Go! - Here Am I...Send Him!

Here Am I...Send Him! 

Jonah 1
7/14/13 
Pastor Greg Laurie
Harvest OC

Here am I send him.

We all deserve judgement.

1 Corinthians 1:21 (NKJV)

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Jonah 7/27/13

1. To reach our culture we must preach the Gospel.

Theology without apology.

Matthew 4:17 (NLT)

From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."

Matthew 10:7 (NLT)

Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

2. We are to preach the message He has given.

Nothing is going through you until it has happened to you.

Our job is to deliver it, not to change it.

There is explosive power in the essential message of the gospel.

Gods rep or prophet is usually an ordinary person.

An unlikely candidate.

3. Gods prophet or rep is speaking for someone else

If our message is rejected or accepted we don't take it personally. Don't take the blame or the credit.

4. The true prophet recognizes rue results are not up to him.

God does not require success, he requires faithfulness

3 marks of a good message.

1. Our message must be delivered with urgency!

2. Our message must be clear definite.

The Gospel is not simplistic but it is simple.

Romans 6:23 (NLT)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Whenever God gives a warning that is a good thing.

Galatians 1:6-8 (NLT)

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News [7] but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. [8] Let God's curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.

The true gospel.

1. We are all sinners.

1 John 1:8 (NLT)

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

James 2:10 (NLT)

For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws.

Romans 3:10-12 (NLT)

As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous- not even one. [11] No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. [12] All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one."

Romans 5:6-8 (NLT)

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. [7] Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. [8] But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

John 14:6 (NLT)

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:12 (NLT)

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved."

1 Timothy 2:5 (NLT)

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus.

How God Sees Things

Notes: How God Sees Things

July 7. 2013 Pastor Jeff Lasseigne 

How God Sees Things

Harvest OC

2 Peter 3:1-15 (NKJV)

Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), [2] that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, [3] knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, [4] and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." [5] For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, [6] by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. [7] But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. [8] But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [9] The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. [11] Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, [12] looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? [13] Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. [14] Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; [15] and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation-as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,

Point one: How God sees the past verses 2 to 7

1 out of 25 verses speaks of a second coming in the New Testament.

Some people fall for everything, and stand for nothing!

Scoffers willfully reject the Word.

2 Peter 2:5 (NKJV)

and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

Genesis 2:5 (NKJV)

before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;

Point 2: How God sees the present. Verses 8 and 9

Psalm 90:4 (NKJV)

For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.

God is not slow he is lovingly patient.

2 Peter 3:10 (NKJV)

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night

Point 3: how God sees the future.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 (NKJV)

For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

Point 4: how God sees our response.

Verses 11 to 15

For Such a Time as This, Part 2

Notes: For Such a Time asThis, Part 2

Pastor Greg Laurie

Part 2: Esther 5

June 27, 2013

Greg was talking about laws:

Murphy’s Law

The Law of Gravity

The Law of Thermodynamics

The Biblical Law of Sowing and Reaping
(Galatians 6:7-8 (NKJV) 6 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. [8] For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.)

Satan was behind this because he hates the Jewish people.

Satan hates what God loves.

Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Esther 4:13-14 (NKJV)

And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. [14] For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Esther 4:16 (NKJV)

"Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

Character is not made in crisis; it is only exhibited.

A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted.

Esther 5:1-8 (NKJV)

On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. [2] When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter. [3] Then the king asked her, "What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!" [4] And Esther replied, "If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king." [5] The king turned to his attendants and said, "Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested." So the king and Haman went to Esther's banquet. [6] And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, "Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!" [7] Esther replied, "This is my request and deepest wish. [8] If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about."

No one is unreachable.

No one is beyond the reach of God and prayer.

Proverbs 21:1

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

Hebrews 6:10 (NKJV)

For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Esther 5:2-3 (NKJV)

2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

3 And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

Proverbs 25:11 (NKJV)

11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold
In settings of silver.

Esther 5:4 (NKJV)

4 So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

“What a happy man Haman was as he left the banquet!”
(Esther 5:9)

You will be rewarded for every act of kindness and word of testimony.
(Hebrews 6:10)

Psalm 121:4 (NKJV)

4  Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 30:5 (NKJV)

5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.

Esther 6:11-13 (NKJV)

So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!" [12] Afterward Mordecai went back to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. [13] When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him."

Esther 6:14 (NKJV)

14 While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

Esther 7:1-10 (NKJV)

7 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared[a] to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.7 And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows[b] that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits[c] high.” 10 And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

1. God is always present and at work, whether we feel Him or not.

2. God can take impossible situations and turn them around for His glory.

3. You will reap what you sow.

2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV)

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Sow a thought, reap an act, sow an act, reap a habit, sow a habit, reap a character, sow a character, and reap a destiny.

God can forgive you of your sin.

Esther: For Such a Time as This!

Notes: “For Such a Time as This!”


Pastor Greg Laurie

Harvest OC

June 20, 2013

Part 1 of Esther 1

Psalm 37:23 (NKJV)

23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.

Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

John 14:27 (NKJV)

27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.
(Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”)

XERXES

Esther 2:5-9 (NKJV)

In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. [6] Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. [7] And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. [8] So it was, when the king's command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king's palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. [9] Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

1. We all have talents and gifts that God has given us.

2. We need to take what God has given us and cultivate it.

“Do not neglect the gift that is given to you.”
(1 Timothy 4:14)

Many of us never find out what we can or cannot do, because we never try!

3. There is a time to speak up and a time to be quiet.
(Esther 2:10 (NKJV)

Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.)

1 Peter 3:1-4 (NKJV)

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, [2] when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. [3] Do not let your adornment be merely outward-arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel- [4] rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

“Beauty is empty; a woman who reverences the Lord shall be praised.”
(Proverbs 31:30)

HAMAN

Esther 3:8-11 (NKJV)

8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 And the king said to Haman, “The money and the people are given to you, to do with them as seems good to you.”

Esther 4:10-14 (NKJV)

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” 12 So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Has God placed you where you are for such a time as this?

God has something for you to do and something for you to say.

God has placed you where you are to be an influence for Him.

JOSEPH

Genesis 45:1-5 (NKJV)

Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, "Make everyone go out from me!" So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. [2] And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. [3] Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. [4] And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. [5] But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

Your life: “God did it!”

Instead of isolating, you need to infiltrate and permeate.

Esther 4:15-16 (NKJV)

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: [16] "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

4. Our lives belong to God. He created us, called us, gifted us, and now He wants to use us.