WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:06.719 Hello everyone, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the 2 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:10.199 Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Now, as we wrap 3 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:13.640 up this powerful New year series, we're coming back to 4 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.280 one of life's most important truths, that you matter to 5 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:21.280 God and He created you for a purpose. And today 6 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:24.879 is the final message in rick series, Live Your Calling? 7 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:28.079 What on Earth am I here for? If You've ever 8 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:32.079 longed for direction, clarity, or a deeper sense of meaning, 9 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:35.679 this message will remind you that God's plan for your 10 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.960 life is bigger and better than you think. So let's 11 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:43.280 join Rick for his final teaching in the series called 12 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.719 Why God Made You Now. 13 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:49.719 God says I've shaped you to serve me. And then 14 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:53.719 the last thing he says, I give you experiences sahape. 15 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:57.920 Every experience in your life shapes you, the good ones 16 00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:59.000 and the bad ones. 17 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.439 And God you uses family experiences you had growing. 18 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:06.040 Up, even bad ones and painful ones. He uses them 19 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:10.560 for good. He uses family experiences, He uses vocational experiences, 20 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:13.159 the job you've had, educational experiences, the stuff you learned 21 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:17.599 in school and outside of school. He spiritual experiences, personal experiences, 22 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:20.840 emotional experiences. But the number one thing God uses in 23 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.480 your life to shape you for serving him is painful experiences. 24 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:29.719 God whispers to us in our pleasure, but he shouts 25 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:34.760 to us on our pain. Pain is God's megaphone. Pain 26 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:39.280 is how God gets your attention. We don't change when 27 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:41.599 we see the light. We change when we feel the heat. 28 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.840 And God says, so, yes, I even use the painful experiences. 29 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:48.680 I don't plan them, I don't need. We're living a 30 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.120 broken planet. You're gonna have plenty of painful experiences caused 31 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:53.959 by other people and by yourself. But God says, I 32 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.760 can even use that to shape you to serve me. 33 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.959 Ephesians chapter two, verse ten says this God made us 34 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:06.920 what we are. He shaped us and in Christ Jesus, 35 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:12.520 God made us to watch TV all day. Well, that's 36 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:14.639 not what it says, play video games. No, it doesn't 37 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:20.360 say that God made us to what what? I can't 38 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:24.919 hear you? Would you circle that phrase? God made us 39 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.759 to do good works. This is the fourth purpose of 40 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:32.280 your life. God made you to do good works. Now, 41 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.520 the word for do good works in the Bible is 42 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:39.759 called ministry. You have a ministry on earth. Not everybody's 43 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:43.840 a pastor, but everybody has a ministry. Your ministry is 44 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:47.560 anytime you use your shape, that's your talent, your abilities, 45 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.400 all your personality to help other people in God's name. 46 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.360 That's called ministry. God wants you to practice on earth 47 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:58.960 what you're gonna do in heaven. Okay, now let's just review. Remember, 48 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:01.800 you're gonna love God in heaven. You're gonna worship in heaven, 49 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:05.439 so God wants you to practice here. You're gonna love 50 00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:08.560 other people in heaven, in fellowship with God's family. So 51 00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:10.520 God wants you to practice loving people in the good 52 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:11.159 family of God. 53 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:12.560 Here, real people. 54 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.080 You're gonna grow in heaven, so God wants you to grow, 55 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:20.120 learn to grow like Jesus here in heaven. You're gonna 56 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:23.879 serve God. What he wants you to do here practice 57 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:26.560 so again, when you get there, you already know how 58 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:30.199 to serve God. See a lot of people have this 59 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:31.599 false idea about heaven. 60 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:33.719 They think that you're. 61 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:36.800 Gonna sit around and do nothing in heaven. You're just 62 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:40.840 gonna sit around and do nothing boring. No, you're gonna 63 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:42.680 do steff in heaven. You're gonna serve God in heaven, 64 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.080 but you're gonna love to do it. In fact, let 65 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:48.319 me just say this, everything you've learned about Heaven in 66 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:52.400 movies is one hundred percent wrong. There has never been 67 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:56.400 a movie ever made that God Heaven right, none, zero, 68 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:59.840 not a zip. Every movie that has ever been made 69 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:01.400 of about Heaven is wrong. 70 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.919 Not one is right. How do I know that? 71 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:09.120 Because the Bible says nobody understands how cool Heaven is. 72 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.400 The Bible says it's so cool you can't even imagine it. 73 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.439 The Bible says it like this eye has not seen, 74 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.759 no eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has 75 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.360 entered into the heart of man, the wonderful things that 76 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:23.959 God has prepared for those who love him. You can't 77 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:27.279 even imagine how cool Heaven's going to be because it's 78 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:30.040 like an ant trying to understand the Internet. You don't 79 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:34.360 have the brain capacity here on Earth. We're limited to 80 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:39.120 three dimensions, and we understand three dimensional thinking. What if 81 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:42.439 there's four dimensions five, six, seven, eight nine. What if 82 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.439 their dimensions you don't even know about because your brain 83 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:48.360 isn't big enough in a human body to understand that. 84 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:51.279 How do you explain that. 85 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:53.439 That's why in the Bible, when they try to explain 86 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.720 in Heaven that he uses metaphors like streets paved with gold. 87 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:58.240 They're not going to be paved with gold. 88 00:04:58.360 --> 00:04:58.879 They were just. 89 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:03.279 Thinking of the biggest, most expensive way, the coolest thing 90 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:06.839 they could think of. When you go when you see 91 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.879 a movie about heaven, first, heaven is always white. 92 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.079 Everything in heaven is white? Are you kidding me? 93 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:19.959 The God had created rainbows, sunrises, sunsets, the colors of 94 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.240 all the clothes we're wearing, and the ability to see color. 95 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:26.959 He's gonna make heaven total white. Not a chance, Not 96 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:31.120 a chance. And then it's on clouds. Where did that 97 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:33.839 one come from? That's not in the Bible. And you 98 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:36.920 walk around like in fog up to your feet, so 99 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:39.079 you know what I'm talking about. So you can't even 100 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.600 see your feet. How do you tie your shoes in heaven? 101 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:46.279 You know? If the FOG's up to your knees, that's stupid. 102 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:50.879 And then then you wear a white robe, you have 103 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.879 white wings, and you play a harp. 104 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:59.199 That would be hell. I can't if that's heaven. 105 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.560 No thanks, I don't want to go, really, no thanks, 106 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:03.480 I'm not interested. 107 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:07.480 I like to beach a whole lot better. Now. 108 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:10.600 This world is broken, it's full of sin, and it's 109 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.639 still cool. There are some waterfalls and I mean unbelievable sights. 110 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:18.680 I've seen him around the world and the God who 111 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.519 made this and this is broken. Imagine the perfection. We 112 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:25.360 can't imagine what heaven is going to be like. But 113 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:27.720 you're not gonna sit around and do nothing in heaven. 114 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:30.199 You're gonna serve. So as I said, God wants you 115 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:34.560 to practice serving God, so you're not a dufus when 116 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:37.560 you get there, you know how to do it. Now, 117 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:39.639 he said, well, how in the world do I serve 118 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:41.399 a God who's invisible? 119 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:42.279 I can't see him. 120 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:46.959 Good point, You're gonna see God in heaven, but we 121 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.240 don't see him here. So how in the world do 122 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:50.759 I serve an invisible God? 123 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:52.360 How do I do that? 124 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:58.199 Well, the Bible says we serve God by serving others. 125 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.439 Here on earth. The way to serving God is by 126 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.279 serving other people. And Jesus said, if you've done it 127 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.399 to the least of these, you've done it to me. 128 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:09.279 And the Bible says, even if you give a cup 129 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:12.079 of cold water to somebody, and Jesus he says, that's 130 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:14.639 like you just did it to me. We serve God 131 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:20.120 by serving others. Jesus said, you can't say you love 132 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:25.600 God and hate your brother. The Bible says, if you say, well, 133 00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:27.920 I don't want to serve other people, you aren't really 134 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.040 serving God. You cannot say I don't need these people, 135 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:33.639 I'm not going to help these people, and then say 136 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:34.720 I love God at the same time. 137 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:36.519 It's just not true. It's a lie, he says. 138 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:41.639 So God made us to serve God by serving other people. 139 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.959 Now notice this next verse one Peter four to ten. 140 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:47.879 It is talking about using your talents to make a 141 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:50.639 difference in the world, to make a contribution, to make 142 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:51.240 an impact. 143 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:51.959 This is your. 144 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:55.680 Ministry or your service in life. God has given each 145 00:07:55.720 --> 00:08:01.000 of you, the Bible says, some special abilities to use 146 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:06.040 them to make a lot of money. No, to help 147 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:12.360 each other, passing on to others. God's many kinds of blessing. 148 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:16.959 God has given you your shape best hape to use 149 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.040 to benefit the world, to make it a better place, 150 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.279 and to practice serving God by serving others. 151 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:23.160 So write this down. 152 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:27.240 The fourth purpose of my life is to serve God 153 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:34.360 by serving others. And when you do what you're good at, mechanically, musically, 154 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:40.120 preparing a meal, whatever you're good at, whatever you love, 155 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:41.799 to do it, and you do it in Jesus' name 156 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:47.240 to help others. God says, you're practicing serving me. The 157 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.279 purpose is to serve God by serving others. One of 158 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:55.559 the most traumatic examples of serving God by serving others, 159 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:00.559 or serving what I call the undeserving, is the story 160 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:01.399 of Ashley Smith. 161 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:04.480 Some of you don't even remember. 162 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:07.120 This because you're too young when it happened, But in 163 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:11.960 two thousand and five, on March eleventh, two thousand and five, 164 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:15.440 there was a guy, a criminal in Atlanta named Brian 165 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:18.120 Nichols who was on trial. He'd been arrested and was 166 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.399 on trial for rape, and he was in an Atlanta 167 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:26.799 courthouse and somehow in the courthouse he grabbed the gun 168 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:30.480 of the deputy in the courthouse, shot the judge and 169 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.600 killed him in front of everybody, shot a court reporter 170 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:38.759 and killed him, shot the deputy, and then shot later 171 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:43.639 shot a federal agent, killed four people, and escaped, and 172 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:47.919 there was a massive manhunt all over Atlanta trying to 173 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:53.360 find Brian, and Brian Nichols was his name, and they 174 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:53.919 were searching. 175 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:54.720 It was world news. 176 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:58.000 I was in Africa working in an AIDS hospice when 177 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.519 I heard about Brian Nichols and how they We're doing 178 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:03.519 this massive manhunt trying to find this guy for days. 179 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:06.919 And one of the one of the ways he avoided 180 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.840 being found out is he took a young woman hostage. 181 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:17.360 He kidnapped her, took her to her house and tied 182 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:20.480 her up and put her in the bathtub. And her 183 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:22.039 name was Ashley Smith. 184 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:22.639 I know her. 185 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.120 And Ashley Smith thought I'm going to be raped and 186 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:32.440 I'm going to be killed and started this ordeal. Now, 187 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:36.919 it just so happened that Ashley had just started attending 188 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:41.840 a church in Atlanta that was using Saddleback's Celebrate Recovery program, 189 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:45.080 and she was she was a methadict and she had 190 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.080 started going to celebrate recovery in a church and somebody 191 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:53.360 had given her a copy of Purpose Driven Life, and 192 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.759 so she was reading it, was laying around the house, 193 00:10:56.600 --> 00:10:58.919 and over the hours and hours and hours that she 194 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:03.320 was held captive by this Brian Nichols, she began to 195 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:05.039 talk to him and he saw the book and she said, 196 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:05.440 can I. 197 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:06.000 Read it to you? 198 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:10.720 And he said sure, and so she opened to the 199 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.480 chapter she was reading, which was chapter thirty four. Thinking 200 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:18.960 like a servant, You're shaped to serve God. Thinking like 201 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.200 a servant, and she began to read it, and he 202 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:24.679 asked her to read it aloud to him. And as 203 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:27.159 she read it, she made a decision in her mind, 204 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.519 i may lose my life, but I'm going to serve 205 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:33.879 this guy. I'm going to serve the undeserving. And as 206 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:37.480 it began to talk about it, he began to soften 207 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:40.480 in his approach. He untied her, he led her out 208 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:45.519 of the bathtub, and then she fixed him breakfast, made 209 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:48.720 him pancakes, and he commented on, you gave me real butter, 210 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:51.200 and then he kind of wanted to do something for her, 211 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.120 and so he hung her curtains. And this whole time 212 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.519 he's holding her captive, and he kept saying, read me more, 213 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:02.200 read me more of purpose driven life. And finally, in 214 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:06.120 reading this book to her, she convinced him to let 215 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:10.320 her go, and to let she called the police. They 216 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:12.600 came outside the house and he came out and turned 217 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:18.840 himself in without incident. Imagine you're a young Christian woman 218 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:23.279 Ashley's age. You get kidnapped by a guy who's just 219 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:24.360 murdered four people. 220 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:26.879 He ties you up in the bathtub. 221 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:31.279 You're more likely to be thinking about your fear rather 222 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:37.919 than serving this guy cooking in pancakes. But it was 223 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:43.720 in her servant heartedness serving the undeserving that she was 224 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:47.960 most like Jesus. She gained your own freedom and protected 225 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:52.480 her life. There's one more purpose that God has you 226 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:55.480 here on earth. For you were planned for God's pleasure, 227 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:58.159 so you to learn to love and know God. You 228 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:00.879 were formed for God's family to learn to love other 229 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.320 people in the family of God, in the Church family. 230 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:06.080 You're created to become like Christ, so you're to grow 231 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:09.559 up spiritually your shape to serve God. So you are 232 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:12.720 to serve God by serving others. There's one other thing 233 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:15.679 God wants you to do on earth. God made me 234 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:21.080 for a mission. God made me for a mission. God 235 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:23.080 puts you on earth first to know Him, then to 236 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:25.399 learn some things, then to become some things, then to 237 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:28.919 do some things. And the doing part is called your mission. 238 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.279 Jesus says in John seventeen, verse eighteen. In the same 239 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:36.320 way that the Father gave me a mission in the world, 240 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:40.200 I give them a mission in the world. God puts 241 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:43.639 you on this planet to make a unique contribution. It 242 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:47.639 is my job as your pastor to help you get 243 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.960 prepared for your ministry and your mission. In the world, 244 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:53.600 because one day you're going to stand before God and 245 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:56.080 he's going to say, what did you do with what 246 00:13:56.200 --> 00:14:00.519 I gave you? You're going to answer to God one day 247 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:01.679 for what you did with your life. 248 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:03.720 What did you do with the talent, the ability? 249 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:05.559 Well, I made a lot of money, retired and died 250 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:11.720 wrong answer Acts twenty verse twenty four. Paul says this, 251 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:16.080 I consider my life to be wasted unless I use 252 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:19.000 it to complete my mission and finish the assignment that 253 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:22.519 the Lord Jesus has given to me to tell me 254 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:24.879 the good news about God's grace. 255 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:25.200 Now. 256 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:27.559 I don't have time to get into this, but the 257 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:30.320 bottom line is that God has a mission and a 258 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:33.399 message that he wants to explain through you to the world. 259 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:36.960 You have a unique life message and a unique life mission. 260 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.279 Proverbs nineteen twenty one says this, we can make all 261 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:45.519 kinds of plans, but only God's purposes will last forever. 262 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:48.600 Question what are you following right now? Your plan for 263 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:50.519 your life or God's plan for your life? 264 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:51.600 Huh? 265 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.039 You follow on God's plan or you following your plan? 266 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.080 You follow on your plan? How's that working for you? 267 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:01.399 If feel pretty fulfilled, pretty satisfied, feel like man, I'm 268 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:03.679 really My life is exactly what was supposed to be. 269 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.320 The Bible says, only God's purposes will last forever. You 270 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:12.000 know what the problem with most people is today. Their 271 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:16.559 dreams are too small. Their dreams are too small. The 272 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:18.960 biggest dream that most people have is I just want 273 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.840 to be happy. I just want to live the good life. Really, 274 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:27.519 and we define the good life in southern California as 275 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:32.320 looking good, feeling good, and having the goods. There's only 276 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.720 one problem with the good life. It isn't good enough. 277 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:39.320 It doesn't satisfy. There are thousands of people in southern 278 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:41.919 California who look good, feel good, and have the goods 279 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.919 and are miserable. I talk to them all the time, 280 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:48.080 because you were made for more. And at some point 281 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:49.799 you put your head down on a pillow at night 282 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:51.879 and you go, there's got to be more than this. 283 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.240 There's got to be more than the good life. And 284 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:56.519 the reason you think that is because there. 285 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:58.360 Is there is. 286 00:15:59.159 --> 00:16:01.759 You were made for so much more than you're living 287 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:04.799 right now, so much more than you're living right now. 288 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:08.799 You were made for more than the good life. You 289 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:13.080 were made for the better life. The Bible says, this 290 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:19.200 second Corinthians five. Jesus included everyone in his death, so 291 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:23.559 everyone could be included in this life, a far better life. 292 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:26.320 There's that word, better life, not the good life. The 293 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:30.200 better life, a far better life than people ever lived 294 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.080 on their own. The good life isn't good enough. You 295 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:37.519 were made for more. You're made for the better life, 296 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:40.720 the step up of fulfilling God's purposes for your life. 297 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:43.639 You say, how do I get that? How do I 298 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.440 get to the better life? The Bible says this in 299 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:52.360 wrote Psalm thirty four to eight. Open your eyes, Open 300 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:56.240 your eyes and see how good God is, how much 301 00:16:56.240 --> 00:17:00.399 He loves you. Blessed are you who run to I 302 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:03.120 like that word run, because here's the point. If all 303 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.119 of a sudden somebody told me that there was a 304 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:06.519 better life than I'm living. 305 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:10.640 Right now, I'm in. I'm in. I'm not gonna wait. 306 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:13.559 I don't think about it, I don't procrastinate, I don't delay. 307 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.440 I don't say one day I'll check it out that 308 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.480 there might possibly a better be a better life that 309 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:22.720 I'm mar right now. No, I'm gonna run if somebody 310 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:24.319 tells me there's a better way to live than I'm 311 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:26.559 living right now, I'm gonna run to it because I 312 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.319 decided a long time ago I'm not gonna waste my life. 313 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:32.559 You may waste your life, but I'm not gonna waste mine. 314 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.039 And if there's a better way to live, then I'm 315 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.720 gonna run to it. And how do you run to it? 316 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:43.359 Open your eyes and see how good God is. Now, 317 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:52.000 if I could only teach you one thing, if I 318 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:56.160 only had one message to preach in my entire life, 319 00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:01.039 it would be this. When your eyes open your eyes, 320 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:04.920 open your eyes to the goodness of God, Receive the 321 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:11.920 love of God. No man will ever love you, no 322 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:17.119 woman will ever love you like your creator does well 323 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:22.799 Jesus Christ does. And to go entirely through your entire 324 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:28.720 life disconnected from your Creator, who loves you that much. 325 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:32.599 Makes no sense at all. 326 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:38.799 If somebody was willing to die for you, wouldn't you 327 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:42.839 want to know about it? If somebody loved you so 328 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:47.880 much they died for you, wouldn't you want to know them. 329 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:53.480 Somebody did die for you. His name is Jesus Christ, 330 00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:56.519 and he died for you to pay for all the 331 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.119 things you've done wrong so you could live a life 332 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:03.599 of purpose formed for God's family, plan, for God's pleasure, 333 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:06.359 created to become like Christ's shape, to serve God made 334 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:10.880 for a mission, and might plead to you, as your pastors, 335 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:15.160 do not waste your life. Decide right now that for 336 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.519 the rest of your life, you're gonna give the best 337 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.839 of your life, not to your girlfriend, not to your boyfriend, 338 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:22.960 not to your job, not to something else. 339 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:24.640 But to God and his kingdom. 340 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:28.920 Because you weren't put here for all those other things. 341 00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:33.079 You were put here for these purposes, and to ignore 342 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:39.519 them is an enormous waste of your life. There's no 343 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:44.039 accident that you were here this weekend. God knows that 344 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:47.680 you've been frustrated with your life. He knows your hurts, 345 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:51.359 he knows your sadnesses, he knows your fears. He knows 346 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:53.880 the turmoil that goes inside of you. He knows the 347 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:55.920 loneliness you feel when you put your head down on 348 00:19:55.960 --> 00:20:00.559 the pillow at night. He knows the insecure that you 349 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:02.400 feel that you don't want to admit to anybody else. 350 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:06.640 He knows all of that. And you may have thought, 351 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:08.599 there's got to be a better way to live. 352 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:09.200 There is. 353 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.920 I just taught it to you. There is. I call 354 00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:14.400 it a purpose driven life. I don't care what you 355 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:15.720 call it, Just do it. 356 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:19.599 Become what God made you to be, the man God 357 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.880 bade you to be, the woman God made you to be. 358 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:29.680 Matthew eleven. Jesus says, are you tired? Are you worn out? 359 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.319 Are you burned out on religion? Then come to me 360 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.680 for a real rest. He's not talking about religion. He 361 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.599 says a relationship. Come to me for a real rest, 362 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:43.160 and you'll recover your life, and you'll learn to live 363 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:48.680 freely and lightly. And who is this invitation available to 364 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:53.720 next Verse Acts ten thirty five. It makes no difference 365 00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:58.000 who you are or where you're from. If you want 366 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:01.720 God and you're ready to do as he says, the 367 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:05.200 door is open. Doesn't matter who you are, where you 368 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:07.839 are from, what's your background, doesn't matter what you've done, 369 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:09.359 who you've done it with, or how long you've done 370 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:14.920 It makes no difference what your religious background is. You 371 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:19.119 may be Buddhist or Baptist, or Muslim or Mormon or 372 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:26.680 Methodist or Catholic or Christian or Jewish or Hindu. You 373 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.680 may be an atheist and agnostic. I don't care what background, 374 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:34.440 no background at all. It says, this offer is available 375 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:36.799 to you. And it says don't even matter. If you 376 00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:39.079 have doubts, bring your doubts with you. Doubt your doubts 377 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:43.359 and believe your beliefs. At the bottom of your message notes, 378 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:47.720 I have written a prayer to start living the life 379 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:51.359 that God created you to live the life of purpose. 380 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:53.440 And here's what I want us to do. I want 381 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:56.400 us to read this aloud together. So here's what I'd 382 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:58.799 like to ask you to do. Bow your head right now, 383 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:01.759 but keep your eyes open, and I want you to 384 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:03.759 look at your notes and read it now. If you 385 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:05.400 don't have the notes in front of you, look up 386 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:08.079 here on the screen and read it. We're going to 387 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:12.680 preyate this prayer aloud together, so you can bow your 388 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:13.960 head and read it on the notes so you can 389 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:14.839 look up here on the screen. 390 00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:15.720 Let's say it together. 391 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:22.559 Dear God, everything you created has a purpose, including me. 392 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:26.519 I don't want to miss my purpose or waste my 393 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:31.720 life or live it disconnected from you anymore. Instead, I 394 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:36.759 want to become what you design me to be. Starting today, 395 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.519 I want to follow your plan for my life, not 396 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:44.839 my plan. You made me for a relationship with you, 397 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.000 so I want to get to know you and love 398 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:49.559 you and trust you. 399 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:50.799 Thank you. 400 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:55.039 For sending Jesus to pay for my sin. Help me 401 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:59.680