The Ripple Effect of Young Christian Leaders

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- We are the Reiders and we lead something

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called Crossroads Anywhere together.

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Crossroads Anywhere as a community of people

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meeting all over the globe,

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some meeting in physical church buildings

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and others meeting in homes, bars,

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dorms, cafes and online.

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- Yeah, and we are so glad

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you're with us today, wherever you are.

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Crossroads is a movement of people

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all over the globe, and we want to be

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a place you can actually belong,

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not just a thing that you watch,

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no matter where you live or what you believe.

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- And you're joining us today

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in the middle of our summer series.

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We're taking a little bit of a road trip

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and celebrating what God is doing across the map

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and across our whole church.

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And one of the ways that we can celebrate

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is actually through worship,

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which is what we're going to do right now.

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- We do this every single week

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for a lot of reasons, but one of those reasons

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is because God is good and faithful

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and full of love and so many nice things.

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But when we're busy or tired

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or life is overwhelming, it can feel

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really hard to remember that, much less feel it.

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Those things feel like a distant thought

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or just an idea instead of an actual reality.

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So singing words like this help us

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not only remember, but believe it.

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I know it sounds crazy, but when we sing,

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things change, God responds.

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So wherever you are

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and however you're feeling right now,

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whatever life is thrown at you this week,

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turn up your music and let's sing together.

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- Come on, put your hands together.

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Hey, come on, sing it loud.

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Come on, sing it out.

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Voice of Jesus.

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- We know the good news.

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Come on, shout it out.

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- All those words are true.

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I got so many of my friends up here with me.

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Y'all, I want to introduce you to one of them.

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This guy right here, he's the new --

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He's the new guy.

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He's over worship and experience

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for our students here at Oakley.

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Y'all give it up for Jair. Come on.

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- What is up? What's up?

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Man, y'all ready? Are we ready?

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We're just getting started. God is so good.

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I mean, can we just give a big shout

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for our students who came by faith here right now?

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What I'm so encouraged about,

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and I just want to share this with you,

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with all of our church.

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I'm so encouraged to see the fruit

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of this church's labor in our friends up here.

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It's so good and it reminds me of the people

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in my life who paved the way for me

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to know who Jesus is.

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And so that is our job, too.

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We get to pave the way so that we --

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Let me just ask you, if you know who Jesus is,

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my students, just give a big shout for Jesus.

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[cheering] That's the fruit.

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They know who He is. We know Jesus is.

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It reminds me that Jesus tells us

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to come to Him with a child like faith.

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It says in Matthew 18:3, it says

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if you don't come with the faith of a child,

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then you have no part of being

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a part of the Kingdom of God.

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So we need to be reminded that Jesus believes in us.

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He believes in our youth.

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He believes in the old, the young, the middle aged.

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He believes in each one of us to share His Good News.

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So let's keep worshiping together. Come on y'all.

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- Sing this song. Sing this out now I lay.

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- It's only Your power, Lord.

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- Lord, I believe those words.

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Anything good, anything good that has entered my life

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has entered because of you.

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I refuse to think that there's anything

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in this world that could bring me

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true joy and true peace.

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Because this world is not the provider.

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It's not the manufacturer of those things.

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You are. You are the author. The creator.

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You are who I lift my hands and worship right here,

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right now. And I say thank you, Savior.

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Thank you for saving me.

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I'm grateful for this vulnerable space to have with You.

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Maybe there's no other point in my life

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that's this vulnerable.

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And I'm okay with that because you are worthy,

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God, you are my creator

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and I want to be soft in your presence.

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I want a soft heart for you.

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Would You give us all that right here, right now?

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That's who You are.

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It's in Jesus's name we pray. Amen.

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- This summer we're hitting the road

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and navigating a life of faith together.

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Crossroads is one church with many locations,

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and each week we'll use the map to explore

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a different place and story

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and hear the amazing things that God is doing.

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- Hey, I'm Joel.

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- And I'm Devo, and this summer we are hitting the road.

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- Where are we headed today?

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Because I honestly have no idea.

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- We are going to Mason and Florence today.

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- Mason and Florence? - Yep.

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- All right. I'm not a mathematician by any means,

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but geographically, that makes no sense at all.

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- This week the icon is a donut. - Okay.

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- And we're talking about how volunteers run this place.

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So let's go find some donuts and talk to

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some volunteers in Mason and in Florence.

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Well, we are here with two super volunteers,

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Dan and Rachel.

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How did you get involved with Crossroads?

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Tell us how it all started for you.

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- We started in Oakley in the second balcony in the dark.

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Kind of just going in, getting our coffee,

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sitting in our chair and then leaving.

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- Yeah.

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- How in the world did we get from there

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to now you are our two chosen on video people

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talking about volunteers run this place.

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- Yeah. - Yeah.

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I mean, Crossroads is a big place, right?

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And especially even Mason at that time

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wasn't huge like in Oakley, but it still was

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a lot of people we didn't know.

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So it drove home relationship building. Right?

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So and I mean, it's crazy the amount of people

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who were in that hallway and set up,

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people who are family friends still to this day

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that we hang out with. Right?

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So just building these deep connections that,

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you know, it's hard to do in a Sunday

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at the building has been my experience.

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- Over those years, what has kept you going?

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- We think it's important to think about yourself less.

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And when you serve, you're not thinking about yourself.

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And so I think that's important for our family.

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The community we built with volunteers then

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and the community we're building now,

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and our kids are building, like,

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and when they serve,

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they're building their own relationships, like,

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I think community is still the answer

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as to why we keep doing it.

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- In the spirit of volunteering,

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this would not be a volunteer gig without a donut.

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So would you guys like one? - Sure, yeah.

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- Do you have some more of that one you took earlier, too?

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- No, I threw it away. - I was gonna take a hard pass.

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- Well, we are here with

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the community pastor of Florence.

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Our Florence location, Casey Bryant.

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- What's up, Florence?

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- Let's go. And not only are we here with Casey,

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we are here with a volunteer.

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- No, voluntold. - Voluntold.

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- He'll tell you he's voluntold. - That's right.

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Because we're talking about how volunteers

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run this place, but also,

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so you're not uncomfortable because

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Casey just touched the knee of the voluntold.

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I did.

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This is also her spouse, Doug Bryant.

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How are you doing, Doug? - I'm doing well.

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- What's up, guys. Yeah.

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- Well specifically talking this week about volunteers.

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Did you just -- Were you just born

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right into the community pastor role?

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Is that how this all started,

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or what's your specific experience

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with Florence and with volunteering really?

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- Oh, great. Doug and I were volunteering here

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at Oakley and they asked us to be

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part of the launch team.

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So there's like 50 families that they asked

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who were volunteering here.

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Hey, come help us launch Florence.

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And we said, great, we're going to help you.

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We'll give you six months,

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and 12 years later here we are.

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The reason why we stayed, and I think this

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is what's so unique about Crossroads Florence,

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is because it really does feel like family.

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We had this incredible small group.

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We went to this random person's house,

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didn't know a single person, and ended up

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being with that small group for the next,

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I don't know, ten years. It was amazing.

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And a lot of those people in that small group

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also were part of the launch team,

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and we all volunteered together.

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We did life together, so when things in our life

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were at a breaking point, we turned to them.

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We turned to our friends, and they're the ones

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who helped us and guided us because

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they were there.

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And it started off as just this

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random group of eclectic people

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who you wouldn't think would be together.

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But because we were doing church together,

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life together, volunteering together,

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we just kind of clicked.

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- Doug, share a memory of something that happened

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that you remember and look back on

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and just from the beginning.

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- At the beginning when we launched,

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I was on volunteer staff,

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so I didn't have a specific volunteer role.

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Traffic was, it was crazy.

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And so I was helping with the parking team

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and trying to get people out.

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And we're a church, right?

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I can't tell you how many times

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I got flipped off in the parking lot,

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and you just, you just wave, "Hey, have a nice day.

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Have a great day." - Jesus loves you.

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- Yeah. Even as a community pastor,

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I'm still not done volunteering.

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In fact, for the first time ever,

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and I can't believe I did it. I really can't believe I did it.

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I signed up for middle school camp.

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I'm leading a group of eighth grade girls.

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- Awesome. - Yay!

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- You gotta move if you want to grow.

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That's true physically and spiritually.

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This summer, we're looking at six important moves

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you can make to experience God more fully.

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And today we're hearing from Joel

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about the next generation

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from the book of 1 Thessalonians.

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- Well, hey, how's it going?

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We will use this in a little bit.

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But right now, just everyone who's like,

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dang it, it's youth student week.

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You know, I'm just going to threaten you all

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with it right now, you know, just stick around,

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because it's going to be a great one.

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All right, we'll get to this.

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My name is Joel,

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and I am the director of zero through 18.

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And I get to speak sometimes.

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And if I look at all familiar,

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it's because I introduced myself today

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from my acting debut as I've been

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kind of your host all summer with my friend Deborah.

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And day one, day one, they actually

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let me drive that camper. Don't laugh.

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You don't know what's going to happen yet.

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But I did hit a curb and we stopped the whole shoot.

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And most of what you see now

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is somebody else driving it,

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and it's just like a far angle.

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But I got a little bit of shots in there.

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Today as we do talk about navigating

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a life of faith, that's what kind of

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the summer series has talked about.

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Today we're going to talk about that

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you can't navigate a life of faith

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if it's going to stop with your life.

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In fact, if you're going to actually

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make a dent in society, in history,

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then you have to make sure you navigate a life

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of faith that is passed on to

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the lives around you and behind you.

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Today we're going to talk about a God

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who is a God of generations.

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Now, before we get into that,

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there was a study done by Harvard,

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and it said you would pay attention to me longer

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if I showed you a picture of my family.

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And since I plan to go 2.5 hours today,

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here's a picture of my family.

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And this is my wife, Anna.

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We've been married nine years this summer, nine years.

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And after nine years,

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our life got turned upside down

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by that chicken nugget in the picture.

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This is Navy Rae, and she's four months old.

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But we just call her Beans

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because she just farts all the time.

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You thought it was cute? No.

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And Beans, I love that girl so much.

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In fact, a couple days ago,

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she had a used Band-Aid in her mouth,

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and I took -- she's a baby, guys -- don't --

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I took it out and kissed her right on the mouth.

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I mean, there is nothing this girl could do

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that would make me love her less.

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And it's pressing as you probably have

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possibly your own children,

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or maybe you just are a teacher,

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or you're involved with businesses,

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or you know of generations behind you

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as today we talk about a God of generations.

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Let me pray for you and we'll get going.

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God, I'm thrilled to just have breath in my lungs today.

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I'm thrilled for the generations above me

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who have handed their faith on to me.

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God, we as a church are thankful for

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the spiritual parents all around us

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that have passed on their faith to us.

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But let it not stop with us.

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God, go through us to the generations behind us

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and behind them, and to their children,

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to their children's children

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so Your message of truth doesn't stop,

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but just begins with us.

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We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Before we go forward, we've got to go backwards.

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So 380 years ago in Wilsthorpe, England,

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there was a boy, and he was born

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to a teenage mother of 19 years old.

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When the single mom raised the boy to three years old,

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so she was 22, she got an offer from

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a 70 year old man in the village next door.

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He said, "Hey, you can come live with me,

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we'll get married.

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You'll have kind of more prosperity and wellness."

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And it's easy to judge them on from this angle,

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we don't know all things.

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But the man had said, "But the boy can't come with."

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And the mom agreed.

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And so this boy would go live with the grandparents,

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and the boy would have resentment,

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because at three years old you don't know a lot,

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but, you know rejection.

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And so he kind of grew up not knowing this mom.

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And he would go into school

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and this would kind of translate.

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He was known over and over by teacher after teacher

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of three things: lazy, would not learn,

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and good for nothing.

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Lazy, would not learn, good for nothing.

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Until finally a new teacher came to the school

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that we don't know a ton about.

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We know his name. His name was John Houston.

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And we know that he was a devout follower of Jesus.

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And we know that he would look at these students

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and he would not tell them things like,

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you're lazy or you can't learn.

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But he would tell them, "You have a future

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and you have a hope and you have a purpose."

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And eventually these words after days

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turned to months, which turned to years,

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boys like this little boy begin to believe

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the teacher, John Houston.

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In fact, it wasn't long before John Houston

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realized this young man actually had

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a higher intelligence IQ than most people in the class.

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And so he began to invest in him,

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not just academically or even spiritually,

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but financially.

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And do we have any teachers in the room? Yes.

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John Houston took his small teacher's salary

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from back in the day and helped pay for this,

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even this little boy's college.

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And he made sure he would use his connections

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to go to Trinity and Cambridge.

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And this young man would break every mathematic

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and physics record.

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You would know him today.

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We all would know of him, as Sir Isaac Newton

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is who this young man would grow up to be.

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And we would be floating if it wasn't for this man

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who invented the laws of gravity.

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The joke didn't land.

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Guys, come on, this is how it's going to be all day?

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I'm giving gold here, all right?

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I'm a dad now, and I can do it. All right.

00:29:40

Thank you.

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Now, if you were to go to Isaac Newton's grave,

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it would say across it:

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an intellect close to the divine.

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So like a God like intelligence.

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And I want you to just process this with me.

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The same human, two different verdicts.

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One: lazy, can't learn, good for nothing.

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The other God like intelligence.

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What's the difference in these two verdicts?

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One man who took his calling as a spiritual parent,

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not even his own kids, to step out

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and step forward and to say,

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"I'm going to make sure I pass this

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to the generation behind me."

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One man whose names we don't know, John Houston.

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That's all we know about this man,

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who said, "It's not going to be about me.

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In fact, my whole purpose might not be

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anything I accomplish, but it might be

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who I invest in."

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And because of that, we see a story

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where a generational past is able to happen

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and the world is able to be changed.

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And let me just tell you, if we are going to see

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a dent in just this broken world we live in,

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if we're going to see Crossroads

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through the gospel of Jesus change the world,

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then it might just not be anything we do,

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but it might be who we pass this on to.

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And if this is going to happen,

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if this is going to happen,

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it's going to take an army of John Hustons,

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men and women to step forward as spiritual parents,

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to pass their faith to the generations behind us.

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Now, here's where this is exciting.

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This is not a condemning message.

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This is actually pretty celebratory for the next,

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now I think I got like an hour 50 left,

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I get to brag on just what is happening

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in this church, how you all are doing this,

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how the reason we're here right now

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is because people have passed it down to us,

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and we're going to make sure

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this does not stop with us.

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Now, I do want you to know

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this isn't just like a recommendation.

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This is a biblical mandate, 100%.

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I'll take you back to the very beginning of our Bibles.

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If you have your Bible, if not, I'll have it on the screen.

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I'll take you to the book of Exodus,

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second book of the Bible,

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where we meet a man named Moses.

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Now, Moses is a heavy hitter.

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We probably heard of him.

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He did the Ten Commandments,

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led the exodus of Israelites out,

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the sea thing he split. Yeah, Moses, we know Moses.

00:32:09

God's speaking to Moses because Moses has

00:32:12

this desire to lead his people into the promised land,

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and God has to break it to him that,

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"Hey, it's going to be the generation behind you."

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And imagine if Moses was just like,

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"Well, I guess it stops here then like,

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guess this is all it is."

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But instead God reminds him,

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"I'm the God of generations.

00:32:31

And it's not about Moses. It's about My name,

00:32:33

the God behind each generation."

00:32:35

So this is what God says to Moses in Exodus 3:15.

00:32:38

He says:

00:32:39

Say to the Israelites, "The Lord,

00:32:41

the God of your fathers."

00:32:43

I love the reminder right up front,

00:32:44

"Hey, I was also the God of the generation before you."

00:32:47

"I want you to know the God of Abraham,

00:32:49

the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

00:32:50

Three individuals, but three generations

00:32:53

that this is My name.

00:32:55

I'm the God of generations,

00:32:56

forever the name you shall call me

00:32:58

from generation to generation

00:33:00

to generation to generation.

00:33:02

It's not about any special generation.

00:33:05

It's not about any special time in history.

00:33:08

It's about the God behind each generation

00:33:11

that will move from generation to generation,

00:33:13

whose name has always been true

00:33:15

yesterday, today and will be tomorrow

00:33:18

if we pass it on. Yeah.

00:33:21

Now, I told you this is celebratory.

00:33:23

So let's brag a little bit about

00:33:24

what your church is doing.

00:33:26

Right now at all locations in our Kids' Club,

00:33:30

which is our ministry for kids.

00:33:31

And this is not something somewhere

00:33:33

where they just get dropped off

00:33:34

so you get ministered to, this is a party

00:33:36

where every kid is invited to,

00:33:38

and this is absolutely where

00:33:40

they will hear a message of truth,

00:33:41

the gospel in a language they understand.

00:33:43

However, the reason that 3500 kids

00:33:47

this weekend alone in our Kids' Club

00:33:49

will be able to hear this message

00:33:51

is because 750 adult volunteers will be a part

00:33:55

of just our elementary and below age ministries

00:33:58

at this -- at this church across our locations.

00:34:01

Now, you may not have known this, maybe you do.

00:34:03

Our middle schoolers are in this service right now.

00:34:06

High middle schoolers, great to see you all.

00:34:08

Now in eight days, eight days.

00:34:11

What's happening in eight days, y'all know?

00:34:13

They're not paying attention.

00:34:15

In eight days, some of them said it,

00:34:18

we're taking 1300 farty middle schoolers,

00:34:22

I love y'all, but to camp.

00:34:24

Now again, how do we do that?

00:34:27

How do we pull that off?

00:34:28

How much staff do we have? No, no, no.

00:34:29

It's because 400 adults will give up

00:34:32

a week of vacation to go with us

00:34:35

and take a time off from their own family

00:34:37

to come and invest in this generation.

00:34:40

And we -- signups don't actually close tomorrow

00:34:42

and Crossroads.net/summercamp.

00:34:44

If you're trying to get your middle schooler there,

00:34:46

it might be 1700, and then we'll cold call

00:34:49

100 of you because we need John Houstons,

00:34:52

men and women to be spiritual parents to this generation.

00:34:55

And then last week, last week,

00:35:00

we just got back from high school camp

00:35:02

and we took nearly a thousand high schoolers

00:35:05

to high school camp.

00:35:06

And this is so encouraging to me because

00:35:09

to my knowledge, this is one of

00:35:11

the largest high school camps in the country.

00:35:13

And this is just from our church.

00:35:16

And because we were able to do this,

00:35:18

or sorry, the only reason we were able to do this,

00:35:20

it's not staff, it's not me.

00:35:21

We have a great team of people,

00:35:23

I love what we're doing.

00:35:24

It's because 222 adults said, "I'll step away."

00:35:28

I mean, the amount of adults that it's taken

00:35:31

for us to do what we're doing

00:35:33

in the next generation is wild.

00:35:36

This is you guys that are saying, "You know what?

00:35:38

My name might not be remembered.

00:35:40

The greatest thing I do might not be anything I do,

00:35:43

but it might be who I pass the faith on to."

00:35:47

And we're seeing it happen everywhere.

00:35:49

Now, I do want to say this.

00:35:52

And you'll actually be surprised by this,

00:35:54

probably, from your zero through 18 person.

00:35:56

But is there anything special about this generation?

00:36:00

Absolutely not.

00:36:03

Like, was God like there will be this generation

00:36:05

and they will use the word rizz.

00:36:08

And when they do, you will know that it --"

00:36:11

No, I love them.

00:36:12

There are people that are going to change the world.

00:36:14

It's going to be great.

00:36:15

But it is not this generation.

00:36:17

It's the God behind the generation.

00:36:21

In fact, did you know our frontal lobes

00:36:23

aren't formed fully till 25?

00:36:25

So, I mean, I'm not even, like, they're ready.

00:36:27

They're not going to mess up, like,

00:36:29

they're ready to go. They're prepped.

00:36:30

They're studying. No.

00:36:32

This is how much faith and trust --

00:36:34

I'll give you one word that you're like,

00:36:35

well, okay, you have a point.

00:36:37

Snapchat. If you don't know what that is,

00:36:41

it's the second most popular social media app

00:36:43

to YouTube alone.

00:36:44

And right now, this generation,

00:36:45

they just take pictures of, like,

00:36:46

floors and ceilings,

00:36:47

and they send them to their friends

00:36:49

and they send them back like pictures of the floor.

00:36:51

And Snapchat makes millions.

00:36:52

And we're like, what? Stop it.

00:36:54

Like, what is happening?

00:36:55

We don't know what's going on.

00:36:56

In fact, I actually because I'm here

00:36:58

to equip some parents today, I went

00:37:01

and I did a little deep dive,

00:37:02

a little undercover work, and I found

00:37:03

the unwritten rules of Snapchat. All right.

00:37:06

This is to equip you, all right,

00:37:07

and to out you guys.

00:37:08

And just so you're ready to rock, you know,

00:37:10

know what's going on. All right.

00:37:12

Here's the unwritten rules of Snapchat.

00:37:14

If your student is taking pictures of, like,

00:37:15

the floor or ceiling or wall, you're fine. Okay.

00:37:18

That is code for like, "Hey,

00:37:20

you're like a kind of a far away acquaintance."

00:37:22

Like, I would see someone in the hall, "Hey."

00:37:24

That's like, that's like a wall. Okay?

00:37:26

Now if you look in the rear view mirror

00:37:28

and your your student is taking

00:37:29

a picture of the top of their head or their chin,

00:37:32

you're still okay. Don't worry, don't worry.

00:37:35

That's a close buddy.

00:37:36

That would be like you're sitting

00:37:37

next to someone in school, that would --

00:37:39

That they deserve a half of a face or an ear. Okay?

00:37:42

Now, if you see your student

00:37:45

taking full face pictures, like,

00:37:48

I'm talking top of the head to bottom of the chin,

00:37:50

you need to start saving for a wedding

00:37:52

because they are flirting. Okay? I'm just --

00:37:54

I don't make the rules. All right?

00:37:56

Now, just so you know,

00:37:57

I'm not just picking on this generation.

00:37:59

It is just how we all have been.

00:38:02

In fact, I did not want to out myself

00:38:04

too early because I'm, like, old, but not that old.

00:38:06

But I actually, my wife and I, we met --

00:38:10

We went to the same school, but we met on Snapchat.

00:38:12

And I haven't used the app in forever,

00:38:16

but we met on Snapchat.

00:38:17

And then when I asked her to be my girlfriend,

00:38:19

I was like, it'd be a cute callback.

00:38:21

I stood next to her. This is a true story.

00:38:22

And I took a picture of myself, flash on.

00:38:24

She was like, "Did you take a picture of yourself?"

00:38:26

And I was like, no.

00:38:27

And then I sent it to her on Snapchat

00:38:29

and I was like, "Check your Snap, girl."

00:38:31

Like, I'm next to her.

00:38:32

And it said, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

00:38:34

And for some reason she was like, "I guess."

00:38:36

And I was like, "Come on, side hug."

00:38:38

Like, anyway, it was just so cringey.

00:38:40

And my wife, when I was telling her

00:38:42

I was going to tell a story, she was like,

00:38:44

"Oh, Joel, Joel, Joel,"

00:38:45

because she doubles every bit of ministry I do.

00:38:47

She was like, "I don't have that --

00:38:48

I don't have that picture,

00:38:49

but I did screenshot the first picture

00:38:52

we ever took, like took.

00:38:54

Would they want to see that?"

00:38:55

And I was like, "No, they wouldn't."

00:38:56

So anyway, so no, this is --

00:39:03

The rules weren't there yet because I was flirting,

00:39:05

all right? Because you know they weren't out yet.

00:39:08

Now, burn the computer that's on.

00:39:11

Get that off the screen. No.

00:39:17

Now we can go back to any era that we are all from.

00:39:20

I love this church because we are age 9 to 99

00:39:23

in here, and we can go back to different trends

00:39:25

that have happened and go, yeah. Yep.

00:39:28

Like I get it. I don't know what I was thinking.

00:39:30

And it's just a reminder, no one is asking you

00:39:33

to find a person that is so equipped and qualified

00:39:37

and they've studied and they've learned it all,

00:39:40

and they've gone through the classes

00:39:41

and then pass your faith onto them.

00:39:43

Nobody's asking you to do that.

00:39:45

Someone is -- we're asking you as a church

00:39:47

to look at young people

00:39:48

and invest in them by giving them

00:39:50

opportunities before they're ready,

00:39:51

because God is going to use them

00:39:53

because it's not about them or their generation.

00:39:55

It's the God behind the generation.

00:39:59

In fact, I've got an illustration for this.

00:40:01

This is where the water hose comes in.

00:40:04

I'm a visual learner. All right.

00:40:05

And so I a lot of times will use visuals

00:40:09

just to kind of fully understand this.

00:40:10

But this right here, this is you,

00:40:13

this is a middle schooler, this is an adult,

00:40:16

this is me. This is our life, okay?

00:40:18

And we can fill our life with whatever we want.

00:40:22

We can choose to chase the job thing.

00:40:24

We can do the family thing.

00:40:26

We can do our own thing.

00:40:27

We can fill it with vices.

00:40:29

We can fill it with money.

00:40:30

We can fill it with whatever we want.

00:40:32

And the gospel, which is what we believe

00:40:34

to be the Good News is where it says

00:40:36

in Galatians 2:20, Christ says,

00:40:38

for I have been -- or sorry, this is Paul talking,

00:40:40

but he says, I've been crucified with Christ.

00:40:43

So when Christ died on the cross, hey, me too.

00:40:46

And it's no longer Joel who lives

00:40:48

and these things in my jar;

00:40:49

it's Christ who lives within me.

00:40:51

I love this illustration because

00:40:53

water's coming out of this hose.

00:40:55

If this was not connected to a source,

00:40:56

would water come out? No.

00:40:58

So this is just a source.

00:40:59

So it's still our life.

00:41:01

But if we let Christ start to fill our life,

00:41:04

then this has nothing to do with us.

00:41:05

In fact, literally, the Bible says

00:41:07

we must decrease, so He must increase.

00:41:09

And eventually, over time, what starts to happen

00:41:12

is the Christ in us begins to overflow

00:41:16

and it begins to impact the people around us.

00:41:18

In fact, some of you guys, you've been at church a lot,

00:41:20

and you're just sitting near people who look like this,

00:41:22

and you haven't given Christ your life yet,

00:41:24

but you're still getting like

00:41:25

a little bit of splashes because, like,

00:41:27

you're getting impacted by other people

00:41:29

who Christ, who is their life.

00:41:31

Now I'll get back to this illustration,

00:41:33

but this is why this is so critical with this generation.

00:41:35

This is a generation who's saying, "Hey,

00:41:37

I'm not saying I'm anything special either.

00:41:40

I'm saying I have died and Christ now lives within me."

00:41:43

And we are seeing people of all ages

00:41:46

who are saying, it's not me, it's Christ within me

00:41:49

that is overflowing around me.

00:41:51

We're seeing it change people.

00:41:52

And again, it's not that anyone is anything special.

00:41:55

This is the gospel message, we're giving up our life.

00:41:57

But Christ, who's going to work through us

00:41:59

can work from generation to generation

00:42:02

and is working now.

00:42:04

I gave you some Old Testament examples before,

00:42:08

we talked about Moses.

00:42:09

I could take you to 1 Kings, where we talk Elijah,

00:42:12

where Elijah did more miracles at the time

00:42:15

than anyone had ever done.

00:42:16

In fact, we could have ended that story,

00:42:17

and Elijah could have been

00:42:19

the greatest megachurch pastor ever in 1 Kings,

00:42:22

and he could have ended it there.

00:42:24

And instead, he rose up in Elisha,

00:42:25

who did twice as many miracles as he did.

00:42:27

But today, I want to talk about

00:42:29

a New Testament example that we talk a lot about,

00:42:33

but don't realize the people behind her name.

00:42:37

Today I want to talk about a young girl named Mary.

00:42:40

And Mary we find in Luke 1, if you want to go to Luke 1.

00:42:44

And in Luke 1 an angel named Gabriel comes to Mary.

00:42:48

Mary, maybe you've heard this, you probably have,

00:42:50

but she's the mother of Jesus.

00:42:52

What probably you didn't know is that

00:42:56

when the angel Gabriel comes to her in Luke 1

00:42:58

and says, "Hey, I basically would like you

00:42:59

to give up your entire life to raise the Messiah,"

00:43:02

She's probably 13 or 14 years old.

00:43:06

Probably seventh or eighth grade, maybe ninth.

00:43:10

Back in this day, you would get married

00:43:12

at 15 at the absolute latest.

00:43:14

And Mary is to be married in Luke 1.

00:43:18

Now, I want to see if we have any Bible scholars in here.

00:43:21

When the angel Gabriel would come to Mary

00:43:24

in Luke 1 and would say, "Hey, like,

00:43:26

I want to see you do big things,"

00:43:28

to this middle schooler, what language

00:43:30

would the angel be speaking to Mary in?

00:43:33

Anyone know? Aramaic.

00:43:36

Yeah, I heard a few of you. Aramaic.

00:43:37

So, I do like this.

00:43:39

God didn't come in some old language

00:43:41

and was like, "Interpret this, Mary."

00:43:43

Like, he came in her language,

00:43:45

spoke to her in her tongue and said,

00:43:47

"Hey, Mary, like, do you think you can do this?"

00:43:49

I can't even imagine what that conversation

00:43:51

would have looked like with a seventh grader,

00:43:53

eighth grader aged girl.

00:43:54

"Like what? Me?" Just the comfort of the angel.

00:43:57

Now, although I couldn't imagine

00:43:59

what it would look like back then,

00:44:00

I figured today we could do some light reading

00:44:02

and figure out what it could look like today.

00:44:04

I found online this is the New Testament for Gen Z.

00:44:11

So I went to Luke 1.

00:44:13

I by no means can endorse this entire version,

00:44:17

but I did go to Luke 1 because I was curious.

00:44:19

And I do believe the Word of God

00:44:20

is the inspired Word of God.

00:44:22

So I would never mock the Word of God,

00:44:23

I really wouldn't.

00:44:25

But in Luke 1, in the Gen Z interpretation,

00:44:27

we have the Gen Z version of what it would look like

00:44:30

for Gabriel to speak to Mary

00:44:32

in their native tongue if it was today.

00:44:35

Would you guys be interested in hearing this?

00:44:37

Yeah, yeah, some of you are like, I don't know.

00:44:40

Now, we will go back.

00:44:41

So if you marked your Bible, we will go back.

00:44:43

I use the New International Version up here today.

00:44:45

We'll go back after some of you are like,

00:44:47

I don't know what's going on

00:44:48

and we'll pick back up. Don't worry.

00:44:49

But Gen Z, Luke 1, you can get this online yourself.

00:44:54

You probably shouldn't. Here's what it says.

00:44:57

Mary was a pick-me girl for God

00:45:01

and was chatting with him in prayer,"

00:45:05

when the angel Gabriel appears and said.

00:45:06

Remember, this is seventh grade or eighth grader.

00:45:08

He says, ayo, you're a real one

00:45:12

and the top G is feeling you.

00:45:14

Right? She's like, I got yeah, I'm locked in.

00:45:17

Now she thought his compliment was sus

00:45:19

and so she gave him the side eye.

00:45:22

Some of you parents are like, "I don't know what's going on,

00:45:24

but I've got that side eye.

00:45:26

I have gotten that side eye." Yeah.

00:45:28

So the angel Gabriel says to Mary,

00:45:31

"Baby girl chill, God sent me to tell you

00:45:36

that you've passed his vibe check.

00:45:38

And low key he wants you to have the main character.

00:45:42

You'll name him Jesus and they will all say he's HIM."

00:45:48

Now this part, this really is the story,

00:45:49

again, I think it's actually a pretty good

00:45:51

interpretation of today's version.

00:45:53

This is the story.

00:45:54

She said, How can this be to Gabriel,

00:45:57

since I promised God that my body count will be ZERO?

00:46:02

Now, if you don't know what that means,

00:46:03

ask your student, you will be horrified, absolutely.

00:46:06

But again, this is the story of Luke 1.

00:46:09

And then the angel Gabriel says respectfully,

00:46:12

and this is just a pro tip before I continue on.

00:46:15

If someone younger than you looks at you

00:46:17

and says respectfully, it is not going to be respectful.

00:46:21

I just -- I'll leave it there, but just

00:46:24

I would get ready for whatever they're going to say.

00:46:26

Okay. It says respectfully, so the angel Gabriel,

00:46:30

you know, is about to go off and says.

00:46:32

This ain't about cuffing season,

00:46:34

for the Holy Spirit will live rent free in you

00:46:37

and your boy Jesus will be a divine bro.

00:46:39

Besides, your cousin Elizabeth is with chile.

00:46:42

And she who's already older than a boomer

00:46:44

whose husband is way past beekeeping age.

00:46:51

So Mary said, Bet!

00:46:53

Gabriel left her on read

00:46:55

and she let the Holy Spirit cook.

00:46:59

It's dumb. Don't clap. It's dumb. It's great.

00:47:06

Students are like, "I'm gonna read my Bible more.

00:47:09

Like, yeah, like that's what he's been saying

00:47:11

this whole time? Yeah.

00:47:15

Luke 1we pick up, and now what I have

00:47:18

is the New International Version

00:47:20

because some of you adults are like,

00:47:21

"I don't know what's happening."

00:47:22

We'll catch you up. All right?

00:47:24

Angel Gabriel has come to Mary,

00:47:26

asked her to do a really hard thing.

00:47:28

Hey, can you change the world?

00:47:30

Can you raise the Messiah?

00:47:31

Middle schooler, seventh, eighth, ninth grader.

00:47:34

I love Mary's response, Luke 1:34, here's what she says.

00:47:37

"How will this be?"

00:47:40

I mean, I can just picture that.

00:47:42

Like if someone came to this section over here,

00:47:44

an angel in the middle of the night

00:47:46

to a middle schooler and was like,

00:47:47

"I want you to change your life, give up your life.

00:47:50

You are going to raise the Messiah.

00:47:51

You're going to change the entire world."

00:47:53

You would just be like, how? Like how?

00:47:57

I'm a jar. Like, I just I have food in my braces.

00:48:02

Let me get it out and then we'll --

00:48:03

How will this be?

00:48:05

And the angel's response is huge.

00:48:08

In the very next verse:

00:48:09

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you,

00:48:13

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."

00:48:17

It's not Mary.

00:48:18

This is what God is doing through -- through you.

00:48:23

And this is what we're seeing happen at this church.

00:48:26

God is using young people.

00:48:28

And again, it's not about the young person,

00:48:30

it's not about the jar, to change the world.

00:48:34

Just like God used Mary.

00:48:35

I mean, a young -- God has always done this.

00:48:37

11 out of his 12 disciples were more than likely

00:48:39

between the age of 15 and 19.

00:48:41

Then God said, are you ready? No.

00:48:43

Are you willing? Yes.

00:48:45

Then I'm about to change the world through you.

00:48:47

Now, here's a couple stories that

00:48:50

we're seeing happen, again, just within our context.

00:48:54

There's one specific student

00:48:56

that he asked to remain anonymous

00:48:59

because of the circumstances.

00:49:01

He's been emancipated, so his parents no longer --

00:49:04

He doesn't live with them. He's on his own.

00:49:06

And they've moved actually to a different state.

00:49:08

And he's kind of lived from couch to couch,

00:49:10

family to family.

00:49:11

And he still said, "I would love if you shared my story,

00:49:16

just, you know, keep it anonymous."

00:49:18

And so today we'll call him Shaun.

00:49:20

So all you know about him is his name is not Shaun.

00:49:22

All right? Here's what Shaun says.

00:49:24

"So when I first came to high school student ministry,

00:49:28

I had very little expectations of it.

00:49:30

I didn't really know what I wanted,

00:49:31

but I know what I desired from God,

00:49:34

and it was a true relationship and love

00:49:36

that I hadn't felt from my own family.

00:49:39

And let me tell you, it not only found me,

00:49:42

it overruled me."

00:49:45

I love this. Mary's word was overshadowed.

00:49:48

"Every single lie that I had told myself,

00:49:50

it overruled.

00:49:51

I then eventually got to go to camp,

00:49:53

and I got to experience worship

00:49:54

that made me look to God different.

00:49:55

I had a C group,"

00:49:57

which is what we call just our community groups,

00:49:59

where a John Houston, a spiritual mom or dad

00:50:02

is investing in these students,

00:50:04

"that made it safe to be real and honest

00:50:05

about the trials of life.

00:50:07

And the messages from the speakers

00:50:08

changed the way I talk and walk.

00:50:10

I formed friendships with people that

00:50:11

I would have never met if I hadn't gone.

00:50:13

I came into camp alone

00:50:15

and I left surrounded by love and from support

00:50:18

from friends, and more importantly, from God."

00:50:21

I want anyone else who've ever experienced

00:50:23

the student ministry --

00:50:25

"and I want everyone else to experience

00:50:27

the student ministry and God like I did,

00:50:30

because I know it could change your life."

00:50:32

Yeah, now. [applause]

00:50:36

I message Shawn and I said, "Thank you so much

00:50:38

for letting me share your story.

00:50:39

Is there anything else

00:50:40

you would want to share with everyone?"

00:50:42

And here's what he said.

00:50:43

He said, "Oh, yeah.

00:50:46

One part I forgot to add to my story

00:50:48

is how I couldn't afford to go to camp,

00:50:50

and somebody anonymously sponsored me.

00:50:54

This impacted my experience at camp

00:50:56

and couldn't have happened

00:50:57

without the generosity of someone else."

00:50:59

One of you, yeah, we're a John Houston.

00:51:07

One of you who probably doesn't even know it.

00:51:09

So many of you have helped sponsor students at camp

00:51:11

who you have no idea the impact.

00:51:13

But you just said I believed in it

00:51:15

and I want to make it happen.

00:51:17

And so many people are part of this church

00:51:19

are the reason we are seeing young people thrive,

00:51:22

because we have to make sure

00:51:24

this God is not a just God of my time,

00:51:26

that I hoard to myself,

00:51:27

but it is a God of generations.

00:51:29

We are passing from generation to generation

00:51:32

to generation.

00:51:33

Got another one.

00:51:35

This one's from the East Side

00:51:36

and he is not anonymous.

00:51:38

He's letting me share his story.

00:51:39

His name is Preston. Preston is a baseball player

00:51:42

and he was at work one day,

00:51:43

not a part of Crossroads at all.

00:51:44

And his friend, this is what I love.

00:51:46

An area that we could have never got to,

00:51:48

or probably got Preston here.

00:51:50

His friend, who was a high schooler

00:51:51

who was Christ in him, just said,

00:51:53

"Hey, dude, you should come to church with me."

00:51:55

So Preston goes with him

00:51:56

to our student ministry that Sunday night,

00:51:58

this was a couple months ago.

00:51:59

He gives his life to Christ that Sunday night.

00:52:01

Signs up for camp by the next day.

00:52:04

Now, already, Preston is at camp

00:52:06

and he's excited about it.

00:52:07

And already, again, he didn't have to take some class.

00:52:10

He'd have to learn all the books of the Bible first,

00:52:12

already willing for God to use him,

00:52:14

he said, "I want to get my sister there

00:52:16

because I would love to see her have what I have."

00:52:18

And so already he's reaching

00:52:20

to the generation behind him.

00:52:22

And Preston gets his sister Gabby to come to camp

00:52:25

and Gabby came in not following Jesus.

00:52:26

And Preston said I would pray for her

00:52:28

every session.

00:52:29

And we did this opportunity at camp where we said,

00:52:31

"Hey, does anyone want this?

00:52:33

Where you're saying, Christ, who is my life

00:52:35

for the first time, I would like to give up

00:52:37

my life and give my life to Christ"?

00:52:39

We had an arena filled with people.

00:52:41

The first person to stand up was Gabby,

00:52:44

Preston's sister.

00:52:49

At the end of camp,

00:52:52

Gabby then asked her C group leader,

00:52:54

kind of the spiritual parent in her life

00:52:56

as well as Preston, if she would baptize her.

00:53:00

And so she got baptized by her brother

00:53:03

and C group leader.

00:53:05

And now I can't wait to see how God uses Gabby.

00:53:07

Like, it's just getting started.

00:53:12

Now, Thursday night,

00:53:13

we have a Thursday night service here.

00:53:15

Preston was here and I didn't know it,

00:53:16

so I called him up on stage.

00:53:18

I was like, "Get on up here, dude."

00:53:19

And we talked about this kind of concept.

00:53:22

And the message ended

00:53:24

and I got a message from someone which,

00:53:26

you know, after you speak,

00:53:27

if you get a message from someone, you're like,

00:53:29

you know, I don't know, like.

00:53:30

So I open it and this person said,

00:53:33

"Hey, you don't know me.

00:53:35

You'll never believe this, but this was wild.

00:53:38

I don't even usually come Thursday nights,

00:53:40

but I was Preston's seventh grade teacher.

00:53:44

And I used to pray for him in that class every day.

00:53:47

Will you just let him know that I'm still praying for him?"

00:53:49

Like, isn't that wild?

00:53:50

John Huston's who have gone before Preston,

00:53:53

who -- it's just -- it is unbelievable to see God

00:53:57

weave from generation to generation to generation.

00:54:01

And God, I believe, is just getting started.

00:54:04

I believe there's a movement happening,

00:54:07

and I actually believe it's going to start

00:54:09

with the young people.

00:54:10

Now here's what's even cooler,

00:54:14

as this analogy continues,

00:54:16

is we do play a role in this. All right?

00:54:18

Maybe you've been at this moment,

00:54:20

maybe you've been a student

00:54:21

or maybe even just in your life

00:54:22

you felt this move of God before.

00:54:24

And maybe you felt Him starting to fill your life

00:54:26

and use you, but then there comes a point

00:54:28

where, like, you would actually have to

00:54:29

change some stuff or something and you're like,

00:54:31

"Okay, God, like that --

00:54:32

Well, let's just slow down the trickle a little bit.

00:54:35

You know? Let's just kind of, okay, there we go.

00:54:37

That's the pace I want right there, God."

00:54:40

There is a word for this in 1 Thessalonians

00:54:42

where a guy named Paul, the same one that says,

00:54:45

"For Christ, who is my life."

00:54:47

He calls it quenching the Spirit.

00:54:50

I like this because this is exactly

00:54:52

what we used to do when we were playing

00:54:53

in a garden hose, and it was coming out too fast.

00:54:55

We would just quench it.

00:54:57

Now, I used to think quench meant to add water

00:54:59

because, like, quench your thirst,

00:55:01

but it just means to stop your thirst.

00:55:03

I didn't know that until I looked into this, but.

00:55:05

So it just means to stop.

00:55:07

So it's wild to me that like we have this role of this.

00:55:10

And so we've talked about this with students.

00:55:12

And I think students are

00:55:13

untangling is the word I'm using, right?

00:55:15

Untangling, and we're starting to see God use them.

00:55:17

But I want to let you know your role in this.

00:55:20

And so as I'm standing here,

00:55:22

I would love to call up someone from the older generation

00:55:24

to kind of illustrate something with me.

00:55:26

I believe my friend Robbie Reider is here.

00:55:28

Robbie, are you over there?

00:55:30

I thought. Robbie, get up here if you're over there.

00:55:32

If he's not -- Oh, he's running up here.

00:55:34

Robbie does music for us, and he's much older than me.

00:55:38

Can we welcome Robbie up to the stage?

00:55:41

Robbie. Go ahead right there.

00:55:43

Sure. That works right there.

00:55:45

Go ahead and just quench.

00:55:47

Go ahead and make a tangle or clench the hose and.

00:55:51

Yeah, yeah. There you go.

00:55:53

More quench, all the quenches.

00:55:55

Okay, so if my super old friend Robbie decides --

00:56:01

He's not even that old, but it's just --

00:56:03

He didn't have a microphone right now, so it's the best.

00:56:06

Now, if I'm representing the younger generation

00:56:09

and he's representing the older generation,

00:56:11

much older generation now, I think this --

00:56:14

I think this is a cool visual. I really do.

00:56:16

Because I think often this is what happens

00:56:18

is young people across the country

00:56:22

maybe go to something like camp

00:56:24

and they decide, "I'm all in.

00:56:27

Whatever you want, God use me. I'm all in."

00:56:31

And it sprays out.

00:56:33

And then they come back to a church

00:56:36

in a generation that's already quenched them.

00:56:39

And over time they say, "Well,

00:56:41

I must have to be older before I do that."

00:56:47

Keep it clenched. Keep it clenched right there.

00:56:49

We'll get back to this. Keep it clenched.

00:56:51

It's actually what we see happen with Mary.

00:56:53

Mary, eventually the angel leaves her.

00:56:57

The translation we read earlier said left her on read.

00:57:00

And look at what it says right here.

00:57:01

Mary's all in. She's the younger generation.

00:57:03

All in. She says, "I'm the Lord's servant."

00:57:05

I mean, she just had this mountaintop moment.

00:57:08

And then may your word be fulfilled.

00:57:10

And then it just says, the angel left her.

00:57:12

The church camp ended, the goosebumps stopped,

00:57:17

and Mary just goes like,

00:57:18

okay, I don't know what's going to happen.

00:57:20

Now, we're going to talk in a little bit.

00:57:22

Mary has someone that's going to invest in her

00:57:24

named Elizabeth, and I wonder

00:57:25

what would have happened in the story of Mary

00:57:27

if she would have just went and then faded

00:57:29

and said, "Did the angel even talk to me?

00:57:31

Was that even real?"

00:57:32

If she would have went to a church that was like,

00:57:34

"Mary, let's just wait till you're 30 or 40

00:57:35

or like older."

00:57:36

Like, now I wonder what would have happened

00:57:38

to Isaac Newton if there wasn't a John Houston

00:57:41

to pour into them.

00:57:42

And unfortunately, we know what happens

00:57:44

in churches across the country

00:57:45

that have quenched young people.

00:57:48

Now, thankfully, I told you,

00:57:51

I think we're seeing a move of God.

00:57:53

I think we've seen the young people

00:57:54

already begin to untangle and say, "I'm all in."

00:57:57

And so with a church that's willing and active

00:57:59

to untangle them and set them free, I think

00:58:02

we're about to see an overflow happen.

00:58:04

But we have to do our part.

00:58:06

We have to do our part.

00:58:08

We can either quench them or invest in them.

00:58:10

Give it up for my old, old, old, old, old friend.

00:58:13

Now, are you -- Someone help.

00:58:18

I like that because there's no middle:

00:58:20

you're investing or you're quenching.

00:58:23

There's no -- I think P&G, they're so good at marketing,

00:58:27

they told me one day you're either whitening

00:58:29

or you're yellowing.

00:58:32

One of you probably came up with that too.

00:58:34

But there's no middle, like,

00:58:36

it's you're either quenching or you're investing.

00:58:39

There's no like, yeah, I'm a little annoyed

00:58:41

by them, but like I don't hate them.

00:58:43

No you're quenching.

00:58:44

You're either investing or you're quenching.

00:58:47

And we are going to be a church that untangles

00:58:49

and sets free this generation.

00:58:50

Not because they deserve it,

00:58:52

not because they're ready,

00:58:53

but because we serve a God that if He's for you,

00:58:56

then who can be against you?

00:58:58

And if He's set free in young people,

00:59:00

then we're going to see a movement happen.

00:59:01

And I believe because I was at camp,

00:59:03

I'm going to be at camp next week.

00:59:05

I believe if you've gone to a sporting event,

00:59:07

the wave, it always starts in the student section.

00:59:10

I think it started and I think we as a church,

00:59:14

it's up to us now to either go,

00:59:15

"Hey, that's annoying and I'm tired.

00:59:17

And my peanuts, I just opened them."

00:59:20

Or to say, "You know what?

00:59:22

This is silly, but I'm in, I'm investing in,

00:59:25

I'm leaning and I'm setting free,"

00:59:27

and I cannot even imagine what's going to happen.

00:59:30

And so here's my call to you.

00:59:32

It is not to just, hey, so come serve with us.

00:59:33

Come serve with us.

00:59:35

Maybe that's where God's calling you, I don't know.

00:59:37

That is not this call.

00:59:38

We have amazing people doing this.

00:59:40

This is for you to go wherever God has called you naturally,

00:59:43

and to invest in the young people around you.

00:59:46

Some of you, you're business owners,

00:59:48

and you have all sorts of young interns,

00:59:50

interns or employees that you're going,

00:59:52

"I don't get this generation."

00:59:54

And for once, you're just going

00:59:55

to shift your mindset to say, you know what?

00:59:57

Instead of being annoyed by them,

00:59:59

I'm going to invest in them.

01:00:00

Musicians. Maybe you're a musician.

01:00:02

This last song, where you're going to be led in it

01:00:05

by high schoolers.

01:00:06

Why? Because people like Robbie, who I picked on,

01:00:10

have decided to set up a camp called Worship U,

01:00:12

where we specifically invest in the next generation

01:00:14

so that they can lead us in songs like this.

01:00:17

Like, it is you're either quenching

01:00:20

or you're investing.

01:00:21

For me, and maybe this is a lot of you in the room,

01:00:23

it's even closer than that.

01:00:25

I know I work with young people,

01:00:26

but the person I picked,

01:00:27

because I'm always going to preach

01:00:28

a message to myself before I do to y'all,

01:00:31

it's all Beans.

01:00:32

And this is actually hard for me,

01:00:34

because there was a day where I was like,

01:00:36

"I'm going to change the world."

01:00:37

And now I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to change a diaper."

01:00:39

You know, like, it might not be me.

01:00:43

My name might not be remembered,

01:00:45

but just maybe I can show up for her

01:00:47

in a world where possibly others aren't

01:00:49

and her ministry might look different

01:00:50

than what mine is, but I'm going to invest.

01:00:54

It was actually, this is real talk.

01:00:55

There were moments prepping for this talk

01:00:58

where I was to my wife, like, "Can you take her?"

01:01:00

You know, and then remembering, like,

01:01:01

this is the whole point of this,

01:01:03

present and available, my one

01:01:05

that I'm going to invest in to make sure

01:01:07

this faith doesn't stop with me.

01:01:08

So who's yours?

01:01:11

Maybe you don't have anyone,

01:01:12

and maybe you do want to connect with us,

01:01:14

but if you don't, there are people

01:01:15

naturally close to you that you're either quenching

01:01:18

or you're investing.

01:01:19

And if you choose to untangle and invest,

01:01:22

I think we'll see what has already started

01:01:25

in awakening and a movement

01:01:28

and an overflow at this church.

01:01:30

God, today I pray over this church.

01:01:32

I pray over people like the students

01:01:34

going to middle school camp

01:01:35

and their C group leaders who are going to need

01:01:37

all the extra energy.

01:01:38

God, I pray for parents who are going to

01:01:41

turn around from here and decide,

01:01:42

instead of coasting, that they are going to

01:01:44

invest in the students and kids right around them.

01:01:47

I pray for teachers, God, who You have given

01:01:50

natural impact, who maybe they're not even allowed

01:01:52

to say your name in the school system,

01:01:54

but they can show it.

01:01:56

They can pray for people.

01:01:57

God, I pray for business owners and leaders.

01:02:00

God, I pray for everyone who is available and open

01:02:04

to just let You use them to pass on Your faith,

01:02:07

Your greatness to the people around them.

01:02:10

God, as we sing this last song about making room

01:02:12

and as high schoolers lead us in this song,

01:02:15

God, I pray we wouldn't also be too prideful

01:02:17

to realize maybe there's areas we're quenching You,

01:02:20

that we need to make room for You

01:02:22

to first move in us, before we pass it on

01:02:23

to the generation behind us.

01:02:25

We love you.

01:02:26

We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

01:07:01

- Hey, thanks for joining us today.

01:07:03

I hope you know this isn't just content to watch

01:07:05

and move on with your life by yourself.

01:07:07

We want you to grow and fully become

01:07:09

who God made you to be.

01:07:10

And at Crossroads, we believe there are

01:07:12

seven core proven practices

01:07:14

that are simple ways to help you do that.

01:07:15

- Yeah, the first is around receiving weekly teaching.

01:07:18

Hey, congrats. You did it.

01:07:19

You just -- you're doing it right now.

01:07:21

The other six are connecting with God daily,

01:07:23

serving others, joining community,

01:07:25

getting baptized, sharing your story,

01:07:26

and living generously.

01:07:28

- Now I know that one can kind of make you cringe.

01:07:30

So if that's you, we get it. No worries.

01:07:32

- We've been there.

01:07:34

- But we believe generosity not only allows

01:07:36

for the impact in the world around us,

01:07:38

but it also leads to personal growth for us.

01:07:40

Like, it's for us too.

01:07:42

It's an act of trust that shows God

01:07:45

we believe in Him when He says He will provide,

01:07:47

and that we don't have to fight so hard

01:07:49

to take care of ourselves, because we do trust

01:07:51

that even if we give Him 10% of our income,

01:07:52

He's going to take care of us.

01:07:54

- Yeah, we know that church and money

01:07:56

can be a weird topic, and the idea of

01:07:57

trusting God with your money is scary.

01:08:00

And I think that's kind of the point.

01:08:02

Like, it's taking a risk and saying,

01:08:04

"God, I think you're going to support me

01:08:06

when I take this step," and I think

01:08:08

you'll see God show up in really cool ways.

01:08:10

- I know it's intimidating to jump into

01:08:12

this thing called a tithe, which is 10% of your income,

01:08:15

if you've heard that word,

01:08:16

especially if you haven't given to a church before.

01:08:18

But it is one of those things

01:08:19

that's hard to believe until you just try it.

01:08:22

There is a new level of relationship with God

01:08:25

when we trust Him with our money.

01:08:26

So wherever your comfort level with giving,

01:08:29

or not giving is right now no judgment,

01:08:31

try stretching yourself.

01:08:33

Take a risk and see if God doesn't show up

01:08:34

for you when you do.

01:08:36

- And hey, before we go next weekend,

01:08:38

next weekend is our Anywhere Weekend.

01:08:40

We're bringing people from all over the globe

01:08:42

who are a part of our community online

01:08:44

and in countries and all over the map

01:08:46

to Cincinnati for a weekend.

01:08:48

And we are so excited to see our Anywhere family

01:08:50

gather together in one place.

01:08:53

And it's a beautiful reminder that

01:08:54

the church isn't limited to any one location

01:08:57

or any one building by any means.

01:08:59

It's going to be so refreshing to

01:09:00

just come together, laugh together, eat together,

01:09:03

and hear how God is moving in lives

01:09:05

and in communities all over the globe.

01:09:06

- And for all of you who are able to make it,

01:09:08

we cannot wait to see you.

01:09:10

It's going to be the best,

01:09:11

but if you can't make it, we totally understand

01:09:13

and we'd still love for you to join us

01:09:15

in something we call the Anywhere Home.

01:09:16

It is an app for everyone who doesn't live

01:09:19

near a Crossroads site to still connect,

01:09:21

and you can do that anytime and you'll be able

01:09:22

to watch Anywhere Weekend stuff from there.

01:09:25

So whoever you are, we hope to see you

01:09:27

one of those two ways, and otherwise,

01:09:29

we'll see you back here next week.

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