- Hello, everybody, I'm Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life," pastor of Saddleback Church, and teacher on the "Daily Hope" broadcast. And I wanna welcome you
to this special series of encouraging messages that
I'm sharing with you each week during the global coronavirus pandemic. You know, in normal
times, about 30,000 people attend the church I
pastor, Saddleback Church, each weekend to worship
and hear my messages. But with the shutdown of public gatherings due to the coronavirus, I've
been sharing these messages of hope through a number
of different channels. And the first two messages in this series have now been heard literally
by millions of people around the world because
they have been used by radio and television stations in many countries, and others are posting these
messages on the social media and on YouTube and many,
many other channels. So let me just say right here at the start that I give you permission
to rebroadcast these messages freely anywhere during
this coronavirus crisis because we wanna give help
and hope and encouragement to as many people as possible. Now, this coronavirus
crisis that we're all going through right now is unprecedented. It has turned our lives upside down. And many things that people
have taken for granted and depended on are not available now. Events have been canceled
and businesses and schools and churches have all been closed for the foreseeable future. We've been told that the best
way to shorten this pandemic is actually to stay at home. And as this crisis
extends longer and longer and goes all around the
world, people are feeling the economic stress and the
strain on their finances. This last week, millions of
people were put out of work with no income and no idea
about when they might be able to go back to work and make that income. How should you react to circumstances that are beyond your control? I mean, what should you
depend on when the things you have depended on
are taken away from you? In other words, what do you
do when life stops working the way you expected it to work? These are legitimate questions. And they're important questions that everybody's asking these days. And that's why two weeks ago I started this special series of
messages that I'm calling "A Faith that Works when Life Doesn't." "A Faith that Works when Life Doesn't." You see, a faith that doesn't work when life doesn't work is worthless. I mean, that kind of faith
is of no use to anybody. But I want to help you
discover a deeper faith, a faith that lasts, a practical faith that will help you through tough times. A faith that will give
you hope and purpose and significance and meaning, and yes, even happiness in the middle of a crisis. That's the kind of faith
we all need these days. And I call it a faith that
works when life doesn't. Because honestly, and you
know this from experience, life doesn't always work
out the way you want it to. Now, you can go back and
watch the first two messages in this series if you missed them. The first message was called "Walking Without Fear
through the Valley of Virus." One of the best-known parts
of the Bible is Psalm 23. And in that Psalm, David confidently says, "Even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow "of death, I will fear
nothing, I will fear no evil, "for you are with me." So in that first message
I shared and talked about seven truths that you need to remember while we're going through
this valley of virus, this crisis, this global pandemic. You need to know those seven
truths that'll give you confidence and courage and
defeat your fears and anxieties. Then last week the second
message which I shared is also available online
at saddleback.com/watch, and it's called "A Faith
that Handles Difficulties." And I in that message explained
three purposes of problems in your life and four ways
to get the most out of them. Now this week, I want
us to look at a faith that makes tough choices easier. A faith that makes tough choices easier. Because you're gonna have to make some tough choices in the days ahead. But first, let me explain
before we get into that what I call the seven typical ways that people react to a crisis. And I hope you'll write these down. There's actually an
outline you can do this, but I want you to write these down so you can recognize them
in yourself and others. They're actually stages, and you may go through every one of them. My goal is to get you to stage seven. But if you understand these
stages, you're gonna find that you're a lot more
patient with yourself and with other people. So, by the way, with every
message that I share here online, I post a teaching
outline, a fill-in outline that you can go to at
saddleback.com/watch. So if you're watching this as a video, you might wanna pause it right
now and download that outline or at least pull it up on your phone. That way you can follow
along and take notes. So here are the seven typical ways that people deal with a crisis. Okay, their reactions to a crisis. And we go through these stages,
the first phase is denial. And you've seen this in people. There were people going,
"This is not my problem. "This coronavirus problem,
that's in some other country. "It may not even be real." That's phase one, denial. Phase two is what I call dismissal. And at that point, you move from denial, going it may not even be
real, to okay, it's real, but it's no big deal. And this is gonna end
fast and it won't last. It'll end fast and won't last,
that's the dismissal phase. But then eventually people are
getting to the third phase, which is defiance, which is,
"You know, I know they're "telling us to do these
things, but I refuse "to let this limit my freedom. "I'm not gonna let it
cramp or crimp my style. "I'm healthy, and I'm not
gonna stay at home alone "or whatever, I'm gonna
not let this limit me." That's defiance. But eventually, as we have seen over time, you get to stage four,
which is delayed acceptance. And that's where a lot of
people got this week, which was, okay, it is a big deal
and it will affect me. Then you get to stage five,
and that is disruption. And almost everybody in the
world is now at this phase, which is my life just turned upside down. And in disruption you start saying, I'm gonna have to make some tough choices. The kids are out of
school, I'm out of work, I've got financial choices to make, relational choices to make,
I've got priority choices to make, and my whole
life has been disrupted. Then you get to stage or
phase six, which is distress. And that's when it slowly dawns on you, this is gonna last a long time. And this is gonna change everything. This pandemic is not
gonna be over in a week. It's not gonna be over in a month. It's gonna last a long time. We've never had this
kind of turnover pandemic globally in our lifetime. It's going to change everything. That causes a lot of distress, a lot of stress in people's lives. My goal in these messages is to get you to stage seven, which is determination. And in determination, you say,
you know, with God's grace, we're gonna get through this together. With God's grace, we will make it. We are determined to
go through it together. And if you'll check in with me every week, we're gonna do that together. Now, today we're gonna
talk about decisions, because life is a series
of choices and decisions. Every day you have to
analyze, you have to evaluate, you have to draw conclusions. We make our choices, and
then our choices make us. How does trusting God
make tough choices easier? Well, James chapter one, verses
five to eight tells us how and that's what we're gonna
look at in just a second. But before I share how
trusting God will make the tough choices in your
life that you're gonna have to make this week,
we'll make 'em easier. I wanna do two things. First, let me define what
I mean by a tough choice. A tough choice isn't necessarily
a significant choice. You can have a tough choice deciding what to wear or what to eat. A tough choice means none of the options is obviously more
favorable than the other. That's what a tough choice is. You may have to decide
between two good things, and they're both equally good,
or you may have to decide between two bad things,
and they're equally bad. Or you may have to decide
between two painful things and they're equally painful. That's when you have
to make a tough choice. And that's what I want us
to look at God's Word today. Two options that could be
equally good or equally bad or equally unfavorable or equally painful. Now, in those kind of
situations where you can't find an obvious advantage to one or the other, since you can't decide,
you might just think, well, I'll just flip a coin. Please don't do that
because that is advocating your power to choose to a game of chance. You don't wanna do that. Don't do that. Your ability to choose,
your freewill, your ability to make decisions is one of
God's greatest gifts to you. It's what makes you human. Animals, worms don't get to decide. They just live by instincts. Birds don't get to make moral choices. But you do 'cause you're
made in God's image. So you don't wanna turn
that over to just chance, a flip of the coin. You wanna know how to make tough choices. Second thing, before we
look at the solutions, I want you to try to think
of something specific that you're gonna face this week. Maybe you need to make it right now. A tough choice you gotta
make about your finances 'cause you're out of work. Am I gonna pay my rent? You know, am I gonna pay my mortgage? It's coming up in a week
and I'm out of work. A choice with your kids, they're at home. You're having a hard
time deciding what to do. How will trusting God
make that decision easier? Well, here's what the Bible says. Write these down. Number one, first, when I trust God, he gives me his wisdom. When I trust God, he gives me his wisdom. And that's what I need when I have to make one of those tough choices
where there's no clear advantage to one or the other. James chapter one, verse five says this. If any of you lacks
wisdom, you should pray. You should pray and ask God because he gives it
generously to anyone who asks. He never resents your asking. God loves to help you and he'll give you the wisdom you need, just ask. You know the reason we
don't have God's wisdom is we simply don't ask for it. The Bible says you have
not because you ask not. You haven't got it because
you haven't asked for it. Why should I want wisdom? Well, if you read through
the book of Proverbs, it'll give you about 30
practical benefits of wisdom. But let me just give you one. Proverbs chapter three,
verse 18 says this. Those who become wise will be happy. Wisdom is the key to a blessed life. Do you want to be happy? Do you want your life to be blessed? Then the Bible says
you're gonna need wisdom. You're gonna need God's
wisdom in your life. And God's wisdom is the
opposite of the world's wisdom. He says wisdom is the key to happiness, and wisdom is the key to being blessed. Proverbs four, verse seven says this. Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can get in life, wow. It's more important than
money, it's more important than fame, it's more
important than pleasure, it's more important than success. In fact wisdom brings all those
other things into your life. He says if you're gonna focus on getting one thing, get wisdom. In the days ahead while
you're out of work, while you're at home, if
you will use these days to get wisdom, when you go
back to work eventually, you're gonna be wiser. You'll be blessed, you'll be
happier, you'll be smarter. The Bible says that we
need wisdom in our lives. You see, because we're
human, we're all imperfect. That means the possibility for error in our choices is very high. And how many times have you
made the wrong decision? You paid too much for something. You gave up too soon. You waited too long. You said the wrong thing. You know, so much hurt,
so much pain in our lives comes from foolish decisions, bad choices. That's why we need wisdom. Proverbs 20:14 says this. Wisdom is good for the soul. And if you get wisdom,
you'll have a bright and secure future. Now right now, the future
doesn't look so bright, it doesn't look so secure. But the Bible says if you get wisdom, you're gonna have a bright and you're gonna have a secure future. So the first thing I
need to do is trust God because when I trust God,
he'll give me his wisdom. How do I get the wisdom I need? Well, the Bible gives us three ways. You might write these down. Three ways we get wisdom in life. First, the first way I get wisdom is to put God first in my life. That's the way I'm gonna get wisdom. Number one is to just
put God first in my life. Make him the top priority
in my thoughts, in my life, in my schedule, in my
money, in my relationships, I put God first in my life. Psalm 111 verse 10 says this. Reverence for the Lord is the foundation of all true wisdom. The rewards of wisdom, did you know there were rewards of wisdom? They're those other
things, power and prestige, a good reputation, success. The rewards of wisdom are given to anyone who listens and obeys God. Now, he says reverence
for God gives you wisdom. What's reverence? Reverence means to honor,
it means to respect, it means to give priority
to, it means you trust God. When you trust God, God says
I will give you my wisdom. God doesn't just give wisdom to everybody. He gives it to everybody
who asks and who trusts. Proverbs 15:33 says this. Honoring God and being
humble leads to wisdom. And wisdom will bring honor to you. Now notice, when you honor
God, it gives you wisdom. And when you're humble,
it gives you wisdom. And when you get wisdom,
then other people honor you. (chuckles) The more humble you are, the more you're gonna
depend on God's wisdom in this coronavirus crisis. So be humble or you'll stumble. Remember the lesson of the whale. When you get to the top
and you're ready to blow, that's when they harpoon you. And instead of trying to
depend on your own wisdom, you depend on God's wisdom, you're humble and you're dependent, you're
gonna make fewer mistakes. So the first step is to
put God first in my life. That's gonna give me wisdom. Number two, the Bible says
the second key to wisdom is to practice God's Word in my life. Not just put God first, but
practice his Word in my life. Now, this Bible, this book
is filled with wisdom. But you don't get wisdom
simply by reading the Bible. You get God's wisdom
by applying the Bible, by implementing the Bible,
by doing what God says to do. In John 13:17, Jesus said this. Now that you know these
things, you will be blessed if you, notice, do them. Listen, if you do them. You're not blessed by
simply knowing the Bible. A lot of people know the Bible
and aren't blessed by it. You're blessed if you do it. Now, I've said many times and for years, the only parts of the Bible
that we actually truly believe are the parts that we practice. The parts that we practice. You say, well, I believe
we should do this. Do you do it, no, then you
don't really believe it. We only believe the parts of the Bible that we actually practice. The Bible says I should put God first and I should practice God's Word. Why should I practice
what God tells me to do? Second Samuel chapter
22, verse 31 says this. God's way is always perfect. And God's Word is always true. God's way is always perfect
and God's Word is always true. If I do it his way and I follow his word, I'm gonna do the right
thing at the right time. It'll always be the right thing to do. And when I have a
difficult decision to make, I need to remember that
God's way is perfect and God's Word is true, so
I wanna go to God's Word and I wanna see, does God say anything about this decision? God's way is perfect, God's Word is true. Here's what the Bible
says in the book of James, chapter one, down in verse 25. If you look intently, that's
another word for study, if you look intently
into God's perfect Word that gives you freedom,
the more I read and study God's Word, the more free I'll be. If you look into God's perfect
Word that gives you freedom and you continue to do so, in other words you make it a habit, the
habit of daily Bible reading, daily Bible study, daily
listening to the Word of God, and you continue to do
this, not forgetting what you've learned, in other
words, you try to remember. You might even write
some verses down on cards and remember them, not
forgetting what you've learned. And then you put it into
practice in your life. God promises this, you will be blessed in everything you do. Coronavirus or not. You know, held hostage
in your home or not, you will be blessed in everything you do if you study the Word,
you remember the Word, you practice the Word, you put
it into practice in your life you'll be blessed in everything you do. So how do I get God's wisdom? See, when I can make a tough decision, I can either make it on my wisdom or I can make it on God's wisdom. When I make it on God's wisdom, first I put God first in my life, and second, I practice
God's Word in my life. Now, there's a third source of wisdom to make wise decisions, write this down. I not only put God
first, practice his Word, I get some godly people in my life. Get some godly people into my life. Not only do I want to have
God's Word in my life, I wanna have people in my
life who also know God's Word. The people you hang out
with the most right now are either helping you or hurting you. They're either building your fear or they're building your faith. They're either making you more
cowardly or more courageous. They're either causing you to worry or causing you to worship. They're either stress
generators in your life or they're stress relievers in your life. The quality of your life and
the quality of your decisions and the quality of your choices will be determined by who
you spend the most time with. So you need to choose your friends wisely. Proverbs 13, verse 20 says this. If you keep company with wise
people, you'll become wise. But if you hang out with foolish people, you'll suffer from making bad choices because they make bad choices. Now, I realize that with
so many of us being told to stay at home in our
houses, this may seem like a difficult thing to do. How do I get with godly people? But actually the opposite is true. We now have all kinds of
free technology like Zoom and Skype and FaceTime and Microsoft Team and a lot of others, countless
other connection platforms where you can hang out with godly people, shoot, on the other side of
the world and still be at home. How do I know this? I've been doing it all week. In fact, in the last month
where I've been at home much of that time, I have
interacted with more people than I could've ever
met with face to face. I have been doing Zoom calls with my staff and Zoom calls with members and Zoom calls with my small group and
Zoom calls with my kids and Zoom calls with my
grandkids and everybody else. I meet with my elders once or twice a day. And that social distancing rule is there. But but you can do this, just
learn a simple technology, and don't just sit at
home binging on Netflix or old movies, spend some
time with godly people. Set up a regular call. Because when you do
that, you'll gain wisdom. Trusting God makes tough choices easier. Why, because he gives me
wisdom when I ask for it. How does he give wisdom? When I put him first,
when I practice his Word, when I spend time with other people who know his Word, godly people. He gives me wisdom when I ask for it. But there's another way God helps you make difficult decisions. When I trust God, he frees
me from second-guessing. Write this down, when I trust God, he frees me from second-guessing. Now, you know what I'm talking about. You've got a tough, difficult,
rough choice to make. And you can't decide which
way, this way or that way, this way or that way,
this way or that way. And finally you make a tough
choice, and then the moment you make the choice, you
start doubting yourself, you start guessing
yourself, second-guessing. You agonize over it, did
I do the right thing? Did I do the right thing? Few things will make you
more miserable in life than second-guessing yourself. Some of you are pros at it. It can be self-inflicted torture. Some of you are really, really
good at torturing yourself with self-doubt and with
second-guessing yourself. But God says this is dumb. And this is why he wants you to trust him, because when you trust
him, he sets you free from second-guessing yourself. Proverbs chapter 17, verse 24 says this. Anyone with God's wisdom will
know what makes good sense. Okay, you're gonna know. But foolish people can
never make up their minds. Why am I trying to make,
I can't make up my mind? Because I'm depending on my wisdom. I'm not depending on God's wisdom. I'm not in the Word, I'm
not with godly people, he isn't first in my life. But James 1:6 to eight
talks about when you ask God for wisdom, you can't be double-minded. James chapter one, verse
six to eight says this. When you ask God for
wisdom, you must believe and expect God to answer. Because anyone who starts
doubting is like a wave in the sea that's blown and tossed around
by the ever-changing winds. Let me stop right there for a minute. We are in a season of ever-changing winds. With this coronavirus, the winds change sometimes by the hour. We're now doing it this way,
now we're doing it that way. Now this is the problem,
no, this is the problem. And in the days and the months ahead, things are gonna be changing
sometimes by the hour. You don't wanna be tossed
back and forth like a wave by the ever-changing winds. He says don't be double-minded, he said, because if you do that,
you won't get God's wisdom if you're double-minded,
where you're always wavering back and forth. That only makes you unstable and insecure in everything you do. When you're double-minded,
when you second-guess yourself, when you doubt yourself,
it makes you unstable in everything you do. Now, that word double-minded
in Greek in the Bible literally means two-souled. It means two-souled, you're
pulled in opposite directions. You have divided loyalties. You're ambivalent, you're
vacillating back and forth. You ever feel like that? You're not sure what to do. Well, that kind of indecision,
that double-mindedness, that self-doubt, that causes instability. Second-guessing creates unstable emotions, and second-guessing creates
unstable relationships. You know, I remember
hearing about a psychologist who asked a client, are you indecisive? And the person said, well, yes and no. Said I used to be, but now I'm not sure. (chuckles) It not only creates
instability in your emotions and in your relationships. Double-mindedness creates
an unstable spiritual life. It blocks your prayers. Look at that verse again, it
says don't expect to receive anything from God if you're
doubting and double-minded. It blocks your prayers. Being indecisive keeps us from receiving what God wants to give us. Okay, so let's review. When I have a tough decision to make, trusting God makes tough choices easier. First, because he gives me
his wisdom when I ask for it. And second, he frees me from self-doubt and second-guessing when I trust in him. Number three, here's the third benefit. When I trust God, he acts on my behalf. When I trust God, God
acts, he moves into action, he moves mountains on my behalf. See, God is not moved by our whining or our complaining or our griping. But God moves into action,
he moves mountains, he moves blockades, he
moves barriers in our lives when we trust him. Trusting God moves God into action. I mentioned this earlier,
some of you've got rent or mortgage due in the next
week or two, and you're out of work, you've got a
really tough choice to make. Jesus said this in Matthew 9:29. According to your faith,
it will be done unto you. According to your faith it will be done. God says you get to choose
how much I bless your life. You have big faith, you get big blessing. Little faith, little blessing. No faith, no blessing. According to your faith, you get to choose how much I bless you. Even in the middle of this coronavirus, how much will you trust me for? God says when I trust
God, he moves into action. Let me give you one more. Number four, this is a big encouragement when you have to make a tough
decision about your job, about your kids, about where you live, any kind of major decision or
minor one that's just tough. When I trust God, this is number four, when I trust God, he
uses even my mistakes. He uses even my mistakes,
what am I saying? I'm saying when I trust
God, even if I make the wrong decision, God'll
still bring good out of it. I can't lose. That makes the stress
level go down dramatically. When I have a tough decision
to make and I don't know, do I choose this or do I choose this, they're equally good, they're equally bad, they're equally painful, I don't know. But when I make the decision in faith, and I make the decision trusting God, God says this in Romans 8:28. We know that God causes everything,
that's even my mistakes. We know that God causes
everything to work together for the good of those of us who love him and are called to live his purpose for us. If you love God and you
really want his purpose for your life, you can't miss God's will. Even if you make a wrong
decision, God says that's okay, I'll bring good out of it,
I'll fit it into the plan, I'll use it for good. You can relax. That's an amazing thing to remember when you have a tough decision to make. They're both equally bad,
they're both equally good, they're both equally painful. God says if I trust him, he
will use even my mistakes. Even if I choose the wrong
thing, but I'm doing it in faith, I'm doing it with a good
conscience, I'm doing it trying to honor God, God says I will use this for good in your life. That oughta help you relax. Because you can't, God
says I'm your safety net even if you happen to
choose the wrong thing, or not the second of the two things, I'll still use it for good in your life. That's not a promise for everybody. It's a promise for those who love God and who are trying to live by his purpose. You know, I'd like to
pray for you right now. And then I'd like to talk
to you about some next steps that you can practice this week. Would you bow your head? I want you to think of
a difficult decision you're facing right now. And I want you to give it to God. And then I want you to pray this prayer. Say dear God, I wanna
trust you with my life. I wanna trust you with my life by putting you first in my life. I wanna trust you to
give me the wisdom I need because I'm asking for it. Help me to get into your
word and to learn your word and to practice it and to find
out what you say about life. I'm gonna trust you to bring good friends into my life who are godly. Help me to stop hanging out with people who tear down my faith,
who build up my fear, and to spend more time this
week, even if it's on Skype or Zoom, to start a relationship
with somebody who's wise because they know your Word. I'm asking you to help me have your wisdom through your word and through your people and through your circumstances of life. Guide me and direct me, help
me to make wise decisions. And then, Lord, I'm asking you to help me to trust you in every little area, knowing that I don't have
to second-guess myself, that you will give me with faith the power to stop torturing
myself over decisions. Because I know that even if I
made a second-best decision, you're gonna bring good out of it. Thank you for that comfort,
thank you for that assurance. Thank you that you work
all things together for good in my life. With our heads still bowed,
if you've never invited Jesus Christ into your
life, God wants to give you more than wisdom, he wants
to give you his salvation. He wants to give you a
personal relationship. He wants to become your friend. So would you say in your
heart, dear Jesus Christ, I don't understand it all, but
I want a friendship with you. I want a relationship with God. I know I'm not God. I know I've made a lot of mistakes, and I need your forgiveness. But I'm turning my life
over to you, the good, the bad, the ugly, every part of it. I want the rest of my life
to be the best of my life, and I want to learn to
love you and trust you. And I'm opening my life
to you, Jesus Christ. I'm saying as best as I can say, as humbly as I can say
it, yes to you today. And I ask you to give me your spirit and your forgiveness and your salvation. I humbly ask this in your name, amen. Now, if you just finished,
prayed that prayer for the very first time,
that's an amazing thing to do. And you need to tell somebody about it. I hope you'll tell me about it. Here's some next steps that we do every week at Saddleback Church. Now, since we're not meeting,
we can't do 'em together, but we can do these online together. The first thing we do every
week at the end of each service is we recommit our lives to Jesus Christ. That's what we just did in that prayer. Maybe you did it for the very first time. If you did, would you tell
me about your decision? Write to me, PastorRick@saddleback.com PastorRick@saddleback.com. Say, Rick, I prayed that
prayer, and I gave my life to Christ, or whatever
prayer requests you have, please tell me, I'll pray for you. Part of my job as a pastor
is to pray for people. And if you write to me,
we'll get your request and we'll pray for you. If you have invited Christ
into your life, I'll send you some material that'll help
you understand your decision. Congratulations. Now, the second thing we
do every week at Saddleback is we express our gratitude
to God through our giving. We give back to God because
everything he's given us is a gift, and the Bible says
that we're to give a portion of what we've been given
back to him in gratitude and in faith that he's
gonna take care of us. Do you trust God enough to
give something back to him? If so, I wanna encourage you
to go to saddleback.com/give. You can give online, you can give online. And if you don't like to give online, there's an address there
that you can mail in a gift. Let me just say this, when
you give to Saddleback Church, your gifts right now are literally helping hundreds of thousands of people. We have fed thousands of people
during this crisis already. We have distributed packs
to people who need it. We are visiting the most vulnerable. We are caring for people
all around the world. Because Saddleback Church
isn't just one church. It's in 20 locations on
four different continents. We have a Saddleback Hong
Kong helping people in China. We have a Saddleback Berlin
helping people in Europe. We have a Saddleback Buenos Aires helping people in Latin America. We have a Saddleback Manila
helping people in East Asia and the Philippines and that area. And when you give to Saddleback,
you're giving to promote reconciliation around the
world, to equip leaders around the world, to assist
the poor, to care for the sick, to educate the next generation. Just this week somebody
sent in a check for $200,000 to help spread the "Daily Hope" broadcast so we could take this
message to more places around the world, giving people hope during this coronavirus pandemic. Wherever you want to help out, you can give online
through saddleback.com. The third thing we do
every week is we discuss what we learned with a group of friends. If you're not in a small group, can I help you get in a small group? You say, well, I can't even
allowed to meet in a group. That's okay, you can meet virtually through a Skype group or a Zoom group. At Saddleback Church,
when we started this year, we had 6,000 small groups that were meeting at homes every week. Since this virus has
started, we have started over 3,000 new groups. Did you hear me? Since we started this crisis, we've started over 3,000 new groups. We have over 9,000 groups
spread out all around. Well, they're not meeting
together in homes these days, but they're now meeting online. And you need that encouragement. Let us help you get a group of friends. Go to saddleback.com/connect/smallgroups,
all right? And the fourth thing that
we do is we stay connected to help each other and to
help others in this crisis. If you'd like to help
out others, if you'd like to volunteer, at Saddleback
Church, over 60,000 people have volunteered in the past 40 years to serve overseas in 197
countries, and here in America. About 30,000 have served in 197 countries, and another 30,000 have
served here in America. We need your help. If you'd like to help with this crisis, go to saddleback.com/coronaresponse and there's a place that you can involve. We want to care for the sick. We want to protect the vulnerable. We want to serve our communities. And we want to mobilize the healthy. And if you're healthy,
we could use your help. Now again, I gave you
permission to post this message or parts of it online anywhere. You can tell other people
through social media. You can pass it onto radio
stations or TV stations. Freely distribute this. We're just trying to help people be as encouraged as they possibly can. Next week we're gonna
look at how real faith, a faith that works, helps
us when we are distracted and when we're tempted
and when we can't seem to break bad habits in our lives. That's gonna be an important message. I hope you'll join me for all
14 messages in this series. God bless you, and if
you wanna write to me, write to PastorRick@saddleback.com God bless you.
