Greg Laurie: A New Beginning

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. Listen on harvest.org --- Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org. A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Google processes more than 8 1⁄2 billion searches every single day. How do we know? We Google’d it. 8 1⁄2 billion searches, and there are 7 1⁄2 billion people on the planet. A lot of us are curious. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie speaks to one of the most curious issues of the Christian life. How can we discover God’s will for our lives, and how can we align ourselves with His plan? We’ll discover how we can find the fulfillment of living according to God’s purpose. Listen on harvest.org --- Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org. A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that the people God chose as Jesus’ parents were young and, in many ways, unprepared. Yet Mary and Joseph trusted in God’s plan and were faithful.  Pastor Greg Laurie shows how God fulfills His promises through the obedience of regular people. Listen in for a message from Luke 1 and Matthew titled, “With God, Nothing Is Impossible.” Notes The word for power comes from the root word “dynamite.” Mary saw Jesus enter the world as her son and leave as her Savior. Mary was living in Nazareth. 1. Mary lived a Godly life in an ungodly place. Nazareth could be described as sin city. Mary models for us that it is possible to live a holy life in an unholy place. “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young.” Mary was a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere. God uses “nobodies” to tell everybody about somebody. The Lord hand-picked Mary to fulfill this prophecy. Troubled means “disturbed,” “confused,” or “failure to function.” 2. Mary was surprised that God had selected her and not someone else. Gabriel the Archangel tells Mary what the name of her child, the Messiah, was to be. Mary was willing to do whatever God wants! 3. Mary obeyed and magnified God. Mary wonders how she, being a virgin, will conceive and Gabriel says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” —Luke 1:37 For with God nothing will be impossible! Joseph is an unsung hero of the Christmas story. 4. God chose Joseph just as surely as He chose Mary, to be a stepfather, a father figure for Jesus on Earth! Joseph was doubtful about the supernatural conception. The angel of the Lord came to Joseph, too! If there were no virgin birth, there would be no sinless Christ. If there is no sinless Christ, there would be no atonement. 1. Jesus came to die and give His life as a ransom for many. “For even the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve others, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” —Mark 10:45 2. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to bring life in all of its fullness. 3. Christ was born in a manger so that we could be born again! God has given us the ultimate gift. For with God nothing will be impossible! Scripture Referenced 1 Timothy 4:12 Isaiah 7:14 John 10:10 --- Learn more about Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries at harvest.org. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're only days away from Harvest's biggest film event of the year: Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon. Find tickets and showtimes here: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Johnny-Cash-the-Redemption-of-an-American-Icon  --- Today, we look back two decades at a message from Pastor Greg Laurie given at the SoCal Harvest event at Angel Stadium (formerly Edison Field) of Anaheim. Pastor Greg speaks powerfully from Luke 15 on the story of the prodigal son.  In this message, you’ll find answers to the major questions of life. What are you on this Earth for? What are you here for? And how can you be a happy person? No matter what kind of home you might have come from, Pastor Greg underscores the possibility of hope. He says, “Even if your parents has let you down, even if your earthly father has left you down, you have a heavenly Father who loves you and will never let you down.”  To learn more about coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, just go here.  This message was originally given on July 13, 2002.  --- This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s right isn’t always popular, and what’s popular isn’t always right. It’s easy to go with the flow . . . laugh along with others at an inappropriate joke, remain silent when a co-worker is about to do something unethical. But those who never stand for something eventually will fall for anything. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us put our faith—our relationship with God—front and center in our daily lives. It’s part of walking the rewarding pathway of discipleship. Listen on harvest.org --- Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org. A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s one thing to be ON the team, it’s another to be IN the action. It’s one thing to watch from the bench, it’s another to get in the game. Spiritually speaking, our salvation is a free gift from God—Jesus paid the price. But discipleship has a cost. It’s a higher level of devotion . . . and a higher level of reward! Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us chart a course for genuine discipleship. And he begins by commenting on an evangelistic outreach that had just concluded. Listen on harvest.org --- Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org. A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Christian life isn’t constant rainbows and butterflies. It’s not bliss, bling, and bemusement. And we shouldn’t promise that kind of life in our presentation of the Gospel. We need to be honest. Sometimes trials come our way, but the Lord is with us in the midst of them, and will help bring us through them. We’ll learn more today on A NEW BEGINNING, as Pastor Greg continues our study of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s timeless insight that stretches right into the 21st Century. Listen on harvest.org --- Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org. A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember Harvest Ministries this Giving Tuesday and help us reach people with the gospel in unique ways! Just go to harvest.org/givingtuesday Among the highest paid professions, all in the top 10 are in the medical field. Anesthesiologists top the list. Their knowledge comes at a premium. But they can save your life. What believers know is worth even more (spiritually) . . . and it can save a life for eternity. But some resist hearing the life-saving Good News. What then? Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us be ready for those times when the hearers don’t have ears to hear. Listen on harvest.org --- Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org. A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lord tells us He’s not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Yes, God judges sinners but that’s not His desire. What’s our desire? When someone is in sin, do we reflect the Lord’s objective, that we should lovingly lead them back into fellowship with God? Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie takes us to important counsel from the Sermon on the Mount—the Lord’s directives to His disciples on matters of faith, love and harmony. Listen on harvest.org --- Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org. A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've all heard the phrase “it's the most wonderful time of the year.” But is it true? Not for some of us. That's why Pastor Greg Laurie's offering us a Christian perspective on how to make this holiday season a joyful one. Don't miss this valuable, encouraging message. Notes  There are more than 2,700 passages in the Bible containing words such as joy, happiness, pleasure, laughter, gladness, feasting, and celebration. God Himself is happy. Jesus said, “I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am.” 1. Remember the reason for the season. Christmas is the celebration of the happiest message of all time. The only real happiness you will find is in Christ, not in Christmas but in Christ, not in merriment but in the Messiah. “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing.” —C. S. Lewis 2. If you want a happy holiday, spend time with loved ones. There is power when God’s people pray with each other. 3. If you want a happy holiday, be grateful for what you have. “In everything, give thanks for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus.” —1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” —Psalm 106:1 It is very easy to only want to give thanks when we feel like it; but according to Scripture, it is something the believer is to do regardless of circumstances. The Two Most Important Moments in a Person’s Life: When they are born and when they realize what they are born for. 4. Focus on giving instead of receiving this Christmas. “It is more blessed to give than it is to receive.” —Acts 20:35 “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” —Proverbs 11:25 We give God our treasure.  We give God our talent. We give God our time. Every morning, God deposits into your bank of time 86,400 seconds or 1,440 minutes, equaling 24 hours.  Jesus’ summary of it all was, “Real life is not measured by how much we own; it is measured by who we know and what we do with our lives.” Remember the reason for the season. Spend time with loved ones. Be grateful for what you have.  Focus on giving instead of receiving this Christmas. It’s not presents under a tree, but His presence in your life. Scripture Referenced John 15:11 Hebrews 10:24–25 Hebrews 13:15 2 Corinthians 9:7 2 Corinthians 9:8 Matthew 25:15 --- Learn more about Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries at harvest.org. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.