Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, it's Daily Hope with Pastor Rick Warren. So
Speaker 1: we're continuing with this series called Daring Faith the Key
Speaker 1: to Miracles. And in this series you're learning how to
Speaker 1: have a bold, unshakable faith. And so far this series
Speaker 1: is giving all of us powerful tools to share our faith,
Speaker 1: a faith that gives you courage to impact the world
Speaker 1: around you. All right here it comes Pastor Rick with
Speaker 1: part two of a message called Daring to Believe.
Speaker 2: Romans Chapter ten, Verse nine in the Bible is one
Speaker 2: of the most important verses in the Bible. So if
Speaker 2: you don't get anything, get this today. It says this,
Speaker 2: if you confess with your mouth Jesus is my Lord,
Speaker 2: and you believe in your heart that God raised him
Speaker 2: from the dead, you will be saved. Now this is
Speaker 2: a promise of God. He didn't say you might be saved.
Speaker 2: You hope you can be saved. You really wish you'd
Speaker 2: be said. He said, you can count on the fact
Speaker 2: you're going to heaven. You can know for certain you're saved.
Speaker 2: You're going to heaven if you do these two things.
Speaker 2: Confess with your mouth Jesus is my Lord, and believe
Speaker 2: in your heart God raised him from the dead. Now,
Speaker 2: most of us, if not all of us, have already
Speaker 2: done the second thing. You believe that Jesus Christ racially dead.
Speaker 2: It's an established fact. Our calendars built on it. But
Speaker 2: many of you have not done the first part. Confess
Speaker 2: with your mouth, Jesus is my lord. I circle that
Speaker 2: word lord because I need to explain that word to you.
Speaker 2: It's not a word we use anymore. We don't use
Speaker 2: it in America because in America we have a democracy.
Speaker 2: We don't have a monarchy. And this is a term
Speaker 2: from a feudal system. In a monarchy, you have kings
Speaker 2: and queens and lords and ladies and knights and squires
Speaker 2: and serfs and pages, and these are terms of a monarchy.
Speaker 2: We don't have a monarchy in America. So nobody goes
Speaker 2: around using the word lord. You don't go around saying yes,
Speaker 2: my lord, no, my lady, unless you're in Dalton Abbey.
Speaker 2: But we don't say this term. And we don't have
Speaker 2: a house of lords in America. Okay, we have representatives,
Speaker 2: the House of Representatives. So what does the word lord
Speaker 2: mean for me to say Jesus is my lord. It
Speaker 2: means he is my master, he is my boss, He
Speaker 2: is in control of everything in my life. He's not
Speaker 2: just resident in my life. He's president. And when I
Speaker 2: say Jesus is my lord, I'm saying Jesus is the
Speaker 2: CEO of my life. He's the chairman of the board
Speaker 2: in my life. He's calling the shots. He is my manager,
Speaker 2: he is my director, he is my God. This week
Speaker 2: at the bottom of my hill, well, the Albertson store
Speaker 2: changed hands. Another company bought them out, and so they're
Speaker 2: under new ownership, and they're under new management. And they
Speaker 2: put up a sign in the window that says under
Speaker 2: new management. When you truly believe in Jesus Christ, not
Speaker 2: head knowledge, but heart knowledge, you should put on a
Speaker 2: sign that says I'm under new management, because that's what
Speaker 2: it means to make Jesus the lord of your life.
Speaker 2: All of a sudden, he's the lord of my life.
Speaker 2: I'm no longer the lord of my life. I'm not
Speaker 2: calling the shots anymore.
Speaker 3: He's calle it.
Speaker 2: He's in control. I'm not in control. He's the boss
Speaker 2: of my life. I'm not the boss of my life.
Speaker 2: See until you do that, you're the lord of your life.
Speaker 2: By the way, how's that working for you? You call in
Speaker 2: all the shots in your life, you being the lord,
Speaker 2: you being the master your faith. Everything happened in the
Speaker 2: way you want to do, all your dreams coming true,
Speaker 2: no problems, totally fulfilled, happy as a as a clam.
Speaker 2: How's that working for you? You being the lord of your life.
Speaker 2: You weren't meant to be God. God is God and
Speaker 2: you're not. And the reason you get under stressed is
Speaker 2: when you try to play God in your life. You
Speaker 2: get stressed out because you don't have the power to
Speaker 2: change the things that God does. So the first part
Speaker 2: of believing means I say, Jesus is my Lord. He
Speaker 2: is my boss, my manager, I'm under new management. I
Speaker 2: saw a bumpersticular the other day in the back of
Speaker 2: a card that said God is my co pilot. There's
Speaker 2: only one problem with that. God doesn't want to be
Speaker 2: your copilot. He doesn't want to say, Okay, you control
Speaker 2: the plane half the time and I'll control at half time.
Speaker 2: You run your life half the time, and then I'll
Speaker 2: run it the other eye. No, he wants total control.
Speaker 2: God has a right to total control in your life because.
Speaker 3: He made you, He loves you, he created you.
Speaker 2: He said it's time to die for you, and he
Speaker 2: wants with you, with him forever in eternity. He has
Speaker 2: a right. He doesn't want to be co pilot. He
Speaker 2: wants to be the lord, the manager of your life.
Speaker 2: The next thing are and trust. What does it mean
Speaker 2: to believe in Jesus? It means to believe in Jesus.
Speaker 2: I are relax in His love. I relax in His love. Now,
Speaker 2: let me explain this because I chose the word relax intentionally,
Speaker 2: because what's the opposite of relaxing? Working, working, and God
Speaker 2: is saying you don't have to work for God to
Speaker 2: love you. You don't have to earn God's love. Growing up,
Speaker 2: you grew up with conditional love. You got conditional love
Speaker 2: from your parents, your partners, your pals, your professionals, all
Speaker 2: the people around you. And you learn pretty quickly that
Speaker 2: if I want to be loved, I.
Speaker 3: Got to do certain things.
Speaker 2: And you have spent most of your life trying to
Speaker 2: earn the love of other people.
Speaker 3: You want to be loved.
Speaker 2: There's nothing wrong with that, because you need love in
Speaker 2: your life. You want to be loved, But you spent
Speaker 2: most of your life trying to earn the love of
Speaker 2: other people, working for the love of others. When you
Speaker 2: believe in Jesus, you relax and you realize God is
Speaker 2: gonna love me no matter what.
Speaker 3: I don't have to.
Speaker 2: Earn his love. I don't have to work for his love.
Speaker 2: I don't have to pay for his love. God is
Speaker 2: gonna love me unconditionally. God loves me unconditionally. That means
Speaker 2: it's not based on what you do. God loves you unwaveringly.
Speaker 2: It never, never, never changes. God doesn't love you one
Speaker 2: day and not the next and then the next. He's
Speaker 2: not finicky or fickle. He doesn't have a bad hair day.
Speaker 2: God loves you unendingly. Once you have the love of
Speaker 2: God in your life, it never, never, never never will
Speaker 2: leave you no matter what you do. Because God's love
Speaker 2: is not based on what you do. It's based on
Speaker 2: what Jesus Christ did on the Cross for you. It's
Speaker 2: not based on who you are. It's based on who
Speaker 2: God is his character. You can't make God stop loving you.
Speaker 3: You could try, but you will fail.
Speaker 2: Because God's love is unconditional, unwavering, and unending. It is
Speaker 2: forever and that gives me enormous confidence. And when I
Speaker 2: believe in Jesus, it means I believe what Jesus said
Speaker 2: about God's love for me, and I relax in God's love.
Speaker 2: That gives me enormous confidence because a lot of other
Speaker 2: people may not like me, But the creator of the
Speaker 2: universe loves me.
Speaker 3: And that gives me confidence.
Speaker 2: Let me show you what the Bible says about this,
Speaker 2: Romans chapter eight. Nothing will ever be able to separate
Speaker 2: us from His.
Speaker 3: Love, that's the love of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: Death can't, life can't, The angels can't, demons can't. Our
Speaker 2: fears for today, our worries about tomorrow. Even the powers
Speaker 2: of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we're high
Speaker 2: above the sky or in the deepest ocean, Nothing in
Speaker 2: all creation will ever be able to separate us from
Speaker 2: the love of God that is revealed in Christ, Jesus,
Speaker 2: our Lord, that gives.
Speaker 3: You enormous confidence.
Speaker 2: If you want to have personal security, you must put
Speaker 2: your trust in something that can never be taken from you.
Speaker 2: You put it in your bank account. You can lose
Speaker 2: your bank account. Put your trust in how good looking
Speaker 2: you are, Hey tell you you're already losing that. You
Speaker 2: can put your faith in somebody else.
Speaker 3: You can lose them. They will die.
Speaker 2: You must put your faith in something you can never lose,
Speaker 2: and there's only one thing you cannot ever ever lose,
Speaker 2: God's love for you. To believe in Jesus means I
Speaker 2: accept what he says about God's love for me, and
Speaker 2: I relax in his unconditional, unending love. The you in
Speaker 2: trust means I use my life to serve God by
Speaker 2: serving others. To believe in Jesus means I will use
Speaker 2: my life to serve God by serving others. We are
Speaker 2: saved to serve God did not come to earth and
Speaker 2: die on across and pay for all your sins just
Speaker 2: so you could live a selfish, self centered life all
Speaker 2: about yourself. Really, do you think God created you just
Speaker 2: to go to school, work, make money, and die and
Speaker 2: live totally for yourself? Really, what's the logic in that?
Speaker 2: Do you think God made you just to live for you?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: No, No, you were made for so much more than
Speaker 2: to live for yourself. God has a far bigger purpose
Speaker 2: for your life than that, and part of that purpose
Speaker 2: is to serve God while you're here on earth. He said, well,
Speaker 2: wait a minute, how in the world do I do that?
Speaker 2: How do I serve God? I can't even see him?
Speaker 2: How do you serve an invisible God? Good question? How
Speaker 2: do you serve an invisible God? One day we will
Speaker 2: see God in heaven. We don't see him now. God
Speaker 2: wants us to learn to live by faith on earth.
Speaker 3: That's part of it.
Speaker 2: Faith pleases God. One day you'll see him. But how
Speaker 2: do I serve a God that I can't even see?
Speaker 2: Who is invisible? Jesus said, many times, we serve God
Speaker 2: by serving others. And he said, even if you give
Speaker 2: a cup of cold water to somebody who thirsty, and
Speaker 2: you do it in the name of Jesus, he said,
Speaker 2: that says if you did it to me God, he said,
Speaker 2: you're doing it to others. You serve God by serving others.
Speaker 2: You were put on this planet to make a difference.
Speaker 2: That difference is called your good works. It's also called
Speaker 2: your quote service. It's also called your quote ministry. God
Speaker 2: puts you here for a ministry, for a service, for
Speaker 2: a good works, to make a difference with your life,
Speaker 2: not necessarily a big, flashy difference, but to make a
Speaker 2: difference and leave the world a better place. And the
Speaker 2: Bible says that believing in Jesus is part of accepting
Speaker 2: that responsibility. Let me show you here on the screen.
Speaker 2: Romans chapter six. The Bible says this, give yourselves completely
Speaker 2: to God, every part of you. That's give everything to Jesus,
Speaker 2: Lord of my life, for you have been saved from death.
Speaker 2: So I'm doing this out of gratitude. And you want
Speaker 2: to be tools in the hands of God, to be
Speaker 2: used for his good purposes.
Speaker 3: There is no greater thrill.
Speaker 2: Than to be a tool in the hand of God
Speaker 2: and used for his greater purposes. If you've ever felt
Speaker 2: that feeling of being used by God, you know this
Speaker 2: is cool. This is great. This is what I was
Speaker 2: made for. This is me, this is my niche, this
Speaker 2: is why I live here. God made me for this,
Speaker 2: and it gives you significance, and it gives you satisfaction,
Speaker 2: and it gives you fulfillment you will never get from money, sex, power, pleasure,
Speaker 2: or anything else, because you were made for more than money, sex, power,
Speaker 2: pleasure and everything else. You were made for significance, and
Speaker 2: that significance comes from serving something greater than yourself. You
Speaker 2: were made to live for than more than you. And
Speaker 2: if you live for you, you're going to be bored
Speaker 2: and bitter with your life. Now, let me just be blunt.
Speaker 2: If I claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: but I have no desire at all to serve Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: and I have no desire it all to serve humanity,
Speaker 2: to serve God by serving others, then I have every
Speaker 2: reason to doubt that I'm actually a believer. I might
Speaker 2: think I've been a believer, but I really wasn't. Because
Speaker 2: if you are a true believer in Christ, it changes
Speaker 2: your motivation, It changes your want to, it changes your attitude,
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden, you don't want to live
Speaker 2: for yourself anymore. You want to live for something greater
Speaker 2: than yourself. The Bible says in James chapter two, if
Speaker 2: people say they have faith but do nothing, their faith
Speaker 2: is worth nothing. Can of faith like that save them?
Speaker 2: The answer is no. That's why just saying I believe
Speaker 2: Jesus on a God is not going to get you
Speaker 2: to heaven.
Speaker 3: That's not true belief.
Speaker 2: If they say they have faith but do nothing about it,
Speaker 2: their faith is worth nothing. Let me show you another
Speaker 2: verse Phesians chapter two, verse ten. God made us what
Speaker 2: we are, the Bible says, and in our union with
Speaker 2: Christ Jesus, that means by believing in Christ. He has
Speaker 2: created us. He created you for a life of good works.
Speaker 2: That's the good things God wants you to do with
Speaker 2: your life, which He has already prepared in advance, prepared
Speaker 2: for us to do.
Speaker 3: Now, did you know that before you were born?
Speaker 2: God decided the good things he wanted you to do
Speaker 2: with your life. That's your ministry, that's your service, that's
Speaker 2: your good works. God decided that. But you can miss
Speaker 2: it because God's not going to force you to follow
Speaker 2: his purpose. In fact, most people miss God's purpose for
Speaker 2: their lives. Most people do. The greatest tragedy in life
Speaker 2: is not death. The greatest tragedy in life is to
Speaker 2: miss your purpose, to waste your life and to not
Speaker 2: be the woman God intended for you to be, to
Speaker 2: not be the man that God intended for you to be.
Speaker 3: That is a tragedy.
Speaker 2: You could make a million bucks and still be a
Speaker 2: failure at life because you missed the idea of serving
Speaker 2: God by serving others. Now there's a fourth letteres And
Speaker 2: before I give it to you, let me explain a
Speaker 2: little background because it's kind of hard to understand this one.
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, because he was the son of God, because
Speaker 2: he is God coming in human form, lived a perfect life.
Speaker 2: He never sinned, he never made a mistake, he never
Speaker 2: had any errors in his.
Speaker 3: Life because he was God.
Speaker 2: That's why he could pay for your sin, because he
Speaker 2: didn't have any sins of his own.
Speaker 3: To pay for. He was perfect.
Speaker 2: But even though Jesus was perfect, not everybody liked him.
Speaker 2: Were there some people who, even though Jesus was perfect,
Speaker 2: disagreed with him, Yes, accused him of things, Yes, misjudged
Speaker 2: him and maligned him.
Speaker 3: Yes, hated him. Yes?
Speaker 2: Were there people who wanted him dead?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, you're telling me that even if I
Speaker 2: was perfect, some people aren't going to like me. You
Speaker 2: haven't figured that one out yet. You could be perfect
Speaker 2: Jesusjesus was, and there are people who wanted him dead.
Speaker 2: Why because evil hates good, Darkness hates light, wrong hates right.
Speaker 2: And so God says, if you're gonna be a believer
Speaker 2: in Jesus, you should expect the same reactions from people
Speaker 2: that Jesus got. Not everybody like Jesus, because when you
Speaker 2: do what's right, people who want to do what's wrong
Speaker 2: get a little upset about it.
Speaker 3: Let me give you an example.
Speaker 2: Let's say your boss comes you and your boss is unethical.
Speaker 2: And your boss says, look, we're gonna cheat, we're gonna lie,
Speaker 2: we're gonna steal in order to make this company go forward.
Speaker 2: And so here's what I want you to do, and
Speaker 2: I want you to do these things. And you say, sorry, boss,
Speaker 2: I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ demands
Speaker 2: integrity that I always do the right thing and tell
Speaker 2: the truth. So I can't do that. Do you think
Speaker 2: your boss is going to be happy with that? No?
Speaker 2: Do you think your boss is going to give you
Speaker 2: a promotion for having integrity?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: Do you think that boss is actually going to hurt
Speaker 2: you or cause you to suffer in some way? In
Speaker 2: all likelihood, yes, you might get overlooked for a promotion.
Speaker 2: You might even get fired. You might get put out
Speaker 2: of the company. People suffer for doing the right thing
Speaker 2: all the time because they're a Christians. Or let's say
Speaker 2: tomorrow morning, you're standing by the water cooler at break
Speaker 2: and five or six people start trash talking and gossiping
Speaker 2: and being vulgar and being mean spirited about somebody. You go,
Speaker 2: this is not the kind of conversation I need to
Speaker 2: be as a follower of Jesus Christ. So you don't
Speaker 2: say anything, You just silently walk away. And let's say
Speaker 2: one of those people comes after you say, hey, wait
Speaker 2: a minute.
Speaker 3: Why did you leave the conversation?
Speaker 2: He said, well, you know, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: and I just I don't feel comfortable talking that way
Speaker 2: about other people. What's going to be their reaction, Well,
Speaker 2: good for you. No, what they're going to say to
Speaker 2: you is, oh, you are.
Speaker 3: So self righteous. You think you're better than the rest
Speaker 3: of us.
Speaker 2: You're such a goody two shoes, you're a Christian, you
Speaker 2: think you're better than all the rest of us. What's happening.
Speaker 2: They're feeling guilty and they're promoting it on you. Does
Speaker 2: that make sense? And so you actually suffer for doing
Speaker 2: the right thing, not doing the wrong. And this is
Speaker 2: the fourth thing of what it means to believe in Jesus.
Speaker 3: Write it down.
Speaker 2: The S stands for I suffer for doing what's right.
Speaker 2: Because believing in Jesus isn't always convenient. Anybody want to
Speaker 2: give a testimony on that. It isn't always comfortable. As
Speaker 2: a pastor, I want you to know Jesus Christ like
Speaker 2: I do. But I also want to tell you the truth.
Speaker 2: The truth is following Jesus Christ is not for weaklings.
Speaker 2: It's not for wimpy people, it's not for people who
Speaker 2: are wishy washy. Believing in Jesus Christ will demand more
Speaker 2: courage than you possibly imagine because it's not always popular
Speaker 2: doing the right thing. It's not always popular stand for
Speaker 2: the truth. It's not always easy or comfortable or convenient,
Speaker 2: and you could be persecuted, You could suffer, you could
Speaker 2: be criticized, you could be beligned, people could ostracize you.
Speaker 2: In fact, in some countries, you could lose your life.
Speaker 2: And Christians have been dying for their faith for two
Speaker 2: thousand years.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: That's not going to happen to you, at least right
Speaker 2: now in America. But it happens every moment of every
Speaker 2: hour of every day, and it has for two thousand years.
Speaker 3: More Christians are killed.
Speaker 2: For their faith than any other cause around the world
Speaker 2: every year.
Speaker 3: Why because they're more of us.
Speaker 2: Two point three billion people give their lives for following Christ.
Speaker 2: Jesus was honest about this. He said, if you want
Speaker 2: to follow me, you got to take.
Speaker 3: Up your cross. What does that mean?
Speaker 2: Well, in those days, nobody took up across unless the
Speaker 2: Romans were going to nail him to it. He says,
Speaker 2: are you willing to suffer for my name? And if
Speaker 2: need be, are you willing to die? Are you you
Speaker 2: a true believer? Let me ask you this. If tomorrow
Speaker 2: they made it against the law to be a follower
Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ in America all a sudden is against
Speaker 2: the law to be a Christian? Would there be enough
Speaker 2: evidence to convict you? Would anybody know that you are
Speaker 2: actually a true fellow?
Speaker 3: Oh well, I believe it. That's not enough.
Speaker 2: Have you turned your life over everything to Christ? Have
Speaker 2: you relaxed in His love? Are you using your life
Speaker 2: to serve something bigger than yourself? Are you willing to
Speaker 2: suffer for doing what's right? Let me show you some
Speaker 2: Bible verses Philippians chapter one. For you have been given
Speaker 2: not only the privilege of believing in Christ, circle privilege
Speaker 2: of believing, the privilege to believe in Christ, but you
Speaker 2: have been given the privilege of suffering for him. That's
Speaker 2: the privilege nobody wants to talk about. But I just
Speaker 2: want to be upfront. It's not for weaklings, it's not
Speaker 2: for whims, It's for courageous men and women, and you say,
Speaker 2: I am willing to do what's right. And what happens
Speaker 2: if you get ostracized, What happens if you get criticized.
Speaker 2: What happens if people attack you on the internet for
Speaker 2: your faith and for standing up and doing what's right.
Speaker 3: Well, here's what the Bible says.
Speaker 2: First Peter three, if you suffer for doing what is right,
Speaker 2: God will reward you. And by the way, that reward
Speaker 2: is going to go on and on and on and
Speaker 2: on and on in an eternity far longer than the
Speaker 2: criticism was. So he says, don't be afraid and don't worry.
Speaker 1: What a life giving message from pastor wreck And now
Speaker 1: here's Rick with a special message.
Speaker 2: Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives
Speaker 2: according to five specific purposes. He said, you've got to
Speaker 2: love God with all your heart. That's worship, and love
Speaker 2: your neighbors yourself. That's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment.
Speaker 2: And then Jesus said, go make disciples, that's evangelism, Baptize
Speaker 2: them into the Family of God. That's fellowship, a sign
Speaker 2: of fellowship. And then he said, teach them obey everything
Speaker 2: I've taught you. That's discipleship, and we call that the
Speaker 2: Great Commission. We believe it Daily Hope that a great
Speaker 2: commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will
Speaker 2: produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company,
Speaker 2: a great community. You know, I started Daily Hope so
Speaker 2: I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just
Speaker 2: across America, but all around the world. And we want
Speaker 2: people to know that God's word is filled with hope
Speaker 2: and truth and the power that we need to follow
Speaker 2: him every day is available to every single one. You
Speaker 2: know as well as I do that the Word of
Speaker 2: God changes lives. It's a live it's active, and it
Speaker 2: breathes new life and new love into all of our lives.
Speaker 2: So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on
Speaker 2: the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or
Speaker 2: whether you listen to a podcast, you're a part of
Speaker 2: the Daily Hope family. And I need your help. We
Speaker 2: could not do this without yourself. Now, you know, I
Speaker 2: don't take any funds from this broadcast. We don't have
Speaker 2: any giant, million dollar donor who's giving big gifts to this.
Speaker 2: It comes from daily donations from listeners like you. We're
Speaker 2: one hundred percent listener funded. Would you continue to pray
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Speaker 2: and let write to me, let me hear from you.
Speaker 2: I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me.
Speaker 2: So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry
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Speaker 2: all the people going to be in heaven because you cared.
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Speaker 3: Word for our daily hope.
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