Brian Tome explores how the early church, fueled by the Holy Spirit, became change agents to the world around them. That same power is available to you today.

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    - You've just stepped into a world
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    where education, food, medical care
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    and hope in general is not a given.
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    A place that is not distant from us, but worlds apart.
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    Over the past few years, the people of Crossroads
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    have stepped up to sponsor kids in Latin America
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    through Compassion International.
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    We have traveled there, build relationships,
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    served alongside our new friends,
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    and encountered God along the way.
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    But our work is not done yet.
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    We don't do this because we want a pat on the back,
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    to make ourselves feel better, or to check a box.
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    God has set us on a mission.
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    In Acts 1:8 it says:
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    We're on a mission to bring hope to the hopeless
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    and light to dark places.
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    And when we do, we live a life more full
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    than we could have ever imagined.
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    When we sponsor a kid,
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    it is us that's going on an adventure
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    and it is us joining their family.
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    This is the Gospel. This is the Good News.
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    - I love that song, and those words are so true.
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    Like, that's what God does.
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    That's who He is.
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    Hey, my name is Andy Reider.
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    I lead Crossroads Anywhere and I'm your pastor.
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    Crossroads is a community of people all over the world,
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    meeting in our nine physical locations,
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    but also in homes, dorm rooms, coffee shops,
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    prisons, bars, anywhere.
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    So together, anywhere you are,
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    we want you to join with us in singing this next song
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    because the church is something we are.
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    It's not a building we show up at
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    or a service we just watch.
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    It's about who we are and it's about what we do.
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    So join us in singing to a God who loves us so much
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    that it changes everything.
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    - Let's go this morning.
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    My name's Justin. Let's sing together.
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    - We make a choice no matter what we face
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    to say that He's worthy of our praise.
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    - Let me pray for us.
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    Oh, God, we praise You
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    because You're so faithful and good.
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    Just like we sing, so whether it's through the storm
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    or through the beauty of the morning,
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    whether it's through the night or the morning,
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    we put our hope in You and say You can have our praise.
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    I look throughout this room
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    and maybe even at home right now,
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    there's hands lifted high because we found life in You
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    and we say You're King and I'm not.
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    You're so, so good, my word.
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    Thank You for Your love and Your kindness towards us.
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    We praise you this morning.
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    I praise you this morning.
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    I thank you for Your love and Your power.
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    I pray all this because of You, Jesus. Amen. Amen.
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    - Hey, thank you so much for singing with us.
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    In honor of Juneteenth coming up, we want to invite you
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    to a really, really special night of prayer
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    for freedom and unity.
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    Juneteenth announced the abolition of slavery
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    to the last group of enslaved people three years
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    after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
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    Yet, there's still so much work left to do.
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    Join us in praying for community freedom
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    and racial healing and reconciliation
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    led by our very own Hannah Driskill.
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    There will be a time to bless you with prayer
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    in any area you need in your life.
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    Head to crossroads.net/ Juneteenth for more info.
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    Now we're going to jump in with our weekly teaching
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    as Brian talks to us about the Holy Spirit
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    empowers us to change the world.
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    - My name is Victor Martinez,
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    and I've been connected to Compassion
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    sponsoring other kids for over six years now.
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    And more recently, I started a relationship
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    with Bismarck, a boy that we sponsor.
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    But it wasn't until a few months ago
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    that I met him for the first time in person
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    when I had the chance to go to Nicaragua.
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    So I've been sponsoring Bismarck for three years
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    at the point of meeting him.
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    So a group of us show up to Bismarck's house
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    and he's looking to see who his sponsor is.
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    And I knew that he was Bismarck.
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    But it broke my heart that he didn't know who I was.
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    That happened because I had not written him a letter.
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    So that was one of the moments that
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    I felt deep conviction that he had been hoping
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    and he even made the comment that
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    he had been hoping to hear from his sponsor.
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    And at that moment, I realized that, okay,
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    this is something that I want to do differently.
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    This relationship is one that there's a kid
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    on the other side that genuinely loves me,
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    even though he doesn't know who I am.
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    When I got to meet Bismarck and his family,
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    it was the family that said,
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    "Hey, we regularly pray for you
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    and we're so thankful for your sponsorship."
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    And knowing that there's this group of people
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    that are praying for me even when
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    I don't feel like I really earned it
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    because I haven't been engaging with them,
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    felt very special and undeserving,
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    yet I'm so grateful that they are doing that
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    and they're doing that regularly.
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    God has placed us on this earth to learn more
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    of His character, sometimes through other people.
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    And the best way to really do that is engaging
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    in relationship with other people.
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    You know, Compassion can seem like a huge organization,
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    so sometimes it feels like by just engaging
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    in this sponsorship relationship that
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    it is just one more number.
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    And the beautiful thing about Compassion's model
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    is that one more number means one more real connection,
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    one more real relationship.
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    We don't know what's going to be the impact
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    that we're going to have in the other kid.
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    We don't know what's the impact that's going to be in our life.
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    - Good morning.
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    It's great to be with everybody at Crossroads today, it is.
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    It is a it is a really, really good, important day
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    for us and for our church.
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    And today I'm going to talk about Compassion.
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    I'm also going to continue to talk what we talked about
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    which is in the book of Acts X Factor, X Factor.
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    What is it that makes some people really attractive
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    even though they don't have the attributes
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    to be on the cover of magazine?
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    Why is it that some people don't impress anybody
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    in the weight room and yet every team they're on,
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    they tend to win?
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    It's because they have the X factor, the intangible.
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    The Bible tells us that all people
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    who come into relationship with Jesus
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    have His Spirit, known as the Holy Spirit,
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    that dwells in us and gives us capacities
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    beyond what we normally have.
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    It gives us an X factor.
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    Today, you might have a capacity
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    to feel something you might not have felt.
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    You might have a capacity to do something
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    you may not have been willing to do before.
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    We're going to pray about that, and let's do that right now.
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    God, I'm thankful for our morning
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    and I'm thankful for everyone
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    who is a part of Crossroads, everyone who's here,
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    whether they're in a coffee shop, a bar, a site,
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    in Kentucky, Ohio, wherever we are.
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    We are thankful that -- gosh, I hope no one's
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    in a bar at this hour of the morning,
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    but I thank You for who you are, what you've done.
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    And I ask You to help me to be clear
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    to help your people, to be helpful in Your mission.
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    And I pray these things according to
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    the character and identity of Jesus. Amen.
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    You know, we talk about changing the world,
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    Crossroads, we connect seekers to a community
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    growing of Christ followers who are changing the world.
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    We talk about change in the world.
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    The truth is, individually,
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    I don't think there's anybody here today
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    that's probably going to change the world individually.
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    Mother Teresa changed the world.
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    Steve Jobs changed the world.
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    Billy Graham changed the world.
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    Us individually, you know, we're not going to
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    change the world individually.
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    I'm sorry to burst your bubble.
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    You could do anything you want. No, you can't.
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    You're not, as an individual, going to change the world.
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    Sorry, but you could be a part of something
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    that's changed the world.
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    That's called the church that we see in the Book of Acts.
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    And individually, you might change a life.
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    There might be a person who is different on this world
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    and different after this world than you
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    than when you actually came in and impact their life.
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    The Book of Acts Chapter two,
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    we see a picture of the early church.
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    It's one of the passages in the Acts
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    that's often times given as a template
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    for what a church looks like.
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    The Bible doesn't talk about video screens and haze
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    and LEDs and lights and, you know,
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    staff structures and all that kind of stuff.
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    Churches could use those things
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    to accomplish the mission of God.
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    But the Book of Acts
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    really knows nothing about those things.
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    Here's what it does know a bit about, Acts 2:44, it says this:
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    Some people take this as a proof text for
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    nobody should have nice things,
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    nobody should actually own anything personally,
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    it should all be communal.
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    Kind of an early nod to Karl Marx,
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    except with some spirituality towards it.
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    And I often times was influenced by this,
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    this thinking that's caused me often times
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    to feel guilty for nice things I have,
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    abilities that I have.
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    Recently, I went over to Israel to film a series
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    that we're going to do this next fall.
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    We've learned from you the favorite thing that we do
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    is preaching series in Israel.
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    So we've got another one coming up this fall.
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    It's going to be pretty cool.
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    But I had a really cool thing happen.
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    On my way back on my last leg,
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    I got upgraded to first class
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    from New York to to Cincinnati.
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    It made me feel kind of guilty, you know, I really did.
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    I don't buy first class,
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    Crossroads doesn't buy me first class.
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    In fact, for most of my life, when I walk by,
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    I'll use all you losers inside of first class.
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    Truth be told, I don't like you.
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    I don't like you at all.
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    Because I've walked in first class much of my life
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    walked by, [grumbling]
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    "All the money you could have saved the poor.
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    Aren't you real cool?
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    Wish -- We all should be first class."
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    I had -- I went through a season of my life
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    where I was, like, on equal fairsies, socialism,
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    where I was really judgmental and critical
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    of people who did things that I didn't do,
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    had things I didn't have.
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    And so I would have this judgment
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    of everybody in first class and now I'm, like,
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    I'm sitting in first class
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    and people are probably doing the same thing to me.
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    To which I say, "Ha ha, you are a loser.
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    I'm in first class. You aren't."
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    No, no, I don't say that.
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    Anyway, this idea of, "Hey, shouldn't we all
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    have the same things?"
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    I thought was informed by the Book of Acts,
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    but it really isn't.
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    The Book of Acts is not saying
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    that you can't earn own personal possessions.
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    It's not saying that there can't be
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    very wealthy people who also follow Jesus.
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    It's not saying that.
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    What's happening here is during Pentecost,
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    the high holy day in Jerusalem, all the Jews
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    from the Roman Empire would come to Israel.
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    And they were -- they need a place to stay. So what happened?
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    You'd put people up in your house.
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    People were sitting on top of one another.
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    You had all things in common,
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    people selling stuff to enable someone to eat.
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    This is not saying that everybody has to
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    not have any personal possessions.
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    It's saying this: That your attitude towards
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    other people of the faith should be that this is your family.
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    Your attitude is not that you're like family.
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    The Bible doesn't say if you're a follower of Jesus
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    then you're like a sister or you're like a brother.
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    The Bible says, Jesus says, you are my brother,
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    you are my sister.
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    In fact, even more so than people in my family
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    of origin, there's a bond that's with us.
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    And when you have a brother or a sister who's in need,
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    a family member who's in need, what do you do?
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    You do something about it.
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    You don't just wish about, you don't just pray about it,
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    you don't just hope about it, you don't just cry about it.
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    You actually do something about it.
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    This was what the early followers of Christ were doing.
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    They saw that people that had needs
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    and they're actually doing something.
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    They're pushing on it.
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    Oh, about 20 years or so ago, I had an outside speaker
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    come in to Crossroads and speak.
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    And I knew he was a good speaker, so I brought him in.
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    He came to a midweek service, a Wednesday night service.
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    His name was Tony Campolo.
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    He's an old Italian firebrand.
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    Some people might might know Tony.
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    I just brought him in to bless the church
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    with another voice and just kind of fire us up.
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    And Tony came in and he went after a passage
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    in the Bible in a really, really fresh way.
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    At the end of that, he had an application
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    for an organization called Compassion International
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    that I really had not done anything with.
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    I don't think I had even heard of it.
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    And that's when I got involved in this organization
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    called Compassion International, where at that point
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    it was like $38 a month where I would give money
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    every month and all of us could sign up for it.
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    And he didn't ask me.
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    He just brought these forms and passed them out.
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    And a bunch of us signed up where for $38 a month
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    we could feed and educate a child
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    for the rest of their life in a third world country.
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    Crossroads has always cared about the plight of the poor.
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    In fact, let me tell you something.
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    You have an opportunity to sponsor a child
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    through Compassion International.
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    And if you don't, let me just say this,
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    it doesn't matter if you do that or not today,
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    there is a call on your life to care for the poor.
  • 00:26:22
    And anybody who doesn't care for the poor
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    doesn't care about God.
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    You can talk all you want about God, all of --
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    But if you don't tangibly care for the poor
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    and the needy, you're not caring for
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    the things that God cares about.
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    That's why Crossroads has always cared for the poor.
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    A significant portion of our budget
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    goes to those who are in poverty.
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    We have portions of our budget that's benevolence
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    for people who are committed to our church
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    and in financial hardship.
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    And we have a fund, a budget item,
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    we help people out financially,
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    whether it's in central Kentucky,
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    whether it's Cincinnati, northern Ohio, wherever it is.
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    We're engaged in the poverty situation in our community.
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    Fortunately in America, when you are in poverty
  • 00:27:07
    in America, generally, you still have access
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    to food every day and an educational system,
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    even though the educational system might not be as good
  • 00:27:17
    as a more Richie Rich educational system.
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    There's still some things for you.
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    In third world countries, those things don't happen.
  • 00:27:23
    So for Compassion International, when Tony talked
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    about this, like, "Oh, okay, okay,
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    so I could actually take care of somebody
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    for the rest of their childhood."
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    It's kind of crazy.
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    Way back when I was 38 bucks, there were 14 years.
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    It's been 14 years since it's gone up to $43 a month.
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    $43 a month I can educate and feed a child until they're 18.
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    That's like - that's like the best deal going.
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    Why did the early church make sure
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    nobody had needs who were in their midst?
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    Needs, not wants, needs.
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    Why is it that I wanted to do that?
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    It's because the early church took their cues from,
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    Well, who do you think?
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    Who do you think the early church took their cues from?
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    Who do you think it is?
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    Jesus. Yes, that's always the answer.
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    Come on, you're in church,
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    the answer to every question is Jesus.
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    Let's give me another one.
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    What has brown fur and a bushy tail?
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    Jesus. Yeah. There you go. Good. You're getting this.
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    It's not a squirrel. It's Jesus.
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    That's always the answer in church.
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    So Jesus is the inspiration
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    for everything in the Book of Acts,
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    the Acts of the early church.
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    And Jesus in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 25,
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    one of the last things He taught
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    in the authorized biography of Matthew,
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    according to Matthew, was He gave this story
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    of two types of people coming before God.
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    And God divides them into the sheep and the goats.
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    He sends one to the right who are the sheep
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    and the ones to the left who are the goats.
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    And I was just, as I said, in Israel,
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    and we did a shoot.
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    We were supposed to have a shoot with sheep,
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    but the person we hired didn't come with sheep,
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    they came with goats.
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    Which is not bad because when a sheep is shorn,
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    the untrained eye really can't tell the difference
  • 00:29:11
    between a sheep and a goat. You laugh.
  • 00:29:14
    Obviously you've never been to Israel. It's true.
  • 00:29:17
    The trained eye can tell a difference.
  • 00:29:19
    The untrained eye really they're about the same size,
  • 00:29:22
    about the same dimensions, all that stuff.
  • 00:29:25
    It's hard. It's hard to tell the difference.
  • 00:29:27
    So that's why I think Jesus is using this thing
  • 00:29:29
    between sheep and goat.
  • 00:29:31
    So off to the right, off to the right goes the sheep.
  • 00:29:34
    And the sheep go, "Hey, what am I --
  • 00:29:37
    What am I doing over here?
  • 00:29:39
    How come you're getting me close to you?"
  • 00:29:41
    And Jesus says, "Well, because when I was sick,
  • 00:29:45
    you came and helped me.
  • 00:29:46
    When I was hungry, you fed me.
  • 00:29:48
    When I was in prison.
  • 00:29:49
    When I was in prison, you came and visited me.
  • 00:29:52
    When I was hungry, you came and fed me.
  • 00:29:55
    So that's why you're getting in heaven.
  • 00:29:57
    That's why you're getting close to me."
  • 00:29:59
    And the people go, like, they say, "Well, wait a minute.
  • 00:30:03
    Jesus, we never seen you naked, in prison, hungry."
  • 00:30:07
    And here's what Jesus says. Jesus says:
  • 00:30:34
    Jesus says, "I take it personal when you care
  • 00:30:39
    for the people who are hurting.
  • 00:30:41
    I take it personal, they're my brothers.
  • 00:30:44
    They're your brothers, you're caring for Me."
  • 00:30:48
    And then He says to the people who go off the left,
  • 00:30:50
    the goats, He said, "You're going over here because
  • 00:30:53
    when I was sick, you didn't care about me.
  • 00:30:55
    When I was in prison, you didn't come visit me.
  • 00:30:58
    When I was naked, you didn't come give me clothes.
  • 00:31:02
    When I was hungry, you didn't feed me."
  • 00:31:03
    And they're saying, "Whoa, whoa.
  • 00:31:05
    What are you talking about? What?
  • 00:31:07
    We didn't seen you naked or sick or in prison?
  • 00:31:11
    What are you talking about?
  • 00:31:12
    We didn't see you in that situation, Jesus?
  • 00:31:14
    If we had seen you, we would have done something about it."
  • 00:31:17
    And Jesus says this then, He says:
  • 00:31:19
    Truly, I say to you, as you did -- this is verse 45, 45.
  • 00:31:24
    Then he will answer, "Truly, I say to you,
  • 00:31:26
    as you did not do it for one of the least of these,
  • 00:31:30
    you did not do it for me."
  • 00:31:35
    Jesus takes it personally
  • 00:31:38
    how you and I encounter the poor.
  • 00:31:46
    It's not -- this is not a fairsies financial situation
  • 00:31:50
    that, according to God, this is not a theoretical thing
  • 00:31:56
    do you care?
  • 00:31:58
    Of course, who doesn't care for the poor, right?
  • 00:32:00
    Everyone cares for the poor, right?
  • 00:32:01
    We all care for the poor, meaning, like,
  • 00:32:03
    "Well, I hope they get better.
  • 00:32:04
    I hope everyone does better.
  • 00:32:06
    I hope everybody goes to bed
  • 00:32:07
    with some food in their stomach."
  • 00:32:08
    I mean, everybody emotionally cares for the poor.
  • 00:32:13
    Jesus is telling me, telling us you need to physically
  • 00:32:16
    and financially care for the poor.
  • 00:32:18
    In fact, if you're not physically and financially
  • 00:32:22
    caring for the poor you could almost say
  • 00:32:28
    God doesn't care about you,
  • 00:32:29
    because I go off to the left.
  • 00:32:32
    This is Jesus words, by the way,
  • 00:32:33
    they go off the left away from Him.
  • 00:32:36
    God takes it very personal
  • 00:32:43
    how we interact with His children,
  • 00:32:45
    it's His family and they're our family.
  • 00:32:49
    So when Tony gave a talk basically like this.
  • 00:32:53
    I was like, "Okay. I guess --
  • 00:32:56
    I guess I should sponsor somebody because
  • 00:32:58
    I want somebody in heaven speaking up for me.
  • 00:33:02
    I want, when I go to heaven or when I die,
  • 00:33:04
    when I take my motorcycle straight on into a bread truck.
  • 00:33:07
    Like, some people are going, like,
  • 00:33:08
    "What if I get hit by a by bread truck?'
  • 00:33:10
    Well, for me, it's a real possibility, right?
  • 00:33:12
    So someday I'm going to die.
  • 00:33:14
    And when I go to God, I'm going to go to God,
  • 00:33:17
    I want to know who's standing up for me.
  • 00:33:21
    Like, is this a precursor of what Jesus says
  • 00:33:24
    what God is going to be asking us?
  • 00:33:25
    Is He going to say to us,
  • 00:33:27
    "Okay, well, how did you take care of me?
  • 00:33:28
    How did you take care of me?"
  • 00:33:30
    And the fortunately is being a part of Crossroads,
  • 00:33:33
    all of us who are tithers here at Crossroads,
  • 00:33:36
    all of us will have people stand up for us.
  • 00:33:38
    We just don't know who they are. All of us will.
  • 00:33:41
    But I thought I'd really love to have somebody go,
  • 00:33:45
    "Jesus, right here, right here.
  • 00:33:47
    He fed me right here.
  • 00:33:49
    I got this one covered. I can vouch for him.
  • 00:33:51
    I saw this guy. I know him."
  • 00:33:54
    Like, I figured I had to get somebody to speak for me.
  • 00:33:57
    This is Jesus's words, so we signed up.
  • 00:33:59
    We got this little guy by the name of Twill,
  • 00:34:02
    Twill in Haiti, and Twill aged out of the program.
  • 00:34:05
    And then we we've gotten two children since then.
  • 00:34:09
    We sponsor two.
  • 00:34:10
    And by the way, I'm a empty nester.
  • 00:34:12
    Lib and I are empty nesters in prime income earning years.
  • 00:34:15
    God's blessed us very, very much.
  • 00:34:17
    After this weekend, we're going to have three children.
  • 00:34:19
    Three of them. Partly because they're my family
  • 00:34:23
    and I want to bless Jesus and I bless Jesus
  • 00:34:26
    by blessing people who are in difficult situations.
  • 00:34:28
    And part of it is I want some witnesses
  • 00:34:31
    when I get to heaven.
  • 00:34:33
    I want an amen corner when I get to heaven.
  • 00:34:35
    I'm telling you, I'm one of these weird guys,
  • 00:34:37
    I actually believe what's in the Bible.
  • 00:34:42
    I know, I know. There's not many of us left.
  • 00:34:45
    Not only do I actually believe it, I do it.
  • 00:34:49
    What? What? You actually read what's in the Bible,
  • 00:34:54
    you actually believe it,
  • 00:34:56
    and you bend your life around it?
  • 00:34:58
    Yes. Everybody who has the X Factor does this.
  • 00:35:02
    Yes. This is not about being a nice person,
  • 00:35:06
    what nice people do.
  • 00:35:07
    It's not about checking off the religion box.
  • 00:35:09
    It's what -- No, it's about I want the X Factor in my life.
  • 00:35:13
    And I get that by honoring Jesus
  • 00:35:16
    and honoring the Spirit.
  • 00:35:18
    And that means when I have an opportunity
  • 00:35:20
    to do something that Jesus would do, I do it.
  • 00:35:25
    I do it, and so do you.
  • 00:35:29
    So do you if you have the X Factor.
  • 00:35:32
    I got more to teach on this.
  • 00:35:33
    Let me just say this ahead of time.
  • 00:35:35
    $43 a month, man, I tell you,
  • 00:35:37
    the impulse decisions we make, many of us are crazy.
  • 00:35:44
    Like many of us don't even look
  • 00:35:46
    at our credit card statements because
  • 00:35:48
    we don't want to get bummed out line by line.
  • 00:35:50
    And we actually don't even know the things
  • 00:35:52
    that are on there that get sucked out
  • 00:35:54
    of our account every month.
  • 00:35:55
    We don't even know, and yet it still happens.
  • 00:35:57
    We pay for streaming services we never use.
  • 00:36:01
    We don't even know all the streaming services we have.
  • 00:36:04
    We find out about a new one, we go,
  • 00:36:06
    "Oh, I'll take that one too." And that's fine.
  • 00:36:09
    We impulse those things all the time.
  • 00:36:10
    When's the last time you impulsed something
  • 00:36:12
    where someone could actually live a longer,
  • 00:36:14
    more healthy, more educated life?
  • 00:36:17
    How often do we do that?
  • 00:36:19
    We always got money for Hulu, for Amazon Prime,
  • 00:36:22
    for Netflix, for Apple+, for whatever,
  • 00:36:26
    highest speed Internet possible, for Starbucks, for this.
  • 00:36:29
    And I'm not shaming any of us
  • 00:36:31
    for having all those things.
  • 00:36:32
    I have like all those things I mentioned and more.
  • 00:36:35
    God's blessed me greatly.
  • 00:36:36
    This is not about we should not have nice things.
  • 00:36:39
    It's not about that.
  • 00:36:40
    This is about will we make space in our finances for Jesus?
  • 00:36:47
    Let me also say this.
  • 00:36:48
    I know whenever someone gives a talk like this to me,
  • 00:36:52
    there's a voice in your ear that's telling you
  • 00:36:54
    to disqualify everything I'm saying.
  • 00:36:57
    There's a voice that does not want you
  • 00:36:59
    to get on the agenda of God and become generous.
  • 00:37:03
    I know that. I know that, that's the way,
  • 00:37:05
    because I know that because I know you
  • 00:37:06
    because I'm like you because I'm human.
  • 00:37:08
    I don't like when someone talks about this stuff
  • 00:37:10
    because I just want to be affirmed
  • 00:37:12
    for what I'm currently doing.
  • 00:37:13
    I generally don't want to be pushed
  • 00:37:14
    to do something different.
  • 00:37:15
    And so one of the tactics of the enemy
  • 00:37:17
    will be to tell us things like,
  • 00:37:20
    "Well, Crossroads is doing this because, you know,
  • 00:37:23
    they get these kickbacks from Compassion International.
  • 00:37:26
    Compassion International pays Crossroads do this
  • 00:37:28
    and Brian Tome probably gets a commission,
  • 00:37:31
    even if he gets like $0.50, $0.50 off of $43 bucks,
  • 00:37:35
    dude's raking it in up there on this very clearly."
  • 00:37:39
    I get nothing from --
  • 00:37:42
    I've never gotten anything from Compassion.
  • 00:37:45
    I've gone to two past retreats where I went
  • 00:37:47
    and hung out with other pastors around the country.
  • 00:37:49
    That's what I've gotten from them in 15 years,
  • 00:37:51
    two pastors, I gotten that.
  • 00:37:52
    That was kind of cool, meeting other pastors,
  • 00:37:54
    brainstorm with them, all that stuff.
  • 00:37:56
    I've never gotten anything from that.
  • 00:37:59
    Crossroads has never gotten anything from Compassion.
  • 00:38:01
    I've heard other churches do.
  • 00:38:03
    I don't know what they're doing.
  • 00:38:04
    Maybe we're a bunch of losers
  • 00:38:06
    not sucking some for ourselves over here.
  • 00:38:07
    I don't know. I don't know what's going on.
  • 00:38:09
    No, we've never, ever, ever, ever, ever
  • 00:38:11
    had anything from Compassion,
  • 00:38:13
    never taken anything from Compassion.
  • 00:38:16
    This is a matter of following the heart of God,
  • 00:38:20
    following the will of God.
  • 00:38:24
    When I first started with Twill
  • 00:38:28
    and we started supporting Twill,
  • 00:38:31
    I didn't write him a letter. Lib and I didn't write letters.
  • 00:38:33
    We just thought, "Eh."
  • 00:38:36
    Oh, compassion, because, you know,
  • 00:38:37
    I tend to be cynical, maybe you are.
  • 00:38:39
    I'm like, "Oh, it's all going to the same place,
  • 00:38:43
    the money is, and they're just giving us
  • 00:38:45
    these individual children to be sort of a marketing ploy."
  • 00:38:50
    And nothing wrong with marketing.
  • 00:38:52
    God loves marketers. Nothing wrong with marketing.
  • 00:38:54
    That's fine, but it's just a marketing ploy.
  • 00:38:56
    The kids don't really know us.
  • 00:38:58
    We're writing letters.
  • 00:38:59
    It's -- no matter what happens, it's --
  • 00:39:02
    they don't -- they don't care. It's fine.
  • 00:39:04
    We'll just keep paying our money
  • 00:39:05
    and it's going to a good place and helping people.
  • 00:39:08
    That's fine."
  • 00:39:09
    And Twill aged out of the system.
  • 00:39:11
    I don't think I wrote a letter the entire time.
  • 00:39:13
    I think Lib did 1 or 2, but I never did a single one."
  • 00:39:16
    And Twill would send us letters.
  • 00:39:19
    I had the opportunity to do a Compassion trip
  • 00:39:22
    in Nicaragua and go see what's happening in Nicaragua.
  • 00:39:28
    At that point, I had signed for another child
  • 00:39:31
    and we went and I was utterly blown away what I saw.
  • 00:39:36
    I saw the education.
  • 00:39:38
    I saw binders inside of the school of all of the kids
  • 00:39:41
    and their accomplishments, their whole history
  • 00:39:43
    of the progress they're making with their education.
  • 00:39:47
    I went in homes. I went in homes.
  • 00:39:50
    And one home I went in had a big photo
  • 00:39:54
    of an American family up on the wall,
  • 00:39:57
    a big photo, a very small, one room house,
  • 00:40:01
    very similar to the houses or the houses
  • 00:40:03
    you may have walked in when you came into
  • 00:40:05
    a Crossroads site today, very similar to that.
  • 00:40:08
    And I asked the translator, I said, "What?
  • 00:40:10
    Who's those people? What's up?"
  • 00:40:11
    There was a picture of a couple of American people,
  • 00:40:13
    white American people, like, having drinks,
  • 00:40:16
    they, like, had like a margarita.
  • 00:40:18
    It looked like in a restaurant overlooking the beach.
  • 00:40:21
    They were going like. [laughter]
  • 00:40:26
    And I said, "What's that situation?"
  • 00:40:28
    And they said, "Oh, well, that's --
  • 00:40:30
    those were their sponsors."
  • 00:40:31
    I said, "What do you mean were?"
  • 00:40:33
    They said, "Well, they they stopped sponsoring them.
  • 00:40:35
    They just they dropped off.
  • 00:40:37
    But this family still prays for them regularly.
  • 00:40:42
    That's why the picture is still up there."
  • 00:40:44
    "Wait, they dropped off?" "Yeah."
  • 00:40:45
    "And they still pray for them?" "Yeah."
  • 00:40:48
    So I went back and started doing
  • 00:40:50
    some Facebook sleuthing,
  • 00:40:57
    and I found them.
  • 00:40:58
    I found them, Greg and Tessie. I found them.
  • 00:41:01
    So I won't give you the last name.
  • 00:41:03
    I won't give you the last name.
  • 00:41:05
    So I messaged them out.
  • 00:41:06
    I said, "Hey, hey. I just want you to know,
  • 00:41:08
    it's awesome God's blessed.
  • 00:41:10
    You look like you're taking some really great vacations.
  • 00:41:13
    That's what it looks like on Facebook.
  • 00:41:14
    Just want you to know, just want you to know,
  • 00:41:18
    Bianca and Rudy, (Bianca is Rudy's mom)
  • 00:41:21
    They still pray for you.
  • 00:41:23
    And you -- and you just dropped off.
  • 00:41:25
    You probably should have said something,
  • 00:41:27
    but don't worry about it, I'll cover them.
  • 00:41:28
    I'll take care of them.
  • 00:41:30
    Just thought I'll let you know that family is going
  • 00:41:32
    to be taken care of while you take care of vacations."
  • 00:41:34
    And then for some reason, they didn't respond to me.
  • 00:41:36
    I don't understand why. So I responded back again.
  • 00:41:40
    And finally I said, "Okay, I'm getting too much out
  • 00:41:42
    of this so I stopped. I got to stop."
  • 00:41:44
    Here's what I'm saying, friends, I'm saying this:
  • 00:41:46
    Those kids know us. Those families know us.
  • 00:41:52
    It's a light, it's a literal lifeline.
  • 00:41:54
    And there's not even when other kids in the family
  • 00:41:57
    don't get sponsored, it still helps the family
  • 00:42:00
    because they have one less mouth to feed.
  • 00:42:04
    Lib and I went over our most recent time to Nicaragua,
  • 00:42:08
    and we saw our -- we saw Rudy for the second time.
  • 00:42:15
    Crossroads does Go Trips,
  • 00:42:16
    we serve the poor in Cincinnati, in Lexington.
  • 00:42:20
    Other parts of the world.
  • 00:42:21
    So when we're going over to do a Go Nicaragua trip,
  • 00:42:24
    we stopped in and saw Rudy again.
  • 00:42:26
    We hadn't seen him and Bianca for a few years.
  • 00:42:30
    Here's what happened the last time we saw him.
  • 00:42:34
    - Hola. - Hola. Good to see you, Rudy.
  • 00:42:37
    Rudy, my wife, Libby. - Nice to meet you finally.
  • 00:42:42
    Oh, my goodness.
  • 00:42:44
    - And this is for you. - All right.
  • 00:42:46
    - Yeah, you can open it, he says.
  • 00:42:48
    - It's good.
  • 00:42:50
    - Oh, that's awesome. - That's a picture.
  • 00:43:00
    "I'll always be grateful with you
  • 00:43:01
    for everything that you've done for us.
  • 00:43:05
    If the world would have more people like you,
  • 00:43:08
    it would be a better place.
  • 00:43:10
    Your love changed my life and it changed it for good.
  • 00:43:13
    And your love made me to have hope
  • 00:43:15
    and be happy in my life."
  • 00:43:18
    - Good, dude, brother. You're a good man, a good man.
  • 00:43:21
    - [speaking Spanish]
  • 00:43:24
    - I feel very grateful for everything you've done for me.
  • 00:43:29
    And that I really hope that someday
  • 00:43:31
    I can give him back everything he gave to me.
  • 00:43:33
    - We are telling you that you are loved
  • 00:43:36
    and you are not forgotten.
  • 00:43:38
    [translating to Spanish]
  • 00:43:41
    - God is going to do a great thing in your future.
  • 00:43:43
    You need to have hope.
  • 00:43:44
    [translating to Spanish]
  • 00:43:52
    - You're a good man. - Yes, you are.
  • 00:43:56
    - God is going to do a good thing in your life right now.
  • 00:44:00
    [translating to Spanish]
  • 00:44:01
    - I'm looking at a young godly man.
  • 00:44:06
    [translating to Spanish]
  • 00:44:07
    I'm looking at a young godly man.
  • 00:44:10
    [translating to Spanish]
  • 00:44:14
    You're stronger than you have any idea.
  • 00:44:16
    [translating to Spanish]
  • 00:44:19
    God's going to do a big thing in you, a big thing.
  • 00:44:25
    I love you. I'm proud of you.
  • 00:44:28
    You're like my own son.
  • 00:44:47
    [applause]
  • 00:44:48
    - Man, I don't know how many times I've seen that video,
  • 00:44:50
    it still hits me so hard.
  • 00:44:53
    I don't know if it's --
  • 00:44:57
    I don't know if it's because, uh, you know,
  • 00:45:00
    seeing the impact of a family
  • 00:45:02
    who's just thankful that you're alive,
  • 00:45:04
    thankful for living my life.
  • 00:45:07
    I don't know, if it's just the emotion of, like,
  • 00:45:10
    what we do for that relative to all that we have
  • 00:45:13
    and all that we do and all that we own
  • 00:45:16
    is so small for us and where we are.
  • 00:45:20
    I don't know what it is, it just -- it is -
  • 00:45:23
    Am I moved because I'm being like Jesus
  • 00:45:27
    and it feels good to actually be living the Bible.
  • 00:45:31
    I don't -- I don't know what it is,
  • 00:45:34
    but I know it hits me deep every time.
  • 00:45:38
    In the Book of Acts, Chapter four,
  • 00:45:40
    they talk about the local church.
  • 00:45:42
    It says this: And there was not -- verse 34, Acts 4:34:
  • 00:46:06
    It's risky for for us to do this weekend, very risky.
  • 00:46:11
    We've said it many times
  • 00:46:12
    and people tend to not believe us,
  • 00:46:14
    Crossroads operates on very thin margins.
  • 00:46:17
    We have big budget.
  • 00:46:18
    We also have a lot of commitments.
  • 00:46:19
    We operate on very thin margins
  • 00:46:21
    and we really can't afford people cannibalizing
  • 00:46:26
    whatever giving they have of Crossroads.
  • 00:46:28
    "Oh, Crossroads is fine.
  • 00:46:29
    They've got LCD screens, pullaway from here
  • 00:46:31
    and stick it over here."
  • 00:46:32
    We really can't afford that at all, but yet
  • 00:46:36
    we do this regularly because we're willing
  • 00:46:41
    to pay the price and we're ready.
  • 00:46:42
    And I'll say, I hope you all sponsor Compassion.
  • 00:46:46
    I hope you all do, and I hope you all
  • 00:46:48
    don't cannibalize your giving to Crossroads.
  • 00:46:51
    And if you do, we'll figure it out.
  • 00:46:53
    We'll figure it out.
  • 00:46:55
    But I think the capacity we have,
  • 00:46:58
    if we want to be like the early church,
  • 00:47:00
    is more than we think.
  • 00:47:01
    These people are making sure people don't have needs
  • 00:47:04
    because they sell things, they sell land.
  • 00:47:06
    These are people who have resources, they have money.
  • 00:47:08
    They're selling their land.
  • 00:47:09
    They're selling things so that other people can live.
  • 00:47:14
    Maybe I get emotional because I feel like
  • 00:47:16
    in these moments where maybe our purest as a church.
  • 00:47:20
    Great music and half decent talk, wow, big deal.
  • 00:47:25
    But man, when someone's life is different
  • 00:47:27
    because of that, oh, my goodness. Wow.
  • 00:47:30
    I think sometimes, I wonder, could God get Crossroads
  • 00:47:35
    to the size it is right now, as a church,
  • 00:47:36
    we are stronger right now than we've been in 26 years.
  • 00:47:39
    I'll say it again, we are strongest right now
  • 00:47:41
    than we have been.
  • 00:47:42
    Forget all COVID stuff, your church right now
  • 00:47:45
    is stronger than it's ever been right now.
  • 00:47:48
    Could God have done all that He's done,
  • 00:47:51
    amassed this many people simply because God would say,
  • 00:47:54
    "Someday there's gonna be a bunch of people
  • 00:47:57
    gathered in this thing called Crossroads.
  • 00:48:00
    And that church is going to move my family
  • 00:48:04
    to help other family members.
  • 00:48:06
    That church is going to do that."
  • 00:48:09
    And I wonder if this is all -- if this is --
  • 00:48:11
    if this is the apex of what we do
  • 00:48:13
    and we change thousands of more lives,
  • 00:48:15
    literally change, and then we go out of business.
  • 00:48:17
    I can live with that. I can live with that.
  • 00:48:20
    And I hope, I hope, I hope that you can, too.
  • 00:48:23
    So here's what we're going to do,
  • 00:48:25
    here's what we're going to do.
  • 00:48:28
    We're going to have each community pastor
  • 00:48:31
    give logistics for what's going to happen
  • 00:48:32
    inside of your rooms in a little bit, like a minute,
  • 00:48:39
    we're going to have the bands come up
  • 00:48:40
    and we're going to sing songs
  • 00:48:42
    and it's going to be really cool and festive.
  • 00:48:44
    And in your rooms you're going to go
  • 00:48:47
    and you're going to get one of those packets
  • 00:48:50
    that's a real child,
  • 00:48:51
    and that would be the child that you sponsor.
  • 00:48:53
    That would be the child that you can have
  • 00:48:54
    a letter writing conversation with, if you'd like.
  • 00:48:58
    That's the child.
  • 00:48:59
    And then you're going to come back to your seats.
  • 00:49:02
    You'll come back to your seat
  • 00:49:03
    and you're going to write your first letter.
  • 00:49:05
    It can be just like three sentences,
  • 00:49:07
    three sentences right there.
  • 00:49:08
    You doing your information
  • 00:49:10
    and you're going to take the photo,
  • 00:49:11
    the photo you got when you came in today.
  • 00:49:13
    You're going to take that photo.
  • 00:49:15
    Compassion is so good. They work with us.
  • 00:49:17
    We push their boundaries all the time.
  • 00:49:19
    We were the first -- We had the largest single day thing
  • 00:49:23
    in Compassion's history a number of years ago.
  • 00:49:25
    And they said, "Well, you want the real packet
  • 00:49:28
    up on the back wall?"
  • 00:49:29
    I said, "Yes, Can you do that?" "Yeah, yeah, we'll do that."
  • 00:49:32
    Now they're saying, "Hey, we really would like
  • 00:49:34
    to take these pictures because a bunch of years ago
  • 00:49:36
    we had a partner in South Africa,
  • 00:49:38
    a bunch of years ago, we realized
  • 00:49:40
    that we are in spiritual poverty
  • 00:49:43
    while they're in financial poverty.
  • 00:49:45
    And we sent them over photos,
  • 00:49:48
    all of our photos were on their huts
  • 00:49:51
    and they prayed for us.
  • 00:49:52
    And this is the service where they got those photos.
  • 00:49:55
    We'd like to do something like that right now.
  • 00:49:57
    Could we actually have, send over our photos
  • 00:49:59
    so everybody who gets sponsored
  • 00:50:01
    our photo is in their thing so they're praying for us?
  • 00:50:04
    We're not just, you know, helping out somebody
  • 00:50:07
    because we're the superior ones.
  • 00:50:09
    No, we're all in God's family.
  • 00:50:11
    So maybe they can have our picture, too.
  • 00:50:13
    And they can pray for us, too.
  • 00:50:16
    Some of you are going to want to look cool.
  • 00:50:18
    You are, I know you, you want to look cool?
  • 00:50:21
    You want to go back there, you want to --
  • 00:50:23
    You want to just look like, I'm doing it.
  • 00:50:24
    I'm doing the thing. You're going to go get a packet,
  • 00:50:27
    you're going to come back
  • 00:50:28
    and then you're not going to do anything.
  • 00:50:30
    Let me tell you, if you take a packet to look like,
  • 00:50:32
    you know, you're cool and you care,
  • 00:50:35
    what happens as soon as you take that packet,
  • 00:50:38
    Compassion goes, "Oh, this person is done.
  • 00:50:39
    They're out of the system now."
  • 00:50:41
    Whether you make your first commitment or not,
  • 00:50:43
    they're out of the system
  • 00:50:44
    and they will not be in the system
  • 00:50:46
    and they will go hungry.
  • 00:50:47
    So if you want God to send you straight to hell,
  • 00:50:50
    take one of those packets. It's worse.
  • 00:50:53
    You're not even going to the left as a goat,
  • 00:50:55
    you're specifically making it
  • 00:50:56
    so nobody else can get that person.
  • 00:50:59
    My gosh, don't do that. Don't do that.
  • 00:51:03
    If you don't get up to go get a packet,
  • 00:51:05
    we're just going to assume
  • 00:51:06
    that you've already got five kids.
  • 00:51:08
    Okay? We're gonna assume you already got five kids,
  • 00:51:11
    or we're going to assume
  • 00:51:12
    you're really, really stretching it
  • 00:51:15
    and you already have one kid.
  • 00:51:16
    Okay, we're going to assume that.
  • 00:51:18
    Please, if you go get one, go get one, come right back.
  • 00:51:21
    And then we're going to drop them off
  • 00:51:23
    when we leave at the end of our time, our service.
  • 00:51:26
    One more thing, I know there's one more thing,
  • 00:51:29
    I just forgot it. There is one more thing.
  • 00:51:30
    What is my one more thing?
  • 00:51:32
    There is. There is. Hold on just a minute.
  • 00:51:35
    This is a very spiritually weighty moment,
  • 00:51:37
    and I feel like I'm forgetting something
  • 00:51:39
    and I'm not thinking right. Hold on, hold on.
  • 00:51:45
    When you go get that child,
  • 00:51:46
    just assume the one that God guides you to
  • 00:51:49
    is the one it is.
  • 00:51:50
    Just grab it, grab that child, come back.
  • 00:51:53
    If there's a logjam and people can't get
  • 00:51:55
    to wherever that child is or wherever
  • 00:51:56
    those packets are in your building,
  • 00:51:58
    they might, "Eh, I'll get it later,"
  • 00:51:59
    and they might just drop off.
  • 00:52:00
    So when you go see one, just grab it immediately.
  • 00:52:04
    Let me pray for us, and then --
  • 00:52:06
    and then I'll tell what we're going to do in our rooms.
  • 00:52:08
    You know, we're going to do?
  • 00:52:11
    We're going to go get Jesus is what we're going to do.
  • 00:52:13
    We're going to get Jesus. Those things are Him.
  • 00:52:16
    Those children are Him, that's who they are.
  • 00:52:20
    We don't have a lot of goals here at Crossroads.
  • 00:52:22
    We don't have attendance goals.
  • 00:52:23
    We don't have budget goals.
  • 00:52:24
    We have a budget, we don't like, "This year we want to hit this."
  • 00:52:27
    We don't have a lot of goals around here.
  • 00:52:29
    I have a goal for this weekend.
  • 00:52:30
    If we hit 5100 kids,
  • 00:52:32
    we will take care of every child in Nicaragua
  • 00:52:34
    that Compassion has, all of them.
  • 00:52:36
    We'll just bless the entire country. 5100.
  • 00:52:40
    I want 5100. Who wants 5100? Who wants it?
  • 00:52:42
    Lib and I are blessed. We are.
  • 00:52:45
    We're going to take another child this week.
  • 00:52:47
    And I ask you, man, just take care of one of God's kids
  • 00:52:52
    and take care of your future.
  • 00:52:54
    Lord, I thank you for the opportunity
  • 00:52:57
    to partner with a great organization like Compassion.
  • 00:53:00
    And God, would You what your children do right now?
  • 00:53:03
    And I mean, the children in all of our rooms right now.
  • 00:53:05
    Watch what we do right now.
  • 00:53:07
    Would You honor those who are trying to honor You? Amen.
  • 00:53:13
    - I think we'd all say we want God to use us, right?
  • 00:53:16
    And I think we'd all say we want to change the world.
  • 00:53:19
    Hey, there are moments where you can say yes to that,
  • 00:53:22
    where that can not just be an idea,
  • 00:53:24
    but it can be something you live into.
  • 00:53:27
    I don't know what I expected
  • 00:53:29
    when I heard about Compassion.
  • 00:53:31
    I don't know what I thought it was that they actually did.
  • 00:53:34
    I thought it was, you know, useful, it was helpful.
  • 00:53:37
    But I'll tell you, I couldn't have been more wrong
  • 00:53:40
    or more undersold this.
  • 00:53:42
    A few months ago, I got to visit Nicaragua
  • 00:53:44
    and visit and meet the girl that I've been sponsoring,
  • 00:53:47
    Natalie, getting to see where she lived,
  • 00:53:50
    getting to see the way that she grew up
  • 00:53:52
    in circumstances that by any one's standards
  • 00:53:55
    would be considered extreme poverty,
  • 00:53:58
    and how she has hope for the future.
  • 00:54:02
    How she believes something about herself
  • 00:54:05
    and the potential that's available to her
  • 00:54:07
    because someone thousands of miles away said,
  • 00:54:11
    "Yes, I want to be a part of your story."
  • 00:54:14
    That's what we're signing up for.
  • 00:54:16
    It's not just to send money,
  • 00:54:17
    it's to sign up for a relationship.
  • 00:54:20
    It's to sign up to be a vote of confidence
  • 00:54:22
    and faith and trust that, man,
  • 00:54:25
    there are bright futures ahead for this kid.
  • 00:54:27
    So don't tune out. Don't check out.
  • 00:54:31
    Instead, lean in, say yes to God using you.
  • 00:54:35
    This is personal for me.
  • 00:54:37
    I want to see tens of thousands of kids' futures changed
  • 00:54:41
    because a group of people called Crossroads said yes.
  • 00:54:46
    So, if you're feeling any sort of tug,
  • 00:54:49
    I want you to lean in
  • 00:54:51
    and head to Crossroads.net/Compassion.
  • 00:54:53
    Right there on the screen
  • 00:54:55
    you'll see the button that just says sponsor.
  • 00:54:57
    Once you click on that, you're going to have the chance
  • 00:54:59
    to look over the names and faces
  • 00:55:02
    of thousands of kids who you can help support,
  • 00:55:06
    who you can help encourage,
  • 00:55:07
    who you can write with regularly
  • 00:55:10
    and tell them who they are,
  • 00:55:11
    and that the future for them is bright,
  • 00:55:14
    because it is and because it can be
  • 00:55:17
    when you and I step in, when you and I lean in
  • 00:55:22
    to help see transformation and new hope
  • 00:55:25
    come to families in Central America.
  • 00:56:13
    Here's what we're saying.
  • 00:57:49
    Lord, all of this is response
  • 00:57:51
    to what You've done, who You are.
  • 00:58:19
    Lord, we respond to you right now
  • 00:58:23
    and says send us out as light carriers
  • 00:58:25
    to carry your life in your hope,
  • 00:58:29
    put into action these words.
  • 01:00:17
    - I see blank spots on the walls where I am.
  • 01:00:20
    That's why I love being a part of our church.
  • 01:00:23
    That's why I love being in ministry with you.
  • 01:00:25
    We don't, again, just think about things, we do things.
  • 01:00:28
    That's great.
  • 01:00:29
    So when you bring that back,
  • 01:00:31
    make sure you write it down.
  • 01:00:32
    If you only give a couple sentences
  • 01:00:34
    for your very first letter, that's okay.
  • 01:00:36
    Make sure, as you put it in and do all the information,
  • 01:00:38
    seal it really well because if your photo
  • 01:00:40
    or something falls out then we can't do anything about that.
  • 01:00:43
    Compassion has changed their systems.
  • 01:00:45
    This is good, friends.
  • 01:00:46
    This is actually when we are the body of Christ.
  • 01:00:49
    This is when we act as family toward our family.
  • 01:00:54
    Why don't we all stand again
  • 01:00:56
    and we're going to -- we got another song here, right?
  • 01:00:58
    We got another song. We got a little time.
  • 01:01:00
    So let's sing here.
  • 01:01:01
    And then when we're done on your way out,
  • 01:01:04
    you'll drop those things off in the containers in the atrium.
  • 01:01:07
    All right, let's thank God for allowing us
  • 01:01:10
    to be part of this right now.
  • 01:01:14
    - Sing this together. You reign.
  • 01:01:59
    - Let's sing this, sing, holy, there's no one like Him.
  • 01:02:04
    No one before Him.
  • 01:02:05
    And so, God, right now we seal this moment
  • 01:02:08
    to say in my heart, I want no one else on your throne.
  • 01:02:12
    I want no one else, no one else on the throne of my heart.
  • 01:02:16
    And all I do, whether it's with my hands, my mouth,
  • 01:02:20
    my feet, my bank account, I want it all
  • 01:02:25
    to be response to who You are. Sing Holy.
  • 01:03:03
    - There was a video that I was going to show in my talk
  • 01:03:06
    and I thought I was more pinched on time than I was.
  • 01:03:08
    Maybe we could play this while you just play in the back.
  • 01:03:11
    See if our video guys can get it up.
  • 01:03:12
    This is the video, and this is meant as encouraging.
  • 01:03:14
    This is what's going to happen with you and your children.
  • 01:03:19
    This was, gosh, six years or so ago.
  • 01:03:22
    We had somebody found out that they were going
  • 01:03:25
    to a part of a part of South America
  • 01:03:28
    or Central America where their child was.
  • 01:03:30
    So they told them, "Hey, I've got this backpack.
  • 01:03:33
    Would you check it as luggage?
  • 01:03:34
    Would you take the backpack and find my child."
  • 01:03:38
    And Compassion helped with this.
  • 01:03:39
    "Find my child and and give them this backpack.
  • 01:03:42
    I just want to bless them."
  • 01:03:44
    And somebody there had a camera
  • 01:03:47
    and they they took a video of the girl
  • 01:03:50
    who had gotten this backpack,
  • 01:03:51
    who'd been in communication with her sponsor.
  • 01:03:55
    And I want to make sure as a sign
  • 01:03:57
    of the impact that you're about to have.
  • 01:03:59
    Let's roll that right now, if we could.
  • 01:04:03
    - Hola, Victoria. - Hello, dear Victoria.
  • 01:04:05
    - [speaking Spanish]
  • 01:04:08
    - Thank you for the gift that you sent me.
  • 01:04:12
    May God for many blessings in your family.
  • 01:04:16
    Thank you for being my sponsor and my friend for me.
  • 01:04:21
    May God bless you.
  • 01:04:24
    May God bless you and your family.
  • 01:04:26
    [translating to Spanish]
  • 01:04:30
    May God pour many blessings on your family.
  • 01:04:32
    I love you very much. Have a Merry Christmas.
  • 01:04:38
    Have a Merry Christmas with your family full of health.
  • 01:04:43
    - Gracias. - Thank you.
  • 01:04:51
    - It's pretty amazing.
  • 01:04:52
    You're going to have children having that reaction
  • 01:04:55
    when they hear your name.
  • 01:04:58
    Am I trying to pull heartstrings?
  • 01:05:00
    Maybe a little bit.
  • 01:05:04
    I make no apologies.
  • 01:05:06
    I'll do whatever I can to get you
  • 01:05:08
    to honor the will of God.
  • 01:05:09
    I'll do whatever I can to get you
  • 01:05:10
    out of your American doldrums of justifying your current.
  • 01:05:13
    I'll fight for those kids, and we will too.
  • 01:05:17
    We will too.
  • 01:05:19
    And it's an honor and it's a blessing to do that.
  • 01:05:21
    Let's sing this right now
  • 01:05:23
    and then you're released whenever you want
  • 01:05:24
    and drop those packets off.
  • 01:05:26
    Thanks for being part of our team.
  • 01:07:47
    - Great. Great.
  • 01:07:53
    - Thank you so much for joining this weekend.
  • 01:07:55
    I think this is a really, really special time
  • 01:07:57
    and it could change the lives
  • 01:08:00
    of children all over the world.
  • 01:08:01
    Don't forget to join us next weekend
  • 01:08:03
    as Brian Tome talks about the power of movement.

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 part of the Bible Challenge, so your questions are based on specific Bible passages from the weekend message. Each week, your group will discover what God might be saying to you, and how you can respond through a group discussion.

  1. What is the kindest thing someone did for you this week?

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

  3. How has someone else’s compassion impacted your life?

  4. What leads you to act compassionately towards others?

  5. What barriers do you face when bringing compassion into action?

  6. What is one specific way you can choose compassion this week?

  7. Let’s end with prayer. You can say something like, “Jesus, thank you for your compassion for us. Thank you for seeing us in our darkest moments. Give us your soft heart. Help us see the people around us the same way you see us. Amen.”

More from the Weekend

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

  • In what moments is it most difficult for you to be compassionate? What makes those situations particularly hard for you?
  • Who comes to mind as someone in your life who might need to experience some compassion from you? How can you take action on that?

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

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Got it! Enjoy your discussion.


Jun 4, 2023 1 hr 8 mins 13 sec

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