1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:04,600 Oh, crossing family. I love you. 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,520 I hope you guys are on the other side of all of your Christmases 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:13,880 and you had a good one. I have one more Christmas to go, 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,560 and then I am done. I'm done opening gifts. 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,200 I'm done buying gifts. I'm done and I am so glad that 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:26,440 you guys are here with us today. I want to say a special shout 7 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:28,240 out to those of you who are new to The Crossing. 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,800 Take advantage of the QR code on the seat in front of you and get 9 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,880 connected or take advantage of the information that we have at 10 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,160 the info bar out in our lobbies. Well, one of the things that 11 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:41,160 kind of happens around Christmas, maybe you guys have 12 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:44,560 experienced this is you end up spending time at Grandma's house 13 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:49,200 or grandpa's house and you start going through old pictures and 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,800 people start, you know, sending you pictures of, hey, this is 15 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:53,920 what we saw. I got a couple pictures sent to 16 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,120 me and then you're like, Oh my goodness, I looked way better, 17 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:01,640 right? You see yourself 5/10/15, some 18 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:03,840 of you, 50 years ago, did they have cameras? 19 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,040 50 years ago, it was like that. I get it. 20 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,200 It's cool. Like, your horse got freaked out 21 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,760 when they took the picture. Anyhow, when you're doing that, 22 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,200 you look at the picture and you kind of see when you were young, 23 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,680 like, which kid you have looks the most like you. 24 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:23,640 You find out just how poor your parents were when you were 25 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,040 growing up. How many of you had that 26 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:26,840 experience? Like, Oh my goodness, how did we 27 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,880 live? You remember what it was like 28 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:31,040 when you had a full head of hair. 29 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,320 Ladies, right. It's just one of those things 30 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:35,760 you're you're taking a look at pictures and you're going, wow, 31 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:42,480 this is kind of heartwarming and a little depressing, right, when 32 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:43,920 you look at old pictures of yourself. 33 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,440 To give you some context, I I brought some pictures of me. 34 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:54,480 OK, so here's this one. Look how big my ears are. 35 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,040 And I hear that ears never stop growing. 36 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,920 And I have huge ears already in like 20 years. 37 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,240 I'm just going to be boots and earlobes. 38 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:05,640 That's where we're going to be at. 39 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,720 OK, here's the next one. OK, yeah, that's me in high 40 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,360 school. I put those clothes back on so I 41 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,600 could get my picture taken for prom because I took a lot of 42 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,680 clothes off on the dance floor in high school. 43 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,560 Wasn't good. OK, here's the next one. 44 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,160 This is when I went through the earrings with the long hair face 45 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,800 and I got a couple speeding tickets that I had to get taken 46 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,200 care of, which is why I lost all my cool factor. 47 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:31,880 Maybe. Anyhow, I miss him. 48 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:33,600 That's the best I've ever looked. 49 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,120 OK, here's the next picture. This is what it looks like when 50 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:38,720 I don't have any product in my hair. 51 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,400 OK, if you're guys like, man, Clayton is a bit of a prima 52 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,240 Donna. It's because I look homeless 53 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,160 when I don't have product in my hair. 54 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,200 OK, here's the next picture. This is during COVID when I had 55 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,680 to get my government maid ID. If you guys remember that I, you 56 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,440 know, I look like I'm like, this is what I want my prison picture 57 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:01,280 to look like. OK, LEXIS, I I don't look well. 58 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,560 I'll be honest with you. I haven't seen the sun. 59 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,400 OK, OK, here's the next picture. OK, this is funny. 60 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:10,840 That's not my wife. That's my best friend's wife. 61 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,320 When they got engaged, my gift to him was. 62 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,960 I went and took engagement pictures with his fiancee. 63 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,240 Seriously, I got another one. So that way he would have a 64 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,040 picture of his two favorite people on his desk at work. 65 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,600 So I was like, congratulations. And I took his fiancee out and 66 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:33,880 got engagement pictures with her. 67 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:35,600 Don't be my friend. It's dangerous. 68 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,240 OK, here's the next one. This is when we, Jennifer and I 69 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,560 just got married. This is back in Soul Patch days. 70 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:44,880 I looked great. Kennedy, look young Jennifer's 71 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,400 still a fox. OK, OK, here's the next one. 72 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,520 Here's night to shine. You guys might wonder, why do I 73 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,000 have a beard now? It's to hide this this thing 74 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,600 right there that I believe. And I I don't want to say 75 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,560 something that's wrong. I think that's supposed to be a 76 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,400 neck. OK, here's what happens when you 77 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,920 look back. Some of it's heartwarming and 78 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,480 some of it's depressing, and we're going to spend some time 79 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,519 today as a church looking back at so many things that we have 80 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:19,680 to be thankful for. And at the same time, some of 81 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,240 the things that we're going to be looking back at are going to 82 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,920 be a little depressing. And to those of you who are 83 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,480 watching online, and to those of you who are part of our online 84 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,360 community, I am incredibly thankful that we get the 85 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,400 opportunity to be a part of this church with you. 86 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,240 And my hope and my prayer is that God is going to use us in 87 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,520 this upcoming year to do a great and mighty thing. 88 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:43,480 And to those of you who are joining us for the first time, I 89 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,520 already kind of told you to take advantage of the QR code or the 90 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:47,920 info bar. But I just want to say something 91 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,520 at the very front end, because some of you might be visiting us 92 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,680 after spending time with us on Christmas Eve in order for you 93 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,200 to get the great, the best experience, not just at our 94 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,680 church but also in life, it is critical that you get connected. 95 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,160 I'm actually going to be talking a little bit more about that in 96 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,120 later on in the message. And if you're here and you're 97 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,480 bringing people to church with you, I want you to make it a 98 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,720 priority not just to bring them to church with you, but to help 99 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,560 them get connected to people. So that way people miss them 100 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,640 when they're gone. People are there for them when 101 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,040 they're hurting and they're struggling. 102 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,320 And if you're not one to talk to people just yet, take advantage 103 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:23,480 of the QR code that's on the seat in front of you. 104 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:26,160 So that way, it's at least a way for you to start that 105 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,000 conversation. Well, you've seen horrible 106 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,240 pictures of me and what I used to look like. 107 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,280 And golly, it's not going to look, you know, 20 years, I 108 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,400 don't want to see me, OK, So stop taking pictures of me 109 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:37,440 today. I don't even want to know what I 110 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,160 used to look like. But this past year at our 111 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,400 church, there were so many incredible moments of ministry 112 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,040 that happened because you supported them, you created 113 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,560 them, you funded them, you birthed them into reality. 114 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,840 We had one of our best years ever on social media as a 115 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:57,600 church. And if you're wanting to kind of 116 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:59,320 stay connected with certain things that we do here at our 117 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,400 church, we are one crossing on all of these places. 118 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,280 Facebook, Instagram, we have an app, which is, you know, I just 119 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:09,800 forgot about that. You can follow all the old 120 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:11,440 sermons on YouTube. You can share them with 121 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,440 somebody. If you hear somebody going 122 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,160 through something like, oh, you might want to pay attention to 123 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,680 this or Spotify. We need to figure out how to do 124 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,520 Apple Music. But I'm just going to tell you, 125 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,040 Spotify is a game changer. You can hop on there. 126 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:24,640 Follow us. Biscuit, who works at our 127 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,320 church, makes epic playlists. I've been devouring our weeds in 128 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,600 my garden playlist, but they make playlists for all kinds of 129 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,480 stuff, and it's just a way for you to stay connected with God 130 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,040 and not fill your mind with bad stuff. 131 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:38,440 All week. There's some guys working at my 132 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,120 house and they were just listening to worship music while 133 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,440 they were doing work. And while you're going about 134 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:45,480 your day, put your air pods in so you don't have to hear your 135 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,200 wife and just just just spend time with the Lord, right? 136 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:49,880 That was for you fellas. OK? 137 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,560 Each week you hear me talk to our online community. 138 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:54,840 This is going to blow you guys away. 139 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,400 This is what online attendance at our churches look like since 140 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,040 2019. Online now I want you to notice 141 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:08,280 this 200,200 thousand, 103,200 and 9213 thousand. 142 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:17,640 You know what surprised me about this is you'll remember that 143 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:23,920 this was the year our church was basically all online and we have 144 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,240 more people watching us online today than we did during the 145 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,920 pandemic. That's why you see us making 146 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,800 some huge moves in the area of our online experience is because 147 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,600 we're trying to do our best to make sure that they have a great 148 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,680 experience. And you guys get to see that 149 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,160 those of you who are at our locations before the service 150 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,520 starts, you're actually joining with our online audience in what 151 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:48,640 you see broadcast in your auditorium. 152 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,520 And that's why we've changed and upgraded this online experience 153 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:54,480 because we have so many people. In fact, there are more people 154 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,360 that watch online than any of our other locations. 155 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,440 It's our largest community. But to those of you who are 156 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:03,560 online, let me say a couple things to you. 157 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:09,920 Online is at its best at its best when you're using it to 158 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,240 stay connected, when dealing with sickness and travel and 159 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,120 vacation. Online is at its best when you 160 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,280 or a friend are using it to check out a church before you 161 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,320 attend in person when you move to a new community. 162 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:31,280 However, online is at its worst when you use it to avoid weekend 163 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,480 services and being connected to community. 164 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:39,000 If you live in a community where it's too far for you to attend 165 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,960 or to drive to attend a crossing location, I want you to know we 166 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:47,360 will work with you to help you find a great church in your 167 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,360 area. You probably already know this, 168 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:56,400 but there are better preachers, better pastors out there, and 169 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:01,080 you and your family will be blessed by God inside of His 170 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,440 plan for community. Watching me and Jerry online is 171 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,960 not the very best way for you to grow spiritually in my 172 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,840 experience as a pastor. Here's what I've noticed is that 173 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,040 those who begin to neglect physically gathering in the 174 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:20,120 assembly end up growing cold in their faith and weak in their 175 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,440 walk. Here's what I mean by that. 176 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,560 There's less evangelism, less personal growth, less serving, 177 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:30,040 less caring for others, less meeting, less meeting of the 178 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,880 needs of others, and less discipleship. 179 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:36,480 And what appears to me, don't hate me, OK? 180 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,520 It appears to me that they end up being lulled into spiritual 181 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:44,840 complacency and give up participation in God's glorious 182 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,360 mission. If you're going Clayton, forget 183 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,320 you. I'm just going to keep watching 184 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:50,960 online. At the very least, you should 185 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,040 find a way to serve, and the way you could serve is by joining 186 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,960 the team of our chat hosts to make the experience better for 187 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:58,600 those who are wanting to participate. 188 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,840 In fact, there's a group of people in Peoria, IL that do 189 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:04,000 just that. They gather together and they 190 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,600 participate as chat hosts for all of you who are watching 191 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,920 online. And if you want to simply serve, 192 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:11,480 just type it in the chat. Hey, I'd like to serve and we 193 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,640 will connect with you and help you become a contributor instead 194 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,720 of just being a consumer. Then another thing we did this 195 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:20,560 past year is we launched Marriage Retreats. 196 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:21,840 You guys heard us talk about those. 197 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:24,480 Jerry Nelson done an awesome job, we had seven marriage 198 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:30,160 retreats, 94 couples attended, and we have so much more work to 199 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:31,880 do here. One of the top five things that 200 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,040 people say that they are wrestling with have anxiety over 201 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,840 worry stressed out about is what their marriage. 202 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:44,360 Marriages are struggling and we want to come alongside people 203 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,600 and be a part of the solution. We have three scheduled for the 204 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,840 spring and a fourth one planned if we go into overflow and then 205 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,400 we'll put a whole roster together in the fall. 206 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,840 Then we had crossing camp as a church and crossing camp was 207 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,160 epic. In fact, this is what was 208 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,400 happening at crossing camp. You'll notice a bit of a low 209 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:07,040 spot there. In 2020 we didn't get to have as 210 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:08,880 much camp as we were hoping to have. 211 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,720 But this past year, after having an all time record last year we 212 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:17,320 had another all time record this year, 13% increase. 213 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:24,720 Now here's the thing that will blow you away. 521 of those 1300 214 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:29,880 and 1300 and 79521 of them were campers who attended for the 215 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:35,400 very first time. 37% of the kids who went to crossing camp this 216 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:40,800 year had never been before and to those of you who participated 217 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,280 in funding scholarships, you helped make that a reality. 218 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:48,240 We had women's conference this year where the ladies at Yeah, 219 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,760 proud of you ladies they still had. 220 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,240 They still pulled off 1 during a during COVID. 221 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:59,760 Lucky they set a monster record last year and then this year 222 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,840 check out what happened. We set another all time record 223 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,480 Ladies Barna Research in partnership with the Lutheran. 224 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,640 Our ministries recently did a survey and this is what they 225 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:18,600 found out about moms is that moms are seen as confidence 226 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:25,760 providers of support and the drivers of faith formation. 227 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,640 That's why Rise is so important, is we're equipping the women in 228 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:34,920 our church because more often than not, your kids are going to 229 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:40,440 come to you when it comes to the formation of their faith. 230 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,600 Which means we need to make sure that the women in our church are 231 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,280 equipped with everything they need to help be a part of that 232 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,280 process. So ladies, can't wait to see 233 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:51,840 what we do. This year we got problems 234 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,720 because we can only fit 1200 people in 40 8th St. so we're 235 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:57,560 going to have to figure out where we're how we're. 236 00:12:57,720 --> 00:12:59,480 Who knows? It'll be a mess, but it's the 237 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:00,760 kind of mess that we want, right? 238 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:02,880 Then we talk about men's conference. 239 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,800 Men's conference is also on a pretty significant journey. 240 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,200 What do we got here for Uncommon? 241 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,760 We got blasted during COVID. Then this year we set an all 242 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:13,360 time record. We didn't beat the women. 243 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,080 And don't you think my wife doesn't let me forget it. 244 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:18,920 The women are like, yeah, well, we figured, OK, well, yeah, 245 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:23,160 whatever. But why is this matter? 246 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:28,240 While women are critical to the formation of a faith, men are 247 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,640 critical to the beginning of a faith. 248 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:36,960 When a kid is the first one in a family to come to faith 3.5% of 249 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:39,200 the time, the rest of the household follows. 250 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,600 So if a kid starts their faith 1st 3.5% of the time, the rest 251 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:49,400 of the family follows. When a mom comes to faith 1st 252 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:54,560 17% of the time, the rest of the family follows. 253 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:01,920 But when a man comes to faith first in the home, 93% of the 254 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,640 time the rest of the family follows. 255 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:10,320 Pay attention. Men are critical to starting the 256 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,040 faith. Women are critical to the 257 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:18,360 formation of the faith, which is why we do our conferences all 258 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,640 the time. But God's been doing something 259 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,320 else. Through our men's conference in 260 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,800 2022, we had a church reach out to us and say, Hey, would you 261 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,640 help us to do an uncommon conference at our church? 262 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,720 So in 2022 we got up early in the morning, we flew to Conway, 263 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:39,840 SC to Ekklesia Christian Church and we hosted an uncommon there. 264 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,320 Then last year we had a bunch of other churches call us up and we 265 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,200 had seven uncommon conferences across the country. 266 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,360 We had them in Quincy, IL, Conway, SC, Loveland, OH, 267 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,000 Manhattan, KS, Phoenix, AZ and Washington IN. 268 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,560 And in fact, we held four men's conferences in eight days. 269 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,120 It was busy. And then while that was 270 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,280 happening, more churches called us up and said, would you come 271 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,720 and bless us and help us have a men's conference in our 272 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,800 neighborhood. And so this upcoming year we are 273 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,040 going to have 12 men's conferences. 274 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,440 I'm thinking by 20-30 we're going to hit all 50 States and 275 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,440 we're able to do that because of your generosity. 276 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,840 We don't charge these churches. We pay it on our own dime to 277 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,280 show up to help them be able to have a men's conference in their 278 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:29,960 own backyard. And some of these churches are 279 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,520 small churches that are going, we don't have the resources to 280 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,640 be able to reach all the men in our community and we say how can 281 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:37,720 we help? And they can't get over the fact 282 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,160 that there's a church that's not trying to sell them something 283 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,120 that's got a back end deal on the other side. 284 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,840 We just go, how can we help? And we have a team of people at 285 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,400 our church who just work behind the scenes to help make those 286 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,840 things a reality. Then last year, we launched a 287 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,480 new initiative called In Your Corner Events. 288 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,200 You've seen a lot of these. It began with the 12 days of 289 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:05,240 service and 2485 of you served to help make that a reality. 290 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:11,360 But check this out. 844 of you. This was your first time joining 291 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,640 The Crossing to make a difference and be in the corner 292 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,640 of our communities. Then we did the frigid 5K, which 293 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,520 we're going to do again this year, and we had 754 people show 294 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,160 up for our first ever 5K, and we were able to take the revenue 295 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:26,200 from that. We took $10,000. 296 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,560 We divide it in half, and we sent $5000 to two different 297 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:34,280 organizations that specialize in rehabilitating those who have 298 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,400 been in sex trafficking and rescuing those who have been in 299 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,520 sex trafficking. And we think there's no greater 300 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:46,520 'cause that we can be a part of. Then we did car care, where we 301 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,040 brought in cars from anybody who was in the Foster and adoptive 302 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,880 system, anybody who's a single mom or a single parent, those 303 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:55,480 who are connected to our military. 304 00:16:55,640 --> 00:17:00,720 And 694 of you partnered with us and we did 150 no. 305 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,839 And 152 of you were for the very first time, serving alongside of 306 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:08,160 our church. And we ended up cleaning 190 307 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:11,440 cars. And boy, I was tired when we got 308 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,680 done and we did that all across all eleven of our locations. 309 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:16,319 Then we're like, this isn't enough. 310 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:17,720 We should do more for our communities. 311 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,359 And so we did for education. And on for education, we blessed 312 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,280 702 educators in 260 school buildings. 313 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,040 Think about this. I didn't know our church was big 314 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,720 enough to hit that there were actually 260 school buildings. 315 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,520 But apparently there's a lot of school buildings out there, and 316 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,680 we were in 260 of them. And you might be asking 317 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:43,040 yourself, why does The Crossing do all of these things? 318 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:48,000 Well, it's because for years, Jerry and Allison put forth a 319 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,440 set of core values that governed as a special set of statements 320 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,520 that dictated how we preach our sermons and deploy our resources 321 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,240 and engage in our initiatives. For some of you, this is brand 322 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,160 new information. It'll be good for you to kind of 323 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,280 understand the heart of this church. 324 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,360 But for others of you, you've heard this many, many times 325 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,760 before. But this is a great opportunity 326 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,960 for you to reflect and maybe re engage. 327 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,920 So these core values that kind of guide our church are these 328 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,960 one we're going to be outward. We will do whatever it takes to 329 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:21,240 reach people who are far from Jesus here at the crossing. 330 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:25,880 We unapologetically prioritize those we are trying to reach 331 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:27,720 over those we are trying to keep. 332 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:33,520 There are a lot of people at a lot of other churches that found 333 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,360 Jesus here and ended up going to church someplace else. 334 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:39,280 And you know what? God bless them, I'm glad that 335 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:41,760 they found a place that they're happy and I can't wait to hang 336 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,560 out with them in heaven. But this church is 337 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,520 unapologetically for your friend, for your family member 338 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,520 who doesn't know Jesus yet. So sometimes when you don't like 339 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:58,360 what we say or how we say it and what we do and how we do it, and 340 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:01,800 you're like, is this guy doing the same invitation again? 341 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:07,080 Yep. And if you're mad, don't care. 342 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,400 Because we unapologetically are rooting for people who are going 343 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,800 to hell to find Jesus. We are about filling the empty 344 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,520 seats around, not by compromising on the gospel, 345 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:21,400 sending a weak message or something. 346 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,440 That's not true. We're not trying to entertain 347 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,680 people into heaven, but we believe that God is real, Jesus 348 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,920 is alive, the Bible is true, the cross is transformative and hell 349 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,400 is hot, and we're going to do something about it. 350 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:38,480 And when that frustrates you, find another place. 351 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:46,080 I mean it because I don't want to compromise our mission for a 352 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,920 person who already knows. Jesus, you're like, oh, we 353 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:54,200 should have come in two weeks. OK, next one downward. 354 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,640 We will gladly give up the things we love for a future 355 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,440 generation. We love even more if you're old. 356 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,880 We love younger people more than you. 357 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,680 You're like, this guy knows how to grow a church. 358 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:09,600 He's, he's selling. Yeah. 359 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:13,680 What I mean is, we want to be a church for your kid and your 360 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,400 grandkid. If you could have anybody 361 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,880 sitting next to you today, who would it be? 362 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,960 There's got to be a church that is going to be intentionally, 363 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,240 downwardly focused. I just had an opportunity to go 364 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,000 to Mount Sterling for their Christmas party. 365 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:36,280 Check this out. 25% of the Mount Sterling High School goes to our 366 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,240 church and gets together and reads God's word and treat each 367 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:41,800 other like brothers and sisters in Christ. 368 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:44,400 I walked away from there. My heart was so stinking full. 369 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,040 I couldn't. I was dangerous. 370 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,320 My heart was so happy. I never had a high school youth 371 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,560 group when I was growing up. If I could have got serious 372 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,240 about Jesus earlier, do you know how many? 373 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,240 I would have had a different picture at prom. 374 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:59,400 I would have. I would have had more clothes 375 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,040 on. How many of you made bad 376 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:03,800 decisions in high school and college? 377 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,280 I don't know. I'm not sure. 378 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,560 OK, All right. We're also honest at this 379 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,640 church, OK? I wanted them to find Jesus as 380 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,240 early as possible. How many of you wish you'd have 381 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,040 found Jesus like, 15 years later than you did? 382 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,480 OK, I know how for some of you are like, man, it's New Year's. 383 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,680 I'm going to get serious about Jesus after I get drunk. 384 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,160 OK, But seriously, when you come to a relationship with Jesus 385 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,000 Christ, like you want it yesterday, not tomorrow. 386 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,920 My successor is in crossing kids ministry right now. 387 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,000 We got to make sure we're doing a good job of raising him up so 388 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,480 he's way better than me. Relevant. 389 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,240 We will do fresh things and fresh ways to reach people no 390 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,240 one else is reaching. There's going to be times when 391 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,320 we start things up. There's going to be times when 392 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,600 we do new programs. We're going to shut some 393 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,760 programs down. The whole reason we do that is 394 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:07,120 we don't want this church to be a time machine where it's 2024 395 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:11,040 in the parking lot and 1983 in here. 396 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,400 If you worship at a church that meets all of your preferences, 397 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,720 it will not reach the people you care about. 398 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,360 I go to those churches all the time, and those churches are 399 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,720 dying because everybody in that room got exactly what they 400 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,480 wanted. They got a church that was 401 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,600 designed for them, not for the mission. 402 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,720 When Jesus showed up, he frustrated everybody because he 403 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,640 kept saying this. I have come to seek and save 404 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:39,000 that which was lost. And if our church, it's going to 405 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:43,000 be like Jesus, we have to seek and save that which was lost. 406 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,960 We innovate. We will take big faithful risks 407 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,720 and never insult God with small thinking and safe living here at 408 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:52,640 the Crossing. We're going to try stuff. 409 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,560 Some of it's going to work and we'll be super thankful. 410 00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:01,040 Sometimes it'll flop and when what happens we'll go, we're 411 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,560 sorry, we were wrong, we messed up, it didn't work. 412 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,400 But I would rather be a church that tries and fails than be a 413 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:17,320 church that never tries at all. So when we lose, just so you 414 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,720 know, I'll be the most ticked off person in the room, but I'll 415 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,280 also wear it as a badge of honor that we're a church that's at 416 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,880 least willing to try to help people find a relationship with 417 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,240 Jesus. Not all seed that is planted 418 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,360 takes root, but our job is to sow the seed and water the seed 419 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,120 and pray that God brings the growth. 420 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,120 We will make leaders. We will develop leaders who 421 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:44,880 honor God and inspire people. And they will change the world. 422 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,080 You guys have done this for me. You put up with me, well, you're 423 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,200 still putting up with me. God bless you, but you have made 424 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:54,800 it possible for me to grow as a leader at this church, and I 425 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,240 want to make sure I feel like I have a holy responsibility to 426 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,800 make sure that I do this for others, and I need your 427 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,760 partnership in order to do that. We don't just make leaders. 428 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:08,240 Here's another one we grow. We will never stop measuring, 429 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,120 changing, and moving for growth because nothing matters more to 430 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:15,000 God than people. We want to have a laser focus to 431 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,960 leverage everything in our power to join God in His saving 432 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:22,240 mission. There has to be a place that is 433 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:26,000 committed to reaching and growing and baptizing and 434 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:29,760 discipling the very people that Jesus died for. 435 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,000 And the last One of our core values is this. 436 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,320 We are one. The Church is the hope of the 437 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,480 world, and we can accomplish infinitely more together than 438 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,840 apart. We are the Church. 439 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,240 Our locations is where we gather. 440 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,120 That is not the Church. That's just where we hang out, 441 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,120 You and me. We are the Church. 442 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,080 And when you take what God has given you, and I take what God 443 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,000 has given me, and we collectively put it in the hands 444 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,560 of God, there is no telling what He could do in our midst. 445 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,240 And it is our commitment to these core values, to our faith 446 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:10,080 in God, to our trust in His holy scriptures, to the enabling of 447 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,560 His Holy Spirit and our desire to follow God and reach people 448 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:18,960 that The Crossing has experienced tremendous success. 449 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,400 I'm just going to give you 2 little snapshots. 450 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:26,840 Last year in our communities, we had 2720 people come to our 451 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,120 church for the very first time. That raised their hand, filled 452 00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:33,080 out AQR code, met with somebody in the back and said, hey, I'm 453 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:38,080 new, and there are who knows how many more who just show up and 454 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:39,680 walk out and we don't know they're here. 455 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,000 That's why we want to work hard to make sure that people get 456 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,040 connected. But out of this group of people, 457 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:52,560 652 of them got baptized. I don't think I have enough time 458 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,400 to tell you the story. I'll be quick. 459 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:03,120 Thursday of last week, Macomb Campus Pastor's dad called him 460 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:04,200 up and said, hey, let's go to lunch. 461 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,360 He goes, hey, I got this guy who I'm going to be bringing with 462 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:08,320 me. And so they're sitting down and 463 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,680 they're talking. And the guy who his dad brought 464 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,840 didn't go to church anywhere. And I hadn't been to church in 465 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,560 like 16 years. And he's sitting there with the 466 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,800 staff eating food. And he's like, I just figured 467 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,080 the church would judge me, you know, because I've got tattoos. 468 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:23,440 And our worship leader does what our worship leaders do. 469 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,200 He's like, I got a whole sleeve. And so they invited him to 470 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,840 church. And so he texted his wife and 471 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:30,200 said, hey, I'm going to church in Macomb. 472 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,000 And he shows up for. And his wife's like, what? 473 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,760 I've been trying to get you to go to church forever with me, 474 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:36,400 but you didn't go. But now somebody else invites 475 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:37,400 you and you're going to come to church. 476 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,800 So he shows up for church on Thursday night for our Christmas 477 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,480 Eve service and he goes, this is awesome. 478 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,920 He goes, I I need a Bible. I need to go get a Bible. 479 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:47,640 Well, the person on the staff went, we have Bibles. 480 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:49,160 Here's the Bible. And he's like, where do I start? 481 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:50,240 And he's like, well, I would start here. 482 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:51,280 And he tells him where he should start. 483 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:52,440 And he's like, well, that's where I'm starting. 484 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,360 And then his wife is kind of like, well, I want you to go to 485 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:57,000 church with me. And I live in Pike County. 486 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,920 And he's like, well, guess what? We have a church in Pike County. 487 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:03,360 So on Sunday, he showed up in Pike County and he got baptized 488 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:05,080 and you just clapped at his baptism video. 489 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:10,880 It happens just like that. We've had so many incredible 490 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,840 ministry moments. It is impossible not to thank 491 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:23,040 God because we don't deserve it. But it's also depressing because 492 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,760 in our communities there are people all across this spiritual 493 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,480 spectrum. You've seen me talk about this a 494 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:33,000 bunch, from minus fives to plus fives, and for just a second I 495 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:37,320 want you to pretend that like the plus side doesn't exist. 496 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,840 I just want to talk to you about people that haven't started 497 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:44,200 their faith. And in our own communities 498 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:51,720 today, right now, there are thousands of people that don't 499 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:57,040 have a relationship with Jesus. And these numbers in my opinion 500 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:03,000 are inflated because I don't know, there's a lot of people 501 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,160 who could could even go to church and I wouldn't say that 502 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,640 they were a follower of Jesus. So there's probably way more 503 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:12,200 work to do here than what I'm going to show you. 504 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,760 But at all of our locations, I want you to show show you how 505 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:22,080 many people self identify as having no faith in Jesus in 506 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:26,480 Adams County. 22% of the people, 14,000 people in Adams County 507 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:31,840 self identify and say I have no relationship with Jesus. 508 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:37,360 In McDonough County 20,000 people, 62% of your population. 509 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,600 When you're in McDonald's. Every other car is going to 510 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:47,440 hell. Adair County 14,000 people, 57% 511 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,840 of the county. Let's go to the Pike County 58 512 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,400 percent 9000 people. Marion County, Missouri 11,000 513 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:59,600 people or 40% of the population. Brown County 4000 people or 56% 514 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,920 of the population. Lee County, Iowa. 515 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:07,360 This is my, this is where I grew up, 17,000 or 50% of the people. 516 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,240 Warren County, 10,000 people or 43% of the population. 517 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,280 Morgan County, 18,000 people or 51% of the population. 518 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:23,720 In our region, there are 418,000 people who don't know Jesus. 519 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:35,560 That's why we're hoping to debut a new discipleship strategy, a 520 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:39,400 new connection strategy, and a host of other things to try and 521 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,200 reach our community. And we're going to try and help 522 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,200 new communities reach their communities for Jesus Christ. 523 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,000 So I preached the Christmas Eve message on Thursday. 524 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,240 And then I went home and I started writing this message on 525 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,880 Friday. And at about 11:00 at night, I 526 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,880 realized I had written my Easter sermon. 527 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,920 I was like, Jennifer, what happened? 528 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,320 I was like, I was supposed to write the sermon for this 529 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,240 weekend. Not an Easter message, but I got 530 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:08,800 done with it. I was like, this is a heck of an 531 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,360 Easter message and I'm not going to burn it on the 50 people that 532 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,920 show up after Christmas Eve. This is how God works. 533 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:20,200 You set an all time attendance record on Christmas Eve and then 534 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,400 right after that you have New Year's Eve, which is where you 535 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,680 have nobody show up. So God bless you who are here 536 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:30,120 and the two people in Keokuk. And just to keep you humble, so 537 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:31,560 hear me. What I'm about to tell you is 538 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,040 like the first quarter of my Easter message. 539 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,280 And, you know, you might start thinking of a friend that you 540 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:38,640 want to invite to Easter this year or just come back because 541 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:40,480 that's where you're going to get the rest of the sermon. 542 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:45,320 But if I get asked to go speak at a high school, a graduation 543 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,480 ceremony, I always do the same spiel. 544 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:54,400 I kind of got like a, you know, I do my little dance there, and 545 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,600 this is my dance every time I go there. 546 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,320 So you're just getting 1/4 of the sermon, but every story that 547 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:03,520 you've ever heard, every story that you've ever heard has three 548 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,080 common elements. Ready. 549 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,840 A character, Right. You got to have a person who 550 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:15,080 wants something great, who's willing to overcome obstacles to 551 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,760 achieve it. Pick your favorite movie right 552 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,560 now. Does it have a character? 553 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,080 Oh yeah. Do they want something great? 554 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:26,440 Yeah. And do they have to overcome 555 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:28,040 obstacles to achieve it? Yeah. 556 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:34,840 Cliff Notes version If you want to have a great life, a great 557 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:40,080 story, you got to have a character who wants something 558 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:46,720 great, who's willing to overcome obstacles to achieve them. 559 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,920 It's not a great story if there's no obstacles. 560 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:55,080 I got a great story. Me, Clayton Hensel, a character 561 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:59,960 wanted McDonald's for breakfast, and I drove there and got it. 562 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:02,520 You're not going. OK, whoa. 563 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,440 Who's going to be competing for rights to that story? 564 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,000 OK, I can't wait to see Brad Pitt, Fat Pit play Clayton 565 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,560 Hensel in the upcoming drama. OK? 566 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:13,720 Nobody. Nobody's paying to see that. 567 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:21,640 You, me, we're a character. Serious question. 568 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,240 As you get ready to write your New Year's resolutions, do you 569 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:34,600 want to do anything great? Dare to do something that makes 570 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:39,240 a difference, that causes ripples and waves? 571 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,360 I'm going to lose 10 lbs. Nobody cares. 572 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:49,560 Like that's the greatness at your funeral. 573 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:54,200 Hey guys, Listen, this guy used to weigh 250, but laying here 574 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,160 easy, 235 maybe 240. Nobody's. 575 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:00,240 That's not going to be your great story. 576 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:06,120 Do you hear me? Oh, you're like, OK too much and 577 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:09,280 is willing to overcome obstacles to achieve it. 578 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:18,080 My question is this, here at the crossing collectively as a 579 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:23,600 character, do we as a church want something great? 580 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:30,720 You better believe it. Our mission is to help people 581 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,200 find an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 582 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,560 The great thing that we want is the great thing that God sent 583 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:43,920 his Son Jesus to accomplish. Our hope is to make this region 584 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:49,960 where you and I live, all 10,795 square miles, the single hardest 585 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,960 place on planet Earth to get to hell from. 586 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:56,520 We want to see the Great Commission accomplished in our 587 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:01,160 region in our lifetime, and we are willing to put everything on 588 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,360 the table to make that a reality. 589 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:08,000 We know Jesus's last words in Matthew chapter 28, when Jesus 590 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,040 came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth 591 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,679 has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples 592 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:17,880 of all nations, baptizing them in name of the Father and of the 593 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,880 Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey 594 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,360 everything. I've commanded you, and surely I 595 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,840 am with you always to the very end of the age. 596 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:29,719 That is the thing that He is calling us to, the great mission 597 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:31,639 that He wants you to give your life to. 598 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:36,239 There is no greater purpose, no greater thing, than you can 599 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:40,000 Orient your life to than the mission of God. 600 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:46,080 However, there are obstacles that we are going to have to 601 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,719 overcome to achieve it. For some of you, it might be 602 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,960 consumerism. Instead of watching the service 603 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,520 go by, you actually become a part of what God is doing. 604 00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,760 For some of you, it's going to be you overcoming your 605 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,280 preference. For some of you, it's going to 606 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:05,480 be overcoming your apathy. For some of you, it's going to 607 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,320 be overcoming your schedule. For some of you, it's going to 608 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,840 be overcoming your priorities. For some of you, it's going to 609 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:16,280 be overcoming your fear, your worry, your rejection. 610 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:18,160 For some of you, you're going to be going. 611 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,800 I just don't know enough. At some point in time, when will 612 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,560 you desire reaching people enough that you will learn to 613 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:28,160 know enough? You put the time in to know 614 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,400 enough to be confident in sharing your faith. 615 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,640 Luke chapter 19, verse 41 says this. 616 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,520 This is Jesus. But as Jesus came closer to 617 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:40,240 Jerusalem, he saw the city ahead and he began to weep. 618 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:48,960 I think if Jesus was blowing out his birthday candle and you were 619 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:50,640 to ask him what did you wish for? 620 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:56,280 I think Jesus would say I wish my people had my heart for their 621 00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:00,400 city. That when you see your neighbors 622 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:05,240 and your friends and your Co workers that your heart would 623 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:08,480 break. That you would weep for the 624 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:13,120 people around you that don't have an eternal hope that this 625 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:17,880 is all there is, and that that breaking of your heart would 626 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:21,800 recalibrate your life, and you'd be willing to overcome all of 627 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,240 the obstacles to help people find faith in Jesus. 628 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:29,800 I want a better story for me. I want a better story for you. 629 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:35,400 I want a better story for all of us collectively, and I'm praying 630 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,440 that God will write one. We're moving to a time of 631 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:45,520 decision. To those of you who don't have a 632 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:49,440 relationship with Jesus Christ, I need you to hear me say this. 633 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,680 You were made to be in relationship with Him and to 634 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:56,280 fulfill his purpose. And I want to tell you, don't 635 00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:00,280 put it off any longer. You were destined to be in 636 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,280 relationship with him and to accomplish his mission, and all 637 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,880 the things that we try to do to fill the hole that's already 638 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,000 inside of our hearts will never fill us up. 639 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:12,720 But it's when you finally say, you know what, I'm going to live 640 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,760 the way I was created to live, which is for him, for his 641 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:20,240 mission, for his purposes. You will not regret it. 642 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,400 And if you have questions about what that is or what that looks 643 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:25,760 like in just a few moments, when the people around you stand and 644 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:28,640 sing, there's me, somebody right over by the baptistry who will 645 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:30,680 help you start to write a better story. 646 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:36,000 And you can join the 652 people who already started a 647 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,080 relationship with Jesus Christ this year. 648 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:44,760 To those of you who already have a relationship with Jesus, who 649 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,360 is the person that breaks your heart? 650 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:53,560 Who's the employee that you want to see come to faith this year? 651 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:56,120 Who's the neighbor? Who's the friend? 652 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,920 Who's the enemy that you want to see? 653 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:04,680 Come to faith. What I'm asking you to do is 654 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:06,960 maybe you want to come up here to the steps and get down on 655 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,240 your knees, or maybe you just want to do it right where you 656 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:10,240 have. Would you spend just a little 657 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:13,680 bit of time on your knees praying that God would use you 658 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:18,760 this year to write their better story? 659 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:27,520 That this year you allow God to start writing your story into 660 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,680 their story. By doing that, God is able to 661 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:37,360 write himself into their story. You're going to have to overcome 662 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,840 stuff to make this a reality. For some of you, it's going to 663 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,120 be the fear of having the first conversation. 664 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:46,040 It's going to be the fear of sharing your story. 665 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:48,480 It's going to be the fear of making an invite. 666 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:57,240 But God deserves better from us, and they deserve better from us. 667 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:00,360 So would you spend just a little bit of time asking God to help 668 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:04,440 you overcome those fears, those challenges, those worries, those 669 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,960 anxieties to accomplish His mission? 670 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:14,560 Would you stand with me, God? I'm asking you to help us, help 671 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:21,520 us in a big way. God help us to be about your 672 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:23,840 mission and your calling and your desires. 673 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:37,120 God, we want you to use us to make heaven bigger and hell 674 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:45,320 smaller. God this year we want to see the 675 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:49,400 people that are on our hearts and our minds right now sitting 676 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:56,400 next to us. We want to see them praying next 677 00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:00,840 to us at the steps. We want to see him walking down 678 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:04,080 the steps into the baptistery. We want to see him coming out of 679 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:08,360 the baptistery. And God, we want to see them 680 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,440 bring their friend and their neighbor. 681 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:16,080 God, We're asking you to use us. You name I pray. 682 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:17,080 Amen.