You’re Meant For More | Heroes Week 1

Being a hero is impossible. Who’s got time for all those workouts? And these thighs in tights? Nobody wants to see that. But what if being a hero was more about community and surrender than fame and glory? Join us today as Brian talks about the difference between being a celebrity and being a hero.

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    You were created for greatness.
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    There's a hero hiding somewhere inside of you.
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    At some point in your life you truly believed that,
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    that's because it's true.
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    God made you to be great
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    and He has a plan for you to be a hero
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    on a team of heroes.
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    Come, find the path to your greatness.
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    - Hey, welcome to week one of The Journey.
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    My name is Kyle. This is Crossroads.
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    We believe that you were born for adventure
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    and we exist
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    to guide and equip you on that adventure.
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    Now question, right off the bat:
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    Do you want to be a hero?
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    I'm thinking of the song in Frozen, you know the one
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    where it's like do you want to build a snowman
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    or whatever?
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    Anyway, the point is
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    you were designed for greatness.
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    The world says there's a path to get there.
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    There's a way that you get there,
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    things you should do to get to greatness.
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    Jesus has a different path.
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    Now today, our senior pastor, Brian Tome,
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    is going to be unpacking all of that for us.
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    Spoiler alert: the way to greatness is not up,
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    it's about going down.
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    - They want you to behave, to settle in, settle down,
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    and dear God, not make any waves.
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    They want you to be average
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    and build a nice, sensible house on Normal Street.
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    They want you to stay inside, plugged in
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    and numbed out on your digital pixel slab.
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    They want you to dream small, think tiny,
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    and most of all, behave yourself.
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    They want to know your place and stay there.
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    But you weren't born for average.
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    You weren't made for settling.
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    You weren't created
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    to watch other people go on adventures,
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    wait for other people to jump into action
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    and sit by and consume until you die.
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    You were created to make waves and walk on them.
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    You were born to find the road to greatness
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    and travel every curve on it.
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    This is The Journey there: The Path to Greatness.
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    It's not what you've been told.
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    There are five forks in the road,
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    five distinct choices you must make.
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    This Journey will walk you to each.
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    The choice will be yours.
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    - No matter who you are,
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    no matter what you've done or not done,
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    you're meant for more.
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    You can be great, you can be heroic.
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    One of the more reluctant heroes in our time
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    is the great Shrek. Remember Shrek?
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    Come along now, Donkey.
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    You know, Shrek didn't want to be a hero,
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    but he actually ended up being a hero.
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    I use the word hero very tentatively because
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    we're not talking about having our limbs blown off
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    or doing something that all of the world knows about.
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    In fact, when you talk to people
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    who are legitimate physical heroes,
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    Medal of Honor recipients,
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    first responders who rushed into
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    a burning building, or some such thing,
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    all of them are uncomfortable with the word hero.
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    They say again and again, "I was just doing my job."
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    That's the thing.
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    And here's the thing,
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    the people who are the heroes of the faith,
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    they were just doing their job, too.
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    They were simply following what God wanted
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    and then as a result, they ended up being heroes.
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    Jesus says in the Book of Matthew 18:1, He says:
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    You might think that Jesus would say,
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    "Oh, whoa, whoa, what are you doing wanting to be great?
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    No one should want to be great.
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    It should all be equalzies.
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    It should all be same fairzies,
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    everyone does the same minimum amount of work
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    and everyone gets exactly the same.
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    He doesn't say that.
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    He goes on to say, "Hey, to be great
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    in the Kingdom of God,
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    you have to humble yourself like a child."
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    To be clear, Jesus is pro you being great,
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    so long as you understand what it means
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    to be a hero inside of God's eyes.
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    And a hero doesn't mean being a celebrity.
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    There's two different aspects there.
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    Is an actor who memorizes lines at somebody else wrote
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    and then they just recite them
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    and they earn millions of dollars, are they a hero?
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    No, they're a celebrity.
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    Maybe they're a hero for some other reason,
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    not because of that.
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    Is a social media influencer, somebody who has
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    hundreds of thousands of followers
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    and makes hundreds of thousands of dollars
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    endorsing products, are they a hero? No.
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    They're a celebrity.
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    They might be heroic in some other way,
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    but that does make somebody a hero.
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    If you party like a rock star, what are you?
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    You're a rock star, that's all you are.
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    You're a rock star. You're not a hero.
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    This is really important to understand
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    that many of us think that
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    being well known is the goal.
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    That's what it means to be great.
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    That's that means to be hero.
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    No, that's not true. It's not true at all.
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    Heroes and great people
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    can be well known,
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    they can be celebrities,
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    but celebrity is never the goal
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    and celebrity never defines
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    whether or not you are heroic.
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    Jesus himself was great, He was a hero,
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    and He was a celebrity,
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    according to Psychology Today, it says this:
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    Therefore, He has a level of celebrity
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    that came with Him.
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    In a moment, I'm going to talk about Jewish mothers.
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    I know it sounds weird.
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    It'll make much more sense after this.
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    - Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee
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    came up to Him with her sons,
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    and kneeling before Him she asked Him for something.
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    And He said to her, "What do you want?"
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    She said to Him, "Say that these two sons of mine
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    are to sit one at Your right hand
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    and one at Your left in Your Kingdom."
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    Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking.
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    Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?"
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    They said to Him, "We are able."
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    He said to them, "You will drink my cup,
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    but to sit at My right hand and at My left
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    is not mine to grant.
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    But it is for those for whom
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    it has been prepared by My Father."
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    And when the ten heard it,
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    they were indignant at the two brothers.
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    But Jesus called them to Him and said,
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    "You know that the rulers of the gentiles
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    lorded over them and their great ones
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    exercise authority over them.
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    It shall not be so among you.
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    But whoever would be great among you
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    must be your servant.
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    And whoever would be first among you
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    must be your slave.
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    Even as the Son of Man
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    came not to be served, but to serve
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    and to give His life as a ransom for many."
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    - It's pretty well documented
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    that those who are Jewish are doing
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    way above the mean, way above the average
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    in terms of overall economic impact.
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    The number of billionaires and millionaires
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    that are in our country or in the world
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    far outpaces the percentage of other nationalities.
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    If you go to New York City, the amount
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    of real estate that's held by the Jewish community
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    is really astounding.
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    I heard a speaker talk about this one time,
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    and he said, "You want to know why?
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    You want to know why we're so successful?'
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    He said, "It's because of our Jewish mothers.
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    That's why."
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    I don't know that, I don't have a Jewish mother,
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    but here we have in that story a Jewish mom
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    is going to Jesus and saying, "Hey, my sons,
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    I want them to sit on your right and on your left.
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    I want them to be great." That's what great was.
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    If Jesus was in heaven, He was in the Kingdom of God,
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    the people closest to Him, because He is the greatest,
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    would be greater than others.
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    And again, you would think Jesus would say,
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    "What are you talking about? No, no, no.
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    You're not asking the right question."
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    He doesn't say that.
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    Instead, He again and again redefines
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    exactly what it means to be great.
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    Matthew 23:11, He says:
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    He wants us to be great, it's just a matter of
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    what form of greatness and how fast
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    and how far are you going after it?
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    Three things about heroes.
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    Heroes are submitted.
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    Heroes submit themselves to God,
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    and they serve others.
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    That's what it means to be submitted.
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    Man, I read this amazing
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    quote recently, it said this:
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    Brilliant.
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    OH, that's my book: Welcome to Revolution
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    by Brian Tome available on Amazon right now.
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    That's what God wants, He wants you to give up.
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    He wants you to submit to Him.
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    That's how you become great,
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    because when we do that,
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    we also start serving others.
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    And we all know those are the folks who are heroes,
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    those who have selflessly
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    served other people.
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    I've gone down the rabbit hole
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    looking at modern day heroes, who it is
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    who's gotten Medal of Recipient awards
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    and that kind of thing.
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    And one thing that happens again and again and again
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    is they don't like to call themselves heroes.
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    They are, but they don't like to call themselves heroes.
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    They say things like, "I'm just doing my job."
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    One person is Travis Mills.
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    He was serving in Afghanistan.
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    He had his legs and his arms taken off.
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    He now walks around with like two kind of
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    prosthetic pegs on his legs, very short,
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    and he has one prosthetic arm that he can use.
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    And here's what he says. He says:
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    He doesn't like to be called a hero.
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    He is one; doesn't like to be called one.
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    You know who he says a hero is?
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    He says, "The true hero,
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    the only hero I know is my wife."
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    Because when he came back from Afghanistan,
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    as he was half the man he was before,
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    physically half the man.
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    He said to his bride,
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    "This is probably the time for you to get out.
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    You need to go off, you have a life,
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    and it shouldn't be me because
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    this is going to be a rough, rough go."
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    He tried to release her and she said,
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    "Absolutely not, staying."
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    That's his hero. Why?
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    Because she submitted to the relationship
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    and she's serving him.
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    That's who great people are.
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    That's what great people do, whenever you can,
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    whatever the opportunity is.
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    Oh, gosh, couple months ago, I was coming into work
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    and as I was coming in I saw an older Toyota car
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    that was broken down the side of the road
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    and there was a kid who was pushing it,
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    pushing the car.
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    And I've been in that situation many times,
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    driven old cars and they break down.
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    So, I immediately had a bit of a heart for it.
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    And actually what I felt was
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    if that was me, Jesus would stop from me.
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    If that was me, Jesus would serve me.
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    So I pulled over thinking
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    I might be a little late for my meeting.
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    That's OK.
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    Pulled over, put my hazards on, went back.
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    While I was going back, there was another guy
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    in a van who was thinking the same thing.
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    So now there's two guys converging on this car.
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    And then started to see what was happening.
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    I'm a white guy, he's a white guy,
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    and we have two African-American teenagers
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    that are here in this vehicle.
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    I don't know if you know it or not,
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    there's a lot of African- Americans who do not have
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    a lot of positive interactions with white people
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    in pickup trucks and vans.
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    And I felt like, "Ooh, this has now gone --
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    This has deeper stakes with it right now."
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    We came up to these kids
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    and asked them how they're doing.
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    Apparently ran out of gas.
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    Heart went out to them and we said,
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    "OK, well just steer and we'll push you over."
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    And they were kids.
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    They don't know all about mechanics of a car.
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    They weren't turning over where they could
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    because the engine wouldn't start
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    so the power steering was off.
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    They just, you know, so we're trying
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    to get the steering wheel turned and everything.
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    We get it over, we stop.
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    I said, "You guys okay?
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    You guys have money for gas?" "Yes, we do."
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    "Are you okay to get the gas station?
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    There's one right over there,
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    but I'm happy to take you if you need."
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    "No, we'll get there."
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    I wasn't sure they had money.
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    "Are you sure you have money?
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    Because I can give you money if you need some,
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    if you need some gas."
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    They said, "No, no, no, we're okay."
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    I said, "Okay, great, great,"
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    so shook their hand and off we went.
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    I didn't do that because I said,
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    "Hey, this is going to be a great sermon illustration
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    on week one of The Journey called Heroes."
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    No, I just wanted to serve somebody who was there.
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    But I'll tell you this right now,
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    I'm pretty sure those kids looking back
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    on what we did to help them and get them going that day,
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    I'm pretty sure they viewed us as heroes.
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    Anybody who serves you and submits to something
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    that is greater than themselves
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    is a legitimate hero that we love
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    and that we need in our world.
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    And our world needs and our world wants
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    more people like you to be great, to be heroic.
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    Heroes are submitted. Heroes are connected.
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    They're connected.
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    No one ever becomes a hero bingeing Netflix.'
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    Nobody ever becomes a hero
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    having their introvert time on the couch.
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    No problem bingeing Netflix,
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    no problem having your introvert time on the couch,
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    just understand it's not in those moments
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    where you will be a hero.
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    It's when you're connected with other people.
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    Even the story that we're looking at right now
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    with the disciples and the Jewish mother
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    of James and John, they're all connected.
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    They hear this, the disciples are like, "Wait a minute.
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    Wait a minute, you can't be asking that."
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    Because they're thinking themselves,
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    "I wanted to ask that. Darn it, I didn't ask it."
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    I think that's what they're thinking.
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    They're upset with it.
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    Like did this Jewish mother and James and John
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    beat them to the punch because
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    they weren't bold enough to actually ask this?
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    They're seeing this and they're learning
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    these things while they're connected.
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    You're never going to get the next level
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    unless you get connected.
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    In this Journey called Heroes, there's a cap,
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    there's a cap to your greatness
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    that you will attain to if this is
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    your isolated solo thing that you're going
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    to reflect on for five or six weeks.
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    You've got to get in a group.
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    You've got to get around other people
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    to hear other people's stories, them hear your story.
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    You've got to do that.
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    Heroes are always connected, for no other reason,
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    if you're not connected,
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    then you don't have anybody to serve,
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    let alone have new insights and new passions
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    and new powers.
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    Jesus wants you to be great, wants you to be a hero,
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    and we do that when we're connected with Him.
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    He says in John 14:
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    Jesus, that's a call for you to be great
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    and do greater things.
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    Are you preparing for that?
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    Are you leaning into that?
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    Do you know who you are?
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    Do you know who or what are submitted to?
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    On the other side of a story
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    we're going to show right now,
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    I'm going to talk to about what it means
  • 00:16:03
    to get unlocked because we're going to hear
  • 00:16:05
    how somebody is great and we need to understand
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    how all of us can in kind be unlocked.
  • 00:16:12
    - We'll get back to Brian in just a minute,
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    but first, this entire Journey is only possible
  • 00:16:16
    because of the generosity of everyday people
  • 00:16:19
    just like you and just like me.
  • 00:16:21
    If you're one of those generous givers to Crossroads,
  • 00:16:23
    on behalf of everyone experiencing this right now,
  • 00:16:25
    thank you for giving.
  • 00:16:27
    Or if you want to become part of
  • 00:16:28
    the community of generosity around here,
  • 00:16:30
    you'll be joining thousands of people,
  • 00:16:32
    my family included.
  • 00:16:33
    You can do that by going to Crossroads.net/give.
  • 00:16:36
    Check out this story
  • 00:16:38
    of one of the heroes in our community.
  • 00:16:41
    - Hey I'm Jay. I serve on the worship team
  • 00:16:43
    and I play guitar on the weekends.
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    I was in bands from the time I was 15
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    till the time I was 30-ish.
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    But I would say like that lifestyle
  • 00:16:53
    of staying out in bars late, playing in bars,
  • 00:16:56
    you know, drinking, partying is not super conducive to,
  • 00:17:00
    you know, being a great dad or being a great husband
  • 00:17:04
    or getting up in the morning, you know,
  • 00:17:06
    when you're when your kid gets up
  • 00:17:07
    and taking care of them.
  • 00:17:08
    I definitely associate a lot of negativity
  • 00:17:11
    and darkness with that kind of lifestyle.
  • 00:17:13
    The direction that that was pointing my life,
  • 00:17:16
    and it wasn't the direction that I wanted to go.
  • 00:17:19
    So ultimately, I quit,
  • 00:17:21
    sold all my gear or gave it away.
  • 00:17:23
    You know, and that was it.
  • 00:17:24
    But it wasn't until I kind of started
  • 00:17:27
    coming to Crossroads and seeing music
  • 00:17:29
    done in a different way that I started to kind of
  • 00:17:33
    feel that pull again toward music.
  • 00:17:36
    Our family had this incredible blessing where, like,
  • 00:17:39
    basically these people showed up on our doorstep
  • 00:17:41
    one day and wanted to buy our house
  • 00:17:43
    and like kind of in one fell swoop
  • 00:17:45
    we were out of our debt and we had a surplus.
  • 00:17:49
    I had prayed to God like,
  • 00:17:50
    "Hey, this is an incredible blessing.
  • 00:17:54
    What do you want me to do with this money?"
  • 00:17:56
    God said, like, mission trip.
  • 00:17:58
    And then like the next day there was an email from,
  • 00:18:02
    like, I think it was the first Go Nicaragua trip,
  • 00:18:06
    so I just signed up.
  • 00:18:07
    So on the way down to Nicaragua,
  • 00:18:09
    I happened to be seated on the plane next to Mike.
  • 00:18:12
    It turns out that he was worship leading that trip
  • 00:18:16
    in Nicaragua that week.
  • 00:18:17
    - Hi, my name is Mike,
  • 00:18:18
    and I volunteer on the worship team.
  • 00:18:21
    2016 I went on the first Go Nicaragua trip
  • 00:18:23
    and I remember I was working on lyrics
  • 00:18:26
    for the songs that we were going to sing.
  • 00:18:29
    And Jay was sitting next to me
  • 00:18:31
    and started asking me questions about the songs,
  • 00:18:35
    how long I've been playing music.
  • 00:18:37
    Eventually invited him to come serve on the music team.
  • 00:18:41
    I think the change in Jay from when I met him
  • 00:18:43
    that first time kind of seeing him step in
  • 00:18:46
    to join the team, to use as gifts,
  • 00:18:48
    really stepping into like the identity
  • 00:18:50
    of who he is to be who God called him to be.
  • 00:18:54
    - I think the reason that I was hesitant
  • 00:18:56
    was that I was still just rejecting that side of myself
  • 00:19:00
    and pushing it down and pushing it away.
  • 00:19:03
    I came to this realization that
  • 00:19:06
    God had given me this gift and these talents,
  • 00:19:11
    and maybe I had just been using them the wrong way.
  • 00:19:15
    God completely redeemed that musical aspect of my life.
  • 00:19:19
    But I would say the biggest thing is since
  • 00:19:22
    in that time period that I started serving,
  • 00:19:24
    I got baptized and I was also able to baptize my wife.
  • 00:19:28
    All because -- Sorry.
  • 00:19:34
    All because I said yes.
  • 00:19:36
    - What's up, man? - What's up?
  • 00:19:41
    - Just seeing how you've grown as a follower of Jesus,
  • 00:19:45
    just you have just grown exponentially
  • 00:19:48
    by using your gifts to lead others in worship.
  • 00:19:51
    You're always looking to build into people
  • 00:19:54
    and to encourage them.
  • 00:19:56
    And I just, I think it's awesome.
  • 00:19:57
    Thanks, man. - Yeah.
  • 00:20:00
    - That I had been -- that's a side of myself
  • 00:20:02
    that I had pushed down for a long time.
  • 00:20:04
    And it really wasn't until I met you on that plane
  • 00:20:07
    that I started thinking about
  • 00:20:09
    that this could be a possibility.
  • 00:20:11
    From walking in there and having somebody
  • 00:20:14
    like Mike who was very invitational.
  • 00:20:16
    To me you model what it looks like
  • 00:20:18
    to like serve through music.
  • 00:20:21
    I never saw you say no. You always said yes.
  • 00:20:24
    That was a huge inspiration to me because
  • 00:20:27
    I was in that process of saying yes.
  • 00:20:29
    It's everything I ever dreamed of
  • 00:20:31
    when I was a young kid.
  • 00:20:33
    It's the lights, it's the fog and all that.
  • 00:20:37
    But it's really like knowing that you can be in
  • 00:20:44
    a position where you're submitting yourself to His will.
  • 00:20:49
    You know, everybody's been given
  • 00:20:51
    a unique gift by God
  • 00:20:53
    and I think if you just think about
  • 00:20:55
    what that gift is and how you can put it
  • 00:20:58
    to work for His purposes,
  • 00:21:00
    you just might be surprised
  • 00:21:02
    at what He has in store for you.
  • 00:21:04
    - Jay is a hero who's been unlocked.
  • 00:21:08
    Heroes are unlocked.
  • 00:21:12
    Joseph Campbell, who certainly coined
  • 00:21:16
    or at least made the phrase "the hero's journey"
  • 00:21:18
    very, very popular, he says this:
  • 00:21:37
    Heroes are unlocked.
  • 00:21:39
    Heroes aren't looking for the fantasy life
  • 00:21:43
    that's going to make them well known.
  • 00:21:46
    .08% of all high school football players
  • 00:21:49
    will get to the NFL.
  • 00:21:51
    .03% of all high school basketball players
  • 00:21:54
    will get to the NBA.
  • 00:21:56
    That's like nobody, that's like nothing.
  • 00:21:57
    And even those ones that are there,
  • 00:21:59
    they only last one or two years,
  • 00:22:00
    and then often times when they're done,
  • 00:22:02
    they've made bad decisions
  • 00:22:03
    and they have nothing financially to show for it.
  • 00:22:05
    They're not -- there's nothing heroic about that.
  • 00:22:07
    You can be heroic and just view your grades
  • 00:22:11
    and be in the NBA and be in the NFL,
  • 00:22:14
    but simply attaining something like that
  • 00:22:17
    doesn't mean it, doesn't make it great.
  • 00:22:19
    You've got to find out who you are.
  • 00:22:22
    You've got to unlock who you are.
  • 00:22:24
    And if you're not 6'5" and 250 pounds,
  • 00:22:27
    you're probably don't have a destiny
  • 00:22:28
    as a professional athlete in those areas.
  • 00:22:31
    But you do have a destiny in something
  • 00:22:34
    that you could be great at.
  • 00:22:35
    There is some way that God has prepared you to be great,
  • 00:22:40
    but you've got to know what that is,
  • 00:22:42
    you've got to get unlocked from it.
  • 00:22:46
    Unlocked to do it.
  • 00:22:49
    Hopefully, you've gotten one of these Journey guides,
  • 00:22:51
    or you're going to get one.
  • 00:22:53
    This is the thing that takes us through
  • 00:22:55
    this whole Journey, it's a multi prong thing.
  • 00:23:00
    I'm giving you information now.
  • 00:23:01
    We're going to try to have great creativity for you.
  • 00:23:04
    We get in groups where we can sharpen one another,
  • 00:23:07
    be connected with one another.
  • 00:23:09
    And then we also do personal reflection work
  • 00:23:12
    where we might be able to get unlocked.
  • 00:23:14
    And the very first part
  • 00:23:16
    of the first section of your guide,
  • 00:23:18
    I just want to read it for you. It says this:
  • 00:23:21
    You'll experience a full, exhilarating life
  • 00:23:24
    when you spend yourself on a worthy cause.
  • 00:23:27
    But first, you need to discover
  • 00:23:30
    what you've been given to spend.
  • 00:23:32
    This week, we'll explore the way God made you
  • 00:23:36
    and get a first taste of the bold, world-changing
  • 00:23:40
    and surprisingly joyful mission ahead of you.
  • 00:23:45
    I love that line: Joyful mission ahead, joyful.
  • 00:23:50
    Being a hero isn't an arduous thing.
  • 00:23:53
    Being great isn't painful necessarily.
  • 00:23:58
    It's joyful because it's in line with who you are.
  • 00:24:01
    I am stunned, the more I've submitted myself to God,
  • 00:24:05
    the more I've connected with other folks,
  • 00:24:06
    the more I've tried to have things inside of me
  • 00:24:09
    that I didn't even know that we're there get unlocked.
  • 00:24:12
    Or the more I've just unlocked myself from baggage
  • 00:24:16
    and tradition and bad ideas I used to have
  • 00:24:20
    and bad values I used to have or whatever it was,
  • 00:24:23
    I am stunned by what God is doing in my life
  • 00:24:27
    and has done, utterly stunned.
  • 00:24:28
    Every person who's on the path to heroism
  • 00:24:31
    or greatness is always said, "I have been stunned.
  • 00:24:34
    I would have never, ever, ever seen it coming."
  • 00:24:37
    And I haven't arrived yet, by the way.
  • 00:24:39
    I'm certainly not your model.
  • 00:24:41
    I'm in this Journey because I want more
  • 00:24:44
    and I know you do.
  • 00:24:46
    I know you want great.
  • 00:24:47
    No one wants to go to the casket
  • 00:24:50
    at the end of their life and just say,
  • 00:24:52
    "Man, well, I didn't make any huge mistakes that life."
  • 00:24:55
    No one wants to go to the casket at the end of life
  • 00:24:57
    and say, "Well, I'm really glad
  • 00:25:00
    I read the Bible every once around."
  • 00:25:01
    No one wants to go to their casket and say,
  • 00:25:04
    "Well, I got a 3.0. That's what I did."
  • 00:25:08
    You and I want to go to our casket
  • 00:25:09
    because we had a great life,
  • 00:25:11
    because our life mattered,
  • 00:25:13
    because we were submitted to God,
  • 00:25:14
    because we poured it out from the people,
  • 00:25:16
    because we were connecting with others
  • 00:25:17
    and we were unlocked to be the full version
  • 00:25:19
    of who you and I are.
  • 00:25:21
    That's what you're going to get this Journey.
  • 00:25:23
    Engage. Take it seriously.
  • 00:25:25
    God, I ask You that You would continue to teach us,
  • 00:25:29
    mold us because we want more of You
  • 00:25:31
    and we want more the life that You want for us.
  • 00:25:34
    We pray these things in your name, Jesus, Amen.
  • 00:25:40
    Hey, songs can often times drive home
  • 00:25:43
    a deeper spiritual meaning to solidify something in us.
  • 00:25:48
    That's what this one is going to do for you right now.
  • 00:29:46
    - This is a game changer.
  • 00:29:47
    The path to greatness modeled by Jesus
  • 00:29:49
    isn't about striving to get up.
  • 00:29:51
    It's about getting down.
  • 00:29:53
    Heroes use their gifts to serve.
  • 00:29:56
    Heroes use their gifts to help
  • 00:29:58
    and they don't do it alone.
  • 00:29:59
    Next week on Crossroads
  • 00:30:00
    we have an exciting episode for you.
  • 00:30:02
    And make sure you get the app.
  • 00:30:04
    It's completely free and you need it to do The Journey.
  • 00:30:06
    See you next week! Check this out!
  • 00:30:10
    - Back in November 2019, I was church hopping.
  • 00:30:15
    I went to a lot of churches.
  • 00:30:17
    I felt like I didn't belong
  • 00:30:19
    and threw my hands up in the air and said,
  • 00:30:22
    "I'm done, I'm not doing this anymore."
  • 00:30:24
    So I'm sitting at my kitchen table
  • 00:30:26
    and I had this deep longing desire
  • 00:30:32
    to be back in community.
  • 00:30:35
    We're in the middle of a pandemic.
  • 00:30:38
    What am I going to do?
  • 00:30:39
    I can't go anywhere. Church is closed.
  • 00:30:42
    I can't even go see my family members.
  • 00:30:44
    What am I going to do?
  • 00:30:46
    I'm on Facebook and a Crossroads Church ad came up,
  • 00:30:52
    it was sponsored.
  • 00:30:53
    So I clicked on the message
  • 00:30:56
    that was on the Facebook page and I listened to it.
  • 00:31:00
    And I'm like, "Oh, wow, this is pretty neat.
  • 00:31:03
    This is pretty cool."
  • 00:31:04
    I think it was in July of 2020
  • 00:31:08
    where I kind of wanted to have a little bit more,
  • 00:31:13
    to be more in community.
  • 00:31:16
    As I explored I was really mesmerized
  • 00:31:22
    just by the work of what Crossroads was doing,
  • 00:31:26
    that the church members were giving
  • 00:31:29
    and where that money was going.
  • 00:31:31
    I loved seeing that Masters of Disaster
  • 00:31:36
    went to Texas to help flooding victims,
  • 00:31:39
    Puerto Rico to capture messages,
  • 00:31:43
    when Crossroads paid medical debt.
  • 00:31:46
    I just started giving financially.
  • 00:31:49
    It's just so it really makes me feel like
  • 00:31:52
    I'm a part of the community, even though it's online.
  • 00:31:57
    It's just -- it's fantastic,
  • 00:31:59
    and I don't know how else to explain it,
  • 00:32:03
    but with thanks giving.

Sep 24, 2021 32 mins 10 sec

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