Better Together - Part 2 of 2

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie says insurmountable challenges in life are an irresistible invitation to bring them to the Lord.
Greg Laurie: Sometimes we can come to church and we have a big problem. And then as we begin to sing to the Lord and worship the Lord, we start to get perspective. Because if you have a big God, you have a small problem. But if you have a big problem, is your God too small? So I magnify the Lord, I see Him in His greatness, and it puts my problem in perspective.
Guest (Male): The Lord has many options for reaching us in a time of need. Certainly, one of the most obvious and most important is the local church. In a crisis, help may be as close as the church down the street. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us learn from the early church. As we study the book of Acts today, we'll see they set the example for reaching out with the care and concern of Jesus Christ. And they provide us with an opportunity to serve, to give as we've received.
Greg Laurie: Here in Acts 2, we're looking at the birth of the church. The church that Jesus started. The church that Jesus established. He only started one organization, if you will, when He walked our earth, and it was the church. By the way, the word church means called-out ones. It's not about a building. It's not about a cathedral. The church is when God's people gather together because Jesus said when two or more are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. The church is a place to find accountability. The church is a place to be spiritually fed. The church is a place to hear the word of God. The church is a place to discover and then use your spiritual gifts. And the church should be your family because we really are your family. So let's consider now the story here before us of what the early church looked like. The church that changed the world. The church that was accused of turning the world upside down. I'm reading from Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 47, and I'm reading from the New King James Version. Just to get context, remember this is on the heels of the day of Pentecost. So the Holy Spirit has been poured out and 3,000 people have come to believe in Jesus after Simon Peter delivered the inaugural message of the church. Acts 2:42: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." We'll stop there. So what can we learn from this church? If you're taking notes, here's point number one: they were a learning church. They were a learning church. Now let me apply this to you personally. If you want to be a growing Christian, you need to be a learning Christian. There's always so much more to learn. I've been a Christian pretty long now, over 50 years. And you would think that I know a lot, and I know some things, but I've discovered that I have so much still to learn. And the apostle Paul, after years of walking with the Lord, said, "Look, I am pressing on because I have not reached perfection, pressing on toward the mark." And that should be the objective and the attitude of every follower of Jesus Christ. These people were studying the word of God. The fact of the matter here in verse 42, when it says continued steadfastly, this speaks of passion. They were living in a first-love relationship with Jesus and they had burning hearts. And let me ask you this, what are you passionate about? I mean, seriously. I know the default answer, Jesus. Okay, maybe, we'll see. I'll go check out your social media, and then I'll see what you're really passionate about. What do you post most about? What do you talk most about? Some people are passionate about sports. And there's nothing wrong with loving sports and enjoying sports, but is that your primary passion? Other people are passionate about movies or this new series on Netflix. Have you seen this? You gotta watch this. And you'll be talking about whatever, but the moment that topic comes up, they get all fired up. Other people are passionate about food. Food! Everything's food. And that's what fires them up. Other people, it's politics. Man, they're not even interested in the conversation until you get to politics. Now they come to life. Listen, it's fine to have an interest in all of these things, but make your primary passion about Jesus Christ. That's it. Don't lose that. It's not that these other things are bad things, but if one of these things takes the place of Jesus and your passion is channeled in a different direction, it actually can be a bad thing. So these people listened. They listened to what the word said. They continued with passion in the apostle's doctrine, and that's the way we should be as well. We must come with a desire to hear the word. Number two: it was a loving church. So number one, they were a learning church. Number two, they were a loving church. Verse 42: "They continued in fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers and continued to do this together." Now, as we grow in our faith, we will want to do it with other believers. In fact, the stronger your vertical fellowship, the stronger your horizontal fellowship will be. By vertical, I mean the closer you are to God, the closer you'll be with God's people. And if you're not as close to God as you need to be, you'll probably want to spend less time around godly people. And these first-century believers looked out for each other. Look at verse 44: "They met together in one place and shared everything." They pooled their resources for a time. And by the way, this was strictly voluntary. No one was forced to do it. But they did it because they wanted to. They helped each other out. And we do the same. You see someone that's in need, maybe they need food, maybe they need clothes, maybe they need encouragement, maybe they need something else. We help one another. We don't just pray for each other. Hey, can I do something for you? Can I help you with that need? This happens all the time. But this is the thing, we need to move beyond the phase of our life as a Christian where we come to church only to receive. Someone might say, "Well, I don't get fed here anymore." Okay, well how long have you known the Lord? 30 years. Okay, maybe you ought to start learning how to feed yourself, buckaroo. I mean, you ever think about that? It's time to grow up. Now, I'm not excusing the pastor or the teacher from expositing the word of God to you, but maybe you need to start learning how to dig into the scripture on your own. When my sons were young, little boys, they didn't always like to eat their food. So I had to find creative ways to get them to eat. Here comes the airplane. You've done the airplane, right? The food's on the fork. Or then the bribes, if you take two more bites, I'll give you your dessert. And in my case, I would say take monster bites. Take a monster bite. Two more monster bites. Okay, you're good to go. So that's cute when they're little kids. If I were to turn to Jonathan today in his 30s and say, "Take a monster bite," something's wrong with this picture. And some believers want to be catered to. They want everything to be cut up into little bite-sized pieces for them. Grow up and learn to study the word of God and even more, recognize that you need to come with an attitude of serving, not just being served. Right? Newsflash: it's not about you. Jesus said the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for others. Listen to this: you're going to find that great happiness and joy comes from serving other people because you have been blessed to be a blessing.
Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. You know, I've heard people describe a trip to Israel as seeing the Bible actually come to life.
Greg Laurie: Hey everybody, Greg Laurie. And I've been to Israel many times, and I've led a lot of tours, and I have to say that's absolutely true. Listen, when you're walking on the same stones that Jesus Himself walked on, well, that's something that's enriching to your faith. It's not just a travel experience; it actually energizes and enhances your study of the Bible. Think of it this way, it's a vacation with a purpose. And we're going to be taking a tour of Israel April 6th through 15th, 2027. You can find out more at israel.harvest.org.
Guest (Male): Step right into biblical history. Join Pastor Greg for a tour of the Holy Land, April 6th through 15th, 2027. Get details at israel.harvest.org. Well, we're learning some important principles from the example of the early church. Pastor Greg is presenting his message called Better Together.
Greg Laurie: Here's another interesting thing: the early church met house to house. Look at verse 46: they met house to house breaking bread. This was the first-century equivalent of small groups. This is why we have placed such a great focus on getting together in a small group because you're going to be blessed. You're going to learn more. You're going to build relationships. You're going to receive encouragement. You know, we have found that people who are in small groups have less marital problems, less need for counseling. Why? They have some people already in their life to talk to. And they meet with these people on a weekly basis, and it makes all the difference in the world. Number three: they were a worshipping church. They were a learning church, they were a loving church, they were a worshipping church. Verse 47: "Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." This is one of the great things about gathering together for worship. Isn't it great to be together in person all at the same time? Don't you love it? Yes. We're so thankful that we've been able to reach a lot more people than we've ever reached in our history online through what we call Harvest at Home. But still, I love to be in a room with God's people worshipping the Lord because the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. And this is what we do together as the church. We worship the Lord. Now sometimes we don't feel like worshipping. We're not in the mood. But the Bible doesn't say give thanks to the Lord when you feel good; it says give thanks to the Lord because He is good and His mercy endures forever, right? Job had so many calamities befall him literally in one day. And yet we read in his book and Job worshipped the Lord and said, "Naked came I into this world, naked shall I go out. Blessed be the name of the Lord." And look how there's a connection between worship and witness. Listen to this, if your Bible study and your worship and your fellowship does not make you want to share your faith, then something is wrong. This should be the natural overflow of a follower of Jesus. See, when a Christian can worship God in times of adversity, it has a powerful testimony to a lost world. When they see you're facing cancer or you're facing a layoff at work or you're facing some difficulty and you're still worshipping the Lord and your faith is intact, that's a powerful testimony. But worship brings things into perspective. Because sometimes we can come to church and we have a big problem. And then as we begin to sing to the Lord and worship the Lord, we start to get perspective. Because if you have a big God, you have a small problem. But if you have a big problem, is your God too small? This is why the psalmist said, "Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together." What does magnify mean? It makes something larger, right? So I magnify the Lord, I see Him in His greatness, and it puts my problem in perspective. That's why Jesus in the Lord's Prayer taught us to pray as follows: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then give us this day our daily bread. It doesn't start off with, "Our Father, who art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread," rather it starts with the exaltation of God, giving glory to God, and I begin to see things properly. C.H. Spurgeon, the great British preacher, made this statement, and I love it. "The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head at night giving perfect peace." Isn't that a great statement? Do you understand it? The sovereignty of God means God is in control. So when you lay your head down on your pillow and you're getting ready to go to sleep and suddenly your mind is filled with worries and anxiety and what about this and what about that, I go back to the sovereignty of God. What does that mean? Oh God, You're in control. You have everything in hand and that is a soft pillow I lay my head on giving me perfect peace. So this was a worshipping church that came together to bring worship to the Lord. One final point: they were an evangelistic church. They were an evangelistic church. Verse 47: "The Lord added people daily to the church who were being saved." The early church's evangelism was not a sporadic or occasional activity. Just as their worship was daily, so was their witness. They had a constant flow of new believers coming into the church. Sometimes churches grow not through new-convert growth but church-transfer growth, right? So people come in, we don't like our old church, now we want to come to this church. Hey, you can go wherever you want to go. But the best kind of growth in this church is when people are coming to Christ and coming into the church. And that's the kind of growth we've had for years at Harvest, and we pray continues on. Why? Because new believers are the lifeblood of the church. You show me a church that doesn't have a constant flow of new believers coming in and I'll show you a church that is stagnating. As I've said before, we have a choice: we can evangelize or we can fossilize. Why are new believers important for the church? Let me personalize it. Why is it important to have a new believer in your life? Because they will energize you and you can stabilize them, right? Because they're full of energy and passion and vim and vigor. And I don't even know what vim and vigor are, but they have it. And they have some weird ideas because they don't know yet. And you're full of knowledge and years of walking with the Lord, so you can impart that knowledge to them to stabilize them. But at the same time, you can rediscover things again through their eyes as they're seeing them for the first time. The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. That's why we need to do everything we can. Think of all the people you know that you could invite and have them come and join you and pray that they would make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ. I went to one of our small groups this last week that my son Jonathan has. It was an interesting collection; it was all guys. So one guy is a jiu-jitsu instructor, another guy is a real estate agent, another guy is a barber. So we're talking about the book of Acts and what it has to say and asking each one how they use their platform. And the jiu-jitsu instructor talked about how he was able to share his faith with his students. And then the realtor talked about how he integrated his faith into what he did. And the barber, to me, was the most interesting because I think anytime a guy has a blade up to your throat, they might have an advantage. I don't know. I told him a joke I heard years ago of a Christian barber that was at church and the pastor said, "You should share your faith." And he thought, "Well, I've never really done that." So he said the next customer that comes to see me, I'm going to share the gospel with them. So the man sat down and the barber put the apron around his neck and he pulled out that straight-edge razor, put it up to the man's neck and said, "Friend, are you ready to meet God?" And the guy ran out of the barber shop, cape and all. So don't do that. But actually, the barber said the way he does it is he just talks about it. Because people for some reason when they're getting their haircut or their hair done, they start talking. You ever notice that? It's talk and talk and... So he says, "So what I do is I just talk about how my faith works in my life and how the Lord answered a prayer the other day." I said, "Oh, you know what you're doing? You're chumming." Does that make sense? Chumming is when you put the bait in the water to get the fish to start biting. So instead of assaulting a person with the gospel, you just sort of drop some hooks in the water with some bait talking about what Jesus has done for you. Listen to this: the hardest two things about evangelism are getting started and then closing the deal. Let me put it another way: takeoff and landing. By the way, the most dangerous times of your flight are takeoff and landing. So if you survive the takeoff, you're pretty good. So relax a little bit. And I'm sure your landing will be just fine. But it's getting started, starting the conversation, getting into the conversation. And then if the Lord leads, and I emphasize only if the Lord leads, you seek to close the deal and say, "Would you like to accept Jesus Christ right now?" What a joy it is when they say yes. Well, let me just say this final thing. Maybe there's somebody here that has joined us and you don't have Christ living in your life. Do you want to know that when you die you will go to heaven? Do you want to fill that hole in your heart? Do you want your sin forgiven and your guilt removed? Let's all bow our heads. Father, thank You for Your word to us. Thank You for the truth of it. And I pray for any that have joined us, wherever they are, if they don't know You yet, if Jesus Christ is not living in their heart, our prayer is that Your Holy Spirit will work on them now. Show them their need for You and draw them to Yourself, we pray. Amen.
Guest (Male): An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie. And if you'd like to make a change in your relationship with the Lord today, Pastor Greg wants to help you do just that. And he'll do so in just a moment before we wrap up today's edition of A New Beginning. Are you receiving Pastor Greg's daily devotions each day via email? If not, let's take care of that right now. You can sign up today free of charge at harvest.org. And you'll receive a daily inspirational thought from God's word each day in your inbox. Again, go to harvest.org. And then Pastor Greg, just before we go, would you mind praying with the person listening who wants to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord?
Greg Laurie: I'd be happy to, Dave. You know, as you've been listening to this today, maybe you've heard another voice. By that I mean, yeah, you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice speak to you deep in the recesses of your heart. And it suddenly dawned on you, "This is what I need," or to state it more accurately, "This is who I need. I need Jesus and I want Jesus." But maybe you don't know how to make that connection. Let me help you. God is only a prayer away. He stands at the door of your heart and He knocks. And Jesus says, "If you'll hear My voice and open the door, I'll come in." Let me help you open the door, so to speak, of your heart as you invite Jesus to be your Savior and Lord. So here's what I would like you to do. I'd like you to stop what you're doing and I want you to pray a prayer after me. I'll lead you in this prayer. And as you pray it, God will hear you. Pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. And I am sorry for my sin. And I need Your forgiveness right now. Would You come into my heart and my life as Savior, as God, as friend? I choose to follow You from this moment forward. Thank You for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I know that was a relatively short prayer. Maybe you felt something as you prayed it, maybe you felt nothing. That doesn't really matter because God's word 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." It doesn't say so you may think you have it or you may hope you have it if God's in a good mood. No, that you can know it. And I want you to know, if you prayed that prayer and meant it, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into your life. So congratulations, you're now a Christian. Now continue to follow the Lord.
Guest (Male): Yeah, and to help you, we'd like to send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It's in an easy-to-understand translation with hundreds of helps specifically for those who are new to the faith. It'll answer many of the questions you might have and get you started off right in your new relationship with the Lord. So get in touch and ask for the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it to you free of charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's our 24-hour phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. You know, Pastor Greg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives. So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue.
Greg Laurie: Yeah, it's really true, Dave. And even a little bit helps. You know, people need to hear the gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it, and I'm called to do it, and I'm thankful for it. But I can't do it alone. So I'm going to ask folks that are listening, if you think more people need to hear the gospel, if you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the word of God, then prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries and maybe even become a Harvest Partner, which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving. And that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. So thanks for that.
Guest (Male): Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us anytime day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg brings a study of the spiritual gifts God makes available to believers. We'll see they enable us to do the work He's called us to do. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.