal son. And by the way, the Bible never calls it that. That's just what we call it. But really, if you wanted to be real technical, you could call it the parable of the prodigal sons. Plural.
There's two sons in the story. a younger brother and an older brother. The younger brother goes to a far country, King James puts it that way. and lives a wicked life. And then he comes to his senses and returns home, but he ruined everything, lost his fortune, was drinking, carousing with prostitutes, and all the rest.
And so he was a prodigal. That's the one we think about the most. But then there was an older brother who never left home at all, but he had become hardened and jealous and angry. And so The part of the story we know Is while the prodigal was still a great distance off, the father saw him, right? Rose up, ran to the son, threw his arms around him, hugged him and kissed him, and said, This, my son, who was dead, is alive again.
He who was lost is found. And he put a ring in his finger. And he said, let's have a party. Kill the fatted calf. Update.
Let's have barbecue. Let's have a great time. Let's celebrate.
Okay, that's. The prodigal. Coming home prodigal number one. Here's prodigal number two, Luke chapter 15. Verse 28.
The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk. and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief. You've never thrown a party for me and my friends.
Then, this son of yours, who's thrown away your money on prostitutes, shows up and you go all out with a feast. His father said, Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time. Everything that is mine is yours, but this is a wonderful time. We had to celebrate.
This brother of yours was dead and he's alive. He was lost and he's found. Why did Jesus tell this story? Because Jesus was reaching out to sinful people. And he was changing their lives.
And meanwhile, the Pharisees were saying, you shouldn't hang around with people like that. You know, that's wrong to even talk to people like that. Jesus says, let me tell you a story. See if you can find yourself in the story. These sinners They're like the prodigal number one.
The older brother? That's you guys. At you guys sitting around splitting hairs, you guys being so hypercritical, you guys that can't even remember the last time you reached out to help anyone but yourself, you're like the older brother, and you're as much of a prodigal than the other boy is. In fact, I'd take it a step further. Maybe you're in a worse state than he was in.
Because at least prodigal son number one knew he blew it and he came to his senses and he repented. The problem with prodigal son number two, the older brother, was he thought he had it all together when in reality he was far from his father's heart. And so that is Jonah. He's just thinking, man, it's just horrible that these people weren't judged. And so he's upset.
God spared thousands of lives and Jonah is crying. Because his tree's gone.
Now, what is the deal with this worm? How does a worm eat through the root of a tree? That must have been a gnarly worm. Maybe the biggest worm you've ever seen, like super worm or something, right?
So, what's he upset about? He's upset. about the fact that he's lost his temporary Comfort. He's lost his eternal perspective. And this is a very sad thing.
And you know, if we don't get excited when a lost person comes to Jesus. We need to ask God to change our heart. Because the Bible tells us that heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to repentance, just one. And I think sometimes we're thinking too much about ourselves and we're not thinking about those people that don't know the Lord. Listen, God cares about lost people, and so should we.
Want to hear an amazing statistic? Between 80 to 90 percent of the people who've had the gospel shared with them. Heard it from people who had known the Lord for two years or less. Do you hear that? 80 to 90 percent of people who have had the gospel shared with them.
heard it from a person who had been a believer. For Two years or less.
So kudos to new believers. Credit goes to them for getting out there and sharing their faith. But what about the others that have known the Lord much longer? Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Uh We really enjoy hearing when Pastor Greg's teaching and preaching touches lives.
I wanted to call it and share if there has been, in the last six months, I found Pastor Greg's messages very helpful. But one time, I guess it was about 4:30 in the morning, and I was going through, guess what you'd say, a breakup, and I kind of prayed out loud. I said, Lord, I feel abandoned. And I then had turned on the radio. And my time is when Pastor Greg's message comes on, and then he was talking about how God does not abandon us.
And it was just really comforting, really helpful to listen to that message, found hope in that. And I was actually able to pass it on to a number of other people who were also going through some difficult transitions.
So I just wanted to share that. Thank you so much. If you have a story to share, why not call us and give us all the details? Here's the number: 1-866-871-1144. Again, that's 866-871-1144.
Well, we're presenting a series of most requested messages here on A New Beginning. As we rejoin Jonah's story in chapter four, he's sitting there upset that God took mercy on those he despised in Nineveh. And he gets more upset when God sent a worm. a worm to damage the tree that had been providing him shade. Here's Pastor Gregg.
Now we got to give Jonah credit because I feel like you know we're kind of beating up on him a little bit But let's remember he wrote Jonah chapter 4 And he even gives God the last word. I love this. Jonah 4:10. Then the Lord said, You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there, and the plant is only a best, short-lived. But Nineveh is more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention animals.
Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a city?
So he says, and the Lord said this to me. Wow, thank you, Jonah. He showed us how great God is. And he shows us also how weak he was. But he was honest about his shortcomings.
You know, we all may have a Nineveh, we're called to. As I mentioned before, our Nineveh Is that place we don't want to go? And it's filled with people we don't want to talk to. And it's a message we don't want to share. And you can probably think of a Nineveh.
And by Nineveh, I just mean a person you don't ever want to have this conversation with. And sometimes the hardest people to reach are your own family, aren't they? Because you know how awkward it is to talk with your mom or your dad about this because they think they know everything, don't they? And you're their kid. You know how hard it is to have that conversation with your husband or your wife or sometimes your children.
who maybe are teenagers and they're pushing back now and they don't want to hear it. They're not, you know. Wanting to hear another Bible story, like when they were little kids, they're like, please, not another Bible story. Don't preach to me. You know how hard it is to share it with a sibling, a brother, or a sister that does not embrace your faith.
You know how difficult it is to talk with certain people and so it's a Nineveh. And the Lord might just say, go have that conversation, and your reaction is. No. But I'm just saying to you, when the Lord prompts you, go for it, man. Go for it.
Because Jonah did in a revival. Broke out. and thousands of lives or change. Would you be that person? That would take that little step of faith because if you will be, God will use you.
beyond your wildest dreams. Let me close with this Maybe you're like Jonah, sort of running from God. I talked about two prodigals. And the story Jesus told prodigal number one. Just said I don't need My father, I don't need his rules.
I don't need this life. I'm going to go live life the way I want to live. And he chased after all the stuff that people still chase after today. And he saw how empty it was and miserable it was. And he came back to his father and he was forgiven.
Maybe that's you. Maybe you're raised in a Christian home and you've heard these things ever since you've been a little kid and you're saying, I don't want that. I'm going to go live my own life and do what I want to do. And now you've sort of faced the consequences of that. You've seen the emptiness of that.
And maybe you need to come. back to the Lord, or come to the Lord perhaps for the first time. But then you might be like the older brother. Oh, yes, well, I know all this stuff, and I'm at church all the time, and I'm so awesome, and I'm so wonderful. And everyone's wrong and I'm right.
And you have this pharasitical attitude. And your heart's kind of hard against God.
Okay. Maybe you need to repent. And come to the Lord or come back to the Lord. I don't know. But I know whatever your need is.
The theme of the book of Jonah is God gives second chances. Isn't that great to know? God gives second chances. Is there someone here tonight that needs a second chance? You can make this commitment or recommitment to follow Jesus Christ wherever you are.
whoever you are. God will give you a second chance. You see, I mentioned earlier God chastened Jonah. gave him a swat if you will because he was a son He wasn't. Getting back at Jonah.
You know, sometimes we think, oh, God wants to get back at us. No, actually. God took all of his wrath and fury. And if you want to use that phrase. He got back at you.
By putting it on Jesus. Let me say it another way: the consequences of sin that you should have faced were put on Jesus, who never did anything to deserve it. And that's what we mean when we say Christ died for you. You say, so what? Christ died, he died for you.
He bled and died on the cross for you. He was crucified for you. It was for a purpose. He wasn't crucified for his sins because he didn't have any. He was crucified for your sins and for my sin because we have a lot.
So, because of that, if I believe in Jesus, I can be forgiven instantaneously of any sin I've ever committed. I mean, think about that. Think about all the crazy stuff you've done. Think about all the evil things you've thought. And I don't mean you, I'm pointing the finger at you, I've got three pointed back at me, see?
Think of all the things we've done to deserve the judgment of God. But yet he poured it on Jesus so we don't have to face the consequences of our sin. And Jesus died there in our place, and he rose again from the dead three days later. And now he's ready to come into our life. If you will ask him in, he stands at the door of your life and knocks.
And he says, if you hear his voice and open the door, He will come in. This is a relationship with God. And if you don't have this relationship with God, it can start right here, right now. In a moment, I'm going to pray. And I'm going to extend an invitation for you to believe in Jesus.
If you've not asked him into your life yet, do it right now. As we pray, let's all bow our heads, everybody praying. Father, I pray that. You will speak to the heart of any person here who does not yet know you. Help them, Lord, to see their need for you.
Help them to turn from their sin. And put their faith in Jesus Christ so they can have the hope that they'll go to heaven when they die. and they can find the meaning and purpose in life. that you have for them. We ask this in your name.
Amen. Yeah. Pastor Greg Laurie. Praying an important prayer with those who want to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord. And if you'd like to do that, you'd like to make a change today, Pastor Gregg will return in a moment to help you, before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes.
And at the very end of the program, Pastor Greg has something special planned, so stay tuned. Are you receiving Pastor Gregg's daily devotions? They're a great way to start your day with extra insight and inspiration. Sign up for his devotions today at harvest.org.
Well, Pastor Gregg, if somebody listening right now knows they need to ask the Lord to forgive them of their sins, Could you help them with that right now? You know what, Dave? I'd love to do that. It's an amazing thing to me that over the years, I've heard so many stories of people who have come to know Christ listening to this broadcast. And they'll say things like, I prayed the prayer with you at the end of the program.
One guy wrote me and said, I pulled my car over to the side of the road and prayed that prayer, and Christ came into my life. Just incredible. And I'd like to lead you in that same prayer. Look, I don't have some super special prayer. It's just a basic prayer based on scriptural principles of what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.
I mean, if we want to get real technical, the only sinner's prayer, if you will, and we often call this prayer a sinner's prayer, the only real sinner's prayer in the Bible is a guy who just prayed, God be merciful to me, a sinner.
So, I'm going to lead you in a prayer similar to that, but this is a prayer where you will be acknowledging your need for Jesus and putting your faith in Him.
So, listen. If you want to go to heaven when you die, If you want to know that you are a child of God, If you want the Lord to forgive you of your sins, Just pray this prayer with me. You might even pray it out loud. You can repeat it after me if you like. Just pray these words if you would.
Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner. And I'm sorry for my sin, and I turn from that sin. But I know that you died on the cross of Calvary. For my sin, and rose again from the dead, so forgive me, Lord. I choose to follow you from this moment forward.
I want you to be my Saviour. I want you to be my friend. I want you to be my God. Thank you for hearing my prayer. in answering my prayer.
In Jesus' name, I ask this. Amen. Now, I want to help you start growing spiritually.
So, I have something to send you at no charge. It's my gift to you. It's called the New Believers Bible.
So, the New Believers Bible is the New Testament in the New Living Translation with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you are making to follow Christ. There's some other materials included as well in what we call the New Believers Growth Pact. But let me get this New Believer's Bible into your hands as quickly as possible. Here's Dave to tell you more. Yeah, you can get that New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300.
We're here 24-7 to take your call. That's 1-800-821-3300. or just go online to harvest.org and click No God. And then let us say a word of thanks to those who support us financially. Those who make it possible for us to bring you these studies each day.
We are definitely a listener-supported ministry. It's the generosity of listeners that help us be here with these programs.
So if you've partnered with us, thank you. And if you have yet to partner with us, well I hope you'll get in touch today and let us know that you're standing with us. Even a small investment would help. It's actually an investment in changing lives. Thank you for partnering with us.
You can donate securely online at harvest.org. or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again, that's 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, as we continue our series of best of messages, Pastor Gregg returns to the story of Jonah to give us some important insight on evangelism. But before we go, having looked at the life of Jonah, the prodigal prophet. Pastor Gregg asked his son Jonathan to share a few words about his experience living as a prodigal before coming back to the Lord and now serving as a pastor at Pastor Gregg's home church. Here's Pastor Jonathan Laurie. If you're like me and you're born and raised in the church, and you know Bible stories, you know that there's a God in heaven that loves you, and if you're like me, where you even believe.
That Jesus Christ is who he said he is. But not enough to stop living the way that you're living. But not enough to stop living for yourself, living selfishly. then you know, just like I did, that that is a miserable place to be. You see, I had too much of the church to be happy in the world, and too much of the world to be happy in the church.
I'd be out at church on Sunday night, and I'd be driving home smoking a bowl in my car on the way home. My heart was so calloused and so hardened that I was able to just shut it out. But then the Lord would still have those moments where He'd speak to me with that still small voice. I'd be sitting in the front row watching people come to Christ, thinking in my head, I need to do that. I need to do that.
But because of my pride, I wouldn't do that. Oh, what a, I'm going to stand up and. Everyone's going to know that you know I'm living this double life. I was so afraid of what people thought, and so I found myself just. becoming more and more isolated, more and more depressed.
I didn't want to tell my Christian friends about what I was doing the night before. I didn't want to tell my non-Christian friends what I was doing that next morning. And I found myself just becoming. more and more isolated, more and more depressed. I talked with Christopher about that.
Christopher, my older brother, he had lived a pretty crazy life and he shared a little bit with me as I grew up. But one day we really had a heart to heart, and it was after I was arrested for possession of marijuana. He shared with me how he had gone through a similar lifestyle of addiction and drug abuse and partying, and how it was just empty. At this point in Christopher's life, he was married. He had a little girl, another little girl on the way.
And um He was He was living it out. He was really walking with the Lord. And he was able to speak to me with first-hand experience, telling me what you're looking for, you're not going to find. And he was right, and I knew that. But I didn't know how to get there.
And I was trying to do it on my own, and I just wasn't willing to take those practical steps. And ultimately It was about a week later that Christopher was killed in that car accident. And when I heard he had gone to be with the Lord, I knew that I wanted to have that hope of seeing Christopher again in heaven. Christopher had asked me, what's it gonna take for you to give your life to Christ? And when I heard that he had gone to be with the Lord, that question popped back in my head.
And that's when I committed my life to Christ. That was July 24th, 2008. And I'll tell you right now, and I know that many others would, if you can do it for me, he can do it for you. This is the day, the day when life begins.
