Speaker 1: Hello, everybody, 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're here with us today. We are continuing in
Speaker 1: a series called Talking about Stuff That Matters Now. In
Speaker 1: this series, Rick looks into the scriptures and he's unpacking
Speaker 1: what it means to live in community, have real conversation
Speaker 1: about what matters most, and face discouragement with courage and faith.
Speaker 1: It's honest, hopeful, So stay tuned. You won't want to
Speaker 1: miss a second. Now, let's jump in for the final
Speaker 1: part of a message called don't let Anyone Steal your identity.
Speaker 2: Now, let me share something with you you've probably never
Speaker 2: thought of before. You have one thing that nobody else
Speaker 2: in the entire world has. You have an advantage over
Speaker 2: everybody else that nobody else has. If you're a woman,
Speaker 2: you have this advantage over every other woman in the world,
Speaker 2: and if you're man, you have this advantage over every
Speaker 2: other man in the world. You know what it is.
Speaker 2: They can't be you. They can't be you. Only you
Speaker 2: can be you. And God made you to be you,
Speaker 2: not them, so they will never be you. So, whether
Speaker 2: it's a group of teenage girls standing in a circle
Speaker 2: in junior high and they're all trying to be like
Speaker 2: each other, which is impossible. They never will. You need
Speaker 2: to go and say, you know what, none of you
Speaker 2: girls can ever be like me. You don't need to
Speaker 2: say that, but just think it. Think, go well, it's
Speaker 2: nice knowing you. They If anybody else tries to be you,
Speaker 2: you know what happens. They fail. They will fail if
Speaker 2: they try to be you. I can't be you, you
Speaker 2: can't be me. But only you can be you, and
Speaker 2: only I can be me. Only you can be who
Speaker 2: God made you to be.
Speaker 3: So relax now.
Speaker 2: This ought to give you an enormous confidence in life,
Speaker 2: but the fact is, you're not very confident most of
Speaker 2: your life. A lot of times in life you're just
Speaker 2: flat out and secure. You don't tell people that. I mean,
Speaker 2: you act like you're confident, But the truth is a
Speaker 2: lot of times, most of the time in life, you're
Speaker 2: feeling pretty insecure about you, and there's some stuff about
Speaker 2: you don't even like about you. Why are we lacking
Speaker 2: in confidence?
Speaker 3: Two reasons? The Bible says two reasons.
Speaker 2: Number one, you're trying to be somebody that God didn't
Speaker 2: shape you to be, and that's going to be incredibly scary,
Speaker 2: because you can't be anybody else, You can only be you.
Speaker 2: That's scary. Tewod Corinthians, Chapter three, verse five and six.
Speaker 2: As this the capacity we have comes from God.
Speaker 3: You know he wired it in this It is he.
Speaker 2: It is he who made us capable of serving the
Speaker 2: New Covenant.
Speaker 3: What you need to.
Speaker 2: Start doing is discover your own capacity. It's called your shape, shape,
Speaker 2: spiritual gifts, heart abilities, personality experiences. The other reason why
Speaker 2: we're often lack confidence is not just that we don't
Speaker 2: know what we're shaped to do, but the other reason
Speaker 2: is we depend on our own power instead of depending
Speaker 2: on God's. And that's a sure guarantee for failure yourself.
Speaker 2: Even though God has put this capacity in you, he
Speaker 2: hasn't made you to be able to do it all
Speaker 2: on your own. God never meant for you to go
Speaker 2: through life on your own power. God meant for you
Speaker 2: to be dependent on Him to be plugged in. A
Speaker 2: blender is wired to blend things, but it's worthless unless
Speaker 2: it's plugged into the power. A vacuum cleaner is made
Speaker 2: to vacuum, but it's worthless unless it's plugged into power.
Speaker 2: God has put capabilities in your life, but it's worthless.
Speaker 2: They're worthless unless you're plug into the power God's spirit
Speaker 2: in your life. So you're depending on yourself further on God.
Speaker 2: And you think, and when you depend on yourself, that's
Speaker 2: when you get insecure. And somebody asks you to do
Speaker 2: something and you go, well, I couldn't do that. There's
Speaker 2: no way I could do that. There's not a chance,
Speaker 2: there's not a snowballs chance in hell I could possibly
Speaker 2: do that. I can't do that. And you know what,
Speaker 2: You're right, that's why you need God. The capacity is there,
Speaker 2: but it needs to be plugged into the power. You
Speaker 2: have unused capacity in your life, but you're not plugged
Speaker 2: into the power.
Speaker 3: You're not in Christ, so you don't have the power.
Speaker 2: It's like a blender's sitting there that's never plugged in.
Speaker 2: It's useless, can't fulfill his purpose. And so you have
Speaker 2: to be plugged into the power. And that leads us
Speaker 2: to one of the most famous verses in the Bible,
Speaker 2: this next verse Philippians, chapter four, verse thirteen. We've read
Speaker 2: it so many times I put it in a new
Speaker 2: translation that amplified says this. I have strength for all things,
Speaker 2: not just some things, for all things in Christ. There's
Speaker 2: that phrase, not on my own power. I have strength
Speaker 2: for all things in Christ, who empowers me. I'm ready
Speaker 2: for anything, and I'm equal to do anything through Him
Speaker 2: who infuses inner strength into me. I am self sufficient
Speaker 2: in Christ's sufficiency. Friends, That is the secret to a
Speaker 2: happy life right there. I am self sufficient in Christ's sufficiency.
Speaker 3: If you'd asked.
Speaker 2: Me when I was a kid, would I ever imagine
Speaker 2: doing what I'm doing?
Speaker 3: No, you know.
Speaker 2: I was on three continents this summer. I met with
Speaker 2: the President of Guatemala, met with the President of Costa Rica,
Speaker 2: spoke to the Congress of Costa Rica, did conferences. Not
Speaker 2: in a million years when I was in junior high
Speaker 2: high school, what I have ever imagined that's going to
Speaker 2: be me. But I am self sufficient in Christ's sufficiency,
Speaker 2: and he gives me. The capacity was there, but I
Speaker 2: had to get plugged into the power.
Speaker 3: You have something to offer to this world. Why? Three reasons?
Speaker 2: Number One, God wired you, Your heavenly Father wired you
Speaker 2: with the capacity. Kay talked about it. You're made in
Speaker 2: the image of God. Amago de Amago's the word for image.
Speaker 2: Day is the word for God in Latin. You have
Speaker 2: the image of God in you. You're wired and there's
Speaker 2: nobody like you. Nobody's shaped like you in the whole world. Second,
Speaker 2: you're in Christ and he gives you strength. And third,
Speaker 2: God's spirit empowers you to do what nobody else can do.
Speaker 3: So stop comparing yourself.
Speaker 2: Now there's a fourth thing, a fourth pillar of your
Speaker 2: self identity. Write this down. The fourth one is kay
Speaker 2: is going to talk about it that in Christ. I
Speaker 2: am totally forgiven.
Speaker 4: The Bible says in Romans eighth, verse one, there is
Speaker 4: now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 4: I want you to say, read that verse with me.
Speaker 4: It is a powerful verse when you begin to believe it.
Speaker 4: Read it with me. There is now with enthusiasm. Sorry,
Speaker 4: don't read it through the like you're reading the phone
Speaker 4: book with enthusiasm. Okay, there is now no condemnation for
Speaker 4: those who are in Christ Jesus. That is one of
Speaker 4: the most liberating, the most freeing verse in the entire Bible,
Speaker 4: as far as I'm concerned. It says that there is
Speaker 4: no condemnation hanging over the head of anyone who is
Speaker 4: in Christ Jesus. Anyone who has come to Jesus Christ
Speaker 4: as their savior in their Lord doesn't have to live
Speaker 4: waiting for that other shoe to drop. That someday God
Speaker 4: is going to think up something that you didn't know
Speaker 4: that you were going to be held responsible for, and
Speaker 4: it's gonna happen. You don't have to spend those sleepless
Speaker 4: nights of anxiety going over and over in your head.
Speaker 4: What if God ever, you know, what if God ever
Speaker 4: finds out I did this or I said that, or
Speaker 4: what if this? You don't have to live with that
Speaker 4: kind of guilt and recrimination and anxiety and regret, because
Speaker 4: when you come to Christ, there is now no longer
Speaker 4: any condemnation. Spiritually, we are totally forgiven. Let me just
Speaker 4: tell you quickly two ways that we can know that
Speaker 4: to be true. First, it is in God's nature to forgive.
Speaker 4: It's who God is. It's who he is. In Isaiah
Speaker 4: forty three twenty five, God says, I'm the God who
Speaker 4: forgives your sins, and I do this because of who
Speaker 4: I am. I will not hold your sins against you.
Speaker 4: That is a powerful thing to grab onto. God says,
Speaker 4: I'm a forgiver. There's this misconception that God in the
Speaker 4: Old Testament he's judgmental, he's harsh, he's angry, he doesn't
Speaker 4: have a whole lot to say about mercy and forgiveness
Speaker 4: and kindness. And then somehow between the Old Testament and
Speaker 4: the New Testament, Jesus shows up and Jesus is now
Speaker 4: the good and kind guy. And it's like bad cop,
Speaker 4: good cap And you know, Jesus is all about mercy
Speaker 4: and forgiveness and God and the Old Testament he's a
Speaker 4: bad guy. You don't want to make him mad. And
Speaker 4: the truth is that the same God, God does not change.
Speaker 4: God has always been a God of mercy, always been
Speaker 4: a God of compassion, always been a God of kindness.
Speaker 4: And if you're not really sure about that, I really
Speaker 4: challenge you go back look at the Old Testament. Do
Speaker 4: it yourself. You don't have to be a Bible scholar.
Speaker 4: Just start reading through the Old Testament looking for places
Speaker 4: where God says, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Speaker 4: I will forgive your sins. This one in Isaiah, I'm
Speaker 4: the God who forgives your sins. So that you can
Speaker 4: be convinced that God is a forgiver. The second way
Speaker 4: that we can know that we're totally forgiven in Christ
Speaker 4: is Ephesians. To excuse me, Ephesians one says in Christ underline,
Speaker 4: that we are set free by the blood of His death,
Speaker 4: and so we have forgiveness of sins. How rich is
Speaker 4: God's grace which he has given to us so fully
Speaker 4: and freely. Again, because of what Jesus did for us
Speaker 4: on the cross, because of what God said to us
Speaker 4: through jesus death on the croust, we have forgiveness of sins.
Speaker 4: God's grace. And how is it given to us? The
Speaker 4: Bible says it is given to us fully and freely,
Speaker 4: fully and freely. The apostle Paul says in that verse
Speaker 4: that Jesus' blood, as we've already said, so highly valued
Speaker 4: to God, provided for us forgiveness, and now God gives
Speaker 4: he just like slathers us with his grace and his mercy.
Speaker 4: The problem is that even if you are willing to
Speaker 4: believe that about God and about that's the way He
Speaker 4: feels about you, we get stuck in trying to apply
Speaker 4: that same grace and mercy to other people. You know,
Speaker 4: It's like the grace and mercy Spigott gets clogged in us,
Speaker 4: and when it's us, we want God to just man
Speaker 4: pour out that full grace and that free forgiveness for
Speaker 4: everything we've done wrong and everything that is sinful about us.
Speaker 4: We want God's mercy and grace in droves. But when
Speaker 4: it comes to me forgiving you, that is a different story.
Speaker 4: And I am not usually as interested in you receiving
Speaker 4: grace and mercy as I am myself receiving grace and mercy.
Speaker 4: Anybody else identify with that. That's just kind of the
Speaker 4: way we are that, even though God has graced us
Speaker 4: fully and freely, we are not as eager to do
Speaker 4: that for each other. The Bible says that's wrong. Look
Speaker 4: at Ephesians four thirty two. God says, be kind and
Speaker 4: compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ,
Speaker 4: God forgave you. When our son Josh was in high school,
Speaker 4: he came to me one day crying, very remorseful, and
Speaker 4: he said, Mom, I need to tell you. I need
Speaker 4: to I need to tell you something that I've done.
Speaker 4: And I kind of took a deep breath because I
Speaker 4: really had no idea what I was about to hear.
Speaker 4: Josh is a good kid, was a good kid, But
Speaker 4: I still didn't know he's weeping. Why is he weeping?
Speaker 4: What is he about to confess to me? And he said,
Speaker 4: I just need to tell you that I used the
Speaker 4: credit card that you and dad had had given me
Speaker 4: for emergencies. I bought a few things that I didn't
Speaker 4: really have your permission to buy. I've taken my friends
Speaker 4: out to lunch a few times, and and I just
Speaker 4: want you to know. I'm I'm really sorry. And I'm
Speaker 4: thinking to myself, Yeah, but you know, the credit card
Speaker 4: bill's coming up here, and you're you're gonna confess ahead
Speaker 4: of time rather than to find out through the through
Speaker 4: the credit card bill. But I was just really angry
Speaker 4: because Josh had broken our trust. You know, we had
Speaker 4: given him this card and good faith in case there
Speaker 4: were emergencies, and here he had abused our trust. He'd
Speaker 4: lied to us, based stolen from us. And I was
Speaker 4: so angry at him, and I really had all kinds
Speaker 4: of things that I wanted to say about, you know,
Speaker 4: how deep my hurt was, and how he was grounded
Speaker 4: for the next three years of high school. And I mean,
Speaker 4: I just had all these really angry upset thoughts that
Speaker 4: I wanted to say, And at the exact moment that
Speaker 4: I was getting ready to blast him in my anger,
Speaker 4: God reminded me of this verse. I was like, oh, man,
Speaker 4: don't you hate it when God does that because you
Speaker 4: got out of this righteous anger going and then he
Speaker 4: brings the word to you and you're like ah, And
Speaker 4: it was like, Okay, I had a moment. Thank God,
Speaker 4: he helped me realize that as a parent, I had
Speaker 4: a moment, and I could either reveal to my son
Speaker 4: something about the nature of God in the way that
Speaker 4: I forgave him, or I could just be a human
Speaker 4: parent who was justifiably upset, and I could distort the
Speaker 4: image of God. I could rail on my son. I
Speaker 4: could discipline him in anger, I could punish him. I
Speaker 4: could say all these things about how he had let
Speaker 4: us down. Or I could remember that I have already
Speaker 4: been forgiven a million times more than what my son
Speaker 4: had done in that moment, God has already forgiven me,
Speaker 4: and that I had an opportunity to say I forgive you.
Speaker 4: I am angry, I'm hurt, and there will be.
Speaker 5: Consequences, but I just want you to know that I
Speaker 5: do forgive you and so instead of railing on him
Speaker 5: and spewing all kinds of stuff, I had a moment
Speaker 5: to channel the way.
Speaker 4: God would do something. God meets our sin, and often
Speaker 4: there are consequences for our sin. We don't get off
Speaker 4: scott free in the sense of sometimes there aren't consequences.
Speaker 4: But I had the opportunity to offer him grace fully
Speaker 4: and freely. But here's the truth, you guys about forgiving
Speaker 4: fully and freely. As parents, as teachers, as educators, as coaches,
Speaker 4: we have so many opportunities to make sure that we
Speaker 4: don't distort the image of God. Sometimes good kids make
Speaker 4: stupid decisions. Sometimes good kids make bad decisions, and we
Speaker 4: can either jump on them with both feet and take
Speaker 4: them to the ground and you know, threaten them with
Speaker 4: everything that could possibly ever happen and take away everything forever,
Speaker 4: and we can distort the way that God has forgiven us,
Speaker 4: or we have the opportunity to fully offer grace and
Speaker 4: mercy as we build their identity. Rick is going to
Speaker 4: come and finish this message.
Speaker 3: Okay, let me wrap this up.
Speaker 2: Everybody in life, at different times has felt the pain
Speaker 2: of rejection. There's nobody goes through life without feeling some
Speaker 2: kind of rejection by different people, different groups, at different times.
Speaker 2: My studies have shown that the earlier you were rejected
Speaker 2: you felt that the younger you were when you first
Speaker 2: felt major rejection, the greater the impact that has on
Speaker 2: your life. So if you were a young child and
Speaker 2: you felt abandoned, or you felt rejected, or you felt unloved,
Speaker 2: that's a real problem you're having to struggle with.
Speaker 3: And if you were told as.
Speaker 2: A kid you don't really matter in so many words,
Speaker 2: or your failure or you'll never be up to my expectation,
Speaker 2: that's a hard thing to move over. In many ways,
Speaker 2: it was like a curse on your life. How do
Speaker 2: you reverse a curse? How do you reverse a curse?
Speaker 2: The truth will set you free. Everybody's heard that phrase,
Speaker 2: but they don't know the full verse. It's a quote
Speaker 2: from Jesus, and the full quote is this, if you
Speaker 2: continue in my word the Bible, if you continue in
Speaker 2: my word, then you'll be my disciple, you'll be my followers,
Speaker 2: and then you'll know the truth, and the truth will
Speaker 2: set you free. That's the full quote. The truth isn't
Speaker 2: out there on TV. The truth is in this book.
Speaker 2: And if you know the truth, then the truth will
Speaker 2: set you free. What is the truth about you? You're accepted,
Speaker 2: you're loved, you're forgiven, you're chosen, you're priceless, you have
Speaker 2: something to contribute to the world, and when you mess up,
Speaker 2: you're forgiven. That's the truth. That's the truth. Now, there's
Speaker 2: another research that I read years ago that the way
Speaker 2: you tend to feel about yourself, your identity, your self esteem,
Speaker 2: your self worth is largely determined by what you think
Speaker 2: the most important person in your life thinks about you.
Speaker 2: Let me say it again, the way you feel about yourself,
Speaker 2: your self esteem, your self worth is largely determined, with
Speaker 2: you realize it or not, by what you think the
Speaker 2: most important person in your.
Speaker 3: Life thinks about you.
Speaker 2: So, friends, I highly recommend you make Jesus Christ the
Speaker 2: most important person in your life.
Speaker 3: Does that make sense?
Speaker 2: Because he says, you're chosen, you're forgiven, you're accepted, you're loved,
Speaker 2: you're valuable, you're priceless, you got something to offer, and
Speaker 2: when you mess up.
Speaker 3: You're forgiven. This is who you really are.
Speaker 2: So make Jesus Christ the most important person in your life.
Speaker 2: You're chosen by God, You're loved by God. You're accepted
Speaker 2: by God. You have a contribution to make in your life.
Speaker 2: Your value and your worth are priceless, and you're forgiven.
Speaker 2: That is your true identity. When you settle your true identity,
Speaker 2: become almost impervious to peer pressure because you know who
Speaker 2: you are and you know what you're supposed to do
Speaker 2: with your life. You know, when I was in school
Speaker 2: from sixth grade through my freshman year in college, I
Speaker 2: was president of something every year I was growing up.
Speaker 2: I was class president of my class every single year,
Speaker 2: except when I in junior high and high school was
Speaker 2: student body president of the whole school. You might say
Speaker 2: I was popular, and as a result of being popular,
Speaker 2: I was invited to all the parties from sixth grade
Speaker 2: through college. And yet, somehow, by the grace of God,
Speaker 2: I made it through all those years without ever taking
Speaker 2: any drugs, without ever smoking a cigarette, without ever even
Speaker 2: tasting alcohol, without having sex with some girl. Why because
Speaker 2: I knew who I was in Christ and I wasn't
Speaker 2: about to.
Speaker 3: Throw that away.
Speaker 2: Somehow, God got a hold of my brain at an
Speaker 2: early age, and my parents built into me what my
Speaker 2: true identity was, and I was impervious to the pressure,
Speaker 2: even though I was invited all those parties. You need
Speaker 2: this in your life. You need to pass it on
Speaker 2: to the next generation. This is your true identity.
Speaker 3: You are not.
Speaker 2: What your parents say you are. You're not what your
Speaker 2: peers say you are. You're not what your partner says
Speaker 2: you are. You're not what the world says you are.
Speaker 2: You are not what the media says you are. You
Speaker 2: are not what social media says you are. You are
Speaker 2: not what boys who criticized you in school say you are.
Speaker 2: You are not what you tell yourself when you are self,
Speaker 2: care yourself, and you are not what Satan tells you are.
Speaker 2: You are what God says you are, and the truth
Speaker 2: will set you free. Now as your friend, as your
Speaker 2: pastor who genuinely loves you, have I told you lately
Speaker 2: that I love you? The big question comes down to this,
Speaker 2: who are in the world you going to believe? Are
Speaker 2: you gonna believe what the world says about you? That
Speaker 2: unless you look a certain way, unless you talk a
Speaker 2: certain way, unless you do certain things, unless you cave
Speaker 2: in to certain moral issues, unless you believe certain things,
Speaker 2: you don't matter. You're worthless. Are you gonna believe what
Speaker 2: God says about you? Some of those two. One of
Speaker 2: those opinions isn't going to matter in eternity for trillions
Speaker 2: and trillions of years.
Speaker 3: I'll say it again.
Speaker 2: It is liberating the day you realize that you don't
Speaker 2: need other people's approval to be happy. By the way,
Speaker 2: did you know what Jesus said? Is the way you
Speaker 2: express your identity publicly for the first time, the way
Speaker 2: you come out with your new identity.
Speaker 3: It's called baptism. If you haven't been baptist, what are
Speaker 3: you Baptist? What are you waiting on?
Speaker 2: Baptism says I've died to the old me, and I'm
Speaker 2: beginning a brand new me. Last first on your outline.
Speaker 2: Tewod Corinthians, chapter five from the Bible, verse seventeen. When
Speaker 2: anyone is in Christ, it's a whole new world. The
Speaker 2: old things are gone, including all the guilt and the
Speaker 2: shame and condemnation. The old thing's gone. Suddenly everything is new.
Speaker 2: He said, Man, I'd like that. I'd like a whole
Speaker 2: new world. I'd like it's like starting over. It's like
Speaker 2: getting a fresh started. It's like being born again. Oh,
Speaker 2: I kind of like that term.
Speaker 3: Does not turn over a new leaf. It's good.
Speaker 2: Whole new life. God says, would you like a mulligan
Speaker 2: on your life? Would you like to start over? Fresh start? Okay,
Speaker 2: it all starts where in Christ? He said, Well, I'm
Speaker 2: not so sure, Rick, I'm in Christ. Well I can
Speaker 2: help you settle that one right now. That's real simple.
Speaker 2: You're not waiting on God. He's waiting on you. That's power.
Speaker 3: Heads.
Speaker 2: Thank you God, our Father. Thank you Father, that you
Speaker 2: can heal broken hearts, and you can heal bitter memories,
Speaker 2: and you can heal damaged self esteem. And I thank
Speaker 2: you Lord that the patterns in our minds can be
Speaker 2: erased and reversed. And I thank you that you turn
Speaker 2: nobody's into somebody's.
Speaker 3: And Jesus.
Speaker 2: Asking you to help my friends here, help these dear
Speaker 2: people to begin to see themselves through your eyes of love.
Speaker 2: Now you pray in your mind, just say this in
Speaker 2: your mind. God hears you say.
Speaker 3: Dear God.
Speaker 2: Just say, Dear God, I want to be in Christ.
Speaker 2: Help me to see myself the way you see me.
Speaker 2: Just tell him that. Thank you Jesus for dying for me.
Speaker 2: I don't understand it all, but I want to be
Speaker 2: in Christ and I want to start living my new identity.
Speaker 2: In Christ, help me to care more about what you
Speaker 2: say about me and what other people say or think
Speaker 2: about me. May the truth set me free for the
Speaker 2: rest of my life. I want to be a God pleaser,
Speaker 2: not a people pleaser. Now the head still bowed, I'm
Speaker 2: going to ask everybody here to repeat these truths allowed
Speaker 2: with me.
Speaker 3: They're the things we just talked about.
Speaker 2: But I want you to say I'm aloud so that
Speaker 2: your own mind hears them. And just with your head bowed,
Speaker 2: everybody say this aloud. Because I am in Christ. I've
Speaker 2: been chosen by God. I am completely loved by God,
Speaker 2: and I am completely accepted by God. And in Christ,
Speaker 2: my value and worth are priceless. And in Christ I
Speaker 2: have something unique to offer to the world. And in
Speaker 2: Christ I have been completely forgiven.
Speaker 3: Amen.
Speaker 1: Wow, some powerful words from Pastor Rick. And now this
Speaker 1: really is one of my favorite parts of the broadcast.
Speaker 1: Letters from our listeners. Here's Rick.
Speaker 2: I love getting letters from you. Let me share a
Speaker 2: little bit longer when it's from Sarah and her four
Speaker 2: year old son. She said, Pastor Rick, my husband and
Speaker 2: I are involved in a church plant in Salem, Massachusetts,
Speaker 2: and I make an effort every day to listen to
Speaker 2: other pastors preach by a podcast. But I began listening
Speaker 2: to your Daily Hope podcast and I stumbled across Christians
Speaker 2: in the workplace and that small group study that you
Speaker 2: did that has been a great study and quite relevant
Speaker 2: to us. Thank you for making your materials available beyond
Speaker 2: Saddleback Church, Pastor Rick. As a result of my regular
Speaker 2: listening to your podcast, my son now frequently asked to
Speaker 2: listen to the sermons. He's four and a half years old,
Speaker 2: and one morning, on our way to church, he asked
Speaker 2: me to put on a sermon. I love this kid,
Speaker 2: he said. I had a Pastor Craig podcast in the queue,
Speaker 2: but began to listen, but my son kept asking to
Speaker 2: listen to a sermon by you, and I kept telling
Speaker 2: this was a sermon. Then he said, no, I want
Speaker 2: to listen to Pastor Rick Warren. That's funny. Well, when
Speaker 2: your four year old son Sam asked to listen to
Speaker 2: Rick Warren, you listened to Rick Warren. So I asked Sam,
Speaker 2: why like to listen to you? He said, I like
Speaker 2: what Pastor Rick says, and he said he says, if
Speaker 2: you don't swing from one bar to another, you're just
Speaker 2: gonna hang there. Well, I was shocked that he had
Speaker 2: picked up that truth. That was just one of the
Speaker 2: recent Daily Hope messages where you talked about faith and
Speaker 2: you were referring to where trapeze artists have to let
Speaker 2: go of one bar before they reach on to the second,
Speaker 2: and all of that. Just to say thank you for
Speaker 2: the work you do, for the messages you teach, and
Speaker 2: it goes noticed even by the youngest of human beings,
Speaker 2: my four year old son best Sarah, Well, what can
Speaker 2: I say, Sarah, this is just such a great story.
Speaker 2: Thank you, and thank your four year old son Sam
Speaker 2: for listening, and thank you for your ministry at Salem, Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: May God bless your church and may all of you
Speaker 2: join me next time as we continue to look at
Speaker 2: God's word for our daily hope.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Rick, And if you'd like to let
Speaker 1: Rick know how much this broadcast has meant to you,
Speaker 1: how it's blessed you, please send him an email at
Speaker 1: Rick at pastorick dot com. That's Rick at pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: Rick looks so forward to reading those emails. Be sure
Speaker 1: to join us next time as we look into God's
Speaker 1: word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by
Speaker 1: Daily Hope Ministries and your generous financial support.