Your Future Isn't About You | The Surprising Way to Make Your Future Matter

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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads.

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We are a community of people all over the world.

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- That connect with each other, worship with God together,

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and recharge to go change the world.

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Hey, my name is Arturo, if we never met.

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I'm on the Reachout team.

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- My name is Jen. I'm a part of our Crossroads Anywhere team.

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And today we are starting a new series called Future You.

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Because the future you starts today

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with what God is doing in and through you.

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- And that happens a big deal when we serve others.

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Chuck Mingo is going to talk about that here in a bit.

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Why don't you join us for worship?

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And hey, if we haven't already told you,

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we're so glad that you're here.

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- Well, good morning Crossroads.

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My name is Eric and it's good to be with you today.

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Hey, if you were here for Easter last week,

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can you just make some noise? Come on.

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Hey, if you're new to Crossroads today,

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I'm glad you came and that you're here with us.

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And what I want you to know is that we, as a church,

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got to experience 675 baptisms that happened last week.

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Come on. Real life change.

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We get to continue in that journey today

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with a new series we're calling Future You.

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So why don't you stand to your feet?

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We're going to start our time by singing a new song

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as our response to God's faithfulness.

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Let's sing together.

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- Jesus, that's our prayer: wherever You're going,

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you can count us in.

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Whatever it costs us, You can count us in.

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If it costs us our comfort, You can count us in.

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If it costs us our pride, You can count us in.

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If it costs us sitting comfortably inside spaces

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where we're safe, if it costs us going outside

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these walls and serving people in your name,

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God counts us in. You're worth it. And we love you. Amen.

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Amen. Amen.

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Well, hey. Say hey to somebody around you and have a seat.

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If you're brand new, you're listening to that song

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and you're like, "That song is crazy. You people are nuts.

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Whatever it costs me, count me in? You're nuts."

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I just want to say to you, if that's where you're at,

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if whatever you think about God,

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whatever you think about church, man,

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we are just glad that you are here today.

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I think you're going to hear about a God

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who is worth everything.

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That's what my hope and prayer is for you.

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If you're part of Crossroads, you received an email

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a few days ago updating you about an investigation

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that has been going on.

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If you're like, "I didn't get an email,"

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well, check your junk mail

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and start reading our emails from now on.

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You can also find all that information

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at crossroads.net/update for more on that situation.

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Please kindly welcome Kirk Perry

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representing our Board of Spiritual Directors.

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- Hello, Crossroads.

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First of all, on behalf of the board,

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I want to thank each and every one of you for the prayers

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and the patience over this last six weeks,

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because we have definitely needed both of those things.

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For the community member that brought this issue forward

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and for the countless others that have served

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in this process for the last six weeks,

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we're grateful and thankful for that.

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Kyle mentioned where to find the information on the email.

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I'm not going to drain the whole email.

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In fact, you can read it and get as much detail as you want.

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But I wanted to provide some perspective

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before you hear from BT from the board's standpoint.

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This board has been around since

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we founded the church 30 years ago,

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and the board members serve for you.

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And the last six weeks, in addition to full time day jobs,

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in addition to family obligations

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and other obligations,

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the board has taken on a part time role

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in order to land this very complicated plane

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of truth and grace -- with truth and grace, I should say.

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And I can tell you, for me personally,

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this has been excruciatingly difficult.

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If you've ever heard me speak from stage before

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and know anything about my life,

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there is some personal and professional things

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that have been quite challenging that I have gone through.

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But I will tell you, this is right at the top of that list,

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and I know it's the same for a lot of our board members.

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But what's unique about this place

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and what's unique about our faith is

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Jesus has called us to be full of two things equally:

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truth and grace, truth and grace.

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We as a board have tried to make room

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and have made room for the Holy Spirit

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so we hear what He is prompting us to do.

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And so we as a board ask for grace

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because we are imperfect people trying to make

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the best decision that we possibly can.

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We all want what is best for this church,

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for our staff, and for Brian.

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And we love all of these equally.

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And no matter what we decided to do,

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no one is really happy with it.

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I just want to share a couple samples of what we hear.

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A lot of emails have come in to the board

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throughout this process, and I'll share with you

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just so you get a feel for some of the things

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we've been navigating.

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There is one group that I would refer to

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as the free BT group, telling us --

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Telling us how woke we are

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and what a sham of a process this is.

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And I would ask this group to think about

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what God has called us to be in truth. In truth.

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There's another group that I would refer to

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as the fire BT Group.

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And this group is waiting for us to make the decision

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that they tell us should happen.

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And I would respectfully ask this group

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to love the grace that Jesus has called us to,

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because without that grace Moses, King David,

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Paul, many others are heroes of the Bible

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who are all flawed people.

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None of them would be the forefathers of our faith

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if we didn't have both truth and grace.

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And we have lived in this tension as a board,

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trying to find that balance between these two things

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for the last six weeks.

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And we are different, different as a church.

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We're so unique.

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We are a place for people that have given up on church

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but haven't given up on God.

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We are a place that will do anything short of sin

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to draw people nearer to God.

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We are different and we are a church that has

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an opportunity in a divided and divisive world

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to show what unity looks like with truth and grace.

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We are different. We are Crossroads.

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We are Crossroads.

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And while we have a long, hard way to go,

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this is the first step.

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Today is the first step on that.

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God wastes nothing. God wastes nothing.

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We will come through this better and stronger

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than we were when we came into this. We will.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Once said,

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"The ultimate measure of a man

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is not when he stands in comfort and convenience,

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it's where he stands in moments

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of controversy and challenge."

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We have the chance today to show the world

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that while we live in it, we are not of it.

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We are unique because we have the chance to be unified.

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It doesn't mean we agree on everything.

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We have the chance to be unified in both truth and grace,

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and we can go forward in love.

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And on that note, I'd like to welcome up Brian

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to give us his perspective.

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- Thank you, thank you, but please don't.

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Thank you, but thank you, please don't.

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Thank you, but, uh, just just not appropriate

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for what I'm going to say right now.

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So let me first say I am sorry for the complication

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that I brought to you all in this church.

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And to be clear, it was me. It was me.

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This has created tension and confusion and all of that.

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All of that is on me.

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Uh, my humor, uh, has been out of bounds at times,

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as has my intensity with some staff members at times.

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With my humor, as you all know,

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I like to walk right up to the edge.

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And when you right the edge, you fall off sometimes.

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And I've fallen off the edge.

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The inappropriate use of a riding crop

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is just the most obvious example, and I want to, again,

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I want to express my sincerest apologies

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and regrets to the community member who I offended.

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Apart from that incident, there's jokes that I've told

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that have been inappropriate, or at least inappropriate

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in the setting in which they were told.

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This is, I believe,

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what the Bible referred to as coarse jesting.

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Apart from those things, I've had outbursts

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that are unbecoming of a godly leader,

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or unbecoming especially, this is what hurts me,

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of a spiritual father to some of his spiritual children.

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And I really regret that and that hurts.

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That hurts me and as I've as I've hurt some others.

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So I am, um -- I'm asking that you forgive me.

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I'm asking that you would extend grace to me, and I'm sorry.

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I'm really. I'm really sorry.

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I also ask that you extend the board

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an unbelievable amount of grace

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and compassion and understanding.

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This has been a horrible, horrible six weeks for them.

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And again, they didn't do anything

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to bring that upon themselves.

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It was me. It was me entirely.

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It's not -- It's not of their doing.

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It's entirely of my doing.

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They've been thrust into a bad situation

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and have done their best to be honorable

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and do what's best for the church,

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instead of maybe what's best for me or my feelings.

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One of the things that I've learned about revivals

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and awakenings, which, as you know,

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that is a thing that I'm most excited about,

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is that people will say, "Well, confession of sin

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is what precedes revivals and awakenings."

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Uh, that's actually not true.

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Confession of sin, repentance,

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is not what precedes an awakening and revival.

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Confession of sin, repentance is what happens

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inside of an awakening and revival.

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And the reason is because when you come to encounter God,

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you come to encounter Jesus in a fresh

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and exhilarating way.

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Two things simultaneously happens.

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One, you are struck by how you fall short

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and you are struck by your own sinfulness.

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And two, you are struck by how good He is.

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You are struck by how loving He is

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and His overwhelming grace.

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And repenting and asking forgiveness is normal,

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and you feel safe doing it

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because you're so close to His presence.

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This has been the most painful six weeks of my life,

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and it's been one of the most beautiful six weeks of my life

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because I've encountered God in ways I haven't before.

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First time I preach at some point here,

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I'll probably tell you about at least one of those.

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But I have experienced Him very, very dearly,

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and I will never regret that.

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So I'll be doing some adequate repentance

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and restoration here over over the months ahead

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and doing some other things.

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I'm going to come back. I'm going to come back,

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not as not as the old BT, though God's made me who he is.

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But I'm going to come back different

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because God's doing a different thing in me.

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Richard Rohr, the old Catholic priest, says of suffering,

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he says, "Once you've suffered,

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the old paths don't work anymore."

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Anybody in here who suffered, you know what I'm talking about.

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Things just - things just are a bit different for us.

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Romans 5:3-5, we've all looked at during The Journey

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and just remind us suffering produces perseverance.

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Perseverance produces character,

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and character produces hope.

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The next verse is this:

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And hope does not lead us to shame,

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because God has poured out His love into our hearts

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through the Holy Spirit who has given us.

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That's what the beautiful relationship with Jesus is,

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no shame, love poured out in us

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and the Holy Spirit's pushing us forward.

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So that's all I have for you today.

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I'm sorry again for all the chaos. I'm sorry.

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I'm thankful for your steadfastness

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and your faithfulness and your friendliness.

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And, um, I love you all very much. [applause]

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- Would you pray with me, please.

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God, count us in. Count us in, God.

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We know that You love us unconditionally,

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that You chase after us even though we're imperfect,

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even though that You know we're going to make mistakes,

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God, you bring us back to You.

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As we draw near to You, You draw near to us.

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God, we're just so thankful for today,

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for this redemption that we're witnessing.

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God, we're thankful that You want to restore the unity

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of this place through Your amazing truth and grace.

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We're just so thankful for that gift.

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We're thankful for the love, the grace, and the mercy

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that You pour on each one of us every day.

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God, we love You and we thank You for loving us.

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And it's in Your Son's name I pray. Amen.

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- Amen.

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- Hey buddy. - Love you.

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- Love you too. - Good job.

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- You know, 21 years ago, I was living 500 miles away

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from Crossroads in the middle of the Bible Belt.

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Lots of great churches all around me

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preaching the message of Jesus, but not in a language

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that I could actually understand.

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And then my parents found Crossroads

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and they would mail me the messages

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on these things called CDs. They were --

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You can find them in museums, just --

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And I would listen to these messages that made sense to me.

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I heard the message of Jesus in a language that made sense,

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that I understood, and more than that,

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I saw a church that was committed

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to take that message outside the walls.

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It wasn't just like talk. It was walk.

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It wasn't just listen. It was do something about it.

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So do you want to know where do we go from here?

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You know what happens next?

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Well, I'll tell you what happens next.

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What happens next is we do what we've always done:

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We preach the message of Jesus

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in a language you can understand,

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and we roll up our sleeves and we get to work.

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That's what we're going to do.

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And more on the roll up your sleeves part.

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I want you to welcome back to stage,

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back by popular demand.

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He might make us dance today, I don't know. Chuck Mingo.

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- Love you, man, I love you.

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Oh, man. Hey, I just want to add a couple of things.

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One, I am so thankful for Kyle Ranson. I am so thankful.

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Guys, we have a faithful, prayerful,

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spirit led leader in Kyle and God's got our church.

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God's got our church and I have such peace about that.

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I really, really do. And I hope you do as well.

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And God is still moving in our church.

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I hope you didn't miss it, 675 people got baptized

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last weekend on Easter. Unbelievable.

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Which by the way, we did have a party.

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It was a party, especially this service.

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We had a party last Easter.

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People were like, "Hey Chuck,

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how are you doing after the Easter service?"

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And I said, "Tired is how I'm doing. I'm tired."

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So I slept for two days.

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I was trying to simulate Jesus in the tomb, you know?

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And I came out on the third day and I'm really excited

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to kick off this series today and talk about

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something that's core to the DNA of our church.

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Let's pray. God, I thank You for Your goodness.

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I thank You that You are the perfect blend

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of grace and truth, and I thank You that

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You continue to work in and through Your people.

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And God, that means us. That means us.

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And so I pray today that we would hear the clarion call

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of Your Holy Spirit to be and do the things

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that we have always been and done,

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not because we have great plans, but because

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this is just the DNA of Your church,

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and it's the DNA of this church.

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So, God, I pray that you would speak to our hearts today

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and move us to action. In Jesus's name, Amen. Amen.

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We are in a new series. We're kicking it off today.

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It's called Future You.

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And the series is really asking this question:

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what are the things that you can do today,

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maybe hard, maybe challenging, but they're rich

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and they're going to produce a better future you tomorrow,

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your future you is going to be thankful for it.

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And today we're getting at something

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that is the heart of Crossroads, the heart of our DNA.

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I put it to you this way. Here's the big idea.

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We are a church that shows up.

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Crossroads has always been, and we will always be

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a church that shows up.

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Because when we do, we find God and we find meaning.

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That is who we have been and that is who we will always be.

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I want to just ask you, have you ever asked this question:

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Is my life adding up to something?

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I think we all ask that question in different ways.

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I'm not meaning is our life adding up to being busy?

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How many people are busy?

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Yeah, our lives add up to busy all the time, right?

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I'm not even talking about successful,

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although it's great to have a successful life.

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But I think underneath success there is a hunger

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for something deeper, a hunger for meaning.

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Is my life meaningful?

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Am I doing the things that make for a meaningful life?

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Viktor Frankl wrote a book and its title is right on this.

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It says it's man's search for meaning,

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power of him writing that from a place of suffering

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having dealt with the Holocaust.

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It is a really eye opening book to read,

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but I think he gets at the core that all of us have.

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So every week in this series, we're going to be

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looking at what makes for a meaningful life?

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How do you structure relationships

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to have meaningful relationships?

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How do you think about your relationship to time

00:32:08

and resources in a way that creates a meaningful life?

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What about your spiritual growth?

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How do you approach that in a way

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that creates a meaningful life?

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Because by every indication, we're starving for meaning.

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We're hungry for meaning as a people.

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I came across an article and the first thing

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that struck me was the title, which is:

00:32:26

Beyond Work, Scroll and Repeat. Ouch.

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And this is what it said, this is in reference to Gen Z.

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It said over half of young adults,

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58% said they had experienced little

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or no purpose or meaning in their lives, 58%.

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Despite all the resources, despite all the opportunity,

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despite all the things that are true in our world,

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there is this hunger for meaning.

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I think we're seeing that in the younger generation,

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but I also don't think it's just a Gen Z thing.

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I'm a Gen Xer. Any Gen Xers in the house?

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Yes, that's right, that's right.

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Gen Xers. Baby boomers in the house, right?

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Yes, yes, I think we experienced this too.

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You know, as a Gen Xer, I have friends

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who are obviously baby boomers as well.

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I've got a lot of friends that are kind of

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like considering a second act in their life,

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or they're actually moving into kind of

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the key position that they've been working for.

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Or maybe some of my older friends who are retiring.

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And I think they're asking the same question.

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They're like, hey, is my life meaningful?

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I've been traveling, I've been grinding it out.

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I've been working for these promotions

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for the last 20 years.

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I've been leaving my family every week

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because this is what I'm doing to provide for them.

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And I'm asking the question

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is my life adding up to something?

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I think we are all hungry for meaning.

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Here's the thing, we don't have trouble filling our lives,

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but it's easy to live a life that does not fill our souls.

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And this was a distinctive of the early church.

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They were people living incredibly meaningful lives.

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The celebration of the resurrection was real for them.

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And these people who were towering in a room --

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Cowering in a room, I should say, afraid of everything.

00:34:04

Once Jesus broke the tomb and they realized

00:34:07

the resurrection was real, they became on fire.

00:34:10

These are people who were making a difference

00:34:12

in the world around them.

00:34:13

And the thing I love about the early church

00:34:15

is they didn't just believe something,

00:34:16

they became something.

00:34:18

They became a group of people who served others.

00:34:21

Look at how this plays out in Acts 2.

00:34:23

This is an early account of the church soon after Jesus left.

00:34:27

And it says: And they devoted themselves

00:34:28

to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship,

00:34:31

to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

00:34:33

And awe came upon every soul,

00:34:35

and many wonders and signs were being done

00:34:37

through the apostles.

00:34:38

Unless we think these apostles are, you know,

00:34:40

50 plus people who are kind of like seasoned,

00:34:42

you know, these are 20 to 30 year old guys.

00:34:45

John we believe was 18 when Jesus was resurrected.

00:34:47

So these are young people.

00:34:49

And what happened? It says that

00:34:50

all who believe were together

00:34:51

and had all things in common,

00:34:53

and they were selling their possessions

00:34:55

and belongings and distributing the proceeds

00:34:56

to all as any had need and day by day

00:34:59

attending the temple together

00:35:00

and breaking bread in their homes,

00:35:02

they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

00:35:05

praising God. And listen to this:

00:35:06

Having favor with all the people

00:35:08

because they weren't just blessing people

00:35:10

who were in their crew,

00:35:11

they were blessing the people around them.

00:35:13

And the Lord added to their number day by day

00:35:16

those who were being saved.

00:35:17

What was the early church known for?

00:35:19

They were rooted in Jesus and in the power of the Spirit.

00:35:24

They were relational with each other

00:35:26

in a way that the world had never seen.

00:35:28

And they were radically generous.

00:35:30

And that has always been and always will be

00:35:33

part of the DNA of people who follow Jesus.

00:35:36

Even the people who didn't like the church

00:35:39

had to give them props for the way they lived their lives.

00:35:42

Give you three examples of this.

00:35:43

One is Tertullian.

00:35:45

He himself was a North African Christian,

00:35:47

but he was talking about how people in Rome

00:35:49

talked about the early church.

00:35:50

They would say, see how they love one another

00:35:53

and how they are ready to die for each other.

00:35:56

That was not common behavior back then,

00:35:58

and yet this group of people lived differently.

00:36:01

And even the haters had to see it and recognize it.

00:36:04

Here's another hater, Lucian of Samosata.

00:36:06

He was a satirist. He mocked the church.

00:36:08

He mocked Christians. But even he said this:

00:36:11

It becomes incredible to see their enthusiasm

00:36:15

for the care of their poor and their burial of the dead.

00:36:18

What he's saying is they have a dignity

00:36:22

that they give and confer to every human being,

00:36:24

and nobody else is doing that.

00:36:26

This is unique.

00:36:27

Give you one more. Julian the Apostate.

00:36:30

Not a fan of the church, was actually trying

00:36:32

to create something that would be counter to the church.

00:36:34

But even he said the impious Galileans

00:36:37

support not only their own poor, but ours as well.

00:36:42

So early in the DNA of the church was this idea

00:36:44

that meaning is found by serving others.

00:36:47

Getting outside of ourselves is part of how we're wired

00:36:50

as people who follow Jesus.

00:36:52

This is part of the DNA of the church,

00:36:54

and it's a part of the DNA of Crossroads.

00:36:56

Let me share a couple stories with you just to help you

00:36:58

understand how this connects to our church.

00:37:01

One is, you may not know that Crossroads,

00:37:04

about 20 years ago, augmented our mission statement

00:37:07

because of this profound insight.

00:37:09

When I first started coming to Crossroads,

00:37:11

and some of you are here,

00:37:12

you've been here even longer than me.

00:37:14

You remember our mission statement was:

00:37:15

connecting seekers to a community

00:37:17

of growing Christ followers.

00:37:19

That was our mission statement

00:37:21

early in the time of Crossroads very laser focused

00:37:24

on the fact that there hadn't been a church

00:37:26

started in the Hyde Park area in Cincinnati

00:37:28

here in about 40 years, and that there were people,

00:37:30

as you heard Kirk Perry say,

00:37:32

who had given up on church

00:37:33

but may not have given up on God.

00:37:35

And so we were laser like focused in creating a place

00:37:37

where they could hear about Jesus

00:37:38

in a language they can understand

00:37:40

and grow in their faith to have an impact.

00:37:42

That's always been what we're about,

00:37:44

and we are still about that.

00:37:45

And yet, about 20 years ago, we realized that

00:37:49

when we looked at the stories of how God

00:37:51

was growing those Christ followers,

00:37:53

as we looked at the stories of how He was giving us

00:37:55

an opportunity to make a difference,

00:37:57

it was always about stepping outside of ourselves.

00:38:00

And once we realized that, we actually said,

00:38:02

"No, this is actually has to be part of our mission."

00:38:04

So we changed our mission to what it is today:

00:38:07

Connecting seekers to a community

00:38:08

of growing Christ followers, still there,

00:38:10

but who are changing the world.

00:38:12

Because this is such a part of who we are.

00:38:15

Another story early in the life of Crossroads,

00:38:17

this idea of giving outside of ourselves,

00:38:20

going beyond ourselves, making a difference

00:38:23

in our community was really something

00:38:25

that was at the heart and on the hearts

00:38:26

of the early leaders of our church.

00:38:28

Such to the point that even though we were

00:38:30

a small startup church, that really needed

00:38:32

to think about how you get your resources

00:38:34

and just make the thing go.

00:38:35

They said, we want to be generous outside of ourselves.

00:38:38

So they tasked the guy named Steve Andrew,

00:38:40

still a part of our church today and said,

00:38:42

"Steve, why don't you go and vet who are places

00:38:44

in the city that are doing great work

00:38:46

to meet the needs in our city,

00:38:47

and who might we come alongside and support?"

00:38:49

Steve Andrew came back and said, "Hey,

00:38:51

there's a great organization that we can help

00:38:53

called City Gospel Mission," still in existence today.

00:38:56

And if you're in the Cincinnati area,

00:38:57

you know the blessing that City Gospel is,

00:38:59

the work they do with people who are homeless

00:39:01

in our community and helping people come out of addiction,

00:39:04

some other amazing experiences and programs

00:39:06

they do for kids, all kinds of things.

00:39:07

And so Crossroads, early in its formation, said,

00:39:11

"We're going to give a significant gift

00:39:13

to City Gospel Mission, $100,000."

00:39:16

And that was at a time when we were a small startup church.

00:39:19

So it wasn't like they had this check in the bank

00:39:21

and they could just write it.

00:39:22

This was a step out in faith of saying, "God,

00:39:24

we're trusting You because this seems to be what You do.

00:39:27

You call us to go outside of ourselves."

00:39:29

So we made that commitment,

00:39:31

got a letter within a couple of weeks, I think,

00:39:33

from City Gospel saying,

00:39:34

"Because of the size of your gift,

00:39:36

you're our number one supporter."

00:39:37

Now, this small startup church, number one supporter.

00:39:42

The very next Sunday, Crossroads had service.

00:39:46

And back in the day we used to actually

00:39:48

take up an offering in service.

00:39:49

I know we don't do this anymore.

00:39:51

Do you guys remember this?

00:39:52

There were like these disc things

00:39:53

and we would pass them all through the aisles.

00:39:56

People would put paper money in it.

00:39:58

They sometimes would put these things called checks in it.

00:40:01

Do you even know what a check is?

00:40:02

I mean, I know this is like so ancient.

00:40:04

That very next Sunday in the offering,

00:40:09

someone anonymously gave a $100,000 check to Crossroads.

00:40:14

It's amazing. It's amazing.

00:40:16

And it was the symbol, really, I believe God saying,

00:40:18

"Hey, you will never out give Me.

00:40:21

If I call you to go outside yourself,

00:40:23

I am going to show up in a powerful way."

00:40:25

And God has done that.

00:40:26

Well, to celebrate that, Brian Wells,

00:40:29

who's on our board and was on the staff at the time,

00:40:31

gave everybody on staff 100 Grand bar.

00:40:34

It was kind of like this moment to mark 100 Grand bar.

00:40:37

And this is actually the picture

00:40:39

of his actual 100 grand bar from all of those years ago.

00:40:42

Now you'll notice there's no chocolate in it anymore.

00:40:45

So I said, "Brian, what happened to the chocolate bar?"

00:40:47

And he said, "Well, Chuck, I'll be honest with you,

00:40:49

there was a day when I was working,

00:40:51

I was really, really hungry and that 100 Grand bar

00:40:54

was looking really attractive.

00:40:55

So that's why there's actually no chocolate in there."

00:40:58

But just to celebrate God's faithfulness,

00:41:00

I thought I'd bring some 100 Grand bars with me today.

00:41:03

You know, this is the time where you might need

00:41:05

a little mid-service pick me up.

00:41:06

So, ma'am, I see your hand out. There's one for you.

00:41:09

Andy, my friend. I see there's one for you.

00:41:11

I see you, I'm throwing it to you, buddy. You got it.

00:41:13

Good work, good work. Would you like one?

00:41:14

There you go. I got to come on this side

00:41:16

and show some love, Imma gonna show some love over there.

00:41:18

All right. Good duck, lady. Good duck, by the way.

00:41:21

That was good. You box? Man, that was like,

00:41:25

that was a heck of a dip there.

00:41:27

And yes, enjoy those.

00:41:28

But I also want that to be a symbol for us

00:41:31

that God is faithful. He will always show up.

00:41:34

And when we step outside of ourselves,

00:41:36

we're part of the story of how God does that.

00:41:38

Guys, this is your story.

00:41:40

Do you know that over the last 20 years

00:41:42

of stepping out and serving our community,

00:41:44

this is just loving our neighbors here around

00:41:46

our cities that we're in, 88,000 of you

00:41:49

have invested 530,000 service hours

00:41:52

blessing and loving this community.

00:41:54

It's amazing. It's amazing.

00:41:56

So this is a part of who we are as a church,

00:41:59

and it always will be.

00:42:01

So those are some church stories,

00:42:02

but I want to share some of my stories

00:42:04

because I've got some stories on this

00:42:06

being a part of this community.

00:42:07

In 2007, my wife and I were a part of a mission trip

00:42:11

to a place called Mamelodi, South Africa.

00:42:14

300 people from Crossroads went over to South Africa.

00:42:18

We were in partnership with the church over there

00:42:20

called Charity and Faith, helping to build

00:42:22

a world class Aids hospice.

00:42:24

And also being able to just come alongside

00:42:27

and serve in those communities and help the church

00:42:30

kind of be Jesus to the community right around them.

00:42:32

Well, there's some profound things

00:42:33

that happened on that trip for me.

00:42:35

The first was it was my first time

00:42:38

ever setting foot on African soil.

00:42:41

And that was a really meaningful moment for me personally.

00:42:44

I know it's hard to tell sometimes with the lights

00:42:46

and the haze, but I am black, I am black.

00:42:49

And, um, and so the idea of getting to set foot

00:42:52

on the continent of Africa had huge cultural meaning for me.

00:42:56

And we had the church from South Africa come over here,

00:42:59

and they had been a part of some things,

00:43:00

so I had gotten to meet some people.

00:43:02

When I get off the plane. I remember

00:43:04

just being hit by the heat in Africa.

00:43:06

And just like, "Man, I am here, I am here."

00:43:09

And then we went down the escalator

00:43:10

and they met us with a huge celebration.

00:43:13

They had those vuvuzelas. If you've seen those?

00:43:14

The kind of African horns they had, those.

00:43:16

It was just a huge celebration.

00:43:18

And I remember one of the guys in the group

00:43:19

who I'd met here, he pulled me to the side

00:43:22

when I came down the escalator, he looked me in the eyes

00:43:25

and said, "Brother, welcome home."

00:43:28

And it was -- I didn't even know my soul needed that.

00:43:32

Here I am going to serve, right?

00:43:33

Here I am going to make a difference.

00:43:35

And yet God met me with something

00:43:37

that I needed so powerful.

00:43:39

I'll tell you another story that happened in that time.

00:43:41

My wife and I, this is a picture of my beautiful wife,

00:43:44

Maria, and actually the woman in the middle,

00:43:46

her name is also Maria.

00:43:48

We're building a home for her behind there.

00:43:50

So this is Chuck and two Maria's in this picture.

00:43:53

And my wife and I, it was 2007.

00:43:56

We had been trying to have children,

00:43:57

have been unable to conceive

00:43:58

and we're just dealing with infertility.

00:44:00

And one of the things we've learned from our partners

00:44:02

in Africa is how to pray in faith.

00:44:06

They pray with a level of faith that inspires me.

00:44:09

And so we had a chance to be prayed for

00:44:11

by one of the mothers of the church over there.

00:44:13

And we shared with her, "Hey we've been wanting to conceive

00:44:16

and that's been a challenge for us.

00:44:18

Would you pray for us?"

00:44:19

And I remember her, you know, looking at my wife

00:44:21

and saying, "Hey, would it be okay

00:44:22

if I put my hand on your belly as I pray for you?"

00:44:26

Actually, that's not what happened at all.

00:44:27

They don't do PC over there.

00:44:29

When we asked that, she went for my wife's belly right away,

00:44:32

and she started praying this prayer of faith,

00:44:34

"In the name of Jesus, this womb will be opened.

00:44:37

There will be children in this womb."

00:44:38

She went in and, guys, that next July we had a baby.

00:44:43

That next July we had a baby and our oldest son, Nathan.

00:44:47

And I'm just telling you, I'm just telling you

00:44:49

there is something that happens when you

00:44:50

step outside of yourself, you meet God,

00:44:54

you learn, you grow, and you get to be

00:44:57

a part of the way that we serve and meet needs.

00:45:00

It's an incredible thing and we are all a part of it.

00:45:04

And as powerful as it's been,

00:45:07

when I've had a chance to go to Africa,

00:45:08

I've gone to India with our church.

00:45:10

I've gone to Haiti with our church,

00:45:11

I've gone to Puerto Rico with our church.

00:45:13

As powerful as those experiences have been,

00:45:16

some of the most powerful serving opportunities

00:45:18

I've been a part of have been far more local.

00:45:21

One happened 20 minutes from where we are right now

00:45:24

in Winton Terrace.

00:45:25

And if you're not in the Cincinnati area,

00:45:26

you may not know Winton Terrace.

00:45:28

It is a neighborhood public housing.

00:45:30

Some of the challenges that come with that

00:45:32

have been a part of the story of Winton Terrace.

00:45:34

And one of my friends in my dude group,

00:45:37

his name was Cameron, really felt called to that community.

00:45:40

He had been doing some work building relationships

00:45:42

in that community and so we do this thing called Go Day.

00:45:45

We're doing it again.

00:45:46

I'm going to invite you into that in just a few minutes.

00:45:48

We were doing this thing called Go Day in 2018,

00:45:50

and Cameron was like, "Hey, I'm doing a project

00:45:52

in Winton Terrace," and he asked the dudes

00:45:53

in the dude group, "Hey, let's do this together."

00:45:55

And it was so amazing to have the opportunity

00:45:58

to serve alongside my friends, my brothers in Christ,

00:46:01

with my two sons.

00:46:03

There is something powerful when as a father

00:46:05

you get to expose your boys to powerful men of God

00:46:09

who love Jesus, who served Jesus, and who are fun.

00:46:13

My boys had a blast that day with our friends.

00:46:15

We have this picture here.

00:46:16

It's my friend Austin helping Nathan

00:46:18

hammer something in, a stake in.

00:46:20

And you can look at Nathan's focus on his face.

00:46:22

You see how tense he was? He was like, locked in.

00:46:24

It's my friend Elliot helping him finish that job.

00:46:27

And Cameron's holding that bench for him.

00:46:29

So it's just amazing to get to be a part of that

00:46:31

with my boys.

00:46:32

It's the kind of thing that is so profound

00:46:37

when you step outside of yourself,

00:46:39

and it's something we all need.

00:46:41

I came across a quote from a guy, Gary Barkalow

00:46:43

wrote a book on calling. He said this:

00:46:45

The tragedy in life is not death;

00:46:48

it's what we allow to die within us while we still live.

00:46:52

There is something God put in you that's meant for the world.

00:46:56

There's something God has wired into you

00:46:59

that is meant for your literal neighbor.

00:47:01

There is a way that only you can serve.

00:47:05

And when you show up, you meet God and you find meaning

00:47:08

and you are a part of that story.

00:47:10

We need you to show up.

00:47:12

So three things kind of applications for all of this.

00:47:15

The first is stop running away from the need

00:47:19

and move toward a need.

00:47:23

I think it's easy for us to live drive by lives.

00:47:26

We drive by problems. We drive by challenges.

00:47:29

Our heart gets pinged for a couple seconds

00:47:31

when we read a story,

00:47:32

we know we have something to contribute,

00:47:33

but so quickly we get busy and we just drive by it.

00:47:36

We forget it.

00:47:37

And I think we are missing out because of our drive by mindset.

00:47:41

It's time to move toward a need.

00:47:44

In fact, this is a life changing thing for all of us.

00:47:48

One writer said that the average American

00:47:52

doesn't even say hello to neighbors they don't know well,

00:47:56

other than a few days, a few times a year.

00:47:59

And because of that, we have a isolation

00:48:02

and loneliness epidemic.

00:48:04

The physical effects are such that

00:48:06

it's like smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

00:48:09

So because we aren't loving our neighbor,

00:48:12

it is literally killing us and it is killing our neighbor.

00:48:16

And so it's time to move toward the need,

00:48:18

not away from the need. That's the first thing.

00:48:20

Second thing is this: stop going solo and go with the team.

00:48:23

The great thing about Go Day is

00:48:24

you don't have to show up on your own.

00:48:26

You don't have to figure out how

00:48:27

to make a difference on your own.

00:48:29

As a church, we get to rally the force that we are together.

00:48:33

That was the power of the early church.

00:48:35

It was their togetherness.

00:48:36

Did you notice in Acts 2 it says

00:48:38

they had everything in common.

00:48:39

They were sharing their possessions

00:48:40

and giving to those in need.

00:48:42

It's the power of together that makes the church

00:48:46

an amazing force for good.

00:48:47

So don't go with the team -- I'm sorry.

00:48:50

Don't go solo. Go with the team.

00:48:52

Third and final: Stop talking about it and go do it.

00:48:56

Hey, there are some messages that I give you and I say,

00:48:58

"Hey, I want to give you a minute to really pray

00:49:00

and ask God how this applies to your life."

00:49:03

This is not one of those messages.

00:49:05

This is one where it's like, hey, this applies to you.

00:49:08

If you're a part of this church, let's go, let's go.

00:49:11

Let's do this together.

00:49:13

Because when we show up, it makes a difference.

00:49:16

You know, I think one of the things that

00:49:18

we're talking about in this series is what are you doing

00:49:20

today that your future you will be thankful for?

00:49:22

I think there's a future me that's thankful

00:49:24

every time I step out and serve.

00:49:25

But here's what I also know.

00:49:27

I believe 30 years from now, my kids have

00:49:31

a higher likelihood of being part of

00:49:32

a community of followers of Jesus

00:49:34

who go outside themselves

00:49:36

because they experienced it as kids.

00:49:39

That my sons and my daughter have the opportunity

00:49:42

to be a part of this thing called the church,

00:49:44

because they've gotten to be a part of it

00:49:46

in their childhood.

00:49:47

I believe 30 years from now, there's going to be a church.

00:49:51

30 years from now, there's going to be a church of Jesus

00:49:53

that are impacting the world, unless Jesus comes back.

00:49:55

And that's a whole other message,

00:49:57

and I'm happy to give that message another time.

00:49:59

But if Jesus doesn't come back, 30 years from now

00:50:01

there's going to be another church.

00:50:02

But I think 30 years from now,

00:50:04

that church is going to be asking some questions of us.

00:50:06

They're going to say, "30 years ago,

00:50:07

was there a group of people who showed up?

00:50:09

Was there a group of people who loved when it was hard?

00:50:11

Was there a group of people who didn't have

00:50:13

a drive by mindset in the problems

00:50:15

that faced their society, but literally

00:50:17

rolled up their sleeves and loved their neighbors?"

00:50:19

And I don't know about you, actually I do.

00:50:21

I think we want to be a church that shows up, am I right?

00:50:24

I think we want to be that church.

00:50:29

You know why? Because Jesus shows up.

00:50:32

Jesus showed up.

00:50:33

In John it says that the Word, Jesus, became flesh

00:50:37

and dwelt among us.

00:50:38

I love how one person paraphrased that.

00:50:41

They said the word became flesh

00:50:43

and moved into the neighborhood.

00:50:45

Jesus moves into your neighborhood.

00:50:47

He moves into your situation.

00:50:49

Jesus is not a drive by God.

00:50:51

He's a God that comes up close and personal,

00:50:54

rolls up His sleeves and says, "I am here to serve you."

00:50:58

Jesus serves. And guess what? So do His people. We serve.

00:51:03

You know, I think we had a really profound moment

00:51:07

that was a shared opportunity for us

00:51:08

to just get some perspective this week.

00:51:10

Am I the only one that really enjoyed

00:51:12

all the Artemis II footage and the experience

00:51:14

that those astronauts were having?

00:51:16

It was really, really awesome.

00:51:18

And I don't know if you heard this or not, but on Easter,

00:51:21

we got a message from four humans

00:51:23

that were 250,000 miles away from earth.

00:51:27

And it was a powerful point of perspective

00:51:29

that I want to share with you. Take a look.

00:51:32

- I think these observances are important,

00:51:34

and as we are so far from earth and looking back at,

00:51:38

you know, the beauty of creation,

00:51:40

I think that for me, one of the really important

00:51:42

personal perspectives that I have up here

00:51:45

is I can really see earth as one thing.

00:51:48

And, you know, when I read the Bible

00:51:49

and I look at all of the amazing things

00:51:51

that were done for us who were created.

00:51:54

It's you have this amazing place, this spaceship.

00:51:58

You guys are talking to us because we're in a spaceship

00:52:00

really far from earth.

00:52:01

But you're on a spaceship called earth

00:52:04

that was created to give us a place to live

00:52:06

in the universe and the cosmos.

00:52:08

I think maybe the distance we are from you

00:52:11

makes you think what we're doing is special.

00:52:13

But we're the same distance from you.

00:52:14

And I'm trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special.

00:52:17

In all of this emptiness,

00:52:19

this is a whole bunch of nothing,

00:52:20

this thing we call the universe.

00:52:22

You have this oasis, this beautiful place

00:52:24

that we get to exist together.

00:52:27

I think as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about,

00:52:30

you know, all the cultures all around the world,

00:52:32

whether you celebrate it or not,

00:52:33

whether you believe in God or not,

00:52:35

this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are,

00:52:39

who we are, and that we are the same thing,

00:52:41

and that we got to get through this together.

00:52:45

- Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. [applause]

00:52:51

What a perspective.

00:52:52

What a perspective that from 250,000 miles away

00:52:56

what is abundantly clear and true

00:52:59

is that we are the same. We are one.

00:53:03

There's an African concept called Ubuntu.

00:53:06

And what it means is I am because we are.

00:53:09

And you know what? That's true for the church.

00:53:12

What Jesus came to shape and form is a family.

00:53:16

He came to reconcile all of the people

00:53:18

who are different into one family,

00:53:20

not just so that the family would enjoy

00:53:23

their own experience together,

00:53:25

but that they would be radically generous

00:53:26

and invite people everywhere to say,

00:53:28

"There is a place for you with the family of God."

00:53:30

And one of the ways we do that practically

00:53:32

is when we show up and we serve our neighbors.

00:53:35

So I have a call to action for you today because

00:53:38

I believe May 16th is a moment for us to show up as a church.

00:53:42

So I want you to take out your phone right now,

00:53:44

and I want to talk to you about Go Day.

00:53:46

Go Day is coming up on May 16th.

00:53:47

This is an opportunity that we have as a church,

00:53:50

literally thousands of us, to do a day long service project.

00:53:54

It just communicates to our neighbors

00:53:55

that the people of God are still here.

00:53:58

We're unified, we love you, and we want to serve you.

00:54:01

So here's what I'm going to ask you to do.

00:54:03

I want you to go to your calendar app,

00:54:04

whatever that is for you on your phone.

00:54:06

And I want you to look at May 16th, look at May 16th.

00:54:10

And if you're May 16th is like mine,

00:54:12

there's already something there, right?

00:54:15

I know you guys are busy people,

00:54:16

but here's what I'm going to ask you to do.

00:54:18

I'm going to ask you to make a new appointment

00:54:21

from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 16th.

00:54:23

I want you to make an appointment and call it Go Day.

00:54:27

Go Day, because here's what I'm inviting you to,

00:54:29

here's what I'm challenging you to.

00:54:30

Unless you're getting married that day

00:54:34

or you're at a wedding that day,

00:54:37

I think that lots of us have the flexibility to say,

00:54:40

"You know what? I can move some things around and show up."

00:54:44

And man, what would it mean to our communities

00:54:46

in Cincinnati and Lexington and Dayton

00:54:48

and Columbus all over if we show up in force

00:54:52

and say, "Hey, the church of Jesus is here,

00:54:54

we love you and we're for you"?

00:54:55

So I'm inviting you to do that.

00:54:57

I'm inviting you to do that. Clear your calendar.

00:54:59

I had to change some stuff. I had to adjust some things.

00:55:02

But I'm doing that because I want to show up with all of you.

00:55:05

So here's what I want you to do, stay in your seats.

00:55:07

Because in a moment, you're going to get to hear from

00:55:10

one of the many partners that we partner with on Go Day.

00:55:12

I think it's going to inspire you and encourage you.

00:55:14

Wherever you are, it's your local context

00:55:16

and your local site, in a moment,

00:55:17

you're going to hear from a partner

00:55:19

that's doing great work to change the world

00:55:22

and love your neighbors.

00:55:23

And I can't wait for you to hear that.

00:55:24

Before we do that, we're going to watch a video

00:55:27

and I want to give you one more scripture.

00:55:29

It's Matthew 10:8 where Jesus simply says:

00:55:32

Freely you have received, freely give.

00:55:35

That's what this is all about.

00:55:37

It's an opportunity for us to realize

00:55:38

that we have received, and because of that,

00:55:42

we get to give it away.

00:55:43

You're going to watch a video, and as you watch it,

00:55:45

I want you to ask yourself, how might you be like

00:55:48

the kid in this video who is showing up to serve on May 16th?

00:55:52

Or is there someone in your life, a widow,

00:55:56

or someone who is struggling that you might be able

00:55:58

to show up for on May 16th?

00:56:00

Because when we do, when we show up,

00:56:03

we find God and we find meaning.

00:56:26

[music: Fleetwood Mac, Landslide]

00:58:51

- Yes. What can happen when we show up?

00:58:54

Apparently, Fleetwood Mac will play

00:58:56

and strangers will become familys

00:58:58

and neighbors will become friends. It's a beautiful thing.

00:59:01

Hey, my name is Andy Reider.

00:59:02

I'm the community pastor for Crossroads Anywhere.

00:59:05

So that's the part of our church

00:59:07

who doesn't live near a physical site or,

00:59:09

hey all of you, when your kids are sick.

00:59:11

So it's great to be with you in person.

00:59:13

I want to talk a little bit about Go Day

00:59:16

and about what you just saw in that video.

00:59:19

You know, the song we just heard,

00:59:20

the song we just heard came out 50 years ago

00:59:23

and is somehow back on the top 100 list.

00:59:25

Have you guys heard this? It's crazy. It's crazy.

00:59:27

I am somehow too old and too young

00:59:30

for Fleetwood Mac at the same time.

00:59:32

Now, while I'm not a huge, huge Fleetwood Mac fan,

00:59:35

I am a huge fan of Go Day because I remember,

00:59:39

I remember being new at Crossroads,

00:59:41

sort of walking in and being overwhelmed

00:59:43

and then hearing about all of the different ways

00:59:45

this church takes a step towards people to serve them

00:59:48

and to bless them wherever they are,

00:59:50

whether that's work in prisons,

00:59:51

whether that's simple serve projects,

00:59:53

whether that's Go projects or Go trips around the world

00:59:56

and countless others.

00:59:57

Man, this is a community that goes towards people

01:00:01

and runs towards a need.

01:00:03

This isn't a new thing. It's who we've always been.

01:00:05

And some of that work for Go Day on May 16th

01:00:08

is going to happen in your neighborhoods.

01:00:10

If you're a part of our Anywhere Community,

01:00:12

you'll be hosting projects where you are

01:00:14

from Orlando to Bolivia and great stuff.

01:00:17

Hey, shout out to Dita and Nilla in La Paz.

01:00:20

Great to have you guys,

01:00:22

so excited for your projects coming up.

01:00:23

But for the rest of us, if your work is happening

01:00:26

at a physical site, most of them will be happening

01:00:28

through incredible partner organizations

01:00:30

that we work with year round.

01:00:32

So if you would, I actually want to introduce you

01:00:34

to one of those amazing partners right now.

01:00:37

Please help me welcome up, JohnMark Oudersluys

01:00:39

from the Citylink Center. What's up, brother?

01:00:45

- Thanks, Andy.

01:00:46

- Hey, JohnMark, you are the CEO of the Citylink Center,

01:00:50

but we might have new folks or people

01:00:52

who've heard about Citylink but don't know what it is

01:00:54

and what work you guys do.

01:00:55

Will you just fill us in on what you guys do?

01:00:58

- Great. So a lot of times we reflect on what does --

01:01:03

What breaks God's heart and then what are we called to do?

01:01:06

And so years ago, this church and a group of partners

01:01:09

were looking at our city and realizing that

01:01:12

a third of adults and almost half of our kids

01:01:14

in our community are born into poverty,

01:01:17

and that comes with tremendous hardship.

01:01:19

And we believe that talent is universal,

01:01:22

but opportunity is not.

01:01:24

So we had to ask the question of what could we do

01:01:27

and what could we do as a church in a big way

01:01:29

to address this issue.

01:01:30

And so the group of people started and started a movement,

01:01:34

and it grew and it grew and came to the realization

01:01:37

that we could create a center that was actually built

01:01:40

for people where they could walk through one set of doors,

01:01:44

get surrounded by incredible groups of partners,

01:01:46

all focused on helping them achieve their goals

01:01:49

and move their lives forward.

01:01:50

So what that looks like is a huge building

01:01:53

that was created where our neighbors,

01:01:55

hundreds a year now walk through.

01:01:58

They do the hard work, but they're met by volunteers

01:02:00

filled with love and compassion.

01:02:02

They get matched with a service coordinator

01:02:04

who's their guide, who hears where they are,

01:02:07

hears what their aspirations are,

01:02:09

and then matches them with incredible partners

01:02:11

as they pursue life change in our own city.

01:02:15

- That's so good.

01:02:16

You know, practically what this looks like i

01:02:18

s there are incredible organizations,

01:02:19

incredible services all over the city

01:02:22

and all over the map, literally.

01:02:24

But you know who has the hardest time

01:02:25

getting from place to place to place to place,

01:02:28

to navigate all of these services?

01:02:30

People struggling with poverty,

01:02:31

people struggling with basic transportation,

01:02:33

getting their basic needs met.

01:02:35

Citylink takes all of those things

01:02:37

and puts them under one roof, and then pairs that

01:02:39

with relationship with people that can advocate

01:02:42

and connect and walk with people through a process.

01:02:44

It is so good. Okay, so that's 10,000 feet. That's high level.

01:02:48

Tell us what, like, give us some stories.

01:02:50

Tell us like what it looks like at the ground level

01:02:52

for the people that are experiencing this?

01:02:54

- Yeah. We are incredibly honored that

01:02:58

hundreds of our neighbors,

01:02:59

many people who are a part of our community

01:03:01

choose to walk through our doors to transform their lives.

01:03:04

And that looks like individuals who are

01:03:07

seeking new opportunities, new careers.

01:03:09

I'm thinking about a veteran who recently

01:03:10

walked through our doors, and when he came in,

01:03:13

he said, "I'm just tired of being told no."

01:03:16

And so he entered Habitat's construction training program,

01:03:19

worked with smart money in order to get

01:03:21

a control of his finances,

01:03:22

bought a car through Changing Gears, secured housing.

01:03:26

So he entered as somebody who had all the potential

01:03:28

and was willing to do the hard work

01:03:30

and just needed a little support along the way

01:03:32

and left with somebody who has a new career,

01:03:35

has transportation, has his budget,

01:03:37

and has a place to live.

01:03:39

And so we get to work with people like that every day.

01:03:42

Another program that is new to us

01:03:45

and Crossroads helped bring it here.

01:03:48

It deals with foster care.

01:03:49

We know that foster care

01:03:50

is a massive challenge in our community.

01:03:52

Something that I was completely unaware of

01:03:54

and ignorant of was the fact that 70%

01:03:57

of family separations that occur are due to preventable causes.

01:04:00

What that means is it's moms who are just struggling

01:04:03

to meet the needs of their children.

01:04:05

So a program in Fort Lauderdale, Florida identified that,

01:04:08

hey, if you match that mom with a service coordinator

01:04:11

with some resources and with a volunteer

01:04:13

for social emotional support, they saw

01:04:16

over an 80% family preservation rate.

01:04:18

So we brought that program to Cincinnati.

01:04:22

So what that program looks like is moms

01:04:25

who are at risk of losing their kids to foster care,

01:04:28

walk through our doors and they find

01:04:29

a place of hope and stability

01:04:31

and volunteers from our community say,

01:04:34

"Hey, count me in for ten weeks to walk alongside

01:04:38

somebody while a service coordinator

01:04:39

is doing the professional social work."

01:04:41

And with that, we're seeing life transformation

01:04:43

that is generational.

01:04:45

- That is so good. Yeah. It's amazing.

01:04:48

This is not like abstract stuff.

01:04:50

This is changing lives, changing families.

01:04:53

And man, it's these types of things that

01:04:55

we're going to have the opportunity to serve

01:04:56

these organizations and serve alongside them for Go Day

01:04:59

and beyond as JohnMark mentioned.

01:05:02

Now we were chatting a little bit back in the green room

01:05:05

like this is not just a job for you.

01:05:07

This is not even what you intended to be your career path.

01:05:10

This has been something that you care deeply about,

01:05:13

that you're deeply passionate about,

01:05:14

and that God has sort of walked you into.

01:05:16

Like, what do you most want us to hear

01:05:19

and what would you most like to say to us around that?

01:05:21

- Yeah. So, I am a member of this community.

01:05:24

I am usually sitting back there.

01:05:26

So, sir, next week I will want my seat back.

01:05:29

And, but I am proud to be a part of a church

01:05:35

that isn't about good entertainment on the weekend,

01:05:38

that is not about just me passing some time singing words,

01:05:43

but not having those words transform my life.

01:05:46

And so I was immensely challenged by this place to say

01:05:50

church isn't a thing that I do,

01:05:52

but it's a part of who I am that draws me closer to God,

01:05:55

that shows me God's love,

01:05:56

and then calls me to pour that back out, right?

01:05:59

So if we're here and we're serious

01:06:01

about the words that you sang earlier,

01:06:04

and you're serious about following God's call

01:06:06

to serve others and love others,

01:06:08

we have to find those outlets to do that.

01:06:10

And so for me, that looked like starting serving,

01:06:12

taking steps, like doing Go Cincinnati,

01:06:14

Thanksgiving Food Drive.

01:06:16

It led a group of us to see that what broke our heart

01:06:18

was Hurricane Katrina and what happened to New Orleans.

01:06:21

So a group of us got together

01:06:22

and worked with Crossroads in order to start a trip.

01:06:24

And this church became the largest source of volunteers

01:06:28

rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

01:06:31

And so what this church has, and when I say this church,

01:06:34

I mean every one of you, you have the power

01:06:38

to show God's love to our neighbors

01:06:40

in real and tangible ways.

01:06:42

And so that looks like people coming down

01:06:44

and doing mock interviews,

01:06:46

people helping teach financial education,

01:06:48

people walking alongside moms.

01:06:51

The stories that I told earlier

01:06:53

are really, really important part of that

01:06:54

is our mission is to show God's love to those in need.

01:06:58

The way that we do that is through volunteers.

01:07:01

So you are woven into all of those stories

01:07:04

by taking a simple step and showing God's love.

01:07:08

And so what I would just encourage you to do,

01:07:11

along the way, I was woefully inadequate

01:07:15

and unable to do things like help Citylink

01:07:18

come to fruition.

01:07:19

And so by taking that step in overcoming fear

01:07:22

and doing that, it grew me in my relationship with God.

01:07:25

It stretched me. It pushed me.

01:07:27

I get to meet incredible neighbors who have

01:07:30

such a deeper faith in so much more resilience than I do,

01:07:33

because I'm willing to step forward

01:07:35

and meet them where they're at.

01:07:36

And so what I would encourage all of you to do

01:07:39

is take the next step.

01:07:41

Go Cincinnati last year helped us rehab an apartment

01:07:44

that is now housing women

01:07:46

who are returning from incarceration.

01:07:48

Go Cincinnati this year will help us rehab

01:07:50

a warehouse that will house new vocational training programs.

01:07:54

What you do by taking a Saturday

01:07:57

or taking a day out of your week transforms lives.

01:08:00

And that's the church I want to be a part of,

01:08:02

not a church that just gets together on the weekend,

01:08:05

but a church that shows our community

01:08:07

what God's love really looks like.

01:08:10

- Let's Go! JohnMark, thank you so much, brother.

01:08:12

- Thank you, thank you.

01:08:16

- Man, I love that picture of a church

01:08:18

that doesn't just sing

01:08:19

about being the hands and feet of Jesus,

01:08:21

but actually lives it out and gets its hands dirty.

01:08:24

That's who we're going to be May 16th.

01:08:26

So we just encourage you, you can scan the QR code

01:08:29

on the back of your seat or tap that little sticker.

01:08:31

Or if you're watching online,

01:08:33

go to Crossroads.net/GoDay to select a project.

01:08:37

And you can bring your family, bring your kids.

01:08:39

Most of these are kid friendly.

01:08:40

Bring your neighbors,

01:08:42

bring the people from Fleetwood Mac videos.

01:08:43

Whatever it is, make this happen.

01:08:46

Get it on your calendar

01:08:47

and let's find a way to be the church.

01:08:48

Now there is a quote that I love.

01:08:50

It's from Mother Teresa that I think

01:08:52

speaks really well to this idea.

01:08:53

It says: Not all of us can do great things,

01:08:57

but we can all do small things with great love.

01:09:01

And small things done with great love

01:09:02

can and will change the world.

01:09:05

That's who we want to be,

01:09:06

and that's who we will always be as a church.

01:09:08

We hope to see you guys May 16th for Go Day.

01:09:10

Have a fantastic rest of your week.

01:09:12

You can ask people questions outside

01:09:14

if you want to talk with somebody about Go Day.

01:09:16

Have a great one.

01:09:19

- Hey, just like Andy said, we're going to talk

01:09:21

to two groups of people right now.

01:09:22

We've got our people who are streaming online,

01:09:25

but you often go into a site or you live near a local site.

01:09:28

And we're going to talk to the people

01:09:29

who you're watching online and you watch

01:09:31

from all over the world and what Go Day means to you.

01:09:34

So talk to us, Arturo, about if I live near a site,

01:09:38

how can I sign up?

01:09:39

- Well, you simply go, like Andy said,

01:09:42

to Crossroads.net/GoDay.

01:09:44

You only got to scroll just a little bit

01:09:46

to see a drop down menu of all of our physical sites.

01:09:49

And we want to encourage you to pick any

01:09:51

that are near enough for you to go to a project.

01:09:55

We've even got a kick off that morning,

01:09:57

so it's worth the time and worth the investment

01:09:59

to block off that morning on Saturday, May 16th.

01:10:03

And all the options are there with really awesome filters

01:10:06

to help you identify what part of town,

01:10:08

what kind of work, all ages, some ages, men, women.

01:10:12

We've got all that there on there.

01:10:13

- And I know too, I'm like some people,

01:10:15

you love to mulch and do yard work.

01:10:16

Some of you hate the smell of mulch.

01:10:18

So I actually want to rattle off a couple of things for example.

01:10:21

So you're like, well, what are they doing?

01:10:22

Mason is creating a massive mural at a local school

01:10:26

and building a Gaga pit for the playground.

01:10:28

Oakley is going to do over 30 outdoor cleanup projects

01:10:32

for the Cincinnati Public Schools.

01:10:34

That's probably one of their 60 projects coming out of Oakley.

01:10:38

Columbus, and they did this in the past.

01:10:40

They're packing mailboxes for families in need in Columbus.

01:10:44

I know Lexington, they're building beds

01:10:46

for kids who don't have beds.

01:10:47

So it's everything from like getting your hands dirty outside

01:10:51

to maybe writing a letter to someone who's in prison.

01:10:54

There's so many options. Go on our website, click.

01:10:57

You're totally fine.

01:10:58

Click the drop down to your site

01:11:01

and you'll be able to see those options.

01:11:02

Now that's you guys. Now if you are on the other side,

01:11:06

maybe you are somewhere else in the country

01:11:09

or the world and you happen to drive by something

01:11:11

on a regular basis, whether it's a neighbor's house

01:11:14

or an old church.

01:11:15

It's like someone should do something about that.

01:11:17

Maybe that someone is you.

01:11:19

So what do they do if they have a project they want to start?

01:11:22

- Same thing. Crossroads.net/GoDay.

01:11:24

And when you go to that drop down menu,

01:11:26

you're going to see, I think at the top "Anywhere".

01:11:28

And the reason we want you to not just go and meet that need,

01:11:31

but click on Anywhere, fill out that form

01:11:34

is because we have resources we want to give you

01:11:38

to be able to do that.

01:11:39

So you're not alone in that endeavor.

01:11:41

Whether you are near people in your Anywhere group

01:11:44

or community, you can certainly get support from Crossroads.

01:11:48

And we want you to, we want to give that to you.

01:11:50

- If you listen to us a lot, you hear us say,

01:11:52

like, the generosity of people in our community

01:11:54

is what allows us to do these things.

01:11:56

We have set aside resources for our community,

01:12:00

no matter where you live we can help get

01:12:02

the supplies or the tools, or help figure out

01:12:04

how you can get the volunteers for your project.

01:12:06

So let us help you.

01:12:08

Go to the website. You'll fill out under Anywhere.

01:12:10

And Kelly will actually be back with you.

01:12:12

And you have until the end of this month

01:12:14

to put in a request and we will make it happen with you.

01:12:18

So what's the date again? What do we need on our calendar?

01:12:21

- May 16th. Block up that calendar if you haven't already.

01:12:23

This is the millionth and one time you heard it today,

01:12:26

May 16th. Block off that morning

01:12:28

and crossroads.net/GoDay.

01:12:30

Those are the immediate to do's right now,

01:12:32

if you haven't done so.

01:12:33

We want to thank you in advance

01:12:34

for being part of this world change.

01:12:36

And I want to encourage you,

01:12:37

understanding that that world change

01:12:39

will not just be for those in your community,

01:12:41

but for those that participate. - That's right.

01:12:43

- So that's you and there is something

01:12:45

waiting for you in and out of Go Day, May 16th.

01:12:48

- Do you see why he's on our Reach Out team?

01:12:50

Because of that passion. Alright,

01:12:52

thank you guys so much

01:12:53

and have a great day and let's Go together.

01:12:56

- See you out there. - See ya.

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