A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: The three Rs of personal revival are remember, repent, and repeat.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie points out revival isn't a mystifying thing we hope will one day happen. No, we can be proactive.

Greg Laurie: If you want to see revival, do revival-like things. Do the things that you used to do again. Don't wait for some emotion to overtake you; just start doing those practical things and you will, in time, see personal revival in your life.

Guest (Male): A musical instrument sounds beautiful when it's in tune. But over time, the strings loosen and the notes go flat. But with a little attention and the right adjustment, it can be restored to the perfect pitch.

Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how the same is true in our spiritual life. When we drift out of sync with God, we're not lost; we just need to be retuned. We're in Nehemiah learning practical steps to bring our lives back into harmony with God's plan.

Greg Laurie: The book of Nehemiah is about a man named Nehemiah that played a key role in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. But it's not just about rebuilding the walls of a city; it's about restoring a nation's heart to God. Effectively, the book of Nehemiah is a blueprint for what happens when people cry out to God, confess their sins, and return to him with all of their hearts.

And so it's a good book to look at because God has given us a template for revival that we often quote. And it's in Second Chronicles 7:14, which was given initially, originally, to Israel, but in principle it applies to any nation, including ours, when God says, "If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways," God promises, "then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."

So we want to see our land healed and God tells us what we need to do. So revival starts with us. That's why I'm calling this series From Rubble to Revival. Now we throw this word revival around a lot. I'm not sure if we even understand what it means. Let's just simplify it. I think it's overly mystified at times.

The word revival simply means to revive something or to restore it. It's to go back to original condition. So I used to have the coolest old car. It was a 1957 Bel Air convertible, tropical turquoise, with a Continental package. That's that wheel cover on the back. And it had the gold package, too. I mean, and this car had matching numbers. If you're into old cars, you know what that means. It means everything was original. It wasn't a resto-mod. It was the real deal and it ran like a top. It ran perfectly and I got it for a killer deal. And I loved to drive this thing; it was just this massive cruising machine. The problem is I couldn't get anyone to go in the car with me.

My wife didn't want to drive around with me in it. I said, "Kathy, let's get in the Bel Air and cruise." And she says, "Oh Greg, I don't want to." I said, "Why?" She says, "I feel like we're in a parade or something." And then Jonathan would go surfing and I would pick him up in the Bel Air. And he'd say, "Dad, could you not pick me up in that car?" It was really? The only living creature I could get to drive with me in the Bel Air was my dog. And I'm not even sure if he liked driving in it.

But to me, it was a thing of beauty to look at a car like that as though it just drove off a showroom floor cruising along. And that's what revival is. It's restoration, going back to original condition. So in our context, when we talk about revival in the church or in our life, we're talking about restoration or waking up spiritually or getting back to living the Christian life as it was meant to be lived.

And there's no question that our nation has revival in its roots and in its DNA. That's a very unique thing about the United States, how we have this in our roots, in our origins. You could arguably make a case for the fact that there probably wouldn't be an America today if it wasn't for a spiritual awakening that preceded the Revolutionary War. And so we want to pray about seeing that happen again.

You know, the last great spiritual awakening in America was called the Jesus Movement or the Jesus Revolution and a movie was made about it of course. This tells the story of the last great awakening and I was privileged to come to Christ right as it was really exploding. And I can tell you this: no one was ever late for church and no one left early and people showed up with their Bibles with a sense of expectancy.

I think that we contribute to what a service becomes. We expect everyone here on the stage to do all the heavy lifting, do all the work, lead us in worship, preach us good sermons, motivate us. Okay, we have our job. But you have your job. Come with an open receptive heart, right? That's your job.

In Acts 2:42 it says they continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine, the breaking of bread and worship in gladness and singleness of heart. It meant that they came giving their attention with intention. They came with a sense of expectancy. See, you need to prepare your heart as you come to worship with God's people.

And when our amazing worship team leads you in worship, you should engage and join them, not stand there looking at Instagram or looking around or whatever it is. No, engage. That's a time to worship. And then when we open the word of God, say, "Lord, speak to my heart right now." That's an indication that you are living in a state of revival.

And we can fall away from this. Jesus in Revelation chapter two spoke to the church of Ephesus. First he commends them for all the things they were doing right. Loose paraphrase, he says, "You guys are discerning, you work hard, I commend you for all that. But I have something against you. I have something against you," Jesus says. "You have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen and do the first works quickly or I will remove your candlestick from its place."

So what does he say to this church? "You've left your first love." He doesn't say you've lost your first love; he says you've left it. And then he says, "Remember from where you have fallen and do the first works quickly." So the three Rs, according to Jesus, of getting right with God, the three Rs of personal revival are remember, repent, and repeat.

First you remember. Look at your life. Ask yourself the question: was there a time in my life where I was more passionate about my relationship with God? Was there a time in my life when I was stronger spiritually than I am right now? So remember it. Now repent. Change your direction and repeat. Go back, Jesus says, and do the first works quickly.

If you want to see revival, do revival-like things. Do the things that you used to do again. Don't wait for some emotion to overtake you; just start doing those practical things and you will, in time, see personal revival in your life. Did you used to talk to people about Jesus more than you do now? Oh, yeah. You know, the best evangelists are brand new Christians. God bless them. They're so full of zeal. Bringing people to church every week. "I got to bring more people." That's great. But then time passes; you can't remember the last time you brought someone to church.

That first love passion, "Oh man, I can't wait to open up the Bible," and maybe you don't do that anymore. Or you don't pray about things anymore; you just stress about them and worry about them instead. No, get back and do those things again and the emotions of revival will come into your life as well. Remember from where you have fallen.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Guest (Female): Hi, Pastor Greg, I want to thank you for leading me to Jesus in 1974 as an 18-year-old girl. My big sister had given her heart to Christ and dragged me to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California to the youth service, where a young you said, "Leave your pride in your seat and come to Jesus." Praise God, I did. Thank you, Pastor Greg.

Guest (Male): How have these studies in God's word touched your life? If you have a story to share, why not call us and let us know? Call 1-866-871-1144. That's 866-871-1144.

Glad you're along today for Pastor Greg's study in Nehemiah called "Revival Starts Here." And he's not finished with his presentation; there's more to come.

Greg Laurie: Nehemiah chapter one. I'm going to read verses one to three as we sort of set the stage and I'm reading from the New Living Translation. "In late autumn in the month of Kislev" (that's around November, December) "in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes' reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani and one of my brothers came to visit me with some other men who had arrived from Judah. I asked them about how the Jews were doing who had returned there from captivity and how things were going in Jerusalem."

So we talked about the first wave of the Jews returning under Zerubbabel, then under Ezra. "How are they doing now? How are things going?" They said to me, "Things are not going well. For those who returned to the province of Judah, they're in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire."

So here's Nehemiah living in the lap of luxury in a super cushy job working for the king and he hears this really bad news. How does he react? Well, he's deeply moved and he realizes God put me here for a reason. I can make a difference because I have the ear of the king. And I'm going to use this opportunity.

Now who does Nehemiah remind you of? Esther. Remember her? She won a beauty contest, ended up as the queen of the kingdom of Persia. And there was a plot hatched by a wicked man named Haman to eradicate the Jewish people. And Esther was a Jew. And she decided to go to the king and put it all on the line and use her influence and try to save her people. And of course she was successful in that because God put her where she was for a reason.

And as Mordecai, her cousin, said to her, "Who knows that God has not placed you where you are for such a time as this?" I think Nehemiah discovered the same thing. And that's what has happened to you as well. You are where you are because God put you there.

Sometimes you say, "Why am I here? Why am I in this neighborhood? Why am I in this job? Why am I in this place? Why? It doesn't make sense. I'm going to change my circumstances." Okay, maybe you can make a case for doing that, but did it ever occur to you that you are where God wants you to be for such a time as this? Leverage your relationships, use your influence. You see, Esther did her part at an earlier time in the history of her nation and now Nehemiah is going to do something as well. But before he does anything, he prays.

Go back to Nehemiah one, look at verse four. "When I heard this," Nehemiah says, "I sat down and I wept for four days. I mourned and I fasted and I prayed to the God of heaven. I said, 'Oh Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love and those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer. Look down and see me praying day and night for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned. We have sinned terribly and not obeying your commands.'"

Wow, what a prayer that is. There's a lot we can learn about prayer from that prayer. You want your prayers answered? Well, this prayer was answered. So what did he do? Let's see what we can learn together. First he wept. First he cared. Have you ever wept over the broken walls in your own life or in your family or over people you loved or others who have turned their back on God? So you start there.

But here are some principles from his prayer that we can apply in our prayer. And if you are taking notes, here's point number one: he acknowledged the greatness of God. He acknowledged the greatness of God, verse five. "Oh Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love to those who love him and obey his commands." Oh great and awesome God.

When you pray, remember who you're talking to. You're talking to the creator of the universe, the almighty God. And his riches are unsearchable and his power is unlimited and he's literally listening to your prayer right now. So get that in mind because sometimes we come to God with big problems, but we need to realize we come to God who's bigger than our problems, right?

Jesus taught us to pray, "In this manner therefore pray." And then he went on to give what we call the Lord's Prayer, but it's not just a great prayer to pray, though it is that, but it's a template for all prayer. What does he say? "After this manner pray," or here's a template for prayer. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

And then he goes on to the petitions that follow. But it starts with an acknowledgment of the awesomeness and the power of God, "Our Father who art in heaven," and that's exactly how Nehemiah begins his prayer, acknowledging the greatness and power and sovereignty of God.

Number two, Nehemiah reminded God of his promises. He reminds God of the promises that he made. Was that to jog God's memory? Of course not. God doesn't need any help with his memory. But it's to remind himself of what God said. And I love to do this in prayer. I love to remind God of his promises and remind myself as well.

Someone comes and says, "Will you pray for me? I'm sick." Okay, let's pray. "Father, we come to you now in the name of Jesus and you've promised if there's any sick among you we should call for the elders of the church that should pray for these people and anoint them with oil. And then you promise that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man will accomplish much. Well Lord, we are righteous men and women here, not because of what we've done but because of what you've done. And now standing on your promise in scripture we pray for this person."

So what did I just do? I reminded myself of what the Bible said. So when I start to worry, "Lord, you promised me in your word and I should not worry about anything, but I should pray about everything and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus." So immediately before I've even given the prayer, I'm reminding myself of the promise of God.

And that immediately brings calm to my heart. Do you know what I'm talking about? Have you done this? And you realize, oh wow, the Lord is so powerful and he's going to help me through this. And there's so many promises like that found on the pages of scripture. God promises he'll get you through whatever you're facing.

God promises he'll provide your needs. Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Lord, I have a financial need right now and you've promised you'll provide all of my needs according to your riches in glory. So therefore I pray.

He's promised to forgive us of our sins. "Lord, you promised me in scripture First John 1:9, if I will confess my sin, you're faithful and just to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. So Lord, I receive your forgiveness because of the blood of Jesus that was shed for me on the cross of Calvary. And I'm going to walk in that forgiveness now." That's taking hold of a promise of God because here's the devil trying to beat you up and kick you and fill you with guilt. "You failed." Yeah, I did fail, but God's promised to forgive me and I'm going to accept that forgiveness and walk in that forgiveness right now. That's what we need to do.

Guest (Male): Great encouragement from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on A New Beginning from his message called "Revival Starts Here." And he's not finished with his presentation; there's more to come.

But Pastor Greg talked about forgiveness. Have you ever said yes to God's offer of forgiveness? The Bible points out we're all sinners. We all need forgiveness. Pastor Greg, what would you say to someone who wants to accept God's forgiveness right now?

Greg Laurie: What I would say is he's only a prayer away. 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."

Guest (Male): Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer along with Pastor Greg and meant those words sincerely, we want to welcome you into God's family. And we want to help you get started in your new faith.

Pastor Greg wants to send you his New Believer's Bible free of charge along with some other helpful resources. Just let us know you prayed with Pastor Greg and that you want the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime at 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words "Know God."

Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. Yeah, we're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further, isn't that right?

Greg Laurie: Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul? Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter, or your mom or your dad, or your best friend? Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it; it's so valuable.

God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent his son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sin so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission.

Guest (Male): Yes, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number: 1-800-821-3300.

Well, next time, more insights from the opening message in Pastor Greg's series From Rubble to Revival. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.