Build Your Life on Truth | Rock Solid Week 1

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- Have you ever built something and recognized that what

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you built isn't what you wanted or it's not working?

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It's so deflating because what you got to do is

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you got to tear it down and start from scratch.

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I've worked in construction for a bunch of years.

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I've built stuff on my house.

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I built stuff on my motorcycle, on my truck.

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Most recently I put a rack on the back of my

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truck and I realized I did something wrong.

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I had to undo it.

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This is the thing: Sometimes when you're building

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something, you have to take it down to get it right.

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This is a reality that's happening in people's faith.

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We're seeing people who have built faith and the faith isn't

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working, and what's happened is called deconstructionism.

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They're deconstructing their faith.

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There's a good thing about this is that you're trying

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to deal with your faith and get the faulty things out.

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The bad thing is it's really in vogue right now to just

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deconstruct your faith instead of actually building your faith.

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I don't want you to tear down your faith.

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I don't want you to tear down your life.

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I want you to build your life the right way that God,

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the way God wants it in the way that actually works.

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That's what we're going to be dealing

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with in this series called Rock Solid.

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To build something rock solid, it's got to be inside of code.

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When code is really working well, it's

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not a system to frustrate contractors.

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It's a system that reflects the truth of reality.

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It reflects load bearing and how thick things need to be.

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It's a matter of science and math and physics all in one.

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That's the truth you need when you build something.

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Our culture is fixated on living your own truth.

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I'm fine to live the truth, but

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first we have to find the truth,

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the truth that is foundational and structural

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for building a great life and a great faith.

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- What's the most important part of any house?

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The doors, windows, maybe the drapes or the landscaping?

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How about the roof?

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Nope, none of this stuff will make your house stand.

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We definitely need them.

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But when life hits, we need more.

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So what is the most important part of any house?

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Spoiler alert, this is not about the house.

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We are all building something.

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The question is not what we are

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building, but what we're building on.

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Lots of our foundations are weak.

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If you're feeling tossed around, pressured from every side,

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and weathered out by the world around you,

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there's good news for us.

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Jesus says we can have a faith that stands up to the

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turmoil, tensions, and even the terrifying stuff of life.

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And Jesus doesn't just tell us what to do,

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He actually shows us the way to have a rock solid faith

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that can hold together under the weight of life.

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Everyone is building their life on something.

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We want you to build your life on a rock solid foundation.

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In a world where everything feels like

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it's constantly shaking, we can have a faith

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that stands firm under pressures

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and holds us together in the chaos of life.

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We can have a faith that is built to last.

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- In 1949, Henry Rowengartner had a closed

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door meetings with Robert Fitzgerald Diggs.

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They met behind closed doors to discuss a Booster

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Tracy method that they used to to trace citizens.

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What did they know? What were they planning?

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Did you also know (record scratches) none of that's true?

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Henry Rowengartner, that's the lead

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character from Rookie of the Year.

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Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, that's RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan.

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But why did so many of us want that to be true?

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And why did the other half was want me to think it

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was true so that you could show me how wrong I am?

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Well, because the truth matters.

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I think we all want truth.

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The issue is we don't really know what it looks like.

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We don't know where to find it.

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And I see a tragedy happening to people today.

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I see good people breaking down, walking away from their faith,

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their families, their entire lives crumbling

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because what they held onto as truth,

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it got destroyed when pressure was put on it.

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How do you know this won't happen to you?

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Well, I've got good news: You can experience truth.

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And you can have truth and build your life on it.

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But first, we've got to deal with some

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ginormous barriers that are standing in the way.

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In an era of conspiracy theories, alternative facts,

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truth claim power moves and re-truthing,

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you can have a foundation of truth.

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Truth is important.

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It determines what lasts and what crumbles.

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This is why I don't buy into the there is no truth argument.

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Here's why.

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If truth doesn't exist, then it should have no opposite.

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So let me ask you a question: Is there such thing as lying?

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Well, yes is your answer, then truth has to exist.

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And no one likes being lied to.

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If lying exists, then truth must exist, but

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there are some big things standing in the way.

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The first real big thing that stands in the way of

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us experiencing real truth is our need to be right.

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This is where we hold our facts and hold our beliefs

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and hold our bullet points so tight

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that we're just trying to win an argument at all costs.

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And for these folks, the truth really becomes a list of

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do's and don'ts absent from any kind of human experience.

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Let me just say uncontextualized

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rules have no real value in life.

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But when we hold them so tight,

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when we hold these rules so tight,

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the search for truth just becomes another talking point

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in our grenade that we throw across the bow in culture wars

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and never really listen to any other sort of information.

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Just spewing facts back and forth.

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And I was struggling to find the perfect example of this,

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and then I saw some of the comments

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on a few of our YouTube videos, and bruh.

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Don't go check it out yet.

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Wait, wait, wait, wait till I'm done

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then and then explore however you want.

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Here's a question to ask yourself if you find

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you are holding on to the need to be right.

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If the hold on to need to be right is standing in the way

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of you experiencing real truth, ask yourself this question:

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When was the last time you were wrong?

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See, I'm always right in my own mind and with my own tribe.

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And if you're never wrong, you probably have limited context.

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Because we can win all the Twitter beefs,

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have all the right facts, all the right bullet points,

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and never really experience truth.

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Now, the second big thing that gets in the way of

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us experiencing truth is our fear of being wrong.

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See, if one group is holding on the truth so tight,

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holding on to their values, holding on to their rules

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and their do's and don'ts, their bullet points,

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this group is scared to hold on to anything.

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One group never wants to contextualize.

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This group was like, "I will continue to contextualize

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if it means I don't have to actually believe anything."

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What happens is we continue to

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rationalize, continue to contextualize.

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I call these the what if, what about people.

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And I understand why this is so popular right now

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in our culture, because committing is not easy.

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Fitting into popular norms, that's a little easier.

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Quick, easy solutions, rather than really digging

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for truth and experiencing it is a lot easier.

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Here's a question to ask yourself to help you determine

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if the fear of being wrong

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might be standing in your way of experiencing truth.

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When was the last time you stood up for something,

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even though it wasn't the popular opinion?

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Like when was the last time you

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went against the cultural grain?

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Because if we're going to have a life built to last,

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we've got to be okay with going against the grain.

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Remember that one person who

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always went with the cultural norm?

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Remember how fantastic their life was?

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Remember how sturdy they were under pressure?

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How much courage they had?

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Me, neither.

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If you want a rock solid life, you need truth you can stand on.

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And Jesus makes a bold claim about truth.

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He says, "You will know the truth

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and the truth will set you free."

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Spoiler alert: truth starts with Jesus.

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- We'll get back to Paco in just a second.

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But first I wanted to say thank you to all of

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our givers who make videos like this possible.

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You're funding and fueling literal life change.

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I don't know if you get to see that, but I do.

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And on behalf of everybody whose lives

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you are changing, I want to say thank you.

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By the way, if you want to join the

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community of generosity, it's super easy.

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You just go to Crossroads.net/give.

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When you get there, you'll see something called our Tithe Test.

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It's pretty simple.

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It's a way to take the stress out

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of giving for the very first time.

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It works like this: You try tithing, giving for 90 days.

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And if at the end of those 90 days, you don't experience

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more of God in your life,

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we'll literally give you all of your money back.

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Again, just go to Crossroads.net/give.

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Let's get back to Paco.

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- So how do you know it's truth?

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Well, truth is verified,

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verified not just by the tastemakers and the creators,

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but verified outside of those opinions.

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Picture it like this: You're on a date in a

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different city with your significant other.

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And it's time to eat so you want to go on a really fancy date.

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And your spouse goes, "Listen, if you take me to

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Applebee's one more time, this will be our last date."

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So you do what any sane person would do, you jump on

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Yelp and you see a spot that says Joe's Falafel Shop.

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And you think to yourself, "Thank goodness, because

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I would never be able to spell falafel properly."

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And Joe's Falafel Shop has five star rating.

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So you click through and you see that there's only one review.

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And the review is by a guy named Joe Falafel.

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That probably wouldn't be a very valid review.

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And in the same way, if your truth has not been verified

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by something outside of your own knowledge

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and expertise, you should doubt it to be true.

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Truth needs to be validated by many for it to be valid.

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And when you think about how this applies to Jesus,

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the existence of Jesus, His claims and all of His life

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has been validated historically, scripturally,

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and experienced by thousands.

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Secondly, truth encourages questions.

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Now I used to get real upset when anyone would

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ask questions about what I knew to be true.

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If I thought it was true, why would you even question it?

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Well, I realized quickly that

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had nothing to do with the truth.

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That had everything to do with my own insecurities.

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See, truth is not threatened by questions.

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And if you're in a spot where the authority, the

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truth in your life doesn't invite questions, run.

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I don't care if it's a church, a friend group, or

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anything else, that is not a healthy environment.

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Truth is not intimidated by questions.

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And we see this play out in the

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life of Jesus over and over again.

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In the book of John specifically from the

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Bible, Jesus is is on His way to the cross.

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He's on His way to be tried in a court that

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was crooked and be strung up on a cross to die.

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And before He does that, there's this interaction He

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has with His closest followers called The Last Supper.

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And during the Last Supper, Jesus does this ceremonial

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foot washing to serve the people around Him.

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And then He goes on and he says some really beautiful,

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powerful words that He almost -- He's calling His shot.

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He's saying, "This is about to happen.

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All of the stuff I've been saying

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to you is about to go down."

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And in the very middle of that, Thomas, one of his earliest

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followers, raises his hand and goes, "I got a question."

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And in the middle of all of that,

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Jesus stops to address the question.

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Here's how it reads in John 14.

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Now I want us to notice two things here.

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First, Jesus doesn't scold Thomas for

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raising his hand and asking the question.

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Jesus isn't like, "Thomas,

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right now in the middle of my incredible talk,

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in front of my friends, you're going to stand up, what?"

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No, no, no, Jesus stops and answers Thomas's question.

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And secondly, Jesus doesn't just claim to

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know the truth, He claims He is the truth.

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Jesus made these claims, and then He goes

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to the cross and He fulfills these claims.

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When he dies, He's buried, and three days

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later, He comes walking out of the grave.

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It's called resurrection.

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Which leads me to my next point.

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Truth cashes in on the claims.

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Truth claims can be evaluated

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depending on the outcome of the claim.

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Jesus claimed to be the truth,

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and He wasn't the only person making these claims in His day.

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There were other people who claimED to be the truth,

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who claim to be all the things that Jesus claimed to be.

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And one thing they all have in common is they all die.

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The one thing that sets us apart from all of those

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is Jesus rose from the grave.

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And His movement is the only movement

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that continues to expand to this day,

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continues to show people truth to this day,

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thousands of years later.

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And if that isn't true,

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then none of this, none of this matters.

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If Jesus doesn't get up out of the grave, none

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of this even matters, all of this is in vain.

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Lastly, and most importantly, truth runs toward doubt.

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You see, when Jesus comes out of the grave

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and He starts to show Himself to his earliest followers

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and says, "See, it's true, all the things I said, it's true.

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I am the truth. I am the way. I am the life.

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I did defeat death."

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But what happens is some people still had some doubt.

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You know what it's like to have doubt.

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And in John Chapter 20, we see this interaction with Jesus

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and Thomas again, where Thomas' doubts get addressed.

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John, Chapter 20:26:

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Now, why is this a thing?

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Why is this important in the search for truth?

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Well, because just eight days prior

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to this, Thomas was doubting heavy.

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This Jesus that he loved so much that

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he built his whole life around had died.

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And all of the doubts that would come with that

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were the thing you built your life on is not there anymore,

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all of that started to whirlwind in Thomas's mind

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and in his life.

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And maybe you're in a spot where it feels like your

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life is a whirlwind and maybe you're doubting heavy.

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Well, Jesus does for Thomas what

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He wants to do for you as well.

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You see, Jesus tells Thomas,

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"Thomas, in your doubt, come here.

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Let me show you. Let me show you what happened.

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I'm really Jesus.

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This is where the nail went in as

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they strung me up on the cross."

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He says, "Thomas, let me show you the piercing in my side

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from the spear that they hit me with when I was on that cross.

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You see, Thomas, this is true.

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What you believe is true and your doubt is welcome here."

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And Jesus meets Thomas right in the middle of his doubt.

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You see, truth is more than just abstract

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rules, more than just experiences,.

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Truth is Jesus, and if we go to Him, He will give us

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Himself, which is the way, the truth, and the life.

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This process is not easy.

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It's not easy to build a faith that lasts.

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It's not easy to build a rock solid foundation of truth.

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But let me tell you, it is so worth it.

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It's easier for me to hold tight to my talking

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points and Bible verses and witty comebacks.

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It's so easy for me to be like, "Nope,

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I'm not going anywhere near any of this."

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But when I put all of those things away

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and I meet Jesus, everything changes.

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When I asked Jesus to meet me where I am in my doubt,

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with my disbelief, with my questions,

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with all the things I need verified,

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Jesus always meets me there.

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Those are the exact places where He walks

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alongside us and He's gentle with us.

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And I've seen this play out in my own life over and over again.

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You see, if you were to take a snapshot of me as a

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kid and show who I was, it would look way different.

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And if I were to take a snapshot of my life now and

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show myself as a kid, I'd be like there's no way.

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There's no way, because you know why?

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Because I thought my life would

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crumble and continue to crumble.

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And I often think the things that I love about my life,

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my marriage, my family, my calling, my faith,

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I often think that at some point they're going to crumble, too.

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And I can easily think that that's true,

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and I could easily think that Jesus is upset with me

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and doesn't want to be near me because of my doubt.

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And then I end up in a cycle, in a whirlwind, and then

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things just start to crumble and crash all around me.

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The only way I can have hope for the truth

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is trusting that Jesus is who He says He is.

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That He is the way, is the truth, and He is the life.

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And if I start there, the rest of my life

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starts to build out from that foundation.

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And when the chaos of life hits and the turmoil of life hits

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and frustrations happen, I can stand firm knowing that

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anything else can crash around me,

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but my relationship with Jesus,

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my relationship with the truth can stand firm.

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And all I have to do is trust in Him.

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So what this mean for you?

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Well, you will always find what you're looking for.

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If you're looking for a set of rules, you'll find it.

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If you're looking for a reason to

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bend the rules, you'll find it.

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But if you're looking for truth, it can be found in Jesus.

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And Jesus wants a relationship with you.

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He wants to give you this truth.

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He wants to give you the kind of truth that will set you free.

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All you've got to do is ask Him.

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And you don't have to have it all

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figured out before you ask Him.

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You don't have to deal with all the verifying.

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You don't have to deal with all the questions.

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You don't have to deal with figuring

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out the claims, what they mean.

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You don't have to worry about the doubt.

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Bring it all with you.

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He says, "Bring it all to Me.

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I am the way, I am the truth, and I am a life."

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And He wants to give you that truth

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so you can build a faith that last.

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- That's exactly right.

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Jesus is the living truth and He's

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looking for a relationship with you.

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Here at Crossroads, we want to help you with that

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relationship, we want to help you along that journey.

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Two things we're doing, one, our

00:19:36

World Changing Summit on November 3rd.

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And two, our Prayer Night on November 4th.

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We just came out of The Journey and

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we challenged everyone to serve.

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And if you're interested in any of this stuff,

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World Change, Prayer Night, or signing up to volunteer,

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you can just go to online.crossroads.net.

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Thanks so much.

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We'll see you next week on Crossroads.

00:19:55

- Loving our neighbors is core to who we are

00:19:58

and who God calls us to be.

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We believe that love looks like

00:20:02

running after those in need and serving them well.

00:20:05

The harsh reality is that 1 in 7 of our neighbors faces hunger

00:20:08

and almost one in three live below the poverty line.

00:20:12

Through Thanksgiving Food Drive and Christmas Gift Drive,

00:20:14

we can change what Thanksgiving and Christmas

00:20:17

look like for these families.

00:20:20

Your generosity can make a tremendous impact.

00:20:24

Join us as we serve love this holiday season.

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