Greg Laurie: A New Beginning

Every kid has known a bully. The bully is often bigger and meaner and is a force to bereckoned with. Well, when your new best friend happens to be the linebacker of the school football team, it’s amazing how the bully isn’t so threatening anymore. What problems are bullying you right now? Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how God stands ready to meet us at our point of need, and His problem-solving resources are limitless and reassuring.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If worry were an Olympic sport, some of us would qualify for the Gold Medal. But, in reality, life gives us so much to worry about, doesn’t it? The world is a mess, on so many levels. And we all have issues on a personal level, as well. But so many times, we’re so much more attached to our burdens than our burdens are attached to us. And today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie begins a message designed to set us free from the worry trap. Good encouragement worth taking some notes.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Life is full of uncertainty. But when we don't know what the future holds, we should look at the one who holds the future. Pastor Jonathan Laurie points us to faith in this message.

Notes:

Focus verse - Daniel 7 

WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR BEARINGS, YOU BEGIN TO DRIFT.
 
READ DANIEL 7:1–10 (NLT)
 
#1 DANIEL’S FEAR
DANIEL 7:1–10
 
PHILIPPIANS 4:6 (NKJV)
BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING, BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER
AND SUPPLICATION, WITH THANKSGIVING, LET YOUR REQUESTS
BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD;
 
PHILIPPIANS 4:7 (NKJV)
AND THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING,
WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS.
 
ISAIAH 46:9–10 (NKJV)
I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER; I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE
LIKE ME, DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, AND
FROM ANCIENT TIMES THINGS THAT ARE NOT YET DONE.
 
#2 DANIEL’S KING
DANIEL 7:13–14
 
BEING WITH JESUS TRANSFORMS YOUR FEAR INTO FAITH
AND YOUR CONCERN INTO CONFIDENCE.
 
#3 DANIEL’S HOPE
DANIEL 7:18, 26-28
 
WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS,
LOOK TO THE ONE WHO HOLDS THE FUTURE.
 
READ PHILIPPIANS 3:17–21 (NLT)
 
DANIEL REMEMBERED HIS TRUE IDENTITY.
DANIEL PURPOSED IN HIS HEART NOT TO DEFILE HIMSELF.
DANIEL SOUGHT THE WELFARE AND SALVATION OF BABYLON.
DANIEL DID NOT RETREAT, HE INFILTRATED.
DANIEL LIVED HOLY IN A GODLESS CULTURE.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So many of us are procrastinators by nature. Others meant to be but they haven’t gotten around to it. Especially when thinking about the end of life and what lies beyond the grave, people tend to leave that discussion for another day. Well today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie says time may be running out. We’ll take a close look at the Lord’s plans for the End Times. How will it affect Israel . . . how will it affect us? Reliable answers today straight from God’s Word.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The dependability of a promise is tied to the integrity and the resources of the one who makes the promise. Did he mean it, can he do it? Did God mean it, can He do it? The Bible says all the promises of God are “yea and amen.” And today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how God’s promises extend to God’s people, including His chosen people. We’ll focus on his promises to the nation Israel, and how those promises can be trusted.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most cars – those that take gasoline – have an engine and a starter motor. The starter motor (sfx) is what you hear when you first turn the key. The engine is what you hear (sfx) when the car roars to life. If a spiritual awakening is like an engine, revival is like the starter motor. And today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us all do our part to bring revival to our land. That’s where it starts: it starts with the people of God.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it seems like the world is coming apart, sometimes it means that things are actually coming together. It’s not a time for fear, but a time for faith. Coming up today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us examine the great spiritual movements of the past. And we’ll draw some perspective from the book of Nehemiah. We’ll see how we may be at the precipice of an amazing move of God, and how He wants our help to light the spiritual fire. Let’s learn how to get involved.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To borrow from Mark Twain, “bad news can travel halfway around the world, while good news is still putting on its shoes.” When an influential believer falls into sin, it seems like we hear about it at the speed of light. But how do we reach out to someone who’s helped us, when they’re the ones who need help? Pastor Greg Laurie answers that question today on A NEW BEGINNING. We’re considering a story about Noah in the book of Genesis. This godly man sinned. But we can learn from this biblical account.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can someone be sure they will go to Heaven when they die? Pastor Greg Laurie reveals that the answers to some of our most pressing questions are found right in the book of Isaiah.

Notes:

ACTS 8 AND ISAIAH 53
 
 
PEOPLE WILL DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING TO AVOID PAIN.
  
WE WANT THE GAIN WITHOUT THE PAIN. WE WANT THE CROWN WITHOUT THE CROSS.
 
THE TEXT BEFORE US REMINDS US THAT JESUS CHOSE THE WAY OF PAIN- ON PURPOSE.
 
WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO READ ANSWERS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF LIFE-
- HOW CAN A PERSON COME INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
- HOW CAN ONE BE FREE FROM THE GUILT AND REMORSE OVER THEIR SINS?
- HOW CAN ONE BE CERTAIN THAT THEIR SINS ARE INDEED FORGIVEN AND THEY WILL GO TO HEAVEN?
 
ISAIAH 53 IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTERS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
 
THERE IS POWER IN THE MESSAGE OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS.
 
WHY IS THE DEATH OF JESUS SO IMPORTANT?
BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE SINNED AGAINST GOD AND A PRICE MUST BE PAID, A SUBUSTUTE MUST BE OFFERED.
 
JESUS IS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT CONCEALED, BUT HE IS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT REVEALED.
 
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH OFFERS THE CLEAREST ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF JESUS.
 
ISAIAH WROTE HIS BOOK 700 YEARS BEFORE CHRIST DIED.
HOWEVER, HE WROTE IT AS THOUGH HE WAS AN EYEWITNESS.
 
IN OUR JESUS AND YOU 2 SERIES, WE HAVE SEEN JESUS IN THE FIRE WITH SHADRACH, IN A WRESTLING MATCH WITH JACOB, AND NOW ISAIAH SHOWS US JESUS AS THE SUFFERER.
 
“THIS CHAPTER IS THE VERY HEART OF THE GOSPEL. IT IS THE BIBLE IN MINATURE.”
—CHARLES SPURGEON
 
LET’S START WITH THE TWO DOWNHEARTED DISCIPLES ON THE EMMAUS ROAD AFTER JESUS ROSE.
 
LUKE 24:27 (ESV)
BEGINNING AT MOSES AND THE PROPHETS, HE INTERPRETED TO THEM IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES THE THINGS CONCERNING HIMSELF.
 
THE BIBLE TELLS THE STORY OF A MAN WHO WENT TO JERUSALEM, SEARCHING FOR GOD.
 
BUT AS A DIGNITARY, HE RECEIVED SOMETHING VALUABLE, THE SCROLL OF ISAIAH!
 
PHILIP HEARD THIS FOREIGN DIGNITARY READLING ALOUD FROM ISAIAH 53.
 
READ ACTS 8:31 30-35 
 
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, ISAIAH IS THE MOST QUOTED OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS.
 
JESUS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS QUOTE ISAIAH AT LEAST 65 TIMES AND HE IS MENTIONED BY NAME 22 TIMES.
 
THE WHOLE GOSPEL IS IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH:
- THE BRUTALITY OF THE WOUNDS INFLICTED ON JESUS. (ISAIAH 52:14)
- HIS ABSOLUTE SILENCE BEFORE HIS ACCUSERS (ISAIAH 53:7)
- HIS DEATH (ISAIAH 53:8–9)
- THE PLACE OF HIS BURIAL (ISAIAH 53:9)
- HIS RESURRECTION (ISAIAH 53:10)
 
READ ISAIAH 53:1-3
 
JESUS WAS ORDINARY IN APPEARANCE.
  
IF JESUS HAD AN INSTAGRAM, HE MIGHT NOT HAVE GONE VIRAL,
BUT HE STILL WOULD HAVE GONE TO THE CROSS.
 
IF JESUS WERE HERE TODAY, HE WOULDN’T BE TRENDING, HE’S BE TRANSFORMING.
 
JESUS DID NOT COME FROM THE MARBLE PALACES OF ROME OR THE HALLS OF HEROD.
 
WE OVERLOOK THE ORDINARY PEOPLE IN OUR CULTURE TODAY.
 
WE LIVE IN A CULTURE THAT WORSHIPS THE OUTWARD.
 
PEOPLE SCROLL PAST THE ORDINARY.
MOST LIKELY, YOU COULD NOT PICK JESUS OUT OF A CROWD.
 
AT HIS BIRTH, ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE RECOGNIZED WHO HE WAS,
HUMBLE SHEPHERDS, WHO WERE THE LOWEST OF THE LOW AT THAT TIME.
 
JESUS RETURNED TO HIS HOMETOWN OF NAZARETH WHERE HE HAD BEEN RAISED.
 
THEY DECIDED TO KILL HIM AND TOOK HIM TO THE EDGE OF A CLIFF TO THROW HIM OFF.
YET JESUS SHOWED HE WAS IN COMPLETE CONTROL.
 
LUKE 4:29 30 (ESV) 
BUT PASSING THROUGH THEIR MIDST, HE WENT AWAY.
 
PEOPLE WANTED A MILITANT MESSIAH AND THEY GOT A SUFFERING SAVIOR.
 
JESUS WAS EXTRODINARY IN WHAT HE CAME TO DO.
ISAIAH 53:3
 
WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT “JESUS WAS A MAN OF SORROWS?”
 
DOES IT MEAN JESUS NEVER SMILED, NEVER LAUGHED?
 
JESUS SAID, “I TOLD YOU THIS TO MAKE YOU COMPLETELY HAPPY AS I AM.”
 
JESUS WAS HAPPY, APPROACHABLE, AND EXUDED LOVE!
  
1 TIMOTHY 1:11( NLT)
THE GLORIOUS GOOD NEWS ENTRUSTED TO ME BY OUR BLESSED GOD.
 
THAT IS NOT THE VIEW MANY PEOPLE HAVE OF THE ALMIGHTY.
THEY SEE HIM MORE AS THE ANGRY GOD OR THE DISINTERESTED GOD.
 
WHEN GOD SEES YOU, HE SMILES.
 
NUMBERS 6:24–26 (NLT)
MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU AND PROTECT YOU.
MAY THE LORD SMILE ON YOU AND BE GRACIOUS TO YOU.
MAY THE LORD SHOW YOU HIS FAVOR AND GIVE YOU HIS PEACE.
 
WE FOLLOW THE LOVING GOD, THE HAPPY GOD, THE SMILING GOD.
 
WHEN JESUS WAS IN GETHSHEMENE HE WAS IN THE DEEPEST SORROW AND PAIN.
 
JESUS KNOWS WHAT IT IS LIKE TO SUFFER.
 
JESUS WAS “A MAN OF SORROWS AND AQUAINTED WITH GRIEF.”
ISAIAH 53:3
 
JESUS DIDN’T JUST SEND US A SYMPATHY CARD FROM HEAVEN, HE SHOWED UP IN PERSON.
 
JESUS UNDERSTANDS PAIN, NOT JUST IN THEORY, BUT PERSONALLY.
 
WHEN YOU GRIEVE, YOU ARE WALKING A ROAD JESUS HAS WALKED.
 
I HAVE LIVED WITH GRIEF, AND IT IS UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE.
 
SORROW PASSES THROUGH YOU, GRIEF MOVES IN AND TAKES RESIDENCE FOR A WHILE.
 
GRIEF IS THE WAVE THAT THAT COMES OUT OF NOWHERE WHEN YOU HEAR A SONG OR SEE AN OLD PHOTO.
 
GRIEF IS NOT NECESSARILY A BAD THING,
THE DEPTH OF YOUR GRIEF INDICATES THE DEPTH OF YOUR LOVE.
 
THE BIBLE SAYS, “THERE IS A TIME TO MOURN.”
 
PAUL POINTS OUT, “WE DO NOT GRIEVE HOPELESSLY BUT HOPEFULLY.”
 
GOD UNDERSTANDS THAT GRIEF YOU ARE FEELING.
 
JESUS CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH YOUR SORROW.
 
REMEMBER WHEN YOU ARE GOING THROUGH TIMES OF SUFFERING,
JESUS HAS WALKED IN YOUR SHOES.
 
HEBREWS 4:15 (NLT)
THIS HIGH PRIEST OF OURS UNDERSTANDS OUR WEAKNESSES, FOR HE FACED ALL OF THE SAME TESTINGS WE DO, YET HE DID NOT SIN.
 
ISAIAH 53 MATTERS TODAY BECAUSE THE ONE WHO CARRIED OUR GRIEFS AND BORE OUR SORROWS
STILL OFFERS HEALING — FOR HEARTS, FOR HOMES, AND FOR A GENERATION THAT’S LOST IT’S WAY.
 
JESUS LOVED US AND DIED FOR US.
 
ISAIAH 53:5 (NKJV)
BUT HE [WAS] WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, [HE WAS] BRUISED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE CHASTISEMENT FOR OUR PEACE [WAS] UPON HIM, AND BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.
 
ISAIAH 53:6 (NKJV)
ALL WE LIKE SHEEP HAVE GONE ASTRAY; WE HAVE TURNED, EVERY ONE, TO HIS OWN WAY; AND THE LORD HAS LAID ON HIM THE INIQUITY OF US ALL.
 
JESUS WAS NOT AN ACCIDENTAL VICTIM.
HE WAS A CONQUERING VICTOR.
 
HOW CAN A PERSON BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD?
HOW CAN THE STAIN OF OUR GUILT AND SHAME FROM OUR SIN BE REMOVED?
 
ANSWER: BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST.
 
WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?
 
JESUS HAD TO DIE BECAUSE THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY TO SATISFY GOD’S RIGHTEOUS DEMANDS.
 
GOD PLAYS BY HIS OWN RULES, AND HIS RULES STATE,
“THE SOUL THAT SINS SHALL SURELY DIE.”
 
THE DEATH OF JESUS WAS FORETOLD BY THE HEBREW PROPHETS.
 
MESSIAH WOULD COME, BE BORN OF A VIRGIN IN BETHLEHEM, AND BE CRUCIFIED ON A CROSS.
 
JESUS WOULD SOON SAY THE WORDS OF PSALM 22, “THEY PIERCED MY HANDS AND FEET.”
 
PSALM 22 WAS WRITTEN 1,000 YEARS BEFORE THE FIRST CRUCIFIXION EVER TOOK PLACE.
 
JESUS LIVED IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS FROM THE MOMENT HE ENTERED OUR WORLD.
 
FOR SOME, THE CROSS SEEMED LIKE AN ABERRATION, A MISTAKE, A TRAGIC TURN OF EVENTS.
 
IT MUST HAVE SEEMED LIKE THAT FOR THE DISCIPLES AS JESUS WAS ARRESTED AND MURDERED.
 
GOD WAS THE ‘MASTER OF CEREMONIES’ AT THE CROSS.
 
ROMANS 8:32
GOD DID NOT SPARE HIS OWN SON BUT GAVE HIM UP FOR US ALL.
 
ROMANS 3:25
GOD PUT CHRIST FORWARD…BY HIS BLOOD, TO BE RECEIVED BY FAITH.
 
(ISAIAH 53:10
YET IT PLEASED THE FATHER TO BRUISE HIM; HE HAS PUT HIM TO DEATH.
 
GOD WAS PLEASED BY THE REDEMPTION THAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED.
HE WAS PLEASED BY THE ETERNAL PLAN OF SALVATION THAT WAS FULFILLED.
 
IN FACT, THIS WAS THE MOST EVIL ACT EVER PERPETRATED BY SINFUL HEARTS:
THE SINLESS SON OF GOD, TORTURED, SLAUGHTERED, HEARTLESSLY MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD.
 
AND YET, FROM IT CAME THE GREATEST GOOD OF ALL TIME.
 
CALVARY SHOWS HOW FAR MEN WILL GO IN SIN AND HOW FAR GOD WILL GO FOR SALVATION.
 
AS CHRIST HUNG THERE, HE WAS BEARING THE SINS OF THE WORLD, DYING AS A SUBSTITUTE.
 
TO HIM WAS IMPUTED THE GUILT OF THEIR SINS,
AND HE WAS SUFFERING THE PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE SINS ON THEIR BEHALF.
 
THE VERY ESSENCE OF THAT PUNISHMENT WAS THE OUTPOURING OF GOD’S WRATH AGAINST SINNERS.
 
JESUS MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE.
ISAIAH 53:7
 
JESUS WAS ARRESTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AS THOUGH HE WERE A CRIMINAL.
 
WHEN PILATE QUESTIONED JESUS, HE SPOKE A FEW WORDS, BUT NONE IN HIS OWN DEFENSE.
 
THIS WAS ALL DONE THAT WE MIGHT BE FORGIVEN AND COME INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
 
READ ACTS 8:34–39
 
THAT IS HOW QUICKLY CONVERSION CAN HAPPEN.
IT DOES NOT TAKE YEARS, OR MONTHS, OR WEEKS, OR DAYS, OR EVEN HOURS.
 
JESUS CHRIST DID ALL OF THIS FOR YOU.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this interview from the archives, Pastor Greg Laurie sits down with Hugh Hewitt to open up about his upbringing, running into the gospel at 17 on a high school campus, and becoming a successful evangelist, despite being the last person many would have expected.

Looking for hope or know someone who is? Join Greg Laurie at the Harvest Crusade: Hope for America on November 16! Get event information here.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.