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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads
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00:00:03
and thanks for
joining us online today.
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We're a church made
up of normal people
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all over the globe that
meet online and in person,
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in church buildings and homes,
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coffee shops, bars
and even prisons.
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My name is Andy.
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I'm the community pastor
for Crossroads Anywhere,
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and I'm going to
tell you a little bit
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about what you can
expect from today.
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00:00:20
In just a moment, my
buddy Justin and the band
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will do what followers
of Jesus have done
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for thousands of
years, use music
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to help connect us with God.
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For us online,
that means this is
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more than just
a Spotify playlist.
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It's a chance to connect with
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the Creator of the
Universe wherever we are.
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Then we're going to hear from
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our senior pastor Brian Tome
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about some really exciting
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and really important things
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coming up for our entire church.
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Pro tip make sure
you don't skip over this.
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And then you're
going to hear from
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one of our teaching pastors,
Chuck Mingo,
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on how you can hear from God.
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Let's start right now.
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- Well, hey everyone,
welcome to Crossroads.
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Whether you're
online or in the room,
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we're so glad you're
here. How are we doing?
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How are we doing today?
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Great. Hey, we're in
week two of our series,
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How to Hear from God.
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Maybe you hear that
phrase and you go,
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"Man, I love that,
like, hearing from God
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is a thing that that
happens to me daily."
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Maybe you're on
the other end of that
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and you're like, "I don't
really hear from God at all."
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Well, I want to encourage
you and all of us
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that there's a God who
wants deep connection with us.
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It's true. He wants to be close,
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and He wants us to
know that He's close.
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And one of the ways
that we get to spend
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some time with Him
is through this thing
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called worship and music,
singing songs to Him.
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So I want you to stand
up on your feet right now
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as we sing to and about
a God who loves us
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and sees us and is with us.
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Come on, let's sing to Him.
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- Hey. When you came in
today, you were given a light.
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I want you to go ahead
and take that light out.
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Don't turn it on yet,
but just take it out.
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00:11:43
If you didn't get a light,
just grab your phone
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00:11:46
and get ready to
use your flashlight.
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00:11:50
In a second, we're going
to see a series of questions.
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00:11:54
And if the answer is
yes to the questions,
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I want you to simply
turn your light on.
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If it's not, just
keep your light off.
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00:12:02
So let's just have
a test run real quick
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00:12:04
so we're all on the same page.
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Turn your light on if you
grew up eating Fruity Pebbles.
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Okay. Nice. All right,
turn your light back off.
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Turn your light on if you
wear shoes with no socks.
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That's -- come on.
I love the boldness.
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I'm secretly thinking
things about you right now.
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You can turn your light off.
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We're going to have
some questions like that
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show up on the screen,
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and I want you to
answer honestly.
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There'll be some
fun, funny questions.
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There'll be some
more serious questions.
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I just want you to
take a minute to opt in.
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Just opt in to the questions.
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Let's see what those are now.
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- I love the honesty
in this room.
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If I had a light in my
hand, I would have
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put it up for that last one too.
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There are moments I
felt that God was distant,
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that He wasn't
close, and I'm sure
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we've all felt
that or feel that.
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I think what's
important for us to know
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is that there's a
God that we serve,
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He's the same
God that we've seen
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throughout generations.
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He's the same God as we've read
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in the Old Testament, in
the New and in the now.
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He's the same God who
who looked after people
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in the past, who's
still looking after,
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looking after each
and every one of us.
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I think about the
Scripture in Hebrews 13:5
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when He says,
"I'll never leave you
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nor forsake you."
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He means that, and
He's always meant that.
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I wish we could ask
people like Moses and David
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and Jacob if God was faithful,
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or if they felt distant
from God ever.
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I'm sure they would
say yes, and I'm sure that
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they would say, "God
was always with me."
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I want you to think about that
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as we continue to sing
that the Lord is with you.
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Let's sing together.
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- If that you, if you're in
need of something from God,
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just put your hands out
as we call out to Him.
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- Now those words are true,
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we're standing
on Your faithfulness.
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God, we're standing on every
word that you've promised.
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And maybe sometimes those
words we felt have fallen short.
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So we stand here
right now, God, and say,
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"We need You, God. We need
You to show us where You are.
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Show us what
you're saying to us.
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Show us what you're
putting in front of us
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to go after, Lord."
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God, if there's anything,
we need it more
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in this time, it's more of You,
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more of You, more
of You, more of You.
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Will we experience that today,
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more of Your presence,
more of Your truth,
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more of Your faithfulness
that can carry us,
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it can help us, God. That's
what we're leaning on.
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God, You're faithful and we
thank You for being faithful.
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In Jesus's name we
pray. Amen? Amen.
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3, 2, 1.
Ignition sequence start.
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[engines firing]
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[typing]
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[Music: Let the New Begin
by We are CHPTRS]
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Won’t give up
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Won’t give in
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Take everything we have
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and let the new begin
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- That's one small step for man;
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one giant leap for mankind.
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- We're about to push for 10X,
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10X spiritual
growth in your life,
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10x spiritual growth in our
community of Crossroads,
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and 10X in the Kingdom of God
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for what God is asking us to do.
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I believe this is going to be
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the most important
six weeks of my life.
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00:24:47
I believe it's going to
be the most important
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six weeks for our church's life.
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00:24:51
And I think,
if you let it, it'll be
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the most important
six weeks for your life.
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00:24:56
I think you can 10X
your ability to sense God,
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to be on His page and to
have His spiritual power.
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00:25:02
We're going to have
a multifaceted process,
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00:25:05
a bunch of different
angles and experiences
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00:25:08
to get you deeper with God
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and have Him come alive in you.
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00:25:12
And as we
personally get revived,
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our church is
going to get revived
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and we could impact 10X
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what God wants us
to do in the Kingdom.
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That's what I'm asking for you.
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That's what God's asking for us.
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He's been pushing on us,
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and I'm pushing on
you a little bit right now,
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just like God's
been pushing on me
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for quite some time
about making this happen.
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This is going to be great,
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it's going to be hard,
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00:25:35
and it's going to be important.
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00:25:36
I'm asking you to clear
your calendar for six weeks.
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Make it a priority
to get to church.
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For six weeks try the things
we're giving you as tools:
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a guide, a prayer experience,
discussions.
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Do the thing and see
how God may use it.
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It's going to end
with us being able to make
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a financial commitment
above and beyond
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what we regularly
give for three years.
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That's just a part of it,
because the whole thing
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is about our personal
spiritual growth
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and the potency of our church.
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00:26:09
This is going to change the way
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you and I interact with God.
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00:26:14
This is going to change the way
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you and I are used by God.
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We believe this.
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He's called us to this.
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Let's lean into the push
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and let's do
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what God's asking us to do.
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Let's go.
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- Let's go, let's go.
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00:26:30
I like locker room Brian.
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You guys like locker room Brian?
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I like that. One of the reasons
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I'm at this church is
because God continues
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to call this community
to go in bold directions,
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and we say, yes.
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I'm excited about The Push.
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And I want to just give you
context on what this is about.
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Brian just casted that vision.
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This is about our
church coming together
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and pushing into
what God has for us
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over the next ten years.
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00:26:56
We want a 10X
our Kingdom impact.
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00:26:58
We want 10X of what God
would do through Crossroads
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00:27:01
first and foremost,
through you personally.
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00:27:03
This is about personal revival.
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00:27:05
This is about you
personally going
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to a new place
with God, and also
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what God would
do in our community.
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00:27:10
It's really about us
going to a new place.
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00:27:12
And as you think
about what is a push,
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00:27:14
I want you to think
about it this way.
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00:27:16
It is a spiritual journey
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that ends with a
financial commitment.
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00:27:19
That's what The Push is.
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00:27:21
And so thinking about analogies,
if you've been around Crossroads
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00:27:24
and you've done these
things called Journeys,
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00:27:26
you know what that's
like when all of us
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00:27:28
get sweet guides
or whatever it is
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00:27:29
we're doing in the app,
everybody gets in a group
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00:27:32
and we're all kind of
focused in the same direction.
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00:27:34
We've done some of these
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00:27:35
and they've been
incredibly powerful.
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00:27:36
How many people were
here for the Free Journey?
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00:27:38
People remember that?
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00:27:39
The Free Journey was all around
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00:27:41
being free from
false identities.
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00:27:43
We also did a
Journey called Grow.
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00:27:44
We did one on Play & Purpose.
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00:27:46
We did one that
was really impactful
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00:27:47
in my life called Brave.
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00:27:49
And every time we've
done these Journeys,
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00:27:51
yeah, people remember that one.
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00:27:52
Every time we've
done these Journeys,
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00:27:53
God has done something
in our lives as a community.
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00:27:56
It's also, The Push
is also partially
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00:27:59
like a financial campaign.
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00:28:00
Crossroads has done
four financial campaigns.
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00:28:02
My wife, Maria, and I have
been a part of three of them.
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00:28:05
And every time it has pushed
our church into new territory.
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00:28:09
Honestly, everyone here,
if you're sitting in a seat,
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00:28:12
if you're watching
online, a big reason is
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00:28:14
because people
sacrificially gave so that
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00:28:16
you could have a place
to connect with God.
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00:28:18
This is something that God does
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00:28:20
over and over again
in our community,
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00:28:21
and He's doing it again.
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00:28:22
Let me just say this.
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00:28:24
I know that you
might be freaking out
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00:28:25
about the money thing.
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00:28:26
Don't freak out about money.
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00:28:28
Seriously, just
give yourself the gift
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00:28:31
of going on the Journey.
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00:28:33
In fact, if you want to know
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00:28:34
what we're running after,
we're doing these things
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00:28:36
called mission briefings.
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00:28:37
It's an opportunity to
understand more about
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00:28:39
the territories that
God is asking us
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00:28:41
to expand for His Kingdom.
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00:28:43
So be on the lookout for those
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00:28:44
and take an opportunity to
be connected to one of those.
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00:28:47
There will be some
happening in person.
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00:28:48
There's also going to be
some that are happening online.
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00:28:50
But here's what I
want you to know.
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00:28:52
The most important weekend
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00:28:53
in the history of
Crossroads is happening
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00:28:55
in just a couple of weeks.
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00:28:57
And there's two
things happening.
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00:28:59
First and foremost, on
Thursday, October 10tha
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00:29:02
and then on Sunday,
October 13th,
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00:29:04
we are kicking off the 10X Push.
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00:29:06
And so every
service we're going to
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00:29:08
be giving out these guides.
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00:29:09
We got some special
things planned.
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00:29:11
You will not want to miss it.
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00:29:12
That same weekend,
Friday and Saturday,
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00:29:15
because this is about us all
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00:29:17
personally experiencing revival,
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00:29:19
personally experiencing God,
impacting our lives,
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00:29:21
impacting our families,
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00:29:22
impacting our relationships,
impacting our kids.
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00:29:25
We at Base Camp are throwing
an old school tent revival.
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00:29:28
Anybody experienced
a tent revival before?
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00:29:30
I grew up in a church
where we used to
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00:29:32
do those kinds of
things, and I'm telling you,
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00:29:34
I have seen God show
up in some powerful ways.
-
00:29:36
We are opening it up and saying,
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00:29:38
"God, we want what
You want for us."
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00:29:40
And I'm just encouraging
you, if you can be
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00:29:42
at all of that that's
happening that weekend,
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00:29:44
don't miss it.
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00:29:46
God has something
good for us as a church.
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00:29:48
He has something good
for us as a community,
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00:29:49
and I want you
to be a part of it.
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00:29:51
So you can go
to Crossroads.net
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00:29:52
and get all the
details, all the dates,
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00:29:54
all the times, so
that you can be a part
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00:29:56
of this special, special thing
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00:29:58
that God is doing in our church.
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00:30:00
Well, if you were
here last week,
-
00:30:01
we kicked off a
series, a conversation
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00:30:03
that we're having about
how to hear from God.
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00:30:06
I would love to hear
from God more than I do.
-
00:30:09
Anybody else love
to hear from God?
-
00:30:10
If God's got
something to say to me,
-
00:30:12
I want to hear it.
-
00:30:13
I think if you're here
-
00:30:14
or if you're watching
online, that's why you're here.
-
00:30:17
And maybe we think about this
-
00:30:20
hearing from God
thing in the good times,
-
00:30:23
how God will speak
good things to us.
-
00:30:25
But I love the Olympics,
and one of the things
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00:30:29
that I've been
thinking about a lot
-
00:30:30
is while we focus on
the glory of the Olympics,
-
00:30:34
rightfully so, there's
also another side,
-
00:30:37
and that is the agony of defeat.
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00:30:46
[music: Everybody Hurts
by R.E.M.]
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00:31:24
[music: Turn It Up by Esone]
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00:31:29
- Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.
-
00:31:33
Raygun will never
live down that moment.
-
00:31:34
You know they'll be showing that
-
00:31:36
at every Olympics
forever, right?
-
00:31:37
Like, that'll be in
a space capsule
-
00:31:39
somewhere in outer space.
-
00:31:40
When the aliens
find it, they'll be like,
-
00:31:42
"Everything else made
sense. But what is --
-
00:31:44
What is that? What is that?" So.
-
00:31:46
But the reason I been
thinking about that
-
00:31:48
is because you ever think
about how that must feel
-
00:31:51
to go to the Olympics, you train
-
00:31:53
just like the
person next to you.
-
00:31:54
You train just
like Simone Biles.
-
00:31:56
You train just like
the best swimmer.
-
00:31:58
You train just like, well,
maybe Raygun didn't train,
-
00:32:01
but whatever she did, she did.
-
00:32:03
But you don't come
home with the gold.
-
00:32:06
You come home with defeat.
-
00:32:07
The Olympics is this
place where you have
-
00:32:10
celebration and you have
lamentation coexisting.
-
00:32:15
And man, if I think about
it, that's what life is like.
-
00:32:19
Life is this crazy
combination where we have
-
00:32:23
these high highs, and so
do the people in our lives.
-
00:32:26
But man, all of
us also experience
-
00:32:28
these moments of low lows.
-
00:32:30
There's a verse in Romans 12:15
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00:32:32
that I want to anchor us in,
-
00:32:33
not just this week,
but next week.
-
00:32:34
We're kind of doing a
twofer where we're going to
-
00:32:36
kind of tie these
two ideas together.
-
00:32:38
Romans 12:15
says that we should:
-
00:32:46
So we're going to do
two parter this week.
-
00:32:48
We're going to talk
about lamentation.
-
00:32:50
What does it look like to weep
-
00:32:51
and to weep with those who weep?
-
00:32:54
And then next week we're
going to talk about celebration.
-
00:32:56
And the reason for that
is because both of these
-
00:32:58
are part of everyone's
human experience.
-
00:33:00
Both of these are ways
you can hear from God.
-
00:33:03
And both of these have deep
roots in the people of God.
-
00:33:07
There are spiritual
practices, ancient practices
-
00:33:10
that work when it comes
to being honest about
-
00:33:13
the pain in life
and when it comes
-
00:33:14
to celebrating with God.
-
00:33:16
So we're going to
be leaning into that.
-
00:33:17
So today I've got an
encouragement for you,
-
00:33:20
and I'm going to give you
an assignment at the end.
-
00:33:22
And the encouragement is this.
-
00:33:24
I want you to get all up
in your feelings with God.
-
00:33:30
I want you to practice
getting all up in your feelings,
-
00:33:34
bringing all of that to God.
-
00:33:36
And I believe
that as we do that,
-
00:33:38
we will experience God.
-
00:33:40
And in fact, I would say
there are some things
-
00:33:43
about connection to
God and hearing from God
-
00:33:45
you can only experience
if you're willing
-
00:33:47
to lean in to the
practice of lament.
-
00:33:50
Let's pray. God, I pray
that You would use
-
00:33:53
this time to meet us in
the place that we are.
-
00:33:58
God, I know that some
people who are listening
-
00:34:00
right now are riding
high, and maybe the idea
-
00:34:04
of grief or the idea of
lament seems so far
-
00:34:07
from what they're
experiencing right now.
-
00:34:10
But I also know that
given the size of our church
-
00:34:12
and just the diversity
of our church,
-
00:34:14
there's bound to be
people who are listening
-
00:34:16
to this right now who
are in a low period,
-
00:34:19
who are hurting,
who are grieving,
-
00:34:22
who are wrestling with something
-
00:34:24
in their life that's
causing pain.
-
00:34:27
And so, God, I believe that
-
00:34:28
whether we're at a high or low,
-
00:34:30
You want to teach
us something today.
-
00:34:31
You want to teach us
something about You
-
00:34:33
and will teach us
something about
-
00:34:34
how we can hear from You.
-
00:34:35
And I pray that that would
happen, in Jesus's name, Amen.
-
00:34:40
So what do I mean
when I say lament?
-
00:34:42
Here's a simple definition.
-
00:34:44
Lamenting is dealing
honestly with God's pain --
-
00:34:48
With life's pain.
-
00:34:49
Lamenting is dealing
honestly with life's pain.
-
00:34:53
If I were to meet
you in the atrium
-
00:34:54
and talk to you, see
you at a restaurant
-
00:34:56
and I said, "Hey,
how's it going?"
-
00:34:57
What's your typical
answer to that question?
-
00:34:59
Hey, how are you doing?
How are you doing?
-
00:35:01
We got some people
in here that are like,
-
00:35:02
"Hey, I'm fine." Who
are some I'm fine people?
-
00:35:04
We got some I'm fine people.
-
00:35:05
We got anybody
in here that's like,
-
00:35:07
"I'm doing great,"
like no matter what,
-
00:35:08
they're like doing
great all the time?
-
00:35:10
They could be bleeding
out, but they'll still
-
00:35:12
tell you, "I'm doing
great," right? You know.
-
00:35:13
There's some people
like that, right?
-
00:35:15
Hopefully
you are doing great.
-
00:35:16
You know, then you got
some people that are like,
-
00:35:18
"Hey, I'm maintaining."
We got some maintainers in here.
-
00:35:20
We got some people
who, like, maintain.
-
00:35:22
Then you have
people who say things
-
00:35:23
that I just really
don't understand.
-
00:35:25
Have you ever heard this one?
-
00:35:26
I've asked some
people how they're doing
-
00:35:27
and they say, "Man,
if I was any better,
-
00:35:29
I'd be a twin," have
you ever heard that one?
-
00:35:31
[laughs]
-
00:35:32
I think that's like a Southern
or Midwestern thing.
-
00:35:35
I never heard that
until I got to Cincinnati.
-
00:35:37
But like, I love it, I love it.
-
00:35:38
I kind of get it.
I kind of get it.
-
00:35:40
Then you got people
who say things like,
-
00:35:42
"Fine and dandy,
like cotton candy."
-
00:35:44
Actually, I just made that up.
-
00:35:45
That's pretty
stupid, so hopefully
-
00:35:46
you don't say that when
someone asks you a question.
-
00:35:48
But here's the thing,
you may be great,
-
00:35:50
you may be wonderful,
but there are times,
-
00:35:53
honestly, don't we
answer that question
-
00:35:56
a little bit inauthentically?
-
00:35:58
What would it look
like to be honest
-
00:36:01
about that question?
-
00:36:02
Because here's the
thing, I think one of
-
00:36:04
the knocks on people
of God can be, "Man,
-
00:36:08
we're just so Pollyanna.
-
00:36:10
Everything's always wonderful.
-
00:36:12
I'm blessed and highly favored."
-
00:36:13
And yes, we are,
and we have a lot
-
00:36:15
to celebrate as people of God.
-
00:36:17
And yet there's a
part of us that can feel
-
00:36:20
to people disconnected
from the reality of life.
-
00:36:24
And here's what's
interesting about that
-
00:36:26
as you think about
the way that plays out,
-
00:36:28
particularly in the
American church.
-
00:36:30
There's a great book
called The Prophetic Lament.
-
00:36:33
And in it Soong-Chan
Rah, the author, says this:
-
00:37:07
In fact, I want to show you
this by running some numbers.
-
00:37:10
So I want to take a
look at some numbers
-
00:37:12
around lamentation.
-
00:37:14
So how many people grew
up like Presbyterian, Baptist?
-
00:37:17
You grew up in a church,
-
00:37:19
they had hymnals
in the pews, right?
-
00:37:21
You even know what
a pew is, right? Yeah.
-
00:37:23
Well, in those hymnals,
someone did the math
-
00:37:26
and what they found
is that 80 to 85%
-
00:37:30
of the Baptist and
Presbyterian hymnals
-
00:37:32
are celebratory songs.
-
00:37:34
And again, we have
a lot to celebrate.
-
00:37:36
I don't know if you
know this or not.
-
00:37:37
I believe Jesus
actually died for me,
-
00:37:40
and He rose again,
and that I have
-
00:37:42
a relationship with Jesus.
-
00:37:44
That's worth celebrating.
-
00:37:46
So I'm not saying we
should be sad people,
-
00:37:48
I'm just saying 80-85% are
celebratory happy hymns.
-
00:37:52
Only 15 to 20% of
hymns in the Baptist
-
00:37:56
and in the Presbyterian
Hymnal books
-
00:37:58
are about suffering and pain.
-
00:38:01
Just stop and think about that.
-
00:38:03
Stop and think about
the experiences of life
-
00:38:06
and what that says.
-
00:38:07
And it's actually even
worse when you think about
-
00:38:10
the songs that are sung at
churches like Crossroads.
-
00:38:12
So they looked at
contemporary church,
-
00:38:14
modern worship kind of
songs that we would sing.
-
00:38:17
95% of them are
celebratory, victory,
-
00:38:22
it's all going to
turn out great.
-
00:38:23
It's awesome right now,
Jesus is my best friend.
-
00:38:27
It's great. It's awesome. 95%.
-
00:38:30
Now here's the thing, there
is a songbook in the Bible.
-
00:38:34
It's called the Book of Psalms,
-
00:38:36
and 50% of the
Psalms are lament.
-
00:38:43
I'm just going to say
Jesus was formed
-
00:38:47
by songs where
50% of them dealt with
-
00:38:49
the suffering and
the pain of life.
-
00:38:52
You and I are being
formed by only 5%.
-
00:38:56
I think there's a problem.
-
00:38:58
And I think I'm responsible.
-
00:39:02
As a pastor I'm responsible.
-
00:39:04
I'm giving this message
because I believe
-
00:39:06
we run the risk of
being malformed
-
00:39:08
if we don't talk about
-
00:39:09
how to face pain
honestly with God.
-
00:39:12
In fact, I'm giving this message
-
00:39:14
because a friend of
mine challenged me.
-
00:39:16
He said, "Chuck,
I've heard you talk
-
00:39:18
and preach about
a lot of things.
-
00:39:19
I've never heard you
give a message on grief."
-
00:39:22
And at first I wanted
to be defensive.
-
00:39:24
And then I was like, "You
know what? You're right."
-
00:39:26
In all the years that
I've been speaking,
-
00:39:28
I don't think I've ever
given a message on grief.
-
00:39:30
And I was like, "You know what?
-
00:39:31
When I have an opportunity,
-
00:39:33
I'm going to change
that," because again,
-
00:39:35
I just know what life
is and what life brings.
-
00:39:38
And I think a lot of
us would say, "Yeah,
-
00:39:40
I can use some
formation on how to feel
-
00:39:43
pain honestly with God."
-
00:39:45
Because here's the thing,
when we don't lament,
-
00:39:48
that pain goes somewhere.
-
00:39:50
Somebody put it
really well, they said,
-
00:39:52
"Those who do not
turn to face their pain
-
00:39:54
are prone to impose it."
Hurt people hurt people.
-
00:40:00
And I would argue
you either impose it
-
00:40:04
or sometimes even
worse, you ingest it.
-
00:40:08
That some of the
anxiety, not all;
-
00:40:10
some of the depression, not all;
-
00:40:11
some of the addiction, not all;
-
00:40:13
but some of it is because
-
00:40:15
we haven't learned
how to deal with pain,
-
00:40:18
how to deal with
it in a healthy way.
-
00:40:20
I mean, basically,
we have to think about
-
00:40:22
what's the spiritual
alternative here.
-
00:40:24
And the spiritual alternative is
-
00:40:26
you get all up in your
feelings with God.
-
00:40:27
When it comes to pain, you
really only have four options.
-
00:40:30
You can ignore it, you
can complain about it,
-
00:40:33
you can feel it, or you
can feel it with God.
-
00:40:37
And I want to submit to you that
-
00:40:39
feeling pain with God
is a spiritual practice.
-
00:40:43
It's a lost art,
but it's one I want
-
00:40:45
to help us reclaim today.
-
00:40:48
Because the Bible is full of
people that we call heroes,
-
00:40:51
who understand that
life has to include lament.
-
00:40:56
I'll give you some
examples. Elijah.
-
00:40:58
Elijah is an amazing
prophet in the Old Testament.
-
00:41:00
Right after his highest
moment of victory,
-
00:41:03
he's won a victory for God.
-
00:41:04
There's been all these prophets
that were false prophets.
-
00:41:07
They all get slaughtered.
-
00:41:08
Like, he's ready to
clean house, and yet
-
00:41:10
the Queen, Jezebel,
threatens his life.
-
00:41:13
And Elijah runs
to the wilderness,
-
00:41:15
afraid for his
life, feeling alone.
-
00:41:17
This is what he says
in 1 Kings 19:4, he says:
-
00:41:25
This is God's hero saying,
"God, I feel so alone.
-
00:41:29
I feel in so much pain.
-
00:41:31
I would rather you
just take my life."
-
00:41:35
If you know the story of Job.
-
00:41:37
Job is a person who
suffered immense pain,
-
00:41:41
immense pain in the Bible.
-
00:41:43
And Job says this honestly
in Job 3:16, he says:
-
00:41:46
Or why was I not as
a hidden stillborn child,
-
00:41:50
as infants who
never see the light?
-
00:41:53
Job says, "God,
if this is the life
-
00:41:54
that you drew up for
me, why was I even born?
-
00:41:58
It would have been better
for me not to even be born."
-
00:42:02
Jeremiah the
prophet, by the way,
-
00:42:04
it kind of sucked
to be a prophet.
-
00:42:06
I don't know if you're
seeing that as a trend.
-
00:42:08
Like, I know
some of us are like,
-
00:42:09
"Man, I want to be a prophet."
-
00:42:11
Good on you. Good on you.
-
00:42:13
Jeremiah was despised.
-
00:42:15
His message from
God wasn't popular.
-
00:42:17
And at one point they
threw him into a well to die.
-
00:42:20
And Jeremiah, in
that place of difficulty,
-
00:42:22
says this in Jeremiah 20:14:
-
00:42:30
I'm reading these to
you so you can see that
-
00:42:33
the heroes of our faith
understood lament,
-
00:42:36
and were willing
to be honest about
-
00:42:38
the painful moments with God.
-
00:42:40
In fact, you could say
-
00:42:41
Jeremiah wrote the
book on on lament.
-
00:42:44
He literally did.
-
00:42:45
There's a book in the
Bible called Lamentation,
-
00:42:47
and it's five poems
that Jeremiah wrote
-
00:42:50
after the city where he lived
-
00:42:52
was utterly devastated
by an enemy.
-
00:42:54
Can you imagine?
I'm in Cincinnati.
-
00:42:55
I know there's people
watching from other places,
-
00:42:57
but can you imagine
what if in the last 48 hours
-
00:43:01
Cincinnati had been decimated?
-
00:43:03
Not the football team?
That's a whole other story.
-
00:43:09
I'm talking about the city.
-
00:43:11
I'm saying, what if the city had
-
00:43:12
an army run through it?
-
00:43:14
And the army that ran through it
-
00:43:15
literally was slaughtering
kids on the street.
-
00:43:17
There was bloodshed
and we were left
-
00:43:19
in the rubble of the city.
-
00:43:20
This is the situation
in which Jeremiah
-
00:43:23
writes the book of Lamentation,
-
00:43:25
a place of deep, deep pain.
-
00:43:27
And as I read that book,
I see for us a roadmap,
-
00:43:31
a roadmap for how
we can deal with pain
-
00:43:34
honestly before God.
-
00:43:36
Four things that I see as
practices of lamentation.
-
00:43:39
First is you need to
state your complaint.
-
00:43:43
State your complaint.
-
00:43:45
Look at what it says in
Jeremiah 1:20, he says:
-
00:43:56
In the streets the
sword bereaves.
-
00:43:58
There's been so much
violence that even
-
00:44:00
the weapons of violence
are sad, he's saying.
-
00:44:05
And then he says this in
Lamentations 2:5, he says;
-
00:44:22
I'm so glad that words
like this are in the Bible,
-
00:44:25
because you notice that
Jeremiah in that last verse
-
00:44:27
is saying, "God, it's almost
like You are our enemy.
-
00:44:31
It's almost like You
have been the one
-
00:44:33
that wanted to
bring this pain on us."
-
00:44:35
I love the honesty of
these heroes of faith
-
00:44:39
because I don't
think it's heretical
-
00:44:41
to be direct and
honest with God.
-
00:44:44
I think God can take it.
-
00:44:46
And I think God desires for us
-
00:44:48
to be honest with
Him about the things
-
00:44:51
that are struggling,
-
00:44:52
the things that
are hard in our life.
-
00:44:54
I think it's okay for
you to say, "God,
-
00:44:57
I committed to this marriage
-
00:44:59
and I kept my end of the deal,
-
00:45:02
but this person betrayed me.
-
00:45:04
What am I to do with that?"
-
00:45:05
I think that's the kind of
honesty God wants from us.
-
00:45:08
I think it's okay for
you to say, "God,
-
00:45:10
You know that we want children.
-
00:45:12
Why is it that we had
another miscarriage?
-
00:45:15
God, what are we to think about
-
00:45:16
Your desire for
us to be parents?"
-
00:45:18
It is okay to be
honest with God.
-
00:45:21
It is okay to say
those kind of things.
-
00:45:23
It is okay to state
your complaint.
-
00:45:26
In fact, I think you have to.
-
00:45:28
I think you have to.
-
00:45:29
If I'm going to stay in
relationship with God
-
00:45:32
in the hardest things,
it can't be like it was
-
00:45:34
when I grew up in church.
-
00:45:35
When I grew up in
church, there was
-
00:45:37
a whole set of things
where they were like,
-
00:45:38
"Well, you can't
say that in church.
-
00:45:40
You can't say that in church."
-
00:45:42
And some of the
things I just said up here
-
00:45:44
are things that somebody
would have pulled me
-
00:45:46
to the side and said, "You
can't say that about God.
-
00:45:48
You can't tell God like that.
-
00:45:49
You can't pray like that."
-
00:45:50
I'm telling you you can.
-
00:45:52
And I'm not telling you
only because I believe it,
-
00:45:55
I'm telling you because
I see it in the scriptures.
-
00:45:57
I see it in the people
who God loved.
-
00:45:59
I see it in the people
who God lifts up.
-
00:46:01
I see the people
who God comforts
-
00:46:03
in the midst of their pain.
-
00:46:05
It is okay to state
your complaint.
-
00:46:07
Think about it this
way: any good physician
-
00:46:10
needs to know exactly
where the pain is
-
00:46:12
if they're going to heal it.
-
00:46:15
And here's the thing.
-
00:46:16
God knows where the pain is.
-
00:46:19
You stating it
honestly says to God
-
00:46:22
you see where the pain is too.
-
00:46:24
And when you're willing
to be that honest with God,
-
00:46:26
man, I just think that that is
-
00:46:28
a powerful experience
that can help you
-
00:46:30
hear from God and
experience an intimacy with Him
-
00:46:32
like you can't any other way.
-
00:46:35
So first, state your complaint.
-
00:46:37
Second, express your emotions.
-
00:46:40
Express your emotions.
-
00:46:42
Look at what it says in
Lamentations 2:11,
-
00:46:44
Jeremiah says:
-
00:46:49
And this is so
descriptive. He says:
-
00:47:01
What? It's kind of gross,
-
00:47:03
but it's a very honest
picture of a man
-
00:47:06
who is expressing his emotions.
-
00:47:09
I have this up here
because this has become
-
00:47:12
a really important
thing in my life.
-
00:47:16
It's the feelings wheel.
-
00:47:18
And I don't know about
you, but I need help
-
00:47:21
naming my feelings sometimes.
-
00:47:25
My wife, I love her,
and one of the things
-
00:47:28
I love about her is she has had
-
00:47:30
a steadfast commitment.
-
00:47:32
And I love the analogy she uses.
-
00:47:34
We have two boys.
We have a daughter.
-
00:47:36
She believes this
for all our kids,
-
00:47:37
but specifically when
we just had boys.
-
00:47:39
She said, "Chuck, I'm
determined that my boys
-
00:47:41
will be able to feel
and express emotion.
-
00:47:43
That's really important to me."
-
00:47:45
And she put it -- Yeah,
you can you can clap for that.
-
00:47:47
And she has done
an amazing job at that.
-
00:47:50
In fact, she says it this way,
-
00:47:52
and she got this
analogy somewhere.
-
00:47:53
She said: most men
have about eight crayons
-
00:47:58
in their emotion box.
-
00:48:01
We're happy, we're
mad, or we're hungry.
-
00:48:05
I don't know, I mean,
maybe there's more,
-
00:48:06
but like, that's,
you know, that's --
-
00:48:08
And unfortunately
society and again,
-
00:48:10
this might be gross
generalizations,
-
00:48:12
but I do think this
is true, that society
-
00:48:14
has conditioned men
to be an eight box crayon
-
00:48:18
kind of feeler.
-
00:48:19
And my wife has said,
"I want to raise boys
-
00:48:21
who have all 64
crayons in their box
-
00:48:24
and they can express them."
-
00:48:26
And so we are raising
boys that have the ability
-
00:48:29
to name their emotions.
-
00:48:30
And let me just
tell you, it's working.
-
00:48:32
Sometimes it's
working way too well.
-
00:48:33
My sons say things to
me where I'm just like, I --
-
00:48:36
Wow. I -- Okay.
Wait, let me go get
-
00:48:39
the feelings wheel and
let me catch up to you
-
00:48:41
in terms of how you're feeling."
-
00:48:43
I know I need tools
like this to help me
-
00:48:46
to be honest about my
emotions, because sadly,
-
00:48:49
some of us grew up in families
-
00:48:51
where this was suppressed.
-
00:48:54
And I want to just lament that.
-
00:48:55
I just want to say
that if you grew up in
-
00:48:57
a family where
you were limited in
-
00:48:59
the emotions you were
allowed to express,
-
00:49:01
that was not God's heart
for you, man or woman.
-
00:49:05
That was not
God's heart for you,
-
00:49:07
and that there is
something powerful about
-
00:49:09
us opening up to God and
being able to feel with God.
-
00:49:14
In fact, I want to do
an exercise right now
-
00:49:15
to help us with this.
-
00:49:17
So I want you to think
about your last seven days.
-
00:49:19
This is going to be
up on the screen here.
-
00:49:21
And I want to
say right up front,
-
00:49:23
I'm not asking you
to say this out loud.
-
00:49:24
So this is just a
thought exercise,
-
00:49:26
but I want you to think about
-
00:49:28
the last seven
days of your life.
-
00:49:30
And I'd like for you to
identify three emotions
-
00:49:33
from these six that
you felt this week.
-
00:49:35
Maybe this was a great
week and you're like,
-
00:49:37
"Oh man. Yeah, joyful."
-
00:49:39
Maybe something went
your way and you're like,
-
00:49:41
"I did. I did feel powerful."
-
00:49:42
Maybe for you it's
like, "No, I'm scared.
-
00:49:45
There's some stuff in
my life that's uncertain
-
00:49:47
and I don't know.
-
00:49:48
I got a diagnosis or
something happened this week."
-
00:49:50
I want you to name three
emotions that you felt.
-
00:49:55
And so here's the challenge.
-
00:49:57
We're going to expand
this feeling wheel.
-
00:50:00
And now I want you
to name three more.
-
00:50:03
So if you felt powerful,
did you feel like,
-
00:50:07
"Hey, I'm faithful. I'm
following through on something."
-
00:50:10
Did you feel important?
-
00:50:11
Did you feel
hopeful, appreciated,
-
00:50:13
respected or proud?
-
00:50:14
I want you to go a
level deeper and name
-
00:50:17
three more emotions
that you felt this week.
-
00:50:28
Now, for some
of us, this is easy.
-
00:50:31
For others of us,
this is a stretch.
-
00:50:34
And I guess what I
want to say to you is
-
00:50:36
I want to encourage
you to stretch
-
00:50:38
your emotional crayon
box, to think about
-
00:50:42
coming to God with
words and feelings
-
00:50:45
that maybe you've
never expressed to God.
-
00:50:47
Because I believe this.
-
00:50:48
I believe that any time
there is rich lament,
-
00:50:51
it is rich in emotions.
-
00:50:54
So yes, you have to
state your complaint.
-
00:50:55
Be honest for God,
but then you also
-
00:50:58
have to express
your feelings to God
-
00:51:00
and He wants you to
express your feelings to Him.
-
00:51:03
The third thing is
ask God for help.
-
00:51:08
Ask God for help.
-
00:51:10
Look at what it says in
Lamentations 5:21,
-
00:51:12
Jeremiah says:
-
00:51:20
You know, I love
the song that we sang
-
00:51:22
at all of our sites
this weekend,
-
00:51:24
O God, my God, I need you.
-
00:51:26
O God, my God, I need you now.
-
00:51:29
Like, I love that because
it's asking God for help.
-
00:51:33
It's not saying that we
have the pithy answers.
-
00:51:35
It's not necessarily
doing a rote prayer.
-
00:51:37
Although there's nothing
with the rote prayer.
-
00:51:39
But there's something
about just the raw,
-
00:51:41
honest, "Hey, God,
I just need help.
-
00:51:44
God, I just need you
now. I need help."
-
00:51:47
And we see Jeremiah doing this,
-
00:51:49
and I think it's
really powerful.
-
00:51:51
Here's what I've learned
about asking God for help.
-
00:51:53
I think God loves it
when we are specific.
-
00:51:57
I think He appreciates
it when we're persistent.
-
00:52:00
And oftentimes He answers
in ways that are surprising.
-
00:52:06
I was thinking
about that this week
-
00:52:08
as I think about loss and
people who have left my life.
-
00:52:12
This is September and October
-
00:52:14
are interesting
months for me because
-
00:52:18
in both of those months,
not in the same year,
-
00:52:19
but in both of those months,
I lost within a close period,
-
00:52:22
I lost two people that were
really, really special to me.
-
00:52:26
One of them, and some
of you may remember her,
-
00:52:28
her name was Kathy Beecham.
-
00:52:30
And Kathy Beecham was a
leader around Crossroads.
-
00:52:32
And she was like a
spiritual mother to me.
-
00:52:35
And Kathy's birthday
was this week.
-
00:52:39
And so every, every time
when her birthday comes,
-
00:52:42
it's just an opportunity
for me to remember
-
00:52:43
what she meant to me,
what she meant for my life.
-
00:52:45
And and it's like I
miss her, I miss her.
-
00:52:50
And here's what's interesting.
-
00:52:52
I've learned this as
I've gone through grief
-
00:52:56
that you lose the person, right?
-
00:52:59
You can't engage with
them in the way that
-
00:53:01
you could when they
were alive and in the flesh.
-
00:53:03
But you never lose the nuggets
-
00:53:05
and the imprint that
they made on your life.
-
00:53:08
Does that make sense?
-
00:53:09
And so, like, I've not had a
vision of Kathy since she died.
-
00:53:13
I haven't, like, engaged
with the spirit since.
-
00:53:15
That's not what I'm saying.
-
00:53:16
But here's what
has happened often.
-
00:53:19
I've been in a
situation where I'm, like,
-
00:53:22
"Man, I really wish I could
have asked Kathy about this."
-
00:53:26
And God will meet
me in that situation,
-
00:53:29
and He will bring to memory
-
00:53:31
things that Kathy
has said to me.
-
00:53:33
And I don't know if
this happens with you,
-
00:53:35
but I hear Him in her voice.
-
00:53:38
I hear her, like, it's just
like I remember her voice.
-
00:53:40
I remember what
she sounded like.
-
00:53:41
Again, nothing, nothing --
This isn't a woo woo thing.
-
00:53:44
I'm not getting woo woo on you.
-
00:53:45
I'm just saying,
like, this is true.
-
00:53:47
Another thing is coming up is
-
00:53:49
the anniversary of
my father's passing.
-
00:53:52
And actually, I didn't know
-
00:53:53
you were going to be here, Jim.
-
00:53:55
But we're going to
show this picture.
-
00:53:56
I am so thankful, Jim.
-
00:53:57
I think this is the best
gift you ever gave me,
-
00:53:59
guy in the front row who
took this picture is here.
-
00:54:02
It's the best gift
you ever gave me.
-
00:54:06
I love this picture
for so many reasons.
-
00:54:08
One of the reasons I
love this picture is because
-
00:54:10
in the same way that
my wife was committed
-
00:54:13
to raising boys that had
64 crayons in their box,
-
00:54:18
my dad always, always
kissed me on the cheek.
-
00:54:22
He was determined
and my dad did not have
-
00:54:24
that experience in his life.
-
00:54:26
But he was determined
to raise a son who was
-
00:54:28
comfortable showing
affection to his father,
-
00:54:32
and the father showing
affection to his son.
-
00:54:34
And I do the same
thing with my boys.
-
00:54:35
They hate it, but I'll
do it anyway because
-
00:54:37
I just want them
to know it is okay
-
00:54:40
for your father to
kiss you on the cheek.
-
00:54:41
It is okay for your
father to love you
-
00:54:43
and hug you and snuggle
with you, like that is okay.
-
00:54:46
And so I appreciate
that picture.
-
00:54:48
But same thing with my dad.
-
00:54:50
There are things that
I'm experiencing now
-
00:54:51
as my boys get older
and I'm like, "Oh man,
-
00:54:54
I wish I could
have ran to my dad.
-
00:54:55
How crazy was I as a teenager?
-
00:54:57
This would be really
helpful to know, like,
-
00:54:58
what were the boundaries
that you needed with me?
-
00:55:00
And no, I can't. I haven't
had a vision of my dad.
-
00:55:03
No, but I remember the
things my dad taught me
-
00:55:07
and they come to mind.
-
00:55:09
In fact, sometimes
I'm saying things
-
00:55:11
out of my mouth to my
kids and I realize like,
-
00:55:13
Oh, that was,
I'll tell them, like,
-
00:55:15
"That was Pop-Pop.
-
00:55:16
Pop-Pop used to say
that to me all the time.
-
00:55:18
I don't know where
I pulled that from.
-
00:55:19
He said that to me
when I was 17 years old,
-
00:55:21
but it came back."
-
00:55:22
And the reason I'm
bringing this up is because
-
00:55:24
when we ask God for
help, I think one of the things
-
00:55:27
is important, it's not that
-
00:55:29
the situation
necessarily gets fixed.
-
00:55:32
A loss is a loss, and
it will always be a loss.
-
00:55:34
People who are important to us
-
00:55:36
will always be important to us.
-
00:55:37
We will always miss them.
-
00:55:39
But God has a way of
meeting you in your loss
-
00:55:42
when you lament and
when you ask Him for help
-
00:55:45
that truly is healing.
-
00:55:48
And I think God
wants to do that more.
-
00:55:50
And so what I see in
the life of Jeremiah is,
-
00:55:53
as he states his complaint
honestly before God,
-
00:55:55
as he expresses
his emotions to God,
-
00:55:57
and as he just
asks God for help,
-
00:55:59
he gets the supernatural
thing that only happens
-
00:56:03
when you're willing to
face life's pain with God.
-
00:56:07
Jeremiah and you,
even in the midst of
-
00:56:10
the hard things in
life, can rest in trust.
-
00:56:14
You can rest in trust.
-
00:56:16
The book of
Lamentations is written
-
00:56:18
kind of interestingly.
-
00:56:19
So the first and the last poems.
-
00:56:22
There are five of them.
-
00:56:23
The first and the
last poems are really
-
00:56:25
kind of state the complaint,
express the emotions.
-
00:56:28
The second and
the fourth are more of
-
00:56:30
that kind of like, hey, here's
what I'm wrestling with.
-
00:56:32
But the third chapter
in the middle of the book
-
00:56:36
kind of stands as a gem.
-
00:56:38
You can think
about it as a pyramid,
-
00:56:40
and it's all about
God's faithfulness.
-
00:56:42
It's all about
God's faithfulness.
-
00:56:44
I love that on this side
-
00:56:46
there is pain and difficulty.
-
00:56:47
In this side there
is grief and loss.
-
00:56:49
But somewhere in the
middle there's a deep root,
-
00:56:51
a deep stream
that will remind us
-
00:56:54
that we can rest and trust.
-
00:56:55
Because even in the
worst times of our life,
-
00:56:57
our God is still faithful.
-
00:56:59
Look at what he
says in Jeremiah.
-
00:57:01
I mean in Lamentations
3:21-24, he says:
-
00:57:18
He's saying God
is enough for me.
-
00:57:24
There is a place
in the midst of grief,
-
00:57:27
not when you avoid grief, but
when you walk through grief,
-
00:57:30
there is a place of resting
in the trust that says,
-
00:57:32
"God, even though this is hard,
-
00:57:34
You are still faithful.
-
00:57:36
Even though this is
difficult, I am not alone.
-
00:57:39
Even though this is
challenging, You are with me
-
00:57:42
and you will strengthen me."
-
00:57:44
Let me tell you how this
came alive this summer for me.
-
00:57:48
I had the opportunity
to go to Montana
-
00:57:51
for a father/son experience
with my younger son.
-
00:57:54
I did this with my older
son a couple years back
-
00:57:55
and when they turned
13, just really blessed
-
00:57:57
to be a part of an
amazing ministry,
-
00:57:59
New Frontier
Ministries, who does
-
00:58:01
amazing father/son experiences.
-
00:58:02
And so I got to do this
again with my son Samuel.
-
00:58:05
And part of this is
really helping boys
-
00:58:07
understand that the
way to live is a true man
-
00:58:11
is to live fully as a
beloved Son of God.
-
00:58:13
And that Jesus, therefore,
was the perfect man
-
00:58:16
because Jesus perfectly
lived in the love of God,
-
00:58:18
and because of that, He
was able to live as a full man.
-
00:58:21
And so we're kind
of walking the boys
-
00:58:22
through sets of experiences
and whitewater rafting
-
00:58:24
and doing all the
things. It's super cool.
-
00:58:26
But I was there this year
-
00:58:28
and we're doing
these conversations,
-
00:58:30
and one of the
conversations was around
-
00:58:32
how really the way
that God forms us.
-
00:58:34
And I don't think this
is just true for men,
-
00:58:36
but we were talking about
it in the context of men.
-
00:58:38
I think this is true
for everybody,
-
00:58:39
is God forms us
in the wilderness.
-
00:58:43
He forms us when we
step out into the adventure,
-
00:58:45
into the unknown.
-
00:58:46
Think about every
great story that you love.
-
00:58:49
I mean, isn't that the
arc of every great story?
-
00:58:51
The hero leaves
their familiar settings.
-
00:58:52
They step out into the unknown.
-
00:58:54
They face challenge
after challenge
-
00:58:55
and difficulty after difficulty.
-
00:58:56
And it's through
those challenges
-
00:58:58
and those difficulties
that they are shaped
-
00:58:59
and formed into the
hero that we know.
-
00:59:01
And it's the same in our lives.
-
00:59:03
I think that's why
that story resonates
-
00:59:04
in so many of the films
and books that we love.
-
00:59:07
So we're talking about this
and we're talking about how.
-
00:59:10
So we really want to
allow God to grow you,
-
00:59:12
you've got to be willing
to step into the adventure.
-
00:59:14
And as the guy who's leading
this is talking about it,
-
00:59:17
my inner, like, my heart
was just, like, (grunts).
-
00:59:21
I was resistant. I did
not want to hear this.
-
00:59:25
And the reason I
didn't want to hear this
-
00:59:27
is because I feel like
I've been out on the edge
-
00:59:29
a lot lately and I've
been taking bullets
-
00:59:32
and it sucks.
-
00:59:33
I don't want to step
out on an adventure.
-
00:59:35
I mean, literally
I'm like, "God,
-
00:59:36
I don't want to do
another risky thing, I don't."
-
00:59:40
And even like my
tone was affected.
-
00:59:42
I'm just like, man,
what's going on?
-
00:59:43
So one of the
beautiful things is
-
00:59:45
it's a beautiful
setting, like this.
-
00:59:48
And so I was literally
walking out of the house
-
00:59:49
and this was -- this
wasn't the exact view,
-
00:59:51
but it was a mountain
in the distance,
-
00:59:53
beautiful plains,
just a peaceful view.
-
00:59:56
And I had some
time with God alone.
-
00:59:58
And in that time I just
began to say, "God,
-
01:00:01
what's going on in my
heart? What's going on?"
-
01:00:06
And I'm journaling this.
-
01:00:08
And as I'm journaling,
it's almost like
-
01:00:10
God took over the pen.
-
01:00:12
And what began to be written
felt like it was from God.
-
01:00:16
And God said, "The
reason that it's been hard
-
01:00:17
for you to receive
this call to adventure
-
01:00:20
is because this
is the first time
-
01:00:22
you've stopped this year
-
01:00:23
and let yourself
lament the losses."
-
01:00:26
And so I literally,
it was almost like
-
01:00:28
God gave me back the pen.
-
01:00:29
And I remember I
wrote down 12 things,
-
01:00:30
12 things that were hard,
-
01:00:31
12 disappointments this year,
-
01:00:33
just these things that
have been so painful
-
01:00:35
for me to walk through.
-
01:00:37
And the only way I
can describe how I felt
-
01:00:40
on the other side
of that opportunity
-
01:00:42
to lament with God is, you know,
-
01:00:44
when you have a drain
that's been clogged
-
01:00:46
with too much hair and
like before you unplug it,
-
01:00:49
like, it's just nothing's
getting through, right?
-
01:00:52
You know? But then
when you have a chance
-
01:00:53
to de-clog that thing
and you pull it out,
-
01:00:55
man, it just flows, right?
-
01:00:58
And that was what it was like.
-
01:00:59
It was like, man,
everything in me
-
01:01:00
that was kind of like resistant,
-
01:01:02
not able to receive from God.
-
01:01:04
Oh my gosh, my heart
opened up, my heart expanded.
-
01:01:07
And not only was I
able to be a better father
-
01:01:10
to my son that week,
but I got to be a son
-
01:01:13
who was loved by
his Father that week.
-
01:01:15
It was so needed for me.
-
01:01:18
But the pathway to that was
-
01:01:20
I had to sit with
God in the pain.
-
01:01:24
And I think that's what
Jesus is inviting you to do.
-
01:01:27
I think that's what
Jesus is inviting us to do,
-
01:01:28
is to be people who
sit with Him in our pain.
-
01:01:32
Look at what Jesus says
in revelation 3:20, He says:
-
01:01:46
The most intimate
thing you could do
-
01:01:48
when those words
were written was sit down
-
01:01:50
and have a one on
one meal with someone.
-
01:01:51
It was an act of intimacy.
-
01:01:54
And maybe you're in here today
-
01:01:55
and you're living on
the high, life's good,
-
01:01:58
things are rolling.
-
01:01:59
And somebody asks
you how you're doing.
-
01:02:01
And you say, "I'm doing great."
-
01:02:02
It's true. It's really
how you're doing it.
-
01:02:05
But maybe you're in here
and it's not your honest answer.
-
01:02:10
Maybe you've experienced a loss.
-
01:02:11
Maybe life is just hard.
-
01:02:14
Maybe you're just
slogging through
-
01:02:16
and you're like, "I want joy.
-
01:02:18
I don't know when I'm
going to have joy again."
-
01:02:22
I want you to know,
wherever you are,
-
01:02:25
Jesus is knocking at
the door of your heart.
-
01:02:28
There's an invitation
that He has for you.
-
01:02:32
And the invitation is
if you open the door,
-
01:02:35
if you will sit with
Me in the real pain
-
01:02:38
and the real difficulty,
wherever you are in your life,
-
01:02:42
I will come and I will
give you more of Myself.
-
01:02:45
I will give you more of My love.
-
01:02:47
I will give you more of M
-
01:02:49
y insight. I will give
you more of My comfort.
-
01:02:51
I will give you what you need.
-
01:02:53
So my challenge to you this week
-
01:02:55
is to get all up in
your feelings with God.
-
01:03:00
With God.
-
01:03:01
And so here's what
we're going to do.
-
01:03:02
On the screen I got an exercise
-
01:03:05
and I'm going to
invite you to do.
-
01:03:06
Sometime this week
I'm going to ask you
-
01:03:08
to carve out 30 to 60 minutes
-
01:03:11
and actually practice this.
-
01:03:14
And so what that's
going to look like is,
-
01:03:15
and I would say for this
to, you know, to work,
-
01:03:19
I find it's best if
you have a journal
-
01:03:23
or some paper,
something to write with
-
01:03:26
and something where
you can search the internet.
-
01:03:29
I'll tell you why.
-
01:03:32
So what you're going to do is
-
01:03:34
start your journal
with a prayer to God
-
01:03:36
that is stating your complaint.
-
01:03:38
You're just going to
say, "God, here are
-
01:03:39
the specific things
that I'm wrestling with."
-
01:03:41
And I would say pick one thing.
-
01:03:43
Maybe it's a relationship
that is broken.
-
01:03:47
Maybe it's a disappointment
that happened recently.
-
01:03:49
Pick one thing and go deep
with God on that one thing.
-
01:03:53
Maybe take five
minutes, ten minutes
-
01:03:54
just to begin to journal.
State your complaint.
-
01:03:57
Then next, express
your emotions.
-
01:04:00
If you Google feelings
wheel, this will come up.
-
01:04:05
And I want to
encourage you to do that.
-
01:04:07
Print it out, keep
it on your phone,
-
01:04:10
and I want you to go deeper.
-
01:04:12
What are the five, six
emotions that are really
-
01:04:14
how you're feeling about
that specific situation?
-
01:04:17
Don't hold back.
-
01:04:19
And then ask God for help.
-
01:04:22
Think about it this way.
-
01:04:23
If it was a conversation,
and I believe
-
01:04:24
prayer is a
conversation with God,
-
01:04:26
what would you --
How would you respond
-
01:04:28
if God said to you after
you state your complaint,
-
01:04:30
after you express your emotions?
-
01:04:31
If God said, what do you
want me to do for you?
-
01:04:33
How would you
answer that question?
-
01:04:35
Write it down. Write it down.
-
01:04:38
And then I want you
to take an opportunity
-
01:04:40
to rest in trust.
-
01:04:42
What does that look like?
-
01:04:43
Find truths in the
Bible that relate
-
01:04:45
to the thing you're
struggling with.
-
01:04:46
And that's where I think
it's helpful if you have
-
01:04:48
an ability to
search the internet.
-
01:04:50
You can do this
on your Bible app.
-
01:04:51
Some of you know how to
use the tools in your Bible
-
01:04:53
to find verses that are
related to different subjects.
-
01:04:55
Or maybe you have
one of those study Bibles
-
01:04:57
and it has a list of like, hey,
-
01:04:58
if you're dealing with
this, look at these verses.
-
01:05:00
But this is what you want to do.
-
01:05:02
Let's say if you're dealing
with disappointment,
-
01:05:04
I would say put in the search
Bible verses on disappointment.
-
01:05:08
Find one of them
that speaks to you.
-
01:05:10
Write it in your journal.
-
01:05:13
Maybe it's verses
on handling anxiety.
-
01:05:18
Put that in the search.
-
01:05:19
Find a verse that speaks to you.
-
01:05:21
Write it in your journal.
-
01:05:22
This is a very
tangible, tactile way
-
01:05:25
to get up in your
feelings with God.
-
01:05:28
And then I want you to
finish by just sitting in quiet,
-
01:05:32
just being present with
God and being open
-
01:05:35
to what He wants to say to you.
-
01:05:37
This exercise is not
about fixing something.
-
01:05:41
This exercise is
about you experiencing
-
01:05:43
the presence of God.
-
01:05:46
And I think God wants to
show up in a powerful way
-
01:05:48
if you're willing to do this.
-
01:05:49
So I invite you to
stand wherever you are.
-
01:05:51
We're going to sing the song
-
01:05:53
at all of our sites
that we started with,
-
01:05:55
or the song that we
ended with, I should say,
-
01:05:57
The Same God.
-
01:05:58
Maybe for you, this
song can be an entryway
-
01:06:01
into this time of lament.
-
01:06:04
You can go to Spotify.
-
01:06:06
If you look up Same
God, you'll find this song.
-
01:06:08
Maybe you want
to start that time,
-
01:06:09
that 30 to 60 minutes
listening to this song again,
-
01:06:12
letting that be a
place that grounds you
-
01:06:13
as you step into this
exercise, this time with God.
-
01:06:16
I believe God's
going to show up.
-
01:06:17
I believe God's
going to speak to you.
-
01:06:19
I believe God's
going to comfort you.
-
01:06:22
Maybe you'll
experience Him in a way
-
01:06:23
that you never have before.
-
01:06:26
So, God, I pray
that as we do this,
-
01:06:27
as we get ready to
not just hear this Word,
-
01:06:32
but to do it this week, that
we would find it to be true,
-
01:06:38
that you are the same God.
-
01:06:39
You're the same God
that comforted Elijah.
-
01:06:42
You're the same God
that comforted Job.
-
01:06:43
You're the same God
that comforted Jeremiah.
-
01:06:45
You are the same God,
and you will comfort us.
-
01:06:49
I pray this in Jesus's
name. Amen. Let's sing.
-
01:06:57
- Let's sing this with honesty,
-
01:06:59
with openness to the Lord.
-
01:08:53
- One last scripture for you.
-
01:08:55
Jesus says this in
Matthew 5:4, He says:
-
01:08:58
Blessed are those who mourn,
-
01:09:01
for they will be comforted.
-
01:09:03
Comforted by who?
-
01:09:05
I think there's a way in
which we get comforted
-
01:09:07
by the community of believers.
-
01:09:09
I think that's true.
-
01:09:11
But I also think there's
something more powerful,
-
01:09:14
maybe even more personal.
-
01:09:16
We get to be comforted by
the presence of God Himself.
-
01:09:19
A.W. Tozer, a great writer
and thinker, put it this way.
-
01:09:22
He said if we will exalt
the places of pain in our life,
-
01:09:25
we are in the best
position to encounter
-
01:09:28
the fragrance of
the presence of God.
-
01:09:30
I love that. [applause]
-
01:09:34
And my prayer for you
this week would be that
-
01:09:36
you would not just
see God or sense God,
-
01:09:39
but that you would smell God,
-
01:09:42
that you would encounter
the fragrance of God.
-
01:09:46
We have people who
are going to be down front.
-
01:09:48
If there's something in
your life and you're like,
-
01:09:50
"Hey, I love prayer right now,"
you can come down to the front.
-
01:09:52
We'll invite you to do that.
-
01:09:54
Otherwise, I want to
bless you on your way
-
01:09:56
and we will see you next week
-
01:09:58
when we celebrate
with those who celebrate.
-
01:10:00
Hope you can make it!
-
01:10:03
- Hey, thanks so much
for joining us today.
-
01:10:05
Now, I say this all the time,
basically weekly,
-
01:10:07
but Crossroads is a church that
-
01:10:08
you can belong to no
matter where you live.
-
01:10:10
And we love that you're watching
-
01:10:12
and we want you to know
that when you're ready,
-
01:10:14
you can get
plugged in to a group
-
01:10:16
or community around here.
-
01:10:17
We'd love to pray
with you, pray for you,
-
01:10:19
and to get to know you by name.
-
01:10:21
I actually just had
a story this week
-
01:10:23
where there's
a small group of people
-
01:10:24
who've been meeting
together for years,
-
01:10:26
and once a year, once a year,
they get together
-
01:10:28
from all over
the country in one city
-
01:10:30
to connect as
a part of Crossroads.
-
01:10:32
Felicia, it was awesome
to get to meet
-
01:10:34
you and your small group
this week.
-
01:10:36
And if you haven't done so yet,
-
01:10:38
we'd love to connect with you.
-
01:10:39
You can just text
Anywhere to 301301
-
01:10:42
and the Crossroads team
and I would love
-
01:10:43
to get to know you,
get to reach out to you,
-
01:10:45
and send you a free gift
to welcome you
-
01:10:48
as part of our
Crossroads community.
-
01:10:50
Hey, one last thing
before you go.
-
01:10:52
As Brian and Chuck
talked about earlier,
-
01:10:54
we have some really
exciting things coming up
-
01:10:55
in our church with the 10X Push
-
01:10:57
and The Revival at Base Camp.
-
01:10:59
For the 10X Push,
you're going to want
-
01:11:01
one of these custom
printed guidebooks.
-
01:11:03
They follow along
with the teachings
-
01:11:05
and include personal
exercises and content
-
01:11:07
to help you grow each week.
-
01:11:08
So right now, go to
crossroads.net/Anywhere
-
01:11:12
and scan the QR code
on your screen
-
01:11:13
to sign up for a guidebook.
-
01:11:15
Seriously, do it right now.
-
01:11:16
We have to get these in the mail
-
01:11:18
to you by September 27th
for you to get them on time.
-
01:11:20
And they are totally free,
-
01:11:22
shipping, everything
totally free.
-
01:11:24
So go sign up for one
-
01:11:26
and we'll get it
sent right to you.
-
01:11:27
If you live near
a Crossroads building,
-
01:11:29
you can just grab one there
-
01:11:30
as we get closer to
starting The Push.
-
01:11:31
And we really hope to see you at
-
01:11:33
The Revival at Base Camp
next month in Neville, Ohio.
-
01:11:36
We want to see personal
revival in all of us,
-
01:11:39
and we're hoping and
expecting for that to happen.
-
01:11:41
Hey, thanks for joining us.
-
01:11:42
We'll see you right
here next week.