God's Five Purposes For Your Life with Rick Warren

hello Saddleback I want to say hi to all 20 of our campuses including those of you who are joining us online if you'll take out your message notes today we're continuing in our series on the foundations of a life well-lived there are three parts to laying a solid foundation for your life first you have to know who God made you to be that's your identity and if you're confused about your identity you're gonna waste your life because what matters is not what other people say about you but what matters is what God says about you and because he always knows and tells the truth you want to listen to what he has to say about you and we've already looked at that now the second part of the foundation is you got to know what God wants you to do that's your purpose for it first you need to know your identity and then you need to know your purpose what on earth am I here for you got to know who you are and you've got to know what you were created to do then the third part of a life well-lived is you've got to know when to do it and that's the right timing who you are what you're supposed to do with your life and when you're supposed to do it now when all three of these line up in your life your identity and your purpose and your timing you have the ingredients for successful life now the day I want you to see God's five purposes for the rest of your life but to set this up I first want to ask you a question who would you guess was the greatest king in the Bible I don't know if you've been reading the Bible for a long time or just a little time but you might guess King David because he's certainly the most famous King he wrote Psalm 23 and so many other great Psalms you might guess a Solomon who was the wisest King the Bible tells us he was the wisest and wealthiest King you might guess Saul who was the first king of Israel but God says the greatest king of all in the Bible was a little known king named Hezekiah and the Bible tells us all about him in 2nd Kings chapter 18 let me read this to you chapter 18 of second Kings verses 2 to 7 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became King and he reigned Jerusalem 29 years he did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight Hezekiah trusted the Lord and there was never another king like him in the land of Judah either before him or after his time he remained faithful to the Lord in everything and he carefully obeyed all the commands of the Lord that he had been given by Moses so the Lord was with him and Hezekiah watch this was successful in everything he did can you imagine that how would you like that have God say that about you that you were successful in everything you do I'm certainly not that successful you're not that successful but the Bible tells us that this guy was what made Hezekiah special God says Hezekiah was successful in everything that he did that he was the greatest king in Israel there was nobody for him or after him who even come came close why because he always did what God wanted him to do he knew who he was he knew his purpose and he knew the right timing now if you'd like to be successful at everything you do I highly suggest that you study this man's life Hezekiah Hezekiah lived an amazing life but eventually of course Hezekiah grew older and he starts having health problems in fact has attack came down with a terminal illness and in Isaiah chapter 38 it tells us the rest of the story and that's what I want us to focus on first today God comes to Hezekiah says Hezekiah you're gonna die your time's up I'm pulling your number I'm pulling the plug I want you to come home to heaven but interestingly enough Hezekiah wasn't ready to die so he gives God a 32 word argument on why God should let him live and serve God longer earth now that part of the story as I said is recorded in Isaiah in Isaiah 38 verses 1 to 5 it says this later this is much toward the end of his life Hezekiah got sick and he was about to die and the prophet Isaiah comes and says has the Kyah prepare your affairs and your family this is it you're going to die you're not going to get well from this illness the Bible says Hezekiah turned away from Isaiah and facing the wall he prayed to God and here's what he prays God please I beg you remember how I've lived my life remember that I've lived faithfully in your presence that I've lived out a heart out of a heart that was totally yours you've seen how I've lived and the good that I have done it says then God said you know as god I've heard your prayer and I've seen your tears and here's what I'll do I'll add 15 years to your life that is one of the most amazing stories in the Bible to me can you imagine you doing this with God that you're near death God's told you you're gonna die you're gonna go to heaven and you ask God to extend your life and ministry because you've done everything he asked you to do God I'd like to live on earth what longer and here's my reason I've served you faithfully now first God he says I want you to look at my life and God I want you to notice that I faithfully obeyed you and I did everything that you told me to do and second I want you to look at all the good that I've done for other people and look at the impact my life has had for your glory and for the good of others well that's what Hezekiah does and evidently God agreed with him he agreed with Hezekiah assessment of his own life because he says to Hezekiah when Hezekiah says Lord I'd like to serve you on earth just a little while longer and I'll make it count God says you know as God I believe you I know you will so I'm going to extend your life for 15 more years not just the donation of his life but the duration of his life is going to be increased the friends is one of the most hopeful stories in the Bible and it makes me want to ask you as well as to ask myself three very personal questions here's the first question if God asked you to give him reasons why he should let you live 15 years longer from today what would you say what would be your argument God you should let me live 15 years young longer second question if God reviewed the last 15 years of your life and he looked to see how well you had served him and now you had served his purposes and how you'd been a good steward of what he gave you and that was the basis of God deciding on whether he was going to give you 15 more years would God have a reason to extend your life all right would he say no I don't think you're serious about using your life to serve others I don't think you're serious about fulfilling the purpose that I made you for so I don't think I'm gonna give you any more time here's the third question regardless of the time you have left in your life and you don't know how much that is neither do i are you serious about using the rest of your time on earth and your energy and your resources to serve the God who created you and loves you and saves you and helps you let me repeat that question because it's going to determine not just the donation of your life what you give back the contribution you make with your life but it also may determine the duration of your life how many more years God gives you are you willing to use the rest of your time on earth and your energy and your resources to serve God and His purposes for your life if your answer is no then why should God give you another day to waste on the other hand if your answer is yes then you need to listen very closely to the rest of this message so you can be sir to learn God's five purposes for your life now God chose to give Hezekiah 15 more years of life because he had made the most of the previous years he had not wasted his life he was a good steward of all that God had given him and that's what God is looking for in your life let me show you a couple of related Bible verses these are from the New Testament in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 15 to 17 it's very important listen to what it says be careful how you live live wisely not foolishly make the most of your time and take every opportunity to do good because evil is everywhere don't live carelessly without thinking instead make sure you understand what the Lord wants you to do with your life you know I want to ask myself and ask you these this question are you doing these five things right now are you being careful with your life are you living wisely are you making the most of your time are you taking every opportunity to do good are you making sure that you know what God wants you to do with your life those are important things all five of those things are important then in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 21 it says this if you keep your life clean from sin you will be an instrument that God can use for his highest purposes I want that with my life and I want that with your life that you can be an instrument that God uses for his highest purposes how do you do that by keeping your life clean now today the five purposes that God has for the rest of your life or what we want to look at and you know what it's no secret God isn't playing games he's very very clear in the Bible about what these five things he wants you to do our he tells us over and over again these five things in different ways in different passages so let's get right into it number one write this down the first purpose of your life God wants me to Center my life around him God wants to be the center my life around him he didn't put us on earth to live self-centered lives instead he wants us to live God centered lives to learn how to love him and how to enjoy him and to enjoy his love to us he wants us to have a friendship with him God made you to love you and he wants you to build your life with him at the core at the center God wants to be the nucleus of your life not a piece of the pie not a section not a selection not a periphery not a part of your life he wants to be the center he doesn't want to be on the edge of your life not in a segment of your life but at the very very core the center God wants to be the hub of your heart he wants to be the axis of your existence he wants to be the focal point and the focus of your attention if I were to summarize that I'd say it this way God wants to have a love affair with you because when you have somebody at the focal point and focus of your attention you're in love with them and God wants to love affair with you one day Jesus is walking down the street and a man comes up and says what's the most important command in the entire Bible and Jesus says I can summarize it Matthew 22 verse 37 and 38 love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength this is the first and greatest commandment circle first and greatest this is the first purpose of your life to let God love you and to learn to love him back to know Christ to make him the center of your life the most important thing you can do is to know God and the most important thing you can experience in life is to experience his love to let God love you and learn to love you back quite because God made you to have a relationship with him he didn't make you did not have a relationship now this first purpose you might write this down is called worship a lot of people like worship means singing singing is one way to worship but there are hundreds of ways to worship worship is simply enjoying God's love and loving him back worship is enjoying God's love and loving him back it's having a friendship a relationship with God anytime you focus on God you're worshipping anytime you get your eyes off your problems that onto Jesus you're worshiping anytime you talk to him or you listen to him you're worshiping worship is centering my life on God now here's the truth you're gonna Center your life around something you may Center it around your career you may send it around your family you may send around making money or being famous or your your hobby or whatever anything besides God at the center of your life you know what that's called an idol and the Bible says you will have no idols no gods before me and don't make any idols how do you know by the way when something else has taken the center of your life instead of God how do you know when something's taking the place of God at the nucleus at the heart of your life real simple you start worrying worry is the warning light that something besides God is at the center of your life you start stressing out you get fearful in contrast to that how did can you tell when God is the center of your life when your life is centered on him you're at peace you stop worrying look at this verse the Bible says in Philippians 4:7 a sense of God's holiness everything coming together for good will come and settle you down it's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life not a beautiful paraphrase of Philippians worship is the antidote to worry it's your choice so the first and most important question in your life is this what's going to be the center of my life for the rest of my life this is the most important issue that you decide and it's the issue of worship now let me give you a little hint nothing else is strong enough to hold you together any else you put at the center of your life whether it's a sport or a hobby or a career or money or fun or family or any other activity it's not strong enough to hold you together when the Heat's on and the earthquakes happen in your life you have to have God at the center and that's what worship is all about and God says if you're gonna live here on earth that's what I want you to do first make me number one put me at the focus at the nucleus here's the second purpose God wants me to learn to love his family did you know that God the whole issue of life is learning how to love God learn how to love other people he puts you here on earth to learn how to love love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself now why why does God why is he so interested in love because God is love that God is love and he created you as an object of his love God wanted a family that family is called the church it's the only thing that's gonna last forever and God wants me to find a local church and join it and get connected so I can learn what I call the 56 one anothers in the Bible 56 times in the Bible the phrase one another is used and it says love one another careful one another help one another pray for one another serve one another greet one another comfort one another there 56 of these on the Bible where are you gonna do that if you're not a part of some local church see God uses the church as a laboratory for learning how to really love and God says you know if you love me but you don't know how to love my family you're just kidding yourself he says you can't say you love God and not love other people Church is the lab for learning to love now in heaven you know what you're gonna do what happened with one of these you're gonna do in heaven is you're gonna love the rest of God's family right now here on earth he wants you to practice before you get there he wants you to practice learning out now it's easy to love people who are lovely like you but he wants to teach you how to learn unlovely people it's like that little poem to dwell above with those we love well that will be a glory but to dwell below with those we know that's another story God doesn't leave you on earth to live in an isolated insulated life yes he wants you to love him but he also wants you to learn to love his family and in Hebrews 10:25 it says this let us not give up the habit Circle that word habit let us not give up the habit of meeting together it's what we're doing right now he says let us not give up the habit of meeting together instead let us encourage one another every time we meet in a small group and a worship service or anything any time else we meet as a members of God's family we encourage each other now this second purpose write this down is called fellowship the first purpose of your life is worship centering God at the center of your life the second purpose of your life is fellowship learning to love God's family and God expects you to make fellowship a habit he says don't give up that habit why because you need encouragement you know you were created for relationships that's why the very first thing God said after he made man was it's not good for man to be alone now he's not thought about shallow relationships he's talking about significant ones you know I read again this week here in the state of California that the Department of Mental Health in California did a study and they discovered that if you you isolate yourself from other people and you don't develop any close friendships fellowship listen to here's the result you are three times more likely to die an early death you are four times more likely to suffer emotional burnout you are five times more likely to be clinically depressed and you are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized for an emotional or mental disorder if you don't have supportive loving relationships fellowship in your life so if you're still not in a small group here at Saddleback Church you owe it to your own health to get in a small group to start one it is absolutely imperative for your physical health not just your spiritual help and for your emotional health than your mental health the Bible tells us that everyone has a longing for belonging we all need to feel connected the Bible calls this fellowship and it means living life together so it's not enough just to make God the center of your life the Christian life is not a solo act we're never meant to face life alone I've told you many many times the small group that I've been in for nearly two decades has been a lifesaver for me now how does God want you to connect with other believers well he gives us a practical model in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 2 it talks about the very first church it was a church at Jerusalem and in Acts chapter 2 verses 41 and 42 and 40 46 it gives us a number of things that they did all of these things are elements of fellowship so I want us to read this I want to read it aloud together okay I want you to read this Acts chapter 2 41 42 and 46 aloud with me whatever campus you're at so I'll read it slow okay let's read it together those who believed were baptized and added to the church and they joined the church with other believers and committed themselves to the Apostles teaching and fellowship they worshiped together regularly at the temple and they met in small groups in homes now I want you to notice that that passage is very very specific and I want you to note the order of fellowship first he says they believe God wants you to believe in Jesus Christ second he wants you to be baptized that's the second thing that's mentioned third they joined a church family the fellowship and you could take class 101 here at Saddleback Church join our church family fourth they committed to regular worship and Bible study it said the Apostles teaching what's the fossils teaching it's the New Testament it's it's the Bible in the New Testament so they committed to worship and Bible study and finally they connected a small group fellowship in a home now let me just pause here and ask which of these steps have you taken with are there any that you haven't taken if you haven't taken in them circle that one you need to be baptized you need to join a small group you need to join a church family now if you've taken all five of these steps you just need to write underneath it be consistent in it keep on Bible study doing Bible study keep on worshiping with others keep on being in a small group if God gives you 15 more years like he gave Hezekiah he expects you to do these things because this is the second purpose of life fellowship with other believers worship of God number three the third purpose of life is this God wants me to cultivate spiritual maturity he wants me to become like Jesus Christ he wants me to grow up God doesn't leave you here on earth just to remain a spiritual baby he wants me to cultivate spiritual maturity as I said he wants you to grow up once you're born into God's family he wants you to grow in God's family and he wants you to grow in knowing his word and entrusting his wisdom and in obeying his instructions and in loving his family and in developing the character Christ becoming more and more like Jesus thinking like Jesus and feeling like Jesus and having the attitudes of Jesus Hebrews chapter 6 verse 1 talks about this purpose it says this let us go on in other words keep going and become mature in our understanding as strong Christians ought to be God wants you to grow up this third purpose by the way if you want to write this down is called discipleship discipleship sin during my life around God worship loving God's family fellowship growing spiritually in my character what I do and think and act and say discipleship now what's discipleship well the Siple is just an old word for student it means a learner God wants you to be a lifelong learner for the rest of your life that's what a disciple is it just means you're growing you don't get stuck you know sadly a lot of people today grow old without growing up spiritually they grow old without growing up they get stuck in perpetual immaturity they're saved but they're shallow those of you your parents if you had kids and they never grew up that would be a tragedy and a follower of Christ who doesn't grow up that's tragic now how do you know when you're mature well one of the ways you know when your spiritual mature is you're able to explain life the Christian life and God's purposes to other people look at this verse Hebrews chapter 5 verse 12 by now you should be teachers instead you need someone still to teach teach you one of the marks of maturity is that you're able to pass on to others what you have learned about life you see maturity is not an end in itself maturity is for ministry now let me be really clear some people are actually gifted to teach they have the gift of teaching and God doesn't give the gift of teaching to everybody but God expects all of us to teach at some point in our life we teach our friends we teach our children we teach each other we teach in one-on-one conversations you teach in a small group when you contribute one of the goals of Saddleback Church is to help you grow so that you can teach others that's what God wants us by this time you ought to be able to pass it on to be a teacher of others we've got a lot of ways to help you do this class 101 class 201 301 and 401 we have Bible studies we have retreats we have small groups we have the daily Hope devotional we have Pastor Tom's Drivetime devotions the Bible says this take the time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit now we all know it's good to have a plan if you're doing physical fitness but you might need to think through not might you should need to think through a plan for spiritual fitness so here's the question to ask you as we're looking at the year ahead in which area of your life do you need to grow the most this year just I want you to think about that I want you to go home and think about this question because this is the third purpose if God wants you to grow and mature you need to say where am I gonna grow and mature this year is it in I need a better understanding of the Bible that'd be a good growth goal is it I I need to learn to overcome temptation a particular one in my life that's a good goal is it obeying God in faith when it doesn't make sense and yet God says do it and you know I'm gonna learn to do it in faith is it being more disciplined in an area of your life that's not disciplined is it growing in love and other christ-like attitudes these are all areas that God wants you to grow and that's the third purpose of your life Worship Center God in your life fellowship learn to love his family and then maturity or discipleship learn to grow spiritually now here's the fourth purpose that God leaves you on earth for and if you're not gonna do these God should just go ahead and take your heaven now but here's the fourth thing God wants you to do with your life God wants me to contribute something back he doesn't want to leave you here on earth just to live for yourself to consume resources take up space and then die no God should go ahead and take you on to heaven if you're not gonna contribute anything with your life if you're just gonna live for yourself why leave you here one more second God wants you to learn to be unselfish he wants you to learn to be generous he wants you to learn how to serve others with whatever talents and abilities and time and opportunities he's given to you the Bible says it like this in 1st Peter chapter 4 verse 10 the fourth purpose of life God has given each of you some special abilities be sure to use them to help each other notice it doesn't say be sure to use them to make a lot of money he says God gave you talents and abilities or what we call your shape your gifts your spiritual gifts your heart your abilities your personality your experiences to help other people now this is the fourth purpose of your life giving back making a contribution by the way this fourth purpose is called ministry you might write that down when you give back when you make a contribution with your life when you serve somebody else instead of just serving yourself that's called your ministry any time you help anybody else in any way you have just ministered to them and anytime you use your talents to give back to make contribution that is called your ministry maybe you've never realized this but you are a minister did you know that in the Bible the word for service and ministry are the same word and the word for serving and ministering are the same word you know the Bible tells us that we're to serve God but how do you serve a God who's invisible well the Bible tells us real clearly we serve God by serving others you know this again is just preparation for where you're going ultimately in heaven you're not just gonna sit around being bored with nothing to do no no in heaven you're gonna serve we're gonna serve God we're gonna serve each other you'll have a place of service that you love and you enjoy because it maximizes the talents God gave you then you're gonna be fulfilled at it and you're gonna love doing it and we'll all serve each other in fulfilling ways and significant ways and we're gonna do it forever and ever and ever now you're not there yet so why are you still here on earth well here on earth God wants you to practice your serve okay he wants you to practice ministering you might want to turn to somebody right now and just say you're a minister because the fact is we're all ministers we'll all we're all servants of God Jesus said it like this if you want to be great learn to be the servant of everybody you know we weren't made to do nothing I read a study again this week that in in in the state of New York 1/2 of all New York men will die within two years of their retirement that's a scary statistic 1/2 of all New York men will die within two years of their retirement why because we're not designed for 20 for our leisure we're made to make a contribution were made for meaning we're made for significance you're shaped for significance anytime I hear somebody say you know I just live for the weekends well I know what they mean I their work isn't that fulfilling and but to say I live for the weekends and why should God keep you on earth because you're missing your purpose you weren't put here just to have fun God's wanted you to grow in character and God wanted you to make a contribution and one day you're gonna stand before God he's gonna say what did you do with what I gave you the talents and the abilities and all that I put in you now if God chooses to let you live tomorrow or next week or this next year or for 10 or 15 years like Hezekiah you really should ask the question that David did in Psalm 116 verse 12 this is a great question ask so I'm 116 verse 12 David says what can I give back to God for the blessings that he's poured out on me what a great question how long has it been since you asked that have you ever asked that question what could I give back to God for all the blessings that he's given to me I want to pause just a moment to think about that question what can I give back to God for the blessings that he's poured out on me you know as a pastor I've talked to thousands maybe tens of thousands of people and I've noticed that everybody craves significance we're all hungry to feel like our lives mattered that that our lives have meaning that there's a greater purpose to live for we all want significance and everybody is on this search for significance around the world let me give you a little secret significance doesn't come from status significance doesn't come from salary significance does have come from success significance comes from service jesus said it is only in giving your life away that you'll ever really know what it means to live so where are you making an unselfish contribution to the world this is the fourth purpose of your life where am i serving as a volunteer where am i serving without pay what is your ministry in your spiritual family here at Saddleback Church that's the fourth purpose finally there's one more purpose in your life we've got discipleship and we've got worship we've got fellowship we've got ministry finally God leaves me here on earth for a fifth purpose and I want you to write this down God wants me to tell others about his love once you know he wants you to tell other people somebody told you that's why you're in the family you who have you told God doesn't leave you here just to enjoy his grace and love somebody told you now God expects you to tell others he wants you to pass it on now think about this here on earth there are only two things that you can't do in heaven you can pray in heaven you can sing in heaven you can fellowship in heaven you can grow in heaven you can worship in heaven you can serve in heaven you can sleep in heaven you can eat in heaven you can relax and have fun in heaven there are only two things you can't do in heaven that you can do here on earth one of them is sin there's no sin in heaven so you can't sin in heaven and the only other thing you can't do in heaven that you do here is share the good news with somebody who's never heard it be a witness share the good news sharing the good news with somebody who's never heard because none of those people gonna be in heaven now of those two things sin you can't do that in heaven or tell other people the good news about God's love which is those two do you think God leaves you here on earth to do yeah it's kind of obvious he doesn't leave you here to sin he leaves you here to tell other people and the Bible says it very clearly here's just one verse second Corinthians chapter five verse 18 in verse 20 through Christ God has made peace between us and himself and he gave us the work of telling everyone about the piece we can have with him so we have been sent to speak for Christ's notice God has given us a work to do and that work is to tell other people about the love of God and the peace we can have with God this is the fifth purpose of your life by the way if you want to write this down the fifth purpose is called witnessing witnessing the Bible says you are a witness of God's love now if you've ever watched port TV or if you've ever been in a court you know there's a big difference between an attorney and a witness an attorney is the guy who is presenting all the facts and making the case and asking for a judgment and trying to persuade and convince that's not your job your job is to simply be a witness a witness doesn't try to persuade and convince a witness just says here's what happened to me here's what I experienced here's what I saw here's what I know and you are an authority as a witness cuz you're an authority on you nobody else can be your witness a witness just shares their personal experience it's called your testimony the story of what God has done in your life you don't have to know any of the Bible to be a witness you just say this is what's happened to me this is my experience and the Bible says we are to share the good news as witnesses we're everywhere here to be a witness at home to family members who don't know the Lord you to be a witness at work to co-workers who don't know the Lord you're to be a witness in your neighborhood in the grocery store you're to be a witness to the whole world on peace trips you know it's a sobering fact to realize that every single person you know is gonna spend eternity somewhere heaven or hell and the greatest thing that you can do for someone the greatest privilege is to share the good news you know if I had the cure for cancer and I didn't share it that would be criminal if I had the cure for AIDS or for dementia or heart disease and I didn't share it with the world that would be criminal we have something more important than that we have how to have your past forgiven how to get a purpose for living how to get a home in heaven who else is going to share that message and if you don't share it why should God leave you here on earth now there are two ways that we communicate our witness we do it with our lives and we do it with our words we do it audio and we do it visual you need to be an audio-visual Christian now here's the question who do you know who doesn't know Jesus who do you know who doesn't know Jesus who do you think is responsible for that person you are in fact I want you to right now write down one name of somebody you love who doesn't know Jesus yet write down the name of somebody you love one person who doesn't know Jesus and your fifth purpose is to help that person meet Jesus if you're not gonna do that why should God let you live another day it's one of the five purposes that's it one of the two things you can't do in heaven so he's not leaving here in a sin now he said well how do I do that how do I be a witness you first just start praying for them it's really easy just start if you start praying for him God will open up all kinds of doors you can invite them to church Bram Bram to a service you can invite them to a small group ask God for an opportunity to share your story now here's the good news all of these purposes whether it's worship our fellowship or discipleship or ministry or witness you don't have to do them by yourself we'll all help you will pray for you we'll work with you we'll be friendly to your friends we'll plan good services at Saddleback Church together as a church we are a group witness and when people come to Saddleback and I see all these people go wow there's a lot of people whose lives have been changed the purpose of the church is to help you fulfill God's five purposes for your life that's why we call ourselves that Saddleback a Purpose Driven Church because our goal is to help you fulfill these five purposes this year we're planning a lot of events and a lot of programs that a lot of tools and resources to help you fill the got five purposes that God puts you here on earth now I want to close by reading you a couple of letters that that show how we're better together as a church family I get these letters almost every day here's the first letter I got dear pastor Rick a year ago after a devastating loss I moved here to Southern California and disconnected from everything I was very lonely and I cried solid for three weeks I finally decided I should try Church from the moment I stepped inside my first service at Saddleback I felt I belonged here and to shorten my story Christ became real to me and I joined this church family and I'm now serving in a ministry and this is very very fulfilling to me I love being a part of this family here my loneliness of my pain was almost unbearable without a church family but when I look at the membership class and when I took the membership class I had to hold back tears of joy when you discussed how Saddleback is a family he really is and I'm so grateful for my brothers and sisters here and for a church that I call home that's fulfilling the purposes of God and here's another one a second letter dear pastor rick i was attending another well-known church here in orange county but it was too big so I switched to Saddleback follow me on the residents letter he was too big so sweet all right I know what you're thinking Saddleback has a lot of people too but it doesn't seem big to me since I joined a small group and in my group we care for each other and we laugh together and we help each other out of so many practical ways I tell people that Saddleback is the biggest small Church I've ever been a part of you know these are the five purposes God has for your life and I want you to go home this week and make a plan to work on each of them how do I make Christ the center of my life worship to let him love me and love him back how do I learn to love God's family more and express God's family commitment by being a part of joining our church family how do I grow in Christ how do I serve God by serving others and how do I tell the good news to somebody around me who doesn't know it you know next weekend is my birthday and pastor tom is going to interview me about the personal lessons that I've learned over 40 years of seeking to fulfill God's purposes in my life I hope I hope you won't miss that interview because it's gonna be very personal and I'm gonna share some things that I've never shared before I want to close with one last verse it's there in your outline and this verse is my prayer for you this week second Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1 says this in our work together with God we beg those of you who have received God's grace to not let it be wasted would you underline that last phrase not let it be wasted as your pastor who loves you who cares about you I beg you don't waste your life don't waste your life give God a reason to give you 15 more years like you gave Hezekiah give God a reason to look at your life go man you were fulfilling the purposes that I put you on earth to do so I'm gonna give you another 15 years just like I gave Hezekiah let me pray for you would you bow your heads with their heads bowed why don't why don't you follow me in this prayer it's a prayer of confession and it's a prayer of commitment say father I have to admit that I haven't always used my life in the way you intended and I'm sorry but now that I know what you want me to do I want to change and I want to use my life that you've given me for the purposes that you made before starting right now I want to Center my life around you I want to learn to love you and learn to let you love me and I want to get better connected to other believers in your family I want to build relationships in my church home here I want to grow to spiritual maturity I want to be like Christ and I want to make a contribution with my life I want to start giving back unselfishly and I want you to use me to start sharing your love to people who don't know you Jesus thank you for giving me my life and thank you for giving me this church family where I can learn your purposes for me if you've never open your life to Jesus Christ say Jesus Christ I want to believe in you I want to invite you into my life today I want to be baptized as you command it and I pray this humbly in your name Amen thanks for checking out this message on youtube my name is J and I'm Saddleback's online pastor I want to invite you to take your next step by checking out our online community or help get you connected to a local Saddleback campus three things we have to offer you right now first learn more about belonging to our church family by taking class 101 second don't live life alone and get into community with others by joining an online small group or a local home group in your area third join our Facebook group to be more engaged with our online communities throughout the week take your next step and learn where a local campus is near you by visiting Saddleback comm watch online or email online at Saddleback comm hope to hear from you soon

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 253,801

Rating: 4.8429823 out of 5

Keywords: saddleback church, rick warren

Id: 1KY2G7DDmzM

Length: 46min 17sec (2777 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 22 2019