The Power to Change Your Future

You might not be able to change your past, but with the power of the Holy Spirit, you can radically transform your future. Discover how. 

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    - Welcome to Crossroads.
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    I'm Andy and Crossroads is a church
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    that you can be a part of no matter where you live
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    or what you believe about God.
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    We actually have people watching
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    all over the country and the world.
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    I want to give a special shout out
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    to our community in southeastern Indiana.
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    Batesville Crew, hey, we love you
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    and we're so thankful for what you're doing.
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    Now, today we are starting a new series
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    called Real Encounters with God,
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    and this is the fourth season
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    where we're going to follow Brian Tome
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    as he travels to Israel
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    to help us discover our spiritual roots.
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    Now, we actually filmed this series
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    earlier this year,
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    and right now you just need to hear me on this,
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    our prayers are with all of the people
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    who've been hurt by the ongoing conflict in the region.
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    On Monday, we actually hosted a night of prayer
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    where peoples of all backgrounds
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    and all nationalities came together
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    to pray for peace.
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    And this isn't something we planned
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    or budgeted for, but Crossroads
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    is actually donating $100,000 to humanitarian relief.
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    These funds will provide much needed
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    food, water and temporary shelter
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    for nearly 20,000 people
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    across the area for a full two weeks.
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    Now, when we see pain like this in the world,
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    it can be hard to come to terms with.
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    Like, what do we do?
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    How do we think about this and what can our response be?
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    In times and in moments like these,
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    we really can look to God.
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    He hears us in these moments.
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    And songs like the ones we're about to sing
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    can help us focus our attention on Him
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    and believe and pray for His goodness
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    in any and every situation.
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    So what we're doing now
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    is responding to God in songs.
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    It's been going on for literally thousands of years.
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    Thousands of years.
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    Now maybe there weren't microphones
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    thousands of years ago and there weren't
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    lights like this and screens,
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    but people gathered in response
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    to a God who created them.
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    Psalm 19 says this:
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    The heavens declare the glory of God,
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    and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
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    Day to day pours out speech
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    and night to night reveals knowledge.
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    Yet there's no speech. There's no words.
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    Monday we were gathering as a staff
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    and we focused on Psalm 19.
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    And that the challenge for us
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    in this prayer time was just meditate on that.
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    So, I spent some time and I didn't get too far.
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    I didn't get too far from the first two lines
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    of this scripture.
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    And I want to read to you, kind of my thought.
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    What would the skies say if they had words?
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    What would the heavens tell us
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    about the glory of God if they spoke English,
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    or if they spoke Spanish,
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    or if they spoke Portuguese or Mandarin?
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    Most of us are speaking English,
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    so I'll simply reply in English.
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    That's all I can do.
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    It's my first and only language.
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    What would the heavens and the skies say
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    of God if they did speak with words?
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    They might say this.
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    The skies would say, "Your view of Him
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    is hindered because of where you stand.
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    Even your highest pedestal
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    gives you just a hint of His width.
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    Sure, you could leave the earth
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    in an airplane or a balloon,
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    and you'd surely discover
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    there's even more of Him to see,
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    even more of Him to explore."
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    And then the heavens might chime in,
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    "Sure, press through my skin with a rocket,
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    I won't bleed, but you will be swallowed
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    by the vast expanse of space,
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    the depths in which light travels silently,
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    millions of miles in a moment.
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    He is there, but this boundary isn't His end.
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    Keep pressing forward,
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    like you're looking for the back of the wardrobe,
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    but you won't find it.
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    You will end before you find the fullness of Him.
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    In fact, you must.
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    You will be swallowed whole,
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    obliterated and restored to your original design
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    when you see Him for who He really is.
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    You will be restored
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    when you see God for who He really is."
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    And then the heavens in the sky might say this to us,
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    "Day after day we chant
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    the rhythm of His weightiness.
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    Night after night
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    we sing of His mysteries.
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    Won't you join us? Won't you join us?"
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    And my response is, "Heck yeah.
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    Let's join the heavens,
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    let's join the skies,
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    in doing the thing they were made to do,
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    we were also made to do."
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    Jesus, we love the way that You love us.
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    We love the way that You pursue us,
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    the way that when we we lift up Your Name,
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    You make Your presence known to us.
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    So, we come here right now just to say
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    thank you, thank you.
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    We ask that you would see our steps
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    into this place as silent prayers
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    of wanting to encounter You for who you are,
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    without having to take a balloon
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    or a rocket through the skies.
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    But You come to us and You make Yourself known.
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    In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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    - Hey, thank you so much for singing with us.
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    Hey, one thing I want you to know
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    is that Crossroads isn't just content that you watch.
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    It's a movement that you can belong to.
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    Just this week, I was actually
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    in the Crossroads Anywhere app,
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    and I was texting with folks
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    on three different continents,
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    all over the country, all over the world,
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    because that's where our church is.
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    We're not bound by one place on the map
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    or one day of the week.
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    And if you want to get connected too,
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    you can download the Crossroads Anywhere app,
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    select your nearest site, and then you'll get
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    specific location-based opportunities just for you.
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    What I love the most about the app
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    is it can help us connect with God
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    and with each other.
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    Now we believe that God created the earth
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    and everything in it, including us.
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    So, we use what God gives us
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    in ways that honor Him.
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    We recognize all the good things
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    that God has done for us, and in gratitude,
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    we give out of that resources
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    that He's entrusted to us.
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    Our church is so generous that
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    our giving allows us to help in crisis,
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    or to create tools like the app
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    to connect people with God all over the world.
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    To learn more about what we spend money on
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    or to join the team of faithful givers,
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    just head to Crossroads.net/give.
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    I'm so excited about this.
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    Today we are starting
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    Real Encounters with God season four.
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    We're taking you to the real places
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    in the Bible and uncovering
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    what it means for our lives today.
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    The Land of Israel is a powerful place
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    that still has meaning today.
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    - In the beginning,
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    the Word was with God,
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    and the Word was God Himself.
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    - The story of God,
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    it's not only written on pages of scripture,
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    but it's carved into the land itself
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    by the finger of God.
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    The land, it speaks.
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    It speaks of who He is,
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    and because of Him who we are.
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    The land was spoken into existence
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    by the Word of God.
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    The Word became flesh.
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    The Word, a person with a name, Jesus.
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    God himself spoke a word to you and me,
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    not just from the dusty pages of history,
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    but here and now the Word is alive.
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    - There in the shadows, a whisper of light
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    and the fell of darkness fell.
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    The Word was, the Word is,
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    the Word will forever and ever one.
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    The Word was, the Word is,
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    the Word will forever and ever one.
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    There in the middle, the Word became flesh,
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    from glory down to dust.
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    He traded the heavens to come wash our feet,
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    living water here with us.
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    All for a world He loved.
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    - Imagine a God who loved you so much,
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    so personally, so wildly,
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    so beyond measure,
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    that He creates the entire world,
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    the land itself,
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    just so you could know God's love.
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    The land, it speaks.
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    It speaks God's Word in Hebrew.
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    Dabar means word, or talk or thing, a noun.
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    Catch this, there is no difference
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    between the Word of God and the person of God.
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    The land, it speaks.
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    It speaks of who He is and who we are.
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    - The Word was, the Word is,
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    the Word will be forever and ever.
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    The Word was, the Word is,
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    the Word will be forever and ever.
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    - There is a heartbeat.
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    A heartbeat in the pages of Scripture.
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    A pulse beneath the land calling
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    to its people, to you, to me,
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    adopted sons and daughters,
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    the downline of King David.
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    The land, it speaks.
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    It speaks God's Word, His truth,
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    His character, the great I Am.
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    The land, it speaks.
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    It speaks of who we are
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    because of who He is.
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    The land, it speaks.
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    It tells the story of our spiritual roots.
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    We are the signature of God.
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    We are Imago Dei, His image bearers.
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    So, if we were created to look like Him,
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    if we were created to bear His image,
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    then we have to ask, who is He?
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    What does He look like?
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    His land, His people, His Word reveals it all,
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    father, mother, your ruler, friend,
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    creator, son, daughter, the great I Am.
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    - For when You say it, it is finished,
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    your Word is final and I believe it.
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    For when You say it, it is finished,
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    Your Word is final and I believe it.
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    Your word was, your word is,
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    Your Word will be forever and ever.
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    Your word was, Your Word is,
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    Your Word will be forever and ever.
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    Your Word heals, Your Word builds,
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    Your Word stands forever and ever.
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    Your Word is moving,
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    Your Word is living,
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    Your Word is returning to earth from the heavens.
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    - Six identities, primal, essential,
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    all working together in perfect harmony,
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    not a number to lock you in
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    or a sign to mark you or cage you
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    or keep you from living free,
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    but a beautiful balance of a spiritual DNA
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    to give you the wisdom and the strength
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    that you need to live fully alive, to thrive.
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    No more numbing out.
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    No more being out of alignment
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    with who God called you to be.
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    One building upon the other.
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    Nothing in contradiction because
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    He is who He says He is, the great I Am.
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    He is, I am, you are, the land speaks.
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    Are you listening?
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    - And in the ending, the Word will remain,
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    though the earth will pass away.
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    Kingdoms will crumble
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    and riches will fade,
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    but the Word of God will reign.
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    - The Story of God told through the land of Israel
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    is written in the pages of Scripture
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    and carved by the very finger of God into the land itself.
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    Join us on a journey to discover your spiritual roots.
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    Uncover the six essential elements
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    of identity deep within you,
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    revealed through the life of King David
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    and perfected in the life of Jesus.
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    The fourth season of Real Encounters with God: Downline.
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    All new on location in Israel.
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    New places, new encounters, real encounters with God.
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    - All right, we're back in Israel. We're actually here.
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    We've got the Temple Mount behind us, the Mount of Olives.
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    Actually back in the land
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    for the fourth season of Real Encounters.
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    We've got Brian Tome, Senior Pastor,
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    got Hannah, Teaching Pastor, and Tsuriel, our guide.
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    I think this is a season 4 with you, right?
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    - And friend.
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    - Right, first time that we're meeting together,
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    loving you all, enjoying working with you.
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    - You're loving us all and we're annoying you, I know that.
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    - Just constantly. - That's true.
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    - Yes, he's not even disagreeing.
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    - Sense of humor, right? - It's my love language.
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    - We're back here for a reason.
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    Because you've been stewing on this concept
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    that God's been building in you for a long, long time
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    about these six essential elements of identity,
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    the primal DNA, so talk about that.
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    - I work with a lot of people.
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    I've been working with a lot of people for a long time,
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    and had a lot of observations about what makes a life work,
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    why do some people's lives work,
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    and other people don't have a life that works?
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    And as I have looked at it
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    and I've looked in the scriptures at it,
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    it seems like there's six things that come up
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    over and over and over and over again.
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    So these are not things that you develop.
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    These are things that you recognize that you have
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    you can develop your life around.
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    - And this isn't like a Myers-Briggs,
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    you know, I'm one type.
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    - Anagram or something like that.
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    - This is like they kind of build on it.
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    - Right, right. Everyone has all of these.
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    There's six of them. Everyone has all of them.
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    And when a really started popping off the page for me
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    was when I started noticing that
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    my favorite person in the Bible, who isJesus,
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    by the way, He's always the answer.
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    My favorite person is Jesus.
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    But really, my second favorite person
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    in the Bible is King David.
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    I just find him fascinating
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    and I've read his stories more than probably
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    anything else in the scriptures,
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    other than the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
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    And I realized, gosh, these six things that I'm seeing,
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    they come up with him over and over and over again.
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    There's a link between, and of course, with Jesus.
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    We'll see it over and over and over again.
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    So, there's this strand of DNA, if you will,
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    through the Bible, through the life of David
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    and Jesus that's in us.
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    And if I can help people see that this is who you are,
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    life is going to start to make sense and go forward.
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    - Yes, I'm so excited for this series.
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    - That's good.
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    - Because I've just seen it in you,
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    you get this burn for this idea.
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    So we're starting in a particular spot because
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    there's one of these you got to lock down first
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    before you can get the rest. Which one is that?
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    - That is son or daughter.
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    It's your relationship with God.
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    Jesus is told by His father,
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    "This is My Son, in whom I'm well pleased."
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    Until you believe that you're loved by God,
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    that you're His son, you're His daughter,
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    that He accepts you as you are.
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    Not that -- Not that He's not going to push you.
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    Not that there aren't going to be significant changes in life,
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    but until you see that you are loved,
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    who you are right now,
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    you're going to just go down a rabbit hole of performance,
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    a rabbit hole of judgmental-ism.
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    It's the starting place of strength and power
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    to start building your life.
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    - So what do you think is the place
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    to kind of go to talk about that?
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    We see David being a son. Where do you want to go?
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    Well, that's why we got the expert here.
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    That's true.
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    -I was thinking, I was thinking that maybe
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    the beginning of his life and Jesus's life.
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    - Right. We're thinking about Bethlehem.
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    - Yeah. If what we were talking about that
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    Bethlehem, of course, 1000 years before Jesus,
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    we have David. This is the City of David.
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    Not only Jerusalem is known as the City of David.
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    The Bible also speaks about Bethlehem.
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    He was born there. This is where he grew up.
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    This is where he lived all around.
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    And Jesus, 1000 years later, is being born at the same place.
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    He's from the same root of David,
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    of course, the same family.
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    So it's linked together, the two places,
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    the one place with the two different
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    characters that you're going to deal with.
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    - Yeah. And when you had this idea,
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    I realized this is just another example.
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    Their lives are popping up the same things
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    over and over again, so I think it's a great idea.
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    We'll go do a deep dive in Bethlehem,
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    which most people only think of it as Christmas time.
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    - Yeah. - But it's a big deal.
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    - Jesus is known as the Son of David.
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    Tsuriel, what's your last name again?
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    - Bar David. -What does that mean?
  • 00:34:46
    - In Aramaic bar is son and David is David.
  • 00:34:49
    So, it's the son of David.
  • 00:34:50
    Of course, I have no idea if I'm any how connected to David,
  • 00:34:54
    but that's the name.
  • 00:34:55
    My grandfather came 100 years ago.
  • 00:34:57
    He was one of the first believers here in Israel,
  • 00:35:00
    Jews who would believe in Jesus.
  • 00:35:01
    Of course, there were no communities,
  • 00:35:04
    no congregation, nothing like that.
  • 00:35:05
    - Yeah.
  • 00:35:06
    - And by the way, when he came here 100 years ago,
  • 00:35:09
    he went to Bethlehem.
  • 00:35:10
    It was under the British Mandate,
  • 00:35:11
    and he went there to a Bible college.
  • 00:35:13
    So, also Bethlehem is part of that story in there.
  • 00:35:15
    - Another link in there. - Fascinating. - I love that.
  • 00:35:17
    I think it's just relating and showing us
  • 00:35:19
    how there's this downline that exists
  • 00:35:21
    that we get to see in the life of David
  • 00:35:22
    and the life of Jesus, and then in the life of of us,
  • 00:35:25
    we are the sons and daughters. - That's awesome. - Yeah.
  • 00:35:28
    - So we're going to go with you to Yad Hashmona.
  • 00:35:31
    - And Brian, you're going to start
  • 00:35:32
    talking about David and Bethlehem.
  • 00:35:45
    - Modern day Bethlehem is a city of 25,000 people,
  • 00:35:49
    about six miles south of Jerusalem.
  • 00:35:51
    In biblical times,
  • 00:35:52
    only several hundred people would have lived there.
  • 00:35:54
    This small town is highly significant
  • 00:35:57
    as the birthplace of both Jesus and David.
  • 00:36:03
    - I'm here in Israel looking to have
  • 00:36:05
    a real encounter with God, as people have throughout history.
  • 00:36:11
    I'm at a very critical place,
  • 00:36:13
    one of the most important places in all of Israel,
  • 00:36:15
    or the Holy Land. I'm just outside of Bethlehem.
  • 00:36:18
    We're looking at these whole hillsides.
  • 00:36:20
    I'll tell you what, Bethlehem is kind of
  • 00:36:23
    the foundation in many ways of Christianity.
  • 00:36:26
    Bethlehem as, you probably know,
  • 00:36:29
    is the place where Jesus was born.
  • 00:36:32
    You can actually go there and see, as the GPS is,
  • 00:36:34
    exactly where Jesus was born. It's pretty interesting.
  • 00:36:37
    It also is the place where the lambs
  • 00:36:41
    were brought up for the temple.
  • 00:36:44
    The lambs that would go to be sacrificed in the temple
  • 00:36:48
    were raised in Bethlehem.
  • 00:36:50
    Kind of fascinating that Jesus is born in Bethlehem
  • 00:36:52
    because he's going to be the Lamb of God
  • 00:36:53
    that's going to be sacrificed.
  • 00:36:55
    And actually Jesus's great great great great
  • 00:36:57
    great great great great great great great
  • 00:36:58
    great great great great great great great
  • 00:37:00
    great great something like that grandfather
  • 00:37:03
    was from Bethlehem, his name is David.
  • 00:37:06
    We're going to be looking at the links between David and Jesus.
  • 00:37:11
    They are significant. They are all through the Bible.
  • 00:37:14
    And I'm not so interested in you just seeing
  • 00:37:18
    the links between David and Jesus.
  • 00:37:20
    I'm looking for you to see how they share DNA.,
  • 00:37:23
    they literally share physical DNA,
  • 00:37:26
    but they also share spiritual DNA,
  • 00:37:29
    which, whether you know it or not, you have as well.
  • 00:37:33
    There are things that are in you
  • 00:37:36
    that you may have never identified, that they're in you.
  • 00:37:39
    You may have never known what your genome is.
  • 00:37:42
    You may not understand all the DNA in your code.
  • 00:37:46
    None of us do, but I can tell you
  • 00:37:49
    inside of your primal code, your primal DNA,
  • 00:37:53
    there are six things that you just are.
  • 00:37:57
    And these six things, if you see them,
  • 00:37:58
    they don't give you like a new checklist
  • 00:38:00
    of something new to do.
  • 00:38:02
    These six things help fuel you to do the things
  • 00:38:06
    that you need to do or that you want to do.
  • 00:38:09
    It's the six primal core characteristics of who we are.
  • 00:38:13
    This first one is the most important.
  • 00:38:15
    Just like Bethlehem is maybe the foundation
  • 00:38:19
    of all Christianity, this first one
  • 00:38:22
    is the foundation for your life.
  • 00:38:24
    All of the other ones all cling on this one.
  • 00:38:27
    If you don't get this one right,
  • 00:38:29
    everything else will be bastardized.
  • 00:38:32
    And I'm using that term bastardized on purpose.
  • 00:38:36
    This is one of the links that David and Jesus have.
  • 00:38:39
    There's a thread of being a bastard
  • 00:38:43
    that goes through both of their lives,
  • 00:38:45
    or at least being perceived as a bastard,
  • 00:38:49
    or at least feeling like a bastard.
  • 00:38:52
    It was here in this area where the prophet Samuel
  • 00:38:57
    comes to anoint a new king of Israel.
  • 00:39:00
    Saul has basically disqualified himself,
  • 00:39:02
    the first king of Israel,
  • 00:39:04
    and now we have the prophet looking for a new one.
  • 00:39:07
    God says, "Go over here to the house of Jesse.
  • 00:39:11
    The new king is there."
  • 00:39:12
    And Samuel goes over to the house of Jesse,
  • 00:39:15
    and he sees all these sons.
  • 00:39:18
    He sees the biggest one like, "Oh, wow, wow,
  • 00:39:20
    this must be the one."
  • 00:39:21
    And God says, "No, no, not that one."
  • 00:39:23
    And then he goes and he sees the next biggest one.
  • 00:39:25
    He thinks, "Oh, this must be the one."
  • 00:39:27
    And God says to him, "Look, look, look, look.
  • 00:39:30
    Man looks on the outward appearance,
  • 00:39:33
    but I look at the heart."
  • 00:39:35
    In fact, that's America today, right?
  • 00:39:37
    We look at the outward appearance.
  • 00:39:38
    We don't look at the heart.
  • 00:39:39
    We look at what our waist side size is.
  • 00:39:41
    We look at what our skin tone is.
  • 00:39:43
    We look at what our bicep size is.
  • 00:39:47
    We might even look like what political party
  • 00:39:49
    am I wearing on my clothes
  • 00:39:51
    or what political party is on my bumper?
  • 00:39:54
    We want to look at people, make a snap judgment
  • 00:39:56
    and think that we understand them.
  • 00:39:58
    This isn't an American thing, this is a human thing.
  • 00:40:01
    And God spells it out, says,
  • 00:40:03
    "Don't look at the outside thing.
  • 00:40:05
    Don't. Who cares about body beautiful?
  • 00:40:07
    That has nothing to do with whether or not
  • 00:40:08
    I'm pleased with this person and active in this person."
  • 00:40:12
    So, Samuel hears this from God and he says to Jesse,
  • 00:40:15
    like, "Is this it? I kind of heard from God
  • 00:40:18
    that the next king was here. This is all your sons?"
  • 00:40:23
    And Jesse says, "Well, there's one more."
  • 00:40:27
    Let's read it together, 1 Samuel 16:10:
  • 00:40:31
    And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel.
  • 00:40:34
    And Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these."
  • 00:40:38
    Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?"
  • 00:40:42
    And he said, "Well, there remains yet the youngest,
  • 00:40:45
    but behold, he's keeping the sheep."
  • 00:40:47
    And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and get him,
  • 00:40:50
    for we will not sit down till he comes here."
  • 00:40:53
    He says, it's the youngest one, the youngest one
  • 00:40:57
    who's doing the crappiest work
  • 00:41:00
    of being out in the pasture keeping sheep.
  • 00:41:03
    Being a shepherd is a dirty, dirty job.
  • 00:41:07
    Jesus was a shepherd. He was known as the Good Shepherd.
  • 00:41:10
    And that was a dirty job because
  • 00:41:11
    He had to put up with all of our crap
  • 00:41:13
    and He actually died on a cross for our sin.
  • 00:41:17
    Since we were in Bethlehem,
  • 00:41:18
    we went looking for a herd of sheep.
  • 00:41:21
    We found a herd of goats. Close enough.
  • 00:41:27
    Oh, look at this little guy.
  • 00:41:30
    Come here. Come here, little guy.
  • 00:41:33
    Oh, he's got a bad leg.
  • 00:41:39
    He's got a leg. You got a leg that's not operating right.
  • 00:41:43
    I see him limping on this leg.
  • 00:41:47
    What's hurting? You got something hurt, buddy?
  • 00:41:49
    What's wrong? You got something hurting?
  • 00:41:51
    You need the Good Shepherd.
  • 00:41:52
    Jesus says that He's the Good Shepherd.
  • 00:41:55
    Sometimes that's what God does, He just kind of takes us,
  • 00:41:59
    takes care of us. He's the Good Shepherd.
  • 00:42:04
    Yeah. Mm.
  • 00:42:08
    You know, these shepherds here,
  • 00:42:11
    people will try to steal sheep.
  • 00:42:13
    And actually, in ancient times,
  • 00:42:15
    they would try to steal livestock.
  • 00:42:19
    Oh, you're okay. They'd try to steal livestock.
  • 00:42:23
    And if you're a hired shepherd. There you go.
  • 00:42:26
    If you're a hired shepherd,
  • 00:42:28
    you'd just abandon them and leave them.
  • 00:42:30
    But Jesus says he's the Good Shepherd
  • 00:42:32
    because He lays down His life for us.
  • 00:42:34
    It doesn't matter what the opposition is,
  • 00:42:37
    He lays down His life for us.
  • 00:42:46
    So, the kind of trick is keeping all these goats
  • 00:42:50
    or sheep together, keeping them safe.
  • 00:42:54
    And the person in charge is the shepherd, that guy over there.
  • 00:42:58
    You know, it's a pretty intense job he has
  • 00:43:00
    taking care of all this livestock,
  • 00:43:02
    a lot of responsibility.
  • 00:43:03
    And he's about the same age that David was
  • 00:43:06
    doing the kind of work that David would do
  • 00:43:09
    right here in this same area.
  • 00:43:12
    The Bible, in many ways,
  • 00:43:14
    is being played out right before us. It's pretty cool.
  • 00:43:18
    I'm Brian. Brian. - Pero. - What is it? - Pero.
  • 00:43:22
    - Pero, good to meet you. Good to meet you.
  • 00:43:25
    Good, good hard working man.
  • 00:43:27
    Good, hard working man right there. There he is.
  • 00:43:30
    The beautiful universal sign of manhood right there.
  • 00:43:33
    How old are you? - 14.
  • 00:43:35
    - 14. And how many years have you been doing shepherding?
  • 00:43:39
    - Five years. - Five years?
  • 00:43:43
    It's kind of amazing that you are about the same age
  • 00:43:47
    and probably the same size as David, King David,
  • 00:43:50
    who was a shepherd boy and then a great king.
  • 00:43:52
    So, we're going to pray and trust that
  • 00:43:54
    God has great things for you,
  • 00:43:56
    and you're a future king in your own right. It's good.
  • 00:44:04
    I want to do some more shepherding here.
  • 00:44:06
    Let's see if I can keep them all together.
  • 00:44:08
    This is basically what being a pastor is,
  • 00:44:09
    getting all these people who aren't as smart as you
  • 00:44:12
    to all stay together and go the same direction.
  • 00:44:15
    Okay, boys, let's go. Let's all go this way. There you go.
  • 00:44:18
    Yes, go, go. We're going to stay here.
  • 00:44:21
    We're going to -- What is that?
  • 00:44:27
    Are those testicles, or is that a milk sack?
  • 00:44:34
    What are those? Milk sack? Okay. All right.
  • 00:44:38
    I'm going to keep shepherding.
  • 00:44:40
    Vamanos, vamanos.
  • 00:44:44
    Oh, no, no, no, no, oh, no, no, no, no, no.
  • 00:44:46
    You're too young. You're too young for that.
  • 00:44:48
    They're too young. Too young.
  • 00:44:50
    Let's go. Go over there. Go with all your people.
  • 00:44:53
    Go with all your people. Come on.
  • 00:44:54
    What if I run at them? If I run at them?
  • 00:45:06
    I got them to on the move. That's something.
  • 00:45:16
    Being a shepherd is messy, messy work.
  • 00:45:19
    You give the least of the least that work,
  • 00:45:22
    and that's what David is.
  • 00:45:23
    He's got this work out where he's shepherding
  • 00:45:25
    and he gives him the phrase, he doesn't necessarily say
  • 00:45:29
    he is the youngest, what Jesse says,
  • 00:45:31
    it could also be taken in the original language,
  • 00:45:33
    "He is the least." He is the least in Jesse's eyes.
  • 00:45:39
    When you come over to Israel, you'll see
  • 00:45:41
    just a bunch of Orthodox Jews with their curls
  • 00:45:44
    and their hats and their clothing and all that stuff.
  • 00:45:48
    And if you know what to look for,
  • 00:45:50
    you might be able to distinguish
  • 00:45:52
    between which rabbi they align with.
  • 00:45:55
    There's this phrase, a rabbinical school of thought.
  • 00:45:59
    This traces all the way back to when Moses
  • 00:46:03
    brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai.
  • 00:46:06
    And when Charlton Heston came to -- I mean Moses,
  • 00:46:09
    when he came down from Mount Sinai, what Jews believe
  • 00:46:13
    is that he brought the written law,
  • 00:46:15
    but he also brought the oral law.
  • 00:46:17
    The oral law were things that God said to Moses
  • 00:46:22
    that then he passed on to other leaders.
  • 00:46:26
    And so these different rabbinical schools of thought
  • 00:46:28
    are different rabbis who was taught by this rabbi,
  • 00:46:31
    who was taught by this rabbi, by that rabbi that traces back.
  • 00:46:34
    And they try to trace back and say,
  • 00:46:36
    "We got the real goods from Moses. We heard from him.
  • 00:46:39
    This is what Moses got from God."
  • 00:46:42
    One of the rabbinical schools of thought
  • 00:46:44
    is they have different interpretations
  • 00:46:46
    of different Bible verses, all that stuff,
  • 00:46:48
    is that the reason why Jesse was dismissive of David
  • 00:46:53
    and not really wanting to serve him up to Samuel
  • 00:46:57
    was that he didn't like his son,
  • 00:47:00
    that he had doubts whether or not his wife
  • 00:47:03
    had actually had sex with another man
  • 00:47:06
    or sex with him to have David,
  • 00:47:09
    that he actually viewed David as a bastard,
  • 00:47:14
    and he treated him this way.
  • 00:47:18
    There's some pretty good evidence for this being true.
  • 00:47:22
    I'm not sure that's true,
  • 00:47:23
    but there's some interesting evidence for it.
  • 00:47:25
    David, one of his identities we'll talk about
  • 00:47:28
    is he is a creator, he's always creating things.
  • 00:47:30
    And he creates great poetry, much of it
  • 00:47:33
    is preserved for us in the Book of Psalms.
  • 00:47:35
    And David says this in the book of Psalms, Psalm 51:5:
  • 00:47:40
    Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity
  • 00:47:43
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
  • 00:47:46
    What does he mean when he says, "In sin I was conceived?"
  • 00:47:52
    Is he -- is he giving us a clue to his background
  • 00:47:56
    that his mother committed the sin of adultery?
  • 00:48:02
    I don't know. We'll let different rabbis debate that,
  • 00:48:04
    different scholars debate that.
  • 00:48:05
    But here's one thing I know for sure David:
  • 00:48:09
    felt like a bastard.
  • 00:48:10
    He felt unwanted.
  • 00:48:13
    He felt unloved.
  • 00:48:15
    His dad is bringing everybody else to show the prophet.
  • 00:48:18
    It's only when the prophet says,
  • 00:48:19
    "Are you sure there's nobody else?"
  • 00:48:21
    He goes, "Uh, okay, there's one more."
  • 00:48:24
    I believe David has been receiving this kind of brunt
  • 00:48:27
    from his dad throughout his entire life.
  • 00:48:31
    He has this in common with Jesus.
  • 00:48:34
    Again here in Bethlehem,
  • 00:48:35
    Jesus was born of a virgin, born of Mary.
  • 00:48:38
    And of course, the townspeople didn't believe this.
  • 00:48:41
    And so they believed that Jesus was a bastard.
  • 00:48:44
    In fact, in the book of John, the Pharisees,
  • 00:48:47
    the religious elite, are coming down on Jesus.
  • 00:48:50
    They say to Him, "Well, at least we know who our father is."
  • 00:48:56
    They're poking at Him like, "Oh yeah, son of God,
  • 00:48:59
    Virgin Mary. Oh, yeah, you're just saying that
  • 00:49:01
    because you don't know who your father is
  • 00:49:02
    because you're a bastard."
  • 00:49:04
    Jesus doesn't like it. He's actually hurt by it.
  • 00:49:05
    He says, He says, "oh, talking about fathers,
  • 00:49:08
    I know who your father is. You know, your father is?
  • 00:49:10
    Satan. That's your freaking father is."
  • 00:49:13
    Jesus got mad every once in a while.
  • 00:49:14
    This is one of the times he got mad.
  • 00:49:16
    This theme of being dismissed, not being welcomed,
  • 00:49:20
    not feeling enough, having questionable origins,
  • 00:49:25
    David and Jesus have that in common
  • 00:49:27
    and we have that in common.
  • 00:49:34
    Do you feel you have questionable origins?
  • 00:49:37
    Maybe not physically when you were born,
  • 00:49:39
    but do you feel like your education
  • 00:49:42
    isn't up to snuff with the other people that are around you?
  • 00:49:45
    Do you feel like you aren't accepted,
  • 00:49:48
    that people look down on you?
  • 00:49:50
    Do you feel that way?
  • 00:49:51
    Do you feel the people are constantly judging you,
  • 00:49:55
    that you can't measure up to their expectations?
  • 00:49:58
    Do you feel like every day you have to perform?
  • 00:50:02
    And if you don't perform that day,
  • 00:50:04
    then you don't justify your existence and you may go hungry?
  • 00:50:09
    Do you actually feel that you're on the verge of hunger,
  • 00:50:12
    the verge of starvation?
  • 00:50:14
    Do you feel that there is a lack of resources to go around
  • 00:50:17
    and so you've got to fight for them?
  • 00:50:20
    Do you feel like you've got to constantly
  • 00:50:22
    compare yourself to somebody else?
  • 00:50:23
    Am I as in shape as they are? Am I as successful as they are?
  • 00:50:26
    Am I as beautiful as they are?
  • 00:50:28
    Am I -- how am I with my discipline towards them?
  • 00:50:31
    He's getting ahead of me in this.
  • 00:50:33
    She's getting ahead of me of that.
  • 00:50:34
    Do you find yourself having these inner conversations?
  • 00:50:37
    I know you do. I'm ringing somebody's bell.
  • 00:50:41
    You might not identify with all of those things,
  • 00:50:43
    but this is part of the human condition.
  • 00:50:47
    We feel like orphans. We feel like we're on our own.
  • 00:50:51
    We're feeling like we've got to claw for everything
  • 00:50:53
    and no one's going to give us anything.
  • 00:50:56
    And maybe the government will give us something
  • 00:50:59
    if we can get a voting bloc.
  • 00:51:01
    Maybe we can shame people into giving us something.
  • 00:51:03
    And then when they don't give us something, what do we do?
  • 00:51:05
    We cancel them, because orphans can't handle
  • 00:51:10
    somebody else doing something that bothers them.
  • 00:51:13
    They're very, very fragile creatures.
  • 00:51:15
    It's like they're like Oliver Twist in the orphanage,
  • 00:51:17
    just wanting gruel, and everyone's got to have the same.
  • 00:51:21
    This is actually how socialism, I believe, is on the increase.
  • 00:51:25
    Because we're a bunch of orphans
  • 00:51:27
    that we have a massive problem
  • 00:51:28
    with somebody else having more than me.
  • 00:51:30
    So can't we just, like, level the playing field,
  • 00:51:32
    everybody has exactly the same,
  • 00:51:34
    just like you have in the orphanage?
  • 00:51:37
    There's a lot of manifestations for this.
  • 00:51:39
    Again, you may not be able to identify
  • 00:51:41
    with all of these descriptions, but I know
  • 00:51:44
    some of them you do because this is
  • 00:51:45
    the condition of our hearts.
  • 00:51:48
    We have the orphan mindset.
  • 00:51:50
    Now here's the great, great thing, it's unbelievable.
  • 00:51:54
    That's not in your DNA. It's common to us.
  • 00:51:57
    It's a thing that's kind of in the air,
  • 00:52:00
    an evil spirit that's in the air, that's taking root in it.
  • 00:52:02
    But that's not who we are.
  • 00:52:04
    Who we are is we are a son.
  • 00:52:07
    We are a daughter. That's who you are.
  • 00:52:10
    You're a treasured child of the Most High God.
  • 00:52:14
    You're born and created in the image of God
  • 00:52:18
    for a purpose, for a plan of God.
  • 00:52:23
    You have been created and He loves you with his whole heart.
  • 00:52:28
    He's into you.
  • 00:52:30
    I have to tell this to myself regularly
  • 00:52:32
    because I am an orphan. I have an orphan spirit.
  • 00:52:36
    Not only do I have an orphan spirit,
  • 00:52:38
    but I was a literal, physical orphan.
  • 00:52:41
    I was I was born at a very early age and I was adopted.
  • 00:52:46
    So, I was an orphan for a little bit
  • 00:52:49
    after when I was born to right when I was adopted.
  • 00:52:51
    And I've told some of the story to some folks, so bear with me,
  • 00:52:54
    I got a new twist at the end to give to you.
  • 00:52:57
    I was born and I was adopted into a very loving family.
  • 00:53:01
    Very thankful for my parents, my mom and dad who adopted me.
  • 00:53:03
    They're great, but I always felt like I was on the outside.
  • 00:53:07
    I didn't look like them. I didn't act like them.
  • 00:53:10
    I was taller, my dad was shorter.
  • 00:53:12
    My dad was a smart Ivy League guy.
  • 00:53:15
    I was a stupid guy who took seven years
  • 00:53:16
    to get a four year degree.
  • 00:53:18
    We just don't have the same sense of humor,
  • 00:53:20
    none of that stuff.
  • 00:53:22
    And this caused me to always feel like I didn't fit in.
  • 00:53:25
    And I always wondered, man, maybe I would feel
  • 00:53:28
    better about myself if I just knew my birth father.
  • 00:53:31
    Maybe that's the hidden key to my DNA.
  • 00:53:35
    And I actually ended up meeting him.
  • 00:53:37
    It was a crazy story.
  • 00:53:38
    I'm not going to go into big depth here right now,
  • 00:53:40
    but I did see some things in him that I saw in me
  • 00:53:43
    that I've never seen in another human being.
  • 00:53:45
    It was very forth thinking, very straight talker.
  • 00:53:48
    My parents, not so much so.
  • 00:53:50
    He's just a no BS kind of guy, kind of like me.
  • 00:53:53
    There's a bunch of things they had in common with him.
  • 00:53:56
    And at the same time there's a bunch of things
  • 00:53:58
    I had nothing in common with him.
  • 00:53:59
    On his third marriage. I'm still on my first marriage.
  • 00:54:03
    Doesn't know where his daughters,
  • 00:54:05
    my two stepsisters live.
  • 00:54:07
    I know where all my kids live.
  • 00:54:08
    They all live within 15 minutes of me.
  • 00:54:10
    And they choose to, because they actually like me.
  • 00:54:12
    It's pretty awesome and I like them a lot.
  • 00:54:16
    When we got together it was a real rocking experience.
  • 00:54:20
    And I came away from that thinking, "Man,
  • 00:54:23
    I thought I would have the hidden keys
  • 00:54:24
    to understanding my identity when I got with this guy,
  • 00:54:27
    and instead I have even more confusion now.
  • 00:54:29
    Who am I? Who am I?" It was really a crisis of belief.
  • 00:54:33
    And the next morning I was having some time with God,
  • 00:54:37
    and God said to me in my prayer time, He said,
  • 00:54:39
    "Brian, you're My son. I get you.
  • 00:54:43
    I understand you. You're My son."
  • 00:54:47
    It's still emotional talking about that day.
  • 00:54:49
    It was a very important, special time for me.
  • 00:54:53
    Now, that was four-ish years or so ago,
  • 00:54:58
    and I've tried to stay in touch with my birth father.
  • 00:55:01
    I've sent him texts and stuff,
  • 00:55:03
    and the last four texts I've sent him,
  • 00:55:06
    I have gotten no response.
  • 00:55:07
    I don't think he's dead,
  • 00:55:09
    because he was really healthy when I saw him.
  • 00:55:10
    And if he was dead, his number would be out of order
  • 00:55:13
    or somebody else would be texting me saying,
  • 00:55:15
    "Hey, this isn't whoever's number you think it is."
  • 00:55:18
    And so four times in a row, I've been blanked.
  • 00:55:21
    And my orphan heart wants to say to me,
  • 00:55:24
    "You're not important.
  • 00:55:26
    You're not even loved by your own flesh and blood.
  • 00:55:30
    You're not worthy of some guy returning a text."
  • 00:55:34
    My flesh feels that way.
  • 00:55:36
    But then I have to realize, Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no,
  • 00:55:38
    no, that's not true. That's not true.
  • 00:55:40
    What might be true, he might not like me. That might be true.
  • 00:55:43
    But what's true is
  • 00:55:45
    I'm a treasured son of the Most High God.
  • 00:55:49
    And you're a treasured daughter of the Most High God.
  • 00:55:52
    In the Bible, it talks about us being sons of God.
  • 00:55:54
    It really doesn't talk about us being daughters of God,
  • 00:55:56
    though if you're a woman, you are a daughter of God.
  • 00:55:59
    What the Bible is trying to say in that ancient vernacular
  • 00:56:02
    is the only people who would get an inheritance were sons.
  • 00:56:05
    And so by calling us sons of God, it's saying that
  • 00:56:08
    men and women all get an inheritance from a loved Father.
  • 00:56:12
    All of us are sons of God. All of us are daughters of God.
  • 00:56:17
    And when God comes to you, He says to you
  • 00:56:20
    what He said to Jesus the first time
  • 00:56:23
    we have record in the Bible,
  • 00:56:24
    what God said to Jesus was this:
  • 00:56:28
    This is My Son, in whom I'm well pleased.
  • 00:56:32
    God only spoke to Jesus three times in the Bible.
  • 00:56:35
    Three, that's it.
  • 00:56:36
    At least that's the only time it's recorded. Three.
  • 00:56:39
    Two of the three were total repeats, exact same:
  • 00:56:44
    This is My Son, in whom I'm well pleased.
  • 00:56:46
    Let me tell you something,
  • 00:56:47
    if Jesus needed to hear that two times,
  • 00:56:50
    I need to hear that twice a day, three times a day.
  • 00:56:52
    You need to hear that right now.
  • 00:56:53
    You need to understand right now who you actually are,
  • 00:56:56
    not who the world says you are,
  • 00:56:58
    not who you think you are, but who you are.
  • 00:57:01
    And that is a son, that is a daughter,
  • 00:57:03
    in whom He's well pleased, whom He loves.
  • 00:57:07
    When you believe this about yourself,
  • 00:57:10
    everything else in your life changes.
  • 00:57:13
    Before we get into these other identities
  • 00:57:16
    that are in your primal DNA, you've got to recognize
  • 00:57:18
    if you're not solid on this one,
  • 00:57:21
    that you are a son of the Most High God.
  • 00:57:23
    If you don't get that one really clearly,
  • 00:57:26
    the rest of these are going to be bastardized.
  • 00:57:28
    You're not going to operate properly,
  • 00:57:30
    you're going to abuse people. You're going to twist things.
  • 00:57:33
    Everything starts with saying, "Hey, I'm good.
  • 00:57:36
    I'm good because God's good with me, and He's pleased."
  • 00:57:41
    To understand why being in Israel
  • 00:57:43
    matters to our identity as sons and daughters,
  • 00:57:46
    Kyle and Hannah are about to go deep
  • 00:57:48
    on what God says to us through the land itself.
  • 00:58:15
    Welcome to Yad Hashmona. This is my hometown. Okay.
  • 00:58:20
    Finally! We're here. - Finally.
  • 00:58:22
    - Yeah, yeah, it's a mix.
  • 00:58:23
    A mix between Jewish people who believe in Jesus
  • 00:58:27
    and non-Jews who believe in Jesus
  • 00:58:28
    that live here all together.
  • 00:58:30
    So, that's the uniqueness of this community.
  • 00:58:33
    So I myself, I was born in Tel Aviv,
  • 00:58:37
    but I moved here when I was four.
  • 00:58:39
    - So, who all lives here?
  • 00:58:40
    - My parents live here. They moved here when I was a child.
  • 00:58:42
    Of course I grew up, I got married,
  • 00:58:44
    so myself and my wife, my brothers
  • 00:58:45
    and some of my sisters that are married,
  • 00:58:47
    they also live here. My children live here.
  • 00:58:49
    My brothers' and sisters' children live here too.
  • 00:58:52
    So, it's like three generations now that are here.
  • 00:58:55
    And it's -- I have here cousins, and actually
  • 00:58:59
    it's a big family that are living, you know, all together.
  • 00:59:01
    - Can we see more of the property, more of the hotel?
  • 00:59:03
    - Let's go. - All right.
  • 00:59:08
    And this is also where Jesus was when he was walking
  • 00:59:11
    the first day of the week to the village of Emmaus,
  • 00:59:14
    it's the same valley down below.
  • 00:59:16
    This is where he was heading to. - Wow.
  • 00:59:18
    - So He was just walking this hill that you see over here.
  • 00:59:21
    There is a Roman road that goes from Jerusalem,
  • 00:59:23
    crosses that hill and go down there. This is the --
  • 00:59:25
    - Is it still there? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
  • 00:59:26
    So, this is where Jesus with the two followers,
  • 00:59:29
    I would call them, disciples, was walking
  • 00:59:31
    all the way down to that village on that side.
  • 00:59:33
    - The the road to Emmaus? - Yeah.
  • 00:59:36
    - Wow. - Across that hill over here.
  • 00:59:40
    - Who's just somebody that has poured into you.
  • 00:59:43
    We've been talking a lot about son.
  • 00:59:44
    We've been talking a lot about daughter.
  • 00:59:46
    Obviously, you run this place and it's generational.
  • 00:59:48
    Was that your parent?
  • 00:59:50
    - I had the privilege, really, and my uncle Ari,
  • 00:59:52
    that some of you met him before,
  • 00:59:54
    and he was guiding Brian and others,
  • 00:59:56
    and all his life his heart is about the Bible, of course,
  • 01:00:00
    and the land of Israel through, you know,
  • 01:00:02
    you walk through the land of Israel with the Bible,
  • 01:00:04
    so you understand better.
  • 01:00:05
    And for me to grow up as a child, he would take us,
  • 01:00:08
    you know, to three days in the desert.
  • 01:00:10
    We will have to wake up at 3:00 in the morning.
  • 01:00:12
    We had to walk for several hours quietly, like in the military.
  • 01:00:15
    And then we would open Bibles and we would read.
  • 01:00:17
    And so all this mentality of walking through the lan
  • 01:00:21
    d and learning, and he has all those insights about,
  • 01:00:24
    you know, the scriptures and the land.
  • 01:00:27
    I would say big part of what I share
  • 01:00:30
    is actually what I learned from him.
  • 01:00:31
    - So, Ari sounds awesome and I think he's around for you.
  • 01:00:36
    So let's get to meet him, yes,
  • 01:00:38
    and hang out with him and chat with him.
  • 01:00:39
    - Let's do that. - All right.
  • 01:00:45
    - Aria is not only a native Hebrew speaker
  • 01:00:47
    and theologian who has dedicated his life
  • 01:00:49
    to studying and teaching the Bible in its original language,
  • 01:00:51
    but he spent his entire life, more than 70 years
  • 01:00:56
    walking and living in the Land of Israel,
  • 01:00:58
    studying its topography in intimate detail.
  • 01:01:01
    His insights gathered over those years
  • 01:01:03
    reveal something incredible,
  • 01:01:05
    that the story of God has not only
  • 01:01:07
    been written down with words in the pages of Scripture,
  • 01:01:10
    but meticulously carved by the very finger of God
  • 01:01:13
    into the land itself.
  • 01:01:15
    To see it, we have to start by orienting ourselves.
  • 01:01:19
    To be oriented means to understand
  • 01:01:21
    what direction you're facing.
  • 01:01:22
    In the Western world, north is at the top of the map,
  • 01:01:26
    but in the ancient Middle Eastern world,
  • 01:01:28
    East was at the top of the map.
  • 01:01:48
    - In ancient Hebrew culture going east
  • 01:01:50
    meant physically going forward or leaving home.
  • 01:01:53
    And spiritually it meant going far from God.
  • 01:01:56
    When God delivered Israel from Egypt,
  • 01:01:58
    where they were enslaved for 400 years,
  • 01:02:00
    He took them on a long 40 year journey through the desert
  • 01:02:04
    until beginning at Mount Nebo,
  • 01:02:06
    He led them west towards the Promised Land.
  • 01:02:09
    Going west meant going back into a relationship with God.
  • 01:02:13
    God used the direction they walked into freedom
  • 01:02:15
    to speak deeply to them about what it meant
  • 01:02:18
    to be far from Him, and what it meant to return to Him.
  • 01:02:21
    God used the physical land
  • 01:02:23
    to teach them a deep spiritual truth.
  • 01:02:36
    - What do they call it?
  • 01:03:14
    - This is how the Bible says.
  • 01:03:16
    When you read it in Hebrew language, it calls the,
  • 01:03:18
    what you call the Dead Sea, it's called the Front,
  • 01:03:20
    and the Mediterranean is called the Back Sea.
  • 01:03:22
    This is the way the Bible speaks about those seas.
  • 01:03:24
    - Wow. - Yeah.
  • 01:03:25
    - Our translation just takes that out.
  • 01:03:27
    - Yeah.
  • 01:03:34
    - Yeah. This is not the only time
  • 01:03:36
    God used the physical landscape of Israel
  • 01:03:38
    to teach us how to live in relationship with Him.
  • 01:03:40
    Throughout the Bible, time and time again,
  • 01:03:43
    God uses the very ground they walk on
  • 01:03:46
    and the way He leads His people through it
  • 01:03:48
    to show us who He is and who He has created us to be.
  • 01:04:10
    - This is where it gets mind blowing.
  • 01:04:12
    If you trace the major events and places
  • 01:04:14
    in the nation of Israel's history, you'll find that
  • 01:04:17
    they all fall on an exact line on the map.
  • 01:04:21
    A line that starts in the east and moves steadily to the west.
  • 01:04:25
    Each new event and place marking progress
  • 01:04:28
    on a clear return of God's people to Him,
  • 01:04:31
    going west physically to the land He promised them,
  • 01:04:34
    and going back spiritually to follow Him.
  • 01:04:37
    The more west they went, the closer they got to God
  • 01:04:40
    and returning to God's perfect, holy design for life with Him.
  • 01:04:45
    More west, more holy.
  • 01:06:47
    Wow!
  • 01:06:48
    But this is clear.
  • 01:08:59
    - It's almost like the land itself is speaking.
  • 01:10:55
    - Four years old.
  • 01:11:50
    - The world.
  • 01:12:39
    - Wow. Well, thank you for sharing that with us.
  • 01:12:42
    That [explosion FX]
  • 01:12:44
    - That was the short version.
  • 01:12:45
    - That was the short version.
  • 01:12:47
    I want to hear. I want to hear your reaction.
  • 01:12:49
    - Okay. Let me try to get some cohesive thoughts.
  • 01:12:54
    I think that most people genuinely believe
  • 01:12:59
    they are here by random chance,
  • 01:13:01
    that God doesn't actually have any sort of order,
  • 01:13:07
    He just wants to be obeyed and worshiped.
  • 01:13:09
    And that makes Him this, like, kind of ridiculous,
  • 01:13:13
    self-absorbed God.
  • 01:13:15
    That's a lot of the world, I think, kind of believes that.
  • 01:13:18
    And so they shun Christianity.
  • 01:13:19
    They shun this idea that Jesus is Messiah.
  • 01:13:22
    And then even people that are following Jesus,
  • 01:13:24
    I think sometimes struggle to believe
  • 01:13:26
    that He created them with very specific things in mind,
  • 01:13:31
    He has a perfect plan, and that He has something
  • 01:13:35
    for them that's not an afterthought,
  • 01:13:37
    but has been thought about for many, many years.
  • 01:13:40
    And so listening to that story, you almost get, like,
  • 01:13:44
    a little emotional that God cares so much about us,
  • 01:13:48
    even back in Ohio or Kentucky or wherever we're from,
  • 01:13:53
    watching this right now, He cares so much about us
  • 01:13:56
    that he didn't just lay out this land,
  • 01:13:58
    that He kept walking west so He could lay out our land,
  • 01:14:01
    so that this identity, this idea of being a son,
  • 01:14:04
    of being a daughter of God is not a concept
  • 01:14:09
    that's just out there,
  • 01:14:10
    but something that is physically represented.
  • 01:14:13
    And frankly, the very stones that
  • 01:14:15
    we get the pleasure to sit on right now,
  • 01:14:18
    and that He has a plan for us
  • 01:14:20
    that is as specific as this map,
  • 01:14:23
    that He has a way for us
  • 01:14:25
    that is as kind and generous and thoughtful,
  • 01:14:29
    and that we get to be a part of this bigger story.
  • 01:14:33
    Right? Of Him really just showing us His love
  • 01:14:36
    and the way that He writes it is His steadfast love, right?
  • 01:14:41
    It endures. And so anyway, mind blown.
  • 01:14:45
    Thank you so much for that.
  • 01:14:46
    And thank you for the short version.
  • 01:14:48
    I can't believe that's the short version.
  • 01:14:51
    And yeah, I just pray that folks will,
  • 01:14:55
    after seeing something so specific,
  • 01:14:57
    believe that He has something so specific for them.
  • 01:15:00
    And that because of Jesus,
  • 01:15:02
    they are grafted into this story,
  • 01:15:04
    grafted into the family of God,
  • 01:15:06
    and that the identity as a son, daughter, as an heir
  • 01:15:10
    is not a word that we chose to make them feel good,
  • 01:15:13
    that when He's calling us that, He's not just like --
  • 01:15:16
    He means it, and He meant it even
  • 01:15:18
    from all the way east to all the way west. So praise God.
  • 01:15:22
    - Amen. - Yeah, Amen.
  • 01:15:25
    - I hope you heard it today.
  • 01:15:26
    This is a story written about you and for you
  • 01:15:30
    by the God who created you.
  • 01:15:32
    No matter who you are or what you currently believe,
  • 01:15:34
    there's an invitation on the table of God
  • 01:15:37
    inside His house with your name on it.
  • 01:15:39
    And there's a seat at that table,
  • 01:15:41
    and no one's allowed to sit in it
  • 01:15:43
    until you're ready to take your place.
  • 01:15:45
    See, you are His son. You are His daughter.
  • 01:15:51
    - Okay. Thank you so much for joining us.
  • 01:15:52
    And make sure to set a reminder to watch
  • 01:15:54
    every week of Real Encounters with God.
  • 01:15:56
    Now, your experience doesn't have to stop here.
  • 01:16:00
    After every weekend,
  • 01:16:01
    there are follow up questions in the Crossroads app that
  • 01:16:03
    you can process the service by yourself,
  • 01:16:05
    or especially, it's so good, so good
  • 01:16:07
    when you process it along with other people
  • 01:16:10
    and take something with you
  • 01:16:11
    into the rest of your week
  • 01:16:12
    that'll help you and grow you.
  • 01:16:14
    And don't miss next week
  • 01:16:15
    on Real Encounters with God.
  • 01:16:18
    - Next week on Real Encounters with God,
  • 01:16:20
    we explore David's identity as a warrior.
  • 01:16:24
    The 14 year old shepherd boy
  • 01:16:26
    who ran towards the fight
  • 01:16:28
    and slayed the giants.
  • 01:16:29
    The six essential identities
  • 01:16:31
    God is woven into our primal DNA
  • 01:16:33
    are the key to having a life that works.
  • 01:16:36
    Don't miss out on discovering
  • 01:16:38
    your spiritual roots
  • 01:16:39
    and how to unlock the warrior within you.

Worship Songs:

Always Moving

Process, journal or discuss the themes of this article - here's a few questions to get the ball rolling...

Welcome to the Weekend-Follow Up This is the group part of the Bible Challenge, so your questions are based on specific Bible passages from the weekend message. Each week, your group will discover what God might be saying to you, and how you can respond through a group discussion.

  1. What’s your favorite Easter tradition?

  2. What stood out to you most from this week’s message? Why did that spark for you?

  3. What has made (or could make) the resurrection difficult to believe?

  4. What details or aspects of the resurrection story make it compelling for you?

  5. God ALWAYS had a rescue plan for us, a plan named Jesus. How does that impact the way you view God?

  6. What does Jesus’ victory over death mean for the world? What does it mean for you?

  7. What’s an area of struggle in your life right now? What would it look like to invite Jesus into it?

  8. Jesus’ resurrection declares that death is no longer the end of our lives but only the beginning. What’s one thing you can do this week to live in hope?

  9. Let’s end with prayer. You can say something like, “Jesus, thank you for giving your life for ours. Thank you for defeating death. Give us the courage to live not in fear, but in hope. Amen.”

More from the Weekend

Bonus Questions! Check these out if you’re on a roll and want to go a little deeper.

  • How does Jesus’ resurrection change the way you look at your own life?
  • How might your life change if you tapped into the power that raised Jesus from the dead every day?

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(This stuff helps us figure out how many fruitcakes to make come December)

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Got it! Enjoy your discussion.


Jun 27, 2023

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