Rick Warren - The Only Family That Will Last Forever Part Two

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in a news

series called This is Us. In these lessons, Pastor Rick

shows us how belonging to a church family helps us

navigate life's challenges. In just a few moments, we're going

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exploring the power of words. They'll learn that while words

may be small, they can do big things. You can

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five thousand and four. While you listen to today's message,

here's Pastor Rick with part two of a message called

The Only Family That Will Last Forever.

One Corinthians twelve twelve to fourteen. Just as your body

has many members, what are we talking about there? Your

hand is a member of your body. Your ear is

a member of your body. Your eye is a member

of your body. Your nose, your spleen, your liver, these

are all members of your body. Just as your body

has many members, and each member of your body is unique.

The liver doesn't do what the heart does. All your

members together form your single body physically, so it is

with Christ's body, he says. It's the exact same thing,

physical parallel to a spiritual parallel. The Christ's body is

the church. He said. All the members of the church

make up the body of Christ. All right, So he's

saying here that only as you're connected does it really

really matter. And then he says the rest of it.

He says this, for in one spirit, we were all

baptized in to one body. Regardless of our background, whether

Jews are gentiles or slaves are free, we all receive

God spirit. He says. It doesn't matter what your background

is religious background, ethnic background, language background, racial back, None

of that really matters, he says, regardless of your background,

we all receive God's spirit. That's what puts us in

the body. We're baptized into one body. So the body

isn't made up of just one member, it's all the

members connected together. And what is that saying. It's saying this.

You are not the Church of God by yourself. You

are not the Family of God by yourself. You're not

the Body of Christ by yourself only as we are

connected together? Are we the family of God? Are we

the body of Christ? Are we God's Church. I'm not

the church, you're not the church, but together we are church.

And he said it's in that connection. So only in

connection to other members are you actually in God's family.

If you're not connected to other members, how are you

in God's family? So what does that mean? Then? What

does that mean the body to be a part of

the body of Christ. Look at these verses First Corinthians

twelve twenty five. The way God designed our bodies physical

bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as

a church, says, okay, look at your body, and then

you'll figure out how the church operates. Every part is

to be dependent on the other parts. I can't say

that I don't need this part or I don't need

that part. We all need each other, and we are

to be dependent on the other parts. It was his

intention that we live our lives together. God never meant

for you to go through life on your own. Now,

let me show you another verse, First Corinthians two, twelve

twenty five to twenty seven. The members notice how many

times this word member comes up in the Bible. The

members must have the same care for each other. That

means I got to care about you, you got to

care about me. We have to care about each other

if we are in the family of God, if we

are in the body of Christ called saddleback or whatever.

There are lots of good churches. Just choose one. I'm

not saying just this church. I'm just saying, just choose

a place that's going to be my family. The members

must have the same care for each other. If one

member is hurt or suffers, then all suffer together. And

if one member is honored, all the others are rejoice.

In other words, you get a raise, you get promoted,

the whole church should celebrate with you. You get the

word dreaded word cancer, the whole church should support you

when you're going through those you know those protocols. You

are the body of Christ, and each one of you

is a necessary part of it. There's no unnecessary part.

Becau said, well, I'm not. I'm not very necessary in

my church. Oh how wrong you are. If I don't

use my gifts, you get hurt. If you don't use

your gifts, I get hurt. So does everybody else. We

all have a different role to play. Now, let me

pause here and review what I've said about what is

the church. First, I said, it's God's family that's in

heaven and on earth. Some sa in heaven, some's on earth.

I said, it's composed of saved and baptized believers. Okay,

if you're not saved, you're not baptized, you're not a

part of the church. Okay. Number three, it's they are

committed to Jesus and each other. We commit to Him

and we commit to each other. But then there's one

other fourth part. Write this down, and these are people

who are preparing for heaven or Christ's return. Preparing for

heaven or Christ's return, that's what the church is doing.

So either Jesus comes back before I die, or he

doesn't come back before I die and I go to

heaven first. Either way, I'm preparing for eternity with him.

Hebrews Chapter twelve, Verse twenty three is an important verse.

It says this, you are the Church of God's children. Okay,

remember it's the family of God. You are the Church

of God's children whose names are registered in heaven. You

ought to be grateful for that. Because you have come

to God himself and you have come to Jesus. Now

notice this, your names are registered in heaven. You know,

I've met a few of these Hollywood types and done

some Bible studies for producers and stuff like that in Hollywood.

And the big deal in Hollywood is to get on

the A List because if you're on the A List,

you get invited to all the A List parties. You

don't want to be on the B list or the

C List or like some of us, the Z List, Okay,

because you really want to be because the A List

are the best parties after the Oscars and stuff like that. Well,

let me tell you something. There's something better than being

on the A List. It's being on God's registrative names

in Heaven. Hello. That that is a big deal. Okay,

that is a very exclusive list. Not everybody's gonna be

on that list. Only those who've been saved and baptized

and joined the part of the part of God's family.

Only God's family is gonna be in the heabit. But

that's a very exclusive list.

You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rip will be

back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.

You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email devotional

at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.

A short time back, Pastor Rick Warren teamed up with

a talented artist to create the stunting new children's book

Words to Love by. Written with warmth and wisdom, it

speaks to the hearts of little ones and takes them

on a joyful, grace filled journey, exploring the power of

words Through charming illustrations and engaging text, young readers will

understand how their words can change their lives and the

lives of those around them. Kids learn that while words

may be small, they can do big things. Words can encourage,

and they can spread love and kindness, and they can

let us know we are not alone. This hardcover book

is written especially for children at ages four to eight.

It makes a perfect gift for the kids God is

placed in your life today. When you support Daily Hope

with a financial gift, we'll send you the hardcover book

Words to Love By by Rick Warren as our way

of saying thanks. Call eight hundred six hundred five zero

zero four to support Daily Hope and we'll send you

this powerful resource or you can visit pastor Rick dot com.

That's eight hundred and six hundred at five zero zero

four or pastor Rick dot com.

Once again, here's pastor Rick.

Well, let me tell you something. There's something better than

being on the A list. It's being on God's registrative

names in Heaven.

Hello.

That that is a big deal. Okay, that is a

very exclusive list. Not everybody's gonna be on that list.

Only those who've been saved and baptized and joined a

part of the part of God's family. Only God's family

is going to be in heaven. But that's a very

exclusive list, most important invitation list. You want to be

a part of. How do I get on that list? Well,

that verse said get to know. You've come to know God,

and you've come to know Jesus. You come to God

and you come to Jesus. Now, there are sa sixty

seven different metaphors in the Bible. The metaphors are names

of the church. What I want to do in the

last few minutes here is talk to you about five

of them and show you the benefits. What are the

benefits of belonging? So the Bible calls the church many

different things, but let's just look at five. Would you

write these down? The first metaphor is the most well

known one, which is the church as a family. Okay,

it's a family, and there are many many implications for that,

But the one thing I want to focus on is that,

as in a healthy family, you learn who you are.

So write this down number one. In God's family, I

learn my true identity. That's the first benefit of actually

being a member of a local church. In God's family,

I learned my true identity. Have you ever thought about

why people wear brands? You know, it'll say Ralph Lauren

or Ruka or Vans or Tommy Hillfigure or whatever. Why

do people brands to identify to feel like they belong

to something. They like to think that this is a

cool brand. If I wear this brand, then I'm cool.

And so we identify with brands because it helps us identify.

But in reality, your primary identity doesn't come from what

you wear. Your primary identity comes from relationships. I am

a son, I am a brother, I am a husband,

I am a father, I am a grandfather. I am

a friend. I am a mentor, I am a pastor,

I am a coworker. These are all relationships in my

life that define who Rick Warren is. It's not how

I look, It's not how little or much money I've got. It,

it's what are my relationships. You're defined by relationships. Now,

if my cans are bad or my connections are broken,

then my identity suffers. If I just got fired, or

I just got divorced, or my spouse dies. If something

changes in my relationships, it causes me to pause, go

who am I? Who am I? Because your primary identity

comes from your relationships. Now I know what some of

you thinks that Rick, that's terrible news for me because

my family was dysfunctional, my family was broken, or maybe

my family was not a non existent. Well, I got

good news for you the next verse on your outline

Ephesians two nineteen. You are a member of there's that

word member. You are a member of God's very own family,

and you belong in God's household with every other Christian,

this is your family. You belong here, you fit here.

Hear me out on this. Your spiritual family is far

more important even than your physical family. God used your

physical family to bring you into the world so you

could become a part of his spiritual family. You should

be grateful that your physical family got together. Whatever the

circumstances are, it doesn't matter. God wanted you alive because

he wanted you to be a part of his spiritual family.

Why is my spiritual family the church more important than

my physical family? Because your physical family doesn't last. People die,

people grow old, people move away, people divorce, there's all

kinds of different things. It doesn't last. But God's family

is going to last forever and ever and ever. Our relationship.

I have people in my family I never met, great

grandparents and other relatives that I've never met. My dad

was number eighteen of twenty kids. Yeah, can you imagine

that I'd have to have rent a superdome if I

had a home family reunion. I've never met most of

those relatives. But if they're if they know the Lord,

they're in God's family. We're going to be in heaven together.

And your spiritual family is going to be permanent. It's

going on for thousands and thousands and thousands and thousand years.

God used your physical family to get you into the world.

You ought to be grateful for that, but his real

goal is to get you into his spiritual family. You're

a member of God's very only family. And and you know,

the world uses superficial identifiers. You have brown hair, you

weigte such and such, your height, is this your Asian

or your Caucasian or your African American. Or you're educated,

or you're rich or you're whatever. Those are all superficial

identifiers for you. And people today when they don't know

their identity in Christ, they look for IDENTI and something else,

like a political party. Well, I'm a this or I'm

a that. And they find their identity in the team

that they root for, or they find their identity in

the celebrity that they identify with, or they find their

identity in the political person they think is going to

be the savior of the world. But none of that

matters is to be superficial. What matters most is your

spiritual identity. Look on the screen Hebrews two eleven. Jesus

and the people he makes holy all belong to the

same family. That's a connection. You're in the family of God.

That's why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers

and sisters. Now you may have had some relatives you

were ashamed of, but God, Jesus says I'm not ashamed

of you. I'm your brother, I'm your elder brother in

the family of God. By belonging to Christ, you discover

your true identity. Now you know, I used to work

up in the inner city la as a youth pastor

many many years ago, and gangs would get gang tattoos

so they could identify who they belonged to. Okay, what's

the tattoo of a Christian Baptism? Baptism says, I'm in.

I'm in. I'm not ashamed to say of the world,

Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Lord. Now that's

the first metaphor. It's family. Let's go quickly to these others.

Second metaphor, the Bible says, the church is a temple.

It's a temple. It's like a building erected to hold

the presence of God. And God says, his presence wants

to be in you. You're a temple, and together we

form the Temple of God. Look here on the screen.

One Corinthians three sixteen says this. Don't you realize that

all of you, twogether together are the temple of God

and His spirit lives in you. I'm not the temple

of God just by myself. You're not the temple of

God just by yourself. Together, we are the temple of God.

That's a metaphor for God's family, for God's Church. And

like a strong structure of a building, we each hold

each other up. Okay, this is an important thing. We

each hold each other up. You know. I remember when

we were building all these buildings on the Lake Forest

campus and how fascinating it was that it took thousands

and thousands and thousands of parts to erect the building.

But the most important thing in a building is that

the parts have to fit together. If they don't fit together,

the parts are worthless. A beam that is a quarter

of an inch too short is worthless. A pike that

is a foot too long is worthless. The parts have

to fit together or they lose their meaning and purpose.

And to be strong and to be stable, everything has

to connect. And that's what the metaphor of the church

as a temple is all about. Also, I noticed when

I would walk around in some of these buildings that

were being built before they were erected, is that there

was a lot of spare stuff laying around on the ground.

There were parts and wood and tools, and all kinds

of things that were not used. And what I kniced

about that is that a piece of pipe could be

laying on the ground. It could be in the building. Okay,

it could be in the building, but it was not

a part of the building. You understand what I'm saying,

just laying on the ground. It's in the building, but

it's not a part of the building. Some of you

are in the church, you come every week to service,

but you're not a part of it because you're not

connected yet. You haven't made the commitment of membership. You're

in it, you're you're in it, but you're not a

part of it because you're not connected to anybody yet.

Many times, why did God use this metaphor of a

building to illustrate the church, Because in a building, the

connected parts hold each other together. And there are going

to be many times in your life when you need

other people to hold you together. You're going to need

other people in your life to hold you together. As

the pastor of this church, there have been many, many

times over forty years, I needed the members of this

church to hold me together because I'm just a person

like you, and I needed people to hold me together

when things are falling apart in my life. If you

don't have that, you're lacking what the church offers. So

write this down number two. In God's Temple, I'm supported

by others. Like the strong structure of a building, we

hold each other up. This is what the whole book

of Ephesians teach us chapter two. In God's Temple, I'm

supported by others. Ephesians Chapter two says this verse twenty

one twenty two. In Christ, the whole building is joined

together and it rises to become a holy temple to

the Lord. It's talking about the Church and in him,

you too, are being built together to become a dwelling

place in which God lives by his spirit, by his spirit.

Here's the point in a building. A disconnected frame has

no support and has no stability, and it's going to

collapse on its own. And if you're not connected, there

will be times in your life when you collapse because

you have no stability and you have no support. You're

just out there on your own. You weren't meant to

go through life all by yourself. You weren't meant to

go through it all on your own. You need physical

and spiritual and emotional and mental support you need to belong.

This is Pastor Rick's daily Hope. We're so happy that

you've chosen to study along with us today. If you'd

like to have a hope filled message from Pastor Rick

delivered to you every day, go to Pastorick dot com

and sign up for ricks free email devotional. Right now,

Rick will be back to close out our time today.

But first, Pastor Rick Warren teamed up with a talented

artist to create the stunning children's book Words to Love By.

Written with warmth and wisdom, it speaks to the hearts

of little ones. Words to Love By takes children on

a joyful, grace filled journey exploring the power of words.

Through charming illustrations and engaging text. Young readers will understand

how their words can change their lives and the lives

of those around them. Kids learn that while words may

be small, they can do big things. Words can encourage,

and they can spread love and kindness, and they let

us know we are not alone. This book is hardcover

and is written especially for children ages four through eight.

It makes a perfect gift for the kids God has

placed in your life today. When you give a gift

to help daily Hope, take the certain hope of Jesus

to people worldwide. We'll send you the hardcover book Words

to Love by by Rick Warren as our way of

saying thanks. Call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and

four to support Daily Hope and will send you this

beautiful children's gift book. Or you can visit Pastorick dot com.

That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four or

Pastorick dot com. Here's Pastor Rick with a letter from

one of our listeners.

Some of you may not know that Daily Hope is

broadcast each day on Heartline Radio and Jakarta, Indonesia. Let

me share a testimony I got from a man named

Alex who lives there in Indonesia. Dear Pastor Rick, I've

been blessed by learning the word of God delivered by

you almost every night. I share the topics that I

hear in Daily Hope with my children when we pray

at night before bed. Pastor Rick, you and your broadcast

have blessed our family. We pray that Daily Hope Ministry

will continue to reach more and more people, not only

in Indonesia, but all over the whole world. Alex, I

want to thank you for blessing us with this note.

This is the kind of note that keeps us going,

that keeps us serving and working. I'm so glad you're

sharing God's true through their children now. The reason Alex

is able to hear Daily Hope in Indonesia is because

of you. Because of your generous financial support and from

other listeners like you, we're able to take this message

all around the world. I just want to say to you,

thank you for your regular financial support.

We love you.

If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast

has blessed you, feel free to send him an email

at Rick at Pastorrick dot com. That's Rick at pastorrick

dot com. Be sure to join us next time as

we look into God's word for our daily hope. This

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