Rick Warren - Finding Your True Identity in God's Family - Part 2

You belong to God's family. That is the second calling

or purpose or reason or mission of your life. First

to know God, who loves you dearly, but second is

to be a part of his family, and that family

is called the church. Romans one six says you are

among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ,

called to belong That's what we're looking at this weekend.

You are called to belong to Jesus Christ. God designed

his family, the church, to meet your five deepest needs.

In fact, the church is the only thing that can

meet your five deepest needs. In the Bible, the church

is often referred to by a different metaphor. The church

is called a family, the church is called a temple,

the church is called a body, the church is called

a flock, and the church is called a garden. Each

one of them have profound implications for your life. And

if you understand the five meanings of these five metaphors,

you will understand how the church was designed. God's family

was designed to meet your deepest needs in life Ephesians

four twenty five. In Christ's body, we're all connected to

each other, and a disconnected part dies. Now let me

give you a fourth metaphor. The fourth description of the

church in the Bible is a flock. It is a flock,

like a flock of sheep. We're God's family. We learn

our identity. We're in God's temple. We're supported by each other.

Where Christ's body, we discover our own unique value. And

in God's flock we're banded together. Look up here on

the screen some one hundred, verse three says this God

made us, and we are his. We are his people,

the sheep of his pasture. Now, probably I imagine what

you're thinking. You're saying, I'm a sheep and a flock.

That doesn't sound too appealing. I mean, because we live

in suburbia. You've never seen a sheep, and you have

no idea how well cared sheep are taken care of.

Because sheep are pretty innocent animals. They have no natural

defense against predators, so they have to be protected by shepherds.

You don't have to care for cows like you care

for sheep. You don't have to care for horses or

even chickens like you have to care for sheep, because.

Sheep are pretty dependent.

And let me read to you what it means to

be a sheep from Psalm twenty three, the most famous

Psalm FoST famous chapter in the Bible, because this is

from the Living Bible. Because the Lord is my shepherd,

I have everything that I need. Now I'm interested and

being a sheep. If God's my shepherd, then I have

everything I need. He lets me rest in meadow grass,

and he leaves me beside quiet streams. He gives me

new strength. He helps me to do what honors him

the most. And even when I'm walking through dark valley

of death, I won't be afraid because you, Lord, my shepherd,

are close beside me, guiding, guarding all the way. You

provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies,

and you welcome me as your guest. Blessings overflow. Your

goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of

my life and afterwards, I will live with you forever

and your home. Now I want to be a sheep. Okay,

now we're talking. Let me read you what Jesus said

about shepherds and flocks and sheep and John ten. I

am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd lays down

his life for his sheep. A hired hand runs away

because he cares nothing for the sheep, like when the

wolves come. But I'm the good shepherd, and I know

my sheep, and my sheep know me, and I lay

down my life for my sheep. They listen to my

voice and they follow me, and I give them eternal

life and they will never perish and no one will

ever be able to snatch my sheep out of my hand.

Now, I want to be a sheep. So flock is

a good term.

I'm God's temple, I'm God's body, Christ's body, I'm God's family.

I'm God's building, and I'm in God's flock. And why

did God choose a flock of sheep as an illustration

of what the church is like? Write this down? Because

in God's flock, I'm protected and I'm cared for. I'm

protected and I'm cared for. I'm not on my own.

I have other people looking up for me. I enjoy

safety and security because I've got a shepherd. And that

makes me more confident, and that makes me less anxious,

and it makes me less fearful. And I know that

God is protecting me because I'm in his flock. Now

when is that important? When I'm being beat up in

the business world, when my family or my marriage is

being strained to the breaking point, when I'm facing a

personal crisis or a terminal illness, I need to know

that somebody's protecting and caring for me. Now, not just

God cares and protects for you. In the flock of God,

we help each other. And what you need in your

life is you need some people who will step up

to bat for you when you need them. You need

some people who walk into your life when everybody else

walks out of your life. Do you have anybody like that?

That's what the church is for. We are to walk

into each other's life when everybody else walks out. That's

what it means to be in the flock of God. Now,

you need people who will step up for you. And

in the flock of God, God has created two kinds

of people who are caregivers, two kinds of people who

will step up for you, Two kinds of people who

will look out for you.

The first is pastors.

My pastors look out for me or watch out for

me when I'm in a part of the of the

flock of God. You know what the word pastor means.

It's the Greek word for shepherd. That's what it means, poyman.

A pastor is a shepherd. A shepherd is a pastor.

Pastors are to shepherd the flock of God. In fact,

you want to know my job description, look at this

on your outline one Peter five to two. This is

God's word to pastors, to shepherds, take care of God's flock,

his people that you are responsible for. Watch over them

because you want to, not because you're forced to. I'm

to take care of God's flock. I'm the shepherd. I'm

to be responsible. I'm to watch over you. Let me

show you another verse. Look up here on the screen.

Hebrews thirteen seventeen says this, obey your spiritual leaders and

do what to say. Their work is to watch over

your souls, and they know they are accountable to God.

Now I'll be honest with you, guys. That to me

is the scariest verse in the Bible. It scares me

to death. Not the part about obey your spiritual leaders

and do what to say. The part that scares me

is they watch over your souls and they know they

are accountable to God.

That scares me to death.

Let me just share with your heart to heart here

for a minute. The Bible says that if you choose

to put yourself under my care as a shepherd of

saddle backed church, and you join this flock, and you say,

this is going to be my family, this is going

to be my flock. This is where I'm going to

serve the body of Christ. This is the temple that

I'm going to be built in doing sharing with that.

If you put yourself under my care, that one day

I am going to give an account to God for

how well I helped you grow spiritually, And that scares

me to death. One day I'm going to give an

account to God. Meet Rick Warren will personally give an

account to God for how well I took care of

your soul.

And you, guys, I'm not that smart.

And if you join this church, I beg you, beg

you to pray for me, because I don't take anybody

smart enough to pastor church this size. I couldn't possibly

care for everybody's needs, much less know everybody's needs. And

yet the Bible says, one day I will give an

account for the direction that I led this flock. And

I take that very very seriously. It drives me to

my knees every single day. And I am praying for

you and your spiritual care, and I beg you to

pray for me, because, as I said, I'm just not

smart enough to do that. I need your help. And

I am concerned that I lead you in the right direction.

I would rather stick a knife in my heart than

lead you in the wrong way. This is the family

of God, This is the flock of God. This is

not like some business where you just mess it up,

you just go start another one. Eternity is in the

balance here heaven and Hell. It's extremely important, and sometimes

the burden is crushing to me. The Bible says, I

will give an account to God one day, and so

I take that serious that I want to make sure

that you are You're safe, that I protect you from

false doctrine and cults and wolves and false ideologies and

things like that, and lead you in the right way

because I'm accountable to God.

But not only do we.

Have pastors to help us in the flock of God,

we have our small groups. And fifty eight times in

the Bible the phrase one another is used, and the

Bible says that the sheep take care of each other, sheep, care.

For sheep, not just shepherds.

And the Bible uses the phrase one another says love

one another, care for one another, help one another, encourage

one another, support one another, pray for one another, love

one another, greet one another.

Fifty eight times. We are to do these. And the

only way you can do that is in a small group.

That's why if you're not in a small group, you're

not really connected, because you can't do those one anothers

in a crowd of several thousand people. You could only

do it in a group of four or six or

seven or whatever. Here's what the Bible says, Galatians six

to two share each other's troubles and problems. And in

this way, in other words, when we share each other's

troubles and problems, in this way, you obey the law

of Christ. What is the law of Christ? Love your neighbors, yourself.

And when you're in a small group and you pray

for somebody who's just gone through a tough time, somebody

just says, you know, this week was terrible, this happened,

this happened, this happened, And you stop and you pray

for them, and you encourage them you give them a

pat on the back, you give them a warm, encouraging word.

You have just done the one on others. You have

just shepherded the flock yourself. You have been a part

of the family of God. You've been a part of

the body of Christ. You've been a part of the

Temple of God. You've been a part of the flock

of God, and there has been protection and care for

Thessalonians five eleven says, encourage each other and give each

other strength. You get strength, I get strength by we

encourage each other in a small group. So here's my question,

who's looking out for you? Here's another question, who are

you looking out for? Can you name three or four

specific people? You go, these are people in our flock,

in our family, in our small group, in our body

of Christ that I'm looking out for, and they're looking

out for me. That's what it means to be a Christian.

That's what it means to be a part of the

family of God. That's what it means that I'm not

just called to be loved. I am called by God

to belong. And one day you'll stand before God and

I'll say.

Did you do that one?

Did you do the belonging part that I called you

to be a part of my family, a part of

my flock, a part of my temple, a part of

my body.

Did you do those things? Here's the cool thing.

All the stuff that you're most embarrassed about in the world,

God uses it for good in the church. The very

thing you're most embarrassed about, your hurts, your hang ups,

your sins, your mistakes, your weaknesses. God says, you know what,

in my family, I'm going to use those to encourage

other people. So the stuff you want to keep a

secret from everybody else in the world, you get to

tell everybody here because it'll encourage them. Who could better

help somebody who's on the verge of a divorce and

somebody who's been on the verge of.

A divorce, been there, done that. Let me tell you

what's going on.

Who could better help somebody who's struggling with an addiction

than somebody who's had an addiction? Who could better help

somebody who's been molested than somebody has been molested? Who

could better help somebody who's gone through a bankruptcy or

has lost a child, or any anything good, bad, sinful.

God says, I can use it all.

Hey, would you like to go so deeper with Pastor

Rick to discover God's purpose in your life? Well now

you can with the video based study kit called What

on Earth Am I here for? This life changing study

is taught by Rick and includes a workbook and six

video sessions.

As you go through.

These lessons, you'll embark on a journey of discovery to

answer life's most fundamental question, what on Earth am I

here for? You'll learn that it's only in God that

we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose,

our significance, and our destiny.

Every other path leads to a dead end.

This resource is packed with biblically centered principles and is

perfect for personal or small group study. So be sure

to request this study kit when you give a gift

to Daily Hope to help share the hope of Jesus

with a hurting world. We'll send it to you today

as our way of saying thanks.

Now.

The final description that I want us to look at

this weekend of the church is the church is called

a garden. A garden specifically a vineyard, and this is

an organic metaphor that has to do with how being

a part of a church family helpshoot grow like fruit

in a garden, like grapes on a vine on the screen.

The Bible says in John fifteen, Jesus said, I am

the true vine, and my father is the gardener, and

you are the branches.

Now, what's the lesson we get out of this?

The lesson we get out of the fact that the

church is like a garden where Jesus says, you know,

I'm the vine and you're the branches. You know, I

actually grow a bunch of different kinds of grapes. And

I could bring into you some grape vines, and I

could bring them in they're all cut up, but if

they're disconnected, they don't bear any fruit at all. This

is talking about being fruitful. Your life needs to be productive.

You need to make a differ friends with your life.

Everybody wants to end their life feel like I didn't

just waste my life. I was productive with my life.

I did something with life. I made my life count.

And this is the fifth thing that we learned that

in God's garden, my life becomes productive, it becomes fruitful.

I do something with my life because now I'm connected

to the vine, and there's life giving life flowing through

those vines and those branches, so I'm able to bear fruit.

If I'm disconnected, there's no way I'm going to bear fruit.

I don't cut off a branch of an apple tree.

It will never in a million years grow any apples.

It only grows apples as it's connected to the tree.

The Bible says in John fourteen fifteen, excuse me four

and five. A branch cannot bear fruit if it's severed

from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me,

Jesus says, I am the vine, and you are the branches.

Those who remain in me and I in them will

produce much fruit, circle much fruit. That's called productivity. But

apart from me, you can do nothing. The point is

a disconnected branch can't bear fruit. God has all kinds

of fruit he wants to bear in your life, but.

You can't do it.

None of the fruit that God has for your life

will happen unless you're connected to the church. Unless you're

connected to the vine. You're built into the building. You're

a part of the body, you're a member of the family,

your sheep in the flock. All these connection metaphors say,

nothing happens that God intends for your life, your purpose.

That's why your calling, your second calling is to belong

to get connected. You have five basic needs in your life.

You have a need to know your identity, who am

I really need to develop stability so you don't get

blown away by the tough.

Things in life.

You have a need to increase your capacity. You have

a need to have security in your life. And you

have a need for productivity. All five of these things

are found in God's family. In God's family, I learn

my identity. In Christ's body, I discover my unique value,

my capacity. In God's temple, I learn how to support

others and be supported by others and have that stability.

And in God's flock I come together for protection and

care security. And in the vine, in the garden, I

learned productivity, fruitfulness. Let me say it another way. In

your life, if you're going to really live the life

God made you to live, you need power to live on.

You need people to live with, You need principles to

live by, you need a plan to live out, and

you need a purpose to live for.

Where are you going to get that outside of the church? Nowhere,

Nowhere in the world.

Will you find those five things anywhere else except in

the plan of God, who created the whole thing and

designed his family the church to answer your deepest needs.

So here's my one question.

Why should you remain disconnected when a church like this

has so much to offer? People who say, well, I

love Jesus, but I don't love the church.

I don't need the church.

That's the stupidest thing you can say. The Church was

designed to meet your deepest needs. You cannot be what

God puts you on this earth to be without being connected.

We're better together, we grow together. And God says it

four or five different ways. The Church is the hope

of the world. America is not the hope of the world.

Politics is not the hope of the world. Economics is

not the hope of the world. Education is not the

hope of the world. If any of those things would work,

we would have already turned the thing around. The hope

of the world is the spread of God's good news

so that lives are changed, and hearts change, and families

and marriages are saved. And the only thing that's going

to last is the Church of God. So I highly

recommend you invest the rest of your life in that

which is going to outlast it. Nothing else will let

the close of this verse on the screen. Ephesians three

twenty one. Glory belongs to God in the Church and

in Jesus Christ, for all time and eternity. Now, notice

the Bible says two things bring glory to God, the

Church and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the son of God.

The Church is the family of God. And those two

things bring glory to God. Don't you ever put the

Church down again. It's God's bride, it's God's family, it's

God's flock, and it's God's purpose for your life. You're

called to belong that's power heads. Lord, I thank you

that even with all of our faults and weaknesses and

all of the many sins in your family, you love

your family, the Church. Of course, it's going to be imperfect.

It's filled with imperfect people, but you love it. And Jesus,

I thank you that you're not ashamed to call us

your brothers and sisters, and so we may we never

be ashamed of your church.

It's your family. Lord.

You said in the word Christ died for the church,

and I pray that we would have that same attitude

that the attitude of our brothers and sisters. You've said,

we know what love is. That we lay down our

lives for our brothers and sisters. May we realize we're

not just friends, We're not just the tenders. We're family.

May we stick up for each other. May we support

each other. May we care for each other. And may

the world look at saddle backed Church and say, those

guys really love, they really love. If you haven't stepped

across the line and invited Jesus Christ in your life,

said Jesus Christ, come into my life right now, come

into my life and change me and save me. I

want to be a part of your family, and I

want to accept your call to be loved, and I

want to accept your call to belong.

In your name. I pray amen.

Friends, if you're having trouble staying consistent in your Bible

study and quiet time, one thing you can do is

have a daily Hope devotional and podcast emailed to you

every single day. Did you know that? Now each devotional,

each daily devotional gives you a Bible verse and both

a written and an audio teaching about that verse. Now

I mention this because that's exactly what one of my

listeners has done. Marla wrote me, and she says that

getting Daily Hope devotionals have helped deepen her relationship with

the Lord and helped her be more consistent. Marla writes this, Hello,

Pastor Rick, I've been a Christian all my life, but

I felt lost for the past few years. But a

friend of mine told me about your Daily Hope emails

and I've been getting them for about a month now.

I read them every morning, and my meditation and prayer

practices have become more regular and definitely more meaningful. My

relationship to God has grown because of you and the

Daily Hope ministry. I now listen to your podcast every

day on my way to or from work, and I

love it. They have really helped me as a mother,

as a wife, as a boss, and as a friend.

So I'm going to share them with my oldest daughter,

who's nineteen. She's trying to find friends and find her

way in college. So thank you, thank you, thank you well,

thank you, Marla, thank you for writing. I'm so encouraged

to hear how God uses Daily Hope to change lives

and help people just like you grow closer to Him.

You know, I think It's great that you are sharing

your Daily Hope podcast with your daughter, and I would

invite all of our listeners to do this. I have

no doubt that she is going to learn to lean

on the Lord, and as she does that, she'll develop

biblical discernment. That means knowing which way to go and

who to relate to, and it's going to help her

find her way in college. Now you'll find the Daily

Hope podcast on my website dailyhopetv dot com. All of

these podcasts are free, and the reason we're able to

do that is because the generous gifts from listeners like you.

So those of you who are supporting us financially a

million thanks. You're making a difference. You're changing lives. Your

gifts are causing people to come into the Kingdom, grow

in Christ, and become all God intended for them to be.

Hey, would you like to go deeper with Pastor Rick

to discover God's purpose in your life? Well now you

can with the video based study kit called What on

Earth Am I here for? This life changing study is

taught by Rick and includes a workbook and six video sessions.

As you go through these.

Lessons, you'll embark on a journey of discovery to answer

life's most fund mental question, what on earth am I

here for? You'll learn that it's only in God that

we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose,

our significance, and our destiny.

Every other path leads to a dead end.

This resource is packed with biblically centered principles and is

perfect for personal or small group study, So be sure

to request this study kit when you give a gift

to Daily Hope to help share the hope of Jesus

with a hurting world. We'll send it to you today

as our way of saying thanks.