Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible
Speaker 1: teaching ministry of Rick Warren. And today we're continuing with
Speaker 1: this powerful series called the Jesus Model. In this series,
Speaker 1: Rick will walk you step by step through the process
Speaker 1: of true biblical discipleship.
Speaker 2: Rick's giving you practical tools.
Speaker 1: To grow spiritually, experience God's peace, live with greater purpose,
Speaker 1: and become more like Jesus in every area of your life.
Speaker 1: So let's join Rick right now for the final part
Speaker 1: of a message called Succeeding in your Mission.
Speaker 2: Now, there's a seventh principle.
Speaker 3: This is a really important one in your ministry and
Speaker 3: your mission, whether it's local, global, or personal. This is
Speaker 3: the principle of accommodation. And the principle of accommodation is
Speaker 3: adapt to local tastes. Adapt to local tastes. Now, this
Speaker 3: is the seventh thing that Jesus gives us his instructions
Speaker 3: to his peace teams when he sent it him out.
Speaker 3: He says, eat and drink whatever they give you. Oh no,
Speaker 3: And when you enter a town and are welcomed, eat
Speaker 3: what is set before you?
Speaker 2: Now again, what did it mean? Then?
Speaker 3: What's the timeless principle? And what does it mean now?
Speaker 3: When Jesus talks about this, he's talking about far more
Speaker 3: than just dietary rules. Now that it's included that, but
Speaker 3: it's more than that. There's a principle that's deeper than that.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: In nineteen seventy four, I moved to Nagasaki, Japan, where
Speaker 3: I taught English as a mission project. Taught it in
Speaker 3: a taught English in a church in Nagasaki, Japan as
Speaker 3: a short term mission project. And when I got to Japan,
Speaker 3: I'd never eaten Japanese food, and the first time I
Speaker 3: ate it, I did not like it. Seaweed and raw
Speaker 3: and a lot of other stuff. Now, I did not
Speaker 3: like it, but I loved the Japanese So I ate
Speaker 3: what was set before me, not because I love the food,
Speaker 3: because I love the people. And you know what, as
Speaker 3: it began to eat, I learned to like. It's not
Speaker 3: one of my favorite foods anyma, I want to get
Speaker 3: some sushi, Okay? I mean, I love Japanese food now,
Speaker 3: but I.
Speaker 2: Had to.
Speaker 3: I loved the people, so I ate what was set
Speaker 3: before me.
Speaker 2: What did I do?
Speaker 3: I adapted to local taste. Now since then, I've been
Speaker 3: all around the world, I don't want to tell you
Speaker 3: the stuff I've eaten because I don't want you losing
Speaker 3: your dinner here or lunch. But you know whether it's
Speaker 3: vegemite in Australia or boiled turtles in China, and a
Speaker 3: few other things. Now, by the way, let me give
Speaker 3: you a little secret. It doesn't say eat at all.
Speaker 3: So here's what you do. Never eat it all because
Speaker 3: if you do, they think, oh he likes it, we'll
Speaker 3: give you another plate full. And you could barely get
Speaker 3: the first plate at platter fill. So what you do
Speaker 3: is you eat a little, drink a lot of water,
Speaker 3: and mess it around your plate. But you never clean
Speaker 3: your plate of something you don't like. Get it good,
Speaker 3: because if you clean your plate, they're going to fill
Speaker 3: it up again, all right, So don't do that. Here's
Speaker 3: the point. Love adapts, and let's just bring it down
Speaker 3: to home. So you don't have to cross the ocean
Speaker 3: to do peace. You just cross the street because in
Speaker 3: your neighborhood you might need to eat menudo or kim
Speaker 3: chi or a thousand other different kinds of great, great
Speaker 3: flavors that we now have in Orange County. The world
Speaker 3: has come to us. We speak sixty three languages in
Speaker 3: this church. So we you know, we're all in the
Speaker 3: same family of God, and we need to adapt to
Speaker 3: each other, and we need to support and we need to.
Speaker 2: Love each other.
Speaker 3: And so you know, the point here is that Americans
Speaker 3: don't often don't understand how it's important it is to
Speaker 3: share food with people. You know, here we're not as
Speaker 3: serious about food in America. We eat it pretty casually.
Speaker 3: You want to go get some lunch, you want to
Speaker 3: go do this, go do that. But for sharing for
Speaker 3: the poor and poor people, sharing your food is sharing
Speaker 3: your life. And when they put out a table there
Speaker 3: sometimes it's all they've got, and it's everything they've got,
Speaker 3: and they are giving you their life. And it is
Speaker 3: what eating with people brings you closer to them. It's relaxing,
Speaker 3: and it is the fastest way to build a bridge
Speaker 3: is eating with somebody.
Speaker 2: The fastest way.
Speaker 3: In fact, let me tell you about my taxicab food
Speaker 3: ministry have ever told you about this. Whenever Steve and
Speaker 3: I are David and I, whenever we're in a town,
Speaker 3: we get in a taxi, and inevitably the tax is
Speaker 3: not from America. And so my standard question is where
Speaker 3: are you're from I'm from Ethiopia. And then my next
Speaker 3: question is always where's the best Ethiopian food in Washington,
Speaker 3: d C. Well, it's over here, and it's always a little
Speaker 3: hole in the wall place. And said, look, take us
Speaker 3: there and we will buy you lunch. And we do that,
Speaker 3: and then we get in another taxi. Say where A,
Speaker 3: you're from Pakistan, where's the best Pakistani restaurant in New
Speaker 3: York City? That's right here over here. Oh, take us there,
Speaker 3: we'll buy you lunch. We'll get in another place where
Speaker 3: you're from Bolivia. Where's the best Bolivian food in Denver?
Speaker 3: Well I to continue where it is, will take us there,
Speaker 3: we'll buy you lunch. I have taxi drivers who are
Speaker 3: best friend in every major city in the world, and
Speaker 3: I could call them up and in the middle of
Speaker 3: the night they'd come pick up Rick. Because we're friends.
Speaker 3: We're like this, Okay, I don't know all of the
Speaker 3: top brass in the town, but I know the taxi
Speaker 3: cab drivers, and I have built the bridge of love
Speaker 3: with so many dear friends from all around world. Just
Speaker 3: I said, let me take you out to dinner. You
Speaker 3: choose the place, and when you show you when you
Speaker 3: break bread with people, you are building that bridge of
Speaker 3: love that Jesus can walk across. Now, when he says
Speaker 3: adapt to local tastes, eat what's set before you, there's
Speaker 3: a larger principle here.
Speaker 2: Here's what Paul says.
Speaker 3: I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all
Speaker 3: in order to reach a wide range of people.
Speaker 2: So you know, I just adapted people.
Speaker 3: I entered their world, and I tried to experience things
Speaker 3: from their point of view. I've become just about every
Speaker 3: sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead
Speaker 3: those I meet into a God saved life.
Speaker 2: Says.
Speaker 3: My whole reason for this is I'm on a mission
Speaker 3: for God. Here's another verse of Paul. I try to
Speaker 3: accommodate everybody in everything. That's the principle of accommodation, looking
Speaker 3: for my own advantage, but for the advantage of everybody.
Speaker 2: Else so that they may be saved.
Speaker 3: Question, who do you need to be a little bit
Speaker 3: more accommodating to in order to build a bridge of
Speaker 3: love so Jesus Christ can walk across the Somebody in
Speaker 3: your office who looks a little different, talks a little different,
Speaker 3: acts a little different, smells a little different.
Speaker 2: Who do you need to be a little.
Speaker 3: Bit more accommodating to in order to show the love
Speaker 3: of God so you can build that bridge of love.
Speaker 2: That's accommodation. Number eight.
Speaker 3: The eighth principle Jesus gives to his peace teams is
Speaker 3: the principle of alleviation. Pain alleviation. And here's the point.
Speaker 3: Begin where they hurt. You don't begin with your agenda.
Speaker 3: You begin with their hurt, the hurt of the person
Speaker 3: you're trying to reach for Christ, the hurt of the
Speaker 3: person you're trying to help, the hurt of the person
Speaker 3: you're trying to show the love of God. You don't
Speaker 3: begin with what you want to do, what you need
Speaker 3: to do, what you'd like to do, what you think
Speaker 3: would be best for that village or that team, or
Speaker 3: that location or that office or whatever. You do, what's
Speaker 3: best for them? What do they need based on their hurt?
Speaker 3: Jesus said this, heal the sick who are there, and
Speaker 3: tell them the Kingdom of God is near you.
Speaker 2: Now, what's you talking about? Heal the sick?
Speaker 3: Well, friends, there's all kinds of sickness, and the truth
Speaker 3: is everybody is hurting.
Speaker 2: Everybody has hidden wounds.
Speaker 3: Everybody has certain sicknesses, certain sins certain insecurities, certain fears.
Speaker 3: Everybody has been hurt by the past, and everybody needs
Speaker 3: healing in different ways. And he's saying, find that hurt
Speaker 3: and heal it, Find that need and fill it, Find that.
Speaker 2: Problem and solve it. He's saying, start.
Speaker 3: With their agenda, not your agenda. The silent hurts, the
Speaker 3: silent fears. Just look around and you never know when
Speaker 3: you'll say something that will be healing to somebody else.
Speaker 3: Sometimes you'll say something and it just brings healing to
Speaker 3: their life because.
Speaker 2: They needed that insight. Oh that's what I need to do.
Speaker 3: I need to let go of that, I need to
Speaker 3: refocus whatever. Now you know people in your life. I
Speaker 3: want you to think of somebody in your life. You
Speaker 3: think that person will never accept Christ.
Speaker 2: Everybody gets somebody like that in mind.
Speaker 3: That person will never in a million years except Christ.
Speaker 2: You're wrong.
Speaker 3: Anybody can be one to Christ if you find the
Speaker 3: key to their heart. And what is the key to
Speaker 3: their heart that unlocks the door? It's always a hurt,
Speaker 3: a need, or an interest. A hurt, a need or
Speaker 3: an interest. And when you start with where they're hurting,
Speaker 3: where they need healing. Where there where they need a
Speaker 3: blessing from you, an encouragement from you. You start with that,
Speaker 3: it opens up the doors. The Bible tells us that
Speaker 3: Jesus went into every village doing three things, preaching, teaching,
Speaker 3: and healing. Now, you're not going to heal people like
Speaker 3: Jesus did, but he did preaching and teaching and healing.
Speaker 3: Now that meant one third of his ministry involved the
Speaker 3: soul preaching, one third of his ministry involved enlightening the
Speaker 3: mind teaching, and one third of his ministry involved caring
Speaker 3: for the body healing. Jesus didn't just care about salvation.
Speaker 3: He cared about education, and he cared about health care.
Speaker 3: It is not by accident. You go into any country
Speaker 3: in the world and the first school, almost always the
Speaker 3: first school ever started in that country, and the first
Speaker 3: hospital start in that country. We're started by Christian missionaries.
Speaker 3: That's almost every country in the world. Why, because that's
Speaker 3: our faith. Our faith cares about the mind, the body,
Speaker 3: and the spirit. Our faith cares about salvation, education and
Speaker 3: health and always why Jesus is a healer, and Jesus
Speaker 3: is a teacher, and Jesus is a savior.
Speaker 2: And sour.
Speaker 3: It's the whole person that we care about. And that's
Speaker 3: why in the Peace Plan, we promote reconciliation for those
Speaker 3: who are hurting because of conflict, and we trained servant
Speaker 3: leaders for those who are being hurt by oppression and corruption.
Speaker 3: And we assist the poor for those who are being
Speaker 3: hurt by poverty, and we care for the sick, for
Speaker 3: those who've been hurt by disease. And we educate the
Speaker 3: next generation for those who are being hurt by ignorance.
Speaker 3: Why Jesus said, heal them, go and tell them, this
Speaker 3: is the kingdom of God.
Speaker 2: What is the kingdom of God. It's not just about
Speaker 2: getting to heaven.
Speaker 3: It's about living life to the fullest here on earth too,
Speaker 3: and relieving.
Speaker 2: The suffering of people around us.
Speaker 3: So we go to these churches, and we go directly
Speaker 3: to church. We work church to church because it is
Speaker 3: the church. It's going to last long after we're gone.
Speaker 3: And they and they tell us what to do. We
Speaker 3: don't tell them. We say, what's hurting in your in
Speaker 3: your city, what's hurting in your village, what's hurting in
Speaker 3: your town.
Speaker 2: There's one last principle.
Speaker 3: Number nine is the principle of mobilization, and Jesus wants
Speaker 3: you to do this too, and it's to pray others
Speaker 3: will join us. Pray that others will join us in
Speaker 3: this mission for God. God says, I want the whole
Speaker 3: world to know that I love them. I want the
Speaker 3: whole world to hear the healing message of salvation. I
Speaker 3: want the whole world to know that I care. And
Speaker 3: the Bible says this. The were his Jesus instructions to
Speaker 3: the thirty one teams that he sent out.
Speaker 2: The harvest is so great.
Speaker 3: He said, look around the world, so many people, so
Speaker 3: many people need God, but the workers are so few.
Speaker 3: Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest,
Speaker 3: and ask him to send out more workers for his field.
Speaker 3: You know, when I drive up and down the freeways
Speaker 3: of southern California, I often look around at all the people,
Speaker 3: and I think, Lord, how do I get him to
Speaker 3: slow down long enough just for me to tell him
Speaker 3: the good news? Because they're moving so fast they're not listening,
Speaker 3: and the good news is only good news.
Speaker 2: If it gets there in time.
Speaker 3: You got to learn to have eyes like Jesus and
Speaker 3: see all around you people in need of hope, purpose forgiveness,
Speaker 3: love meaning salvation, in need of healing, of physical healing,
Speaker 3: emotional healing, spiritual healing, relational healing, all these different things. Now,
Speaker 3: if you want God's blessing on your life, here's how
Speaker 3: you get it. Care about what God cares about if
Speaker 3: you have the same heart that God has. God says,
Speaker 3: I found somebody after my own heart. I'm going to
Speaker 3: bless them, bless their socks off, because they care about
Speaker 3: what I care about. Now, what does God care about most?
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what he cares about most. He First,
Speaker 3: what God matters most to God is the death of
Speaker 3: his son, Jesus Christ. He gave his son Jesus to
Speaker 3: die for us on the cross, the greatest possible sacrifice.
Speaker 3: And the second greatest thing is that that news gets
Speaker 3: spread to all around the world. Because God wants his
Speaker 3: lost children found. He wants everybody to know him. He
Speaker 3: wants everybody to love him the way He loves them.
Speaker 3: He wants everybody to live the a life that He
Speaker 3: intended for them to live.
Speaker 2: And so what do we do.
Speaker 3: We pray that other people will catch the vision, catch
Speaker 3: the heart of God, to begin to care not just
Speaker 3: about themselves, but to care about everybody, to care about
Speaker 3: the people around us that we live by, we work with,
Speaker 3: we drive by, we go to the movies with, and
Speaker 3: see all around us. Now, God wants to use you,
Speaker 3: and I am offering you the adventure of a lifetime.
Speaker 3: Nothing comes close to the adventure of being used by God.
Speaker 3: Nothing comes close to the adventure of being on mission
Speaker 3: for God. Nothing comes close to knowing that your life
Speaker 3: is making a difference, not for five years or ten years,
Speaker 3: but for eternity, and that there will be people in
Speaker 3: heaven who will be thanking you forever gone. Thank you
Speaker 3: because you cared enough to be on mission in your neighborhood,
Speaker 3: in your office in southern California, in America, and around
Speaker 3: the world. The Bible says this look on the screen.
Speaker 3: If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it.
Speaker 3: Only this is Jesus talking only those who throw away
Speaker 3: their lives for My sake and for the sake of
Speaker 3: the good News. That's what we're talking about. Will ever
Speaker 3: know what it means to really live until you get
Speaker 3: on mission for God. You're not living, friend, You're just
Speaker 3: existing because you were made for a mission.
Speaker 2: It's power heads.
Speaker 3: I want to challenge you to commit yourself to a
Speaker 3: lifestyle of peace. Say God, I want to do this
Speaker 3: wherever you want to use me. I want to get
Speaker 3: a partner. I want to depend on you. I want
Speaker 3: to keep it simple. I want to stay focused on
Speaker 3: my purpose. I want you to use me to bless
Speaker 3: other people with a look, a word, and a touch.
Speaker 2: I want to.
Speaker 3: Build relationships of love so you can walk across that bridge.
Speaker 3: I want to be only to adapt to things that
Speaker 3: aren't particularly comfortable for me for the benefit of others.
Speaker 3: I want to begin where other people are hurting, and
Speaker 3: I want to commit to praying that other people will
Speaker 3: join the army of compassion. I commit to practicing these
Speaker 3: principles wherever I am. If you say that, I want
Speaker 3: you to just in your heart say, Dear Jesus, I'm in.
Speaker 3: I'm in. I'm signing up. I'm saying I'm in. I
Speaker 3: want you to use my life for good and.
Speaker 2: For God and for your glory in your name. I
Speaker 2: pray Amen.
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Speaker 1: Rick's Daily Hope. I've got something really special to share
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Speaker 2: Word for our daily hope.
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