Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This
Speaker 1: is the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Now today
Speaker 1: we're continuing into the new year, and we're digging deeper
Speaker 1: into one of life's biggest questions, does my life really matter?
Speaker 1: In today's message, Rick's going to continue his powerful series
Speaker 1: Live Your Calling?
Speaker 2: What on Earth Am I here for?
Speaker 1: In it, you'll discover how living out God's purpose for
Speaker 1: your life brings real meaning, direction, and joy no.
Speaker 2: Matter where you're starting from. Let's get right to it.
Speaker 2: Here's part one of a message titled Called to Be Sent.
Speaker 3: During this series, we've looked at God's five purposes for
Speaker 3: your life. You're not an accident. They're accidental parents. There
Speaker 3: are no accidental children. They're illegitimate parents. There are no
Speaker 3: illegitimate children. Your parents are being not a plans you.
Speaker 3: But God did He fans you even before the foundation.
Speaker 4: Of the world.
Speaker 3: And your life has value, and your life has significance,
Speaker 3: And you are not an accident. And the Bible says
Speaker 3: that God created you for five purposes, for five reasons,
Speaker 3: for five assignments. The Bible calls them your callings in life,
Speaker 3: your vocation in your life. Your vocation is far more
Speaker 3: than your career. Oh no, no, no, it's your reason
Speaker 3: for existence. And God says I made you for five reasons.
Speaker 3: Now we looked first at I am called to be loved.
Speaker 3: The number one purpose of your life is you were
Speaker 3: made to be loved by God. And until you get that,
Speaker 3: nothing else is going to make sense. You're made by
Speaker 3: God and for God, and He made you to love
Speaker 3: you in that base of love. When you feel totally
Speaker 3: completely loved by God, then you have the capacity to
Speaker 3: move into every area of life that He wants you
Speaker 3: to move into and to experience life in all its fullness.
Speaker 4: But first, you're.
Speaker 3: Called to be loved by God. Then we looked at
Speaker 3: the next week at your called to belong. You're called
Speaker 3: to not just be loved, you're called to belong. You're
Speaker 3: called to belong to His family. You were not meant
Speaker 3: to go through life on your own. You're not alone, ranger.
Speaker 3: You were made for connection. You were made for community,
Speaker 3: and we find our meeting and purpose in our relationships
Speaker 3: to each other. You're made, You're created. You're called to belong.
Speaker 3: Then we looked at the third calling in your life.
Speaker 3: You're called to become. God has plans for your life.
Speaker 3: He made you to become what He wants you to be.
Speaker 3: You can't be anybody in the world. People will tell
Speaker 3: you that it's just not true. No matter how hard
Speaker 3: I try, I'm never going to be an opera singer.
Speaker 3: And no matter how hard I try, I'm never going
Speaker 3: to be good at certain sports. I'm just not wired
Speaker 3: that way. You can be who God has made you become.
Speaker 3: And joy getting in the Jay zone is when you
Speaker 3: become who God made you to be. You're called to
Speaker 3: be loved, you're called to belong, You're called to become.
Speaker 3: And then last week we looked at the fourth calling
Speaker 3: in your life. You're called to bless. You're called to
Speaker 3: bless others. God didn't put you on here to live
Speaker 3: a selfish little claw of a life where it's all
Speaker 3: about me. No, it's not all about you. It's all
Speaker 3: about God. It's all about others. And we find our
Speaker 3: true meeting and purpose only as we give our lives away.
Speaker 3: And as I bless other people, I am blessed myself.
Speaker 3: And as I help others, I am help myself. It's
Speaker 3: the law of sowing and reaping. But when you sow
Speaker 3: a seed, you don't just get one seed back, you
Speaker 3: get multiple seeds back. So whatever you sow in life,
Speaker 3: you're going to get back more of you sow criticism,
Speaker 3: you get back more criticism. But you so praise, you
Speaker 3: get back more praise. And you're called to bless other
Speaker 3: people with your life using what we call your shape ape,
Speaker 3: your spiritual gifts, your heart, your abilities, your personality, and
Speaker 3: your experience. And nobody is uniquely shaped like you are.
Speaker 3: You have a unique voice, print, iPrint, mouth, handprint, footprint, heartbeat,
Speaker 3: emotional beat. And God doesn't want you to be anybody else.
Speaker 3: And when you get to heaven one day, he's not
Speaker 3: going to say why won't you more like somebody else?
Speaker 3: He's going to say, why won't you more like you?
Speaker 3: I made you to be you? Unless you be you,
Speaker 3: who's going to be you?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 3: Tonight we look at the fifth calling, and this is
Speaker 3: the calling of being sent. I'm called to belong, I'm
Speaker 3: called to be loved, I'm called to become, I'm called
Speaker 3: to bless, and I'm called to be sent. Now I
Speaker 3: want you to write this down on your outline, God's
Speaker 3: plan for history. If you want to know the purpose
Speaker 3: of history. Here it is He's gathering a family. God
Speaker 3: is gathering a family that will love and live with
Speaker 3: him forever.
Speaker 4: Makes us very very clear.
Speaker 3: And the message was brought to us first by the
Speaker 3: nation of Israel. God gave this message to the Jews
Speaker 3: to give to the rest of us, and now we
Speaker 3: are to pass it on to others. That God's plan
Speaker 3: for history is that He's gathering a family that will
Speaker 3: love and live with him forever. If God hadn't wanted
Speaker 3: a family, he wouldn't have created a universe. He wouldn't
Speaker 3: have created the human race, he wouldn't have created you
Speaker 3: and me. The Bible says this in Ephesians chapter one,
Speaker 3: verse five. Look up here on the screen. His unchanging
Speaker 3: plan has always been to adopt us into his own family.
Speaker 3: This is God to adopt us into his own family
Speaker 3: by bringing this to himself through Jesus Christ, and this
Speaker 3: gave him great pleasure. All of us are created by God,
Speaker 3: all of us are loved by God, but not everybody
Speaker 3: is a child of God.
Speaker 4: You got to choose to be in the family.
Speaker 3: In fact, there's only two ways to get into family,
Speaker 3: be born into it or be adopted into it. And
Speaker 3: the Bible uses both of these metaphors. Spiritual rebirth and
Speaker 3: adoption is what it means to get into God's family.
Speaker 3: Now for that to happen, God's whole purpose in creating
Speaker 3: the universe is to gather a group of people who
Speaker 3: choose willingly to love him. And God gives me a
Speaker 3: free choice love or reject him. And God says, you
Speaker 3: ought to give everybody else the free choice to love
Speaker 3: or object. It's not faith if it's forced. So we
Speaker 3: don't believe in coercion. We believe in persuasion. We believe
Speaker 3: may the best idea win. But we don't believe in
Speaker 3: coercion because God says, I created you to love me,
Speaker 3: and it's not love unless I could choose to not
Speaker 3: love him. But those who choose to love him become
Speaker 3: a part of God's family. Now, once God's family is
Speaker 3: gathered together, we go into phase two, which is after earth,
Speaker 3: which is after life. It's in eternity where the real
Speaker 3: life begins. This is the preschool. This is the warm
Speaker 3: up back. This is a dress rehearsal. This is the
Speaker 3: first lap around before the real race begins. The race
Speaker 3: the real life is eternity. Now for God to gather
Speaker 3: his family. Somebody has to pass on the good news.
Speaker 3: And here's what the Bible says in Romans chapter ten,
Speaker 3: verses thirteen to fifteen. Anyone who calls on the name
Speaker 3: of the Lord will be saved.
Speaker 4: That's a promise. But he says, how can they call.
Speaker 3: On him to save them unless they believe in him?
Speaker 3: And how can they believe in him if they've never
Speaker 3: heard of him? And how can they hear about him
Speaker 3: unless someone tells them? And how can anyone go and
Speaker 3: tell them without being sent? Circle the word sent. This
Speaker 3: is the fifth calling of your life. You are called
Speaker 3: to be sent. This is what the scripture means when
Speaker 3: they say how beautiful are the feet of those who
Speaker 3: bring good news? Now what this verse means is this
Speaker 3: my fifth purpose in life? My fifth calling in life
Speaker 3: is this. I'm sent to bring others into God's family.
Speaker 3: I'm sent to bring others in God's family. The moment
Speaker 3: I step across the line, spiritually, God wants me to
Speaker 3: share the good news with others. You know, if I
Speaker 3: had the cure for AIDS and I kept it a
Speaker 3: secret and I didn't tell anybody, that would be criminal.
Speaker 3: In fact, they had to put me in prison. If
Speaker 3: I had that good news and didn't tell people, I
Speaker 3: should be incarcerated. If I had the cure for cancer
Speaker 3: and I didn't tell anybody about it, that would be criminal.
Speaker 3: But God has given us an even greater message. How
Speaker 3: to have our past forgiven, how to have a purpose
Speaker 3: for living, how to have a home in heaven, and
Speaker 3: then not share That would be criminal. So my fifth
Speaker 3: purpose in calling in life is I'm sent to bring
Speaker 3: others into God's family. We call us here at saddleback
Speaker 3: the peace plan, and we base it on some verses.
Speaker 3: Notice this verse. The Bible says in First Corinthias, Second
Speaker 3: Corinthians five eighteen. Through Christ, God made peace between us
Speaker 3: and himself. Then God gave us the work of bringing
Speaker 3: others into peace with him. I want you to circle
Speaker 3: the word peace twice there on your notes. God made
Speaker 3: peace between us and himself through Jesus. Then God gave
Speaker 3: us the work of bringing others into peace with him.
Speaker 3: So God's I'm mad at you, you can be at
Speaker 3: peace with him.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 3: This is God's eternal peace plan. The Bible calls it
Speaker 3: the ministry of Reconciliation. One day Jesus is walking down
Speaker 3: the street and a guy comes up to him, says, Lord,
Speaker 3: what's the most important verse in the Bible? And Jesus
Speaker 3: that I can summarize the whole Bible in two sentences.
Speaker 3: Here's cliff notes on the Bible. Here's the whole Bible
Speaker 3: in two sentences. Love God with all your heart, and
Speaker 3: love your neighbor as yourself. Be reconciled to God, and
Speaker 3: be reconciled to each other. Make peace with God and
Speaker 3: make peace with each other. Stop your war with God,
Speaker 3: stop your war with each other. In the conflict with God,
Speaker 3: and then you'll be able to end the conflict.
Speaker 4: With each other.
Speaker 3: Get the Prince of Peace in your life, and you'll
Speaker 3: be able to live at peace. It's all about relationships.
Speaker 3: Life is not about accomplishments. It's not about achievements. It's
Speaker 3: not allowed about acquisitions. It's about relationships. Your relationship to God,
Speaker 3: your relationship to yourself, and your relationship to other people.
Speaker 3: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbors yourself.
Speaker 3: This is the ministry of reconciliation. This is what God
Speaker 3: calls we call the Peace plan. Make peace with God
Speaker 3: and then make peace with others and bring the peace
Speaker 3: of God into their lives. Now this peace plan, of
Speaker 3: God's eternal peace plan, will only have and if you
Speaker 3: fulfill your fifth calling. The Bible says it like this,
Speaker 3: John Chapter twenty, verse twenty one. In fact, let's read
Speaker 3: this verse aloud together. Let's read it aloud with great enthusiasm.
Speaker 3: Jesus said, peace be with you, as the Father has
Speaker 3: sent me. I am sending you now again. Circle three words,
Speaker 3: circle the word peace. It's the peace plan.
Speaker 4: Peace be with you.
Speaker 3: We get peace with God, and we give the peace
Speaker 3: of God, and we explain the peace of God to others.
Speaker 3: As the Father has sent me. I'm sending you. Circle
Speaker 3: the words sent and sending. This is your fifth calling.
Speaker 3: I'm called to be loved, I'm called to belong, I'm
Speaker 3: called to become, I'm called to bless, and I'm called
Speaker 3: to be sent. Now, you, guys, we live by this verse.
Speaker 3: Jesus says, as I've been sent, I am sending you.
Speaker 3: We don't just believe this verse. We practice it, We
Speaker 3: live it, we do it. And this is the one
Speaker 3: calling that most people want to shy away from. I
Speaker 3: can imagine some people get in heaven and God says, okay,
Speaker 3: let's go through the purposes. I created you for the
Speaker 3: reasons you exist. Let's go through the callings that give
Speaker 3: in your life. Did you let me love you your
Speaker 3: call to be loved? Yes, got that one? Bingo you're
Speaker 3: called to belong. Got that one. I did that.
Speaker 4: You're called the bulk to become. Got that.
Speaker 3: Did that You're called the bus others. Got that You're
Speaker 3: called to be sent and pass it on to others? Ah,
Speaker 3: wrong answer, I didn't do that one. And God's going
Speaker 3: to say, and what were you thinking? You think I
Speaker 3: put you on earth to live for yourself. Once you
Speaker 3: have the good news, don't you pass it on to others?
Speaker 3: Now many of you are new to Saddleback Church, So
Speaker 3: I want to take a minute and I want to
Speaker 3: explain to you what we call the peace plant and
Speaker 3: how we do this at Saddleback Church, because, as I said,
Speaker 3: we take this verse extremely sent seriously. Jesus said, as
Speaker 3: I have been sent from God the Father to Earth,
Speaker 3: I am sending you out to all around the world.
Speaker 3: We call it the peace Plan. What is the peace plan?
Speaker 3: I wrote a definition there on your outline. The peace
Speaker 3: plan is ordinary people, empowered by God, making a difference
Speaker 3: together wherever they are now, every one of those phrases
Speaker 3: is important ordinary people. The Peace Plan is not for superstars.
Speaker 3: It's not for saints and nuns and priests and missionaries.
Speaker 3: It's for people like you and me, normal people. Ordinary
Speaker 3: people can do the Peace Plan empowered by God.
Speaker 4: We don't do it on our own power.
Speaker 3: God gives us the energy and the ability to do
Speaker 3: it making a difference together. You don't do it on
Speaker 3: your own. We always do it in groups. We do
Speaker 3: it in teams. We do it together. We're better together.
Speaker 3: We're in community, and we do it wherever we are.
Speaker 3: And so we do it here, we do it there,
Speaker 3: we do it everywhere. Jesus said it like this, John
Speaker 3: fifteen sixteen. You did not choose me, but I chose you,
Speaker 3: and I appointed you to go.
Speaker 4: Circle the word to go. I've appointed you to go.
Speaker 3: Part of your appointment, part of your mission in life.
Speaker 3: Your life mission is to go. You are to be
Speaker 3: sent and you are to go. I chose you and
Speaker 3: appointed you to go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last. Now,
Speaker 3: fruit is a metaphor for a successful life, a fulfilling life,
Speaker 3: a productive life, a fruitful life. And Jesus said, I
Speaker 3: want you to bear fruit. In your life that will last,
Speaker 3: that will last. Let me now, let me be honest
Speaker 3: with you. Most of what you do in life isn't
Speaker 3: going to last. Most of what I do in life
Speaker 3: isn't going to last. The things that we spend most
Speaker 3: of our time on people aren't even going to remember
Speaker 3: in ten years, much less thirty, fifty or one hundred.
Speaker 3: Most of the things you do in your life, it
Speaker 3: isn't going to last.
Speaker 4: Nobody's going to care.
Speaker 3: What movies you went to, what books you read, what
Speaker 3: how you spent your summer. And Jesus said, I want
Speaker 3: you to do something with your life that lasts. Now,
Speaker 3: there are only two things are gonna last forever, truth
Speaker 3: and people. Truth and people. So if you invest your
Speaker 3: life in truth and in people, then you're investing your
Speaker 3: life in things that last.
Speaker 4: Can you imagine getting.
Speaker 3: To heaven one day and somebody comes up and says,
Speaker 3: I just want to thank you, and you say, thank you.
Speaker 3: I don't even know you said, no, you don't know me.
Speaker 3: But you helped in a ministry, you helped in a project,
Speaker 3: a humanitarian effort, you helped in your church, and you
Speaker 3: know what, you did something that caused me to get
Speaker 3: to know God, and I'm going to be in heaven
Speaker 3: because of you.
Speaker 4: I'm your friend forever.
Speaker 3: There's nothing you can do more important than help people
Speaker 3: determine the destiny of their lives, because it's the.
Speaker 4: Only thing that's going to outla.
Speaker 3: It was William James who said the greatest use of
Speaker 3: your life is to invested in that which outlasted. And
Speaker 3: when you invest it in people who are going to
Speaker 3: last for eternity, then you are doing fruit that will last.
Speaker 2: What a special message from Pastor Rick.
Speaker 1: And now let's hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope.
Speaker 2: Here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.
Speaker 3: Today, I want to share a testimony from Ella, who
Speaker 3: listens to Daily Hope in Canada, and she wrote, Pastor Rick,
Speaker 3: like so many, I found every area of my life
Speaker 3: flipped upside down when the pandemic hit in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: I graduated from the university in April that year, and
Speaker 3: I was lost and desperate for guidance. Yet as stubborn
Speaker 3: as I was, I searched for answers everywhere else except
Speaker 3: in God's word. But out of desperation, I read the
Speaker 3: purpose Driven Life and I started listening.
Speaker 4: To Daily Hope.
Speaker 3: Daily Hope was one of the resources that became monumental
Speaker 3: in my journey to giving my life to Christ a
Speaker 3: year after I started listening. And so I want to
Speaker 3: thank you, and I want to thank everyone at Daily
Speaker 3: Hope for all the work that you do. It must
Speaker 3: seem so abstract when people you reach are all over
Speaker 3: the world, but I know I'm not alone and saying
Speaker 3: that Daily Hope has helped me find comfort and God
Speaker 3: when I needed it most. Wow, Ella, thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Thank you for writing, and thank you for telling me
Speaker 3: that you've accepted Christ. You know, I know so many
Speaker 3: people who are just like you. They're lost, They're looking
Speaker 3: for answers, and they keep looking everywhere, but in the
Speaker 3: right place, God's word for the truth. But praise God,
Speaker 3: you found the word of God. You believed his word,
Speaker 3: and you believe that Jesus is the truth. So it's
Speaker 3: a blessing. It's a blessing to know that God is
Speaker 3: using this broadcast to help bring you and other people
Speaker 3: to Him on a daily basis. Now, you mentioned that
Speaker 3: it must be unusual to reach people around the world,
Speaker 3: even though I'm not able to meet Him face to face,
Speaker 3: and I'd like to say this. I wish I could
Speaker 3: meet everybody face to face. I wish I could take
Speaker 3: every one of you out to a corner restaurant, sit
Speaker 3: down and have a cup of coffee and just let
Speaker 3: me hear your life story. I would Nothing would make
Speaker 3: me feel happier than doing that. But that's why I'm blessed.
Speaker 4: To receive letters.
Speaker 3: Please write me, Please tell me your story. I want
Speaker 3: to know how God is changing your life, how God
Speaker 3: is using his word through Daily Hope to make a
Speaker 3: difference in you. So let me know what God's doing
Speaker 3: in your life. Let me know how He's using Daily
Speaker 3: Hope to help you in your Christian walk, and that
Speaker 3: way we can pray intelligently for you.
Speaker 2: Hey, if you'd like to let Rick know how this
Speaker 2: broadcast has blessed you, he would love it. Please feel
Speaker 2: free to.
Speaker 1: Send him an email at Rick at pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: That's Rick at Pastrick dot com. Be sure to join
Speaker 1: us next time as we look into God's Word for
Speaker 1: our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's
Speaker 1: Daily Hope and your generous financial support