Daily Hope - Rick Warren

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, everyone, it's Daily Hope with Pastor Rick Warren. So
we're continuing with this series called Daring Faith the Key
to Miracles. And in this series you're learning how to
have a bold, unshakable faith. And so far this series
is giving all of us powerful tools to share our faith,
a faith that gives you courage to impact the world

(00:24):
around you. All right here it comes Pastor Rick with
part two of a message called Daring to Believe.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Romans Chapter ten, Verse nine in the Bible is one
of the most important verses in the Bible. So if
you don't get anything, get this today. It says this,
if you confess with your mouth Jesus is my Lord,
and you believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. Now this is

(00:54):
a promise of God. He didn't say you might be saved.
You hope you can be saved. You really wish you'd
be sayd He said, you can count on the fact
you're going to heaven. You can know for certain you're saved.
You're going to heaven if you do these two things.
Confess with your mouth Jesus is my Lord, and believe
in your heart God raised him from the dead. Now,

(01:15):
most of us, if not all of us, have already
done the second thing. You believe that Jesus Christ racially dead.
It's an established fact. Our calendar's built on it. But
many of you have not done the first part. Confess
with your mouth, Jesus is my Lord. I circle that
word lord because I need to explain that word to you.
It's not a word we use anymore. We don't use

(01:38):
it in America because in America we have a democracy.
We don't have a monarchy. And this is a term
from a feudal system. In a monarchy, you have kings
and queens and lords and ladies and knights and squires
and serfs and pages, and these are terms of a monarchy.

(02:03):
We don't have a monarchy in America. So nobody goes
around using the word lord. You don't go around saying yes,
my lord, no, my lady, unless you're in Dalton Abbey.
But we don't say this term. And we don't have
a house of lords in America. Okay, we have representatives,
the House of Representatives. So what does the word lord

(02:26):
mean for me to say Jesus is my lord? It
means he is my master, He is my boss. He
is in control of everything in my life. He's not
just resident in my life. He's president. And when I
say Jesus is my lord, I'm saying Jesus is the
CEO of my life. He's the chairman of the board

(02:49):
in my life. He's calling the shots. He is my manager,
he is my director, he is my God. This week
at the bottom of my hill, the Albertson store changed hands.
Another company bought them out, and so they're under new ownership,
and they're under new management. They put up a sign
in the window that says under new management. When you

(03:13):
truly believe in Jesus Christ, not head knowledge, but heart knowledge,
you should put on a sign that says I'm under
new management, because that's what it means to make Jesus
the lord of your life. All of a sudden, he's
the lord of my life. I'm no longer the lord
of my life. I'm not calling the shots anymore. He's
gone it. He's in control. I'm not in control. He's

(03:36):
the boss of my life. I'm not the boss of
my life. See until you do that, you're the lord
of your life. By the way, how's that working for you?
You calling all the shots in your life. You being
the lord, you being the master your faith. Everything happened
in the way you want to do, all your dreams
coming true, no problems, totally fulfilled, happy as a as

(03:56):
a clam. How's that working for you? You being the
lord of your life. You aren't meant to be God.
God is God and you're not. And the reason you
get under stressed is when you try to play God
in your life. You get stressed out because you don't
have the power to change the things that God does.
So the first part of believing means I say Jesus

(04:17):
is my lord. He is my boss, my manager, I'm
under new management. I saw a bumpersticular the other day
in the back of a card that says God is
my co pilot. There's only one problem with that. God
doesn't want to be your copilot. He doesn't want to say, Okay,
you control the plane half the time and I'll control
at half time. You run your life half the time,
and then I'll run it the other eye. No, he

(04:39):
wants total control. God has a right to total control
in your life because He made you, He loves you,
he created you, he sent his time to die for you,
and he wants with you, with him forever in eternity.
He has a right. He doesn't want to be co pilot.
He wants to be the lord, the manager of your life.
The next thing are and trust. What does it mean

(05:01):
to believe in Jesus? It means to believe in Jesus.
I are relax in His love. I relax in His love. Now,
let me explain this because I chose the word relax intentionally,
because what's the opposite of relaxing, working, working, and God
is saying you don't have to work for God to

(05:23):
love you. You don't have to earn God's love. Growing up,
you grew up with conditional love. You got conditional love
from your parents, your partners, your pals, your professionals, all
the people around you. And you learn pretty quickly that
if I want to be loved, I got to do
certain things. And you have spent most of your life
trying to earn the love of other people. You want

(05:45):
to be loved. There's nothing wrong with that, because you
need love in your life. You want to be loved,
But you spent most of your life trying to earn
the love of other people, working for the love of others.
When you believe in Jesus, you relax and you realize
God is gonna love me no matter what. I don't
have to earn his love. I don't have to work

(06:06):
for his love. I don't have to pay for his love.
God is gonna love me unconditionally. God loves me unconditionally.
That means it's not based on what you do. God
loves you unwaveringly. It never, never, never changes. God doesn't
love you one day and not the next and then
the next. He's not finicky or fickle. He doesn't have
a bad hair day. God loves you unendingly. Once you

(06:30):
have the love of God in your life, it never, never,
never never will leave you no matter what you do.
Because God's love is not based on what you do.
It's based on what Jesus Christ did on the Cross
for you. It's not based on who you are. It's
based on who God is his character. You can't make

(06:52):
God stop loving you. You could try, but you will
fail because God's love is unconditional, unwavering, and unending. It
is forever and that gives me enormous confidence. And when
I believe in Jesus, it means I believe what Jesus
said about God's love for me, and I relax in
God's love. That gives me enormous confidence because a lot

(07:14):
of other people may not like me, But the creator
of the universe loves me, and that gives me confidence.
Let me show you what the Bible says about this,
Romans chapter eight. Nothing will ever be able to separate
us from his love. That's the love of Jesus Christ.
Death can't, life can't. The angels can't, demons can't. Our

(07:37):
fears for today are worries about tomorrow. Even the powers
of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we're high
above the sky or in the deepest ocean, Nothing in
all creation will ever be able to separate us from
the love of God that is revealed in Christ, Jesus,
our Lord, that gives you enormous confidence. If you want

(07:59):
to I have personal security, You must put your trust
in something that can never be taken from you. You
put it in your bank account. You can lose your
bank account. Put your trust in how good looking you are,
Hey tell you you're already losing that. You can put
your faith in somebody else. You can lose them. They
will die. You must put your faith in something you

(08:20):
can never lose, and there's only one thing you cannot
ever ever lose, God's love for you. To believe in
Jesus means I accept what he says about God's love
for me, and I relax in his unconditional, unending love.
The you in trust means I use my life to
serve God by serving others. To believe in Jesus means

(08:45):
I will use my life to serve God by serving others.
We are saved to serve God did not come to
earth and die on across and pay for all your
sins just so you could live a selfish, self centered
life all about yourself. Really, do you think God created
you just to go to school, work, make money, and

(09:08):
die and live totally for yourself? Really, what's the logic
in that? Do you think God made you just to
live for you? No? No, No, you were made for
so much more than to live for yourself. God has
a far bigger purpose for your life than that, and
part of that purpose is to serve God while you're
here on earth. He said, well, wait a minute, how

(09:30):
in the world do I do that? How do I
serve God? I can't even see him? How do you
serve an invisible God? Good question? How do you serve
it invisible God? One day we will see God in heaven.
We don't see him now. God wants us to learn
to live by faith on earth. That's part of it.
Faith pleases God. One day you'll see him. But how
do I serve a God that I can't even see?
Who is invisible? Jesus said, many times, we serve God

(09:54):
by serving others. And he said, even if you give
a cup of cold water to somebody who thirsty, and
you do it in the name of Jesus, he said,
that says if you did it to me God, he said,
you're doing it to others. You serve God by serving others.
You were put on this planet to make a difference.
That difference is called your good works. It's also called

(10:18):
your quote service. It's also called your quote ministry. God
puts you here for a ministry, for a service, for
a good works, to make a difference with your life,
not necessarily a big, flashy difference, but to make a
difference and leave the world a better place. And the
Bible says that believing in Jesus is part of accepting
that responsibility. Let me show you here on the screen.

(10:40):
Romans chapter six. The Bible says this, give yourselves completely
to God, every part of you. That's give everything to Jesus,
Lord of my life, for you have been saved from death.
So I'm doing this out of gratitude. And you want
to be tools in the hands of God, to be
used for his good purposes. There is no greater thrill

(11:01):
than to be a tool in the hand of God
and used for his greater purposes. If you've ever felt
that feeling of being used by God, you know this
is cool. This is great. This is what I was
made for. This is me, this is my niche, this
is why I live here. God made me for this,
and it gives you significance, and it gives you satisfaction,
and it gives you fulfillment you will never get from money, sex, power, pleasure,

(11:25):
or anything else, because you were made for more than money, sex, power,
pleasure and everything else. You were made for significance, and
that significance comes from serving something greater than yourself. You
were made to live for than more than you. And
if you live for you, you're going to be bored and
bitter with your life. Now, let me just be blunt.

(11:49):
If I claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ,
but I have no desire at all to serve Jesus Christ,
and I have no desire it all to serve humanity,
to serve God by serving others, then I have every
reason to doubt that I'm actually a believer. I might

(12:11):
think I've been a believer, but I really wasn't. Because
if you are a true believer in Christ, it changes
your motivation, It changes your want to, it changes your attitude,
and all of a sudden, you don't want to live
for yourself anymore. You want to live for something greater
than yourself. The Bible says in James chapter two, if
people say they have faith but do nothing, their faith

(12:35):
is worth nothing. Can a faith like that save them?
The answer is no. That's why just saying I believe
Jesus on a God is not going to get you
to heaven. That's not true belief. If they say they
have faith but do nothing about it, their faith is
worth nothing. Let me show you another verse Phesians chapter two,
verse ten. God made us what we are, the Bible says,

(12:58):
and in our union with Christ Jesus, that means by
believing in Christ. He has created us. He created you
for a life of good works. That's the good things
God wants you to do with your life, which He
has already prepared in advance, prepared for us to do. Now,
did you know that before you were born? God decided

(13:19):
the good things he wanted you to do with your life.
That's your ministry, that's your service, that's your good works.
God decided that. But you can miss it because God's
not going to force you to follow his purpose. In fact,
most people miss God's purpose for their lives. Most people do.
The greatest tragedy in life is not death. The greatest

(13:41):
tragedy in life is to miss your purpose, to waste
your life and to not be the woman God intended
for you to be, to not be the man that
God intended for you to be. That is a tragedy.
You could make a million bucks and still be a
failure at life because you missed the idea of serving

(14:01):
God by serving others. Now there's a fourth letteres And
before I give it to you, let me explain a
little background because it's kind of hard to understand this one.
Jesus Christ, because he was the son of God, because
he is God coming in human form, lived a perfect life.
He never sinned, he never made a mistake, he never
had any errors in his life because he was God.

(14:22):
That's why he could pay for your sin, because he
didn't have any sins of his own to pay for.
He was perfect. But even though Jesus was perfect, not
everybody liked him. Were there some people who, even though
Jesus was perfect, disagreed with him, Yes, accused him of things, yes,
misjudged him and maligned him. Yes, hated him. Yes? Were

(14:44):
there people who wanted him dead? Yes? Wait a minute,
you're telling me that even if I was perfect, some
people aren't going to like me. You haven't figured that
one out yet. You could be perfect. Jesusesus was, and
there are people who wanted him dead. Why Because evil
hates good, Darkness hates light, wrong hates right, And so

(15:09):
God says, if you're gonna be a believer in Jesus,
you should expect the same reactions from people that Jesus got.
Not everybody like Jesus, because when you do what's right,
people who want to do what's wrong get a little
upset about it. Let me give you an example. Let's
say your boss comes to you and your boss is unethical.

(15:30):
And your boss says, look, we're gonna cheat, we're gonna lie,
we're gonna steal in order to make this company go forward.
And so here's what I want you to do, and
I want you to do these things. And you say, sorry, boss,
I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ demands
integrity that I always do the right thing and tell
the truth. So I can't do that. Do you think

(15:51):
your boss is going to be happy with that? No?
Do you think your boss is going to give you
a promotion for having integrity? No? Do you think that
boss is actually going to hurt you or cause you
to suffer in some way? In all likelihood, yes, you
might get overlooked for a promotion. You might even get fired.
You might get put out of the company. People suffer

(16:14):
for doing the right thing all the time because they're Christians.
Or let's say tomorrow morning, you're standing by the water
cooler at break and five or six people start trash
talking and gossiping and being vulgar and being mean spirited
about somebody. You go, this is not the kind of
conversation I need to be as a follower. Of Jesus Christ.
So you don't say anything, You just silently walk away.

(16:37):
And let's say one of those people comes after you
say hey, wait a minute, why did you leave the conversation?
They say, well, you know, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ,
and I just I don't feel comfortable talking that way
about other people. What's going to be their reaction, Well,
good for you. No, what they're going to say to
you is, oh, you are so self righteous. You think

(16:58):
you're better than the rest of us. You're such a
goody two shoes, you're a Christian, you think you're better
than all the rest of us. What's happening. They're feeling
guilty and they're promoting it on you. Does that make sense?
And so you actually suffer for doing the right thing,
not doing the wrong. And this is the fourth thing

(17:19):
of what it means to believe in Jesus. Write it down.
The S stands for I suffer for doing what's right.
Because believing in Jesus isn't always convenient. Anybody want to
give a testimony on that. It isn't always comfortable. As
a pastor, I want you to know Jesus Christ like
I do. But I also want to tell you the truth.

(17:40):
The truth is following Jesus Christ is not for weaklings.
It's not for wimpy people, it's not for people who
are wishy washy. Believing in Jesus Christ will demand more
courage than you possibly imagine because it's not always popular
doing the right thing. It's not always popular stand for
the truth. It's not always easy or comfortable or convenient,

(18:05):
and you could be persecuted, you could suffer, you could
be criticized, you could be beligned, people could ostracize you.
In fact, in some countries, you could lose your life.
And Christians have been dying for their faith for two
thousand years. Now. That's not going to happen to you,
at least right now in America. But it happens every
moment of every hour of every day, and it has

(18:28):
for two thousand years. More Christians are killed for their
faith than any other cause around the world every year.
Why because they're more of us. Two point three billion
people give their lives for following Christ. Jesus was honest
about this. He said, if you want to follow me,
you've got to take up your cross. What does that mean. Well,

(18:49):
in those days, nobody took up across Uless. The Romans
were going to nail him to it. He says, are
you willing to suffer for my name? And if need be,
are you willing to die? Are you you a true believer?
Let me ask you this. If tomorrow they've made it
against the law to be a follower of Jesus Christ
in America all of a sudden is against the law
to be a Christian? Would there be enough evidence to

(19:10):
convict you? Would anybody know that you are actually a
true fellow? Oh? Well, I believe it. That's not enough.
Have you turned your life over everything to Christ? Have
you relaxed in His love? Are you using your life
to serve something bigger than yourself? Are you willing to

(19:31):
suffer for doing what's right? Let me show you some
Bible verses Philippians chapter one. For you have been given
not only the privilege of believing in Christ, circle privilege
of believing, the privilege to believe in Christ, but you
have been given the privilege of suffering for him. That's
the privilege nobody wants to talk about. But I just

(19:52):
want to be upfront. It's not for weaklings, it's not
for whims. It's for courageous men and women, and you say,
I am willing to do what's right. And what happens
if you get ostracized, What happens if you get criticized.
What happens if people attack you on the internet for
your faith and for standing up and doing what's right. Well,

(20:12):
here's what the Bible says. First Peter three, if you
suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you.
And by the way, that reward is going to go
on and on and on and on and on in eternity,
far longer than the criticism was. So he says, don't
be afraid and don't worry.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
What a life giving message from pastor wreck And now
here's Rick with a special message.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
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

(20:58):
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

(21:21):
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 a live it's active, and it

(21:42):
breathes new life and new love into all of our lives.
So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on
the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or
whether you listen to a podcast, you're a part of
the Daily Hope family. And I need your help. We
could not do this without yourself. Now, you know, I
don't take any funds from this broadcast. We don't have

(22:04):
any giant, million dollar donor who's giving big gifts to this.
It comes from daily donations from listeners like you. We're
one hundred percent listener funded. Would you continue to pray
for this broadcast and would you continue to support us,
and let write to me, let me hear from you.
I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me.

(22:27):
So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry
and God will bless it, and God will bless you,
and we'll get to heaven and we'll thank God for
all the people going to be in heaven because you cared.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
If you'd like to help support Pastor Rick in this
ministry with a financial gift, just go to Pastorick dot
com or text the word hope to eight hundred six
hundred five thousand and four. Again, that's Pastorick dot com.
Or text the word hope to eight hundred six hundred
five thousand and four, and thank you so much for

(22:59):
your support. We hope you'll join us next time when
we look into God's word for our daily hope. This
program is sponsored by Pastoris's Daily Hope and your generous
financial support.