Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here.
Let me ask you a question. Are you eager to make a difference in the spiritual lives of others? When you give to Harvest, you become a part of our mission to make God known through unique avenues like television, radio, and large-scale evangelistic events. Support us today at harvest.org slash donate and help us to continue to spread the gospel around the world. We live in an ABC culture.
ABC, anything but Christ. But today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that's where our job begins. We each have the privilege of letting our light shine on the darkness around us. As Christians, we need to engage our culture. We need to influence our culture.
We need to try to the best of our ability to change our culture. We are, according to Jesus, to be salt and light in the world. Others in Texas discovered that a candle in the darkness can be seen from a distance of 1.6 miles.
Small lights can pierce the darkest of nights. The darker our culture gets, the more effective our light can be as we shine for Christ. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us shine more brightly.
No matter what we do professionally, it's how we share God's love and bring others to faith that stand as a testimony for eternity. We're going to do a little series called Hot Button Issues. And we're going to start in Exodus chapter 20. So grab your Bibles and turn over there.
Hot Button Issues. All right. There was a time when maybe the best known verse in the country, maybe even the world, was John 3.16. We all know that verse, right? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. That's a good verse to know. That's the gospel in a nutshell. But I think probably the most popular verse today would be Matthew 7.1. Especially among non-believers. And I don't even think they know the reference but they know the statement which is judge not lest you be judged.
Right? You ever had that verse quoted to you from a non-Christian? And usually the context is you're making a statement. You're saying, well I don't really agree with that. I think this because the Bible says. And then they retort yes but doesn't the Bible say judge not lest you be judged.
How dare you have an opinion. How dare you believe in absolute truth because there are so many people today that reject that outright. You know I find that the most narrow minded people out there today are the ones who claim to be the most broad minded. I find those that say they are the most accepting are actually the most unaccepting. Because not only do they not want to hear your opinion.
They want to stop you from expressing your opinion. Today folks we live in an ABC culture. ABC. Anything but Christ. You can believe in anything you want. Say anything you want. But if you dare to mention the name of Jesus Christ. If you dare to pull out one of these books and quote from it you are going to be cancelled. You are going to be opposed.
You are going to. Some will even try to silence you altogether. They want us to just be quiet. Keep our opinions to ourselves. But the Bible teaches we should do the very opposite. As Christians we need to engage our culture. We need to influence our culture.
We need to try to the best of our ability to change our culture. We are according to Jesus to be salt and light in the world. So what does that mean? Jesus said you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt is lost its saltiness what good is it? What good is unsalty salt? It is sort of like a decaf soy latte.
Why? Or some of the things that people order at Starbucks now. I will have three squirts of this gross syrup and some whipped cream. Just go to 31 Flavors. But I don't know if we even have 31 Flavors anymore do we?
I used to go to one quite frequently. And they shut down. I am very disappointed by that. But maybe it is a good thing. But the point is you don't want to be unsalty salt. So in the first century when Jesus gave this statement salt was considered a valuable commodity. So much so that they would sometimes pay people in salt believe it or not. Hence the term you are not worth your salt.
Right. So Roman soldiers would be paid in salt. So first off Jesus is saying you are valuable. You are the salt of the earth. You matter. Your opinion matters.
Your presence matters. Secondly salt was used to preserve meat. They didn't have refrigeration obviously so they would rub salt into the meat to preserve it. To stop it from rotting. Our modern equivalent would be beef jerky. You know those little bits of beef in the packages at the gas stations they sell for like $50 a bag.
They are very expensive now. But it preserves meat. And we are a preservative in the culture. We are effectively stopping the rotting process. Speaking out against what is wrong. Speaking up for what is right. But another thing salt does is stimulates thirst.
If you have too much salt in something it makes you thirsty. And as followers of Jesus we should be stimulating in others a thirst for Christ. And then we are to be light. You are the light of the world.
A light that is on a hill. That can be seen. So let your light so shine before men if they might see your good works. Give glory to your Father who is in heaven. We are to be a bright light in a dark place. And let that light shine.
How? Through good works. Doing things for people in the name of Jesus.
And obviously through gospel proclamation. So we are not to retreat. We are to advance. We are not to evade. We are supposed to invade. Infiltrate.
Permeate. And have an influence in culture. And have a biblical worldview. Now as we do this people are not going to always love it. But we have to say what is true. Now I want to talk about some hot button issues. Some would call these controversial.
I don't think you fear a believer in the Bible. Anything I am about to say to you is controversial. But for some of you some of the statements I will make today will be controversial. Some of these statements I am about to make might offend you. But let me just say at the outset I am standing on what the scripture says.
And that is where I get my opinions. And that is what I am going to be speaking from what does the Bible say. What does the Bible say about the family? What is a family? What isn't a family? What is the place of sex in our life? What about homosexuality? Is that ever acceptable? Are people born gay? Is it wrong for gay people to marry? What about abortion? Is it really that big of a deal? And what if the mother's life is in danger? Now some would say Greg stop.
Stop right now. You are getting political. Listen for thousands of years these topics that we might regard as political have been spoken about in scripture. Just because something has political ramifications doesn't mean that I am going to avoid that topic if the Bible addresses it. Slavery was once a political issue as well.
A controversial issue even in our nation and around the world. But slavery was always wrong. It was always an evil. Back in England there was a man named William Wilberforce. He was a British parliamentarian. And he came to Christ. And he felt impressed by God to overturn slavery in England. And then of course Abraham Lincoln our president contributed to that as well.
So that is an evil. It had political ramifications. But that doesn't mean we should avoid it. But before I address these hot button issues I want to ask you a question. Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?
Yes or no? Ok. So we start there. If you believe the Bible is the Word of God then what I am going to say you are going to say well of course the Bible says that. And here is how to tell if you have a biblical worldview or not.
If you find some of these subjects uncomfortable or you don't agree with them your disagreement is not with me. Your disagreement is with what the Bible says. Now we all have a worldview. Some have a biblical worldview. Some have a secular worldview. So you have to get your worldview in my opinion from the right place. Because far too often our worldview is based on our emotions. I feel this.
I think that. Ok so we don't want to reason that way. We want to reason from scripture. What does the Bible say about this particular topic? Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Well we are focusing on having a biblical worldview today. As we think about the Bible as Pastor Greg helps us get better prepared to influence our culture.
Let's continue. God has given us absolutes to live by. He has given us the commandments.
The Ten Commandments to protect us. Years ago we had a German Shepherd and he was the best dog I ever owned. Great dog. So one day I looked through the window and my German Shepherd is staring intently at something in the grass.
I thought what's going on? So I go in my backyard and I walk over and look and there is this beautiful brightly colored little finch like you would buy in a pet store. Nestled in the grass shaking as my dog is looking at him. So I am thinking is that someone's pet bird that got out? So I stooped down and I put my index finger out and the little bird jumped right on my finger. So I walked into the house.
Hey Kathy look what I just found. So she is cooking something in a big old pan and she grabbed the bird and threw it in. We ate it.
No we didn't. Ok. Beautiful little bird. I said what do I do with this bird?
I can't just walk around with it on my finger. And our son Jonathan who was very little then said there is a girl up the street that used to have a pet bird and it died and she has a cage. I said go get the cage. And so he runs and he gets the cage and we set it on the counter all the time I am holding the bird on my finger. We opened the door to the little bird cage. That bird jumped into the cage and got on the little swing and was swinging back and forth.
Happy days are here again. See we think oh no don't put the bird in the cage. Give the bird its freedom. He had his freedom. And he was staring down a German shepherd.
See that little bird did not see the parts of that cage as a prison keeping him in. He saw them as barriers of protection keeping bad things out. That is how we should look at the commandments of God. That is how we should look at the absolutes of Scripture. So the Ten Commandments can be divided into two sections. Not five and five as you might think but actually four and six. The first four commandments have to do with our relationship with God.
The final six have to do with our relationships with people. So I think most of you know the Ten Commandments. Commandment number one the Lord says have no other gods before me.
Commandment two have no graving images. Number three don't take the Lord's name in vain. Number four remember the Sabbath day keep it holy. And then we shift gears to the final six commandments dealing with our relationships with others. And it starts with the family. Exodus 20-12 honor your father and mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
So if you are taking notes here is point number one. God starts with the family because He created it. God starts with the family because He created it. Just as He created us male and female and brought Adam and Eve together He brings the man and the woman together in a marriage.
And that is the foundation of everything else in our culture. You all know that Adam was lonely. He was in the Garden of Eden alone giving names to the animals.
And the Bible says the Lord said it is not good for man to be alone. And he caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. And as he slept from his rib he took Eve and Adam woke up and saw her and was very excited. He says this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined into his wife and the two will become one flesh. So she came from Adam's rib.
By the way a story you may not have heard but Adam and Eve were talking one day and Eve said to Adam, Adam I think you have been unfaithful to me. Says Eve. No. No. By the way there is only one woman on earth and it is you. I haven't been unfaithful.
No. I think you have been unfaithful. Ok. And so he went to sleep and he felt something poking at his side. He woke up and it was Eve. He says, what are you doing?
She says, I am counting your ribs. Get it. That is not in the Bible. Forget it. It is just a silly joke.
Number two. Our very existence as a society is contingent on the success of the family. Maybe that is why Satan hates it so and has declared war on it.
Listen to this. Most societal ills in America today are the result of the breakdown of the family. We throw billions of dollars at our problems and they just get worse. What is the real problem?
The real problem. Greater than drug addiction. Greater than homelessness. Greater than all the things we deal with. It is the breakdown of the family. And I can prove it with a bunch of statistics.
I am going to kind of bombard you with them for a moment. But let me start with this. Children born out of wedlock used to be the exception not the rule. There were 624,828 live births and 21 in which 320,713, that is 51%, were registered to women who were not in a marriage. So for the first time in our history there are more children coming now from families, single parent families or broken families and there are coming from intact families. Now when I was a kid I was the only one I knew who came from a broken home.
As you know my mom was married and divorced seven times. And so all my friends had their parents at home except me. So they would all have to go home at dinner and they envied me. Because I didn't have to go home to dinner. There was no home to have dinner at. So I went to a little restaurant.
Some of you might remember it. It was called the Snack Shop on Pacific Coast Highway. And every night I would go to the snack shop and get my dinner. Hamburger, french fries, vanilla malt. In fact when I go to In-N-Out Burger I still get that same order. Though their vanilla malts are a little on the thick side but I still like them.
The flavor is just right. So every night hamburger, french fries, vanilla malt. All my friends said man I wish I was living your life. But I wanted to be living their life. I even had a friend who had dinner at home with his family and I would go have dinner with him just to be with the family. And I didn't even like the food they ate.
Because they ate gross peas that were all squishy. But I put up with it because I love this idea of a family. But today that's the norm. Broken homes. Now we talk about homelessness. How do we cure homelessness? We have spent billions of dollars fighting homelessness in California alone.
But listen to this. 95 percent of all homelessness and runaway children are from fatherless homes. It's broken homes.
That's at the root of it. 71 percent of high school dropouts are from fatherless homes. 85 percent of all youths sitting in prison are from fatherless homes. A child from a fatherless home is 68 percent more likely to use drugs or alcohol. 63 percent of teens who attempt suicide are from fatherless homes.
Fatherless daughters are 111 percent more likely to have children as teens and 164 percent more likely to have an out of wedlock birth. You see how the cycle repeats itself over and over again. And it just goes on and on and on. That's why the family is so important. We're considering the Ten Commandments today as Pastor Greg Laurie helps us focus on having a biblical worldview—an absolute essential as we reach out and influence our culture. And Pastor Greg will have more from this message here on A New Beginning.
But you know, a biblical worldview needs to start with a relationship with God through his Son Jesus Christ. It's a good time to ask, have you ever come to the Lord and asked him to forgive your sins and be your Savior and Lord? Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person who wants to make that kind of change today?
What I would say is, he's only a prayer way, which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer, he will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray, 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 and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now, and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord, as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Amen. Listen, if you have just prayed that prayer and you've meant those words sincerely, we want to welcome you into the family of God. And let us help you get started walking with the Lord each day. Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believers Bible, absolutely free, along with some other helpful resources. They'll help answer your questions and get you started off right as you live for God each day. Just let us know you prayed with Pastor Greg and that you want the New Believers Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300.
We can take your call anytime, 24-7, at 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. And then let us say a word of thanks to those who support us financially, those who make it possible for us to bring you these studies each day. We are definitely a listener-supported ministry.
It's the generosity of listeners that help us be here with these programs. So if you've partnered with us, thank you. And if you have yet to partner with us, I hope you'll get in touch today and let us know that you're standing with us. Even a small investment would help. It's actually an investment in changing lives. Thank you for partnering with us. You can donate securely online at harvest.org or write a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again, that's 1-800-821-3300. Well next time, more insights from Pastor Greg's message, Hot Button Issues. More strong counsel coming next time. Join us here on a new beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.
