Rick Warren - Enabling the Vision Purpose Driven Giving Part Two

Pastor Rick Warren often says you were made by God and for God, and

until you understand that, life will never make sense. Welcome to Pastor Rick's

Daily Hope. Today. In our series called God's Vision for the Rest of

your Life, Rick continues in his effort to help you discover the unique purpose

and vision that the Lord has for your life. Now, before we get

started, we want to let you know that a very generous friend has given

one hundred thousand dollars matching grant to Daily Hope. That means that all this

month, every dollar you give to help Daily Hope share the hope of Jesus

around the world will be matched up to one hundred thousand dollars. 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. That's Pastorick dot com,

or the word daily to a eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.

Right now, here's Pastor Rick Warren with part two of a message called Enabling

the Vision Purpose Driven Giving. Now you've heard me say it before that you

can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. When I first

fell in love with my wife. I could not keep money in my pocket.

It was like burning a hole in my pocket. Every time I turn

around I was buying or something. I see something on TV Kitchen Magician,

I gotta buy that, man. You know, it didn't matter what it

was. I just wanted to buy her stuff. Why because I was in

love with her. You cannot love without giving, and so when I give,

it draws me closer to you. It draws me and it causes me

to love you more. Also, it's a witness to other people. Notice

this next verse. When you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even

when they're strangers, you make the faith visible. I wish I could tell

you all the stories, but let me just read you. One guy in

our church sent me this, he said Pastor Rick. Last Sunday morning,

a few guys from my men's small group had breakfast at the Pancake House in

Anaheim before heading over to Angel Stadium for the service. When our waitress overheard

that we were from Saddleback Church, she insisted on paying for our breakfast herself.

Now, when we asked her why, she said, well, there's

a couple from Saddleback that each year, all the time, and every time

they do. Before they pay for their own bill, they request to pay

the bill for two other random tables in the restaurant as an act of love.

She said, I don't know what got into you, Saddleback people,

but it's an inspiration to the rest of us. It's what we're drinking,

that's it's doing. That's why we want to be famous for. We say,

that's the church where they love each other, with each other, where

they take care of each other. These people over there at Saddleback Church,

they're the most generous people in the whole world. Why because that's what God

is like. It's a witness to other people. Not only that, it

builds unity among believers. The next verse says how good and pleasant it is

when God's people live together in unity. Now, there is enormous power in

unity. You know. It's like that phrase snowflakes are frail, but if

enough of them stick together, they can stop traffic. And if you can't

do anything by yourself, and I can't do anything by yourselves, together we

can do something serious. Now, why is this church so unified? I'll

tell you why. Because the members and the people are involved in twoy six

hundred different church small groups spread out all over in eighty three cities, and

they're being generous to each other on a weekly basis, and that builds unity.

I know about a group who recently paid for plane ticket for a person

in their church. Their brother, his brother got or her brother got Hodgkin's

disease, and so they paid for that person to fly back and see their

brother. They didn't have to do that. What were they doing. They

were investing in the mutual fund. And that brings unity. How good and

pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. So God wants me

to invest in his treasury fund. That's where my heart is, my treasure

will be, that's giving back to Him in worship. God wants me to

invest in the mutual fund, use some of my money to show love to

the people around me. Number three, God wants me to invest in his

growth fund. His growth fund, because the third purpose of life is God

wants you to grow up spiritually. So he says, I want you to

take some of the money and invest it in yourself. I want you to

invest it in personal improvement, in personal growth. The Bible says in Second

Peter three eighteen, grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord

and savior, Jesus Christ. Now how do I do that? How do

I invest in the growth fund? Well, you can write this down by

using some of my money to enhance my character. To enhance my character,

some of my money expresses worship. Some of my money encourages fellowship. Some

of my money enhances my own personal character, enhances my own personal growth.

The Bible says this, the earnings of the godly enhance their lives. But

people evil, people squander their money on sin. Now, there's a zillion

ways to waste your money instead of using it to grow. But God says,

I want you to use some of your money to grow spiritually. Use

some of your money to develop skills. Use some of your money to educate

yourself. Use some of your money to become a better person. To improve

yourself in every area of your life. You become a better leader, You

become a better speaker, you become a better prayer, you become a better

person. He says, use some of your money to do that. Now,

why, because that's what's gonna last. Now. I hate to tell

you this, but you're not taking your car to heaven with you. You're

not taking your car, and you're not gonna take your condo to heaven with

you, and you're not gonna take your couch to heaven with you. And

you're not gonna take your clothes to heaven with you, and you're not gonna

take your china to heaven with you. You are gonna take your character what

you are. So God says, use some of your money to invest in

something that's going to heaven, so you store up treasure in heaven. None

of those other things are going. So he says, invest in yourself for

spiritual growth. And they see what we like to do. We like to

use our money to invest in comfort. But God says, no, invest

in character, because character is what you're going to have the rest of eternity.

Notice what the Bible says Proverbs twenty three, buy truth and don't sell

it for lover. Money by wisdom, by education, by insight. Now

what does that mean. It means anytime you use your money to buy a

spiritual book, a Christian book that helps you grow, you've invested in the

growth fund. Anytime you use some of your money to pay for a seminar

or a men's retreat or a women's retreat, or a conference that helps you

improve your life in any area of your life. You've invested in the growth

fund. Anytime you use your money to take a class or get an education

or anything that makes you more of what God wanted you to be and you

develop what God has given you. God looks down and he smiles, and

he says, that's a good use of money. You are investing in your

growth fund. As I said, we liked invest in comfort, but God

says, no invest in your character. You know, I'll never forget.

When I bought my first Bible, I was a teenager, and I thought,

you know, this is the most important book to me out of any

book. So I'm going to get the best one I can find. And

I went out and I did a little research, and I found out these

study bibles that have additional study materials in them to help you. And I

found one that I liked called the Thompson Chain Reference Bible. And then I

said, I'm going to get this one in a binding that lasts, So

I'm going to get it in the nicest leather that I could find. And

I remember this is years ago. As a teenager, and it cost me

sixty bucks to buy that Bible. Now, as a teenager, that was

two entire months of my allowance, and I just thought, Okay, I

could give up all my snacks, give up movies and all the other things

that teenagers spend their money on, and for two months, I won't have

any of that, but I'll get a really cool Bible that I can use

for the rest of my life. I'm fifty one now. I still have

that Bible and it's my most prized treasure possession because I've been through it so

many times and underlined it and colored it and marked it all up, and

it's just it's been personalized for me. And when I was thinking about that,

I thought about this verse Isaiah fifty five to two. It says this,

why spend your money on food that doesn't give you strength? And does

you know good? Listen, I'll tell you where to get food that's good

for the soul. He said. Now you can spend your money on junk

food or soul food. Okay, this is soul food. It's food for

your soul. Some of that stuff's just empty calories. But he says,

this is soul food. It's going to help you grow. Look at the

next verse. It is better, much better to have wisdom and knowledge than

gold or you know. Don't pile up all your wealth just to have it

all piled up, he says, use it. This is really profound here.

Money is a lot like fertilizer. Okay, if you pile it all

up, it just starts stinking. But if you spread it around, it

makes things grow. Hm. God says, use your money for a purpose.

Use some of it to express love to me. That's the treasury fund.

Use some of it express love to other believers in the God's family.

That's the mutual fund. Use some of it to help yourself grow personally,

that's the growth fund. He says, I want you to grow and invest

some of your money to make yourself better and smarter and wiser and a more

skilled person. You see, when you do that, you can make yourself

an offering to God. You cannot only give an offering. The Bible says,

you can be an offering. This next verse, take your everyday ordinary

life you're sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life,

and place it before God as an offering. You're actually you become an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for

him. So he's saying, you don't just give an offering. You make

yourself an offering by making yourself a better person by investing in the Growth Fund

so that God can use you, and you become an offering. Thank you

so much for listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We've got some incredible news

to share with you. A very generous friend has given a one hundred thousand

dollars matching grant to this ministry all this month. Every dollar you give to

help Daily Hope share the certain hope of Jesus around the world will be matched

up to one hundred thousand dollars, So twenty five dollars becomes fifty dollars,

fifty becomes one hundred and five hundred becomes a thousand. Whatever you give will

be doubled by the matching grant up to one hundred thousand dollars, but only

till midnight December thirty first, So please contact us today. Go to Pastorick

dot com or just call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four if you

want to make your time in prayer the best it can be, then you're

going to want to get a copy of the brand new twenty twenty one Daily

Hope Prayer Journal. This year's theme, God's Great Adventure for You, will

help you tap into God's power and presence when you learn how to pray with

passion and purpose. Covered in soft vegan leather with full color pages, this

prayer journal has sections to pray for specific people and situations, as well as

space to express your gratitude and personal prayer requests to God. Each page is

beautifully designed and filled with inspiring Bible verses, photos and artwork. God's Great

Adventure for You Prayer Journal is a spiritual growth tool designed to help you enjoy

a vibrant prayer life, connect with God, and establish a consistent daily prayer

time. When you give a gift to help daily hope take the certain hope

of Jesus to people around the world, will send you the all new twenty

twenty one Daily Hope Prayer Journal to say thanks. Quantities are limited, so

don't wait. Call eight hundred at six hundred five zero zero four to get

your Prayer Journal and have your gift matched up to one hundred thousand dollars or

you can visit pastorick dot com. That's eight hundred at six hundred five zero

zero four or pastorick dot com. You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope once

again. Here's Pastor Rick Warren. Now, the fourth kind of fun that

God wants you to invest in is what I call the Equity Service Fund.

The Equity Service Fund why because the fourth purpose of your life is God wants

you to practice serving Him by serving other people. Remember, when you get

to heaven, you're gonna do four things. You're gonna love God, so

he wants you to practice here. You're gonna love other people, so he

wants you to practice here. You're gonna grow spiritually, so he wants you

to practice here. And you're gonna serve God in heaven, so he wants

you to practice here. Now, one of the ways you can serve other

people is by serving them financially, and so the Equity Service Fund is the

fourth way God says, I want you to use some of your money to

help people in need. They don't have to be believers, they don't even

they can be total strangers, but I want you to minister to them through

the Equity Service Fund. I want you to help people in need. Now,

in the Bible, there was a church in Greece that did the same

thing. They heard about another church that was in trouble, going through a

famine, and so they gave them some money. Notice what the Bible says.

They gave as much as they were able, and even more than they

could afford. No one told them to do it needed with us to let

them share in this service. That's the service fund for God's people. So

how do I invest in the equity service fund? We can write this down

by using some of my money to expand my ministry. I use some of

my money to expand my ministry. Remember, everybody's got a ministry. Not

everybody's a pastor, but everybody's a minister because God calls us. God didn't

put you on this earth to live for yourself and be a selfish little clod.

God puts you on this earth to serve other people, to make the

world a better place. You're not doing that. You're missing one of the

purposes of your life. And God says, I want you to use some

of your money to expand your ministry. Ministry just means meeting the needs of

other people. In Jesus' name, a financial need, a physical need,

an emotional need, a practical need. Look at these verses. The Bible

on the next page says this, I want you to excel in this gracious

ministry of giving and acts twenty thirty five Jesus. It tells us we must

support the week remembering the words of the Lord Jesus. It is more blessed.

That means happy. It's more blessed to give than to receive. That's

what Jesus said. Now imagine this. I want you to get this.

Let's say you had a father who was a multi multi billionaire, and one

day your dad brings you in and he says, I've got this huge fortune

that I want to give to you. I want to share it with you,

but I need to know if you're capable of handling it. And I

need to test you to see if you can handle this amount of wealth.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you a set

amount of money to live on, and then I want you to learn to

live on less than the amount I give you. And I want you to

live on less than the amount I give you, so you can give some

of it a way to help other people. Now, I'm gonna be watching

you to see how you manage and distribute my money. Remember it's mine.

I'm just gonna give it to you, and I'm gonna watch and see how

you manage and distribute it. And if you do well, I'm gonna give

it all to you. Now, what would you do with that money?

You'd be very very careful and how you used it. God has said the

same thing to you. He said, I want to bring you to heaven

one day, and I want you to share my wealth in heaven forever and

ever and ever. But this is a test, folks. Life is a

test, and God is watching you to see. Are you gonna just spend

it all on yourself? Wrong answer. I can't trust you with it.

Are you gonna be generous with what I give to you, says God?

Are you gonna pass it around, spread it around? Are you just gonna

hoard it? God says, I'm watching and I'm testing. The Bible makes

very clear that this life is a test in preparation for the next how to

use your time, how you use your money, your relationships, and everything

else. That's why the Bible says this in Proverbs eleven twenty four. The

world of the generous gets larger and larger, the world of the stingy gets

smaller and smaller. Here's the point. The more you give to others,

the more God gives to you. I could give you a personal testimony that

would take the rest of the day on that one. The more you give

to others, the more God gives to you. Now why does he do

that? Because God wants you to learn to be like him. God.

Probably the number one quality, or one of the main qualities of God is

He's generous. Everything you have in your life is because of the generosity of

God. You would have zip nothing, nada if it weren't for God's generosity.

You wouldn't even be alive. If it weren't for God's generosity. He

created you. He said, what about all the things I worked for and

I earn? Where do you think you got the ability to work? Who

gave you your mind, Who gave you your hands, who gave you your

health, who decided to have you born here and give you the freedom?

Who gave you all. Everything you have in your life is a total gift

from God. You'd have nothing without God. And God is generous, And

he says, you know what, I want my children to be like me,

like father, like son. So I'm going to set up the universe

that every time you're generous, I'm going to reward you because I want you

to learn to be like me. I want you to learn to be giving

and generous. And so the world of the generous gets larger and larger,

the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. Now there's one group of

people that God really especially wants us to be generous with you. It is

it's the poor. It's the poor. Over and over in the Bible,

God says, I'm watching how you handle the poor. How do you react

to the homeless, to the poor that people have nothing? And so he

gives us promises. Here are just a couple of them. Proverbs twenty eight

says, give to the poor, and you will never be in need.

That's God's promise. But if you close your eyes to the poor, many

will curse you. And Proverbs nineteen says, when you give to the poor,

it's like lending to the lord, and the Lord will pay you back.

Do you remember last fall during forty days of community and our church decided

that we would feed every homeless person in Orange County three meals a day for

forty days. That was the task we took on during forty days of community

feed every homeless person in this county three meals a day for forty days.

And then we found out it was forty two thousand people homeless, and we

did it, and you gave and collected over two million pounds of food and

it took nine thousand, two hundred volunteers in this church to collect the sort

and to distribute, and we fed them all for forty days. You know

what you were doing those you participated in that, you were investing in the

Equity Service Fund. God says, I'm banking that in Heaven. Thank you

so much for listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We've got some incredible news

to share with you. A very generous friend has given a one hundred thousand

dollars matching grant to this ministry. That means that all this month, every

dollar you give to help Daily Hope share the certain hope of Jesus around the

world will be matched up to one hundred thousand dollars. Here's Pastor Rick to

tell you more. Hi everybody you know. As we come to the end

of this year, one of the things that worries me the most is that

there's still about three thousand people groups, small tribes in the world where there

are no Bibles, no believers, and no body of Christ. We call

these people the unreached, unengaged people groups, and it's one of the reasons

we started Daily Hope to take the good news to the final frontier. We

need to make every effort to reach these people with a Bible, a believer,

and a new church. Now, thanks to your support, we're being

able to do this. Thanks to your support, we're now broadcasting on radio

stations literally not just across America, but all around the world. We're in

places like Rwanda and Uganda. We're in places like South Sudan which has very

very little Zambia, Korea, things like that. But we're also reaching even

more people and more nations through the world with our Daily Hope podcast online.

It goes literally to the whole world. Now, as we've end this year,

I want to express to you how much I appreciate your per support and

your financial support of Daily Hope for this global effort. I can't do it

without you. You can't do it without me. And as you consider your

year in giving, I want to ask you to pray about giving a special

gift to Daily Hope. Together, we're partners and going to the final frontier

of people who have never heard of Jesus Christ. Now, the good news

is this, a generous friend of Daily Hope is offering at the end of

the year a matching gift. That's a challenge gift, which means they will

match whatever gift you give. In other words, whatever you give will be

doubled because of their matching that gift. So I'm going to ask you,

I'm going to be very boldest, give the biggest gift you can possibly give

at the end of the year. At this Christmas time, God gives his

gift to us, we give our gifts back to him in Thanksgiving and out

of Christmas, we give our gifts to Jesus. It's his birthday. And

when you do, it will be matched by a donor, doubling the impact

of your gift. Thanks so much, and we're going to enjoy the end

of the holiday seasons and we're going to enjoy the new year together. God

bless you. Remember, as Rick just shared Whatever you give today will be

doubled by the matching grant up to one hundred thousand dollars, but only till

midnight, December thirty first. Anything not matched will be lost, so please

contact us today. You can give right now by going to Pastorick dot com

or by calling eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. We'll say thanks

by sending you the brand new Daily Hope Prayer Journal that's Pastorrick dot com or

call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Be sure to join us

again 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