Rick Warren delivered his final sermon as the Saddleback senior pastor before stepping down from the role.
Rick Warren
On August 29th, during the Sunday service of Saddleback Church, Rick Warren delivered his final sermon as the church’s senior pastor. He will be retiring from his position after his 43 years of service in the ministry. As he went up the stage, cheers from the congregation resounded and he took a moment to bow his head.
“As you know by now, today is my last message to you as your senior pastor. For 43 years, it has been my privilege to love you, pray for you, serve you, encourage you, be at the bedsides, be at the gravesides, be at the counseling when you’re going through a tough patch in your life; and to teach you,” he said.

Photo Courtesy: Instagram | pastorrickwarren
Final Sermon
During his final sermon, he went back to his preaching during his very first sermon in 1980 when he started the church. It was the message of a purpose-driven life. In 2002, he wrote his best-selling book, “The Purpose Driven Life” which speaks of the same message.
“And during these 43 years, I have preached 6,500 plus messages, sermons, and studies. But in this … our final, our last farewell message, I have decided that of all those 6,500 messages plus that I want to share with you, to repeat and re-preach, the very first message I preached to start this church, word for word, 43 years ago.”
Purpose Driven Life
In June, Rick announced that he will be giving the role of the church’s senior pastor to Andy Wood and his wife, Stacie. They were the former leaders of Echo Church in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rick and his wife will be stepping down as leaders of the church they have started with only 50 strangers.
“One of the values — purpose-driven values — that we hold on to here at our church is, ‘begin with the end in mind.’ Whatever project you’re starting, begin with the end in mind. That’s called being purpose driven. You know your purpose in advance. And we knew from the very beginning what kind of church this was going to be.”
On September 3-4, Saddleback church will be celebrating Rick’s 43 years of service. And on September 10-11, Andy and Stacie will be commissioned into their new roles. Rick will be stepping down with a grateful and loving heart toward the congregation.
“You’re going to make me cry,” he told the church. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
Read also: ‘AMERICA’S GOT TALENT’ SEMIFINALIST AMANDA MAMMANA SINGS AT ANDREW PALAU EVENT https://www.christianlearning.com/amanda-mammana-andrew-palau/
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Reference: The Christian Post