God Enough, Part 2 - I

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God, you want to hear from you. Would you consider emailing me you can reach me at greg@harvest.org again that's greg@harvest.org and you can also make me one of your friends on Facebook and drop me a comment. How many of you would be willing to leave your comfort zone and let God use you. When's the last time you did something for the first time coming up today. Pastor Greg Laurie advisors to make ourselves available for service to God.

God is looking for people's so would not be embarrassed or afraid it would just take God little bit of risk, whether to step out of your comfort zone to see what the Lord to through you and ration of independent state within their comfort zone imaginative Henry Ford was satisfied with the horse and buggy were Steve Jobs thought flip phone not know those men change their world today on a new beginning after Greg Laurie points out that God wants to take us outside our comfort zone for changing our world is not about nations or cars. It's about letting God use us to impact people with an eternal message. You know what I became a Christian. I was amazed to realize that God would forgive someone like me that he would change me that he had a plan for my life with them when I heard that God actually wanted to use me. I thought, but wonder why bring to the table.

I'm not some great academic I'm not a musician.

I'm not a super talented person. I'm not an orator I'm just a kid of a 17-year-old kid with not a lot to offer to God. I felt a little bit like a boy with the loaves and the fishes that Jesus called on and took what he had and multiplied it so the thing that God could usually was an amazing thing. I heard that I should be out telling people about Christ and I've been a believer for about two weeks. I thought I'd give it a go and I found the ladies sitting on the beach in Newport Beach about the age of my mom and I thought she might be nice to me you know, and I walked up to heard my voice was shaking and I was so nervous and and I engaged her in a conversation about Jesus. I'm sure I made a mess of it, but much to my shock and ally what I asked her if she would like to accept Christ centered into her like she said yes I'm telling you that lady had asked me one hard question I would've collapsed like a deck of cards. Thankfully, she did not and so then I was thinking will I want to do this more. I will go to use me in other ways, but I had this secret fear that God was going to call me to speak publicly like most people I had the fear of public speaking when they do surveys and other people with the most afraid of the fear of public speaking always comes out of the top three, sometimes even above death itself.

Imagine the care you have a choice die or give a speech kill me right now how many of you have a fear of public speaking raising Kate from what you come about. Okay that be terrifying when they will have the fear to the first time I did it all just say this, God gave me what I need when I needed it. God will give you what you need before you need it will never give you what you need, after you needed what he will always give you what you need when you need it.

And so I think we need to understand that God wants to use us and so here's my question. How many of you would like to be used by God breaks her hand up don't do it if you don't mean it will do it if you know me that all of you did not reach her and that's disappointing. But maybe you'll change your mind after you for the rest of my message because the greatest joy. I know next to being a Christian is being used by God. If it's in a big way. If it's in a small way, I just love it.

It might be a one-on-one conversation with someone and I am able to just share a little something that helps summer points them to Christ and sometimes it's more dramatic than that are praying for somebody or whatever it might be what a privilege it is, and I'm asking you today. How many of you would be willing to leave your comfort zone and let God use you to take it to the next level, so to speak, in the Christian life. Or are you satisfied with where you're at right now because I think for God use someone there needs to be a sense of dissatisfaction, meaning that I want to do more with my life. I don't think I'm doing as much as I could do and I want the Lord to use me. God is looking for people to use the book of Ezekiel chapter 22 the Lord says I look for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the lab I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn't destroy the land but I found none. Think about that. The largest Latino right now. I believe in the same way Jesus looking thing is there someone I could use some of the kids stand in the gap someone who could speak up for me, someone who would not be embarrassed or afraid it would just take that little bit of risk and let me speak through them.

Years ago God called a young man named DL Moody Dwight Lyman Moody Moody was not an educated man.

He was not a eloquent man.

He was working in a shoe store and he had a coworker that wanted to share the gospel with Moody, which he did and Moody became a believer. So after that Moody thought of calling this life to start sharing the gospel and the thing that prompted Moody was a statement from someone who said Moody.

The world is yet to see what God can do in and through the man who is fully consecrated to him. Moody said I want to be that man, so Moody went from selling souls to saving souls number. He worked in a shoe store and was used powerfully to touch thousands, even millions of people, and God is still looking for a man or a woman that he could work through who is fully committed to him.

Listen to this every body has a pulpit. Now I know I have a chemical pulp of your lights up and everything right but you have a pulpit to wherever you are. You have a pulpit.

It might be the people you run into when you get your morning cappuccino or latte. I am might be the people that are around you at work.

It's people in your family. People in your neighborhood people that you influence that's your platform and you have your pulpit. I received an encouraging letter from a schoolteacher who wrote me recently and said dear Pastor Greg, I'm a high school teacher and a pretty tough area is a public school teacher.

I have to find creative ways of witnessing the students and sharing the love of Jesus with them because Jesus is a very foreign concept to many of the students here with this teacher did he says. So I decided to give the student some extra credit if they would go to the harvest Crusade over the weekend. Then they were to come back and do a one page right up and get extra credit for, so that's what they did. The teacher says very happy to report that a few of the students gave their lives to Jesus in several words asking me questions which is an amazing opportunity to plant more seeds. The crusade got many of the students thinking about things they never hear about in their homes by prayers for those that saw the Crusade and having made that decision will make that decision. But no matter what. I'll keep in contact with these kids and continue to be a witness to them.

That is a guy that choosing his pulpit right you don't have to be a preacher to use a pulpit, you can be you can be a rapper about Kanye West, the Kanye West is release an album with the title Jesus is King. That's pretty overt and he saying he's a follower of Jesus Christ.

Now I read in an interview quote he said my job. This is Kanye speaking is to spread the gospel let people know what Jesus has done for me.

He says I've spread a lot of things. There was a time when I was letting you know what high-fashion it done for me. I was letting you know what that Hennessey had done for me. I was letting you know all these things, but now I'm letting you know what Jesus has done for me and that I'm no longer a slave, I'm a son now I'm a son of God, I'm free."

That's nice. Connie was being interviewed by a Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy said so Kanye do you consider yourself a Christian artist now Kanye said hey I'm just a Christian everything that's right that's right, though some would say well I don't know.

Is he really had Christian about this. Pray for him. Pray that he gets grounded in his faith. Pray that he's the seed sown on good ground that brings forth much fruit. Listen, I applied any person that makes any movement toward God and I want to encourage them and that not critique them about that and I think it's fantastic, as he's taking his considerable platform and he has quite a platform. Does any to talk about faith. It is people talking about Jesus.

I'm happy for that conversation. People that would normally be talking about the Lord.

We all have a pulpit to preach the letter who we are, no matter what we do. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of this message just a moment we hear stories from listeners who experience tough times but also found a hole through the ministry of harvest chair and has been in a land far away from God.

Discontentment coming closer to him and I can even imagine we read dedicated our lives back to God through harvest home. We returned particles and I think God for your ministry so encouraging to hear the change lives through Harvest at Home experience harvest home for yourself@harvest.org if you have a story to tell of how these studies have touched your life with that of a family member. I hope you connect with us today.

Color special number 1-866-871-1144. That's 866-871-1144 well in today's message God enough hard to Pastor Greg is talking about the privilege and responsibility we all have share the good news.

Well some of us just don't want to do this so we make up excuses what is an excuse excuse.

It's a fancy lie. That's all it is, it excuses. What I offer up what I don't really want to do something it's been described as a skid of a reason. Stop with a lie. It's also been defined as a fancy lie, all dressed up for dinner right all it is and I bring that up because were looking at Moses now and were looking at the excuses he offered to God as to why he could not be used by the Lord solicitor to backtrack and then come back to where we last left off. Okay, so Moses right. He was spared by the Lord, and he was put in that little basket and taken into the court of Pharaoh and raised by the daughter of Pharaoh, the princes of Egypt, the ancient Jewish historian Josephus felt that that Moses would've become the Pharaoh himself and Moses had everything that the court of Egypt property had cooled eyeliner on you how the Egyptians of the little mascara and all that right yet all the cool Egyptian moon see walk like an Egyptian for sure yet all the royal robes, but underneath that binary be the heart of it, you and he saw how his fellow Jews were being mistreated and one day he decided to take matters into his own hands and he saw an Egyptian slave driver mistreating a Jewish slave in the looks of the right knee look to the left and he killed the guy and buried him in the sand. If you're going to kill someone.

Don't bury them in the sand because the sand shifts in his deed was known in the Pharaoh discovered it and effectively put a contract out on the life of Moses, so Moses fled and went to the backside of the desert. He probably thought he was done he was now 80 years old watching a flock of sheep for his father-in-law and he married a woman named Sapporo and suddenly there's a bush. I will not stop burning in the voice of God comes to him through the bush and the Lord says I've seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. I've heard their cry because of their taskmasters and I know their sorrows and the Lord says I'm calling you to go and deliver those people. Moses the same not be.

I don't think I'm the right guy so he offers excuses.

Here's excuse number one if you're taking notes. He said I am not deserving to be used by God, I am not deserving to be used by God in Exodus 311 mine says Moses to appear before Pharaoh. How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Now he does have a point.

I mean if you were God, would you pick Moses in some ways he was not has been a failure and embarrassment. Even worse, a murder was running from the law. He was a fugitive and now is an 80-year-old dude is been out in the sun's day is done. There's no moral he's retirement 80s beyond retirement age. The Lord says yeah I think you're just about the right guy.

I could use at this moment Moses moves slower now is to be an athletic guy. He's gone from Como to Shlomo the he's more reticent apprehensive cautious.

I don't think I'm the one Lord, you can use me excuse number two. I don't have all the answers.

I don't have all the answers we get. Exodus 312 Moses protested if I go to the people of Israel and tell them the God of your ancestors has sent me to you. They will believe me, the last which God are you talking about what is his name what should I tell them God replied I am who I am, just tell them I am has sent me to you. I love that. So Moses is so crucial I say sent me the Lord says I am who I am. So Moses is impeccably safe. Who am I the Lord says forget about that.

I am a wire is not about you Moses it's about me. Moses is saying I don't have all the answers. God is saying, but you have all of me and I will be with you to God will give you what you need. Jesus said, all power is been given to me in heaven and earth therefore go to all the world and make disciples and preach the gospel. Have you ever noticed that connection before he tells us what were supposed to do. He tells us to. Yes, I have all power. I have authority you go therefore because I am in you and I will speak through you and I will work through you and the Lord showing this to Moses and then he says I want to demonstrate my power to stick your shepherd's staff and thrown to the ground and it turns into a snake. Probably a cobra because the cobra was a symbol of Egypt. If you look at it. Egyptian antiquities today, you'll see that cobra was very much a part of their culture that Pharaoh would even wear a headdress with a cobra on it so I think it was a cobra because it was symbolic. God was saying the Moses you need to face your fears and you're going to be victorious over Egypt, but he picked the snake up by the tail. You never want to do that because a snake will bite you.

Let me tell you from experience. I've been bitten by many snakes because I usually have them when I was a kid, I was bitten by bowlers and pythons and gopher snakes and king snakes.

I don't you know it's kind of a freaky thing to have a snake bite you. It doesn't hurt that much, but there's something very icky about it you know it they got to make a fast numb some there on your hand or your arm and in the way to get them off the ship to get up on Internet can oppress them provide their mouth open and they're still trying to bite then you're holding it in their wrapping their coil around your arm, and the like. Get rid of one of those things is very hard because the moment you let go. They try to bite you again to get yet you know so to pick a cobra of venomous snake by the tail, but the Lord missing. Face your fears on them to be with you and then Moses says excuse number three. I'm not a good speaker. I Exodus 410 down next chapter. Moses pleaded with the Lord. Oh Lord, I'm I'm just not a good speaker and never have been and I'm not now.

Even after you have spoken to me. I'm clumsy with word notes interesting because commentators have different opinions as to what this means when he says he's a clumsy speaker.

Some suggest that maybe he just didn't feel he had the right way of communicating he was. Not a skilled orator. Others think you might've been speaking of a speech impediment of the King James translation as I am slow of speech and tongue. So, some think that Moses may have had a problem with stuttering.

This reminds me of five jackets. Pastor Jack Tibbs and how many of your verdict. After Jacob's coverage up at Chino Hills. He is to have a very severe stuttering problem and so so anyway Jack came to Christ in a funny way, some funny, but it's interesting. It reminds me of myself a little.

He was out driving around the somebodies and he saw a car full acute girl so they followed him into a parking lot of a church. He did note was a church is covered Chapel of Costa Mesa.

He walked in. I happen to be preaching that night and at the end of my message I get the invitation, and Jack gave his life to Christ and then he sensed that the Lord wanted you. Somebody had the stuttering problem. He would be so nervous whenever he would think of talking to anyone, so he would go out with his Christian friends would be sharing the gospel is that I can't do that all stutter. But one day and I asked him about this.

So he texted me in this. These are his words. He said one night on Lido Island. I saw someone I felt an overwhelming burden to go speak to them and share the gospel. When I open my mouth. I was healed of stuttering. In that incident, and I've never stuttered since then. I love that. So you say okay I'm not going to be defined by this problem, step out of this comfort zone, to see what the Lord will do this in the future belongs to risktakers, not mere ground holders and it certainly doesn't belong to those that sit around and critique people that are willing to do something outside of the box.

You look back historically in our own country. Creative people who broke new ground. People like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Walt Disney Steve Jobs Elon musk glands rockets Elon musk us masses been blown them up in space for years, Elon musk, a businessman says things more financially responsible to land the rocket that you shut off and he's been able to pull that off and I think Billy Graham of the great innovations that he was involved in bringing the gospel to people, but there are always armchair quarterbacks and those that love the critique. Those that do things like that. Most of these people live on social media, specifically Twitter that seems to be their so-called mission alive. I'm here to just take shots at other people, what have you ever done for the kingdom of God. Why don't you step out of your comfort zone. See what the Lord will do through you and so Moses says I can't do this Florida. I'm just not the guy.

Then he says excuse for number four.

I'm not qualify. He said Lord send anyone else.

This can almost sound humble old Lord of noteworthy I'm just too humble effective. So humble. I dropped the H I'm just number the number. Note you are your disobedient excellent humility of God says I want to use you and you say no that's not humility that's disobedient in the fact that he says Lord. He says actually.

In verse 13, oh Lord send someone else you mean old Lord you don't say no Lord you say yes Lord otherwise is he really more divvies Lord. He will bacon your great glory, pointing out how important it is to heed God's call to stand up and speak out for him great encouragement today here on a new beginning from the message God enough. Part two and if you like a replay of any part of what you've heard today. You can log on to harvest.org and look for the title God enough hard to or to have a CD of the studies in your way.

Call 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300 Pastor Greg when the worst happens.

The most common question people ask is why yeah why did this happen, why me, why now and where making available a movie right now. The tackles those questions had on and I'm thinking a lot of people will find comfort in the powerful story on this DVD. It's early to Dave. You know this is a story of a young man named Jeremy Camp. Many of you know him because he is a has a great career out there is a singer-songwriter but dubbed Jeremy went to a Christian college and met his bride to be.

Melissa it's it's a beautiful love story really the two of them coming together and I have to say it's powerfully acted by KJ ALPA and Brent Robertson. They have a real chemistry and and you really pulled into this story and they got married and everything was looking great for them but then of course if you don't know the story.

It turns out that Melissa had cancer and she had great faith and she was hoping that she would overcome this cancer.

But tragically that's on the way the story went, and so we think well I don't know if I want to watch a movie like that though actually you do because this is a story that doesn't flinch in the face of tragedy. It deals with it head on, but it shows how faith can overcome adversity.

We all like stories with happy endings in the center is a happy ending to this story but there's a lot of twists and turns before we get there, you just met this girl, what if this is test we were supposed to run towards the highway from change. I know this will give you hope it will bring encouragement. Anybody who is facing adversity in the film is called. I still believe it's actually based on a song that Jeremy wrote after Melissa went to be with the Lord.

It's as incredible performances from Shania Twain, Gary Sinise, Britt Robertson and playing the role of Jeremy Camp, KJ ALPA, who is featured on the Riverdale TV show. So urinal of this film and I'm in the send it to you for your gift of any size whatever you can send will use those resources to continue to bring this radio ministry around the world. So don't delay. Order your copy of I still believe from his here is a new beginning. I know you'll be glad you did. Yeah, that's right.

It's from our friends the Irwin brothers who produced I can only imagine and Woodlawn along with many others, it's a touching movie with a strong gospel message and will send it to you for your investment in reaching out with pastor Greg strong gospel messages hereunder new beginning and through our large-scale evangelistic outreaches so right for your copy of I still believe our mailing address is a new beginning.

Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org everybody Greg Laurie here and finding you to join me every weekend for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a church service. It's a worship service. It's a Bible study and its wherever you wanted to be in your home in your car sitting on a beach walking down the street watching it on your phone wherever you are taken with you and the minister to every weekend. Join us Harvest at Home@harvest.org when next I pastor Greg points out that no matter how unqualified we may feel we are fully qualified to be used of God, was he got is not concerned with your ability as much is your availability to the next time a new beginning pastor Greg Moore possible by harvest partners, helping people everywhere know God sign up for pastor grades free daily email, devotions@harvest.org