Why You Need a Guide | The Adventurous Life Week 2

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I'm Brian Tome, Senior Pastor of Crossroads.

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We're in an adventure series.

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I'm going to tell you about an adventure we have in our country

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that many of us do not like at all,

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it's the adventure of getting people of different races

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to hear each other's story and work for justice here in our country.

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We have a race problem.

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I think it's apparent to all of us.

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And I want you to join me and others

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to do something about it, specifically, to walk about it,

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to pray about it.

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July 11th in the Cincinnati area, churches from all over the region

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are going to come together for an event called Unified.

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We're going to meet at Sawyer Point.

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We're going to walk to Fountain Square and we're going to pray

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and we're going to ask for God to intervene.

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In the Bible when people walk, powerful things happen.

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People walked around the walls of Jerusalem and they fell.

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The disciples walked on an adventure to tell people who Jesus was.

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I want to invite you to do this.

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This will be one week, yYou actually think about this

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as the first time Crossroads is physically gathering.

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We're going to gather with other churches and we're going to pray.

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It's Saturday, July 11th at 10 a.m.

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I want to invite you to be there.

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I want to encourage you to be there.

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Put your faith out there, push yourself,

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get into an environment where you might not have been before.

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And who knows, maybe God will show up in your life.

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And just maybe as a result of us gathering together,

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maybe something starts to change in our country.

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Let's be the church.

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Let's back this, our first weekend in physically

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being with one another on July 11th on Saturday.

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I'll be there. I can't wait to be there.

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I'll see you at Unified.

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- A life with God doesn't have to be boring.

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You were made for adventure.

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It can be a pulse pumping, heart pounding life of purpose.

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Join us every weekend for 30 minutes of challenge, hope,

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and encouragement to guide you on your spiritual adventure.

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- Happy Fourth of July, everyone.

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Welcome to Crossroads Church.

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My name is Hannah and I'm so glad you could be with us today

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in our Adventurous Life series.

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We believe you were born for adventure

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and Crossroads is here to help you find your people,

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have fun, crush life, and leave your mark.

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Today, our Senior Pastor Brian's Tome is going to talk us

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about how a guide can make or break your spiritual journey.

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You might notice some changes to our look and feel.

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And now this is not just a new logo; this is who we are.

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This is the beginning of a new adventure for Crossroads.

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We're spiritual outfitters that are here to equip and guide you.

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If you want, you can learn more at Crossroads.net/spiritualoutfitters.

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- Adventure and church aren't normally two words that go together,

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but at Crossroads, we don't believe in doing church as usual.

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In fact, we believe that a life with God

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can be a pulse pumping, heart pounding life of purpose.

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And our job is to guide you there.

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The history making adventurers who explored new worlds,

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climbed Mount Everest, fought through jungles,

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and crossed deserts didn't get there alone.

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They used outfitters to equip them for journeys

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full of rough terrain and dangerous obstacles.

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An outfitter is both a place where you can get gear

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and a person who guide you to your destination.

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At Crossroads, we are spiritual outfitters

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because as great as those historic adventures were,

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they're nothing compared to the spiritual journey

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God wants to take you on.

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So instead of tents, Yeti's, and pickaxes,

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we'll gear you up with spiritual training,

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life changing trips, connection to other people on the journey,

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motivation, inspiration, and challenge from guides

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who have been where you want to go and can help get you there.

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We have the tools you'll need,

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because the adventure awaiting you is bigger

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and more life giving than you can ever imagine.

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Crossroads Church, your guide to the Adventurous Life.

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- There's something that those who live adventurous lives

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take advantage of that very few people do.

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I'm Brian Tome, Senior Pastor at Crossroads.

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The thing that they take advantage of is getting guidance.

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They go to a place where they get outfitted

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with the right gear and the right things.

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This one day was just a normal pickup truck.

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And it's been turned into an overland vehicle.

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My main source of adventure for a long, long time

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used to be riding motorcycles.

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I still do that. I enjoy that very much.

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The problem was I wasn't able to do it very well with my wife.

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So a friend of mine gave me some guidance. His name is Jud.

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He said, "Hey, this overlanding thing is really great."

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"Overlanding? What's overlanding?"

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"Well, you go with your wife, you go to places,

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you go to rough roads, you camp together,"

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yada, yada, yada, yada.

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And so I started transforming this vehicle

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into an overland vehicle.

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I got guidance from Jud.

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I also got guidance from an online community called Overland Portal.

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I learned things like these are traction boards right here.

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These suckers you take and you put underneath mud

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or underneath snow or whatever it is to give yourself traction.

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I learned about that.

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I learned about having the right cases to store gear.

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I have a canopy, a tent that goes on here.

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I've got in the back here I've got a little compressor

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so I air down my tires when I'm off road so it's softer,

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when I get back on pavement I can air it up again.

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I learned to innovate because I learned from other people who guided me.

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Like this is a cutting board.

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Yeah, this is where the kitchen is I can hang out here

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and I can chop all my stuff here.

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I like overlanding. It's a really, really good adventure.

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But the biggest adventures are not around overlanding.

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The biggest adventures are around who you're dating.

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The biggest adventures are around

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are you overcoming that substance addiction?

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The biggest adventures are are you getting out of credit card debt?

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The biggest adventures are discovering who has God made me to be?

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What's the what's the right job for me?

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What's the right career for me?

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The greatest adventures are the things that are relational,

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that are spiritual, that are emotional,

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that are life orienting on a day by day basis.

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Those adventures we need guidance on.

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We can't figure it out on our own.

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Anybody who's hardcore into adventure understands

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that for you to get someplace you haven't been,

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you need an outfitter, you need a guide,

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not to figure it out on your own.

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Hey, how about we go on adventure together?

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And while we go, I'll tell you a story from the Book of Acts 8.

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Here's what it says:

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And he invited Phillip to come up and sit with him.

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Here we have an Ethiopian who is of African descent,

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Philip, who's a Jew who is not of African descent.

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What do you know? We have people from different races

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interacting positively with one another.

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Could we have more of that in our world, please?

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Yes, we need more of that.

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This Ethiopian is an eunuch, that means he's been castrated.

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In the ancient world if you were inside of a king's court

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or somebody of high authority, they would often say,

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"If you're going to serve in my court, you need to be castrated,"

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because that would ensure they wouldn't be a threat,

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because they wouldn't lead a coup,

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because they could never have their own lineage

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to then be a threat to the king.

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So this is a very, very high up important guy,

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this Ethiopian eunuch is.

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And he's been in this Jewish region.

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He's heard their scriptures.

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He's heard of this guy named Jesus and he's just curious.

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And so he's by the side of the road,

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he's reading some of their ancient texts.

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And Philip has this adventuresome thing happened

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where God talks to him, he says, goes over the guy, says,

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"Hey, do you know what you're reading here?"

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And the guy says, "How can I know unless somebody guides me?"

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See, this guy understands what an adventure is about,

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and he's on a spiritual adventure.

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He knows that to get to a place where he hasn't been to before

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he needs someone who's been there.

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He needs someone who has pieces that he doesn't have.

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He needs somebody who can offer clarity and perspective.

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That's what you need. That's what I need.

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Phillip ends up guiding him.

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He outfits him with the knowledge that he needs.

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This guy gets baptized.

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He comes to understand who Jesus is.

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His eternal trajectory is forever change

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and it's all because he was willing to ask for a guide.

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He was humble enough as a person of power and influence

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to say, "I need someone to take me to a place

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I haven't been and give me some pieces of information."

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As I take you on this adventure we're going to go on

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I want to try to give you some piece of information

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so you can get a guide for your life, for your spiritual adventure.

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Your future depends on it.

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To go on an adventure you're going to have to need a guide.

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I know a lot of us are thinking, "I don't need a guide.

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I'm a self starter, self educator. I can figure it out."

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No, no, not really. Not really. You can't.

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You see, an adventure is all about going someplace you don't know,

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doing something you haven't done.

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As soon as you've gone there, as soon as you've done it,

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it might be adventurous, but it's not the pure adventure

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that means, "I don't know exactly what's happening here.

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We feel uncomfortable because we haven't been there before,

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we haven't done it before.

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It's the place where God wants to take us.

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At critical point in my life, I've had guides, multiple guides.

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If I have any speaking skills right now,

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it's because of a guy by the name of Denny who was a guide for me.

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He heard me speak to groups in college

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and would give me brutal feedback every time.

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He guided me.

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I had another guy by name of Dan, who gave me a respect

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and love actually for the local church,

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helped me see that church work could and should be actually adventurous.

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I had a guy who guided me named Tom

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when I got married, started having kids.

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Tom was ahead of me.

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He had been married several years longer than I was,

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had more kids than I did

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and I looked to him for different piece of information.

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All those people had problems in their life.

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The problem is we look for a guide we think we're looking

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for the second incarnation of Jesus who doesn't have any problems.

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Not true. You just need to find somebody

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who's got a couple of pieces for you in the area

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or the adventure that God is pushing you in.

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Right now, we're going on a adventure.

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You don't know where we're going. I do.

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We could've dropped you in these woods.

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You could've wandered around for a little bit

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and had a good old time, but for you to get to the place

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where I want to take you, you need me, you need guide.

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For you to get to the place that God wants to take you

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you need a guide. You need people.

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You need a person to give you key pieces of information

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and inspiration that can get you where you want to go.

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Not only that, will get you where God wants you to go.

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- Man, Brian is saying some really good stuff.

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If we want to get to the next adventure

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that God is trying to take us on,

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we're going to need a guide to help us get there.

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Well, one of the ways that I've taken an adventure

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with my relationship with God is by trusting Him with my money.

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And if you would like to do that right now,

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you can go to Crossroads.net/give or text Crossroads to 313131.

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Our church is making a difference all over the world

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and in our local communities.

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And to learn more about how you can get connected

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to your local community, stay tuned to the end of service.

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- One of the common questions I get,

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"Well, where do I find me one of these guides?"

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Well, if it's a physical adventure, it's pretty obvious,

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like if you want to hike the Appalachian Trail

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you can go to go to the Yellow Pages and find a guide.

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Yellow Pages? Yeah, let me guide you what the Yellow Pages were.

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A long, long time ago, there were these big, thick books

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full of yellow pages and you would look

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alphabetical order up with the kind of thing that you needed.

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So you probably couldn't even do that anymore

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But OK, if you want a guide to help you in your marriage,

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you go to Google and you Google marriage counselors in your area.

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What if you want to guide who's going to outfit you

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for your spiritual adventure, for your spiritual advancement?

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You know who that guide is? That God is the local church.

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I know. "Oh, it is so common. Like, oh, the church."

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Everyone likes to complain about, "Oh, the church."

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The church has problems. Every church has problems.

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You're never going to find the perfect church.

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In fact, if you want to have church,

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please don't come to Crossroads because

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you're going to screwed up

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really, really even worse than it already is

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because you're gonna bring your imperfections with us.

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No church, no guide is perfect, but the truth is,

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it is the people of God that are the guides that push us.

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Phillip has a guide of the Holy Spirit that tells him,

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go to the Ethiopian eunuch.

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He gets outfitted, that's what a church is.

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We outfit you, we outfit you with the articles you need,

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with the teaching you need,

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with the opportunity for mission trip you need,

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with the perspective that you may need,

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connecting to people that you need.

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Not only you connect with people who guide you,

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but you wanting to guide others.

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God does not just want us to sit back

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and wait for someone to stick the spiritual IV in our veins,

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and go, "Oh, oh, just give me spiritual feelings."

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He wants us to be pushed and to push others.

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You've got to know people that you're trying to help.

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You don't have to be perfect, just need to be

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one step ahead of them in certain areas to help them

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and to guide them.

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This is the adventure that God has been doing

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for thousands of years: people guided by the Holy Spirit

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going places they wouldn't normally do,

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equipped to be people they couldn't have been on their own power

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and helping people get to their adventure,

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to be guided, to be outfitted.

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That's the adventurous life.

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That's what you've got to want

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or else you're just normal. And who wants normal?

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It says that Phillip runs when he hears the Holy Spirit,

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runs to the adventure.

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In fact, the uneunuch as well, he's in a running posture.

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He's like, "I want to know. I want to learn.

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Someone's got to tell me what's going on here."

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You've got to want it.

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You've got to get a little pep in your step.

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You've got to one more than you have right now.

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You've got to want to be used in the purpose of God,

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going a place where you haven't been before.

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It's your adventure. You've got to step up.

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You've got to step out into the unknown.

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Woo-hoo, hoo. OH!

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That -- that was more intense than I remember.

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I haven't done that for a while

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and I don't think I'm ever going to do that again

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for the rest of my life.

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I've aged since the last time I did that,

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which is years and years and years ago.

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I think over time my spine has compressed,

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my discs have thinned out,

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and there's just a little more cushion between my vertebrae.

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When I hit that water, I -- I felt it.

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You know how I knew about that place?

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Somebody guided me. Somebody told me where it was.

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One of my favorite family memories is taking my kids

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the jump off that.

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I remember my daughter who was 13, showed her where that was,

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took her to the top, encouraged her, she jumped off.

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It is so high that she jumped off

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and her bathing suit came off and got stuck in a braces.

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People always go, "You were a sicko parent."

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No, I just like challenging my kids.

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I just like pushing my kids.

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I like encouraging my kids to see that life's an adventure.

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You shouldn't be sitting back and being passive and fearful.

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You should be pushing. You should be moving.

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That's what I'm trying to do with you.

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Do not. Do not just sit back and go, "Oh, oh.

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What an interesting service at Crossroads today.

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Oh so. Oh, interesting spiritual insight I hadn't thought about."

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It's not important until it gets you moving,

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until you step out, until you step off the ledge.

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That is what matters. That is your adventure.

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That's when it becomes an adventure instead of just a philosophy.

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I hope right now you know exactly what your next adventure is.

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Is it your marriage? Is it graduating?

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Is it getting out of the addictive behavior that you're in?

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Is it -- what is it?

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Whatever your adventure is,

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you've got to find somebody who can guide you.

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You've got to find somebody who is a step beyond you.

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You've got to find somebody who's been where you are

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right now and has gotten to another place

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and you've got to listen to him.

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You've got to move. You've got to do.

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It's not working for you unless you're moving.

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And you need a guide to help you move.

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I want to pray for you right now.

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I'm going to pray with my eyes and I'm going to look right at you,

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because I think this is a significant moment

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that God has for you right now.

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God, I thank You for every person who's been with us today,

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every person who has looked at the screen,

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every person that has their head bowed.

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God, we want what You want for life.

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Some of us are going to give our life to You right now.

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We just want to say, "Jesus come into my life.

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I want to give my heart to You, I want Your Spirit in me.

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I want Your forgiveness. I want to move on."

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Some of us are saying, "God, I need something new.

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I need to do something new in my life.

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I need to -- I need to get to a new place

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with my relationships, with alcohol."

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God, we give You these things and I want it now.

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Would You please send me a guide?

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Help me see a guide, have the boldness to ask guide to help me.

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I'm looking forward to Your adventure, God.

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In Your name, in the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

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What we're gonna do a little connect with God

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through music right now, through worshiping.

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And in a little bit we're going to tell you

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how you actually can find a guide to Crossroads.

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How could somebody at Crossroads actually help you

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in your spiritual adventure?

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We're going to give you that information in just a moment.

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Let's worship God right now, though.

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- Man, I love that song.

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It is the anthem for what it means to live an adventurous life

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and no one can live that adventurous life alone.

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I know I can't.

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We all need someone to help us get us to the next place in our lives.

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For me, in college, that looked like a guy named Reid

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who introduced me to my college Bible study.

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That's what the church is about, is about guiding people.

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It's way more than just videos and music.

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It's people gathering and pushing each other,

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growing closer to become more like Jesus.

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That's why we're introducing a thing at Crossroads called Guides.

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This is a new adventure for Crossroads.

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We want to give you a guide, a real person

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who will get to know you and help you

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take the next step on your spiritual journey.

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And that's different for everyone,

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whether you're just exploring who God is

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or you've been following Him for a long time.

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We have something for each and every person,

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wherever they may be.

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Your guide will connect with you regularly

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to see how things are going, answer questions,

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pray for you and encourage you on the adventure that God has you on.

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If you want to guide, which I hope you do,

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you can chat with us at Crossroads.net/adventure.

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Join us next week when Chuck tells us about

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how pain can serve a purpose on our adventure.

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If you want to give and help share this message

00:27:52

with as many people as possible, you can give right now

00:27:55

at Crossroads.net/give or text Crossroads to 313131.

00:28:02

Stay tuned to find out how to get connected to people near you

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who are on the same adventure as you are.

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Have a good one.

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- Our world is aching for unity.

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While our situation might seem hopeless,

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the church is uniquely prepared to offer hope.

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The message of reconciliation is central to the gospel.

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That's why we're gathering together people

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from every color, culture, and class around the Tri-State.

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We're taking God's message of hope on the move.

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When we take our faith on the move, things change,

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waters are parted, walls fall down, and healing takes place.

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God is calling us to take a step towards justice.

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Join us for the Unified Cincy Prayer Walk July 11th at 10 a.m.

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- Crossroads has communities all across the country.

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And I want to help you get connected.

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I'm Greg Aukerman and I lead an online church team

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whose job is doing exactly that.

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We also have locations in Cincinnati, central Kentucky,

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Dayton, Oxford, and Columbus.

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I'd love to help you find your people,

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get support and prayer

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and take the next step on your spiritual adventure.

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Connect with us at Crossroads.net/locations.

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