WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:06.519 Hello, everybody, Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This is 2 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:10.160 the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Hey, we're so 3 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.320 glad you're here with us today. We are continuing in 4 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.199 a series called talking about Stuff that Matters Now. In 5 00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:21.039 this series, Rick looks into the scriptures and he's unpacking 6 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:24.800 what it means to live in community, have real conversation 7 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:29.960 about what matters most, and face discouragement with courage and faith. 8 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:34.000 It's honest, hopeful. So stay tuned. You won't want to 9 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.679 miss a second. And now here's part two of a 10 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.000 message called don't let anyone steal your identity. 11 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:44.119 Here's the second pillar of your identity. Kay's gonna come 12 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:48.640 and talk about this. In Christ, my value and worth 13 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:50.479 are priceless. 14 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.600 As Rick said, my value and my worth are priceless 15 00:00:55.640 --> 00:01:01.039 Isaiah forty three, Verse four. God says you are precious 16 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:05.239 to me. Now, precious is a really emotional word. It's 17 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.159 not a word that we use very often. We don't 18 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.959 hear people talk about it. When I hear the word precious, 19 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:11.879 there's something in me that just thinks it's got to 20 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.079 be said with a Southern accent, like, well, honey, you 21 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:17.079 are so precious to me, you know you just it 22 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:21.519 fits with the Southern accent. But in Hebrew and the 23 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:24.799 Old Testament was written in Hebrew and so Isaiah. In 24 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:29.959 Hebrew it means highly valued or esteemed. In English it 25 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:36.959 means valued, wanted, treasured, cherished. And whether you are comfortable 26 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.640 using that emotional word precious to describe how you feel 27 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:43.159 about people you love or have people use that about you, 28 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:47.120 or whether you're comfortable even admitting the longings that you 29 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:51.120 have in your heart. We all want to be loved, 30 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:55.439 to be highly esteemed, to be valued, to be treasured, 31 00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:59.120 to be cherished by at least one other person in 32 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:01.719 this world. And the good news is that God has 33 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:06.640 already said you are precious to me. Well, how do 34 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.360 we know that that's how God feels about us? He 35 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:12.520 says it, But what's the visible proof of that? Two 36 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:14.439 ways that I can think of. First is we are 37 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.800 all made in the image of God. In Genesis one, 38 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:21.280 twenty six and twenty seven, there on the screen, God says, 39 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:25.960 let us make man mankind in our image, in our likeness. 40 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:30.879 So God created mankind in his own image, in the 41 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:34.759 image of God. He created them male and female. He 42 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.680 created them in Latin, the words for image of God 43 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:44.000 is immago day, and immago day is what all of 44 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:47.280 us contain. All of us contain the image of God. 45 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:51.120 We were made in His likeness, and it defines us 46 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:54.199 as surely as this phrase that we've been using in Christ. 47 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:58.400 Before we were in Christ. We were all made in 48 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:02.199 the image of God. And what does that mean that 49 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.840 we are made in the image of God. Well, God 50 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.840 is not a physical being, is a spiritual being spirit, 51 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:09.919 and so it doesn't have anything to do with well, 52 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.039 you look like God, but I don't look like God. 53 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.560 It's not about appearance. It is the characteristics of God. 54 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:19.159 God is a three part being. Great theology that there's 55 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.439 so much to unpack on this. He is a triune God. 56 00:03:21.479 --> 00:03:24.479 He's made in three parts. He's God, he's Son, he's 57 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:27.400 Holy Spirit. And we, as human beings who are made 58 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:30.080 in His image, are also made in three parts. We 59 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.520 have a body, we have a soul, and we have 60 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:34.759 a spirit. To be made in the image of God 61 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:38.240 means that we have emotions like God has emotions. God 62 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.599 uses words like precious. We've said that's an emotional word. 63 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.080 God has emotions. We as human beings made in His 64 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:48.879 image have emotions. We have the capacity for rational thought, 65 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.919 not just instinct. We have the capacity to develop a 66 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:56.479 spiritual connection with the creator of the universe. And that 67 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:02.759 means that every single person, every single person, carries the 68 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.280 spark of the divine and we have the image of 69 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:09.199 God stamped on us. Now, this must become an unshakable 70 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:12.919 conviction in you, because when you understand that you and 71 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.279 every other person on this planet has been stamped with 72 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:21.680 the image of God, that establishes personhood. Anyone made in 73 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:25.319 the image of God is a person, regardless of how 74 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:28.959 functional they are, how well they can contribute in society, 75 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.560 whether they are born or unborn, every person has been 76 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:35.439 stamped with the image of God. And it's the driving 77 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:38.279 force for why we as human beings care for the weak. 78 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.839 It's why we care for the vulnerable. It's why we 79 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.879 care for those on the edges, those that are too 80 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.720 sick to contribute to the community through employment, or those 81 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:50.240 that are too young or those that are too old 82 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:52.759 to care for others, or those that need to be 83 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:56.560 taken care of, those who are incapacitated in their body, 84 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.560 or their mind or their spirit, those who cannot speak 85 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:02.240 their own name or put a spoon to their mouth, 86 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:04.639 or those who are not yet born and have not 87 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:10.240 made a measurable contribution to society. All our stamped with 88 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.600 the image of God. I've talked to you a little 89 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:15.639 bit in the last year or so about my mom. 90 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:19.120 She's ninety five and is in last stages of Alzheimer's, 91 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.720 and she is really a shell of the person that 92 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:25.680 she used to be. She was a vibrant woman. She 93 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:28.680 was an excellent Bible teacher. My dad was a pastor, 94 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:32.959 and she was an amazing pastor's wife, and creative and warm, 95 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:34.720 and she was one of those ladies that you know, 96 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:36.839 they always say, well, you could eat her house was 97 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:39.079 so clean you could eat off of her floor that 98 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:44.160 was made for my mom. She was just always, always busy. 99 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.600 And now at ninety five and last stages of Alzheimer's, 100 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.800 it is impossible to have much of a rational conversation 101 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:54.360 with her because her little sentence loop is about fifteen 102 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:57.000 seconds long, and then she's forgotten what she's said. And 103 00:05:57.160 --> 00:05:59.759 most of the time she lives with delusions and thinks 104 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:02.600 that she's been kidnapped and that people are trying to 105 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:05.240 kill her and the caregivers are just being nice to her, 106 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:08.120 but they're gonna you know, they're gonna hurt her behind 107 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:11.560 closed doors. She's in a wheelchair because her legs won't 108 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.079 hold her up anymore. She needs help with hygiene, she 109 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:18.800 needs help with dressing herself. She can't teach Bible studies anymore. 110 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:22.360 She can't even read the Bible because the Bible in 111 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.839 any other book don't make sense to her. And so 112 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:30.480 in society's eyes, my mother's worth and value is declining 113 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:33.920 by the day, and she feels it, she knows it, 114 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:37.079 and in some of her coherent moments she's able to say, 115 00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:40.040 I wish I could just die. I just wish I 116 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:42.240 could die. Life is not how it used to be. 117 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:47.160 I can't do anything for anybody anymore. And so my 118 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:50.560 main task with my mom these days is to remind 119 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:55.519 her every day that she has been stamped with imago day, 120 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:59.160 that the image of God she bears, the divine spark, 121 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:02.920 she matter. She is a person, she has value, she 122 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:06.720 has worth, even though she can't contribute in the ways 123 00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:10.399 that she has done all of her life. She matters. 124 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:14.360 And that is not only how we treat those who 125 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:17.480 are weak and vulnerable, because they've all been stamped with 126 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.319 the image of God. But this is how we are 127 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:23.639 to treat each other, every one of us, able bodied, 128 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:27.720 able mind, whatever condition you find yourself in, no matter 129 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:35.079 if the person that you're looking at is doing something heinous, horrible, terrible, criminal, evil, 130 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.959 and deserves some sort of punishment or some sort of 131 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:46.519 consequence for their behavior, every single person, even at our 132 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:51.000 very worst, maintains the spark of the divine, maintains in 133 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.959 Mago day. And that means that you and I, in 134 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:58.199 very practical terms, never ever have the right to speak 135 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:02.079 of another human being in degrading terms, to talk of 136 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:06.079 human beings as animals, call them names like dogs or 137 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:11.920 cockroaches or vermin or infestations, or undesirable or even deplorable. 138 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:17.680 This is all against Immago Day. It is all anytime 139 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:22.240 we speak in degrading terms of other human beings, even 140 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:25.920 at their very worst, we are negating in our by 141 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:29.279 our words, what God says is true about us. Our 142 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:33.679 identity is we bear the image of God. The second 143 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:36.679 way that we know that we are valuable, that's concrete way, 144 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:39.879 I mean, it's an incredible truth to know that we 145 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.279 are stamped with the image of God. But another way 146 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:44.559 that we can know that we are that our value 147 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:48.080 is priceless to God is because Jesus died for us. 148 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.440 Rick has already mentioned that. But the Bible says that 149 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.799 Jesus Christ came to earth in human form to die 150 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.039 on a cross for all of our sins, our rebellion 151 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:02.399 against God's right to reign and rule in our lives. 152 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:07.519 And he died for all of the sins for all time, 153 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:11.159 for all of the people who ever were born, who 154 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.799 would ever live, those who were alive when he died 155 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.399 on the cross, those who have been born since his 156 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:19.720 death and resurrection, and those who will be born long 157 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:22.840 after you and I are gone. Jesus died for all 158 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:26.240 of our sin in that moment, and he took the 159 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.639 penalty and paid the ransom that we should have paid 160 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:32.639 one Peter one eighteen. I'm going to come back to 161 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:34.879 that other verse, so hold on, but look at first 162 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:39.480 Peter one eighteen. It says you were rescued from the 163 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.320 useless way of life that you learned, but you weren't 164 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:48.120 ransomed by silver or gold, but with the precious blood 165 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.799 of Christ. There's that word again, precious. It was used 166 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.679 in the Old Testament, and it meant highly esteemed and valued, 167 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:57.000 and in the Greek in which the New Testament was written, 168 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:00.399 it means the same thing. And so God said, I'm 169 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:04.320 going to use something that is precious, highly valued to me, 170 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:09.399 the lifeblood of my son, to rescue and redeem something 171 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:13.360 someone else who is highly esteemed, valuable, precious to me. 172 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.679 And that was me, and that was you. So God 173 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:20.279 says again, not only because we've been stamped with the 174 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.960 image of God, but because he gave his lifeblood for us, 175 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:27.799 we are precious to him. Well, there are two debilitating 176 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:31.080 lies I think that can arise from our need to 177 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.879 know that we matter. And the first one is that 178 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:37.600 some have concluded that really none of us do matter, 179 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:42.960 that the universe is a cold and sterile and unfeeling, uncaring, 180 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:47.000 random place, And because the universe is that way, that 181 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:50.720 means that we as human beings also are random and 182 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:55.639 meaningless and at the end of the day, don't really matter. 183 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:58.960 Rick is going to be talking about that more in 184 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:01.200 the series, not so much today, but just know that 185 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:04.360 that is a lie. The second lie that I think 186 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:06.679 that we have to contend with about our whether we 187 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:09.399 matter or not is let's just say you get past 188 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:12.159 that first one and you do believe that human beings 189 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:14.080 matter and that we're stamped with the image of God. 190 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:18.279 What can creep in is a fear that if we 191 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.080 reveal to other people really the shameful things that we 192 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.600 have done, the terrible things that go through our minds 193 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:28.559 on a daily basis, that we won't matter to them. 194 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:31.759 Maybe will matter to God, but we won't matter to 195 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:35.320 another human being, Because, honestly, there is a lot of 196 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.440 junk in all of our lives. There's stuff that we 197 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:40.360 are embarrassed and ashamed of. There are days that we 198 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.960 would love to recall, wipe out. Man, I wish I 199 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:44.960 had not done what I did on that day. I 200 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.360 wish I had not said what I said to that 201 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.279 person on that day. If I could rewind history, I 202 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.240 would do it in a heartbeat, because I am so 203 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:55.480 ashamed of what I did and what I said. But 204 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:58.440 that doesn't even cover the things that nobody will really 205 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:02.679 ever know about that go through our minds every day. 206 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.679 If I would be horrified if you could see how 207 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:09.600 many times I am so self centered, how I am 208 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:13.240 completely self absorbed. How often wouldn't you hate it if 209 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:16.600 everybody knew that they could see into your head when 210 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.240 you're interpreting a conversation and or interaction and inside really 211 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:22.000 what you're thinking of, Well, you know what, that doesn't 212 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.279 do anything for me, so I don't have to talk 213 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:25.440 to that person, or that person's got nothing to give me, 214 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:26.840 so I don't have to listen to it. I mean 215 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:31.200 the self absorption, the self centered its, the selfishness. I 216 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:34.240 mean the stuff that's even worse for meth the ugly thoughts, 217 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:38.200 the hateful thoughts, the violent thoughts, the pornographic thoughts, the 218 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:43.120 judgmental the vindictive thoughts that fill our minds. And when 219 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:47.360 those things, we know they're there. Other people don't necessarily 220 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:49.440 know they're there, but it can lead us to that 221 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:52.720 place of believing God may accept me, God may love me, 222 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:56.519 but other people won't. And so conclude in the end, 223 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.840 I really don't matter that much because people would run 224 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:04.120 from me, they would discard me like a used tissue 225 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.639 if they knew what I was really like. But here's 226 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.960 the comfort. God does already know. God does already know, 227 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:14.960 He knows it all, and he has already declared that 228 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.000 you are precious to him, that you are highly valued, 229 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:21.000 even in your sin, in your worst moments, in your 230 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.759 most evil moments, in your most despicable moments, in your 231 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.360 most shameful moments, His love for you does not shift 232 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.279 or change. You are precious, your value, and Jesus has 233 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:35.159 come for us. And because of the high price that 234 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.879 Jesus was willing to pay for us, the Bible says 235 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.080 we belong to God, we belong to him. Look at 236 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.519 First Corinthians seven twenty three. It says you have been 237 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:49.320 bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him. 238 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:53.759 In the world of value, provenance really matters, whether in 239 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.720 the world of antiques, where that jewelry came from, who 240 00:13:56.759 --> 00:13:59.480 wore that piece of jewelry, who painted that painting, who 241 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:02.279 owned it, who owns that piece of art, whose house 242 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:05.360 was that who used to have that car? Whose yacht 243 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:10.039 was at? Those things matter? Ownership matters, and the Bible says, 244 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.960 our provenance is God. God is our owner. Jesus has 245 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.480 bought and paid for us, and our lives belonged to him, 246 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:20.559 So our provenance are worth our value. So much comes 247 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.159 from belonging to God. Ownership makes all the difference in 248 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:27.200 the world. Rick has been a collector all his life. 249 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:31.320 I mean, he collected rocks, he collected stamps, he collected coins, 250 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:36.120 he collected national geographic magazines, he collected letters from famous people. 251 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.759 I mean, he's collected it all. And he used to 252 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.840 call it his valuable property. And so when he and 253 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:43.799 I first met, that was one of the things I 254 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.679 learned about him, as he was very particular about his 255 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:50.559 valuable property, the things that he had collected. And he 256 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:55.120 also collected some weird and random things like chicken wishbones. 257 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:00.360 And the first time I visited his parents' home into 258 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:02.440 the bedroom he had grown up with as a little kid, 259 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:07.600 it was strong with desiccated and dried out chicken wishbones. 260 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:12.080 And I married him anyway, So that's on me. I 261 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:15.480 knew what I was getting into. I'm so glad he's 262 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.759 settled on collecting old books and old things from history 263 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.720 and theology, you know, and of course whoever it belonged 264 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:24.840 to matters to him. But the really funny thing to 265 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:28.200 me about this talking about ownership and provenance and where 266 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:31.200 something came from is that, I mean, Rick would not 267 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:33.399 say this about himself, but he's kind of well known, 268 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:36.799 and some people, you know, might even say he's famous. 269 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.360 And so there are people who want to own things 270 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:43.559 that belong to Rick Warren. So there have been people 271 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:47.879 digging in our trash over the years, and it just 272 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:51.840 cracks me up because I'm thinking, really, his used root 273 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.960 beer bottle is that valuable. But it's the provenance. It's 274 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:58.600 who you belong to and who it belonged to. You 275 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.919 and I. In our it is so strong and it 276 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.879 is so secure. We've been stamped with the image of 277 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:08.279 God and Mago day is written all over our lives 278 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:11.080 and we have been bought and paid for by Jesus Christ, 279 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:14.639 and we belong to God, our owner. Our provenance comes 280 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.120 from God, and that identity strengthens us to live in 281 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.879 this world in such a confident way. Rick is going 282 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.080 to talk about the next point about how in Christ 283 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:25.720 I have something to offer to the world. 284 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:33.639 Thanks baby, Now, I've told you many times that you're 285 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:38.360 not an accident. They're accidental parents. There are no accidental children. 286 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:44.279 They're illegitimate parents. There are no illegitimate children. Your parents 287 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:47.519 may not have planned you, but God did. And the 288 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:50.720 reason you're alive is because He wanted you alive. Remember 289 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.000 before you were born, thousands millions of years before you're born, 290 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:57.120 he chose you. He said, I'm going to choose to 291 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.799 create you. If you hadn't been chosen by God, you 292 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:03.240 think you'd be alive right now? Not a chance. If 293 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:06.559 you hadn't been loved and accepted, and if you weren't 294 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:09.400 valuable and priceless to God, you think you'd be taking 295 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:13.359 your next breath. Not a chance. Now, there's a third 296 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:19.200 pillar of these four legs of the table, which are 297 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.480 your self identity, your self worth. And as Key said, 298 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:25.000 the third leg of the stool, or a third leg 299 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.480 of the table, is in Christ. I have something to 300 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:32.680 offer to the world. Why God didn't create anything without 301 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:36.839 a purpose. So if your heart's beating and your breathing, 302 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:39.880 there's a purpose. And that purpose is to make a 303 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:45.440 contribution to the world. God uniquely shaped you for a contribution. 304 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:50.279 He wired you in certain certain way. Nobody else in 305 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:56.839 history has your DNA. Nobody, nobody in the past, nobody 306 00:17:56.839 --> 00:18:00.400 in the future will ever be you. God doesn't create 307 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:05.000 clones or copies. Even identical twins are different in thousands 308 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:08.640 and thousands of different ways. You have a unique thumbprint, 309 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:13.400 voice print, iPrint, footprint, heartbeat. You're not one in a million, 310 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.759 You're one in trillions. There's nobody ever going to be 311 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.039 like you in the past and the future. That's how 312 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:25.920 specifically God custom made you, and he wants you to 313 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.880 be you. God doesn't want you to be anybody else. 314 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.880 God that'd want you to be me. God doesn't want 315 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:34.240 me to be you. God doesn't want you to be 316 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:35.960 the person next to you, or why can't you be 317 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.079 more like your brother or your sister, your dad or 318 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.279 your mother. God wants you to be you. If you 319 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:46.000 hadn't wanted to be you, you wouldn't exist. And yet 320 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.400 we spend our entire lives trying to be somebody we're not. 321 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.480 We spend our entire lives trying to well, I want 322 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:53.640 to be like that guy, and I want to be 323 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.440 like that woman, and we missed the whole purpose of 324 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:01.880 our lives. God made you to be you. He doesn't 325 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:05.720 want you to be anybody else. God puts you on 326 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:09.160 this planet and made you you, and that means there's 327 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.720 a contribution that only you can make. I can't make it, 328 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:15.359 nobody else can make it. Only you can make it. 329 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.000 God did not put you on this planet just to 330 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:22.039 use resources. Live a self centered life. Breathe there, take 331 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:26.559 up space and die. If you're here, there is a purpose, 332 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.039 there's a plan, and there is a contribution God intends 333 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:33.319 for you to make. That doesn't mean your contribution is 334 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:34.960 going to be known by everybody in the whole world. 335 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:36.880 We don't need everybody in the whole world to make 336 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:40.079 a contribution that everybody in the world knows about. There's 337 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:42.960 seven billion of us. But He wants you to make 338 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.640 a contribution in the part of the world where you live, 339 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:50.839 and that gives your life value and meaning. If you're alive. 340 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:54.720 There is a purpose and reason and a contribution that 341 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:57.480 God wants you to make. Let me show you some 342 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:01.799 things from the Bible. Ephesians two, verse ten says this, 343 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:07.480 we are each God's masterpiece. Did you know that's in 344 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.440 the Bible? You are a masterpiece. You're a van Goh, 345 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:15.880 You're a renoir. You're a manee, you're a rembrand. You 346 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:18.319 are a masterpiece. That word there in Greek is actually 347 00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:20.960 the word poema. We get the word poem from it. 348 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:28.960 You are a masterpiece. You're not a reject, You're not 349 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:34.480 a defect. God says, you're a masterpiece just as you are. 350 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.799 Stop trying to be somebody else. He said, I made 351 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.400 you to be you, and God looks at you, and 352 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:45.880 he goes, that's my girl, that's my boy. And you 353 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:47.799 don't have to be somebody else for God to smile 354 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.640 at you. In fact, God smiles when you be you. 355 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.279 When you try to be somebody you're not God. Friends, 356 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.279 But what are you doing? I didn't make you to 357 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:59.160 be somebody else. If I'd wanted you to be somebody else, 358 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:01.920 I would not have hated you. That would have just 359 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:05.640 made them. So why are you trying to be somebody else? 360 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:10.200 You are God's masterpiece. We are God's masterpiece. He created 361 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.559 us in Christ, Jesus. There's that phrase again in Christ, 362 00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:19.359 to do the good things He has planned in advance 363 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:22.759 for us to do with our lives. Did you know 364 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:25.119 that before you were born, God planned the good things 365 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.400 he wanted you to do with your life, The contribution 366 00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:30.079 you would make with your life. It's not my contribution, 367 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:34.160 it's your contribution that, by the way, doing the good 368 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.160 things with your life. There's a word for that in 369 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:42.240 the Bible. It's called your ministry. Everybody has a ministry. 370 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:45.720 Everybody has. This is my thing of good things that 371 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:48.039 I do that help other people in the world. That's 372 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:54.960 my ministry. And true success is doing what God planned 373 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.079 you to do. My job as your coach, that's what 374 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:01.240 I am as a pastor or I'm a spiritual coach. 375 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.880 I'm your spiritual coach. My job is to help you 376 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:09.440 find your niche, your niche the area in your life. Oh, 377 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:11.920 this is what I was wired to do, and not 378 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.759 to be somebody else, but to do what God wired 379 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:17.279 you to do and for you to fulfill your ministry. 380 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:19.440 So when you get to heaven one day, God goes, hey, 381 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:21.319 did you do what I made you to do with 382 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:21.720 your life? 383 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:22.640 Uh? 384 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:28.680 No, I watched a lot of TV. Wrong answer. Did 385 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.559 you do what I made you to do with your life? 386 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:34.400 He says, We're God's masterpiece, created to do what He 387 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:37.160 planted in dance for us to do all those good things. 388 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:41.839 This is real success. Most people have no idea what 389 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.480 success really is. Some people's success means make a lot 390 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:48.279 of money. You can make a ton of money and 391 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.839 be an absolute failure in your life. Some people think 392 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:56.319 being successful means being famous. You can be famous as 393 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:59.039 all get out and be a total failure with your life. 394 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.640 Some people think success is having a lot of power. 395 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:08.319 You can have an enormous about amount of power and 396 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:17.279 being an egotistical, narcissistic twit. It means nothing. What is 397 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:21.000 real success? Okay, here's what the Bible says. Real success is. 398 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:25.640 Real success is being who God made you to be, 399 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:29.720 not trying to be somebody else, not trying to be 400 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.559 what your parents wanted you to be. Real success is 401 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:35.880