Real Freedom is Redemption through Jesus

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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads.

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My name is Andy Ryder.

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I lead our Crossroads Anywhere community,

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which is the part of our church that meets

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not in physical church buildings,

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that meets online in homes, dorm rooms,

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bars, cafes and even in prisons.

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And I mentioned that one last because

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that's actually where I'm headed right now.

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I'm headed to Pickaway Correctional,

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where you're going to get to come along,

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and we are going to experience Crossroads

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inside the four walls of a prison.

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What's that going to look like?

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Well, you'll have to see to find out,

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but it's basically going to be a time

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where we get to bring the very best of who we are

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to Pickaway Correctional.

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My time with Crossroads has taken me

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to some places I never expected.

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Some places that were really uncomfortable,

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and I think I'm going to have some of that today.

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We might have some of that today.

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- How are we doing today?

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Are we about to have some fun here?

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Now, when we showed up, we heard a little secret

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that Warden Moore can do some singing.

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So why don't y'all get on your feet,

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make some noise for your own Warden Moore,

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and let's sing some Tennessee whiskey.

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- How y'all feel out there?

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I want y'all to recognize that this doesn't happen

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at every prison in Ohio. - That's right.

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Are you ready? Let's go.

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- I used to spend my nights out in the ballroom.

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Liquor was the only love I know.

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But you rescued me from reaching for the bottom

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and brought me back from being too far gone.

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You're as smooth as Tennessee whiskey.

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You're a sweet as strawberry wine.

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You're as warm as a glass of brandy

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And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time

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[cheers and applause]

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- Hands up, come on.

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- You've got a God that loves you, who knows you.

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He's a good God that knows you inside and out.

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Knows every hair on your head,

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knows where you came from, knows what you've done.

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But better, He knows where you're going.

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He's a good God.

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- That's right. Even when we're unfaithful,

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His faithfulness still remains.

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I'm so glad that He doesn't count on me,

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but I'm counting on Him.

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Anything you can think or imagine, He is able to do that.

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And now unto Him we're gonna sing this together.

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I want to us declare thathat He is great,

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that He is faithful, that He is good.

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No matter how we feel,

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no matter what we're going through,

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He remains faithful.

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Come on. Declare this with when we sing.

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- In just a moment, we're going to hear

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what Brian had to share with these men

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at Pickaway Correctional

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and what he has to share with you and I.

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But I just want to call this out.

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If you didn't know, there are thousands,

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thousands of incarcerated individuals around Ohio

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and the region that are a part of our church,

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just like you and me.

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Seriously, through different organizations

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like The Four-Seven, these men and women are able

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to meet together in prison with volunteers

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who pray with them, encourage them,

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who are friends with them,

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and they watch Crossroads service together,

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talk about it, apply it to their lives,

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much like you might do each and every week.

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It is amazing.

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And it's every week volunteers

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in building relationship with these men and women.

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Now, there's so much happening in the life

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of our church that I can't possibly key you in

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on it all, but there are two things that

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I want to highlight for you.

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One, something we have coming up

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called Crossroads Anywhere Weekend,

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which is where we're bringing in hundreds

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and hundreds of people from literally

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all over the globe to Cincinnati,

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where our church started for one weekend.

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That's kind of part family reunion

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and part just being refilled and recharged.

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If you've ever felt disconnected

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or maybe just you're feeling worn out

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with a crazy summer schedule, hey,

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you don't want to miss this.

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It will be an incredible time,

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and we're paying for just about all of it

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just to encourage, build into, and refill you.

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Because the church isn't something

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that just happens in a building.

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No, it's something that that doesn't just happen

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in any one time or place.

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The church is people.

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So it happens wherever you and I are.

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And like we've experienced at

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the correctional institution, we need to be

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reminded that we get to be the church

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wherever we are.

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So head to Crossroads.net/anywhereweekend

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for details and to RSVP.

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I promise you don't want to miss it.

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And world change doesn't happen only in prisons

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or remote locations across the globe.

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Sadly, poverty, injustice, and lack of resources

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occur right in our backyards and God calls us

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to serve and love our neighbors.

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And that's what we're going to do.

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We're going all out.

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The next thing coming up just around the corner

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is City Serve Day on June 15th.

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But this is more than one day of action.

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This is about creating a ripple effect,

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amplifying the great work that our partners do

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all year long.

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Your project could involve

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assisting a neighbor in need

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or volunteering at a local nonprofit.

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It can be anything that makes a difference.

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If you sign up to lead or help identify a project,

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we'll provide you with all the resources

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and support to make this a huge success

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right in your area.

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We're going to be doing this as a church,

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as I said on June 15th, coming up this summer.

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You can find out more information about

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how to start a project in your local community

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at Crossroads.net/

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CSD. Hey, thank you for tuning in

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for an incredible weekend.

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And as always, if there's anything we can do,

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anything we can do to encourage you

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or be praying for you about, you can email me

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directly at Andy.Reider@crossroads.net

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or you can chat in on the website.

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Hey, thank you so much for being a part of this church.

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- Let's welcome our senior pastor Brian Tome.

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Give it up for him. [cheers & applause]

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- Hey, it's great to be with everybody

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right here inside your home.

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Thanks for having us inside your home.

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And I know you probably wouldn't want this

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to be your home.

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No, it's sort of a temporary home.

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Not the kind of home you would have chosen

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on your own, but nonetheless, right now, it is home.

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You know, there's a difference between you and me

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or virtually everybody who has this place as home

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and everybody who is outside this home.

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Two differences.

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One of them is you got caught, they didn't.

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That's one difference.

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And number two is the things that I do

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God says are illegal, but fortunately,

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the government doesn't say it's illegal

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or else I would be in here too with you right now.

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So, if lust was illegal, as it is with God,

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if Ohio said it was, I'd be in here.

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If greed was illegal, I'd be in here if I was caught.

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If gossip was illegal, I'd be in here.

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So I feel, even though I haven't gone before

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an earthly judge, I know that there is

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a heavenly judge who, if He were to judge me

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on those things, I'd be right by your side.

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And so I come here today as much as I can

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identify as a bit as a much of a peer with all you guys.

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And there's a famous guy in the Bible

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who was a prisoner for -- a legit prisoner.

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And I'm going to spend the rest of our time

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talking about him.

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This guy was -- he was actually in a dungeon.

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He was in a basement dungeon that an authority

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in the government by the name of Herod

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had placed him there.

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His name is is John the Baptist.

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And in his story we can see what the gospel is.

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Now, I know gospel sounds like a real, real churchy word.

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A lot of us hear the gospel, the gospel,

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follow the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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What? What does that mean, the word gospel?

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The word gospel means good news.

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As an example, in secular literature,

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not the Bible, but secular literature,

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there were these ancient battles.

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And one of the battles was the Battle of Marathon,

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way, way, way, way back before Christ was even born.

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In the Battle of Marathon the victor

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had a messenger, and the messenger ran

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all the way back to council

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and proclaimed to council, "We won."

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That Battle of Marathon, from there to the council

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was 26.2 miles.

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Which is why when you run a marathon today,

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you're celebrating that 26.2 mile thing.

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Now, interestingly enough, when that messenger

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went 26.2 miles, he dropped down dead immediately.

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So I don't know why anybody runs marathons.

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It doesn't make any sense to me.

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But he dropped down dead.

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And that message of we won, what that's known as,

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that was known as the gospel.

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The gospel is good news.

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I have good news for you today.

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Here's the good news.

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It doesn't matter what you've done in the past,

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God matters about your today.

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Doesn't matter your mistakes of the past,

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the past is over as far as God's concerned

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when it comes to Jesus and what He can do with your life.

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That's the good news.

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The good news is you may be

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in your worst days right now,

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you may be in your best days right now,

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but there are amazing days

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that are still coming ahead.

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That's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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That's not happy clappy, peppy, fun talk.

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That is the promise of Jesus.

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I'm going to read you this story here

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of the prisoner, and you have to know that

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Jesus is really into you right now.

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As a prisoner, Jesus said before

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that Jesus identifies with you and He's into you.

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In fact, one time He has a bunch of people who are around.

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They all think that they're spiritual.

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And He says, "Okay, you all think you're spiritual.

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You all think you're religious.

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All you over here, you go over here to the left,

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to the bad place; all you over here,

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you go over to the right, to the good place.

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Because some of you people,

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I don't want to spend time with you."

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And they're all spiritual. They're all religious.

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And they're like, "What are you talking about?"

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And I'll just read you what Jesus says

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from the book of Matthew 25:35, he says:

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And they say to Him, they say,

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Jesus says, the way I treat you is the way I treat him

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because Jesus identifies with you.

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He says, when people are down and out on their luck,

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I identify with that person.

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I take it personally.

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Jesus says if we don't care about people who are poor,

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He takes it personally because He feels the poverty.

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Jesus says that if we don't identify with

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people in prison, we can't identify with God.

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And that's because the gospel tells us

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all of us are in prison.

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Because I may not be in physical bars right now,

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but there's stuff I do I hate that I'm doing it.

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I can't get over it.

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There's stuff I think I'm tired of thinking.

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I have this constant internal dialog

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of am I measuring up to people?

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Am I pleasing people?

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I have this internal dialog of, you look like

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you're getting used for more things than I am.

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You're more gifted than this than I am,

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and I have this dialog inside and I hate it.

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It's like I'm a prisoner to it.

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This is the way all of us are,

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whether we're in prison or not,

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we're drawn to things that are hurting us,

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they're wearing us out, they're driving us down.

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Right? You feel like you're a prisoner.

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Now let's get back to our prisoner story.

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John the Baptist is the very first person who,

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when he sees Jesus, who is the coming Messiah,

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he's the first person to identify Him publicly.

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He sees Jesus and he says this.

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He says, "Behold the Lamb of God

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that's come to take away the sins of the world."

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He says in the book of John 1:27,

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Behold the Lamb of God.

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Here it is, the lamb. The lamb was good news.

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In the Old Testament sacrificial system,

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they knew there had to be --

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There had to be a way to punish

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things that aren't good.

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That's why prison is there.

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Prison is supposed to punish things

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that aren't right and try to incentivize

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everybody to do the right thing,

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or else you'll go to prison or something worse.

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That's part of why prison is here.

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It's supposed to be a source of rehabilitation.

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It's debatable how effective the rehabilitation is,

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but the main thing it does is say,

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"I don't want to go there.

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I don't want to go there."

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The good news is, in the Old Testament

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there would have to be death for your rebellion.

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And God would say, "Well, good news,

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I'm going to not kill you.

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I'm going to take a lamb.

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I'm going to put a lamb on an altar, a sacrifice,

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and I'm going to kill the lamb so I don't kill you."

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That was the whole Old Testament sacrificial system.

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The temple, fires going up, all that stuff.

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And when John says, "Behold, the Lamb of God

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comes to take away your sin,"

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it's like good news, good news.

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God's going to deal with your sin.

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He's going to deal with your rebellion.

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He's going to deal with your hard heart.

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And the good news is it's going to be on this guy, not you.

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Who knows, there may be people in this prison right now,

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you're here because you took the hit

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for one of your buddies, and you decide

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not to turn them in.

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And you came here because you took the hit for him.

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In a sense you're being Jesus to him.

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You took the hits so that

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he didn't have to take the hit.

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This is the story of the gospel.

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Jesus is the lamb who takes the hit for us,

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so we don't have to take the hit.

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And the rest and the rest of all of our --

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All of our world, everyone's in this spirituality,

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religiosity, feel good do gooderism,

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where everyone goes out and they do nice things

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and they say nice things.

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If I do bad things, so got to go to church the next weekend.

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If I do bad things, I got to help

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an old lady across the street

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instead of taking her money from her.

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If I do something bad, I got to do this.

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It's like religion says, "Oh, you did something bad?

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Do this." That's what religion says.

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Spirituality says, "Oh, you're thinking bad thoughts?

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Just think good thoughts.

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Think unicorns and bubble gums and rainbows

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and love thy neighbor as yourself.

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All these things."

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The gospel is Jesus says, "You've done bad things?

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I'll do it, I'll do it.

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I'll do the good thing for you, and I'll take the hit for you."

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That is the good, good news that you and I

00:31:18

get to be free from serving time.

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Now, John is the first person who identifies

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Jesus as the Savior.

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And what do you know?

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People who have good spiritual beliefs

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still have crappy times.

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Anybody who's ever come in here in prison

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told you, all you have to do is receive Jesus

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and your life's going to be easy.

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That person was a liar.

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I don't care if they're wearing a big Cross around their neck.

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I don't care if they had a big fat Bible.

00:31:41

Anybody who tells you following Jesus is easy

00:31:44

and it's going to lead you to an easier life,

00:31:46

they're lying. It's not true. Not true.

00:31:50

It's a more meaningful life.

00:31:52

There is a peace that passes all understanding,

00:31:56

but hits are going to keep coming.

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And this happens with John the Baptist.

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He's made this declaration.

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And in fact, Jesus has said that

00:32:05

he is like the greatest person, the greatest human,

00:32:08

if you will, in the world.

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Jesus, the first thing He does when He comes

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on to the scene, His first sermon.

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He goes to the local synagogue.

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And here's what it says in Luke chapter four.

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And this is a prophecy.

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There are hundreds of prophecies about Jesus

00:32:36

written before He came around, that He fulfilled,

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all of them, all of them.

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This is one of the prophecies that He actually reads.

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Here's what He reads in the synagogue

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to a bunch of Jews who don't believe that He's the Messiah.

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This is the first time He's spoken publicly.

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That's you. Liberty to the captives, that's you and me.

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Boy, what if I told you you're coming into

00:33:15

the year of the Lord's favor?

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That you're coming to thing

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where He's just good with you?

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That's what He says to people, and now here it is.

00:33:36

Today. This is the prophecy of the coming Messiah.

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And He says, "He's here. That's me right now."

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He hands the scroll and He sits down.

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It was like mind blowing.

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He quotes all the things that the Savior does,

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releases us from our poverty,

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releases us from our imprisonment,

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releases us from our destitute nature,

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releases, releases, releases.

00:33:58

This is His proclamation.

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And John the Baptist wasn't seeing

00:34:03

all of these great things Jesus was going to do.

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He was seeing the miracles.

00:34:06

He was hearing the miracles.

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And John the Baptist ends up going to jail,

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thrown into prison.

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And John is, he's basicall a party favor

00:34:19

for Herod the governor.

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Herod has these parties,

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and he pulls John out of the basement.

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Everybody's partying hard, and they bring up John.

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They say, here he is. Let's laugh at this guy.

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And John is going to end up, one of these nights,

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he's going to lose his head because

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a daughter who Herod thinks is really attractive

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is going to listen to her.

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And she just because she's a sicko,

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her and her mom say, "Give me John's head on a platter."

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And so he does that.

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John's going to lose his life in prison eventually.

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But before he does, John sends word

00:34:54

to Jesus and His disciples.

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And this is where it gets really interesting.

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Luke 7:21, this this is just a few pages later.

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Jesus has been healing people.

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And here's what happens as John is in prison.

00:35:30

Many had been healed.

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It's crazy, John is asking them, is this the Messiah?

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John himself already proclaimed that He's the Messiah.

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All these people right now, they're seeing

00:35:42

literal, legitimate miracles happening.

00:35:45

And yet they're asking, "Is He the Messiah?"

00:35:47

You know why they are asking that?

00:35:48

Because John's faith is struggling.

00:35:52

None of us have perfect faith.

00:35:54

All of us have doubts. Everybody has doubts.

00:35:58

No matter what you have faith in,

00:35:59

if it's faith in Jesus, faith in your higher power,

00:36:02

faith in Buddha, faith in atheism,

00:36:04

faith in agnosticism, everybody has doubts.

00:36:07

Only the strong people can admit they have the doubts.

00:36:10

And John has his doubts.

00:36:12

He's just not sure that this is the guy.

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Because if You were the guy, why am I in prison?

00:36:18

If You're the guy, shouldn't things be better for me?

00:36:21

Shouldn't things be more comfortable to me?

00:36:26

And here's what Jesus says, verse 22.

00:36:45

Jesus right there, He quotes, He quotes Isaiah 61,

00:36:49

tell them what you've seen, the poor,

00:36:51

the stranger, all that stuff,

00:36:53

except one thing, he left out one thing out of that.

00:36:56

If you remember in Isaiah 61,

00:36:59

He mentions the prisoner, setting the captive free.

00:37:02

Right here He doesn't.

00:37:05

He doesn't mention that here. Why is that?

00:37:08

Because he's telling John, "John, I'm sorry, dude,

00:37:10

I'm not coming to set you free.

00:37:13

I'm not coming for you.

00:37:15

Yes, I am the Messiah.

00:37:17

But that doesn't mean that I do what you want me to do.

00:37:20

Because right now, I've got other things I'm doing,

00:37:22

and I'm not coming to get you."

00:37:24

Man, let me tell you something.

00:37:25

There's a lot of people who don't believe in God

00:37:28

for one reason, because they're not man enough

00:37:30

to deal with disappointment. That's why.

00:37:32

There's a lot of people who don't want

00:37:33

to believe in God because they're not man enough

00:37:35

to deal with hard stuff.

00:37:37

Life is hard. It's always been hard.

00:37:40

It's always going to be hard.

00:37:41

And the weak among us will blame God

00:37:43

because my life isn't easier than it is right now.

00:37:47

Not true. Life is going to be hard.

00:37:50

We have to have a doctrine of difficulty.

00:37:52

We have to stop blaming God when things don't go my way.

00:37:56

And this is what John's doing in his moment of weakness.

00:37:58

Well, how come you're not coming for me?

00:38:00

Why aren't you coming?

00:38:01

And Jesus gives it to him straight up.

00:38:02

"Hey, dude, I'm not coming.

00:38:04

I'm not coming. It sucks to be you.

00:38:05

Not coming, not coming. No power coming for you.

00:38:08

I'm not coming to set you free in this lifetime.

00:38:11

I'm coming to set you free in all eternity.

00:38:13

But your problem right now I'm not going to solve."

00:38:17

Let me ask you this: What if God doesn't solve your problem?

00:38:19

Are you okay with that?

00:38:21

And I don't mean just your problem

00:38:22

of not getting out of prison on early parole.

00:38:24

But what if he doesn't solve your problem

00:38:26

of your girlfriend or your wife

00:38:28

not waiting for you when you get out?

00:38:29

What if He doesn't solve that problem?

00:38:31

What if He doesn't solve whatever problem it is?

00:38:34

Are you still going to be good with God?

00:38:36

The strong ones, the strong ones don't allow

00:38:39

their problems to dictate the relationship with God.

00:38:42

The weak ones always allow our problems

00:38:45

to determine whether or not there is a God,

00:38:47

and whether or not there isn't a God.

00:38:48

That's why people leave the faith.

00:38:50

They like to leave the faith,

00:38:51

and they like to give reasons why it is

00:38:53

because it's not intellectually --

00:38:56

It's not intellectually sound

00:38:58

or I read this book where this guy said this

00:39:00

and therefore I can't believe anymore.

00:39:01

Oh, please, come on.

00:39:03

You know how many people with PhDs

00:39:04

have come to know Christ?

00:39:06

This guy existed.

00:39:07

We date time today because of His life.

00:39:11

We have first century historians

00:39:14

who are not Christians, such as Josephus,

00:39:17

who quote Him.

00:39:19

You can find this stuff in the library.

00:39:21

In fact, you can still see His works.

00:39:23

Constantine, Emperor of Rome not too long

00:39:27

after Jesus left, decided to make Christianity

00:39:29

the official religion because people had seen Him

00:39:32

and known Him, and there was a power structure

00:39:34

that was being affected because of Him.

00:39:35

Everything on our downline that's positive

00:39:37

comes from Jesus's followers.

00:39:39

Public schools came from Jesus followers

00:39:41

who wanted people to read the Bible.

00:39:44

Orphanages. I've never found an orphanage

00:39:47

that didn't initially start from the church

00:39:49

or a Christian because they say

00:39:50

Jesus is about orphans all the time.

00:39:53

I've never met a soup kitchen that initially

00:39:55

didn't start as a Christian operation.

00:39:58

I've never known of a hospital in

00:39:59

their original charter that didn't name Jesus Christ.

00:40:02

His fingerprints are all over our society,

00:40:05

even if we ignore Him.

00:40:07

He's real. He lived.

00:40:10

He's still affecting lives today.

00:40:13

Let's just be real.

00:40:14

I choose to not believe in God because

00:40:16

life's got hard and I wish God would save me

00:40:19

from all my difficulty.

00:40:21

Am I preaching to anybody other than myself?

00:40:23

Because that's me. I want life to be easier.

00:40:26

I want God to do more things.

00:40:27

I have a pretty darn easy life,

00:40:29

but I still want it to be easier.

00:40:31

But I got to tell you, we've got to get to a point

00:40:33

where no matter what God does or God doesn't do,

00:40:35

I'm good with God.

00:40:37

And Jesus says, "I'm not coming, not going to do it."

00:40:41

Now, John the Baptist, before this,

00:40:45

when he was out doing his preaching,

00:40:47

when he declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God,

00:40:50

this was a manly man.

00:40:51

This was a strange guy.

00:40:53

This is a guy who wore camel skin clothes with no underwear.

00:40:58

Camel skin.

00:41:00

I don't know if you ever touched a camel,

00:41:03

it's not like your dog or your cat.

00:41:04

It is coarse, prickly stuff, man.

00:41:07

Coarse, prickly stuff down by his jinigly bingelis

00:41:10

with no, no underwear. This is not comfortable.

00:41:15

And that's what Jesus says.

00:41:17

He said, "When you went to see this

00:41:18

in the wilderness, who did you see?

00:41:20

Let's keep going here.

00:41:21

Who did you see? Did you see a reed shaken by the wind?

00:41:24

John the Baptist is his cousin.

00:41:26

He said, "Did you see some guy out there

00:41:27

as it was shaking around? "He said," No.

00:41:30

What did you go out to see, a man dressed in soft clothing?

00:41:33

No. You didn't see a man dressed in soft clothing.

00:41:36

Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing

00:41:38

and live in luxury are in King's courts.

00:41:41

What then did you go out to see?"

00:41:43

He says, "A prophet. Yes, I tell you more than a prophet."

00:41:46

You know what Jesus says?

00:41:48

He says, look, let me get out here.

00:41:50

He says, "Look. I know.

00:41:54

I know that John's disappointed,

00:41:56

but let me tell you something about my cousin.

00:41:58

And you don't know this guy's.

00:41:59

He was out preaching commando

00:42:02

with course camel clothing stuff on.

00:42:05

He was living on the land.

00:42:07

This guy is a hard badass."

00:42:10

That's what He's saying in their language.

00:42:12

And what He's saying is, "My buddy is going to be fine.

00:42:15

He's going to be good. John's got this, he's got this.

00:42:19

He doesn't like it, but he's going to be okay."

00:42:21

We all have to come to place spiritually

00:42:23

where we're at peace that our crappy circumstances,

00:42:25

our difficulty are okay.

00:42:27

But guess what? You have this.

00:42:29

You can do this, you can finish it.

00:42:32

You can take it to where it needs to go to,

00:42:34

until God intervenes and does take it away,

00:42:38

because eventually H will take it away.

00:42:39

It just might not be until death.

00:42:43

It may happen before, it may not.

00:42:45

I think there's too few of men, too few men,

00:42:48

whether in prison or outside of prison,

00:42:51

too few of women, whether inside prison

00:42:53

or outside of prison, who are embracing

00:42:56

the difficult things of life and are bringing

00:42:58

their faith to those difficult things

00:43:01

instead of using those difficult things

00:43:02

to abandon the faith.

00:43:04

We have to be men and women who stand tall

00:43:08

in the midst of difficulty,

00:43:09

who stand tall in the midst of pain.

00:43:12

This is the biblical model for us.

00:43:15

I admire you because you're in

00:43:17

difficult circumstances more so than I am,

00:43:19

and you're standing tall, and I think it's awesome.

00:43:21

And I'm personally stimulated my faith because of you.

00:43:24

So thank you. You guys are rock stars.

00:43:27

Thank you. It's really good. [applause]

00:43:33

I'd like to think I would love God

00:43:35

if I was in prison, but I don't know. I don't know.

00:43:39

I've never been in prison.

00:43:40

I'd like to, I'd like to think my faith

00:43:42

would be fresh, I don't know, I don't.

00:43:44

I'd like to think if I went to prison

00:43:46

and there was some church group

00:43:47

doing some loud thing, and I was served lunch

00:43:49

and looking at all the guys in the back,

00:43:50

I'd stand and actually listen.

00:43:52

Thank you guys for listening. You weren't expecting this?

00:43:55

I'd like to think I would stand and listen,

00:43:56

I don't know, I might not, I don't know.

00:43:59

But for all you dudes, you have a --

00:44:02

You've got an open heart and a good attitude

00:44:04

that I think is is really, really good.

00:44:08

I'm going to end with this.

00:44:10

I've talked a bit about the physical prison

00:44:12

that we've been in, but I also want to talk about

00:44:15

the spiritual prison and make sure we know

00:44:17

that we're all in the same boat here, dudes, all of us.

00:44:20

We're all in the same boat and the boat is called sin.

00:44:22

That we all do things we don't want to do.

00:44:24

We all think things we don't want to think.

00:44:26

And we're all affected and infected by things

00:44:28

we don't want to be infected and affected by,

00:44:31

all of us.

00:44:32

Maybe different things for different people,

00:44:34

but all of us are that way.

00:44:35

This is a course of the human condition.

00:44:37

And the gospel speaks to us.

00:44:40

In the book of Ephesians chapter two it says this:

00:45:02

This is our natural description.

00:45:03

We're dead in our trespasses,

00:45:05

meaning God's never impressed with us.

00:45:07

We're never born and God says, "Oh wow,

00:45:09

there's a really important, interesting person

00:45:12

that I would like to get to know someday."

00:45:14

All of a sudden were born were born sinners.

00:45:16

And we all know this who've ever had little kids,

00:45:18

because we have to teach our kids

00:45:19

to tell the truth, not to lie.

00:45:21

Our kids will naturally lie.

00:45:23

They'll naturally steal.

00:45:24

It naturally happens for all of us.

00:45:26

We're born dead in our trespasses and sins.

00:45:29

This is part of the truth.

00:45:31

And how this operates, it says that

00:45:33

we all have passions of the flesh.

00:45:36

We all have things that we're just

00:45:38

really excited about that God isn't.

00:45:39

And and by nature, this is tough,

00:45:41

by nature, children of wrath.

00:45:44

By nature, children of wrath.

00:45:47

By nature, people who God wants to punish

00:45:49

because of our rebelliousness.

00:45:51

By nature, children of wrath.

00:45:54

Mr. Rogers isn't going to quote that Bible verse,

00:45:56

but it's right there:

00:45:57

We are by nature, children of wrath.

00:45:59

And here's a great word:

00:46:24

So regardless of us being dead, but God loves us.

00:46:29

He loves you. Not only does He love you,

00:46:31

He respects you. He does.

00:46:34

Who you are right now, He respects you

00:46:36

where you are right now.

00:46:37

You don't have to make any changes.

00:46:38

He respects you where you are right now.

00:46:41

He loves you and respects you right where you are.

00:46:44

And he invites us into a relationship with Him,

00:46:48

into a purpose, into a calling that

00:46:50

we can carry with us through the hard times.

00:46:53

That's called the gospel of Jesus Christ.

00:46:55

And there's a power that passes all understanding

00:46:59

when you receive Jesus, when you say a prayer

00:47:02

and you say, "Jesus, I want You in my life.

00:47:04

I want to follow You," you get power from God

00:47:07

that is in your own power.

00:47:08

You get a power to endure that isn't your own power.

00:47:11

You get the sensation and the reality

00:47:13

of a love that passes all understanding,

00:47:16

not because of anything that you've done

00:47:18

or who you are, simply because God is.

00:47:22

That's the gospel.

00:47:23

That's the good news of Jesus Christ.

00:55:26

- Did I meet Jesus in prison? And I said no.

00:55:30

I said, "Actually, Jesus met me in prison.

00:55:33

I wasn't seeking Him. I wasn't looking for Him.

00:55:37

But I come to find out that He was looking for me."

00:55:43

I'm 52 years old and I've been incarcerated

00:55:45

since I was 19, which is like 33.5 years.

00:55:52

The prison ministry is sometimes directed

00:55:57

by the inmates that's in there.

00:55:59

They are sometimes the greatest advocates of Jesus.

00:56:03

- I can say this: if I was defined by my mistakes,

00:56:08

I would be considered the worst of the worst.

00:56:10

By the blood of Jesus Christ I am considered

00:56:13

a righteous man and have another chance at life,

00:56:18

I would like to say.

00:56:20

I've been incarcerated for 20 years.

00:56:22

I come from a traditionally Jewish family

00:56:25

and knew nothing about Jesus.

00:56:28

Even to speak the name of Jesus

00:56:30

in a traditional Jewish setting

00:56:32

was considered somewhat blasphemy.

00:56:34

And the blood of Jesus Christ

00:56:36

has absolutely changed my life forever.

00:56:39

And the ministries that come in gives us a chance

00:56:42

to experience that love and that support

00:56:45

and that energy that we don't necessarily

00:56:47

get inside a prison all the time.

00:56:50

- My name is Mike Davis

00:56:52

and I serve the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation

00:56:55

and Correction as the bureau chief

00:56:57

of the Office of Recreation and Religious Services.

00:57:00

Prison ministry matters, first and foremost,

00:57:04

because it is the charge given to the church.

00:57:08

The real work of prison ministry starts

00:57:12

when these men and women, who are our neighbors,

00:57:15

come back into our neighborhoods.

00:57:20

95% of all those who are incarcerated

00:57:24

are eventually coming home.

00:57:27

And when I say coming home,

00:57:28

I mean your home and my home,

00:57:29

they're coming to our communities.

00:57:31

They are our neighbors.

00:57:34

In the development of our relationship

00:57:36

with The Four-Seven, you guys are getting it.

00:57:40

I was elated that Crossroads decided to come down

00:57:44

and share with the men

00:57:47

here at Pickaway Correctional Institution.

00:57:49

It was a phenomenal day

00:57:52

and the men got to engage in worship just like

00:57:55

they would if they were in their own community.

00:57:59

And I'm very appreciative of that.

00:58:01

I'm more appreciative of the fact that Crossroads

00:58:05

is willing to take the next step,

00:58:07

and that next step is discipleship.

00:58:09

The next step is teaching people

00:58:11

how to live life in the marketplace.

00:58:14

How do I as, a person who's incarcerated,

00:58:19

how do I step back into community and function

00:58:23

as a citizen that's going to contribute

00:58:27

to reduce crime and increase public safety?

00:58:30

How do I become a better father?

00:58:32

How am I situated in position to be a better spouse

00:58:37

and a sibling, a son?

00:58:40

Those are the things that I'm extremely excited about.

00:58:44

The fact that you're willing to walk with people

00:58:47

to help develop a continuum of care

00:58:50

that begins prior to release

00:58:52

and extends back into the community.

00:58:55

- I can't wait to get out and join ministries

00:58:57

such as Crossroads and be able to give back.

00:59:00

It's something I look forward to and definitely am going to do,

00:59:02

given the opportunity, like, it's --

00:59:05

I never imagined before even thinking about

00:59:08

coming back into prison, you know?

00:59:11

But being able to come back in and give back

00:59:13

is -- I can't wait.

00:59:15

I mean, I was facing 23 to life.

00:59:17

My faith in Jesus Christ has allowed for me

00:59:20

to have hope, to have faith,

00:59:22

and to see that light at the end of the tunnel

00:59:24

and not just think about myself,

00:59:26

but what I can do for others as well while I'm here.

00:59:29

- I am a product of people that love Jesus.

00:59:35

I have my eternal future, right, which is assured.

00:59:42

And I have my physical future, if that,

00:59:46

you know, sometimes I get weary,

00:59:51

which is what our Lord has advised us not to do,

00:59:54

is become weary in our well doing that, you know,

00:59:58

we shall reap if we do not faint.

01:00:01

But I have hope, and I look forward to seeing,

01:00:07

you know, the next chapter

01:00:08

of what God has in store for me.

01:00:12

- Hey, thank you so much for watching.

01:00:14

This was just a really special weekend for us as a church.

01:00:17

As you can see, folks are tearing down,

01:00:19

but this isn't like a one and done thing, right?

01:00:22

These are friendships, these are relationships

01:00:24

that continue to build over time

01:00:27

with incarcerated residents here

01:00:29

and at prisons all over the place.

01:00:32

As always, church isn't something

01:00:33

that just happens on a Sunday morning.

01:00:35

It's not something that just happens

01:00:36

in church buildings.

01:00:38

It is who we are as followers of Jesus,

01:00:39

wherever we are, literally anywhere.

01:00:42

As always, there's so many things

01:00:43

that are going on around Crossroads that

01:00:45

I'm not going to take the time to fill you in on

01:00:47

because it would take like an hour.

01:00:48

But for all of them, you can head to

01:00:50

Crossroads.net/anywhere for details

01:00:53

on everything from new cohorts and new groups,

01:00:55

new ways to grow, new ways to be pushed.

01:00:57

Keep up with us in the Crossroads Anywhere app

01:01:00

and online, and we'll see you next week.

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