Rick Warren - Radical Generosity—Part Two

Hi, I'm Rick Warren, and Merry Christmas. Christmas is going

to be here very soon. And Jesus said in Luke

fourteen twenty three, go out into the highways in the

countryside and urge everybody you find to come in so

that my house will be full. Who are you thinking

of to bring to your church? Whoever it is. I

want to challenge you to be a light at Christmas

and invite them to services at your church.

Hello, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This is

the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Hey, we're so

glad you've joined us today. We're continuing a powerful series

called radicalis Developing Spiritual Roots. And in this series, Rick

will show you how to grow deep in your faith,

stay grounded in God's word, and become everything He created

you to be. Let's join Rick right now for the

final part of a message called Radical Generosity.

Now, the greatest miracle is not this offering, not at all.

It's not even the amount of the offering. That's not

the miracle. The miracle is what takes place in you

and in me and everybody else who had a little

part in it, whether it was big, little, medium or anything.

Anybody had a part in this. The miracle is what

takes place in us because every time I do radical

generosity with my life and again I'm not just talking

about money. When I'm radically generous with my attention and

I listen to my kids or I listen to somebody

and hurt, when I'm radically generous with my sympathy and

I say, yeah, I understand that that makes sense. When

I'm radically generous with my time and I don't have

time to give it to you, but I help you out.

And when I'm radically generous with my service, and when

I'm radically generous with my compliments, and when I'm radically

generous with praise, and I'm radically generous with forgiveness for

people who've hurt me, and I just forgiven as they

forget it. Don't worry about it, blow it off, you,

let it go. What that does is an amazing transformation

in you. There are five things that happen. Let me

just give them to you. I'm not even going to

talk much about them on the back of your outline.

The results of radical generosity living a life of generosity.

Number one, it increases my love for Jesus. It increases

my love for Jesus, because giving is an act of love,

the Bible says in verses eight and nine. A second

crienty eight, Paul's talking to the church in Corinth. He says,

just as you excel and everything else, He says, you

guys are really good at a lot of stuff, just

as you excel in everything else. In faith, he said,

you excel in speech and knowledge, even in complete earnings,

even in your love for Us, he said, see also

that you excel in the grace of giving. He says, No,

I'm not commanding you. Why because commanding is not what

God wants. I just want to test the sincerity of

your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others,

he said, I want to test the sincerity of your love.

Every time you give, every time I give. You're generous

with anything in your life. It does two things. It

proves your love for Jesus, and two it strengthens It

increases your love for Jesus. I used to see this bumpersticker.

You don't see it much anymore, but I used to

laugh when I see it. Said, you know, if you

love Jesus, tithe any fool can honk. Well, it's true.

He's just saying, you know, put your money where your

mouth is. The Bible says Jesus said, where your treasure is,

your heart will be also, so wherever you want your

heart to be. I'm telling you this, Invest a little

in it. You know, you probably couldn't care less about

Microsoft unless you own stock in Microsoft. Then you cared

extremely about it. If you want to care about general motors,

put some money into general motors. Guess what you'll start

caring about it. You know, whatever you invest in. You

invest in a political party, all of a sudden, you

start caring about the political party. You invest in a

project or ministry, all of a sudden, you start caring

about that ministry. Where your money is, your heart is.

And when I give myself to Christ, it makes me

love him more Number two, and not only increases my

love for Jesus, it makes me like Jesus. It makes

me more like Jesus. I become more like him. Every

time I give, it breaks the grip of materialism in

my life. And every time I give, my heart grows bigger.

And every time I give, I become more like Jesus.

Why because who's the master example of generosity, Jesus Christ.

The Bible says in the next verse, verse nine, you

are familiar with the generosity of our master Jesus Christ.

Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us,

circle for us. He gave it all away for us.

In one stroke, he became poor and we became rich.

Obviously he's talking about spiritual wealth there, spiritual riches, enrichment.

What's he talking to here? Jesus Christ had it all.

He's God, He's the son of God. He's in heaven

with all the splendor of heaven, and he gives it

all up, and he comes to earth at Christmas time

to be born in a barn that's about as low

as you can go. And why did he do it? Well,

he certainly didn't do it for himself. He did it

for you. He's the ultimate act of generosity. God so

loved the world that he gave God. If you picked

up all the attributes of God, the number one attribute

of God is his generosity. Because everything you have is

a gift. Nothing, the air, the water, the brain, you have,

your heart beat, everything you have is a total gift

of God's generosity. You would have nothing without God's generosity. Now,

in the Bible, there are more promises related to living

a generous lifestyle than any other thing. Did you know

that God? Over and over again in scripture, God says,

if you will be generous with your time, with your money,

with your life, with your influence, with your love, with

your forgeinness if you'll be generous with your life, he said,

I will bless you in this way. In fact, I

could make you a long list of the promises of generosity.

Why why does God want us to be generous more

than anything else? Because it's most like God, like father,

like son, like father, like daughter. God wants his children

to be like him. And the number one characteristic of

God is he is outrageously, lavishly, radically generous. And God says,

I didn't put you on earth to live for yourself.

I put you on earth to learn to be other

persons centered, to be generous, to be unselfish. I didn't

put you on earth just to live for you. I

made you to become like me and to learn generosity.

So it increases my love for Jesus. It makes me

more like Jesus. Number one three, it deepens my faith.

Did you know that every time you're generous, your faith grows.

It not just it doesn't just demonstrate your faith. It

grows your faith. Why Because you're saying, God, this is

money or time or energy or whatever that I don't

have to give away, but I'm going to give it

to you, or I'm going to give it to somebody else,

and I'm going to be generous, trusting that you will

provide for me. It is an evidence, a statement of faith.

Every time you give, you're making a statement of faith. God.

This is something I could use for myself, but I'm

giving it away because I know you'll take care of

my needs. I know you'll replace it. I know you'll

supply for what I need, and I am trusting you.

It demonstrates and it develops your faith. Look at this verse.

Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and

whoever sows generously will reap generously. He's talking about sowing seed,

for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able

to make all grace a bound to you, so that

in all things, at all times, having all that you need,

you will abound in every good work. Now here's what

he's saying, he said, you know, if a farmer goes

out and he's gonna spread some seed around, gonna sow

some seed, he say, he starts throwing the seed and

sows a little bit of seed, he gets a little crop.

If he sows a lot of seed, he gets a

lot of crop. If he sows an enormous amount of seed,

acres and acres of seed, he gets enormous acres and

acres of crop. Now, when you sow a seed, you

don't just get one back. If you plant a cord seed,

you get one seed of cornback. Now you get a

whole kernel you get I mean, you get a whole

stock of corn on the cop that has lots of kernels.

God always multiplies what you give him. You put in

a seed, you get back a plant full of tomatoes.

Out of one tomato seed. You put in an apple seed,

you get a tree full of apples. God says, I

multiply it. And he says, he who sows generously will

reap generously. God says, you get to choose how much

I bless your life. It's all dependent upon your generosity.

You sew a little bit, you get a little sow more,

you get more you so a lot, you get a lot.

It's all up to you. The more you give away

your life, the God says, the more I will bless

your life and I will deepen your faith. Now he

wants you to get this so badly. He repeats it

like five times. Look at that verse on your outline.

I want you to take a pen, and I want

you to circle the alls. In the second half of

the verse, it says God is able to make all grace.

Circle that all grace, okay, And then it says so

that in all things circle that all things at all

times circle that having all that you need, circle that

you will abound in every circle that good work. He's saying,

get the message. If you will learn to be generous.

He said, I will take care of your needs all

the time, all the way, every place, all a while,

everywhere you could possibly think of all, all, all all.

It's like I want you to understand it. I mean all,

he says, I'll take care of all things at all times,

all you need, and abound in every good work. Look

at the next verse, verse ten and eleven. God supplies

seed to the farmer than bread to eat in the

same way, and God will give you seed. Of course,

the money you give came from Him in the first place,

and multiply it. And then I want you to underline this.

In your lives, he will increase the things you do

that have His approval. Underline that in your lives he

God will increase. He'll multiply the things you do that

have his approval, and you will be enriched so that

you can be even more generous. That's amazing. God says,

you give to me, I give to you. Then you

have more to give, and then you give away more,

and then I give you more. And the more you

give away to help other people, the more I give

to you and honor. It's like a cycle. Creases my

love for Jesus, makes me more like Jesus, deepens my love.

Number four, it causes others to thank God when you

are generous with other people. It causes as people to

thank God. If you're radically generous and notice the next

verses Verses eleven and twelve Tewod Corinthians nine. It says

this your generosity will result here's one of the results

in thanksgiving to God for this service you perform. Not

only meets the needs of God's people, but it also

provides an outpouring of gratitude to God. Now this is

very important. Get the difference here. In normal generosity, which

is not spiritually led, it's not out of your commitment

to Christ. It's just being generous, you know whatever. It's

not out of your commitment to the Lord. In normal generosity,

only the donor gets thanked. In radical generosity, the donor

gets thanked and God gets thanked because of the donor. Lord,

I thank you for that person who helped meet my need.

That's radical generosity. Now, friends, because of your generosity of

people are being helped. Marriages are being saved and put

back together, Kids are being brought off drugs and adults too.

People who are in the pits financially are learning financial

counseling and coming out of that pit. And when you give,

you're not just giving to some pie in the sky thing.

You're helping people all over southern California and even around

the world because we've sent teams to nearly a one

hundred and sixty countries. As I said, the miracle of

this offering is not the amount. The miracle is what

God does in your heart, and the miracle is the

testimony that it is to the world, and that leads

us to the fifth thing is the fifth result is

it honors God as a witness to the world. Every

time you're generous with your time, with your energy, with

your life, with your words, with your support, with your money,

with your listening, it honors God as a witness to

the world. It is an evidence of love. Paul says

this in verses eleven to thirteen. You will glorify God.

Glory to God. You will glorify God through this genuine

act of service because of your commitment to spread the

good news of Jesus Christ, and because of your generosity.

He said, when you are committed to spreading the good

news and helping fund it, you know because of your

generosity that glorifies God. It is a witness to the world. Now, friends,

Saddleback Church is serious about the great commission. We are

committed to taking the good news to the whole world.

That's why we're doing the Peace Plan. We take this

seriously to spread the good news of Christ. And as

I said, once again, you voted with your wallet. Your

confidence in the direction of this church might challenge you

is twofold. It's the same challenge agains last week one

that you'll say, Lord, I'm going deeper. I'm not gonna

be a shallow believer. I'm not gonna be a casual believer.

I'm not gonna be a wimpy believer. I'm gonna be

a spiritually mature man of God or a spiritually mature

woman of God. I'm not gonna whimp out anymore. I'm

gonna be there. I'm gonna grow, I'm gonna sink down

deep spiritual roots and be what God wants me to be.

That's my first challenge you. My second challenge to you

is that this year you start praying God, help me

to reach one more for Jesus, not twenty, just one.

I want somebody to be in heaven because of you.

I want when you get to heaven, somebody comes up

and says, thank you so much. I'm eternally grateful. I'm

in heaven because of you. Is anybody gonna be in

heaven because of you? You're gonna be in heaven because

of somebody else who told you. I want to tell

you that if you will pray this, help me reach

one more for Jesus, God will answer that prayer. He'll

make it so easy, so simple. Naturally, it won't be scary.

It'll be easy for you to bring somebody to church.

And at the end of this year, God will have

answered that prayer and you will have brought somebody to

Christ and they'll be in heaven. Because of you, we

are going to shine like stars in the universe, holding

forth the word of God, taking it to every nation.

And you have proven that. As we start a new

year in a way unlike any other church, let me

pray for you as your pastor have any Father, I

want to thank you for this church. I love these people.

I love our church family. I thank you for the

privilege of being a part of this particular family of God.

We love you, and we look forward to the future

with great anticipation. And Father, I pray you will bless

every single man in this room, and bless every single

woman in this room. Bless every single adult, Bless every couple,

Bless every family. I ask you to bless every senior

adult and every young child. Lord, I ask you to

protect our people this next year. I ask you to

protect them from evil, protect them from discouragement, from depression,

from disappointment. But most of all, I ask that you

help them develop deep spiritual roots, that they'll grow closer

and closer to you, finding the maturity and the stability

so that nothing blows them away. Then no circumstance, no rogue, win,

no economy, nothing takes away their joy, nothing takes away

their faith. Then nothing can take away their love for

you and for others. I ask that you bless the

jobs and the careers of every person here. I pray

that they will be successful, not for their own benefit,

but so that they can bless the world, so that

you enable them to be able to help other people.

I ask you to protect their health. I ask you

to protect their minds, their emotions. Bless them spiritually with

new insight. Bless them emotionally with joy and peace and love.

Bless the relationships for those who want to get married.

May this be the year. For those who want to

have a family, May this be the year. Lord. We

don't know what your will is in any situation, but

we do know you've told us to ask. So on

the behalf of my people, I'm asking you to meet

their needs, to answer their prayers, to hear their request. Lord,

I'm your friend, and I ask you to do this

because of me, but because of Jesus, because of what

Jesus did on the cross. Thank you that you were

the model of generosity for all of us, that we

could never outgive you. Well, their heads still about if

you've never invited Christ in your life. Don't you dare

go one more day into this new decade without saying

yes to Him? Right now in your heart, say Jesus Christ,

I'm saying yes to you. I don't understand it all.

Come into my life. Just say that, come into my life.

I want to learn to trust you and love you.

I want to follow you. I want to ask you

to accept me into your family. Just say that in

your heart and he will do it. Lord, make me

more like you. Help me to be generous in every

area of my life this year. I want to be

a giver, not a taker, and I want you to

use me for your glory in Jesus's name. Amen. You know,

if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time,

or you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today,

would you let me know about it. There's something real

about sharing your commitment. So write me Rick at pastorick

dot com and say Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment.

I gave my life to Christ, and I'll send you

some material that will help you on your journey with Jesus,

and I'll also pray for you. God bless you.

Thanks so much for listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

You know your prayers and financial support have a huge

impact on millions of people here and around the world,

so we really appreciate that.

Thank you.

And now Rick's going to share a letter from one

of our listeners who says Daily Hope is making a

real difference in their life.

Friends, here's an incredible testimony from a woman named Amy

in Indiana about how she used a Daily Hope devotional

to lead her own son to Christ. You could do

this too. Here's what she wrote. Dear Pastor Rick, I've

been carrying a burden this past month for my fifteen

year old son who had not accepted Christ. But last

night was the night I finally went into his room

and I asked him and he told me no, that

he hadn't accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. So

then I asked if he would like to and he

said yes. Well, I had him read the prayer of

a Salvation attached to the Daily Hope devotional, and then

I prayed with him and I prayed for him. Wow, Amy,

what an incredible, precious moment that you were able to

lead your son to Jesus. It's the most important thing

you'll ever do as a parent. And I'm so blessed

to hear your testimony, and I hope it encourages every

other parent to be faithful like that. I want to

just pray for you and your son right now. You're Jesus.

I want to thank you for caring so much that

you made a way for us to become a part

of your family so that we can join you in

heaven one day. And thank you for giving Amy the

courage to ask the question. Thank you for giving her

the courage to talk to her son about you. And

we're so grateful that he's accepted you into his heart.

Now we ask you to give him a receptive heart

and help him to get into God's word on a

daily basis. We know that's the way he's going to grow.

So thank you Lord for Amy's obedience and Jesus, right now,

I'm praying for more and more people to do what

Amy did to have the courage to step out and

share their faith with a friend, a neighbor, a loved

one who doesn't know you yet. I'm praying that you

will give them just the right words and just the

right time to share just the right message of your

salvation in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, my friends, there is

nothing more important you can do than lead somebody to

Jesus Christ. Your life can never be considered a failure.

If somebody is going to be in heaven because of you, youths,

help them settle their eternal destiny. Fact, that's why Daily

Hope exists. It's simply one more method to help you

tell more and more people about the forgiveness and the

hope and the salvation and the love and the joy

that's found in Jesus Christ. Through Daily Hope, we can

work together to help other moms and dads like Amy

and others reach their sons and their daughters for Jesus Christ. Now,

I'm always grateful for your prayers, and I'm always grateful

for your financial support. But you may ask how important

is your donation to Daily Hope Ministry. Just ask Amy,

she's got a son who's going to be in heaven

because you gave. Thank you everybody you know.

If you'd like to help support Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

and have your financial gift doubled by the one hundred

thousand dollars matching grant, it's easy. Just go to Pastororick

dot com or text the word hope to seven oh

three oh nine. Again, that's Pastorick dot com. Or text

the word hope to seven oh three oh nine and thank.

You so much for your support.

Be sure to join us next time as we look

into God's word for our daily hope. This program is

sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial

support