This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Warren.
Today we continue in a series called the Awesome Power of Vision. In
these lessons, Pastor Rick shows us how to pursue God's amazing vision for each
of our lives so that we can see our future with faith and not fear.
But first, do you ever feel like you've lost your spark your joy?
In just a few moments, We're going to tell you about an exciting
new resource that will deepen your relationship with God and restore your joy. You
can take a sneak peek right now by going to Pastororick dot com while you
listen, and if you want, you can just text the word Daily to
eight hundred, six hundred five thousand and four to find out more. Right
now, here's Pastor Rick Warren with the final part of a message called Christ's
Vision a Unified Family. Write this down number eight. Here's the eighth in
the summarizing all the Bible says about unity. Baptism and communion are the visible
signs of unity. Baptism and communion are the visible signs of unity. Both
of them are symbols of our incorporation into the body of Christ. Both of
them visualize that we now don't just belong to Christ. We belong to each
other. If you've been baptized, if you've taken communion, you don't just
belong to Jesus. You belong to others, everybody else in the family of
God, everybody else in your church family. Now, first, baptism is
a sign that I intend to protect the unity of the church family, that
I belong to. You say, where's that one? Corinthians twelve, twelve
and thirteen says this, For just as your body is a unity, even
though it has many different parts, it is with Christ's body the same,
he says. The church. It's just same way. He says. We're
all different. Just look around in our church. Obviously we're all different,
but we form one body. We've all been baptized into Christ's body by the
same spirit. No matter whether we were Jews or Greeks, our slaves or
freemen, we have now all received the same spirit, he says. No
matter what your culture background is, your racial background is, your religious background
is, your national background is, he said, doesn't matter what, he
says, we've all received the same spirit. We've been baptized into the body
of Christ. He says, it doesn't matter what your background is. Now
you are unified with every other Christian, regardless of your distances differences, which
means I have more in common, for instance, with an Asian woman who's
a believer in Christ, than I would have in common with an American male
six foot two man. We have physical commonalities, but my real commonality is
with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Now. Paul points out that not
only baptisms, but also taking communion is a sign of unity. One Corinthians
ten, sixteen and seventeen says this when we eat the bread that we break
together talking about the bread of communion, isn't that sharing in the body of
Christ? And by sharing in the same loaf of bread, we become one
body, even though there are many of us. By the way, let
me point out, the Bible also says that you should not take communion if
you're out of unity with anybody else in your church family. Bible says that
you actually eat judgment on yourself. You should not take communion if you're out
of fellowship, out of unity with anybody else in your church family. Here's
the ninth thing that God says about unity in the church. Right this down.
Focusing on our common purpose is what creates unity. Focusing on our common
purpose creates unity. We find this in First Corinthians one ten. I love
this in a new living translation. Dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to
you, by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, to stop arguing among
yourselves. He's talking to church members. Stop arguing among yourself. Doesn't matter
what you're arguing about. Just stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real
harmony so there won't be any divisions in the church. Paul says, I
plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
If you're taking notes, circle that word purpose. God says, I want
you to be united in purpose. Paul's saying, be purpose driven in your
church. Not program driven, not pressure driven, not power driven, not
pleasure driven, not popularity driven, not personality driven, not politics driven.
He said, be united in purpose. That's key, all right, Just
a couple more. Here's the next insight, number ten, summarizing what the
Bible says about unity. Unity begins when we realize we're incomplete without each other.
Unity begins when you and I Christians realize that we are incomplete without each
other. We need each other. God wired us in such a way that
nobody gets all the gifts. I don't have them all. You don't have
them all. That's why we need each other. One Corinthians twelve, twenty
and twenty one and verse twenty five says this, Yes, we're all different
parts in Christ's body, but there's still only one body. Okay. So
yeah, we got different gifts, we've got different background, we're different races,
were different size of shapes, we're a different gender. Yeah, we're
all different parts of the body of Christ. But we're still just one body.
So he says, the eye can't say to the hand, I don't
need you, and the head can't say to the feet, I don't need
you. He says, there must never be any division in the body allowed.
This is the scripture talking there must never be any division in the body
allowed. Instead, all the members must care for each other equally equally.
You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will be back in just a
moment with the rest of today's lesson. You can sign up for Pastor Rick's
free email devotional at Pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com. How do
you feel spiritually right now? Maybe you feel spiritually dry, like you're in
a desert, or like you're just going through the motions. Maybe you've lost
your spark, your joy. God knows how you feel right now. You
are not alone. He knows even David and the Bible felt like that and
Jeremiah twenty nine thirteen. God says you will seek Me and find Me when
you seek Me with all your heart. When you seek God intentionally, it
leads to a renewal of your relationship with Him. That's why Pastor Rick created
a very special, brand new resource called Going Deeper with God, a personal
renewal retreat, and it he'll personally leave you on a spiritual journey to help
you seek God. Together, you and Pastor Rick will go through a series
of audio lessons and after each session you'll take a little time to complete exercises
in the Companion Workbook. You can do this at home in short sessions,
or you can get away for a day and do it in one sitting.
Through this retreat, you'll experience a renewal of life within you. God will
restore your joy as he renews, refreshes, invigorates, and revives your spiritual
life. You'll never be the same again. Will send to you going deeper
with God a personal renewal retreat as our way of saying thanks when you give
a gift today to help daily hope, share the hope of Jesus with a
hurting world. Just call eight hundred and six hundred at five zero zero four
or go to Pastorick dot com to get your copy of this great resource.
That's eight hundred at six hundred five zero zero four or Pastorick dot com.
Once again, here's Rick fet Corinthians twelve, twenty six and twenty seven.
Listen to this. This is another part that enhances unity in the church.
When one part of the body suffers, every other part is to suffer with
it. And when one part of the body is honored, every other part
of the body is to rejoice with it together, not individually. You are
the body of Christ. You're not the body of Christ by yourself. I'm
not the body of Christ by myself. Together, we are the body of
Christ. And each one of you is a part of that body, and
you're a necessary part. So he says, when somebody's suffering. You need
to be empathetic. And somebody's going through pain, be empathetic. Somebody is
hurting, be empathetic. Somebody's frustrated, be empathetic. Empathy is a key
to unity. You may write that down. The more empathetic I am,
the more I'm going to be able to build the unity of the church.
Okay. Number eleven. Jesus died to unite us, not to divide us.
That's why it's so important what we're talking about. This is not some
minor issue we're covering this week. Jesus died to unite us, to reconcile
us, not to divide us. Phoenesians two sixteen says this in the TeV
translation. By his death on the cross, Christ reconciled us and united different
races into one body. He brought us all back to God, ending hostility,
ending hostility. That's what Jesus did on the cross. He reconciled us
and united all the different kinds of people into one body. In fact,
in the Phesians it says we're a new race together. He brought us all
back to God, ending hostility. I love how the Living Bible puts it
this verse Pesians two sixteen. It says the feud ended at the cross.
The feud ended at the cross. There's no place for any kind of bigotry
or preferential treatment. Finally, number twelve, Jesus write this down. Jesus
expects me to work hard at unifying Christians. This is not something for somebody
else. If you claim to be a Christian, this is part of your
job description. Jesus expects me to work hard at unifying Christians in the church
family. Ephesians four to three says this, make every effort, circle that,
make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit. Bind yourselves together
by living in peace with each other. That's a direct statement from God's word.
One day we'll stand before God and has say did you do that?
Did you make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in your church
family? Did you bind yourselves together with everybody else to live in peace with
each other. I want to share a personal grief with you, and it's
this I am. I am sad. Actually, I'm heartbroken that today's Christians
are known more for other things than our love for each other. We're not
known for what I'm talking about today, what the God says what God says
in his word. You know, if you were to take a survey,
go out on the street and ask a thousand people on the street, what
do you think of first when you think of a born again Christian? What
do you think? The answer would be? The number one answer would be
what do you think? It would be the number one answer, what do
you think of when you think of a born again Christian? I seriously doubt
if you ask a thousand people that anyone, anyone would say, Man,
those guys really love each other, They really really love each other. That's
what we'd be known for. It's the one thing that Jesus wants us to
be known for. I think the one thing that Jesus wants us to be
known for wouldn't even make the list. That's how off course the contemporary church
is today. My brothers and my sisters, we need to practice Philippians Chapter
one, verse twenty seven to twenty eight. This should be one of our
key verses this next year. I love it in the message. It says
this, no matter what happens, okay, COVID or not, COVID politics
are no politics, riots or no riots. No matter what happens live in
such a way that you are a credit to the good News of Christ.
Stand united, Stand united, singular envision, contending for people's trust in the
Gospel. In other words, caring about what they think about the Gospel more
than what they think about anything else, not flinching or dodging in the slightest
before the opposition. And then he says, this, your courage and your
unity will show them the opposition what they're up against. Defeat for them,
victory for you, and both because of God. Wow. Now, in
part two this message, we're going to look at the practical ways that God
wants us to implement Christ's vision for us. This is the vision of Christ
for you, it's the vision of Christ for our church. So we'll look
at the practical steps in the next message. But I want to close with
a couple more verses, and I want to make a statement that you've probably
never thought of before. Here's the statement. Jesus Us is still waiting for
us to be the answer to his prayer. Two thousand years later, Jesus
is still waiting for us to be the answer to his prayer when he prayed
that we would be one that the world would look at the church and goes
man, those people love each other. The subject that was uppermost in his
mind as he's getting ready to go to the cross was this that we his
children would be unified, That we would defend each other, not criticize each
other, That we would love each other, not argue with each other.
That we his family would model love. That we his family would not be
divided over secondary issues, but that we would make our allegiance to each other
the priority over any other allegiance. You know, Satan hates the unity of
the church. He hates the unity of Christians. Why because the unif fight
church is unstoppable. In the first five chapters of Acts, it talks about
acts and the unity they had in the first Church. We will have the
power of acts. We will have the miracle vacs when we have the unity
of acts. Satan hates the unity of christian He's the divider. He's the
source of all conflict. Why because he knows a divided church is a powerless
church. So I want to close this message by echoing a prayer that Paul
prayed and honestly, friends, it's my deepest prayer for you, It's my
deepest prayer for me. It's our deepest, my deepest prayer for our church
family, and by the way, for every other church family too. I
pray this. Colossians two to two in the Living Bible says this, This
is what I have asked of God for you, that you will be encouraged
and knit together by the strong ties of love, by strong ties of love.
One day you're going to get to heaven and you're going to stand before
God. And he's not going to ask you how much money did you make
in life. He's not going to ask you, you know, how much
education did you get. He's not going to ask you, did you convert
anybody to your political views? Who'd you vote for? He's not going to
ask that. He's not going to ask did you enjoy retirement? But it
is much more likely that God will ask did you learn you really learn to
love your brothers and sisters in my family, even those who didn't agree with
you. Did you learn to love the members of the family who were different
to you, different background? You see, my dear friends, what I'm
saying today is the bottom line is this, one of the five purposes of
life is learning how to really love, and the Church is the laboratory for
that. It's how we are to practice learning how to really love, because
we don't do it very good. Nobody teaches you how to really love.
But the Bible says without love, I'm nothing. And the Bible also says
the only thing that matters is faith expressed through love. So I have to
ask myself as I look at all these verses we've run through, I have
to ask myself, is this the top priority in my life? Loving other
Christians? And I have to urge you to ask yourself that question. And
when part two, as I said, we're going to look at the practical
steps that each of them can take. But A'll end with one other verse
Colossians three fourteen in the New Century version says, this is what God says
to those of us who are in the Family of God. Quote most important
of all, most important of all, love each other. Love is what
holds you all together in perfect unity. See unity is just the visible expression
of love. Now, if you're not a part of the Family of God,
then you need to become a part today. The only thing that's going
to last on this earth for eternity is the Church. It's the family of
God. God created the universe because he wanted a family, and you need
to become a part of God's family today, how by committing your life to
Jesus Christ. If you haven't done that, you need to just open your
life to Christ. Say Jesus Christ, forgive me and accept me into your
kingdom, into your church, into your family. I ask you to come
into my life, Please change me, replace the fear and anxiety and self
centeredness with your love. I want to learn to love you, and I
want to learn to love your family. And I humbly ask you to accept
me into your family by grace. I don't deserve it, but I put
my faith in your grace. Thank you for dying on the cross for me.
Help me to understand that. I pray this humbly in your name.
Amen. Hi everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed today's broadcast.
You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time,
or you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you let
me know about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write
me Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I prayed that
prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ, and I'll send you
some material that will help you on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also
pray for you. God bless you. This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.
We're so happy that you've chosen to study along with us today. If you'd
like to receive rix free daily devotional, go to Pastorick dot com and sign
up right now. Rick will be right back to close out our time today.
But first, how do you feel spiritually right now? Maybe you feel
spiritually dry, like you're in a desert, or like you're just going through
the motions. Maybe you've lost your spark, your joy. God knows how
you feel right now, and you're not alone. He knows even David and
the Bible felt like that and Jeremiah twenty nine thirteen. God says, you
will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.
When you seek God intentionally, it leads to a renewal of your relationship with
Him. And that's why Pastor Rick created a very special, brand new resource
called Going Deeper with God, a personal renewal retreat. In it, he'll
personally lead you on spiritual journey to help you seek God. Together, you
and Pastor Rick will go through a series of audio lessons, and after each
session you'll take a little time to complete exercises in the Companion workbook. You
can do this at home in short sessions, or you can get away for
a day and do it in one sitting. Through this retreat, you'll experience
a renewal of life within you. God will restore your joy. As he
renews, refreshes, reinvigorates, and revives your spiritual life, You'll never be
the same again. We'll send you going Deeper with God a personal Renewal retreat
as our way of saying thanks. When you give a gift today to help
Daily Hope share the hope of Jesus with a hurting world. Just call eight
hundred six hundred five thousand and four or go to Pastorick dot com to get
your copy of this great resource. That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand and
four or Pastorick dot com. Pastor Rick with a letter from one of our
listeners. Hi, everybody today, I want to share a note that we
receive from Darren. He wrote me. He calls Daily Hope his morning cup
of God because it helps him stay focused on God throughout the day. Darren
wrote me this, He said, Pastor Rick, I thank God for Daily
Hope. I support Daily Hope because Christ Hope is for me and in me,
and I support it because it sends Christ's message to people all over the
world. He wrote. You know, I've dealt with my share of demons
in my life. I've had cancer, huge financial losses, addictions, permanent
disability, chronic pain, and depression. But Daily Hope gets me going in
the morning. It's like a cup of coffee for me. But if I
haven't had my cup of God in the morning, then I feel like I'm
less able to pass on the good news to others. So thank you,
Pastor Rick. You know, Daily Hope helps people like Darren get their lives
back on track because it connects them not just with God, but with God's
Word. And it is so important for each of us to spend time with
God and in God's Word every day. So I want to encourage every one
of you to make a daily habit of opening the Bible. Sit down and
open the Bible. You may open it on a iPad or on your phone,
but open the Bible to see what God says about how we're meant to
live. God bless you everybody. If you'd like to let Rick know how
this broadcast has blessed you, feel free to send him an email at Rick
at pastor rick dot com. That's Rick at pastorrick dot com. Be sure
to join us next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope.
This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support