You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast supported by Harvest Partners. For more ways to deepen and challenge your spiritual walk, enroll in Pastor Greg's free online courses.
Sign up at harvest.org. What good is a half-hearted Christian? What good is a deluded believer? What good is a decaf disciple? It's like an espresso without caffeine.
It's like having a car without an engine, also known as a Prius. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us learn to be full strength, fully developed, fully effective Christian disciples. A disciple must and will impact their culture.
One of the classic old CCM songs of days gone by was called Two Hands by Love Song. The song said, with one hand reach out to Jesus, with the other bring a friend. That's a pretty good description of discipleship in a nutshell. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us follow the Lord wholeheartedly and show others how to do the same.
We'll learn how to embrace the very purpose we're here to have fellowship with God and to bring others into that fellowship. We're in this series now on the topic of discipleship. In the last message I asked you, are you a disciple? Now I'm defining what a disciple actually is. And so go over to Luke 14 where Jesus really breaks down what it means to be a disciple. Verse 26, he says, if any man comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers, sisters, yes, in his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
I made this point in my last message, but in case you didn't hear it, I want you to know what it is. Number one, if you want to be a disciple, you must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else. You must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else. When Jesus says hate your father, mother, brothers, sisters, et cetera, he is not being literal because in other passages I am told to love my wife as Christ loves the church. I am told to even love my enemies. Jesus is using a contrasting term to make a larger point. In effect he is saying your love for God should be so intense that your love for others would be like hatred in comparison.
So you must love God more than anyone or anything else. Love Him more than your career. Love Him more than your ministry.
Love Him more than even your life. Point number two, the disciple must take up the cross and follow Jesus. Verse 27, whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. In Luke's gospel over in the ninth chapter, Jesus addresses this again with a little more detail. He says if anyone desires to come after me and be my disciple he must deny himself, listen to this, and take up his cross daily and follow me for whoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Now here is the problem. We have no idea what this means. And I think it is even more complicated from the time we live in because what do you think of when you think of the cross? Probably the symbol of the church or Christianity. You see a cross you think that is a symbol of Christianity. The cross for many is a fashion accessory. It is a new tat on their arm.
It is something they you know maybe have somewhere. But the early church did not wear crosses. They died on crosses. So when you hear Jesus say take up your cross and follow me it means one thing. It means you die to yourself. And by dying to yourself or losing yourself you ultimately find yourself.
Point number three. The disciple must turn the title deed of their life over to Christ. The disciple must turn the title deed of their life over to Christ.
Or if you are a car guy give them the pink slit. Right. Verse 33. You cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. The King James translation is forsake all that you have. It is just reminding ourselves we are actually not owners.
We are stewards. Because everything you have one day is going to be passed on to someone else. You know you can take it with you. So what does it mean when Jesus says giving up everything that you own. Does that mean it is a sin to have a car or a house or some money in the bank or some clothes.
No no of course not. Here is what it means. It better be translated surrender your claim to those things. If you want to be my disciple surrender your claim to everything in life. So it is a recognition God is the owner. God is the pink slip. God is in control of it.
And I recognize I am just a steward over it for a period of time. See it is not wrong to have a career but it is wrong if a career has you. It is not wrong to have possessions but it can be wrong if your possessions have you. Your only real passion and obsession in life should be Christ. And all these other things have their place.
But not the most important place. My granddaughter Allie loves to collect stuffed animals. She really loves them. And so whenever I go on a trip she will say Papa bring me back a stuffed animal. So you know if I am traveling you will see little stuffed animal heads sticking out of my carry on bags.
I will look for them and bring them home. And so the other day I was on a trip and I made a video of a bunch of stuffed animals. I said which one do you like Allie. And I got her on the phone on FaceTime and we are talking. And she says Papa I am not obsessed with stuffed animals anymore.
I said really. She says I am just obsessed with talking with you. I said oh I like that.
That is very good. Girls try that line on a guy. Girls I think that line would work on any guy no matter his age. No matter your relationship. I you know warm my heart. I think we all should say to God Lord I am obsessed with talking with you and walking with you and hearing from you and knowing you.
Number four. A disciple must impact their culture. A disciple must and will impact their culture. Look at verse 34 of Luke 14. Jesus says salt is good for seasoning but if it loses its flavor how do you make it salty again. Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away.
Anyone willing to hear what I am saying should listen and understand. Hey what good is salt if it is not salty. Really. It is like Coke without carbonation. You ever get a flat Coke. Kind of gross. It is like an espresso without caffeine. What is with that.
I love like a triple espresso decaf. Get out. Really. It is like having a car without an engine. Also known as a Prius.
Sorry. And you probably have a Prius with a God is my co-pilot sticker on their back right. No that is not true. Because no Prius owner would ever have God is my co-pilot sticker. They would have a coexist sticker. Am I right.
Right. And I know because I have seen them. I have gotten behind them on the freeway. They always drive slow. That is because the wheels on a Prius are this big. And I have a sneaking suspicion that cats drive Priuses. I am just.
They are all interconnected somehow. So when Jesus says you are the salt what good is unsalty salt. The point he is making is what good is a halfhearted Christian. What good is a deluded believer. What good is a decaf disciple.
Right. What good is it. Well the answer is not good for much. So what does salt do. Well we have to understand in this culture just like we must understand the cross we must understand salt. Salt was kind of a big deal in the first century. In fact it was so important and valuable that sometimes they would pay Roman soldiers in salt. Hence the expression. He is not worth the salt.
Valuable commodity. Also salt obviously has an impact. A little bit of salt goes a long way.
You know with a meal. Put a little salt on it. Or hey if you have watermelon. I love watermelon. A little bit of salt takes it to another place doesn't it. It works in cantaloupe too. I like it in cantaloupe. Also an oatmeal. Just a little bit.
Don't overdo it or you will wreck it for sure. So what is Jesus saying. He is saying number one you are valuable and number two your life can make a difference. So when he says you are the salt. He is saying you have value and you can make a difference. Another thing that salt does is it stops the rotting process.
Back in the first century without refrigeration the way they would preserve meat was by rubbing salt in it. And in the same way we sort of stopped the spread of evil. A Christian may speak up in a classroom or speak up in an office or speak up in a neighborhood or speak up in our culture when something is wrong and speak up for what is right. But not only do we stop the spread of evil. We are not just there to stop bad things. We are there to speak up for the most important thing.
Jesus Christ. Because salt stops the salt stimulates thirst. Now of course movie theaters know this well. They salt that popcorn. So you will come back and buy a Coke that costs $100. And it is in a trash can.
It is so why does everything have to be so big and so expensive. But you know you get thirsty and I think the greatest compliment that can be paid to a Christian is when a non-believer says, what is it about you? I admire you.
I want to know what makes you tick. Ah, you have done your job Christian. You have done your job disciple because you have created thirst in another. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hearing about listeners who are helped because of Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries is so encouraging. Hi Pastor Greg.
I want to send an enormous thank you. Jesus has been a rock in the unrelenting years of storms in my life and your daily podcast messages have played a large part in helping me. I appreciate your humor as it made me laugh on days that I struggled not to cry. And your impactful practical messages picked me up on days I felt like I was on the floor. While the storms in my life have not subsided, they are no longer hurricane status and more of a steady winter rain.
But I no longer feel like I'm drowning and can more easily breathe again. God bless you for your constant support and encouragement Pastor Greg. We're so blessed to hear comments like this. Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email? Send it to Greg at Harvest dot org.
Do it today while you're thinking about it. Again that's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well as Pastor Greg continues his message, he refers to a movie he produced on the life of a famous Hollywood actor. As you all know this film about the life of Steve McQueen and some have asked why are you, you know, what is your deal with Steve McQueen? Okay it's not my deal with Steve McQueen.
It's a story of a transformation of a life that was like, he was like a modern day Solomon. You know he had everything this world offers. McQueen in his day was the number one movie star in the world. He had incredible wealth. He had women throwing themselves at him and he was a willing recipient I might add. He had the coolest cars, motorcycles. He bought an airplane hanger to just store his cool stuff.
It was like the ultimate man cave. He lived the dream and saw the emptiness of it and walked away from Hollywood at the peak of his fame and moved to this little town called Santa Paula, California. It's like small town USA because it reminded him of the town he grew up in as a young boy.
Slater, Missouri. And the reason he moved there also was because Santa Paula was the antique plane capital of the world. And Steve bought a Stearman biplane, a very old plane, because he wanted to learn to fly. He didn't know it but he was setting himself up for what God had for him. Because it was only one guy qualified to teach people to fly in the Stearman biplane and it was a guy named Sammy Mason that was a totally committed disciple of Jesus Christ. But here is how Sammy reached Steve McQueen.
Not by fawning over him. In fact the cool thing is Steve calls and says, I want to learn how to fly. And Sammy answers and says, I am not taking on new clients right now.
New students. And Steve says, well this is Steve McQueen. And he says, I don't care.
I am not taking on new students right now. Steve couldn't believe it. Whenever he said who he was everyone wanted to help him. So he called back, I am Steve McQueen. I am a movie star. I want to teach you how to fly.
I don't care. He says, I am not taking on new students. So later that day Sammy says to his son Pete, yes some guy called me. An actor Steve McQueen wants to learn how to fly. His son is like, Dad that is Steve McQueen. We watch his movie The Great Escape all the time. Oh whatever.
Ok I will take him on. That was Sammy. So they spent hours in the cockpit. And Steve saw something in Sammy that impressed him. And Sammy was a man's man. He was a regular kind of guy. He was a salt of the earth kind of guy.
And the best use of that phrase. And he wasn't ashamed to talk about his faith. And Steve said, Sammy I see like you have a peace and I want this peace.
What is it? And Sammy said, well Steve it is my relationship with Jesus Christ. And then Steve said, well you let me come to church with you. So Steve actually asked if he could go to church with Sammy. And Steve came to faith. But you see it was someone living the life and stimulating a thirst in someone else for Jesus Christ.
Are you doing that right now? One last point. A disciple will bring forth spiritual fruit. A disciple will bring forth spiritual fruit. Now this is not here in Luke 14. This is in John 15 where Jesus says in John 15 8, by this is my Father glorify that you bear much fruit. So shall you be my disciples. If you are really a disciple of Jesus you will have fruit in your life.
You will say, but what does that mean fruit in my life? It means results. It means evidence. Another way of putting it if you were arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you? By evidence I don't mean Bibles laying around or Christian bumper stickers or things like that. I mean evidence where they would talk to people you know. Look at your lifestyle and say I can see the evidence in their life.
And one of the first things we do as a Christian is we bring forth what the Bible calls fruit in keeping with repentance you see. So your old buddy says, hey man let's go out and get a drink after work. I don't do that anymore. What? You don't do that anymore. Yeah I don't drink anymore. Ok. I found this poor incitement.
I don't look at that stuff anymore. Well what is wrong with you? Well it is not what is wrong with me. It is what is right with me. Christ is coming to my life. See they know you now by the fruit of your repentance.
You have stopped doing some wicked things. Now you are doing in their place godly things. And that intrigues them.
It also perplexes them. But you should be known by your repentance. That is one way to bring forth fruit. Giving praise and thanks to God is a way of bearing fruit. Because we are told by Him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. It is the fruit of your lips. So earlier in worship when we sang the praises of the Lord that was bringing forth fruit.
When we gave Him the offering that was bringing forth fruit. Those are tangible results. One other thing.
I could go on and on about this one. But one other thing is a change in your conduct and character is spiritual fruit. A change in your conduct and character. Galatians 5 22 says, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Can people see the fruit in your life? Let's review and conclude. Number one. A disciple of Jesus Christ loves God more than anyone or anything else.
Number two. A disciple of Jesus Christ takes up His cross daily and follows Him. Thirdly. The disciple of Jesus has turned the tidal deed or the pink slip of their life over to Him. Fourthly. A disciple impacts our culture.
And fifth and lastly. A disciple brings forth spiritual fruit. Ok. Let's pull out the word disciple and insert your name in its place.
Greg loves Jesus more than anyone or anything else. How does that fit? Depends. I try to. I want to. Do I always measure up to that? Of course I don't.
But that is something I should aspire to isn't it? How about this. Kathy takes up the cross daily and follows Christ. Josh impacts his culture.
Mary brings forth spiritual fruit. Put your name in those places. Do you do that? And you say, well no I don't know if anyone can do that.
Who can even live up to these standards? Answer. You can. I can. And you must if you are going to be a disciple. You say, but I can't.
No. It is more like you won't. Don't you remember when your teacher used to tell you there is a difference between can't and won't. You can. You just won't. Don't say you can't because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
Ok. That is what the Bible says. This is not a can I do it issue. This is a will I do it issue.
Will I do it? Will I make that decision today and then make that decision again tonight and tomorrow morning then in the early afternoon then at lunch time then after then into the evening then into the next day. Remember being a disciple is taking up the cross daily and follow Christ. You don't do it once a year or once a month.
You do it every day and really in effect multiple times throughout the day. That is what we are to do. Take up the cross.
Listen. And when we bring forth spiritual fruit it doesn't grow overnight right. You don't go in your backyard and pull up a chair in front of your peach tree and just look.
I mean you can do that. But you won't see anything. But if you set up a camera and did time lapse photography over a period of a month oh you would see dramatic growth. But you look at it every day you may not see any growth. But it is growing.
So this takes time. But we just need to start by saying I want to take up the cross daily and do it because I want to find the life God has for me. See living in this in between spot is the miserable place.
Living in this sweet spot of commitment is where the life is. Listen to what Paul said. I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless I live. Yet it is not I but Christ that lives in me who loved me and gave himself for me. Did you notice what Paul said? I am crucified in Christ. Death, cross, cross bearing. Nevertheless Paul says I live.
See he understood this. That is where the life is. As I lose my life which means give it to God I find my life.
I find my purpose and meaning in life by putting God first. As I quoted earlier becoming a Christian costs you nothing. It is a gift. But being a disciple costs everything.
Yeah being a Christian costs you nothing. Listen God has an awesome gift for you today. It is called the gift of eternal life. I love how the Bible calls it the unspeakable gift.
I like that word because it is effectively saying there is no word to describe it. It is so incredible. It is just unspeakable.
Why is it unspeakable? Because it is the only gift that becomes more valuable with the passing of time. It is not that the gift itself becomes more valuable but I think our understanding of it does. Because we see the depth and the width and the greatness of it. And then as we get closer to the end of life on earth that is where we see the full power of the gift because it means we have the hope of heaven.
And I ask in closing do you have that hope right now that when you die you will go to heaven? God offers you a gift. You say well how do I receive a gift? Well how do you receive any gift?
You reach out and you say thank you and you open it. So God offers you the gift of eternal life. And you say Lord I receive that gift. You have to admit you are a sinner. Turn from your sin and ask Jesus to come inside. And I would like to pray and give you an opportunity to do that. Father now speak to any that have joined us wherever they are if they don't know You yet. Help them to come to You and believe in You and receive the forgiveness of all of their sin and the hope of heaven. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer about coming to the Lord to receive that gift of eternal life.
And if you'd like to do that Pastor Greg will help you in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. You know Pastor Greg there are few things that parents don't have to force kids to do. You may need to insist that they eat their vegetables. You may need to make sure they brush their teeth.
You may need to take a firm stand on washing their hands before dinner. But parents parents don't need to insist the kids eat dessert. They don't have to make sure the little ones go to the amusement park. And they don't have to force them to watch cartoons. That's true. So parents have it pretty easy in introducing their kids to our new animated series The Adventures of Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog. Isn't that right?
That's right. And I think that you will find when your kids watch these cartoons that they'll be pulled in because the first thing that we set out to do is make them entertaining. It has to be what shall we call it a proper cartoon. It can't just be a sermon. So there's funny gags and the visuals on this are really impressive. I'm working with a fantastic animation studio to help bring these characters to life. But then we have the message of the gospel.
We have the word of God interwoven in every one of these cartoons. And so we're hoping that you will use them as a tool to reach your children to reach your grandchildren. And this is something we're very excited about. It's a whole new thing we're exploring together.
And I need you to help me do this because, well, how shall I put this? Animation is not inexpensive. It's a big commitment. But I think it's a commitment worth making because you're going to reach a generation you would not reach with perhaps other tools that we have at our disposal at Harvest right now. We want to reach people of all ages. And so if you care about this next generation, if you want to reach your kids, your grandkids, your neighborhood kids, then we encourage you to be a part of what we're doing with Ben Born Again and his little buddy, Yellow Dog.
Here's just a little dialogue from one of the cartoons to give you a sense of what it sounds like. What's up? I'm Ben Born Again. Get it? It's a play on words.
As in, I've been born again. Huh? What does that even mean? Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce you to my buddy, Yellow Dog. Yellow Dog? Why did you even name me that?
Dude, because you're yellow and you are a dog. It's a cool name. Oh, I see. And this month we're offering a special resource that's brand new. It's called the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. Now, we have had a version of this out for many years that has touched thousands of people, but we thought it's time to revisit it, to add to it, to update it, to make it fresh and new. You know how they say in the commercials, it's new and improved.
And actually, it really is new and improved. And we want to send you a copy of the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book for your gift of any size. This will be a great tool for you to share with your kids. You could do devotions with it or just give it to them to read on their own. It has lots of fun little cartoon drawings throughout, but some great biblical truth embedded in it. So whatever you're able to send us financially will be used to help us to continue on in animation and tools to reach children, as well as all that we do for people of all ages all around the world, our podcast, our radio show, our TV show, and much more.
So be generous this month. Help us reach this next generation and get your own copy of the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. Yeah, we'll be glad to send it right out to you to thank you for partnering with us in getting the Word of God to the people of God, the people of God of all ages. And if you feel led to partner with us on a regular basis, be sure to ask about becoming a Harvest Partner. And when you support us, be sure to ask for the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. You can call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.
Or go online to harvest.org. Pastor Greg, a few moments ago you spoke of the need to get our hearts right with God. Yeah. Could you help someone who wants to do that right now? Yes, I'd be delighted to. This can be the moment where you change your eternal address literally from hell to heaven. I'll pray a simple prayer, and I would just ask you to pray this prayer out loud if you like after me. Just pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for me and rose again from the dead. Jesus, I choose to follow you from this moment forward. In your name I pray, amen.
I know. It's such a simple, short prayer, but you just called on the name of the Lord, and you know what? He heard that prayer, and if you meant that prayer in your heart, he answered that prayer. Now let me help you to get started on the right foot in your new life in Jesus Christ. The greatest adventure awaits you, the life of walking with God. I want to send you what we call a New Believers' Growth Pack that includes the New Believers' Bible and a whole lot more, and let me be the first to say to you congratulations and welcome to the family of God. Yeah, and to get that free New Believers' Bible along with the other items in our Growth Pack, just let us know you prayed along with Pastor Greg to receive Christ today. We'll be glad to send our New Believers' Growth Pack your way. Call us at 1-800-821-3300.
Call anytime 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Well, next time we'll see discipleship is a giver-receiver relationship. Pastor Greg says we should either be being discipled or we should be discipling someone else. More good insight coming your way. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to A New Beginning. This is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. So for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make Him known to others, or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.
