The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Check out Virtue, our website for Christian women.
Go to harvest.org forward slash virtue. A disability can become an ability when dedicated to God. Pastor Greg Laurie points out, when you say you can't, God says you can.
And with His help, you will. So I don't know what you're facing right now. You're facing a hardship, a tragedy. You can't control what's going to happen in your life.
All you get to do is decide how you're going to react to what comes your way. And world changers turn seeming setbacks into stepping stones. World Changers is the name of our current series here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie is pointing out those in the Bible who let God use them to do remarkable things. They may not have been unusually smart or skillful or sophisticated, but they made themselves available and they showed great perseverance and God used them in remarkable ways. We're learning how we can make ourselves available for that kind of world changing service to God.
We've considered Abraham and today we consider his wife, Sarah. Okay. Let me begin with a question. How many of you exercise? You work out in some way, shape, or form.
Raise your hand up. Okay. How many of you like to exercise? You actually enjoy it. You love a good workout. I don't care.
I don't understand you people at all. I thought about going to the gym the other day, but I had a donut and I got over it. I've tried lifting weights. The problem is they're heavy.
No, but seriously. It's a good thing to go to the gym, but if you don't do anything when you're there it's not all that helpful. I mean if you go to the gym, sit around on the exercise ball, use it as a pillow, that's not going to help you much. You need to go and work out. You need to do cardio.
You need to do weights or whatever it is to get stronger because as they say, no pain, no gain. I think that can be true in our spiritual life as well. We have to go through times of testing to build us up spiritually. That's what I want to talk about in this message, the test of a world changer.
That brings me right away to point number one. Testings and trials are God's gym where we are broken down to be built up. Again, testings and trials, they're like God's gym where we are to be broken down so we can be built up. Let me explain.
To build muscle you must break down muscle. The same is true of faith. Faith is not given to us as a trophy to put in a display case.
It's not given to us as something we just stand back and admire. Faith is given to us to use, to put into action. If you want your faith to get stronger, you will go through times of testing. Let's look at a few verses together here in Hebrews 11 talking about the heroes of faith. Hebrews 11 is a collection of the great men and women of faith from the Old Testament that did things that caused them to be singled out by God and be put in this special place.
And I have called them world changers. Describing the kind of hardships these world changers have gone through. Hebrews 11 verse 36 to 39 says this and I'm reading from the New Living Translation. They were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning. Some were sought in half. And others were killed with a sword. Someone about wearing skins of sheep and goats destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world.
Wandering over deserts and mountains hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith. Yet none of them received all that God had promised. We will stop there. These heroes of the faith really were world changers.
Their faith grew stronger through experience. Now let me take a quick poll. How many of you want to be a world changer?
Raise up your hand. Ok. Now listen. When you say you want to be a world changer, when you say you want God to use you, you are in effect also praying, Lord send me trials. So some of you are saying, can I retract that last statement?
No but listen. Trials are a part of the Christian life. If you want to be a world changer you are going to be tested. James 1 says, when all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't treat them as intruders but treat them as friends. Realize they have come to test your faith and to produce in you a quality of endurance.
And let that process go on until that endurance is fully developed and you will become men and women of mature character. Men and women of integrity with no weak spots. Well I want to look for a few moments at Abraham's wife Sarah because she too makes it into the very exclusive hall of faith. Look at Hebrews 11 verse 11. It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child though she was barren and was too old she believed that God would keep His promise. So a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead. A nation with so many people that are like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.
There is no way to count them. We will stop there. Now I have to be honest with you. I find it amazing that Sarah of all people made the hero's hall of faith. Certainly women deserve to be in the hall of faith. I think of Deborah the great warrior judge or Ruth or Esther or Mary who carried the Lord in her womb. But Sarah is one of the girls that makes it.
The other is Rahab. We will talk about her at another time. And the reason I mention this is because she didn't seem to have a lot of faith. When God came to Abraham and Sarah and told them they were going to have a child they balked at it because she was after all 65 years old. And Abraham was 75. But Sarah thought, well I don't know if this is going to happen.
So maybe God needs a little bit of help. Thinking she would be unable to conceive a child she said to Abraham, why don't you go and marry my maid Hagar and have a child with her. Abraham reacted a little too quickly and went, I am all in. And next thing you know sure enough Hagar is conceived and a child is born and the boy is named Ishmael. And Abraham doted on the boy.
And immediately Sarah becomes jealous and she is angry at Hagar and she is angry at her husband. Which brings me to point number two. When unbelief tries to solve a problem it creates a bigger problem. Again when unbelief tries to solve a problem it creates a bigger problem.
Listen. God wants to do His will in His way in His timing. God does not want us to do His will in our own way. God does not need our manipulation. God does not need us to bring His will about. He will do it in His way and in His time.
And sometimes we rush out ahead of the Lord thinking He needs a little help. Now let me say a few words to you who are single. How many of you are single?
You are not married. Raise up your hand. Raise up your hand. Ok. Look around. Just look around. Don't look too long though. Then it gets weird.
Ok. So you are single. And you are wondering where is that person that God has for me? Where is that guy? Where is that girl? Maybe you are a young girl and you are saying, Lord I am ready to get married. I have waited for so long.
Where is that man? I am already 19. What is going on? So you get impatient. And you say, I don't really like the guys in church. You know they are not as cool as the guys out there that aren't in church. And maybe I will date some of these non-believing guys and I will lead them to the Lord.
Yeah. Maybe you will. And maybe it won't work out that way. And this is why the Bible warns, Don't be unequally yoked together with non-believers for what fellowship does light have with darkness or righteousness with unrighteousness? For any story you could tell me of a Christian girl who married a non-believing guy and brought him to Christ I could tell you a hundred stories of Christian girls that got involved with non-believing guys and it drug them down spiritually.
You see. So God doesn't need us to do His will in our own way. You wait upon the Lord for that right guy or that right girl.
And again I can't think of a better place to find them than right here in church. But something may happen financially where you have a financial crisis of some kind. So now you are going to go out and help God and you are going to go out and run up your credit cards.
You just stopped and prayed about it and say, Lord I need Your help. Well ten years pass and Sarah's plan B backfired horribly. So the Lord comes back again and says to Sarah, You are going to be a mother.
You are going to bear a child. Now she is 89 years old. Almost 90. And Abraham is 99 years old.
Almost 100. And when the Lord says to her, You are going to have a son. Here is what the Bible says in Genesis 18. She began to laugh. And the Lord said to her, Is anything too hard for the Lord? And then the Lord said, Why did you laugh? And she said, I didn't laugh. And the Lord says, Yes you did. Now you can almost understand Sarah's reaction.
But here is what amazes me. As I look at her story in the New Testament and specifically here in Hebrews 11, not one of her mistakes is mentioned. Not one of her lapses is mentioned. And that is because Hebrews 11 is a record of faith not unbelief.
It lists the victories not the defeats. See God says there are sins and iniquities. Well I remember no more.
And I love this. When you become a Christian you are a new person in Christ. Old things have passed away.
Everything becomes fresh and new. In a moment Pastor Greg takes a look at the faith of Abraham whom God told to sacrifice his only son Isaac. We will discuss that next. Well Pastor Greg we have something exciting to mention. We just tallied up the numbers and this year just since January we have now seen 100,000 professions of faith through Harvest Ministries. Which is absolutely incredible. Yes David it is incredible. And the way it came about is even more incredible. Because at the beginning of 2020 we went before everybody in our church and our ministry and said we have a goal this year. Some of you may remember this. I have seen 100,000 people make a profession of faith. I will be honest with you. I had some doubts like are we going to really hit this number.
But I thought well why not shoot for it. We will see what the Lord does. Well COVID-19 hit so we went exclusively online with our weekend program that we call Harvest at Home.
It is basically a church service that you watch in your home. But each week I have been inviting people to come to Christ. And on one particular Sunday we had 7,000 people make a profession of faith. So now as we tally the numbers we have reached the 100,000 mark. We have reached it in an unexpected way. So what that says to me is well we had the right idea but the Lord had a different way of bringing it about. So we just say hey to God be the glory. Let's just keep going because we are passing that number now.
And listen to this. The Bible says there is joy in heaven over one sinner that comes to repentance. And we have seen 100,000 people in just months make this profession of faith to follow Christ.
So we join the angels in rejoicing. Well Pastor Greg is presenting his series called World Changers. And today's message is titled The Test of a World Changer.
It is available at harvest.org. So now we shift gears from this interesting narrative about Sarah and we come to the story of when God comes to Abraham and asks him to offer his son Isaac. Look at Hebrews 11 starting in verse 17. By faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said in Isaac shall your seed be called concluding that God was able to raise him up from the dead from which he also received him in a figurative sense. We will stop there. Let's shift for a moment over to Genesis 22.
I had you turn there as well. And let's read what actually happened in the Genesis account of when Abraham offered up Isaac. Genesis 22 verse 1. God tested Abraham's faith in obedience and said Abraham. Abraham replied yes Lord here I am. God says take your son. Your only son yes Isaac whom you love so much and go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice them. There is a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will point out to you.
Wow. Again if you want to be a world changer and live by faith know that your faith is going to be tested. But this was an epic test. This is a test that very few people would face. In fact in many ways you would have to say to be tested on this level was quite an honor because the Lord knew Abraham could handle it.
And guess what? God knows what you can handle. God knows what you can handle. So you are going through a test right now and you are saying I can't handle this.
Yes you can. Otherwise God would not allow you to go through it. And whenever the Lord allows His children to go through fiery trials He always keeps an eye on them and a finger on the thermostat.
He won't let it get too hot for you. But He knew that Abraham would rally. He knew Abraham would pass this test.
He knew that Abraham would take this setback and turn it into an opportunity. And listen to this. A disability can become an ability when dedicated to God. So I don't know what you are facing right now. You are facing a hardship. A tragedy.
The death of a loved one. Maybe you have had to go through life with some kind of a disability. And you say well Greg it is really easy for you to say a disability can be turned into an ability. You don't have a disability. Well that is true.
But I know someone who does. My friend Johnny Erikson Tada. You see Johnny Erikson Tada has spent 49 years in a wheelchair due to a diving accident when she was a young girl. She is a quadriplegic.
But she said I am going to take this horrible tragedy and I am going to use it to show people that God can help them in the worst moments of their lives. And she has traveled around the world and inspired countless people. And then there is my friend Nick Vujicic. You have met him before.
Born without limbs. And he has been such an inspiration to so many people. So look. Here is the bottom line. You can't control what is going to happen in your life.
All you get to do is decide how you are going to react to what comes your way. And world changers turn seeming setbacks into stepping stones. So coming back to Abraham. God asked him to make the greatest sacrifice imaginable. Because you see finally his son was born.
Sarah actually did bring forth that child in her old age. And he became the light of Abraham's life. Abraham doted on that boy. In fact the very name that they gave him says it all. The name was Isaac which means laughter.
They love that young boy. So now Abraham is going to be tested again. And he is going to go through one of the most difficult tests that he has ever faced.
And that is what is he going to do when God asked him to offer his son. Now by the way this was one of many tests that came the way of Abraham. Number one there was the family test. When he was called to leave his land and go to a new land.
We might give him a passing grade on that. See he did obey but not completely. He brought along his nephew Lot which became a problem later in life.
Number two there was the famine test. A famine came into the land and how would Abraham react to that? Well he went down to Egypt as you know. Lied about his wife. Got rebuked by the Pharaoh.
That didn't go very well. So we might say he sort of failed that test. Then there was the fellowship test where he gave Lot his nephew first choice over the land. He knew he had to part company with his nephew. So he said I will tell you what Lot. You go to the right I will go to the left.
You go to the left I will go to the right. You choose the land that you want. He put the needs of others above himself. And by the way he passed that with flying colors. Then there was a fatherhood test when Sarah got impatient with God. And of course we already saw what happened there with the birth of Ishmael. So that became a problem. But now we come to the ultimate test and God says I want you to bring your son. Your only son.
Let me suggest something and I can't say this with certainty. But I think it may be true. Could it be that Isaac had actually become the most important thing in Abraham's life? Let me put it another way.
Could it be that Isaac that son that Abraham and Sarah had waited for for so long actually became the idol of his life? Did you know that a lot of things can become idols in our life? Not just bad things.
But sometimes even good things that are out of their proper place. For instance people will say for me family is number one. It is all about family. Nothing is more important than family.
Actually that is not true. God should be number one in your life. Not family. In fact Jesus made this provocative statement. If anyone wants to be my disciple he must hate his father, hate his mother, hate his wife, hate the husband, hate the children, and even his own life then you can come and be my disciple.
Now of course we read that and say well I got one part down. I do hate my husband. No that's not good. No but really what does this even mean? Is Jesus being literal that we should hate our family? No of course not. A better way to translate that would be loveless.
So you could restate it this way. If any man wants to be a follower of Jesus he must love God more than his spouse. He must love God more than his parents. She must love God more than her children.
But here is the beautiful thing. If you love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, and mind you will have more love for your husband. More love for your wife. More love for your parents. And more love for your children. You see. It is getting your priorities in order.
But you might say well no family is number one. You know some people they stop showing up in church. Yeah I haven't seen you in church lately.
Where have you been? Soccer. Kids are in soccer and it is always on Sundays. Ok. Soccer. Family.
Yeah but what about church? Well got to go to soccer. No I am not against soccer. Ok. My granddaughters play soccer. One of them was on a team called the Purple Princesses. That is a very threatening team name isn't it?
The Purple Princesses. And they didn't keep track of score. That made me laugh. You know I said, what is the score? We don't keep score said one person.
Then some other guy that was watching told me what the score actually was. But here is the point. It is good to have your kid involved in programs and things like that. But they need to be in church with you. If you are making family your idol it can become a problem in your own life. For some people say, well we can't go to church anymore.
Why? Well we have a newborn. We don't want to put the newborn in the nursery.
They might get sick. A couple of years pass by. Why haven't I seen you in church? Well we have a toddler now. We don't want to put the toddler in church. Put the kid in Sunday school man. Listen.
The kid needs to learn the Word of God just like you need to learn the Word of God. But don't let your family become the idol of your life. For other people their body can become their idol. Everything is about their body.
Everything is about their appearance. For other people an object can become an idol and take the place of God. It can be a car.
It can be a career. It can be a house. It can be a cell phone.
So maybe God would come to you and say take your cell phone, your only cell phone that you love, and offer it to me. And there's more to come from this message called The Test of a World Changer, including one more illustration before we close today. But if you'd like a permanent copy of the full presentation, get in touch and mention the title, The Test of a World Changer. You can call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime 24-7, again at 1-800-821-3300.
Or go online to harvest.org. And then it's a real privilege to have Pastor Greg's wife Kathy with us today, along with authors Jeff and Shanti Feldhahn. They've written the new book, Thriving in Love and Money, subtitled Five Game-Changing Insights about Your Relationship, Your Money, and Yourself. Now you point out that money issues spring from relationship issues, issues of communication and each spouse misunderstanding the other's feelings and point of view on spending and saving. Let's speak specifically to somebody listening right now. Maybe they're thinking, oh man, this is an area where we're really struggling at home right now. Let's offer some immediate help while they wait for the book to arrive.
What's the first thing they can do today to get them aimed in the right direction, not only financially, but more importantly, in their relationship? So do you mind if I give you two? Okay. Okay.
And there are two easy ones. So the first thing that I would do is ask each other one question. Is there anything that I could do to make it easier for you to talk about money with me? Is there anything that I could do differently that would make it easier for you to talk about money with me?
Put the knives down, maybe. Exactly. And that can open up a lot of these kinds of discussions and just get you started and hopefully in a decent way rather than an angry way. But, you know, we'll take what we can get in terms of a starting point and ask it and answer it calmly. But the second thing that I would suggest is we actually created a free assessment that you can take. And we took a lot of time. But the key is for that assessment, it gets you this sense.
It's only five or six minutes, but it's very robust. The engine under the surface will get you some really, really specialized. Where are you starting in this love and money journey? What are the areas that you're already doing well? Because, listen, if you know that, oh, my goodness, I didn't realize this was a big deal, I can do more of that, right? Like that's a good thing. And the areas that you most need to work on, it'll just get you started.
That's exactly it. It didn't take long. And it was very easy to answer the questions and just understanding what you value, where your value is.
Yeah, and once again, that assessment is in this new book. And again, the title is Thriving in Love and Money. We'd like to send a copy of this your way to say thank you for your partnership in bringing these studies each day. We're completely listener supported.
Without listener investments, we couldn't be here. So I hope you'll send a generous donation today and then be sure to ask for Thriving in Love and Money. Contact us today. You can write a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or reach us by phone any time day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.
Or just go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, more on the faith of Abraham, even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his only son. As Pastor Greg paused in his message just a moment ago, he was speaking about those things that can become too important to us, sometimes more important than the Lord. He joked that maybe the Lord would want some of us to sacrifice our cell phones.
Well, here's his closing comment. Someone actually wrote an article and asked the question, what if you treated your Bible like your cell phone? They asked, what if you carried a Bible around in your purse or pocket? What if you grabbed, when you were running out the door, you grabbed your Bible like you grabbed your cell phone? I mean if you ever left your house and you're driving down the street and you realize you left your cell phone, it's like horrifying. It's like you turn around.
You go back. You must have your cell phone. They asked the question, what if you looked at the Bible the same way you look at your cell phone? Think of how often people check social media. You know you stand in line now for coffee or whatever and everyone is looking at their phone. Just staring at their phone.
No one talks to each other anymore. I have seen people go on crosswalks across four lanes of traffic. Granted, the sign says walk, but they're looking at their phone the whole time. It's like really? What if someone runs alight because they're looking at their cell phone too?
I mean we're so locked into that. What if we treated our Bible the same way? This is the day, the day when life begins The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners. Helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.
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