Leaving a Legacy of Faith — Part 1

Hey, everyone.

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. You know, sharing your faith with the next generation. Well, it's one of the most important things you can do. And we're so glad you're here, because today, Rick is continuing in his Leaving a Lasting Legacy series. Rick gives you some very special tools to help you share the biblical principles of faith, hope, love, and generosity with the next generation. Okay, I'm excited about today's message. Here's Rick with part one of a message called Leaving a Legacy of Faith.

We're in a series that I'm calling Leaving a Lasting Legacy, and we're looking at six different values that we have to pass on to the next generation. Last week, we looked at the value of generosity in a materialistic world. This morning, I want us to look at leaving a legacy of faith in a secular world. Now, the Bible says this at the top of your outline. I'd like to ask you to read it with me. Hebrews 11:6. Let's read it together. Without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him. The Bible says God is not looking for ritual in your life. He's not looking for rules in your life. He's not looking for regulation in your life. He's looking for a relationship. And since God cannot be seen, how do you have a relationship with an unseen God? Only by faith. God says your faith will be rewarded here on earth and in heaven as you learn to trust a God you can't see. And the Bible says it's impossible to please God unless you learn to trust Him. Now, what does it mean to live by faith? And what does it mean to leave a legacy of faith? Well, a good example of leaving a legacy through multiple generations is what Paul said to his young co worker in the Lord as he traveled around the Roman Empire during the Bible times. Up on the screen, Paul says to Timothy, I know that you sincerely trust the Lord, for you have the faith of your mother, Eunice and your grandmother Lois. Lois was a woman of great faith who passed that faith on to her daughter Eunice. Eunice passed that faith onto her son Timothy. Timothy took that faith and spread it all over the Roman Empire with the Apostle Paul. Two generations from now, will there be anybody spreading the faith because of you? Did you pass on your trust in God to anybody else? Well, you can't pass on faith until first you know what it is. What is faith? If you want to know what faith is, you have to Go to the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, which is God's hall of fame. It's the list of the giants of faith. That God says, these men and women, they did good, they did it right. They lived their lives by faith. What we're going to do today is go through that passage, Hebrews 11, verse by verse. As we look at how God says we live by faith. Faith is like a diamond, it's multifaceted. There is no single definition. But in this passage of scripture we find seven definitions of what it means to live by faith. Now, if you only come to church one weekend a year, you picked a good weekend to come because this is the one that if you get it, you got it. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. So how do I live by faith? Seven ways. Number one, faith is believing when I don't see it. Faith is believing when I don't see it. And that's the first verse of Hebrews chapter 11. It says this. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is visualizing the future. It is visualizing potential. It's seeing it in advance. Faith is believing it before you see it. Now some people say a lot of times you've heard this said, well, I'll believe it when I see it. And God says, actually the exact opposite is true. You will see it when you first believe it. There are many things in life that have to be believed before they can be seen. Back in the 1960s, the Russians sent the first cosmonaut into outer space, Yuri Gagonkin. And he circled the earth and when he came back down, he came out and did a press conference and said, I searched the heavens and I looked for God and I did not see him anywhere. Therefore there is no God. And the communists, which was an atheistic regime, said, we now have scientific proof that there is no God. About six months later, John Glenn, who later became a senator, went into space, circled the earth three times, and Jim and I came back down, held a press conference and said, I saw God everywhere. I saw his presence, I saw his glory in the galaxy, I saw his splendor in the universe, I saw his majesty in the stars, I felt Him, I saw God everywhere. Which one was right? They both were. Jesus said, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. You're just too narrow minded to see it. Until you've had a spiritual transformation in your life, you've shut off the possibility of what God wants to do in your life. You're too narrow minded. You have to have that transformation. Wernher von Braun, the father of the nuclear movement, said there has never been any great accomplishment in history without faith. It is faith that causes an architect to design a building because first he believes it can be done. It is a faith that causes an Olympic athlete to practice and go to the Olympic trials because they believe they can achieve. It is a sculpture or an artist who first believes that they can paint this picture before they attempt that sculpture. It is a scientist who first believes that we could put man on the moon. That has to believe it before you see is a universal principle of life. I believed that God was gonna build a world class church in Southern California long before he did it. Faith is believing when I don't see it. And it turns dreams into reality. Number two, faith is obeying when I don't understand it. And God gives us two examples of people who obeyed God when he told them to do something long before they understood why he had told them to do it. The first one is a guy named Noah. And Hebrews 11, verse 7, it says this. It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God who warned him about something that had never happened. It had never rained prior to the flood. Did you know that the Bible tells us that the plants of the world were watered by a condensation. It's like a dew that came up in the morning that covered a mist. And that's why when they saw the first rainbow, they were all surprised because it had never rained. And God says, I want you to go build an ark. It's going to take about 100 years to build. And by the way, it's going to be a flood that carries it off. Now what's a flood? Well, it's a bunch of rain. What's a rain? Well, we don't know. It's obeying God in advance. If God told you to build an ark, a big ship in your front yard, would you do it? Imagine being Noah's kids. They come home every day and here's their dad, the crackpot, working for 100 years on a big boat in the front yard, hundreds of miles from the nearest sea. What is this for, dad? It's for a flood. What's a flood? Well, I don't know, but God says we're gonna have one now because it had not rained before. That's by the way why people lived so much longer, lived hundreds of years prior to the flood because the atmosphere was actually changed in the flood. And they didn't live as long after God allowed rains and things like that to happen. But he obeyed without question. And aren't you glad he did? I mean, the human race is here because Noah obeyed when he didn't understand it. I mean, I'm sure the kids are going, can't you get a different hobby? Dad, this is embarrassing. Now, there was another guy who did the same thing and his name was Abraham. And in verse 8, it was by faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country that God had promised him. And he left his own country without knowing where he was going. Now, when God says this to Abraham, he's 75 years old and he's living in Iraq. Did you know that he lived in a city called Ur? How'd you like to live in a city called Urban? Where are you from? Er, sounds like gas.

Er.

God says, abraham, I'm going to ask you to leave. You're 75 years old. It's time for Social Security. It's now time for social insecurity. Just when you're ready to hang it up and go play golf, I'm saying, get it down and dust it off, you're going for the ride of your life. And I'm going to make you the father of a great nation, Abraham, if you will obey me when you don't understand it, I want you to head west to a country you've never been to, and I'm going to make you of a nation that you've never heard of. And God says, I'm not going to give you the details. So Abraham says, where are you going? He said, well, you've never heard of this place. How will I get there? Well, just head out. How long will it take? I'll let you know. How long? When will I get there? I'll let you know. Would you do that at 75 years of age? Head off on the greatest adventure of your life? The result is he became the father of a great nation. The point is, this obedience always involves taking some kind of risk. You see, some people want a guarantee of success before they obey what God tells them to do. But God won't do it because that's not faith. There was no guarantee of success when Kay and I moved to Southern California from Texas to start Saddleback church. It was 1979, Kay and I were 25 years old. And God says, go to Southern California, Saddleback Valley, and start a church. Now. There were many reasons to doubt. First, I had never been the pastor of A senior pastor of a church. So I didn't know. How would I know how to start a church? Second, we didn't have any money. Third, I was only 25 years old. And fourth, I didn't know a single person in the Saddleback Valley. And when we moved here, there was no guarantee that this thing would succeed. It was simply an act of obedience. And I remember asking Kay, what do you think about doing this? I think God's calling us to Southern California. And she said, well, I'm scared to death, but I believe in God and I believe in you, so let's go. I've often thought, what would have happened? How would history be different if she had said, let's don't go, if, rather than obeying God when we didn't understand it, we'd said, we're scared to death. We have no guarantee of success, so let's not do it. How many lives would not be changed? How many churches would not be blessed? How many families would be split up that were saved? How many and stayed together? Faith is obedience when you don't understand it. Now, in the Bible, it's just the New Testament alone, there are 1,050 commands, and they're all there for your benefit. And God says things like this, love your enemies. Well, that's not particularly easy. Or, forgive the people who really hurt you. Well, that's not an easy one either. And honestly, there are a lot of commands in the Bible that seem to be difficult, unreasonable, unrealistic, unachievable, and actually seem impossible. And God says things like, you should save sex for marriage. Now, when he says these kind of things, it's not because he's being a meanie, but because God knows best, what will make you happy more than you do. And the question is always a test. Do I trust God or do I trust my gut? Do I trust the Word or do I trust the world? This is a test of faith. Will I obey? And every time God tells you something to do, it's a test of your faith. Will I believe that God knows what to do? Because honestly, I don't always feel like doing what God tells us to do. When somebody hurts me, I don't feel like forgiving them. I want to get even. I want to get back at them. I want to retaliate. As a kid, did your parents ever ask you to do something that in your mind seemed unreasonable?

Yes.

And did you ever ask them, why should I do this? Yes. And they would say, because we had the same parents. Because I say, so what kind of answer is that that's no reason. That's just an excuse. Looking back, were some of the things that your parents told you to do because they said so really the right thing?

Yes.

Can you see in hindsight now how they were wise? Yes. God will ask you those questions the rest of your life, not just when you're a kid. When you're 80 years old, God is going to be saying to you, I want you to do this. And you're going to go, why? That doesn't make sense. And God will say, cause I say so. This is a test. Faith is believing when I don't see it, but it's also obeying when I don't understand it. And the point is, if I learn to do what God tells me to do without question, without question, even when it seems absurd, even when it seems the exact opposite of my natural tendency, then I'm going to grow in faith and I'm going to get blessed. On the other hand, if you do not learn to obey when you don't understand it, when God says, I want you to do this, whether it seems like the wise thing or not, I want you to do this. If you don't do that, you will miss so many blessings in life that God had in store for you. I once asked Kay, when I was preparing for this message, could she think of a time when she obeyed God without understanding it? And she said, yeah, when you asked me to marry you, Just think of the blessing she would have missed. Baby, oh baby, oh baby. What are the blessing I would have missed 31 years later? Was that a good call? Absolutely.

Yeah.

We could just dismiss now, that's the end of the sermon. Faith is believing when I don't see it, obeying when I don't understand it. Number three, it's persisting when I don't feel like it. Now, if there's ever friends ever of value, we need to teach the next generation it is this one persistence, never giving up when you feel like it. Because we live in a culture that is manipulated by its moods. We live in a culture that has been taught. If it feels good, do it. If you don't feel like doing it, don't do it. Do only what you feel like doing. And as a result, we are ruled by our emotions. And that is a mistake. The truth is, doing the right thing is not always the thing you feel like doing. And maturity is when you don't live by your feelings, but you live by your commitments. And frankly, I don't want to pass on that cultural value to the next generation. Just do whatever you feel. Which those of us who were baby boomers or even Gen Xers grew up with. It's not exactly the right thing. Because doing the right thing is not always something you feel like doing. I'll be honest with you, this is going to blow my image to some of you, but I don't always feel like being nice to people. I don't. Sometimes, you know, at the end of a long day, about 11 o' clock at night, I'm in grocery shopping and somebody goes, pastor Rick. What? I don't really feel like being nice. Can I tell you my problems? No. That's the way I feel. It's not what I do necessarily, but the truth is, I know this is gonna shock you, but sometimes I don't feel like being nice to my wife and kids. I don't feel like doing the unselfish thing. Sometimes I'm quite selfish. I want to just lay on the couch and watch tv. I don't want to do something else. I don't want to think of you handle another problem well. Just because I don't feel like it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. In fact, this one will really shock you. Sometimes as a pastor, I don't feel like praying or reading my Bible, but I do it. I found that if the only time I pray is when I feel like it, the devil makes sure I never feel like it. If the only time I read my Bible is when I feel like it, the devil makes sure I never feel like it. Maturity is when you live your life on your commitments, not on your feelings. And. And the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people don't feel like doing. They develop habits. You don't get to the Olympics because you feel like it. You get to the Olympics by hours and hours in training that you didn't feel like doing. Lonely training. You don't get to become a master musician without hours and hours of rehearsal that you probably didn't feel like doing. You don't become the super salesman of your corporation by just making the sales calls when you feel like it. It's when you go on, you do that extra effort, you do the extra hour, and you do the extra time when you don't feel like it. That's how you become successful. You don't become a godly man or a godly woman by simply doing what you feel. Godly men and godly women make the choices to develop the habits that produce godliness in their lives. And it's not any easier than working out or dieting or anything else that may be good for you, but you don't feel like doing them. Wow.

Thank you, Rick, for that amazing message. You know, people are being transformed by these messages every day, but that's only because of your partnership with us. In fact, here's Rick to share some important news with you.

Did you know that today there's still almost 3,000 groups of people around the world that have no Bible, no believer in Christ, and no body of Christ, no Church, over 3,000 of those small tribes. One of the reasons I started Daily Hope was to help bring this awareness to the world and raise the funds to get a Bible, a believer, and a body of Christ in these last 3,000 tribes. I call it the final frontier. These people not only need to hear about the love of Jesus, they need to grow up. They need to be discipled in their faith. Now, I admit this is a big vision, but it's an important vision. It's a global vision. It's a timely vision. But every vision requires provision. And honestly, we wouldn't be able to even go after these tribes without your help. And that's why I can't fully express how much I appreciate your support for Daily Hope. When you give to this ministry, you're not only supporting this broadcast, but you're supporting our efforts to go to the final frontier, the final 3,000 tribes that have no Bible, no believer, and no body of Christ. Now, the reason I'm telling you this is I'm excited to share. We have a generous couple who's offered a $100,000 matching grant gift to Daily Hope. What does that mean? It means any gift you give between now and the end of December will be doubled to match that amount. So I want to ask you to please prayerfully consider how you could give today to help us reach the final frontier of these tribes that have never heard the name of Christ. In the coming year, friends, even if you can't help us financially, I want to ask you to pray. Pray for us. And pray these specific prayer requests that I will faithfully teach God's word in a way that blesses you and penetrates the hearts of people who don't know Christ. Pray for the Daily Hope team that God will encourage them as they create all of our discipleship tools and materials which we want you to have to help you. And most of all, pray for these unreached tribes and groups of people who've never heard the name of Jesus. I'm praying for you during this Christmas season. Thank you so much for your generosity. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support. You make it possible.

You can give right now by going to pastorrick.com or you can just text the word hope to 70309. Again, that's pastorrick.com or just text the word hope to 70309 and thank you so much for your support. 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.