For America's 250th birthday, Greg Laurie recommends a great film about the man behind the spiritual awakening of our nation. Just as surely as George Washington is our founding father, George Whitfield is our spiritual founding father. Two Georges played a role in founding the United States.
So find out more about George Whitfield in this film that's called A Great Awakening, and we'll send it to you for your gift of any size. Available on DVD at harvest.org. When we make ourselves available to God, Pastor Greg Laurie points out today on a new beginning. that God will make his power and direction available to us. God is looking for people to show himself strong on behalf of.
He's looking for someone, well, like you. Who will actually say, use me, Lord. I'll go where you want me to go. I'll say what you want me to say. Listen, will you be that person?
If so, a wonderful adventure awaits you. This is the day. When the lost are found, this is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace has pleased us town. But can you give all the angels a singing?
This is the day, the day when I begin. Evangelism is at the heart of Pastor Greg Laurie's ministry. From his radio broadcast, a new beginning, to his television program, to his large harvest evangelistic events, the gospel is always a central component. Our mission statement is knowing him and making him known. And today, from Pastor Greg's new series called Refresh, we dig deep into some principles for effective personal evangelism.
by learning from the most successful evangelistic outreach in history.
Okay, let's go back in time a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. A very young Greg Laurie, age 17. Came to believe in Jesus Christ.
So I started going to church. I started reading the Bible for the first time, I might add. And I heard the pastor say, you need to go out and tell other people about Jesus Christ. And I did want to tell people what God had done for me. My life had been transformed.
I found the answers that I and my generation were searching for, but I did not want to walk up to a total stranger. There was a fear of rejection. They might ask me a question I don't have the answer to, but I got a little booklet. Called The Four Spiritual Laws put out by Campus Crusade for Christ. And I went out looking for someone to talk to.
Understand, I had a thimble full of theological knowledge at this point. I knew very little. I saw a middle-aged woman sitting on the beach in Newport Beach, about the age of my mom, and I thought, well, maybe she'll be nice to me. I walked up. I was very nervous.
My voice was shaking. And I said, Hi, could I talk to you about God and stuff? And she says, Yeah, go ahead.
So I sat down and I was so new at this. I literally just read this little booklet. I hadn't even memorized its contents. Page one, page two. Page one, God loves you and has a plan for your life.
You're separated from God by your sin. And I read through it and I remember thinking as I'm doing this, this is not going to work. Who do I think I am? This is the most insane thing I've ever done. I couldn't wait until it was over with.
So at least I could say to someone, I talked to someone about Jesus. I was planning for failure, trust me.
So I get to the end of this little booklet where a question is asked: Is there any good reason why you should not accept Jesus Christ right now? I realize, oh, that's a question.
So I looked up at her and she said, no. I looked back down. Wait. Does that mean you want to accept Jesus Christ right now? She said yes.
Oh no, I didn't know what to do.
Well, I'd heard the pastor say, Let's all bow our heads in a word of prayer.
So I said, Let's pray, bow your head. I'm frantically searching this booklet. For like, what do I do now? And I found this little prayer which I let her in. And after she was done praying, she said, something just happened to me.
And something happened to me too. I discovered the joy of sharing my faith. The thing I didn't want to do, the thing I dreaded doing. ended up being exciting and fulfilling and Refreshing.
So that's the title of my message. The refreshing power of sharing your faith, which is a part of our new series that we're simply calling refresh.
Now, I know it seems counterintuitive to talk to people about Jesus because it seems hard. We too are afraid of rejection, but here's the truth of the matter. By the way, I don't think Satan wants you to know this. Listen. When you tell others about Jesus, it will revive you.
It will restore you. And it will refresh you as a follower of Jesus Christ. I wanna say that again. When you tell others about Jesus, it will refresh you, it will revive you, it will restore you. Proverbs 11:25 says, A generous person will prosper.
Listen, and he who refreshes others will be refreshed himself.
So, this is a very important spiritual principle.
Now, We all know as Christians. We're supposed to share our faith. You've probably heard of the Great Commission. In case you don't know what it is, it's found in two Gospels, Matthew and Mark. Mark's version has Jesus saying, go into all the world and preach the gospel.
Matthew's version is, go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And lo, I am with you always, says our Lord. The great commission. We know we're supposed to do it, but frankly, most of us don't. Listen, the Bible says...
That God is looking for people to show Himself strong on behalf of. He's looking for someone, well, like you. Who will actually say, use me, Lord. I'll go where you want me to go. I'll say what you want me to say.
Listen, will you be that person? If so, a wonderful adventure awaits you. I believe that sharing your faith can be exciting, joyful, and dare I use the word, faith. Fun. Yes, you heard me right.
And Psalm 126, 6 says, Those who go out weeping Carrying seed to sow will return with songs of joy. Carrying their sheaves with them. You've heard that old song, bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves. That's what that's about. You go out with sadness, concern for people that don't know the Lord, but you come back with joy because people have come to Christ.
Jesus said, There's joy in heaven every time a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ. And if there's joy in heaven because of that, there ought to be joy on earth and in our hearts. If we had the privilege of playing a role in that as well. Listen, next to personally knowing the Lord, The greatest joy I know is bringing others to him and then watching them grow and be transformed. There's joy in telling people about Jesus and seeing them grow in Jesus.
Back to the story of of Jonah. The book of Jonah is a story of a massive revival that came about. Through the efforts of one man, and that man was Jonah. He was called to preach to Nineveh, which was a great city, by the way. The population of Nineveh was around 300,000.
It might have been a little smaller, but that was a mega city back at that time. The reason the population was so high is because it became the capital of Assyria. There was a magnificent palace built there.
So it was a very, very large city of its day, 300,000 strong. It was a great city, we read in Jonah 1.2. But Jonah said, I don't want to go preach to that great city.
So then we read in Jonah 1:4, God sent a great wind. And then that wind brought a storm and Jonah was ultimately swallowed by a great fish, Jonah 1.17. But the ultimate story of Jonah is about a great God who showed great love to a lost city like Nineveh and offered them his forgiveness. If we miss that, we've missed the whole point of the story. How was he able to do this?
It started with Jonah himself. Of course, he was swallowed by maybe the whale. Or whatever that creature was. And it was in the belly of that whale that Jonah had a personal revival. It was there that he repented of his sin.
And he recommitted himself to the Lord and was willing to do what the Lord had called him to do. And he has a message: 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Wow, what a story this is. But listen, Jonah was the right man at the right place at the right time. I wonder if you know somebody right now that the Lord has been.
nudging you to talk to. Why don't you engage that person in a conversation? Did it ever occur to you that God has placed you right where you are right now to reach certain people?
So seize the moment. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. You know, I've heard people describe a trip to Israel as seeing the Bible actually come to life. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie. And I've been to Israel many times and I've led a lot of tours, and I have to say that's absolutely true.
Listen, when you're walking on the same stones that Jesus himself walked on, well, that's something that's enriching to your faith. It's not just a travel experience. It actually energizes and enhances your study of the Bible. Think of it this way, it's a vacation with a purpose. And we're gonna be taking a tour of Israel April 6th to 15, 2027.
You can find out more at Israel.harvest. Step right into biblical history. Join Pastor Greg for a tour of the Holy Land April 6th through 15, 2027. Get details at Israel.harvest.org.
Well, Pastor Greg is anchoring our study in Jonah chapter 3 today as he brings us his message called The Refreshing Power of Sharing Your Faith, Part 1. What else do we learn about sharing our faith from the book of Jonah? Number two, Jonah went to where the people were. Jonah went to where the people were. Jonah 3:3 says, Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.
Now, Nineveh was a very large city, it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, crying. Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown. Then we read these words, the Ninevites believed God. He went right into the middle of the city.
He could have just shouted it. From the shores of Nineveh. 40 days, and Nineveh will be overthrown. Thank you very much. Whale, I need to ride back.
Somewhere. No. He went into the city. He could have shot a tweet out. No, they didn't have Twitter back then.
But he could have got the message out in other ways. But he realized, I need to go into the middle of the city where people are, this massive city of 300,000 people. Listen. We need to go to unexpected people in unexpected places to share with them what will be an unexpected message. That's why here at Harvest.
We're online for you every weekend. And you may be watching us at our website, harvest.org. Maybe our Facebook page, maybe on YouTube. You might be watching this on television. You might be hearing this on radio.
These are the various media platforms that we use. We're always looking for ways to reach people that you would not normally reach, people who would not necessarily darken the doorway of a church. We read a letter a little bit earlier from that gentleman who was a trucker. He heard our ministry while he was driving his truck. And we were able to invade his world.
And this is the thing: as Christians, we're not called to isolate, we're called to infiltrate, and we're called to permeate. Number three. Our message The message of the gospel must be delivered with urgency. It must be delivered with urgency. Notice it says in Jonah 3:4, as he entered the city, he cried out.
40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. He cried out. This is, by the way, not the first time that Jonah cried. He also cried out in the belly of the fish. In Jonah 2, we read, Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God, from the fish's belly, and he said, I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and he answered me out of the belly of Sheol.
I cried, and you heard my voice. Are you in a time of affliction? Are you in a time of difficulty? Are you in a time of trial? Cry out to the Lord.
Jeremiah 33, 3 says, Call out to me, and I will answer you, says the Lord. I'll show you great and mighty things that you do not know. Jonah took the desperation he felt in the belly of the sea creature. and channeled it In what God had called him to do in bringing the message to the people of Nineveh, Jonah had been transformed in the fish's belly. Jonah should have died in the fish's belly.
He had been saved and preserved by God. Jonah was a resurrection man. And people cannot argue with a transformed life. Jonah should have been dead, but he was alive and well. Because of this, there was an urgency and there was a passion in what he was saying.
Do you have an urgency and a passion in reaching other people? Jonah certainly had it. There was an authenticity in his voice. He was a changed man. As I pointed out, he probably was also a bleached man who smelled of vomit, perhaps, and fish.
But he had a mission and he was going to fulfill that mission. And the people of Nineveh could see this was a resurrection man. This was a man brought back from the dead. There's a lot of power. In your personal story, when you share your faith with others.
But I want you to think of a story in the New Testament. It's called the story of the woman at the well. It's in John 4. We don't know this lady's name, but... Fascinating story.
We know she was a Samaritan. And the Samaritans and the Jews wanted nothing to do with each other. There was a lot of tension there, racial tension. And then also we know she was an immoral woman. Because she had been married and divorced five times.
And she was living with some dude when she encountered Jesus.
Now, the thing with this woman is she would go and draw water in the heat of the day. Why? She went when nobody else was at the well. The other ladies would go to the well earlier in the morning, catch up on the latest town gossip, but she was ostracized. She was rejected because of the lifestyle she had chosen to live.
So she's there all by herself, drawing water in the heat of the day. And who is waiting for her but Jesus Christ, the very Son of God? He went out of his way to meet with her because, unbeknownst to her, she had an appointment with God. And there she was. at that well and Jesus entered her world.
And then she heard the truth of his message. How she drank of the water he gave, she would never thirst again, but there would be a well of living water coming out of her life. And she believed, she realized she had been talking with the Messiah. And we read in John 4:28, she left her water jar, she came back to town and said to the people, Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?
Then we read this: They came out of the town and made their way to Jesus. Why? Because she was a resurrection woman. She was a woman who had been changed. They knew her.
She had a bad reputation. But they saw her passion and her excitement for what Christ had done for her, and as a result, they came. And wanted to hear Jesus for themselves. You know, I love the way Jesus connected to her. He asked her questions.
He listened to her. He didn't come off as a know-it-all. Don't be a know-it-all. I know you know certain things as a Christian, but Sometimes they're talking to an unbeliever and they'll say something, well, that's wrong. That's so stupid.
Why would you think that just listen, don't be a know-it-all? Who was more of a know-it-all than Jesus? He literally knew it all, I mean technically knew it all because he was omniscient. Which means all-knowing.
Sometimes we're accused of being holier than thou. Don't be holier than thou. Who was more holy than Jesus? He was the holiest. Of any man who ever walked the planet, because he was God incarnate, but he didn't come off holier than thou.
The Bible says he was a friend of sinners. He entered her world. He listened to her. He took time with her. and it resulted in a transformation.
Listen. Effective evangelism is not A monologue, it's a dialogue.
Now, when I speak at our crusades, I have the privilege of standing on a stage and speaking to 30,000, 50,000 people, sometimes more, sometimes less. It's effectively a monologue. Occasionally, someone might yell at me from the audience, but generally, it's me speaking through a microphone, through a massive sound system, to a lot of people. That's a monologue. But when I share my faith one-on-one, it is a dialogue.
I don't walk around with a pulpit like this on wheels, you know, in the market, pushing it down the aisle. Got my bread, my bottle of water. Hey, how are you doing? Let me tell you about Jesus. No, I don't do it like that.
I enter people's worlds. I listen to them. I don't tell them I'm a pastor up front if they're a stranger because they'll run away in terror. if they're talking to an actual preacher. But I just try to be a friend to them.
And so here's some interesting stats for you to consider. Seventy-nine percent of unchurch people agree with the following statement. I don't mind talking to a friend about their faith if they really value it. Isn't that interesting? 79%, that's the majority.
People who are not believers. Are you saying, I don't mind talking with a friend about their faith if they value it.
So they want to see, do you actually believe this yourself? Do you value this yourself? The Barnett group asked non-believers what they value most when talking about spiritual things with someone. Listen, they answered, they want people to listen without judgment. Listen without judgment.
This isn't easy for some Christians. You want to judge people, you want to condemn people, you want to yell at people, that's not how you're going to reach people. The objective is not to win the argument, it's to win the soul. The goal is not to burn the bridge, it's to build the bridge, which means you listen. With love.
You let them tell you their story, and then you appropriately apply the message of The gospel. Such good counsel today for all of us because we are all called to share the life-saving message of the gospel. Pastor Greg Laurie with his study called The Refreshing Power of Sharing Your Faith, Part 1. And this is a new beginning. Hopefully, you're learning some great takeaway principles for sharing the hope of Christ with others.
But then again, maybe you're not clear about the hope of Christ yourself. Maybe you don't really know what the gospel message is, or how you're supposed to respond. Pastor Greg, they can take care of that right now, can't they? They can, and it's so simple. And I think because it's so simple, people think, oh, it can't be that easy.
Well, look, Jesus did all the heavy lifting. He carried the cross for you. He died on that cross that he carried. This isn't about what you do, it's about what he's done. But here's what the Bible says: whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
So let's just say that you're caught in a riptide out in the ocean and you need help and there's a lifeguard at the stand and they see you. You've got to call out to them and let them know you need saving. And the same is true when it comes to eternal life. Jesus is ready to save you. Will you call out to Him?
You say, Well, okay, how do I do that? You do it through prayer. And prayer is just talking to God.
So, listen, I'd like to lead you in a simple prayer. And if you pray this prayer after me. I believe God will hear it and answer it, and Christ will come to live inside of you. Thousands of people have prayed a prayer like this over the years that we've been doing this radio broadcast and have seen their life change. There's no power or magic in a prayer, it's all about your commitment to Christ.
But this is a way to call on the name of the Lord in this prayer.
So, if you want Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want to fill that big hole in your heart, Just pray this prayer after me. You could pray it out loud if you like. Pray it in the quietness of your heart, but pray these words if you would. Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Saviour.
who died on the cross for my sin, I am sorry for my sin, and I turn from it now. and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Be my Saviour and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thanks for hearing this prayer.
in answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Listen, if you just prayed that prayer. I want you to know that God has heard you and has answered it.
The Bible says, These things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, that you may know. It's yours now. God has given it to you because it's the gift of eternal life. through Jesus Christ our Lord. Congratulations And welcome to the family of God.
Yeah, that's right. And we want to help you get started in this new relationship with the Lord. Would you let us send you something? It's free of charge. It's Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible.
Scores of people have read this edition of God's Word. New Believers love the study helps written just for them, and they appreciate that it's in an easy-to-understand translation. We'll send it to you today. Just ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. You can call any time, again 1-800-821-3300.
or go online to harvest.org. And then, thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue. Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly.
Online, you'll find us at harvest.org and there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now. That's harvest.org. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call again at 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, Pastor Gray continues his series called Refresh. with more about the refreshment we enjoy when we share the life-saving message of the gospel. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is a day, the day when life begins.
