Dear Saddleback Family, We are in the midst of one of the most challenging and unusual economic climates we have ever experienced. That’s why I started a series two weeks ago on the biblical laws of money management. I am concerned about your family’s financial fitness. If you’re upside down on your mortgage, deeply in debt, struggling to make ends meet, or just concerned with managing your money well, this is a series you won’t want to miss. Watch this video to hear more about this series and why it’s so important for not only you, but your friends and family as well. We’ll see you this weekend!
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Dear Saddleback, Your church family will be a key support and encouragement TO YOU this fall season. We’ve planned it all to help you get through these tough times. To help you manage your finances... This weekend, we begin a new series on your FINANCIAL HEALTH. This is module #2 of the Seven Key Areas of Life that we are improving during the Decade of Destiny. Just as I brought in three nationally-known expert doctors for module #1 (improving your physical health through The Daniel Plan), I’ve lined up the best to help you out in this area too, including Dave Ramsey, Dr. Robert Morris, and others. Don’t miss my new weekend series on the biblical principles for money management that God blesses. It starts this weekend! Watch this video to hear me explain the series. To help you start each day with spiritual energy... Our fall series of Drive Time Devotions with Pastor Tom will focus on the life-changing truths from the Book of Exodus, a book literally jammed with truths you need for getting through tough times. You can get this free daily encouragement at www.drivetimedevotions.com. In the next News & Views I’ll tell you about even more exciting ways in which we intend to help you in the coming months. I love you!
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Dear Saddleback Family,
I have animportant message for you about Saddleback's next teaching series, God's Word on Spending, Saving, and Stress, whichbegins this weekend. It's an important series because of the tough economicclimate in which we find ourselves right now.
I hope you'll join me this weekend as we study God's Word on Spending, Saving, and Stress. Be sure to invite a friend!
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Dear Saddleback Family,Ten years ago, our country was forever changed. Because of the terrorist attacks on our own soil, life in America will never be the same. Join us this weekend for special services in which we will remember those who died and those who fought as a result of the attacks on 9/11. - We'll come together for a remembrance and celebration.
- We will honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, the first responders, and the servicemen and women who fought to defend our freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- The service will include music, testimonies, a message from Pastor Rick, and some very special guests.
Everyone is welcome, so pass this message on to your family, friends, and neighbors. Ask them to join us as we gather together to remember the hope we have in Christ despite the violence that was brought upon our country.
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Dear Saddleback Family, This Labor Day weekend, we kick off our most helpful Fall for you: Tonight & Sunday  Honestly, you can’t afford to miss what I’ve prepared to share this weekend. I’ll explain how we intend to help you not just survive, but THRIVE, in the difficult days ahead. Spend Monday Morning with Our Church Family! 
Join me at our Lake Forest campus for a morning of fun as we work together and enjoy a lunch BBQ. Wear old clothes and bring your paint brush, rake, loppers, broom, and other clean up tools. There will be projects for every age group and family member! We will clean up the campus together, and then I will barbecue burgers for your lunch. Next weekend: Orange County's 9/11 Memorial Services  At our weekend services on September 10th and 11th we will honor and remember: - All who lost family and friends in the 9/11 attacks - All who have served in Afghanistan or Iraq since the war on terror began - All air marshals who have kept our flights safe for ten years If you have friends or family who should be honored, let us know. We will be linking up with our daughter Saddleback Church in New York City which meets on Warren Street (!) two blocks from Ground Zero. Start praying for and inviting your unchurched friends to attend a service with you as your guest. This is an unequalled opportunity to bring someone to Saddleback.
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| August 27, 2011 Dear Saddleback Family, THIS WEEKEND! “NEVER FIGHT YOUR BATTLES UNDRESSED!”  In my dramatic conclusion to our summer series on “The Invisible War,” you’ll see a live demonstration of the six actual pieces of a Roman soldier’s armor. I will teach the spiritual parallels to winning the battles in YOUR life from Ephesians 6:10-18. Bring a friend!
 ECHOING ANGELS!
Don’t miss this hot new band!
FREE LUNCH with the NEW PASTOR of our local HIV/AIDS ministry. Meet Bill & Rose Mugford from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. in the Ministry Office 1 (MO1) on the Lake Forest campus.
Learn how we show compassion here in southern California.
- I WILL BE BAPTIZING after every service at Lake Forest! If you haven’t been baptized yet, this is your weekend!
- For daily inspiration, connect with me on
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Hello Saddleback Family! There are so many exciting things happening at our church right now, it was simply too much to write down! So please watch this video that I filmed for you today. In the video, I share about some of the great things taking place this week, including: Celebrate Recovery Summit - This international summit, which began today, has brought together leaders from throughout the world.
Radicalis Music & Art Festival - This music and art festival begins tomorrow and is a historic chapter in the next phase of our church’s story.
Don’t Miss Part 7 of the Invisible War Series This Weekend - I’ll be teaching this weekend, and you won’t want to miss the next message of this important series.
The Amazing Gift of Rancho Capistrano! Hear the story of how Hobby Lobby donated the Rancho campus to Saddleback Church.+
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| It’s Fourth of July Weekend at Saddleback! Dear Saddleback Family, America’s Independence Day always reminds us that there are some things worth fighting for… and even worth dying for. Jesus demonstrated that truth. As saved people, we celebrate two kinds of freedoms: first, the freedom we have because of Jesus’ death & resurrection for us, and second, the freedom we have because of brave Americans who fought to get it and keep it. I read today that by the time our troops are completely withdrawn from Afghanistan, we will have been fighting there for 13 years – making it America’s longest war. But you are involved in an even longer war. It is a battle that will last your lifetime — and you need to know how to fight it. That war is the daily attacks on you and your family carried out by unseen spiritual forces – you own fallen nature, the world’s corrupt value system, and the minions of Satan. That’s why I’m dedicating this summer to teach you about “THE INVISIBLE WAR” – how to fight and overcome the spiritual forces that discourage, distract, detour, and attempt to destroy God’s purpose for your life. This weekend, I’m teaching Part 2:“Winning the Battle INSIDE You!”I am so eager to help you, and I know you’ll be blessed by this encouraging message. If you missed last week’s Part 1: “When You Feel Like Giving Up,” I urge you to pick up a CD of the message and listen to it, or watch it here. The Fourth of July weekend at Saddleback is always a special service. BRING A FRIEND THIS WEEKEND! I love you! |
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THIS WEEKEND Why is everything in life so hard? Why does doing the right thing often feel like a battle? Because there are unseen spiritual forces working against you! You’re in the middle of an invisible war between good and evil, and Satan foolishly tries to hurt God by hurting his children. The result is often fatigue, frustration, and discouragement in your life. My message this weekend is titled “When You Feel Like Giving Up.” If you know anyone who is feeling discouraged, this weekend is the right time to bring them to church. This message is the first one in my new summer series: The Invisible War: How to Win the Battles of Life. I’m going to be sharing the insights from God’s Word that have help me for over 35 years, so I know this series is really going to benefit you. SMALL GROUP STUDY ON DEFEATING TEMPTATION To compliment this new weekend series, I’ve videotaped a six-week curriculum on Understanding & Defeating Persistent Temptations. I taught this to our staff, and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive. One staff person said “This is going to revolutionize my life. It’s deep!” The DVD will be available in July. YOUR AMAZING COMMITMENT TO SHARE JESUS! There is simply no church family on the planet like you! Two weeks ago, I made a simple request: Would you begin to pray about helping with one of Saddleback’s new churches that we will plant across America, around the world, and in the 3,800 People Groups that still don’t have any Christian church? - Over 1,300 of you IMMEDIATELY volunteered to be a 90-day “Scaffolding Person!”
- Hundreds more volunteered to LEAD a Church Planting Team!
- Over 250 picked up materials to start a NEW small group (our “rabbit” churches)!
Amazing. Literally amazing. I challenge all other churches to follow your model of service. DANIEL PLAN PROGRESS Over 12,000 of you are now participating in our “get healthy in 2011” plan. We’ve lost over 200,000 pounds!!! ... over 4,000 pounds a day!!! www.DanielPlan.com has thousands of visitors daily as you check up on yourself, learn meal plans, shopping tips, and exercise advice. Nearly 2,000 showed up last Saturday for our Daniel Plan Fun Walk & Run and Health Expo. Try our new healthy Daniel Plan menu in our Refinery Cafes. To join us as we get in shape in 2011, go to www.DanielPlan.com. There is no charge for participating in the Daniel Plan. SADDLEBACK IN THE NEWS Here are some links to just a few of the recent news articles on our church family: ”The Biggest Loser” former contestant celebrates with Saddleback http://bit.ly/jBS2IR Thousands participate in Saddleback Daniel Plan Fun Walk & Run http://bit.ly/iqg3Hp Kay Warren Speaks to National Pastors Wives on Lessons from Suffering http://bit.ly/jhffbc Like a Teaching Hospital, Saddleback is a Teaching Church http://bit.ly/jNgb1J SOME OF MY RECENT TWEETS If you aren’t receiving my daily wisdom quotes on your phone or computer, you should sign up on Twitter, Facebook, or Linked In to follow me! Just click on the links below! Assuming God is a myth since we can’t see him is like an ant crawling over a man's shoe thinking "No life on this hill!" The more you rely on God, the more reliable you'll realize he is. Music has the power to either remind us of our grief or relieve it. Behind every sin you commit is a lie you’ve believed. The more complex a decision is, the more you're tempted to procrastinate. Boil it down to the essence first. The world doesn’t need a new definition of Christianity; it needs a new DEMONSTRATION of it. I love you and I’ll see you this weekend! Bring a discouraged friend.
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Dear Saddleback Family! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! #1 I was hoping that maybe 500 of you would join us at our Saddleback Rancho Capistrano campus on Memorial Day for our Spring Cleaning Work Day. THEN NEARLY 2,000 OF YOU SHOWED UP TO HELP! Amazing! Entire families...of all ages...raking, cleaning, painting, trimming, washing windows, and oiling floors to get the retreat center ready to open for our small group retreats starting this summer! Here are a few comments from people: - “It was SO much fun! Everyone joined and working together. How soon can we do it again?”
- “We met new friends...and built some great relationships!”
- “My kids are begging to do it again!”
- “I had NO idea our church owned such an incredibly beautiful retreat center! WOW!”
I am SO proud of you for your SERVING HEART. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! #2 Orange County newspapers and social magazines regularly feature stories about local philanthropy and charity efforts. Many of these self-congratulatory articles typically go something like this: “(So and so rich OC resident) spent $50,000 on an extravagant dinner party where everybody got dressed up for cocktails and publicity photos. The purpose was to benefit (a worthy charity), and $#,000 was raised that night.” When I read such articles, my first thought is ‘The children at Saddleback have a better understanding of true, unselfish generosity!’ Every single week, regardless of the economy or weather, without any fanfare or publicity photos, the people of Saddleback Church give generously to fund over 400 community ministries, feed over 2,000 out-of-work families, and support the PEACE plan in every single nation of the world without putting their name on a plaque. THAT friends, is true unselfishness, and I am so proud of you - for your GENEROSITY. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! #3 I am also so proud of your consistency with the Daniel Plan! You are looking great and more energetic! Our church family has been losing an average of 4,000 pounds a day! So many of you have shared that you are encouraging each other in your small groups to get healthy. Remember, our goal is to develop long-term health habits that will give you energy & longevity to fulfill God’s purpose for your life! THIS SATURDAY IS OUR DANIEL PLAN FUN WALK & RUN with breakfast, a fitness & food expo, and 5 or 10k WALK & RUN. The event will go from 7 to 11:30 a.m. and will feature SPECIAL GUEST Austin Andrews (from television show THE BIGGEST LOSER) who lost 174 pounds! VISION WEEKEND - Next WEEKEND! I‘ll be sharing a message I’ve been working on for months about God’s Eternal Vision For Your Life. Don’t miss it. EVER WONDER...Why life is so hard? Why does everything seem like a battle? There are unseen spiritual forces active around your life that are continually seeking to defeat and discourage you. ON FATHER’S DAY, I will begin a new, major series for the summer called “THE INVISIBLE WAR FOR YOUR LIFE.” Satan is real and you need to know how to defeat him. ALSO ON FATHER’S DAY - I’M INVITING ALL MEN TO SING IN OUR GODLY MEN’S CHOIR AT ALL SERVICES. The Godly Men’s Choir will rehearse this Thursday morning at The Herd meeting, and Tuesday night, June 14 at 9 p.m. in the Plaza Room. I love you, and I’m grateful to be your pastor.
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