The Only Family That Will Last Forever with Pastor Rick Warren

I haven't told you since last year that I love you what can I say I feel real you ought to feel neglected but I I do if you pull out your message notes you know in life it's very important at different times in your life to pause and just stop and ask the question why why am I doing this what am I doing and why am I doing this why Always determines how and how long now we're starting a brand new year a brand new decade we're starting our 40th anniversary uh year as a church and I want us to just take a couple weeks and pause and go what is church and why do we do it I think it's important to go back and remind ourselves what this is all about now we're going to start at the beginning watch up here on the screen the Bible says in Hebrews 2:10 God is the one who made everything that's where we start we start with with God made everything and all things are for his glory you and every plant and animal and rock are for his glory but he wanted to have children to share his glory the Bible says God invented the universe because he wanted a family God wasn't lonely God is love but he he didn't need us but he wanted a family to love and to share his glory and so he created the universe now the the Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 1 God's unchanging plan from the very beginning of time has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ so the whole reason everything exists is God wanted a family and he wants that family to be with him forever and ever and ever he puts us here on Earth as a trial test but what is that family called well we've talked about this before that family is called The Church Jesus said in Ephesians excuse me Jesus said in Matthew 16 Verse 18 I will build my church he didn't say I'll build a government he didn't say I'll build a nation he didn't say I'll build a business he said I will build my church Jesus is only interested God is only interested in his family everything else is going to burn up the only thing on planet Earth that's going to last is God's family he says I will build my church and all the powers of Hell will not defeat it the most successful human movement of all time is the Church of God 2.3 billion Believers followers of Christ the church is the largest organization on the planet nothing comes close the church at 2.3 billion Believers is bigger than China the church is bigger than China and the United States and all of Europe put together nothing as big is the as the planet the movement of God you're not just part of an organization you're part of a movement and that movement is going to go on for eternity in heaven Jesus said I will build my church and no dictator and no ISM can stop it now sometimes you hear people say well I love Jesus but I don't need the church no no that's a really big mistake people make because you can't love Jesus without loving his bride his body his family his flock you can't love Jesus in fact the Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 5:2 Christ loves his church whatever he loves you better love too Christ loves his church and he gave his life for it Christ died for the church so don't ever say it's unimportant don't ever say it's the only people that are going to be in heaven is the church nobody else is that's his family it's his family now it has different labels on it Methodist Baptist Episcopalian Catholic Nazarene Calvary Chapel all the labels are irrelevant the fact is the people who are the followers of Christ are part of his family that's all it's going to be in heaven and he built the universe because he wanted a family now let's just start with the basics what is a church when I say the word church some people think of a building no church is not a building building the church is not a location so when I say church people think of something they go to attend and people often say well I'm going to church technically that's a wrong statement the church is not something you attend it's a family that you belong to it it really it'd be more accurate to not say I'm going to church but saying I'm going to a worship service or I'm going to a Bible study or I'm going to a fellowship or I'm going to an activity of the church you can't go to a church a church is not an event it has events but the church is the family of God church is not an event you attend it is a family you belong to does that make sense okay so it's not something you go to to actually say well I'm going to church you really mean to say I'm going to worship or I'm going to service or I'm going to Bible study whatever so it's not a place it's not an event it's not an institution I'm going to give you a very specific biblical definition of the church I'd like for you to write these four phrases down okay number one because once I explain this then I'm going to show you five benefits of being a part of God's family number one what is the church the church is God's family on Earth and in heaven God's family on Earth and in heaven the church isn't just on on Earth many people are already in heaven so some of the church that's God's family is already in heaven some of the church is still here on Earth but the church is both in heaven and on Earth and it is God's family 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 and 15 says this I'm writing to you so that you'll know how to live in the family of God we need to learn how to live in God's family that family is the church of the Living God the support and foundation of the truth so anytime you talk about the church you're talking about God's family anytime about time you talk about God's family you're talking about the church there is no family of God outside of the church it is the same so it's God's family on Heaven and Earth number two it's composed of saved and baptized Believers the church is composed of saved and baptized Believers now you might have your name name on a role as a child in some church but that doesn't make you a part of the church it just means you're on somebody's role you have to be saved and you have to be baptized to be a part of the Church of God let me just show you what Jesus said Mark chapter 16 verse 16 whoever believes in me Jesus said and is baptized will be saved but whoever refuses to believe will be condemned now some people look at that and go oh are you saying that I have to be baptized in order to be saved that it's essential for salvation no I'm not no water will save you only Jesus can save you no water will save you but if you really are saved you want to be baptized it's a contradiction to say well I'm a follower of Christ but I don't do what he tells me to do that's a contradiction so maybe you're not really saved baptism is what I call the wedding ring of the Christian Life this ring doesn't make make me married it was a commitment in my heart that made me married when I said I do this ring is the outward expression it reminds me oh I made a vow in my heart baptism is the wedding ring of the Christian life it doesn't make you a Christian it shows that you are and anybody who refuses to be baptized you had every reason to doubt they've had a commitment in their heart because the first thing Jesus said is be baptized as this outward symbol of your inward commitment so it doesn't make you a Christian but notice he says anyone who believes and is baptized which comes first believing or baptism believing right you believe and then you're baptized now if you were baptized before you were believe before you believed it didn't count you don't get any blessing from that you need to do it again because you it mean it meant nothing you just got wet okay that that's all it means only baptism only matters if you believe First some of you don't even remember your baptism so how could you possibly believe because maybe you didn't even weren't even old enough to know that so you believe Jesus said and then you're baptized let me show you a couple of other verses Acts 2:38 this is the day of Pentecost this is the day that Jesus began his church and Peter preached this sermon he said this repent and be baptized this is the first day of the church in the name of Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your sin then God will give you his holy spirit now in Romans chapter 8 it says if you don't have God's spirited you you're not a Christian you're not saved to not have God's spirit would means you don't really know the Lord yet so he says whoever believes in me and baptized he'll be saved and then Peter says repent and be baptized now in that verse which one comes first repent or be baptized repent right so if you were baptized before you repented it didn't count as I said it just it was just a nice little ritual but it meant nothing you got no spiritual blessing out of it because you didn't even know what the meaning of baptism was it comes after you believe and it comes after you repent now here's what happens same day acts 2:41 it says then those who believed they believed first were then baptized see believing comes before baptized and then they became part of the church baptism is the entry door to the church about 3,000 people that day so baptism doesn't bless you if you did it out of order a and if you believed after you were baptized you need to be baptized again because it didn't mean anything it didn't mean what the meaning of baptism is all about all right so it's God's family on Earth it's composed have saved and baptized Believers third part is this it's Comm people who are committed to Jesus and each other to be a part of the church means I'm not just committed to Jesus I'm committed to the other people in my church family a church means I am committed to Jesus and to each other now let me show you a few verses about this 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 5 first it says they gave themselves to the Lord and then second by God's will they gave themselves to us as well this is what we call the first base commitments at Saddleback first you give yourself to the Lord and then you give yourself to a group of other Christians the first one makes you a Christian the second one makes you a church member let me say it again first they gave themselves to the Lord that's how you get saved you give your life to the Lord and it says and then they gave themselves to us as well that's what it means to be a church member you become a Christian by giving your life to Christ you become a church member by giving yourself to a group of other people say that's going to be my spiritual home that's going to be my family that's going to be my spiritual base for for my life while I'm here in this area whatever it is a commitment not simply to Christ it's a commitment to another group of other people and we're going to look at that uh today let me show you some other verses Romans 12:10 says you are to be devoted Circle this to each other not just to God you are be devoted to each other as brothers and sisters in God's loving family that's what it means to be a church member you're not just committed to Christ you're committed to his family you're committed to your brothers and sisters in that family Romans chapter 14 excuse me Romans 12:4 and 5 in Christ's body each member belongs to who all the others do you realize this that in in in this church family I belong to you you belong to me we belong to each other that's what it means to be uh a member of a family now notice it has the word member there sometimes you'll hear people say I've actually heard preachers on the radio say this well there's no such thing as church membership uh in the Bible That's Just nonsense the word member came from the Bible the ACT there was no word member until it was in the Bible the word member is used about a hundred times in the New Testament the whole concept of membership was only about the church until other people PK picked it up and all the sudden you know am you know American Express says membership has its privileges no so now you can be a member of my book club you can be a member of my Facebook following you you can be a member of some of the Rotary Club you can be members of a million other things but the word member came from the Bible and it's talking about being a member of a local Body of Christ and it's used in a very different way it's not talking about secret handshakes and funny hats and passwords and stuff like that what is it talking about in member well look on the screen 1 Corinthians 12 12-14 just as your body has many members what are we talking about there your hand is a member of your body your ear is a member of your body your eye is a member of your body your nose your spleen your liver these are all members of your body just as your body has many members and each member of your body is unique the liver doesn't do what the heart does all your members together for form your single body physically so it is with Christ body he says it's the exact same thing physical parallel to a spiritual parallel the Christ body is the church he said all the members of the church make up the body of Christ all right so he's saying here that that only as you're connected does it really really matter and then he says the rest of it he says this for in one spirit we were all baptized into one body regardless of our background whether Jews or Gentiles or slaves or free we're all we all receive God's spirit he said it doesn't matter what your background is religious background ethnic background language background racial back none of that really matters he says regardless of your background we all receive God's spirit that's what puts us in the body we're baptized into one body so the body isn't made up of just one member it's all the members connected together what ises that saying it's saying this you are not the Church of God by yourself you are not the family of God by yourself you're not the body of Christ by yourself only as we are connected together are we the family of God are we the body of Christ are we God's church I'm not the church you're not not the church but together we are the church and he said it's in that connection so only in connection to other members are you actually in God's family if you're not connected to other members how are you in God's family so what does that mean then what does that mean the body to be a part of the body of Christ look at these verses 1 Corinthians 12:25 the way God designed our bodies physical bodies is a model for understanding Our Lives to together as a church says okay look at your body and then you'll figure out how to how the how the church operates every part is to be dependent on the other parts I I can't say that that that uh I don't need this part or I don't need that part we all need each other and we are to be dependent on the other parts it was his intention that we live our lives together God never meant for you to go through life on your own now let me show you another verse 1 Corinthians 12: 25-27 the members notice how many times this word member comes up in the Bible the members must have the same care for each other that means I got to care about you you got to care about me we have to care about each other if we are in the family of God if we are in the the body of Christ called Saddleback or whatever there are lots of good churches just choose one I'm not saying just this church I'm just saying just choose a place say said that's going to be my family the members must have the same care for each other if one member is hurt or suffers then all suffer together and if one member is honored all the others rejoice in other words you get a raise you get promoted the whole church should celebrate with you you you get the word dreaded word cancer the whole church should support you when you're going through those you know those um protocols you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a necessary part of it there's no unnecessary part people say well I'm not I'm not very necessary in my church oh how wrong you are if I don't use my gifts you get hurt if you don't use your gifts I get hurt so does everybody else we all have a different role to play now let me pause here and review what I've said about what is the church first I said it's God's family uh that's in heaven and on Earth some's in heaven some's on Earth I said it's composed of saved and baptized Believers okay if you're not saved you're not baptized you're not a part of the church okay number three uh it's they're committed to Jesus and each other we commit to him and we commit to each other but then there's one other fourth part write this down and these are people who are preparing for heaven or Christ's return preparing for heaven or Christ returned that's what the church is doing so uh either Jesus comes back before I die or he doesn't come back before I die and I go to heaven first either way I'm preparing for eternity with with him Hebrews 12: 23 is an important verse it says this you are the Church of God's children okay remember it's the family of God you are the Church of God's children whose names are registered in heaven you ought to be grateful for that because you have come to God himself and you have come to Jesus now notice this your names are registered in heaven you know uh I I've met a few of these Hollywood types and done some Bible studies for producers and stuff like that up in Hollywood and and the big deal in Hollywood is to get on the a list because if you're on the a list you get invited to all the A-list parties you don't want to be on the B list or the C list or like some of us the Z list okay because you really want to be because the a list are the best parties after the Oscars and stuff like that well let me tell you something there's something better than being on the A-list it's being on God's registered of names in heaven hello that that is a big deal okay that is a very exclusive list not everybody's going to be on that list only those who've been saved and baptized and joined a part being part of God's family only God's family is going to be in heaven but that's a very exclusive list most important invitation list you want to be a part of how do I get on that list well that verse said get to know you've come to know God and you've come to know Jesus you come to God and you come to Jesus now we're going to in just a second look at five different metaphors of of the church and and the what the benefits of that means to your life but this week I did something fun I went and I got the original Three members of Saddleback Church Don Dale who was the first member of the church church who joined Kay and me and Lee and Cynthia Hensler who were the first um uh people baptized in this church and those three were in the very first class 101 that I taught 40 years ago and I found oh you can see it on the video but I videotaped this interview and I want you to watch this I've got a real treat for you today my oldest friends at Saddleback Church are sitting on this couch and they really old we're going to talk about what membership means these are people from the very first membership class I I found this article on in the Saddleback news a copy that said we welcomed 42 new members this is in 1980 at the very first 101 class including Don Dale who was the first member of Saddleback Church and you've heard the famous story of how we met and he got a home for us and then has been here for all 40 years and the 12 weeks before that and then uh Lee and Cynthia Hensler Cynthia Hensler and Lee were the first two people baptized in Saddleback Church and she was the first person who called you remember that yes tell me about that because we we hand addressed and hand stamped 15,000 letters Don was involved obviously in that well we were um we wanted to find a church not for us but we had a brand new a new baby didn't you yeah we thought part of the uh formula for being good parents would take the child to church by the way Courtney was the first diaper changed at Saddleback Church and she also pictured your daughter she did bet my daughter who was just a couple months older very first Blood sisters yes um but uh we decided we wanted to find a church so we could be those good parents yeah and uh the letter arrived and um uh didn't give us too much information other than where it met at time so I just had a few other questions I needed to ask so you called and I kept a record I still have this record of everybody who called from that letter and the first one was Cynthia Hensler Cindy Cindy at the time exactly that's true that's true and I was trying to go by Richard but it didn't work so I was trying to look older than I really was and Don was actually the old man at the time so anyway uh Don and Lee and and Cynthia I I want to just talk about well first everybody's going to want to know what's it like to have been through 40 Years of Saddleback Church so just absolutely amazing and I I did go to the very first service you did and uh I I listened to you read that first letter of what your vision was for church that is just really a wild thing I I just wonder if do it I did too I wasn't even a Christian at the time I just had nothing to do on Easter Sunday my wife so I went to the church who was that was meeting in the school I taught at yeah that's true you taught it at Lona Hills High School that's right and so I just went in there with no expectation other my real reason was I was going to go and see what it was like so I tell her oh let's not bother yeah when she came back but I heard something entirely different than I ever heard before about that relationship with Jesus Christ never heard that before but we had no idea what was in store for us Don talk about about all of the prep that we did getting ready for that first service what 15,000 letters 15,000 letters yeah Rick did not want them computer generated hand addressed I think we lick stamps we stamped them hand stamped them and licked the envelope closed figured out a some sort of method we all had this thick mucus on our lick stuck together it basically just said we got good news for you visit us you got it that's it that's exactly right we've got good news that's how where we started and I'll never forget at the first service when uh 205 people walked up that walkway to uh to Laguna Hills High School and Kay looked at me with tears in her eyes she goes this is going to work that was Easter Sunday that was Easter Sunday remember we did a service a week ahead of that's true kind of practice exactly know what would happen exactly and we had 60 people at that yeah and I my dad's a minister I called my dad and I said 60 people showed up on the guest on the trial run service trial run and my dad goes 60 you only got 100 in our church in our church and you got 60 for the first service yeah right what's going on exactly my dad was amazed and I was amazed I thought wow maybe this yeah five people gave their lives to Christ in the trial run service and some of their names Carl and Linda bolt were two of the ones who gave their lives CH Gary and Pat Streed I remember they wrote on a card they said Rick help us and I thought they like they were having you know just typical problems marriage problems or something I called them up said how can I help you they said oh we just want to know how to give our life to Christ that was it that's how it started so we've seen a lot everything back then Rick I mean we had to set up the nursery we had to figure F out what we going to do with the kids what are we going to do with the youth who's going to play the music who's going to if you were a warm body you could be a youth worker readers and all this stuff that we take it for granted today were only 10 or 15 of us to do all this this is a interesting point that Don's making that in the in the before the first service we this little bible study grew to about 15 people and many of them had not given their lives to Christ they were non-believers they I actually had non-believers helping us plan the service and and I said you know Bob jacobe I said you're you're going to be the Usher and and Terry you're going to plan this and and we had non-christians helping us plan a church service for non-christians Rick yeah within the first month of the church you asked Lee and I to do one of the Bible studies after the service you're we didn't do that until about the sixth or seven I remember that exactly yeah oh you're a teacher you could be a Bible stud you could be a Bible study leader exactly we later did that in prison where we we pointed to people said Point around well we choose Bubba to be our Bible study leader Go Bubba Goes I'm not a Christian no but you're a leader so you can ask the questions so it was uh the whole idea that we want to convince people is it was all hands on deck there were literally no part uh uh Spectators MH once you start coming week number two you're a participator right you know and I probably talked on the phone a couple times a day a day daily at least exactly together because we were we just F let's fix let's keep working exactly that was how the church functioned no that's exactly right Don okay now um there are 67 different metaphors in the Bible metaphors are names of the church what I want to do in the last few minutes here is talk to you about five of them and show you the benefits what are the benefits of belonging so the Bible calls the church many different things but let's just look at five would you write these down the first metaphor is the most well-known one which is the church is a family okay it's a family and there are many many implications for that but the one thing I want to focus on is that as in in a healthy family you learn who who you are so write this down number one in God's family I learn my true identity that's the first benefit of actually being a member of a local church in God's family I learn my true identity have you ever thought about why people wear Brands you know they'll say Ralph Lauren or uh Ruka or Vans or Tommy hillfigure or whatever why do people wear Brands to identify to feel like they belong to something they like they think that this is a cool brand if I wear this brand then I'm cool and so we identify with Brands because it helps us identify but in reality your primary identity doesn't come from what you wear your primary identity comes from relationships I am a son I am a brother I am a husband I am a father I am a grandfather father I am a friend I am a mentor I am a pastor I am a coworker these are all relationships in my life that Define who Rick Warren is it's not how I look it's not how little or much money I've got it it's what are my relationships you're defined by relationships now if my connections are bad or my connections are broken broen then my identity suffers if I just got fired or I just got divorced or my um my spouse dies if something changes in my relationships it causes me to pause and go Who Am I who am I because your primary identity comes from your relationships now I know what some of you think Rick that's terrible news for me because my family was dysfunctional my family was broken or maybe my family was not non-existent well I got good news for you the next verse on your outline Ephesians 2:19 you are a member of there's that word member you are a member of God's very own family and you belong in God's household with every other Christian this is your family this you belong here you fit here now actually hear me out on this your spiritual family is far more important even than your physical family God used your physical family to bring you into the world so you could become a part of his spiritual family you should be grateful that your physical family got together whatever the circumstances are doesn't matter God wanted you alive because he wanted you to be a part of his spiritual family why is my spiritual family the church more important than my physical family because your physical family doesn't last people die people grow old people move away people divorce uh there's all kinds of different things it doesn't last but God's family is going to last forever and ever and ever our relationship I I have people in my family I never met great grandparents and other relatives that I I've never met my dad was number 18 of 20 kids yeah can you imagine that I'd have to have rent a super doome if I had a home a family reunion I've never met most of those relatives but if they're if they know the lord they're in God's family we're going to be in heaven together and and your spiritual family is going to be permanent it's going on for thousands and thousands and thousands and thousand years God used your physical family to get you into the world you ought to be grateful for that but his real goal is to get you into his spiritual family you're a member of God's very only family and and you know the word World uses superficial identifiers you have brown hair you weigh such and such you your height is this you're Asian or you're Caucasian or you're African-American or or or you're educated or you're rich or you're whatever those are all superficial identifiers uh uh for you and and people today when they don't know their identity in Christ they look for identity in something else like a political party well I'm a this or I'm a that and they find their identity in the team that they root for or they find their identity in the celebrity that they identify with or they find their identity in the uh political person they think is going to be the savior of the world but none of that is matters it's going to superficial what matters most is your spiritual identity look on the screen Hebrews 2:11 Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family that's a connection you're in the family of God that's why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters now you may have had some relatives you were ashamed of but God Jesus says I'm not ashamed of you I'm your brother I'm your elder brother in the family of God by belonging to Christ you discover your true identity now you know I used to work in up in inner city La as a youth pastor many many years ago and uh gangs would get gang tattoos so they could identify who they belong to okay what's the tattoo of a Christian baptism baptism says I'm in I'm in I'm not ashamed to say to the world uh Jesus Christ as my savior and my Lord now that's the first metaphor it's family let's go quickly to these others second metaphor the Bible says the church is a temple it's a temple it's like a building erected to hold the presence of God and God says he his presence wants to be in you you're a temple and together we form the temple of God look here on the screen 1 Corinthians 3:16 Says this don't you realize that all of you together together are the temple of God and his Spirit lives in you I'm not the temple of God just by myself you're not the temple of God just by yourself together we are the temple of God that's a metaphor for God's family for God's God's uh uh church and like a strong structure of a building we each hold each other up okay this is an important thing we each hold each each other up you know I remember when we were building all these buildings on the Lake Forest campus and how fascinating it was that it took thousands and thousands and thousands of part parts to erect the building but the most important thing in a building is that the parts have to fit together if they don't fit together the parts are worthless a beam that is a quter of an inch Too Short is worthless a pipe that is a foot too long is worthless the part have to fit together or they lose their meaning and purpose and to be strong and to be stable everything has to connect and that's what the metaphor of the church as a temple is all about also I noticed when I would walk around in some of these buildings that were being built before they were erected is that there was a lot of spare stuff laying around on the ground there were parts and wood and and tools and all kinds of things that were not not used and what I noticed about that is that a piece of pipe could be laying on the ground it could be in the building okay it could be in the building but it was not a part of the building you understand what I'm saying just laying on the ground it's in the building but it's not a part of the building some of you are in the church you come every week to service but you're not a part of it because you're not connected yet you haven't made the commit commitment of membership you're in it you're like you're in it but you're not a part of it CU you're not connected to anybody yet many times why why did God use this metaphor of a building to illustrate the church because in a building the connected Parts hold each other together and they're going to be many times in your life when you need other people to hold you together you're going to need other people in your life to hold you together as the pastor of this church there have been many many times over 40 years I needed the members of this church to hold me together cuz I'm just a person like you and I needed people to hold me together when things were falling apart in my life if you don't have that you're lacking what the church are offers so write write this down number two in God's Temple I'm supported by others like a strong structure of a building we hold each other up this is what the whole book of Ephesians teaches chapter 2 in God's Temple I'm supported by others Ephesians chapter 2 says this verse 21 and 22 in Christ the whole building is joined together and it rises to be become a holy Temple to the Lord he's talking about the church and in him you too are being built together to become a Dwelling Place in which God Lives by his Spirit by his Spirit here's the point in a building a disconnected frame has no support and has no stability and it's going to collapse on its own and if you're not connected there will be times in your life when you collapse because you have no stability and you have no support you're just out there on your own you weren't meant to go through life all by yourself you weren't meant to go through it all on your own you need physical and spiritual and emotional and mental support you need to belong a few years back I got because of my grandkids got involved in Legos it been a long time since I'd played with Legos but we turned my entire garage into Legoland and we were building you know fantasy world and cowboys and Indians and Star Wars and Jurassic Park and on and on and on you know what I discovered about Legos um Legos are created for connection they have no purpose if they're not connected when you connect them you can really build some cool stuff but if they're not connected to anything else they're just a pile of plastic they get in the way and you step on them it hurts your Barefoot anybody ever stepped on a Lego God bless you is there another God bless you I see you thousands of you who have stepped on Legos thank you God bless you but when you connect them you can create something cool here's what the Bible says Romans chapter 1:2 I want us to help each other with the faith that we have okay your faith will help me and my faith will help you that's why we have church your faith will help me and my faith will help you now in class 101 we have actually a membership Covenant and and everybody signs that Covenant and it is a promise not simply to God but to each other saying I will love the other members of this church and I will help the other members in the church you know the church is the antidote to the greatest epidemic in the world right now loneliness people are lonely all around the world it is it is an epidemic proportion you know some of you are are uh students you're you're in school I just want to say this to you because school can be a lonely time th this church here is very far from perfect but it's filled with people who will love you if you'll get to know them and they will help you navigate the crazy years in your life they they will help you now let's go to the third metaphor the third metaphor that we see in the Bible is the church is a body the church is a body it's called the body of Christ up here on the screen 1 Corinthians 12 says together you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it so the church is a family the church is a temple the church is a body now what's the benefit of being a part of the body of Christ Romans 12 there on your outline verse four and 5 just as there are many parts to our body so it is with Christ's body we all parts of it and takes everyone to make it complete for we each have different work to do so we belong to each other and each of us needs all the other parts I I could have preached the entire Sermon Just on this it says we're all many parts we're all unique look around nobody's like you in our church family everybody's unique unique we're all unique everybody's needed to make the body complete we each have different work to do we belong to each other and we need each other church is far more than simply something you attend it's a family you belong to and you need other people you need Connections in your life 1 Corinthians 12:1 15 if the foot says I'm not a part of the body cuz I'm not a hand that doesn't make it any less part of the body and if an ear says I'm not part of the body cuz I'm only an ear and not an eye would that make it any less part of the body too often the church is just a big mouth and we've amputated the arms and the feet and we we're known for what we say we known for what we what we're against I'm tired of that I want our church to be known for what we're for not what we're against okay I want us to be known for what we're for not what we're against again what good is an eyeball detached from a body it can't see anything I want you to write this on your outline I can't fulfill my purpose by myself that's one of the fundamental lessons you have to learn in life I cannot fulfill my purpose by myself you know I asked Don Dale and Lee and cynthy hinor about their being involved in ministries over the years because they've all been involved in dozens of them and and this is what they had to say I want you to watch this I've got a real treat for you today my oldest friends at Saddleback Church are sitting on this couch and they really old and we're going to talk about what membership means these are people from the very first membership class I I found this article on in the Saddleback news a copy that said we welcomed 42 new members this is in 1980 at the very first 101 class including Don Dale who was the first member of Saddleback Church and you've heard the famous story of how we met and he got a home for us and then has been here for all 40 years and the 12 weeks before that and then uh Lee and Cynthia Hensler Cynthia Hensler and Lee were the first two people baptized in Saddleback Church and she was the first person who called you remember that yes tell me about that because we we hand addressed and hand stamped 15,000 letters Don was involved obviously in that well we were um we wanted to find a church not for us but we had a a brand new a new baby didn't you yeah thought part of the uh formula for being good parents would take child to church by the way Courtney was the first diaper changed at Saddleback Church and she also B your daughter she did bit my daughter who was just a couple months older very first Blood sisters yes um but we decided we wanted to find a church so we could be those good parents and uh the letter arrived and um uh didn't give us too much information other than where it met at time right so I just had a few other questions I needed to ask so you called and I kept a record I still have this record of everybody who called from that letter and the first one was Cynthia Hensler Cindy Cindy at the time exactly that's true that's and I was trying to go by Richard but it didn't work so I was trying to look older than I really was and Don was actually the old man at the time so anyway uh Don and Lee and and Cynthia I I want to just talk about well first everybody's going to want to know what's it like to have been through 40 Years of Saddleback Church so just absolutely amazing and I I did go to the very first service you did and uh I I listened to you read that first letter of what your vision was for church yeah that is just really a wild thing I just wonder if do it I did too I wasn't even a Christian at the time I just had nothing to do on Easter Sunday my wife was out of town so I went to the church it was that was meeting in the school I taught at yeah that's true you taught it at Lona Hills High School that's right and so I just went in there with no expectation of my real reason was I was going to go and see what it was like so I could tell her oh let's not bother yeah when she came back right but I heard something entirely different than never heard before about that relationship with Jesus Christ never heard that before we had no idea what was in store for us Don talk about about all of the prep that we did getting ready for that first service what 15,000 letters 15,000 letters yeah Rick did not want them computer generated hand addressed address I think we licked stamps we stamped them hand stamped them and licked the envelope closed figured out a some sort of method we all had this thick mucus on our lick thi lip stuck together it basically just said we got good news for you visit us you got it that's it that's exactly right we've got good news that's how where we started and I'll never forget at the first service when uh 205 people walked up that walkway to uh to Laguna Hills High School and Kay looked at me with tears in her eyes she goes this is going to work that was Easter Sunday that was Easter Sunday remember we did a service a week ahead of that's true kind practice know what would happen exactly and we had 60 people at that yeah and I my dad's a minister I called my dad and I said 60 people showed up on the guest on the trial run service trial run and my dad goes 60 we only got 100 in our church in our church and you got 60 for the first service yeah right what's going on exactly my dad was amazed and I was amazed I thought wow maybe this there is something yeah five people gave their lives to Christ in the trial run service and some of their names Carl and Lind the bolt were two of the ones who gave the life Gary and Pat Streed I remember they wrote on a card they said Rick help us and I thought they like they were having you know just typical problems marriage problems or something I called them up said how can I help you they said oh we just want to know how to give our life to Christ that was it that's how it started so we've seen a lot everything back then Rick I mean we had to set up the nursery we had to figure out what were we going to do with the kids what are we going to do with the youth who's going to play the music if you were a warm body you could be a youth worker Greers and all this stuff that we take it for granted today there were only 10 or 15 of us to do all this this is a interesting point that Don's making that in the in the before the first service we this little bible study grew to about 15 people and many of them had not given their lives to Christ they were non-believers they were I actually had non-believers helping us plan the service and and I said you know Bob jacobe I said you're you're going to be the Usher and and Terry you're going to plan this and and we had non-christians helping us plan a church service for non-christians Rick yeah within the first month of the church we asked Lee and I to do one of the Bible studies after the service we didn't do that until about the 6th or seven I remember that exactly yeah oh you're a teacher you could be a Bible study you could be a Bible study leader exactly we later did that in prison and where we we pointed to people said Point around we choose Bubba to be our Bible study leader Go Bubba Goes I'm not a Christian no but you're a leader so you can ask the questions so it was uh the whole idea that we want to convince people is it was all hands on deck there were literally no part uh uh Spectators once you start coming week number two you're participator right you know you and I probably talked on the phone a couple times a day a day daily at least exactly together because we were we just let's fix let's keep working exactly that was how the church functioned no that's exactly right Don okay now um there are 67 different metaphors in the Bible metaphors are names of the church what I want to do in the last few minutes here is talk to you about five of them and show you the benefits what are the benefits of belonging so the Bible calls the church many different things but let's just look at five would you write these down the first metaphor is the most well-known one which is the church is a family okay it's a family and there are many many implications for that but the one thing I want to focus on is that is in in a healthy family you learn who you are so write this down number one in God's family I learn my true identity that's the first benefit of actually being a member of a local church in God's family I learn my true identity have you ever thought about why people wear Brands you know they'll say Ralph Lauren or uh Ruka or Vans or Tommy Hilfiger or whatever why do people wear Brands to identify to feel like they belong to something they like they think that this is a cool brand if I wear this brand I'm cool and so we identify with Brands because it helps us identify but in reality your primary identity doesn't come from what you wear your primary identity comes from relationships I am a son I am a brother I am a husband I am a father I am a grandfather I am a friend I am a mentor I am a Pastor I am a coworker these are all relationships in my life that Define who Rick Warren is it's not how I look it's not how little or much money I've got it's what are my relationships you're defined by relationships now if my connections are bad or my connections are broken then my identity suffers if I just got fired or I just got divorced or my um my spouse dies if something changes in my relationships it causes me to pause go Who Am I who am I because your primary identity comes from your relationships now I know what some of you think Rick that's terrible news for me because my family was dysfunctional my family was broken or maybe my family was not non-existent well I got good news for you the next verse on your outline Ephesians 2:19 you are a member of there's that word member you are a member of God's very own family and you belong in God's household with every other Christian this is your family this you belong here you fit here now actually hear me out on this your spiritual family is far more important even than your physical family God us used your physical family to bring you into the world so you could become a part of his spiritual family you should be grateful that your physical family got together whatever the circumstances are doesn't matter God wanted you alive because he wanted you to be a part of his spiritual family why is my spiritual family the church more important than my physical family because your physical family doesn't last people die people grow old people move away people divorce uh there's all kinds of different things it doesn't last but God's family is going to last forever and ever and ever our relationship I I have people in my family I never met great grandparents and other relatives that I I've never met my dad was number 18 of 20 kids yeah can you imagine that I'd have to have rent a super doome if I had a home a family reunion I've never met most of those relatives but if they're if know the lord they're in God's family we're going to be in heaven together and and your spiritual family is going to be permanent it's going on for thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands years God used your physical family to get you into the world you ought to be grateful for that but his real goal is to get you into his spiritual family you're a member of God's very only family and and you know the world uses superficial identifiers you have brown hair you weigh such and such you your height is this you're Asian or you're Caucasian or you're African-American or or or you're educated or you're rich or you're whatever those are all superficial identifiers uh uh for you and and people today when they don't know their identity in Christ they look for identity in something else like a political party well I'm a this or I'm a that and they find their identity in the team that they root for or they find their identity in the celebrity that they identify with or they find their identity in the a political person they think is going to be the savior of the world but none of that is matters it's going to superficial what matters most is your spiritual identity look on the screen Hebrews 2:11 Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family that's a connection you're in the family of God that's why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters now you may have had some relatives you were ashamed of but God Jesus says I'm not ashamed of you I'm your brother I'm your elder brother in the family of God by belonging to Christ you discover your true identity now you know I used to work in up in incent La as a youth pastor many many years ago and uh gangs would get gang tattoos so they could identify who they belong to okay what's the tattoo of a Christian baptism baptism says I'm in I'm in I'm not ashamed to say to the world uh Jesus Christ is my savior and my Lord now that's the first metaphor it's family let's go quickly to these others second metaphor the Bible says the church is a temple it's a temple temp Le it's like a building erected to hold the presence of God and God says he his presence wants to be in you you're a temple and together we form the temple of God look here on the screen 1 Corinthians 3:16 Says this don't you realize that all of you together together are the temple of God and his Spirit lives in you I'm not the temple of God just by myself you're not the temple God just by yourself together we are the temple of God that's a metaphor for God's family for God's God's uh uh church and like a strong structure of a building we each hold each other up okay this is an important thing we each hold each each other up you know I remember when we were building all these buildings on the Lake Forest campus and how fascinating it was that it took thousands and thousands and thousands of Part Parts to erect the building but the most important thing in a building is that the parts have to fit together if they don't fit together the parts are worthless a beam that is a quter of an inch Too Short is worthless a pipe that is a foot too long is worthless the parts have to fit together or they lose their meaning and purpose and to be be strong and to be stable everything has to connect and that's what the metaphor of the church as a temple is all about also I noticed when I would walk around in some of these buildings that were being built before they were erected is that there was a lot of spare stuff laying around on the ground there were parts and wood and and tools and all kinds of things that were not used and what I noticed about that is that a piece of pipe could be laying on the ground it could be in the building okay it could be in the building but it was not a part of the building you understand what I'm saying just laying on the ground it's in the building but it's not a part of the building some of you are in the church you come every week to service but you're not a part of it because you're not connected yet you haven't made the commitment of membership you're in it you're like you're in it but you're not a part of it because you're not connected to anybody yet many times why why did God use this metaphor of a building to illustrate the church because in a building the connected Parts hold each other together and there going to be many times in your life when you need other people to hold you together you're going to need other people in your life to hold you together together as the pastor of this church there have been many many times over 40 years I needed the members of this church to Hold Me Together CU I'm just a person like you and I needed people to hold me together when things are falling apart in my life if you don't have that you're lacking what the Church offers so write write this down number two in God's Temple I'm supported by others like a strong structure of a building we hold each other up this is what the whole book of Ephesians teaches chapter 2 in God's Temple I'm supported by others Ephesians chapter 2 says this verse 21 and 22 in Christ the whole building is joined together and it rises to become a holy Temple to the Lord he's talking about the church and in him you two are being built together to become a Dwelling Place in which God Lives by his Spirit by his Spirit here's the point in a building a disconnected frame has no support and has no stability and it's going to collapse on its own and if you're not connected there will be times in your life when you collapse because you have no stability and you have no support you're just out there on your own you weren't meant to go through life all by yourself you weren't meant to go through it all on your own you need physical and spiritual and emotional and mental support you need to belong few years back I got because of my grandkids got involved in Legos it been a long time since I'd played with Legos but we turned my entire garage into Legoland and we were building you know fantasy world and cowboys and Indians and Star Wars and Jurassic Park and on and on and on you know what I discovered about Legos um Legos are created for connection they have no purpose if they're not connected when you connect them you can really build some cool stuff but if they're not connected to anything else they're just a pile of plastic they get in the way and you step on them it hurts your Barefoot anybody ever stepped on a Lego God bless you is there another God bless you I see you thousands of you who have stepped on Legos thank you God bless you but when you connect them you can create something cool here's what the Bible says Romans chapter 1 verse2 I want us to help each other with the faith that we have okay your faith will help me and my faith will help you that's why we have church your faith will help me and my faith will help you now in class 101 we have actually a membership Covenant and and everybody signs that Covenant and it is a promise not simply to God but to each other saying I will love the other members of this church and I will help the other members in the church you know the church is the antidote to the greatest epidemic in the world right now loneliness people are lonely all around the world it is it is an epidemic proportion you know some of you are are uh students you're you're in school I just want to say this to you because school can be a lonely time th this church here is very far from perfect but it's filled with people who will love you if you'll get to know them and they will help you navigate the crazy years in your life they they will help you now let's go to the third metaphor the third metaphor that we see in the Bible is the church is a body the church is a body it's called the body of Christ up here on the screen 1 Corinthians 12 says together you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it so the church is a family the church is a temple the church is a body now what's the benefit of being a part of the body of Christ Romans 12 there on your outline verse 4 and just as there are many parts to our body so it is with Christ's body we're all parts of it and it takes everyone to make it complete for we each have different work to do so we belong to each other and each of us needs all the other parts I I could have preached the entire Sermon Just on this it says we're all many parts we're all unique look around nobody's like you in our church family everybody's unique we're all unique everybody's needed to make the body complete we each have different work to do we belong to each other and we need each other church is far more than simply something you attend it's a family you belong to and you need other people you need Connections in your life 1 Corinthians 12:1 15 if the foot says I'm not a part of the body because I'm not a hand that doesn't make it any less part of the body and if an ear says I'm not part of the body because I'm only an ear and not an eye would that make it any less part of the body too often the church is just a big mouth we've amputated the arms and the feet and we we're known for what we say we know for what we what we're against I'm tired of that I want our church to be known for what we're for not what we're against okay I want us to be known for what we're for not what we're against again what good is an eyeball detached from a body it can't see anything I want you to write this on your outline I can't fulfill my purpose by myself that's one of the fundamental lessons you have to learn in life I cannot fulfill my purpose by myself you know I asked Don Dale and Lee and cynthy Hensler about their being involved in ministries over the years because they've all been involved in dozens of them and and this is what they had to say I want you to watch this now every one of you all three of you guys have started multiple Ministries in this church which we now have over 500 of these different Ministries these guys started many of them grew them up and then turn them over to somebody else and then we go and start another uh can you guys think each of you think of a time one of the many Ministries that was really interesting or fulfilling to you in in service uh something you just go I didn't know that I could do that but I did whatever well my in my particular case it was the idea of going someplace and doing something with some of the skills I had right at the time I had uh I think I was still teaching wood shop Lon Hills High School and I wanted to do something with those skills I knew your dad had gone out and had buil done mission trips building stuff so uh the idea of a mission trip sounded intriguing so I and my and I guess there were five others Bob snook Andy Hine uh and uh Jennifer stce uhhuh and Bonnie stce Bonnie St uh and um um Ed Ed yeah he was supposed to go but he got sick we joined with uh what is now Mariners and we went to Costa Rica wow the very first mission trip that sleever w we ever did and it was a great experience fun so then when he came back I still want to do more things like that but knew I couldn't keep going on trips so I started I got the church and followed the Habitat for Humanity right I remember long time ago teams out and doing Habitat for Humanity and that isone and some other people have taking it over and then because of your dad again he talked me into going to Africa I've been all over the world of course mission trips so that's kind of how I got involved in our lead trips and and recruit guys to go with me and it's but it was kind of like take that first step oh absolutely yeah take the first step and then uh uh who knows where it's going to go don um I took over the youth ministry we had Ministry needed something to do with Junior High and high scores right I I ran the the the youth group for quite a while yeah you did yeah I did now you're back I'm see I'm back now if you have a child in junior high come see me they need to get involved in Junior High um but I now see kids that are in their 40s yeah I yeah they were in my youth group yeah yeah that's interesting is all all three of you have seen people that you mentored who you ask watched them be born right you watched them be born you watched them grow up through all of the C crawlers and toddlers and stuff like that and now you know for instance we have people on our staff that were born in this church including Courtney yeah who uh you know started you know when the church started and all of that I'll never forget when uh Courtney came back from um uh Stonybrook as the first character award in that school Stonybrook school started Timothy award the Timothy award that's what it was and and all of that um well with me it was the um I started doing the the children's ministry writing up the uh weekly curriculum and preparing the teachers volunteers yeah but then Kay asked me to be on a women's ministry board yeah and it was just kind of an Advisory Board getting the pulse of the church and uh it was the first time I had anything to do with a women's organization and uh little did you know event became um minister to women yeah yeah exactly full-time staff you were pastoral staff the women yeah many years so that was an exciting time to see uh the women uh find a place in the church and grow and serve yeah well that's that whole thing of uh you don't know what you can do until you actually try it I remember Kay had never done any kind of Bible study before Saddleback Church she she' never let I was a youth pastor she goes I can't do that I could Mentor one-on-one but I can't do it and the first study she taught in our in our little home was a Joyce landorf study and she said her knees knocked for the whole 45 minutes she was so scared for six people sitting in the room but that was the start right you just you just take a leap of faith and of course that's the whole history of our of our church uh okay so let me give you the four let me give you the fourth met for the Bible calls the church not just the family of God not just the body of Christ not just the temple of God but we are the flock of God the flock of God what I'm talking about here is like a group of sheep gathered together for safety now Psalm 100:3 says God made us and we are his and we are his people the Sheep of his pasture we are in the flock of God now that probably doesn't sound too appealing to you uh because you have no idea how well sheep are cared for sheep are pretty uh dependent upon being cared for and they are cared for well and I don't have time to go into this I'm going to cut this out of the message but if you'll go and read Psalm 23 and John 10 WR that on your outline Psalm 23 John 10 you go and read how well sheep are cared for and you'll feel a whole lot better about being in the flock of God because Jesus is the Good Shepherd now in God's flock what does that mean what's the benefit as a part of God's flock when I'm in the family of God I'm in the Church of God In God's flock I'm defended and cared for I am defended and cared for I'm not on my own I have other people looking out for me I enjoy the safety and the security and the protection and what does that do that makes me more confident it makes me less anxious the better connected you are in God's Church the less anxious you'll be because you realize you're not on your own and and and when you're getting beat up in the business world you go I'm not on my own and when your family or marriage is being strained you go I'm I'm not on my own I'm in the flock and and when you're facing personal crisis or illness I I'm not on my own you need people who walk into your life when everybody else walks out that's what you need and that's what you get in in a church family now in the church God has placed two kinds of people two kinds of people to help you through your difficult times and to help you uh and and to care for you when you're going through tough times to be defend defensive for you write these down number one is my pastors my pastors look out for me do you know the word Pastor is the word Shepherd it's the same word a Shepherd is a pastor a pastor is a shepherd and and in First Peter chapter 5 God says this to pastors this is instructions for me take care of God's flock his people that you are responsible for watch over them because you want to not because you're forced to do it you know nobody pays me to do do this I've now served Saddleback Church for 40 years for free why I really do love you I love God and because I love God I love his family I love his flock I love his children I love you nobody pays me to do this I I I do this because I love Jesus and I love you he says do it do it willingly but you need to pray for me CU I'm not smart enough to lead a flock this big I I just I'm on my knees constantly going God I need to know what do you want us to do next so pastors are given to look out for me in the flock of God but there's another and that is small group you need a small group there are 58 one anothers in the Bible love one another care for one another help one another serve one another share with one another pray for one another encourage one another there are 58 one anothers you can't do that in a crowd this size a weekend crowd you can only do that in a small group and in the small group that's where the flock of God really shows up Galatians 62 says this share each other's troubles and problems and in this way obey the law of Christ I asked Don and lean and Cynthia to talk about the small groups that they've been in for 40 years in in this church listen to this well guys I want to ask one more thing and that is talk to you me about a small group experience because we you know small groups have been a key to our our church over the years and uh you're not really going to feel like a part unless you get to know some people you don't have to know everybody to feel like it's your church but you got to know somebody and and they got to know when you're not there you got to have some close friends the average person uh uh if you got six or more friends in a church you're probably going to stick because you just you don't have to have you have to know everybody but you have to know somebody Don talk to me about that I definitely don't know everybody of Saddle even though you've been here from day one yeah a lot of people I don't know when uh you you you need that friendship you need somebody that recognizes you on Sunday that you can see during the week because I don't have time to see the hiners every week for some reason has a busy schedule I don't know why I don't get I don't talk to you two times a day anymore but there are times going in my life that I needed support I needed support I went through a divorce horrible thing to go through but I needed the support I wouldn't have probably made it without the support of the health of the church people that help me helped you walk through those dark days yeah but then God rewarded you oh yeah I came out good better than you deserve um our small group spent together for many many years and uh besides doing Bible studies and campaigns together and growing spiritually um we have become a very um incredible group of poor prayer warriors in our group at one time we had 13 people that were cancer survivors oh goodness oh my goodness and then we seen each other through U deaths of children yeah yeah and also through um bankruptcies y 40 Years of Crisis absolutely just imagine what can happen yes and but also a lot of Celebration yeah absolutely good happy times I think the thing that we hear most of all and we hear from from our our leader as well as everybody they say can you imagine if we didn't have the support group how would we get through this right I'll give you an example today yeah one of our members lost their mother oh my goodness yeah and we've been praying and we're there for support and you know that's just it just eases always there yeah yeah I had a little issue few months ago you did you were in the hospital quadruple bypass a little issue quadruple byass and just knowing I had prayer and support and people supporting her and being there for me I I don't know how non-believers and people who are not in a small group get through stuff does it just doesn't make sense well thank you guys uh I I I'm going to say we'll do this again in 40 more years okay all right all right thank you okay now let me give you quickly the fifth metaphor and that is the church is a garden the metaphor of the church is a garden or or a Vineyard in fact there are churches that are actually called Vineyard Church based on this idea it's an organic metaphor that we grow and we are fruitful when we are working together John 15:1 and 5 here on the screen Jesus said I am the True Vine and my father is the gardener and you are the branches so we are God's garden now in God's garden write this down my life becomes productive in God when I'm connected in God's garden now all of a sudden I start becoming fruitful the Bible calls it being fruitful being productive it's called bearing fruit I'm able to make a contribution everybody I've ever met wants their life to count everybody I've ever met wants to make a difference they want to make a contribution with their life where can you best do that in God's Garden where you will be productive but here's the key again you have to be connected John 154 and5 on the screen says this a branch cannot produce fruit if it's severed from the vine and you cannot be fruitful read that as productive you cannot be productive apart from me I am the vine Jesus says and you are the branches and those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit you'll be much you'll be very productive very productive he says and but apart from me you can do nothing the point is this you'll never be as productive as God intended for you to be with your life if you're not connected to a church family you're just not going to it teaches you the questions to ask it teaches you the priorities to understand it teaches you all kinds of stuff but you're not going to be as productive if you're disconnected from the church a cut off Branch cannot bear fruit but when you're are connected to the vine Life Giving energy flows through you I asked Lee and Cynthia and Don to talk about the risks that they had to take over 40 years in order to be productive listen to this last last clip talk talk talk to the people here about some of the risks that you think well that's really not going to happen but we really did believe that it happened and it did so remember uh uh when we did the uh walking over to the property the 6,000 people what was that day called I can't remember of the home at last home at last home at last I still have the sweatshirt oh you do the home at last yeah exactly we all went behind you and you you pushed the um pulit theit there I did we put the pulpit on Wheels and we uh 6,000 people marched a mile from Trabuco Hills High School over to the property and literally you if you look at the Lake Forest campus now it's got trees all over it there wasn't a single tree it was a gravel pit it looked like a moonscape and we set up a tent on a moonscape with no trees no green nothing and uh and all of the burning up in the summer and freezing in the winter and stuff like that but there was a Pioneer Spirit oh absolutely yeah absolutely and and God's not through with that he wants to do it again with next Generations to to to so talk to me about what what you would say to the next generation of members well it's really exciting to be involved with with that I I look back and I was telling Don earlier that when I go on campus and I walk and look and see again hearing you read that letter way back at the beginning and now seeing it actually be right there in front of my eyes it's just awesome to see what you have done and the church has done and God has done all of us God used an ordinary people did absolutely and it's it's exciting it's exciting to be involved with something where you're not sure if it's going to work but why I give it a try that's that's been the attitude let's see where this takes us we just dumb and we just went along with I think I was trying to make us look better you you weren't dumb that's that there's no way we would have gotten here if you guys had been dumb uh God brought an incredibly grifted group of core leaders uh from the at every stage really yes every single stage of the church we now have a new crop of gifted leaders that that have come in that I just go they're going to take us to the next the next Peak and and all of that and it's just so much fun just to take that risk and see what's going to happen and see God work that has just been been a great adventure I think everybody wants to be a part of a movement and if you don't take that step you're missing out probably the biggest adventure of your life here on Earth yeah yeah you're right I I always use the example God says you just have to have the faith of a mustard seed huh and I I don't have an avocad seed and it's just amazing what has happened yeah just okay yeah it's it it's not the size of your faith it's the size of God little faith big God gets big results well even that when you said we're going to have satellite churches really how is that going to happen going to happen okay maybe s Clemente but that's probably will anybody actually look at a video the screen yeah yeah and then now look where we are yeah four continents yeah yeah four continents I I want you to honor these pioneers of Saddleback Church the first three members members of the very first 101 class 40 years ago welcome Don and Lee and Cynthia come on out guys love you guys love you guys yeah now these guys have every heard every bad joke I've told 100 times okay in fact I always know Lee after Chris Easter Service if I tell an old joke he'll go wow there were a lot of new people here today cuz CU there were there were still people laughing you guys you're out here on stage say a word say a word to your church over overwhelmed to be here um and uh I got to plug Junior High if you're in junior high you need to be in the junior high service not listening to this boring seron over here go to Junior High all right good all right don't miss out on the greatest adventure of your life and a wonderful opportunity to find what your real purpose in life is m amen and I know I speak for uh everyone who's up here and I just want to thank you Rick for having the vision to start the Saddleback Church on just simply faith and what a huge blessing it has been not only to myself my family but for everybody standing here you've blessed us thank you very much thank you guys love you guys thanks this is just an example full of the people who've built this church over the last 40 years Lee and Cynthia and Don Dale they're just normal people but they became Giants in faith over the last 40 years by being connected to a place that would help them grow can you imagine the reward those people are going to have in heaven for founding a church church with a 15 people that is now one of the great churches of history and has had Global impact great will be their reward but here's the thing our best days are ahead of us and God has brought you here now for a purpose you're not here just to take up space you're here because God knows you have gifts abilities contacts connections that he wants to use in his family for the next leg of the journey I have said this many many times hundreds of times in oneon-one class can you imagine getting to heaven and a hundred years from today somebody walks up to you in heaven and says I just want to thank you I'm here because of you and he said I I don't even know you said no no no you don't know me but you were one of the pioneers of Saddleback Church back there in 2020 when they only had 20 campuses and you prayed and you served and you got involved and you were a member and you got connected and you were generous and you sacrificed and you gave it your best shot you invested your life in something that would Outlast you and 50 years after you died that church reached me for Jesus Christ I'm in heaven because of you will that be worth it if you know anything more important to do with your life I challenge you right now if you know anything more important to do with your life than to invest it in the one thing that's going to last on the planet Earth when everything else is going to burn up the family of God nothing else is going to last it's going to outlast your business it's going to outlast your hobby it's going to outlast your sports it's going to outlast your own family if you know anything more important to do than build the family of God bring people to Christ build them up to maturity teach them to discover their gifts send them out in their Ministry in the world to make an impact if you know something more important I invite you stand up right now and tell us right now stand up and tell us what's more important than that because I decided a long time ago as a very young man I was not going to waste my life and I have not I have used it for the glory of God you I want you so badly to know what what it feels like to be used by God 40 years great history it's nothing compared to where we're going and you're here now will you join me let's charge hell with squirt guns let's go for it let's in a dark dark and getting darker World shine a light of Truth shine a Light Of Hope shine a light of joy to before the good news not against all the bad news there's plenty of people out there you want to go join a negative movement it's not here on there's plenty other places go be negative and talk about how bad the world is but not here you have five fundamental needs in your life you have a need for identity you need to know who you are you have a need for stability you need stability when life gets tough you need capacity you need a place to develop in a safe place your gifts and talents where people aren't going to put you down for not having it perfect the first time you try it you you need security of relationships and and you need productivity you feel like you're making your life is going to make a long-term difference where else are you going to get that besides the Church of God nowhere nowhere so I just end with one question given the fact why should you remain disconnected when a church family like this has so much to offer to you and if not here just go somewhere and find a church but get connected I want to close we're talking to two different groups uh to some of you uh you've been here you've been coming to Saddleback services for a long time months maybe years and you've attended but you've never stepped across the line to member you've never gotten connected you've never been baptized you've never joined the church you never taken class you've never gotten involved in in in in a Ministry many of you have families that don't live in the area so you don't really see your families and relatives much you don't have really family around you others of you you're single and maybe even you live by yourself you don't have much family around you others of you you're in a marriage or in a family where you don't feel supported we will be your family we will be your family and maybe all your life you've been trying to belong there is a universal longing for belonging in every everybody everybody has a longing for belonging and I've heard many many people tell me out on that patio Rick I've never felt I belonged anywhere until I got here till I got here because you're wanted here you're not just welcome you're wanted and you belong and you fit and will help you so what do you do you take class 101 membership class that maybe I don't know 50,000 people have taken you get baptized I'm going to be baptized in a couple weeks you get connected to a small group join us for the next leg of the journey the other group I want to talk to those of you who've been members here with me for years thank you I'm going to do a message just for you soon but thank you and my challenge to you as we start not just a new year but a new decade is fall in love with the church again it is the hope of the world it is the hope of the world there is no politics that can save the world there's no business can save the world only God can save the world and it is the only thing that is going to last on this planet last verse on the screen Ephesians 3:2 21 all glory belongs to God in the church see in the church Glory belongs to God in the church and in Christ Jesus for All Time and Eternity this is an investment that will pay dividends for the rest of Eternity let's bow our heads if you don't know Jesus Christ you need to get to know him first you need to be saved you need to say Jesus Christ I I believe in you I want to follow you I want to learn to trust you I accept your forgiveness you don't have to understand it all just say yes Lord yes Lord I want to know you and I want to learn to love you thank you for loving me and if you've been on the edge you you say I I I've been attending Saddleback but I've never actually got connected I've never joined never taken a class never been baptized you need to be in the family of God if not here somewhere and I challenge you to make that commitment to join us this month and for those of you who are already in as I said fall in love with the church all over again realizing that there is nothing greater to give our time our energy our effort to it's the only thing that's going to last on this planet father I pray for everyone in the sound of my voice and as a pastor of this church I ask you to bless them bless their past their Pleasant present their future bless their bodies bless their minds with creativity bless their physical health bless their finan an es bless their relationships and whereas those conflict bring peace we look forward to this new decade together with great enthusiasm knowing that you're going to use Ordinary People in extraordinary ways just like you have done you didn't bring us this far just to stop but all the past is prologue in a Launchpad for the future and we're saying today we're all in in Jesus name amen if you want thank you you want to take out a card and write down the day you want to take class 101 write the day down you want to be baptized by me get your reservation in Have I Told You Lately That I Love You