Rick Warren - Embracing the Vision The Purpose Driven Life Part Four

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 hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Right

now, here's Pastor Rick Warren with the final part of a message called Embracing

the Vision the purpose driven Life. Now, when you get to heaven,

you're gonna love God in heaven, So he wants you to practice now.

You're gonna love other people in heaven, so he wants you to practice now.

You're gonna grow spiritually in heaven, so he wants you to practice now.

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

now. Now, some of you have a misunderstanding of what you're gonna do

in heaven. You think that when you get to heaven, you're gonna wear

a white robe, sit on a cloud and play a harp. Folks,

that would be hell. I can't think of anything more boring. If that's

heaven, No thanks God. But think about this. Think of all the

thrills, all the fun things you can do on this Earth, and this

is an perfect planet and God created this. Think how much fun on all

the thrills it's gonna be in heaven. I mean, if look at all

the fun stuff there is to do on Earth and this is imperfect, in

heaven, it's gonna be a blast. I mean. There, you can

do all these bike flips like these you know guys do and never crack up.

You can serve the big waves and never wipe out. It's gonna be

unbelievably fun. But one of the things you're gonna do in heaven is served

serve God. Now here's the fourth purpose of life. To serve God by

serving others. You serve God by serving others. You see, on earth

it's impossible to serve God directly. You can't serve him directly. The only

way you can serve God on earth is by serving other people. So anytime

you help somebody else, God says, it's like you're doing it for me.

You're practicing on earth what you're gonna do in heaven. When you are

unselfish and you stop living this little self centered, clawed of a life and

you start saying, I'm going to help other people with my wife, God

says, now you're getting the point. You're practicing what you're gonna do in

eternity. We served God by serving others. We saw a dramatic example of

this just this last week with Ashley in Atlanta. Ashley was going through she

was a part of a church that's doing forty days of Purpose and she was

going through the Purpose Driven Life book and she went out one morning about one

am in the morning go get some cigarettes. Had no idea that as she

was walking back into her house, Brian was gonna stick up gun in her

back and say open the door. And he took her hostage. He took

her inside her house, tied her up, and put her in the bathtub,

and it looked like it was going to be murder number five. But

Ashley had been reading about God's purpose for her life, and she told Brian,

you know you're not an accident and God has a purpose for your life,

and you were made to last forever, and God wants you to practice

on earth what you're going to do forever in eternity. And it started to

sink in. He goes, God has a purpose for me. Yes,

in spite of all the stuff I've done. Yes, there is no pit

too deep that God's love is not deeper. Still, God could reach out

to me. I've already killed some people. Yes, what could my purpose

be? Well, I don't know. But you know what, if you

turn yourself in, you go to prison. You may die for the people

you killed. But as long as your heart is beating, God has a

purpose for your life. And it could be in that prison that he wants

you to serve other people. And then Ashley not only told him that,

she said, can I read it to you? And he said sure,

so he untied her, and she went and got her Bible and got a

copy of The Purpose Driven Life, and it just so happened. She was

on day thirty three, which is on how leaders, how real servants act,

and she read about how we are to serve God by serving each other,

and she even then practiced it. And she got up and she made

this guy breakfast. She served him and it melted his heart, and he

turned around and served her by fixing some curtains for her. And then she

convinced him to turn himself in and to let her go, and the killing

spree was stopped. Now you may think, well, I'm too far beyond

for God. I've done too many things in my life wrong. I've gone

too many years without a relationship with God. It's too late. You are

dead wrong. You're dead wrong. That's why God brought you here today.

He wants you to know Him in a personal way. Now, number five,

we got to move quickly. This is the fifth purpose. God made

me for a mission. God made me for a mission. 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

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

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

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

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five zero zero four or Pastorick dot com. You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily

Hope once again. Here's Pastor Rick Warren. Jesus said this, in the

same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them

a mission in the world. Should you decide to accept, mister Phelps.

God has a unique mission in the world that He has asked for you,

and only you can fulfill it. If you do not choose to fulfill it,

the world gets cheated. And that's what we're going to go into in

the next several weeks. Look at the next verse. Read it with me.

Where there is no vision, the people perish. Now, friends,

this is true in every area of life. When there's no vision in a

business, the business falls apart. When there's no vision in a family,

on our marriage, the marriage falls apart. When there's no vision in a

nation, the nation falls apart. When there's no vision in your personal life,

you drift through life. God doesn't want you drifting through life. He

wants you to live a life of purpose and power and significance and meaning,

and he wants you to get on with his plan. But it's we're going

to talk about this the next four weeks. We're going to talk about experiencing

the vision, expecting the vision, enjoying the vision, expanding your vision,

and even energizing your vision. But it starts today. It starts with you

embracing God's vision for your life. What does that mean? It says God,

You say, God, I've been doing my plan for long enough,

and it hadn't worked out. I've had my plans for my life and it's

caused a lot of stress, a lot of tension, a lot of fatigue.

I've had some heartbreaks, I've had some dead ends. I've had things

not turning out the way I thought they were going to turn out. So

God, I wasn't put on this planet anyway to live my plan. I'm

switching to your plan today. I'm switching to your purposes which you put me

on this planet for. So I am embracing your vision for my life.

That's the first step. Notice what the Bible says, those who embrace my

ways are most blessed. Have you done that? Have you said to God,

God, I'm going to stop living my way and I'm going to start

living your way for the purposes that you put me on this planet for in

getting me ready for eternity. I am embracing your purposes for my life.

They said, why should I do that? I'm living the good life,

And it's true, you are living the good life. I've been in Africa

and Kenya and Uganda and Rwanda, working with orphans orphaned by AIDS and those

orphaned by the genocide in Rwanda. And believe me, you're living the good

life. They weren't. Those kids would love to have your problems. They'd

love it. And because you live in southern California, you are living the

good life. There's only one problem with the good life. It isn't good

enough. It isn't good enough. It's a shallow, superficial life. The

good life is all about looking good, feeling good, and having the goods,

and that is a shallow, superficial life. It has nothing to do

with doing good or being good. And you were made for more. Now,

if there was a life that was better than the good life, would

you be interested in it? I would think you would if there was a

step up, that there was more than just a good life. But that's

not the ultimate in life. The ultimate is the better life. Wouldn't you

want to know about it? Well, of course you would. The Bible

says Jesus included everyone in his death so everyone could be included in his life,

a far better life, not just a good life, a better life

than people could ever live on their own. That's the life that God offers

you today, not the good life, the better life. How do you

get started? Run? This better life, a life of purpose and peace

and power. You open your eyes. The next verse says this, open

your eyes and see how good God is. Blessed are you who run to

him. I want you to pray a little prayer, say God, I'm

running to you. I'm opening my eyes. I'm now switching from my plan

for my life to your purposes for my life. I hope I now you've

realized you're not here by accident. This morning, a thousand years before you

were born, God planned for you to be at Saddleback Church so we could

get you to slow down long enough that he could just get your attention and

say to you, you matter to me. You're not an accident. I

planned you before, I planned the foundation of the world. I made you

to last forever. I want you to live with me forever. I want

you and my family. I know everything about you and still love you,

and I want you to know and love me back. And I want you

to grow up spiritually, and I want you to learn to be unselfish and

serve others. And I have a mission for your life. But you got

to step across the line and say, Okay, God, I'm embracing your

vision. For my life. I'm not going with my plan anymore. I'm

going with your purposes. And that's why you're here today. This last week,

when I got backed from Africa, a lot had been going on in

America, and I did twelve national network TV interviews this last week, and

they all wanted to know the same thing. They said, Rick, is

there a common denominator spiritually between the killings in Minnesota, the hostage taking in

Atlanta, and the Terry Shivo case in Florida, And of course I said

there is. Everybody needs a reason for hope, the fundamental emotional need of

everybody is a legitimate reason for hope, not a phony, false reason,

but a real reason for hope. And when people feel hopeless, they act

in hopeless ways. They become advocates of death. As in all three cases.

You see, you can go about forty days without food, and you

can go about eight or ten days without water, You can go maybe a

minute or two without air, but you cannot exist without hope. So let

me ask you a very personal question on what are you basing your hope on?

What are you basing your hope? Everybody is betting their lives on something,

and I have no doubt in a crowd this size. Some of you

came in here today feeling hopeless about some area of your life. I'm never

gonna get out of debt. You're hopeless about your finances. I'm never gonna

get married, We're never gonna have a baby. I'm never gonna reach my

dream. I'm never gonna see this problem resolve. I'm never gonna feel any

better. And you feel hopeless about some area. In fact, there's some

of you, I'm sure who are even feeling like throwing in the towel in

your own life. Don't do it. God's purpose for your life is greater

than the problem you are. Faith right now, and Jesus Christ offers you

the invitation of a lifetime. Listen to this. Jesus says, are you

tired, worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me for real

rest, and you'll recover your life, and you'll learn to live freely and

lightly. Look at the next verse. It makes no difference who you are

or where you're from. If you want God and you're ready to do as

he says, the door is open now. I love this because he says,

I'm not offering you religion religion is not the answer, folks. Jesus

didn't come to give your religion. He said, I came to give you

life, not rules, religion, restrictions, rituals, but to give you

a relationship. You were made for a relationship with God. And I don't

care what your religious background is. You may be Catholic, you may be

Protestant, you may be Jewish or Muslim, or Mormon, or Buddhist or

Baptist, or no religion at all. That it really doesn't matter. What

matters is do you have a relationship with God, who loves you and sent

his son to die for you on the cross. And it doesn't matter what

your background is, And it doesn't matter what you've done. What matters is

the direction of your feet and what they're headed. Now, it doesn't even

matter if you have doubts. I wish somebody had told me a long time

ago that I could become a believer in Jesus and still have doubts. I

would have done it a whole lot sooner. I used to think I had

to figure out everything in the Bible before I could become a follower of Christ.

Well that's ridiculous. I mean, I don't understand the chemistry of digestion.

That doesn't stop me from eating a steak. I don't understand how internal

combustion works. That doesn't stop me from having a car. There are a

lot of things in life that I benefit from without knowing how they work,

like a cell phone and the Internet, and a lot of stuff that I

enjoyed that I don't have to know exactly how it all works. Now,

I've been a follower of Jesus Christ for over forty years, and there's still

things in this book I don't understand and go, WHOA, Why did God

say that? That doesn't make sense? And I don't know why. But

I know God is God and I'm not. And if I could figure it

out, i'd be God. But it hasn't stopped me from having a forty

year relationship and friendship with God and living a life of meaning and purpose and

significance. And all I know is that when I said I'm giving up my

plan for your purposes, my life got better dramatically. And that's your invitation

to let's bow our heads and as we close, I want to pray for

you, and I want to lead you in a prayer. Father. I

know that there's some here who've been living the good life, not realizing that

there's a far better life, a life of purpose. Forgive us all for

shallow living, thinking that the only thing is life is only about collecting possessions

or having pleasure, achieving popularity. I pray that today many will step across

the line to the better life, a life of purpose and power and peace.

Now you pray, doesn't matter the words you say. Just say it

in your mind. Just say yes to God. But if you don't know

what to pray, you can say these words. Just follow me in your

mind. Say Dear God, just say it in your mind. Dear God.

I don't know if I've ever said this, but thank you. Thank

you for creating me and loving me. I want to fulfill the purposes that

you made me for, so starting today, I want to get to know

you and love you and trust you. And I want my life to bring

you pleasure. And I want to become a part of your family. Help

me to grow up spiritually like your son, Jesus. I want to use

the life you've given me to serve you by serving others. Thank you for

sending Jesus to die for me in the weeks ahead. Help me to understand

your vision and mission for the rest of my life. Amen. Hi,

everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed today's broadcast. You know,

if you just I prayed that prayer for the very first time, or

you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today, would you let me know

about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me Rick

at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of

commitment, I gave my life to Christ. And I'll send you some material

that will help you on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for

you. God bless you. 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. Jesus told his

disciples that they should live their lives according to five specific purposes. He said,

you've got to love God with all your heart. That's worship. And

love your neighbors yourself. That's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment. And

then Jesus said, go make disciples. That's evangelism. Baptize them into the

Family of God. That's fellowship, a sign of fellowship. And then he

said, teach them obey everything I've taught you. That's discipleship. And we

call that the Great Commission. We believe it daily hope that a great commitment

to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will produce a great Christian, a

great church, a great company, a great community. You know, I

started Daily Hope so I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just

across America, but all around the world. And we want people to know

that God's word is filled with hope and truth, and the power that we

need to follow him every day is available to every single one. You know

as well as I do, that the Word of God changes lives. It's

alive, it's active, and it breathes new life and new love into all

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all the people going to be in heaven because you cared 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. Anything not matched will

be lost, so please contact us today. You can give right now by

going to pastorig dot com or by calling eight hundred six hundred five thousand four.

We'll say thanks by sending you the brand new Daily Hope Prayer Journal that's

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