Greg Laurie: A New Beginning

Imagine sitting down for a fine meal. It may be the finest meal you’ve ever experienced. The service is first class. The chef is world renowned. His culinary creations will leave you speechless. But you can’t get your eyes off the shiny silverware. You ignore the food and gaze upon the utensil. Behold the spoon! Ridiculous. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the folly of being so enamored with the world we miss eternity. 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.

Pastor Greg Laurie revealed last time that 81% of Americans – churched and unchurched – believe in heaven. More than three quarters. Even more hope to go there! But what’s it like there? Is it even possible to know? Yes, it is. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg brings a biblical travel brochure about our eternal home. It’s beyond our imagination, but we’ll see today the Bible gives us some good information. Let’s open our minds and open our eyes to God’s Word. 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.

Each year, about 27 million people in this country move . . . relocate. That may explain why there are 17,000 moving companies across the fruited plain. When we move, we try to find out some details about our new home. Well today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie provides some details about our eternal home. The Bible gives us more detail than you may be aware. And none of us knows our moving date, so it’s a good idea to get that information now and be prepared. 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.

Pastor Greg Laurie opens our new series with a sermon surrounding the subject of gender, identity, and the family. In a rapidly changing culture, we must look to our unchanging God for answers. Get the biblical take on these hot cultural topics. Notes Focus verse: Exodus 20 A true Christian bases their ideas and opinions on a biblical worldview.A nonbeliever bases their ideas and opinions on a secular worldview. ABC Culture: Anything But Christ. Jesus told us to be light, which means we speak up for what is true. If you recoil from what God’s Word says or it makes you uncomfortable, that would indicate that you don’t have a biblical worldview. The Ten Commandments can be divided into two sections. First, God deals with sins against Him.1. Have no other gods before Him.2. Have no graven images.3. Don’t take God’s name in vain.4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Second, God deals with our relationship with people. God starts with the family because He created it. Our very existence as a society is contingent on the success of the family.That is probably why Satan hates it, so he has declared war on it. Almost all social ills are a result of broken homes and a lack of fathers. We talk about how to reduce homelessness and sending less people to prison. 95% of all homelessness and runaway children are from fatherless homes. 71% of high school dropouts are from fatherless homes. 85% of all youths sitting in prison today are from fatherless homes. A child from a fatherless home is 68% more likely to use drugs or alcohol. 63% of teens who attempt suicide are from fatherless homes. Fatherless daughters are 111% more likely to have children as teens and 164% more likely to have an out-of-wedlock birth. God’s order is to honor your father and mother. God is anti-sin no matter how it is expressed. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 God’s order is for the family to be a man and woman, a husband and wife. As sinners, some may struggle with temptations that others do not. Transsexualism and gender dysphoria is the feeling that your biological gender does not match what you perceive yourself to be. There are bigger issues in play here. Young people want to find identity and be celebrated as well. Deep down, this is a search for meaning in life and a search for God. You don’t need to change your sex; you need God to change your heart. Having attraction does not mean anything more than you are a sinner. You are not defined by your sin. God’s order is a man and woman in a monogamous relationship in marriage. You are not born gay nor are you born a different sex than your biological gender. If you turn from this sin, God can and will forgive you. Sex in and of itself is neither bad nor evil.In its proper context, it is good and can even be blessed by God.Hebrews 13:4 Proverbs 5:15 God gave us sex as a way to create a unity between a man and a woman.1 Corinthians 6:15 Sex is not some casual toy; it is a gift from God to be saved for that person you want to become one with. The topic of abortion or killing a pre-born baby is not a debatable topic. Life begins at conception, not at birth.Psalm 139:13–16 “You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth by the Master Craftsman.” —Max Lucado Abortion is taking the life of an innocent child in the womb. Whatever sin you have committed can be forgiven by Jesus. --- 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.

Keanu Reeves is one of the most successful actors in Hollywood today. But as he nears 60, he shares that he's been thinking about his own mortality and the topic of death. Pastor Greg Laurie goes over a recent interview Reeves did covering this topic and gives a response. --- 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.

It may come as a surprise to some . . . it may be welcome confirmation for others . . . but believers can get depressed. Yes, there are numerous Scriptures about joy and contentment, but we’re humans living in mortal bodies, in challenging times. Well today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie focuses on a depressing time in the life of the great prophet Elijah, and highlights a number of practical principles to help us in our times of challenge. You might want to take some notes. 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.

Trying to live a godly life in an ungodly world can seem like we’re trying to walk up a downward escalator. The culture is trying to drag believers right into a quagmire of hopeless humanism and angry atheism. But God has a plan. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us revisit one of the most exciting stories of the Old Testament when a single prophet of God confronts 850 feckless false prophets and watches God’s plan unfold. 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 throw the word idol around pretty freely in our culture. “So-and-so is a teen idol” . . . “did you watch American Idol?” . . . “Humphrey Bogart was a matinee idol.” But biblically speaking, an idol is a representation or symbol of an object of worship. It’s a clear transgression of the First Commandment. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie warns about idol worship based on an epic confrontation in First Kings 18. Elijah goes toe to toe with the prophets of Baal. 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.

None of us likes to wait. Like when we’re on hold hearing that annoying music repeat over and over again. Or when we’re in line at the grocery store or the airport. Or in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, and our name is finally called and we go to the exam room to . . . wait some more. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that when we wait on GOD, it can renew us. We’ll see some great miracles took place through the prophet Elijah AFTER a time of waiting on the Lord. 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 only part where your car touches the ground is where the wheels contact the pavement, right? You may have hundreds of horsepower under the hood, but if that power doesn’t reach the ground, nobody’s going anywhere. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the power of God is ready to do great things, but He wants our help to bring it to ground level. We’ll follow the example of Elijah in First Kings 17, and see how we can be part of God’s plan. 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.