It’s All About The Heart | The Blessed Life: Week 1

It’s a lot easier to be a cheerful getter than a cheerful giver. We know God wants a cheerful giver but it doesn’t always come naturally to us. Real generosity is all about the condition of our hearts.

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    Well, welcome to church.
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    We're so glad to have you at Crossroads today.
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    That's right. You might be thinking at Crossroads?
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    This doesn't look like a normal Crossroads.
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    Or I'm sitting in my living room or my car.
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    The great thing is Crossroads can go with you anywhere you might be.
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    And today I'm in my very own kitchen.
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    I'm in my home with actually my group
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    who you're gonna meet a little bit later.
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    We're in a brand new series called The Blessed Life.
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    I'm really excited for what's to come in this series.
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    But before we get into that,
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    we're going to spend some time worshipping together.
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    And worship is one of the ways that we actually get to declare to God
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    that we're thankful for all that He's done in our lives.
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    We're thankful for what He's doing right now.
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    We're thankful for what we hope that He does later.
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    And so if you believe these words,
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    we want you to sing them wholeheartedly.
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    If you don't believe these words totally, that's OK.
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    But maybe you ask God to help you believe these words a little bit deeper as we go into worship.
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    .
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    We believe those words.
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    We do not sing songs around here that we don't believe.
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    And you may be in here and you may read those words
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    and go, I don't believe that.
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    Man, I'm glad you're here.
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    But the reason you see people around you singing
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    and you see hands in the air is because
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    we believe that it's all about Him,
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    that He has life in His hands.
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    We believe in the powerful person of Jesus.
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    We believe it's Him that overcomes.
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    It's all by His power.
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    It's not about me.
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    It's all about Him, His power and His grace.
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    So we wrote a song a little bit ago
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    as a way for us as a community of people
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    to remind us to never forget that it is about Him and His power.
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    So I'm going to teach it to you.
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    .
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    That's who You are, God.
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    We're not saying anything new to You.
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    You know that You have life in Your hands.
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    You know, more than anybody, more than I could ever speak
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    how much more You want for us,
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    how much freedom You want for us,
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    how much you hold in your hands
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    because You are life, the author, creator of life.
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    So I sing to You because I've experienced You,
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    because I know and I've seen You overcome in my life.
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    Thank you, Lord. All gratitude and praise belong to You.
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    I pray all this because of who I've seen You to be in Jesus.
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    Amen.
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    Thanks for singing with us today.
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    One of the things we deeply care about around here
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    is relationship, connection to one another,
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    so turn around, greet somebody around here,
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    give them a handshake and a smile today.
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    Well, we do care about connection around here,
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    and so we've created a great tool that helps
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    you and I connect to one another and connect to God.
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    And it's called the Crossroads Anywhere App.
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    - 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 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.
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    - Well, hey, I'm Lena and I were in my house right now.
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    I'm actually in my last journey group meeting.
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    My son Louie playing with my ear.
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    He's a little sleepy by the time we meet as a group.
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    But we've had a really, really good experience with the Play & Purpose Journey.
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    It's been fun.
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    It's been challenging.
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    And it's always good to have a regular rhythm
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    of getting together with some of my friends.
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    So I would love for you to meet some of my friends
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    who've been in my group for the Play & Purpose Journey
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    and hear a little bit about their experience.
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    So what have you guys thought about the journey thus far?
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    - It's been really interesting, a very unique take on small groups as a whole.
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    - Yeah, different than you thought it might be?
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    - Much different than what I thought it would be.
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    - In a good way?
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    - Yeah, really good way, actually.
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    Yeah. Very unique.
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    I liked the different take in the approach to it.
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    - That's great. Megan, how was it for you?
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    So we just got married back in July,
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    so it's been our first group together as a married couple
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    with a group of other young married people, which I really enjoy.
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    We're all kind of in the same life stage
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    and I'm learning from all the little babes that are around.
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    And so it's been a really fun experience for sure.
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    - That's great. Anything -- What's your big thing coming out of the Journey?
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    - So I really needed to work on play.
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    And I have decided I'm going to start learning how to drum.
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    So I just got my first drum set.
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    I'm really excited.
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    [laughter]
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    - Wades, how about you guys?
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    How is being in a group been impactful for you?
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    - Being in a group has been impactful for us because
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    we have been in our critical moments
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    or moments where we've needed community the most.
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    You guys have supported us.
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    You guys have laughed with us when we need it.
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    And being a new mom, it's just been good to partner with somebody.
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    - Well, hey, you know, if you had a great group experience
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    or maybe you've got some friends that you want to experience the church with,
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    you can continue to meet as a group.
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    You can start a new group.
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    And we've got a new feature in the Crossroads Anywhere App
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    where you can subscribe to weekend prompts in the chat feature.
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    Just like we had for the Play & Purpose Journey,
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    there's actually going to be prompts after every single weekend experience
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    to give you some conversation starters.
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    So get a group of friends together.
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    Keep meeting with your Journey group.
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    Have dinner or lunch or breakfast once a week
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    and just talk through what you experienced over the week
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    and through this weekend message.
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    And I think it's gonna be really, really good for us
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    to have some good intentional conversations
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    and also just continue to have fun together.
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    So you don't wanna miss that. Right, Louie?
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    (Louie mumbles) Yes, exactly.
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    And so right now we're actually going to get an opportunity to be generous.
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    If you want to give, you can head to Crossroads.net/give.
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    And I actually want my friend Josh to tell you about why he gives.
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    - I give because it's what God calls us to do.
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    Not only does He call us to do it,
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    it's the one thing in the Bible He says,
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    "Put me to the test on it.
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    Put me in the test and trust Me
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    with what I've already given you and give it back to Me."
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    And for me, I give because I believe that.
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    And I've actually experienced that this week.
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    We've had some car trouble and we had a big repair we have to do on our car.
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    And I was worried about how much was going to cost to get that done.
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    A literally yesterday someone heard me talking about it
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    and Venmo-ed me a bunch of money to get my car repaired.
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    That just happened yesterday for us.
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    And God says put it to the test, and He's true in that.
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    So I trust Him with my money and I give because of that.
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    So you can head to Crossroads.net/give
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    and give right now and put God to the test.
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    So it's been fun to be with my group in the midst of the Play & Purpose Journey.
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    Let's see a little recap of what went on in the midst of this Journey.
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    Man, that is good stuff.
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    I am excited for how Play & Purpose went.
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    How many of us are excited for how Play & Purpose went?
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    Yes.
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    And I am just excited for what's going to happen the next six weeks.
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    We're starting a new series called The Blessed Life.
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    We're going to talk.
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    We're going to talk about generosity.
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    Now I know whenever the words generosity come up in church,
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    we have things that we're afraid of,
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    things that were paranoid about,
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    things that we clench things around.
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    So I just want to be real clear on this: This is not a campaign.
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    Never in this series ever will you be asked and encouraged to fill out a commitment card.
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    Fact: I'm never going to have my own personal plane.
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    I am giving this information and I am not working on commission.
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    So just relax your sphincter.
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    Not release your sphincter.
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    [laughter]
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    Relax your sphincter.
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    Just want to calm us and sooth us because I know when the topic of generosity comes up,
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    we have things that upset us.
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    And this is a whole different thing we're doing today, it really is.
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    And I couldn't be more excited, honestly,
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    about the next six weeks. I'm excited for you.
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    I'm excited for you.
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    And why don't we pray right now before we go any further.
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    God, I know that everyone who's at a Crossroads Anywhere
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    we're meeting right now is somebody who wants to know You
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    and wants more of You,
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    wants to experience You to a greater degree.
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    I pray that happens today and throughout this entire series.
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    I'm excited, God.
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    You've finally given me the right timing
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    to give something that is the right word at the right place.
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    So help me to be clear.
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    Help me to be helpful.
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    And help your children come to a place of fulfillment and joy and peace.
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    I pray these things according to the character and identity of Jesus, Amen.
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    Well, you know, I read a lot of stuff.
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    I'm exposed to a lot of stimulating material.
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    Is there piano music still going?
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    No, good. I hope it's not.
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    I read and I'm exposed to a lot of material that's very, very stimulating.
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    I'm sure you are as well.
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    Some stuff like, wow, I never knew that.
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    One of the more recent books I read that was very, very stimulating
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    was called The Arsenal of Democracy.
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    It's all about how during World War II,
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    the way we won World War II was all the titans of industry
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    shifted on a dime and we took all of our production capacity
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    and we turned it into bullets, into machine guns, into airplanes.
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    Hitler was utterly stupefied that we were able to do
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    what we did in such a short amount of time.
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    And the focus of the book really is the Ford Motor Company,
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    where they shifted all of their Know-How on the assembly line
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    and they brought it to the airplane.
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    The very, very first plane ever made the history of the world
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    on an assembly line, which, of course, was started by Henry Ford.
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    They made long range bombers, B-24s.
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    They had a plant that was 5 million square feet, Willow Run.
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    And they got up to capacity and they worked out the kinks.
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    Brass and leather and metal would come in one side of the plant
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    and out the other side would come a B-24 bomber every hour.
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    Every hour, a new B-24, every hour a new one.
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    And Hitler just couldn't believe how much, how they were cranking.
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    .
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    But as excited as I am about that book I just finished a couple months ago,
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    nothing like the one I finished several years ago
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    that has stuck with me
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    and has been in my mind like a wormhole
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    affecting me positively for several, several years.
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    The book is called The Blessed Life.
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    The inspiration of this book is where we get our series today.
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    Last week we had an amazing time, right, with Michael Junior.
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    Man, he was awesome, man.
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    [applause]
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    Michael Junior, he --
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    I thought we were just getting a change of pace.
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    That's what that's what I signed off on the expense of
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    it was just getting a change of pace,
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    something different at church.
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    I had no idea, like, oh, my gosh.
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    Hundreds of people are going to come to know Christ through it.
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    People raised their hand. Amazing.
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    I had no idea like on a dime 2200 people
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    would show up for his concert on Sunday night.
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    And here's the awesome part,
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    he gave Crossroads 30% of his proceeds,
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    whatever they were on Sunday night.
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    And all of the stuff we paid him and airfare, it all got paid off.
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    It was all done, it was awesome, it was great.
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    And here's the thing that's really crazy.
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    But here's the thing is really crazy about it.
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    What's really cool was I didn't know
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    when he talked about the church that impacted him,
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    when he talked about that last week,
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    that church is a church that birthed the content of this book.
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    The pastor he talks about is the pastor of the book called The Blessed Life.
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    No idea, happened right before this time.
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    I was talking with another friend of mine
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    who has gone through this content in his church in California.
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    And he said, "Man, this is really -- our people love this series.".
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    Okay, I'm going to bring it.
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    Let me tell you why I haven't brought this series to you before.
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    You're gonna hear stuff that you've heard me say before,
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    but not with the clarity and conviction
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    and the number of angles I'm going to come at it.
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    Here's a reason why I haven't brought it.
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    And I want to apologize to you for it.
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    Because there's aspects of this content that will enable you
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    to accuse me of being a prosperity preacher, which I am not.
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    Anybody who knows me, anyone who's been around Crossroads any length,
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    I do not believe that you have a right to be healthy
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    and you have a right to be wealthy.
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    And if you're not healthy and wealthy,
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    then God's not happy with you because you're not giving.
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    Do not believe that.
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    Never preached anything like that at all.
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    I've been so afraid to be in the camp of that whole thing,
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    though, that there's certain things in the Bible
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    I haven't preached with real clarity and forcefulness
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    because I'm afraid of --
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    And there's things in this book that the cynic would read or pick up and go, "OH, heh."
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    I tell you, what I'm experiencing what we're going to talk about
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    I've personally experienced in my life walking with Christ for thirty--
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    I can't do math on stage, whatever 30 some years.
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    And since I read this book several years ago,
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    it's like, oh yeah, yeah, and it's been on my mind.
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    So I'm real excited to bring this to you.
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    It's going to be good stuff.
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    Acts 20:35.
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    And by the way, over the next few weeks I'm gonna give you a lot of Bible, a lot of Bible.
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    I know we have different ideas of the Bible in here.
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    We have different amounts that we each maybe digest with the Bible.
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    But I'm gonna let the Bible speak for itself.
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    And whatever you believe about it or don't believe about it,
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    but I think you're gonna be helped and be prodded a little bit.
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    Because the Bible speaks on how to be blessed again and again and again.
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    Acts 20:35 says.
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    Now, I like receiving.
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    Anyone else like receiving?
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    I do. I like it.
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    And there's a great series to have on receiving.
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    But the Bible says blessed are those who give.
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    It's more blessed to give and receive.
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    What does that mean? More blessed to give?
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    Why is that? What does it mean to be blessed?
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    When you came into your Crossroads site today,
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    you might have gotten wet.
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    Maybe you didn't notice, but I requested for misters
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    to be over the doors when you walked into a Crossroads site.
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    And what I was trying to replicate was my very first
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    and only experience with a rain forest.
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    When I was in New Zealand several months ago,
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    it was the trip of a lifetime, because for most my lifetime
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    I've been planning it and I finally went with some friends.
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    We camped. We went through all the whole thing.
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    New Zealand is a fascinating small landmass
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    and all kinds of topographical and climate zones.
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    It's really wild how many different variances there are
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    in climate and terrain all over this small landmass.
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    And so I went to our very first rainforest.
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    And that's where that picture is from.
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    And it isn't what I thought it would be.
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    Like I thought being in a rainforest would be what it's like
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    when I'm sitting in a tree stand trying to hunt a deer
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    and it's raining and lightning showers.
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    I thought that's what it would, because you're in the woods and it's raining.
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    It's not like that at all, at least not this one was.
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    This one, it was a fine mist like your Disney World.
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    Just a fine mist that's on you all the time.
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    And you keep thinking your clothes are going to get dripping wet.
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    But there's enough light out to the -- enough must be getting evaporated.
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    But yet there it's always kind of moist.
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    It's kind of crazy.
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    It's just it's very, very damp.
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    And they told us, the locals told us
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    at this kilometer marker that's when the rainforest starts.
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    Like what? And bam, rainforest, poof come in rainforest.
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    Oh, my goodness.
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    And then this mile marker, boom, rainforest ends.
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    And that's the way it is all the time.
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    It was crazy.
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    Rainforests are what it is like to live the blessed life.
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    The blessed life is understanding
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    where it is that the most moisture from God is.
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    The blessed life is about understanding,
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    understanding is where do I go to sense God more?
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    What do I do to get from Him whatever He might give me?
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    What is it that I need to be having on my mind to get around the moisture?
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    And when we have dry hearts, parched souls,
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    it might be because we all go through desert periods.
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    We do. We all go through desert periods, difficult periods.
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    It might also be because we're not inside of
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    the kilometer marker for where the blessed life is.
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    We're not in the place, in the zone where God's moisture is.
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    It's more blessed to give than receive.
  • 00:28:49
    So when I am a giver, there is moisture,
  • 00:28:53
    there is a presence of God.
  • 00:28:56
    It's the way His economy works.
  • 00:28:59
    The Book of Luke 6:37, Jesus says:.
  • 00:29:25
    (whoot) Yeah. Someone's excited be that verse.
  • 00:29:27
    Now, here's the thing.
  • 00:29:29
    Here's the crazy thing.
  • 00:29:31
    This verse doesn't mention money at all.
  • 00:29:34
    Fact: I haven't mentioned money at all, so far, doesn't at all.
  • 00:29:39
    This verse is just staying a way that God's economy works.
  • 00:29:42
    An economy exists about much more than simply finances.
  • 00:29:46
    Who is it that gets judged by other people a lot?
  • 00:29:50
    Those who judge other people a lot.
  • 00:29:53
    Who is it that feels condemned by other people?
  • 00:29:56
    Those who condemn other people.
  • 00:29:57
    Who is it that receives grace from other people?
  • 00:30:00
    People who give them second chances.
  • 00:30:01
    You know who it is?
  • 00:30:02
    Those who give other people second chances and give other people forgiveness.
  • 00:30:06
    Why is it we are in such a politically divisive country right now?
  • 00:30:11
    The right and the left, whichever you are, not everyone on the right and everyone left.
  • 00:30:15
    The generalizing is like this, because the right and the left are just --
  • 00:30:17
    It's only going to get worse, by the way, over the next several months.
  • 00:30:20
    It's going to get even worse, way, way worse.
  • 00:30:22
    And what's happening?
  • 00:30:23
    Everyone on the left is feeling judged by people on the right.
  • 00:30:26
    So they're judging people on the right.
  • 00:30:28
    Everybody on the right is feeling condemned by people on the left,
  • 00:30:30
    so they're condemning people on the left.
  • 00:30:31
    I mean, it's going both ways.
  • 00:30:33
    It's like, hey, let's just to have a condemnation fest.
  • 00:30:35
    Let's have a judgment fest.
  • 00:30:37
    And as we do things, we invite things back to us.
  • 00:30:42
    The blessed life is understanding how God operates
  • 00:30:45
    and getting to where God is and being like God.
  • 00:30:47
    I want to get into the blessed zone because that's where God is.
  • 00:30:52
    I want to get into the blessed zone
  • 00:30:54
    because that's where His powerful attributes exist.
  • 00:31:01
    And one of those attributes, a core,
  • 00:31:04
    I mean a core part of His identity is He is a giver.
  • 00:31:09
    John 3:16 says:.
  • 00:31:19
    What did He do with Jesus?
  • 00:31:21
    He gave Him.
  • 00:31:24
    He allowed you and I to receive Him.
  • 00:31:29
    He put Jesus on a cross to die a brutal death
  • 00:31:32
    so that you and I wouldn't have to die a brutal death for all of eternity.
  • 00:31:36
    That is the Gospel. That is the Good News, that God's a giver.
  • 00:31:39
    He didn't make us work it off on our own.
  • 00:31:41
    He actually gave us something.
  • 00:31:43
    So when we look at giving, there's four aspects of what giving is.
  • 00:31:47
    The overarching idea today is this:.
  • 00:31:54
    This is not an economic issue.
  • 00:31:57
    This is a spiritual issue.
  • 00:31:59
    It is about my heart.
  • 00:32:00
    Matthew 6:21, Jesus says:.
  • 00:32:08
    So the thing that we value,
  • 00:32:10
    the thing that we throw ourselves behind,
  • 00:32:15
    that is our treasure and that is going to have our heart.
  • 00:32:19
    God wants not your money.
  • 00:32:22
    God wants your heart.
  • 00:32:23
    I'm going to say that again.
  • 00:32:24
    God does not want your money.
  • 00:32:26
    He wants your heart.
  • 00:32:27
    God's not having a resource problem up in heaven.
  • 00:32:31
    He's not going, "Oh, my goodness.
  • 00:32:33
    How am I going to keep the lights on up here?
  • 00:32:34
    Whew.
  • 00:32:35
    Geeze, just -- I can't -- all the things I want to do on planet Earth.
  • 00:32:40
    Oh, man, I would do them, but I just -- I'm just strapped.
  • 00:32:43
    There's too much eternity at the end of my resources.
  • 00:32:46
    I'm sorry. I just -- I just can't make ends meet."
  • 00:32:49
    No, he's not, He's not strapped on resources,
  • 00:32:53
    but He leads us in this area because He wants us to be like Him.
  • 00:33:00
    The way that we're blessed is when I'm like God.
  • 00:33:02
    The more I'm like God, the more blessed I am,
  • 00:33:04
    because that's the way the cosmos operates.
  • 00:33:06
    That's the way he's designed my life to operate.
  • 00:33:09
    He is a giver and so I have to be a giver.
  • 00:33:12
    And we know what has our heart based on what we're giving ourselves to,
  • 00:33:17
    based on what's on our calendar
  • 00:33:18
    and based on our credit card statement or our bank statement.
  • 00:33:21
    It doesn't matter what we say we value,
  • 00:33:24
    what's on our credit card statement, our bank statement says what we value.
  • 00:33:30
    It's like God's putting a stethoscope on our wallet.
  • 00:33:34
    He goes, let me see.
  • 00:33:37
    And what He's concerned about and wanting to do is develop our heart.
  • 00:33:39
    That's what I want for all of us: I want our hearts to be developed.
  • 00:33:43
    Crossroads is not having some big new initiative that we have to fund.
  • 00:33:47
    We're not. This is not a campaign.
  • 00:33:50
    We're doing just fine around here,
  • 00:33:53
    bills are getting paid, and we're doing just fine.
  • 00:33:55
    Things are going just fine.
  • 00:33:57
    There's not some new --
  • 00:33:58
    This is I want more people who look to me as pastor
  • 00:34:03
    who I feel a spiritual responsibility over,.
  • 00:34:07
    whether I know you personally or not.
  • 00:34:09
    I want more people to be in the zone of being blessed
  • 00:34:12
    and sensing the presence of God and being more like Him.
  • 00:34:16
    To do this there's four areas we're going to come to again and again.
  • 00:34:20
    Four things we've got to deal with in our heart.
  • 00:34:23
    The first thing we have to deal with is we have to deal with a greedy heart.
  • 00:34:26
    We have to deal with a greedy heart.
  • 00:34:30
    All kids have the very first thing,
  • 00:34:33
    the first word that they clearly put into a sentence
  • 00:34:36
    and they're trying to exert their will.
  • 00:34:38
    That word is not mommy and daddy.
  • 00:34:42
    You think your kids said mommy and daddy.
  • 00:34:45
    Your kids maybe only said mommy and daddy
  • 00:34:47
    because you brainwashed them to say mommy and daddy.
  • 00:34:50
    I've seen this happening under my roof with my daughter and son in law.
  • 00:34:53
    They're like jiving to see who my grandson says first: mama or dada.
  • 00:34:57
    And they're so arrogant.
  • 00:34:58
    They want to hear mama or dada first.
  • 00:35:00
    They're they're just brainwashing him.
  • 00:35:02
    That's fine. I did the same thing with Lib.
  • 00:35:03
    I did. I understand it.
  • 00:35:05
    But my grandson, if he's like any other kid, anyone you know,
  • 00:35:10
    the first word is going to be "mine."
  • 00:35:13
    Mine. Mine.
  • 00:35:16
    You and I are not born with a generous heart.
  • 00:35:19
    I don't know anybody who doesn't think they're generous.
  • 00:35:22
    Everybody I meet says they're generous.
  • 00:35:25
    We all think we're generous.
  • 00:35:27
    We're not generous.
  • 00:35:28
    We have -- if we are generous, it has to be because
  • 00:35:31
    of an intensive spiritual routine we go against to become generous.
  • 00:35:37
    Because every last human being is born greedy.
  • 00:35:42
    We want what we want.
  • 00:35:43
    It's all about me.
  • 00:35:44
    I want.
  • 00:35:45
    Mine. I want what's coming to me.
  • 00:35:49
    In Deuteronomy 15:7, God says:
  • 00:36:06
    God is giving again and again instructions to His people how to deal with His people.
  • 00:36:13
    He says, I don't want you clinging to your stuff.
  • 00:36:16
    I want you blessing's people that you see in need.
  • 00:36:22
    The reason why I can't stand the prosperity thing, prosperity preacher thing
  • 00:36:26
    and why I'm sorry I haven't talked about
  • 00:36:28
    some of the things I'm going to talk about until this series.
  • 00:36:31
    I've been a weenie boy. Sorry for that.
  • 00:36:33
    But the reason why I get so upset about the prosperity thing
  • 00:36:36
    is the prosperity thing just plays on our greediness.
  • 00:36:40
    Like you want to get more from God?
  • 00:36:42
    Good, then give.
  • 00:36:46
    Greed is never a good motivator for giving.
  • 00:36:50
    If you just give, then you're gonna get more.
  • 00:36:54
    Yeah. That's never a -- that's never a motivator for our heart.
  • 00:36:59
    Greed never pulls our heart along.
  • 00:37:01
    So having some theology where if I get you to give
  • 00:37:05
    then God's gonna give you more
  • 00:37:08
    entirely defeats the point of coming to be like God and have His character.
  • 00:37:15
    Robert Morris, who wrote this book, said:.
  • 00:37:27
    In the Middle East, where I've been to a number of times
  • 00:37:29
    is the lowest spot on all of planet Earth.
  • 00:37:32
    It's called the Dead Sea.
  • 00:37:34
    The Dead Sea is beautiful when you look at it.
  • 00:37:37
    Water's coming from all over the place and just kind of trickling into it.
  • 00:37:40
    It's beautiful when you look at it, until you get in it.
  • 00:37:44
    It is awful, it's called the Dead Sea for a reason
  • 00:37:47
    because nothing living is inside the Dead Sea.
  • 00:37:50
    Nothing.
  • 00:37:51
    It has this really high alkaline content, mineral content.
  • 00:37:54
    You feel like you could walk on water.
  • 00:37:56
    You can just stand like this and you will float like up to your belly button.
  • 00:38:00
    In fact, if you ever go there, just word to the wise,
  • 00:38:03
    do not shave the day before you go there,
  • 00:38:07
    or if you're scratching any place your body,
  • 00:38:09
    don't go in there either.
  • 00:38:11
    I learned that very, very difficult the first time I went in.
  • 00:38:14
    It is eew. It is nasty.
  • 00:38:16
    Why is it so nasty?
  • 00:38:17
    It's so nasty. It's dead because there's no outflow out of the Dead Sea.
  • 00:38:23
    The Dead Sea receives, but it doesn't give.
  • 00:38:27
    Any body of water that does not give
  • 00:38:30
    is going to be a dead disgusting body of water.
  • 00:38:33
    This is how God's operated, our spirits should operate.
  • 00:38:35
    We receive and we give, receive, there's in-flow and there's outflow.
  • 00:38:40
    And a greedy heart only wants to receive
  • 00:38:43
    and a greedy heart will eventually have a life that is stanky.
  • 00:38:48
    We need not only deal with a grieving or --
  • 00:38:51
    Stanky, it's not a bad word in case you didn't know.
  • 00:38:53
    I do really well not to do some of the words that I use around here,
  • 00:38:56
    but that's not a bad word, stanky.
  • 00:38:58
    You can use that one. Your mom won't get mad at you.
  • 00:39:00
    The second thing that we don't only have to deal with a grieving heart, we have to --
  • 00:39:05
    Excuse me, we not only have to deal with a greedy heart,
  • 00:39:08
    we have to deal with a grieving heart.
  • 00:39:10
    So a greedy heart is on the front end.
  • 00:39:12
    I'm not sure that I want to give to help somebody.
  • 00:39:15
    A grieving heart is after I do, I'm like "(sound effect).
  • 00:39:18
    Gosh, why did I do that?
  • 00:39:20
    Oh, ugh."
  • 00:39:24
    Now, we as human beings are very, very smart people,
  • 00:39:28
    so we figure out ways to get around how we operate.
  • 00:39:32
    So one of the ways we get around having a greedy heart
  • 00:39:36
    and having a grieving heart,
  • 00:39:37
    if we're trying to get people to give money,
  • 00:39:40
    it's the system of fair share.
  • 00:39:42
    Fair share is all about, "Look, none of us really want to give.
  • 00:39:46
    Okay? We all know that, right?
  • 00:39:47
    Right. Right.
  • 00:39:48
    So we're all gonna hurt equally.
  • 00:39:51
    And we're all going to grieve equally, whatever your fair share is."
  • 00:39:56
    No concept at all that it actually might be a blessing to give,
  • 00:40:00
    that I might actually like to give,
  • 00:40:01
    that I might actually receive something that I give.
  • 00:40:04
    That's what a grieving heart is, "I don't want to.
  • 00:40:08
    I do. Why did I do that?".
  • 00:40:10
    Book of Deuteronomy 15:10, God says:.
  • 00:40:13
    You shall give to him freely.
  • 00:40:27
    He'll bless you.
  • 00:40:29
    Don't be grieving after you give.
  • 00:40:31
    Have a trust in God that He has noticed
  • 00:40:34
    and He's not going to leave you high and dry.
  • 00:40:42
    You know, sometimes I talk, I just have to stop my mind
  • 00:40:44
    and like, oh, I wish I would --
  • 00:40:45
    I can't be thinking about that right now,
  • 00:40:47
    but I am thing about right now, I shouldn't.
  • 00:40:48
    It's just like shiny object, shiny object,
  • 00:40:51
    squirrel, squirrel.
  • 00:40:52
    I just realized I have a -- I've just gotta get off my --
  • 00:40:56
    get it done so I can focus on the rest of our time.
  • 00:40:57
    I've got this thing, I've got to be with some folks after this.
  • 00:41:01
    We're gonna go out to eat and I just realized,
  • 00:41:03
    I didn't bring any cash and I want to be able to throw in on the meal
  • 00:41:06
    because I know this guy is gonna take and I want to throw in.
  • 00:41:08
    Does anybody have a hundred dollars you could give me?
  • 00:41:12
    Because it's kind of an expensive place and -- Aww.
  • 00:41:16
    [applause]
  • 00:41:21
    You have $100 there?
  • 00:41:23
    Wow. Thank you very much.
  • 00:41:27
    [applause]
  • 00:41:29
    Now, I set that up, that whole thing I just set up.
  • 00:41:35
    I talked to him before the service and I said,
  • 00:41:38
    when I talk about $100, just come bring it up.
  • 00:41:41
    Do you think that was hard for him?
  • 00:41:43
    No.
  • 00:41:45
    Because he knew that money wasn't his.
  • 00:41:47
    [laughter]
  • 00:41:49
    It was my money.
  • 00:41:52
    It was my money, that's why he was so willing to do it.
  • 00:41:55
    We grieve and we have grief because with all of our stuff we're saying mine, mine.
  • 00:42:02
    And we don't really believe it's God's.
  • 00:42:03
    We don't believe that God has blessed us.
  • 00:42:05
    We don't believe that God is active in our life.
  • 00:42:07
    We're just clutching it. It's mine.
  • 00:42:08
    It's only mine. And my, my, my, my, my.
  • 00:42:12
    And when we think this way,
  • 00:42:14
    we're not going to operate with a sense of zest and joy that we possibly can
  • 00:42:20
    because we're just skimping on everything.
  • 00:42:22
    Psalm 24:1 says:.
  • 00:42:32
    Everything.
  • 00:42:34
    Now, ladies, I've got to tell you, if there's things about your guy
  • 00:42:37
    that you're dating or marrying that are annoying you,
  • 00:42:39
    I can tell you what one of them probably is.
  • 00:42:41
    I just want to plead guilty to it.
  • 00:42:42
    Let me just tell you what, this is male confessional.
  • 00:42:45
    Let me tell you what bothers us.
  • 00:42:47
    What bothers us greatly is when we go out to order something
  • 00:42:51
    and you say to us, "I'm just going to have some of his.".
  • 00:42:57
    [laughter] Oh, no, you won't.
  • 00:43:00
    Because why? Because it's mine.
  • 00:43:04
    It's mine.
  • 00:43:05
    You will not be having any of my fries as we go through the drive through.
  • 00:43:10
    And in fact, the fries at the bottom of the bag, they're mine, too.
  • 00:43:12
    Mine, mine.
  • 00:43:14
    We just deal --
  • 00:43:15
    We're very happy to give to you, but we don't want you to take from us.
  • 00:43:20
    Now, I've finally gotten over this.
  • 00:43:22
    I know what to do now. Lib will say, "Oh, I'll just --"
  • 00:43:25
    I just ordered two things now, two things that I would like.
  • 00:43:28
    And I know she's probably going to take half of the one.
  • 00:43:31
    And while I'm doing that I'm just confessing that our "mine" things, I have to fight that.
  • 00:43:36
    I still had to fight. It's natural.
  • 00:43:38
    It's deep in.
  • 00:43:39
    I've got to exert effort to go against the other grain.
  • 00:43:44
    I've got to fight a greedy heart.
  • 00:43:45
    I've got to fight a grieving heart if I want to have a heart that's set apart.
  • 00:43:49
    And I've got to develop a generous heart.
  • 00:43:52
    I've got to develop -- I have to develop a generous heart,
  • 00:43:56
    not pray for a generous heart.
  • 00:43:58
    I've got to actually develop a generous heart,
  • 00:44:01
    which is what we're going to work on in here over the next few weeks.
  • 00:44:04
    Deuteronomy 15:14.
  • 00:44:06
    I'm reading a lot of Deuteronomy.
  • 00:44:08
    The Book of Deuteronomy has a lot of God establishing rules
  • 00:44:12
    for His people, the nation of Israel,
  • 00:44:14
    rules for how to have a society, a culture and the life that works.
  • 00:44:19
    And so this is actually going to be very important for us to understand in weeks ahead.
  • 00:44:22
    But that's why I'm looking at a number of versus from Deuteronomy today.
  • 00:44:25
    Here's what this one says:.
  • 00:44:38
    You shall bless him, you shall give to him.
  • 00:44:41
    And so what God is doing with His people here is He's helping them to develop a generous heart.
  • 00:44:46
    He's giving these instructions because anybody who does become blessed
  • 00:44:51
    and who does operate in generosity is only there once we develop it.
  • 00:44:56
    God's people would never do this naturally in and of our own accord.
  • 00:45:00
    This is a part of spiritual formation, it's a part of spiritual growth.
  • 00:45:04
    When I was in college, my parents were very generous with me,
  • 00:45:07
    they just they took care of all my bills, they paid tuition,
  • 00:45:10
    they paid for my books, they paid for room,
  • 00:45:14
    they gave me a small stipend to live on, buy food and stuff.
  • 00:45:17
    I lived off campus.
  • 00:45:19
    And they weren't -- either they weren't that generous with that stipend
  • 00:45:25
    or I really misspent that stipend, which is probably what it really was.
  • 00:45:29
    But the matter was I would get down to the end of week two, end of week three,
  • 00:45:35
    and I just had no money, no nothing.
  • 00:45:38
    And I just went hungry.
  • 00:45:39
    My college was four years of going hungry.
  • 00:45:41
    People would see me from high school and where I used to be a bit of a beefcake,
  • 00:45:46
    they'd go, "Man. You've lost weight.".
  • 00:45:47
    I'm like, "Yeah, I'm not freaking eating, that's why."
  • 00:45:48
    [laughter]
  • 00:45:49
    Seriously, like for a guy back then, the worst thing was someone say, "Are you losing weight?"
  • 00:45:58
    I was building into this one family, the Rogers family.
  • 00:46:01
    I was volunteering at this church, building into
  • 00:46:03
    some these kids and their family, a high school and junior high kid.
  • 00:46:07
    And one day, Jim Rogers, not to be confused with Mr.
  • 00:46:11
    Jim Rogers, he -- I was at this restaurant
  • 00:46:15
    and he came up behind me and he put his hand in my pocket.
  • 00:46:21
    And then he took his hand out of my pocket.
  • 00:46:23
    I'm like, hmm, I think I know what happened there, but --
  • 00:46:26
    Then he drove me to where I was -- where I where I lived.
  • 00:46:29
    And when I got out of the car, he said, "Hey, Brian."
  • 00:46:31
    Because I didn't acknowledge. It was very awkward.
  • 00:46:33
    He said, "Hey, Brian, before you throw the pants
  • 00:46:36
    in the washing machine, just check your pockets."
  • 00:46:39
    I said, okay. Okay.
  • 00:46:41
    I went in and checked it and there was a $20 bill in there.
  • 00:46:44
    And I was like, oh, man.
  • 00:46:46
    Wow. That is a game changer.
  • 00:46:48
    A total game changer.
  • 00:46:51
    I didn't say much, anything to him about it.
  • 00:46:54
    I had never had anyone just give me money before
  • 00:46:56
    or do an act of generosity at all.
  • 00:46:58
    Up to that point my life all generosity was,
  • 00:47:02
    "OK. And here is your birthday. So I have to give you something.
  • 00:47:04
    Here is Christmas and I have to give you something.
  • 00:47:06
    Or you've earned this working at fast food."
  • 00:47:09
    It was like a gift.
  • 00:47:11
    It was just out of left field, like, really, really crazy.
  • 00:47:17
    Sometime later than that same restaurant, same spot,
  • 00:47:21
    he comes up again checking out, I think after church on Sunday morning.
  • 00:47:25
    And he puts his -- goes to put his hand in my pocket again.
  • 00:47:27
    I just put my hand on his and I say, "Hey, Jim.
  • 00:47:31
    You don't need to do that."
  • 00:47:33
    He said. "I know.
  • 00:47:36
    I know, but it's all God's money.
  • 00:47:39
    I'm just redistributing it."
  • 00:47:42
    That guy taught me something about the character of God
  • 00:47:49
    and was God to me in a way that transformed my heart, transformed my life.
  • 00:47:57
    Some time ago and I were going out on a date night.
  • 00:48:00
    And we saw this woman broken down on the side of the road.
  • 00:48:03
    We're going to an area of town where there's some nice restaurants
  • 00:48:06
    and this was a car that I could tell was passing through this part of town,
  • 00:48:11
    couldn't be living in this part of town.
  • 00:48:13
    The car was different than what it would look like if you lived there
  • 00:48:15
    and she looked different than what you would probably look like if you lived there.
  • 00:48:18
    And she was on the side of the road and her gas --
  • 00:48:20
    Her gas tank was open or twist top open.
  • 00:48:23
    And we pulled over and asked, what's going on?
  • 00:48:24
    I'm out of gas. I don't know what to do
  • 00:48:26
    So we went we got her gas, brought it back.
  • 00:48:29
    And she was in the car.
  • 00:48:31
    And I filled up the gas with all the --
  • 00:48:33
    I don't know if we had two gallons or three gallon tank, whatever it was, we filled it up.
  • 00:48:36
    And then I took a 20 and I stuck in her gas cap and I shut it.
  • 00:48:42
    And I told her, OK, it's all good.
  • 00:48:44
    And before I left and went away,
  • 00:48:46
    I said, "Hey, I'm not sure if I closed your gas cap all the way,
  • 00:48:51
    you might want to go back and just make sure that's closed."
  • 00:48:54
    She said OK.
  • 00:48:55
    So I'm going off, I'm looking in my rearview mirror.
  • 00:48:57
    And I see her like, "Oh!"
  • 00:49:00
    Like that 20 bucks did to her what it did for me,
  • 00:49:03
    what it did for me way back when.
  • 00:49:05
    And I'll tell what, Lib and I, that was probably like the greatest date night we ever had.
  • 00:49:09
    Seriously, because we got -- kind of got into the blessed zone.
  • 00:49:13
    We were in the zone of where God is.
  • 00:49:16
    Now contrast that with something that happened a few months ago.
  • 00:49:20
    I'm getting new tires and there's a woman that's in the tire shop
  • 00:49:24
    and she's talking with the guy who's giving her prices.
  • 00:49:26
    I could tell that she's just like dripping off sweat.
  • 00:49:29
    She's stressed.
  • 00:49:30
    I can tell whatever's going on, she's not liking this conversation.
  • 00:49:34
    And I get my car and I start going off.
  • 00:49:37
    And it hits me, and I go, Oh, my gosh.
  • 00:49:40
    That was a woman who's got to buy a new tire
  • 00:49:42
    or a whole new set of tires
  • 00:49:43
    and she has zero ability to do that.
  • 00:49:47
    And I'm just thanking God that, God, thank you,
  • 00:49:49
    that you blessed me that I could buy her a tire right now.
  • 00:49:52
    And God, I'm sorry that I didn't.
  • 00:49:56
    I am sorry. I am sorry.
  • 00:49:58
    I am so blessed that I could buy four tires for somebody.
  • 00:50:04
    It feels like a million dollars to them
  • 00:50:06
    and you bless me enough that I could buy four tires.
  • 00:50:08
    And I just made a commitment before God, I said, God, I'm not --
  • 00:50:10
    Next time -- next time I'm going to get tires,
  • 00:50:13
    someone's getting free tires."
  • 00:50:14
    Sorry, I'm going to make it--
  • 00:50:15
    Now, you guys are going to start tracking me.
  • 00:50:17
    Like you're gonna be checking out my tread pattern right on my --
  • 00:50:21
    Oh, he's going to be pretty soon.
  • 00:50:22
    I've got to time it right.
  • 00:50:24
    No, seriously.
  • 00:50:25
    It's just something that I feel like I let God down on.
  • 00:50:30
    I didn't get blessed in.
  • 00:50:32
    I didn't feel the blessing.
  • 00:50:34
    I felt like I let something go.
  • 00:50:36
    And my hair, God was tapping on me and I didn't go the right way.
  • 00:50:42
    Luke 6:30, Jesus says:
  • 00:51:02
    We are born selfish, we are born sinners,
  • 00:51:06
    people who missed the mark,
  • 00:51:07
    people who do not have the heart of God.
  • 00:51:10
    And God wants to develop us,
  • 00:51:13
    because in developing us we become more like Him.
  • 00:51:16
    In developing us,
  • 00:51:17
    our heart gets to be the place that it should be.
  • 00:51:21
    And fourth and final, we need to develop a generous heart.
  • 00:51:26
    A generous --
  • 00:51:27
    excuse me, a grateful heart.
  • 00:51:28
    We need to develop a grateful heart.
  • 00:51:31
    And the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 15 again.
  • 00:51:34
    This is kind of the constitution, The Book of Deuteronomy
  • 00:51:36
    that God is giving His people who have come out of slavery.
  • 00:51:40
    They were in bondage to Pharaoh and God has brought them out of slavery.
  • 00:51:44
    Now He's establishing a new nation, a new culture, a new way of life.
  • 00:51:48
    So there's all these rules, all these rules that are happening here
  • 00:51:50
    and people like, "I don't know the Old Testement.".
  • 00:51:53
    Well, these are unique rules for a culture that God was birthing.
  • 00:51:56
    And many of these rules, many of these principles translate even to modern America
  • 00:52:01
    because we're still God's people if we're in a relationship with Him through Jesus.
  • 00:52:05
    And so we can look back there and see
  • 00:52:06
    the kind of culture God kept putting into their hearts
  • 00:52:09
    and seeing whether or not we want that culture in our hearts.
  • 00:52:13
    In Deuteronomy 15:15, God says:
  • 00:52:25
    And then he has commands.
  • 00:52:27
    But the basis of every instruction God has for us,
  • 00:52:31
    all of His commands, the basis is the awareness of, "I was once a slave,"
  • 00:52:37
    awareness of, "I have a lot to be grateful.".
  • 00:52:40
    The awareness of, "I can't believe what God has done for me.
  • 00:52:43
    I can't believe the blessings God has poured on me.".
  • 00:52:46
    All of us have them.
  • 00:52:47
    Let me jus tell you some of mine.
  • 00:52:48
    I can't believe the woman I'm married to.
  • 00:52:50
    It's amazing.
  • 00:52:51
    I got married -- when I got married it was kind of like,
  • 00:52:53
    "OK, I think now's the time to get married
  • 00:52:55
    and you're who I'm dating so I'll take you."
  • 00:52:59
    And Lib was a fine choice.
  • 00:53:00
    She was a fine choice, it worked out amazingly.
  • 00:53:02
    And I had no one -- no one ever told me,
  • 00:53:05
    and I'm telling you right now, those of you who are dating somebody.
  • 00:53:07
    I wish someone told me what I'm telling you right now though
  • 00:53:10
    I didn't even have to know it, God just blessed me with the right person.
  • 00:53:14
    The person you marry will double your impact or will cut it in half.
  • 00:53:20
    The person you marry will double your life or they will cut it in half.
  • 00:53:25
    And I married someone without even knowing that principle who doubled my life,
  • 00:53:29
    who doubled my impact, because the teammate we have.
  • 00:53:32
    And I think she would say the same thing about me to her.
  • 00:53:35
    I'm so grateful that, God, I didn't know what the heck I was doing.
  • 00:53:38
    I was in slavery to my impulses and God delivered me
  • 00:53:42
    and gave me the right person at the right time.
  • 00:53:45
    I'm grateful for the incredible DNA and immune system that he has given me.
  • 00:53:50
    Like, I rarely get sick, ever get sick.
  • 00:53:52
    If I get -- if I call in sick,
  • 00:53:53
    the staff starts to think that Armageddon is happening tomorrow,
  • 00:53:56
    because end of the world because Brian never gets sick.
  • 00:53:58
    It's not because I take care of myself.
  • 00:54:01
    God's blessed me with an amazing immune system.
  • 00:54:05
    God has blessed me with this church to be able to work here.
  • 00:54:08
    I'm amazed you guys would put up with me.
  • 00:54:10
    It's wonderful.
  • 00:54:11
    Thank you.
  • 00:54:12
    You allow Brian Tome to be Brian Tome.
  • 00:54:14
    You do. [applause]
  • 00:54:18
    God save me, friends.
  • 00:54:19
    You gotta hear me really clearly, the idea of saved,
  • 00:54:21
    I used to not like that term because people use it,
  • 00:54:24
    used to freak me out, "Did get saved?
  • 00:54:25
    Did you get saved, brother? You need to get saved."
  • 00:54:27
    And some weird people really like that term, but I want to be really, really clear:
  • 00:54:31
    I got saved. And I'm telling you, I got saved.
  • 00:54:34
    [applause].
  • 00:54:35
    I was on a greased pole to hell.
  • 00:54:38
    I had no redeemable qualities inside of me.
  • 00:54:41
    I was -- I'm telling you, this not at you.
  • 00:54:45
    I'm telling you, non-humorous, absolutely true.
  • 00:54:49
    I would not want to think where my life would be right now
  • 00:54:51
    if it weren't for Jesus.
  • 00:54:53
    I would not. And I hope you feel the same way.
  • 00:54:56
    I encourage you take an inventory of what God has blessed you with.
  • 00:55:01
    What has God done in you?
  • 00:55:02
    Because I promise you, you might not have all that you want to have,
  • 00:55:06
    but I promise you, you have more than you could have on your own
  • 00:55:10
    because God is a giver and He makes -- allows us to be grateful.
  • 00:55:16
    Last verse, Psalm 103:2:
  • 00:55:26
    We have to remember the benefits.
  • 00:55:28
    The fact that he is a giver.
  • 00:55:31
    That's His core, core identity.
  • 00:55:34
    He is a giver of forgiveness, of grace, of blessings,
  • 00:55:38
    of second chances, of truth, of principles.
  • 00:55:42
    He's a giver, friends, we can't forget that.
  • 00:55:46
    When we forget that we get outside the blessed zone.
  • 00:55:50
    Here's what I see right now at Crossroads the next few weeks.
  • 00:55:54
    Just as Willow Run, the plant that churned out B-24s,
  • 00:56:00
    took raw material and something different came out the other end,
  • 00:56:04
    I believe God is going to form you on His assembly line.
  • 00:56:06
    I believe He has been forming you.
  • 00:56:08
    I believe you have been in a construction process
  • 00:56:11
    where God has been working on you and doing something for you
  • 00:56:13
    for a long, long time and in you for a long, long time.
  • 00:56:16
    Long before you ever came to Crossroads or heard anything I said or anything else,
  • 00:56:20
    He's been developing you and processing you.
  • 00:56:22
    And I'm real excited because I believe this is now the step
  • 00:56:25
    in the developmental process where He wants to develop you in this way.
  • 00:56:30
    He wants to mold your heart.
  • 00:56:32
    He wants to develop your hearts for the purposes that He has for you.
  • 00:56:40
    Now we're gonna have a little reflection exercise.
  • 00:56:42
    So right now at all of our sites we're going to go ahead and do that right now.
  • 00:56:48
    What we're gonna do is we're going to spend the last few minutes
  • 00:56:54
    just in reflection of the goodness of God.
  • 00:57:00
    And as we sit in silence and reflect on His goodness,
  • 00:57:04
    maybe He might say something to us.
  • 00:57:06
    I don't know. I've no idea.
  • 00:57:08
    Maybe there's a thought that may come through our mind
  • 00:57:10
    that we think is a strange out there thought,
  • 00:57:13
    but maybe it's actually God speaking to us.
  • 00:57:17
    Maybe He just wants to develop us to just allow us
  • 00:57:19
    to sit uninterrupted for a couple of minutes.
  • 00:57:25
    And so that's what we're going to do right now to close out our time today.
  • 00:57:28
    God, I thank You for being a blesser.
  • 00:57:32
    You are a blesser of people, of unworthy people, including myself.
  • 00:57:38
    God, would You bless us by speaking to us?
  • 00:57:40
    Would You allow us to bless You by just giving You our thoughts,
  • 00:57:46
    giving You our mutterings of the things that we're thankful for.
  • 00:57:48
    God, hear us as we try to hear You.
  • 00:58:25
    Amen. Amen.
  • 00:58:28
    There, that wasn't so bad, was it?
  • 00:58:33
    I'm having fun.
  • 00:58:34
    I'm going to have a lot of fun in the weeks ahead.
  • 00:58:36
    I've been gearing up for this one for a while.
  • 00:58:39
    I don't think -- God doesn't want anything from you,
  • 00:58:42
    He wants something for you.
  • 00:58:44
    He wants something for you and I'll see you next week.
  • 00:58:49
    - How good is that?
  • 00:58:52
    I am already getting something great out of this series.
  • 00:58:56
    And I know that there's so much more to come.
  • 00:58:58
    And so you're not going to want to miss the rest of this series.
  • 00:59:02
    Make it a point to get to a location near you
  • 00:59:04
    or join us on Crossroads Anywhere.
  • 00:59:07
    And don't forget, keep meeting with your group
  • 00:59:09
    or maybe get into a group with some friends and do those weekend prompts,
  • 00:59:13
    subscribe to that chat in the Crossroads Anywhere App.
  • 00:59:17
    And we'll see you next week for week two of The Blessed Life.

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

Welcome to the Post-Weekend Push with Brian Tome.

  1. Time for your first Weekend Push. We’re searching for the blessed life. What does the word “blessed” mean to you? How do you know if you’re living the blessed life? (PS: Don’t steal my Disney-World-misters metaphor. You gotta find your own.)

  2. It’s storytime. The Bible says it’s “more blessed to give than receive.” Everyone share a time in your life when you were on the giving end of generosity. What impact did that make on your life?

  3. I said this weekend that I’d been a weenie boy for avoiding the topic of generosity. What is your experience with the mixing of church and money? Acknowledging the past, good or bad, frees us up so that we can move forward to a new place.

  4. God is a giver. Psalm 103 tells us to “forget not his benefits.” Make a list. What has God given you? Use this list to push you into new territory with him today. You can trust him.

  5. There are four hearts we can have toward generosity:

    A greedy heart (MINE!)

    A grieving heart (why did I give?)

    A generous heart (I’ll give because God says to)

    A grateful heart (I give because God has rescued me)

    Examine yourself honestly. Where do you fall right now? Where would you like to be 5 weeks from now?

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Oct 19, 2019 59 mins 54 sec

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