Speaker 1: Hi, this is Rick Warren. Did you know that the
Speaker 1: best gift you can give anybody is to bring them
Speaker 1: into a relationship with Jesus Christ? And did you know
Speaker 1: that the best time to do that is it Christmas.
Speaker 1: Here's what I want to challenge you to do. I
Speaker 1: want you to make a Christmas list of people. Think
Speaker 1: of all the people who you know who don't know
Speaker 1: Jesus or who might know Jesus but don't go to
Speaker 1: church anywhere. And I want you to start praying for them.
Speaker 1: And then I want you to invite those people you've
Speaker 1: prayed for to come to a Christmas Eve or Christmas
Speaker 1: Day service at your church.
Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible
Speaker 2: teaching Ministry of Rick Warren.
Speaker 3: Well, we're so glad you're here.
Speaker 2: Today. Rick is going to finish up a message called
Speaker 2: the Greatest Gifts You'll Ever Get. This is a powerful
Speaker 2: Christmas message about how God's love, grace and purpose will
Speaker 2: bring you lasting hope and joy.
Speaker 3: So let's hear what Rick has to say.
Speaker 1: See, you weren't meant to go through life all alone.
Speaker 1: You never were. You were meant to know God, and
Speaker 1: you were meant to have a family around you that
Speaker 1: supports you. We always change better in a group than
Speaker 1: we do on our own. So why most diets and
Speaker 1: most personal self health plans don't work Because it's all
Speaker 1: about you and you don't have any spiritual family to
Speaker 1: support you. The Bible says God created an entire universe
Speaker 1: because he wanted a family. Look at this verse Ephesians,
Speaker 1: chapter one. The Bible says, because of his love. Remember,
Speaker 1: it all comes back to God's love. God so loved
Speaker 1: that he gave because of his love. God's unchanging plan
Speaker 1: has always been to adopt us into his own family
Speaker 1: by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. Now I
Speaker 1: want you to circle the word adopt. You're not automatically
Speaker 1: in God's family. You have to be adopted into it.
Speaker 1: And how does he adopt us? Circle through Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: That's how he adopts us. Through Jesus Christ. God says,
Speaker 1: I don't want you to just believe in me. I
Speaker 1: want you to belong to my family. That's so important.
Speaker 1: I'm going to say it again. If you don't get
Speaker 1: anything else, I say, I get this. It's not just
Speaker 1: enough to believe in Jesus. You need to belong to
Speaker 1: his family because you need that support. Now. Is everybody
Speaker 1: in the family of God? No, not everybody is in
Speaker 1: the family. You've got to be adopted into it. Is
Speaker 1: everybody a child of God? No, not everybody is a child.
Speaker 1: Everybody is loved by God. God has never made a
Speaker 1: person he doesn't love. Everybody is created by God. God
Speaker 1: has never made a person. He doesn't have a plan
Speaker 1: for God does memory a person he doesn't want in heaven.
Speaker 1: God has never made a person. Jesus didn't die for
Speaker 1: God has never made a person. He doesn't want to
Speaker 1: know him personally. But the only way you get in
Speaker 1: God's family is by choosing. It's a decision. See when
Speaker 1: I was born physically, I automatically became a part of
Speaker 1: the human race. I didn't get a choice when I
Speaker 1: was born. I became a part of the human race.
Speaker 1: But I didn't become a part of a family until
Speaker 1: somebody chose to take me home from the hospital. And
Speaker 1: then I became a part of a fan. Somebody made
Speaker 1: a choice. I want that kid. God says, I want
Speaker 1: you and my family. Then you've got to choose to
Speaker 1: be in his family. And God says, I'm going to
Speaker 1: give you not just identity new identity, not just a
Speaker 1: new ability. I'm going to give you a new community,
Speaker 1: a family around you to help you change. What is
Speaker 1: that family? We'll look at what the Bible says One
Speaker 1: Timothy chapter three. That family is the Church of the
Speaker 1: Living God. Now, before I read the rest of the verse,
Speaker 1: notice the church is a family. It's not a business.
Speaker 1: It's not an organization. It's not a club. It's a
Speaker 1: spiritual family. Now, a lot of churches act like a business,
Speaker 1: they act like a club, they act like an organization.
Speaker 1: But that's not what God had designed it for. God
Speaker 1: designed the church to be a family where we love
Speaker 1: each other, we support each other, and we care for
Speaker 1: each other. Now, the Bible says God created the family
Speaker 1: for your support. Notice that family is the Church of
Speaker 1: the Living God, the support and foundation of the Truth Circle.
Speaker 1: Support and foundation. You need support, and you need a
Speaker 1: foundation for your life. If you don't have a foundation
Speaker 1: for your life, and you don't have the spiritual support
Speaker 1: of a family, you are not going to become what
Speaker 1: God wants you to be. Now, in California, we all
Speaker 1: know the importance of a good support and a good
Speaker 1: foundation because we have a thing here called earthquakes. And
Speaker 1: if you don't have a good support, you don't have
Speaker 1: a good foundation. The house crumbles when the earthquake comes.
Speaker 1: Most people don't realize the necessity of a church family.
Speaker 1: It's not enough to just say, oh, I believe in Jesus.
Speaker 1: You need a church family. If you don't have a
Speaker 1: church family, what is your support? What is your foundly
Speaker 1: you don't have one. God says, without this, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna have foundation to support. When my son died, my
Speaker 1: small group was there within thirty minutes. You see, when
Speaker 1: it comes to support, the smaller the better. That's why
Speaker 1: this church is built around seven thousand small groups. A
Speaker 1: crowd can't support you, We can't support you as Christ.
Speaker 1: You need to be in a small group. We actually
Speaker 1: in our church have more people in small groups that
Speaker 1: come on the weekend. Why because that's where the support
Speaker 1: and foundation come from. And if you're not in a group,
Speaker 1: you need to get in a group so you have
Speaker 1: that when the rogue winds and the earthquakes of life
Speaker 1: come in your life. God says, you need it. You see,
Speaker 1: we're better together. We need each other. We compensate for
Speaker 1: each other. Now, notice what the Bible says next verse,
Speaker 1: a different spiritual gift. There's that word gift again. A
Speaker 1: different spiritual gift is given to each of us in
Speaker 1: God's family, so we can help each other for the
Speaker 1: common good. In other words, I have some gifts and
Speaker 1: abilities and talents. They help you. You have gifts and
Speaker 1: abilities to talents. They help the person next to you.
Speaker 1: They have some gifts of billis downs that helped me,
Speaker 1: and on and on. We help each other. That's what
Speaker 1: the family's for, that's what the community is for. For
Speaker 1: thirty three years, we've been building a community of love
Speaker 1: called Saddle Backed Church. We don't want this church to
Speaker 1: be famous for its size, for its buildings, for the music,
Speaker 1: for the messages. We want this church to be famous
Speaker 1: for the love, the support. And we've been working together
Speaker 1: building this family of love, and we invite you to
Speaker 1: be a part of it. I want you to watch
Speaker 1: a video that's kind of a metaphor. It's just a
Speaker 1: few of the members. I could give you thirty eight
Speaker 1: thousand stories, but just watch this of the metaphor of
Speaker 1: a family of love. Watch this.
Speaker 4: Before I came to Christ, I felt I had everything
Speaker 4: the world had to offer, and nothing seemed to just satisfy.
Speaker 4: It was never enough.
Speaker 5: All I cared about was money, material goods, and what's.
Speaker 3: In it for me.
Speaker 5: Before I knew Christ, my life was prideful, selfish, and
Speaker 5: really only caring about myself.
Speaker 6: After a few years in my marriage, my husband had
Speaker 6: an affair and I broke. I was broken.
Speaker 5: I felt alone. I felt like God wasn't there and
Speaker 5: that he didn't care, and that he abandoned me like
Speaker 5: my father did.
Speaker 7: I was lost, and I don't really think I even
Speaker 7: knew what real love was. Surrendering to God and just
Speaker 7: seeking him and following him. That was everything that changed everything.
Speaker 6: The only thing that could redeem me was love. The
Speaker 6: only thing that could redeem me was perfect love. And
Speaker 6: I met people at Saddleback who loved me, who saw
Speaker 6: value in me.
Speaker 5: I felt love and accepted for the first time, and
Speaker 5: not judgment and condemnation.
Speaker 4: I joined with other women who struggled with the same
Speaker 4: issues that I did. I joined a small group, and
Speaker 4: I just felt that they didn't judge me, that they
Speaker 4: loved me right where I was at, for who I was.
Speaker 7: Saddleback Church truly modeled Jesus Christ through the love, grace,
Speaker 7: and forgiveness they showed me.
Speaker 4: Falling in love with Jesus has just transformed my entire life,
Speaker 4: the way I do things, the way I think. I'm
Speaker 4: no longer trying to fill that void with anything, but
Speaker 4: with the love of Christ.
Speaker 7: I run to Him instead of looking in the mirror
Speaker 7: and saying I hate you.
Speaker 5: Now that I know Christ and I know that I'm
Speaker 5: loved by Him, I am more open.
Speaker 4: More honest, and more empathetic for others.
Speaker 8: I have a restored life today and restored relationships.
Speaker 5: Who I am in Christ now is completely changed from
Speaker 5: the inside out, and I'm celebrating because of this church
Speaker 5: and what Jesus has done. Four years of sobriety for
Speaker 5: drugs and alcohol and three years of sexual purity.
Speaker 6: I do not worry about what people think of me.
Speaker 6: I do not need others approval. I can live and
Speaker 6: be loved by a God who doesn't need anything from me.
Speaker 6: Now that I've experienced the love of Christ, I am fearless.
Speaker 1: Why does so many people call Saddleback Church their spiritual home?
Speaker 1: Because this is a place where you will be loved,
Speaker 1: you will be wanted, you will be needed, you will
Speaker 1: be forgiven, and you will be supported and if you
Speaker 1: don't have that gift in your life, you need it now.
Speaker 1: Who is God's family for? Who is the community? For?
Speaker 1: Who is the church? For? Look at the next verse.
Speaker 1: The Bible says in Galatians three. In Christ's family, there
Speaker 1: are are no divisions. In other words, no distinctions, no
Speaker 1: distinctions between Jew and non Jew, or between slave and free,
Speaker 1: or between male and female. Instead, we're all equal in
Speaker 1: a common relationship with Jesus Christ the Church. God's family
Speaker 1: is not based on heredity. It's not based on ethnicity,
Speaker 1: it's not based on affinity, it's not based on nationality.
Speaker 1: It's based on the fact that you are loved by
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And doesn't really matter what religious background you are.
Speaker 1: You may be Jewish, You're welcome here. You may be
Speaker 1: Muslim or Mormon, or Buddhist or Baptist, You're welcome here.
Speaker 1: You may be Catholic or Hindu, or atheist or agnosty.
Speaker 1: I don't really care what your religious background is, because
Speaker 1: this is not about religion. God didn't come to give
Speaker 1: you a religion at Christmas. He came to give you
Speaker 1: a relationship to Jesus Christ, one of love. And you
Speaker 1: know at saddleback. Now we speak sixty seven different languages.
Speaker 1: We call ourselves an all nation congregation. And I get
Speaker 1: up on the weekend and I look out at you
Speaker 1: and I see one million flavors. Why that's intentional. We
Speaker 1: say we want our church to be a preview of Heaven.
Speaker 1: We want our church to look like Heaven's going to
Speaker 1: look like, because in Heaven it's going to be people
Speaker 1: of all backgrounds, all sizes, all shapes, all colors, all races,
Speaker 1: all ethnics, all languages, all different fat people and skinny people,
Speaker 1: tall people and short people, all kinds of people. And
Speaker 1: that's the way we want our church to be. Now,
Speaker 1: there's one other gift that's wrapped up in the big gift.
Speaker 1: There's this gift of Jesus, God so loved the world
Speaker 1: that he gave the first Christmas gift gave his son,
Speaker 1: and wrapped up in the big box is a new identity,
Speaker 1: a new ability, and a new community. But there's one war,
Speaker 1: and this one's going to outlast everything. It is a
Speaker 1: new destiny. God gives me when I accept Jesus Christ
Speaker 1: in my life, a new destiny. Now, some gifts don't last.
Speaker 1: I remember as a kid I got some Christmas gifts.
Speaker 1: They were broken by noon. And there were some gifts
Speaker 1: you get that you don't even want. You instantly regift them.
Speaker 1: Ones like the chia pet. You know nobody really wants
Speaker 1: a chia pet. You just pass it on to somebody else.
Speaker 1: Somebody's laughing all the way to the bank on that
Speaker 1: one we actually got. It's like people who got bought
Speaker 1: a pet rock thirty years ago, and God says, no, No,
Speaker 1: here's a gift that's gonna last forever, a new destiny. Now,
Speaker 1: this gift means the most to me out of all
Speaker 1: of them. I now have a lot of friends in heaven.
Speaker 1: I have a father in heaven. I have a mother
Speaker 1: in heaven. My older brother is in heaven. I have
Speaker 1: a son in heaven. Have many friends in heaven. And
Speaker 1: I said this a couple of weeks ago. If my
Speaker 1: son Matthew were able to contact me right now and
Speaker 1: say Dad, I'm up here, and he goes, he would
Speaker 1: say to me, it's so much better then you told me.
Speaker 8: Dad, It's so much better than you told me. And
Speaker 8: I can't wait for you to get here.
Speaker 1: How do I know my son is in heaven because
Speaker 1: one day he accepted the big gift. He accepted Jesus
Speaker 1: Christ into his heart and life. I was there when
Speaker 1: it happened. And the Bible says this first Peter, God
Speaker 1: has reserved for his children the priceless gift. There's that word,
Speaker 1: the priceless gift of eternal life. It is kept in
Speaker 1: heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of
Speaker 1: change and decay. And in Romans chapter six we're told this,
Speaker 1: the gift of God is eternal life. That's the new destiny,
Speaker 1: eternal life through Christ, Jesus our Lord. It comes in
Speaker 1: the package of Jesus, the free gift. You don't earn
Speaker 1: your way to heaven. You don't buy your way to heaven.
Speaker 1: You don't bribe your way to heaven. You don't bargain
Speaker 1: your way to heaven. You're never going to be good
Speaker 1: enough to get into heaven. You can't talk your way
Speaker 1: into heaven. It's simply a free gift. When you receive
Speaker 1: the big gift, it's inside, it's part of the package. Now,
Speaker 1: for the past couple weeks, every parent has been frantically
Speaker 1: searching for the perfect gifts for children, for their kids.
Speaker 1: Look at what Jesus has to say about this the
Speaker 1: next verse here on the screen. It's here on the screen,
Speaker 1: Matthew seven to eleven. If you, though imperfect and sinful,
Speaker 1: know how to give good gifts to your children, how
Speaker 1: much more will your father in heaven give good gifts
Speaker 1: to those who ask him? Look at this again. If
Speaker 1: you though imperfect, hibo, you're an imperfect parent. I'm an
Speaker 1: imperfect parent. None of us are perfect parents. If we
Speaker 1: know how to give good gifts to our kids, how
Speaker 1: much more will your father in heaven, who's perfect and
Speaker 1: loves you unconditionally give good gifts to those who ask him.
Speaker 1: And notice the phrase, the word ask. The key is
Speaker 1: there are some gifts you have to ask for. Every
Speaker 1: gift in your life. Everything in your life is a
Speaker 1: gift from God. The air you breathe, the son, your brain,
Speaker 1: your own life. Everything you have is a gift from God.
Speaker 1: But there are some gifts you have to ask for.
Speaker 1: And you say, I want Jesus Christ in my life.
Speaker 1: And let me summarize it. God says, I sent the
Speaker 1: first Christmas gift, my son to die for you so
Speaker 1: you could go to heaven. And I'm going to give
Speaker 1: you a new identity. I'm going to give you a
Speaker 1: new ability to change the things you want to change.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you a new community, call my
Speaker 1: church family to support you through life. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to give you a new destiny in eternity. Who else
Speaker 1: are you going to get that? Nowhere? Nowhere else. That's
Speaker 1: why I called it the greatest gifts you'll ever receive. Now,
Speaker 1: what do I do with these gifts of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: I humbly and I gratefully accept them. The Bible says this,
Speaker 1: Look at this verse. Thanks be to God for his
Speaker 1: indescribable gift. There is no better gift than what I
Speaker 1: just talked about. And here's the offer. The Bible says this.
Speaker 1: It makes no difference who you are or where you're from.
Speaker 1: If you want God and you're ready to do as
Speaker 1: he says, the door is open. He just got asked,
Speaker 1: Dear God, I need your son in my life, and
Speaker 1: I need a new identity, a new ability, a new community,
Speaker 1: and a new destiny. And He will give them to
Speaker 1: you because of his grace. I'm going to pray a
Speaker 1: prayer in just a minute, and I'm going to invite
Speaker 1: you to follow me in it. To invite Christ into
Speaker 1: your life to accept God's Christmas gift to you. Can
Speaker 1: you imagine somebody giving you a million dollar gift and
Speaker 1: you never open it. That would be stupid. But I
Speaker 1: know a lot of people who God's given this gift you.
Speaker 1: They've never opened the package. And what's crazy is they
Speaker 1: celebrate Christmas. How is it possible to celebrate Christmas year
Speaker 1: after year after year after year after year after year
Speaker 1: your entire life and never open the gift?
Speaker 8: Hello, what do you think It's all about?
Speaker 1: God so loved that he gave his son for you.
Speaker 1: You need to open the gift. You need to receive
Speaker 1: the gift. This gift is for you.
Speaker 8: This Christmas.
Speaker 1: The blessing, the prayer that I have chose for you
Speaker 1: is a two thousand year old prayer and I feel
Speaker 1: it very deeply for you. If Estins chapter three says this,
Speaker 1: I pray, I pray that Christ will be more and
Speaker 1: more at home in your hearts as you trust him.
Speaker 1: May your roots go down deep into the soil of
Speaker 1: God's marvelous love.
Speaker 8: And I pray.
Speaker 1: That you will be able to feel, not just know,
Speaker 1: you'll be able to feel and understand.
Speaker 8: How long, how wide, how deep, how high? God's love
Speaker 8: for you really is. And do you experience this love.
Speaker 1: For yourself? That's my prayer for you, though it is
Speaker 1: so great you'll never fully understand it. That's bower heads.
Speaker 1: This is your moment. Before you were born. God knew
Speaker 1: that you would be at this point in this day
Speaker 1: hearing this, so he could say this to you. You
Speaker 1: matter to me, and I have offered you this gift.
Speaker 1: God so loved the world. God so loved you that
Speaker 1: he gave a son, and and his son are a
Speaker 1: new ability and a new identity, and a new community
Speaker 1: and a new destiny. Would you pray this prayer? Just
Speaker 1: say it that the words really don't matter.
Speaker 3: What matters.
Speaker 1: You have to have the right attitude. And the right
Speaker 1: attitude is you must be humble. You must humble yourself
Speaker 1: before God. God is God and you're not. And you
Speaker 1: need to put away pride and arrogance and say this
Speaker 1: just in your heart. Dear God, Dear Jesus Christ, thank
Speaker 1: you for the Christmas gift of yourself. Thank you that
Speaker 1: you loved me so much you came to die for me.
Speaker 1: I don't understand it all, but today I'm saying.
Speaker 8: Yes to you.
Speaker 1: I receive the Christmas gift of Jesus, and I want
Speaker 1: my roots to go deep into your love. And I'm
Speaker 1: asking you to give me my true identity, not what
Speaker 1: everybody else has told me. I am, but Dear God,
Speaker 1: you made me. Help me to see what you made
Speaker 1: me to be. Give me my true identity, Give me
Speaker 1: a new ability I can't change on my own. I
Speaker 1: need your power in my life and I want to
Speaker 1: have this new community. I don't want to go through
Speaker 1: life without the support and foundation you've prepared. And I'm
Speaker 1: humbly asking for a new destiny that one day you
Speaker 1: will accept me into your place in heaven, not because
Speaker 1: I deserve it, because I don't, because I have received
Speaker 1: your son and your Savior. And I pray this prayer
Speaker 1: humbly saying I want to learn to love you and
Speaker 1: trust you in the days ahead. In your name, I
Speaker 1: ask this amen, if you prayed that prayer for the
Speaker 1: very first time, would you let me know about it.
Speaker 1: Write me Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick,
Speaker 1: I prayed that prayer of commitment, and I'll send you
Speaker 1: some material that will help you on your journey with Jesus.
Speaker 1: And I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 2: Such a great message by Rick today and every day.
Speaker 2: I sure hope you were just as encouraged as I was.
Speaker 2: And now here's Rick with a special message.
Speaker 1: I know I tell you this all the time, but
Speaker 1: again I want you to know how much I thank
Speaker 1: God for you and appreciate your support of Daily Hope.
Speaker 1: We couldn't do this without your prayers, and we can't
Speaker 1: do it without your financial gifts. And I know that
Speaker 1: for many of you this is a real sacrifice in
Speaker 1: order to be able to support the ministry of Daily
Speaker 1: Hope as we take the message of Christ literally around
Speaker 1: the world into places that nobody else is going to.
Speaker 1: As you consider your year in giving, I want to
Speaker 1: ask you to consider about sending your greatest gift to
Speaker 1: Daily Hope that you've ever given. You know, the great
Speaker 1: news is that in this month your financial gift will
Speaker 1: be doubled because a generous friend is offering one hundred
Speaker 1: thousand dollars matching grant and they've challenged all of the
Speaker 1: rest of us to give as much as we can
Speaker 1: and they will match it up to one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: That means that every dollar you give the Daily Hope
Speaker 1: in December up to one hundred thousand dollars will be doubled.
Speaker 1: Do you give twenty five dollars, it's like giving fifty dollars,
Speaker 1: And if you give one hundred dollars, it's like giving
Speaker 1: two hundred dollars. And if you're able to give a
Speaker 1: thousand dollars or more, it will be doubled. Your generosity,
Speaker 1: and of course Christmas is all about the spirit of generosity.
Speaker 1: God so loved the world that he gave. Your generosity
Speaker 1: makes this ministry possible. It allows us to reach into
Speaker 1: refugee camps, It allows us to reach out around the
Speaker 1: world overseas. It allows us to reach people who could
Speaker 1: not ever afford to pay for any discipleship tools or materials.
Speaker 1: So your donations matter. Let me ask you a personal favor.
Speaker 1: Don't forget to pray for us during this season we're
Speaker 1: praying for you. Let me know that you pray. It
Speaker 1: really blesses me to hear from you. I love the letters,
Speaker 1: the emails, the cards, the stories that come in because
Speaker 1: it helps me realize we truly are partnering together in
Speaker 1: this ministry. It's not about me. It's about the Word
Speaker 1: of God, and it's about what we can do together
Speaker 1: that none of us could do on our own. We
Speaker 1: are more effective together, We're better together.
Speaker 3: This matching grant is only available until midnight on December
Speaker 3: thirty first, so please act now by going to Daily
Speaker 3: Hope Radio dot com. That's Dailyhope Radio dot com, or
Speaker 3: you can just call eight hundred six hundred five thousand
Speaker 3: and four. That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four,
Speaker 3: and thank you so much for your support. Be sure to.
Speaker 2: Join us next time as we look into God's word
Speaker 2: for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor
Speaker 2: Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support