Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This is
Speaker 1: the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Hey, We're so
Speaker 1: glad you've joined us. Today we're continuing a powerful series
Speaker 1: called radicalis Developing Spiritual Roots. And in this series, Rick
Speaker 1: will show you how to grow deep in your faith,
Speaker 1: stay grounded in God's word, and become everything He created
Speaker 1: you to be. Okay, And now here's part one of
Speaker 1: a message called Radical Hope.
Speaker 2: At the end of World War Two, there was a
Speaker 2: United States sub coming back from the war and it
Speaker 2: was coming into harbor to dock at Newport News, Virginia.
Speaker 2: Something went terribly wrong with the submarine and it sunk
Speaker 2: to the bottom of the ocean in the harbor. Hadn't
Speaker 2: been touched at all during the war, but it sunk
Speaker 2: in the harbor. The coast Guard dispatched divers to go
Speaker 2: down and do survey the hall to see if it
Speaker 2: had been compromised or what had happened. And the divers
Speaker 2: hed a sailor tapping on the wall from the inside
Speaker 2: of the sub The words in morse code is their hope.
Speaker 2: That's a very important question in life, is their hope?
Speaker 2: Because we live in a broken world. Things don't go right,
Speaker 2: and so hope is essential. Thousands of people are probably
Speaker 2: asking this question today. They may be sitting in front
Speaker 2: of a pile of bills saying is their hope? They
Speaker 2: may be standing at the side of a fresh grave
Speaker 2: saying is their hope? They may be sitting in a
Speaker 2: doctor's office, reviewing tests and saying is their hope. They
Speaker 2: may be waiting for a job offer after having been
Speaker 2: laid off. Is their hope? They may be wondering, am
Speaker 2: I ember ever going to get married? I Am I
Speaker 2: ever going to have a child? Am I ever going
Speaker 2: to have a family? Or whatever question. But this question
Speaker 2: of hope is an essential question of life now. Because
Speaker 2: human beings are hungry for hope. We go after all
Speaker 2: kinds of quack ideas, gimmicks, get rich quick schemes, fads,
Speaker 2: and grasping for straws. When you think you're dying, and
Speaker 2: you'll try anything to stay alive, when you think you're
Speaker 2: going under financially, you'll try anything to stay afloat. And
Speaker 2: we often are gullible and we get scammed by false hopes. Now,
Speaker 2: all discouragement and all disappointment comes from putting our hope
Speaker 2: in something we should not have put our hope in
Speaker 2: from false hope. There's only one thing that can give
Speaker 2: you eternal hope, lasting hope, permanent hope, and.
Speaker 3: That is a relationship with Jesus Christ. This week.
Speaker 2: I was on the internet earlier in the week and
Speaker 2: I saw an advertisement that said eight ways to have
Speaker 2: hope for the new Year. I thought, man, I'm speaking
Speaker 2: on this this weekend, so I need to go check
Speaker 2: this out. So I went to the website and it
Speaker 2: was false hope. I had to look at it. But
Speaker 2: here were some of the suggestions that were offered for
Speaker 2: building your hope for the new year. Number one, have
Speaker 2: a cup of tea.
Speaker 3: A cup of tea.
Speaker 2: Be kind to yourself now, Friends, a cup of tea
Speaker 2: may relax you and may distress you. It's maybe great
Speaker 2: for peace of mind, but it isn't going to give
Speaker 2: you any hope. Here was the second suggestion, say this
Speaker 2: affirmation every day in front of a mirror.
Speaker 3: I am the key to peace. Friend.
Speaker 2: If I'm the key to piece or you're the key
Speaker 2: to piece, we're in real trouble. We're in real trouble.
Speaker 2: We're up a creek without a paddle. Friend, I don't
Speaker 2: have any hope if I am the key to piece
Speaker 2: or you are here was the third one.
Speaker 3: I'm not making these up.
Speaker 2: Create a daily ritual where you light a candle and
Speaker 2: you meditate. Now, you don't have to believe this is
Speaker 2: direct quote. You don't have to believe in any particular
Speaker 2: deity to make this work. Just silently reflect on the
Speaker 2: lit candle and feel the hope again. That might put
Speaker 2: you in a tranquil mind. I'm not knocking it as
Speaker 2: a stress reliever. Looking at a candle might be, you know,
Speaker 2: something to really, you know, wind you down, but it
Speaker 2: ain't going to give you any hope because it can't
Speaker 2: change your circumstance. As I said, all discouragement and all
Speaker 2: disappointment comes from putting our hope in something that God
Speaker 2: never intended us to hope in. When you hope in money,
Speaker 2: you're going to be disappointed. When you hope put your
Speaker 2: hope in the economy or your investments, You're going to
Speaker 2: be disappointed. When you put your hope in the government.
Speaker 2: You're going to be severely disappointed. When you put your
Speaker 2: hope in in other people, or even in yourself, you're
Speaker 2: going to let yourself down. Because you're not perfect, and
Speaker 2: there is no person who could possibly meet all.
Speaker 3: The needs in your life.
Speaker 2: There's only one reliable source that will never let you down.
Speaker 2: Isaiah forty thirty one. There on your outline, it says this,
Speaker 2: those who hope in the Lord, in the Lord will
Speaker 2: renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.
Speaker 2: They will run and not grow weary, they will walk
Speaker 2: and not be faint. And that is my goal for
Speaker 2: you as we face a brand new year, that you
Speaker 2: will run and not be weary, that you will walk
Speaker 2: and not faint, that you will have the spiritual strength
Speaker 2: and spiritual energy you need.
Speaker 3: So, as we continue in.
Speaker 2: This series on radicalis deepening spiritual roots, the radical roots
Speaker 2: of our faith, I want us to look today at
Speaker 2: the topic of radical hope. Now to understand hope, you
Speaker 2: have to understand what hope is not. Hope is not
Speaker 2: wishful thinking, Hope is not daydreaming. Hope is not positive thinking.
Speaker 2: Hope is not optimism. Now I'm not knocking those things.
Speaker 2: I mean positive thinking is better than negative thinking, and
Speaker 2: optimism is certainly better than pessimism and despair. But those
Speaker 2: things can't change your environment. They can change you They
Speaker 2: can change your attitude, but they're not gonna change your circumstances.
Speaker 2: They're not gonna change your problems. You need something much
Speaker 2: much stronger than simply positive thinking and optimism. What you
Speaker 2: need is genuine hope. Now, what's the difference between optimism
Speaker 2: and hope. Optimism is psychological. It's based on the way
Speaker 2: you think. Hope is theological. It's based on some facts
Speaker 2: of reality about God and about his relationship to you.
Speaker 3: Big difference.
Speaker 2: Optimism is positive thinking. Hope is passionate trusting. It's about trust.
Speaker 2: It's about trusting someone who can make a difference.
Speaker 3: That's God.
Speaker 2: Optimism says it's not so bad. Optimism can actually be
Speaker 2: a denial of reality. Optimism can be playing Pollyanna, where
Speaker 2: you look at the world with rose colored glasses you
Speaker 2: it's not so bad when it really is bad. Optimism
Speaker 2: can often put yourself in a phony world where you're
Speaker 2: wearing rose colored glasses. The sun will come out tomorrow
Speaker 2: if it's to be, it's up to me, and you
Speaker 2: got all these little slogans, and you're trying to psych
Speaker 2: yourself into believing something you know really isn't true. Optimism
Speaker 2: often says it's not so bad. Hope says it's bad.
Speaker 2: Hope never denies reality. Hope says it's bad. It's really bad.
Speaker 2: It's really really bad. But I still believe in a
Speaker 2: God and trust in a Savior who is greater than
Speaker 2: how bad this situation is. It's not faking it, it's
Speaker 2: not pretending, it's not psyching yourself up. It is having
Speaker 2: hope in the reality of what God has promised in
Speaker 2: his word. Now, if you want to study hope, you
Speaker 2: have to go to the book of First Peter. First
Speaker 2: Peter is called the Letter of Hope. It's a small
Speaker 2: book at the end of the New Testament, written by Peter.
Speaker 2: It's over in five chapters long, and Peter wrote it
Speaker 2: to Christians who were suffering persecution in the Roman Empire
Speaker 2: at the time. Wrote it, Nero was the Caesar of Rome.
Speaker 2: And you know what Nero was doing. He was feeding
Speaker 2: Christians to the lions in the Colisseum. He was nailing
Speaker 2: them to crosses up and down the Appian Way, tarring
Speaker 2: them and then lighting them on fire as torches. And
Speaker 2: to be a Christian in those days meant death. You
Speaker 2: follow Jesus, you die. It was that simple, and Christians
Speaker 2: were hounded and hunted and persecuted. And Peter writes a
Speaker 2: letter to people who are suffering. If you're ever going
Speaker 2: through suffering, you need to read the book of First
Speaker 2: Peter over.
Speaker 3: And over and over.
Speaker 2: And in the first seven verses of the first chapter
Speaker 2: of Peter. Of First Peter, we have the five roots
Speaker 2: of radical hope, the five reasons why we can hope
Speaker 2: when other people feel hopeless.
Speaker 3: As we look at a new year.
Speaker 2: Number one, God chose me before I chose him. That's
Speaker 2: the first thing that gives me hope, that God chose
Speaker 2: me long before I chose him. Now, Peter starts this
Speaker 2: in his first chapter, and in the second verse he says,
Speaker 2: you were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father,
Speaker 2: and were made a holy people by His Spirit. The
Speaker 2: rest of that verse says you were bought by the
Speaker 2: blood of Jesus to obey him. And we see the
Speaker 2: trinity all in that one verse, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: Now what this verse says is, first of all, your
Speaker 2: salvation was no accident. Long before you chose God, He
Speaker 2: chose you. It was his idea. Before God even created
Speaker 2: the universe, he decided he wanted to create you. He
Speaker 2: made you to love you, and he thought of you
Speaker 2: long before he did anything else. Your salvation was not
Speaker 2: an accident. The whole thing was his idea and God
Speaker 2: wants you and his family. You were chosen noticed according
Speaker 2: to the purpose of God. God has a purpose for
Speaker 2: your life. And what is that purpose? He says, he
Speaker 2: wanted to make a holy people. God's purpose in creating
Speaker 2: you and putting you on earth is to make you
Speaker 2: holy for heaven, to get you ready for heaven. Before
Speaker 2: you can get into heaven, you have to be transformed.
Speaker 2: God has to do something in your heart so you're
Speaker 2: transformed and ready for Heaven. Now, understanding this simple truth,
Speaker 2: God chose me before I chose him gives you great confidence,
Speaker 2: great hope because you know that you were chosen by God.
Speaker 2: We all know how great it is to feel chosen
Speaker 2: when you're chosen for a team. Remember in grade school,
Speaker 2: you hated to be the last person chosen for the team.
Speaker 2: You wanted to be the first person chosen for the team.
Speaker 2: You loved it when somebody popular or athletic chose you
Speaker 2: to be on their team. It built your confidence, It
Speaker 2: built your self esteem. We love to be chosen for
Speaker 2: a team. We loved to be chosen to receive recognition.
Speaker 2: We love to be chosen to be singled out, We
Speaker 2: love to be chosen to be proposed to. When Ky
Speaker 2: said yes to me, my self esteem went up enormous
Speaker 2: amount because I thought I must.
Speaker 3: Not be that bad. She said yes, She said yes.
Speaker 2: Now, the highest honor you will ever receive is this,
Speaker 2: God has chosen you to spend eternity with him.
Speaker 3: Big deal. That's a big deal.
Speaker 2: God has chosen you to spend eternity with him, and
Speaker 2: he chose you before you chose him.
Speaker 3: Number two.
Speaker 2: Second reason we have hope is God always treats me
Speaker 2: with mercy. God always treats me with mercy. Now, remember
Speaker 2: Peter is writing this to people who are already believers
Speaker 2: therein the family of God. He's writing it to Christians,
Speaker 2: and he says, this all honor to the God and
Speaker 2: Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. For it is by
Speaker 2: his boundless mercy circle the word mercy. It is by
Speaker 2: his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege
Speaker 2: of being born again. Friends, the more you understand grace,
Speaker 2: the more you're going to be amazed by it, because
Speaker 2: it's completely undeserved. It's totally unmerited. It is not something
Speaker 2: you can earn or deserve or work for. It's just
Speaker 2: a free gift of God's mercy. God's love for you
Speaker 2: and your salvation is not based on your performance. It's
Speaker 2: not based on what you do. You can't make God
Speaker 2: love you anymore than he loves you right now, or
Speaker 2: make him love you any less. His love is based
Speaker 2: on his mercy for you. The Bible says this and
Speaker 2: tied us three five. He saved us not only because
Speaker 2: of righteous not because of the righteous things we had done,
Speaker 2: but because of His mercy. Now, this is very important
Speaker 2: to understand as a believer. When you blow it, God
Speaker 2: doesn't get mad at you. God doesn't want to get
Speaker 2: even with you. God doesn't start planning to mess up
Speaker 2: your life. God always acts in mercy towards you. Always
Speaker 2: acts in mercy towards you. Why because you are covered
Speaker 2: in the blood and salvation of Jesus Christ when you've
Speaker 2: accepted him, and so next year, no matter how much
Speaker 2: you mess up, no matter how much you blow it,
Speaker 2: God says.
Speaker 3: I respond to you in mercy. That gives me hope.
Speaker 2: It gives me hope that no matter how bad how
Speaker 2: many mistakes I make, God is still going to be
Speaker 2: merciful to me. And it is by that mercy I've
Speaker 2: been spiritually born into his family. I've been reborn. Now,
Speaker 2: you were born into the universal family human race when
Speaker 2: you were physically born, and when you're spiritually reborn, you
Speaker 2: invite Christ in your life. You get into God's family.
Speaker 2: Now there are privileges. Notice the word privilege. He says
Speaker 2: He's given us the privilege of being born again. There
Speaker 2: are privileges that come from being in God's family. For instance,
Speaker 2: one of the things is we get to call God father.
Speaker 2: I get to call God Daddy father because I'm in
Speaker 2: his family. And if you've accepted Christ, you're in his
Speaker 2: family too. And we get each other as brothers and
Speaker 2: sisters in the family of God and God's family. The
Speaker 2: spiritual family is going to go on forever, and it
Speaker 2: gives a spiritual support here and fellowship together in eternity.
Speaker 2: But one of the great things is that because I'm
Speaker 2: in God's family, I can ask for whatever I need,
Speaker 2: and God says, I'm going to help you. Remember, as
Speaker 2: a father takes care of his children, God says, I
Speaker 2: take care of my family, and I told you two
Speaker 2: weeks ago that over twenty times in the New Testament,
Speaker 2: God says ask. God says asking, it shall be given.
Speaker 2: Seek and you'll find. Knock them the door will be open.
Speaker 2: Ask anything in my name, and I will do it.
Speaker 2: He says, Ask that you may bear fruit, that the
Speaker 2: Father may be glorified in the sun. Over and over again,
Speaker 2: the Bible says, you have not because you.
Speaker 3: Ask not.
Speaker 2: He's waiting to meet your needs. You have not because
Speaker 2: you ask not. This week I got a letter from
Speaker 2: Larry D. Young, President and chief executive officer of Snapple.
Speaker 2: And so Larry D Young, President, doctor Pepper Snapple wrote
Speaker 2: me a letter because I wrote him a letter about
Speaker 2: a month ago, and I told him, I said, Larry,
Speaker 2: of course I didn't know him. I just wrote, dear
Speaker 2: mister president, you've taken my favorite flavor off the market.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: Now I want to humbly suggest that this is a mistake.
Speaker 2: And my favorite Snapple is diet plumbergranite, not pomegranate plummegranted,
Speaker 2: it's plumb and pomegranate put together. And I think a
Speaker 2: reason a lot of people never drank it is because
Speaker 2: they thought it was pomegranate. But it actually it was
Speaker 2: plumb and it tasted like plumb. So I wrote the
Speaker 2: president of Snapple. I didn't know this guy. I wrote
Speaker 2: him a letter and said, you know what, I think
Speaker 2: you mismarketed it. Why don't you just call it plum crazy.
Speaker 2: Then people would know that it's plumb flavor, not Plummegranted,
Speaker 2: that sounds like some fruit you never heard of, So
Speaker 2: call it plumb crazy and put it back on the market.
Speaker 3: I get a letter this week, Dear doctor Warren. Isn't
Speaker 3: that nice?
Speaker 2: Dear doctor Warren, thank you for your interest and passion
Speaker 2: for Snapple. With many flavors in the Snapple family, we're
Speaker 2: not able to offer all of them.
Speaker 3: In each region.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, diet Plummegranite is one of those that is no
Speaker 2: longer available on the West Coast. However, please accept this
Speaker 2: case of extremely limited edition private reserve plumb.
Speaker 3: Crazy Snapple just for you.
Speaker 2: I hope you and your closest friends will enjoy this
Speaker 2: case of this private reserve with our car implements. Well
Speaker 2: now we're talking, Okay, now Here right here on the
Speaker 2: label it says you can't see this regal plumb Crazy
Speaker 2: it's my name, plumb crazy. There you go, and right
Speaker 2: here on the side of this Snapple.
Speaker 3: It says, dear doctor Warren.
Speaker 2: Being a great tasting, all natural beverage that brings a
Speaker 2: little smile to people's day certainly can't compare to the
Speaker 2: understanding you have brought to the lives of people every day. However,
Speaker 2: I know you give some. I hope you give some
Speaker 2: of the other flavors a try, because I think you'll
Speaker 2: find another one that you enjoyed just as much as
Speaker 2: you love plummegranite. Thank you for carrying enough to write
Speaker 2: your friend Snapple, so I have a whole case of
Speaker 2: this now, all right, you have not because you ask not?
Speaker 2: All right now, Larry, if I'm so bold to calling Larry,
Speaker 2: I mean, we're like this now, Okay, we're like this,
Speaker 2: And I'm thinking if the president of Snapple, I'm sure
Speaker 2: he's a great guy, but he's imperfect, just like you
Speaker 2: and me can meet the needs of a lowly guy
Speaker 2: who asked for some plumbgrante. How much more would a
Speaker 2: heavenly father who loves you and send his son to
Speaker 2: die for you take care of your needs if you
Speaker 2: just simply asked you have not because you ask not. God,
Speaker 2: your heavenly Father, wants to supply your needs. Why, because
Speaker 2: he chose you before you chose him, and because God
Speaker 2: always treats us with mercy. He's waiting and wanting to
Speaker 2: meet your needs.
Speaker 1: Such a great message by Rick today and every day.
Speaker 1: I sure hope you were just as encouraged as I was.
Speaker 1: And now here's Rick with an important message.
Speaker 2: Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives
Speaker 2: according to five specific purposes. He said, you've got to
Speaker 2: love God with all your heart. That's worship. And love
Speaker 2: your neighbors yourself. That's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment.
Speaker 2: And then Jesus said, go make disciples. That's evangelism. Baptize
Speaker 2: them into the Family of God. That's fellowship, a sign
Speaker 2: of fellowship. And then he said, teach them obey everything
Speaker 2: I've taught you. That's discipleship. And we call that the
Speaker 2: Great Commission. We believe it daily hope that a great
Speaker 2: commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will
Speaker 2: produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company,
Speaker 2: a great community. You know, I started daily hope so
Speaker 2: I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just
Speaker 2: across America, but all around the world. And we want
Speaker 2: people to know that God's word is filled with hope
Speaker 2: and truth and the power that we need to follow
Speaker 2: him every day is available to every single one. You
Speaker 2: know as well as I do, that the Word of
Speaker 2: God changes lives. It's alive, it's active, and it breathes
Speaker 2: new life and new love into all of our lives.
Speaker 2: So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on
Speaker 2: the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or
Speaker 2: whether you listen to a podcast, you're a part of
Speaker 2: the Daily Hope family and I need your help. We
Speaker 2: could not do this without your support. We're one hundred
Speaker 2: percent listener funded. Would you continue to pray for this
Speaker 2: broadcast and would you continue to support us, and.
Speaker 3: Let write to me, let me hear from you.
Speaker 2: I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me.
Speaker 2: So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry,
Speaker 2: and God will bless it, and God will bless you,
Speaker 2: and we'll get to heaven, and we'll thank God for
Speaker 2: all the people going to be in heaven because you.
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Speaker 1: into God's word for our daily hope. This program is
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