Speaker 1: When Jesus was thirty years old, he began his public ministry,
Speaker 1: and the first thing he did was go gather a
Speaker 1: group of guys who he could train. They are called
Speaker 1: his disciples, and many times in scriptures it tells us
Speaker 1: that he invited people to become his disciple. In Matthew nine,
Speaker 1: verse nine, it says this, as Jesus was going down
Speaker 1: the road, he saw Matthew sitting at his tax collection booth.
Speaker 1: Come be my disciple, Jesus said, So Matthew got up
Speaker 1: and followed him. Now today Jesus Christ makes this exact
Speaker 1: same offer to you, Come be my disciple. He's asking
Speaker 1: you this in twenty ten. Come be my disciple. Now
Speaker 1: what is the disciple. The word disciple comes from the
Speaker 1: Latin word discipline are discipless. In the Greek it is
Speaker 1: the word mathetes, which is in the Bible, and it
Speaker 1: means a student. It means a learner, it means a pupil.
Speaker 1: A disciple is an apprentice. When a mentor takes on
Speaker 1: somebody to train them, they are called their disciple. And
Speaker 1: the word in the Bible has actually used four different ways. First,
Speaker 1: it's referred to as anybody who's just being trained by
Speaker 1: anybody else. If you're in training, you have a supervisor
Speaker 1: who's training you, you are being discipled by that supervisor.
Speaker 1: Moses' disciple was Joshua. Elijah's disciple was Elisha. David's disciple
Speaker 1: was his son Solomon. Elisha had disciples of his own.
Speaker 1: John the Baptist had disciples. Paul had a disciple named Timothy.
Speaker 1: And later he talks about six guys who traveled with
Speaker 1: him on the road. One was Gayis, Aristarchus, a Coundus,
Speaker 1: a Paphroditis. He tells us who the guys that he
Speaker 1: was mentoring was. And a disciple is just somebody who's
Speaker 1: being mentored by somebody else. So that's the first way
Speaker 1: it's use in the Bible. The second way it's used
Speaker 1: in the Bible is to refer to the twelve disciples,
Speaker 1: specifically the twelve guys that Jesus chose, which we also
Speaker 1: call apostles. The third way it's used is in the
Speaker 1: Book of Acts. The word disciple is just a synonym
Speaker 1: for Christian. You know, in the Bible days, they weren't
Speaker 1: called Christians, they were called disciples. In fact, it wasn't
Speaker 1: until the Church had spread completely out of Israel into Antioch,
Speaker 1: where at that little church they were first called Christians.
Speaker 1: So in the Bible Times, nobody was called a Christian,
Speaker 1: they were called disciples. But what I want us to
Speaker 1: look at this morning is jesus use of the term.
Speaker 1: Jesus frequently took a very common word like student, pupil, disciple, apprentice,
Speaker 1: and he adds new meaning to it, He infuses it,
Speaker 1: he injects new meaning into it. And so I want
Speaker 1: us to look at jesus definition of what it means
Speaker 1: to be a disciple, because about ten times in scripture,
Speaker 1: Jesus says, if you do this, then you're my disciple.
Speaker 1: If you do this, then you can follow me. And
Speaker 1: so we want to look at radical discipleship as we
Speaker 1: start off this series on what it means to follow Jesus,
Speaker 1: let's get right into it. Number one. To be a disciple,
Speaker 1: Number one, I must spend time with Jesus. I must
Speaker 1: spend time with Jesus, a lot of time with him, because,
Speaker 1: like any relationship, the more time you invest, the more
Speaker 1: you're going to get out of it. You can't be
Speaker 1: a part time disciple. You don't have to. You don't
Speaker 1: fit it into your schedule. If I'm being trained by somebody,
Speaker 1: I'm being mentored by somebody, I fit myself to their schedule.
Speaker 1: They don't fit themselves to mine. And you can't be
Speaker 1: a disciple in just a few minutes a day. You've
Speaker 1: got to spend time. You've got to be in constant conversation.
Speaker 1: It's a full time responsibility. You're with your discipler, You're
Speaker 1: with your mentor, you're with your teacher, your trainer all
Speaker 1: the time. Now here's what Jesus said in John chapter twelve.
Speaker 1: If you want to be my disciple, you must come
Speaker 1: and follow me, because my servants must be where I am,
Speaker 1: and if they follow me, the Father will honor them.
Speaker 1: Now this verse is packed with meaning. In fact, it
Speaker 1: teaches us three things about spiritual growth. And as your pastor,
Speaker 1: one of my goals is to help you grow spiritually,
Speaker 1: not just this year, but for the rest of your life.
Speaker 1: So I want you to write these three things down
Speaker 1: that we notice from this verse Number one, we learn
Speaker 1: that spiritual growth is a choice. Spiritual growth is a choice. Now,
Speaker 1: God's not going to force you to grow. He leaves
Speaker 1: it up to you, and so I want you to
Speaker 1: circle He says, if you want to be my disciple,
Speaker 1: circle the word want. If you want to be my disciple,
Speaker 1: then you must make the choice to grow now. At
Speaker 1: the end of this year, you're not going to be
Speaker 1: more mature unless you choose to be more mature. Spiritual
Speaker 1: growth is not automatic. Spiritual growth is intentional. It's not
Speaker 1: just something that just happens. It's not involuntary, it's not inevitable.
Speaker 1: You have to choose to grow spiritually. Jesus says, I'm
Speaker 1: giving you the choice. Now. You know that you can
Speaker 1: grow old without growing up. Everybody know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: I mean, we all know people who are old but
Speaker 1: they're still spiritually immature, are emotionally immature, or they're very
Speaker 1: self centered, they haven't ever matured in their life. But
Speaker 1: he says, you must choose. You must choose. You are
Speaker 1: as close to God as you choose to be. Don't
Speaker 1: blame your boyfriend, don't blame your girlfriend, don't blame your parents,
Speaker 1: don't blame your husband or your wife, don't blame your boss.
Speaker 1: You're as close to God as you choose to be.
Speaker 1: And if you're not close to Us because you're choosing
Speaker 1: not to be. And if you move from far from God.
Speaker 1: You feel that way, Well, guess who moved? God didn't move.
Speaker 1: You made the choice spiritual growth a choice number two.
Speaker 1: This verse teaches that growth is a commitment growth. Spiritual
Speaker 1: growth is a commitment. You must commit to growth in
Speaker 1: order to grow. And you say, this is gonna be
Speaker 1: the year I really get it in gear. This is
Speaker 1: gonna be the year I take action. This is the
Speaker 1: year I stop being a spiritual baby. I'm gonna grow up. Notice,
Speaker 1: Jesus says you must come and follow. You might circle
Speaker 1: that first, He says, you gotta. You want to want it,
Speaker 1: then you gotta. You gotta come and follow. If you
Speaker 1: want to grow, you just can't sit there. You've got
Speaker 1: to move it, move it. You gotta get it in gear.
Speaker 1: You don't just sit around on your ear. You gotta
Speaker 1: get it in gear. You gotta take action to grow now.
Speaker 1: This is true in every area of life. We grow
Speaker 1: by making commitments. Marriage causes you to grow up a lot.
Speaker 1: Have you noticed that having kids causes you to grow up.
Speaker 1: Anytime you make any kind of commitment, it causes you
Speaker 1: to take a step of growth. Taking on a new
Speaker 1: job is a commitment which helps you grow. Choosing to
Speaker 1: go to college is a commitment that helps you grow.
Speaker 1: Any time you make a commitment, you grow. In fact,
Speaker 1: if you don't make commitments in life, you remain perpetual immaturity.
Speaker 1: If you have a fear of commitment, you will never
Speaker 1: fully grow up. Because we only grow through our commitments.
Speaker 1: No commitment means no maturity. Your commitments define your life.
Speaker 1: You are the sum total of the things that you're
Speaker 1: committed to. Here's the problem. You can be committed to everything,
Speaker 1: and you shouldn't be committed to everything, because not everything's
Speaker 1: worth being committed to. And part of my job as
Speaker 1: your pastor is to help you sort through all of
Speaker 1: the commitments you've got and give you some guidelines which
Speaker 1: you go that's a good one, that's a bad one,
Speaker 1: that's a good one, that's a bad one. Because you
Speaker 1: cannot be committed everything. If you're committed everything, you're committed
Speaker 1: to nothing. Selection is the name of the game. So
Speaker 1: I have to help you sort through and make wise commitments. Now,
Speaker 1: the reason why Saddleback Church is a very spiritually mature church.
Speaker 1: This church is full of spiritually mature people and for
Speaker 1: thirty years we have had an intentional intentional process to
Speaker 1: help people grow to spiritual maturity by gradually making deeper
Speaker 1: and deeper commitments. You don't make them all at once.
Speaker 1: You don't expect a baby to the next day run
Speaker 1: out and run a marathon, and you don't expect a
Speaker 1: brand new believer to act like a person who's followed
Speaker 1: the Lord for thirty or forty years. But we have
Speaker 1: an intentional plan to help people grow through stages of commitment,
Speaker 1: and that development process we call purpose driven, and it's
Speaker 1: based on what I call the invitations of Jesus. A
Speaker 1: long time ago, I did a study of every time
Speaker 1: Jesus says come, when he says, come to me, And
Speaker 1: over the three and a half years as he worked
Speaker 1: with his disciples trainees that he had, he moved them
Speaker 1: from no commitment to super commitment, and he kept turning
Speaker 1: up the heat a little bit at a time. For instance,
Speaker 1: the very first words of Jesus public words of Jesus
Speaker 1: when he starts as ministry John chapter one, verse thirty nine,
Speaker 1: are these come and see. That's the first invitation. So
Speaker 1: guys say, where are you going? Lord? He said, come
Speaker 1: and see? Now what is he doing here? That's about
Speaker 1: as low a commitment as you can give. Okay, just
Speaker 1: come and check it out. That's what we say to
Speaker 1: our community about Saddleback Church. Come and see. Come on
Speaker 1: the weekend, check us out. You don't say anything, sign anything,
Speaker 1: sacrifice anything, stand up. Just come and check us out.
Speaker 1: And that's where Jesus starts with people, just check it out,
Speaker 1: and then he begins to move them on the next commitment.
Speaker 1: He says, come and follow. He says first, come and see.
Speaker 1: Then he says come and follow me in Matthew fov
Speaker 1: and then many of the invitations that he gives in
Speaker 1: the early stages of the relationships are invitations that were
Speaker 1: promising to meet needs. In Matthew eleven, he says, if
Speaker 1: you're tired, come to me and I'll give you rest.
Speaker 1: And John seven he says, if you're thirsty, come to
Speaker 1: me and drink. John five he says, come to me
Speaker 1: and have life. And John eighty says, if you follow me,
Speaker 1: you won't stumble in darkness. In John ten, he says,
Speaker 1: those who come to me will be saved. And so
Speaker 1: he's inviting them to come and he's going to meet
Speaker 1: needs in their lives. My favorite one, of course, is
Speaker 1: John twenty one twelve after the resurrection, he says, come
Speaker 1: and have breakfast. I love that one, you know, I
Speaker 1: thought that was really cool. That's literally in the Bible,
Speaker 1: come and have breakfast. But as time passed, Jesus began
Speaker 1: to require more of his disciples. He's helping them grow
Speaker 1: in commitment, and so in Mark chapter eight he says,
Speaker 1: come and deny yourself. In Matthew eight twenty two he says,
Speaker 1: come follow me and let the dead bury the dead.
Speaker 1: And Luke nine he says, come and take up your cross,
Speaker 1: and look fourteen he says, you can't meet to that
Speaker 1: disciple unless you give up everything. Matthew nineteen, give away
Speaker 1: what you got and come follow me. See he's turning
Speaker 1: up the heat. He's requiring more and more commitment. And
Speaker 1: the Bible says that when we get to heaven, there
Speaker 1: are going to be invitations in heaven. Matthew twenty five,
Speaker 1: he says, he's going to say to us in heaven,
Speaker 1: come and share your master's happiness. And Matthew twenty five
Speaker 1: thirty four, come and receive your inheritance.
Speaker 2: Do you want to be happier, healthier, and more resistant
Speaker 2: to stress, then you need to develop an attitude of gratitude.
Speaker 2: In fact, the Bible says we're to rejoice, always, pray continually,
Speaker 2: and give thanks in all circumstances. But it can be
Speaker 2: difficult to feel grateful. So to help you, Pastor Rick
Speaker 2: hand selected fifty two verses to bolster your sense of
Speaker 2: gratitude and increase your happiness. This set of beautifully designed
Speaker 2: cards will help you memorize scripture so you can recall
Speaker 2: God's word when you need it most. You can also
Speaker 2: use them to minister to others. Give one to a
Speaker 2: friend and write a personalized note of encouragement on the back.
Speaker 2: If a scripture really speaks to you, frame it, put
Speaker 2: them in places where you can read them during the
Speaker 2: day for encouragement. And today, when you give a gift
Speaker 2: to help daily hope, take the hope of Jesus to
Speaker 2: a world in need, we'll send you the gratitude scripture
Speaker 2: card set to say thanks.
Speaker 1: Now. I took those invitations of Jesus and we turned
Speaker 1: them into a process. You can see it here on
Speaker 1: the screen. If you've been through class one oh one,
Speaker 1: you know this. We call it the circles of Commitment,
Speaker 1: and we move people from the community, people around our
Speaker 1: church into the crowd that's on Sunday morning. In the community,
Speaker 1: there's no commitment, just hi, how are you in the
Speaker 1: crowd to just show up, come and see. And in
Speaker 1: the congregation it's come and be a member. And then
Speaker 1: in the committed it's come and developed the habits for
Speaker 1: spiritual growth. And in the core it's come and serve.
Speaker 1: And even there's another circle called the commission, come and go,
Speaker 1: and we've been taking people through these circles for thirty years,
Speaker 1: moving people to deeper and deeper levels of commitment. Another
Speaker 1: tool we have are the covenants in our church. We
Speaker 1: have a membership covenant you sign when you join the church.
Speaker 1: We have a maturity covenman to grow in spiritual habits.
Speaker 1: We have a ministry covenant to grow and serve, and
Speaker 1: we have a mission covenant to go and serve your
Speaker 1: mission in the world. Now this is not new to
Speaker 1: saddle back. For two thousand years churches have used covenants
Speaker 1: all along, covenants and commitments and things like that. Now
Speaker 1: the Bible says we must spend time with Jesus because
Speaker 1: it's a choice, it's a commitment. There's a third thing
Speaker 1: this verse teaches us is that spiritual growth, you might
Speaker 1: write this down, is a relationship. Spiritual growth is a relationship.
Speaker 1: It's not about rules, it's not about rituals. It's not
Speaker 1: about a formula, it's not about a bunch of expectations.
Speaker 1: It's about being with Jesus. There on your outline, I
Speaker 1: want you to circle the phrase in that first verse.
Speaker 1: My servants must be where I am. Circle that be
Speaker 1: where I am. Spiritual growth is about being with Jesus.
Speaker 1: Be where I am. This is his plan all along,
Speaker 1: and his plan in Mark chapter three says the plan
Speaker 1: was that they would be with him there's the word again,
Speaker 1: spend time with Jesus, and then he would send them
Speaker 1: out to proclaim the word. So what does it mean
Speaker 1: to be a disciple today? Obviously Jesus isn't here physically.
Speaker 1: How do you be with Jesus today? You talk to
Speaker 1: him all the time. You have a running conversation with
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. I talked to him all the time. In fact,
Speaker 1: I can talk to you and talk to him at
Speaker 1: the same time. Many times I'll be out on a
Speaker 1: patio and somebody's talking to me and ask me a question.
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Lord, tell me what to say, because I'm
Speaker 1: the slightest idea how to answer this, or if it's
Speaker 1: an interview or something like that. I talk to God
Speaker 1: when I'm watching TV. I talked to him when I'm
Speaker 1: cleaning the garage, when I'm driving, when I'm sitting in
Speaker 1: the backyard, just like I'm talking to you. And when
Speaker 1: I first started conversations with God forty years ago, it
Speaker 1: felt like it was pretty much just one way. I
Speaker 1: could never hear God speak to me. And if I
Speaker 1: ever got a thought in my mind, I thought, not
Speaker 1: really from God? Or did I just make that up?
Speaker 1: But after you've been walking with the Lord for about
Speaker 1: forty years, it gets better, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: I know that's me talking to myself. That's the Lord
Speaker 1: putting that idea in my mind, and it gets clearer
Speaker 1: and clearer. That's what spiritual growth is. The more you
Speaker 1: grow spiritually, the more you're able to hear God speak
Speaker 1: back to you in your mind. I doesn't know do
Speaker 1: it audibly. I've never heard a voice. In fact, if
Speaker 1: you hear voices, you need to see a psychiatrist. Okay,
Speaker 1: because God doesn't speak that way. He'll put an idea
Speaker 1: in your mind when the devil puts an idea in
Speaker 1: your mind, we call it temptation. When God puts an
Speaker 1: idea in your mind, we call it inspiration. When you
Speaker 1: put an idea in your own mind, we call that dumb.
Speaker 1: And you got to distinguish whether it's the devil's idea,
Speaker 1: God's idea, if it's you talking to you. But the
Speaker 1: truth is, you got to be with him. And the
Speaker 1: more time you spend with God, the more you talk
Speaker 1: to the Lord, the more you're gonna grow. If you
Speaker 1: only have a little quiet time every day, you're gonna
Speaker 1: grow a little bit. If you only have talked to
Speaker 1: the Lord on the weekends at church, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: grow much at all. But if you learn to talk
Speaker 1: to the Lord all the time, just have a conversation
Speaker 1: about whatever's on your mind, you're gonna really start growing
Speaker 1: because it's a relationship. Jesus said, I got to spend
Speaker 1: time with him if I want to be disciple. Number two,
Speaker 1: if I want to be a disciple. To be a disciple,
Speaker 1: I must love Jesus supremely. I must love Jesus supremely.
Speaker 1: And this is the second definition Jesus gives in Luke
Speaker 1: chapter fourteen, he says this, If you want to be
Speaker 1: my follower, you must love me. You must love me
Speaker 1: more than your own father and mother, your wife and children,
Speaker 1: your brothers and sisters, Yes, more than your own life.
Speaker 1: Otherwise you cannot be my disciple. What's he saying here.
Speaker 1: He's saying that your love for God is to be
Speaker 1: so intense everything else pales in comparison. Now, it doesn't
Speaker 1: mean you don't love the other people. Actually, the more
Speaker 1: you love God, the more you're going to love other people.
Speaker 1: But he's saying, exclusivity, supremacy belongs to God because you
Speaker 1: wouldn't have your family, you wouldn't have your kids, you
Speaker 1: wouldn't have the people you love your friends without God.
Speaker 1: So he says, you are to love God more than
Speaker 1: anything else, and that's called worship. By the way, guys,
Speaker 1: let me talk to the men for this minute. If
Speaker 1: you're a dad or you are a husband, the greatest
Speaker 1: gift you can give your wife and the greatest gift
Speaker 1: you can give your children is to love God supremely.
Speaker 1: Why Because when a dad or a husband loves God supremely,
Speaker 1: it creates enormous security in the minds of your children
Speaker 1: and in your wife because they're thinking he's not doing
Speaker 1: this on his own. He's depending on God. He's not
Speaker 1: going to steer us in the wrong direction. He's going
Speaker 1: to put our needs first because that's what God says
Speaker 1: to do. The Bible says Christ gave just as Jesus
Speaker 1: gave his life for the church. Husbands are to lay
Speaker 1: down their lives for their wives. The more you love God,
Speaker 1: the more you're going to serve your wife and your kids.
Speaker 1: The greatest security you can give your family is to
Speaker 1: let them know that you love God more than anything else. Now,
Speaker 1: I want you to write this down. Jesus said, you
Speaker 1: must love me more thanything else. Spiritual growth is measured
Speaker 1: by love. Would you write that down? Spiritual growth is
Speaker 1: measured by how much you love. It's not measured by
Speaker 1: how much you know. It's not measured by your Bible knowledge.
Speaker 1: It's not measured by your skills. It's not measured by
Speaker 1: the words you say. It's not measured by how much
Speaker 1: you attend church. We never measure anybody's spiritual maturity at
Speaker 1: Saddleback by how much they attend. Because you can go
Speaker 1: to everything the church offers every time the doors are
Speaker 1: open and still be spiritually immature. Maybe just means you
Speaker 1: don't have anything to do in your life, so it
Speaker 1: has nothing to do that. Your spiritual maturity is measured
Speaker 1: by how much you love, how much you love God, God,
Speaker 1: and how much you love others. In fact, look at
Speaker 1: this next verse. The Bible says in Mark chapter twelve,
Speaker 1: Jesus said, the most important command out of all of
Speaker 1: them in the Bible, the most important command is this.
Speaker 1: You must love the Lord your God. He said, that's
Speaker 1: the top thing before anything else. Love God with all
Speaker 1: your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,
Speaker 1: and with all your strength. Now, friends, this is called
Speaker 1: radical devotion. When you love God with all your heart
Speaker 1: and all your soul, and all your mind and all
Speaker 1: your strength, you're loving God radically. It means I love
Speaker 1: God more than anything or anyone else. And there's a
Speaker 1: word for that in the Bible. Do you know what
Speaker 1: it's called When you love something more than anything else,
Speaker 1: It's called worship. Whatever you love the most, you worship.
Speaker 1: If you love your boat the most, you worship your boat.
Speaker 1: If you love your job the most, you worship your job.
Speaker 1: If you love your own body the most, you worship yourself.
Speaker 1: Worship is whatever you give your best love to. Do
Speaker 1: you know the word worship in the Bible PROSCINEO. You
Speaker 1: know what that word literally means. It means to kiss.
Speaker 1: That's what it means to kiss. It means to show affection,
Speaker 1: to shower with affection. When you worship something, you don't
Speaker 1: care what other people think. You're just you're You're totally
Speaker 1: involved in showing affection and love, and you don't care
Speaker 1: how it looks to other people. You know, when you
Speaker 1: worship God, some of you are worried about how do
Speaker 1: I look. I don't want to raise my hand too much,
Speaker 1: might look like a fanatic. I don't want to get emotional.
Speaker 1: I want to keep my little countenance here in you know, dignity.
Speaker 1: Then you're not worshiping. If you're worried about what other
Speaker 1: people think, you're not worshiping. Worshiping is when you are
Speaker 1: so much in love with God you don't care what
Speaker 1: other people think. You're just going to express your love
Speaker 1: to how many you have a dog, because see your hands,
Speaker 1: you have a dog. Okay, when your dog comes and
Speaker 1: licks your hand, is your dog expressing fear, anger, resentment,
Speaker 1: or love. Love. Now that dog is not going I
Speaker 1: wonder what other people think at that moment. Your dog
Speaker 1: is worshiping you, When your dog is licking your hand,
Speaker 1: your dog he or she is saying, I couldn't care
Speaker 1: less with anybody other my master's here, and I love
Speaker 1: my master. Did you know that the word for when
Speaker 1: a dog licks his master's hand in Greek is the
Speaker 1: word proscinneo, it's the word worship. It's the exact same word.
Speaker 1: It is the word worship, which means I love God
Speaker 1: so much, I don't care what other people think. The
Speaker 1: third key, if I want to be a disciple, if
Speaker 1: I want to grow spiritually, I must love every other disciple.
Speaker 1: Uh oh, now we're getting a little bit harder. You see,
Speaker 1: it's easy to love God because he's perfect, but you're
Speaker 1: not and I'm not. And sometimes we're irritating, and sometimes
Speaker 1: we're obnoxious, and sometimes we show our imperfections and our insecurities.
Speaker 1: And yet Jesus says, if you're going to be my disciple,
Speaker 1: you can't just love me. You have to love everybody
Speaker 1: in my family. And what is the family of God.
Speaker 1: It's the Church, it is the people of God. You
Speaker 1: have to love every other believer, every other Christian, every
Speaker 1: other follower of Jesus, every other disciple. Here's what Jesus says,
Speaker 1: John chapter thirteen. If, by the way, did you notice
Speaker 1: every one of these sentences start with an if. When
Speaker 1: he defines discipleship, it's conditional. He says, if you have
Speaker 1: love for one another, then everybody will know that you
Speaker 1: are diciples. Not just love for me, but you love
Speaker 1: each other. He says. The hallmark of being a follower
Speaker 1: of Jesus is not a bumper sticker. It is not
Speaker 1: a little Christian pen It is not gospel witness wear
Speaker 1: some shirt or clothes that you wear. He says. The
Speaker 1: proof that you are my disciple is you love every
Speaker 1: other disciple. You love every other believer, You love the
Speaker 1: Church of God. Have you ever heard anybody say this?
Speaker 1: You know, I love Jesus, I just don't like the Church.
Speaker 1: I love Jesus, I just can't stand the Church. Then
Speaker 1: let me tell you something. You're not a disciple because
Speaker 1: with all of its imperfections, all of its faults, all
Speaker 1: of its faux paus and failures, because it's made up
Speaker 1: of normal, ordinary, imperfect people. Jesus says, the church matters.
Speaker 1: Christ died for the Church. In fact, it's the only
Speaker 1: thing that's going to last on this planet. Microsoft isn't
Speaker 1: going to last. The Democratic and Republican parties aren't going
Speaker 1: to last. The United States of America isn't going to last.
Speaker 1: No empire lasts forever. There's only one thing that's going
Speaker 1: to last for eternity. That is God's family. The Church.
Speaker 1: You're in it. It's the only thing that's going to last.
Speaker 1: It's more important than everything else put together. Because God
Speaker 1: created the universe because he wanted a family.
Speaker 2: Do you want to be happier, healthier, and more resistant
Speaker 2: to stress, then you need to develop an attitude of gratitude.
Speaker 2: In fact, the Bible says we're to rejoice, always, pray continually,
Speaker 2: and give thanks in all circumstances. But it can be
Speaker 2: difficult to feel grateful. So to help you, Pastor Rick
Speaker 2: hand selected fifty two verses to bolster your sense of
Speaker 2: gratitude and increase your happiness. This set of beautifully designed
Speaker 2: cards will help you memorize scripture so you can recall
Speaker 2: God's word when you need it most. You can also
Speaker 2: use them to minister to others. Give one to a
Speaker 2: friend and write a personalized note of encouragement on the back.
Speaker 2: If a scripture really speaks to you, frame it, put
Speaker 2: them in places where you can read them during the
Speaker 2: day for encouragement. And today, when you give a gift
Speaker 2: to help daily hope, take the hope of Jesus to
Speaker 2: a world in need, we'll send you the Gratitude scripture
Speaker 2: card set to say thanks.