Rick Warren - Succeeding in Your Mission—Part Three

Hey, everyone, welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible

teaching ministry of Rick Warren. And today we're continuing with

this powerful series called the Jesus Model. In this series,

Rick will walk you step by step through the process

of true biblical discipleship.

Rick's giving you practical tools.

To grow spiritually, experience God's peace, live with greater purpose,

and become more like Jesus in every area of your life.

So let's join Rick right now for the final part

of a message called Succeeding in your Mission.

Now, there's a seventh principle.

This is a really important one in your ministry and

your mission, whether it's local, global, or personal. This is

the principle of accommodation. And the principle of accommodation is

adapt to local tastes. Adapt to local tastes. Now, this

is the seventh thing that Jesus gives us his instructions

to his peace teams when he sent it him out.

He says, eat and drink whatever they give you. Oh no,

And when you enter a town and are welcomed, eat

what is set before you?

Now again, what did it mean? Then?

What's the timeless principle? And what does it mean now?

When Jesus talks about this, he's talking about far more

than just dietary rules. Now that it's included that, but

it's more than that. There's a principle that's deeper than that.

You know.

In nineteen seventy four, I moved to Nagasaki, Japan, where

I taught English as a mission project. Taught it in

a taught English in a church in Nagasaki, Japan as

a short term mission project. And when I got to Japan,

I'd never eaten Japanese food, and the first time I

ate it, I did not like it. Seaweed and raw

and a lot of other stuff. Now, I did not

like it, but I loved the Japanese So I ate

what was set before me, not because I love the food,

because I love the people. And you know what, as

it began to eat, I learned to like. It's not

one of my favorite foods anyma, I want to get

some sushi, Okay? I mean, I love Japanese food now,

but I.

Had to.

I loved the people, so I ate what was set

before me.

What did I do?

I adapted to local taste. Now since then, I've been

all around the world, I don't want to tell you

the stuff I've eaten because I don't want you losing

your dinner here or lunch. But you know whether it's

vegemite in Australia or boiled turtles in China, and a

few other things. Now, by the way, let me give

you a little secret. It doesn't say eat at all.

So here's what you do. Never eat it all because

if you do, they think, oh he likes it, we'll

give you another plate full. And you could barely get

the first plate at platter fill. So what you do

is you eat a little, drink a lot of water,

and mess it around your plate. But you never clean

your plate of something you don't like. Get it good,

because if you clean your plate, they're going to fill

it up again, all right, So don't do that. Here's

the point. Love adapts, and let's just bring it down

to home. So you don't have to cross the ocean

to do peace. You just cross the street because in

your neighborhood you might need to eat menudo or kim

chi or a thousand other different kinds of great, great

flavors that we now have in Orange County. The world

has come to us. We speak sixty three languages in

this church. So we you know, we're all in the

same family of God, and we need to adapt to

each other, and we need to support and we need to.

Love each other.

And so you know, the point here is that Americans

don't often don't understand how it's important it is to

share food with people. You know, here we're not as

serious about food in America. We eat it pretty casually.

You want to go get some lunch, you want to

go do this, go do that. But for sharing for

the poor and poor people, sharing your food is sharing

your life. And when they put out a table there

sometimes it's all they've got, and it's everything they've got,

and they are giving you their life. And it is

what eating with people brings you closer to them. It's relaxing,

and it is the fastest way to build a bridge

is eating with somebody.

The fastest way.

In fact, let me tell you about my taxicab food

ministry have ever told you about this. Whenever Steve and

I are David and I, whenever we're in a town,

we get in a taxi, and inevitably the tax is

not from America. And so my standard question is where

are you're from I'm from Ethiopia. And then my next

question is always where's the best Ethiopian food in Washington,

d C. Well, it's over here, and it's always a little

hole in the wall place. And said, look, take us

there and we will buy you lunch. And we do that,

and then we get in another taxi. Say where A,

you're from Pakistan, where's the best Pakistani restaurant in New

York City? That's right here over here. Oh, take us there,

we'll buy you lunch. We'll get in another place where

you're from Bolivia. Where's the best Bolivian food in Denver?

Well I to continue where it is, will take us there,

we'll buy you lunch. I have taxi drivers who are

best friend in every major city in the world, and

I could call them up and in the middle of

the night they'd come pick up Rick. Because we're friends.

We're like this, Okay, I don't know all of the

top brass in the town, but I know the taxi

cab drivers, and I have built the bridge of love

with so many dear friends from all around world. Just

I said, let me take you out to dinner. You

choose the place, and when you show you when you

break bread with people, you are building that bridge of

love that Jesus can walk across. Now, when he says

adapt to local tastes, eat what's set before you, there's

a larger principle here.

Here's what Paul says.

I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all

in order to reach a wide range of people.

So you know, I just adapted people.

I entered their world, and I tried to experience things

from their point of view. I've become just about every

sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead

those I meet into a God saved life.

Says.

My whole reason for this is I'm on a mission

for God. Here's another verse of Paul. I try to

accommodate everybody in everything. That's the principle of accommodation, looking

for my own advantage, but for the advantage of everybody.

Else so that they may be saved.

Question, who do you need to be a little bit

more accommodating to in order to build a bridge of

love so Jesus Christ can walk across the Somebody in

your office who looks a little different, talks a little different,

acts a little different, smells a little different.

Who do you need to be a little.

Bit more accommodating to in order to show the love

of God so you can build that bridge of love.

That's accommodation. Number eight.

The eighth principle Jesus gives to his peace teams is

the principle of alleviation. Pain alleviation. And here's the point.

Begin where they hurt. You don't begin with your agenda.

You begin with their hurt, the hurt of the person

you're trying to reach for Christ, the hurt of the

person you're trying to help, the hurt of the person

you're trying to show the love of God. You don't

begin with what you want to do, what you need

to do, what you'd like to do, what you think

would be best for that village or that team, or

that location or that office or whatever. You do, what's

best for them? What do they need based on their hurt?

Jesus said this, heal the sick who are there, and

tell them the Kingdom of God is near you.

Now, what's you talking about? Heal the sick?

Well, friends, there's all kinds of sickness, and the truth

is everybody is hurting.

Everybody has hidden wounds.

Everybody has certain sicknesses, certain sins certain insecurities, certain fears.

Everybody has been hurt by the past, and everybody needs

healing in different ways. And he's saying, find that hurt

and heal it, Find that need and fill it, Find that.

Problem and solve it. He's saying, start.

With their agenda, not your agenda. The silent hurts, the

silent fears. Just look around and you never know when

you'll say something that will be healing to somebody else.

Sometimes you'll say something and it just brings healing to

their life because.

They needed that insight. Oh that's what I need to do.

I need to let go of that, I need to

refocus whatever. Now you know people in your life. I

want you to think of somebody in your life. You

think that person will never accept Christ.

Everybody gets somebody like that in mind.

That person will never in a million years except Christ.

You're wrong.

Anybody can be one to Christ if you find the

key to their heart. And what is the key to

their heart that unlocks the door? It's always a hurt,

a need, or an interest. A hurt, a need or

an interest. And when you start with where they're hurting,

where they need healing. Where there where they need a

blessing from you, an encouragement from you. You start with that,

it opens up the doors. The Bible tells us that

Jesus went into every village doing three things, preaching, teaching,

and healing. Now, you're not going to heal people like

Jesus did, but he did preaching and teaching and healing.

Now that meant one third of his ministry involved the

soul preaching, one third of his ministry involved enlightening the

mind teaching, and one third of his ministry involved caring

for the body healing. Jesus didn't just care about salvation.

He cared about education, and he cared about health care.

It is not by accident. You go into any country

in the world and the first school, almost always the

first school ever started in that country, and the first

hospital start in that country. We're started by Christian missionaries.

That's almost every country in the world. Why, because that's

our faith. Our faith cares about the mind, the body,

and the spirit. Our faith cares about salvation, education and

health and always why Jesus is a healer, and Jesus

is a teacher, and Jesus is a savior.

And sour.

It's the whole person that we care about. And that's

why in the Peace Plan, we promote reconciliation for those

who are hurting because of conflict, and we trained servant

leaders for those who are being hurt by oppression and corruption.

And we assist the poor for those who are being

hurt by poverty, and we care for the sick, for

those who've been hurt by disease. And we educate the

next generation for those who are being hurt by ignorance.

Why Jesus said, heal them, go and tell them, this

is the kingdom of God.

What is the kingdom of God. It's not just about

getting to heaven.

It's about living life to the fullest here on earth too,

and relieving.

The suffering of people around us.

So we go to these churches, and we go directly

to church. We work church to church because it is

the church. It's going to last long after we're gone.

And they and they tell us what to do. We

don't tell them. We say, what's hurting in your in

your city, what's hurting in your village, what's hurting in

your town.

There's one last principle.

Number nine is the principle of mobilization, and Jesus wants

you to do this too, and it's to pray others

will join us. Pray that others will join us in

this mission for God. God says, I want the whole

world to know that I love them. I want the

whole world to hear the healing message of salvation. I

want the whole world to know that I care. And

the Bible says this. The were his Jesus instructions to

the thirty one teams that he sent out.

The harvest is so great.

He said, look around the world, so many people, so

many people need God, but the workers are so few.

Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest,

and ask him to send out more workers for his field.

You know, when I drive up and down the freeways

of southern California, I often look around at all the people,

and I think, Lord, how do I get him to

slow down long enough just for me to tell him

the good news? Because they're moving so fast they're not listening,

and the good news is only good news.

If it gets there in time.

You got to learn to have eyes like Jesus and

see all around you people in need of hope, purpose forgiveness,

love meaning salvation, in need of healing, of physical healing,

emotional healing, spiritual healing, relational healing, all these different things. Now,

if you want God's blessing on your life, here's how

you get it. Care about what God cares about if

you have the same heart that God has. God says,

I found somebody after my own heart. I'm going to

bless them, bless their socks off, because they care about

what I care about. Now, what does God care about most?

I'll tell you what he cares about most. He First,

what God matters most to God is the death of

his son, Jesus Christ. He gave his son Jesus to

die for us on the cross, the greatest possible sacrifice.

And the second greatest thing is that that news gets

spread to all around the world. Because God wants his

lost children found. He wants everybody to know him. He

wants everybody to love him the way He loves them.

He wants everybody to live the a life that He

intended for them to live.

And so what do we do.

We pray that other people will catch the vision, catch

the heart of God, to begin to care not just

about themselves, but to care about everybody, to care about

the people around us that we live by, we work with,

we drive by, we go to the movies with, and

see all around us. Now, God wants to use you,

and I am offering you the adventure of a lifetime.

Nothing comes close to the adventure of being used by God.

Nothing comes close to the adventure of being on mission

for God. Nothing comes close to knowing that your life

is making a difference, not for five years or ten years,

but for eternity, and that there will be people in

heaven who will be thanking you forever gone. Thank you

because you cared enough to be on mission in your neighborhood,

in your office in southern California, in America, and around

the world. The Bible says this look on the screen.

If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it.

Only this is Jesus talking only those who throw away

their lives for My sake and for the sake of

the good News. That's what we're talking about. Will ever

know what it means to really live until you get

on mission for God. You're not living, friend, You're just

existing because you were made for a mission.

It's power heads.

I want to challenge you to commit yourself to a

lifestyle of peace. Say God, I want to do this

wherever you want to use me. I want to get

a partner. I want to depend on you. I want

to keep it simple. I want to stay focused on

my purpose. I want you to use me to bless

other people with a look, a word, and a touch.

I want to.

Build relationships of love so you can walk across that bridge.

I want to be only to adapt to things that

aren't particularly comfortable for me for the benefit of others.

I want to begin where other people are hurting, and

I want to commit to praying that other people will

join the army of compassion. I commit to practicing these

principles wherever I am. If you say that, I want

you to just in your heart say, Dear Jesus, I'm in.

I'm in. I'm signing up. I'm saying I'm in. I

want you to use my life for good and.

For God and for your glory in your name. I

pray Amen.

Hey everyone, thank you so much for listening to Pastor

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