Embracing the Vision: The Purpose Driven Life — Part 2

Hey, everybody. You know, Pastor Rick Warren often says you were made by God and for God. And until you understand that, well, life will never make sense. Thank you for joining us today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and in our series called God's Vision for the Rest of youf Life. Today, Rick will continue in his effort to help you discover the unique purpose and vision that the Lord has for your life. Okay, let's join Pastor Rick for part two of a message called Embracing the Vision, the Purpose Driven Life.

Now, when you were born physically, you automatically became a part of the human family. You didn't have a choice. The moment you were born, you became a part of the human family. But becoming a part of God's family is a choice. You have to choose to become a part of it. You're not automatically a part of God's family. It is your choice. The Bible says this in First Peter. God has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God's own family. What does born again mean? It means I make the choice to say, I don't want to just be a part of the human family. I want to be a part of God's family and I'm going to follow him in his ways. It means I get a fresh start on life. Everything I've ever done wrong, everything, everything I've ever regretted, all the shame, all the things that I wish hadn't happened in my past, God says, wiped out, forgiven, completely. Start over. We're going to give you a fresh, clean slate. It's like starting over. New life, fresh start. That's all it means. Born again. It's not like reincarnation. It just means you get a fresh start on life. Now, what is God's family? Well, look at the next verse. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth. Now, this is very important. The church is not an institution. The church is not a bureaucracy. The church is not an organization. It's not a social club. The church is God's family. I don't know why some churches don't get this, but they don't. It's not about rules and regulations and rituals and religion. It's about relationships. The church is about those who decided to become a part of God's family forever and ever. And it's all about love. It's about relationships. Now notice it says that family is the support and foundation of the truth. So underline support and foundation. Now, you know what happens when a building has no support and foundation, it collapses. We in California understand this above everybody else because we have a thing called earthquakes. And if you don't have a good support and foundation in a building, it's going to collapse when the earthquake comes. God says your life is the same way. You're going to have some earthquakes in your life, Personal earthquakes, financial earthquakes. You're going to have health earthquakes. You're going to have emotional earthquakes. You may have marriage earthquakes. If you get married, you're going to have relational earthquakes. You're going to have career earthquakes. And when these tough times come along in life, if you don't have a spiritual family, you're going to collapse. You cannot fulfill God's purposes by yourself. God wired us to need each other. We need each other in the family of God. That's why in our church, we. We have 2,600 small groups. The church isn't this group right here. It's the group that meets in little groups all over Southern California. 2,600 locations in small groups, in homes, in 83 different cities. And when you have a problem and you're in a small group, they help you. When you're in the hospital, they take care of your needs. When you need a meal brought to you cause you're sick, they bring meal to you. In this church, we. We take care of each other. And honestly, I feel sorry for people who don't have a spiritual family to take care of them when they're in a crisis. Now, let's look at the next verse. Let's read it aloud together. First, Peter says this. Love your spiritual family. Are you doing that? Do you love your spiritual family? Say, well, I don't even have one. Well, we invite you to be a part of Saddleback. There's lots of good spiritual families in this area. Just choose one. Now, why is this important? Love your spiritual family. Because when you get to heaven, two of the things you're going to do in heaven. One is love God, and two is love the other people. That's called worship and fellowship. What does God want you to do while you're here on earth? Same thing. Practice. He wants you to not only love God, he wants you to learn to love other people. Why? Because God is love.

Love.

He wants you to practice. So write this down on the next page. The second purpose of life is to learn to love others. The first purpose of life is to learn to love God. The second purpose of life is to learn to love other people. Because God wants you to be like he is. He loves you and he loves Others. That's why you need a church home. It's the laboratory for learning to love God's family. Now, I hear people say all the time, you know, Rick, I don't need a church. I can go out in nature by myself, and I can worship God by myself. In nature. Well, of course you can. Who do you think invented nature? God did. That's why you feel so close to him in nature. Of course you can worship God on your own in nature, but you can't love other people in nature by yourself. That's why you need a family. And God wants us to learn real love, which means to learn to love real people, not just ideal people. So he puts some people around us that are a little bit unlovable. I call them heavenly sandpaper. You know anybody like that? That kind of just rub you the wrong way? God wants to teach you real love. To dwell above with those we love. Oh, that will be a glory. But to dwell below with those we know, that's another story. You see, every family has an Uncle Wilbur. Just a little bit out of kilter, you know, a little bit off. He's coming to Easter dinner, and you're going. Oh, no. Uncle Wilbur's going to be there. They're in every small group. They're in every family. They're in every church. And God intentionally puts them there so we can learn to love. You know, the light's on, but nobody's home. A few fries short of a Happy Meal. You know, the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top. They don't get all the social clues.

And.

And in every one of our 2,600 small groups, there's at least one person like this that just needs egr. Extra grace required. Okay, now, if you don't immediately think of who I'm talking about, I hate to tell you this, but you're it. Okay. I mean, if that person didn't come to mind, who is it in my family that's like that? I hate to tell you it's you, but we need you. And you need us because God wants us to learn real love. It's easy to love the lovely people, but God puts us around people that are a little difficult to love because you cannot fulfill God's purposes on your own. Nobody has it all together. I don't. You don't. That's why we need each other. Look at this next verse. The Bible says we belong to each other, and each of us needs a all the others. Let's review. Let's review. Number One, you were planned for God's pleasure. So the first purpose of life is to get to know and love God back. Second, God formed you for his family. So the second purpose of life is get in a spiritual family and start learning to love other people. Love God, love other people. Number three. The Bible says, God created me to become like Christ. God created me to become like Christ. Now, this takes a little explaining, but once you understand it, life will make so much more sense. The bottom line is this. God wants you to grow up spiritually. When you grow up physically, that's automatic. You grew up automatically physically, and you're an adult. But God wants you to grow up spiritually, too. And I know people who are 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years old physically and. And spiritually, they're still babies. God says, I want you to grow up while you're on earth. Grow up spiritually. This is the kindergarten, the preschool, the dress rehearsal. Grow up to be like my son. Jesus Christ is the model of spiritual maturity. That's why Jesus came to earth. One of the reasons he came to earth is to model what maturity is like. Now, notice these verses. The Bible says, from the very beginning, God decided that those who came to him, in other words, those who chose to become a part of his family, and all along he knew who would should become like his son. And look at the next verse. We look at the Son and we see God's original purpose in everything created. Now, this is God's plan A, not plan B. From the very beginning, he said, let us make man in our image. And God's goal has always been to make you like himself. Now don't misunderstand me. Not to become a God, but to become godly, to have godly character. You're never going to be a God, okay? There are some cults out there that teach, oh, you're divine. You're a God. You're no God. If you were a God, you'd have all your problems solved by now. You're not God, all right? You're just not God. And so what God wants you to do is he wants you to become godly in character.

What?

Like integrity and generosity and humility and all the characteristics of God. Now, God is far more interested in what you are than what you do.

Why?

Because you're not taking your career to heaven. You are taking your character. Aren't you glad you're not taking your career to heaven? Yeah, you're not going to have to do that one in heaven. But God says, I don't care. Really? What you do. There might be a dozen different jobs. You say, God, what job do you want me to do? God says, your choice. Whatever you feel like doing. Because I'm more interested in what you become while you're doing the job, rather than what you do. God isn't interested so much in what you do as he is in what you become while you're doing it. Does that make sense? He wants you. He's more interested in you than your job. So any job can be used to grow up spiritually. Now, the number one question I'm asked as a pastor is, Rick, why is this happening to me? And I'll tell you why. It's to help you to grow up spiritually. Everything in life is designed to help you grow up spiritually. The good, the bad, the ugly, the stuff you bring on yourself, the stuff that other people do to you. God is not the author of evil. God never does evil. But God can bring good even out of bad. That's the cool thing about God. See, anybody can bring good out of good. Anybody can do that. But God specializes in bringing good out of bad. That's what Easter is all about. He turns crucifixions into resurrections. He takes a terrible thing, the death of his Son, and uses it to save the whole world. God brings good out of bad. And there's nothing in your life that you can't learn from if you'll just respond with the right attitude.

And.

And instead of saying, God, why is this happening to me? Say, God, what do you want me to learn? What do you want me to learn from this? Every situation in life will either make you bitter or better. And it's your choice. It's how you choose to respond to it. So the problem you're going through right now, you can just think of it right now. Think of the problem you're going through. Every problem has a purpose. Every problem has a purpose. And the purpose is to help you grow up spiritually, to not be a spiritually immature person, but to grow up. And the model of perfection is Jesus Christ. Notice the next verse. Let's read it aloud from Philippians. In your lives, you must think and act like Christ Jesus. So the question then becomes, if God's third purpose for my life is for me to grow up spiritually and become like Jesus, what is Jesus like? Well, the Bible calls it the fruit of the Spirit. And it says, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self control. These are the qualities that God wants to build in your life. He wants you to live a life that's overflowing with love, overflowing with joy, overflowing with peace and patience and all those things. Now, how does God then produce those qualities in my life? How does God grow character in you and help you grow up spiritually? How does he make you like Jesus? I mean, are you just walking down the street one day, da da da, da, da da, and all of a sudden, zap, God zaps you with love, and for the rest of your life you love everybody? I don't think so. As I said, God teaches you these qualities by putting you in the exact opposite situation. He teaches you love by putting you around unlovely people. It's easy to love people who are cool, people who are like you, people you get along with. But he'll put you around some unloving people. How about joy? Joy is not happiness. Happiness depends on happenings, circumstances. I can go to Disneyland and I'm happy.

I can.

I come out, I realize how much money I spent. I'm not happy anymore. Joy is internal. And God will teach you joy in the middle of grief. How about peace? Oh, it's easy to be peaceful when you're out fishing by the lake. Hey, it doesn't get any better than this. No, God teaches you real peace in the middle of chaos, when everything in your life is falling apart. And you say, God, I need your peace.

You.

And he puts you full of peace. How does God teach us patience? Department of Motor Vehicles. Oh, you've been there. Traffic jams, doctors, waiting rooms, thousand different ways to wait. Now, becoming like Christ is a lifelong journey. It's a process. It's going to take the rest of your life for you to grow up spiritually. Look at the next verse. The Bible says, as the spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him. Some of you are a little behind, though, because you've been living your life, not working on this, and you got some catching up to do. Now, God uses troubles and trials and problems and pressures and other people. He uses all kinds of things in our lives to make us mature. But write this down. Here's the third purpose of life. To grow up spiritually, not just physically. You're physically mature. God wants you to be spiritually mature. He wants you to grow up and become like Christ. He wants you to develop spiritual depth. And you know why that is so needed? Because it is the biggest problem in our culture. The biggest problem in American culture is shallow living. No depth, shallow living. And I Hate to say this, but it's true. We are a nation of spiritual babies. What do you mean? Well, think of what a baby is. Babies are totally self centered. They all think about, I gotta do what's best for me. I gotta think of what's best for me. They're self centered, they're self absorbed, they're impatient, they don't know how to wait. I gotta have it now, now, now, now, now. I must have it now even if I have to charge it. They're unable to delay gratification. Babies are totally focused on their feelings, totally absorbed with the here and now. They have no long term thinking and that's the way most adults are. I got to do what's best for me. I got to do what I feel. They're acting as if all that matters is here and now, not in light of eternity. They're living as if today only matters. They're manipulated by their moods. They're focused on their feelings. And the Bible says this. Some people have such shallow soil of character that when their emotions wear off and difficulty arrives, there's nothing to show for it. What you need, what I need, is spiritual depth.

That was such an encouraging message from Pastor Rick. And now to encourage us more, here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

I wanna close today by just reading another letter from somebody who's written to me after a broadcast. This one's from Sharon. She says, Pastor Rick, for sure, it hasn't been easy for me to believe that God could talk to someone like me about my situation. But now I believe it. And I believe it so much. You sent me encouraging, guiding messages that are real and applicable to my situation. And I thank God so much for you and the Daily Hope team. You, your messages have encouraged me and challenged me when I feel like giving up. Pastor Rick, your prayers and your encouragement are enabling me to believe in God more and more and to carry on in my challenging new job. So thanks, Sharon. Well, thank you, Sharon. Everybody needs hope. That's why I started Daily Hope for people just like you. And I wanna continue to encourage you to keep on listening and keep on supporting this ministry so more and more people can and be encouraged with Daily Hope. God bless you. We'll see you next time as we continue to look into God's word for our Daily Hope.

Hey, if you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast has blessed you, he would love it. Please feel free to send him an email@rickastorrick.com that's rick@pastorrick.com this program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.