Expect the Impossible

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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads.

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If you're joining us for the first time,

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Crossroads is one church meeting all over the globe

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and buildings just like this one,

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online, in person, in dorm rooms, bars,

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cafes, and even in prisons.

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My name is Andy Ryder and today

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you are joining us for the start of the 10X Push.

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- Which is so exciting.

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We've got this countdown happening.

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We've got Mission Control behind us,

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these sweet NASA jackets.

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We've even got space ice cream.

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I know you're wondering, what on earth

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does that have to do with anything?

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I mean, space ice cream, seriously.

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- When's the last time you had one of those?

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- Never. Because it's so nasty.

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- It's not good. It's chalky chocolate.

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- It is, it is.

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- Hey, we have been talking about

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the 10X Push for weeks now,

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but as we kick off today, we want to be

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really clear about what this time is.

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We believe that God is asking us

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to go forward as a church together,

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and we are taking ground, taking new ground

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as a church for 10X spiritual growth

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and 10X movement with the Kingdom of God.

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And we're already a big church,

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but that's not what this is about.

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It's about seeing God move in a new way.

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- Some people are like,

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"Well, what is the metaphor? What are you guys doing?"

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And we are going after a moonshot.

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You know, years ago when America said

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we would land on the moon, it sounded impossible

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and we were asking God for impossible things.

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We want to see 10X growth,

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not just bigger, but better in ten years.

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We want to use our energy and our resources

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to expand the Kingdom of God.

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And you know what? America made it to the moon,

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and we want to take our moonshot as well

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and see what God can do with the impossible.

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We want an awakening all over the globe.

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And we believe that, I don't know about you, Andy,

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but I know I believe God can use Crossroads.

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Why not us? - That's right.

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- Why not us to do something amazing?

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And Kyle talked a little bit about that last week actually.

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And there's a recap, if you missed it,

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you can catch up right now.

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- Your life is and always will be limited

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in the places you refuse to be pushed.

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You know, every once in a while, the people of God,

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they remember this about God

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and they let God push them.

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And what happens is a awakening breaks out

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across the nation.

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And I'll just say our nation needs an awakening.

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We don't need political reform; we need spiritual reform.

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And the only thing that can do that

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is a revival, an awakening of God's people.

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See, every, every, every national awakening

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begins with personal revival.

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Too many of us believe that can't happen.

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Too many of us think that America is too far gone.

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Most Christians that I hear,

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that's how we talk about our country.

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But the problem is, that's not the story of the Bible.

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And what history says is it's happened before.

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Why can't it happen again?

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Why not us? And why not now?

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That's what we're saying.

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What would happen in your life

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if you let God push you?

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That's the 10X Push. That's the revival.

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- Man, I love that, I love that.

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And with all of that being said,

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for the next six weeks, here's my encouragement,

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my challenge for you. I want to push you a little bit.

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Be here, whether it's online,

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whether it's in person at a site,

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be here, lean in, engage on this journey.

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And not just engage in by watching the experience

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and by experiencing what's happening on the weekends.

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But we've got some tools to help you go even deeper.

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One of those tools is this sweet guidebook.

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It is a little bit like homework,

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but it's not just to do at home.

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You can do it at the bar, on the workout.

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You can do it on your commute, if you can,

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if you're not driving.

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But this little thing is going to help you

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go further as what we're talking about in this Journey.

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- That's right. And in addition to your guide,

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there's actually some extra credits,

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an optional way you can dive deeper.

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And that's by not growing alone,

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by allowing yourself to be pushed

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in the context of other friendships,

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by leaning in and joining a Push group.

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All that information, all the information.

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You can download the guide, if you're watching online,

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you can join a group or find a group.

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And all the different ways that you can engage

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with the 10X Push are just available

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at Crossroads.net/10X.

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So head there, head there, check it out.

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Lean in for this adventure.

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We want to be pushed.

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I'm a different person because I've allowed

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this place and I've allowed God to push me,

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to challenge me, to push me to a new place.

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And that's what we want for you.

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- Absolutely. This exciting time

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is all about taking new ground,

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and we're going to do that.

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We're believing God for boldly things

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that we're going to say yes to.

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So let's get after it. Let's go 10x Push.

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- That's right. God has called us to big things,

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and I believe God has called you to big things.

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- That's right. - To do amazing things,

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to change the world through you,

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through your life and through your story.

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That is what we want to say yes to.

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- 6,5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. [engine boosters]

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Liftoff, we have a liftoff.

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Houston, you are a go for staging.

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[music]

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- On April 20th, 1961,

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newly elected President John F. Kennedy

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asked Vice President Lyndon Johnson

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what it would take

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to beat the Russians in the space race.

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They had repeatedly outpaced America

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every step along the way.

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Eight days earlier, the Soviets

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had put the first man in space.

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Competing with Russia on

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all the logical next steps in space exploration

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would not move the needle.

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America had to commit to landing a man on the moon.

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The scientists estimated that it would require

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a 10X increase in rocket technology to get to the moon.

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It had to double the strength

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of its current infrastructure,

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and it had to invent entirely new technologies

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and capabilities that had

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never been thought of as possible.

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Less than a month later,

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in an address to a joint session of Congress,

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Kennedy set a national goal

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of landing a man on the moon

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before the end of the decade.

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10x in ten years was an audacious, impossible goal.

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- We choose to go to the moon in this decade

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and do the other things,

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not because they are easy,

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but because they are hard.

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-T-minus 15 seconds. Guidance is internal.

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- Not because they are easy,

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but because they are hard.

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- Ignition sequence start.

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- Not because they are easy... - 5, 4, 3...

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- but because they are hard.

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- 2, 1, Liftoff. We have a liftoff,

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32 minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11.

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- We got a roll program.

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- Neil Armstrong reporting

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the roll and pitch program,

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which puts Apollo 11 on proper heading.

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- Eight years later, the U.S. landed on the moon.

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- That's one small step for man,

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one giant leap for mankind.

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- To get there required the efforts

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of almost 400,000 people working together

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towards this common vision,

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and the Russians never made it.

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We are also in a race, but this is a race

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to save as many people as possible.

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- Surely the opening vistas of space

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promise high costs and hardships

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as well as high reward.

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- We also have an enemy, but our enemy

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is not flesh and blood.

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It is instead the spiritual forces of evil

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that rule this world.

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And our job is to fight in this fight,

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to work with God so that life happens

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on earth as it is in heaven.

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Most measures, however, say we're not winning.

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Depression, suicide, divorce, loneliness,

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and mental health issues are all rising.

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The world is controlled by those dark forces,

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and it is consuming our neighborhoods.

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To win the race against the enemy

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and his plans for our world, we also require

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a 10X increase in the next ten years.

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While 50,000 people connected to Crossroads

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won't move the needle,

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500,000 people can begin to flip the stats

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and see real change.

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To achieve 10X in ten years is a moonshot.

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It requires Crossroads to rethink

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all of our systems and processes

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to build for that goal.

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In the book of Isaiah

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God tells His people to do two things.

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They are to strengthen their foundation,

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and they are to expand their territories

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so they can heal the world.

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To fulfill this command, Crossroads

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must strengthen our current ministries

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to serve as a foundation on which

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to pursue a 10X moonshot.

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And we must attempt things

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that have never been done before in ministry,

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but have the potential to expand wide

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and get us to our moon.

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The work God has given Crossroads

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to bring real change and hope for life

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This will be hard, but we do hard things.

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This will take patience,

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but we can hit the same nail time and time again.

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This will require bold thinking,

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but we've already earned the right

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to win in high potential areas.

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This requires a giant push to get going.

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That starts now.

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- Welcome to The Push. We are here.

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If you want to know what

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the next six weeks is about, you just heard it.

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It's one prayer: Father, may Your Kingdom come,

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may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Where? Right here in my heart.

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See for God's Kingdom to advance,

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for us to see anything approaching

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an awakening across our nation,

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you and I have to get awakened.

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And for that to happen, God has to have all of our hearts.

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That's where we're going.

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That's what we're doing today.

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If you're not already standing,

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I'd invite you to stand up and sing this with us.

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Let's go.

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- This is what He brings.

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- This is what He wants to do.

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- Let's be ready.

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- We're reaching back.

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- We sing Your praises, Lord.

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We sing worthy are You. Holy are You, Lord.

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Would You be honored by our words?

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Would it not just be lip service?

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But would You search deep down in our hearts

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and see that we are a people

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longing to know who You are,

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longing for connection with You.

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Lord, would you be honored by our small efforts

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to reach out to You.

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Because You're worthy and we sing to You.

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We give you praise. We give you glory.

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We give you honor because You deserve it.

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You alone are worthy, are holy of our praise.

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I thank You, we love You. Amen.

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[music: I'm On My Way Home, Cliff Thomas]

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- Well, hey, how are you? Good to be with you.

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My name is Kyle if we've never met before.

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I'm the lead pastor here at Crossroads.

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I don't know what you were you're expecting

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this 10X Push to be like,

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but we're off to the races so far.

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One thing you need to know about me

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before we kind of dive into things

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is that I'm not a line guy.

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As in, I hate waiting in lines.

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Anybody else hate waiting lines?

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Really hate waiting in lines.

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It's like my least favorite thing.

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Some of you take your kids to Disney World,

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and then you tell me about your experience.

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Then you say I should take my kids there.

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And I say, well, why?

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And you go, "Oh, it's amazing. Oh my gosh.

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We rode, you're not going to --

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We rode two rides yesterday."

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Like were they four hour long rides?

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"No, no, they lasted about three minutes apiece.

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Uh, stood in line for four hours each time."

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Like that sounds terrible.

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I've literally looked my kids in the eyes,

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I'm like, "Kids, just right here. Right here.

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Just you got to hear this.

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We are never going to Disney World, ever.

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Because I'm not a line guy. Okay?"

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Uh, lines I've stood in, the longest lines in my life.

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One was to get tickets to a Georgia Tech Auburn game.

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Shout out, Ramblin Wreck. Yes, we beat Auburn.

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Yes, they ranked number one. It was amazing.

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Two, I'll stand in line to get really great bourbon.

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Don't want to brag about it,

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which means I do want to brag about it.

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I got a Michter's 10 Rye last year. Spectacular.

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And then there was the line on Friday night

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getting into revival. Are you kidding me?

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I thought, guys, I thought I was going to be there early.

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Like, it starts at seven.

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I'm going to get there at six. Nope.

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6:00 hit the line.

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Didn't get to the tent for 90 minutes.

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Unbelievable what happened out there at revival.

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If you were there,

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this will remind you of what just happened,

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if you weren't, check this out.

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- You're where you are right now

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because of where you've been.

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And so the fact that we opted in to revival

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means, like, something is dead,

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or we need something refreshed,

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and that means something new has to come in

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and we've got to open ourselves up.

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The history of the Bible is very clear:

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God goes where He's wanted.

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He gives power to the tired,

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and He revives the exhausted. [cheers]

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- We have dead things in our lives

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and in our country that need to be brought back to life.

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As followers of Jesus, we have reason to believe

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that not only is revival possible,

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it's actually a part of God's design,

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His rescue plan for every generation

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that's based on history.

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We're actually overdue.

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- Yeah. Yes.

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Okay, listen, if you weren't there

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and you watched that and you were like,

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"Oh, man, I missed Revival."

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Let me tell you something.

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Revival is not a place.

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Revival is not an event.

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Revival doesn't have a start time and a stop time.

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The revival is here right now. You're in it.

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Welcome to the table.

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See, what we're saying over these next six weeks

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is that we believe God has a personal revival in us

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that might lead to a national revival,

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aka, an awakening across our nation.

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We've actually said that we believe this is

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the most important six weeks

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in the history of our church,

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and could be the most important six weeks

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in the history of your life and my life.

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Why? Well, for our church, this is going

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to set us up for the next ten years.

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We hope that this Push begins to fund

00:34:14

the ten year 10X vision that God has given us

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to see, hopefully see, an awakening break out.

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Now, you can't strong arm an awakening.

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You can't force an awakening.

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But what you can do, history shows that

00:34:27

when people, a community of people

00:34:29

puts themselves forward and says,

00:34:31

"God, You can push me,"

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sometimes the favor of God comes on it

00:34:35

and an awakening breaks out.

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That's what we're hoping for and praying for.

00:34:38

And it begins in us.

00:34:41

That's why we're saying this could be

00:34:42

the most important, impactful six weeks of your life.

00:34:45

Because every single national awakening

00:34:48

begins with personal revival.

00:34:50

It begins with the people of God saying,

00:34:52

"God, I think I've dreamed too small.

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God, I think I've settled for

00:34:56

less than what You have for me."

00:34:58

I don't know, maybe you're new and you're

00:35:00

walking in here and you're like,

00:35:01

"I have no idea what God has for me."

00:35:03

Maybe your concept of God, of church is that

00:35:06

the best God has, what He wants for your life

00:35:08

is to become a really good religious boy or girl.

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Just follow the rules and color inside the lines

00:35:15

and play it safe

00:35:17

and die without having done too many bad things.

00:35:19

That's what we think.

00:35:21

Well, it turns out that's not what the Bible says at all.

00:35:23

See, the Bible says that you and I could

00:35:25

not just have a 10X life, but we can have a 100x life.

00:35:28

Again and again in so many different places

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God's calling our attention to more.

00:35:34

One of those places we'll start with today

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is John 10:10. Jesus said:

00:35:48

That's what we're going after in this Push.

00:35:50

The only question you need to ask yourself is

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do you want more? Do you want an abundant life?

00:35:54

If a 10X life were available, would you want it?

00:35:59

Now we've also said this is a 10X Journey,

00:36:02

a six week spiritual journey

00:36:04

that will end in a financial commitment.

00:36:06

Now, why the financial commitment part?

00:36:08

Well, one, because again, like I said,

00:36:09

we hope that it funds or begins to fund

00:36:11

the next ten years of Crossroads' vision.

00:36:14

But more than that, it's because Jesus said,

00:36:16

"Where your money is, is where your treasure will be."

00:36:19

And in fact, He said this exactly 38 seconds

00:36:22

after that section that we sang from the Lord's Prayer.

00:36:25

Father, let Your Kingdom come, Your will be done

00:36:28


00:36:29

If you go to Matthew 6 and you read from there

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and you put a timer on, you'll be 38 seconds

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until you get to these words from Jesus.

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Matthew 6:21:

00:36:43

See, Jesus says there is a connection.

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He didn't say maybe your treasure

00:36:48

will be where your heart is, or it could be.

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He said will be also.

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I find this is true in my life,

00:36:54

even especially when I don't want it to be

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that my heart and my treasure are combined.

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This was no more clear to me than in May this past year.

00:37:02

I made a mistake.

00:37:03

I left my garage door open.

00:37:05

My son and I had been throwing football outside.

00:37:07

And we put the football away in the garage,

00:37:09

forgot to close the garage door.

00:37:11

This was a mistake because

00:37:13

my German shorthaired pointer, sweet Annie.

00:37:15

She's one year old, 55 pounds.

00:37:18

She goes into the garage

00:37:19

and she discovered something I had forgot,

00:37:22

a bag of rat poison.

00:37:25

Ate the entire thing, 15oz of rat poison.

00:37:30

Now, thankfully, my wife discovered this

00:37:32

within 10 minutes, she's running in the house.

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She's got the shards of this plastic bag.

00:37:35

And she's like, "This is really bad.

00:37:37

Annie ate rat poison."

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And you guys, I'm not a scientist, okay?

00:37:42

I'm not a rat poison expert.

00:37:44

And so my initial reaction is like,

00:37:45

"Why are you worried?

00:37:47

She's so much bigger than a rat?

00:37:48

Like, have you seen -- I mean, she's 55 pounds."

00:37:52

And Sarah's like, "You're an idiot.

00:37:54

Let's Google this. Trust me."

00:37:56

We go to the computer, we Google it,

00:37:57

and it turns out the active ingredient

00:37:59

in this rat poison has no antidote.

00:38:01

And a one ounce portion can kill a 75 pound dog.

00:38:06

Annie has had 15 times that and she's less than 75 pounds.

00:38:09

We're like, "Oh, my gosh, this is really bad."

00:38:11

And so Sarah calls poison control

00:38:12

and the emergency vet and I throw Annie in the car.

00:38:15

And then in the story is when

00:38:17

I make the real mistake because my daughter,

00:38:19

my sweet, precious baby daughter, Gracie,

00:38:22

she comes to me and she says, "Daddy, can I go with you?"

00:38:27

And I said, "Yes." This will cost me later.

00:38:30

That's called foreshadowing. Okay?

00:38:32

She gets in the car and we're driving,

00:38:36

and at some point she's comforting Annie.

00:38:38

She's holding Annie. Annie's confused.

00:38:39

She just had the most delicious tasting snack.

00:38:42

She's not sure why everyone's freaking out.

00:38:43

But Gracie is holding her.

00:38:45

She's patenting Annie's head.

00:38:46

And she literally says word for word,

00:38:48

this is her quote. She goes,

00:38:49

"Daddy, dogs are so special.

00:38:52

They join your family

00:38:54

and then they intertwine with your heart."

00:38:58

I was like, "That's so sweet, baby girl.

00:39:00

Oh, my gosh, that's so sweet."

00:39:02

Now we get to the emergency vet.

00:39:04

We go in, they call Poison Control to kind of

00:39:06

get instructions and figure out what's happening.

00:39:08

And then they all start moving and they go,

00:39:10

"This is really bad. We have to act right now

00:39:12

or your dog is going to die.

00:39:13

We're going to work up an estimate.

00:39:14

We're going to get that to you in a minute.

00:39:16

But if we don't start right now,

00:39:18

we have no shot of saving this dog. None."

00:39:20

Okay? And you're laughing because

00:39:24

maybe you've been there, right? Yeah. Okay.

00:39:27

Here's here's how you get my vote for President.

00:39:29

Ready? If you're watching, anybody,

00:39:31

this is how you get my vote.

00:39:32

I want a law that says before you buy a dog,

00:39:36

you have to look at the menu of options

00:39:38

for emergency veterinary services and the prices.

00:39:41

Because I didn't do that. Okay?

00:39:44

That comes over eventually and says,

00:39:46

"Okay, we've got your estimate for us

00:39:48

to attempt to save your dog, no guarantee,

00:39:50

to attempt to save your dog."

00:39:51

And by the way, at this moment, I'm like,

00:39:53

this is going to be expensive, right?

00:39:55

It's going to be so expensive, $500, probably. Like, so --

00:40:00

[laughter] You all knew. Okay.

00:40:01

Now, none of you told me. Thank you.

00:40:05

That rolls up and says, "For us to attempt

00:40:07

to save your dog, it's going to be $5,000."

00:40:10

And I was like, "Oh, no."

00:40:13

By the way, Annie cost a thousand.

00:40:15

That's five dogs. Okay? Five dogs.

00:40:17

I'm like, I am not paying $5,000 for this dog.

00:40:20

No way. That's like a Costco pack of dogs.

00:40:23

So I'm working up my argument to my daughter,

00:40:26

the case, you know, "Hey, Gracie,

00:40:27

I know we love Annie, but, like,

00:40:28

we're going to get -- I'll get you two new dogs.

00:40:30

And then we can -- We can split the savings,

00:40:33

you and me, and everybody still wins."

00:40:36

Making my case.

00:40:37

And as I'm thinking this, Gracie is holding Annie,

00:40:40

who -- she's throwing up.

00:40:41

They've given her medicine

00:40:42

that makes her throw up the rat poison.

00:40:44

And she's comforting Annie, and she goes,

00:40:46

"Annie, it's okay. Don't worry. We love you.

00:40:49

It's going to be okay."

00:40:51

And I was like, "Oh, no.

00:40:55

Oh, try to save my dog and take all my money. Ah!"

00:41:01

Now, they did save the dog, by the way.

00:41:03

Thank you, emergency vets.

00:41:04

If you're an emergency vet, thank you so much.

00:41:07

You can have all of our money. It is worth it.

00:41:10

The good news too, by the way, not just that they save the dog.

00:41:13

It's that when they came back

00:41:14

to give me the final bill, they said,

00:41:16

"Good news. We didn't have to do everything

00:41:17

we thought we might in the estimate.

00:41:19

And so it's only $3,500."

00:41:21

And I was like, "Wow, I got it on sale.

00:41:26

This is great." Incredible.

00:41:29

Now, why would I pay that much money to save the dog?

00:41:35

It's not because of the dog.

00:41:38

It's because of my daughter. Right?

00:41:40

See, my daughter has my heart,

00:41:43

and therefore my daughter has my wallet.

00:41:46

Can't separate them, even if you want to.

00:41:50

This is our treasure and our hearts.

00:41:53

Now, I say that, but today is not actually about money.

00:41:56

In fact, the next couple of weeks,

00:41:57

you're not going to hear much about money.

00:41:59

And I don't want you to be surprised.

00:42:01

It's because we need to start in a different spot.

00:42:03

We need to start with our hearts

00:42:05

and specifically what our hearts

00:42:07

are aimed at and expecting.

00:42:09

Because the truth and the reality is that

00:42:11

too many of God's people have too small of dreams

00:42:14

and visions for the kind of life

00:42:16

and impact that God wants us to have.

00:42:18

What we're hoping for in this Push is that changes.

00:42:21

See, rather than expect the possible,

00:42:24

I think God wants us to expect the impossible.

00:42:27

Something like you might say,

00:42:28

heaven coming on earth.

00:42:32

That's what we're going to pray for right now

00:42:34

as we get started. God, I ask that

00:42:35

You would do that work today,

00:42:37

that you would keep momentum going

00:42:39

for what You've already started.

00:42:41

That Your Kingdom would come

00:42:42

and Your Will would be done

00:42:44

on earth as it is in heaven,

00:42:45

starting right here in our hearts. Amen.

00:42:49

Now we've got this kind of vintage

00:42:51

space theme going as a metaphor,

00:42:54

as an inspiration point for this entire thing,

00:42:56

we got to set up here.

00:42:57

I don't know that you and I understand

00:43:00

just how impossible it was to get to the moon,

00:43:03

how thoroughly improbable.

00:43:06

Just one little data point to begin

00:43:07

to wrap our brains around it.

00:43:09

Let's talk about the computing power of Apollo

00:43:11

versus the phone in your pocket.

00:43:15

Apollo Guidance System, sent a man to the moon

00:43:17

on this, by the way, just remember that.

00:43:19

A man went to the moon with this computer.

00:43:21

It could do thousands of instructions per second.

00:43:23

The iPhone 16 can do billions.

00:43:26

That's millions of times faster.

00:43:28

Working memory, 64kb of RAM, 8GB of RAM,

00:43:32

125,000 times more. 2-3MB of storage.

00:43:36

An entire terabyte of storage,

00:43:37

over a million times more the phone in your pocket.

00:43:40

Why am I telling you this?

00:43:42

It's because this week my phone dropped a call in 2024.

00:43:48

But somehow, in 1969, with that computer

00:43:52

we sent a man to the moon, called him up,

00:43:55

and it was totally clear. No problems.

00:43:57

Crazy, Crazy.

00:44:00

No matter what the conspiracy theorists say,

00:44:02

it actually did happen.

00:44:03

It wasn't an accident.

00:44:05

The impossible doesn't happen by accident.

00:44:06

It was an entirely intentional plan.

00:44:08

In fact, eight years earlier, May 25, 1961,

00:44:11

President John Kennedy had given an address

00:44:13

to the United States Congress that he called

00:44:15

Urgent National Needs.

00:44:17

Here's part of what he said.

00:45:04

All of us.

00:45:06

Now, I don't know if you know the 1960s

00:45:09

and kind of what was going on.

00:45:10

Most of us weren't alive in the '60s.

00:45:12

I was not. Our senior pastor Brian was.

00:45:16

That's why he's the senior pastor.

00:45:18

He's very, very old, so he has memories of this.

00:45:21

I had to look it up online and do some history.

00:45:26

And if you think this was the time period

00:45:28

where it made sense to aim for the impossible,

00:45:32

let me just give you the facts.

00:45:35

The 1960s were some of the most disruptive,

00:45:37

uncertain times in our nation's history.

00:45:39

18 months after giving that speech to Congress,

00:45:41

the Cuban Missile Crisis happened.

00:45:43

Still, to this day, the closest

00:45:44

that we've ever come to a nuclear war.

00:45:47

The Civil Rights Movement was roaring,

00:45:49

yet facing enormous and violent opposition.

00:45:52

There were riots on college campus.

00:45:54

The Vietnam War was raging and dividing families.

00:45:57

There is the rise of drugs.

00:45:59

There was changing morality around sex,

00:46:01

and so many other things.

00:46:02

It was not, not, not stable times

00:46:05

for dreaming of the impossible.

00:46:07

It was the exact opposite.

00:46:10

And I say that because maybe right now

00:46:12

that's how your life feels.

00:46:13

You're like, "Man, 10X. That's inspiring.

00:46:16

Now's not a good time.

00:46:18

I mean, look at our country.

00:46:19

Look at the political divide.

00:46:21

Look at economic uncertainty.

00:46:22

Look at the uncertainty in my house

00:46:23

and my home and my heart.

00:46:25

This is not the time to dream of the impossible."

00:46:29

Well, if that's where you are,

00:46:30

you're actually the same as the crowd

00:46:32

that Jesus talked to when He gave

00:46:34

what we now call the Sermon on the Mount.

00:46:37

People who were coming from all over, by the way.

00:46:40

It was a diverse crowd of people.

00:46:41

It wasn't just the Jews who lived

00:46:43

immediately around the Sea of Galilee

00:46:44

where He gave the sermon.

00:46:45

It was actually people from all over the place.

00:46:47

The Bible says in Matthew 4:25:

00:46:57

Now, what these people all shared in common

00:46:59

is that they were living in very uncertain times.

00:47:03

The Romans had a boot on everyone's back.

00:47:05

The economy was bad. Taxes were high.

00:47:08

These people were worried, mostly just about

00:47:11

putting food on the table and about putting

00:47:13

clothes on the backs of their kids.

00:47:15

That's where they were at.

00:47:16

And Jesus gathered these people together,

00:47:19

and He begins to preach to them

00:47:21

a very specific, different vision.

00:47:24

This is how the sermon on the Mount starts

00:47:26

in Matthew 5:1:

00:47:42

And everyone's, like, "Kingdom of what?

00:47:44

Kingdom of heaven?"

00:47:45

This is a new concept at this point.

00:47:47

Jesus then proceeds to talk to them

00:47:50

again and again and again about

00:47:51

this kingdom of heaven and the craziest part

00:47:54

of the entire thing is that

00:47:56

He doesn't seem to be talking about

00:47:58

a place you go to someday, but a reality

00:48:01

of God's perfect presence and will happening

00:48:03

and says to invite it here, now on earth.

00:48:06

It's crazy.

00:48:07

In fact, in the very middle of that sermon,

00:48:09

Jesus pauses and He goes, "You know what?

00:48:11

Let me just teach you guys how to pray,

00:48:12

because I don't know that you're getting this.

00:48:14

Let me just teach you how to pray."

00:48:16

He says this, what we now call the Lord's Prayer,

00:48:18

by the way. He says:

00:48:27

And then He goes on, but right there He goes,

00:48:29

"Guys, this is what you're supposed to be asking for,

00:48:32

that God's kingdom would come

00:48:33

and will be done right here, right now.

00:48:36

Forget about your problems. Forget about your hangups.

00:48:38

Forget about the daily stresses in your life

00:48:40

and focus your attention upward.

00:48:42

Look up," is what He says to them.

00:48:44

And I think if God were here right now

00:48:46

talking to us in this church at this time period,

00:48:49

He'd say the same exact thing.

00:48:51

He'd say, "Too much of your energy is focused

00:48:53

on the daily stuff. Putting food on the table,

00:48:57

putting clothes on your back.

00:48:59

I've got all that stuff.

00:49:00

Don't worry about that stuff.

00:49:02

Focus on Me."

00:49:05

See, too many of us expect earth on earth

00:49:10

and heaven maybe someday.

00:49:13

And so our vision and our aims and our dreams

00:49:15

get just small in comparison to what God has for us.

00:49:19

Speaking of which, did you guys see

00:49:21

the headline about the new moon over the past week?

00:49:24

Anybody see this headline: Earth got a second moon?

00:49:27

I'll tell you, that was the most excited

00:49:30

I've been to click on a headline in a long time.

00:49:32

It's like, this is spectacular.

00:49:34

I'm imagining Star Wars and Tatooine.

00:49:36

They have two suns. We're going to have two moons.

00:49:39

Total upgrade. You know, Earth becomes epic.

00:49:41

Click the thing. Wild disappointment.

00:49:45

The new moon is literally 347,600 times

00:49:51

smaller than the first moon.

00:49:55

It's the size of a school bus.

00:50:01

I'm not a scientist, okay? Not a scientist.

00:50:04

I'm just telling you that's not a moon. It's not.

00:50:10

It is, though, a perfect picture

00:50:11

of what many of us aim for in comparison to

00:50:13

the dreams God has, I think.

00:50:15

I think God says, "Aim for the moon.

00:50:17

With your life I want you to live

00:50:20

with a literal moon shot.

00:50:21

Live with a dream and a hope of the impossible.

00:50:24

Live wanting the big, enormous,

00:50:26

world-changing impact kind of a life."

00:50:28

But what we do instead is we settle for

00:50:31

the teeny little scrap.

00:50:33

It's not even the real thing.

00:50:35

It's not even close enough to say it's smaller.

00:50:37

It's just not the real thing,

00:50:40

but it's what we've embraced.

00:50:42

I think rather than heaven on earth,

00:50:44

many of us we aim for far less. You know?

00:50:46

When the when the moon landing happened,

00:50:48

there were these amazing newspaper headlines,

00:50:50

you know, first man lands on moon.

00:50:52

And it swept the nation.

00:50:53

And so many people they saved these headlines,

00:50:55

so many families, your family might be one of them,

00:50:58

still have these newspapers

00:50:59

as an inspiration point for what's possible

00:51:02

and how to dream.

00:51:04

I think the unfortunate reality for us is that

00:51:06

the newspaper clippings that we have

00:51:08

in our lives read differently.

00:51:10

Kind of more like this, if you would.

00:51:12

Things like:

00:51:13

husband and wife report marriage is fine.

00:51:18

Secret: spending as little time as possible together.

00:51:22

Family might go to church,

00:51:25

"Unless we have nothing better to do.

00:51:27

Do you know of something?"

00:51:29

Or college student aspires to dusty cubicle

00:51:32

hoping to be a cog in the wheel.

00:51:36

25 year old reports working for the weekend.

00:51:38

Weekend, "Never heard of him,"

00:51:40

which is odd if you work for somebody, kind of weird.

00:51:42

Woman intends to share the gospel without words.

00:51:45

No one hears anything.

00:51:46

Man retires to beach, slowly turns into raisin.

00:51:50

"I want to die with a tan."

00:51:54

Or parents, how do we parent our kids?

00:51:55

What are our dreams we have in our relationships

00:51:57

and our connections with them?

00:51:58

Does it sound like this?

00:51:59

Jim's kids only kind of hate him.

00:52:02

"He's totally not Sigma," says son.

00:52:05

See, I think these are the headlines

00:52:07

that we aspire to in our life.

00:52:10

And I don't mean this, by the way,

00:52:12

as we as all of you, I'm putting myself in there

00:52:14

because I'll just admit that the headlines

00:52:16

I've been aiming for have changed.

00:52:18

They've gotten too small.

00:52:21

When my kids were young, I used to pray

00:52:23

every morning that millions of people

00:52:26

would come to know Jesus through them.

00:52:27

That was my constant prayer.

00:52:29

I would pray the Lord's Prayer

00:52:30

and get to that part, Father, Your Kingdom come,

00:52:32

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

00:52:35

And I'd start with start with me and go to my family.

00:52:37

In fact, I pray that millions of people, God,

00:52:40

millions of people would know you through my kids.

00:52:43

That was my headline.

00:52:45

And then this thing happened

00:52:47

that older, wiser parents said would happen,

00:52:49

which is essentially you think it's hard

00:52:51

when your kids are small.

00:52:52

You got to change their diapers, you got to spoon feed them.

00:52:55

You got to kind of do everything.

00:52:57

It's physically exhausting, which is 100% true.

00:52:59

It really is. If you're in that phase,

00:53:01

I don't mean to minimize it, it's very, very hard.

00:53:03

But what the older, wiser people said is

00:53:05

when your kids grow up, it doesn't get less hard.

00:53:09

It just gets hard in a different way.

00:53:11

And in fact, it might get more hard

00:53:14

because your kids grow up and they

00:53:16

experience things that are more complicated

00:53:18

than a messy diaper.

00:53:20

They have a messy life.

00:53:22

And in the past few months with my kids,

00:53:24

I've had to help them navigate anxiety,

00:53:27

being bullied at school,

00:53:30

grades that aren't where they should be.

00:53:33

And the effect of that is that my dreams get diverted.

00:53:38

Instead of dreaming for something big

00:53:41

and impossible, I start to reshape my dreams

00:53:43

around the daily things,

00:53:45

around the little things in their life.

00:53:48

And instead of saying, "God, I hope that

00:53:50

millions would know You through them,"

00:53:52

my headline starts to sound like

00:53:53

Ranson kids get decent grades

00:53:55

and stay out of trouble.

00:54:00

Nothing wrong with that, right?

00:54:01

Yeah, nothing wrong with decent grades

00:54:03

and staying out of trouble.

00:54:05

It's just if me as their dad,

00:54:08

if that stays my dream, I am damaging them.

00:54:12

I am limiting them.

00:54:14

A father's dream becomes the ceiling

00:54:16

on what his kids think is possible for them.

00:54:19

Sometimes there's an exception.

00:54:21

Sometimes we dream beyond our parents.

00:54:23

But most of the time the rule is that

00:54:25

we don't go any farther. We just stop.

00:54:27

And I think this is us.

00:54:30

If your dream for your kids, parents,

00:54:32

is good grades and a good education,

00:54:35

so they get a good job, so they buy

00:54:37

a good house and a good neighborhood,

00:54:39

and maybe one day they have a good retirement.

00:54:41

I say for what? For what?

00:54:44

So their good stuff could end up in a good landfill?

00:54:47

Where are we going? What are we aiming at?

00:54:50

See, God has more for us.

00:54:52

In fact, our Father, I don't know

00:54:53

what your parents dreamed for you,

00:54:55

but your Father in heaven says

00:54:57

the ceiling on your life is the impossible.

00:55:00

The ceiling on which you're made to do

00:55:03

is incredible, is the unfathomable.

00:55:06

You read that verse last week because

00:55:08

God is able to do immeasurably more than

00:55:10

above all we can possibly imagine.

00:55:12

He can do so much more.

00:55:14

There's so many more places in the Bible that say this.

00:55:16

I wish I had time to read all of them to you, I don't.

00:55:19

I'll just give you a sample platter here.

00:55:21

Philippians 4:13 says:

00:55:26

Luke 1:37 says:

00:55:30

Job 42:2:

00:55:36

Jeremiah 32:27:

00:55:44

Redundant question. No. No, not at all.

00:55:47

You know, Jesus almost exclusively

00:55:50

pushed His disciples to dream bigger

00:55:52

and to do things that seemed impossible.

00:55:54

And they would push back on Him.

00:55:55

They're like, "Jesus, we can't.

00:55:57

We can't do this. That's impossible."

00:55:59

One time they were saying this to Him.

00:56:01

He sat them down and said this, Matthew 19:26:

00:56:13

There have been periods of time throughout history

00:56:15

where God's people remember that,

00:56:17

and they experience a revival,

00:56:19

not just in modern history,

00:56:21

like we saw last week with the video.

00:56:23

Which, by the way, if you missed last weekend,

00:56:25

catch up, it'll really fill you in

00:56:26

on what an awakening is and how they happen

00:56:28

and what we're going for.

00:56:30

But it's not just an American history thing

00:56:32

in recent history.

00:56:34

This has been all through all history with God's people.

00:56:37

All the way back in Psalm 126, it says:

00:56:46

Do you remember when you had dreams?

00:56:48

I don't mean dreams of, like, being an NBA player,

00:56:51

which that was one of my dreams.

00:56:52

I wanted to play in the NBA. Did not happen.

00:56:55

There's not really, like, a looking for

00:56:57

five foot seven point guards as it turns out.

00:57:00

I don't mean those.

00:57:01

I mean when you dreamed of having an impact,

00:57:04

when you dreamed of being something

00:57:06

more than just a consumer,

00:57:08

when you dreamed of being somebody

00:57:10

who actually impacts the world,

00:57:11

who when you leave, everyone goes,

00:57:13

"Man, I'm going to miss them."

00:57:15

Why? Because they changed the neighborhood we live in.

00:57:18

They changed the family we're a part of.

00:57:20

They changed the nation where we live.

00:57:23

We're going to miss them. That kind of impact.

00:57:25

Well, what happens, as it turns out, as we age,

00:57:28

is our brain neurologically changes

00:57:31

and stops dreaming.

00:57:32

One of the best books ever on prayer

00:57:35

was one called The Circle Maker,

00:57:36

written by a guy named Mark Batterson.

00:57:37

And he says this:

00:57:38

Neuroimaging has shown that as we age,

00:57:41

the center of cognitive gravity tends to shift

00:57:45

from the imaginative right brain

00:57:47

to the logical left brain.

00:58:13

Jericho is the city just on

00:58:14

the other side of the Promised Land.

00:58:15

It's where the nation of Israel finally

00:58:17

believes in God, finally believes in His promises,

00:58:20

and they're willing to be pushed towards the promises.

00:58:22

When they get there, the first city

00:58:23

they encounter is Jericho.

00:58:25

It's impossible to fell the walls.

00:58:27

And yet God says, "Start walking in circles,"

00:58:29

and the walls come down.

00:58:32

What happens is we dream that as we're kids,

00:58:34

we believe in it.

00:58:35

That's why Jesus says has faith like a child

00:58:38

because there's something amazing

00:58:39

about that kind of a faith

00:58:41

that as we age, we fight against.

00:58:43

But did you know that the Bible says

00:58:44

that faith is the evidence of things not seen

00:58:47

and the substance of things hoped for?

00:58:50

That's called a dream.

00:58:52

In fact, the foundation of powerful faith

00:58:55

is impossible dreams.

00:58:57

Earthly maturity says that as you're maturing,

00:58:59

your logic overtakes your imagination.

00:59:02

But heavenly maturity,

00:59:04

the heaven on earth mentality is that

00:59:06

as you mature, your imagination takes over logic.

00:59:10

And in fact, if you want to know,

00:59:13

if you want to test, you want to know

00:59:15

whether or not you are spiritually maturing

00:59:17

or regressing,

00:59:18

there is only one question you need to ask:

00:59:21

are my dreams getting bigger

00:59:23

or are my dreams getting smaller?

00:59:27

Because if you're getting closer to God,

00:59:29

God never says, "Whoa, slow down, man.

00:59:32

You're getting a little bit too much for me there.

00:59:34

Just calm," never says that.

00:59:36

He says the opposite.

00:59:38

He says, "I can do more than you can possibly imagine."

00:59:42

This is actually the very roots of faith.

00:59:44

The Bible says that Abraham is the father of faith,

00:59:48

not just for the nation of Israel,

00:59:50

but for all of us who believe in Him.

00:59:53

It says that we are actually

00:59:54

his real descendants in faith.

00:59:57

It points to him as the beginning point.

00:59:59

I don't know how much you know his story,

01:00:01

but he was a 75 year old guy with no kids

01:00:04

and passed the point of thinking

01:00:07

he could have kids, no kids at all.

01:00:09

And God comes to him out of the blue

01:00:12

and says this, Genesis 12:

01:00:31

God gives him this incredible promise.

01:00:32

He did not see this coming at all. Amazing promise.

01:00:36

And do you know what happens next?

01:00:38

Nothing. Nothing happened. Ten years go by.

01:00:42

Not even a little seed of the promise

01:00:45

springs up from the ground. Nothing happens.

01:00:49

Maybe that's where you are in your life.

01:00:51

Maybe there's a point in your faith where

01:00:53

you believed God, you believed His promises.

01:00:55

You did dream of more. You did dream of impact.

01:00:57

You did dream of generations knowing God

01:00:59

because of you and your life and what you've done.

01:01:01

Maybe you did, and maybe you stopped

01:01:04

because nothing happened.

01:01:05

Well, let me keep telling you about the story of Abraham.

01:01:08

Ten years go by and God shows up again.

01:01:11

And rather than say, you know, "Abraham,

01:01:13

I got kind of carried away with that

01:01:14

whole all nations be blessed thing."

01:01:17

God doubles down and tells him to look up.

01:01:20

This is what it says in Genesis 15:

01:01:37

This is actually the definition of faith.

01:01:40

Hebrews points back to this moment and says,

01:01:43

this is faith, the moment that Abraham

01:01:47

believed God's impossible promise.

01:01:50

If you want to know if you have faith,

01:01:53

there's one question:

01:01:54

Do you believe in God's impossible promise?

01:01:58

This is it.

01:01:59

Now, on an average night,

01:02:00

if you were to do this experiment,

01:02:01

if God were to take you outside and say look up

01:02:03

and you were in your backyard in typical suburban America,

01:02:06

you would be able to see about 450 stars. Okay?

01:02:10

A little bit less if you live closer to the city.

01:02:12

A little bit more if you live farther away.

01:02:14

But about 450.

01:02:15

If you were to go to a dark sky area

01:02:18

in our country, which would have been

01:02:19

like what Abraham saw, and my family

01:02:22

was fortunate enough to do this back in June.

01:02:24

It was spectacular.

01:02:25

When you look up, there's literally 10X more stars.

01:02:29

4500 stars can be seen with your naked eye.

01:02:32

It is unbelievable. Amazing.

01:02:36

And nothing, nothing compared to what's actually there.

01:02:40

Nothing compared to what God can see.

01:02:42

If your eyes could see a little bit further,

01:02:45

like some cameras are now able to do,

01:02:46

you would see what's called the core

01:02:48

of the Milky Way galaxy shooting across the sky.

01:02:51

That's our galaxy and it has 100 billion stars in it.

01:02:55

Science right now says that

01:02:57

the observable universe, just the part we can see,

01:02:59

it's about 93 billion light years across,

01:03:02

and it contains 200 billion galaxies

01:03:06

of 100 billion stars.

01:03:08

There was just a couple of years ago

01:03:11

a big space moment for us space nerds

01:03:13

where the James Webb Space Telescope launched.

01:03:16

Any James Webb Space Telescope fans out there?

01:03:19

Let me hear you. Yeah. - Yes.

01:03:24

- I was pumped when it came out. Super excited.

01:03:26

There was an image that got released,

01:03:28

the very first image, and it was this one right here.

01:03:31

And you might think that these points are stars.

01:03:35

They're not. These are galaxies.

01:03:39

Now, is this what you'd see

01:03:44

across the whole night sky if you looked out,

01:03:46

if you could really see?

01:03:47

Is that what it would look like?

01:03:49

Not exactly. Let me explain.

01:03:50

What this image is is if you took a grain of sand

01:03:54

and you held it out at arm's length

01:03:56

in the night sky, this image is only

01:03:59

what's behind that one grain of sand.

01:04:02

See the promises of God, the point is,

01:04:04

the promises of God are so much bigger

01:04:08

than we can possibly imagine

01:04:10

just like He says in Scripture.

01:04:12

From the beginning He said, "Guys, go outside,

01:04:14

look up. It's like that. Aim for the stars.

01:04:17

Aim for the moon. How big can you dream?

01:04:19

It's not bigger than Me."

01:04:20

That's what He's been saying the entire time.

01:04:23

Now, the other thing I find amazing right now

01:04:25

is that modern science is discovering that

01:04:27

the universe isn't static.

01:04:28

It's actually growing and expanding.

01:04:30

This is an image from the James Webb Space Telescope.

01:04:32

And it's what's called the Pillars of Creation.

01:04:34

It's an area in the universe,

01:04:36

not too far away from where we are,

01:04:38

where new stars are actually being formed.

01:04:41

But incredibly, not only are new stars

01:04:43

being formed, the universe itself is expanding

01:04:47

in all times and in all directions.

01:04:49

It's getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

01:04:52

This is a discovery of modern science that

01:04:55

the Bible said 3000 years ago, by the way.

01:04:58

It says this in Isaiah 40:22:

01:05:09

For a long time, Scripture said the same thing,

01:05:11

God's making His territory, what He made bigger

01:05:15

and bigger at a rate more than we could possibly fathom.

01:05:19

Now that verse then goes into the one

01:05:22

that's challenged and inspired and sharpened

01:05:25

us as Crossroads leaders more than any other,

01:05:27

as we've been preparing for this 10X Push.

01:05:30

See if this sounds familiar, Isaiah 54.

01:05:33

God basically says, do what I'm doing. He says:

01:05:52

He says, "Do exactly what I'm doing.

01:05:54

Whatever your territory is, expand it."

01:05:57

That's the idea, the place of your tent.

01:06:00

It's your territories.

01:06:02

Which in your and I's life, these are the places

01:06:04

where our unique skills, our experiences,

01:06:07

our wiring have been met up with God's unique favor

01:06:10

to see unfathomable results.

01:06:12

And by the way, if you haven't seen this yet,

01:06:14

this is the thing to lean into in the 10X Push

01:06:17

and say, "God, show me my territory

01:06:19

that you want to increase."

01:06:21

As a church, our territories,

01:06:23

we've asked ourselves that question,

01:06:24

where have we seen God give us unfathomable results

01:06:29

when they met up with our unique experiences?

01:06:31

Where have we seen His favor?

01:06:32

And there's actually four of them that

01:06:34

we'll be investing in through this Push.

01:06:37

They form our initials entirely by accident.

01:06:39

It's Camps, Reachout, Digital, and Sites.

01:06:43

Truly an accident.

01:06:44

Literally didn't see that until like a week ago.

01:06:46

I was, like, "What?!"

01:06:47

We had it arranged in a different way.

01:06:49

Wow. Okay. Our territory.

01:06:51

Now you'll be hearing more about the projects

01:06:53

in those territories in coming weeks.

01:06:55

I'm not going to tell you any more about that right now.

01:06:58

The point is, God looks at each of us

01:07:02

in our life and He goes, "I've given you territory.

01:07:05

I have given you a place to manage."

01:07:07

Maybe it's your family, maybe it's your career.

01:07:09

Maybe it's a spiritual gift that He's put inside of you.

01:07:12

And he says, "The number one thing I want you to do

01:07:15

is make it bigger, make it more impactful.

01:07:19

Don't hold back in any of it.

01:07:22

Don't settle for normal."

01:07:24

I'm so thankful that me and my family,

01:07:27

we get to be part of this church

01:07:28

that has never settled for normal.

01:07:30

I was 19 years old when someone first

01:07:32

shared Crossroads with me.

01:07:34

It was the message of Jesus

01:07:35

in a language that I could understand.

01:07:36

I just couldn't get it from any of

01:07:38

the normal places that were around me

01:07:39

and I understood it.

01:07:40

And for 28 years, our history has been

01:07:44

doing things that are decidedly not normal.

01:07:50

- Hey, welcome to Crossroads.

01:07:51

You should know what happens here isn't normal.

01:07:54

Normal says people can't change.

01:07:56

Normal says consume, not contribute.

01:07:59

It says stick to the script.

01:08:00

Don't rock the boat. Play it safe.

01:08:02

We haven't played it safe since day one.

01:08:04

This is what happens when ordinary people

01:08:07

get under the influence of an extraordinary God.

01:08:09

Back in 1996, nobody was starting new churches

01:08:12

in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Cincinnati.

01:08:14

That wouldn't be normal.

01:08:15

- You're not normal.

01:08:16

- But we wanted a church

01:08:18

our friends might actually come to.

01:08:19

You know what was normal back then?

01:08:21

Wearing your cell phone on your belt.

01:08:23

In 2001, it wasn't normal for a handful of us

01:08:26

to mortgage our houses to buy prime retail space

01:08:28

so more people could hear about Jesus

01:08:30

in a language they could understand.

01:08:32

It wasn't normal for our church

01:08:33

to triple in size over six months,

01:08:35

to the point that we heard God telling us

01:08:37

one building wasn't enough.

01:08:39

It wasn't normal to be a single church

01:08:41

in multiple locations, and now it's not normal

01:08:43

to be a church in multiple states.

01:08:45

People in our community following Jesus

01:08:47

from all over the world: Japan,

01:08:49

the Philippines, Canada, Ohio State and UK fans.

01:08:53

And it gets even less normal from here.

01:08:55

It's not normal for Americans

01:08:58

to become friends with South Africans,

01:09:00

to send literal tons of food to them,

01:09:02

to receive thousands of prayers from them.

01:09:04

For a church to go up against a culture

01:09:06

of rape for profit in India and Nepal,

01:09:08

to make any headway at all against it.

01:09:10

It's not normal for girls who were slaves

01:09:12

to be rescued and made whole

01:09:14

and meet a God who loves them.

01:09:15

For thousands of children in Nicaragua

01:09:17

and Guatemala to get a hand up in education,

01:09:20

food and love.

01:09:21

It's not normal for a motorcycle trip

01:09:23

to spawn a men's movement,

01:09:25

for hundreds of marriages to be saved

01:09:26

on a camping trip, for thousands of baptisms

01:09:29

to happen in a scuzzy pond,

01:09:30

for thousands of women to get healed under a tent.

01:09:33

How does this even happen?

01:09:35

For 28 years a bunch of normal people

01:09:37

have actually listened when God whispers to them,

01:09:40

"I've got something better than normal in mind."

01:09:42

We're not superheroes. We're not extraordinary.

01:09:45

We got plenty of flaws.

01:09:47

We've made aggressive mistakes.

01:09:50

- I was too short to play trombone.

01:09:51

- My feet are too big. - I can't whistle.

01:09:54

- I have a secret obsession with Downton Abbey.

01:09:56

- Bread makes me poop my pants.

01:09:58

- It took me seven years to get through college.

01:10:00

- I saw the Justin Bieber movie

01:10:02

in theaters by myself.

01:10:04

- I've never been on time.

01:10:06

- I've been struck by lightning.

01:10:07

- Okay, maybe we're not all that normal,

01:10:09

but we believe in a God who loves us enough

01:10:12

to pick us up, dust us off,

01:10:14

and set us on a better path.

01:10:16

Normal is over here bingeing Netflix in the dark.

01:10:18

Meanwhile, people meet God on Super Bowl Weekend,

01:10:21

a lifelong Pittsburgher becomes a Bengals fan,

01:10:24

tens of thousands of people get baptized.

01:10:26

A generation of kids and students

01:10:28

are filled with the Spirit,

01:10:30

a rundown factory becomes a hub for fighting poverty,

01:10:33

physical healing happens, families stay together,

01:10:36

the lonely find real friends, addictions get beat,

01:10:39

lives get saved.

01:10:42

And you, maybe you've made a mistake or two.

01:10:46

Maybe you're tired of normal.

01:10:48

And maybe that's exactly why you're here.

01:10:50

Let's go not be normal together

01:10:52

and see where God takes us.

01:10:54

[applause]

01:11:00

- I think the biggest miracle in there

01:11:02

is a lifelong Steelers fan becomes a Bengals fan.

01:11:06

Hallelujah. Redemption is possible.

01:11:09

Speaking the impossible, Bengals,

01:11:10

if you're watching, man 1-4. We believe.

01:11:12

We believe still.

01:11:14

The impossible can absolutely happen.

01:11:17

Let's go. Let's go.

01:11:19

Now what would it look like for you

01:11:23

to dream of a moonshot?

01:11:25

What would your not normal look like?

01:11:29

What would your impossible be?

01:11:31

I don't know how familiar you are with

01:11:33

the promises that God makes in scripture.

01:11:36

There's so many of them.

01:11:37

We'll be digging into them throughout these six weeks.

01:11:39

I just want to start you with some,

01:11:41

because maybe one of these is the impossible

01:11:44

that you need to start praying for.

01:11:46

Maybe one of these would be your heaven come on earth.

01:11:50

If so, write it down. Capture it. Remember it.

01:11:53

Here's one: impossible peace.

01:11:55

You know, the Bible says that you can actually

01:11:57

have a peace that passes all understanding.

01:12:00

That means it makes no sense.

01:12:02

That means regardless of

01:12:04

what's happening in the nation around you,

01:12:05

regardless of what's happening in your home,

01:12:07

regardless of what's going on,

01:12:08

you can actually truly have peace that goes beyond you.

01:12:12

That's Philippians 4:7.

01:12:14

Maybe impossible hope is what you need.

01:12:17

Romans 15:13 describes people who overflow with hope.

01:12:23

Imagine a pot of boiling water.

01:12:25

Maybe you've put a lid on hope.

01:12:28

Maybe there's been disappointments

01:12:30

and setbacks in your life.

01:12:31

And so you've decided the safest way to live

01:12:34

is to put a lid on.

01:12:36

Well, why don't you take it off?

01:12:38

Why don't you ask God if He has overflowing hope?

01:12:40

Why don't you raise your hand and say,

01:12:42

"God, I would like to live that way."

01:12:44

Maybe it's strength.

01:12:45

Maybe there's something you're facing in your life

01:12:47

or maybe you just genuinely feel beat down,

01:12:49

knocked down by the by the world around you.

01:12:51

Ask Him for strength.

01:12:53

Psalm 125 says, "Those who trust in the Lord

01:12:56

are as unshakable, as unmovable as mighty Mt. Zion."

01:13:02

Maybe it's endurance.

01:13:04

Maybe you've hit that point in your life

01:13:05

where you've been running and you've been going

01:13:07

and you've been you've been hitting the grind

01:13:09

of family life or whatever it is

01:13:10

for a long, long time.

01:13:12

And you're tempted to slow down.

01:13:14

You're tempted to step out.

01:13:16

You're tempted to go retire to the beach

01:13:18

and do nothing and be by yourself and relax.

01:13:20

If so, guess what? Isaiah 40:31 says,

01:13:25

"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

01:13:28

They will soar on wings like eagles.

01:13:30

They will run and not grow weary.

01:13:31

They will walk and not be faint."

01:13:33

People, these are not hyperbole.

01:13:36

They are not just inspirational posters

01:13:38

to put on the wall, and, "You know, it's not true.

01:13:41

But, you know, wouldn't it be cool?"

01:13:42

It's not that.

01:13:43

It's the promise of God for the people

01:13:45

who will pray and seek and say, "God,

01:13:48

You can push me and seek heaven on earth."

01:13:51

Maybe it's impossible wisdom in your life.

01:13:54

Maybe there's just some things that

01:13:55

you're in leadership over your family

01:13:57

or you're in leadership at work, and you know

01:14:00

that your wisdom is not enough to get you there.

01:14:02

You know your wisdom can't get you through this season.

01:14:05

If so, ask Him for impossible wisdom.

01:14:08

Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to Me,

01:14:11

and I will answer you and tell you great

01:14:13

and unsearchable things you do not know."

01:14:17

Maybe it's perseverance in your life.

01:14:20

Maybe it feels like the walls are closing in on you

01:14:22

and things are pressing against you.

01:14:25

2 Corinthians 4 says, "We are hard pressed

01:14:27

on every side, but not crushed.

01:14:29

We're perplexed, but not in despair.

01:14:31

We're persecuted, but we're not abandoned.

01:14:33

We're struck down, but we're not destroyed."

01:14:36

Maybe it's impossible victory.

01:14:39

Do you know that the Bible says

01:14:41

you're more than a conqueror?

01:14:43

It says that in Romans 8:37,

01:14:44

You're more than a conqueror.

01:14:46

I think too many of us settle, and we take this

01:14:49

and we go like, "You know what?

01:14:50

I just want to be more than a consumer."

01:14:53

That's what America wants me to be consumed,

01:14:55

contribute to the economy, buy stuff,

01:14:57

Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday.

01:14:58

Just consume and consume, consume.

01:15:00

Be a, you know, a better one, like more than a consumer.

01:15:02

That's not what the Bible says.

01:15:04

It says be a conqueror. Do something more.

01:15:06

Make an impact on the world.

01:15:07

That's a promise of God for you.

01:15:10

Maybe it's impossible impact.

01:15:12

It's going back to that idea as you raise your family,

01:15:15

as you do the hard thing, as you change the diapers,

01:15:17

you help the kid through school,

01:15:18

maybe it's reminding you of the promise

01:15:20

that God gave first to Abraham

01:15:22

and continues through us, that through us,

01:15:24

all nations will be blessed.

01:15:27

What would the headlines look like

01:15:28

if we started believing that?

01:15:30

I think they'd look something more like this.

01:15:33

Headlines that look like us following God.

01:15:35

Man overflowing with joy.

01:15:37

"I never thought this was possible."

01:15:40

Students report 100% decrease in anxiety

01:15:43

and depression. Pharmaceutical stocks plummet.

01:15:46

Come on, come on. [applause]

01:15:49

Marriage gains power as the years go by.

01:15:51

Future generations forever changed.

01:15:54

Family breaks cycle of addiction,

01:15:56

say, "It stopped with us."

01:15:58

Millions, millions come to know Jesus

01:16:01

through normal family.

01:16:03

Kids described as unshakable and mighty.

01:16:06

Or maybe this one that seems most impossible.

01:16:09

Teenager voluntarily puts down phone at dinner.

01:16:11

"I love my family more."

01:16:14

Can I get an amen? [applause]

01:16:16

Let's go for the impossible here.

01:16:19

Again, you might be in a moment where you're,

01:16:21

like, "Man, this is not the best time."

01:16:23

Well, that turns out to be the best time

01:16:25

for God to do the impossible.

01:16:26

Maybe your objection is, "Oh, I don't know what I'm doing."

01:16:29

Well, let me just tell you, the astronauts

01:16:30

and mission control who put the man on the moon,

01:16:33

their average age was 28.

01:16:36

They could barely rent a car.

01:16:38

Qualifications don't matter.

01:16:40

In the Bible, there's nothing about

01:16:42

the verses you know and the -- No.

01:16:44

It's about a willing heart aimed at God who says,

01:16:48

"God, if You're going to bring Your Kingdom

01:16:50

here on earth as in heaven,

01:16:52

You can start right here in my heart.

01:16:53

You can start right here."

01:16:55

See, it boils down to this,

01:16:57

it's what we started with.

01:16:58

This whole entire Journey looking up

01:17:01

to the impossible stars you're looking at

01:17:03

and that prayer that Jesus gave.

01:17:04

I pray that every morning, the Lord's Prayer.

01:17:07

And when I get to that section,

01:17:08

Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,

01:17:11

on earth as it is in heaven,

01:17:12

I have prayed for years and years and years,

01:17:14

"God, start right here.

01:17:16

If there's any territory in my heart,

01:17:20

any place where the flag of Kyle

01:17:23

is planted instead of your flag, rip it out.

01:17:25

Take it over. If there's anywhere in my life

01:17:28

I have not given You full authority

01:17:30

and dominion over, any sphere of influence

01:17:32

that I have, take it over, God. Take it over."

01:17:36

It starts with us. It starts in our hearts.

01:17:39

Now, Jesus, He taught us how to pray.

01:17:43

But He actually prayed this prayer Himself

01:17:45

towards the very end of His life.

01:17:47

That prayer, when He when he taught it,

01:17:49

He was teaching. He was going to teach them,

01:17:51

"This is how to pray everybody."

01:17:52

But at the end of His life,

01:17:54

He's in the Garden of Gethsemane,

01:17:55

He's facing the Cross, and He has this moment.

01:17:58

"Am I going to want my Father's Kingdom,

01:18:01

or am I going to step out and do what I want?"

01:18:03

He prays this prayer, Mark 14:36 and He said,

01:18:07

"Abba, Father, all things are possible with You."

01:18:11

That faith, everything's possible.

01:18:14

"Remove this cup from Me." And then He says,

01:18:17

"Yet not what I will, but what You will."

01:18:21

He says, "Father, not my kingdom, but Your Kingdom

01:18:25

come on earth as it is in heaven."

01:18:29

This is it. Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God."

01:18:32

All this stuff gets added to you.

01:18:34

All the stuff, all the 10X visions,

01:18:36

everything you can possibly imagine,

01:18:38

all of it gets added when you seek first

01:18:39

His Kingdom right here in our hearts.

01:18:43

We're going to end by singing that song.

01:18:45

Go ahead and stand up if you would.

01:18:48

And as you stand, I want you to focus your mind

01:18:53

on your own heart.

01:18:55

If it were possible, I want you to peer

01:18:57

inside of your chest and ask God

01:19:01

where in your heart is your flag raised,

01:19:05

where is there territory He has not yet taken?

01:19:08

And just tell Him it's His.

01:19:10

Just say it's yours. Just say it's yours.

01:19:12

All, it's all yours God.

01:19:15

I'm gonna pray as we do that at all of our sites.

01:19:17

God, anything in us that's not Yours

01:19:20

we want to give You.

01:19:21

We don't want to miss out on Your promise,

01:19:24

and so would You push into our hearts

01:19:27

and take new ground. It's yours. Amen.

01:19:31

Let's sing.

01:20:01

- We're going to take it up.

01:20:04

We're going to sing it with all of our heart.

01:20:07

This song doesn't need my voice on it.

01:20:10

It doesn't need Eric's voice.

01:20:13

I'm bringing everything I got

01:20:15

and this requires you to do the same.

01:20:18

Not my voice, but your voice, full heart. Let's go.

01:21:52

- Man, thank you for joining us

01:21:53

for the start of The Push.

01:21:55

I love the reminder that God has bigger dreams

01:21:58

for us than we often have for ourselves,

01:21:59

and he's inviting us into a vision

01:22:02

that's bigger than we could have ever imagined.

01:22:04

He's got big things in store for us ahead.

01:22:06

- Absolutely. We've had a wonderful time

01:22:08

just reflecting on what God has for us

01:22:10

and also what God is doing through Crossroads right now.

01:22:13

There have been thousands who have been

01:22:15

devastated by the most recent hurricanes,

01:22:17

people and families who are just

01:22:18

completely displaced.

01:22:20

Crossroads just released another $50,000

01:22:22

to help those families, because that is

01:22:24

the type of place, that's the reason

01:22:26

we want to even more, we are asking God for more

01:22:28

to be able to go to do these types of things.

01:22:31

- Yes, that's $50,000 on top of

01:22:33

the $150,000 that we already gave.

01:22:35

That's not stuff we budget for. That's not stuff we plan on.

01:22:38

It's just where we believe God's calling us.

01:22:40

If there's a need, we want to meet it.

01:22:42

And it's not just money.

01:22:43

It's actually boots on the ground.

01:22:44

Boots on the ground, we've got our people there,

01:22:46

Crossroads people working to help folks

01:22:48

in our community and all over the region.

01:22:51

Now, hey, if you've heard anything it's

01:22:55

we don't sit still.

01:22:56

We don't just sit down and play church.

01:22:58

- We're not normal. - We're not normal.

01:23:00

Like, we are always pushing.

01:23:01

We are always moving forward.

01:23:03

And if you want to lean in,

01:23:04

I really, really hope that you do.

01:23:06

If you want to lean in and be a part

01:23:07

of this Push with us there's just

01:23:09

a couple things that you need to do.

01:23:11

First, just be back here every week

01:23:13

watching online or at one of our sites.

01:23:15

- However you engage.

01:23:16

And then the second thing is get that guidebook.

01:23:19

So if you're around a physical site

01:23:20

that's available to you, and if you're not

01:23:22

around a physical site or just prefer it digitally,

01:23:25

you can get it as a PDF by going to

01:23:27

Crossroads.net/10X.

01:23:29

You're going to want to get the guide.

01:23:31

- Yes. And if you process best with friends,

01:23:35

if you're an external processor like Hannah,

01:23:37

hey, you can also find a great group

01:23:39

at Crossroads.net/10X.

01:23:41

There's groups right there

01:23:42

that you can join to be pushed together.

01:23:45

That's what we're all about.

01:23:46

We want to go to a new place.

01:23:47

Whatever God has for us, we just want to lean in

01:23:50

and say, "Yes, we're here.

01:23:51

Take us where you want us to go, Lord."

01:23:53

And we'll see you guys next week.

01:23:54

Bye.

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