Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Rick Warren, and Merry Christmas. Christmas is going
Speaker 1: to be here very soon, and Jesus said in Luke
Speaker 1: fourteen twenty three, go out into the highways in the
Speaker 1: countryside and urge everybody you find to come in so
Speaker 1: that my house will be full.
Speaker 2: Who are you thinking of to bring to your church?
Speaker 2: Whoever it is.
Speaker 1: I want to challenge you to be a light at
Speaker 1: Christmas and invite them to services.
Speaker 2: At your church.
Speaker 3: Merry Christmas Eve, everyone.
Speaker 4: This is Pastor Rick's daily hope, and on this holy night,
Speaker 4: we're going to celebrate the hope that entered the world
Speaker 4: through Jesus Christ. So, whether you're with family, alone, or
Speaker 4: somewhere in between, we're so glad you've joined us for
Speaker 4: this special moment.
Speaker 2: So let's join Rick with a.
Speaker 4: Very special message called enjoying a Fear not Christmas.
Speaker 2: Everybody has secret fears, I do you do.
Speaker 1: It may be the fear that if everybody the real me,
Speaker 1: they wouldn't like me. That's a legitimate fear a lot
Speaker 1: of people have. Then there's the fear of insignificance, that
Speaker 1: my life really won't matter. There's the fear of dying alone.
Speaker 1: There's the fear that my secret will be found out.
Speaker 1: There's a fear that I'll never ever really be loved
Speaker 1: or find true love again. It is a significant fact
Speaker 1: that at the first Christmas, four times the phrase do
Speaker 1: not be afraid is used. The angels had to say
Speaker 1: it to Mary, had to say it to Joseph, had
Speaker 1: to say it to the shepherds, had to say it
Speaker 1: to a priest named Zachariah. Four times. In the Christmas story,
Speaker 1: God says, don't be afraid. Now today we know the
Speaker 1: news of the birth of Jesus Christ as good news
Speaker 1: because we know what's going to happen. But it wasn't
Speaker 1: good news to the people who heard it the first time.
Speaker 1: In fact, it scared everybody to death. Maybe you don't
Speaker 1: realize this, but in the first story, everybody was afraid.
Speaker 1: Mary was afraid, Joseph was afraid, Herod's afraid, shepherds are afraid, zachariaser.
Speaker 2: In fact, the Bible.
Speaker 1: Tells us the entire city of Jerusalem panicked when the
Speaker 1: news that the Messiah had been born. Every one of
Speaker 1: the main characters had to deal with a different kind
Speaker 1: of fear. And what was interesting is I reread the
Speaker 1: Christmas story this week, I was struck by the fact
Speaker 1: that you and I still deal with the same fears today,
Speaker 1: two thousand years later. You have the exact same five
Speaker 1: fears that they dealt with in the very first Christmas.
Speaker 1: And in many ways, it was a tough year. Everybody
Speaker 1: agree with that. I mean, you look at the headlines
Speaker 1: last year. It seemed like every week there's a terrorism
Speaker 1: attack around the world. There's mass shootings in schools and
Speaker 1: other places, there's racial tension, there's injustice, there's violence in
Speaker 1: the street, there's civil wars in the Middle East, and
Speaker 1: then the biggest refugee crisis in our lifetime. Right now,
Speaker 1: millions and millions and millions of people will not be
Speaker 1: home for Christmas because they'll be in refugee camps. And
Speaker 1: so for millions of people, this Christmas is not a
Speaker 1: merry Christmas. It's a scary Christmas. And what we're looking
Speaker 1: at for millions of people this Christmas holiday season is
Speaker 1: not a season of cheerfulness, but a season of fearfulness.
Speaker 1: But the message of Christmas is this, don't be afraid.
Speaker 1: God says it four times. I don't want you to
Speaker 1: be free. It is not God's will that you walk
Speaker 1: around being afraid of anything.
Speaker 2: It's just not.
Speaker 1: And so today I want us to look at the
Speaker 1: Christmas story and how to defeat the fears that holds
Speaker 1: you back, that keep you from being all well, God
Speaker 1: wants you to be. What I want to do is
Speaker 1: pretty simple. I want to quickly go through the five
Speaker 1: common fears that they dealt with at the very first Christmas.
Speaker 1: And then I want to ask you how does that
Speaker 1: apply to you? And then I want to show you
Speaker 1: the antidote to living with fear. I'm going to show
Speaker 1: you the secret of being fear free based on what
Speaker 1: God told them to do at the very first Christmas. Now,
Speaker 1: first let's identify the fears that they had at the
Speaker 1: first Christmas. Let's start with Mary. You might write this
Speaker 1: down if you're taking notes. Mary had to deal with
Speaker 1: the fear of inadequacy. The fear of inadequacy. Now you
Speaker 1: know the story. One day an angel appears to this
Speaker 1: young peasant girl and Israeli no education, poor. And the
Speaker 1: angel says to Mary, God is going to keep his promise.
Speaker 1: He's been promising to come to earth for thousands of years.
Speaker 1: The Messiah, the chosen One, the Son of God, is
Speaker 1: coming he's going to come as a baby, and by
Speaker 1: the way, you get to be the mother would create
Speaker 1: a fear of inadequacy in anybody's life. There at least
Speaker 1: a dozen reasons why she should fear inadequate. She's a teenager.
Speaker 1: In those days, people married as early as twelve years
Speaker 1: of age. She was probably at the most fifteen or
Speaker 1: sixteen years of age. She's a teenager. Second, she's unmarried.
Speaker 1: She's a virgin. She's never had relationships with a man,
Speaker 1: so she doesn't.
Speaker 2: Know anything about this.
Speaker 1: Number Three, she's engaged to a guy named jos How
Speaker 1: is she going to explain this one to her fiance? Fourth,
Speaker 1: she is told that the child is going to be
Speaker 1: the promised son of God that put the fear of
Speaker 1: God in anybody. Okay, you're going to raise a perfect child.
Speaker 1: Then then, fifth, how do you explain this to your
Speaker 1: mom and your friends? Now, if you were a mother
Speaker 1: and your teenage daughter comes to you and says, Mom,
Speaker 1: I've never had sex, but I'm pregnant and God's the daddy, right,
Speaker 1: would you believe that? Would you believe that? I don't
Speaker 1: think so. I'm gonna explain that. And then, because her
Speaker 1: fiance they're taking a census, a Roman census. Her fiance
Speaker 1: has to go to his birth town. And so the
Speaker 1: day before she delivers, the last day of pregnancy, she
Speaker 1: has to write a donkey on a long journey. I
Speaker 1: don't know any pregnant woman who'd like to do that
Speaker 1: on the last day of pregnancy, write a donkey on
Speaker 1: a long journey. Then she has to deliver her first
Speaker 1: child by herself.
Speaker 2: In a barn.
Speaker 1: No doctor, no mom, no sisters, no aunts, no midwife.
Speaker 1: That would create inadequacy. And then the lifelong task of
Speaker 1: raising the son of God. All of these things would
Speaker 1: create a fear of inadequacy. Bible tells it like this
Speaker 1: in Luke chapter one. Confused and disturbed, Mary tried not
Speaker 1: to think, or tried to think what the angel could mean.
Speaker 1: So the Angel said, do not be afraid you might
Speaker 1: circle at That's the first the four times, for God
Speaker 1: has decided to bless you and to use you. I'm
Speaker 1: sure she's thinking, no, thanks God, you will have a son.
Speaker 1: You're to name him Jesus. He will be the Son
Speaker 1: of God. His kingdom will never end. And then Mary
Speaker 1: asked a very natural question, how can this be? How
Speaker 1: can this be? A sense of inadequacy. You'd probably ask
Speaker 1: the same thing. I certainly would. It's not good news,
Speaker 1: that's intimidating news. Now, Joseph, for fiance faces a whole
Speaker 1: different fear, and you might write this down. Joseph faced
Speaker 1: the fear of disapproval, the fear of disapproval. So think
Speaker 1: about this. Imagine your fiance tells you she's pregnant. You
Speaker 1: know you've never had sex with her, and then she
Speaker 1: claims God made me pregnant and the baby is the
Speaker 1: son of God. Right, how are you going to explain
Speaker 1: that to the community. It's a small town. Everybody knows
Speaker 1: everything in town. Gossip spreads quickly. How do you explain
Speaker 1: that to your business associates, to your friends. Imagine the ridicule,
Speaker 1: the shame, the gossip, the criticism heaped on Joseph. That
Speaker 1: guy she's taken in for a ride. If he believes
Speaker 1: that story, he's nuts. I mean, she's just got him
Speaker 1: hook line and sinker. Sure, he's telling me that his
Speaker 1: fiance is pregnant. He's not the dad. The dad has
Speaker 1: got Joseph's first reaction to Mary's story was actually disbelieved,
Speaker 1: and he was going to break off the engagement. You know,
Speaker 1: I love you, honey, but I'm not buying this story.
Speaker 1: And he privately decided that he was going to quietly
Speaker 1: break off the engagement. He wasn't gonna embarrass her. He
Speaker 1: loved her, he didn't want to make a scandal, but
Speaker 1: he was just going to end it right there because
Speaker 1: of the fear of disapproval of other people. And the
Speaker 1: Bible tells it like this, Matthew, chapter one. Now, this
Speaker 1: is how Jesus Christ was born. His mother, Mary was
Speaker 1: engaged to be married to Joseph, but while she was
Speaker 1: still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Now, Joseph,
Speaker 1: her fiance, being a good and righteous dude.
Speaker 2: That's the word in the Greek there, that dude.
Speaker 1: He's a good dude, decided to break off the engagement
Speaker 1: quietly so it would not disgrace Mary publicly.
Speaker 2: He's a good guy.
Speaker 1: But after he had considered doing this, an angel, the
Speaker 1: Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph,
Speaker 1: do not be afraid.
Speaker 2: There's a second.
Speaker 1: Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,
Speaker 1: because the child in her is really from God's Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: So just like with Mary, God has to tell Joseph
Speaker 1: fear not. Now, let me ask you a question. Who's
Speaker 1: disapproval are you afraid of? Whose disapproval are you afraid of?
Speaker 1: Let me ask you another way, whose approval are you
Speaker 1: living for?
Speaker 2: Talk about that in just a minute.
Speaker 1: The Bible says that the fear of disapproval is a trap.
Speaker 1: In other words, the moment I start worrying about what
Speaker 1: you think of me, I'm dead in the water.
Speaker 2: The moment you start worrying.
Speaker 1: About what other people think of you, You're gonna miss
Speaker 1: God's plan for your life everybody. God has a plan
Speaker 1: for your life, and so does everybody else. You got
Speaker 1: to decide whether you're gonna be a God pleaser or
Speaker 1: an everybody else pleaser.
Speaker 2: You're gonna be a people pleaser.
Speaker 1: Joseph could have missed the greatest blessing of his life,
Speaker 1: getting to be the step dad of the Son of God,
Speaker 1: if he had worried about the disapproval of other people.
Speaker 1: But I don't really care about what other people think.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do this because it's the right thing to do.
Speaker 1: But it was a fear he had to deal with.
Speaker 1: Now next, there's another group in the first story, called
Speaker 1: the shepherds. And if you want to write this down,
Speaker 1: the shepherds faced the fear of sudden change, the fear
Speaker 1: of sudden change. Now here's the picture. The shepherds are
Speaker 1: out in the fields watching their flocks the night Jesus
Speaker 1: is born. The shepherds are kind of an easy come,
Speaker 1: easy go. They're kind of like surfers, you know, they
Speaker 1: just take everything easily. It's not a real stressful job,
Speaker 1: you know, watching sheep. That night, they've put the sheep
Speaker 1: down for the night. They're sitting around the campfire. They've
Speaker 1: had dinner. They probably playing cards and you know, just
Speaker 1: having a good time. All of a sudden, the skylights
Speaker 1: up brilliantly.
Speaker 2: And remember this is the.
Speaker 1: Day before electricity, electric lights and lasers, and they haven't
Speaker 1: seen anything bright at night. Ever, the skylights up brilliantly,
Speaker 1: and the sky is filled with angels singing loudly in
Speaker 1: a choir. Now they've never seen angels. For all they know,
Speaker 1: this could be ets extraterrestrials. And anyway, it scared them
Speaker 1: to death because their plans for a quiet evening were
Speaker 1: shaken up.
Speaker 2: There was a sudden change. And the Bible says this,
Speaker 2: and Luke too.
Speaker 1: That night, some shepherds were in the field outside the
Speaker 1: village guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, you might circle
Speaker 1: that word sudden, because this is the fear of sudden change.
Speaker 2: Suddenly, an angel.
Speaker 1: Of the Lord appeared to them, and the radiance of
Speaker 1: the Lord's glory flashed. I mean it's like boom, like
Speaker 1: an explosion flashed and surrounded them. This light surrounded them,
Speaker 1: and they were terribly frightened. Well, I guess so. So
Speaker 1: the angel said to them, do not be afraid third time.
Speaker 1: You like to be caught off guard. No, you like
Speaker 1: to have your plans changed? No. And the reason why
Speaker 1: is because when that happens, adrenaline shoots through your system
Speaker 1: and you get that fight or flight syndroment. It's not
Speaker 1: very comfortable having your plans changed suddenly. But I want
Speaker 1: to tell you this, I've walked with God now for
Speaker 1: over fifty years.
Speaker 2: I'm a friend of God.
Speaker 1: I know him better than I know you, if I
Speaker 1: talk to him all the time, more than I talk
Speaker 1: to you. And yet, even though I've known God for
Speaker 1: over fifty years, sometimes when God shows up in your life,
Speaker 1: it's scary, it's unsettling. He just all of a sudden
Speaker 1: shows up and oh what was that all about? And
Speaker 1: that's what happened here. It was the fear of sudden change.
Speaker 1: But God doesn't want to scare you. That's why he says,
Speaker 1: don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Now,
Speaker 1: there's another character in the story who had to deal
Speaker 1: with panic when Jesus' birth was announced, and his name
Speaker 1: was Herod. Herod was the king of the Jews. He
Speaker 1: was actually king of Judea, and he was actually hated
Speaker 1: by the Jews because he wasn't even actually a full Jew.
Speaker 1: And Herod was paranoid of losing his throne. He was
Speaker 1: so paranoid of conspiracy theories. History tells us, not just
Speaker 1: the Bible, but the history books tell us that Herod
Speaker 1: had his brother in law killed for fear of him
Speaker 1: taken over his throne, had his mother killed, had his
Speaker 1: wife assassinated, and had his two sons assassinated.
Speaker 2: That's pretty paranoid.
Speaker 1: When he hears that Jesus quote the king of the
Speaker 1: Jews is being born, he freaks out.
Speaker 2: He didn't want his.
Speaker 1: Throne, so he orders this is known history, orders the
Speaker 1: death of every baby in Israel under two years of
Speaker 1: age to try to prevent Jesus from being born, and
Speaker 1: actually Mary and Joseph are warned in a dream. They
Speaker 1: take Jesus to Egypt. Jesus fends his early years in Egypt.
Speaker 1: Then they don't return to Nazareth until Herod dies, but
Speaker 1: he was panicked. Matthew chapter two tells his story about fear.
Speaker 1: Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the time that Herod
Speaker 1: was the King of the Jews. And then some wise
Speaker 1: men these are probably scientific guys who studied the stars
Speaker 1: from the east, more likely Babylon to the probably Iraqis.
Speaker 1: It was the Iraqis who came to see Jesus before
Speaker 1: the Jews did. Then some wise men from the east
Speaker 1: came to Jerusalem and started asking where is the king,
Speaker 1: the child born to be king of the Jews. We
Speaker 1: saw his star in the east, and we have come
Speaker 1: to worship him. And when King here had heard this news,
Speaker 1: he was deeply frightened. As I said, it freaked him out.
Speaker 1: He's disturbed, and it says, and so was everybody else
Speaker 1: in Jerusalem. You know, we at Christmas sing the song
Speaker 1: Silent Night, Holy Night, all this calm, but it wasn't
Speaker 1: calm for Jerusalem. It says the whole city got nervous.
Speaker 1: Everybody's afraid. Mary's afraid, Joseph's afraid, the Shepherd's afraid, Herod's afraid.
Speaker 1: The entire town of Jerusalem. What's just happened here? Some
Speaker 1: important people from out of the country show up and say,
Speaker 1: the king of the Jews been war? What's going on?
Speaker 1: And finally there was an old priest named Zachariah. And
Speaker 1: Zachari had worked in the temple in Jerusalem for many,
Speaker 1: many years, and his wife was named Elizabeth. Now Elizabeth
Speaker 1: was the cousin of Mary. And so when Mary gets
Speaker 1: pregnant unwed pregnancy, they did what they used to do
Speaker 1: with unwed pregnant teenagers. They ship them out of town
Speaker 1: so she wouldn't have to deal with the stigma and
Speaker 1: the gossip for nine months. So Mary goes to live
Speaker 1: with her cousin Elizabeth and her husband, Zachariah. Now Elizabeth
Speaker 1: and Zacharia were good people, and they were now up
Speaker 1: in Asia, and they had prayed their entire life for
Speaker 1: a child.
Speaker 2: They wanted a child so bad, and.
Speaker 1: They prayed and they prayed, and they prayed, and they prayed,
Speaker 1: but their prayer was never answered, and they are they've
Speaker 1: finally given up hope because they're up in ears and
Speaker 1: they know we're not gonna have it. We're past child
Speaker 1: bearing years and we're not gonna have a baby. And
Speaker 1: they had just given up hope and they were afraid
Speaker 1: to hope because they've been disappointed so many times. Now
Speaker 1: this is the fifth fear. And Zachariah faced the fear
Speaker 1: of being disappointed, fear of being disappointed.
Speaker 2: Now this is a real issue.
Speaker 1: One day, God shows up to Zachariah in the temple,
Speaker 1: sends an angel, and the angel says, hey, you know, Zacharai,
Speaker 1: that prayer you've been praying all these years for baby,
Speaker 1: and Zacharios yeah. He goes, well, it's gonna happen. Now,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a baby. It's gonna be a miracle.
Speaker 1: Boy late in life, you're gonna have your wife's gonna
Speaker 1: get pregnant. Zachari had been disappointed so many times.
Speaker 2: He just didn't believe it. He didn't believe God.
Speaker 1: He doubted because I don't want I don't want to
Speaker 1: trust again. I don't want to hope again. I don't
Speaker 1: want to believe again, I've been disappointed so many times.
Speaker 1: Some of you can relate to the fear of disappointment
Speaker 1: that holds people back.
Speaker 2: Luke Chapter one.
Speaker 1: While serving in the temple, an angel appeared to Zachariah.
Speaker 1: And when he saw the angel, Zachariah was confused and
Speaker 1: overwhelmed with fear. But the angel said to him, what
Speaker 1: do you think. The angel said, yeah, don't be afraid.
Speaker 1: Do not be afraid. Your prayer has been heard. So again,
Speaker 1: God at the Christmas Story says has to say.
Speaker 2: Fear not.
Speaker 1: Are you getting the point that God doesn't.
Speaker 2: Want people to be fearful.
Speaker 1: Whenever you're fearing something, you are not in God's will
Speaker 1: at that moment. By the way, Zachariah's long awaited son,
Speaker 1: you may have heard of him.
Speaker 2: He grew up to be called.
Speaker 1: John the Baptist, John the Baptist, and John the Baptist
Speaker 1: was the forerunner, kind of the announcer of the Messiah,
Speaker 1: who said He's coming. Get ready, God's landing on earth,
Speaker 1: the greatest invasion in history. God is coming in human form.
Speaker 1: And that guy was named John the Baptist. Now, question,
Speaker 1: which of these five fears are holding you back this Christmas?
Speaker 1: The fear of inadequacy is one we can all relate to.
Speaker 1: It's this thing, Am I good enough? Do I have
Speaker 1: the right stuff? Can I handle all that life throws
Speaker 1: at me? Am I up for the task? Sometimes the
Speaker 1: fear of inadequacy becomes so big, I'm not even going
Speaker 1: to try for my dream because I know it won't happen.
Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna try. Going to give up the
Speaker 1: fear of inadequacy that I can't handle it. I'm not
Speaker 1: as smart, I'm not as cute, I'm not as intelligent,
Speaker 1: I'm not as educated, I'm not as wealthy as somebody else.
Speaker 2: The fear of inadequacy.
Speaker 1: How about maybe you're struggling with the fear of disapproval
Speaker 1: and you hate to be criticized, your thin skinned you'd
Speaker 1: rather go along to get along. You hate the fear
Speaker 1: of rejection, and so you have become a people pleaser
Speaker 1: and you're not really living your life. You're not living
Speaker 1: the life God intended for you. You're living a life
Speaker 1: to please everybody else. Some of you are trying to
Speaker 1: please your parents, and they died ten years ago, but
Speaker 1: you're still trying to prove I'm worthy, I'm okay if
Speaker 1: you didn't get somebody's approved by Now, I hate tell
Speaker 1: you this, you're not going to get it. But here's
Speaker 1: the good news. You don't need it. You don't need
Speaker 1: anybody's else approval to be happy. I don't need your
Speaker 1: approval to be happy. You don't need my approval to
Speaker 1: be happy. Happiness is a choice, and you choose. You're
Speaker 1: as happy as you choose to be. You know, Vince Lombardi,
Speaker 1: that great coach of the Packers, once said, fear makes
Speaker 1: cowards of all of us.
Speaker 2: It's true. It does. The fear of disapproval.
Speaker 1: Some of you have the fear of sudden change and
Speaker 1: you hate change. Well, I hate to tell you this.
Speaker 1: The only thing constant in life is change. And if
Speaker 1: you get stressed out by change, you're going to be
Speaker 1: stressed your entire life because everything changes day after day, week, month,
Speaker 1: year after year. You got to learn how to not
Speaker 1: be fearful in a time of rapid or sudden change.
Speaker 1: How about the fear of losing control. Oh that's a
Speaker 1: big one.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I don't want anybody messing with my plans. How do
Speaker 1: you know when you have the fear of losing control? Well,
Speaker 1: there's a warning light that goes off. God put it
Speaker 1: in you every time you have the fear of losing control.
Speaker 1: You know what it's called. That warning light is called.
Speaker 2: Worry.
Speaker 1: Are any of you familiar with this term worry? Worry means,
Speaker 1: at that moment you're playing God, you're trying to control
Speaker 1: the uncontrollable. You're worried about some Worry doesn't change anything.
Speaker 1: It can't control anything. Worry can't change the past. Worry
Speaker 1: can't control the future. All worry does is mess up today.
Speaker 1: How do you know when someone is filled with the
Speaker 1: fear of losing control, they try to control everybody else.
Speaker 1: The more insecure you are in life, the more controlling
Speaker 1: you will try to be of other people.
Speaker 2: So when you find.
Speaker 1: Somebody who's judgmental, they're judging you and everybody else, and
Speaker 1: they're perfectionists and they're calling you into account and they're
Speaker 1: trying to control you, they can't even control themselves. And
Speaker 1: the more insecure, the more fearful I am inside, the
Speaker 1: more controlling I will try to be of you. If
Speaker 1: I'm secure in my relationship to God, I don't need
Speaker 1: to control you. I don't need to control your opinions.
Speaker 1: I don't need to control your behavior. I don't need
Speaker 1: to control anything about you because I'm not worried about
Speaker 1: losing control. I've already given control of my life to God.
Speaker 1: This is a fear. How about the fear of being disappointed?
Speaker 1: Some of you have thought, I'm never going to let
Speaker 1: another man get close to me. I'm never going to
Speaker 1: let another woman break my heart. I'm never going to
Speaker 1: go after that dream. I'm not even going to try.
Speaker 1: I am afraid to trust. I'm afraid to believe. I'm
Speaker 1: afraid to believe in God. I might be disappointed. I'm
Speaker 1: afraid to give my life to God. I might be disappointed.
Speaker 1: I'm afraid to hope again. Which of these fears have
Speaker 1: you been dealing with now? If any of these ring
Speaker 1: true in your life, you really need the message of Christmas.
Speaker 1: And you picked a good church to come to you
Speaker 1: on Christmas, because I'm going to teach you now the
Speaker 1: four solutions to living fear free. How do I get
Speaker 1: the fear out of my life that blocks me, that
Speaker 1: keeps me from becoming all I want to be, all
Speaker 1: that God wants me to be. You do the things
Speaker 1: that God told them to do at the very first
Speaker 1: Christmas that's what you do. And if you do what
Speaker 1: God told Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and everybody
Speaker 1: else what to do, the fears in your life will
Speaker 1: dramatically go down, and the joy and the confidence in
Speaker 1: your life is dramatically going.
Speaker 2: To go up.
Speaker 1: I have talked to tens of thousands of people, counseled
Speaker 1: them personally over thirty five years of ministry. I'm going
Speaker 1: to give you a little heart tart counseling bill, and
Speaker 1: you don't even have to pay me for this. Okay,
Speaker 1: So you might want to take this, write this down
Speaker 1: if you would like to be fear free. Here's what
Speaker 1: you do. It's not my opinion, it's what God says
Speaker 1: in the Bible. Okay, let's look at it. Number one,
Speaker 1: here's the first step. Surrender my life complete to God.
Speaker 2: Every day.
Speaker 1: Surrender my life completely to God. Every day I say God,
Speaker 1: I'm full of fear. I'm giving you the good, the bad,
Speaker 1: and the ugly of my life to you right now,
Speaker 1: and you just start the day that way. This is
Speaker 1: how Mary overcame her inadequacy when the Angel unloaded all
Speaker 1: this stuff.
Speaker 2: You're going to be pregnant. You're not even married.
Speaker 1: And you've never had sex, and it's going to be
Speaker 1: the son of God, and you're going to raise that
Speaker 1: child and all the stuff that's going to happen to him.
Speaker 1: Mary overcame her fear of inadequacy with this statement.
Speaker 2: Luke, Chapter one, verse thirty eight.
Speaker 1: Mary responded, I am the Lord's servant, and I'm willing
Speaker 1: to accept whatever God wants for my life. I surrender
Speaker 1: my life completely to God every day. I am the Lord.
Speaker 1: My creator made me. My creator knows what's best for me.
Speaker 1: My creator probably knows what will make me happy more
Speaker 1: than I do, because he's my creator. And so I'm
Speaker 1: the Lord's servants. I'm willing to do whatever the God
Speaker 1: wants to do with my life.
Speaker 2: Have you ever said that to God?
Speaker 3: Such a great message by Rick today and every day.
Speaker 3: I sure hope you were just as encouraged as I was.
Speaker 3: And now here's Rick with a special message.
Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, this is Pastor Rick. I would like to
Speaker 1: thank you. Thank you for being a part of our
Speaker 1: daily hope family. I don't get to say that often enough,
Speaker 1: but your generosity is helping us share the hope of
Speaker 1: Jesus with people here at home and literally all around
Speaker 1: the world, even in places where it's difficult and even
Speaker 1: dangerous to get the good news. You know, I recently
Speaker 1: heard from a woman named Eunice in Cameroon. Cameroon is
Speaker 1: a country in Central Africa, and she wrote to me.
Speaker 1: She said, Pastor Rick, I lost both of my son,
Speaker 1: both my son and my daughter in the war, and
Speaker 1: now I'm raising four grandchildren on my own.
Speaker 2: I was overwhelmed with grief.
Speaker 1: But then she says, but through the daily hope devotionals,
Speaker 1: I have found strength and comfort and peace in God's word.
Speaker 1: So thank you for helping me hold on to hope. Wow,
Speaker 1: that's powerful. That's powerful, and that happened because your giving
Speaker 1: is helping Eunus find the strength to carry on, to
Speaker 1: raise her grandchildren and to keep trusting God even through
Speaker 1: the deep loss of her kids. Now, right now, I
Speaker 1: wanted to tell you about this because we have a
Speaker 1: special opportunity. They're some generous friends who have offered a
Speaker 1: matching grant that will double your gift. That means whatever
Speaker 1: you give today will go twice as far to reach
Speaker 1: even more people with God's So can I ask you favor?
Speaker 1: I want to encourage you and give your best gift
Speaker 1: you can today, but together, let's keep bringing the hope
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ to people like Unis. There are still
Speaker 1: people who've never heard the name of Jesus. We want
Speaker 1: to keep expanding to get the message to the whole world.
Speaker 1: So help us out. Let me just close by saying
Speaker 1: I love you, I do, I love you, I thank
Speaker 1: God for you, and I am so grateful that we
Speaker 1: are in this mission together.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 3: This matching grant is only available until midnight on December
Speaker 3: thirty first, so please act now by going to pastor
Speaker 3: Rick dot com. That's Pastor Rick dot com, or you
Speaker 3: can just text the word hope to seven oh three
Speaker 3: oh nine. That's the word hope to seven oh three
Speaker 3: oh nine, and thank you so much for your support.
Speaker 3: Be sure to join us next as we look into
Speaker 3: God's Word for our daily hope.
Speaker 4: This program is sponsored by Pastor's Daily Hope and your
Speaker 4: generous financial support.