A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: We all choose what voice we're going to listen to. I'm going to listen to the voice of Jesus. The voice we listen to influences our thoughts, and our thoughts influence our actions, and our actions have substantial consequences.

We have the voice of the culture. We have the voice of Satan, who says, "You're worthless. You're a failure. You'll never amount to anything." Or we can listen to the voice of God, who says, "I love you. I have a plan for you."

Dave: Modern radios are very selective. They pick up one station at a time. So as you listen to A New Beginning, you're not hearing the latest hit on the polka parade or pork belly prices from the farm report.

Today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out we need to be just as selective with our hearing. It's all too easy to let the voices of our culture plant ideas and values in our heads. But today, we'll see two brokenhearted individuals who were tuned in to Jesus.

Greg Laurie: Why don't you grab your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 5? The title of my message is "Jesus and the Brokenhearted." Mark chapter 5, starting in verse 21.

Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake. This would be the Sea of Galilee, where a large crowd gathered around Him on the shore. There, a leader of the synagogue whose name was Jairus arrived.

When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet, pleading fervently with Him. "My little daughter is dying," he said. "Please come and lay Your hands on her, heal her so she can live." Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around Him.

A woman in the crowd who had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding, she had suffered a great deal from many doctors over the years and had spent everything she had to pay, but it had only gotten worse, and she heard about Jesus and came up behind Him through the crowd and touched His robe. And she thought to herself, "If I can touch His robe, I can be healed." Immediately, the bleeding stopped, and she could feel it in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

We'll stop there. Twelve years. Twelve years this woman had this medical condition, some kind of hemorrhaging. She went to the local doctors, which first-century medical care was not very dependable to say the very least. She spent all of her money on these doctors, probably quack doctors. And now she's in this place where her only hope is God.

Then 12 years is also the time that Jairus spent with his beloved daughter, probably his only child. No question about it, she was Daddy's girl. His heart was broken. His daughter was at death's door. So 12 years is an important amount of time in both of their stories.

So now Jairus comes to Jesus, hoping that He can do something for his little daughter. He says in verse 23, "Please come and lay Your hands on her, heal her so she can live." And Jesus got up and followed him.

So here now is Jairus. He's got Jesus. Everything's getting better, he reasons in faith. If I can get Jesus to my daughter, He'll lay His hand on her. And why not? The reputation of Jesus was spreading. He was trending on every social media platform.

Every time you were flipping through reels, here's Jesus healing a leper. Here's Jesus restoring sight. Here's Jesus raising the dead. Oh wait, here's another one of Jesus calming a storm. If He could do all of those things, surely He could heal the daughter of Jairus.

So they're on their way to the home of Jairus and a crowd surrounds them. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, this woman appears who touches Him. Now, you wouldn't even have noticed it if Jesus didn't stop and say, "Who touched Me?"

So this is an interruption, and how easily Jairus could have resented it. He could have said, "Hey, I don't know who you are." By the way, she was ceremonially unclean. What does that mean? Because she bled constantly, that meant that she was declared unclean and she could not interact with other people.

She would have been ostracized. She would have been isolated. So here now is this unclean woman cutting in on him, a ruler of the synagogue. He's a VIP. He's an important guy. And besides, her medical condition could wait. His daughter was dying. He really needed Jesus maybe a little bit more than she did.

But she cuts in on Jairus, and he does not object. He does not protest. Maybe he knew because that's how Jesus rolls. He just helps people. Don't stop Him from helping people. I mean, He's helping me. So here is this woman, unclean ceremonially, reasoning if she can touch Jesus, she will be healed.

Let's read about it. Mark chapter 5: Jesus realized at once healing power had gone out of Him. He turned around to the crowd and said, "Who touched Me?" His disciples said, "Look at this crowd pressing around You. How can You ask who touched Me?" But He kept looking around to see who had done it.

Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of Him and told Him what she had done. And He said, "Daughter... Daughter, I love that... Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over."

Back to Jairus. So he's waiting patiently. "Okay, Jesus. Okay, it's great, it's great. Let's go." So they're headed to his house, and the following scene unfolds. Mark chapter 5, verse 35: While He was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the house of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue.

They told him, "Your daughter is dead. No use in troubling the teacher now." But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith." How devastating. "Your daughter is dead."

I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of that message when I was told my son has died. Now, it was put more delicately to me, "Christopher, my son, has gone to be with the Lord." But I knew what that meant. My son had died. There's nothing worse a parent could ever hear than those words. And he was devastated.

But I love what Jesus said to him. "Don't be afraid. Just have faith." We all choose what voice we're going to listen to. And Jairus could listen to the voice of the person who told him this news, or he could listen to the voice of Jesus. They told me my daughter's dead, but Jesus said don't be afraid. I'm going to listen to the voice of Jesus.

And we have the same choice every day. We have the voice of the culture. We have the voice of Satan, who says, "You're worthless. You're a failure. You'll never amount to anything. You're cursed." Or we can listen to the voice of God, who says, "I love you. I have a plan for you. I'll use you."

Now, I bet that Jairus was beating himself up over this. "It's my fault. I should have pressed Jesus to come sooner. I should have done more." And often that happens, especially when a child dies. A parent will assume a responsibility that maybe is not really theirs to assume in those particular circumstances. It depends, I suppose.

But ultimately, we have to realize that life and death are in the hands of God, not us. He alone decides when we will be born and when we will die. But he just humbled himself and came to Jesus. Understand that Jesus was not high on the cultural ladder.

He wasn't a rabbi. He was a carpenter's son from Nazareth. Nazareth was not a city that other people respected. But yet Jairus realized He was more than a carpenter's son. Jairus realized this is God walking among us in human form.

So he, a leader of a synagogue, humbled himself and asked Christ for His help, and he got it. And that's what everyone needs to do. The Bible says, "Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord." And some people don't want to do that, but he was willing to.

And God will make Himself known to any person who comes to Him in humility. And that's exactly what Jairus was doing, and that's exactly what we need to do. I love the words of Jesus. He says, "Don't be afraid. Keep on believing."

Dave: Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

We love hearing from our listeners, whether it's a short word or they take some time to tell us what's going on with them. We read every word.

Guest (Female): Hi, Pastor Greg. Our son Tanner was baptized at Pirate's Cove on August 16th. He attended the Harvest Crusade in Boise, Idaho, a couple of years ago. We praise God for all He's doing in Tanner's life. Thank you for all you do.

Dave: Do you have a story to share with Pastor Greg? If so, would you let him know? Send him an email. Greg@harvest.org. That's greg@harvest.org. Glad you're along today as Pastor Greg brings us his message called "Jesus and the Brokenhearted."

Greg Laurie: Now Christ arrives at the home of Jairus. It's filled with people mourning. Understand these were not just people showing their sorrow for this young girl. These are professional mourners. You literally, depending on how much money you made, could hire people to come into your home and mourn.

They would play their musical instruments and sing their sad songs, and the whole house is filled with all of these people weeping and wailing. Jesus walks in, and we read about it in Mark chapter 5, verse 38. He came to the home of the synagogue leader. He saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, "Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn't dead. She's only sleeping."

And they went immediately from weeping to laughing, and specifically mockery. Who does this guy think He is coming in here and saying she's sleeping? Clearly she's dead. He says, "Get out of here. You're all a buzzkill." He didn't say that, but it's implied.

He thought, "I'm not going to work in this environment of unbelief. I want these people gone." And they all laughed. And then He went to the bed of this little girl who indeed was dead. He knew that, by the way. He was using the word "sleeping" as a picture because when a Christian dies, the Bible describes it as falling asleep.

Even when Stephen died the violent death of a martyr, we read that he fell asleep. Not literally, but it's a picture. Because falling asleep is not a bad thing, right? Now, when you're a child, it's the worst thing. "Go to bed." No. "Take a nap." No.

When you're older, it's like, "Take a nap." Yes. Happy hour for an old person is a nap. That's a happy hour. So she's only sleeping, but of course she had passed over to the other side. Jesus says, "Little lamb, arise." That's a literal translation of what He said. I love that, "little lamb." It's so tender.

And she came back to life again. You know, what I love about this story is she comes back to life, and then Jesus says, "Give her something to eat." That's so practical. She's probably hungry. Get her a sandwich quickly.

So here's the thing that we need to realize: When we lose a loved one, most of us are not going to see them raised from the dead. But we know we will see them again. We know that when one of our loved ones dies in faith, they are indeed alive in another place and we will once again be with them in the future.

They're not just a part of our past; they're also a part of our future. When I did my interview with Jordan Peterson, I mentioned I know that I mentioned the story of my son Christopher and how he had died and how I knew that I would see him again.

Jordan asked me, "Why do you believe that?" I said, "Well, it's faith. It's faith in God's Word." And he asked me, "What is faith?" I said, "Well, the Bible says faith is the substance of things hoped for, it's the evidence of things not seen."

And because God has kept His promises to me in the past, I know He'll keep His promises to me in the future. As an example, God told me He would forgive me of my sin if I would ask Him to, and He's done that.

He told me also that He would give me a peace that passes human understanding. He's done that as well. He also promised me that He would give me meaning and purpose in life and that He would guide my steps. He has done all of that. God's made many promises to me, and I put those promises to the test and I've seen how God came through for me.

Jordan asked me, "Well, how did God come through for you?" I said, "Well, I've seen what's happened to other people who've lost children. Their marriages unravel, some have turned to drugs or alcohol, some have just become bitter, angry people. And that didn't happen to me and my wife."

And I said it's not because I'm a virtuous person. It's simply because I believed the promises of God, and I have found them to be true. And that's the truth. So Jesus raises this little girl back to life again. It reminds me of another story: A woman who was caught in the act of adultery and she was thrown before the feet of Jesus.

One of the accusers says, "The law says she should be stoned to death. What do You say?" Jesus said, "Let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone." Then He kneeled down and wrote in the sand, and He stood up and said it again. The Bible says they left from the oldest to the youngest.

Wow, what did He write in the sand? Well, the greatest minds in the church have grappled with this for centuries, and I'm going to settle it right now. No, I don't know what He wrote. Maybe He wrote their names with a commandment they were breaking at that moment, looked up at them. I don't know. Whatever He wrote, it cleared the room.

Now here's this woman alone. He says, "Woman, where are your accusers?" She said, "I have none." He said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." But it's interesting the word that He used there. He said, "Woman, where are your accusers?"

That could be translated "Lady" or "Ma'am." I'm sure this girl had been called a lot of things in her life, but I doubt anyone ever called her "Ma'am" or "Lady." It was a term of respect. But Jesus didn't just see her for what she was; He saw her for what she could become.

Going back to the woman who was healed of her medical condition, "Daughter, you're healed. You're a daughter now. I want you to remember that." And now to this woman caught in sin, He says, "Lady, Ma'am, go and sin no more."

See, when I look at myself, I see my failures; God sees my potential. I see my past; God sees my future. I see a blank canvas; God sees a finished painting. I see an end; God sees a new beginning. He sees you for what you can become, and that's what He saw here.

How do you become a daughter of God? How do you become a son of God? Sometimes people say we're all God's children. Actually, we aren't. We're all God's creation. We're all loved by God. We're all valued by God. But we're not God's children by default.

Well, how do you become a child of God? The Bible says, "For as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become a son of God." So you become a daughter of God, you become a son of God, you become a child of God when you put your faith in God and invite Christ to come and live in your heart.

In closing, I ask you: Have you done that yet? Have you asked Jesus to come into your life? Has He forgiven you of your sin? Maybe you've come here today with a broken heart. Maybe you've come here today with failure in your life. You've messed up and you don't know what to do.

You just come to Jesus and reach out. You touch Him. "Oh, I wish God would touch me." Well, why don't you just reach out and touch Him? Because He's here right now. As surely as He walked this planet of ours 2,000 years ago, He's with us right here, right now, ready to change your life, ready to heal your broken heart, ready to give you a new beginning.

If you need that, we're going to close in prayer and then you can pray and ask Christ to forgive you and you can start a new relationship with him or make a recommitment to follow him. If you need to do that, why don't you do it as we pray now.

Father, thank You for every person here. If they're not yet Your son or Your daughter, let this be the moment they believe. Let this be the moment they come to You. Now, while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, if you would like your sin forgiven, if you would like to become a child of God, if you would like to begin this relationship with Him, why don't you pray this prayer after me.

You can pray it out loud if you like, or you can pray it quietly. But just pray this if you want Christ to come into your life. 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 turn from my sin now and I choose to follow You from this moment forward. Thank You for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name, I ask it. Amen.

Dave: An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie with those making a change in their relationship with God today. And if you yourself have prayed with Pastor Greg and made a first-time decision for the Lord, we'd like to help you get started in your new relationship with God. We'd like to send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible.

Not only will you find the scripture text in an easy-to-read translation, you'll find hundreds of helps just for new believers. So call us at 1-800-821-3300 and ask for it. We'll send it free of charge. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write "A New Beginning," Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God."

And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry and for supporting it through your generous donation. It's an investment in kingdom business. Isn't that right, Pastor Greg?

Greg Laurie: It's really true, Dave. And I believe it's so important because, you know, the gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives because when a person believes in Jesus according to scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. And then, of course, that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children.

The gospel changes everything. And thousands and thousands of people respond every single year thanks to the Lord, also thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people wherever they are. So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment in A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries.

Dave: Yeah, that's right. And we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today. It can make a real difference not just for today or this week, but for eternity. So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300.

Or write "A New Beginning," Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, as Pastor Greg continues his series called "Jesus and You," we'll see the importance of approaching the Lord with childlike faith. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.