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

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

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we begin a new series

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

us how being part of a church family can help

meet your deepest needs. In just a few moments, we're

going to tell you how you can get a copy

of Pastor Rick's book for kids called Words to Love.

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This book takes children on a joyful, grace filled journey

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

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

find out more by going to Pastorick dot com or

by texting the word Daily to eight hundred, six hundred

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

Right now, here's Pastor Rick with part one of a

message called the Only Family that Will Last Forever.

You know in life, it's very important at different times

in your life. This pause and just stop and ask

the question why why am I doing this? What am

I doing and why am I doing this? Why always

determines how and how long. Now we're going to start

at the beginning. Watch up here on the screen, the

Bible says in Hebrews two ten. God is the one

who made everything. That's where we start. We start with

God made everything, and all things are for his glory.

You and every plant and animal and rock are for

his glory. But he wanted to have children to share

his glory. The Bible says God invented the universe because

he wanted a family.

God wasn't lonely. God is love, but he didn't need us.

But he wanted a family to love and to share

his glory, and so he created the universe. Now, the

Bible says this in Ephesians chapter one. God's unchanging plan

beginning of time has always been to adopt us into

his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

So the whole.

Reason everything exists is God wanted a family, and he

wants that family to be with him forever and ever

and ever. He puts us here on earth as a

trial test. But what is that family called. Well, we've

talked about this. For that family is called the church,

Jesus said in Ephesians.

Excuse me.

Jesus said in Matthew sixteen, verse eighteen, I will build

my church. He didn't say I'll build a government. He

didn't say I'll build a nation. He didn't say I'll

build a business. He said I will build my church.

Jesus is only interested. God is only interested in his family.

Everything else is going to burn up. The only thing

on planet Earth that's going to last is God's family.

He says, I will build my church, and all the

powers of Hell will not defeat it. The most successful

human movement of all time is the Church of God

two point three billion believers followers of Christ. The Church

is the largest organization on the planet. Nothing comes close.

The Church, at two point three billion believers, is bigger

than China. The Church is bigger than China and the

United States and.

All of Europe put together.

Nothing is big is the is the planet, the movement

of God. You're not just part of an organization. You're

part of a movement, and that movement is going to

go on.

For eternity in heaven.

Jesus said I will build my church, and no dictator

and no ism can stop it.

Now.

Sometimes you hear people say, well, I love Jesus, but

I don't need the Church.

No.

No, that's a really big mistake people make, because you

can't love Jesus without loving his bride, his body, his family,

his flock.

You can't love Jesus.

In fact, the Bible says this in Ephesians chapter five,

verse twenty five. Christ loves his church. Whatever he loves,

you better love to Christ loves his church, and he

gave his life for it. Christ died for the church.

So don't ever say it's unimportant. Don't ever say it's

the only people that are going to be in heaven

is the Church. Nobody else is. That's his family. It's

his family. Now it has different labels on it, Methodist, Baptists, Episcopalian, Catholic, Nazarene,

and Calvary Chapel. All the labels are irrelevant. The fact

is the people who are the followers of Christ are

a part of his family. That's all that's going to

be in heaven. And he built the universe because he

wanted a family. Now let's just start with the basics.

What is a church? When I say the word church,

some people think of a building. No, the church is

not a building. The church is not a location. So

when I say church, people think of something they go

to attend. People often say, well, I'm going to church.

Technically that's a wrong statement. The church is not something

you attend. It's a family that you belong to it. Really,

it'd be more accurate to not say I'm going to church.

For saying I'm going to a worship service, or I'm

going to a Bible study, or I'm going to a fellowship,

or I'm going to an activity of the church. You

can't go to a church. A church is not an event.

It has events, But the church is the family of God.

Church is not an event you attend. It is a

family you belong to.

Does that make sense?

Okay, So it's not something you go to to actually say, well,

I'm going to church. You really mean to say I'm

going to worship or I'm going to service, or I'm going.

To Bible study. Whatever.

It's not a place. It's not an event, it's not

an institution. I'm going to give you a very specific

biblical definition of the church. I'd like for you to

write these four phrases down.

Okay.

Number one, because once I explained this, then I'm going

to show you five benefits of being a part of

God's family. Number one, what is the church? The church

is God's family on earth and in heaven. God's family

on earth and in heaven. The Church isn't just on earth.

Many people are already in heaven. So some of the

church that's God's family, is already in heaven. Some of

the church is still here on earth. But the Church

is both in heaven and on earth, and it is

God's family. One Timothy chapter three, verses fourteen and fifteen

says this, I'm writing to you so that you'll know

how to live in the family of God. We need

to learn how to live in God's family. That family

is the Church of the Living God, the support and

foundation of the truth. So anytime you talk about the church,

you're talking about God's family. You talk about the time

you talk about God's family, you talk about the church.

There is no family of God outside of the church.

It is the same.

You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick 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 stunning new children's book

Words to Love Buy. 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 Buy by Rick Warren as our way

of saying thanks. Call eight hundred at six hundred at

five zero zero four to support Daily Hope and we'll

send you this powerful resource. Or you can visit Pastorrick

dot com. That's eight hundred at six hundred at five

zero zero four or pastor Rick dot com.

Once again, here's Pastor Rick.

We need to learn how to live in God's family.

That family is the Church of the Living God. The

support and foundation of the truth. So anytime you talk

about the church, you're talking about God's family. Any talking

about the time you talk about God, you're talking about

the church. There is no family of God outside of

the Church.

It is the same.

So it's God's family on heaven and Earth. Number two,

it's composed of saved and baptized believers. The church is

composed of saved and baptized believers. Now, you might have

your name on a role as a child in some church,

but that doesn't make you a part of the church.

It just means you're on somebody's role. You have to

be saved and you have to be baptized to be

a part of the Church of God. Let me just

show you what Jesus said, Mark chapter sixteen, verse sixteen.

Whoever believes in me Jesus said and is baptized will

be saved. But whoever refuses to believe will be condemned.

Now some people look at that and go, are you

saying that I have to be baptized in order to

be saved, that it's essential for salvation.

No, I'm not.

No water will save you. Only Jesus can say no

water will save you. But if you really are saved,

you want to be baptized. It's a contradiction to say, well,

I'm a follower of Christ, but I don't do what

he tells me to do. That's contradiction, so maybe you're

not really saved. Baptism is what I call the wedding

ring of the Christian life. This ring doesn't make me married.

It was the commitment in my heart that made me

married when.

I said I do.

This ring is the outward expression. It reminds me, oh,

I made a vow in my heart. Baptism is the

wedding ring of the Christian life. It doesn't make you

a Christian. It shows that you are. And anybody who

refuses to be baptized you had every reason of doubt

they've had a commitment in their heart because the first

thing Jesus said is be baptized as this outward symbol

of your inward commitment. So it doesn't make you a Christian.

But notice he says, anyone who believes and is baptized,

which comes first believing or baptism believing? Right, you believe

and then you're baptized. Now, if you were baptized before

you were believed, before you believed, it didn't count. You

don't get any blessing from that. You need to do

it again because it means nothing. You just got wet. Okay,

that's all.

It means all.

Baptism only matters if you believe. First, some of you

don't even remember your baptism, So how could you possibly believe,

because maybe you didn't even weren't even old enough.

To know that.

So you believe, Jesus said, and then you're baptized. Let

me show you a couple of other verses. Acts chapter two,

Verse thirty eight. This is the day of Pentecost. This

is the day that Jesus began his church. And Peter

preached this sermon. He said, this, repent and be baptized.

This is the first day of the Church. In the

name of Jesus Christ. For the forgiveness of your sin.

Then God will give you His Holy Spirit.

Now.

In Romans chapter eight, it says, if you don't have

God's spirited.

You you're not a Christian. You're not saved.

Do not have God's spirit would mean you don't really

know the Lord yet. So he says, whoever believes in

meaning baptized, he'll be saved. And then Peter says repent

and be baptized. Now in that verse, which one comes

first repent or be baptized repent? Right, So if you

were baptized before you repented, it didn't count. As I said,

it was just a nice little ritual, but it meant nothing.

You got no spiritual blessing out of it because you

didn't even know what the meaning of baptism was. It

comes after you believe, and it comes after you repent.

Now here's what happens same day, Acts two, verse forty one.

It says, then those who believed they believe first were

then baptized see believe in counts the four baptized, and

then they became part of the church. Baptism is the

entry door to the church. About three thousand people that day.

So baptism doesn't bless you if you did it out

of order, and if you believed after you were baptized,

you need to be baptized again, because it didn't mean anything.

It didn't mean what the meaning of baptism is all about.

All right.

So it's God's family on earth. It's composed of saved

and baptized believer it. The third part is this, it's

people who are committed to Jesus and each other. To

be a part of the church means I'm not just

committed to Jesus, I'm committed to the other people in

my church. Family of church means I am committed to

Jesus and to each other. Now, let me show you

a few verses about this. Second Corinthians, chapter eight, verse five. First,

it says they gave themselves to the Lord, and then second,

by God's will, they gave themselves to us as well.

This is what we call the first base commitments saddleback.

First you give yourself to the Lord.

And then you give yourself to a group of other Christians.

The first one makes you a Christian. The second one

makes you a church member. Let me say it again. First,

they gave themselves the Lord. That's how you get saved.

You give your life to the Lord. And it says

and then they gave themselves to us as well.

That's what it means to be a church member.

You become a Christian by giving your life to Christ.

You become a church member by giving yourself to a

group of other people. Say that's gonna be my spiritual home,

that's gonna be my family, That's gonna be my spiritual

base for my life while I'm here in this area. Whatever,

it is a commitment not simply to Christ. It's a

commitment to another group of other people. And we're gonna

look at that today. Let me show you some other verses.

Romans twelve, verse ten says you are to be devoted

circle this to each other, not just to God.

You are being devoted to each other.

As brothers and sisters in God's loving family. That's what

it means to be a church member. You're not just

committed to Christ. You're committed to his family. You're committed

to your brothers and sisters in that family. Romans chapter fourteen.

Excuse me, Romans twelve, verse four and five. In Christ's body,

each member belongs to who all the others.

You realize this that in this church.

Family, I belong to you, You belong to me. We

belong to each other. That's what it means to be

a member of a family. Now, notice it has the

word member there. Sometimes you'll hear people say, I've actually

heard preachers on the.

Radio say this.

Well, there's no such thing as church membership in the Bible.

That's just nonsense. The word member came from the Bible.

Act.

There was no word members until it was in the Bible.

The word member is used about one hundred times in

the New Testament. The whole concept of membership was only

about the church until other people picked it up and

all of a sudden, you know, you know American express

as membership has its privileges. No, so now you can

be a member of my book club, you can be

a member of my Facebook following, you can be a

member of some the rotary club, you can be members.

Of a million other things.

But the word member came from the Bible, and it's

talking about being a member of a local body of Christ.

And it's used in a very different way. It's not

talking about secret handshakes and funny hats and passwords and

stuff like that. What is it talking about a member?

We'll look on the screen first 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 into 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 the church. And he said it's in that connection.

So only in connection to other members are you actually

in God's family? Are not connected to other members? How

are you and 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 on

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 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.

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 Pastor Rick dot

and sign up for Rick's 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. Day 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.

Hi, everybody, today, I want to share a very powerful

letter from a listener named Michael. Michael experienced terrible trauma

as a child, but he says that Daily Hope is

helping him overcome his past and now he's looking to

the future with his kids. Let me read you just

a little bit of Michael's story. Dear Pastor Rick, you

and Daily Hope have brought God into my life and

it has saved me. I am a twenty nine old

father of five children, and I try my hardest to

teach my children to know God and to love Jesus

and how to pray. And I do my best to

be a good example and be worthy of all the

good gifts that God.

Has given to me.

But you know, because of my childhood and the insecurities

and abandonment issues that were created in my life from

years of mental abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and yes,

even sexual abuse, I've always had a hard time trusting God.

I woke up every day feeling unworthy, and I suffered

from feelings of anxiety and depression, and I felt like

God couldn't possibly love me because no one else had

ever loved me. And I carried that pain inside of

me for so long, craving for a close, better intimate

relationship with God. Now listening to Daily Hope has helped

me achieve.

That and more.

I'm not only better, but I'm now better for everybody

else around me. Spreading all that I've learned and the

good news of Jesus Christ. I know God better than

ever and I now have more faith than I ever

knew possible because I feel His love.

Thank you so much.

Daily Hope does such a great work in the name

of Jesus, and I will forever be in your debt

for bringing the fire of faith into my heart and

helping me know God. I love you, and I hope

you continue to bring change in the world through the

message of Jesus Christ. You know, Michael, I absolutely love

how you're teaching your five kids to know Jesus that

is a real man, a real dad, a real father.

It's so important to pass it on to the next generation.

And I'm encouraged that Daily Hope is helping you with

the trauma of all your past and helping you work

through those issues and keeping you growing in the love

of Jesus Christ. You know, stories like the one you

wrote to me are what keeps me going. It's why

we do this change lives now. I want to pray

for you. I want to pray, Dear Lord, pour out

your love on Michael. Help him to sense your love

so they never doubts it. Pour out your blessing and

your peace on his family. I pray that they will

continue to grow in their faith and that they will

experience the peace that passes understanding as they follow you God.

I want to thank you for his faithfulness in Jesus name.

I pray Amen.

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

program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your

generous financial support