Speaker 1: Hello, and thanks for joining us here on Pastor Rick's
Speaker 1: Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 1: Today we continue a teaching series called Uncommon Courage. In
Speaker 1: these lessons, Rick is going to share biblical inspiration that
Speaker 1: will help you get the courage you need to follow
Speaker 1: God's calling for your life. If you'd love to help
Speaker 1: the kids you know learn God's work, then stay with
Speaker 1: us because in just a few minutes we're going to
Speaker 1: tell you about God's big plans for me and easy
Speaker 1: to understand storybook Bible by Pastor Rick Warren. You can
Speaker 1: take a sneak peek right now by going to Pastorick
Speaker 1: dot com while you listen to today's message, or if
Speaker 1: you want, you can just text the word daily to
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. That's the
Speaker 1: word Daily to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.
Speaker 1: Right now, here's Pastor Rick with part two of a
Speaker 1: message called standing Courageously for the Truth.
Speaker 2: Now in Hebrews chapter twenty five, it's up here on
Speaker 2: the screen. The Bible says Moses chose to suffer with
Speaker 2: God's people rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin.
Speaker 2: For a short time. Circle the phrase pleasures of sin
Speaker 2: and circle short.
Speaker 3: Time A think.
Speaker 2: I love about the Bible as it always tells the truth.
Speaker 2: It's honest. And the Bible says sin is fun. Notice
Speaker 2: it says pleasure of sin, sin is pleasurable. If sin
Speaker 2: wasn't fun, nobody do it. Okay, Even the Bible admits it.
Speaker 2: Sin is fun. Is it fun to eat things that
Speaker 2: are bad for you?
Speaker 3: Yes? Absolutely, okay.
Speaker 2: Is it fun to stay up really late even though
Speaker 2: you got to get up early next morning you're gonna
Speaker 2: be dead.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of things in life that aren't good
Speaker 2: for you, and they're a whole lot of fun, or
Speaker 2: they are a whole lot pleasurable. The Bible says there
Speaker 2: is pleasure in sin, but it says notice, it doesn't last,
Speaker 2: it's for a short time, And with every kick there's
Speaker 2: a kickback. There's always a payoff, and the cost of
Speaker 2: sin is far greater than the pleasure of sin. Sin
Speaker 2: is fun, there's no doubt about it. But the cost
Speaker 2: of it could be your own soul. And the cost
Speaker 2: of it could be a broken body, of broken mind,
Speaker 2: a broken heart, a broken relationship. There's always a cost
Speaker 2: to sin Galatians six Po't eight on the screen says this.
Speaker 2: Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires,
Speaker 2: that's hedonism, will harvest the consequences of decay and death.
Speaker 2: But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest
Speaker 2: everlasting life from the Spirit. And Exodus twenty three, verse two.
Speaker 2: There on your outline. Do not follow the crowd in
Speaker 2: doing wrong. But girls just want to have fun. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: there's nothing wrong with having fun. Do not follow the
Speaker 2: crowd and doing wrong. It may be fun, but it
Speaker 2: might not be right.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: There's a third anti Christian worldview, and it is individualism, materialism, hedonism, individualism,
Speaker 2: and individualism says what I want comes first. Materialism says
Speaker 2: money is God. Hedonism says happiness is God. Individualism says
Speaker 2: I'm God and it really doesn't matter what happens to you.
Speaker 2: This is a dog eat dog world. I got to
Speaker 2: look out for number one. I'm number one, and it
Speaker 2: is a me first mentality. What I want comes first.
Speaker 2: It is a self centered lifestyle. America was built on
Speaker 2: rugged individualism. I do what I want to do, when
Speaker 2: I want to do it, and nobody can tell me
Speaker 2: not to do it. And today that has evolved into
Speaker 2: the culture of narses. Maybe you haven't realized this, but
Speaker 2: every advertisement ever created appeals to your self centeredness. We
Speaker 2: do it all for you, have it your way, you
Speaker 2: deserve a break today. It's all about you. You're great it.
Speaker 2: Think of yourself. It's all about you. In fact, they're
Speaker 2: even naming products now. We now have the iPhone and
Speaker 2: then I work on my iPad and I post a
Speaker 2: video of me on YouTube and who's the you me?
Speaker 2: It's a place to show off, and we actually creating
Speaker 2: tools that cultivate our narcissism that it's all about you.
Speaker 2: I saw a mountain dew ad the other day and
Speaker 2: it said obey your thirst hedonism. Most people don't realize
Speaker 2: that that's flat out hedonism. Do whatever you have the
Speaker 2: urge to do. Doesn't matter if it's right or wrong.
Speaker 2: You must obey your thirst. If it feels good, do it,
Speaker 2: if it makes you richer, do it. If it's all
Speaker 2: about you, you do it. But here's the issue. God
Speaker 2: didn't create you to live for you. Oh really, you
Speaker 2: think the creator of the universe thought you up so
Speaker 2: you could live a little self centered, selfish, egotistic cloud
Speaker 2: of a life that it's all about me.
Speaker 3: I don't think so.
Speaker 2: You were made for something far, far bigger than yourself.
Speaker 2: If you just live for yourself, why even get out
Speaker 2: of bed in the morning, Just mail it in? Really okay?
Speaker 2: I mean, just stay in bed, under the covers and pull.
Speaker 3: Up the sheets. Because it's all about you.
Speaker 2: That's why when I wrote purpose Driven Life and the
Speaker 2: opening sentence was it's not about you. That is the
Speaker 2: most counterculture statement you can make today, because everything on
Speaker 2: our culture says.
Speaker 3: Are you kidding me? It's all about you.
Speaker 2: Everything is about you because the world view of individualism,
Speaker 2: what I want comes first. And so if I'm married
Speaker 2: to you and you're hindering my career, bye bye, sister.
Speaker 2: I got to do what I gotta do. And if
Speaker 2: I've got an elderly parent to take care of and
Speaker 2: my elderly parent is cramping my style, bye bye parent.
Speaker 2: I have no responsibility because it's all about me. And
Speaker 2: if I want to go through a series of one
Speaker 2: night's stance, too bad. It doesn't matter if it breaks
Speaker 2: your heart. It's all about me. That is individualism at
Speaker 2: its height.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: The Bible says this Christian worldview. Proverbs eighteen one. It
Speaker 2: is selfish and it's stupid to think only of yourself.
Speaker 2: In fact, God sent Jesus Christ not just to save
Speaker 2: us from our sins, but also to model how to live.
Speaker 2: And in Philippians too, it says this, each of you
Speaker 2: should look not only to your own interest that's counterculture,
Speaker 2: but also to the interests of others. Most people aren't
Speaker 2: doing that. Your attitude should be the same as that
Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ. See Jesus said, if you want to
Speaker 2: follow me, you got to put aside your selfish ambition.
Speaker 2: You've got to deny yourself.
Speaker 3: What.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you got to deny yourself. What in our society,
Speaker 2: that's two words you never hear. Deny yourself, Actualize yourself,
Speaker 2: serve yourself, love yourself, take care of yourself, live for yourself.
Speaker 3: Nobody in our culture.
Speaker 2: Is saying what Jesus said, deny yourself, and that Jesus
Speaker 2: taught us that God designed us for love, and love
Speaker 2: is not thinking of yourself. Love is giving yourself away,
Speaker 2: and Jesus that it is only in giving yourself away
Speaker 2: you'll ever know what it means.
Speaker 3: To really really live.
Speaker 2: Paul said, clothe yourselves and the Lord Jesus Christ, and
Speaker 2: forget about satisfying your own selfish desires. In fact, over
Speaker 2: and over in the Bible, God warns about me living
Speaker 2: a self centered life. The Bible says this in Romans
Speaker 2: two to eight, for those who are self seeking and
Speaker 2: who reject the truth. In other words, I know what
Speaker 2: the Bible says. The Bible says, do this, but I
Speaker 2: don't like that part at crimps my style. So I'm
Speaker 2: going to do this. I'm going to be self seeking
Speaker 2: and I'm going to reject the truth. I know God
Speaker 2: says to do this, and I know God says, don't
Speaker 2: do that, but I'm going to go ahead and do
Speaker 2: it anyway.
Speaker 3: For those.
Speaker 2: Who are self seeking, who reject the truth and follow evil,
Speaker 2: there will be wrath and anger. Why why does it
Speaker 2: tick off God when I'm self centered? Why does it
Speaker 2: make God mad when I live for myself?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: Because number one, he didn't make you for that reason.
Speaker 2: But the real reason is the reason God opposes self
Speaker 2: centered living is because God is love, and the Bible
Speaker 2: says love is not selfish. God wants you to be
Speaker 2: a great lover, not a great self centered person. And
Speaker 2: the Bible says love is not selfish. When I'm sitting
Speaker 2: on the couch relaxing, reading the paper and watching TV
Speaker 2: and I see that Kay needs help and I decide
Speaker 2: to keep quiet instead of helping her. That's called being selfish.
Speaker 2: At that moment, I am being unloving because love is
Speaker 2: never selfish. When somebody asks for your help, he says, sorry,
Speaker 2: I don't have time to do it. Love is never selfish.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will be
Speaker 1: back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.
Speaker 1: You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email devotional
Speaker 1: at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
Speaker 4: The Bible says children are a gift from the Lord.
Speaker 4: Do you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or kids in
Speaker 4: your neighborhood that need to know God loves them and
Speaker 4: has a good plan for their lives. You can help
Speaker 4: them get closer to God by encouraging them to read
Speaker 4: His word. That's why we're so excited to tell you
Speaker 4: about a very special resource just for kids called God's
Speaker 4: Big Plans for Me. It's a storybook Bible by Pastor
Speaker 4: Rick Warren. This two hundred and twenty three page hardcovered
Speaker 4: children's book includes forty well loved Bible stories to help
Speaker 4: kids engage with God's word. Each Bible story has an
Speaker 4: introduction from Pastor Rick that helps young readers understand the
Speaker 4: Word of God and has a closing thought with a
Speaker 4: practical step boys and girls can take to discover God's
Speaker 4: Big Plans for them. Their eyes will light up as
Speaker 4: they turn the beautifully illustrated pages and really start to
Speaker 4: get what God wants to say to their young hearts
Speaker 4: and minds. God's Big Plans for Me is so much
Speaker 4: more than just a book filled with cute pictures of
Speaker 4: Bible characters. It's a fun and effective way to introduce
Speaker 4: children to God's ever last year truth. This book makes
Speaker 4: a great gift. You'll want to get a copy for
Speaker 4: every child in your life. And today, when you give
Speaker 4: a gift to help Pastor Rick's daily hope take the
Speaker 4: certain hope of Jesus Christ around the world, We'll send
Speaker 4: you a copy of God's Big Plans for Me Storybook
Speaker 4: Bible to say thanks. To get your copy of this
Speaker 4: great resource, just call eight hundred six hundred five zero
Speaker 4: zero four or go to Pastorick dot com to get yours.
Speaker 4: That's eight hundred six hundred five zero zero four or
Speaker 4: Pastorick dot com thanks in advance for your support. Your
Speaker 4: gift to Daily Hope helps us share the hope of
Speaker 4: Christ with people around the world.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope once again. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: Now, these world views materialism, money is God, Hedonism, happiness
Speaker 2: and pleasure is God.
Speaker 3: Individualism, I'm God. I run my own way.
Speaker 2: If I'm the master and commander of my faith, I
Speaker 2: don't need God. I'm in charge of my life. There's
Speaker 2: a fourth one. This one is the exact opposite of individualism.
Speaker 3: It's collectivism. It's called socialism.
Speaker 2: Socialism is an anti Christian worldview that says government is God.
Speaker 2: It basically says government should control everything. That's socialism. The
Speaker 2: government should be in charge of everything. Now, there's nothing
Speaker 2: wrong with government. Government is a good thing. In fact,
Speaker 2: it was invented by God. God created three institutions. He
Speaker 2: created the institution of family, he created the institution of
Speaker 2: the church, and he created the institution of government. God
Speaker 2: is not an anarchist. Everything should be done decently, in
Speaker 2: an order. There's nothing wrong with government. But here's what
Speaker 2: I've learned people who don't know God make government God.
Speaker 2: Why because they don't have any higher authority to look
Speaker 2: to meet their needs. So they want the government to
Speaker 2: meet all their needs. They're not praying to God, so
Speaker 2: the highest thing they can think of to make the
Speaker 2: world a better place, it's not the church, it's not God.
Speaker 2: It's government. It's the thing that's supposed to make everything better.
Speaker 2: So they treat government like God and say, well, how
Speaker 2: do you know that? Because I have spoken at most
Speaker 2: of the major secular elite conferences on this planet. I
Speaker 2: have spoken three times at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Speaker 2: I've spoken to the Aspen Ideas Institute, I've spoken at
Speaker 2: the TED Conference, I've spoken at the Entertainment Gathering. I've
Speaker 2: spoken to groups of elites in Manhattan and London and Europe.
Speaker 2: And what I've discovered when I'm around sometimes I'm in
Speaker 2: a group that I'm the only person of faith in
Speaker 2: the group. And what I've discovered is this politics is
Speaker 2: the religion of people who don't know God, and for them,
Speaker 2: they treat it as everything. Now, again, there's nothing wrong
Speaker 2: with politics, it's just not the savior. And if you
Speaker 2: think any politician is going to be your savior, You're
Speaker 2: going to be deeply disappointed. You're going to be defly
Speaker 2: no matter who it is. By the way, what is
Speaker 2: the purpose of government? The Bible says there are three
Speaker 2: purposes of government, Protect freedom, insure justice, preserve peace. Protect freedom,
Speaker 2: insure justice, preserve peace. Now, if I don't have a
Speaker 2: God or anything bigger than government, then I want government
Speaker 2: to do everything else too. Now, Jesus explained the limited
Speaker 2: role of government, and he said the role of government's
Speaker 2: a good role, but its role is not to be
Speaker 2: God Matthew twenty two to twenty one. Jesus said, give
Speaker 2: to s what is Caesar's, but give to God what
Speaker 2: is god God's. Now, what do I give Caesar? What
Speaker 2: I give my government? I owe it my respect, I've
Speaker 2: got to I owe it, my taxes I owe I
Speaker 2: need to keep the law. I can't just run through
Speaker 2: red lights because I don't like that red light.
Speaker 3: I got to keep the laws.
Speaker 2: The government's role is to protect and preserve freedom and order.
Speaker 2: And so I'm to be a good citizen. I'm to
Speaker 2: be a responsible citizen. And in America, the privilege of
Speaker 2: voting is of course the right to vote is the
Speaker 2: responsibility to vote. But it says, you give to Caesar
Speaker 2: what's Caesar's, but you give to God what's God's, what's God's?
Speaker 2: What do you owe God your life? You don't know
Speaker 2: government your life, but you do owe God your life
Speaker 2: because He gave it to you. And so he says
Speaker 2: there's a limit governer and has a limit, but God
Speaker 2: owns it all. By the way, the Bible says, give
Speaker 2: the caesar. What's theess who's Caesar in a democracy? Because
Speaker 2: we don't have a king, we don't have a caesar,
Speaker 2: we don't have a dictator.
Speaker 3: Who's Caesar? And democracy? The answer is you are.
Speaker 2: You are, The voters are Caesar because we, the people
Speaker 2: in any democracy, determine the laws. The power in America
Speaker 2: does not reside with the judicial branch, or the legislative branch,
Speaker 2: or the executive branch. It resolves with the people who
Speaker 2: put those people into office.
Speaker 3: So you're the Caesar.
Speaker 2: Just through that little in for free now, I said
Speaker 2: that a lot of Christians may be on their way
Speaker 2: to heaven, but they don't have a Christian worldview. Why
Speaker 2: because they don't realize that if you're a Christian, you
Speaker 2: have dual citizenship. You have dual citizenship. Look at this
Speaker 2: verse on the screen Philippians three twenty. But our citizenship
Speaker 2: is where in Heaven says that twice in the Bible.
Speaker 2: So you have dual citizenship. I am a citizen of
Speaker 2: the United States, and I'm also a citizen of Heaven.
Speaker 2: By the way, my greater loyalty is to God, not
Speaker 2: the government. And if there is a difference between God
Speaker 2: and government, there's no question which one I'm going to
Speaker 2: side with.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 2: I'm a patriot, I would die for my country. I
Speaker 2: love America, but my greater allegiance is to God, and
Speaker 2: I have dual citizenship. Every Christian should be issued a
Speaker 2: green card to remind you that you have a divided loyalty.
Speaker 2: I often get a little worried about when I hear
Speaker 2: people talk about this. God and country talk as if
Speaker 2: they're like equal, God and country, like they're equal loyalties.
Speaker 3: They are not.
Speaker 2: It's not God and country equal. It's God's way up here,
Speaker 2: my country's down here. It's important, but it's nowhere near
Speaker 2: my commitment, my relationship, and my loyalty to God. If
Speaker 2: you ever see a bumper sticker that says my country
Speaker 2: right or wrong. That is an un Christian bumper sticker.
Speaker 2: I hope you wouldn't say that if you lived in
Speaker 2: Nazi Germany. The Christian attitude toward government is my country.
Speaker 2: I'm going to make it the best I can, because
Speaker 2: as a Christian, I'm responsible to make the best of
Speaker 2: everything around me. But it is not my country right
Speaker 2: or wrong. That is making a country an idol. It's
Speaker 2: putting God in first place. Now, there are many many
Speaker 2: examples in the Bible of Christians running up against this worldview,
Speaker 2: and many examples where Christians had to choose God over government.
Speaker 2: The Jerusalem City Council tried to prevent the apostles from
Speaker 2: preaching and teaching the truth are and even speaking or
Speaker 2: even using the name Jesus.
Speaker 3: In the city of Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: In fact, they said you are forbidden to use the
Speaker 2: name Jesus in Jerusalem. And in Acts chapter five, the
Speaker 2: city council said, we gave you strict orders not to
Speaker 2: teach in this name, yet you have filled Jerusalem with
Speaker 2: your teaching. Peter and the other apostles replied, we must
Speaker 2: obey God rather than men. Another time in the chapter
Speaker 2: before they said again they threatened and said you can't
Speaker 2: use this name Jesus, and they said, we have to
Speaker 2: speak of Jesus. Most of you know that I did
Speaker 2: President Obama's inauguration prayer. What most people don't know is
Speaker 2: four years earlier, I did the inaugural prayer at the
Speaker 2: start of Bush's inauguration. Just wasn't controversial, so nobody even noticed.
Speaker 2: Besides Billy Graham, I'm the only guy who's prayed for
Speaker 2: both the Republican and a Democrat president. But both times
Speaker 2: I was told, don't use the word Jesus, don't say
Speaker 2: in Jesus name.
Speaker 3: So what do you think I did? I mean?
Speaker 1: Really, this is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so happy
Speaker 1: that you've chosen to study along with us today. Now,
Speaker 1: if you'd like to receive rix free daily devotional, go
Speaker 1: to pastorick dot com and sign up right now. Rick
Speaker 1: will be back to close out our time today. But first,
Speaker 1: the Bible says children are a gift from the Lord.
Speaker 1: Do you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or kids in
Speaker 1: your neighborhood that need to know God loves them and
Speaker 1: has a good plan for their lives. You can help
Speaker 1: them get closer to God by encouraging them to read
Speaker 1: God's Word. That's why we're so excited to tell you
Speaker 1: about a very special resource just for kids called God's
Speaker 1: Big Plans for Me. It's a storybook Bible by Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick Warren. This two hundred and twenty three page hardcovered
Speaker 1: children's book includes forty well loved Bible stories to help
Speaker 1: kids engage with God's word. Each Bible story has an
Speaker 1: introduction from Pastor Rick that helps young readers understand the
Speaker 1: Word of God and a closing thought with a practical
Speaker 1: step boys and girls can take to discover God's Big
Speaker 1: Plans for them. Their eyes will light up as they
Speaker 1: turn the beautifully illustrated pages and really start to get
Speaker 1: what God wants to say to their young hearts and minds.
Speaker 1: God's Big Plans for Me is so much more than
Speaker 1: just a book filled with cute pictures of Bible characters.
Speaker 1: It's a fun and effective way to introduce children to
Speaker 1: God's ever lasting truth. This book makes a great gift.
Speaker 1: You'll want to get a copy for every child in
Speaker 1: your life and today when you give a gift to
Speaker 1: help Pastor Rick's daily Hope take the certain hope of
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ around the world will send you a copy
Speaker 1: of God's Big Plans for Me Storybook Bible to say thanks.
Speaker 1: To get your copy of this great resource, just call
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four or go
Speaker 1: to Pastorick dot com to get yours. That's eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand and four or Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: Here's Pastor Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.
Speaker 2: I want to say thanks to all of you who
Speaker 2: are supporting Daily Hope Ministry with your financial gifts and
Speaker 2: with your prayers. I know you appreciate these notes that
Speaker 2: I get from people around the world as much as
Speaker 2: I do. Let me just share one with you from
Speaker 2: a woman named Anna who is an elementary school principal
Speaker 2: and she just wrote this your Pastor Rick. I became
Speaker 2: a principal in an elementary school at the age of
Speaker 2: twenty five. I'm now forty two.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: We've had Rick Warren Bible series and studies at our
Speaker 2: church during the summers and I always enjoyed them so much,
Speaker 2: and I've invited many friends and relatives to visit our church.
Speaker 2: A couple years ago, I began to share your devotion
Speaker 2: Daily Hope with all of my staff members each morning.
Speaker 2: See she's a principle, she's sharing this with her staff.
Speaker 2: She said, I've seen their growth in God. I've seen
Speaker 2: the transformation in their lives and characters over these past years,
Speaker 2: and I'm amazed at the Lord's love and mercy. That
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that we haven't struggled with issues such as
Speaker 2: death and depression and disappointments and illness things like that. However,
Speaker 2: we have had our eyes on God during all of
Speaker 2: the things that have come against us, and this has
Speaker 2: made a difference. I pray with them during our staff
Speaker 2: meetings to give thanks. So, Pastor Rick, I just want
Speaker 2: to thank you for following God's calling. Even though you
Speaker 2: go through struggles and life problems just like we all do.
Speaker 2: God is with you. May the Lord continue to bless
Speaker 2: you and your beautiful family. May continue to bless you
Speaker 2: with wisdom and discernment so that you're able to share
Speaker 2: your gift with all of us. Blessings, Anna, God, bless you.
Speaker 2: Thanks for writing. I love getting these letters and you
Speaker 2: actually encouraged me, and I love the fact that as
Speaker 2: a principle, you're sharing the broadcast and you're sharing the
Speaker 2: devotionals with your staff. This makes you a partner in
Speaker 2: this ministry, and I thank you for doing that. I
Speaker 2: want to encourage everybody else's listening. Find somebody that you
Speaker 2: could share the good news with. Tell them about Daily Hope.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast
Speaker 1: has blessed your life, please write him at Rick at
Speaker 1: pastorick dot com. That's Rick at pastorrick dot com. Be
Speaker 1: sure to join us next time as we look into
Speaker 1: God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored
Speaker 1: by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.