A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: When we walk closely with the Lord day by day, others may take notice. In fact, it might evoke a strong reaction. You might give up certain pleasures and activities that other people are engaged in, and people will say, "Man, what a waste. You missed the big party. Oh, you should have been at this thing. What, you went to church again? Seriously, what a waste? Really?"

Oh no, if I've given up any pleasure, that's no sacrifice compared to what God has given up for me.

Guest (Male): Ever been that one person at your table in a restaurant that takes a pass on dessert? Everybody's ordering salted caramel this and double chocolate that, and they look at you like you have a second nose growing out of the side of your head. "What's wrong with you?"

But sometimes we have to pass up the attractive things for the best things. And today on *A New Beginning*, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us chart a course for a richer, more fulfilling walk with the Lord in spite of other things that want our attention.

Greg Laurie: Let's grab our Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 14. The title of my message is "The Best Choice." I'm reminded of a statement that Billy Graham made not long before he went to be with the Lord. He was asked a question if he had any regrets in life.

In response, Billy Graham said, "I would study more, I would pray more, I would travel less, and I would take less speaking engagements. I took too many of them in too many places around the world. If I had it to do all over again, I'd spend more time in meditation and prayer, and just telling the Lord how much I adore him and how much I'm looking forward to the time we're going to spend together in eternity."

Well, Billy is with the Lord now, spending that time with him in eternity. But here before us in Mark chapter 14 is a story of a woman who spent a lot of time telling the Lord how much she loved and adored him. Then she did something that was largely missed by the other disciples. But Jesus singles this story out in the Bible.

He wants us to know this story in particular. And I find that fascinating because we read in Mark chapter 14, verse 9, Jesus speaking. He says, "Assuredly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told as a memorial to her." Wow. Okay, well, we better pay attention.

What exactly did this woman do? Before I tell you what that is, let's pick up where we last left off in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus is headed to the cross. He has plainly declared that to his disciples. At a place called Caesarea Philippi, he told them he was going to be betrayed, he was going to be crucified, and he would rise again on the third day.

This came as bad news to his boys because his popularity was at its total peak. The name of Jesus was on everyone's lips. Matthew chapter 12, verse 12 said large crowds gathered to him, and he got into a boat, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. Then Luke 12:1 says thousands of people had gathered together, and they were stepping on one another. So everybody wanted to get close to Jesus, and so he was very popular.

But ironically, these same people that were expressing their interest in him would soon turn against him when he made his way to the cross. Even his own hand-picked disciples did not fully understand what he was about to do. He had come to die on the cross. This was always the plan from the very beginning. Even though he spoke about it in great detail, his disciples missed it with one exception.

It wasn't John, known for his spiritual perception. It wasn't Peter, normally known for his outspokenness. It wasn't Andrew, it wasn't Matthew, it wasn't one of the apostles. It wasn't a man; it was a woman. She was not one of the apostles, but she understood what Jesus had come to do. Her name was Mary.

Let's read about it now. Mark chapter 14, starting at verse 1. "Now the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. But not during the festival, they said, or the people may riot."

"While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those who were present said, 'Oh, this is worth more than a year's wages. Why this waste of perfume? This could have been sold, and the money could have been given to the poor.' And they rebuked her harshly."

Now look at the response of Jesus. He said, "Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? The poor you always have with you, and you can help them anytime you want, but you don't always have me with you. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand in preparation for my burial. And I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."

Now this probably was a family heirloom. As it's been pointed out, it was worth a year's wages, so it was worth thousands and thousands of dollars. Under normal circumstances, just a few drops from a bottle like this would be sufficient. She pours the whole bottle on him and then wipes his feet with her hair. Well, Judas did not get it, and so he criticized it.

Judas is typical of so many people today. Like dutiful Pharisees, they want to give the bare minimum to God. They'll lamely ask questions like, "Can you do this and still technically go to heaven? Can I get away with this and still call myself a Christian?" Those are the wrong questions.

We'll give our leftovers to God, if you will. We'll pray briefly if we think of it. We'll read the Bible if we can make time in our busy schedules for it. And then, what's even worse is we will criticize others that are more committed to the Lord than we are.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why the early church changed their world. Maybe that's why the early church turned their world upside down, because they had a sense of abandon. God would tell Philip, "Go to the desert," and he went in obedience to the Lord.

God would tell Peter, "Reach down and take that man by the hand and pull him to his feet," and he would do it. They took risks and they left their comfort zone. Why? Because the scripture says they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 says the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John because they were ordinary men. They had no special training, but they recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

Can someone tell you've been with Jesus? Can they see it reflected in your life? Does the fragrance of your life fill the room as it did with Mary and her gift to the Lord? It's a wonderful thing when people see that and ask us why we are the way that we are, and they want to know more about us, and then we can share the gospel.

Now again, I want to emphasize, Mary did not have the same privileges as the disciples. They spent pretty much every waking hour in the presence of Jesus for some three years. She was with him sporadically, but she was going to take advantage of this opportunity. She's going to listen to him, she's going to learn from him, and she's going to bring a great gift to him.

She could see the lines etching his face and read aright the problems reflected in his eyes, and she understood. He had said what he meant, and he meant what he said. He was going to die on a cross, and that broke her heart. So she was going to bring her tribute to Jesus now. Seize the moment. Carpe diem is the expression. That's exactly what Mary did.

But of course, Judas thought it was a waste, and he criticized her for it. But then John gives us an interesting little detail about Judas. He said Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. Basically, Judas was hanging on to the money for the disciples and he was pocketing it. So things are not always as they seem.

From the outside, Judas looked thrifty and careful and spiritual. The woman looked frivolous and wasteful and silly. But the very opposite was true. Judas was evil and greedy and wicked, and she was thoughtful and godly and committed. So things are not always as they appear.

Guest (Female): My name is Anna. Two and a half years ago, I had a massive stroke and was fighting for my life. I spent several weeks in the ICU with my family by my side the entire time. Although I don't remember the first month in the ICU, my family told me how they played my favorite music along with your daily devotions because they knew I always listened to your messages. The hospital staff saw that my room was filled with worship music, your teachings, and prayer and petition from my family and friends. Apparently, even my anesthesiologist joined them in prayer before one of my procedures. Pastor Greg, thank you for your service to our Lord. God bless you.

Greg Laurie: Now Jesus commends her as an example to us. Verse 8: "She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial." She did what she could because she understood that he would do what he did. In the same way, the more we discover about what Jesus has done for us will cause us to want to do more for him. The Bible says we love him because he first loved us.

She saw this love that was driving him. She saw this concern for her and the others and all of humanity, and so she wanted to do something for him to show her love. I think sometimes we'll look at people who offer something to the Lord, and some might criticize them for it. For instance, a young person may give up a promising career to go into the ministry, and some people like Judas will say, "What a waste. You could have gone out and had a great career and made a lot of money. That's a waste." It is no waste at all.

I'm reminded of a young lady I just met, her name is Tiffany. She works with the World Health Organization and the United Nations over in Yemen. They're reaching out to the poor people that are living there. So Tiffany has been able to show God's love to these people and be a great witness. In fact, she watches *Harvest at Home*. That's where she gets her teaching, being so far away from the United States. Some would say, "Well, that's a waste of a life." That's a waste of a life? As far as I'm concerned, that's an investment of a life.

You might give up certain pleasures and activities that other people are engaged in, and people will say, "Man, what a waste. You missed the big party. Oh, you should have been at this thing. What, you went to church again? Seriously, what a waste? Really?" Let's just run the clock out and come to the end of our life, and let's just see how that played out for you and how that played out for me.

I just read a very interesting study that was done that showed people who go to church on a regular basis and have faith in God live longer, healthier lives. So there's even a practical aspect to it. Oh no, if I've given up any pleasure, that's no sacrifice compared to what God has given up for me.

It said that Moses chose to give up the pleasures of Egypt and the pleasures of sin for a season to pursue God's will for his life. Whatever you give up will be more than made up to you as a follower of Jesus Christ. Or maybe you avoid that temptation to go astray. You're faithful to your wife for a lifetime. People say, "Oh man, come on, you missed out. You could have had an affair here and there."

Oh yeah, let's just look at the wreckage of divorce and the impact it has on you and on your children and even on your grandchildren. And we'll see who made the right choice. It's not a waste. Nothing is a waste if it's done for the glory of God. And that's what this woman did. She gave her very best. It was the very opposite of a waste.

Or you may decide to simply live for yourself and do whatever you want to do with your life, and one day God will say, "What a waste." What do you care about the most? The opinion of people or the opinion of God Almighty? Give your most precious thing to the Lord.

My son Jonathan was in Peru a while ago with his wife Brittany. We worked on some projects with Compassion International, a great organization impacting people around the world, but especially children, helping to lift people out of poverty. They share the gospel with these folks. So Jonathan went to a village in Peru. He took a backpack full of toys and other things. They were hanging out with this little family, and there's a little boy named Anthony. Jonathan was playing soccer with the little guy, and it was just great.

As Jonathan was leaving and getting ready to get into his cab, little Anthony ran to him and hugged him, and then presented Jonathan with a little gift. It was like this little piggy bank of a little dog. Obviously, this was a very precious object to this little boy. He had very little, and he gave his very best to Jonathan. I just thought that's a perfect picture of what we're talking about here. Giving our very best to God. He deserves nothing less.

What is the most precious thing you can give to Jesus? Let me give you an idea of what it might be. Yes, it's your resources, yes, it's your time, but overall, it's your life. Present your future to the Lord. I'm speaking to someone right now who's very young, and they're thinking about their future. Can I tell you the best thing you can do with your future is choose to follow Jesus Christ? That is the best choice.

The best choices I made in my life: number one, I gave my life to Jesus Christ at the age of 17, and number two, I married a young girl named Kathy. Those are choices I've never regretted. You will never regret choosing to follow Jesus Christ. And here's why choices matter: you make your choices, then your choices make you.

So make that choice now, and then choose to dedicate your life to the Lord. I pretty much dedicated all of my life to Jesus. That was around 50 years ago, and I didn't have a lot to offer Christ at the age of 17. I was a confused kid. I'd gotten into drugs, I'd made some bad decisions.

And I said, "Here I am, Jesus." I actually said to him, "God, if you're real, make yourself real to me." And he did. And he does. And whatever good has come out of my life and my ministry has been God taking very little and multiplying it, sort of like that little boy with the loaves and fishes that came to Jesus, and Jesus took that little bit of bread and those fishes and he distributed them.

It was sort of like the guy came with, "Here's my little crackers and my sardines." Oh, Jesus says, "I can work with that," and he touched so many lives. You need to come, I need to come, we all need to come and offer our life to the Lord. And you will never regret that decision. Because one day will be your last day.

A couple of days ago, I made a phone call to a man named Jim who's in the hospital. Jim tragically is dying of cancer. But as we talked, he told me he came to Christ hearing me preach in 2011. Then he made this statement: "Greg, I'm not afraid. I'm ready to see the Lord." I was so moved by that.

Then Jim made this statement to me. He said, "The meaning of life is a life with meaning in Christ." I thought, "Man, you are so right." He had such clarity. Only a Christian can look death in the face and, like Jim, say, "I am not afraid."

I reminded Jim of the statement of the Apostle Paul when he said, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." It doesn't mean that the Christian has a death wish. What it means is we don't have to be afraid to die anymore because Jesus died on the cross for our sin and rose again from the dead. This gives us hope for the afterlife.

And I ask you right now, do you have this hope for the afterlife? Could you look death square in the face and, like Jim, say, "I'm not afraid to die"? You can say that if you put your faith in Jesus. But if you haven't, I can't think of anything more terrifying than death. But death is coming to all of us.

As it has been said, the statistics on death are quite impressive: one out of every one persons will die. Only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live. Are you prepared to die? Are you ready to meet the Lord?

Listen, if you want to go to heaven, if you want to know that your sin is forgiven, you can ask Christ to come into your life and everything can change for you. So in a moment, I'm going to pray a prayer. And I'm going to ask any of you that are watching right now who are not sure of Jesus living in your life, you're not certain that your sin is forgiven, you don't have the confidence that you go to heaven when you die.

I want you to pray this prayer with me. You can pray it out loud if you like, you can pray it silently, but you pray this prayer and mean it, and God will hear you. So if you want Christ to come into your life, pray this prayer right now.

Just pray these words: "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 ask you to come into my life right now and forgive me of all of my sin. I want to see you in heaven one day. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

Guest (Male): An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on *A New Beginning*. And if you just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and have made a decision for the Lord, well, first, we want to welcome you into God's family. And you may have some questions as you begin living this life of faith.

Well, Pastor Greg answers many of the typical questions new believers ask as a part of the study helps in his *New Believer's Bible*. We'd like to send you a copy free of charge to help you get started walking with the Lord. So ask for the *New Believer's Bible* when you contact us at 1-800-821-3300. Call anytime 1-800-821-3300. Or write us at *A New Beginning*, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org and click "Know God."

You know, Pastor Greg, today's study was made possible by someone we may never meet. It was their partnership that covered the costs of broadcast. And we're looking for other partners to help with tomorrow's needs and the next day after that, aren't we?

Greg Laurie: Yeah, you know, when you go out and get a lot of media today, you pay a price. You have to pay to download it, or you have to pay to stream it, or you have to pay a fee to subscribe to the site that lets you watch certain videos, right? And we don't do any of that. We just offer it free of charge. You know, the Bible says freely you have received, freely give. And that's what we do every single day.

But there are expenses, and there are considerable expenses to do what we do. And so I'm going to ask people out there to help us do what we do and continue to offer it free of charge to whoever would want to hear. You know, the Bible says whosoever will, let him come and drink of the water of life freely. We don't want to put a barrier in front of any person to hear the gospel and to hear the teaching of the Word of God.

So when you give to us, you help us to do that. Over and over again, day after day, month after month, year after year, and we have so many stories of lives that have been changed for time and eternity as a result of your faithful giving. So help us to continue to offer the gospel freely to people by investing in *A New Beginning*.

Guest (Male): Yeah, that's right. And we so much appreciate your investment. The most effective way to help is to become a Harvest Partner. They're a vital part of this ministry. They pray for us, and they support us each month. They have a passion for evangelism and discipleship, just like we do, and we so much appreciate that partnership.

If you'd like to be a part of this inner circle, get in touch today at 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.

Greg Laurie: Hey everybody, you can watch our Sunday services on a special broadcast that we call *Harvest at Home*. It's streaming on the Harvest Plus platform. So download that app right away, Harvest Plus, and you can enjoy being a part of our extended church family every Sunday.

Guest (Male): Well, next time, good news for anyone who's ever failed, anyone who's ever made a mistake, anyone who's ever sinned. Know anyone like that? Next time, Pastor Greg points out that God gives second chances. Join us here on *A New Beginning* with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.

Greg Laurie: This is the day, the day when life begins.

Guest (Male): *A New Beginning* is a listener-supported ministry of Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie.

Greg Laurie: This is the day, the day when life begins.

Guest (Male): This is the day, the day when life begins.