Play & Purpose Journey | Week 5: Celebrate

They say laughter is the best medicine. This week we put that to the test. Comedian Michael Jr. joins us this weekend to talk about how purpose and play happen in his life and how we all need both for a life that prospers.

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    Hey, I'm Chuck Mingo. Oakley Community Pastor.
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    Thanks for joining us today, we're going to have Michael Junior in a moment.
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    It's going to be a lot of fun.
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    But before we do that, we wanted you to know this is the last week of the Play & Purpose Journey.
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    It's been awesome for me.
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    I hope it has been for you.
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    And as a part of today's worship, we're going to have communion together.
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    So if you're a follower of Jesus, we'd love for you to be a part of this moment with us.
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    So grab some bread, grab some wine, whatever you have in your house so that you can be a part of this moment now.
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    (music) You can go ahead and have a seat for a moment.
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    Go ahead and grab the communion kit if you grab one of those on your way in.
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    And if you're connecting with us online,
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    go ahead and grab your bread, your wine, your drink,
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    whatever it is that you have that you're going to join us
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    for this moment where we remember,
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    we remember what God did for us.
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    The song we just sang really summarized it well.
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    It says, "Our chains are gone.
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    Our debt is paid.
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    The cross has overthrown the grave."
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    The word salvation in the Bible actually means
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    not just that we've been saved from our sins,
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    but it means that we've been healed.
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    And it also means that we've been delivered.
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    Colossians Chapter 1 puts it this way.
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    It says, talking about Jesus:. That's a beautiful, beautiful transfer.
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    A beautiful exchange that not only have we been saved from our debt,
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    but we've been delivered from darkness.
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    And that's what Jesus offers.
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    And it's what we remember when we take communion.
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    And if you're a follower of Jesus,
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    it is good for you and good for me
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    to regularly remind ourselves that Jesus delivered us,
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    but he delivered us at a cost.
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    And cost was His own life, which he gladly gave.
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    The cost was his own blood,
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    which he joyfully shed for you and for me
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    to find freedom and to find life in him.
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    And so if you have this kit,
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    I want you to go ahead and take off that topmost layer.
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    Go ahead and grab that wafer and put it in your hand.
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    And I just want you to look at that wafer and recognize
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    and in a very, very small way, this is a symbol,
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    but it's a powerful symbol to remember
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    that Jesus broke his body for you.
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    Literally, there's life that came to you
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    because of what he offered for you.
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    And that's what we remember when we eat.
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    So let's eat in remembrance of Him right now.
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    You can go ahead and take off the foil to get to the juice.
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    Because the Bible says that He shed His blood for you and for me.
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    He was willing to spill his blood.
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    You know, in this Journey we've been talking
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    about the prosperity that God has for us.
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    And if you think about it, your life, your life is in blood.
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    It's the life blood flowing through you,
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    coursing through your veins.
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    It's helping to keep you alive.
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    And to think that God was willing
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    to put on humanity
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    and offer his lifeblood for you and I
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    so that we could be adopted into his family,
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    that we could share DNA with Him.
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    That's all the symbols that are captured
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    as we drink in remembrance of Him.
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    So let's drink now in remembrance of what He did for us.
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    And so we're reminded of God's love on the cross for us,
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    but we're also reminded of His power.
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    We're going to sing a song right now
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    that reflects that back to God.
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    So I want you to stand up
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    and we're going to just remind ourselves
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    as we sing to God about the power of His saving blood.
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    Let's sing together. God we praise you.
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    We don't clap because it's the end of a song.
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    We don't clap because music sounds good.
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    We clap because something inside of us
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    resonates deeply to go, yes,
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    I want to respond to redemption,
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    to a second chance, to rescue.
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    I don't want to ever forget who I was before you.
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    I don't ever want to forget
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    who you picked up out of the pit of religion.
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    I don't ever want to forget that You
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    changed me from trying to be perfect.
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    You've changed me from trying to impress You
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    or scratch my way toward You with action.
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    And we fall short. You've set me free in grace.
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    And now to move to Your rhythm and trust in You
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    and move and walk with You in relationship.
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    May I never forget who I was before I met You, God,
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    before you showed me Yourself in Jesus who died for me,
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    was raised back to life to give me life.
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    Lord, I praise You because of who You are.
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    Thank you all for singing with us, man.
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    [applause] It is never lost on us the privilege
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    and the joy it is to sing together
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    and sing about that redemption.
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    So thanks for singing with us.
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    Thanks for bringing your heart. Hey, before you grab a seat,
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    why don't you turn to somebody
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    and tell them your deepest, darkest secret from just this week.
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    I'm just just kidding. Just give them a name.
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    Say hi. - This is the Crossroads Anywhere app.
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    It's not just any other app.
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    It's the weekend experience wherever you go.
  • 00:16:43
    It's relevant articles to you
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    so you can be the smart guy at the party for once.
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    It's asking for prayer
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    because life can get a little tough sometimes.
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    It's spiritual growth without a bunch of hoops to jump through.
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    The Crossroads Anywhere app:
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    It's you connecting with people and with God.
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    Download it now. - Well, hey, today we are in week five,
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    our last week of the Play & Purpose Journey.
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    And I'm experiencing some Play & Purpose
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    right here at College Camp right now.
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    You know, we have camps that happen all year long
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    that incorporate Play & Purpose.
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    My teeth are a little gritty right now.
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    My hair's unbrushed.
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    It's what happens when you go off the grid
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    to experience something wild and fun
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    and have some intentional, purposeful time
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    with friends and with God.
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    And so that's what's happening here at College Camp this weekend.
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    There were just some epic battle games.
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    I think there's some people doing crazy stunts
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    in the water behind me.
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    And you'll experience things like that at every camp,
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    whether it's Man Camp, Woman Camp,
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    College Camp, Father Son Camp,
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    Cat Camp, Dog Damp, all the camps.
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    You experience fun in the midst of them.
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    And in just a little bit here,
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    we're going to go into a time of worship
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    and we'll have teaching and solitude
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    where we get time alone with God
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    outside of our normal daily grind
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    to hear from him in the midst of the silence,
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    away from the work and the school
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    and the grades and the family
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    and all the other stuff.
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    And so camp has been wildly powerful in my life,
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    in my family's life.
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    My husband and I would not be married
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    if it weren't for his experience
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    at his very first Man Camp.
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    My marriage is different because of Couples Camp.
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    I have friends who received Jesus
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    and experienced a whole new kind of life
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    as a result of Woman Camp.
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    And I believe that they are really, really good things
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    waiting for you on the other side
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    of an off the grid experience.
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    And so you can find out more about Camps at Crossroads.net/camps.
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    Or you could even go back and watch
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    a series we did a little while ago
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    called Off the Grid,
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    where it was a documentary series
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    following around some different people
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    who experienced a few of the different camps.
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    And you always can follow the Camps accounts on social media.
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    Speaking of social media,
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    there are all kinds of accounts
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    for you to follow on social media.
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    You know, we do more than just a video a week for a church
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    or an experience a week in a building.
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    But there are ways for you to engage
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    with other people in the church
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    and for you to engage with God all week long.
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    Whether it's through the app or Camps or Go Trip
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    or a serving on a Kids' Club team.
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    And so you can find out all of the things
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    that are happening near you,
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    you can hear from your community pastor
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    that's closest to you in the location
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    or the community that you are a part of,
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    whether it's right here in Crossroads Anywhere
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    or it's Crossroads Florence or Crossroads Columbus.
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    So if you head to Crossroads.net/social,
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    you'll be able to see all of the accounts
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    that you can follow and and stay up to date
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    on what's going on and what's happening in your community.
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    You know, there's tons of fun
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    happening right here behind me.
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    Maybe you hear some of it.
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    And it is a gift that we get to do this as a church,
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    that it's not just about sitting in a room
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    or training really well, reading our Bibles
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    and knowing the scripture, although those things are really good
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    and will be helpful in life.
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    But we want to get out of our seats.
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    We want to get off of our couch
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    and we want to actually experience more of God
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    and help others experience it too
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    in the midst of laughter,
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    in the midst of adventure,
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    in the midst of the new.
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    And so I am so proud to be a giver,
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    to be on the Crossroads team, because I know
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    that there are people who are experiencing freedom
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    and a new kind of life as a result
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    of being connected to the church.
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    And so if you want to be part of that,
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    part of giving people freedom,
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    being part of helping other people
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    experience Play & Purpose and joy and laughter
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    in the midst of life,
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    you can become a giver today and help fuel
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    the ministry that's happening at Crossroads through Crossroads.
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    So you head to Crossroads.net/give
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    and give a one time gift or a recurring gift
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    and become part of the team in that way.
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    Today we are closing out our Play & Purpose Journey.
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    We are so glad you decided to join us.
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    - I just tell staff, "I want you to make aggressive mistakes.".
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    - So we had this idea for a treasure hunt.
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    We would hide a physical treasure somewhere on Earth
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    and then we'd hide clues throughout
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    all the Journey materials
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    that would point to this place.
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    It was gonna be awesome. - I designed the Play & Purpose guide
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    and I hid all these weird numbers
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    in random places throughout the guide.
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    And apparently if you take all those numbers
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    and you look at them together, they lead you to a bathhouse in a state park.
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    - I wanted to find a location
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    that would be central to most of the people
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    who were going to be doing this journey.
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    Big Bone Lake State Park fit the bill.
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    - Big Bone Lick State Park.
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    What governmental employee would allow that name to exist?
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    - We did not choose the name because
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    of the subtle sexual reference,
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    but it is pretty funny. - Sometimes I feel like I'm the only adult in the room.
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    - We set up the treasure hunt kind of like a geo cache.
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    - Those coordinates, if you type them correctly into Google Maps, would lead you right to that bathhouse.
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    We heard a lot of funny stories about people typing it in
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    and leading them to Portugal or Sweden or the Camp land.
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    - Some guy said he bought a plane ticket to Denmark.
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    Some people thought that was great.
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    I thought it was sad.
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    - We get multiple calls that the final clue box was missing.
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    - That sucks for the people who are doing the hunt,
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    who have taken the time to get out there
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    and do something fun. - Yeah, that was a big problem.
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    - Yeah, we didn't have a plan.
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    - While they were searching for the treasure,
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    everything was good and fine. It was just at the end when the treasure didn't exist
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    that people got a little mad. - Park manager called and she asked us to shut it down.
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    - It was all fun and games until people
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    started breaking the law and not following directions.
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    - So I immediately snuck out to Big Bone Lick State Park
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    and I removed all of the clues.
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    - I got an email that said "emergency bot message needed."
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    So we sent a message to everybody
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    in the Crossroads app saying the treasure hunt is over.
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    - We were outside walking around the building
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    and one of my co-workers stumbles upon a mysterious box.
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    - There was a black box with a lock on it
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    with a Bible on top of it
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    outside of one of our office doors.
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    Little weird, little suspicious,
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    enough to make me go, "Nah, I ain't gonna mess with this."
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    - If you find a mysterious box with a lock on it,
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    you call the cops. - I had just gotten off the phone with someone
  • 00:24:10
    trying to smooth things over,
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    trying to make sure that we didn't have
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    the cops called on us or get the media involved.
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    And then I found out that we called the cops on ourselves.
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    - The cops come.
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    They examine the box again, say,
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    "Yep, that's weird. I'm not touching that.".
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    - When I found out that there was
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    a suspicious package that had shown up
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    at Crossroads Florence, I felt bad.
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    - What do you know? It's the box from the course that got stolen.
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    - When I found out that the mysterious package
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    at Crossroads Florence was actually
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    the final box with all of the entries in it,
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    I felt amazing.
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    This was the best news ever.
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    - All righty then. It's time to choose a winner.
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    - The moment we've been waiting for.
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    And the winner is...
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    Larry Tillak.
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    Congratulations.
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    Larry, we'll be in touch with you early next week.
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    - I would say that it was a great success.
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    - I'm sorry, but this was a stupid idea.
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    - I want to make an apology to Big Bone Lick.
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    That should never have happened.
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    - To everyone who enjoyed the treasure hunt,
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    you're welcome. To everybody else, I'm sorry.
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    - I don't know if we're going to be allowed
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    to do another treasure hunt or not,
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    but it was fun while it lasted.
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    - We won't be doing this in 2020.
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    All right, so who's ready to campaign for treasure hunt?
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    Twenty twenty with me, right?
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    - Oh, wow. That was crazy, crazy and good.
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    And Larry Tilloak is our winner.
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    So, yes, there is actually a winner to the treasure hunt.
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    Good stuff. Hey, so it's the last week of the Play & Purpose Journey
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    and we really wanted to leave with a bang,
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    wanted to give you something that we thought
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    would be just a great combination of this journey.
  • 00:26:05
    Over the last five weeks, we've all learned
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    like, hey, God has purpose for us
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    and we want to step into that purpose.
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    But we've also found out that play is a big part
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    of how God wants to refresh us and bring life to us.
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    And so we said, you know what?
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    For the last week of the journey,
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    we want to bring those two together
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    and have a special guest speaker
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    who can bring those two together in the best way.
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    He's brought laughter to The Tonight Show on NBC,
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    Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central.
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    He's been a keynote speaker for TED Talks.
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    He's also been a Dove winning award comedian.
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    And he is here at Crossroads.
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    So, Crossroads, give a big welcome for Michael Junior.
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    [applause] - All right.
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    Wow. You people are a little weird based off the video.
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    We're going to have some, we're going to laugh. This is it gonna be awesome.
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    We're going to have a great time and laugh.
  • 00:27:01
    Some people think you shouldn't laugh in church.
  • 00:27:05
    My response to that is always:
  • 00:27:07
    what good father doesn't want to hear
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    his children's laughter in his house?
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    We get to laugh and stuff, it's gonna be dope.
  • 00:27:15
    Chuck, thanks for taking me out to eat.
  • 00:27:17
    That was great. What was the name of that place you took me?
  • 00:27:19
    Hooters, oh, that was delicious.
  • 00:27:22
    I'm just playing. I didn't go.
  • 00:27:23
    He went by himself. [laughter] It's comedy.
  • 00:27:29
    Hope you don't lose your job. So I was preparing for this in my hotel room.
  • 00:27:35
    And I was like, "Yo, God.
  • 00:27:37
    Whatchu want me to say to the people?" Because that's how we talk.
  • 00:27:38
    Right? And it was simple, really.
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    He wants you to know that He loves you.
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    "Like tell them I love them." So I'm just saying that like,
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    I don't mean it in some obvious --
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    like for real, that's what He said to say.
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    So there's like three versus of scriptures
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    and I'm going to tell you my story. So when you come to the comedy show,
  • 00:27:54
    the full comedy show that we're doing
  • 00:27:56
    after this on Sunday night,
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    it'll be completely different comedy.
  • 00:27:59
    I'm excited about that.
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    Today I'm going to kind of share my story. There's three scriptures that kind of line up with this story.
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    You don't got to read them right now.
  • 00:28:07
    Trust me, they're there. But I want you to write them down.
  • 00:28:12
    And when you go home, I think you're gonna pop in a new way as a result of what we talk about today.
  • 00:28:15
    So these three scripture are: Cool, aw, you just got here.
  • 00:28:27
    Yeah. You just missed the buckets.
  • 00:28:29
    Wow. What do you know? The money just went -- Just missed it.
  • 00:28:32
    Wow. What do you know?
  • 00:28:34
    All right. Let's get this thing started.
  • 00:28:35
    I'm just going to tell you about me.
  • 00:28:37
    So I do comedy, right?
  • 00:28:39
    And first of all, we're laughing at church.
  • 00:28:42
    You guys already laugh. This is a church that laughs.
  • 00:28:44
    You could tell by the way it feels,
  • 00:28:46
    like you could just -- you could feel it in the room.
  • 00:28:48
    But when I was a kid, laughing at church was illegal.
  • 00:28:51
    You couldn't laugh at church. I remember one time laughing, I was seven years old.
  • 00:28:54
    This lady was jumping around in her wig fell off.
  • 00:28:58
    I fell out laughing.
  • 00:29:00
    My grandmother would pinch and twist.
  • 00:29:03
    I could understand a pinch.
  • 00:29:04
    You gonna twist? That's the devil. Church was miserable.
  • 00:29:08
    You don't understand, I'm seven years old
  • 00:29:10
    and nobody was explaining what was going on.
  • 00:29:12
    I walk into this church
  • 00:29:13
    and this dude is up on stage
  • 00:29:15
    and apparently he is mad at everybody.
  • 00:29:18
    And I couldn't figure it out at first why he was mad.
  • 00:29:20
    Then I realize he was probably mad
  • 00:29:22
    because he has some phlegm caught in his throat,
  • 00:29:25
    because at the end of every sentence
  • 00:29:26
    he would try to get it out.
  • 00:29:28
    He'd be like, "The Lord said (sound effect)
  • 00:29:32
    act like you (sound effect.". I'm like, "Grandma, he needs some gargle.
  • 00:29:37
    He'd gotta do something about that, grandma."
  • 00:29:39
    That stuff was scary, like it was,
  • 00:29:42
    man, he had a Bible in his hand. He kept playing like he was going to throw it at people.
  • 00:29:45
    He'd be like, "The Lord, (sound effect)
  • 00:29:47
    the Lord," and everybody was like,
  • 00:29:48
    "Hey, man, hey, man,".
  • 00:29:49
    They were scared. I realize now they were saying "Amen.".
  • 00:29:52
    I didn't know, brah, I was 7 years old.
  • 00:29:57
    I also want to say what's up to all the other campuses.
  • 00:29:59
    I see you. I recognize you.
  • 00:30:01
    It's just going to be so much,
  • 00:30:03
    we're going to have some fun, even though you didn't drive all the way here, we're going have some fun, it's gonna be dope.
  • 00:30:07
    So church was just miserable.
  • 00:30:09
    One time I went to church
  • 00:30:10
    there was a dead body in the front.
  • 00:30:12
    Nobody explains to a seven year Michael Junior,
  • 00:30:14
    "It's a funeral, it's not church.".
  • 00:30:16
    I'm thinking, Yo, that's how the roll,
  • 00:30:19
    like every few weeks or so they bring a dead body in
  • 00:30:23
    as an example or something
  • 00:30:30
    and the dude on stage yell at us like we did it. I remember asking my grandma,
  • 00:30:33
    "Grandma, what happened to the man in the box?
  • 00:30:35
    What happened to the man in the box?"
  • 00:30:36
    Her whole explanation was, "He in a better place?"
  • 00:30:41
    I'm like, "What kind of box did he live in before?"
  • 00:30:46
    Miserable.
  • 00:30:48
    Miserable. At 14 years old instead of forcing me to go to church,
  • 00:30:51
    my grandmother did some different.
  • 00:30:53
    She asked me if I wanted to go.
  • 00:30:55
    I was like, "Let me think this over...
  • 00:30:57
    No." So I wouldn't go to church.
  • 00:30:59
    I just hung out with my friends.
  • 00:31:00
    We'd have fun and stuff. We were broke.
  • 00:31:02
    Growing up, we were --
  • 00:31:04
    I ain't had no money. I was actually being sponsored by a family from Haiti.
  • 00:31:13
    Yeah, that's a funny joke, man.
  • 00:31:16
    Some Christians don't know what to do with that joke.
  • 00:31:19
    You can't laugh and shake your head.
  • 00:31:24
    When you don't got no money you get creative.
  • 00:31:27
    You do. I remember I wanted to action figure for my birthday.
  • 00:31:30
    All I wanted was an action figure.
  • 00:31:31
    I was like ten years old, I remember this.
  • 00:31:32
    My dad hands me a box.
  • 00:31:34
    I opened it up, it was empty.
  • 00:31:35
    He said, it's invisible man.
  • 00:31:40
    I played with that thing for three weeks,
  • 00:31:41
    until my brother hid it from me.
  • 00:31:44
    Man, go find it. I just heard somebody say that's funny.
  • 00:31:51
    Let me see if I got this right. Instead of actually laughing...
  • 00:31:57
    you're just gonna announce your reaction?
  • 00:31:58
    That's how you want to do? That's like driving down the street,
  • 00:32:02
    you get cut off in traffic like, "(gasps) the horn."
  • 00:32:08
    Stay focused, I've gotta stay focused.
  • 00:32:14
    So here's what's happening, I've got jokes running through my head
  • 00:32:16
    about what we're gonna do at the comedy show.
  • 00:32:18
    And I've gotta maintain.
  • 00:32:19
    It's hard for a brother to be focused sometime.
  • 00:32:23
    Oh, she just got -- your friend just got here too.
  • 00:32:25
    Anyway, I also noticed around his age, 14 years old, I notice that I was having a hard time reading.
  • 00:32:31
    Let me say, his first, me and a friend made a deal
  • 00:32:33
    that we wouldn't curse anymore. 14 years old, let's be real.
  • 00:32:35
    When you're 14 years old, you lead a house,
  • 00:32:37
    you want to feel like a man, that's what you do.
  • 00:32:38
    Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Right?
  • 00:32:40
    But we made a deal that we wouldn't curse anymore.
  • 00:32:41
    If he heard me curse he could hit me in the chest
  • 00:32:43
    as hard as he wanted to.
  • 00:32:45
    And had to just stand there and just take it and vice versa.
  • 00:32:47
    And dude could hit, so I stopped cursing immediately.
  • 00:32:50
    We played other games too that were a little violent. You ever played the game slug bug?
  • 00:32:54
    East Coast they call it punch bug.
  • 00:32:55
    Here's how the game works:
  • 00:32:57
    If you see a Volkswagen bug, you get to hit your friend.
  • 00:33:00
    Those are all the instructions.
  • 00:33:03
    In my neighborhood they would take this game a little too far.
  • 00:33:06
    They would add to the game. You ever play Uppercut Firetruck?
  • 00:33:12
    What about mini-van body slam, you ever played that game?
  • 00:33:16
    There was always one crazy dude in the group who would make up games on the spot like hit you in the throat tall building.
  • 00:33:22
    You play too much, backup.
  • 00:33:23
    You play too much. So as I mentioned, at this age I also noticed
  • 00:33:28
    I was struggling my reading,
  • 00:33:29
    like I was really struggling my reading.
  • 00:33:31
    I read fine now, by the way,
  • 00:33:32
    like those signs over the door that say exite,
  • 00:33:35
    I can read that stuff. When I was a kid, I used to struggle my reading.
  • 00:33:39
    I couldn't sound words out phonetically.
  • 00:33:40
    It just didn't work that way. I'd have to look at the words differently.
  • 00:33:42
    I would look at the font size, the color,
  • 00:33:44
    the positioning, what's in front of it,
  • 00:33:45
    what's behind it, how people responded to it.
  • 00:33:47
    I actually came up with seven different ways to look
  • 00:33:49
    at a word to determine what that word was.
  • 00:33:51
    Then I got really good at it to the point in high school,
  • 00:33:53
    people didn't know I wasn't really reading.
  • 00:33:55
    I was just working it out really, really fast.
  • 00:33:57
    Now as an adult I read just fine,
  • 00:33:59
    but I still have this ability to look at words
  • 00:34:01
    and people in situations
  • 00:34:03
    seven different ways almost immediately.
  • 00:34:05
    In fact, it's the primary place that I pull my comedy from.
  • 00:34:08
    So the very things from my past
  • 00:34:10
    that looked like it was a handicap,
  • 00:34:12
    it seemed as if I was dealt a bad hand,
  • 00:34:13
    God didn't cause it, but He's used it
  • 00:34:15
    in preparation for what He has for me to do.
  • 00:34:17
    It's almost as if I was practicing,
  • 00:34:19
    even though I didn't know I was practicing.
  • 00:34:21
    Let me say this again so you can hear what I'm saying.
  • 00:34:23
    That thing from your past,
  • 00:34:25
    the fact that you never met your dad before,
  • 00:34:27
    your parents were divorced,
  • 00:34:28
    you were molested as a child,
  • 00:34:30
    God did not cause that,
  • 00:34:31
    but will use it in preparation for He has you to do.
  • 00:34:33
    Chances are you've been practicing.
  • 00:34:35
    Maybe you didn't know you were practicing.
  • 00:34:37
    I'm here to let you know you've been practicing.
  • 00:34:39
    And for a lot of you guys it's game time.
  • 00:34:42
    But you have to be able to hear the coach's voice.
  • 00:34:45
    So as a result of my practice, I find funny everywhere.
  • 00:34:50
    In fact, most of the comedy at the show
  • 00:34:52
    is from me just like, okay.
  • 00:34:54
    Here's an example. I was at the airport,
  • 00:34:58
    this cool little white kid asked for an autograph. I was like, "Cool. What's your name, buddy?"
  • 00:34:59
    He said, "I'm Tanner.". I was like, "No, you're not."
  • 00:35:11
    Take your time, I saw you help him with that joke.
  • 00:35:13
    "Ha, he's tanner.".
  • 00:35:16
    Oh, by the way, I didn't tell you,
  • 00:35:17
    the way to get tickets to the show is you just go to this website.
  • 00:35:19
    I think they got the website on the page:
  • 00:35:21
    Michaeljr.com/crossroadschurch and get tickets.
  • 00:35:24
    Most of the shows sell out
  • 00:35:25
    and you can buy merchandise
  • 00:35:26
    and the proceeds, I just want to say this,
  • 00:35:28
    because there's so much stuff going on the world.
  • 00:35:29
    The proceeds are actually going to a black family in America.
  • 00:35:35
    So, yeah, that's important. So I just want to say that.
  • 00:35:38
    So Michaeljr.com/crossroadschurch.
  • 00:35:42
    Yeah, I'm excited about that. . Buy a ticket for sure.
  • 00:35:45
    Buy a ticket for a friend.
  • 00:35:46
    But wherever you are, like if you're struggling financially,
  • 00:35:48
    we actually set it up, we set up this thing called communerosity.
  • 00:35:50
    It stands for community generosity.
  • 00:35:54
    You can go there, you can buy a ticket for yourself.
  • 00:35:56
    And if you want to, if you can't afford one,
  • 00:35:59
    you can just get a ticket for yourself.
  • 00:36:03
    Or if you want to, you can buy a bunch of tickets,
  • 00:36:05
    leave them there, and then someone else can get a ticket.
  • 00:36:07
    It's pretty dope. Twenty six years ago, I moved to New York City.
  • 00:36:13
    Why did I move to New York City?
  • 00:36:14
    Because, well, I'm doing comedy at this point.
  • 00:36:16
    I'll tracking 7, 14, 26 I moved to New York City.
  • 00:36:19
    The reason I moved there is because I want to know if I'm funny and I'm doing comedy.
  • 00:36:22
    And in New York, if you're not funny,
  • 00:36:24
    the way they let you know is
  • 00:36:25
    they'll say something like, "You're not funny."
  • 00:36:28
    So there's this comedy club in New York
  • 00:36:30
    that's really hard to get into, it's called the Comic Strip Live.
  • 00:36:31
    All the clubs are hard to get into,
  • 00:36:33
    but this one in particular, it was kind of cool.
  • 00:36:35
    So comedians, just express to you
  • 00:36:37
    how hard it is to get into this club.
  • 00:36:39
    Comedians who are new in town start lining up
  • 00:36:41
    at like six o'clock in the morning
  • 00:36:43
    for an open mic that takes place at 7:30 at night
  • 00:36:47
    in hopes that they could do 90 seconds
  • 00:36:49
    in front of the manager,
  • 00:36:50
    in hopes that the next month
  • 00:36:52
    they don't have to wait in line. It's super hard to get in this club.
  • 00:36:55
    So it was finally my turn to perform at the Comic Strip Live
  • 00:36:58
    and right before I got on stage
  • 00:36:59
    this comedian named George Wallace walks in.
  • 00:37:01
    Now, if you don't know who George Wallace is,
  • 00:37:03
    he is a highly established comedian.
  • 00:37:04
    And whenever someone like that walks in,
  • 00:37:06
    whoever's next gets bumped.
  • 00:37:08
    Well, I'm next. I know I'm about to get bumped.
  • 00:37:10
    The manager's already walking over to me.
  • 00:37:12
    But no, this is where God shows up
  • 00:37:15
    for the first time in my life.
  • 00:37:16
    Well, this is where I noticed Him.
  • 00:37:27
    I was like before him, please.
  • 00:37:28
    So I'll go up on stage, I've got New York laughing.
  • 00:37:31
    Not only are they laughing, but he's laughing too.
  • 00:37:33
    He comes in and then after the show,
  • 00:37:35
    there's a bunch of comedians asking him questions.
  • 00:37:37
    He leaves them and he walks over to me
  • 00:37:39
    and he says, "You know what? You're really funny and you're clean."
  • 00:37:42
    He's like, "Why don't you curse?".
  • 00:37:44
    I was like, "I don't know?
  • 00:37:45
    What if my grandmother walks in or something?"
  • 00:37:48
    What else was I gonna say?
  • 00:37:49
    "My friend might hit me in a chest?". I'm a grown man.
  • 00:37:54
    So he said to me, he says, "You're funny and you're clean.
  • 00:37:56
    I'd love you to do a show with me
  • 00:37:57
    and my best friend in a couple nights."
  • 00:37:59
    I was like excited.
  • 00:38:01
    You can't even. I didn't even know who his best friend was,
  • 00:38:03
    that didn't matter. I'll get to the show, it's me, George Wallace.
  • 00:38:06
    Jerry Seinfeld. For real.
  • 00:38:08
    We do two shows.
  • 00:38:09
    I got two standing ovations.
  • 00:38:11
    I rip, I'm the man.
  • 00:38:13
    I'm like, yeah. After the show, the club manager walks up to me.
  • 00:38:16
    Right? The club manager walks up to me.
  • 00:38:18
    It's a different club. He says, "Michael, you've got a great set.
  • 00:38:20
    Hey, let me ask you a question. You want to go to church with me tomorrow?"
  • 00:38:28
    "Church, man, I just got two standing ovations.
  • 00:38:30
    Why are you messing this up right now, man?
  • 00:38:32
    I won't go to church, man, back up,
  • 00:38:34
    you're making my feet hurt." Because in the church I used to go to the shoes are too tight,
  • 00:38:38
    so my memory is like, "No, not church."
  • 00:38:42
    So I was like, "No, I'm not gonna go to church.".
  • 00:38:43
    Twenty minutes later, his fiancee asks him the same question.
  • 00:38:46
    But she was fine.
  • 00:38:48
    I'm talking about beautiful.
  • 00:38:50
    She had some kind of accent. She was like, "Michael Junior,
  • 00:38:52
    would you like to go to church with us?"
  • 00:38:54
    I was like, "I was just looking for a church the other day.
  • 00:38:57
    Man, I need to fine me a church.".
  • 00:39:01
    So go to his church for the wrong reasons, right?
  • 00:39:03
    I can't even find these people. This church is huge.
  • 00:39:05
    It's like his huge --
  • 00:39:07
    Well, it's about the size of this church.
  • 00:39:08
    And I'm sitting in the back.
  • 00:39:10
    Right? And I'm sitting waiting.
  • 00:39:11
    I can't even find the people. I'm sitting in the back by myself
  • 00:39:13
    and his dude comes out on stage
  • 00:39:15
    and he's talking about Jesus.
  • 00:39:17
    That's it, he's just talking,
  • 00:39:18
    explaining it just like your pastor. He's ain't screaming, he ain't yelling.
  • 00:39:21
    He'll don't got no perm. He's just talking about Jesus.
  • 00:39:25
    Then he did this thing where he said -- he did like an altar call.
  • 00:39:26
    He said, if you want Jesus in your life,
  • 00:39:28
    all you have to do is believe in your heart,
  • 00:39:30
    confess with your mouth, raise your hand, Jesus is yours.
  • 00:39:31
    And I really wanted to do it.
  • 00:39:33
    Yo, Crossroads, I really wanted to,
  • 00:39:35
    but I was like, nah, I got to read the pamphlet first.
  • 00:39:39
    I told myself I need to read a Bible before I do this,
  • 00:39:41
    because I knew a couple of Christians and they was creepy.
  • 00:39:45
    Some creepy Christians out there.
  • 00:39:47
    If you don't know any creepy Christians, it's you.
  • 00:39:53
    Yeah. Yeah.
  • 00:39:56
    Your friends know one.
  • 00:39:57
    Yeah, yeah. They do, they do. So I told myself I'd read the Bible
  • 00:40:05
    before I gave my life over to Jesus. Now you don't have to do this.
  • 00:40:07
    I just didn't know -- I just didn't know what I didn't know.
  • 00:40:09
    I didn't even have a Bible. A couple of days later, I'm at O'Hare Airport
  • 00:40:12
    and this lady just hands me a Bible.
  • 00:40:14
    You understand, we never exchanged words.
  • 00:40:16
    She just handed me her Bible,
  • 00:40:17
    walked off like the Lone Ranger or somebody.
  • 00:40:20
    So I got this Bible, I start reading it.
  • 00:40:22
    And the Bible, first of all, I'm reading --.
  • 00:40:24
    I read everything. I read the copyrights first.
  • 00:40:25
    The Bible was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
  • 00:40:29
    Me, too. Where have you been?
  • 00:40:32
    So I'm reading the Bible and I'm going to church,
  • 00:40:35
    reading the Bible. I got to the part about the Job.
  • 00:40:36
    I'm like, no wonder no one wanted him.
  • 00:40:38
    That is crazy, man. I kept reading, kept reading, got to the part of Matthew.
  • 00:40:45
    Like I'm digging into the word.
  • 00:40:46
    I'm -- at this point in New York,
  • 00:40:47
    all I'm doing is hitting the comedy clubs,
  • 00:40:50
    going to church, reading the Bible.
  • 00:40:51
    I put in like four --
  • 00:40:53
    I was putting in 12 to 14 hours a day reading the Bible.
  • 00:40:55
    I was digging it.
  • 00:40:56
    That's like nine pages a day.
  • 00:40:58
    I was digging in. No, no, I read the Bible in 36 days.
  • 00:41:02
    I remember getting to the point in Matthew
  • 00:41:04
    where it said Jesus died for me.
  • 00:41:05
    I don't even know that Jesus died for me
  • 00:41:07
    until I read it in Matthew.
  • 00:41:09
    I had no idea. Right?
  • 00:41:10
    I didn't even know like He died, I didn't know.
  • 00:41:12
    And I'm turn to Mark and He died again.
  • 00:41:15
    I'm like, what is going?
  • 00:41:16
    Why do they keep killing him?
  • 00:41:19
    I don't understand. I got the John, I was like, "Get out the garden, Jesus."
  • 00:41:21
    I literally didn't know.
  • 00:41:24
    Literally didn't know.
  • 00:41:26
    Thought he died four times.
  • 00:41:27
    I didn't understand it. So.
  • 00:41:31
    I wish that was a joke. You're laughing at me right now.
  • 00:41:33
    I just want to point that out. So I finish reading a Bible
  • 00:41:38
    and I remember going to church with my hand up the whole time.
  • 00:41:40
    Like, "Hey, is Jesus here now or what I gotta do?".
  • 00:41:42
    Like I didn't understand the rule,
  • 00:41:44
    but now I gave my life over to Jesus. Now understand some stuff.
  • 00:41:46
    I used to just think I was funny,
  • 00:41:48
    but now understand I'm funny for a reason.
  • 00:41:50
    Like there's purpose behind me having this sense of humor.
  • 00:41:52
    And now I get some celebrities,
  • 00:41:54
    some that you would know who ask me questions about God.
  • 00:41:57
    They'll be like, "Explain God to me."
  • 00:41:58
    And I'm like, "I can't explain God. If I could explain Him, He wouldn't be God.
  • 00:42:01
    It would be me. I've got an ingrown toenail,
  • 00:42:02
    so that counts me out.". So they'll ask me, they'll say stuff,
  • 00:42:09
    "But why is it -- how is it I can do all of this stuff that I'm doing,
  • 00:42:11
    and you know what I'm doing,
  • 00:42:13
    and people still say that Jesus wants relationship with me?
  • 00:42:15
    How is that possible?" Like, this is all I could come up with.
  • 00:42:17
    Like, this isn't even close to how awesome God is.
  • 00:42:19
    Here's what I said,
  • 00:42:20
    "God is like being in a car with a navigation advice.
  • 00:42:23
    You ever been in a car where you got a navigation device before?
  • 00:42:27
    You have been a car before?
  • 00:42:28
    We can start there, you ever been in a car?
  • 00:42:32
    God is like being in a car with a navigation device.
  • 00:42:34
    If it says go 10 blocks in turn left,
  • 00:42:36
    then you go 10 blocks and turn right.
  • 00:42:39
    It doesn't abandon what you're supposed to do.
  • 00:42:41
    It recalculates what you need to do
  • 00:42:43
    to get to where you're supposed to be
  • 00:42:45
    based upon where you are. The only problem is if you keep making the wrong turns,
  • 00:42:49
    the road conditions will be different.
  • 00:42:51
    They may be rougher and you'll run out of time.
  • 00:42:54
    So you have to be sensitive to listen that voice
  • 00:42:56
    so you can make the right choice
  • 00:42:57
    about where you're supposed to be.
  • 00:42:58
    And that voice sounds an awful lot like a coach
  • 00:43:01
    because you haven't been practicing for nothing.
  • 00:43:04
    It's game time. So now this is -- OK.
  • 00:43:10
    So I gotta make a choice here.
  • 00:43:11
    So because from a time perspective, so I'm a --.
  • 00:43:14
    Hello, this lady right up front, pretty lady with dimples
  • 00:43:17
    I love dimples on women, that's so cute.
  • 00:43:19
    Only in front, let me say that though.
  • 00:43:20
    It's comedy people.
  • 00:43:27
    So I have an option for two stories I can tell.
  • 00:43:30
    I'll do one right now and one I'll just have to save for the show.
  • 00:43:32
    I could do the Jay Leno story or a Moses story.
  • 00:43:34
    The choice is yours: Jay Leno or Moses?
  • 00:43:38
    Moses, yeah, yeah.
  • 00:43:40
    Because we're in church you're going to go with Moses?
  • 00:43:43
    Awesome. I'm going to tell you the Jay Leno story.
  • 00:43:44
    So here's what happened.
  • 00:43:47
    No, no, no, I'll do Moses because you asked for Moses.
  • 00:43:49
    It's cool, but I'll save Jay Leno for the thing.
  • 00:43:51
    OK. So, all right.
  • 00:43:54
    So this is the story about a first time
  • 00:43:55
    I ever, ever did comedy in a prison.
  • 00:43:58
    Right? Because, you know, the Bible says
  • 00:44:00
    laughter is good, like a medicine,
  • 00:44:01
    God said to me, take it to the sick. So we're at this prison.
  • 00:44:04
    I'm scared for real. Like I'm scared for real.
  • 00:44:07
    I don't mind telling you, like -- I look, cool.
  • 00:44:08
    But I'm scared. I walk in and the prison warden takes my belt from me.
  • 00:44:12
    He's like, "You can have a belt.
  • 00:44:13
    Somebody might try to hang you." "Can't they just boo me?
  • 00:44:18
    I've got another show I need to do after this.
  • 00:44:21
    I'm in prison, my pants loose.
  • 00:44:23
    This is a bad idea, brah. I'm just --" I'm just telling you what's going on in my head right now.
  • 00:44:27
    I've got a bunch of different ways to look at this.
  • 00:44:31
    So I'm walking into this prison, I'm all scared.
  • 00:44:33
    And when you go into prison,
  • 00:44:34
    the bars open in front of you, you take a few steps
  • 00:44:36
    and some bars close behind you and then some more.
  • 00:44:37
    Some of y'all know what I'm talking about.
  • 00:44:39
    Welcome home. Anyway, so I'm scared for real.
  • 00:44:43
    And I need a joke immediately.
  • 00:44:44
    I need these dudes to like me immediately, but not too much.
  • 00:44:47
    Right? I'm walking in. I'm scared.
  • 00:44:49
    And I need a joke immediately.
  • 00:44:51
    And when I walk in, there's no stage,
  • 00:44:53
    there's no glass. We're not doing comedy on the phone.
  • 00:45:00
    These cats are right here expecting funny and I've got nothing.
  • 00:45:03
    7 different ways to nothing, like nothing's popping up,
  • 00:45:06
    but I look cool still because
  • 00:45:08
    they don't even know I'm getting ready --
  • 00:45:09
    And all the prisoners are in this big circle.
  • 00:45:11
    And then I got this little walkway
  • 00:45:13
    and I'm walking and I look cool,
  • 00:45:14
    but literally I've gotten nothing.
  • 00:45:16
    Seven different -- I had one joke pop up.
  • 00:45:18
    I was gonna be like, "You know what?
  • 00:45:19
    You guys are a captive audience.".
  • 00:45:20
    I didn't wanna say that. I don't feel a peace in my spirit
  • 00:45:25
    about starting with that joke.
  • 00:45:27
    So I've literally got nothing.
  • 00:45:28
    I remember walking. I got two steps left before I know when I land in the middle,
  • 00:45:33
    if I don't got nothing I don't know what's gonna happen.
  • 00:45:34
    By the way, to guards left me two rows of bars behind
  • 00:45:38
    and all they did was they gave me a little black box
  • 00:45:40
    with a pin in and they put it on my pants
  • 00:45:43
    and I said, if somebody tries to attack,
  • 00:45:45
    you just put a pin out and then we'll come and help.
  • 00:45:48
    That's the plan? You know they know about the pin
  • 00:45:52
    One of the dudes, his job is to keep the pin in.
  • 00:45:57
    So I'm scared for real. I've got two steps left.
  • 00:45:59
    I got nothing. Nothing popping up right now.
  • 00:46:02
    And I walk in and I walk in.
  • 00:46:03
    I got one step and nothing, nothing, nothing.
  • 00:46:06
    I settle this foot and for real, Crossroads,
  • 00:46:08
    sitting right up front there's a white dude
  • 00:46:10
    with a white beard named Moses.
  • 00:46:13
    I was like, thanks, Lord.
  • 00:46:15
    When I said these words, the place exploded into laughter.
  • 00:46:17
    We had an amazing time. I said, Moses, just what I want you to do.
  • 00:46:20
    When you see the prison warden,
  • 00:46:22
    I what you look him in his eye,
  • 00:46:23
    you look him right in his eye.
  • 00:46:24
    I want you to say, "Let my people go."
  • 00:46:33
    How did I get that joke that fast under that much pressure?
  • 00:46:37
    Truth is it wasn't as much pressure as you might think
  • 00:46:40
    because I'd been practicing ever since
  • 00:46:41
    I was a child in the form of a kid
  • 00:46:43
    who was struggled with his reading and other things as well.
  • 00:46:45
    I was practicing just like you've been practicing.
  • 00:46:48
    Maybe you didn't know you were practicing.
  • 00:46:49
    And I'm here to let you know you've been practicing
  • 00:46:51
    but for a lot of you guys, it's game time,
  • 00:46:53
    but you have to be able to hear the coach's voice.
  • 00:46:58
    So me and my wife are looking at some old home videos recently.
  • 00:47:01
    It one super old, it wasn't like a VHS or nothing.
  • 00:47:04
    Some of young people's like, "What's a Vahoosh?"
  • 00:47:09
    So we're looking at some old videos.
  • 00:47:11
    And I came across this video
  • 00:47:12
    of my youngest daughter being born.
  • 00:47:13
    Right? And I want to show you this video.
  • 00:47:14
    Well, I'm not gonna show you her being born.
  • 00:47:16
    I'm not going to show you that.
  • 00:47:18
    So let me set this up. I took this video, this video I'm about to show you,
  • 00:47:21
    I actually took this video, but I didn't understand it.
  • 00:47:25
    I didn't understand how powerful it was.
  • 00:47:26
    until I sat down to watch this video.
  • 00:47:28
    So here it is. She's like two and a half minutes old.
  • 00:47:30
    They've got her under the little chicken rotisserie thing
  • 00:47:34
    to keep her warm or whatever.
  • 00:47:37
    She's like two and a half minutes old
  • 00:47:38
    and the nurse is about to clean her up
  • 00:47:40
    and she starts to cry.
  • 00:47:42
    I want you to notice what happens when she hears my voice.
  • 00:47:45
    (baby crying) Ok, Portland, look, I'm right here.
  • 00:47:58
    It's OK, it's OK. I'm right here.
  • 00:48:01
    We're doing just fine.
  • 00:48:02
    It's OK. It's Ok.
  • 00:48:04
    I'm right here. It's OK.
  • 00:48:07
    It's OK, baby.
  • 00:48:11
    Yo, that was pretty awesome.
  • 00:48:14
    Now it's like seven, seven and a half minutes or so later,
  • 00:48:17
    the nurse is done cleaning her up
  • 00:48:18
    and she starts to cry again.
  • 00:48:20
    I speak up and she stops crying again.
  • 00:48:24
    But I want you to notice what happens when I tell her I love her.
  • 00:48:26
    (baby crying) (nurse) We'll get mom to hold you.
  • 00:48:30
    (dad) Portland.
  • 00:48:31
    It's OK. Hey, it's good, it's good, it's good.
  • 00:48:34
    I'm right here. I'm right here.
  • 00:48:36
    I am right here.
  • 00:48:38
    I love you. I love you.
  • 00:48:45
    Yeah, I'm right here. I'm right here.
  • 00:48:46
    It's OK. It's OK.
  • 00:48:49
    So here's the thing:. There will be times in life where you feel like
  • 00:48:53
    you've just been practicing and practicing.
  • 00:48:57
    Maybe you're even frustrated, even to the point of tears
  • 00:49:00
    The key thing during those moments as the be still
  • 00:49:02
    and listen for the Father's voice.
  • 00:49:05
    Because He is talking to you.
  • 00:49:06
    And what He wants you to know is that He's right here.
  • 00:49:09
    He loves you. All you have to do is open your eyes.
  • 00:49:15
    You hear some music? Oh yeah.
  • 00:49:19
    Not yet. Not yet. Wait, hold on.
  • 00:49:21
    I'm not done yet. It's not your concert.
  • 00:49:22
    You got to wait a second. You had me all emotional.
  • 00:49:25
    You had me emotional.
  • 00:49:27
    Oh, my goodness. Wow.
  • 00:49:28
    I was wondering, like Lord, am I about to cry right now?
  • 00:49:30
    But no. But no, that was you.
  • 00:49:32
    That's what that was. You married?
  • 00:49:35
    You married?
  • 00:49:36
    Not yet. Well, is about to happen.
  • 00:49:37
    You smooth, I just want to throw that out there.
  • 00:49:40
    You smooth. I ain't even recognize that he slipped in there.
  • 00:49:42
    OK. So... So I've got one more story I need to share.
  • 00:49:47
    But first, I want to tell you how I came up with this story.
  • 00:49:49
    And then when I start the story, you can slide your smooth self right on over there.
  • 00:49:52
    That'll be awesome. All right, cool, cool, cool. So the way I came up with this story,
  • 00:49:56
    this is a story about having a relationship with Jesus.
  • 00:50:00
    And the way I came up with this story actually,
  • 00:50:01
    I wasn't even trying to come up with a story.
  • 00:50:03
    I was writing a joke, that's what I do.
  • 00:50:04
    I'm write jokes. And I was writing a joke about the good room.
  • 00:50:07
    How many people here know what the good room is?
  • 00:50:08
    Even watching online right now,
  • 00:50:10
    even at other campuses, how many people know,
  • 00:50:12
    raise your hand if you know the good room is.
  • 00:50:15
    So there's barely any hands going up.
  • 00:50:16
    I'm just letting you know right now, like, no.
  • 00:50:17
    You know why I never finish writing a joke.
  • 00:50:21
    But the truth is, is mostly all of you know what the good room is.
  • 00:50:23
    Let me explain. The good room is that room in your grandmother's house
  • 00:50:27
    or your aunt's house or maybe your house.
  • 00:50:28
    It's that one room that's better than the rest of the house.
  • 00:50:32
    Can't nobody go in there, there's plastic on the furniture.
  • 00:50:35
    It's really just for looks.
  • 00:50:36
    How many people know the good room is now?
  • 00:50:38
    Exactly. Other campuses, exactly.
  • 00:50:40
    Online? Yes, exactly. So I was writing this joke about the good room
  • 00:50:43
    and in the middle of writing this joke God stopped me and said,
  • 00:50:45
    "I want you to tell this story to my people.".
  • 00:50:48
    So I'm going to tell you this story. Yeah, right now would be a smooth time to slide in, brah.
  • 00:50:54
    If you want to just slide in right now, that'd be dope.
  • 00:50:58
    All right. So I want everyone in this room,
  • 00:51:01
    everyone at every single campus,
  • 00:51:02
    like I'm literally talking to you.
  • 00:51:04
    Please know I'm talking to you.
  • 00:51:06
    And if you're watching online, I want you to imagine.
  • 00:51:09
    Imagine that you are a house.
  • 00:51:12
    And outside of the house is Jesus Christ.
  • 00:51:15
    And He wants to come in.
  • 00:51:18
    But he'll never force His way in.
  • 00:51:21
    He actually wants you to invite Him in.
  • 00:51:24
    And the reason some people in here,
  • 00:51:25
    the reason some of you haven't invited Jesus into the house
  • 00:51:28
    is because you're cool with the way things are right now.
  • 00:51:31
    So it would seem, whenever you need something,
  • 00:51:33
    whenever something happens, you just walk to the door, crack it open,
  • 00:51:38
    say what you need, do a little prayer,
  • 00:51:40
    close the door and then go back into the house.
  • 00:51:44
    But that's not a relationship at all.
  • 00:51:46
    How can you hear his voice under those circumstances?
  • 00:51:49
    How can you utilize that practice under those circumstances?
  • 00:51:54
    And the reason you won't let Him into the house
  • 00:51:56
    is because your house is a mess
  • 00:51:59
    and you think you need to clean it up first.
  • 00:52:02
    How's that working out for you?
  • 00:52:05
    You think you need to just tidy up
  • 00:52:07
    just a little more first. Or there may be drugs or pornography in the house
  • 00:52:11
    or relationships? You brought other people in the house
  • 00:52:14
    hoping that somehow maybe they could help you clean it up,
  • 00:52:17
    but they can't. The only one who can clean it up
  • 00:52:19
    is standing outside the door
  • 00:52:21
    wearing an apron with a bucket in His hand,
  • 00:52:23
    waiting on you to truly open a door.
  • 00:52:26
    Then there's other people in here right now.
  • 00:52:28
    You used to have Jesus in the whole house,
  • 00:52:32
    but whether you realize it or not,
  • 00:52:33
    you've moved him to just one room in the house:
  • 00:52:36
    The good room. Have you ever noticed how a good room most of the time
  • 00:52:40
    is the one right up front with the big window?
  • 00:52:44
    So when people look in,
  • 00:52:46
    they think the whole house is clean,
  • 00:52:48
    but it's not. It's just that one room.
  • 00:52:52
    So when they hear about you coming to a church,
  • 00:52:54
    they think the whole house is clean,
  • 00:52:56
    but it's not. It's just that one room.
  • 00:52:58
    You quote scriptures,
  • 00:52:59
    but it's just that one room. You pray with people,
  • 00:53:01
    but it's just that one room. You give money,
  • 00:53:04
    it is just that one room.
  • 00:53:07
    You've got a scripture tattoo.
  • 00:53:09
    It is just that one room.
  • 00:53:11
    Jesus wants access to the whole house.
  • 00:53:13
    And I'm telling you, if you will just open this door
  • 00:53:15
    and let Him in,
  • 00:53:17
    he'll show up at a contractor named the Holy Spirit
  • 00:53:20
    and they will make sure the house is fully functional
  • 00:53:22
    the way it was intended to. But none of this happens if you don't open a door
  • 00:53:27
    because He will not -- He will never force His way in.
  • 00:53:33
    He wants you to invite Him in. So if everyone in here, if everyone watching online, if everyone at every campus, if you just close your eyes and bow your head.
  • 00:53:43
    The reason I asked you to close your eyes and bow your head
  • 00:53:45
    is because I want you to have a private moment
  • 00:53:46
    where no one's looking around. If you're here right now
  • 00:53:52
    and you realize that I'm talking to you,
  • 00:53:54
    whether you need to invite Jesus to your house
  • 00:53:55
    for the first time or to Him for access to your house again,
  • 00:53:58
    I'm going to ask you to do something really simple.
  • 00:54:02
    On the count of three, I just simply want you to put your hand in the air.
  • 00:54:05
    Don't overthink this. Just on the count of three,
  • 00:54:07
    just simply put your hand in the air.
  • 00:54:09
    There's hands already going up.
  • 00:54:11
    One, two, three.
  • 00:54:13
    Nice and high. Nice and high.
  • 00:54:16
    Praise God, every campus, even online.
  • 00:54:19
    Yes. I'm talking to you.
  • 00:54:20
    Yes, I'm talking to you.
  • 00:54:21
    Go ahead and put your hands down and look up at me.
  • 00:54:25
    First of all, let me say this: I am proud of you.
  • 00:54:28
    I am proud of you. OK.
  • 00:54:30
    So sometimes when I say that to an audience,
  • 00:54:32
    I feel like God will give me a number on how many times
  • 00:54:35
    I need to say that for some people in this room
  • 00:54:37
    to receive that from a Father's voice.
  • 00:54:40
    So I'm going to repeat this that number of times,
  • 00:54:42
    and I want some of you to work on receiving that
  • 00:54:44
    from a Father's voice because you haven't heard it before
  • 00:54:48
    or you haven't received it before.
  • 00:54:50
    I am proud of you. I am proud of you.
  • 00:54:55
    I am proud of you.
  • 00:54:57
    I am proud of you.
  • 00:55:00
    I am proud of you.
  • 00:55:03
    I am proud of you.
  • 00:55:05
    I am proud of you. So here's what's gonna happen,
  • 00:55:10
    this is for everybody that raised your hand, even those who should've raised your hand.
  • 00:55:12
    Now we're about to do a prayer.
  • 00:55:13
    I want to do this prayer in the privacy of your heart.
  • 00:55:15
    But what's gonna happen afterwards --
  • 00:55:18
    What's gonna happen afterwards is
  • 00:55:20
    you're gonna do something different
  • 00:55:21
    than you normally would do. But let's pray first and then I'm going to explain it to you.
  • 00:55:25
    So I'll do the prayer, you just repeated it after me in the privacy your heart.
  • 00:55:28
    Dear God, thank You for sending Your Son,
  • 00:55:32
    Jesus Christ to this earth to die for me.
  • 00:55:36
    I believe it and I receive it.
  • 00:55:39
    Come into my house,
  • 00:55:41
    come into my heart.
  • 00:55:43
    Thank you for forgiving me for my sins, for every sin.
  • 00:55:48
    In Jesus name, Amen. Ok, so here's what's gonna happen.
  • 00:55:54
    So normally when after that part
  • 00:55:56
    they always bring up a white dude to make it official,
  • 00:55:58
    but that's not gonna happen this time.
  • 00:56:00
    We've got Chuck at this campus,
  • 00:56:02
    but at your campus, I'm sure there's a white guy.
  • 00:56:05
    I'm sure there's one there probably somewhere.
  • 00:56:07
    But here's what we're gonna do, for everyone who's just prayed that prayer,
  • 00:56:08
    This is very important.
  • 00:56:10
    Normally, I want you to do --.
  • 00:56:11
    You can't do what you've always done.
  • 00:56:13
    You have to do something new, because you've just made either a new commitment
  • 00:56:16
    or you've decided to make Jesus the one.
  • 00:56:18
    So what they ask you do here, and I think this is pretty dope,
  • 00:56:20
    is most the time when church is over everyone gets up and leave.
  • 00:56:22
    But you can't do what you've always done.
  • 00:56:24
    You have to do something new So instead of you getting up and leave,
  • 00:56:27
    I want you to be committed to sitting there.
  • 00:56:29
    And then someone is going to come around
  • 00:56:31
    and they're gonna pray with you
  • 00:56:32
    and make sure you have the next steps that are necessary.
  • 00:56:34
    This is so huge for me.
  • 00:56:36
    This is so huge for me. It's huge for you.
  • 00:56:37
    But I have to be a good steward as well.
  • 00:56:40
    So it's very, very important.
  • 00:56:41
    So we're gonna -- I don't know what happens next what they'll be able to do,
  • 00:56:43
    but that's very important that you maintain.
  • 00:56:45
    Don't do what you've always done. Ooh, let me go get the kids.
  • 00:56:48
    Ooh, let me go get the car. No, sit yourself down
  • 00:56:51
    and do what God tells you to do next.
  • 00:56:55
    You guys are awesome. I love you.
  • 00:56:57
    I'll see you at the comedy show.
  • 00:56:58
    Thank you so much. I'm Michael Junior.
  • 00:56:59
    [applause] - Man, you know that might've been a powerful moment for you
  • 00:57:08
    for the very first time
  • 00:57:09
    and maybe something happened
  • 00:57:10
    and you just gave Jesus more access to your life.
  • 00:57:13
    Man, I celebrate that with you.
  • 00:57:15
    And we'd love to pray with you.
  • 00:57:16
    We've got volunteers that are available right now.
  • 00:57:18
    You can hit the chat button and we want to pray with you
  • 00:57:21
    to kind of solidify what God is doing in your life in this moment.
  • 00:57:26
    Man, it's hard to believe that it's been five weeks of Play & Purpose Journey.
  • 00:57:29
    And I know for me, God has really put his finger
  • 00:57:32
    on a couple of things. A big one is this: last week my wife and I had a chance
  • 00:57:35
    by the riverfront in our city, Cincinnati,
  • 00:57:38
    to do those scooters, those Bird scooters.
  • 00:57:40
    And, you know, we play with our kids all the time.
  • 00:57:41
    But we had so much fun playing with each other.
  • 00:57:43
    And so I think we want more of that in our marriage.
  • 00:57:45
    You want to get out and play together more.
  • 00:57:48
    I hope there's something like that
  • 00:57:49
    that lands for you in this journey,
  • 00:57:51
    because I believe on the other side of that
  • 00:57:53
    God has something good for you.
  • 00:57:54
    And maybe you've gotten connected
  • 00:57:56
    with a group during this journey.
  • 00:57:57
    You might feel like your group is just getting started,
  • 00:58:00
    like you're just starting to get traction.
  • 00:58:01
    There are so many ways in the app to continue to engage in community.
  • 00:58:05
    And I would encourage you to do that,
  • 00:58:07
    because I know embracing a group experience like this
  • 00:58:09
    and letting it continue in your life
  • 00:58:11
    can be a powerful way for God to grow you
  • 00:58:13
    and for you to get more connected around Crossroads.
  • 00:58:16
    Well, hey, next weekend we're starting a brand new series
  • 00:58:18
    called The Blessed Life.
  • 00:58:20
    We'll see you then.

Oct 12, 2019

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