Rick Warren - Radical Hope—Part Three

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. Well, let's get right to Rick for

the final part of a message called Radical Hope.

Now, what is God doing in your life while you're

going through what you're going through right now? While you're

going through what you're going through, God is doing three

things behind the scenes. You might write these down. Number one,

God uses trials. Number one to test my faith. God

uses trials problems to test my faith. These trials, it says,

are only to test your faith, to show that it

is strong and pure. And of course testing not only

test it, it strengthens us. The way you build muscle

is you test your muscle, and when you lift weights

or you exercise, you're testing the limits of your muscle,

but you're also strengthening in at the same time. So

God is testing your faith. The second way God uses

trials is to purify my motives. To purify my motives,

and that's the next part of the verse. It says,

your faith is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold,

and your faith is far more precious to God than

mere gold. Now what' you're talking about here? He's talking

about refining. You all know that the way metals are

refined is they put them in a big container and

they heat up the heat to hundreds of degrees and

the metal melts and then it burns off all the impurities.

That's how you refine metal is you heat it to

an extreme temperature and the dross has burned off the

you know, and all of a sudden, what's left is

twenty four gold. All the impurities get burned out. God

is much more interested in your character than your comfort.

He's much more interested in preparing your heart for heaven

than providing temporary comfort right now. So you need to

understand that when the heat is on in your life,

God is burning off the impurities. Are you feeling the

heat these days? Are you feeling the pressure? Is the

heat on in your life? God is burning off the impurities.

He is purifying your motives so that you will be

of pure gold and ready for heaven. Now, what happens

when we get in a tough time. We start praying

for God to change the circumstance, and God says, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,

I can do that, but I'm much more interested in

changing you. Because I said, God's goal here on earth

for you is not to make you comfortable. God's goal

here on earth is to change your character to get

you ready for heaven. So why would he just make

your life easy? That doesn't teach you any character these problems.

He says, test your faith and purify your motives. And

when the heat is on, you need to stop saying God,

change the circumstance. He can do that, but first he's

going to change you, and the sooner you learn that

the better God is trying to change and develop your character.

Why for the third reason, trials are used to test

by faith, to purify my motives, and number three, to

prepare me for rewards. Did you know that the problems

here on earth God uses to actually prepare you for

eternal rewards in heaven. And here's what he says. You're

being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. So if

your faith remains strong after being tried by these fiery trials,

when the heat's on in your life, it will bring

you much praise and glory and honor. Usually when we

read the phrase praise, glory and honor, we're thinking about Jesus,

but in this verse it's talking about you. Says God

wants to give you praise and give you glory and

give you honor. On the day when Jesus Christ is

revealed to the whole world, God is saying, I am

allowing this problem for your benefit, for your long term

reward of praise and glory and honor. See, the problem

with heaven is that heaven is perfect, so we have

nothing to compare it to on earth. There is nothing

perfect on earth. No relationship is perfect, no event is perfect.

No sunset is perfect. Nothing is perfect on earth, so

we can't even imagine what a perfect place is like.

All we can do is take the greatest experiences, the

most pleasurable, enjoyable, wonderful, exciting, beautiful, creative experiences of life,

and multiply that exponentially by a billion times. And then

we still can't even compare. There's nothing to compare heaven to.

But let me just tell you this, It's gonna be incredible.

It's not sitting on white clouds in a white robe

playing the harp, that's hell. I've told you that it's

gonna be unbelievable. The Bible says no eye has seen,

no ear has heard, neither hath entered into the heart

of man. The wonderful things that God has prepared for

those who love him you can't imagine. But you are

gonna share in God's glory in heaven. And he says,

how you handle the problems here on life as how

God is preparing you. This is why Paul says this

on the screen. Our suffering is light and temporary, but

it is producing for us an eternal glory that is

greater than anything we can imagine. He's saying, comparing the

problems I'm going through right now is minuscule compared to

the rewards I'm gonna receive for handling them correctly in heaven.

He said, Here on earth, this is small potatoes. That

gives me hope. I have hope because God chose me

before I chose him. And I have hope that no

matter how many mistakes I make, It's still going to

show mercy to me. And I have hope that no

matter what I may lose in life, I can't lose

my salvation. And I have hope that God is going

to protect me with his mighty power and make sure

I get to heaven. And I have hope that God

is preparing me right now for eternity, and even using

the stuff in my life that I don't like, He's

using it all for good. I know that some of

you are just hanging on by a thread. I've talked

to some of you, and you're worried about the future,

and you're hurting over some relationships, and you may be

even grieving over the loss of a loved one. Even

in our grief, we can grieve with hope. Why we're

not like unbelievers. We have a hope of eternal life.

When we grieve at a funeral, we're not grieving for

the person who's died and gone to heaven. We're grieving

for ourselves because we're going to miss them. We grieve

with hope after losing a love. When Stephen Curtis Chapman

wrote the words to this song called with Hope, never

have I known anything so hard to understand. Never have

I questioned more the wisdom of God's plan. But through

the cloud of tears, I see the Father smile and

say well done. And I imagine you where you wanted

most to be, seeing all your dreams come true. Because

now you're home and free. We can cry with hope.

We can say goodbye with hope because we know our

goodbye is not the end. We grieve with hope because

we believe, with hope there's a place where we see

your face again. We have this hope as an anchor

because we believe everything God's promised is true. So we

can cry with hope. We can say goodbye with hope

because we know that our goodbye is not the end.

We grieve with hope because we believe, with hope there

is a place by God's grace, there is a place

where we'll see your face again. I want you to

realize that God is working in your life even when

you don't feel it, and He's doing these five things

even when you don't feel it. And that's why Peter

says in verse six, be glad, rejoice, have hope. It

is not hopeless. It may be tough going for a while,

but it's going to be worth it, and the future

is secure and assured and guaranteed. Now these five things

that I just shared with you from first Peter one,

Theologians have a theological term for each of them. The

fact that God chose to love me in advance, that's

called predestination. The fact that God always treats me with

mercy that's called regeneration. That we're born again through his mercy.

The fact that God has secured my future in heaven

and has an inheritance for me, that's called glorification. The

fact that God's power will protect me and I can't

lose my salvation is called preservation. And the fact that

God is preparing me for eternity is called sanctification. As

your pastor, let me challenge you two ways. First, that

you're gonna get serious about developing spiritual roots. You're not

going to be a casual Christian. You're gonna be a

committed one. You're gonna develop spiritual roots and learn the

spiritual truths that give us hope, give us stability, give

us confidence, don't blow us around when things get tough.

But we stand firm because we are deeply rooted with

radical roots in the hope and love of God. And

how do you do that? How can you build spiritual

roots by taking advantage of all the different ways to

help you grow. We have daily devotional emails, we have

a small group curriculum, We have all these different things

that you can take advantage of to build spiritual roots.

I want to challenge you to make a commitment to say,

I'm going to be faithful at worship. If the doors

are open on weekends, I'm going to be there if

at all possible, so I can build spiritual roots. Make

a commitment to worship. I'm going to be there as

much as possible, And make a commitment to your small group.

I'm going to be there as much as possible and

be a part of that. The second thing I want

to challenge you to do is challenge you to say

and pray, God, help me to reach one more. For Jesus,

the greatest thing you could do for somebody is help

them settle their eternal destiny to get that reservation in heaven.

Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you?

I guarantee you this if you will start praying God,

I want in my life to help at least one

person get into heaven. I don't want to be in

heaven and having brought nobody along with me. God, I

want you to help me bring at least one person

to you. You know what, if you pray that, I

guarantee you God will answer that prayer. I guarantee you,

and it'll make it so easy and so natural, and

you won't be scared, and it'll be unbelievable, like falling

off a log. If you will say I'm usable. There's

a principle in the universe that whatever you need more of,

you give it away and you get more back. For instance,

if you need more energy, how do you get more

energy sitting on a couch, eat and potato chips. No,

you have to give energy away in exercise, and it

is by giving it away you get more back. It's

like when you give blood, God replenishes it in you.

Whatever you need more time, you give some of your

time away in service. God will multiply and you're life.

You need more money, you give it away, and God says, given,

it shall be given to you. If you're just couraged

at the end of this year. If you're a little down,

you're a little apathetic, you're a little exhausted, you're a

little tired, you're a little under the weather spiritually. If

you need hope, let me tell you how to get

more hope. The fastest way to get hope is to

give it to somebody else. The Bible says this same

book First Peter, Chapter three. Always be prepared to give

an answer to everyone who asks you to give the

reason for the hope you have. I just gave you

five reasons to give the reason for the hope you have.

But do it with gentleness and respect. Did you know

that in the Bible it never tells us to share

our faith. Not once, it tells us to share our hope.

Why because people are hungry for hope. And if you

need more hope in your life, and you're feeling a

little down and discouraged. You need to start witnessing. You

need to start inviting somebody to church. And if you

share the hope, you will see the hope in your

life explode to a new level. If you've never opened

your life to Christ, you need that hope in your heart.

Do it now. That's bow our heads. Father. Only you

are the source of real hope. All other false hope

inevitably disappoints us. Forgive us for all the times we've

put our hope in money, or luck, or the economy,

or our secret or special plans or some business scheme.

Forgive us for the times we've looked to other people

to meet needs that only you can meet. Help us

to always put our hope and trust in you. We

need spiritual roots, Lord, radical roots that go deep into

your love and truth and provide genuine hope, not false hope.

Now you pray say this in your heart, Jesus, Thank

you for choosing me and loving me before I chose you.

Thank you for always treating me with mercy even when

I blow it. Thank you Jesus for securing my reservation

in heaven. Thank you for promising your power and protection

while I'm still here on earth. And thank you for

using everything in my life to prepare me for eternity.

I want to place my hope in you, not in

other things, and I want to trust you completely in

your name, I pray Amen.

Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept

Jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you.

Just email Rick at pastorick dot com. We'll send you

free tools to help start your relationship with Jesus. And

now let's hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope.

Here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

I want to take a minute and tell you how

important your support is to Daily Hope. Your generosity. When

you give to Daily Hope, you're helping us take the

message of Jesus Christ literally all around the world. Now,

I'm sure you're familiar with the refugee crisis around the world.

Literally millions of people have been displaced from their homes,

particularly in the Middle East and in North Africa because

of civil wars and violence. One of those places is

South Sudan, where over two hundred thousand people are living

in refugee camps. Now, when people are under tension and

in transition, they are more open to the Gospel than

in any other time. These people who are living in

refugee camps right now need the hope of Jesus Christ

and the Gospel. Now when you help Daily Hope Radio

and Daily Hope brought We're not only broadcasting across America,

but in places like South Sudan where the station airs

our program three times a day. And we are told

that many many people are coming to Christ in this

war zone as they listen to these Daily Hope broadcasts.

So thanks, thanks to you. Now let me just read

you one testimony that we've received. Here's a note from

a woman who's living in a refugee camp there in

South Sudan. She said, my name is Joyce and I'm

from the Central Equatorial State in South Sudan. I lost

all five of my children and my beloved husband. This

is in the civil war that was going on there,

as well as our family possessions. During the recent fighting

in the capital of Juba. She said, I had planned

to commit suicide. There's somebody who needs hope. When I

listened to Rick Warren's broadcast, the one called when you

Feel Like Giving Up, I got inspired and I dropped

the idea of taking my life that very night, and

I'll continue to pray God to bless this great preacher

and thank you for giving me hope. Joyce. We're happy

to do that, and I want to say it's because

of the listeners who are giving faithfully every month to

Daily Hope. You realize that when you give to Daily Hope,

you're helping reach people like Joyce. She was going to

commit suicide in a refugee camp. Now. Isn't God amazing

how when you just give what you can give, God

takes it and he multiplies it and we reach out

to people that none of us could reach on our own.

Here's what I want you to do. I want you

to pray for Joyce and today I want you to

pray for all of the people who are in refugee

camps and pray that we'll be able to continue to

broadcast on these stations, taking the good news of Jesus

Christ and hope to people who need it the most desperately.

It's your sacrificial giving, your prayer, support that makes this possible.

So thank you for whatever you can do, and God

bless you.

My friends, If you'd like to help support Pastor Rick's

Daily Hope. Generous friends of this ministry have provided a

one hundred thousand dollars matching grant, and that means that

every dollar you give to help share the transforming love

of Jesus through Daily Hope will be doubled up to

one hundred thousand dollars. Just go to Pastorick dot com

or text the word hope to seven oh three to

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