Transformed: How To Get Closer To God with Pastor Rick Warren

good to see everybody this weekend I want to say hi to all of those who are watching online and those at all of our campuses here in Southern California and now around the world welcome to 40 days of transformation and this weekend we begin part 1 as we start looking at seven key areas of your life seven key areas we want to make changes in now our verse which is our theme for this next seven weeks is Romans 12 verse 2 we mentioned it last week in the introduction but I'd like for us to repeat it all aloud together because I want us to memorize this together look up here on the screen let's read it together Romans 12:2 do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and where is that found Romans 12:2 do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind you've heard me say this many times the way you think determines the way you feel and the way you feel determines the way you act if you want to change something in your life that you don't like you don't start with your actions and you don't even start with your feelings you start with your thoughts if you're acting depressed it's because you feel depressed and if you're feeling depressed it's because you're thinking depressed thoughts the key to transformation starts not in your actions not in your behavior not in your body it doesn't start with your will it starts with your thoughts and if you can change the way you think that'll change the way you feel and if you change the way you feel that will change the way you act now we're going to take that principle Romans 12:2 principle and apply it to all seven key areas of your life relational physical mental spiritual emotional financial vocational we're going to look at all seven major areas of your life about how do I change the way I think about this so that I feel about it differently and then if I feel differently then it's going to change the way I act and the way I respond to other people and that's all transformation transformation changes us from emptiness to fullness transformation changes us from defeat and failure to faith and victory transformation changes us from you know insecurity and inferiority to courage and to boldness it helps us become all that God wants us to be now what I want to say in this first session as we begin looking at your spiritual health we're going to start with that is that the further away you get from God the more trouble you're going to have in your life the more trials the more difficulties the more stress the more things are going to go wrong because you're not cooperating with your Creator you're not following God's plan for your life and the Bible says the way of the unrighteous is rough it's full of thorns it's difficult it's a rocky rocky road the further I get away from God the more trouble I'm going to have in my life on the other hand the closer I get to God the more my life is going to be transformed and we can see this all through scripture that Paul when he finally met Jesus Christ face to face he was radically transformed from a literally a terrorist he was a religious terrorist into the apostle of love who wrote the most beautiful poem on love ever written are penned by men Isaiah was transformed from a depressed person into a courageous person when he met God when he got close to God Moses got so close to God the Bible says he was even transformed in his appearance and and and people had to even look away from him he almost like glowed and he got so close to God God is light and in him is there no darkness at all he was literally physically transformed now we all want to be close to God I mean you wouldn't be here this weekend if you didn't want to be close to God in some way but the Bible says all we like sheep have gone astray we've each turned into our own way in other words like sheep we tend to wander you don't have to teach sheep to drift off they just do it naturally by their very nature they just kind of wander off when the Shepherd has to bring them back in and and they'll walk off a cliff and you know sheep aren't really that bright of an animal they'll walk into a den of wolves and and and in all kinds of difficult and dangerous situations sheep tend to wander the Bible says all we you and me like sheep tend to go astray we don't tend to stay close to God we tend to wander off and so this weekend as we start transformation and if I said the closer you get to God the more you're going to be transformed we need to talk about how do you get too close to God how do you stay close to God and if you've fallen away from God how do you get back in that close relationship to God some of you you can point to a time in your life when you go man I remember when I was really I felt God's presence I I was close to God I could sense his friendship I could sense the fellowship and I there was a joy in my life but I've lost that you know it's kind of uh it's like you let the air out of a balloon how do I get back to God if I've kind of wandered away if kind of lost the spark because if I'm not close to God I don't have the power to make all the other transformations fortunately we have a story in the Bible on how to get back to God and how to get close to the Father it's one of the most famous stories in the entire Bible Jesus told that it's the story of the prodigal son or sometimes it's called the story the loving father because it's really more about the father then is about the son and that story is in Luke chapter 15 let me read you the story and then we'll pull some principles out of it on how to transform your life spiritually Luke 15 verses 11 to 24 Jesus told this story a man had two sons and the younger son told his father give me my share of your estate now instead of waiting until you die so the father divided his wealth between his his two sons a few days later the younger son packed all his belongings and left to live in a distant land he's already getting away from the father he's getting distant from the father and he got as far away basically as far away from the father as it could he goes to a distant land and there he squandered the gift he'd been given and we've all done that and he wasted his life and money on wild parties and reckless living now about the time all his money ran out of severe VAM famine hit the land and he began to starve because he was left with nothing now he's getting hungry now the only job he could find was feeding swine on a farm and he became so desperate so hungry that even the pig slop he was feeding the swine looked good to him but no one would give him anything for his hunger when he finally came to his senses he said to himself this is crazy at my father's home even the lowest paid workers eat well while I'm over here far away dying of hunger so he goes I know what I'm going to do he says I'm I'm gonna return home to my father and humbly say father I have sinned both against God and you and I'm not worthy to be a part of the family or called your son but please just make me one of your servants who worked for you son I'm not even gonna be a family member just hire me out as a servant make me one of your servants who works for you and with that attitude he headed back home to his father but while the son was still a long distance away he hadn't got all the way back home his father saw him coming and filled with love and compassion he ran out to his son threw his arms around him and kissed him the son said now he's got his prepared speech father have sinned against both God and you and I'm no longer worthy of being called your son but the father said to his servants quick bring me the finest robe in our house and put it on him then get my signet ring for his finger and shoes for his feet and then roast the calf that we've been fattening up we're going to celebrate with a feast of eating and drinking for this child of mine was distant and dead but now he's back and alive he was lost but now he's found and so the party began don't you love that story don't you just love that yeah you clap for the story that for Jesus that's an incredible incredible story and it tells the story of how every one of us tends to wander away from our Creator wander away from the Father who made us wander away from the God who loves us this kid starts off in God our dad our Father I want you to give me much rightfully mine it's all about me give me my it's a very self-centered life and that's where we usually start in life give me my god give me my I want mine now and we're by the way we're in a hurry and I want it and I want it now and if I can't pay for it I'll put it on credit and so we're always in a hurry give me mine now and so he takes off and he packs up and he heads off for Sunset Strip in Jerusalem and there he wastes his money and his time and his energy on wine women and song particularly women and he really gets messed up and he hits the skids and he becomes homeless and then on top of that the nation goes into a national recession because there's a famine in the land and now nobody has anything to eat so nobody's going to give a panhandler or a street guy in because they don't have anything to eat and then he can't even find a job things go from bad to worse and finally finds a farm where he hires himself out to do the worst job on the farm slopping pigs now for a Jew that's not a good thing that's not kosher cuz you're not even supposed to touch a pig okay you're not even supposed to have anything to do with pork he gets the worst job a Jewish kid could get slopping pigs and he gets so hungry and he gets so desperate he's going man this stuff looks good you got to be serious seriously desperate if you think pig slop looks good and it says nobody gave him anything and then it says he wises up and it says he came to his senses and he does shoot the servants the poor's paid guys in my dad's employment get eat better than this what in the world am i doing now he knows he doesn't deserve his father's love he knows he doesn't deserve he's just wasted half of his dad's inheritance all that his dad's burned his entire life working to earn because I know what I'm gonna do I'm not gonna go home and and ask God or ask the Father to just accept me back in the family I'm just go home and say look hire me I'd rather be a servant in your house then be over here in a distant country starving to death and you know the rest of the story as we saw the father's response now from this story we gain the four things you need to do to get back to God now I don't know where you are today you may be way way way way way way way way WAY far away maybe you haven't been in church in years and years and years or maybe you a little bit closer or maybe you're a little bit closer but maybe even you've just been distant for a week and you've had one of those weeks and you just thought you know I really don't feel God's presence in my life and yet we all long to be close to God how do I get back to him you do these four write them down this is the pathway back to spiritual transformation number one I get fed up that's this first I get fed up with my life I get fed up with my circumstance I get fed up with the way I've been living I just get sick and tired of being sick and tired so I am NOT gonna live this way anymore I am too stressed out I'm too lonely I'm too depressed I am overworked and busy and I don't even like myself why would anybody like me I don't even like me I don't like the life I'm living right now now let me just say this nothing is going to happen in your life in the next seven weeks into first you get dissatisfied with the way you are if you think man it's fine I'm just fine I don't need any change in my life then you know what you can sit out the next seven weeks because nothing's gonna happen in your life until you decide I don't like this I'm tired of being stressed out all the time I'm tired of being frustrated all the time I'm tired of being overworked all the time I'm tired of feeling distant from God you got to get desperate you got to get hungry you've got to get anxious for change nothing happens until you get fed up in that passage in Scripture it says this he wasted it all he had nothing left he got desperate and hungry and he finally came to a census and that's where transformation starts are you there yet if not it's okay God will just leave let you stay there and he'll allow a little rain in your life and if that doesn't work you'll allow a little bit more in your life and if that doesn't work he'll send a storm why because God loves you just the way you are but he loves you too much to let you stay that way he will not let you waste your life and and when God you know wants to come and get our attention he comes and he he knocks on the door and if we ignored he just knocks on the door again and then if he we ignored he knocks on the door again and if we ignored he blows the door down some of you had the book door blown down in your life and you lost your job or you lost your marriage or you lost a friend you lost something why because God does everything he does in your life out of love he does not want you to miss him and he does not want you to waste your life you know the old phrase you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink but you can salt his oats make him thirsty God often makes you thirsty by putting salt in your oats and when you start saying I'm just so unsatisfied with my life I just don't like the way I'm living III don't like this hello that's God knocking on your door the first step in transformation is for you to get disgusted to get discontent to get fed up with the weight you're living Jeremiah 29 verse 13 says this God says you will find me when you get serious about finding me and you want it more than anything else see God's not going to reveal himself if I just kind of want to do it on the casuals kind of a part-time hobby I got to get fed up with the way I'm live and say oh there's got to be more to life than this there's got to be a better way to live than this there's got to be a saner way to live than this you get fed up second step you own up first I get fed up second I own up I own up to my own sin I own up to my own sin that's the second thing that this young man did first he got fed up but then in verse 17 and 18 it says when he came to his senses circle that he goes this is nuts this is nonsense this is crazy I can't maintain this lifestyle I've been living right now it's just not sustainable it's not fulfilling and it's not sustainable when he came to his senses and that is you know he wakes up you see to live without God is insane to live without God does not make sense to live without God is not rational to live without the Parader who made you is not logical it doesn't make sense when he came to his senses he said I have sinned against God and you and nothing's going to happen do you come to stage two and stage two as you go all right I just need to own up here I need to face up to the fact that I have been not living God's Way I've been living my way I've been doing it my way I've been doing it the way I think is best I've been doing it the way that protects all my fears I've been doing it the way that tries to control everything around me even though I know I can't control it I'm still trying to control it all and I'm getting tired of holding on to all of the controls I'm about ready to resign as general manager of the universe because I've noticed it isn't cooperating with me and so I own up and what do I own up to I own it to my sin when he came to his senses he said I have sinned and when Isaiah 59 verse 2 they're on your outline the Bible says this it's your sins your sins have separated you from your God and have hidden his face from you have you ever prayed and you felt like God was a million miles away have you ever prayed and felt like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling have you ever prayed and felt like there's just like this veil between me and God I can't see god I can't hear God I can't feel God and I feel like I'm just talking to myself where does that come from your sins have separated you from your God and have hidden his face from you that's where it comes from it comes from your sin the sweet guy I sent out on the Facebook and Twitter I said if you feel far from God guess who moved God hasn't moved God didn't move God didn't go on vacation God didn't move away to a foreign country God has always been there and he has never not been there and he loves you unconditionally but if you feel far from God you're the one who moved and you moved away by giving your love to something else when you give anything else your love there's a word for that in the Bible it's called an idol now we think idols are like these little stone things that people bow down to in words no no no no no an idol can look like your car an idol can look like your job an idol could be a dress and Idol could be the way you look anything that you love more than God becomes an idol the first and second commandments say thou shalt have no other gods before me thou shalt not make any false idols money can be an idol success can be an idol golf can be an idol these are not bad things they're just not deserving the first place in your life so I own up to my sin your sins have separated you from your God the fact is this you're as close to God as you choose to be you can't really blame anybody else you can't blame your husband you can't blame your wife you can't be your mom your dad the brother you can't blame the government that's one thing you can't blame the government for you can't blame other people I said last week you spelled blame be lame and that's being lame when you blame other people for your spiritual condition well if my husband were a more dedicated believer really well if my girlfriend was more on fire for crack really you are as close to God as you choose to be and the fact is you're not you haven't been desperate you haven't been fed up enough to say I am desperate to know God you know if I were to hold you under water you would struggle but when you really started running out of breath you would really struggle because you would be desperate for air when you're that desperate you don't just get fed up you own up and he said I've got to know God you're as close to God as you choose to be now when I own up and I say God I've blown it I've been going my way I've been diving I've been doing your way I've been going my way been doing what I want to do when I do that what is God's response to my facing up to my sin he goes yeah yeah let me tell you what else you're doing wrong no he doesn't rub it in when I come and I say god I've really you know you know what I've done I'm really sorry what does he do well look at the next verse here's the prayer you should pray Psalm 51 by the way David prayed this prayer after he'd committed adultery and killed a wife's husband so this is pretty serious sin here so I'm 51 1 2 4 david says this be merciful to me Oh God because of your constant love because of your great mercy wipe away my sin wash away all my evil and make me clean I recognize my faults and I'm conscious that I have sinned against you which is goal phrase recognize my saw faults that means to own up I face up to my sins I own up to my sins he says I recognize my fall and what is God's response when I own up when I face up look at the next verse the Lord says no matter how deep the stain of your sins I can remove it I can make you clean as freshly driven snow not a beautiful verse he says no matter what you've done no matter who you've done it with I can I can remove it this is this is the this is the OxiClean verse of the Bible okay he's a man I can take it out you know that's day anything man I'm never gonna forget that one band that was so bad and I'm it's gonna haunt me the rest of my life God says I can remove that stain this is the stain remover verse in the Bible now this next week in your small groups you're going to study 7 habits for spiritual growth but I want to give you two more today okay I'm going to give you two more you're going to cuss study 7 habits for spiritual health and spiritual growth but let me give you two more and the first one goes with this point and it's this is you want to develop the habit of a regular spiritual checkup now doctors will tell you that every so often you need to go and get a check-up and you need to have your heart checked every so often and you had need to have your colon checked every so often that's a fun one huh anybody want to give a testimony on that right now okay anybody have read oh you know personal story from this week yeah okay but you have to get regular checkups why because if something's growing wrong in your body you want to know sooner not later right and the same is true with your your life if sin starts growing in you it can become a cancer it's better to nip it in the bud like Barney Fife would say before it gets really big you got it you got to do this spiritual checkup on a regular base up basis and where do you do it you do it in your thought life it's a checkup from the neck up and you got to think about your thoughts I have a spiritual checklist that I use to evaluate myself and I've used it for now almost 40 years I'm going to email it to you this week so you'll have a copy of it but let me show you one that's in your book so if you've got your book I want you to turn to page 220 we put one in here back at the back after all of the Bible studies in all small groups there's a section called resources and as hosts helps it has frequently asked questions circles of life it has a place for small group prayer and praise reports and on page 220 notice there is a spiritual health assessment this is a place where you can own up and notice on page 220 I would encourage you to do this this week the Bible says that you can test yourself and here are five areas that you can test yourself worship and fellowship and discipleship these are the purposes of God for life ministry and evangelism I would encourage you to sometime this week do that personal evaluation okay it'll take you you know 10 15 minutes to do that and then on page 223 there's a spiritual health plan and I'll share my plan with once you look at that you say oh I know what I need to work on you know how we're talking about setting a spiritual goal each week well here's your goal for this week that you're going to do a check-up today or this week and you're going to do it at least every six months that would be a good goal and then you can write down what your score is and you can write down what do I need to do and how am I going to get a partner to help me with it and then what progress have I made on it that's a good spiritual habit that you need to do the habit of owning up the habit of checking your life just like you need a physical checkup regularly you need a spiritual checkup regularly by the way while we're at this turn back to page 5 ok turn back to page 5 for just a minute this is right at the very beginning of the first session now this week you're going to do session 1 and on Monday you're going to start the 50 daily devotions and there's 50 daily devotions that take us through and you'll start read one on Monday and another one on Tuesday and W on Wednesday and we'll go through the 50 days together but on page 5 notice down here's the memory verse for this week 2nd Corinthians 5:17 let's read it aloud together anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person the old life is gone a new life has begun now that's a positional statement what that means is God says you are a new person doesn't mean you don't have to stay the same anymore you don't have to listen to those old impulses you now have a new power in your life to make it through you have a new power the Holy Spirit in you and new ability you have a new community the church you have a new identity and you have a new destiny anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person the old life is gone a new has become second Corinthians 5:17 that's the verse we're going to work on this week now this habit of a regular spiritual checkup look here on your outline here's a couple verses the Bible says this test yourselves and make sure you're solid in the faith don't drift along taking everything for granted give yourself regular check-ups and if you fail the test do something about it I love that message paraphrase and that's what we're talking about here in owning up in a minute we're going to take communion together the Lord's Supper the Bible says that before you take the Lord's Supper that you should do a spiritual check-up every time that this is a time to pause and not to just get fed up but to own up and say okay is there anything in my life Psalm 121 39 search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting that be a good verse to memorize Psalm 139 23 and 24 it's a it's a searchlight verse God says this verse in second Corinthians first Corinthians eleven a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup so in other words we need to do this second thing I get fed up and then I do an own up I do if I get I face up to what I need to do okay now here's the third step to getting back to God - getting back in his love and His grace not that he doesn't love you he always loves you no matter where you are but the feeling that love here's the third thing I get fed up I own up number three I offer up I offer up my life I offer up my self I offer up my total being and this is the third thing that we find this young man did he got fed up he came to his senses he owned up he says I've sinned against God and then he offered up now notice in Luke chapter 12 15 verse 12 the Sun drifted away saying give me my share and in Luke 15 19 he comes back he returned to the Father saying make me a servant do you notice any change in attitude there hello he leaves saying give me give me give me give me give me give me he comes back saying make me that is transformation that is true transformation when your heart moves from self-centeredness to God's in earnest that's transformation are you there yet are you still in the gimmi gimmi gimmi gimmi gimmi what can God do for me give me my stuff now to make me your servant that's the transformation he returned saying make me that's a heart transformation and that is the greatest transformation of all from self-center to Scots in earnest are you letting God do that in you now that transformation it doesn't happen overnight God is still working on me on this one and it's going to be your entire life he's going to work on it's never instant but there is a decision that starts the process second Corinthians look up here on the screen second during these 3:18 says this we reflect the Lord's glory and our being transform that means a continuing process we are being transformed not just once but on a on going basis it's a process we're being transformed into his likeness now with ever-increasing glory and I'll lead that effort there for just a minute which comes from the Lord who is the spirit that were transformed you know the Bible was written the New Testament in Greek you note the word there is in Greek metamorphose ooh does that sound like anything you know metamorphosis it's the word we get men what's the metaphor or Phasis it's when a butterfly goes from a caterpillar to a pupa or chrysalis and from a pupae chrysalis into a butterfly that's metamorphosis it hasn't happened overnight in fact there's that stage where it's sitting there in that chrysalis it forms that little cocoon it's pretty ugly you ever seen one of those things doesn't look very beautiful to me but when it breaks out that butterfly is stunning I so badly want to be that and I want you to be that I want you to be transformed from the lowly caterpillar into the beautiful butterfly that is what transformation is all about it is metamorphosis it is going from you know when you're clatter piller what can you do not much except munch on leaves the boom boo-boom boo-boom boo-boom boo-boom yeah and you're stuck on the ground and I'm sure and caterpillars have looked in the air butterflies go you'll never get me up on one of those things God made you to be a butterfly God made you to soar God made you to be beautiful not ugly beautiful but you've got to go through the transformation process and the transformation process is number one get fed up with the way you've been living and then own up get honest-to-god God I admit I have been living for myself I've been doing it my way and do that check up and then offer up myself transformations the process but the starting point is what the prodigal son said make me that's offer up make me transform me change me god I don't want to live the rest of my life the way I'm living right now change me Romans 12:1 this is our theme verse but let me read you the verse before it because God is merciful to you offer yourselves offer yourselves that's it I offer up myself that's step one I get fed up ok I own up and now I offer up offer yourselves as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship and don't be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind no transformation until you do the offer up that's important to notice the father's response Luke 1523 filled with love and compassion he ran out to his son threw his arms around him and kissed him he said bring the best bring the best robe bring the best ring bring the best shoes bring the fatted calf in all these things the father's response notice he didn't wait for the Sun to come home while he was still distant he ran out the moment you just say God I'm tired of living the way I've been living God I'm tired he will do more than halfway he will run out to meet you God is not waiting for you to come knock on the door he is waiting for this moment in your life where he runs out to you he takes an issue he throws his arms around you he kisses you and he says okay look I I know you blew it go get the best robe get the best clothes in the house and then he says go get my signet ring you know why says that you know what a signet ring is in those days the signet ring was your credit card because you take the ring and you press it into wax and that was like a credit card he said go get my unlimited black American Express and bring it out to my son who just blew half of my income God isn't holding a grudge against all the dumb stuff you've done he's ready to lavishly pour this on bring out the best bring out the best shoes do all these things God has a better plan for your life than you can imagine I told this story before but I'm going to tell it again because it just fits right here when I was a kid my parents fed me strange spinach and I thought it tasted great I now think it tastes like turtle spit but as a baby that's all I knew so I thought strange spinach was pretty good until I got a little older and my mother introduced me to Chef Boyardee SpaghettiOs now we're talking forget strained spinach I've gone to the higher level and I thought SpaghettiOs were pretty good as a grade school kid until one day I discovered in an out burger now I could have gone my entire life eating strange spinach and not known there was a better taste out there if you knew there was a better way to live then there is right now the way you've been living wouldn't you want to know about it yeah that's what transformation is all about people say well I'm living the good life and you are you live in America you live the good life you're looking good you're feeling good you got the goods you know there's only one problem the good life it isn't good enough you were made from more than the good life you were made for the better life life you cannot even imagine any more than that caterpillar can imagine what it's like to be a butterfly you can't even imagine it you cannot even imagine it it is so much better and there are people who live next to you and they got the car and they got the cash and they got the clothes and they're going I'm living it I'm living the good life and they're missing the better life there's you could be a caterpillar or a fur coat and you're still a caterpillar I don't know where that analogy went I probably won't share it in the next service okay how do I get back to God I get fed up I own up stop laughing I get fed up I own up and I offer up and then there's one other thing I do once I come home and I'm in wrapped in God's love and he hugs me and he kisses me and he says bring out the best all is forgiven all is forgiven go get the credit card go get the robe go get the shoes let's let's have a barbecue get that fatted calf we're gonna have Lucille's barbecue tonight okay and we're giving him the ribs all right and it's gonna be great it's gonna be finger licking good time all right here we go and in that celebration you now come home not to condemnation you come back to God in celebration here's the fourth thing I lift up my praise and I just go thank you God thank you for your grace thank you for your love thank you for your goodness I lift up my praise Luke 15 here's what the father says we're going to celebrate we're going to celebrate with a feast of eating and drinking and nearly titled this point drink up cuz it could have been eat up and drink up we're going to celebrate with a feast of eating and drinking he was lost but now he's found so the party begins and life becomes a party when life comes to transformation the Bible says in Psalm 68 for sing to God sing praises to his name lift up there's that word lift up my praises lift up a song to him his name is the Lord and let me just tell you something for your own transformation you need to start singing at church some of you just I'm just coming to hear Rick now you know that all that's all nice but you know I I you know I couldn't carry a tune in a baggie and you know you many of you are prison singers you're always behind a few bars and never have the right key I've heard some of you okay you have a voice that could be cultivated plowed under but the Bible doesn't say to be pretty in your singing it says make a joyful noise you can do that anybody can make a joyful noise you don't have to be on key you just have to make a joyful noise for your own transformation you need to sing I had a psychologist friend who anytime somebody came to see him for depression they his first question was did you sing all of the songs at church last week and if they said no he said then I want you to go and I want you to sing all the songs at church for the next three weeks and come back and see me I never really understood why he was doing that until this week and a global study came out done by Swedish researchers and that they've done this scientific study have concluded that the habit of group singing not singing by yourself the habit of group singing is good for your health it is great therapy to sing with other people it's good for mental health they prove it's good for emotional health it's good for your social health and it's good for your physical health in all different areas and extensive study and they discovered that singing with other people lowers your blood pressure releases endorphins which makes you feel good improves your mood build your confidence relieves loneliness releases negative emotions and stress and creates of study emotions another study showed the people who sing in worship each week live longer I want you to live longer now it referred to this book so I went out and bought this book this week it's called imperfect harmony finding happiness and singing with others it's fascinating study that these guys have done on this now we have 450 days of transformation a new album that just came out called transformed songs for life change it's all the songs we've been seeing here at Saddleback what you might do is pick one up on the way going out and practice for next week okay all right just you know sit in the shower and and turn this thing up full volume and you know and make a joyful noise okay and then you're ready to come back and sing with everybody else you feel better yeah of course you do course you feel better yeah how can I keep from singing your name I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing now the father celebrated he had a celebration not a condemnation a celebration when the son came back home I'm fed up and I'm owning up and I'm gonna offer up and now I lift up my praise and we're gonna party and we're gonna celebrate and we're gonna sing father celebrated the salvation of his son with a feast we're gonna celebrate our salvation with communion I'm going to invite the ushers to come and begin serving right now even while I'm speaking we'll wait until everyone has been served to eat the Bible says this if you'll look up here on the screen first Corinthians 1124 says this on the night he was betrayed the Lord Jesus took bread and he he he spoke a prayer of thanksgiving and he broke the bread and he said this is my body which is given for you do this to remember me so that I never want you to forget how much I love you so I'm going to give you two symbols to remember my death my burial and my resurrection and those two symbols are baptism and the Lord's Supper if you haven't been baptized you should be baptized after this service it's one of the ways of saying I have come home I'm getting close to God I'm coming home and baptism is one and the Lord's Supper is the other now it says he said this he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving before he served communion the word thanksgiving in greek is the word eucharist oh you ever heard the word eucharist the Lord's Supper communion is often called Eucharist where is that word from it's from Eucharist is simply the Greek word for Thanksgiving and when we take the Lord's Supper when we take the Eucharist when we take communion we are saying thank you God thank you God for not coming and condemning me when I come home but having a celebration when I come home thank you for your grace thank you for your mercy thank you for what you've done thank you for all the things that you've done I receive it with thanks Eucharist oh I am so grateful God for your grace I am so grateful for your love I am so grateful that you don't scold me you save me but you don't scare me you save me and I'm so grateful as I take these elements to remember what you have done for me now the Bible says this in first Corinthians chapter 11 it's up here on the screen for this is what the Lord Himself said and I pass it on to you just as received it on the night when he was betrayed the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and he said this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me and then the Bible says in the same way he took the cup of wine after the supper saying this cup is the new covenant between God and you sealed by the shedding of my blood do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it baptism in the Lord's Supper our memory tools there help us to remember their physical reminders they are just like you have pictures of people in your in your office and at home they're physical reminders of people you love these are the physical reminders of the Savior that we love and so we come home to the Father and we celebrate and just as they had the fatted calf we take communion together to say lord thank you we receive this with Thanksgiving let's bow our heads for prayer father when we think of your grace we are overwhelmed it makes our hearts want the same there's no way that we deserve this kind of reaction this kind of celebration this kind of welcoming when we come home we come to you and first we say we're fed up we're fed up with the way we've been living we're fed up of life without Christ we're fed up with doing it all on our own power we're just fed up with all of that and we own up we realize that you haven't moved but we have and the reason we're not close is because we've allowed other things to cloud our vision of you we have allowed idols in our lives we have loved other things more than you and that has made you feel distant but we come back and we we own up to our sin and then we offer up ourselves we're not saying give me give me giving anymore we're saying make me make me make me Lord transform our lives during these 50 days if you've never accepted Jesus gift of salvation say Jesus Christ right now I accept your gift of salvation thank you for loving me and dying for me on the cross I give myself back to you I offer up myself to you make me your servant and I ask you to transform my life in your name I pray Jesus amen Jesus took the bread and he blessed it he said this is my body which is given for you do this to remember me as you eat this say Jesus thank you for dying for me in your mind the Bible says in the same way he took the cup and said this is the cup of the New Covenant it represents the blood that I'm going to shed for you when Jesus said this he had not shed his blood yet was the night before he went to the cross but he said this is going to be the symbol of what I do for you and when you drink it you remember that every drop of blood that fell on that cross was saying I love you I love you I love you do this to remember me say thank you Jesus the Bible says that after they took communion they sang a hymn and went out

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 277,554

Rating: 4.8276777 out of 5

Keywords: Spiritual, Spirituality, Spiritual Health, Transformed, Transformation, Saddleback, SaddlebackChurch, Saddleback Church, 50DaysofTransformation, 50 Days of Transformation, RickWarren, Rick Warren, Pastor Rick Warren, Church, TransformedLife, Transformed Life, Troubled, Troubled Life, TroubledLife, Far From God, Church (Type Of Place Of Worship), Praise, Gospel, Bible, God's Word

Id: uiUMR8PuGOM

Length: 54min 35sec (3275 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 28 2014