Rick Warren - Stop Drifting, Start Serving_ You Were Called to Become More

Now during this series, we've looked at God's five purposes

for your life. You are not an accident. They are

accidental parents. There are no accidental children. They're illegitimate parents.

There are no illegitimate children. Your parents may not have

planned you, but God did, and he planned you even

before the foundation of the world. And your life has value,

and your life has significance. And you are not an accident.

And the Bible says that God created you for five purposes,

for five reasons, for five assignments. The Bible calls them

your callings in life, your vocation in your life. Your

vocation is far more than your career. Oh no, no, no,

it's your reason for existence. And God says I made

you for five reasons. Now we looked first at I

am called to be loved. The number one purpose of

your life is you were made to be loved by God.

And until you get that, nothing else is going to

make sense. You're made by God and for God, and

He made you to love you in that base of love.

When you feel totally completely loved by God, then you

have the capacity to move into every area of life

that He wants you to move into and to experience

life in all its fullness. But first you're called to

be loved by God. Then we looked at the next

week at your called to belong. You're called to not

just be loved, You're called to belong. You're called to

belong to His family. You were not meant to go

through life on your own. You're not alone, ranger. You

are made for connection. You are made for community, and

we find our meeting and purpose in our relationships to

each other. You're made, You're created. You're called to belong.

Then we looked at the third calling in your life.

You're called to become. God has plans for your life.

He made you to become what He wants you to be.

You can't be anybody in the world. People will tell

you that. It's just not true. No matter how hard

I try, I'm never going to be an opera singer.

And no matter how hard I try, I'm never going

to be good at certain sports. I'm just not wired

that way. You can be who God has made you

to become, and joy getting in the Jay zone is

when you become who God made you to be. You're

called to be loved, You're called to belong, You're called

to become. And then last week we looked at the

fourth calling in your life. You're called to bless, You're

called to bless others. God didn't put you on the

earth to live a selfish little claw of a life

where it's all about me. No, it's not all about you.

It's all about God. It's all about others. And we

find our true meaning and purpose only as we give

our lives away. And as I bless other people, I

am blessed myself. And as I help others, I am

help myself. It's the law of so and reaping. But

when you sow a seed, you don't just get one

seed back, you get multiple seeds back. So whatever you

sow in life, you're going to get back more of

You sow criticism, you get back more criticism. But you

sow praise, you get back more praise. And you're called

to bless other people with your life using what we

call your shape, shape, your spiritual gifts, your heart, your abilities,

your personality, and your experience. And nobody is uniquely shaped

like you are. You have a unique voice, print, iPrint, mouth, handprint, footprint, heartbeat,

emotional beat, and God doesn't want you to be anybody else.

And when you get to heaven one day, he's not

going to say, why won't you more like somebody else?

He's going to say, why won't you more like you?

I made you to be you? Unless you be you?

Who's going to be you? Now? Tonight we look at

the fifth calling, and this is the calling of being sent.

I'm called to belong, I'm called to be loved, I'm

called to become, I'm called to bless and I'm called

to be said. Now, I want you to write this

down on your outline. God's plan for history. If you

want to know the purpose of history, here it is

He's gathering a family. God is gathering a family that

will love and live with him forever. The Bible makes

us very very clear, and the message was brought to

us first by the nation of Israel. God gave this

message to the Jews to give to the rest of us,

and now we are to pass it on to others

that God's plan for history is that He's gathering a

family that will love and live with him forever. If

God hadn't wanted a family, he wouldn't have created a universe,

he wouldn't have created the human race. He wouldn't have

created you and me. The Bible says this in Ephesians,

chapter one, verse five, look up here on the screen.

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into

his own family. This is God to adopt us into

his own family by bringing this to himself through Jesus Christ,

and this gave him great pleasure. All of us are

created by God, all of us are loved by God,

but not everybody is a child of God. You got

to choose to be in the family. In fact, there's

only two ways to get into family, be born into

it or be adopted into it, and the Bible uses

both of these metaphors. Spiritual rebirth and adoption is what

it means to get into God's family. Now for that

to happen. God's whole purpose in creating the universe is

to gather a group of people who choose willingly to

love him. And God gives me a free choice to

love or reject him. And God says, you ought to

give everybody else a free choice to love or of Jeppy,

it's not faith if it's forced. So we don't believe

in coercion. We believe in persuasion. We believe may the

best idea when but we don't believe in coercion, because

God says, I created you to love me, and it's

not love unless I can choose to not love him.

But those who choose to love him become a part

of God's family. Now, once God's family is gathered together,

we go into phase two, which is after earth, which

is after eternity, and that is excuse me, after life.

It's in eternity where the real life begins. This is

the preschool, This is the warm up back. This is

a dress rehearsal. This is the first lap around before

the real race begins. The race, the real life is eternity. Now,

for God to gather his family, somebody has to pass

on the good news. And here's what the Bible says

in Romans chapter ten, verses thirteen to fifteen. Anyone who

calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

That's a promise. But he says, how can they call

on him to save them unless they believe in him?

And how can they believe in him if they've never

heard of him? And how can they hear about him

unless someone tells them? And how can anyone go and

tell them without being sent circle the word sent. This

is the fifth calling of your life. You are called

to be sent. This is what the scripture means when

they say how beautiful are the feet of those who

bring good news. Now what this verse means is this

my fifth purpose in life? My fifth calling in life

is this. I'm sent to bring others into God's family.

I'm sent to bring others in God's family. The moment

I step across the line spiritually, God wants me to

share the good news with others. You know, if I

had the cure for AIDS and I kept it a

secret and I didn't tell anybody, that would be criminal.

In fact, they'll put me in prison. If I had

that good news and didn't telp people, I should be incarcerated.

If I had the cure for cancer and I didn't

tell anybody about it, that would be criminal. But God

has given us an even greater message. How to have

our past forgiven, how to have a purpose for living,

how to have a home in heaven and then not

share that would be criminal. So my fifth purpose in

calling in life is I'm sent to bring others into

God's family. The Bible says in First Corinthias, Second Corinthians

five eighteen. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself.

Then God gave us the work of bringing others into

peace with him. I want you to circle the word

peace twice there on your notes. God made peace between

us and himself through Jesus. Then God gave us the

work of bringing others into peace with him. So God's

not mad at you. You can be at peace with him. Now.

This is God's eternal peace plan. The Bible calls it

the Ministry of Reconciliation. One day, Jesus is walking down

the street and a guy comes up to and says, Lord,

what's the most important verse in the Bible? And Jesus

that I can summarize the whole Bible and two sentences.

Here's cliff notes on the Bible. Here's the whole Bible

in two sentences. Love God with all your heart, and

love your neighbor as yourself. Be reconciled to God, and

be reconciled to each other. Make peace with God and

make peace with each other. Stop your war with God,

stop your war with each other in the conflict with God,

and then you'll be able to end the conflict with

each other. Get the Prince of peace in your life,

and you'll be able to live at peace. It's all

about relationships. Life is not about accomplishments. It's not about achievements.

It's not allow about acquisitions. It's about relationships. Your relationship

to God, your relationship to yourself, and your relationship to

other people. Love God with all your heart, and love

your neighbors, yourself. Oh, this is the ministry of reconciliation.

This is what God calls we call the peace plan.

Make peace with God and then make peace with others

and bring the peace of God into their lives. Now,

this peace plan, of God's eternal peace plan, will only

happen if you fulfill your fifth calling. The Bible says

it like this, John chapter twenty, verse twenty one. In fact,

let's read this verse aloud together. Let's read it aloud

with great enthusiasm. Jesus said, peace be with you, as

the Father has sent me. I am sending you now again.

Circle three words, circle the word peace. It's the peace plan.

Peace be with you. We get peace with God, and

we give the peace of God, and we explain the

peace of God to others. As the Father has sent me.

I'm sending you circle the words and sending. This is

your fifth calling, and this is the one calling that

most people want to shy away from. I can imagine

some people get in heaven and God says, Okay, let's

go through the purposes. I created you for the reasons

you exist. Let's go through the callings I give in

your life. Did you let me love you your call

to be loved? Yes? Got that one? Bingo you're call

to belong, got that one. I did that. You're called

the book to become. Got that? Did that You're called

the bus. Others got that you're called to be sent

and passed it on to others? Ah, wrong answer, I

didn't do that one. And God's gonna say, and what

were you thinking? You think I put you on earth

to live for yourself. Once you have the good news,

don't you pass it on to others? Jesus said it

like this in John fifteen sixteen. You did not choose me,

but I chose you, and I appointed you to go

circle the word to go. I've appointed you to go.

Part of your appointment, part of your mission in life.

Your life mission is to go. You are to sent,

and you were to go. I chose you and appointed

you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Now,

fruit is a metaphor for a successful life, a fulfilling life,

a productive life, a fruitful life. And Jesus said, I

want you to bear fruit in your life that will last,

that will last. Let me, now, let me be honest

with you. Most of what you do in life isn't

going to last. Most of what I do in life

isn't going to last. The things that we spend most

of our time on people aren't even going to remember

in ten years, much less than thirty fifty or one hundred.

Most of the things you do in your life, it

isn't going to last. Nobody's going to care what movies

you went to, what books you read, what how you

spent your summer. And Jesus said, I want you to

do something with your life that lasts. Now. There are

only two things are going to last forever, truth and people.

Truth and people. So if you invest your life in

truth and in people, then you're investing your life in

things at last. Can you imagine getting to heaven one

day and somebody comes up and says, I just want

to thank you, and you say thank you. I don't

even know you said no, you don't know me. But

you helped in a ministry, you helped in a project,

a humanitarian effort, you helped in your church. And you

know what, you did something that caused me to get

to know God. And I'm going to be in heaven

because of you. I'm your friend forever.

Pastor Rick has put together a special resource called Daily

Inspiration for the Purpose Driven Life to help you reflect

on the key Bible verses found in his best selling book,

The Purpose Driven Life.

As you dive.

Deeper into these verses, you'll experience the transforming power of

God's words. This beautiful hardcover gift book features gold detailing

on the cover and has three hundred eleven pages filled

with scripture and also includes reflection pages so you can

record the life changing truths God reveals to you. This

book is a wonderful spiritual growth tool and it makes

a perfect gift for your friends and family. When you

give a gift to help daily Hope share the Gospel

with people around the world, will send you a copy

of Daily Inspiration for the Purpose Driven Life to say thanks.

It's amazing that two thousand years later after Jesus came

to there's still three thousand tribes that had never even

heard of Jesus. Now there's small tribes between five thousand

people and at the most one hundred thousand. But you

know what, God loves him as much as he loves you,

and Europe and the United States of America and every

the place. And God says, I want you to send

you to go to those people. But that's really kind

of like going to the moon. We know where these

three thousand tribes are, like, for instance, four hundred of

those tribes are in Sudan, very difficult places to reach politically, economically,

and even in travel. And he said, that's where we

want to go as a church. Jesus says, go to

all the world and go to all the tribes. And

so he said, let's let's do it twice. In the

Book of Revelation, that's the last book in the Bible,

there are verses that give us a scene from heaven

in the future, and it says this that one day

in heaven, all surrounding God will be people from every nation,

every tribe, every language, and every people group who have

chosen to love Him, who have chosen to love God

and are part of his family. They are in the

family of God, and it says there will be people

from every tribal there's a problem with that. There's still

three thousand tribes who haven't heard the good news. The

Bible says this in Acts one to eight. They're in

your outline. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in

Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria and to the

ends of the world. I want you to circle the

ANNs Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and in the world.

In other words, it's simultaneous, non sequential. When Jesus gave

these instructions, where were they in Jerusalem? So what's he saying?

I want you to start where you are, start in

your own city. The Bible says this in Acts Chapter twenty,

verse twenty four. The most important thing you're talking about

in my entire life, the most important thing with my

life is that I complete my mission. God has a

mission for your life. God has a life message he

wants to say to the world to you, and God

has a life mission for your life. The most important

thing that I is my complete my mission. And what

is it? The work that the Lord Jesus gave me,

And what is it to tell people the good news

about God's grace? How do I do that? Can you

write quick? Let me give you four thanks? Do is it?

Wrap it up with us? Four thanks? Number one? Pray.

I pray that people will say yes to God. I

pray that people will say yes to God and accept

their life mission and their life message. In Matthew chapter nine,

this is what Jesus said when he sent his followers

out on the very first peace trip. Here's what he said.

Jesus said, there are so many people to harvest, but

only a few workers to help harvest them. Pray, pray

to the Lord who owns the harvest that he will

send out. There's that phrase, call to be sent. He

will send out more workers together his harvest. So part

of your calling in life is to pray that God

will send out people to reach everybody with the good

news of God's love because everybody deserves to hear Does

anybody deserve the chance to hear the good news twice

when there's some people who haven't heard it once. So

we pray, we pray that God will send people out.

And that's the first thing you do. Second thing you

can do is you can give, give to help others go.

Maybe you're in a stage of life you can't go

right now, but you can give to help other people go.

The Bible says this in third John, chapter one, verse eight.

We must support believers who go on trips like this

so we can work together with them in spreading the truth.

And Matthew ten, verse eight says this, freely have you received?

Freely give? So God says, I've been generous with you. You

should be generous and help get the word out. I

can pray, I can give Number three, step out, I

could step out in faith. And what does that mean?

Volunteer God's army. God's mission is one hundred percent volunteer.

It's no conscription, there's no draft. You got to volunteer.

You got to say, Lord, I'm in, I'm willing, I'm able.

Do you know what God uses me because I volunteered.

In fact, I volunteer every day of my life, said God.

I wake up in the morning, and before my feet

hit the ground, I say, Lord, I know you're going

to do some really cool things in the world today.

Would you give me the privileges us being in on

some of them? And the trains move, and I just

want to get on his train. I want to get in.

I don't get up and say God, bless what I'm doing.

I get up in the morning, say God, help me

to do what you're blessing. I know you're going to

bless a bunch of things in the world today. Would

you let me get in on some of it? I

want to get in on this plan. It's not God

working on my plan. I'm working on his plan. I

say God, bless my plans, and say, God, what do

you plan to do today? Can I be in on

some of it? I step out in faith like Isaiah did,

the great prophet in the Old Testament Isaiah sixth st. Eight.

Isaiah says, then I heard the voice of the Lord

saying whom shall I send? There's that word? And called

to me sin? Who will I sin? And who will

go for us? And I said to the Lord, hear

my Lord, send me, send me. If you want God

to use you in any area, something like this or

anything else, you just have to say I'm in. I

dare you to pray the most dangerous prayer, the most

dangerous prayer you can ever pray, is only two words

you've heard me talk about this far. It's only two words.

The single most dangerous prayer you can say is this,

use me. You tell that one to God. You better

get your boots on, because God is looking for people

to use. And what we need is the same attitude

that David had. Look at this verse Psalm sixty seven.

Send us around your around the world with the news

of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind.

That's the attitude Jesse Lord send me here, am I

send me like Isaiah said, the great Prophet of Israel.

So I pray that people say yes to God. I

give so others can go. I step out and faith myself.

And number four, this is really important. Go where I

can now. Maybe you can't go to Berlin now, but

you can go somewhere now. You go where I can. Now.

That's personal peace, that's local peace, and helping others. We

live in the county that is filled with needs all

around us. Once there was a guy who was just

really struggling with some personal demons in his life, and

Jesus helped him get his head on right and helped

him get his act together, and he wanted to follow

Jesus on to the next town, and Jesus told him no.

Look at this verse Luke eight, verse thirty nine. Jesus said,

you go back home. He said, I want you to

go back home and tell people how much God has

done for you. So the man went all over town

tell him how much Jesus had done for him. Some

of the things. I think, what God will see you.

You need to go back home. You need to tell

people in your on your campus, if you're in school,

or in your business, if you're in a business, or

in your neighborhood, if you live in a neighborhood, to

tell the people around you, tell them the good news. Now,

the last verse on your outline, tewod Timothy four or

five says, this work at bringing others to Christ. Why

because they'll experience His love, The experiences forgiveness. The experience

is peace, the experience's purpose, the experience past forgives and

purpose for living all of these things that God offers

to us. Where and bring by the way, this is

our memory verse. You know, each week we're memorizing one

verse from the Bible. And this week I thought it'd

be really nice and light on you and give you

a word a sentence that's only so short anybody can

memorize it. So when you memorize the Bible verse, you

say the reference where are you find it in the Bible?

At the beginning, at the end. So let's say this

aloud together. Okay, Second Timothy four or five, work at

bringing others to Christ? Second Timothy four or five? By

the way, what is second Timothy four five? Yeah? And

by the way, where does it say work can bring

another's to Christ in the Bible? Very good class? All right,

let me close with a prayer. Let's bow our heads.

Dear God, what we've talked about this weekend is really

the subject, dearest to your own heart. You want people

in your family. You know everything about us, and you

want us to know you. It's the reason you created

the universe. It's the reason you sent your son to

die for us. It's the reason you have never made

anybody that you don't love. You've never made anybody you

didn't have a plan and purpose for their life. So

I pray too things first, that you would keep us

from being distracted and things in our life that really

don't matter, that we wouldn't waste our lives on stuff

that isn't going to last. And second, give us the

faith and give us the courage to pray the most

dangerous prayer in the world. Use me now, you talk

to God. I mean, you know, it really doesn't matter

what you say. Just say hey, hey, hey God. And

what matters is being honest. If you don't even know

if there is a God, say God, if you're real,

make yourself real to me, and over time he will.

God never turns down a genuine seeker. So just say,

dear Gotta if you're not, if you're real, make yourself

real to me. I want to know you, and if

you love me, I want to learn to love you back.

And I want to take the first step, the step

of openness. And I pray this in sincerity is best

I know how. Amen.

Pastor Rick has put together a special resource called Daily

Inspiration for the Purpose Driven Life to help you reflect

on the key Bible verses found in his best selling book,

The Purpose Driven Life.

As you dive deeper into these.

Verses, you'll experience the transforming power of God's word. This

beautiful hardcover gift book features gold detailing on the cover

and has three hundred eleven pages filled with Scripture and

also includes reflection pages so you can record the life

changing truths God reveals to you. This book is a

wonderful spiritual growth tool and it makes a perfect gift

for your friends and family. When you give a gift

to help Daily Hope share the Gospel with people around

the world, will send you a copy of Daily Inspiration

for the Purpose Driven Life to say thanks.