Best of 2019

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Well, Happy New Year, Crossroads.

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Welcome to 2020, almost.

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This is our special New Year's experience.

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And we're going to spend some time together as a church

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looking back at 2019 and looking ahead at 2020.

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So I get the joy of sitting with friends and teammates right now.

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Kyle Ranson

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- Hold on, before you go there, they are my friends too.

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Anybody who I spent a lot of time with, they get a nickname.

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So let's make sure you understand, this is not Lena.

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This is Humbles. That's one of her names, Humbles.

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This is not Kyle.

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This is Cranston.

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Or we're tied.

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- No, veto!

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That's not encouraging, no.

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(crosstalk)

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Ok, Lena Schuler, Kyle Ranson, Brian Tome, Chuck Mingo.

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- M-I-N-G-O, M-I-N-G-O.

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- I got a good one. I got a song.

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- You get the cadence too.

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- And Alli Patterson.

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- Alley Cat.

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- Otherwise known as Alley Cat.

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- Thanks so much for being here, guys.

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- We were kind of forced too, so you know.

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- Yeah, it's kind of a job requirement.

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- You accepted my invite.

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Yeah. Well, why are we here together today?

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You might go, "I could be in a Crossroads service or..."

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All of our locations are closed so this is an online only weekend.

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Why are we even doing a video special online today?

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Tell us, senior pastor.

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- Well, we're doing it because we've got a lot of people around Crossroads,

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that carry a lot of water and push a lot of things uphill all the time,

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volunteering places, you know, being amazingly present.

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And we just found out in the midst of all the holiday stuff,

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if we take a week where people don't have to volunteer,

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if we take a week that's different and say,

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"Hey, stay home and sleep in.

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You don't have to work in your various areas

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and we'll connect this way.

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This is not only helpful for the church,

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but helpful for us personally.

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So I'm personally enjoying the change of gears.

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I know all of our hardcore volunteers and our staff are as well.

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- Yeah, it's great.

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Well, and today we're gonna spend time looking back at 2019.

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It's kind of a reflective experience and a look ahead.

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But why is it important for us to reflect at the end of a year?

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- I think a calendar exists not just to mark that

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there are different seasons: fall, spring, summer or all that stuff,

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but a calendar also exists to mark time and say,

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"Okay, I've come to a moment,

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I need to look back and figure out what was back there."

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Again and again and again in the Bible, it says, remember,

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We can only remember if we pause and we look --

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We look back and say, "What is there to learn back there?"

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And so that's what New Year's does for me.

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I can look back and remember and I can also figure out,

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OK, what does this mean about my future?

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And doing it with other people.

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Hopefully you're with other people in your room right now

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is really helpful because the book of Hebrews 10:23 says,

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"Let us not forsake the gathering together,

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as is the habit of some.

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But let's gather together and encourage one another."

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It's really good not just to go inside your own internal space,

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but to be able to share and sharpen with other people.

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So that's what I'm hoping we get out of this today.

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And maybe what we do today could be replicated in living rooms

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and coffee shops across country.

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- Yeah, we're absolutely gonna be encouraging each other.

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But before we get into that, if you're watching at home right now,

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we'd love to see what you're doing this weekend

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on this New Year's weekend.

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So tag us @crdschurch and we actually are going to have

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an exercise that we're going to do together

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on these couches and you can do at home.

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And so be ready for that at the end of this.

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We want to hear about that experience too @crdschurch

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on all of your social media platforms.

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So we're gonna kick off with actually celebrating 2019,

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celebrating each of you and some great moments

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that we've had here at Crossroads.

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We're in year 25?

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What year did Crossroads start?

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- 1996 was the first weekend services, March of '96.

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So what's the math on that?

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- We're 23.

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- 23, okay.

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- Will be twenty four.

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Okay, so we're 23 years into Crossroads..

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And you all have spent lots of stage time leading us as a church,

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teaching us, preparing us,

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getting us into a place to received from God.

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And so we're going to start this experience together

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by doing a little encouragement.

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And we're gonna make this fun.

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We're gonna have a best of award segments, if you will.

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So I actually have trophies right here for you to hand out to each other.

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- Are these participate awards?

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- Do we all get a trophy?

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- These are not participation trophies, but they should be personal.

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They should have some personal examples.

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- So we're going to start with Alli.

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- Alli, I would love for you to give a best of award

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to one of your teammates from 2019.

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- Okay. I'm going to give a best of I think I'll give this to Chuck.

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Best of 2019 Chuck Mingo for me was the end of the end.

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We did a series about the end of time.

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And we were looking at the Book of Revelation

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and some other things, and you gave a message

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in that series where you told a story that I will never forget.

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And then I got to see the Chuck Mingo like fire

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that I love when you go into that space.

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So the story you told was about a young man

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whose funeral you attended, someone in your life.

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You said how angry you got at the pastor who was doing the funeral,

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because he had a roomful of probably a lot of teens

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who had a lot of issues in their life.

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A lot of guns in the room, a lot of drugs in the room.

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You know, just teens that probably had some crap going on

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and all they got from him was condemnation.

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And you said how angry you were about the judgment

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that you felt he gave those kids

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and that he never finished the story.

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And then you went on to finish the story.

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And that story told me a lot about you.

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It's told me how much you have a heart to finish the story

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and to take people from wherever they are

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to the better life said that Jesus has for them.

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So best of 2019, no doubt for me.

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- I agree, even to go at another level

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and risk of sounding racial.

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We've talked about this.

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Man, you go into black preacher mode, that's really --

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I mean, seriously, there's a gear you get into.

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You're a preacher and you're black.

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I'm a preacher and I'm white.

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But there is a gear and a cadence you get into sometimes

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that's just really special.

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And you got into that one, that was really cool.

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- So let's actually watch a clip from that message right now.

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- Seventeen years ago, my sister in law, my wife's sister

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was dating a young man and they had a child together.

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And while Maria was here, we weren't married yet.

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We were kind of the process of getting married.

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Maria literally comes out of the CVG airport

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to a phone call that -- his name is Gary --

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that Gary had been shot and killed the night before.

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And Gary lived a hard life.

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Gary lived in the projects.

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Gary had some friends that I would love for Gary not to have.

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And I remember going into this funeral home for his funeral.

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There was a bunch of people in there.

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And I'm sure that if a raid happened in that moment

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there would be more drugs and more guns in that funeral home

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because of the kind of people who were in the room.

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And in the midst of that, these young people are hurting.

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They're in pain. They lost their friend.

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This pastor gets up, and when I tell you,

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I've never been more angry at a pastor in my life.

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He gets up and for 20 minutes just starts

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to berate these young people about their life,

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about their lifestyle,

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about the fact that they sell drugs,

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about the fact that they shoot.

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All the stuff that was right, yes, they do that.

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But I could not believe that you would miss this opportunity

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to not tell them the other side of the story.

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How can you not tell them the other side of the story?

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Yes, there is a righteous judge who's going to judge you

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for every wrong thing you do.

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And when he does it, he will be right in doing it.

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But that righteous judge sent His Son

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long before you were ever born

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so that you could come to faith in Him

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and you could be saved by the work of His Son for you.

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- Guys, thank you.

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You know that message meant a lot to me, it really did.

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And I'm just glad that as a church, we had the courage

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to talk about something like revelation and judgment.

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And I do think it was a powerful series for our community.

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Thank you.

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- Well, let's keep the love going.

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Kyle, you got a best of award to hand out?

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- I want to give, you know, people say it's a bad idea

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to suck up to the boss.

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Those people are idiots. It's a great idea.

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It's a great idea. This award goes to Brian Tome.

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The message about watching Chuck.Chuck.

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That was like you in your lane, man.

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You in your lane.

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This award actually for you, BT, is an unexpected award.

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Okay? This is the award for most unexpected neurology example

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that actually helped my life in 2019.

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This is for the message you did,

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I think it was the new mind series at the very start of the year.

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You went to Kroger, you bought a bunch of vegetables

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and somehow you put them together into the reptilian brain

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and the mammalian brain.

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- Yes.

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- You talked about how --

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Or new brain and old brain.

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- Yeah. It was amazing.

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It was absolutely amazing.

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Actually helped my life, got me to the point

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where I understood in a new way this Bible verse

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about renewing my mind.

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It was awesome. Awesome.

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And you had a ninja outfit to top it all off.

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Just incredible, this is your award right there.

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- I'd like to thank all the seminary professors that built into me.

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I'd like to thank my mom, my dad,,

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and my second grade Sunday school teacher who really made this possible.

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- Well, don't forget to thank all the cauliflower growers in Iowa.

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- All the cauliflower growers in Iowa

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and the produce manager at Kroger just coming through for me

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at the last minute when I walked in there.

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Which was really great, thank you.great, thank you.

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In fact, why don't we take a look at my awesomeness right now?

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These olives are actually eyeballs and this is a brain stem.

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There.

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Hi. How are you doing?

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I'm doing very good. Thank you very much.

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That's actually -- it's actually this isn't just the brain stem.

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It'll be down here.

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This is actually known as the old brain or the reptilian brain.

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Then there is another kind of brain

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and it is what's known as the mammalian brain

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or the new brain.

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The new brain.

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This is you.

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Hi. It's great to meet you.

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Thank you.

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It's so good to be with you this weekend.

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Yes. And here's a important thing to understand.

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Right here is where your eyeballs come into this old brain.

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It's where your ears are, your sense of smell.

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This will and wants to rule your life.

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This is where fight or flight comes from.

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This is where when you have an adrenaline surge,

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you see something -- because this reptilian brain

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is just immediate and instantaneous.

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Now, when we understand that this new brain

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is on the reptilian brain,

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if we only behave according this brain,

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which is really how most of us only behave.

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If you are completely reactionary,

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if you are a victim to your circumstances,

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if you feel like this just the way I am,

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that's the way I am.

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Or how about this line?

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You've got to be true to yourself.

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That is the worst thing you could possibly:

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You've gotta be true to yourself?

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In other words be a reptile.

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You can't monitor your urges.

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You can't monitor who you are.

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You just roll around the ground like a lizard

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because there's nothing you can do.

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Just be true to yourself.

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No. Mammals, specifically humans,

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can make decisions that override their urges.

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- All right, well, let's keep us rolling here.

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Chuck Mingo, you have an award to give out?

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- I do. Based on what we talked about earlier,

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maybe this should be the cow patty award,

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but I'm not going to call it that.

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- Oh, man. I get to give this award, though, to you, Kyle.

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And we did a series, Blessed Life, and it was a powerful series.

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And I think specifically your message on Am I Generous

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as you talked about giving.

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And you had an illustration there where you kind of

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talked about Judas and how Judas was responding to Jesus's generosity.

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And you just brought it full circle and made it personal.

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And I would say that message for me

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was one of the messages this year, because you did this many times.

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I want to call this the stepping into your authority award,

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because I really feel like this year

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you stepped into your authority on this stage.

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You stepped into your authority for our community

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and you moved people.

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Your message absolutely moved people.

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There are families whose lives are different

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because of the way you stepped into your authority this year.

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So man, stepped into your authority award.

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- Thanks, Chuck. That's awesome.

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That's awesome.

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- Yeah, seriously, Chuck.

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Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

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I loved your little anecdotes,

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ike the TV had an anvil inside of it.

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You take little detours that are humorous

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and keep things fresh for us to get to some

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of your severe deeper content.

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Really good.

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- We know this, right, as preachers there's a couple of topics

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when you get them that you're just not --

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Really?

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Let's talk about not having sex before marriage

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or giving all your money away.

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And you get those assignments and you're like,

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"Well, OK, what am I going to do with this?"

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But yeah, you know, it's just true

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that when you step in the generosity,

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there's something unique that God does with your heart.

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And I know that that's a roadblock for so many people.

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But I was just pumped in that series.

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So many people in our community took steps towards God,

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thousands of people, and we're different because of it.

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It's awesome.

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- Well, let's watch that clip of Kyle in The Blessed Life right now.

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- Now in the story, Judas is holding the money box.

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You know, he's holding the money box.

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And what's amazing is that he actually attempts to appear generous.

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You can see it in the story.

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See, she pours out the oil.

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She does this amazing thing of extravagance.

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And Judas is standing there, he goes, (raspberry sound)

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"That's a waste. What a waste.

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That should've been given to the poor.

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It should've been given to the poor."

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You ever said that?

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You ever heard somebody say it? You ever said it yourself?

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I have.

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I actually said at the very first time I ever walked into Crossroads.

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It was 2002.

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My parents brought me.

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You've got to understand back then,

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TVs were basically perfect cubes stuffed full of anvils.

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They weighed like a thousand pounds.

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They were awful to move.

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But I walk in the Crossroads and I see something

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I've only seen pictures of and never seen in real life:

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flat screen TVs. There were six.

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I counted.

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They were expensive.

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And I said to my parents, "What a waste.

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That money should've been given to the poor."

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I did not know I was quoting Judas.

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I didn't, but I was.

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- Ok, so final award to give out.

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I wonder who this could go to.

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- Yes. It's going to go to Alley Cat.

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Alley Cat and I've had a lot of talks over the last year

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about, you know, finding your voice..

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All of us have unique voices.

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All of us have unique things that when someone hears us speak

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they're going to get something from Chuck

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that I'm not going to give them.

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Something that from Kyle that I'm not going to give them

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or Chuck can't. All of us are unique.

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And you know, as you're finding that voice,

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I felt like one of the strides you hit a few times this year

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it was great was just the level of vulnerability.

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You're a very smart woman who has a lot of education.

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And when you throw that change up of vulnerability

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and something that is -- it's powerful.

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So when you talked about just some of the crap you get,

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the grief you get, the judgment you get when you preach,,

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everything from, you know, how you dress to things you say,

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the complaints that come in.

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It's just -- it's just really heartbreaking, angers me greatly,

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but also impressed me greatly when you just put your stuff out there,

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made some really bold moves talking about that

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and other things this year.

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So as we take a look at that clip right now,

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it's just great being on the team with you.

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- Jesus faced so much rejection that I have to conclude

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if I'm following Him and my life is like His,

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then I am going to face that same rejection.

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And I want to share some of that rejection with you.

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I want to read you some emails that I have gotten

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over time here at Crossroads.

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I don't like you or anything about you.

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You have no real insight or wisdom.

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Your sermon was great, but you don't look great.

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You really need some different clothes.

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Why do we let women speak and teach here?

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You are ignorant, dangerous,

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and should never be allowed to speak to anyone ever again.

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The sound of your voice and the way that you talk,,

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it all just bothers me.

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How dare you force your thoughts on us?

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I'm leaving Crossroads and I am never coming back because of you.

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You all, that kind of rejection really hurts.

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It really hurts.

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Also, there's something far more important than that.

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There's something far more important than that.

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It doesn't matter how I feel on Monday morning,

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if the God who never rejects you,

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if you know Him better, it doesn't matter.

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If Jesus's purpose is furthered one tiny little bit,

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then it doesn't matter how I feel about that.

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As a matter of fact, God kind of guarantees

00:19:03

that we're going to participate in some sort of rejection.

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And He is going to help us weather through it,

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because I care about you finding your people

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and God healing your pain much more

00:19:17

than I am afraid of the email that's coming on Monday morning.

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Much more. I care about that much more.

00:19:22

[ applause ]

00:19:26

- Well, thanks so much for my vulnerability award.

00:19:30

I probably don't like that clip as much as you do..

00:19:33

And I did --

00:19:34

- It's all about me though,

00:19:35

so long as I like it, that's all that matters.

00:19:39

Look how vulnerable you were, I like it.

00:19:40

- No, I mean, I get why you would remember that

00:19:45

and why it's important to go into those spaces

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that really are vulnerable.

00:19:51

But in watching it and in re-living it, listening to it,

00:19:56

It's not like -- that is uncomfortable space for all of us.

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And also, I don't feel --

00:20:02

like I don't want that to define me in any way, you know?

00:20:07

So when I rewatched that, I go, OK, I get it.

00:20:10

I know that's pushing into those spaces of vulnerability

00:20:13

is critical for all of us to continue to grow

00:20:17

and be grown and, you know, to receive from,

00:20:19

you know, whoever is talking.

00:20:21

It's important that we push into really uncomfortable places.

00:20:24

But I don't necessarily look back on that and think,

00:20:29

"Boy, that was my personal favorite moment."

00:20:31

But yeah, so I get it.

00:20:34

And I'm in there.

00:20:36

I'm willing to to go there.

00:20:38

But --

00:20:39

- And you know why?

00:20:40

Because you're into leading people spiritually.

00:20:42

So I just want to encourage you on that.

00:20:44

- When it doesn't feel comfortable bit you do it anyway,

00:20:47

then you're clearly not doing it for yourself.

00:20:49

And that's the power of that moment,

00:20:51

is that you were willing to do something uncomfortable

00:20:54

to lead people to a different place.

00:20:55

- Well, thank you. And I did hear from, I mean,

00:21:00

scores and scores and scores of people in our community

00:21:06

that were touched in some way by that very specific message.

00:21:10

So I know that it matters.

00:21:12

And it's also always kind of going to suck.

00:21:15

So, this is the sucking award.

00:21:19

- Can I give my trophy to Chuck?

00:21:21

- Yeah, you want to change it?

00:21:22

- Well, I feel like Encourager of the Year award to Chuck, just constantly there.

00:21:25

- I agree, I agree

00:21:31

- Amazing, Chuck.

00:21:32

- Well, that's a good segue actually.ctually.

00:21:34

I'd love to hear, BT, what you think about all of --

00:21:38

- BT? You mean, Dad?Dad?

00:21:39

- Dad, it's always a weird like --

00:21:43

It's weird you being my offspring?

00:21:45

It's weird you being the first DNA person I ever saw on the planet?

00:21:50

What exactly is weird about this?

00:21:52

- Ok, dad, I would love for you to --

00:21:57

- Father, just call me father.

00:21:59

- Abba?

00:22:00

- Oh, Oh, wise one. Oh, wise one who loves me so,

00:22:04

I would love to hear what you --

00:22:08

I could keep going.

00:22:10

OK, in all seriousness, I'd love to hear what is...

00:22:16

- Not going to recover from this one.

00:22:17

- Is this going well?

00:22:20

- Now I'm self conscious of raising my eyebrow, you're going to say something about it.

00:22:26

My face is red.

00:22:27

- This is not getting cut out by the way.

00:22:30

This is not getting cut out.

00:22:31

I'm telling you right now, this is not getting cut out.

00:22:35

- This is -- OK.

00:22:37

I think I'm done sweating.

00:22:39

Done with 2019, done making fun of me.

00:22:42

Let's keep moving.

00:22:43

So I did -- I do love getting to celebrate

00:22:46

each of those moments with each of you

00:22:49

and looking back on the year and reliving that.

00:22:51

There's also something really powerful

00:22:53

about looking ahead to the next year.

00:22:54

We're in 2020, like it or not, in just a few hours here.

00:22:59

So what is it that you're most looking forward to in this next year?

00:23:04

- Does it have to be like a deep thing?

00:23:05

- Oh, no. Like fun, light, whatever.

00:23:07

- Okay, mine's easy. My parents offered to watch our kids

00:23:10

so Sarah and I can go on a just us vacation.

00:23:13

- Come on. Come on.

00:23:15

- Amazing. Can't wait.

00:23:16

Don't know where we're going. Can't wait.

00:23:18

I'm so excited.

00:23:20

- Are you coming back?

00:23:21

- TBD. Yeah, I mean, they're --

00:23:24

- Don't scare our friends at home right now.

00:23:26

You're coming back, Kyle.

00:23:27

- I don't know. Probably, probably.

00:23:29

I don't know. Probably.

00:23:32

- I am most excited about the new hobby

00:23:36

my wife and I have together: over landing.

00:23:37

We get on my truck and we camp on top of the roof on top of it.

00:23:41

We do all kind of stuff.

00:23:42

So we've got some trips planned out this year to enjoy each other.

00:23:45

I'm really looking forward to those.

00:23:47

I'm looking forward to it.

00:23:49

- Man, 2020 is going to be a really fun year.

00:23:51

And gosh, if I think about the thing

00:23:53

I'm looking forward to the most,

00:23:54

my family and I, we're thinking about going

00:23:55

to Puerto Rico for the first time in 2020.

00:23:58

So my wife's family's from there, her mom.

00:24:00

And our kids are old enough now that we could do that.

00:24:02

So I'm thinking about going to Puerto Rico in 2020

00:24:04

makes me very, very excited.

00:24:06

- That is very cool.

00:24:07

- Maybe Kyle and Sarah can tag along.

00:24:09

(crosstalk

00:24:14

- They've already got childcare handled,handled,

00:24:16

so maybe they can watch your kids.

00:24:17

- Yeah. We would love to but we're going to be so busy.

00:24:22

We're going to be so busy. So, we'd love to otherwise.

00:24:24

- I think the thing I'm most looking forward to in 2020

00:24:27

is being out of school.

00:24:29

So I've been working out my degree for a handful of years now,

00:24:33

kind of like the tortoise.

00:24:34

I will finally be finished with it in just a couple of months.

00:24:38

And I think the reason that I'm excited is because

00:24:41

to do that over a long period of time,

00:24:44

I've had to squeeze some other things out of my life.

00:24:46

That's just the reality of it.

00:24:47

I mean, a big, long term goal comes at a cost.

00:24:51

And so there's some things that I've had to say no to.

00:24:55

Then I'm excited to see what kind of things sprout up in my life

00:25:01

when I have that margin back.

00:25:04

- What's the actual degree you're getting?

00:25:05

- It's a Masters in Biblical Studies

00:25:09

from a Dallas Theological Seminary.

00:25:11

- So, Dad, we have a family tradition that you started

00:25:15

a couple years ago in our family and has had some really good fruit.

00:25:19

And I think it'd be worthy us doing together as a church.

00:25:22

- Yeah, I'm a big tradition guy, that might surprise you

00:25:26

because I don't seem to be all into tradition,

00:25:28

but I love having things in the calendar

00:25:31

that regularly repeat just to give comfort and clarity.

00:25:34

And so one of the ones that we've been doing

00:25:37

comes from the book of Mark, Chapter 10.

00:25:39

Jesus is walking down the street and there's a guy who's blind.

00:25:45

His name is Bartimaeus.

00:25:47

I call him Blind Bart.

00:25:49

Blind Bart is blind and he's calling out, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."

00:25:53

And Jesus makes room for him and he says to this guy who's blind,

00:25:56

he says, exact quote, "What is it you want me to do for you?

00:26:02

What do you want me to do for you?"

00:26:03

Which is really mind blowing on a number of levels.of

00:26:06

levels.

00:26:07

First of all, it almost sounds insensitive.

00:26:10

Wait a minute. This guy's blind.

00:26:11

I mean, how are you not just dealing with that?

00:26:16

Well, maybe that's not the guy's biggest problem, right?

00:26:20

Maybe his blindness he's learned to cope

00:26:23

and maybe he's got a sciatic nerve issue

00:26:25

that he's in 24/7 chronic pain or something like that.

00:26:28

Maybe he's, who knows?

00:26:29

But Jesus has him define what is it -- what is his biggest need?

00:26:34

That's the one thing that's mind blowing about it for me.

00:26:36

The second one is just the fact that Jesus says,

00:26:40

"What is it you want me to do for you?"

00:26:45

That's really crazy.

00:26:48

I think Jesus still ask that question.

00:26:51

I think He still asks us to articulate

00:26:55

what is it you want me to do for you?

00:26:58

Blind Bart does choose blindness blindness

00:27:02

and Blind Bart is no longer blind Bart, he's now seeing Bartimaeus.

00:27:06

He can see, he gets it.

00:27:08

I wonder how many things that we would have if we just asked.

00:27:14

And a lot of us are afraid of praying

00:27:16

and having my prayers be only about me.

00:27:18

I get that, I get that.

00:27:19

Let's have our prayers be about things other than us.

00:27:21

OK? True. True.

00:27:22

But here we have at least one situation we are asked to ask Jesus.

00:27:27

And I think there's some of us who don't have things

00:27:30

because we're not ask Him.

00:27:31

So maybe we just do that.

00:27:32

And we should be doing that in your home or wherever you are right now.

00:27:36

You should be talking it out with Jesus

00:27:39

and Blind Bart asks in front of other people.

00:27:42

There's a power to when we ask in front of other people.

00:27:46

So maybe we do it right now.

00:27:47

Jesus, would just look at you and say,

00:27:49

"What is it you want me to do for you?

00:27:52

What is it?"

00:27:54

I'll go first since it was my little teaching.

00:27:56

I will say I'm asking Jesus for,

00:27:59

I would like a more healthy Crossroads this year.

00:28:03

I want a more healthy Crossroads.

00:28:06

We've just grown so much, there've been so many new things.

00:28:08

I know that we've left some folks in the dust.

00:28:11

I know that we've got some cracks in our ministry.

00:28:13

I know that there's places to shore up how we care for people,

00:28:16

how we connect with people.

00:28:17

So aside from all the things that we are doing in budget and activity,

00:28:23

I would just like something extra from Jesus, just kind of wave a wand

00:28:28

and do something to to just make us a healthier, stronger,

00:28:32

stronger church for people who are here.

00:28:35

- I want Jesus to give me the clarity and confidence

00:28:38

that I need to write my first book in 2020.

00:28:45

That's what I want.

00:28:46

- Wow. I like it.

00:28:48

- Man, lots on the list, but I tell you the one

00:28:51

that immediately comes to mind.

00:28:53

We continue to hear from across the country

00:28:56

that the work that we're doing as a church

00:28:58

when it comes to racial reconciliation, racial justice

00:29:00

through undivided is needed and wanted all around the nation.

00:29:04

And so the thing I want Jesus to do is I want Him to create

00:29:09

all the resources we need to take undivided national

00:29:12

and to be able to scale this ministry that God has given us

00:29:14

to steward it to impact our country.

00:29:17

That's what I want.

00:29:18

- Good.

00:29:19

- That's awesome.

00:29:22

I think about so many things work, personal life, family,

00:29:25

I'll go kind of internal God working on me.

00:29:29

Right?

00:29:30

So one of the prayers I pray every day, The Lord's Prayer,

00:29:34

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.

00:29:36

And I think about that as God's Kingdom coming in inside of me,

00:29:41

taking over more of my heart.

00:29:43

And one of the places, if I look back in 2019,

00:29:45

that I did not see growth in that I want growth in,

00:29:49

is I have this -- this like anger button

00:29:53

that I didn't know existed until I had kids in me..

00:29:56

And my kids can set it off and I just go

00:29:59

from like zero to like, ugh, at them.

00:30:02

And, you know, I mean, you can judge me if you want to.

00:30:04

I'm just being honest.

00:30:05

Like, I'll just yell at them.

00:30:07

And I would love, I want God to take that out.

00:30:13

I want God to take out that anger button,

00:30:15

not that you never get angry at your kids or anything like that.

00:30:17

I just mean that sort of fly off the handle instantaneous thing.

00:30:21

I'd love Him to -- His Kingdom to come in me

00:30:24

and take that part over. That's mine.

00:30:27

- Lena, how about -- how about you?

00:30:28

Actually, why don't you hand me that little trophy

00:30:31

that you have right beside you.

00:30:34

- Do I get to still answer the question?

00:30:35

- Yes, you can still get the answer,

00:30:37

but you've been doing a lot of answering

00:30:38

and I want you to, before you answer.

00:30:40

- Ask it, I have an answer.

00:30:41

- Ok. Well, I'm not going to give --

00:30:44

I'm going to give you encouragement first.

00:30:45

I'm going to say, this award goes to you

00:30:49

and all of the Crossroads Anywhere community,

00:30:51

you've taken a lot of new ground this year.

00:30:53

You've lifted a lot of heavy weights

00:30:56

and done a lot of different activities.

00:30:59

And you and all the folks who are running

00:31:03

after this element of our ministry at Crossroads

00:31:06

just deserve recognition and thankfulness.

00:31:07

So thank you very much.

00:31:08

That's good.

00:31:09

- Thanks. This is a really great exercise that we got to do together.

00:31:13

And it's actually one that you can do at home

00:31:16

maybe right now between you and Jesus

00:31:18

or around your dinner table or in your living room at some point

00:31:22

as this year comes to a close.

00:31:24

But we actually want to give you a little bit of time

00:31:26

right now just to reflect on what it is

00:31:28

that you want Jesus to do for you and to have some time

00:31:32

to spend with Him thinking about and talking to Him

00:31:36

about what it would look for Him

00:31:37

to give you something good in 2020.

00:32:47

- Well, let's pray over these things right now.

00:32:49

OK?

00:32:51

God, I thank You.

00:32:52

You're a God who hears.

00:32:55

You listen, You respond.

00:32:57

You do.

00:32:58

It is crazy to me, You actually care what we think

00:33:02

and that you would actually say yes to many of the things we ask for.

00:33:06

And I'm praying God for a lot of yeses

00:33:08

and for You to move on the things that we've been talking about

00:33:11

and that we just asked for.

00:33:12

I prayed that there would be stories,

00:33:15

there would be victories and there would be fulfillment

00:33:18

on the other end of all these conversations we've just had..

00:33:21

You're good to give us today.

00:33:22

You're good to give us Yourselfself

00:33:25

and you're good to give us the future.

00:33:27

I pray these things according to Your Name.

00:33:29

Jesus, Amen.

00:33:32

- Well, hey, thanks for joining us.

00:33:33

We hope you have a Happy New Year.

00:33:35

We'll be back at a location near you

00:33:38

or right here online on January 4th and 5th.

00:33:41

Check out Crossroads.net

00:33:42

for more.

00:33:43

We'll see you next week.

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