Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible
Speaker 1: teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Hey, we're excited you've joined
Speaker 1: us today as we begin a powerful news series how
Speaker 1: the Church meets your deepest needs. Together, we're going to
Speaker 1: uncover the joy and strength that comes from being a
Speaker 1: part of God's family. All right, let's get right to
Speaker 1: Rick for a message called why you absolutely need a
Speaker 1: church family.
Speaker 2: You know, every Sunday in the United States, about one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty million people go to a church worship service.
Speaker 3: Now, let me put that in perspective.
Speaker 2: That means more people in America go to a church
Speaker 2: service on one single weekend, one hundred and twenty million people.
Speaker 2: Then we'll go and attend every single professional sporting event
Speaker 2: in America in an entire year. Now, today, I want
Speaker 2: to ask the big question, why why do they do this?
Speaker 3: What are the benefits?
Speaker 2: Why are over two million, excuse me, two billion people
Speaker 2: around the world a member of a church family somewhere
Speaker 2: in the world.
Speaker 3: Why do they do this? What are the benefits? What's
Speaker 3: the payoff?
Speaker 2: Why get out of bed and go attend a service
Speaker 2: at a church when you can stay home. How would
Speaker 2: you answer that question. You know, having been a pastor
Speaker 2: for over forty years, I happen to know that most
Speaker 2: people who attend to church service have no clear reason
Speaker 2: or idea why they're there.
Speaker 3: Now, I'm sure that some.
Speaker 2: Of those millions who are attending church around the world,
Speaker 2: not just in America, but in Berlin and in Buenos
Speaker 2: Aires and in Hong Kong and Manila and all the
Speaker 2: other places where we're reaching out, I'm sure that some
Speaker 2: people attend out a habit or out of tradition, or
Speaker 2: maybe they go out of duty, or they went to
Speaker 2: a church service out of guilt, or maybe they went
Speaker 2: because somebody pressured them to go. Somebody were to ask you,
Speaker 2: why are you a part of a church family?
Speaker 3: What reasons would you give? What would you say?
Speaker 2: We need to who we are and what we are.
Speaker 2: We need to identify why we do what we do
Speaker 2: and what are the purposes of a church family. Now
Speaker 2: you need to have clearly in your mind this foundation.
Speaker 2: You need to know all of the ways that God
Speaker 2: wants to bless your life through your church family. So,
Speaker 2: starting this weekend, I'm going to teach you a five
Speaker 2: exclusive benefits of being part of a church family. Now,
Speaker 2: these five benefits to your life are exclusive to the church.
Speaker 2: In other words, nothing else besides the church family can
Speaker 2: meet the five deepest needs in your life and provide
Speaker 2: the five essential benefits that a church provides. You can't
Speaker 2: get them anywhere else. They are only available through a
Speaker 2: church family. You can't get these benefits through your work,
Speaker 2: or your school, or your nation, or even your physical family.
Speaker 2: Only the church can meet your five deepest needs and
Speaker 2: help you fulfill God's five purposes for your life. Now
Speaker 2: that's a big claim. I'm going to prove to you
Speaker 2: without a doubt. Now, what I'm saying is true that
Speaker 2: only your church family can meet the five deepestieds of
Speaker 2: your life help you fulfill God's five purposes for your life.
Speaker 2: And I'm going to be very practical and very very specific.
Speaker 2: Now the starting point is to ask this, what's the church?
Speaker 3: What is a church? How?
Speaker 2: How do you define it? How do you describe it?
Speaker 2: When I say the word church?
Speaker 3: What do you think of? Now?
Speaker 2: Depending on your background, your answer is going to vary.
Speaker 2: Whether you come of a Christian background or a non
Speaker 2: Christian background, or an atheist background, or Buddhist or you
Speaker 2: know whatever, Muslim or whatever. But my guess is that
Speaker 2: your understanding of what a church really is it's probably
Speaker 2: pretty limited and not really all that God says that
Speaker 2: a church family is. So let me first what a
Speaker 2: church is not. It's not a building. I mean most
Speaker 2: of you when you think of a church, you think
Speaker 2: of a church building on a location. I'm going to
Speaker 2: the church, which means a building. Jesus didn't die for
Speaker 2: a building. Churches meet in buildings, but they're not a building. Second,
Speaker 2: a church is not an institution, which is a misconception.
Speaker 2: We often think of the institutionalized church. Well, that can
Speaker 2: be out there, but that's not what a church is.
Speaker 2: It's not a building and it's not an institution. I
Speaker 2: want you to write this down, Okay, write this down
Speaker 2: in your outline. A church is not a place I
Speaker 2: go to, and it's not an event I attend. It
Speaker 2: is a spiritual family that I belong to. It's not
Speaker 2: a place I go to. It's not an event I attend.
Speaker 2: It's a spiritual family that I belong to. Now, there
Speaker 2: are many many verses in the Bible that will teach
Speaker 2: this truth, but let me just look at one Acts,
Speaker 2: Chapter two, verses forty one and forty two and down
Speaker 2: verse forty six, which is a clear description of the
Speaker 2: very first church which was in Jerusalem.
Speaker 3: And here's what it says.
Speaker 2: Every one of these words that I tell you the
Speaker 2: circle is important. So please circle them, and then we'll
Speaker 2: come back and talk about to those who believed, circle
Speaker 2: the word believed. Those who believed, circle that were baptized.
Speaker 2: Circle that believed baptized and added to the church. They joined,
Speaker 2: circle the word joined, So you got believed, baptized, joined,
Speaker 2: They joined with other believers and committed themselves to the
Speaker 2: apostles teaching and to fellowship circle teaching, and circle fellowship teaching.
Speaker 2: And what's the apostles teaching. It's the Bible and fellowship
Speaker 2: and the fellowship. It says they worshiped together, circle the
Speaker 2: word worship. They worshiped together regularly at the temple courts.
Speaker 2: And they met in small groups. Circle that in home
Speaker 2: for communion. You can underline a circle communion and shared meals.
Speaker 3: I like this part.
Speaker 2: Circle shared meals with great joy and thankfulness. Now notice
Speaker 2: these words believed, baptized, joined, worshiped, fellowshipped, They ate together,
Speaker 2: they ministered together, they served together. All these different things
Speaker 2: according to the Bible, this verse and many others. Here's
Speaker 2: the definition of a church. A church, I've written it
Speaker 2: there on your outline. A church is a group of
Speaker 2: baptized believers who've joined together in a commitment. Notice the
Speaker 2: word commitment. I didn't have you circle that who joined
Speaker 2: together in a commitment to help each other fulfill God's
Speaker 2: five purposes for their lives. That, friends, is a church.
Speaker 2: It's a group of baptized believers who've joined together for
Speaker 2: the purpose of helping each other fulfill God's purposes for
Speaker 2: their lives. The purpose of the church is to help
Speaker 2: you fulfill God's five purposes for your life. Now, we've
Speaker 2: talked in the past many times about the purpose driven life,
Speaker 2: but in this series we're going to look at the
Speaker 2: purpose driven church and why you need other people in
Speaker 2: your life to fulfill God's purposes. So the next question
Speaker 2: we need to ask is this, why is the church
Speaker 2: the most important group on earth?
Speaker 3: Somebody say, well, it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sorry to tell you this if you don't
Speaker 2: know it, but it is. The Church is the most
Speaker 2: important group on earth. He said, well, why would that
Speaker 2: be true? Well, let me give you a number of
Speaker 2: reasons for that. You might write these down. Number one
Speaker 2: first reason it's the most important thing on earth is
Speaker 2: because the church is God's family. It is God's family
Speaker 2: one Peter one three. God has given us the privilege
Speaker 2: of being born again, so that we're now members of
Speaker 2: God's own family. You become a part of the human
Speaker 2: race by being born into the world. You become a
Speaker 2: part of God's family. By being born again into God's family.
Speaker 2: We are a part of God's families. Notice it says
Speaker 2: we're members of God's own family circle the word member.
Speaker 2: We're members of God's own family. You need to be
Speaker 2: a member of God's own family. Now what is God's family? Well,
Speaker 2: One Timothy three five three point fifteen says this NCV
Speaker 2: version that family is the church. God's family is the
Speaker 2: Church of the Living God, the support and foundation of
Speaker 2: the truth. Here in California, where we have earthquakes, we
Speaker 2: know the value of support and foundation. You don't have
Speaker 2: good support, you don't have good foundation, You're gonna crumble
Speaker 2: when the earthquakes happen. And if you don't have a
Speaker 2: good support and good foundation for your life, the support
Speaker 2: and foundation of truth, you're gonna crumble when the heat's on.
Speaker 3: In your life. So the Church is God's family.
Speaker 2: That's why it's more important than any business, any government,
Speaker 2: or anything else. Number two, it is the only reason
Speaker 2: God created the universe. Did you know that the whole
Speaker 2: reason God created the universes He wanted a family. God
Speaker 2: wanted a family, and that family is called the Church.
Speaker 2: So the Church is the reason God created the universe.
Speaker 2: If God hadn't wanted a family, if God hadn't wanted
Speaker 2: the church, none of this would exist. The Bible says
Speaker 2: God created the entire universe because he wanted the Church.
Speaker 2: That's how important it is. Look at this verse in
Speaker 2: the Bible, Ephesians, chapter one, verse four. Living a Bible
Speaker 2: long ago.
Speaker 3: Even before He made the world, Even before He made
Speaker 3: the world.
Speaker 2: This is before the universe, God chose us to be
Speaker 2: his very own through what Christ would do for us.
Speaker 2: Did you know that before God thought of the universe,
Speaker 2: he thought of you. That's how valuable you are. That's
Speaker 2: how important you are. That's how much you matter to God.
Speaker 2: Before he thought of the universe, he thought of you.
Speaker 2: Look at this verse on five. His unchanging plan. God's
Speaker 2: unchanging plan has always been from the very beginning of
Speaker 2: time to adopt us into his own family. God wanted
Speaker 2: a family, to adopt us into his own family by
Speaker 2: bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ, and this gave
Speaker 2: him great pleasure. So the Church is God's family. God
Speaker 2: wanted a family. It's the whole reason he created the universe.
Speaker 2: That's how important the church is. If God didn't want
Speaker 2: a church, nothing else would exist. Number Three, God is
Speaker 2: using his church for his eternal purposes. Phesians three, verse ten.
Speaker 2: In the Bible, verse ten and eleven says this God's intent,
Speaker 2: that's his intention. His purpose was that now through the Church,
Speaker 2: through the Church, through the church. Underline that through the Church,
Speaker 2: the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to
Speaker 2: all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according
Speaker 2: to his eternal purpose, which was accomplished in Christ. Jesus,
Speaker 2: our Lord, I love the message. Paraphrase of this passage
Speaker 2: Ephesians three ten, it says this through Christians like yourselves,
Speaker 2: gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming
Speaker 2: known and talked about even among angels. God's plan for
Speaker 2: all of time involves the Church. No church, no universe,
Speaker 2: no time, no plan. Number four fourth reason why the
Speaker 2: church is more important than any business, any school, any government,
Speaker 2: any nation. Jesus died for his church. He didn't die
Speaker 2: for your nation or my nation. He didn't die for
Speaker 2: your business. He died for the Church Ephesians five, twenty
Speaker 2: five and twenty seven. Christ loved the Church and gave
Speaker 2: himself for it.
Speaker 3: It's like the.
Speaker 2: Father dies for his family, the husband dies for his
Speaker 2: wife and kids. Christ loved the Church, the bride of Christ,
Speaker 2: the body of Christ, the family of God, and he
Speaker 2: gave himself for it. He died so that he could
Speaker 2: give the Church to himself like a bride in all
Speaker 2: of her beauty. And he died so that the Church
Speaker 2: could become pure and without fault. You want to know
Speaker 2: how something matters, you look at what somebody is willing
Speaker 2: to pay for it. When somebody is willing to give
Speaker 2: their life for something, that shows how much it's valuable.
Speaker 3: Christ died for the church. Number five.
Speaker 2: It's the only thing on earth that's gonna last forever.
Speaker 2: The thing about this Starbucks isn't gonna last forever. McDonald's
Speaker 2: isn't gonna last forever. Walmart is gonna last forever. No
Speaker 2: corporation Toyota Corporation isn't gonna last forever. No nation's gonna
Speaker 2: last forever, No business will last forever. The only thing
Speaker 2: that's going to on earth right now that's live, gonna
Speaker 2: last forever is God's Church. It's gonna last forever. The
Speaker 2: Bible says this, and Ephesians three twenty one, glory will
Speaker 2: belong to God in his Church.
Speaker 3: Christ, in Christ, Jesus.
Speaker 2: Notice I underline this for all time and for all eternity.
Speaker 2: The Church is gonna last forever. Nothing on this planet's
Speaker 2: going to last except the Church. That's how important it is.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 2: First, Thessalonians three four seventeen talks about one day that
Speaker 2: when the second come in Christ, then we'll be caught
Speaker 2: up together with him in the air, in the clouds
Speaker 2: to meet the Lord in the air, and we will
Speaker 2: be with the Lord together forever.
Speaker 3: Well, that's who who is that? Who's that? We?
Speaker 2: The church number six. The church is the only group
Speaker 2: that Jesus said would succeed. In Matthew sixteen, verse eighteen,
Speaker 2: Jesus says this, I will build my church, and all
Speaker 2: the powers of Hell will not conquer it. Jesus is
Speaker 2: in the church building business. He's not interested in building
Speaker 2: my reputation. He's not interested in building your reputation. He's
Speaker 2: not interested in building nations. He's not interested in building businesses.
Speaker 2: He's not interested in building clubs or organizations. He says,
Speaker 2: I'm going to build my family. That's why I built
Speaker 2: the whole universe. I will build my church, and all
Speaker 2: the powers of Hell will not conquer it. Yes there
Speaker 2: are battles, Yes there are losses. Yes there are things
Speaker 2: we don't win in. But I've read the last chapter
Speaker 2: of the Bible. We win, and ultimately the church succeeds.
Speaker 2: It's the only thing that's going to last number seven.
Speaker 2: It is the only group big enough to solve global problems.
Speaker 2: You know, I've spoken before the United States Congress, I've
Speaker 2: spoken before the United Nations. I've spoken at TED conferences
Speaker 2: and Aspen Institute and Davos World Economic Forum, and I
Speaker 2: hear people talking about public and private partnerships. But you
Speaker 2: know what the problem is, They're not big enough to
Speaker 2: solve all the global problems. There's no nation big enough,
Speaker 2: there's no business big enough. The Church is the only
Speaker 2: thing big enough to solve global problems. Let's put this
Speaker 2: respective there are two point two billion church members in
Speaker 2: the world. That means the church is bigger than China.
Speaker 2: The church is bigger than India and China put together.
Speaker 2: And the Bible says in Ephesians three twenty and the
Speaker 2: New Living Translation, by His mighty power at work within
Speaker 2: us the Church, he is able to accomplish infinitely more
Speaker 2: than we had ever dared to ask or hope. All
Speaker 2: of the global problems cannot be solved without one third
Speaker 2: of the world who happened to be members of churches.
Speaker 3: We have the greatest distribution, We.
Speaker 2: Have the most volunteers and with highest motivation, love, and
Speaker 2: on and on. Let me give you one other reason
Speaker 2: why we're going to do this series. Because the greatest
Speaker 2: privilege in life. Listen, the greatest privilege in life is
Speaker 2: to be a part of God's church. To say I'm
Speaker 2: a member of God's family. I'm a child of God.
Speaker 2: That's more important than your nationality, or your gender, or
Speaker 2: your business or anything else. The greatest privile reagi in
Speaker 2: life is to say I'm a part of God's family.
Speaker 2: One Peter one three says it like this. God has
Speaker 2: given us the privilege, the privilege circle that this is
Speaker 2: the greatest privilege. God has given us the privilege of
Speaker 2: being born again, so that we're now members of God's
Speaker 2: own family circle the word members again member and circle
Speaker 2: word family. God has given us privilege to be a
Speaker 2: member of His family. One Corinthians three sixteen. Do you realize?
Speaker 2: Don't you realize? That all of you together are the
Speaker 2: temple of God and the spirit of God lives in you.
Speaker 3: I said this earlier, but I want to say it again.
Speaker 2: When you were born physically, you were immediately born into
Speaker 2: the human family. You became a part of the human race.
Speaker 2: You didn't have a choice. The moment you were physically born.
Speaker 2: You became a part of the human race. Once you're
Speaker 2: born physically, you're in that human race. But when you
Speaker 2: are going to be a part of God's family, that's choice,
Speaker 2: and you've got to choose to let Christ come into
Speaker 2: your life. And when you're born spiritually, reborn, born again, rejuvenated,
Speaker 2: new life, then you're born into God's family, and that's choice.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've made that choice or not.
Speaker 2: You're in the human race, you're created by God, you're
Speaker 2: loved by God, but you're not in God's family unless
Speaker 2: you've asked him to be a part of his family
Speaker 2: and accept Christ as your savior. Now you said, okay, Rick,
Speaker 2: I get it. Church is not something we go to.
Speaker 2: It's not an event, it's not a building. It's family
Speaker 2: that I belong to. And you just gave me eight
Speaker 2: reasons why it's more important than anything else on the planet. Well,
Speaker 2: next question that comes up is what's a purpose driven church?
Speaker 2: You've heard that around saddleback any length of time.
Speaker 3: What is a purpose driven church?
Speaker 2: Well, if you were to look up the word drive
Speaker 2: in a dictionary, you would find that the word means
Speaker 2: to guide or to control, or to direct, to guide,
Speaker 2: to control, are direct. When you drive a car, you
Speaker 2: guide control directed down street. When you drive a nail
Speaker 2: into the wood with a hammer, you guide control, direct
Speaker 2: the nail into the wood. When you drive a golf ball,
Speaker 2: hopefully you guide control directed down the fairway and onto
Speaker 2: the green. Drive means to guide, to control, or direct.
Speaker 2: Every organization, every business, every nation, and every church is
Speaker 2: driven by something guided, controlled, are directed. I've listed a
Speaker 2: few things there in your outlets. Some churches are driven
Speaker 2: by tradition, and some organizations are driven by tradition. How
Speaker 2: do you know your tradition driven church. They have the
Speaker 2: favorite phrases. We've always done it that way. Some churches
Speaker 2: and some organizations are driven by personality, and the question
Speaker 2: then is what does the key leader want. The problem
Speaker 2: with the personality driven church is when the leader dies
Speaker 2: or retires or as a moral fay or whatever burns out,
Speaker 2: then the church is left floundering. And we've all seen
Speaker 2: that happen to a lot of churches. We don't want
Speaker 2: a personality driven church. Some churches and some businesses driven
Speaker 2: by finances. And when you have a finance driven church,
Speaker 2: the question is how much will it cost? And he
Speaker 2: asked that some churches are driven by programs. And you
Speaker 2: look at the schedule of a typical church and they've
Speaker 2: got programs for Sunday school and program for women, programs
Speaker 2: for men, and programs for the choir, and programs for children,
Speaker 2: and on and on and on, and you get the
Speaker 2: whole idea that the purpose of the church is just
Speaker 2: to keep people busy, to keep Christians busy in meetings.
Speaker 2: Jesus did not say I've come that you might have meetings.
Speaker 2: He said I've come that you might have life. Some
Speaker 2: churches are actually driven by their buildings. I think it
Speaker 2: was Winston Churchill who said, we shape our buildings and
Speaker 2: then they shape us. One of the reasons why Saddleback
Speaker 2: went fifteen years without a building. We wanted to prove
Speaker 2: to the world you don't have to have a building
Speaker 2: to grow a church. This church grewed over ten thousand
Speaker 2: in attendance in a tent. We didn't even have a building.
Speaker 2: Why we wanted to prove that a church is not
Speaker 2: a building. We moved so many dozens and dozens of
Speaker 2: times in the first fifteen years of our church before
Speaker 2: we finally built a building. And then Some churches are
Speaker 2: actually driven by events, keep the calendar full of activities.
Speaker 2: But at Saddleback Church, we call ourselves a purpose driven church,
Speaker 2: not tradition driven, events driven, you know, money driven, you
Speaker 2: know ego driven, personnite driven. No, not a guilt driven,
Speaker 2: not a fear driven church, but a purpose driven church. Why, well,
Speaker 2: we base it on this verse Proverbs nineteen twenty one,
Speaker 2: which says this many are the plans in a man's heart,
Speaker 2: but it is the Lord's purposes that prevail or last eternally.
Speaker 2: What does that verse say? I can make all kinds
Speaker 2: of plans, but they're not going to last. The only
Speaker 2: thing that's really going to last is to have a
Speaker 2: solid purpose of God that says his plans are eternal,
Speaker 2: his plans last forever, his plans prevail, His purposes are
Speaker 2: going to be going on forever and ever and ever.
Speaker 2: And we're going to look at these in detail for
Speaker 2: our church family in the days of He ahead.
Speaker 3: Now, all of this has just.
Speaker 2: Been introduction, but I don't want to leave you without
Speaker 2: giving you a short list of some of the many,
Speaker 2: many benefits of belonging to a church family. So let's
Speaker 2: just wrap this up by giving you five benefits of
Speaker 2: being a part of a church family, of belonging, not
Speaker 2: just attending, but belonging.
Speaker 3: Say that's my family.
Speaker 2: You can always tell others an attendant member, when attender
Speaker 2: comes up to me in the grocery store, says Pastor Rick,
Speaker 2: I love your church, your church. But when a member
Speaker 2: comes up to me, he says Pastor Rick, I love
Speaker 2: our church. Have you made that hop Have you made
Speaker 2: that switch from consumer to contributor, from a tender to member,
Speaker 2: from longing to belonging. Let me give you five of
Speaker 2: the many benefits. We'll look at dozens of these in
Speaker 2: the days ahead. But why don't you write down these five?
Speaker 2: Number one, A church family helps me focus on God.
Speaker 2: A church family helps me focus on God. You know
Speaker 2: that is it easy to lose your focus on God?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Is it easy to get distracted by details and distractions
Speaker 2: and disturbances and dead ends and delays and difficulties. Yes,
Speaker 2: and about every few days. I need to get my
Speaker 2: focus refocused. And coming together as a church family helps
Speaker 2: me focus on God. And the Bible says seek first
Speaker 2: Kingdom of God. All these other things will be added
Speaker 2: to you. So if I focus on God, the bigger
Speaker 2: God gets in my mind. The smaller my problems are,
Speaker 2: the bigger I see my problems, the smaller God is,
Speaker 2: so I refocus on God. Number two, A church family
Speaker 2: not only helps me focus on God, it helps me
Speaker 2: face life's problems. You know, it helps a whole lot
Speaker 2: to know that other people are in the fight with you,
Speaker 2: that you're not alone, that you're not by yourself, that
Speaker 2: you're you're not alone. Ranger, Let me just get real personal.
Speaker 2: You ever get discouraged? Of course you do. Why Because
Speaker 2: life is tough. Life is tough. Life is a series
Speaker 2: of problems, and some of you have this myth in
Speaker 2: your mind that one day I'm going to get it
Speaker 2: all together and then I'll have no more problems and
Speaker 2: no more stress, and no more tension, no more in anxiety,
Speaker 2: no more stress the rest of my life. I hate
Speaker 2: to tell you this, but you're going to have stress
Speaker 2: the rest of your life because life is a series
Speaker 2: of problems. It's how you build character. You're right now
Speaker 2: in one of three positions. Either you just came out
Speaker 2: of a problem, or you're in the middle of a
Speaker 2: problem right now, or you're headed into the next one.
Speaker 2: Because life is a series of problems. But God never
Speaker 2: meant for you to go through life and all those
Speaker 2: problems and all that stress on your own. See the
Speaker 2: life that God intends for you, a purpose driven life
Speaker 2: is never a solo act. God never meant for you
Speaker 2: to have to handle all this stress, all this anxiety, questions, problems, doubts,
Speaker 2: fears by yourself. He built a support group of people
Speaker 2: around you. It's a spiritual family, and we call that fellowship.
Speaker 2: It's part of the purpose of the Church for your life.
Speaker 2: So Number one, God helps me to focus my faith,
Speaker 2: It helps me to efface my problems. Number three a
Speaker 2: church family will help me fortify fortify my faith. Now
Speaker 2: do you know what fortify means. It means to strengthen,
Speaker 2: It means to develop. It means to reinforce or to
Speaker 2: make stronger. And what happens is when you get with
Speaker 2: other people in God's family, you set up your right values,
Speaker 2: you get the right support. It helps you establish your priorities.
Speaker 2: It helps you decide what's trivial, what's really important. It
Speaker 2: helps you fortify your faith. It clarifies your values.
Speaker 3: You know this is true.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of phony, blogny ideas out there in
Speaker 2: the world today.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of stuff on the radio and on
Speaker 3: the TV, and on the internet and.
Speaker 2: On social media. It's just not true. They're not just
Speaker 2: fake news. There's fake everything. And if you don't have
Speaker 2: a fortified faith, if you don't stand for something, you're
Speaker 2: gonna fall for anything. You know that, So it helps
Speaker 2: you fortify your faith. Number four, A church family helps
Speaker 2: me find my place to make a difference. It helps
Speaker 2: me find my place to make a difference. You have
Speaker 2: a desire to aspire, you have a need to succeed.
Speaker 2: You and I weren't put on this earth just to
Speaker 2: use up resources, to take up space, to breathe air,
Speaker 2: and then to die. God has a significant purpose for
Speaker 2: your life, your life mission for each of your of
Speaker 2: our lives, and God has something unique for you to do.
Speaker 2: He has a ministry in the church and a mission
Speaker 2: in the world that he wants you to make a
Speaker 2: contribution with your life. He didn't want you to just
Speaker 2: be a consumer your whole life. He wants you to
Speaker 2: make a difference. He wants you to leave a legacy.
Speaker 2: He wants you to learn how to serve God by
Speaker 2: serving others, how to make a difference with your life.
Speaker 2: The best way to learn how to do that is
Speaker 2: in a church family. Are you gonna learn that at business? No,
Speaker 2: you don't learn that at school. No, you don't learn
Speaker 2: that in a neighborhood.
Speaker 3: No. Now, let me just say this.
Speaker 2: When we get to heaven and we and we're standing
Speaker 2: there for God, God's gonna ask a couple questions. The
Speaker 2: first question that God's gonna ask you is, this is
Speaker 2: the most important question in life. What did you do
Speaker 2: with my son Jesus Christ. I hope you know the
Speaker 2: answer to that. I accepted him his life into my life.
Speaker 2: I accepted his graces forgive. I trusted him with my life.
Speaker 2: I repented and turned to him. But there's a second question.
Speaker 2: It's just as important. After he says, what did you
Speaker 2: do with my son Jesus? And by the way, he's
Speaker 2: not going to ask what was your denomination? What was
Speaker 2: my son? What did you do with my son Jesus?
Speaker 2: Then he's going to ask what did you do with
Speaker 2: what I gave you? That is the question of the
Speaker 2: stewardship of your life. How did you use your life
Speaker 2: to serve others, to make a difference, to give back,
Speaker 2: to make a contribution. The first question determines our eternal destiny,
Speaker 2: but the second question actually determines our eternal rewards. And
Speaker 2: part of my job as your pastor, and part of
Speaker 2: our church's job as a family, is to get you ready.
Speaker 3: For that final exam.
Speaker 2: Finally, there's a fifth thing benefit, and that is a
Speaker 2: church family helps me fulfill my life mission. Not just
Speaker 2: how you serve others, but you were put on earth
Speaker 2: to make a difference that no one else can make.
Speaker 2: Have you thought about that God doesn't need one of
Speaker 2: us or two of us, He just only needs one
Speaker 2: of us. God puts you here specifically for a unique
Speaker 2: life mission that no one else can fulfill. I can't
Speaker 2: fulfill it, nobody else can fulfill it. And if you
Speaker 2: don't fulfill your life mission, guess what, it's not gonna
Speaker 2: get done. And we're going to talk about that in
Speaker 2: the days ahead. Now I realize it's just a little
Speaker 2: taste of where I'm going to take you in the
Speaker 2: next forty eight days. As I said, we've studied the
Speaker 2: purpose driven life before, but in this series, we're going
Speaker 2: to look at how you need a purpose driven church
Speaker 2: to meet all of your five deepest needs. We're going
Speaker 2: to look at each of your five deepest needs and
Speaker 2: how to fulfill your life purposes. Let me pray for you,
Speaker 2: Heavenly Father. I thank you for our church family. I
Speaker 2: love everybody who's here. We come from every different background.
Speaker 2: We represent every different age group, every ethnic group, nationality,
Speaker 2: we represent different sixty seven seventy different languages, we represent
Speaker 2: different economic strata and background and even political differences. But
Speaker 2: we all come together in this family called Saddleback, a
Speaker 2: purpose driven church that we might learn what you want
Speaker 2: to do through your family. Help us to realize that
Speaker 2: this is the greatest privilege of life. There is no
Speaker 2: greater privilege than the bee a part of your family.
Speaker 2: If you've never invited Jesus Christ into your life, if
Speaker 2: you've never stepped across the line, you're not a part
Speaker 2: of his family. But you can start today. Will you
Speaker 2: take this step? Just say in your heart, Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: Just say these words, Jesus Christ, in your mind. I
Speaker 2: want to be a part of your family. I want
Speaker 2: to live forever in heaven, but I want to know you,
Speaker 2: and I want to be a part of your family.
Speaker 2: And I want to see how my needs can be
Speaker 2: met by your family. And I want to fulfill your
Speaker 2: five purposes for my life. So the damn saying yes
Speaker 2: to you as simply as I know how, and I
Speaker 2: humbly ask.
Speaker 3: This in your name Jesus Amen.
Speaker 2: You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the
Speaker 2: very first time, or you just recommitted your life to
Speaker 2: Jesus again today, would you let me know about it.
Speaker 2: There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me
Speaker 2: Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I
Speaker 2: prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ.
Speaker 2: And I'll send you some material that will help you
Speaker 2: on your journey with Jesus, and I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 1: Thanks Rick for such an encouraging message. Hey, do you
Speaker 1: ever wonder if your life really matter? Or what on
Speaker 1: earth you're here for?
Speaker 3: Will?
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren wants to let you know that God
Speaker 1: has a good plan and purpose for your life, and
Speaker 1: in his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, he
Speaker 1: lays out a simple, life changing roadmap to help you
Speaker 1: discover and live it. This book has transformed millions of
Speaker 1: lives and it could transform someone you love. And great
Speaker 1: news it's been updated for today's generation. This edition includes
Speaker 1: a video introduction from Pastor Rick for each chapter, audio
Speaker 1: teaching at the end of every chapter, and two powerful
Speaker 1: bonus chapters on the biggest barriers to living a purpose
Speaker 1: driven life. As you go through this book, you'll uncover
Speaker 1: that your deepest meaning and fulfillment doesn't come from success
Speaker 1: or status, but from understanding and living out the purpose
Speaker 1: that God created you for. It's an incredible resource for
Speaker 1: your own spiritual growth, but it's also one of the
Speaker 1: most effective ways to introduce someone you love to Jesus.
Speaker 1: In fact, millions have come to faith in Christ through
Speaker 1: this book, often just because someone like you gave them
Speaker 1: a copy, so we say don't just get one, get
Speaker 1: several copies to share with friends, family, co workers, and
Speaker 1: neighbors who need hope. Request your copy today. When you
Speaker 1: give a gift to help Daily Hope share the gospel
Speaker 1: around the world, it's our way of saying thank you
Speaker 1: for your partnership.
Speaker 3: Just go to.
Speaker 1: Pastorick dot com to get your copy of this great resource.
Speaker 1: That's pastorick dot com. Or you can text the word
Speaker 1: hope to seven oh three to oh nine. Again, that's
Speaker 1: the word hope to seven oh three to oh nine.
Speaker 1: Be sure to join us next time as we look
Speaker 1: into God's word for our daily hope. This program is
Speaker 1: sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.