Speaker 1: Hi, this is Rick Warren, Bible teacher of the Daily
Speaker 1: Hope Broadcast. Did you know that because of Easter, your
Speaker 1: past can be forgiven, you get a purpose for living,
Speaker 1: and you can have a home in heaven. That's good news.
Speaker 1: Where else can you get that kind of news? Nowhere else?
Speaker 2: And did you know that at.
Speaker 1: Easter, studies have shown people are more open to an
Speaker 1: invitation to go to church than at any other time
Speaker 1: of the year. Don't go to church by yourself, but
Speaker 1: bring somebody who doesn't know Jesus Christ, a family member,
Speaker 1: a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, a relative. And if
Speaker 1: you bring them to that church service and they come
Speaker 1: to know Christ, You're going to be making a friend
Speaker 1: for eternity. It'll be the most important investment you can
Speaker 1: ever make in their lives. And by the way, if
Speaker 1: they come to Christ, would you let me know about it.
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear that story that you brought somebody
Speaker 1: to Easter and they found Jesus. You can write to
Speaker 1: me Rick at Pastorrick dot com. That's rickat Pastorrick dot com.
Speaker 1: I would love to hear from you. God bless you
Speaker 1: and happy Easter.
Speaker 3: You know, none of us can earn our way into heaven,
Speaker 3: because eternal life is a free gift when you accept
Speaker 3: Jesus as the Lord of your life. Hey, everybody, this
Speaker 3: is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, and today Rick Warren continues
Speaker 3: a series called Good News about Grace. You can't truly
Speaker 3: understand the Christian life until you understand grace. It's at
Speaker 3: the heart of your faith and your relationship with God.
Speaker 3: And in this series you're going to discover how not
Speaker 3: to only understand grace, but how to experience it and
Speaker 3: the joy that it brings. So let's jump right in
Speaker 3: for the final part of a message called Restoring Grace.
Speaker 1: Many people do not understand the difference between fellowship and relationship.
Speaker 1: Fellowship is your current status. Relationship is your permanent position.
Speaker 1: Can I be out of fellowship with my wife and
Speaker 1: still be married to her?
Speaker 2: Well, of course I can. Can a child be.
Speaker 1: Out of fellowship with his or her parent and yet
Speaker 1: still be a child? Of course, when you sin, you
Speaker 1: don't lose the relationship, you lose the fellowship. You see,
Speaker 1: those of you who are parents, you have children, and
Speaker 1: as much as you try to raise them in the
Speaker 1: right way, when they get older, they're going to make
Speaker 1: their own decisions, and I hope this doesn't happen. But
Speaker 1: you might have a child who does the very thing
Speaker 1: you despise the most. You might even have a child
Speaker 1: who one day, in a fit of anger, publicly disowns
Speaker 1: you and disavows you as a parent. And you might
Speaker 1: even have a child who, when they get older, never
Speaker 1: even talks to you. But nothing will ever change the
Speaker 1: fact that they're your child. Nothing will ever change that
Speaker 1: the fellowship is damaged, but the relationship will always be
Speaker 1: there because they were born into your family.
Speaker 2: And they cannot be unborn.
Speaker 1: When you become a believer in Christ, you were born
Speaker 1: again into God's.
Speaker 2: Family and you cannot be unborn.
Speaker 1: So although the fellowship with God has been broken, the
Speaker 1: relationship is still there, and you're only one step away
Speaker 1: from returning. What should I do when I sin as
Speaker 1: a Christian? What should I do?
Speaker 2: You do? One word? Are you ready for it? Here?
Speaker 1: It is return, return, come back to Christ. It's that simple.
Speaker 1: I blew it and I'm back. Listen to these beautiful
Speaker 1: verses Jeremiah nineteen. God says, if you return to me,
Speaker 1: I will restore you so you can continue to serve
Speaker 1: me no matter what you've done. God says this in
Speaker 1: Isaiah one eighteen. No matter how deep the stain of
Speaker 1: your sins, I can take it out and make you
Speaker 1: as clean as freshly fallen snow.
Speaker 2: That ought to be the clorox verse of the Bible.
Speaker 2: Hey that it doesn't matter, And no matter what you've done.
Speaker 1: In Isaiah fifty four seven, he says, with great compassion,
Speaker 1: I will take you back. You know, there's a happy
Speaker 1: ending to the story of Peter's denial. If ever there
Speaker 1: was a sin that you'd think was unforgivable, it's deny
Speaker 1: Jesus three times and the night he's betrayed. But Jesus
Speaker 1: knew Peter would deny him and even he would come
Speaker 1: back to him. In fact, before it even happened, Jesus
Speaker 1: said to Peter in the upper room, Satan has desired
Speaker 1: to sift you, but I have prayed for you, and
Speaker 1: when you have returned, strengthen the brothers. Do you get
Speaker 1: that when you have returned he knew he would come back.
Speaker 1: He says, I've prayed for you. Did you know that
Speaker 1: the Bible says Jesus prays for you. It says that
Speaker 1: he's in heaven right now, and he liveth to make
Speaker 1: intercession for the saints. He is praying for you every day.
Speaker 1: If you could lose your salvation, that means jesus prayers
Speaker 1: don't work, that's impossible, because he prays for you every day.
Speaker 1: To the Father, Jesus said, I know you're gonna follo away, Peter,
Speaker 1: but when you come.
Speaker 2: Back, strengthen the brothers.
Speaker 1: Jesus knew that Peter's ministry would be more effective after
Speaker 1: his denial than it was even before, and sure enough
Speaker 1: it was. Peter wrote two of the books of the Bible.
Speaker 1: It's called First and Second Peter. And then he shared
Speaker 1: his memoirs with a relative called Mark, and that's called
Speaker 1: the Gospel of Mark. And there are two poignant incidents
Speaker 1: in Peter's life that happened after his denial. The Bible
Speaker 1: tells us that in the Book of Mark, chapter sixteen,
Speaker 1: verse seven, on Easter morning, when the three women went
Speaker 1: to the tomb Mary Magdalene, Marry the Mother, James and Salome.
Speaker 1: And they went there and the stone was rolled away,
Speaker 1: and the angel sitting on an angel says, he is
Speaker 1: not here.
Speaker 2: He has risen.
Speaker 1: And the angel said this, listen, catch this, go tell
Speaker 1: his disciples, and Peter.
Speaker 2: Cheer that, go tell his disciples and Peter.
Speaker 1: Jesus knew that Peter was devastated by his denial. He
Speaker 1: was humilie, he was ashamed, he was depressed. He thought
Speaker 1: he could never face Jesus Christ again for what.
Speaker 2: He had done.
Speaker 1: And Jesus threw in a little special personal recognition, Go
Speaker 1: tell his disciples.
Speaker 2: And Peter.
Speaker 1: It's as if he were saying, it's okay, Peter, it's okay.
Speaker 2: All is forgiven. Come on home, all is forgiven. That
Speaker 2: is the grace of Jesus Christ. Come on home. It's okay.
Speaker 2: I haven't stopped loving you.
Speaker 1: And later in John chapter twenty one, in one of
Speaker 1: the many incidents where Jesus appeared to people after his
Speaker 1: resurrect He's on this on the coast, on the on
Speaker 1: the border and land of the of the the lake,
Speaker 1: and Peter and the fishermen are out fishing, and they
Speaker 1: see Jesus on the shore, and Peter goes on, let's
Speaker 1: go in, and he goes I'm not waiting, and he
Speaker 1: dives in and he swims to shore, and Jesus has
Speaker 1: a little one on one conversation with Peter. This first
Speaker 1: encounter really the talk personally privately, and Jesus says to Peter, Peter,
Speaker 1: do you love me? And Jesus and Peter says, you know, Lord,
Speaker 1: I love you, and Jesus is Peter, do you really
Speaker 1: really love me? And Peter said a second time, Lord,
Speaker 1: you know I I love you. And Jesus said a
Speaker 1: third time, Peter, do you really love me? And Peter said,
Speaker 1: you know, Lord, I love you.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 1: What was going on there a healing Jesus was giving
Speaker 1: Peter three times to affirm what he had denied three times.
Speaker 1: That is the grace of God. And you may think
Speaker 1: God's forgotten you, He hasn't. The good shepherd leaves the
Speaker 1: ninety nine sheep to go after the one, and he
Speaker 1: knows how you've fallen away. And if you have, and
Speaker 1: you say, hey, you know, I don't know how it happened.
Speaker 1: Either it was one giant step, some big, humongous sin,
Speaker 1: or was a series of petty steps where you just
Speaker 1: slipped away and you're not as close to Christ as
Speaker 1: you used to be. You need to pray the prayer
Speaker 1: that David prayed when he came back to God and
Speaker 1: saw him fifty one, which David prayed by the way
Speaker 1: after he had committed adultery. He said, restore to me
Speaker 1: again the joy of your salvation. Notice, David did not
Speaker 1: have to pray God restored to me my salvation because
Speaker 1: he hadn't lost it. He had lost the joy. He'd
Speaker 1: lost the joy and some of you have to so
Speaker 1: come home to Christ today. That's Bowerheads. I'd like to
Speaker 1: close with a time of personal evaluation, and I want
Speaker 1: you to consider a few questions. Was there of a
Speaker 1: time in your life when you were closer to Christ
Speaker 1: than you are right now?
Speaker 2: And so what happened? Have you allowed the slippach?
Speaker 1: Why? What got in the way? A career, a relationship, bills,
Speaker 1: a hobby, television? Has your relationship to Christ gone stale?
Speaker 1: Are you just heartlessly glowing through the motions? Has duty
Speaker 1: replaced the light?
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this.
Speaker 1: Have you stopped caring about the salvation of those people
Speaker 1: around you? When was the last time you shared a
Speaker 1: positive word about Christ with a seeker? Have you been
Speaker 1: ashamed of your relationship to Christ? What is it that
Speaker 1: you know God wants you to do? But you've been
Speaker 1: putting off and procrastinating being baptized, joining the family here
Speaker 1: at Saddleback Church. What is it that you used to
Speaker 1: do but you've slacked off on reading your Bible, tithing giving.
Speaker 1: It's just possible that that's why you've lost your joy, and.
Speaker 2: Maybe you've committed something.
Speaker 1: You think, I'm so ashamed and I'm so afraid to
Speaker 1: come back to full commitment to Christ. Don't it's just
Speaker 1: one step back and it's your pastor. I want to
Speaker 1: pray for you, Father. I know that there are people
Speaker 1: here this morning who have been fighting a civil war
Speaker 1: in their minds, and they know the right thing to do,
Speaker 1: but they've been fighting it and they've wanted to do
Speaker 1: the convenient thing, or the popular thing, or the easy thing,
Speaker 1: and now they've lost that spark and they're ashamed. And
Speaker 1: there are others who are here who filled with a
Speaker 1: deep regret for the things they've done, and they've been
Speaker 1: afraid to return to You. Help them to experience the
Speaker 1: freedom of restoring grace today.
Speaker 2: Now you pray, say Jesus, you know.
Speaker 1: I've wandered away and my heart has started growing cold,
Speaker 1: and my level of love and commitment to you is
Speaker 1: not like it used to be. But I want to
Speaker 1: thank you for your unconditional love, and I thank you
Speaker 1: that you've never stopped loving me. And I really want
Speaker 1: to thank you that my salvation isn't based on my performance.
Speaker 1: And Jesus, it's almost unbelievable, but I thank you for
Speaker 1: taking all the punishment for my sin. And I thank you,
Speaker 1: Jesus that you understand and sympathize with my human weaknesses.
Speaker 1: And I want to thank you that you don't hold
Speaker 1: on to grudges and that you're not angry with me.
Speaker 1: So by grace, I ask you to take me back
Speaker 1: today and I come home to your open, loving arms,
Speaker 1: and I want to follow you. By grace, I come
Speaker 1: back home today. If you've never invited Christ in your life,
Speaker 1: you really need the grace of God. You need to
Speaker 1: accept it today, say Jesus Christ. I don't understand it all,
Speaker 1: but I accept what you did for me, your forgiveness,
Speaker 1: your grace, and I want to be a part of
Speaker 1: your family and I want to follow you too. In
Speaker 1: your name, I pray Amen. You know if you just
Speaker 1: prayed that prayer for the very first time, or you
Speaker 1: just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you
Speaker 1: let me know about it. There's something real about sharing
Speaker 1: your commitment. So write me Rick at pastor Rick dot
Speaker 1: com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment,
Speaker 1: I gave my life to Christ. And I'll send you
Speaker 1: some material that'll help you on your journey with Jesus
Speaker 1: and I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 3: Hey, thanks for joining us on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.
Speaker 3: You know Rick has created a stunning keepsake book called
Speaker 3: Journey with Jesus, and it's a beautifully illustrated, oversized book
Speaker 3: filled with glossy photos and vibrant mosaics that bring to
Speaker 3: life the sacrificial journey Jesus made to save us. You'll
Speaker 3: walk with Pastor Rick through Jerusalem to Calvary, uncovering biblical
Speaker 3: and historical insights into the most powerful event in human history,
Speaker 3: and experience a deeper understanding of the love Jesus showed
Speaker 3: for you on the Cross. Be sure to request your
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Speaker 3: pastorick dot com to get your copy of this great resource.
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