WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:06.240 Hello, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This is 2 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.320 the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Hey, we're so 3 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:13.439 glad you've joined us. Today. We're continuing a powerful series 4 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:18.480 called radicalis Developing Spiritual Roots. And in this series, Rick 5 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:20.800 will show you how to grow deep in your faith, 6 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.199 stay grounded in God's word, and become everything He created 7 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:27.960 you to be. And now here's part two of a 8 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.079 message called radical Faith. 9 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:32.960 You know, one time when I was preparing for this message, 10 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:35.759 I asked, hey, honey, can you ever think of a 11 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:40.159 time that you obeyed God when he told you to 12 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:42.960 do something even when it didn't make sense? And she 13 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:50.920 said yes. When you asked me to marry you, I said, okay, 14 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:54.960 in hindsight, was it a good thing? She said yes. 15 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:58.399 I said, you're a babe. Tom's gonna do the third 16 00:00:58.600 --> 00:00:59.960 facet of radical faith? 17 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:04.000 What does it mean to have radical faith? 18 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.159 The third thing is persisting when I don't feel like it, 19 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:09.519 persisting even when I don't. 20 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:10.000 Feel like it. 21 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:13.920 There is a belief in our culture that is so 22 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:16.840 strong every one of us are influenced by it. Whether 23 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:18.400 we want to be influenced by it or not, we 24 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:21.599 all know this belief. The belief is if it feels good, 25 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.319 that's the belief. If it feels good, I should do it. 26 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:27.719 If it doesn't feel good, I shouldn't do it. And 27 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.799 whether I want to be influenced by that or not, 28 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:32.239 I am. And when I allow myself to be, I 29 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.239 become manipulated by my moods instead of living a life 30 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.359 of faith. And God wants you and I to live 31 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:40.680 a different kind of life, a life of faith, not 32 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:42.200 just a life of feeling. 33 00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:44.920 Truth is, I don't always feel like doing the right thing. 34 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:47.000 I don't know about you. I don't always feel like. 35 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.400 Being nice to people like I see you out in 36 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:51.200 the store or something. I don't always feel like being 37 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.040 nice to you most of the time, but not always. 38 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:55.840 You're never going to know now whether I felt like 39 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:57.079 it or not when I smile at you. 40 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.000 But I just don't always feel like, Hell, my wife, 41 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:03.719 I really felt like washing the dishes, or Luke comes 42 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:05.439 down and says, hey, could you read through this homework 43 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:08.240 paper eleven o'clock at night. I don't feel like reading 44 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.639 through the paper at that moment. I just don't always 45 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.080 feel like doing the right thing. But God can give 46 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.479 you a kind of faith that persists above feelings. 47 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:17.719 And the truth of the matter is, if you look. 48 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:21.159 At all of life, anybody who's successful at anything does 49 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:23.360 things that they don't feel like doing that other people 50 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:28.719 don't feel like doing. An Olympic athlete practices. 51 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:29.560 When they don't feel like it. 52 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:34.520 A great musician exercises practice and understanding how to do 53 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:37.240 their craft even when they don't feel like it. If 54 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.400 you're going to be a great salesman a great saleswoman, 55 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:41.960 that means you make calls that other people don't feel 56 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:42.520 like making. 57 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:44.800 And if you want, if you want to get. 58 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.759 Closer to God in your life, deep in your relationship 59 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:51.280 with him, that means you spend time with Him sometimes. 60 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:52.360 Even when you don't feel like it. 61 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.039 You find somebody who really enjoys spending time with God, 62 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:57.680 that means they spend time with God sometimes even when they. 63 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:01.400 Didn't feel like it. Faith is being persistent. Faith is 64 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:03.919 refusing to give up no matter how tired you are. 65 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:07.280 Now, that's great to say, but the big question is 66 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:09.000 how do you become persistent? 67 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:11.319 Because I don't know about you. I don't always feel 68 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.240 like being persistent. Is that true about you? So how 69 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:15.039 do you get there? 70 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:18.560 The Bible talks about how you and I can begin 71 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:20.360 to develop persistence in our lives. 72 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:21.680 For the example of a guy by. 73 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:24.599 The name of Moses, Hebrews chapter eleven, This hall of 74 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:27.599 fame of faith. Bible says in Hebrews eleven twenty seven, 75 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:32.000 it was by faith that Moses left Egypt, and he 76 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:34.879 was not afraid of the king's anger. He held to 77 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:38.120 his purposes like a man who could encircle these last 78 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:38.560 three words. 79 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:42.319 Would you see the invisible? That's how you get there, 80 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:43.360 That's how you persist. 81 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:47.120 You begin to see the invisible. You see what God 82 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:49.439 can do in your life. The invisible is God, and 83 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:52.039 only those who see the invisible can do the impossible. 84 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:54.639 Only those who see who God really is can persist. 85 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:57.439 In the most difficult times of life, you realize there's more. 86 00:03:57.319 --> 00:03:59.960 Than you can see, and it's who you can say. 87 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:03.080 It's God being present in your life. 88 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:04.879 Now, some of you, you need to. 89 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:07.919 Hear this right now, the Bible says the Hebrews eleven one. 90 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:08.719 What is faith. 91 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.719 It is the confident assurance that what we hope for 92 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:14.800 is going to happen. It is the evidence of things 93 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:17.560 that we cannot yet see. But some of you right now, 94 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:20.240 you don't have any confident assurance. The truth of the 95 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.519 matter is, instead of feeling like persisting, you feel like 96 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:22.959 you want. 97 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:25.759 To give up. Christmas can do that to us. 98 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:28.600 I love Christmas almost everything about it. The one thing 99 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:31.199 I hate about it is that sometimes it turns up 100 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:32.519 the volume on our pain. 101 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:34.160 You had a bad year. 102 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:36.879 It feels worse at Christmas time, our relationship's not going right. 103 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:40.040 It feels like it's even going more downhill. At Christmas time. 104 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:42.439 You messed up this last year. All you can think 105 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:44.920 about is how you messed up this last year. Right now, 106 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.759 let me ask you, let me ask you to have 107 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.360 a kind of faith you've never thought of having before. 108 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.040 Let me ask you to have the faith right now 109 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.600 to believe that God loves you no matter what, no 110 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.120 matter what happened last year, no matter who isn't loving 111 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:00.920 you right now, no matter how you messed up in 112 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.040 your life, God still loves you. Faith is persisting even 113 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:07.120 when you don't feel like it, Even if you do 114 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:10.399 not feel like God loves you. He loves you, even 115 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:13.079 if you don't know the confidence that God is with you. 116 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.199 He is with you. So right now I want to 117 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:16.319 invite you in your heart in your. 118 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.959 Mind say I don't feel it, but God, I accept it. 119 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.120 You love me no matter what, no matter how much 120 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:23.600 I messed up, Hang on because. 121 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:24.360 God will make a way. 122 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:29.160 First Christmas, there are a lot of things that people 123 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:30.399 did because they didn't feel like it. 124 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.279 I mean, think about Joseph and Mary. 125 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:35.040 You think that Joseph felt like keeping his wife a 126 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:37.480 virgin after they were married and tell Jesus was born. 127 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:40.680 I don't think so, but he did. Think of them 128 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.000 traveling to Bethlehem when Mary was nine months pregnant. Ladies, 129 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:46.360 you think Mary felt like getting on a donkey at 130 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:48.160 nine months pregnant and going to bethlamb. 131 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.680 I don't think so, but they did it anyway. 132 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:53.560 And because they did what they didn't feel like doing, 133 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:56.319 you and I get to benefit from their faith and 134 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.040 you when you make the choice to have faith, it 135 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:01.000 not only benefits you, it benefits everyone around you. That's 136 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:03.360 what happens when you have the faith to persist when 137 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:04.279 you don't feel like it. 138 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:10.800 The fourth facet of radical faith announcing it in order 139 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:17.040 to experience it, Announcing it in order to experience it. 140 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.759 Faith is believing when I don't see it, obeying when 141 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:24.120 I don't understand it, persisting when I don't feel like it, 142 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:28.399 and announcing it in order to experience it. In other words, 143 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.720 sometimes you have to say it in order to sense it. 144 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:36.360 You've got to state it in order to feel it. 145 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.439 It is the power of your words. It is speaking 146 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.839 in faith. If you've kind of lost that love and 147 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.720 feeling for your wife, you know how to get it back. 148 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.800 Start saying it. Start telling your wife I love you. 149 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:51.879 Just say it. You say I don't feel it, don't 150 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.199 wait till you feel it. Say it to sense it. 151 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:56.519 And you start saying I love you, I love you, 152 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:00.240 I love you. You know what, the feelings will return. You 153 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:01.800 want to learn to love God. You said I don't 154 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:04.279 feel like I love God. Start telling him it. Maybe 155 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:08.439 you've never said God, I love you, Father, I love you. 156 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:11.839 Maybe you've never said Jesus, I love you. You know, 157 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:15.319 if you start saying it, the feelings will come. It 158 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.959 is the power of your words. You say it to 159 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:21.360 sense it, you announce it in order to experience it. 160 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.639 Now that's radical faith. One of the examples of this 161 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:27.079 there in the Hall of Fame in Hebrews eleven is 162 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:29.519 the illustration of Joseph. 163 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:30.399 It says. 164 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.160 It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about 165 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:38.800 to die, confidently spoke of God bringing the people of 166 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:41.839 Israel out of Egypt. And he was so sure of 167 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:45.199 it that he commanded them to carry his bones with 168 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.319 him when they left. You know the story how Joseph 169 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:51.279 got sold into slavery, went into Egypt. Things were downhill 170 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:54.240 for him. Eventually, through the experiences of God, became number 171 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:58.120 two in command under Pharaoh, saved the nation, saved Israel. 172 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.959 But after that Pharaoh died, the Jews were enslaved, and 173 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:06.600 for four hundred years they were enslaved in Egypt. But Joseph, 174 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:10.279 long before they went back to the promised land, four 175 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.360 hundred years for it, he announced. He says, I know 176 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:14.519 one day God's going to let us go back home 177 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:18.000 to Israel, and so I want you to promise me 178 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:20.160 that I'll be dead. I want you to take my 179 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:24.199 bones and bury them in Israel. What's he doing He 180 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.680 is stating it in advance. He is announcing it in 181 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.839 order to experience it. In fact, this is how God 182 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:35.279 creates everything. God creates by the spoken word. God created 183 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.559 the entire universe by speaking it into existence. Let there 184 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:41.080 be light Bam, there's light. Let there be a sun 185 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:44.960 and moon. Pam, there's a sun and moon. God doesn't 186 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:47.360 have to go through long things. He could if he 187 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:49.519 wanted to, but he could just speak it into existence. 188 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:53.799 In fact, here's what the Bible says, Hebrews eleven three. 189 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:58.679 By faith, we see the world called into existence. God 190 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.679 spoke it into existence, called into existence by God's word. 191 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:07.639 And what we see created by what we don't see. 192 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:09.600 And then soa I'm thirty three right underneath that on 193 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.039 your atlant it says for he spoke and then it 194 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:18.039 came to be. Now, this is no contradiction to scientific theory. 195 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:21.200 I mean people talk about the Big Bang. Believe me, 196 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.360 when you think God spoke the universe of existence, there 197 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:27.440 is probably a big bang where you Wherever you got 198 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.639 a creation, you got a creator. Wherever you got a defect, 199 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:33.600 there is a cause. If I'm walking down the mountain 200 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:36.480 and I see a rock out of place, I can say, oh, yeah, 201 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:38.720 that's an accident. If I'm walking down the mountain and 202 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:43.200 I see a rolex, that is evidence of design. And 203 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.360 it is stupidity for me to say it just all happened. 204 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:52.639 That rolex is evidence of design. You see, I don't 205 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.039 have enough faith to be an atheist. It takes far 206 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:59.360 more faith to believe something came out of nothing than 207 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:02.480 to believe that creation was made by a creator. Far 208 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:06.279 more faith. You see, we disproved spontaneous generation in the 209 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:10.120 Middle Ages. Nobody believes that anymore. Things don't just come 210 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:14.320 to life out of nothing. Now, if you do happen 211 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:16.559 to believe that, then you need to be intellectually honest, 212 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.919 because if you say, I believe something could just happen 213 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.600 out of nothing, there was no cause to it, it 214 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:25.120 just happened out of nothing, then you would have obviously 215 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:28.519 no problem believing that when Christ died he could come 216 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:32.519 back to life, because it would take less faith to 217 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:34.679 believe life can come back to life than to believe 218 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:38.960 life came out of nothing. For intellectual honesty, you couldn't say, well, 219 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:42.919 I believe in one but not the other. God spoke 220 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.679 it into existence. And what the Bible says is that 221 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:50.039 God gives us that power in our words too. We 222 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.519 announce it in order to experience it. And the Bible 223 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.799 makes a direct connection between your words, what you say, 224 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.960 and the quality of the life you live. You don't 225 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.840 realize how much your words affect you, affect everybody else, 226 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:10.279 and affect the environment around you and even history. In fact, 227 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.240 the Bible says this on the screen Proverbs eighteen twenty one. 228 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.720 Death and life are in the power of the tongue. 229 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:19.600 You can slice people, you can kill them with your words. 230 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:23.879 You can add life and vitality with your words. You 231 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:26.720 know this to be true. People today have had their 232 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.159 lives ruined by a single sentence. Some people today are 233 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.879 still remembering and acting on something one sentence that was 234 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.399 said to them by their parents, or by their peers, 235 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:40.159 or by their partners. Are on the playground, and years later, 236 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:44.919 one simple little sentence still haunts their memory. Their death 237 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:46.679 and life is in the power of our words. You 238 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.960 have enormous power in your words, And the Bible says faith, 239 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:55.600 what you say and what you receive from God is connected. 240 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.399 Our words and faith are together. In fact, Jesus said 241 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:00.840 this here on the screen, Matthew eight ten eighteen. I 242 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:04.840 tell you the truth. Whatever you bind on earth will 243 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:07.679 be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth 244 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:10.159 will be loosed in heaven. What's he talking about there, 245 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:15.840 He's talking about the power of our words, the power 246 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:18.759 of our words to bless people, or the power our 247 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.200 words to put them down, to curse them, the power 248 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.480 words to give life or death in people's lives. Now, 249 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:30.720 sometimes speaking in faith appears foolish to people of not faith, 250 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:35.240 because when you're announcing it in advance, when you're announcing 251 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:39.000 it in order to experience it, it looks like you 252 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:40.720 don't know what you're talking about, like you're out of 253 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:43.519 touch with reality, and it seems foolish to other people. 254 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:47.879 For instance, God often changed people's names in the Bible 255 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:50.519 to indicate where they were going, not where they were 256 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:54.440 at at that moment. God took a man named Abram, 257 00:12:55.519 --> 00:13:00.679 and he changed his name to Abraham. Now Abraham means 258 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:05.519 father of many nations. There's only one problem. Abraham had 259 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:09.600 no kids. So at ninety nine years of age, his 260 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.600 name is Abraham. And somebody comes in and says, what's 261 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:14.519 your name, father of many nations? Oh, it's great, how 262 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:18.799 many kids you got none? How old are you? Ninety nine? Oops, 263 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:22.279 it's a little embarrassing to have your name be father 264 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:24.919 of many nations. You're ninety nine years old and no kids. 265 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:28.879 What was God doing? He was announcing it in order 266 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.519 to experience it and the Bible says this on the 267 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:35.960 back of your outline Romans four to eleven. God said, 268 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:40.440 I have made you a father of many nations. God 269 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:45.159 who gives life to the dead and calls things that 270 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:49.919 are not as though they were. And see that's faith, friends, 271 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:55.519 Faith is calling that which is not as though it is, 272 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.480 is announcing it in order to experience it. In fact, 273 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:01.320 look at the Living Bible translation of this verse. God 274 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:06.639 speaks of future events with as much certainty as though 275 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:12.080 they were already past. He's announcing the future in the 276 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:17.720 present as though it's passed. And that's faith. The friends, 277 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:20.799 if you want to understand your pastor me, you need 278 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.600 to understand that I have the gift of faith. We 279 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:26.919 all have different gifts. Everybody's got different gifts. You have 280 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.000 spiritual gifts to people. Next, do you have spiritual gifts. 281 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:33.279 One of my spiritual gifts is faith, and I have 282 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:37.000 this in a strong measure to announce it in order 283 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:39.240 to experience it. I live in the world of faith, 284 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.000 in spiritual reality. In other words, I'm always talking about 285 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:46.399 what it can be, not what it is, and I'm 286 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.320 always visualizing the future for people. Now, this is why 287 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.440 the way I preach here at Saddleback is different than 288 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.399 maybe you have heard from some other pastors. Sometimes you'll 289 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.840 hear pastors say, well, I just believe in telling it 290 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.840 like it is. Well, that's a good thing. At least 291 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:04.639 it's the truth. But there's a far better way to 292 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:06.799 teach than tell it like it is. Tell it like 293 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:12.039 it could be. Telling it like it is never changes anybody. 294 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:16.000 Labeling only reinforces the present. Telling it like it could 295 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:19.039 be is teaching and preaching for faith, and that causes 296 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:22.200 people to change. When you label somebody and you just 297 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:25.639 tell them what they are, it doesn't motivate them to change. 298 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.399 When you tell them what they could be, that's preaching 299 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.159 for faith. It's calling things that are not as though 300 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:36.000 they were. If somebody comes to me and says rick A, 301 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:40.799 you're a lousy father, my tendency would be to say, 302 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:42.879 I start thinking of all the ways I could have 303 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:45.480 been a better father. Well, I could have done that, 304 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.080 and I could have done that, and I could have 305 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.159 done that and could yeah, and you're right, I'm a 306 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:53.720 lousy father. I could have been a better father. That 307 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:56.480 doesn't change me. But if somebody comes to me and says, 308 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.759 rick I see in you the potential to be a 309 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:04.919 great father, a great dad. I see in you, with 310 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:09.480 your life committed to Christ and God's spirit living in you, 311 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:13.440 you could be an incredible godly man. You could be 312 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:17.519 a man of God that your kids would love and honor, 313 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.559 and that your wife would cherish. You could be the 314 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:25.240 kind of godly man that the neighborhood and community would respect. 315 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:29.600 And I see in you that spark, that potential if 316 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.919 you'll just let Christ control your life, that motivates me 317 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:36.840 to change. Tell it like it could be. Not the 318 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:41.480 way does nagging work? Has it ever worked on you? Nagging? No, 319 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.840 it doesn't work from the pulpit either. That's why I 320 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:46.799 don't nag you every week. It's why I don't not 321 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:48.440 get up here every week and do sin of the week. 322 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:50.600 You're blowing this, you're doing this, you're doing And there's 323 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:52.360 a lot of stuff I could say about you, really, 324 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:58.360 but I don't, because why just telling you all the 325 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:00.799 things you're doing wrong? Hey, come back next week and 326 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:04.759 I'll tell you ten more things you're doing wrong. Yeah, 327 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:10.079 In fact, bring a friend. You don't get that kind 328 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:14.640 of teaching it saddleback, Why it doesn't change anybody. It 329 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:17.039 is faith that wells up in our heart that changes, 330 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:19.640 not telling it like it is, but telling it like 331 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.480 it could be, and doing it the way God says, 332 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:26.319 calling things that are not as though they were. You 333 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:33.000 can do this, friends. Every single major milestone in Saddleback 334 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:38.960 Church's history, I spoke it into existence. I announced it. 335 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.960 This is what's gonna happen before anybody else believed it. 336 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:47.279 Every single time nobody else believed it. When I was 337 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.240 held the very first service of Saddleback and sixty people, 338 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:53.400 the little trial run service before Easter, and I got 339 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:55.599 up and I read a vision called the Saddleback Vision. 340 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.880 Some of you seen that stateton where I outlined the 341 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.799 kind of campus have and what the buildings would look like, 342 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.279 and that we were gonna have twenty thousand members by 343 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.240 twenty twenty, and that we would have fifty acres of land. 344 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:11.720 And everybody lacked. Oh yeah, who is this twenty five 345 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:13.960 year old kid who's saying we're gonna want to have 346 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.640 fifty acres and twenty thousand members. The only problem with 347 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.160 that vision it was too small. God wanted us to 348 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:22.200 have one hundred and twenty acres, and we hit the 349 00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:27.160 twenty thousand mark in the year two thousand, not twenty twenty. This, 350 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:31.240 by the way, is how we're saved by speaking and 351 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:36.400 advance our salvation by confessing our faith in Christ. That's 352 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:38.799 an announcing in advance. Look at this verse the Bible says, 353 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.599 for it is by our faith that we're put right 354 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:44.960 with God. It is by our confession that means we 355 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:48.720 speak it that we are saved, which, by the way, 356 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.200 is why I lead into prayer every week at the 357 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.079 end of the service, and I say, I want you 358 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:55.759 to pray this prayer. Why I'm causing you to speak, 359 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:01.559 to confess your faith. I'm helping verbalize for you your faith 360 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.079 in God. That's why we always have a prayer at 361 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:05.880 the end of this prayer. If you've never invited Christ 362 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:07.839 in your life, I'm going to invite you to do that, 363 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:10.839 to follow me in that prayer. And when we're baptized, 364 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.359 we're publicly confessing our faith, saying to the world I'm 365 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.279 not ashamed to say I'm a believer. 366 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:26.200 Hey, did you know that tomorrow is Giving Tuesday? Yeah, 367 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.640 it's a global day dedicated to generosity, and starting today, 368 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:34.119 you have a powerful opportunity to share the certain hope 369 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.240 of Jesus Christ with people all around the world through 370 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:41.079 Daily Hope. Thanks to some generous friends, every gift that 371 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:44.759 you give today and tomorrow will be doubled up to 372 00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:49.680 twenty five thousand dollars through a special Giving Tuesday matching grant. 373 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:52.920 Now time is of the essence because we'll lose any 374 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:55.920 part of the Giving Tuesday grant that isn't matched by 375 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:59.880 midnight tomorrow. So please act now by going to pastor 376 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:04.359 dot com. That's pastorick dot com, or just text the 377 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:08.160 word hope to seven oh three to oh nine. That's 378 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.599 the word hope to seven oh three to oh nine. 379 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:14.359 Be sure to join us next time as we look 380 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.759 into God's word for our daily hope. This program is 381 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:22.440 sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.