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

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

Jun 4, 2023 • 1 hr 8 mins 13 sec

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