Past the Point of No Return

What is God saying to you and how willing are you to listen?

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    - Hey, welcome to Crossroads. I'm Andy.
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    - And I'm Hannah.
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    - Hey. And we are so glad that you're joining us today.
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    Now, Crossroads is a church of people
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    meeting all over the world,
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    in coffee shops, bars, dorm rooms, homes,
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    buildings just like this one
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    and so, so, so much more.
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    Hey, special call out to my friends in Florida.
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    We got some staff coming to hang out
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    with you guys just over the weekend.
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    Can't wait to be with you.
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    - It is week five of The Push.
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    If it's your first time joining us in a while,
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    we've been in this thing called the 10X Push,
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    and if you've been here, you know that
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    we are learning and growing in our faith,
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    being pushed and challenged into what God
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    might have for us over the next ten years.
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    And I'll tell you what, I've not just been pushed
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    and challenged to think about surrender
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    or to think about what I'm putting on the table.
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    I've also been encouraged, you know?
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    I'm encouraged to think that
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    God wants to partner with me,
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    little old me and little old you,
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    to change the literal world
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    and the community around us
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    and our families and our generations.
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    And that's exciting stuff.
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    - That's right. I know, for me at least, like,
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    I am not at my best when I'm just comfortable
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    and cozy and bingeing Netflix.
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    Like, there's something good that happens
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    when I'm pushed, when I'm stretched.
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    And that is what's been happening,
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    not just for us, like a community,
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    like big scale thing, but like for me,
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    not just like here, but here
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    God's been pushing us and challenge us
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    to go to a new places.
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    It's been really, really good.
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    - Speaking of new places, we have a story
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    of a couple who decided to go to a new place,
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    and it really changed the trajectory
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    of their entire life.
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    This is Judd and Dani's story. Catch it right now.
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    - For the first ten years of our marriage
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    we were looking for -- We were church hopping.
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    I'd grown up in the church, Young Life,
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    the whole thing, and so I was like,
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    "We got to get into this."
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    And so we visited, oh, my gosh, so many churches.
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    And Judd really reacted negatively to church. Yeah.
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    - I had a lot of objections.
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    So church wasn't a part of my childhood at all.
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    Childhood Judd was, I don't know,
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    there's like drugs, violence, sex,
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    just nothing in any way godly or holy at all.
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    And so I'd go to church every now and then
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    at Christmas with my grandmother, who was amazing,
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    but I didn't really know who God was
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    and what faith was all about.
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    I just had this -- There was some sort of
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    a connection in there rattling around
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    inside of me that I couldn't really define.
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    - We were living up in Lebanon,
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    we moved to Hyde Park, and my sister
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    was like trying to get us to come to Crossroads.
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    Judd's like, "Well, what are you going to tell her?
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    Because this place is weird."
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    I was like, "We'll go this one time,
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    and then after that I'll just be like,
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    'Hey, you know what?
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    This really isn't the church for us.
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    We're going to keep looking, ' and just politely exit out."
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    And we went to that service
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    and I don't remember what was said,
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    but both of us left there and we were like,
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    "Was that speaking directly to you?"
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    I was like, "Yeah. Was speaking directly to you?"
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    He was like, "Yeah."
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    I'm like, "Oh, we're coming back."
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    He's like, "Yeah, we're definitely coming back."
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    - It doesn't really feel like anybody's
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    really worried about who else is there.
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    Everybody's just kind of it felt
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    like authentic community in the room.
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    And so we come in 2006 and then Dani signs us up
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    for a Journey group, and then we sign up --
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    Then and then after the Journey group,
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    we decide we should do a small group.
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    Then we started volunteering at Go Cincinnati
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    at the time, Thanksgiving Food Drive.
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    And so it wasn't just Sunday.
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    Sunday continued to be great,
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    but it was this holistic part of my life.
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    And then of course, like, if you
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    just do the progression, "Oh yeah,
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    now it's time for a Go Trip."
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    My company at the time was in the tank,
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    so I had plenty of free time.
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    - It was right around the time
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    when the housing market crashed.
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    It was a really rough time. Yeah.
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    - But we decided to go to New Orleans.
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    - Yeah. So we go on this trip.
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    Friendships develop out of our Go groups.
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    - I got baptized.
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    - Yeah, I feel like it was kind of a whirlwind.
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    Like, it was almost like everything lit on fire
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    and we were running and running fast
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    and running hard toward Kingdom things.
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    - One of the guys I met on the New Orleans trip,
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    he was unemployed at the time.
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    I'm employed but not taking a paycheck.
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    And so somehow money came up and somehow he's like,
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    "Hey, man, I'm just going to tell you,
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    the only thing the whole Bible
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    God tells you to test Him on is giving. That's it."
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    I don't know what gave or I don't know what it was
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    that his --made him so convincing.
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    But I was like, "You know what? Great.
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    I'm going to do that."
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    Again, not taking a paycheck,
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    but I thought, okay. - It was tight.
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    It was tight, and interestingly enough,
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    there became a certain point where
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    I remember going, "I don't even notice that it's gone."
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    It felt more like a just sort of fell into our rhythm.
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    And it was also right before Game Change.
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    Do you remember that?
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    Game Change was the very first time we were
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    ever asked to give above and beyond our normal giving.
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    And I remember when they started talking
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    about the different things
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    that Game Change was going to support.
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    And I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh, God's on the move."
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    - It was super exciting to watch,
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    to sit in a room full of people that
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    were all getting calibrated towards
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    these big, giant things that are going to try to do.
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    And like, man, does that feel cool?
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    Like, yeah, sure, you can go volunteer here.
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    You can do that. It's all great stuff.
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    But wow, we're all going to team together
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    and go do a thing? - Yeah.
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    - That was very cool.
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    - We came up with our number to give
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    and it felt like absolutely impossible.
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    There was no way we were going to actually ever.
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    Because again, we were still in this place
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    where we didn't really have any money.
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    We were like, "All right, well, God's moving.
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    We went on this train. Let's go."
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    - It felt challenging and exciting
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    and we both felt a peace about it.
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    - Yeah. And we also just kind of felt like
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    if God's leading us this in giving us this number,
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    we're trusting His story and what He's doing.
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    And that trust is going to carry us through.
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    And we'll figure it out." You know?
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    During Game Change, we were able to experience
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    God in a completely different way
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    because in that experience, He showed up.
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    He showed up with jobs,
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    He showed up with friendships,
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    He showed up with all kinds of things.
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    - So as we kind of cruise in towards
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    the third one of these that we've experienced
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    and there's been more in those,
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    um, it's really interesting how I'm struggling
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    with what generosity looks like for The Push personally.
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    And then I start thinking about Man Camp
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    and camps specifically.
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    I've said again and again and again
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    I've watched it happen, God has consistently
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    shown me how small my dreams are.
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    Like, I think, "Man, it'd be great
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    if this many guys showed up
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    and this sort of a thing happened."
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    And that sort of it's that you look back at
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    what you thought would be great
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    and you're like, "That's stupidly small."
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    But I thought it was great at the time
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    because I didn't know any better, you know?
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    So I'm excited about it just for
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    what it's going to be for us,
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    what it's going to be for me, selfishly,
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    what it could mean to Camps,
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    what it can mean to Crossroads in general.
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    And when I think about the thousands of people
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    that weren't at Crossroads at the last one
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    that are now at Crossroads, and I think,
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    "You don't even know. I'm sure you're like,
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    'Ah, what is it?' Yeah, but you don't even know
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    the good stuff that's out there. You know?"
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    You can't know it. How could you know it
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    if you've never lived it at all? It's not just camp stuff.
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    I mean, again, we get to come together
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    as a collective group
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    and put our meager resources collectively.
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    It's way more than any one of us could ever do,
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    and we get to all be a part of that
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    and see the fruit of that and experience
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    what that feels like inside and go,
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    "Man, I made a commitment to maybe a little nervous."
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    I'm a big fan of stuff that makes you a little nervous.
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    Okay, there's one story that --
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    I'm trying not to tear up while I tell this.
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    If you've ever been to camp, there's
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    a big, nasty cow pond that we use to baptize people,
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    which is amazing.
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    So I'm standing on the edge of that
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    and I'm watching the baptisms,
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    and I'm sitting there and there's shadow,
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    just this shadow just falls over me.
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    And I look over and there's this guy.
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    I mean, this guy was six foot five,
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    250, just corn fed. I'm looking at this guy.
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    He's looking at me really intensely, and he says,
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    "Hey, did you see my arm right here?"
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    And I said, "Yeah." And he had these scabs
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    on his arm that looked pretty fresh.
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    I was like, yeah. He said, "So Monday,"
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    this is Sunday. So Monday previous.
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    "Monday I came home from work,
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    caught my old lady in bed with my best friend.
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    And Monday night I went out in the car in the garage,
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    threw a rope over the rafter
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    and I tied it around my neck and I hung myself."
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    The rope snapped and he landed on
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    a bunch of yard implements that he had in his garage.
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    And that's what he cut his arm up.
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    He's kind of bruised up and battered, and he said,
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    "And the only reason I didn't get back up there
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    and retie that rope is because I remembered
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    I was coming here this weekend."
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    And so, I mean, if that's the only reason --
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    If that guy is the only reason we do camp
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    and there's a bunch of those guys, so.
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    - Welcome to Crossroads. We're in a Push.
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    I don't know if you're seeking to understand
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    who Jesus is, if you're a believer in Jesus,
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    but we're trying to do is push us,
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    push us to get closer to Him,
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    push us to be more like Him,
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    push us to have a peace that passes all understanding.
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    So to do that, we're going to push ourselves
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    to tell Him that He's pretty good.
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    Tell him He's great.
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    It's also known as worshiping.
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    And why don't we stand up right now
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    at all of our sites?
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    If you're in a bar or you're in a --
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    If you're in a coffee shop, might be a little odd,
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    but go ahead and go for it with your earbuds in
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    and let's just tell God that He is good
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    and we're up for being pushed today.
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    - Put your hands together.
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    - I think you're catching on to that one.
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    What do you say?
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    When you say to Him, "Set my heart on fire,"
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    you start to awaken to the awe,
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    the wonder of who He is.
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    Come on and sing together.
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    - Hey, you may have heard
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    we had a pretty big deal this last week.
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    We have a new President Elect that's coming,
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    and we talked about this a while ago.
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    Here's the deal.
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    If Kamala Harris won or Donald Trump won,
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    either one was going to be my President.
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    Either one.
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    But only one person is ever going to be my King,
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    and His name is Jesus. Only one person.
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    I'm never going to lay my whole life down
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    for any politician, any human being,
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    other than maybe my wife.
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    I'm not going to do that.
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    But this song is a heart of reflection saying,
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    "God, I want You and only You
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    are worthy of getting all of me."
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    Let's tell Him again. Come on. Let's do it.
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    You know why?
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    You know why we would back off of our microphones
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    and not be the loudest thing in the room?
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    So that you don't just use your mouths in that moment,
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    you use your ears and hear that you are not the only one saying,
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    "Jesus, You're my king."
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    You're not the only one saying,
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    "I will live for You, all my life for you."
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    We're not alone.
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    Using our voices together matters.
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    Maybe this is the most unified space
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    that we've experienced all week. It's sacred.
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    It's sacred because of Him and Him alone.
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    So, Jesus, I say to You, You can have my whole heart.
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    Who else would I give it to?
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    Who else would I want to hold it, to have it,
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    to challenge it, to charge it?
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    Who else would I want to revive it?
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    Because no one else can but You.
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    So I give You my whole heart.
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    I pray all this because of you, Jesus.
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    If you're in agreement with that, then you can say Amen.
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    That's right. Yeah! Woo!
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    I'm so glad you're in the room.
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    Glad you're online with us.
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    If you're in the room,
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    why don't you turn to somebody and say,
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    "I'm glad to be here with you," and have a seat.
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    - We met at a UC football game.
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    He was a cheerleader and I thought he was hot, so.
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    - I had hair back then. I had a lot going on, so.
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    - Tithing was a new concept when I met Joshua.
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    I didn't really understand it.
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    Like I'm giving Him 10%, like right off the top?
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    Like, what do you mean? Like, I earned that.
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    But once I started doing that more regularly,
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    it was just like, okay, this is what we do.
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    This is part of our life. I know we did, I mean.
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    - It was a three year commitment
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    right across this campaign.
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    - That was like the end of beginning of 2017,
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    I think is when it started.
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    We both kind of went into service
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    with different numbers in mind.
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    So I was like, "All right, we'll give 20%.
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    Like that's like double our tithe.
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    Like, that seems like a normal realistic thing.
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    Like we can do that and still go out
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    and go on vacation and blah blah, blah, blah, blah."
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    - We had separate cards.
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    She had a card, I had a card.
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    And we wrote down, you know, like a game show;
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    - Showed each other.
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    - Yeah. My number was larger
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    than our combined gross salary. Yeah.
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    It was like, I specifically remember this.
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    And I'm like, "There is no flipping way
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    that's going to happen.
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    If you really think that's what God's saying,
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    I guess we can do that."
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    But I was really apprehensive about it.
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    It's like, oh gosh, okay,
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    I'm not sure what that's going to look like,
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    but we'll do this.
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    - And I didn't, and to be fair,
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    I didn't know either, right?
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    I didn't know how that was going to work.
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    How can I give more than what I have?
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    - Yeah. - Right? Like I can't.
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    I don't know, that's why.
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    But that's how God works. He gave me the number and.
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    - We were like, "All right, let's do this."
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    So we signed the commitment card
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    and we took it up on the stage, put it in the box.
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    I know we went out to dinner that night afterwards.
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    I was like, "This is probably our last night
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    of freedom for like three years.
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    So let's order drinks and all the things."
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    I'm a nurse, so I was working at a hospital,
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    had part time hours. And right away,
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    like within months of the campaign starting,
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    I was offered a full time position.
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    So I was like, "All right, this is awesome.
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    Like, things are happening, we're getting more income."
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    And then a few months later, he was --
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    He got a different job
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    making the most money he's ever made.
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    So I'm like, "All right, we can do this.
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    Like we can live off of yours.
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    All of mine can go to I'm In,
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    like, we can totally do this."
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    So it was, "Oh, wow, we can actually make
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    this commitment and still go to dinner and have drinks."
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    - Yes.
  • 00:28:50
    - And still actually go on a vacation?
  • 00:28:54
    Yes. Right. So it was like, "Wow, awesome, God,
  • 00:28:56
    like You showed up. Let's go."
  • 00:28:57
    So that was a high.
  • 00:28:59
    And then it was back down to my job
  • 00:29:02
    that had the large raise.
  • 00:29:03
    And the best job I've ever had
  • 00:29:07
    was suddenly cut short through an acquisition.
  • 00:29:09
    Now where I'm where am I going to go.
  • 00:29:11
    What am I going to do?
  • 00:29:12
    I transitioned from one career path into another,
  • 00:29:19
    but it was also a very low income time.
  • 00:29:21
    But we were committed to meeting that commitment.
  • 00:29:25
    What that looked like was us moving
  • 00:29:28
    out of our apartment and moving into her parents house.
  • 00:29:33
    - Yeah.
  • 00:29:34
    - And praise God that we were able to do that.
  • 00:29:37
    But, you know, there was no way for us
  • 00:29:39
    to make this commitment without
  • 00:29:42
    making an extreme move like that.
  • 00:29:44
    Yeah.
  • 00:29:45
    - And the normal things in terms of
  • 00:29:46
    like cutting back on expenses and.
  • 00:29:48
    - That was the biggest expense was rent.
  • 00:29:50
    So it was like it had to go.
  • 00:29:51
    - Yeah. I don't really think we took vacations
  • 00:29:53
    during that time. - No.
  • 00:29:55
    So, yeah, like where we thought we were like,
  • 00:29:57
    oh man, we're sailing.
  • 00:29:58
    And it was like, yeah, I don't know.
  • 00:30:00
    - Just kidding. - I really don't know.
  • 00:30:02
    And even sold my motorcycle. - Yes.
  • 00:30:04
    - So if anyone ever questions if I love God,
  • 00:30:06
    know that I sold my motorcycle
  • 00:30:08
    to help meet this commitment.
  • 00:30:10
    We barely made it across the line,
  • 00:30:13
    bloody and sweaty and everything else.
  • 00:30:16
    - Teary eyed. - Exactly.
  • 00:30:17
    And but what we did, through God we did.
  • 00:30:21
    I'm happy to say that's not the end of the story.
  • 00:30:23
    Right? Shortly, shortly after we committed
  • 00:30:26
    or completed the commitment, then I went from
  • 00:30:31
    another career shift into where that was
  • 00:30:33
    a very low earning to the highest earning
  • 00:30:36
    and percentages above where I was
  • 00:30:39
    even before the commitments.
  • 00:30:40
    - During that same time, we were also
  • 00:30:42
    going through a fertility journey
  • 00:30:44
    trying to get pregnant with our first child.
  • 00:30:46
    So again, like highs, highs of like
  • 00:30:49
    making the most money we've ever made,
  • 00:30:50
    lows of having a miscarriage.
  • 00:30:52
    And I specifically remember, like,
  • 00:30:54
    just calling out to Him in the car
  • 00:30:56
    and being like, "Lord, I can't, I don't know what to do anymore.
  • 00:30:58
    Like it is all You."
  • 00:31:00
    And like, boom, we got pregnant. Boom.
  • 00:31:02
    Like just the gifts.
  • 00:31:03
    All of our friends and family, coworkers,
  • 00:31:06
    we had like five baby showers,
  • 00:31:07
    like, insane just God's goodness
  • 00:31:11
    and just His provision was just poured onto us
  • 00:31:13
    during that season. All right.
  • 00:31:15
    Like, we are doing this, like,
  • 00:31:16
    we're giving so much, but He is blessing us with so much.
  • 00:31:19
    Just the abundance that we were feeling
  • 00:31:21
    at the time, so it was like, I can trust Him.
  • 00:31:23
    I can trust Him with my money.
  • 00:31:24
    I can trust Him with my family. I can trust Him.
  • 00:31:27
    That was the best lesson,
  • 00:31:28
    the biggest lesson from that whole season.
  • 00:31:30
    And it was -- I will hold that dear in my heart
  • 00:31:33
    from here out.
  • 00:31:34
    As I think about this Push, for me
  • 00:31:37
    what's been on my heart a lot this year:
  • 00:31:39
    How much do you really trust God?
  • 00:31:44
    Do you trust Him, in our prior example,
  • 00:31:47
    to that amount of commitment on a card?
  • 00:31:50
    And our actions prove where our trust is,
  • 00:31:53
    where we're putting our faith.
  • 00:31:55
    And if He's proved himself in the past
  • 00:31:57
    financially with us through the I'm In commitment,
  • 00:31:59
    if He's proved Himself through our career,
  • 00:32:03
    through our family, through the infertility
  • 00:32:06
    or fertility journe.
  • 00:32:08
    If He's proved Himself in so many ways
  • 00:32:09
    that I can see, just in the ways that I can see,
  • 00:32:12
    how do I not trust Him again?
  • 00:32:14
    For me, I pray that I am humble enough to say yes.
  • 00:32:18
    That it's never been about me.
  • 00:32:22
    It's -- It's -- It's always been about Christ.
  • 00:32:35
    It's always everything, everything for God's glory.
  • 00:32:41
    How much more could He do to show me that He loves me?
  • 00:32:44
    $100,000, I didn't say it earlier,
  • 00:32:46
    but $100,000 was the was the commitment.
  • 00:32:51
    What is that to God?
  • 00:32:53
    It crushes me that my own selfishness
  • 00:32:58
    keeps me from an even deeper relationship
  • 00:33:00
    with Christ when He's given so much.
  • 00:33:03
    I know these things. Will I do them?
  • 00:33:05
    That's -- That's my challenge.
  • 00:33:10
    - What's the key word there?
  • 00:33:12
    100%. 100%.
  • 00:33:18
    It's not the dollar amount.
  • 00:33:20
    It's the amount of our hearts that God has.
  • 00:33:24
    Hey, you might be brand new today,
  • 00:33:26
    may not be sure there's any difference
  • 00:33:27
    between Jesus and Buddha.
  • 00:33:30
    You may be a long time church goer,
  • 00:33:33
    but you got to know if you're here today,
  • 00:33:35
    it's because God wants to push you
  • 00:33:37
    and we're pushing each other to get us
  • 00:33:39
    to 100% Christ likeness.
  • 00:33:43
    And I'm pretty excited to talk to you
  • 00:33:44
    about what we're going to talk about today.
  • 00:33:46
    Believe it or not, you're going to love this.
  • 00:33:48
    Telling you right now.
  • 00:33:49
    Tell the person next to you, "I'm going to love this today,"
  • 00:33:51
    because I'm telling you right now,
  • 00:33:53
    you're going to leave here going, "That was so good."
  • 00:33:55
    That's what's going to happen today.
  • 00:33:56
    So be happy, right now I'm just telling you,
  • 00:33:58
    I'm projecting forward just be happy right now.
  • 00:34:00
    That's the way it is. So let me pray for us.
  • 00:34:02
    God, I thank You for the ability to talk about
  • 00:34:05
    things that are transcendent and that are fun,
  • 00:34:07
    and that are deep and that are challenging,
  • 00:34:10
    because that's all of who You are,
  • 00:34:13
    all of that and more.
  • 00:34:14
    Help me to accurately reflect You
  • 00:34:16
    and to communicate Your truth to Your people.
  • 00:34:20
    And I ask for Your help to be wise and clear.
  • 00:34:24
    And I pray these things according to
  • 00:34:25
    the character and identity of Jesus. Amen.
  • 00:34:31
    Totality. I've become somewhat of a geek, I guess.
  • 00:34:38
    I never would have thought myself being a geek,
  • 00:34:41
    but man, I love reading about NASA
  • 00:34:46
    and the early space program.
  • 00:34:48
    I've become a bit of an astronomer.
  • 00:34:51
    I love, but one of my favorite things
  • 00:34:53
    I've done in the last few years
  • 00:34:54
    have been to two eclipses. Oh my gosh. Amazing.
  • 00:34:59
    Like, I'm getting pretty geeky.
  • 00:35:01
    Like, I'm the kind of guy now that
  • 00:35:03
    I would have picked on myself in high school.
  • 00:35:05
    You know? Did a lot of things in high school
  • 00:35:07
    I'm not proud of. I probably would have
  • 00:35:08
    picked on the kid who had a pocket protector.
  • 00:35:10
    And I'm about ready to start wearing
  • 00:35:11
    a pocket protector with pens in it,
  • 00:35:13
    just so you know.
  • 00:35:14
    When I went and saw the last eclipse I did,
  • 00:35:17
    you could stay local where you were
  • 00:35:20
    if you were in the tri state area here in Ohio
  • 00:35:23
    or Indiana or Kentucky,
  • 00:35:25
    or you could make a bit of a ride
  • 00:35:26
    and you could get to where
  • 00:35:28
    it was going to be a total eclipse.
  • 00:35:32
    You might think, well, 99% is pretty good,
  • 00:35:34
    but it's really not 100.
  • 00:35:36
    This is what 99% looks like.
  • 00:35:38
    99% is, it's like a -- it's like a little,
  • 00:35:41
    oh, we've got a little crescent moon up there.
  • 00:35:43
    It's a little darker at 2:00 than it should be.
  • 00:35:46
    It's cool for sure. It's very, very cool.
  • 00:35:49
    But if you haven't been to a total eclipse,
  • 00:35:51
    it's nothing at all like 99. Nothing.
  • 00:35:54
    Because things go dark.
  • 00:35:56
    The birds get fooled, they go,
  • 00:35:59
    "Oh, I guess it's time to go to bed."
  • 00:36:01
    The crickets, they go, "Oh, night time already."
  • 00:36:04
    They start coming out.
  • 00:36:06
    It gets drops in temperature immediately.
  • 00:36:08
    It is crazy.
  • 00:36:10
    And this is the way it is with many of us
  • 00:36:13
    if we choose to follow of Christ,
  • 00:36:14
    we get pretty impressed with ourselves.
  • 00:36:16
    Like, man, I'm really good.
  • 00:36:17
    I'm better than the person who's 75.
  • 00:36:20
    I'm really awesome." Better, I don't know.
  • 00:36:23
    God doesn't love you more
  • 00:36:24
    because you're more than somebody else.
  • 00:36:27
    But I'll tell you when you get to 100,
  • 00:36:30
    and no one's ever going to get to 100
  • 00:36:32
    as far as being sin free, having no issues,
  • 00:36:35
    but 100 means well, we say,
  • 00:36:38
    "I lay my whole life down. I am Yours.
  • 00:36:40
    I am on a journey, God."
  • 00:36:42
    When you get to 100 is when things get changed,
  • 00:36:45
    not 99, 100.
  • 00:36:47
    And you say, "Everything that I have is Yours,
  • 00:36:49
    God, because You have given me everything,"
  • 00:36:51
    and it's a beautiful, profound thing.
  • 00:36:54
    Abraham Kuyper was the prime minister
  • 00:36:58
    of the Netherlands. And he said this. He says:
  • 00:37:01
    There is not a square inch in the whole domain
  • 00:37:05
    of our human existence over which Christ,
  • 00:37:08
    who is sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!
  • 00:37:13
    Mine.
  • 00:37:15
    Everything I have, everything you have is God's.
  • 00:37:18
    He's entrusted all of it to us,
  • 00:37:22
    and He knows it's all His.
  • 00:37:25
    And I'm now talking just about your life.
  • 00:37:27
    I'm not even talking about our stuff
  • 00:37:28
    that we've talked about getting on the table.
  • 00:37:30
    I'm just talking about our life.
  • 00:37:32
    We have to come to surrender to the truth
  • 00:37:35
    that He says, I am His. He possesses me.
  • 00:37:39
    And as long as I try to tug myself away from Him
  • 00:37:42
    or maintain my own sovereign identity,
  • 00:37:46
    the longer I do that, the less peace
  • 00:37:48
    I'm going to have that passes all understanding.
  • 00:37:51
    The less fruit of the Spirit I'm going to have:
  • 00:37:53
    love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
  • 00:37:54
    all those things.
  • 00:37:57
    Isaiah 54 has been a verse that
  • 00:37:59
    I've shared with a number of people.
  • 00:38:01
    I don't know if everyone heard it here.
  • 00:38:02
    I want to give some different angles on this.
  • 00:38:04
    This is a verse
  • 00:38:05
    that is basically our theme in this Push.
  • 00:38:08
    In this Push I'm pushing on you right now,
  • 00:38:10
    you're pushing on me, God's pushing on me.
  • 00:38:13
    We're saying, "Hey, do you want more of God?
  • 00:38:15
    Do you want more of His Spirit?
  • 00:38:17
    Do you want more of the plans that He has for your life?
  • 00:38:20
    Do you want the possibility of seeing
  • 00:38:23
    an awakening in your lifetime,
  • 00:38:24
    where the Spirit of God moves over land
  • 00:38:27
    and crazy things happen? Do you want that?"
  • 00:38:29
    We're pushing on that stuff.
  • 00:38:31
    And Isaiah 54 has been a clear, clear sign for us.
  • 00:38:35
    Here's what it says:
  • 00:38:55
    I want to give a few words and talk about these here.
  • 00:38:58
    One is right there, let's look at the first one here.
  • 00:39:00
    Oh! Excuse me. Go away from me.
  • 00:39:02
    There you go. Right here.
  • 00:39:03
    Enlarge, enlarge, enlarge. Going up there?
  • 00:39:10
    It looks really cool right here.
  • 00:39:12
    Really cool. Like there's a red circle that looks great.
  • 00:39:21
    Okay. It looks cool to me. I'm having fun.
  • 00:39:26
    All right, let's just talk about it.
  • 00:39:28
    Let's talk through this right here.
  • 00:39:29
    Enlarge the place of your tent.
  • 00:39:32
    I don't know what's wrong, what the problem is
  • 00:39:35
    with many of us who get really weird
  • 00:39:37
    if something gets bigger in the Kingdom of God.
  • 00:39:40
    Like, when something starts to grow, we go,
  • 00:39:42
    "Something weird is happening over there."
  • 00:39:44
    And now part of that is because large things
  • 00:39:46
    and large churches, there have been
  • 00:39:48
    some horrible scandals and stuff that's happened
  • 00:39:50
    in large things in large churches.
  • 00:39:52
    But understand, not more than smaller churches.
  • 00:39:55
    Actually, way more scandals happen in smaller churches.
  • 00:39:58
    I know a bit about this.
  • 00:39:59
    This is kind of my industry.
  • 00:40:00
    You just know about it in big churches
  • 00:40:01
    because that's what gets publicized
  • 00:40:04
    and it's horrible, it's awful.
  • 00:40:06
    But what's really awful is when God's people think
  • 00:40:09
    that when something is growing and getting bigger,
  • 00:40:12
    something is wrong. Let me ask you this.
  • 00:40:13
    When your savings are getting -- Are growing and getting bigger,
  • 00:40:16
    if that's happening with your paycheck
  • 00:40:17
    or your savings is that bad?
  • 00:40:19
    If your muscles are growing and getting bigger,
  • 00:40:22
    is that bad?
  • 00:40:24
    If your family, if you have a family,
  • 00:40:25
    is growing, getting bigger, is that bad?
  • 00:40:27
    I'll tell you what, man, every time
  • 00:40:28
    I see somebody Crossroads who adopts a child,
  • 00:40:31
    who fosters a child, and of course has their own child,
  • 00:40:35
    jeez, it is massive.
  • 00:40:38
    Like, wow, you are enlarging your life.
  • 00:40:43
    You're enlarging your heart.
  • 00:40:45
    You're looking for that to grow.
  • 00:40:47
    And here, Crossroads, we believe it's a good thing
  • 00:40:50
    to be a part of something that is getting larger,
  • 00:40:52
    because Jesus said that's the way it should happen.
  • 00:40:54
    He said, greater things will you do.
  • 00:40:56
    Greater, that means, includes larger.
  • 00:40:58
    He said, "Go into all the world,
  • 00:41:00
    baptizing in the name of the Father, Son."
  • 00:41:02
    The whole world. Why go the whole world?
  • 00:41:03
    Because He wants more people in His family, that's why.
  • 00:41:07
    The book of Acts says again and again
  • 00:41:09
    God added 3000 people to their number that day.
  • 00:41:11
    Why does it do that?
  • 00:41:13
    Because it's called a celebration.
  • 00:41:15
    Enlarging, getting large.
  • 00:41:16
    Your life, God having more of your life.
  • 00:41:19
    Do you want God to have your life
  • 00:41:21
    and your life to be enlarged?
  • 00:41:22
    Because that's what happens when a person goes 100% to God.
  • 00:41:26
    Your heart gets enlarged,
  • 00:41:28
    your compassion gets enlarged,
  • 00:41:30
    your actual resiliency gets enlarged,
  • 00:41:33
    your prayer life gets enlarged,
  • 00:41:35
    your ears to the voice of God gets enlarged.
  • 00:41:39
    Now the next one, enlarge the place of your --
  • 00:41:41
    Let's see if it works. Let's try it again.
  • 00:41:43
    I believe. Give me that slide again.
  • 00:41:45
    Give me that black slide up there.
  • 00:41:46
    Come on, come on, let's do this.
  • 00:41:47
    Enlarge the place of your tent.
  • 00:41:50
    Ahh, okay. I'm circling tent, and nothing. Okay.
  • 00:41:58
    Enlarge the place of your tent.
  • 00:42:00
    Your tent is your territory.
  • 00:42:05
    That's the place where you reside.
  • 00:42:08
    That's the thing that you are responsible for.
  • 00:42:13
    You have a tent, or as I'll call it,
  • 00:42:16
    a territory that is yours.
  • 00:42:18
    Your body is your territory.
  • 00:42:20
    You're responsible for your body.
  • 00:42:22
    You're responsible, if you have a family,
  • 00:42:24
    for your family. You're responsible before God.
  • 00:42:26
    It's God's family, but you're responsible for it.
  • 00:42:29
    If you have a business, if you have accounts
  • 00:42:31
    that you manage, that's your territory.
  • 00:42:34
    And the image here is enlarging.
  • 00:42:36
    God has always been enlarging His people.
  • 00:42:38
    He told Abraham, enlarge your territory.
  • 00:42:41
    Look at the stars up in the sky.
  • 00:42:43
    You're going to outnumber them.
  • 00:42:46
    We have a big tent at our base camp property.
  • 00:42:51
    And this last year we enlarged it
  • 00:42:52
    and it was a sign of this.
  • 00:42:53
    How do you enlarge the tent, that meeting tent?
  • 00:42:56
    Well, you go out there and you pull up the stakes,
  • 00:42:59
    you pull up the stakes,
  • 00:43:01
    you reconfigure the canvas and you stretch it out.
  • 00:43:05
    You stretch it out, and then you re-hammer it down.
  • 00:43:08
    You got to go through some disheveling
  • 00:43:10
    to pull things up and hammer it down.
  • 00:43:12
    We're doing disheveling here in our church right now.
  • 00:43:16
    We're changing things because we are expanding
  • 00:43:20
    the territory that God has given us.
  • 00:43:22
    In fact, He's made it our territory.
  • 00:43:26
    And you in your life, whenever you take new territory,
  • 00:43:29
    whenever you want to expand your life
  • 00:43:31
    or expand a sector in your life,
  • 00:43:33
    it's going to mean uprooting some tent pegs
  • 00:43:36
    that you thought before were just fine
  • 00:43:38
    and you didn't want to do it.
  • 00:43:39
    It's going to mean some change.
  • 00:43:40
    Another key word that we have in all of this
  • 00:43:43
    is your, stretch out place of your tent.
  • 00:43:48
    Stretch your tent curtains.
  • 00:43:49
    Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords.
  • 00:43:51
    Strengthen your stakes.
  • 00:43:52
    For you will spread out to the right and the left.
  • 00:43:55
    And your children will possess nations
  • 00:43:56
    and settle in desolate cities.
  • 00:43:58
    Six times your, your, your, your, your, your.
  • 00:44:04
    The idea is again your territory, your territory.
  • 00:44:09
    Our church, we have four territories,
  • 00:44:12
    four things that are our assignments,
  • 00:44:14
    that are our territories, that we have --
  • 00:44:16
    We believe we have
  • 00:44:18
    a responsibility before God to expand.
  • 00:44:20
    Now, they're not the kind of territories
  • 00:44:22
    that you might think they are.
  • 00:44:23
    Our territory is not teaching.
  • 00:44:25
    Our territory is not music.
  • 00:44:27
    There are some churches, their territory is music.
  • 00:44:29
    And they have like, you know,
  • 00:44:32
    gazillions of views of worship on YouTube.
  • 00:44:34
    We don't.
  • 00:44:35
    There's some people who have a territory
  • 00:44:37
    of teaching, and everyone and their brother
  • 00:44:39
    asks them to go speak at places and conferences,
  • 00:44:41
    and they get nice speaker fees and all that.
  • 00:44:43
    We don't get that. None of us get that here.
  • 00:44:45
    All of us would love to have that.
  • 00:44:46
    Maybe God'll do it someday,
  • 00:44:48
    but those things aren't our territories.
  • 00:44:49
    There's actually four things
  • 00:44:50
    where God has told us we believe.
  • 00:44:52
    And how do we say that?
  • 00:44:53
    We've heard it from Him in the results
  • 00:44:55
    that He's given us and the ideas He's given us,
  • 00:44:57
    and affirmation from prayer.
  • 00:44:59
    Four things that God has distinctly said,
  • 00:45:03
    "Crossroads this is your territory,
  • 00:45:05
    your contribution to the Kingdom.
  • 00:45:06
    You're supposed to have a disproportionat
  • 00:45:08
    e impact in these areas."
  • 00:45:10
    And God is asking us to enlarge it.
  • 00:45:13
    We've been talking about those the whole time.
  • 00:45:15
    The only one we'll talk about today is reach out.
  • 00:45:19
    Reach out, reach out is the things that we do
  • 00:45:22
    outside of our buildings,
  • 00:45:23
    outside our traditional ministries,
  • 00:45:25
    to help people who are hurting,
  • 00:45:27
    to help people who are a little bit on the outs,
  • 00:45:29
    to help people who have been given a bad hand,
  • 00:45:31
    to help people who are in poverty,
  • 00:45:34
    who are just in crisis mode,
  • 00:45:37
    and they need the hands and feet of Jesus
  • 00:45:40
    to come along and give a hand up
  • 00:45:42
    more than just a handout.
  • 00:45:44
    The body of Christ to come
  • 00:45:47
    and be the love of God with skin on.
  • 00:45:51
    And this is why the movement of Jesus is one of movement.
  • 00:45:55
    It's called a movement because we're meant to be moving.
  • 00:45:58
    We're not meant to be philosophers.
  • 00:46:00
    We're not meant to be debaters.
  • 00:46:02
    I know a lot of people who have
  • 00:46:03
    the Christian banner, who are philosophers and debaters.
  • 00:46:07
    We're here at Crossroads, we're not philosophers
  • 00:46:09
    and debaters, we're doers.
  • 00:46:11
    We get stuff done around here. We go.
  • 00:46:14
    We go after things because we believe this is
  • 00:46:16
    a core competency of God's people to be moving.
  • 00:46:18
    Right now, whether you know it or not,
  • 00:46:20
    you know right now you're moving right now.
  • 00:46:22
    You're like, "No, I'm not. I'm sitting in a nice chair."
  • 00:46:24
    No, you're moving. Right now the earth is spinning
  • 00:46:28
    and you're moving at 492,126 miles an hour.
  • 00:46:33
    Right now you're moving.
  • 00:46:34
    You just don't notice it because you're used to it.
  • 00:46:37
    As you spiritually mature and as God pushes you
  • 00:46:39
    into new territory, you will be stunned at
  • 00:46:42
    how you won't even notice how often
  • 00:46:45
    and frequently change happens because
  • 00:46:46
    you'll be used to it. You'll be acclimated.
  • 00:46:48
    But when you first start following Christ,
  • 00:46:50
    like the smallest thing, like, "Oh, my gosh,
  • 00:46:52
    starting a prayer time, I don't know how to do that.
  • 00:46:54
    It freaks me out."
  • 00:46:55
    The smallest thing, like, I want to maybe read
  • 00:46:57
    a chapter of the Bible a day. Oh my gosh."
  • 00:46:59
    But as you progress, as God starts to eclipse you
  • 00:47:03
    more and more and He starts to push you
  • 00:47:05
    and you start to feel the fruit of it,
  • 00:47:07
    you start naturally moving and doing things
  • 00:47:09
    that you would have never thought
  • 00:47:11
    you would have done before.
  • 00:47:12
    Jesus says, "My father is always moving
  • 00:47:15
    up into the present time and I too am moving."
  • 00:47:18
    We as a church, we move.
  • 00:47:20
    We don't philosophize, we don't debate.
  • 00:47:23
    We don't theorize, we move.
  • 00:47:26
    We move and we expand because
  • 00:47:29
    that's what the Bible says to do.
  • 00:47:32
    We enlarge and we uproot things because
  • 00:47:34
    we want a tent for more people to be under.
  • 00:47:37
    And all of us in here, every site,
  • 00:47:40
    someone before you made that decision
  • 00:47:43
    and what that to give us the opportunity to do that.
  • 00:47:46
    And then what happens is as we come in,
  • 00:47:48
    we have more capacity to bless
  • 00:47:51
    and help more hurting people.
  • 00:47:54
    By the way, we're doing everything we can
  • 00:47:56
    to push you in here. Everything.
  • 00:47:58
    And I'm, quite frankly, a bit stunned that
  • 00:48:00
    all of us aren't taking advantage of it.
  • 00:48:02
    Like the material, we poured a lot of money
  • 00:48:04
    into all the materials because we want to push you
  • 00:48:07
    to new spiritual depths.
  • 00:48:08
    And if you looked at them, you know
  • 00:48:11
    there isn't a single firm in New York City
  • 00:48:15
    we could have hired that would do better,
  • 00:48:17
    more powerful spiritual content than that.
  • 00:48:20
    The digital prayer experience is freaking amazing.
  • 00:48:24
    Am I right? Oh my gosh, I'm telling you,
  • 00:48:28
    do not, do not just sit there
  • 00:48:30
    and just come to a service
  • 00:48:32
    and allow this to pass you by.
  • 00:48:34
    God's moving and you need to get on, get in
  • 00:48:38
    and allow God to meet you exactly where you are.
  • 00:48:41
    One of the ways we've been moving for a long time
  • 00:48:44
    is by reaching people who have been
  • 00:48:47
    in the rape for profit industry in India.
  • 00:48:51
    It's the epicenter of the rape for profit industry,
  • 00:48:56
    of little girls are are kidnaped
  • 00:48:59
    and put in slavery, or as their parents
  • 00:49:02
    are deluded into thinking they can
  • 00:49:03
    let their their young daughter go with
  • 00:49:05
    the person who's going to take them to the big city
  • 00:49:07
    and get a stewardess job or some such thing.
  • 00:49:10
    And God has called us, and we've just been there
  • 00:49:13
    and in this, and we've been in it for a long time.
  • 00:49:15
    It's a territory of ours,
  • 00:49:16
    and we're going to expand it today,
  • 00:49:18
    and you're going to like this.
  • 00:49:19
    But first we're going to take a look at
  • 00:49:21
    one of our people who we have actually rescued
  • 00:49:24
    and her journey.
  • 00:49:25
    And you might have seen the first part of her journey,
  • 00:49:28
    but you haven't seen the most recent part.
  • 00:49:29
    Let me introduce you to Anjali.
  • 00:53:30
    - When we when we paid for her rescue,
  • 00:53:32
    and we enabled Anjali to have a place
  • 00:53:35
    to start healing up aftercare.
  • 00:53:37
    It takes a while.
  • 00:53:38
    You're talking about about little girls
  • 00:53:40
    that have been raped and giving blowjobs
  • 00:53:43
    20 times a day for years on end.
  • 00:53:47
    And I use very crass language intentionally
  • 00:53:51
    because we get numb when we hear these things.
  • 00:53:55
    And we have to have a broken heart
  • 00:53:58
    for the broken, the literal broken people.
  • 00:54:01
    And when she started having these dreams
  • 00:54:04
    of a school and we started to listen to her dreams,
  • 00:54:07
    we were told by people who knew better,
  • 00:54:10
    said, "Hey, she keeps talking about this school thing.
  • 00:54:13
    Just don't jump. Don't break up with her.
  • 00:54:15
    Don't ask her about it. Don't talk about it.
  • 00:54:18
    It's completely unrealistic. Just ignore it."
  • 00:54:22
    That's what we were told, and that's wrong. That's wrong.
  • 00:54:28
    There's things that God wants to do
  • 00:54:30
    maybe in you to enlarge your territory,
  • 00:54:33
    to enlarge your tents.
  • 00:54:35
    And when He gives us a dream and a vision,
  • 00:54:38
    we don't need people to squelch that.
  • 00:54:40
    We need people to fan life into that.
  • 00:54:43
    By the way, that doesn't mean it's going to happen.
  • 00:54:46
    It doesn't mean it's going to be easy,
  • 00:54:48
    and it definitely doesn't mean it's going to be immediate.
  • 00:54:52
    But it is biblical.
  • 00:54:54
    It is the gospel way of Jesus.
  • 00:54:56
    Jesus says in Matthew 19:26:
  • 00:55:05
    All things are possible, especially,
  • 00:55:08
    especially when there's a person
  • 00:55:10
    who's been eclipsed by 100%
  • 00:55:13
    and they've been pushed that way.
  • 00:55:14
    It's not possible if you play both sides of the fence,
  • 00:55:16
    it's not possible at all.
  • 00:55:18
    It's not possible if you just play
  • 00:55:20
    the Christian card to get your bus pass into heaven
  • 00:55:24
    if you get taken out by a bread truck.
  • 00:55:27
    That's not. No, no. Not possible. No. Not possible.
  • 00:55:29
    It's possible for people who are dependent on God,
  • 00:55:32
    put themselves in a place of being a 100% all in.
  • 00:55:37
    And God never gives up on anybody. Anybody.
  • 00:55:43
    He's never going to give up on you,
  • 00:55:45
    even if you're playing around with Him,
  • 00:55:47
    even if you're just checking the box.
  • 00:55:48
    I've got good news for you,
  • 00:55:49
    He's never going to give up on you.
  • 00:55:52
    He likes you where you are.
  • 00:55:54
    He wants to push you,
  • 00:55:55
    but He's thankful that you are here.
  • 00:55:58
    He's thankful that you want to hear from Him.
  • 00:56:03
    Man, Kyle last week said so many amazing things,
  • 00:56:07
    didn't he? Just, just, just amazing, amazing stuff.
  • 00:56:12
    Um, I don't know that I like Kyle talking about my age.
  • 00:56:18
    I don't like that he pulled out a carton of Depends
  • 00:56:21
    and implied that I need Depends in my ripe old age.
  • 00:56:24
    I don't know. You know, I mean, when's it going to stop?
  • 00:56:27
    I mean, that just seems really, really rude.
  • 00:56:31
    And I'm, so I'm just going to let Kyle
  • 00:56:32
    have the last, last word.
  • 00:56:35
    He's a good man.
  • 00:56:37
    I'm going to let him have the last word.
  • 00:56:39
    After all, I am the bigger man.
  • 00:56:41
    So I'm just going to let him,
  • 00:56:42
    let him have the last word.
  • 00:56:45
    But you know, but Kyle, Kyle said something
  • 00:56:47
    that was really profound, you know, he said,
  • 00:56:49
    "What's it going to take for you to trust your church?"
  • 00:56:54
    And if we can't trust our church,
  • 00:56:56
    we probably need to find one that we can trust.
  • 00:56:59
    And the good news is we have been proven trustworthy.
  • 00:57:05
    And I'm going to talk about that in a moment.
  • 00:57:07
    And it is really good and really powerful.
  • 00:57:12
    This is the trustworthiness
  • 00:57:15
    that we're going to step into
  • 00:57:17
    and then we're going to push ourselves into
  • 00:57:19
    and expand this territory.
  • 00:57:21
    Let's keep looking the rest of her story.
  • 01:02:13
    - For 19 years, Crossroads has been dedicated
  • 01:02:15
    to fighting human trafficking.
  • 01:02:17
    Our commitment continues with new support
  • 01:02:19
    for Anjali's school expanding its impact,
  • 01:02:21
    and now we're making an extraordinary leap forward,
  • 01:02:25
    A 220,000 square foot campus in Nepal with
  • 01:02:28
    the same partner who provided Anjali's aftercare
  • 01:02:30
    for eight years following her rescue.
  • 01:02:33
    This new facility will offer 100 beds for aftercare,
  • 01:02:36
    making room for up to 500 additional rescues each year.
  • 01:02:41
    It will also house a school
  • 01:02:42
    to help hundreds of rescued girls
  • 01:02:44
    and educate 500 children annually.
  • 01:02:47
    Additionally, new programs will serve young boys
  • 01:02:50
    working to prevent trafficking before it begins.
  • 01:02:53
    The land has been secured thanks to
  • 01:02:56
    the generosity of our community.
  • 01:02:57
    Now it's time to change the world
  • 01:03:00
    and show more girls that dreams
  • 01:03:02
    they once thought impossible are within reach.
  • 01:03:06
    And to our community across the world,
  • 01:03:08
    all the families who helped fund Anjali's rescue
  • 01:03:11
    and recovery, this is the message she wanted you to hear.
  • 01:04:07
    [applause]
  • 01:04:11
    - Wow.
  • 01:04:13
    The first time I went over to that area
  • 01:04:15
    of the world to see things for myself,
  • 01:04:19
    I was in a -- where a bunch of girls
  • 01:04:23
    had been rescued in this home, and there was one
  • 01:04:26
    was just in the corner on a chair,
  • 01:04:28
    just looking down, like a beaten dog, you know?
  • 01:04:33
    Just she wouldn't make any eye contact
  • 01:04:35
    because if she made eye contact she felt like
  • 01:04:37
    she was drawing attention to herself.
  • 01:04:39
    And in the brothel, every time
  • 01:04:40
    she drew attention to herself,
  • 01:04:41
    something horrible would happen to her.
  • 01:04:44
    And I heard a bit about her story.
  • 01:04:46
    And then as I got in the taxi cab
  • 01:04:47
    and we were going back to the hotel
  • 01:04:49
    and we were bouncing along, I was asking about
  • 01:04:52
    what needed to be done to do more.
  • 01:04:54
    Why couldn't more girls get out?
  • 01:04:55
    And we heard that from the experts there
  • 01:04:57
    that it was a lack of aftercare homes.
  • 01:05:00
    Why rescue if you can't put them in someplace, you know?
  • 01:05:03
    And that's when we said, "All right, we will,
  • 01:05:06
    we will show up for this.
  • 01:05:08
    We will we will show up for this."
  • 01:05:10
    And we've been showing up.
  • 01:05:12
    And that's a $3 million project,
  • 01:05:15
    and we want to do it all.
  • 01:05:16
    We want to wipe the whole thing.
  • 01:05:18
    We want to do a 220,000 square foot campus
  • 01:05:22
    that houses all the girls.
  • 01:05:23
    Do you want to do that? I want to do that.
  • 01:05:27
    You know why? Because that's our territory.
  • 01:05:30
    God's entrusted that to us.
  • 01:05:32
    We've been doing that more than any other entity
  • 01:05:36
    in America for the last 25 years.
  • 01:05:38
    We've been hitting the same nail over
  • 01:05:40
    and over and over and over again.
  • 01:05:42
    I don't know any other entity, any one I know,
  • 01:05:44
    let me put that that way.
  • 01:05:45
    And so we want to expand that.
  • 01:05:48
    And here's the thing, we talk about this.
  • 01:05:50
    You guys, this is kind of cool talking about this stuff
  • 01:05:52
    when we've been around as a church now for 28 years,
  • 01:05:55
    those of you who've been around for any length,
  • 01:05:57
    you know this. Let me just remind you of this.
  • 01:05:59
    Everything we've ever said we would do, we've done it.
  • 01:06:04
    Let me say it again.
  • 01:06:06
    Everything we've ever said we would do
  • 01:06:09
    we've done it 100%.
  • 01:06:14
    You can't identify anything we said
  • 01:06:16
    we were going to do that we didn't. We do.
  • 01:06:18
    Now some things we've done have been failures.
  • 01:06:20
    We built the largest privately funded
  • 01:06:22
    Aids hospital in South Africa.
  • 01:06:23
    That went for a while and then it failed.
  • 01:06:25
    We've got some failures,
  • 01:06:27
    but we're not blowing smoke up any of our rear ends
  • 01:06:31
    right here to try to motivate giving.
  • 01:06:33
    This is who we've been and these territories
  • 01:06:36
    we're expanding, we're not talking about
  • 01:06:38
    maintaining these territories.
  • 01:06:39
    You know, I've never been in a church,
  • 01:06:43
    and I've been in a number of them,
  • 01:06:44
    where when a roof goes out,
  • 01:06:46
    when an HVAC unit goes out, when pavement goes out,
  • 01:06:50
    when there's going to be new carpet
  • 01:06:52
    where there hasn't been some sort of campaign
  • 01:06:54
    or fundraising to buy the new roof.
  • 01:06:57
    And that's understandable and that's fine.
  • 01:06:59
    But, you know, we've never done that here.
  • 01:07:01
    We don't raise money to do basic maintenance.
  • 01:07:05
    We put that in our budget and we deal with it.
  • 01:07:08
    And it always sucks to write those bills,
  • 01:07:10
    but we do that.
  • 01:07:12
    And what that means is when we have
  • 01:07:14
    these unique opportunities, we actually get
  • 01:07:17
    to expand territory instead of just maintaining
  • 01:07:19
    the territory that we have right now.
  • 01:07:22
    It's really fun.
  • 01:07:23
    1 Corinthians 9:6-7 says this:
  • 01:07:52
    He loves a cheerful giver.
  • 01:07:54
    I love this: not reluctantly or under compulsion.
  • 01:07:58
    Part of how we're being pushed is to take on
  • 01:08:02
    the value system of Jesus,
  • 01:08:04
    and He is a sacrificial giver.
  • 01:08:06
    He sacrificed by laying His life down on a cross.
  • 01:08:11
    And when you come to the family of God,
  • 01:08:13
    you learn to adhere to the values
  • 01:08:15
    that are in our family, the family traditions.
  • 01:08:18
    And that includes, from time to time,
  • 01:08:21
    financial sacrifice.
  • 01:08:23
    And that's why it says here, not under --
  • 01:08:26
    Not reluctantly, because it never feels good,
  • 01:08:29
    but not reluctantly.
  • 01:08:30
    You realize, "Oh no, this kind of comes with the deal,
  • 01:08:33
    with following Jesus it comes with a deal."
  • 01:08:34
    And not under compulsion,
  • 01:08:36
    which is why we never tell anybody,
  • 01:08:37
    there's never any such thing as a fair share.
  • 01:08:40
    There's never any thermometer.
  • 01:08:41
    There's never any, like, brow beating.
  • 01:08:43
    There's never here's your number.
  • 01:08:44
    There's never anything like that.
  • 01:08:46
    That would be compulsion.
  • 01:08:47
    For God loves a cheerful giver.
  • 01:08:49
    A cheerful giver is somebody who understands
  • 01:08:53
    what they want to do before God,
  • 01:08:54
    in and of their own relationship with God.
  • 01:08:57
    Sometimes a cheerful giver is a freaked out giver.
  • 01:09:00
    We had event the other night where people
  • 01:09:02
    were able to make some commitments,
  • 01:09:03
    some leaders ahead of time,
  • 01:09:04
    and there was genuine tears with many.
  • 01:09:07
    And I was having hugs with them
  • 01:09:09
    and it was because it was daunting.
  • 01:09:10
    It's daunting to be like Jesus.
  • 01:09:12
    It is heavy and it is rich and it is beautiful.
  • 01:09:17
    This chapter says if you want to reap a bounty,
  • 01:09:21
    you must sow a lot of seed.
  • 01:09:24
    Holding back your seed doesn't give you more fruit.
  • 01:09:27
    You've got to sow that seed.
  • 01:09:30
    And so next week we're going to end this Journey,
  • 01:09:33
    we're going to end this Push with
  • 01:09:36
    a really cool seed throwing exercise.
  • 01:09:40
    You know what it's called.
  • 01:09:42
    It's called a commitment card, that's what it's called.
  • 01:09:44
    It's called a commitment.
  • 01:09:45
    Good old fashioned commitment card, that's what it is.
  • 01:09:48
    I just don't want to freak you out too much.
  • 01:09:49
    No surprises next week.
  • 01:09:51
    I know you are all amazing.
  • 01:09:52
    This is the history of Crossroads.
  • 01:09:53
    You're all going to show up next week.
  • 01:09:55
    We're probably going to have higher attendance
  • 01:09:57
    than we have this week,
  • 01:09:58
    because that's who God calls here.
  • 01:09:59
    Because that's who we are, because we're doers here.
  • 01:10:01
    Because we do hard things here,
  • 01:10:04
    because we want to sow seed in people's lives here.
  • 01:10:06
    And you're going to get this card next week.
  • 01:10:08
    And all you have to think about is this is,
  • 01:10:11
    man, what is it that God wants me
  • 01:10:14
    or that I want to tell God that I love Him,
  • 01:10:17
    to give above and beyond my regular giving?
  • 01:10:20
    Regular giving is going to support
  • 01:10:22
    all the things that we're doing,
  • 01:10:23
    all the amazing ministries we all get to benefit,
  • 01:10:25
    all the infrastructure for Thanksgiving Food Drive,
  • 01:10:28
    all the utilities, all the carpeting,
  • 01:10:30
    all the salaries of the people who disciple you
  • 01:10:32
    and build into you, all of
  • 01:10:33
    the natural missions giving that we give
  • 01:10:36
    on all kind of stuff that's really,
  • 01:10:38
    all of the kids programs, all that stuff.
  • 01:10:41
    But we're going to give us ourselves the ability
  • 01:10:44
    to expand our territory, the territory
  • 01:10:46
    that God has given us and He wants us to expand
  • 01:10:48
    because it's ours, because He's entrusted it to us.
  • 01:10:52
    And I only had the opportunity
  • 01:10:54
    to talk about one reach out thing today.
  • 01:10:55
    I hope you read that brochure we had last week,
  • 01:10:57
    and you're going to see how we're going
  • 01:10:59
    to reach every single person
  • 01:11:00
    in every prison in the entire United States.
  • 01:11:03
    Yes, yes, God has given us big visions
  • 01:11:08
    and we have hope to believe and trust in Him.
  • 01:11:12
    Isn't that fun? Isn't that fun to get beyond normal?
  • 01:11:15
    Isn't it fun to stand in the path
  • 01:11:19
    of the greats who have gone before us and go,
  • 01:11:21
    "Man, I'm not just going to church,
  • 01:11:22
    I'm being the church.
  • 01:11:24
    I am creating and part of a movement that God is doing."
  • 01:11:28
    And we all get to do that,
  • 01:11:30
    and we all get to be equal
  • 01:11:32
    because we all get to sow our seed.
  • 01:11:34
    I'm going to pray for us
  • 01:11:37
    and then I'm going to have Justin
  • 01:11:39
    or the worship leader at your site
  • 01:11:41
    who's just going to lead us
  • 01:11:42
    in a little meditative moment,
  • 01:11:45
    and then we're going to be done.
  • 01:11:46
    God, thank You for big visions, great visions,
  • 01:11:51
    they're daunting, they're hoarse choking.
  • 01:11:55
    I normally don't like them on the front end
  • 01:11:57
    because I feel responsibility, but man,
  • 01:12:00
    does it push me to a deeper place with You,
  • 01:12:03
    which is so good and so rich.
  • 01:12:05
    Father, would You prepare us
  • 01:12:09
    for what You want from us next week
  • 01:12:11
    and what You want for us next week?
  • 01:12:16
    We lay our life down before You.
  • 01:14:01
    - Man, such such an amazing message.
  • 01:14:05
    Like, there's something about this that, like,
  • 01:14:08
    it's, like, uncomfortable in the best possible way.
  • 01:14:11
    It's like it's not easy.
  • 01:14:12
    There's something about being stretched,
  • 01:14:14
    something about being pushed, I think,
  • 01:14:16
    because, like, it gives you a different vision
  • 01:14:18
    for the future of what's possible in you,
  • 01:14:20
    for you and through you.
  • 01:14:23
    So thanks for being on this Journey with us.
  • 01:14:25
    Thanks for being willing to be pushed.
  • 01:14:27
    And I just want to let you know, like,
  • 01:14:28
    this whole thing is about seeing heaven come to earth.
  • 01:14:32
    And in some ways that's a big things
  • 01:14:33
    over the next decade and in other ways
  • 01:14:35
    that is like right now,
  • 01:14:37
    ways you can bless somebody,
  • 01:14:38
    serve somebody right near you.
  • 01:14:40
    Thanksgiving Food Drive is coming up.
  • 01:14:42
    If you are near one of our buildings,
  • 01:14:44
    you can pick it up next week, get a box, fill it,
  • 01:14:46
    and make sure someone who otherwise
  • 01:14:48
    would not have a Thanksgiving meal
  • 01:14:50
    can have an incredible meal this year.
  • 01:14:52
    If you're online, you can go to Crossroads.net/TFD
  • 01:14:54
    and there's a link right there.
  • 01:14:56
    We'll actually ship you a box that you can fill
  • 01:14:58
    and give to a needy family in your area.
  • 01:15:01
    - That's right. And you know what?
  • 01:15:03
    We've got lots going on.
  • 01:15:04
    And if you've been in The Push, you know that
  • 01:15:06
    we've got maybe just one more week.
  • 01:15:09
    And so I want to encourage you to finish strong.
  • 01:15:11
    If you've been doing a group,
  • 01:15:12
    if you've been in your guide book,
  • 01:15:14
    just stay in there, stay with it.
  • 01:15:15
    And if you've not, this is your first week,
  • 01:15:17
    we do have guide books,
  • 01:15:19
    but you can figure out how to get that.
  • 01:15:20
    This is something for everyone.
  • 01:15:22
    It's called the Making Space Experience
  • 01:15:24
    and it is truly in our Crossroads app,
  • 01:15:27
    so that means you can access it
  • 01:15:28
    whether you've been on this Journey
  • 01:15:30
    or you just want to start today.
  • 01:15:31
    You can get apps, wherever you get your apps,
  • 01:15:33
    you can get the Crossroads app.
  • 01:15:34
    This Making Space Experience, I went through it
  • 01:15:36
    and it truly was a moment with God.
  • 01:15:38
    And how many times do we have a creative,
  • 01:15:41
    something that immerses us in a space
  • 01:15:43
    where we just go, "Lord, I just want to
  • 01:15:45
    see what You might have to say to me."
  • 01:15:47
    So, hey, we want to encourage you to do that.
  • 01:15:49
    And also, more than anything, come back next week,
  • 01:15:52
    join us next week,
  • 01:15:53
    watch next week for Commitment Weekend.
  • 01:15:55
    We have something incredible to share
  • 01:15:57
    and we just believe God is going to do
  • 01:16:00
    immeasurably more than we can imagine,
  • 01:16:02
    as He's been doing, some might say 10X.
  • 01:16:05
    - That's right. - Anyways, it's been amazing.
  • 01:16:07
    Thank you so much for watching.
  • 01:16:08
    We'll catch you next time on Crossroads.

Process, journal or discuss the themes of this article - here's a few questions to get the ball rolling...

Welcome to the Weekend-Follow Up!

This is the group guide where questions are based on specific Bible passages from the weekend message. Each week, your group will explore what God might be saying to you and how you can respond through group discussion.

  1. What’s something you geek out about? You know, the thing you can’t stop talking about once someone gets you started.

  2. What stood out to you most from the message?

  3. What does the word surrender mean to you? What emotions does it bring up?

  4. Where in your life have you been living up to 99%? What might 100% look like?

  5. Read Isaiah 54:2-3.

    Which part of the verse do you find the most encouraging? What part is the most challenging?

  6. How do you see the territories of your own life growing? Where are they standing still or shrinking?

  7. What makes it difficult for you to pursue expanding the territory God has given you?

  8. What’s one step you can take this week to start moving towards God and the vision or dream he’s given you?

  9. Let’s end our time praying together. You can say something like;

    “God, thank you for giving us imagination, for the ability to dream. Give us the courage to act. Strengthen our stakes and enlarge our tents. Amen.”

More from the Weekend

__Bonus Questions! __

Check these out if you’re on a roll and want to go a little deeper.

  • What parts of your life do you still rule over yourself? What motivates you to hold that area tightly?
  • What tent stakes are you nervous to pull up “enlarge the place of your tent?”

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(This stuff helps us figure out how many fruitcakes to make come December)

You must include at least one person

Got it! Enjoy your discussion.


Nov 9, 2024 1 hr 16 mins 14 sec

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