The Jesus Revolution & Evangelism | Start Sharing the Gospel

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Learn more and sign up at harvest.org. Pastor Greg Laurie says we need to share it. There's power in the message of the Gospel, and that power will always be there. You know, when you share a smile with someone, it's not like they take it from you and you don't have it anymore.

Often, you both end up smiling. When you share a word of encouragement, both of you are the better for it. When you share the good news of God's love, it can touch both of you profoundly. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shares how the Gospel is at the very center of God's plan for mankind. It's the one thing that can change the eternal trajectory of someone else's life. You know, one of the real traits of the Jesus movement was people were out everywhere sharing the Gospel. Now, when is the last time you saw that? When you're out in a public place, an amusement park, down by the pier, out in a mall somewhere, and you just saw a bunch of people, maybe even carrying a Bible, engaging people in conversations about Jesus Christ.

We did a lot of that. So I became a Christian, as you know, at the age of 17, and I was going to church, and I heard the pastor say we should go share our faith. And I thought, well, I've been a Christian two weeks. I know so much about God now.

I better go out and talk to people. And I was, you know, my theological knowledge could have fit into a thimble, but I knew Jesus had changed my life. I knew it was all true, and I wanted to go talk to somebody. So back then, there was a little booklet out called The Four Spiritual Laws, put out by Campus Crusade for Christ. And it's very simple.

It just asks questions. And so I was so new at this, I hadn't even memorized the contents of the booklet yet. So I went out to the beach.

It was Newport Beach. And I was looking for someone to talk to, and I saw this middle-aged lady. And I thought, well, maybe she'll be nice to me.

Maybe she'll take pity on me. So I walked up to her, and I said, hi, can I talk to you a little bit about God? And she looked at me like, sure, sit down. So I sat down, and my voice was shaking.

You know when you get nervous and you can't stop your voice from shaking? And so I'm literally just reading this booklet to her. I hadn't even memorized it. As I said, so I just said, uh-uh, I'll just read this to you. The Four Spiritual Laws, copyright 1964, Campus Crusade for Christ. Law one, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Law two, you've sinned. So I'm reading through this booklet. And as I'm reading through it, I'm thinking, this is so not going to work. I'm crashing and burning right now, and I want this to be over with. But at least I can say to my Christian friends, I actually started a conversation about Jesus.

So I'm almost through the booklet. I looked up at her periodically. She's just looking at me.

No real reaction. I get to the end, and there's a question to ask a person, which was, is there any good reason why you should not accept Jesus Christ right now? And I realized it was a question, so I asked her, is there any good reason why you should not accept Jesus Christ right now? And she said, no. I went, okay.

What? No. I said, you mean you want to accept Jesus Christ right now?

She said, yes. I'm like, excellent, great. Let's just pray.

Go your head. I had not planned for success. I planned for failure. So she closes her eyes. I'm frantically searching this booklet for some prayer or something.

What do I do now? And I found a prayer. I let her in the prayer. And to show you how little faith I had, even as I'm leading her in this prayer, I'm thinking to myself, this isn't going to work. And as she's done praying this prayer of asking Christ to come into her life, she opened her eyes and she said, something just happened to me. And I'm like, whoa.

Something just happened to me, too. I realized that God could use an idiot like me. Now I guarantee I could pick anybody in this room and you would know so much more about the Bible, so much more about Jesus Christ, than I knew as a two-week-old Christian. But I went for it and God blessed it. And this is the thing. We way over-complicate evangelism.

We get all worked up about it and all stressed about it and overly nervous about it. And we don't understand that you can be used by God to share the gospel. And I remember, there was just Christians everywhere doing this. We called them the Jesus Freaks. And I remember even before I was a Christian, we'd see the Jesus Freaks going down the beach. You know, they'd have their Bibles and they're like looking for sinners. And we would all go in the water till they passed. Because they would never come in the water for some reason. Maybe they didn't want to get their Bibles wet. Well, some of them should have figured out they should have had a surfing evangelism ministry and paddle out to where people are. But, you know, so that was the way it was back then.

You say, well that's great man. I wish it was that way today. Why can't it be that way today? Last time I checked, the Great Commission is still in the Bible.

You know what the Great Commission is. We'll read it in a moment. But it's the words of Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel. And the Bible tells us how will they hear unless someone tells them.

Listen. The primary way that God reaches people is through people. So this hasn't changed. Therefore, why are we not doing it today? Yet, I just read that there is a trend among millennial Christians to not do this. In fact, this poll that was done said 47 percent of millennial Christians agree, at least somewhat, that it is wrong to share one's personal beliefs with someone who is of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith. Now, how many of you guys up here on this stage are millennial age? Raise your hand up here.

Okay. Now you've got to explain this to me. Cheyenne, what's going on here? Is this true? Do you think this is true of people?

You know your age. Why is it true? And should this be true? So, I think that millennials are trying to enforce and activate their opinions and freedom of speech. But they are also so sensitive nowadays. And if you don't agree with what they believe, then they just start attacking you with harsh words and just discourage you. So, as a young Christian, it is very discouraging to share your faith. I mean, I don't think it is wrong to share faith at all. But it is very discouraging nowadays with everyone being so sensitive over everything.

That's right. So, I think what we need to do is understand that evangelism is really communication with people. And when the Bible says, go into all the world and preach the gospel, you can do that conversationally. You can do that on your social media pages.

You can do it on Instagram. You can tweet the gospel. Go into all the world and tweet the gospel. You know, but I think the big issue is when we engage a person, you want to build a bridge to them. You might think because I am a preacher, I have a little pulpit like this that I take with me everywhere and I preach to everyone I meet. Well, look, when I speak in a study like this or in a stadium, you know, it is a monologue and it is me talking to people. But when I engage non-believers, it is a dialogue and I don't come with all the answers. I ask a lot of questions and I listen because I don't want to come off like a know-it-all. For starters, I am not a know-it-all and to the point I am not better than anybody.

I am better off, but I am not better. So, you come in sort of a humility and Jesus himself modeled this with the woman at the well. He actually asked her for a drink of water. He comes to her in a humble way and he listens to her and then he engages her with the message of the gospel. So, that is what we want to do.

But, you know, sooner or later you are going to have to get down to the bottom line. And the bottom line of the gospel is all of humanity is sinned. There is nothing we can do to get rid of that sin.

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for that sin and to rise again from the dead. And when we will turn from our sin and believe in Jesus, we can go to heaven. That is the gospel. So, I know we are maybe reluctant to share that, but there is power in the message of the gospel. And the power has always been there and the power will always be there. Because Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

And the word that he uses for power is the Greek word dunamis, which means dynamic, dynamite, power. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hearing about listeners who find Jesus because of Harvest Ministries and A New Beginning is so encouraging.

I am a truck driver from North Carolina and I very much love listening to Pastor Greg. In this world we are living in now, you really need Jesus in your life. And if you have a personal relationship with Jesus, there is nothing better than that.

I mean, your days are full of joy, you have peace of mind, and there is just nothing better than that. I was addicted to cocaine for so many years and struggled with the flesh. I mean, I hated it. I tried so many times to quit. I just asked the Lord to make me hate it. And finally he did.

I just got so sick of it, he took it away. And I have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ and there is nothing better than that. I absolutely love listening to Pastor Greg's messages every night while I am on the road. And I just wanted to call and let him know that.

So, God bless you and thank you so much. If your life has changed because of the ministry of Harvest, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just call 866-871-1144.

That's 866-871-1144. Well, we are talking about the importance of sharing the gospel today as Pastor Greg presents a message called The Jesus Revolution and Evangelism. Years ago I was at Billy Graham's house and I wanted to ask him a question.

And I said, Billy, if an older Billy could speak to a younger Billy, what would he say? What advice would you give a younger you after all these years of preaching and sharing the gospel? And he said, I would preach more on the cross of Christ and the blood because that is what the power is.

So I never forgot that. So whenever I speak I always want to talk about the fact that Jesus died on the cross for the sin of the world and that his blood was shed for them. So if you want to really pay tribute to a guy like Billy Graham, do what Billy did.

And what did Billy do? He preached the gospel and he invited people to follow Jesus Christ. So listen. Evangelism is never going to be passé. It is always going to be something God wants us to do. Now we might find new and creative ways to do it, but ultimately we never want to deviate from this calling God has given to all of us. And in Luke chapter 15 we are given a perspective of how God views those that don't know him.

We have three metaphors that are employed by Jesus to show how God loves people. We have a shepherd who lost a sheep. We have a woman who lost a coin.

And we have a father who lost a son. Have you ever lost anything of great value and you are searching for it because you have got to find it? The idea of a coin, a woman had a coin, is probably the idea of a wedding hat.

She would wear a headband sort of and it would have coins in it. So to lose a coin was not just losing a dime or a quarter. It was losing your wedding ring.

That was a big deal. So she searched until she found it. And then we have a father who lost a son and a shepherd who lost a sheep. Years ago I lost something of great value to me as a kid. I had a little parakeet and his name was Popcorn. I don't know why I named him Popcorn, but that is what I called him. And so I was down in Balboa Island and I saw this guy who had a parrot on his shoulder. It just sat on his shoulder. It didn't fly away. And I asked the guy, you know, what is the deal with your parrot? He goes, oh he is tame. He doesn't fly away.

And I thought, that is so cool. So at my house Popcorn would fly out of his cage when I called his name and landed on my shoulder. And I would walk around the house with him. So I thought, maybe I will do that with Popcorn. I will go down to Balboa Island with Popcorn the parakeet on my shoulder.

And it will be just like the guy with the parrot. So I walked around the house for a while making sure he wouldn't fly away. Then I walked outside and Popcorn just flew up. I never saw him again.

He is just gone. So for days I was walking up and down the street. Popcorn. Popcorn. People are thinking, that poor boy is hungry.

Give him some deed. And just the other day I drove by that same neighborhood and I rolled down the window of my car. Popcorn. And a really old bird landed on my windshield with a beard. No not really. But he is gone. And so I searched and I searched but I couldn't find him. And Jesus talked about the father searching for lost people as like a shepherd looking for a sheep. Now you know sheep. I don't know if you have been around sheep very often. But in Israel sometimes we will see a flock of sheep.

Everyone gets really excited. Because everyone wants a picture with a sheep in Israel. Or a little lamb even better. And I have always heard they are stupid. But now having seen them up close and personal they really are dumb animals.

And look. They have their purpose in life. They are excellent with mint jelly. And we can make sweaters out of their you know.

So it is great. But these are animals that literally cannot defend themselves. These are animals that cannot run. They cannot bite.

And they are incredibly dumb. I read an article a while ago that talked about a bunch of sheep. 1800 sheep who died. And I thought what?

And I had to click it. You know what happened? And what happened was one sheep walked off of a cliff. This happened in Turkey. One sheep walked off the edge of a cliff and all the other sheep followed. How stupid is that? So the one sheep goes to the edge of a cliff.

Looks around and says, Ok single file. We are all going to die today. Let's go sheep.

It is not that bad. Let's go. The sheep have gone astray.

We are that dumb. So there is a shepherd who has 100 sheep. And one goes astray. And he could have just said you know win a few lose a few.

Cost of doing business. No Jesus said that shepherd went and searched for the sheep until he found it. And he wrapped it around his neck and brought it home rejoicing. And then Jesus makes his point. And I tell you in the same way there is joy in heaven over one sinner that comes to repentance. But really the crescendo of Luke 15 is the story of the prodigal son.

And that is the one that we all remember best. The story of the boy that left home, drug the family name to the gutter, spent his inheritance, messed his life up, got drunk, hung out with prostitutes, did everything wrong and one day he came to his senses and he returned home. And when the father saw him from a distance, and this is Jesus telling the story, when the father saw him at a distance he ran to his son, he threw his arms around him, he kissed him and said this my son who is dead is alive again. He who is lost is found. Jesus portrayed God the father as an older man willing to lose his dignity to get his son.

Let me explain. In the first century culture old men did not run. It was considered undignified. Not to mention it is harder for old men to run. Because you would have to pull your robe up above your knees. And in the story that Jesus tells, and if Jesus hadn't told it it would almost seem irreverent, he portrays the father as an older man missing his son running to get to him. And I think maybe one of the reasons, we can only opine on this, but maybe one of the reasons the father was running to his son is he knew that people in the village might stone him because he had disgraced the father, disgraced the village, disgraced the name of the Lord, and the father said I have got to get to that son of mine before they kill that boy.

And he threw his arms around him and they are not going to kill the boy if the father's arms are wrapped around him. And that is us you know. We are sinners. And God says I am going to get to you.

I am going to push any obstacle out of the way to get to you. And in the same way that the father loves us, we should love the world. Pastor Greg Laurie with insights today on the dynamics of evangelism and how it is reflected in the parable of the prodigal son. And there is more to come from this presentation called The Jesus Revolution and Evangelism.

And then here is your invitation to go see the outstanding feature film Jesus Revolution coming to a theater near you. It tells the story of the Jesus movement of the late 60s and early 70s. It follows Pastor Greg's life during that time and shows how God transformed his heart and the hearts of so many others. It shows the story of young Greg with his mother Charlene who would hang around in bars and get picked up by men and the sad life that we had together which sent me on a search as a young man. It is also a love story where I meet Kathy and it is a story of how two very unlikely characters came together.

You know we are just kids in high school still. And it shows how we came to faith. It showed the crazy things we did before we were Christians and how we saw the emptiness of life without Jesus.

It shows our love story, our romance. And then it is a story of Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee. Now these are two very unlikely people that came together. Chuck, a very salt of the earth, a traditional kind of a guy, a pastor of a small struggling church, and Lonnie Frisbee, a charismatic, unusual hippie evangelist.

And it was sort of like nitro met glycerin. And the result was a spiritual awakening. Well Pastor Greg, Jesus Revolution is coming to theaters nationwide very soon. How can we all take advantage of this opportunity? The opportunity to not only see it ourselves, but use it to bring people to the Lord.

Yes, so here is how I would do it. I would go to a friend and say, you want to go to the movies with me? Let's go see this film Jesus Revolution. You are going to love this film. And trust me, the movie will do the heavy lifting. Once this film starts, it pulls people in.

They are just completely captured by the story and the music and the acting and everything else. And then afterwards, go out and get some dinner or have some dessert and say, let's talk about that. You know, what do you think about this Jesus Revolution movie? You know, what do you think about that scene where Greg is baptized and prays and asks Christ to come into his life?

I mean, it's a perfect way to get a conversation started. And I think that someone would be willing to go to a movie with you sometimes more than they'd be willing to go to a church. And let me say this, not all Christian movies are well made. This is the most unchristian Christian movie that I've ever seen. And at the same time, it has more gospel in it than any Christian movie.

So let me explain that statement. When I say unchristian Christian movie, I mean it isn't the predictable film that's tidy with a little bow on it. This movie is a little gritty at times.

It's realistic. It shows the real search of a young Greg and a young Kathy making a lot of bad decisions, going into drugs, et cetera, and so forth. So you're pulled into the reality of the story. But then when it gets to the moment where my character accepts Christ, it's very straightforward. I've never seen anything like this in any film ever. And I think it's the biggest moment of the film in many ways.

Many say that. But I think it could be the most important moment for the person watching it where they could pray and accept Christ into their life. So this is a film that I promise you will surprise your friend that you take. It has twists and turns, especially toward the end, that you would not expect in a Christian film. But it has a beautiful, powerful, redemptive ending. It's a true story. So there's twists and turns in the stories of life, and everything doesn't work out perfectly. But we see God at work in this film, and we pray that we'll see God at work in the lives of the people who watch it.

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Well, Jesus Revolution will be officially released February 24th. It's a moving evangelistic story within a great motion picture. And by the way, there will be a special national preview showing February 22nd, two days earlier. It will feature special bonus content, including an easy-to-understand presentation of the Gospel by Pastor Greg. So make plans to bring someone who needs the Lord. To get tickets to the special preview, February 22nd, go to jesusrevolution.movie.

Now, that's.movie, not.com. Again, jesusrevolution.movie. And thanks so much for partnering with us as we share the Gospel in this innovative way. You partner with us as you support the film at your local theater, and you partner with us when you send a donation in support of sharing the Gospel. In fact, to thank you for your generosity right now, we want to send you the book that tells the story in more depth.

It's also called Jesus Revolution. We'll send you the book to thank you for your investment, so get in touch today. Our 24-7 phone number is 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. And then one other thing. As you know, 2 Chronicles 7.14 says, If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Well, Pastor Greg is asking us all to do just that, to humble ourselves and pray each day. At 7.14 each day, we're committing to praying for revival among believers and a spiritual awakening in the culture.

And we're asking God to use Jesus Revolution as the catalyst. Will you join us in this? Commit to praying with us each day at 7.14.

Thanks so much. Well, next time, we'll see how this information age is such an important time to share the most important information we have, the gospel of Jesus Christ. More from Pastor Greg's series, Jesus Revolution. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Hey, everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on Know God.