A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: Jesus is putting his team together. He was going to choose 12 men in total, and they would be the most ordinary of all men. They weren't saints, nor were they scholars. They were hopelessly human, but they were available to the Master's call. Do you want to be on Jesus' team?

Guest (Male): Billy Graham wasn't just a good preacher, a passionate speaker, and a strong believer. He was the greatest evangelist in history. But he was a humble young dairy farmer before he accepted God's call in his life.

What kinds of things can God do through you when you accept his call on your life? That's the question we'll explore today here on A New Beginning. Glad you're along as Pastor Greg Laurie continues his series in Mark. He titled his message collection The Gospel for Busy People.

Greg Laurie: Follow me. Those are the words of Jesus to all people today. So I start with a question: Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you understand what that means? Now, we know the word follower is used in a lot of ways. One way it's used is in social media. Now, Jesus never did tweet, did he? Though he could have. The Beatitudes, those would be great tweets, wouldn't they? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Perfect tweets. No, Jesus did not tweet, but he did have his followers, and they were pretty eclectic, too.

He had some fishermen, he had a tax collector, and he had a zealot. Now, we have to understand what these terms mean. We understand a fisherman. But what is a tax collector and what is a zealot? A zealot is someone who is dedicated to the violent overthrow of Rome. We might actually call them a terrorist today. A tax collector was someone who was colluding with Rome. Rome was the occupying power there in Israel at that particular time.

So here we have a man, a Jewish man in particular, Matthew, that we'll talk about later, who was in collusion with Rome, and how we have another man named Simon who was dedicated to the violent overthrow of Rome. It would be like having different parts of your family voting for different candidates. That may be true of some of your homes.

But listen to this. We are Christians, and we are members of a different kingdom, and it's more important than even politics. And Jesus said this: "By this shall all men know you are my disciples, that you love one another." Listen to this. Christians should be marked by love, not by always being right. And when I say by being right, I mean sometimes in their own mind.

If you find yourself shouting at people—I just was shouting when I said that. I'll lower my voice. If you find yourself always uptight and angry and using your social media accounts to blast this group or blast that person, something's wrong. Remember, you need to be glorifying God with whatever platform he has given to you. We need to be characterized and identified by our love for God and our love for others.

Well, let's look at Mark chapter 1, verse 16, as we continue in our series, The Gospel for Busy People. One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, "Follow me, and I'll show you how to fish for people."

By the way, I'm reading from the New Living Translation. The King James translates that verse as follows: "Follow me, and I'll make you a fisher of men." Mark goes on to say, "And they left their nets at once and followed him." A little further up the shore, Jesus saw Zebedee's sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men.

So here's point number one. Jesus is putting his team together. Do you want to be on Jesus' team? He was going to choose 12 men in total, and they would be the most ordinary of all men. They weren't saints in the traditional use of the word. Now, technically they were saints because a saint means a true believer. So anyone who has put their faith in Christ is technically a saint, but in modern usage, a saint is some extraordinary holy person.

So they weren't saints in that way, nor were they scholars, nor were they sages. They were hopelessly human. They were remarkably unremarkable, but they were available to the Master's call. Now, Simon and Andrew had been disciples of John the Baptist. Remember, we talked about him last time. He came before Christ, preparing the way.

And he said to them as Jesus walked by, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." So they transferred their allegiance from John over to Jesus, but they still didn't fully understand who Jesus was or what he had come to do. James and John are also mentioned, and they're given the special title, the Sons of Thunder. I sort of see James and John as two outlaw bikers coming up and being called by Jesus to be a part of the team. Again, what an eclectic group of people.

But here's a point I want to bring to your attention. Note that all of these men were doing something when Jesus called them. Andrew was throwing a net into the water along with Simon. James and John were in a boat repairing their nets. And we see the same elsewhere in scripture. People were busy when God called them.

As an example, David, who would become the king of Israel, was watching over his flock when he was summoned by the prophet. Moses was watching over a flock when the Lord spoke to him through a burning bush. Elisha was plowing in a field when he was called by Elijah to carry on the prophetic ministry.

Bringing me to point number two. If you want to be used by God, get busy doing something for the Lord. Just get busy with what is in front of you. Mend those nets. Cast those nets. Tend those sheep. Plow those fields. Teach that Sunday school class. Go on that mission trip. Share one-on-one. Give that tithe. Just get out and do something. Do what you can where you can. One way to find out what you're called to do is maybe by discovering what you're not called to do.

So when someone comes to me and says, "Oh Greg, I want to be used by the Lord," I always suggest to them that they go volunteer at their church. Go to your pastor. Say, "Pastor, I want to be used by God and I'll do whatever needs to be done." Now, hold on. You may not get the job you wanted. You might end up doing some janitorial work or setting some chairs up or doing something menial like that. But that's probably because the pastor is wanting to see if you'll be faithful in the little things.

I remember when I was a brand-new Christian and I went to Pastor Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I was 17 years old and I said, "Chuck, I want to serve the Lord. I'll do whatever you guys want me to do." And they gave me different tasks, starting with janitorial: sweeping leaves, cleaning toilets. And I did it all.

And I remember one day they gave me a special mission to go on for God. They said, "We need a new doorknob for the church office door." So I went down to the local hardware store. I've never been a mechanical guy. If you want anything fixed, never call me. If you want it broken, call me. I'll help you with that. And I looked at all these doorknobs and different sizes. I literally prayed, "God, help me find the right doorknob." And I chose one and took it back, and it was the wrong size. So I failed in my mission.

But it was little things. But I thought, well, maybe God wants me to be in a worship team. So I joined this worship group, and I was doing percussion. I was playing a conga drum or something like that. And I remember standing up there in front of the people, and of course I couldn't really keep the rhythm very well. And I discovered this is not what I'm called to do.

Sometimes you find out what you are called to do by first finding out what you're not called to do. But here's the key. Whatever you do, the Bible says do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and be faithful in the little things, bringing me to my next point. If you want to be used by God, be faithful in what is before you now. Jesus says in Luke 16:10, "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibility." So be faithful in those little things.

Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a Harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more. So go and download the Harvest Plus app.

Guest (Male): Well, we're joining Pastor Greg today in the Gospel of Mark for a look at how we can follow the Lord's call and be used by God. As we make our way through Mark chapter 1, after this Jesus goes into a synagogue and he encounters a demon-possessed man. Jesus casts the demon out of the man, and the people are astonished.

It's interesting the phrase that Jesus used to the demon was "be quiet" or literally "be muzzled." And by the way, that's the same phrase he used when he rebuked the storm. Remember that story? He went up and said to the storm, "be still." It's that same phrase, "be muzzled," because he was saying to the devil, "stop." The devil's sort of like a crazy dog ready to bite. Be muzzled. Stop. Be still.

Greg Laurie: So the disciples are beginning to discover the power that Jesus has. He has power over demons, and in time they're going to see that he had power over sickness and even power over death itself. But the most important thing that Jesus had power over was sin. He and he alone could forgive sin, as they would soon discover.

So yes, he was God. But he was God walking in a human body of flesh and blood, and he grew tired and he was hungry and experienced all of those things that we experience physically. So the next movement in the story is Jesus needed some food and some rest, so they take him home to the house of Simon Peter.

Bringing us to this next point, which is we need to bring Jesus home because that's what they did. Bring him home. Don't leave Jesus at the church on Sunday morning. Take Jesus home with you. Take Jesus to work with you. Take Jesus wherever you go, and by that I mean invite him to be a part of every aspect of your life.

What a privilege for Peter to come home and say to his wife, "I have a special guest, dear. Jesus Christ, the Messiah." Well, as it turns out, Peter's mother-in-law was very ill. Apparently she lived with Peter and his wife, and yes, Peter was married, which is an important note, isn't it? She was very sick, and they told Jesus she needed to be touched, and so Jesus heals her. Mark 1:31 says he took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her.

Well, news travels fast. All of the disciples shot out a quick tweet, and there were even some posts on Instagram. Not really, but it sounds like it because in moments, literally the whole city is there at the door. Mark 1:32: "That evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door." That brings us now to Mark chapter 2, and Jesus is going to show the primary reason he came. Not just to cast out demons, not just to heal the sick, not even to raise the dead. He was coming to forgive sins, and there's nothing more important than having your sin forgiven.

As I say this, am I speaking to somebody right now who is not sure if their sin is forgiven? You're haunted by things you've done in your past. It keeps you up at night. You've tried to self-medicate, as they say, with alcohol or drugs and numb yourself to the pain of what you've done and the harm and the pain you've brought into other people's lives. I want you to know God can forgive your sin, and I'm going to tell you how in a few moments.

Now let's go over to Mark chapter 2, verse 1. When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was packed with visitors, and there was no more room even outside the door. While he was preaching the word, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.

They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof right above his head, and they lowered the man on this mat right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My child, your sins are forgiven." Bringing me to my next point. We need to work together if we want to bring our friends to Jesus.

Four guys. They want to get their friend to Jesus. He needs a physical touch. They can't get in the house. It's packed wall-to-wall people, so they lower him through the roof. Now, this is kind of hard for us to understand in the 21st century, but in the 1st century, the roofs were flat. There would be an outside staircase leading to the roof. Sometimes people would sit up on the roof, like a little patio garden of sorts.

So they get up on the roof, and they start digging through it, digging through the straw. Meanwhile, here's Jesus inside the house, speaking to his audience, listening to his every word. All of a sudden a little dirt clod falls to the ground. A couple more fall. Some straw comes down. A shaft of light breaks through. Another shaft of light comes through.

And suddenly this man is on this mat with four guys with ropes letting him down. He may be swinging back and forth a little bit, and he's put right in front of Jesus. Maybe the guy laying there went, "Hey," and Jesus said, "My child, your sins are forgiven you."

But I love the fact that these guys worked together. They cooperated. And if we want to see people come to Jesus, we need to work with fellow believers because we need to join our efforts together, and we'll get a lot more done. We are much stronger together than we are alone. You remember that story in Acts chapter 12 when Peter was arrested for preaching the gospel? And we read in Acts 12:5, constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

They prayed. There's power when we pray together. Jesus says if any two of you will agree together touching anything in prayer, it will be done of your Father in heaven. The Bible also says if two or more of you will gather together, Christ will be there in the midst. So we need to pray together.

My next point is one prays, another shares, but God does the work. You know, when a person comes to Christ, it's a chain of events that connect together resulting in a conversion. Maybe it's a seed sown in a heart during childhood. Maybe that seed is watered a little bit later. Maybe they encounter a Christian they don't even know who says or does something that makes an impression on them. Then finally someone takes the time to share the gospel. We're all part of a chain that God orchestrated to bring someone to the Lord.

As Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 3, verse 6, "I planted, Apollos watered"—Apollos was another preacher—"but God gave the increase. So neither he who plants is anything nor he that waters. It's God that gives the increase." And notice that Jesus immediately got to the heart of this man's problem because the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. This man needed his sin forgiven. It was even more important than being healed of his paralysis.

A.C. Mundinger, a famous psychologist, said if he could convince patients in his psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent would walk out the next day. Think of that. And Jesus can forgive sins. Now, they react properly. They say, "Wait, what do you mean your sins are forgiven you?" And they ask the question, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

And the answer is: no one. Some people would say, "You know, Jesus never claimed to be God. His followers came up with that later." That is not true. Jesus did claim to be God on multiple occasions, and this is one of them. If Jesus were not God, he would have said something along the lines of, "That's a good point, and I'm not God." But no, he forgave that man's sins. In fact, in Mark 2:10 he says, "I'll prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins."

And Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat and go home." That was a clear claim to deity. Jesus was God. We don't want to miss that very important point.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie is presenting insights from the first chapter of Mark today here on A New Beginning, part of his series called The Gospel for Busy People. And before we go any further, it's an important time to ask where you stand with the Lord. Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sin? Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person who would like to take care of that right now?

Greg Laurie: I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God, "I know I'm a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead, and I want him to come into my life."

So here's my question to you: Have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now, and he's knocking. And he's saying if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.

Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die, you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me? You could pray it out loud, you can pray it in the quietness of your own heart, but pray this prayer to God.

Say, "Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin, and I turn from it now. And I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen."

Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says if we will confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God bless you. You've made the right decision, the decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Yes, that's right. And listen, as you begin to live this new life, we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It's Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It's an easy-to-understand translation, plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps especially for those who are new to the faith.

Millions of people have been helped by this resource. So get in touch for your own New Believer's Bible. We'll send it to you free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 number, 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click on "Know God."

Well, Pastor Greg, we got a great letter from a listener that I've just been anxious to read to you. Let me do that now. It says, "Pastor Greg, I'm a 54-year-old widow with two children who've been raised with Pastor Greg Laurie. I wrote you almost 20 years ago to tell you that you played a part in saving my life.

I wanted to die after my husband and son were killed in an accident. You and my brother, who is a Christian, saved my life all those years ago. I hung on every word you preached, and you still are blessing me daily with A New Beginning and your podcasts. Thank you for all your years of faithfulness as a pastor, teacher, and a husband and father to your family.

I was heartbroken to hear about your son Christopher. I can empathize with losing a son. I'm so sorry, though, for you and Kathy's loss. Thank you for bringing a light and a hope into my life and helping me to be a mother to my children when I had lost all hope. You asked us to write you a letter tonight in the podcast that I was listening to. I wanted to let you know that I have been a monthly supporter for a long, long time and will continue to do so. Your sister in Christ."

Greg Laurie: Oh my goodness. Wow. What is her name, Dave?

Guest (Male): Her name is Cindy.

Greg Laurie: Cindy, if you're listening, I want to thank you for that beautiful letter. That letter pretty much sums up why I do what I do. Because when I hear a story like yours and realize that it made a difference, it brings great joy to me. And I'm so sorry for your loss of your husband and your child.

But you know, we know that we will see our loved ones again. They're not just a part of our past; they're also a part of our future. But thank you for sharing that letter because I think it's going to bring hope to people out there that might be in your shoes right now. Maybe they just heard the worst news imaginable that their loved one died.

Maybe it was an accident of some kind, or maybe they knew it was coming. Well, whatever it is, when you hear that news, it's just absolutely earth-shaking and life-changing. But we have Christ with us to walk with us through these difficult times, and we have the hope of future reunion. So thank you, and may God bless you and keep you and continue to strengthen you.

Guest (Male): Yes, that's right. And listen, you can send your own comments to Pastor Greg at greg@harvest.org. But you know, we receive so many letters and comments that speak of how people have been encouraged and how their lives have been changed through this ministry.

And we hope you might join our support team so we can make this kind of difference going forward. Let us invite you to become what we call a Harvest Partner. Our Harvest Partners are close friends of the ministry here at Harvest. They're passionate just like we are about evangelism and discipleship.

And they invest in that work each month with a donation in whatever amount they choose. And we thank them in some special ways. Why not get more information by calling 1-800-821-3300? That's a 24/7 number, 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org.

Well, next time, more insight on the calling of Jesus to "come follow me." More from Pastor Greg's series, The Gospel for Busy People. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.