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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.
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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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00:19:03
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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00:21:45
- 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
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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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00:25:08
- I would say that it was a great success.
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00:25:11
- 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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00:25:32
- We won't be doing this in 2020.
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00:25:40
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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00:25:50
And Larry Tilloak is our winner.
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00:25:51
So, yes, there is actually a winner to the treasure hunt.
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00:25:54
Good stuff. Hey, so it's the last week of the Play & Purpose Journey
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00:25:58
and we really wanted to leave with a bang,
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00:26:01
wanted to give you something that we thought
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00:26:02
would be just a great combination of this journey.
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00:26:05
Over the last five weeks, we've all learned
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00:26:06
like, hey, God has purpose for us
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00:26:09
and we want to step into that purpose.
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00:26:10
But we've also found out that play is a big part
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00:26:13
of how God wants to refresh us and bring life to us.
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00:26:17
And so we said, you know what?
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For the last week of the journey,
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00:26:20
we want to bring those two together
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00:26:22
and have a special guest speaker
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00:26:24
who can bring those two together in the best way.
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00:26:26
He's brought laughter to The Tonight Show on NBC,
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00:26:29
Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central.
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00:26:31
He's been a keynote speaker for TED Talks.
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00:26:33
He's also been a Dove winning award comedian.
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00:26:36
And he is here at Crossroads.
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00:26:38
So, Crossroads, give a big welcome for Michael Junior.
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00:26:42
[applause] - All right.
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00:26:52
Wow. You people are a little weird based off the video.
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00:26:57
We're going to have some, we're going to laugh. This is it gonna be awesome.
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00:27:00
We're going to have a great time and laugh.
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00:27:01
Some people think you shouldn't laugh in church.
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00:27:05
My response to that is always:
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00:27:07
what good father doesn't want to hear
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00:27:09
his children's laughter in his house?
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00:27:11
We get to laugh and stuff, it's gonna be dope.
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00:27:15
Chuck, thanks for taking me out to eat.
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00:27:17
That was great. What was the name of that place you took me?
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00:27:19
Hooters, oh, that was delicious.
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00:27:22
I'm just playing. I didn't go.
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00:27:23
He went by himself. [laughter] It's comedy.
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00:27:29
Hope you don't lose your job. So I was preparing for this in my hotel room.
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00:27:35
And I was like, "Yo, God.
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00:27:37
Whatchu want me to say to the people?" Because that's how we talk.
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00:27:38
Right? And it was simple, really.
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00:27:39
He wants you to know that He loves you.
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00:27:42
"Like tell them I love them." So I'm just saying that like,
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00:27:44
I don't mean it in some obvious --
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00:27:46
like for real, that's what He said to say.
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00:27:48
So there's like three versus of scriptures
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00:27:50
and I'm going to tell you my story. So when you come to the comedy show,
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00:27:54
the full comedy show that we're doing
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00:27:56
after this on Sunday night,
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00:27:58
it'll be completely different comedy.
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00:27:59
I'm excited about that.
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00:28:01
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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00:28:06
You don't got to read them right now.
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00:28:07
Trust me, they're there. But I want you to write them down.
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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.
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00:28:15
So these three scripture are: Cool, aw, you just got here.
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00:28:27
Yeah. You just missed the buckets.
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00:28:29
Wow. What do you know? The money just went -- Just missed it.
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00:28:32
Wow. What do you know?
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00:28:34
All right. Let's get this thing started.
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00:28:35
I'm just going to tell you about me.
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00:28:37
So I do comedy, right?
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00:28:39
And first of all, we're laughing at church.
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00:28:42
You guys already laugh. This is a church that laughs.
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00:28:44
You could tell by the way it feels,
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00:28:46
like you could just -- you could feel it in the room.
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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.