How to Choose Adventure | The Adventurous Life Week 1

A mundane, humdrum life is easy (but boring). Here’s how to start an adventure in your life.

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    Hi, I'm Brian Tome, Senior Pastor at Crossroads.
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    Hey, new series we're starting today called The Adventuresome Life.
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    An adventure I've been increasingly embarking on
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    is the adventure of racial reconciliation,
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    the adventure of noticing that there are systems of injustice
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    that exist in our country
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    that make it more difficult for people who don't have my skin tone.
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    There's an event I'm going to be a part of and Crossroads is.
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    And I hope you can get there.
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    If you can get to Cincinnati that would be great.
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    July 11, it's call Unified: A Prayer Walk
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    We're going to walk from Sawyer Point to Fountain Square
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    praying for the racial situation in our country
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    Churches from all over the place are going to be coming in for this.
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    And we're just going to be praying, not demonstrating,
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    we're going to be praying.
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    In the Bible, when people walk powerful things happen.
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    People walked around the city of Jericho and walls fell down.
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    The apostles would take walks at different cities.
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    We're going to take a walk
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    to see if God doesn't change and heal our hearts and heal our land.
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    We're going to have more information for you via social media
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    and other ways, but just put it on your calendar.
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    Please, be with me July 11, 10:00 in Cincinnati.
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    There is a reason you aren't satisfied with the ordinary.
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    You were made for adventure.
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    A life with God doesn't have to be boring.
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    It can be a pulse pumping, heart pounding life of purpose,
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    and we can guide you there.
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    The adventure awaiting you is bigger
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    and more life giving than you could ever imagine.
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    Join us every weekend for 30 minutes of challenge,
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    hope and encouragement to guide you on your spiritual adventure.
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    Hey, everyone, and welcome to Crossroads.
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    My name is Hannah and I am so glad that you're with us today.
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    Today we start a new series called The Adventurous Life
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    and our Senior Pastor, Brian Tome, is going to talk to us about
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    how when we push past our comfort zones our lives can change.
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    Man, 2020 has felt like a real kick in the teeth
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    with global pandemics, racial injustice, political turmoil, and even killer hornets.
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    You might be asking yourself, "Adventure? Hey, I'm just trying to survive."
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    Well, even in the face of all of that, we still believe
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    that God has adventure for each of you
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    and we're going to dig into that a little bit today
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    You may have noticed some changes to our look and to our feel.
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    Today marks the beginning of a new adventure for Crossroads.
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    It's not just a new logo, but it's who we are.
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    We are spiritual outfitters that are here to equip
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    and guide you along your adventure with God.
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    You'll hear more about that at the end of today's episode,
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    or you can go to crossroads.net/spiritual outfitters.
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    Let's get started.
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    Adventure and church aren't normally two words that go together.
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    But at Crossroads we don't believe in doing church as usual.
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    In fact, we believe that a life with God
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    can be a pulse-pumping, heart-pounding life of purpose
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    and our job is to guide you there.
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    The history-making adventurers who explored new worlds, climbed Mt. Everest,
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    fought through jungles and crossed deserts didn't get there alone.
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    They used outfitters to equip them
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    for journeys full of rough terrain and dangerous obstacle.
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    An outfitter is a place where you can both get gear
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    and person who guides you to your destination.
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    At Crossroads we are spiritual outfitters
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    because as great as those historic adventures were,
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    they're nothing compared to the spiritual journey God wants to take you on.
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    So instead of tents, Yetis, and pickaxes,
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    we'll gear you up with spiritual training, life-changing trips,
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    connection to other people on the journey,
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    motivation, inspiration, and challenge
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    from guides who have been where you want to go
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    and can help get you there.
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    We have the tools you'll need because the adventure awaiting you
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    is bigger and more life giving than you could ever imagine
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    Crossroads Church, your guide to the adventurous life.
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    - No matter who you are, no matter where you live,
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    no matter how old you are,
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    no matter where you like, what you don't like,
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    all of us are born for and want adventure.
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    For most of my life, I've followed where
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    other people thought my life should be,
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    and that isn't very adventurous at all.
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    I did what I did in high school because I was trying to please
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    and fit in with a bunch of people
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    who I shouldn't have been trying to please as much as I did.
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    I went to college because my parents said I should go to college
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    because they were big college people.
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    I went to seminary in large part because
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    other people I respected went to seminary.
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    I used to teach what I taught because I wanted
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    my seminary professor to approve of what I thought
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    and what I taught.
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    The way that churches should operate, so I thought decades ago,
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    were the way churches were supposed to be operating.
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    It's just like, here's the plan.
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    Just kind of trying to do this thing.
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    Crossroads comes under a good level of criticism because
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    people understand we're not trying to do what other churches do.
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    It wonderful they do what they do.
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    We're not just trying to have good music
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    and halfway decent preaching.
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    We're not trying to follow what the seminary professor says
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    or the Christian author or whoever,
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    we're trying to follow what Jesus says
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    and that is going to be an adventure.
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    We're on this body water.
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    And much of Jesus's time recorded in the New Testament
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    was spent on the Sea of Galilee.
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    He would regularly say, "Follow me, follow me."
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    Jesus says that same thing to you and I today, "Follow me."
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    Not follow a culture wants, not follow what America wants,
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    and follow what your parents want,
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    not follow what all your circle of influencers want,
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    not follow what the bloggers want.
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    Can you hear the unique voice of Jesus calling you
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    to something that's different that nobody you know has done,
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    that those people don't understand?
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    Crossroads is a bit adventurous,
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    so we start calling ourselves outfitters.
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    We're trying to outfit you for your adventure life.
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    That's why our colors and pics are the way they are.
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    We're trying to give you a picture of what your life could be like.
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    We've been very adventuresome for a long, long time
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    as a church, man, we started
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    the largest privately funded AIDS hospice in South Africa
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    and it failed a few years later, by the way.
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    Yeah, adventures don't always go comfortably
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    and they don't always have wins.
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    That's why we sponsor thousands and thousands of children
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    we feed and educate every day in Bolivia and Nicaragua.
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    That's why we have mission trips and service projects.
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    It's why we've got an Amazon Prime
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    with something called Phantom Lake.
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    I mean, who in the world tries to get something on Amazon Prime?
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    It's an adventure to do that and to woo people in.
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    It's why we talk about the things that we do,
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    it's why we give you the opportunities you can have,
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    because we want you to tap into the life
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    that God has for you to see your adventure.
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    It might not be boats, it might not be hiking,
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    it might not be rappelling, motorcycling,
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    but there's something more that you and I need
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    that's beyond our COVID-19 social distancing lives.
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    Have you heard about that writer, Forrest Fenn,
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    that just came out recently that years ago
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    he had buried a million dollars worth of gold and jewelry
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    and he had hidden clues about where to find it in his writings.
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    People have been going bonkers over this.
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    There was a pastor from Colorado who actually died
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    trying to get deep in the Rocky Mountains to find it.
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    There were other people who had to get rescued.
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    Finally, someone recently got it.
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    And Forrest Fenn said he was happy for the person,
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    but also bummed that the adventure was over.
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    Jesus says the book of John 10:10:
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    Our world is stealing from us. It's killing us.
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    It's grinding us down to a nub,
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    and you and I were meant for much more.
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    We're meant to be alive, meant to see, meant to feel,
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    meant to experience actually Jesus
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    having a greater control of our lives.
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    And He actually likes things like boats.
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    Go!
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    Woo-hoo, oh, yeah!
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    There's something about being outside your normal element.
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    Whenever you're outside of your normal element it's adventurous.
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    That's what I want for you.
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    That's a big part of why Crossroads exists,
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    to get you outside your normal element,
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    to give you adventure.
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    We've got to do that to live a full life
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    and to experience God and all His ways.
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    I've only been doing this here
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    for a couple two years right now,
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    but I've been into this and camping and motorcycling.
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    It's what pushes you outside your comfort zone.
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    Here's the thing, whatever that thing is,
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    that's not even the thing.
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    Because thing we're going to talk about in a moment
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    are the really hard things that change your life,
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    the really hard things to change other people's lives.
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    It's the things that go beyond and push us
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    from being who we are right now to being a different person
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    under the covering authority and approval of Jesus.
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    And He actually approves of having fun
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    and He actually approves of you doing some difficult things.
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    Sometimes you've gotta throw away the rope.
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    Ahh.
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    Here I go, see how it goes. Ready?
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    Until you get off script,
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    until you get uncomfortable,
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    until you start doing something
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    that you aren't seeing other people doing,
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    you're not living the adventuresome life.
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    You're just living the life that everybody else is living,
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    just trying to do it incrementally more efficient.
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    That's not life. It's not adventure.
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    It's not what God has for you.
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    And to understand what He has for you
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    and how to go through it there are two questions
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    you've got to be able to ask yourself
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    that we're going to look at in just a moment.
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    In that verse we talked about,
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    about Jesus coming to give us life, life abundantly.
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    The crazy thing is He actually wants more for your life
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    than you want for your life.
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    He has higher expectations of your life
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    than you have for your life.
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    He's got great dreams for life and greater plans
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    for you life then probably you have for your life.
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    When he says, "Follow me,"
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    He's inviting us to go someplace we're not right now.
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    When He says, "Follow me," He's trying to tell us
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    there's a different and better place for you to be,
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    a different and better thing for you to do.
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    You might say, "Well, I'd love to do that
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    if heard him say, 'Follow me,'
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    but I don't hear a voice from God
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    or handwriting up in the up in the sky."
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    When Jesus says follow him, it normally comes --
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    there's a thought that comes to your mind
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    that you go, "Oh, man," it won't leave you.
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    And you think that's the kind of thought
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    that God would approve of it.
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    It might be counsel somebody gives you
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    and the hair stands up in the back of your neck
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    or your stomach grumbles because you think,
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    "Oh, I don't want to do --"
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    That's probably Jesus saying follow Him.
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    There's something else to do and a place to go
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    and you think that God wants to take you there,
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    but you're concerned.
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    That's adventure. That's life.
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    And unless you're a little bit on edge about it,
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    it's probably not the voice of God.
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    It's probably not adventure.
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    In the Book of Matthew 8 we see some people
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    come to Jesus thinking that they want to follow Him
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    and have a fun, nice life.
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    And He's got some wakeup words for them.
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    Here's what says in Matthew 8:
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    Remember I told there was two things.
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    The first is you say, yes. You move, you say yes.
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    One person says, "I'm going to follow you."
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    And Jesus says, "Are you sure you know what you're in for?
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    Because I don't got a bunch of bed and breakfasts
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    lined up from here to Jerusalem.
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    Foxes know where theu're sleeping every night.
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    We're not going to know where they're sleeping.
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    Jesus is not homeless, but He's on a journey,
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    He's on adventure.
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    If people are going will follow Him.,
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    they're going to have unpredictable days.
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    He says, "Are you sure?"
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    Another guy comes to Him and says,
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    "Hey, I'll follow you, but first you gotta wait for my dad, me to bury my dad."
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    And Jesus says, "Let the dead bury their own dead."
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    This sounds like really tough.
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    Wait a minute, I thought Jesus was the love guy.
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    He's telling this guy not to attend his dad's funeral?
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    Not quite. What this guy is really saying is,
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    "As soon as my dad dies,
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    I'm going to get an inheritance.
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    I'm going to get set financially,
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    and then we're good to go."
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    And Jesus says, "No, you don't want me.
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    You don't want it."
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    You've got to want it.
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    You've got to be willing
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    to to push things aside in your life
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    and not have some good things to have the adventure,
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    to willingly embrace some unpredictability.
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    I love interacting with people at Crossroad
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    s who embrace unpredictability and go forward
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    when they sense that God is saying, "Follow me."
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    I've seen people start businesses
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    and leave corporate America because they felt like,
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    "God wants me to do this, not just for my family,
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    but because I wanted to employ people."
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    I love seeing people around Crossroads.
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    We've got a huge, huge adoption contingency.
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    It's amazing. There's some people I look, I go,
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    "Wait a minute, you've got another kid?"
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    "Yeah. We adopted another one,"
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    or, "Yeah, we're fostering another one?"
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    It's an adventure to take another life into your house
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    and take responsibility for them and try to grow them up.
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    It's an amazing adventure.
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    Here's an adventure for you that's not happening very often.
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    How about getting married? (gasps)
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    "Getting married? Oh, my God. What is this, the 19th century?"
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    No, it's actually a 21st century and it's amazing.
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    We're getting married later and later and less and less,
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    not because we have a big philosophical thing
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    against marriage, but because we're freaked out.
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    It's an adventure to walk up and talk to somebody.
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    Hey, take your life by control.
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    Take it by the throat.
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    Don't do what everybody else is doing,
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    keep pushing their life off.
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    I'll tell you what,
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    I'm so glad I got started early on marriage.
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    I'm so glad I got started relatively early on in kids.
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    Here I am able to enjoy life like
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    at a friend's house on a lake. It's amazing.
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    It's crazy.
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    I'm so thankful for the early adventures God took me on,
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    having me move from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati
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    to start a church with eleven people,
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    no denominational support, no mother church support.
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    I'm so thankful for those times when I took a step
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    and I didn't know exactly where my foot was going to land.
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    That's an adventure, that's following Jesus.
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    That's getting to a new place,
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    Now, these are big things that we're looking at right now,
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    but we've got to be able to bridge the gap
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    in these big, huge life decisions,
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    which are very, very important to normal day to day decisions.
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    What are you saying no to right now that He wants you to do?
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    What is it? Maybe it's one of the big things.
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    Maybe you're saying no in a relatively small thing
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    that God wants to do in your life right now.
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    Let's talk about the normal stuff.
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    - When we get out of our comfort zone
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    and get serious about following God,
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    we can go to a new level.
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    Following Jesus has definitely been an adventure for me.
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    And let me tell you, I have experienced Him
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    in amazing ways when I'm willing to step aside
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    and get out of my comfort zone.
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    One of the ways that we follow Jesus
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    and say yes to Him is by giving and tithing.
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    If you want to do that, you can go to Crossroads.net/give
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    or text Crossroads to 313131.
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    We're more than just videos on a screen.
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    We're about getting connected
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    and growing with people where we live.
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    There's a little bit more on that later,
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    but for now, let's continue with Brian's teaching
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    and see how everyday decisions we make
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    can take us on an adventure closer to God.
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    - The second thing to do is to focus on day to day decisions,
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    not the mountain tops.
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    Wakeboarding is awesome.
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    Yeah, I have a friend who's got a house down here and everything
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    and motorcycling or if rappelling is your thing
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    or long distance hikes or whatever.
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    All those things are great, but I've met
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    a good number of people
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    who medicate themselves through those things.
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    I've met a good number of people who are escaping
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    difficult, adventurous decisions they need to make
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    in their normal day to day life and instead
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    filling the void with all kinds of adrenaline activities.
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    I'm here at a table and you know,
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    it's around a table like this where life goes forward,
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    where conversations happen that are a bit intense.
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    When you're with your kids, with your friends,
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    with your spouse, where you're interact with one another
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    and you're saying things that are important and of meaning.
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    You know COVID-19 has lasted longer
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    than any of us thought it would.
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    Come on, can we -- can we please move on?
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    I'm not sure what we have to move on,
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    but all of us are social distanced out. Right?
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    And I've seen evidence
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    that it's taking major toll on marriages.
  • 00:18:33
    Nobody is meant to be in the same house
  • 00:18:36
    with somebody 24/7 for months on end.
  • 00:18:40
    If you're married, you may have your marriage
  • 00:18:42
    in massive tension right now.
  • 00:18:44
    I'm around our house all the time doing Zoom calls,
  • 00:18:47
    just like the average person, and I'm seeing
  • 00:18:49
    more things in Lib than I normally would.
  • 00:18:52
    And she's bothering me in a number of ways.
  • 00:18:55
    She's seeing more things in me than she would normally see,
  • 00:18:58
    and I'm bothering her in a number of ways.
  • 00:18:59
    There's just natural more tension and friction taking place.
  • 00:19:03
    If you're with your roommates,
  • 00:19:04
    probably the same thing is happening.
  • 00:19:06
    And so the adventuresome thing would be
  • 00:19:08
    to lean in around the table and say, "I see this.
  • 00:19:13
    Can we talk about it?"
  • 00:19:15
    To lean in and encourage,
  • 00:19:16
    to lean in and actually have a maybe word of correction
  • 00:19:21
    saying, "You need to change this or stop doing this."
  • 00:19:25
    The adventurous life is when you make
  • 00:19:27
    deliberate choices in the mundane environments
  • 00:19:31
    like around your dinner table.
  • 00:19:33
    When you say yes to the conversations
  • 00:19:36
    Jesus wants you to say yes to,
  • 00:19:37
    when you say yes to actually not bouncing checks
  • 00:19:41
    and not overspending, that's an adventure.
  • 00:19:44
    Getting out of credit card debt is a massive adventure
  • 00:19:46
    that more of us need to go on
  • 00:19:49
    to set yourself up for the future.
  • 00:19:52
    Doing a shoot like this is an adventurer.
  • 00:19:55
    It would be way, way easier for me to give you my points standing behind a podium with notes.
  • 00:20:00
    I've done that before. I'll do it again.
  • 00:20:02
    But we're doing this because we think
  • 00:20:03
    it's going to be able to be more helpful for you.
  • 00:20:05
    It's much harder. It's much more difficult.
  • 00:20:09
    My life verse is Colossians 1:28-29
  • 00:20:13
    where the apostle Paul says that his aim
  • 00:20:17
    is to present everybody complete in Christ
  • 00:20:19
    through his teaching and coaching and encouragement,
  • 00:20:22
    be able to take a life, hold it up to God,
  • 00:20:24
    say, "Here you go. Here you go.
  • 00:20:25
    I've impacted this person to look very, very similar to Jesus."
  • 00:20:30
    And he says in verse 29:
  • 00:20:42
    He says "strenuously contend,"
  • 00:20:45
    not, "Eh, it comes natural and I just like to do it."
  • 00:20:47
    No, he doesn't say that.
  • 00:20:48
    He says, "Well I just kind of -- I just kind of what feels comfortable in the moment when I'm with people.
  • 00:20:53
    No, he strenuously does the adventuresome thing
  • 00:20:58
    around the table,
  • 00:20:59
    strenuously does the adventuresome thing
  • 00:21:02
    in making calls, making encouragements in people's lives.
  • 00:21:06
    It's this strenuous thing that's going to set your life up,
  • 00:21:08
    not the easy thing.
  • 00:21:10
    It's this strenuous thing that's going to be an adventure,
  • 00:21:13
    not the comfortable thing.
  • 00:21:14
    It's this strenuous thing
  • 00:21:16
    that's going to set you up for another level,
  • 00:21:18
    not the current mode that you're doing right now
  • 00:21:21
    that everybody understands and everybody likes.
  • 00:21:23
    If you want something different,
  • 00:21:25
    you're going to have to do something different.
  • 00:21:29
    And it's going to be difficult.
  • 00:21:31
    You're going to have to powerfully go after it
  • 00:21:34
    with all the power of Christ.
  • 00:21:36
    And you oughta -- you have to want
  • 00:21:37
    the strenuous life, the adventurous life.
  • 00:21:40
    Jesus wants that life for you. Do you want it?
  • 00:21:43
    Jesus wants more for you. Do you want it?
  • 00:21:45
    But you have to start by hearing Him,
  • 00:21:48
    by trusting Him, by following Him
  • 00:21:53
    in the small day to day decisions.
  • 00:21:55
    If you say yes to Jesus and those things,
  • 00:21:56
    get ready for a life that's on the next level.
  • 00:22:00
    Let me pray for you right now.
  • 00:22:01
    God, I pray for more lives to be in tune
  • 00:22:05
    where You are, to be going where You're going
  • 00:22:08
    and to be feeling what You're feeling.
  • 00:22:11
    I pray for us to be able to just drop off,
  • 00:22:15
    drop away the things have been hindering us,
  • 00:22:17
    drop away the false expectations
  • 00:22:19
    that other people have put on us.
  • 00:22:22
    We want to give You our life
  • 00:22:24
    and we want the life that you want for us.
  • 00:22:27
    We commit that to happen this week.
  • 00:22:29
    And I pray these things
  • 00:22:30
    according to the character and identity of Jesus.
  • 00:22:35
    What we're gonna do right now is we're also going to sing to Him,
  • 00:22:39
    sing with voices all over the country,
  • 00:22:42
    telling Him that He's important,
  • 00:22:44
    telling him that we want to be closer to Him.
  • 00:22:46
    Let's do that right now.
  • 00:22:50
    At Crossroads we believe the church is meant to be a movement,
  • 00:22:52
    a community that always moves towards
  • 00:22:54
    greater adventure with God
  • 00:22:55
    by following Jesus wherever He leads.
  • 00:22:58
    The song was written as an anthem for us
  • 00:23:00
    to raise on our journey together.
  • 00:23:02
    We trust Him and where He leads us, we will go there.
  • 00:30:39
    I don't know about you, but I want to go on an adventure!
  • 00:30:41
    I want to do something different!
  • 00:30:43
    This week try to make a little choice that brings you closer to God
  • 00:30:47
    and invites Him into your everyday life
  • 00:30:50
    To help with that you can download the Crossroads App
  • 00:30:52
    to get weekly encouragement and challenge about The Adventurous Life,
  • 00:30:56
    encouragement from the weekly teaching,
  • 00:30:59
    We're here to help you on your journey
  • 00:31:00
    and whether this is your first time at Crossroads,
  • 00:31:03
    or maybe you've been around here for a long time,
  • 00:31:05
    we'd still love to help you wherever you are in your journey.
  • 00:31:08
    You can go to crossroads.net
  • 00:31:10
    to chat with a real person to help pray for you or find your next step.
  • 00:31:14
    And you can take that next step with God by giving to fuel life change.
  • 00:31:18
    You can text CROSSROADS to 313131
  • 00:31:21
    or go to crossroads.net/give.
  • 00:31:24
    We mentioned earlier about our new look and new colors and logo.
  • 00:31:27
    Here's a quick take on the heart behind all that.
  • 00:31:35
    In a rented middle school with loud music and strong coffee, Crossroads was born.
  • 00:31:40
    Sure, some things looked different; the colors were pink and teal.
  • 00:31:45
    The Kid's Club was called Kingdom Korner.
  • 00:31:46
    And for some reason our teachers strapped these huge cellphones to their belts.
  • 00:31:50
    But the DNA of Crossroads was exactly the same.
  • 00:31:53
    - We're a little different.
  • 00:31:56
    - Committed people working together, inspired by God to change the world.
  • 00:32:01
    In 2000 that pink and teal got turned into blue and black
  • 00:32:05
    and Crossroads kept growing.
  • 00:32:08
    In 2006 we got rid of this thing and added this thing.
  • 00:32:12
    But today is a new day.
  • 00:32:15
    Crossroads is now a church with
  • 00:32:17
    well over 100,000 people engaged in this growing movement.
  • 00:32:22
    We need something that will stand out in the crowd
  • 00:32:27
    After months at the drawing board, we're excited to unveil the brand new look.
  • 00:32:36
    Introducing the Crossroads of 2020,
  • 00:32:39
    a bold new approach that matches the bold vision God has given us.
  • 00:32:43
    One where we lock arms on the adventure of following Jesus.
  • 00:32:48
    Our mission hasn't changed, we help regular people
  • 00:32:51
    with real God questions find biblical answers for life
  • 00:32:55
    We call that being a spiritual outfitter for the journey of faith.
  • 00:32:59
    Where will that journey take us?
  • 00:33:01
    God only knows, but we're ready to run.
  • 00:33:04
    Let's do this thing. Crossroads Church, your guide to the
  • 00:33:09
    Adventurous life. That was awesome.
  • 00:33:10
    Join us next week when Brian talks about
  • 00:33:12
    the one key to an adventurous life that most people overlook
  • 00:33:16
    And stay tuned right now
  • 00:33:17
    to learn how you can get connected to your local community.
  • 00:33:20
    I hope you guys have a great week.
  • 00:33:22
    Crossroads has communities all the country
  • 00:33:24
    and I want to help you get connected.
  • 00:33:26
    I'm Greg Aukerman
  • 00:33:28
    and I lead an online church team whose job is doing exactly that.
  • 00:33:31
    We also have locations in Cincinnati, central Kentucky, Dayton, Oxford, and Columbus.
  • 00:33:37
    I'd love to help you find your people, get support and prayer,
  • 00:33:39
    and take the next step on your spiritual adventure.
  • 00:33:42
    Connect with us at crossroads.net/locations

Jun 27, 2020 • 34 mins 10 sec

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