Rick Warren - How Jesus Handled Stress—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 jump right in. This will be the final

part of a message called how Jesus Handled Stress.

Would you agree that noise is a stress? Yeah, it's

a stress. And would you agree that the world is

getting noisier? Yes, So you have to make intentional times

of quietness and solitude in your life.

Are you going to go batty?

And if there's always noise in your life and the

TV is always on and the radio is always on

and the earbuds are always in your ear, You're not

going to have the spiritual emotional resources to handle the

stress in life. If Jesus knew he needed to get

alone and pray and listen to God, so do you.

So let me give you a little suggestion. Start your

mourning with the good news, not the bad news. See,

the reason why you're cranky all day is because you

start your day the wrong way. In the first place,

you wake up.

To an alarm clock.

So you start the day in a state of alarm and

I'm alarmed. Okay, get rid of that thing, throw it away.

Get a clock that has pastor Rick speaking to you.

Wake up, Let a sleepyheads. You don't think about turning over.

You see a lot of time we make excuses for

not getting out and having a quiet time with guys.

Oh God, I'm sorry. Something came up this morning, said yeah,

I saw it as big and white.

It's called a sheet, and.

That kept me from having my time with God. So

what you do is you get up, you know, put

on some praise music or something.

Don't get up in the morning.

The first thing you do is get up and watch

Bad Morning America. Are you read the paper or you

listen to the radio. You're filling your mind with all

the negative stuff. Now, if I asked you how many

of you believe everything you're reading the newspaper, nobody'd raise

your hand. If I asked how many of you listen

to every believe everything on the radio, Nobody would raise

their hand. How many of you believe everything you watch

on TV? Nobody raise her hand. How many believe what

God says in the Bible, you'd raise your hand. Why

do we spend more time reading and listening to something

we don't believe than some we do.

That's not very logical.

If you want to lower the stress in your life,

you have to make a daily time with God where

you listen to God and set your mood. Number six,

the sixth principle of stress management. Here you'll think I'm

making this up, but I didn't. It's right there in

the word. The sixth principle collaboration is join a small group.

Join a small group. Why because Jesus did. You were

never intended to handle the stress in your life by yourself.

You know the stress you're going through right now, that

all that stress that you're caring right now. God never

intended for you to handle it on your own. In fact,

God wants you to share it with other people. We

were made in the image of God, which means we're relational.

God is love, father, son, Holy Spirit, is in relationship

to himself. We were made for relationships. That's why the

first thing God said is it's not good for men

to be alone. You need other men in your life,

you need other women in your life, and you need

a small group. You weren't meant to carry all of

the stress that you're carrying by yourself. Now complete this

sentence for me. If you want a job done right,

do it. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Okay,

if you want a job done right, hire an expert

to do it. Somebody can do it better than you.

If you want a job done right, do it yourself.

That's the motto of a perfectionist headed for burnout.

Even Jesus didn't do that.

If anybody had a right to say, if you want

to do it right, do it yourself, Jesus would do it.

Would Jesus do it better than his disciples?

Yes? Did he still involve them in doing it? Yes? Why?

Because we were meant to live life in community, in connection,

in a group. And the the very first thing Jesus

did before he ever started his ministry, as he started

a small group, and he got twelve guys to be

a part of his group. And he never did anything

by himself. He did everything in ministry with a small group.

He had a connection. He had a community. The Bible

says this in Mark chapter three. He appointed twelve.

Designating them apostles.

The apostles just means somebody sent out. He was going

to send him out after he left, that they might

be with him, circle the words with him. This is

the with him principle. If anybody had the right to

do it on his own, it was Jesus. And even

Jesus needed a small group. Now, so much of our

stress is self imposed because we get uptight when we

think it all depends on us. You're not the general

manager of the universe, and if you resign as general

manager of the universe.

It's not going to fall apart. I'll never forget.

When the Church Saddleback reached about five hundred people, I

was burning out. I was still trying to be superman.

I was trying to do every wedding, trying to do

every funeral. I was trying to visit everybody in the hospital.

I was trying to counsel everybody, save everybody's marriage. I

was trying to do it all personally, and I was

burning out. And we had about five hundred people. One

man can handle about one hundred people. That's what he

can add that's why most churches have one hundred people

in him, because that's what one pastor can handle, about

one hundred people. But now I had five hundred and

I was just dying. And one night we had a

midweek prayer service Bible study, and I went to the

folks and I said, you guys, I can't do this anymore.

I'm still in my twenties, but I can't do this anymore.

I cannot personally meet everybody's needs. I can't counsel everybody.

I can't go to everybody's funeral, everybody's wedding. I can't

be at everybody, visit everybody in the hospital. There's too

many people. And I'm dying and I'm going to burn out.

But I said, you know what, as I read the Bible,

that's not what God says pastors are supposed to do anyway.

The Bible says the members are the ministers. They're supposed

to take care of each other in small groups. They're

to care for each other. And it is my job

as a pastor to train and equip and pray for

you and lead you and feed you, and you do

the ministry to each other. And I said let's make

a deal. If you will do the ministry of the

church and you'll all get in small groups and take

care of each other's needs, then I will make sure

you're well fed. And the people said that, great, Rick,

let's do it. And we shook hands on it, and

we signed a covenant, and Saddleback exploded with growth because

I wasn't the bottleneck anymore, and the bottleneck is always

at the top for the bottle. Today, we have over

four thousand small groups. We have one in every city

in southern California, one hundred and forty six cities. We

have Saddleback small groups from Santa Monica to Carlsbad.

And if somebody.

Is in a small group, I don't ever worry about

them because I know that group's going to take care

of their need. When they get sick, or they get

laid off, or they're going through a stress, or they

have a family member die, those people are going to love.

It's the church being the church caring for each other. Now,

if you're not in a small group, nobody's going to

care for you in this church because we don't have

any organization or system to care for you. Our system

is what the Bible teaches it's small groups. It's from

house to house. Why don't we get in small groups?

There's two reasons.

One of them is fear, I'm afraid I might have

to say something, Well, you don't, And the.

Other is arrogance. I don't need it.

Even Jesus needed a small group. He didn't do anything

without small group. In fact, when the rogue wind comes

and things are tough and tied in your life, who

are you going to turn to? And what you need

is somebody to You need to have the safety net

in place before the crisis comes.

You're going to have.

Crises in your life. You're going to get sick. People

are going to die in your life. You're going to

have there will be diseases, there'll be difficulties, marriage problems, divorces,

drug issues. There are all kinds of things of friends

and family. Things are going to happen in your life,

and you need that thing in place. Did you know

that Jesus before he went to the cross the night before,

he knew he was going to be arrested, and so

he went to a place called the Garden of Death Semone,

and he went there to pray. But he didn't go alone.

He took his small group with him. Even Jesus needed

a small group in the tough time, and he was perfect.

And you're not notice this. Next verse, Jesus said to them,

that's his small group. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow

to the point of death. And he goes, Guys, I'm

dying on the inside. I know what's going to happen tomorrow.

I'm going to the cross. I'm gonna be crucified. My

soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

Stay here with me, Stay here and keep watch with me.

He said.

I don't need your advice. I don't need your words

of comfort. I just need you to be here with me.

Even Jesus needed a small group of tough time. If

you don't think you need a small group, there's a

word for that, arrogance and foolishness. You must get in

a small group if you want God's blessing on your life,

and if you want the stress to go down. It's

God's way of saying we need each other. Pride says,

I don't need anybody.

I'm okay on my own. I don't need to make

time for a group.

Yes, you do for your spiritual health, you need to

be in a small group and it will reduce the

stress in your life. You know, there are people in

this church right now who'll be willing to help you

with what you're going through right now if you just

knew who they were. He said, well, Rick, you don't

know my problem that my problems I'm going through right

now are unique.

Oh no, they aren't.

We all have the exact same problems, just different variations.

They're all a little tweaked.

We all have the exact same problems, just in little variations. Now,

Saddleback Church now has over one hundred thousand names on

our role of attenders. That's the size of a city.

Our church is larger than the city we're in. What

does that mean? It means that in a church that size,

how many other people have the same problem you're going

through right now and are going through it right now?

I guarantee you dozens, dozens of people in this church

are going through the identical problem you're going through right now.

But if you don't know them, how can you get

any comfort?

Share?

And there are people who've already gone through what you're

going right now, and they could help you with advice,

been there, done that, and they could.

Help you out.

You got to be willing to get in a group,

to humble yourself. Say okay, I'm gonna make the time

to get in a small group. And now the number seven,

the last one is This one's a fun one and

you're gonna need this one too in your life. And

it's just as important as all the others. It is

the principle of recreation, and recreation is this, take.

Time to recharge.

If you're going to reduce the stress in your life,

know who you are, know what you're living for, know

your calling, focus on what matters most, don't worry about

the rest, Listen to God, get in a small group,

get connected, and then take time to recharge.

Now Jesus did this. He frequently.

He had more important work than you and I do,

but he took time to relax, to go to parties,

to weddings, to have fun, to kick back. In fact,

look at this verse. The Bible says in Mark chapter six,

crowds of people were coming and going. In other words,

Jesus was he'd had no privacy. Crowds were just around

him all the time. Crowds of people were coming and

going so that they that's the disciples did not even

have time to eat. When you don't have time.

To eat, you're really busy. Okay.

If you don't have time to eat, it means your

your schedule's packed. They didn't even have time to eat.

And so Jesus said to them, come away by your sels.

I love it.

And the King James says, come apart for a while.

And I always say, if you don't come apart, you're

gonna come apart. Come come away by yourselves, and we'll

go to a lonely place to get some rest. Now,

Jesus looks at his small group and he says, fellas,

you deserve a break today, so let's get out and

get away to McDonald's. Actually, Jesus often went to the

desert to retreat. Seven different times in his ministry. He

retreats to the desert and he goes out. You know,

there's these palm trees and there springs of water. It's

palm springs.

That's what it is. Actually, and this.

Is the biblical definition of a vacation. You need to

go to palm springs. Okay, that's where you need to go.

Palm springs palms and springs, go out to the desert.

But you need to get away by yourself. Relax, get

away with some friends, have some fun. Jesus frequently retreated

to rest. Now, friends, rest and recreation are so important.

They're right up there in the big Ten. God put

them in the big Tin, the ten commandments, right along

with don't commit adult tree and don't murder anybody. He says,

every seven days, you take a day off, and you worship,

and you rest and you have fun. And that's all

I want you to do on that day. Don't do

any work, rest, recreation, worship. It's called the Sabbath. And

God says, right up there with don't kill anybody. He says,

every seven days, you take a day off, and you

spend a little bit of time in worship, and you

spend a little time in rest, little respiration. Jesus said,

the Sabbath was made for man's benefit, not man for

the Sabbath. The reason God made the rule of every

seven days you worship and you rest was not for

his benefit. It was for ours, because most of us

are not smart enough to take time off. I wonder

right now, in our services, in all of our venues,

and campuses. How many hours of untaken vacation are stored up? Hmm.

If you're too busy to take your vacation time, you're

too busy. And if you're too busy to pray, you're

too busy. And if you're too tired time too busy

to relax, you're too busy. You need to stop and

smell of roses. You need to enjoy the moment. And

unless you take time to relax and schedule, it is

always going to be something more urgent. I love the

verse Matthew eleven nineteen. The Phillips paraphrase says, Jesus came

enjoying life. You know, the Pharisees accused Jesus being a

party animal. So the guy's always going to parties, he's

always drinking, eating. You want to be christ Like, be

a purpose driven eater. Life is meant to be enjoyed,

not merely endured. Now, sometimes we just are not smart

enough for our own good. And if you don't take

time off, God will make you take time off because

He cares for you. In the most famous psalm in

the Bible, it says Psalm twenty three, he makes me

lay down by and green pastures by Still Waters. Has

God ever made you lay down because you weren't smart

enough to do it on your own? God says, if

you will, if you won't look up to me, I'll

just lay you flat on your back.

Then you'll look up to me.

And if you don't take time off, believe me, you will.

Eventually you'll get sick, you'll get ill. You're gonna have

it because God did not wired you for continuous work.

Sometimes he has to use drastic measures to slow us down. Now,

would everybody agree that stress is increasing in our culture?

Yeah?

It is, And so you've got to take some intentional

steps to combat the stress in your life.

And what are the steps? These seven things? Know who

you are.

I'm created by God. He loves me, He made me,

He has a plan for my life. Jesus died for me.

Know what you're living for.

I'm not living for the approval of my parents, or

my wife, or my husband or my boyfriend. I'm living

for the approval of God. I'm living for God. And

if I do that, it will always be the right thing.

Know you're calling. God has called me to do this,

but not this. And I don't have to be everything

to everybody know my purpose. Focus on what matters most.

Don't get distracted. We're free to do all kinds of things,

but it doesn't mean I should do it. Just because

I can afford it doesn't mean I should buy it.

And just because I got the time doesn't mean I

should do it.

Listen to God.

That's the principle of meditation. Be quiet on a daily basis,

have a quiet time, Join a small group so you

got the relational connections to share the problems that are

going on in your life, and when you need help

that they're there to support you. And then take time

to recharge. Now here is my homework a sign for

you this week. As your pastor who loves you, and

as your spiritual leader, I am commanding you to have fun. Okay, now,

I don't want you. I don't want you doing honeydew lists.

I don't want you catching up on email. I don't

want you doing work that you haven't got done all

the other time. You need to have some fun. It

is better to have loafed and lost than to have

never loafed at all. So your spiritual leader is commanding

you to have fun tomorrow, and I have a good

time Now there's one more stress reliever that Jesus didn't

need because he was the son of God. He was

very But we need it. And the last one is there,

the last verson in your outline. This is the principle

of salvation, and the principle of salvation is real clear.

Give it all to Jesus.

If you want to overcome your stress, you give it

all to Jesus. Here's what Jesus said, Matthew eleven, Come

to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,

and i will give you rest. Notice he doesn't say

I'll give you more burdens. He says, I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke up on you. What's a yoke. A

yoke is when you take two animals and put them

together so two are pulling the load instead of one.

Jesus saying, yoke up with me, and I'll help you

pull your load, so you won't be carrying it by yourself.

I'll pull it with you.

Put the yoke on with me, and I'll help you

pull your load.

He says.

Take my yoke upon you and let me teach you

because I'm humble and gentle, and you will find rest

for your souls.

Now, friends, this offer still stands today. He says.

If you're tired, you're worn out, you're beat up, you're frustrated,

you're ready to throw in the towel, you're stressed out,

he says, don't give up. Look up, look up to God,

because the single greatest source of stress is you trying

to live your life disconnected from Jesus Christ. It's like

being unplugged. There's no power in your life if you're

disconnected from God. So what do you do, he says,

Jesus says, come to me. It's real simple.

Come to me.

Come to Christ today. Give him your stress. He's very

aware of all the load you're caring and he will

help you. That's bow our heads. Let's pray this prayer

together in our hearts. I'll say it, and you can

just say me too.

In your mind.

Dear Jesus Christ, there's a lot of stress in our

lives today, and we want to give it all to you.

We want to give the good and the bad and

the ugly of our lives to you.

We want to.

Invite you into every room of our lives, into the

living room, into the study, into the bathroom, and the

bedroom and the kitchen. We want you to be in

charge of every area of our lives. We want to

know who we're living for, and so we ask you

to help us take these steps today. Now you pray

this in your heart. You're Jesus Christ. Thank you that

you made me to love me. Help me to know

who I am and not depend on the approval of others.

Jesus Christ. I want to live for you, not for

other people, not for the approval of peer groups, but

for you. Help me to know my calling, to fulfill

the thing that you gave me the desire to fulfill

in my heart. Help me to focus my life on

what matters most, not on stuff that didn't gonna even

matter tomorrow. Teach me to listen to you. I commit

to spending a time with you every day, just being quiet,

even if it's just five minutes, reading your word, talking

to you and letting you talk to me. If you're

not in a small group.

Today's your day, you say, Jesus Christ.

I commit to getting in a small group, either starting

one or with some friends, or or getting in a

small group because I know that I need other people

in my.

Life like you did.

And help me to take time to recharge, to learn

to relax. Most of all, I want to yoke up

with you. I want to go your direction at your pace,

because you're not going to make me a workaholic. I

want to find the rest for my soul. And so

I give myself completely to you in your name, I pray.

Amen.

What a special message from Pastor Rick, and now let's

hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope. Here's Rick

with a letter from one of our listeners.

Hi, everybody, today, I want to read part of a

letter that I received from June, who is a prisoner

that was given a second chance by God. He wrote this,

I'm a prisoner here in the National Penitentiary serving my sentence.

I came to know the Lord inside myself thirteen years ago,

and now I'm serving the Lord as an inmate. Pastor Rick,

I always use your Daily Hope preaching and devotionals in

sharing the words of God to my fellow prisoners, and

I see people come to the Lord in many many ways.

You know, before I was in prison and I came

to know the Lord, I was a high ranking police

officer and I was about to commit suicide because of

the numerous charges filed against me. But when God saved

me physically and spiritually, my journey in prison became the

most wonderful vessel used by God to manifest his love

to me. He never leaves me, nor forsakes me, and

may His name always be glorified. Thank you, Pastor Rick,

You're an inspiration and encouragement to all of us. Well, June,

it's amazing to know your story and to hear that

you're using the Daily Hope messages to teach your fellow

inmates about Jesus Christ. That is fantastic. I couldn't be

more happy. They need to hear that God gives second chances.

They need to hear that He still has a plan

and purpose for their lives even though they're in prison.

Your story is a great reminder that any one of

us can use what we learn through Daily Hope podcast

devotionals and we can take these things and teach others

about God's grace and forgiveness and unconditional love. Keep it up,

my friend, God bless you.

You know you can share the good news of Jesus

by sharing Daily Hope. Just go to Pastor Rick, click

on the listen tab and you'll find buttons where you

can share the message by email or on social media

or WhatsApp. Just go to pastorick dot com. 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