A New Beginning presents a book from Pastor Greg Laurie, with help for those suffering loss, called Hope for Hurting Hearts. God has used this book over the years to touch many people. If you've lost a loved one, or if you know someone that's recently lost a loved one, it would be an excellent thing to get this book into their hands, because I really wrote it for them. So we're offering you a copy of this book, Hope for Hurting Hearts, for your gift of any size.
Available at Harvest.org. We want to see our land healed. God says it starts with my people. And I believe that the hope for America is the Church. Coming up today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how revival is what our country needs. And revival begins in the hearts of believers. Christians need to live up to their name. Christ followers.
Being Christ-like. And if the Church would be what it was meant to be, it would change our country. Well, we've made it through another election season. Not that we needed a reminder. Some people are hopeful about the future. Others are deeply concerned. But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that Washington can't fix what's wrong with our country. It tends to make things worse. What's needed is a return to God.
And that doesn't come by way of a ballot. Today Pastor Greg takes us to the Gospel of Matthew for his message, The Hope of the Church. The first recollection I have of going to church was as a little boy with my grandparents. I didn't like it at all.
I thought it was boring. And my grandmother kept shushing me. And I remember that I drew cartoons on the church bulletin as the preacher droned on. When I was in military school for a few years we went to mandatory chapel.
I didn't really enjoy that either. But we had to go. And I remember they would give us money to put in the offering. They gave us ten cents. And the reason I remember is one Sunday I kept the ten cents and I didn't give it to God. And I spent it at the canteen instead.
That was where they would have candy and supplies and such. And we had our own money. But now I had twice as much. Twenty cents to buy my grape licorice that I always bought. Because I thought it was a better investment of my ten cents to buy ten pieces of licorice than to buy a candy bar.
They lasted longer. But I do remember feeling very guilty about stealing God's money from Him. But I really didn't have a lot to do with the church during my childhood.
It was not something I was a part of. How many of you were raised in the church? Raise up your hand. You were raised going to church. Ok. How many of you were not raised going to church? Raise up your hand. Ok.
Interesting. How many of you came to Christ at a church service? Raise your hand if you came to Christ. How many of you are really sick of raising your hand? Raise up your hand.
Ok. So I wasn't raised in the church. I wasn't familiar with the church. And you know I came to Christ at age 17 on my high school campus.
And there was a very persistent guy that sort of made himself my friend named Mark. He came up to me, hey Greg I saw you became a Christian and I want to take you to church. And I said, well I really don't want to go to church. That is ok. He says, no, no. You are going to church with me.
Where do you live? And I am going to pick you up. He was like persistent in a very friendly way. And so I said, alright fine. So he picks me up and he takes me to church.
I think it was a Monday night or a Wednesday night. This is Calvary Chapel in the throes of the Jesus movement. So the place is overflowing with young people.
There is like an electricity in the air. And I walk in and I kind of froze. Like I don't want to go in that place. And the reason was there was just too much happiness in there. There was too much smiling and hugging and loving.
And you have to understand I was raised in a really dysfunctional home. And we didn't hug in our family. So I saw a lot of hugging. And I thought, don't want to be hugged at all. And so I kind of approached you know cautiously and some random girl comes up to me, God bless you brother, and hugs me. And I am like ugh.
You know. But when I saw the place was full I was relieved because I thought, no I don't have to go in. I said, well Mark there is no room in there. He goes, yeah I wish we could get in. Well sure enough someone in the front row sees me, recognizes me from the high school Bible study, waves me over. And so I walk through and people are looking at me.
I am very self-conscious. I take a seat in the front row. But what I didn't realize at the time was I had a front row seat to a genuine revival. So I am sitting there. Now understand back during the Jesus movement days when songs would be sung people would put their arms around each other and they would sway back and forth like this.
Ok. So everyone puts their arms around me. I have arms going around me. I am like I don't want arms around me.
And I am in the middle of this all of a sudden. And they are singing, Love. Love. Love.
Love. Christians. And then when they are done everybody pointed up. Now that is because back in those days the big symbol was the one way sign.
One way to Jesus. So everybody points up. I don't know what is happening.
So first I am doing this. Everyone points up. I am like what? What? Look at the ceiling.
What? And then the preacher comes out. It is Pastor Chuck Smith.
A middle aged bald man. That is the last thing I wanted. I thought it is like a teacher. It is like the principal.
It is like going to be so boring. And I sort of started to withdraw back a little bit. And then as he opened up the Word of God and it made sense to me and it was relevant to me my heart began to change. And then I went from being uncomfortable in church to where you couldn't get me out of the church.
I went to every service possible and wanted to be a part of everything and learn as much as I could learn. And then two years later I am up here in Riverside planting a church myself. Now I did not know I was planting a church. I thought I was just teaching a Bible study for young people at a local Episcopalian church.
But it began to grow. And pretty soon people are calling me pastor. They would say, pastor?
I would be like, where? You mean me? Oh I can't be your pastor.
No. But I tried to find someone to take it over and I couldn't. And I realized that the Lord was calling me to be a pastor. Well fast forward 40 years and now I am the old bald guy.
Ironic isn't it? But let me say this. I am as committed to the mission of the church as I was on the day that I first discovered how wonderful church can be. And I believe that the hope for America is the church. You say, now Greg wait I thought you said the hope for America is a revival. Isn't it really God?
Yeah. The hope is God working through His church. What is revival? It is Christians getting back to what they should have always been in the first place.
It is Christians coming back to life. Remember what we learned in 2 Chronicles 7.14. If a nation wants to be healed here is what God says. If My people which 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 forgive their sin and heal their land.
We want to see our land healed. God says it starts with My people. Christians need to live up to their name. Christ followers.
Being Christ-like. And if the church would be what it was meant to be it would change our country. But let's localize it. If this church would be what it ought to be could it change the Inland Empire or Orange County or Southern California?
Yeah. Well let's localize it even more. If you could be what you ought to be as a follower of Jesus in a part of the church what difference would it make in this church? Well where does this phrase church even come from? You might be surprised that the first one to ever use the word was not the apostle Paul.
It was Jesus Himself. And that brings us to our text. Turn to Matthew 16 and we are going to read verse 13 to 19. Let's read together. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, underline that.
We will come back to it. He asked His disciples saying, "'Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?' So they said, "'Well some say you are John the Baptist.
Others say Elijah. Some think you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' He said, "'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, "'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
Jesus said, "'Blessed are you Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades or hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'"
Listen. When Jesus walked this earth He only started one organization if you will. And that of course is the church. By saying the gates of hell will not prevail against it the Lord is saying, listen, this church is here to stay.
Against all odds it will prevail and not only as a beginning but it is an ongoing process. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Emails, phone calls and social media messages from listeners are so encouraging to us and they let us know the effectiveness of these studies. Pastor Greg, I've listened to you at Harvest Christian Fellowship and now on your podcast.
It's been 30 years since I first heard your messages. I'm thankful that the Lord has used you so powerfully to spread the gospel and to instruct and encourage others. I'm in the midst of a very difficult season right now and listening to your messages helps keep things in perspective. Your podcast is a critical life saving and life enriching resource for me and I'm so grateful for it. Thank you, Greg. It's a blessing to know that listeners are hearing these messages and God is using His word to touch hearts. How have Pastor Greg's studies impacted your life?
Would you let them know? Send an email to Greg at Harvest dot org. That's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well today Pastor Greg is pointing out that the church is the organism established by Christ himself and it's through the church that revival can heal our land. What does the word church mean? It comes from the Greek word ekklesia. And ekklesia is made up of two other words. One of those words is out from and the other word is called.
So you put them together and the meaning of ekklesia or the word church is called out from. Called out from what? Called out from this world.
From this culture. Jesus is saying my followers should be separate from this culture. We are not only called out from. We are called together to. We are called to God and we are called to each other. How many of you have been to one of our Harvest Crusades at Angel Stadium?
Raise your hand up. You know it's an amazing thing when thousands of Christians gather in that place isn't it? But I have been to Angel Stadium for other events and I will tell you it's not the same as our events. Their staging may be more impressive. I went to a U2 concert there.
They had the most amazing stage I have ever seen in my life. And it was a good rock concert but it wasn't what we do. I went to a Paul McCartney concert there and that wasn't a crusade or a church service either though some people seem to think it was.
When Paul is saying let it be all the hippies got all worked up and were swaying back and forth in their tie-dye shirts and stuff so it is like ok whatever. I went to an angels game there once and I saw a couple of guys get in a fight who were drunk. So that wasn't quite a crusade. But when God's people gather together in Angel Stadium a stadium turns into a sanctuary.
Why? Because the church is not a building. It is people. And Jesus said, when two or more are gathered together in My name I am there in the midst of them. That is what the church is. So let's consider now the statement of Christ and let's start with where He said it. Jesus made this statement at a place called Caesarea Philippi.
Now we could miss that altogether and its significance. But Caesarea Philippi was a place of paganism and false belief. In fact Caesarea Philippi was named after the Greek god Pan. If you go there today you will still see what is left of a site that was dedicated to false gods and idols. So here in a place of false worship Jesus asks His disciples to make a stand. In this place of paganism Christ asks a probing question.
Who do men say that I am? You know it is impressive to make your stand for Christ here in the church but I think it is even more impressive when you make your stand for Christ out in the culture. When you make your stand for Christ not just on Sunday morning at church but morning morning at work.
Or Monday morning in the classroom or at the work site or in your neighborhood standing up for Jesus then. Who do men say that I am? God is effectively saying, Ok guys as you get out and about as you rub shoulders with people what are they saying?
What is the word on the street? Well some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Jeremiah. Others think you are one of the prophets.
Ok. Who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter inspired by the Holy Spirit says, I think you are the Christ the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you Peter. Can you imagine how Peter felt at that moment? Don't forget these disciples they competed one with another.
They would argue about who would get the best seed. Who was going to be top dog in the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus just said this to Peter. Can you see him?
I wonder if he just kind of looked over sideways at James and John. Didn't say that to you sons of thunder. Said it to me. Hear that Andrew. Said it about your big brother.
Said it to me. But here is what Jesus is saying. He is not saying the church is built on Simon Peter.
No. He is saying the church is built on what Peter said. What did Peter say?
You are the Christ the Son of the living God. The foundation of the church is Christ Himself. And He is going to build this church and the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it. This reminds us that the church is going to face hostility and opposition because gates don't attack.
They are part of a fortress. But as we seek to advance the kingdom and pull men and women effectively out of hell the devil is going to say, You back off. But Jesus says, No.
He is not going to win. Listen. We may lose a battle here and there but we are going to win the war.
I have read the last page of the Bible. We win in the end. So we cannot be discouraged. We cannot be deterred.
We press forward. Jesus loves the church. I bring this up because there are people out there today who say they are Christians and will say, Well you know I love the Lord. I just don't love the church.
Sorry. That is impossible. 1 John 5 says, Everyone who believes that Jesus is born of God will love the Father and if you love the Father you will love His child as well. When I become friends with someone, and I have a lot of friends that I have known for 25, 30 years, I become friends with their kids too. If I love them my love extends to their family. And their kids become like nieces and nephews in a way to me. And so in the same way when we love God we will also love His children. And if you don't love His children one has to question how much you really love God. It is popular today to diss the church.
But understand this. When you diss the church you are speaking critically of someone that Jesus loves. I don't know about you but the best way to offend me is insult my wife. This is my girl. You don't talk about her that way.
I take that personally. Ok. Who is the church? We are the bride of Christ. When we belong to Him He loves us. In fact using that analogy over in Ephesians 5 we read, Husbands ought to love their wives with the same love Christ showed the church.
He gave up His life for her. No one ever hates His body but cares for it as Christ cares for His body, which is the church, and we are His body. Some people claim to be Christians but they don't attend church. But if you are really a Christian you should long to be with God's people. You might say, well I haven't found a church I like yet.
But listen. Here is what the Bible says. Hebrews 10. Let's consider one another to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day of the Lord approaching. That verse does not say don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together unless of course Sunday is your only day off. Or you have a triathlon you want to run in.
Or it is a great beach day. Then you are excused because you don't really need fellowship as much as other Christians do. No. If you love God you will love His people. And let me turn that around and say if you don't love being around the people of God are you really a Christian?
The Bible asks the question how is it that you can say you love God who you can't see when you don't love your brothers and sisters who you can't see? I think your desire for fellowship is in a way like a barometer of your love for God. The more you love God the more you will love to be in the church, a part of the church, loving the church. The less you love God the less you will want to be around other Christians.
You say, yeah but I don't know. I am so over the church. And the church is so critical and judgmental and it is so full of hypocrites. To those who say the church is full of hypocrites I say, well then come on.
There is always room for one more. I am not excusing hypocrisy. The church has its flaws because it is made up of people like me and people like you. However Jesus started the church. He loves the church.
And He died for the church. Now let me say something that might seem a little bit provocative but I believe it is true. A lack of fellowship with other believers to me is a sure sign of a person that is starting to backslide. You say, no Greg you are wrong in that. Oh wait.
Hold on. What is backsliding? See in the Christian life we are either moving forward or we are moving backwards. It is constant growth.
It is progression or regression. There is no standing still. So suddenly you are withdrawing from church and you are backing up from your study of the Word of God and your prayer life is pretty much nonexistent. You are starting to backslide if you want to admit it or not. You may not be in overt sin yet but you are already setting the stage for it.
Backsliding always begins with relaxing your grip on that which you need before you take hold of that which will destroy you. And so when you say, well I am just too busy for church or I don't have time or there are other things that to me is an indication something is wrong with you spiritually. And think about this. You are setting an example for your children and your grandchildren. How important is this to you? A study revealed that when mom and dad attend church regularly 72 percent of their children will remain faithful in attendance. If only dad attends regularly 55 percent of the children will remain faithful. If only mom attends regularly 15 percent will remain faithful. If neither attend regularly only 6 percent will remain faithful.
See how it trickles down. You are setting an example. You are saying, yeah you know we don't need to go today. I want to go golf instead. Well let's not go today. It is three drops of rain. I don't know.
It could be so dangerous on the road. You know that is the example. You are saying that is not important to me.
And your kids are going to absorb and pick up on that. I have read an article that actually says going to church is good for you physically and for your health. Time magazine did a story on it talking about the benefits of faith in the church. And among other things it revealed that heart surgery patients who draw comfort from their faith in their church have a higher rate of survival than those that do not. The blood pressure of people who go to church is lower than those who don't. People with faith who attend church regularly experience less depression than people that don't. Suicide is four times higher among non-church goers and church goers.
Fringe benefits. But the real reason we should come together and worship is because God works in a unique and powerful way when His people gather together in His name. Pastor Greg Laurie on the need to prioritize being a part of a church family. Hebrews 10 25 says, Don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. Pastor Greg has more to say about this as the message continues here on A New Beginning. But Pastor Greg, not only should we emphasize being a part of the body of Christ on the local level, we need to talk about being a part of the greater body of Christ, being a part of God's family, having a personal relationship with the Lord. We're all about showing people how to come to know God in that way. Someone can enter into that kind of relationship today, 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 Savior 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 Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thanks for hearing this prayer and 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, yeah, that's right. And listen, would you let us help you get started living this new life? Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible.
It's in an easy to understand translation with so many helps specifically for those who are new to the faith. We'll send it free of charge, so get in touch for your copy of the New Believers Bible. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514.
Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. And Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.
Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul?
Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son, or your daughter? Or your mom or your dad?
Or your best friend? Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable. Well, listen, God says all souls are mine.
God loves us and sent his son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission.
Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Well, next time, Pastor Greg comes back to wrap up his message called The Hope of the Church. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.
