Rick Warren: 'Family of God' Will Outlast Microsoft, Hollywood, the United States

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Friday, July 01, 2016

Pastor Rick Warren delivering the Easter sermon to the Saddleback congregation. | Screenshot

The "family of God" will outlast everything known in the modern day world, such as Microsoft, Hollywood and even the United States, says Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren.

"A thousand years from today, if there's still earth here, there won't be a Microsoft. There won't be a Hollywood a thousand years from today. There won't be a United States of America, because no earthly kingdom lasts forever. There won't be all of the things we think are so great," Warren wrote in his Daily Devotional Friday morning.

The best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life added: "But there will still be the family of God. God's people last. It's the only thing that's going to last. … I make no apology in saying to you that maybe joining a spiritual family will be the most significant thing you do with your life."

Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren addresses the Purpose Driven Conference, which took place on June 28-30, 2016. The theme was 'New Hope for Your Church.' — Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren addresses the Purpose Driven Conference, which took place on June 28-30, 2016. The theme was "New Hope for Your Church." | (Photo: Saddleback Church)

Warren made this point when putting forth the argument that Christians "need to join a local church" for "it's going to outlast everything else you do."

"Because what the Church is doing in making a difference in the world is going to outlast your career. It's going to outlast your hobbies," Warren continued.

"It's going to outlast every other thing you do. It's the only thing that's going to last forever because it's about changed lives. There are only two things that are going to last forever: God's Word and God's people."

Warren's comments about the eternal nature of God's family came the day after he concluded the three-day "Purpose Driven Conference" at the Lake Forest, California, campus of Saddleback Church.

The first such conference in almost a decade, people from 33 nations and all 50 states went Saddleback for the multi-day event, whose theme was "New Hope for Your Church."

"The world needs hope like never before," Warren declared Tuesday morning in the opening speech for the conference.

"Our hope is not in government. It will never come through a politician. Our hope is not in who we put in the White House, but in who we put on the cross."

One notable attendee for the conference was Bobby Schuller, grandson of the founder of the Crystal Cathedral and current head of the long-running "Hour of Power" Christian program.

"I study the stops if Jesus, not the steps of Jesus. The most important stuff happened when he was interrupted. @RickWarren #PDChurch," posted Schuller on Twitter.

"When you work out muscles you work what God gave you. When you work out your salvation it's still what God gave you. @RickWarren #PDChurch."