-
00:00:01
- What do Jolly
Ranchers, diamonds,
-
00:00:04
plants and people
have in common?
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00:00:07
Well, at first glance,
maybe nothing.
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00:00:09
But at second glance, we
see that all of those things
-
00:00:12
go through a little thing
I like to call process.
-
00:00:15
Today on Crossroads,
we're talking about
-
00:00:16
how process might
just be the link
-
00:00:18
to the joy that
we've been missing.
-
00:00:21
We're going to
look at Philippians 3
-
00:00:22
to see what a man
named Paul has to say
-
00:00:24
about pressing,
process and, poop,
-
00:00:27
you know, alliteration.
Let's get into it.
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00:00:31
- We all want to be happy.
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00:00:33
We spend our entire
lives chasing this feeling.
-
00:00:36
The truth is, happiness based on
-
00:00:38
our experiences in life, is
always going to be elusive
-
00:00:42
because the world will
continue to keep breaking.
-
00:00:45
Things won't go the
way we want them to.
-
00:00:48
Unexpected circumstances
-
00:00:49
will always get in
the way of our plans.
-
00:00:51
Paul wrote long
letters to his friends
-
00:00:53
while he was in
prison, giving advice
-
00:00:55
that included a powerful message
-
00:00:57
about the secret of contentment.
-
00:01:00
Today, we're going to
look at what Philippians
-
00:01:02
can teach us about finding joy
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00:01:05
in the midst of our messy
and challenging lives.
-
00:01:18
- Hey. Welcome to
Crossroads. I'm Hannah.
-
00:01:20
And I'm super glad
that you're here today.
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00:01:22
Lately around here, we've
been talking a lot about joy
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00:01:26
and mostly how to get it.
-
00:01:28
We've talked about
finding joy in Jesus,
-
00:01:30
understanding joy in humility.
-
00:01:31
And if you missed
any of those episodes,
-
00:01:33
you can catch up any
time at Crossroads.net
-
00:01:35
or in the Crossroads app.
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00:01:37
Now, the reason we've
been talking about joy
-
00:01:39
is because everybody
wants a piece of it.
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00:01:41
And while it might
seem a little bit elusive,
-
00:01:44
I think that we can find
joy where we least expect it.
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00:01:47
So I'm in this very
fancy dining room,
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00:01:50
which, by the way, is
in a very fancy building
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00:01:52
that is only for fancy people.
-
00:01:55
Not sure why I'm here,
but this fancy place
-
00:01:59
when most people get here
because it's a private place,
-
00:02:02
they might say to
themselves, "I have arrived.
-
00:02:06
I've made it.
-
00:02:07
This is a place where
only I can get in."
-
00:02:10
And the problem with
focusing on arriving
-
00:02:13
is that it sort of skips
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00:02:15
the very important
part of the process.
-
00:02:19
Now, when I was little,
there was a TV show
-
00:02:22
that I used to watch with
my mom called Unwrapped.
-
00:02:25
And this an old, old show.
-
00:02:27
But I used to
love, love this show
-
00:02:29
because it was
all about process.
-
00:02:30
See, what they did was
most of it was fascinating,
-
00:02:33
but some of it
was kind of boring.
-
00:02:35
The parts that I found
the most fascinating,
-
00:02:37
maybe because I was
a kid, but I don't think so,
-
00:02:40
is how they make candy,
hard candy in particular.
-
00:02:44
See, this little Jolly
Rancher right here
-
00:02:46
actually starts out as
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00:02:47
a big, giant, heavy,
like putty thing
-
00:02:51
that they stretch and
stretch and manipulate
-
00:02:53
and manipulate
and fill with sugar
-
00:02:55
until it looks like this.
-
00:02:58
See, I love that show because
-
00:03:00
it was not about the product.
-
00:03:02
It was about the
process of getting to it.
-
00:03:05
Now, most of us, when
we think about process,
-
00:03:07
if we're honest,
-
00:03:08
we probably don't
even like it that much
-
00:03:10
because we probably
think about processed foods
-
00:03:13
which are bad.
-
00:03:14
We think about processing
fees on Ticketmaster,
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00:03:16
which make us mad
because they're horrible.
-
00:03:19
We might even think
that process is just
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00:03:20
a nice word for suffering
or for hard times,
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00:03:24
and it's actually something
that we want to skip
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00:03:26
to get to the product.
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00:03:28
See no matter where
you fall on that spectrum,
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00:03:30
my hope is to reframe process
-
00:03:33
a little bit for you today.
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00:03:35
But to do that, I'm going
to have to introduce you
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00:03:37
to a Bible character
by the name of Paul.
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00:03:40
So before I read
any of Paul's words,
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00:03:43
let me give you some context
-
00:03:44
and let's back into
the story just a little bit.
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00:03:46
Paul is an apostle in the Bible
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00:03:48
who is this giant Jesus fan.
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00:03:50
And he's a big part of
bringing many others to Christ
-
00:03:53
in the early days
of Christianity.
-
00:03:55
But more than
anything, Paul and I,
-
00:03:57
Paul and you perhaps
have something in common.
-
00:04:00
See, Paul has a story.
-
00:04:03
A story that's not
always been easy.
-
00:04:05
That doesn't even include
him always following Jesus.
-
00:04:08
And in fact, it's one that
includes some moments
-
00:04:10
that might be a
little hard to imagine.
-
00:04:13
Paul was a big deal,
a big religious guy.
-
00:04:16
He calls himself the
Hebrew of Hebrews,
-
00:04:18
which just means
that he followed
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00:04:20
the scriptural law to a tee
-
00:04:23
and that he would
hurt anybody who didn't.
-
00:04:25
In fact, he persecuted many of
-
00:04:27
the early Christ followers
as often as he could
-
00:04:30
because he believed
it was his duty.
-
00:04:32
And so one day he goes blind
on a road called Damascus,
-
00:04:36
and God speaks to
him and talks to him
-
00:04:38
about following Him.
-
00:04:39
And from there he
starts following Jesus.
-
00:04:41
And then he starts to
tell others about Jesus,
-
00:04:44
and he becomes a
huge persecuted, still,
-
00:04:47
often beaten evangelists.
-
00:04:50
In fact, he's
attributed as the author
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00:04:51
to most of the New Testament.
-
00:04:54
And to many, he's
such a big deal
-
00:04:55
that they call him
the chief apostle.
-
00:04:58
Now Paul has a wild
story, but in Philippians 3,
-
00:05:01
he says something
very important.
-
00:05:04
He has a story that when
you think about this place,
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00:05:07
he could say the same
thing that people say
-
00:05:09
when they're in
this dining room.
-
00:05:10
He could say, "I've arrived."
-
00:05:12
But in fact, he says,
"I have not arrived.
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00:05:15
I am still in process,
and there is joy there."
-
00:05:19
That's my paraphrase.
-
00:05:20
But let me read you
what he actually says:
-
00:05:52
That's Philippians 3:12-14.
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00:05:54
And there's a lot
in that scripture
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00:05:56
that some of it maybe
you didn't understand.
-
00:05:58
So let's zoom out a little bit
-
00:05:59
so we can understand
what he's talking about.
-
00:06:02
This scripture comes
after Paul tells his life story.
-
00:06:05
He tells us how he
was this bigwig Hebrew.
-
00:06:08
And he talks about
how important he was.
-
00:06:11
But he says something
very important.
-
00:06:13
He says all of
that was worthless
-
00:06:16
compared to knowing Jesus.
-
00:06:18
All of it, in fact,
was so worthless,
-
00:06:20
it's worthless as poop.
-
00:06:22
And some of the early
version of the Bible say dung
-
00:06:25
because he's saying
it really means nothing
-
00:06:28
compared to the
joy of knowing Jesus
-
00:06:30
and experiencing his
freedom and living for heaven.
-
00:06:34
He tells us that he
desires the perfection
-
00:06:37
of righteousness, of being
and walking like Jesus.
-
00:06:40
And although he
hasn't reached it,
-
00:06:42
he's excited about
pressing towards the mark.
-
00:06:45
Or in other words, he's
excited about the process.
-
00:06:49
Paul says that with
a deep, fulfilling joy
-
00:06:52
that we all want.
-
00:06:54
See, he's not focusing
on just the arrival,
-
00:06:56
but the journey of knowing Jesus
-
00:06:59
and focusing on what lies ahead.
-
00:07:03
- My name is Rhonda Campbell.
-
00:07:05
I go to Crossroads West Side.
-
00:07:07
In October of 2020,
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00:07:09
I started having
really bad back pain.
-
00:07:11
I was immediately diagnosed
with peripheral neuropathy,
-
00:07:14
so I would have nerve
pain in my legs and my feet.
-
00:07:19
For me, it's more
of walking outside
-
00:07:21
on blacktop barefoot
and that heat,
-
00:07:23
that burn that you feel
on the bottom of your feet,
-
00:07:25
it's that for me,
but it's on the inside
-
00:07:28
in my feet and my legs.
-
00:07:30
They found
degenerative disc disease,
-
00:07:32
which explains
some of the back pain.
-
00:07:34
They couldn't figure
out why a 34 year old
-
00:07:37
who hasn't had any major trauma
-
00:07:40
would be going through this.
-
00:07:41
There were definitely
some times in the suffering
-
00:07:44
where I'm like, "God, I don't --
-
00:07:46
I don't understand
why this is happening.
-
00:07:49
I just need You to
come and heal me."
-
00:07:53
I was driving home
from work and I was --
-
00:07:55
I was in pain. I was
over it. I was mad.
-
00:07:58
I -- all the feels.
-
00:08:00
But I felt so much better
after just getting everything --
-
00:08:04
everything I thought, every
question, every everything.
-
00:08:08
I laid it all out to God.
-
00:08:10
At the end of of my rant,
-
00:08:11
it's like something
broke free from that.
-
00:08:14
When you truly surrender
something to God,
-
00:08:16
joy can be in its place.
-
00:08:18
Happiness is dependent
upon outside things,
-
00:08:21
whereas God's joy, if it's
dependent on anything,
-
00:08:27
I would say it's
obedience and surrender.
-
00:08:31
In that pain, even if I'm
curling up and crying,
-
00:08:35
I know one day God's
going to be there.
-
00:08:38
This -- He's going to heal it.
-
00:08:40
And even if it's still
actively going on, you know,
-
00:08:43
I'm still going to
doctors appointments.
-
00:08:45
They still run
tests every so often
-
00:08:48
just to figure things out.
-
00:08:49
It's like, you know
what? I don't really care.
-
00:08:52
And when you do find
a good, solid diagnosis,
-
00:08:54
what you really
think it is this time,
-
00:08:57
I'll remember that
because I know
-
00:08:59
that's what God's
going to heal me from..
-
00:09:01
It's like I finally
surrendered to God
-
00:09:03
and because of that,
He was able to in turn,
-
00:09:07
like, reward me with joy.
-
00:09:09
Joy from the Lord
is is not fleeting.
-
00:09:12
That stays with you.
-
00:09:15
- Hey, everyone. I'm Kyle.
- And I'm Andy.
-
00:09:17
- Just wanted to say, if
you're enjoying this episode,
-
00:09:19
you want more people
to hear messages like this
-
00:09:21
that help them connect to Jesus,
-
00:09:22
your giving will go a long way
-
00:09:24
in helping make that happen.
-
00:09:25
- Yeah, it's super easy.
-
00:09:27
It's as simple as opening
up your Crossroads app.
-
00:09:29
There's the little profile icon
-
00:09:31
down the lower
right hand corner.
-
00:09:32
You can press that
-
00:09:33
and then the little gear
up here for settings,
-
00:09:35
bam, right there in the middle,
-
00:09:37
you can give and support
episodes just like this one.
-
00:09:39
- Super easy.
- Super easy.
-
00:09:41
All right. Let's get
back to the message.
-
00:09:47
- Now, if you're watching
this, I'm not assuming
-
00:09:49
that it means you
automatically know Jesus
-
00:09:51
and are following Him.
-
00:09:52
And if that's you, I'm
super glad you're here.
-
00:09:54
You're in the right
place because
-
00:09:56
you might just be on the
brink of something very joyful.
-
00:10:00
In fact, no matter where we are
-
00:10:01
in this Jesus
journey, we all are,
-
00:10:04
because Paul gives us the
keys to unlocking joy daily,
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00:10:08
not just as a one
time destination.
-
00:10:11
And that is to enjoy the
journey of following Jesus,
-
00:10:16
the process of
becoming more like Him,
-
00:10:18
which some people
call righteousness,
-
00:10:20
and pressing towards the mark
-
00:10:22
while also looking
forward to what lies ahead,
-
00:10:25
which is heaven, which is
the ultimate time with Jesus.
-
00:10:29
Okay, maybe what I just
said sounded a bit confusing,
-
00:10:31
but here's a very
tangible example.
-
00:10:33
Now, when a bride is
walking down the aisle,
-
00:10:37
a bride normally
walks with their father
-
00:10:39
or maybe a special
person in their life.
-
00:10:42
But the entire time
they're looking ahead
-
00:10:45
to the prize as waiting for them
-
00:10:47
at the end of the aisle.
-
00:10:48
It's the same with us.
-
00:10:49
See, Paul is saying
that joy is when
-
00:10:52
we both savor
our walk with Jesus
-
00:10:55
and we relish with anticipation
the end goal of heaven.
-
00:11:00
Now, here is where the caveat
-
00:11:01
and the word of caution come.
-
00:11:03
See this life, this
is not always easy.
-
00:11:06
And there are some very hard
-
00:11:08
and maybe even strenuous moments
-
00:11:10
of the process called life.
-
00:11:11
And those things can
seem anything but joyful.
-
00:11:15
But the joy is not
that you're in pain
-
00:11:18
or struggling or
trying to ignore
-
00:11:20
that you're in
pain or struggling,
-
00:11:22
but it's that you don't
have to do it alone.
-
00:11:25
That when you
choose to follow Jesus,
-
00:11:28
He's actually
right there with you
-
00:11:29
every step of the way.
-
00:11:31
And what He offers in
this walk with Him is grace,
-
00:11:36
it's freedom, it's rest,
and yes, of course, joy.
-
00:11:42
See, but most of us
fall on the spectrum
-
00:11:44
that actually prevents
us from finding joy
-
00:11:46
in the process or
even having joy at all.
-
00:11:49
See, there's two
ends of the spectrum
-
00:11:51
that Paul gives
us in Philippians 3.
-
00:11:53
Some people on one
side of the spectrum,
-
00:11:54
they go through
life thinking that
-
00:11:56
they can avoid
process and arrive
-
00:11:59
if they just do
everything right.
-
00:12:00
They'll think that life
is going to be breezy
-
00:12:02
if they simply follow the rules.
-
00:12:04
So Paul would
have said this as if
-
00:12:06
they're the Hebrew of Hebrews,
-
00:12:07
if they just are
a good Christian
-
00:12:09
and stick to the script,
-
00:12:10
then everything's
going to be peachy.
-
00:12:12
Now, on the other
end of the spectrum,
-
00:12:15
there are people who
Paul says that God,
-
00:12:17
their god is their bellies,
-
00:12:19
which just means that
they do whatever feels good
-
00:12:21
and right in the moment.
-
00:12:22
They aren't following
anything like Jesus.
-
00:12:25
They just follow themselves.
-
00:12:27
See, the problem with those
two ends of the spectrum
-
00:12:30
is that there's really no
joy on either side of them.
-
00:12:33
The real pleasure
is in the middle,
-
00:12:35
is in becoming more like
Jesus every step of the way,
-
00:12:39
little by little, and actually
getting to know Him
-
00:12:42
and finding out things about
Him that you never knew.
-
00:12:46
See, choosing to walk
with Jesus can be joyful
-
00:12:48
and being shaped
by His Word, the Bible
-
00:12:51
and His character, it's not
only what He takes pleasure in,
-
00:12:55
but it's also where He
wants us to find pleasure.
-
00:12:58
Now, it sounds cliche,
but the end goal of heaven
-
00:13:02
is really not
nearly as important
-
00:13:04
as the joyful process itself
of getting to know Jesus.
-
00:13:08
See, I'll explain it to you.
-
00:13:10
I would never know
Jesus to be a healer
-
00:13:13
if I never had to go through
the process of being broken.
-
00:13:16
I would never know
Jesus to be a helper
-
00:13:19
if I never actually needed help.
-
00:13:21
I would never know
Jesus to be a provider
-
00:13:25
unless there were actually
times where I didn't have.
-
00:13:27
And you can make
that sentence your own.
-
00:13:29
I bet you get the picture.
-
00:13:31
See, even though I would
rather not be in need,
-
00:13:33
I would rather not be sick,
-
00:13:34
I would rather not
need help at all.
-
00:13:36
It's actually
brought me more joy
-
00:13:38
to be in those processes because
-
00:13:40
I get to know Jesus
in a new capacity.
-
00:13:44
Growing up, I would
always hear the phrase
-
00:13:46
Heaven is my home.
-
00:13:48
Now, I can only imagine what
kind of joy heaven will bring.
-
00:13:52
But I believe that God
wants us to have joy
-
00:13:54
right here on Earth.
-
00:13:56
And I believe that
God wants that for you,
-
00:13:58
you watching this right now.
-
00:13:59
That lets me know and
it leads me to believe
-
00:14:03
that we can experience joy
while we're still in process.
-
00:14:06
Maybe we haven't made it.
-
00:14:08
Maybe we're not
even at the decision
-
00:14:09
where we want
to follow Jesus yet.
-
00:14:11
Maybe there are
days where we're like,
-
00:14:13
"I'm not sure about
this following Jesus thing
-
00:14:15
because it feels
really difficult."
-
00:14:17
I want to encourage you
that it's that type of process
-
00:14:20
that when we get
closer to Jesus,
-
00:14:22
when we learn more about
Him, that brings us joy.
-
00:14:25
See, just as Paul makes clear
-
00:14:27
that none of us have
arrived, like this place,
-
00:14:31
and we won't until
we get to heaven.
-
00:14:33
He makes that clear, but he says
-
00:14:36
the goal is not
actually the end point.
-
00:14:38
It's the journey.
-
00:14:39
It's the pressing that
it takes to get there.
-
00:14:42
So, maybe you haven't even begun
-
00:14:44
this journey with God yet.
-
00:14:45
You're just here because
you want to find out
-
00:14:47
maybe what you think about Him.
-
00:14:49
Maybe you're watching this
-
00:14:50
and you've been following
Him for a very long time
-
00:14:53
and you haven't felt
the joy of following Him
-
00:14:56
in a really long time.
-
00:14:58
And to you I say,
you're actually not alone.
-
00:15:01
In Psalms 51:2 it says:
-
00:15:06
The writer says that
because sometimes
-
00:15:08
this thing right here,
this following Jesus thing,
-
00:15:11
it doesn't feel joyful.
-
00:15:13
But there is a
process of salvation,
-
00:15:16
the process of righteousness.
-
00:15:18
It can be joyful.
-
00:15:19
And I believe God wanted
somebody to hear that today,
-
00:15:22
that joy can be
found in the process.
-
00:15:25
And even though it isn't
perfection, it isn't arriving,
-
00:15:28
getting to know Jesus
in our imperfection,
-
00:15:31
coming to Him while
we're still not perfect,
-
00:15:34
it's still so much better.
-
00:15:36
It's still so much more worth it
-
00:15:38
than any superficial happiness.
-
00:15:41
Right now, we're about
to go into a time of music
-
00:15:43
and to a time of worship,
-
00:15:45
and there's this brand
new Crossroads music song
-
00:15:47
that says I will Remember.
-
00:15:49
And it's describing a time
of, well, remembrance,
-
00:15:53
a time of remembering
God's faithfulness
-
00:15:55
and how He's delivered.
-
00:15:56
And maybe you've never
experienced that before.
-
00:15:59
You don't even know
what faithfulness is,
-
00:16:01
you're not sure
what deliverance is.
-
00:16:02
But you can still
use this time to reflect
-
00:16:05
on what Jesus has been to you
-
00:16:07
and let that be
the reminder of joy.
-
00:16:10
Or you can use
this time to tell God
-
00:16:12
what you need Him to be for you.
-
00:16:14
I'm going to pray
for us really quick,
-
00:16:16
and no matter where you are
-
00:16:17
in the journey of knowing Jesus,
-
00:16:19
I want you to
realize that our gain
-
00:16:21
is in knowing Christ
and who He is to us.
-
00:16:24
Our joy is actually
in the process.
-
00:16:28
Jesus, thank you
so much for everyone
-
00:16:30
who's watching this, whether
they've been following You
-
00:16:32
for a really long time
-
00:16:34
or whether they
are just here today
-
00:16:35
wanting to get to know
You for the first time.
-
00:16:38
Lord, for everyone watching,
-
00:16:40
there is joy in getting
to know you daily
-
00:16:42
through prayer and
through reading Your Word
-
00:16:45
and through asking
you questions even.
-
00:16:47
I prayed that you
would expose that joy
-
00:16:50
to everyone
watching if they ask,
-
00:16:52
that You would give them
exactly what they need,
-
00:16:54
that they would use
this time to remember
-
00:16:57
all the ways that
You've provided joy,
-
00:16:59
all the ways that even
throughout process
-
00:17:02
and not being perfect,
You have still provided joy.
-
00:17:06
Let that be our song today.
In Jesus's name. Amen.
-
00:20:38
- Hey, we hope you
enjoy the message today
-
00:20:40
and hopefully you were
able to get something
-
00:20:41
out of us going deeper
into the process that is joy
-
00:20:44
and the process that
is following Jesus.
-
00:20:46
- It's helpful to hear,
like, the process.
-
00:20:48
I think about in my, I
don't know, connotations,
-
00:20:50
I think of it as like
you're just born with joy.
-
00:20:53
Oh, no, it's a process.
-
00:20:54
That gives me some hope for it.
-
00:20:55
Hey, by the way, this
is part of an initiative
-
00:20:58
our whole church has been doing
-
00:20:59
called the Bible Challenge.
-
00:21:01
- Yeah, we as a community
are in the Crossroads app
-
00:21:04
all through the week, reading
-
00:21:06
and diving deeper into
the book of Philippians.
-
00:21:08
I'm in there. Brian's in there.
-
00:21:09
You are in there as well, right?
-
00:21:10
- Yeah. I am, I'm trying
to do it three times a week.
-
00:21:13
Make it a habit for me.
-
00:21:14
All you have to do,
if you want to join us,
-
00:21:16
is you just download the
app and you get started.
-
00:21:18
Or hey, maybe you download
the app a long time ago,
-
00:21:20
go ahead and update that
thing. It's way better now.
-
00:21:22
- Hey, that's all
we've got today.
-
00:21:24
We'll see you next
time on Crossroads.
-
00:21:26
- So today we're talking
about the core characteristics
-
00:21:30
of contentment that lead to joy.
-
00:21:35
- Your burnout is
not invisible to God.
-
00:21:39
You are not designed
to live on empty, worn out
-
00:21:42
and running on fumes.
-
00:21:43
He sees all your
dry, empty places
-
00:21:46
and wants to
transform your desert
-
00:21:48
into a place of
abundance, well watered
-
00:21:51
and overflowing with
His Spirit alive in you.
-
00:21:55
At Woman Camp you will
experience fresh teaching,
-
00:21:58
guided solitude, a dynamic
worship experience,
-
00:22:02
a dedicated prayer team,
-
00:22:04
time to wander on 400
acres of beautiful land
-
00:22:07
overlooking the Ohio River,
-
00:22:09
opportunities for
fun and adventure
-
00:22:11
with a community of
women that will help you
-
00:22:13
set up your tent, make
a fire, share stories,
-
00:22:17
and laugh and cry with
you in equal measure.
-
00:22:21
Don't miss out on a
chance to reset and restore.
-
00:22:25
God wants you to be filled.