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Salt Company Kick Off- Luke 19- Colin Provart · The Salt Company Denver

8:15
SPEAKER_05: Yo, yo, yo, welcome to kickoff.
8:18
SPEAKER_05: Come on, what's up, everybody?
8:21
SPEAKER_05: Let's go.
8:22
SPEAKER_05: Hey guys, could you do us a quick favor and try and move to the front as much as you can?
8:26
SPEAKER_05: If you look behind you, there's a lot of people coming in, so try and fill it in as much as you can.
8:31
SPEAKER_05: Guys, move to the sides if you can too.
8:32
SPEAKER_05: We have space.
8:33
SPEAKER_05: We're so excited you guys are here tonight with us.
8:36
SPEAKER_05: Hey, if by some miracle you missed a poster that said text kickoff to 94,000, this is your reminder.
8:43
SPEAKER_05: Text kickoff to 94,000 right now.
8:46
SPEAKER_05: Nate, why should they do that?
8:47
SPEAKER_06: Guys, if you text kickoff to 94,000, you're entered into a$300 JBL speaker.
8:55
SPEAKER_05: I mean, nobody else is excited about that, I guess.
8:58
SPEAKER_06: I mean, apparently not.
9:00
SPEAKER_05: $300.
9:01
SPEAKER_05: I know a lot of y'all don't have$300, so go ahead and text kickoff.
9:05
SPEAKER_05: $94,000, it's free.
9:06
SPEAKER_06: Here's why we're doing it.
9:07
SPEAKER_06: We know unless we give you something, you're not gonna participate.
9:10
SPEAKER_06: So we need you to pull out your phone and text kickoff to$94,000.
9:15
SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
9:15
SPEAKER_05: Guys, we were on campus all week and we we know that we have to bribe you to participate.
9:20
SPEAKER_05: So this is our bribe, a$300 speaker.
9:23
SPEAKER_05: Alright.
9:24
SPEAKER_05: Second thing that we're gonna do tonight.
9:26
SPEAKER_05: We want to get to know who's in the room with us.
9:28
SPEAKER_05: We don't want y'all to be strangers.
9:30
SPEAKER_05: So here's how you are you participate right now.
9:33
SPEAKER_05: After you text kickoff to 94,000, we're gonna be sending out some questions.
9:37
SPEAKER_05: So grab your phone right now.
9:39
SPEAKER_05: Grab your phone right now.
9:40
SPEAKER_06: That's good, right?
9:42
SPEAKER_05: He's got a phone out right there.
9:43
SPEAKER_05: Grab your phone right now.
9:44
SPEAKER_05: Text kickoff to 94,000.
9:45
SPEAKER_05: We're gonna ask you a question.
9:47
SPEAKER_05: What's our first question, Nate?
9:48
SPEAKER_06: Guys, the first thing we want to know about who's in the room is what school are you from?
9:53
SPEAKER_06: Come on now.
9:54
SPEAKER_05: Come on now.
9:55
SPEAKER_05: What school are you from?
9:56
SPEAKER_05: Represent the people.
9:58
SPEAKER_05: Let's see what we got here.
10:01
SPEAKER_05: Oh we got the buffs in the buff.
10:06
SPEAKER_05: Uh oh, we got some booze though.
10:08
SPEAKER_05: They did not like the buffs.
10:09
SPEAKER_05: Uh oh.
10:10
SPEAKER_05: We got some cougars, baby.
10:18
SPEAKER_05: Oh no.
10:21
SPEAKER_05: We got a roadrunner.
10:22
SPEAKER_05: We got a matchup roadrunner.
10:23
SPEAKER_05: Where is he at?
10:24
SPEAKER_05: Yes, sir.
10:25
SPEAKER_05: Come on, baby.
10:27
SPEAKER_05: We got two roadrunners.
10:28
SPEAKER_06: Wait, wait, wait we can't forget about one of our people.
10:30
SPEAKER_05: What is that?
10:30
SPEAKER_05: Is that an order digger I see?
10:36
SPEAKER_05: Let's go! Alright, what's our next question?
10:39
SPEAKER_05: What we got here?
10:40
SPEAKER_05: More important than whether you go to school is what year are you?
10:45
SPEAKER_05: What year are you?
10:47
SPEAKER_05: What year are you?
10:49
SPEAKER_05: Let's see what we got.
10:52
SPEAKER_05: Let's see what we got.
10:53
SPEAKER_05: Okay, we got some upper freshmen in the house.
10:57
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
10:58
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
10:58
SPEAKER_05: Look around, freshmen.
11:00
SPEAKER_05: Those can be your spouses.
11:01
SPEAKER_05: Take a look.
11:02
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I'm hooking y'all up.
11:04
SPEAKER_05: Don't worry about it.
11:05
SPEAKER_05: I'm here for y'all.
11:05
SPEAKER_05: I'm here for it.
11:06
SPEAKER_05: Don't look you much.
11:07
SPEAKER_06: That's kind of weird.
11:07
SPEAKER_05: What else we got?
11:08
SPEAKER_05: We got some super seniors.
11:10
SPEAKER_05: What am I doing?
11:12
SPEAKER_05: Yes, sir.
11:13
SPEAKER_05: What am I supposed to?
11:16
SPEAKER_05: What am I juniors at?
11:19
SPEAKER_05: Do we got some senior bodies in the room?
11:22
SPEAKER_05: See, that was a perfect senior response.
11:24
SPEAKER_06: Oh my god, I'm loving to get into this in this room, but we gotta do something new.
11:28
SPEAKER_05: We got a more important question than this.
11:29
SPEAKER_06: We got a really important question.
11:30
SPEAKER_06: Here's the question, everybody.
11:32
SPEAKER_06: What is the best energy drink on the market?
11:35
SPEAKER_06: We have four options.
11:36
SPEAKER_06: We got Celsius.
11:37
SPEAKER_05: We got Red Bull.
11:38
SPEAKER_06: Red Bull, come on.
11:39
SPEAKER_05: We got Alani.
11:40
SPEAKER_06: Alani.
11:41
SPEAKER_05: And we got White Monster.
11:43
SPEAKER_05: Come on, come on.
11:44
SPEAKER_05: What are y'all thinking?
11:46
SPEAKER_06: Here's the deal.
11:46
SPEAKER_06: Here's the deal.
11:47
SPEAKER_06: Whichever one wins out of these four, I'm gonna shock it on stage right now.
11:52
SPEAKER_05: Oh no.
11:53
SPEAKER_05: Just to let you know, you guys are in the splash zone.
11:56
SPEAKER_05: So just grab your ponchos, baby.
11:59
SPEAKER_05: If you have not, jump in on this.
12:02
SPEAKER_05: Text 94,000.
12:03
SPEAKER_05: Text kickoff to 94,000 right now if you guys want to jump in on these questions.
12:06
SPEAKER_05: Text kickoff to 94,000.
12:08
SPEAKER_05: Alright, let's see what we got here.
12:10
SPEAKER_06: Let's see what we got.
12:14
SPEAKER_06: I don't know, bro.
12:15
SPEAKER_06: Oh.
12:16
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
12:17
SPEAKER_05: In fourth place, we have Celsius.
12:20
SPEAKER_05: Can we boost Celsius?
12:23
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we hate Celsius on here.
12:25
SPEAKER_05: In third place, we have Alani.
12:28
SPEAKER_05: Oh.
12:30
SPEAKER_05: I think we know what the winner is.
12:32
SPEAKER_05: Oh, it's close.
12:33
SPEAKER_06: Oh wow.
12:35
SPEAKER_05: In first place, we have Six Volks! White Monster! Yes, sir! Alright, Nate, would you do us a favor?
12:43
SPEAKER_05: Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Oh, goodness gracious! Alright! Who wants one of these?
12:58
SPEAKER_05: Who wants one of these?
12:58
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we'll take one right here.
13:00
SPEAKER_05: Who wants a Red Bull?
13:01
SPEAKER_05: Praise God! Here we go.
13:02
SPEAKER_05: A lot of anybody?
13:04
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
13:05
SPEAKER_05: Might as well.
13:07
SPEAKER_05: Did I just kill someone?
13:09
SPEAKER_05: Hopefully not.
13:10
SPEAKER_05: Alright, guys.
13:11
SPEAKER_05: Come on.
13:12
SPEAKER_05: We're not done.
13:13
SPEAKER_05: We know that everyone has a different story walk into this room.
13:15
SPEAKER_05: We know that you're from different places.
13:17
SPEAKER_05: So I want to know how did you end up at Salt Company tonight?
13:21
SPEAKER_05: Maybe you've been coming for a long time.
13:22
SPEAKER_05: Maybe a roommate kidnapped you.
13:24
SPEAKER_05: So if you need help, raise your hand.
13:26
SPEAKER_05: We'd love to help you out.
13:27
SPEAKER_05: But maybe you're just curious about what you believe.
13:29
SPEAKER_05: How did you end up at Salt Company tonight?
13:31
SPEAKER_06: Alright, guys, I need someone to raise their hand if they rode here in the trunk of someone's car.
13:35
SPEAKER_05: I mean, come on right there.
13:37
SPEAKER_05: We're not gonna talk about road rules right now.
13:39
SPEAKER_05: How did you end up here if you guys are in the room and you're like, why is everybody texting?
13:43
SPEAKER_05: It's because you have not texted kickoff to 94,000.
13:46
SPEAKER_05: So if you want to jump in on these questions, text kickoff to 94,000.
13:49
SPEAKER_05: You see social media on there?
13:50
SPEAKER_05: Wait a minute.
13:51
SPEAKER_05: Who's running social media?
13:53
SPEAKER_05: Who runs the Instagram, bro?
13:54
SPEAKER_05: They're cooking right now.
13:55
SPEAKER_06: Dude, they must be great.
13:56
SPEAKER_06: Come on now.
13:57
SPEAKER_05: Come on, brother.
13:57
SPEAKER_05: That's me.
13:58
SPEAKER_05: You know who it is.
13:59
SPEAKER_05: Alright, y'all.
14:00
SPEAKER_06: Alright, I got another question for you guys.
14:02
SPEAKER_06: What are you nervous about this year?
14:04
SPEAKER_06: I mean, some of you are nervous just standing next to the person next to you, my students.
14:08
SPEAKER_06: I know that's all you guys.
14:09
SPEAKER_06: Some of you are nervous about classes.
14:11
SPEAKER_06: We want to know what you guys are nervous about.
14:12
SPEAKER_06: Let's see it.
14:14
SPEAKER_05: Text your answers in.
14:16
SPEAKER_05: Text your answers in.
14:21
SPEAKER_06: You can't win a JBL speaker unless you text kickoff to 94,000, and you can't answer these questions unless you text kickoff to 94,000.
14:29
SPEAKER_05: Hey, honestly, some of these are real.
14:33
SPEAKER_05: Like friendships.
14:34
SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's tough coming back from the summer or even coming into freshman year and not knowing who your good friends are gonna be.
14:39
SPEAKER_05: And so that's actually that's actually a good one.
14:41
SPEAKER_05: I'm with y'all on that one.
14:42
SPEAKER_05: Alright.
14:44
SPEAKER_05: Guys, I want.
14:48
SPEAKER_05: So just take a second and breathe.
14:50
SPEAKER_05: Everybody's walking in to kick off with different emotions, different baggage, and uh, like I said, different stories.
14:57
SPEAKER_05: And that's one of the things I love so much about Salt Company is that we have an opportunity to come together and just be honest.
15:02
SPEAKER_05: And so this next question is where are you at spiritually?
15:07
SPEAKER_05: Where are you at spiritually?
15:09
SPEAKER_05: Man, we're not gonna be reading names out here.
15:11
SPEAKER_05: We want y'all to be honest.
15:12
SPEAKER_05: Maybe maybe some of y'all are walking in and you're really confident about your faith.
15:16
SPEAKER_05: Maybe some of y'all are walking in and uh a roommate just dragged you here, and maybe you don't even believe in God.
15:21
SPEAKER_05: You are welcome here at Salt Company, and so just be honest.
15:24
SPEAKER_05: We we just want to hear where you're at.
15:26
SPEAKER_06: Yeah, guys, the thing that makes us about excited, the thing that makes us excited about Salt Company is there's people of all backgrounds here, and that's what we love.
15:33
SPEAKER_06: We love that you're here in this room because this is where you're meant to be.
15:36
SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
15:36
SPEAKER_06: Hey, should we get this thing started?
15:38
SPEAKER_06: I think we should start getting this thing started.
15:39
SPEAKER_05: Hey, welcome to kick off everybody.
15:41
SPEAKER_05: We'll see y'all later.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: What's up, everyone?
17:03
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Salt Company.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: Look around you! We're glad that you're here.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: Here's what you can expect over the next 60 minutes.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna open up, we're gonna sing, we're gonna open up the Bible, and then we're gonna give you an opportunity to meet the people around you and make some new friends.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: We love Salt Company.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: We love that you walk through those doors and we love the energy that's in the room, but listen to me.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: More than all of that, we love Jesus.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: We believe that he's the creator, the savior, and the king.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: We believe that he's worthy of our worship and worthy of our lives.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: Now you might be standing there thinking, I don't know anyone, I don't know what to do, and honestly, I don't know what to think about God.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: But if that's you, hear me.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: We believe in a God who welcomes the outsider, a God who seeks the lost, a God who saves the sinner.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: So if you walked in feeling discouraged, dejected, lonely, or confused, we're glad that you're here.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Whether you stumbled in, you're speaking, or you have a deep relationship with Jesus, this is a place for you.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: Let's worship.
20:56
SPEAKER_02: Let's do this together, let's lift our voices.
25:55
SPEAKER_09: Stay what's running the words built on the hallelujah I don't want in the water watching I don't want in the water watch in the Watch Disney running up being up to the way I'm gonna go to What's going on, Soul Company?
31:06
SPEAKER_01: How we doing tonight?
31:09
SPEAKER_01: All right, I'm gonna give you a task that might be challenging, which is to try to find yourself a seat.
31:19
SPEAKER_01: You guys can spread out a little bit.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: Just, you know, back up a little.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: If you got some room by you, they're gonna get very hot.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: You're already hot.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: All right, well, welcome to Salt Company Kickoff 2026.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad that you guys are here.
32:13
SPEAKER_01: My name is Colin.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure how you ended up here.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it was a spike ball tournament, maybe it was a cornhole tournament, an Instagram post or the invitation of a friend.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how you ended up here, but I'm glad that you're here tonight.
32:25
SPEAKER_01: Because what we're gonna do tonight is we're gonna show you what we do each and every week here at Salt Company.
32:31
SPEAKER_01: What you need to know is that this isn't a one-time event.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: But every Tuesday night you can find us here.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: And every Tuesday night, we think that God does something special in this room because we think that God actually speaks to us.
32:45
SPEAKER_01: We think the way that God speaks to us is by opening up his word.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: So every week when you come here to Salt Company, you're gonna see us opening up God's word to hear what God might have to say to us.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: And so tonight we're gonna be in Luke 19.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: Luke 19, if you're new to your Bible as we all once were at one point in our life, Luke is about 75% of the way through your Bible.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have a Bible, no worries.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be on the screen behind me.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: Luke 19 is where we're gonna be as you turn there.
33:11
SPEAKER_01: Any sports fans in the room?
33:15
SPEAKER_01: Any Broncos fans?
33:18
SPEAKER_01: Any Nuggets fans?
33:21
SPEAKER_01: Alright, I know some of you are uptight.
33:23
SPEAKER_01: You're not from Colorado.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: Any non-Colorado sports team fans?
33:29
SPEAKER_01: Alright, I'm gonna give you one opportunity and one opportunity only to shout out your team.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: One, two, three.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea what was just said.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: But if you're at my house, you can often find Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
33:45
SPEAKER_01: I got football on.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: There are a lot of teams that I like to watch, but I don't know if I have one that's more of my favorite than the Colorado School of Mine or Diggers.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: Scobuffs, come on.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: We had to bring some school pride into this.
34:05
SPEAKER_01: But every once in a while I'll be bored.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: And I'm I don't know if you guys do this, but I'll flip through the channels on TV to just see if there's a game on or something.
34:12
SPEAKER_01: And you find these like random niche sports, you know, like table tennis is on TV or Nordic skiing's on TV.
34:21
SPEAKER_01: And I turn that off pretty quickly.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: Unless it's the Olympics.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: I could watch six straight hours of Nordic skiing if like someone is wearing their country's flag on their chest competing for a gold medal.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: Anyone else like the Olympics?
34:39
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so in 2010, my dad was brought to the Olympics for work, and he actually got to bring the whole family.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: And so I got to go to the Olympics, Vancouver, Canada, 2010.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: Got to see Sean White win a half-pipe gold medal.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: Got to watch USA hockey.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but one of the most memorable experiences about that trip actually had nothing to do with a sporting event that we were at.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: You see, my dad had an old friend that lived in Vancouver.
35:07
SPEAKER_01: So when we were in Vancouver, he called his old friend and said, Hey, I'd love to introduce you to my family.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: You've never met my family, I'd love to introduce you.
35:14
SPEAKER_01: So he said, Hey, why don't you come on by the restaurant?
35:16
SPEAKER_01: My dad's friend ran one of the nicest restaurants in Vancouver.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: It was the type of restaurant that you needed it to be on in an invite list just to get into.
35:24
SPEAKER_01: And so we walk up to this restaurant, an unmarked door in the middle of downtown Vancouver, and outside this door are two very large men.
35:36
SPEAKER_01: Very large men.
35:37
SPEAKER_01: And one of them has a clipboard, making sure that everyone who walks through those doors, their name is on the clipboard.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: So my dad's friend, he walks out, and I'm kind of expecting he's just gonna shake our hand, and he's gonna meet us, and then we're gonna go on our way.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: And he says, hey, why don't you come in for dinner?
35:51
SPEAKER_01: And my dad turns.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: This is not a lie.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: He looks at me and he's like, Really?
35:55
SPEAKER_01: And he looks straight at me, which I'm I feel like he's attacking me, but perhaps it was because I was wearing an oversized hockey jersey with baggy, swishy sweatpants.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: You guys know what I'm talking about?
36:05
SPEAKER_01: And that was way before they're cool.
36:07
SPEAKER_01: I know they're like kind of coming back, I don't really get it, but but that was way before they were cool.
36:11
SPEAKER_01: And so he's like, no, no, no, hey, you're with me, why don't you come in?
36:14
SPEAKER_01: Why don't you come into the restaurant?
36:16
SPEAKER_01: And so I walk into this restaurant next to CEOs and people with like real legacy type money, and I'm like, right?
36:25
SPEAKER_01: We find our seat, and it's only a few steps into the restaurant that I realize this isn't an ordinary restaurant, it's even more exclusive than it is normally because during the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee rented out the whole restaurant as their headquarters.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: So I get seated for dinner, and to my right is the president of the International Olympic Committee, the guy who's running the Olympics, and then beyond him is a case that has gold, silver, and bronze medals that they're gonna hand out during the Olympic Games.
36:52
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm expecting we're gonna have we're gonna have dinner at McDonald's, and I end up in this restaurant, and so I sit, and the waiter's like, What do you want?
36:59
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, what do you mean?
37:00
SPEAKER_01: What do I want?
37:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, there should be a menu, and they're like, No, no, we'll make you whatever you want.
37:02
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, I want a cheeseburger, which was a horribly failed opportunity in a place that serves steak and caviar, but like I was a kid, I thought I was having a McDonald's cheeseburger, and so I'm taking this first bite of my cheeseburger with the president of the International Olympic Committee to my right, and then beyond him are the gold medals that they're gonna hand out during the Olympic Games, and I realize I'm in a place I have no business being in.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: I have no business being in this place, and I'm only in this place because I've experienced an unexpected invitation.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: Have you guys ever experienced an unexpected invitation?
37:35
SPEAKER_01: Like maybe a friend invites you to a concert, but you didn't think you were that tight with a friend?
37:40
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe for you, like you're at a school right now where you received an unexpected invitation.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: You didn't think you'd get into the school that you're at, but here you are.
37:47
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe it's you in this room, like you came to college thinking you were gonna have all these different experiences, but this wasn't on the bingo card, and here you are, all because you received an unexpected invitation was true, is that everyone in the room wants to be invited to things, right?
38:04
SPEAKER_01: Like even if you say no, everyone in the room wants to be included.
38:09
SPEAKER_01: We all want to receive the invitation.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: But here's my fear is that over the course of your four years, you're gonna get invited to a lot of things.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of great things.
38:20
SPEAKER_01: But my fear is you're gonna end up saying yes to good things, and then saying no to necessary things.
38:30
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna receive the invitation for good things, and you're gonna hit the RSVP, yes.
38:35
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and then you're gonna block yourself so full that you need the RSVP now for the things that really matter.
38:43
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for the invite, but no thanks.
38:48
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna look at a story of a man who received an unexpected invitation.
38:53
SPEAKER_01: This is Luke 19, starting in verse 1.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: He, that's Jesus.
38:58
SPEAKER_01: He's the first main character of our story entered here how he was passing through.
39:02
SPEAKER_01: There was a man named Zacchaeus, the second main character of our story who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
39:10
SPEAKER_01: There are three parts to our story that we're gonna see tonight.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: The success of Zacchaeus, the desperation of Zacchaeus, and the invitation to Zacchaeus.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: But first we're gonna look at the success of Zacchaeus.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 2 again.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: We don't know a whole lot about Zacchaeus, but we do know three things.
39:26
SPEAKER_01: We know his name, we know his profession, and we know that this dude's loaded.
39:30
SPEAKER_01: We're like, this dude's rich, rich.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: But to understand Zacchaeus a little more, we need to understand the position of tax collector.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: You see, to some of you, that sounds like a big four accounting job, kind of a nice business job, which to a lot of us sounds nice, and to the mind student sounds lame.
39:46
SPEAKER_01: I don't get it.
39:49
SPEAKER_01: But like we think it's a big four accounting job, but that's not at all what it is.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: We've got to think more IRS, and I mean that with the worst connotations that you could possibly hear that with.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: You see, tax collectors were professional exploiters.
40:01
SPEAKER_01: They were Jewish people who stole money from other Jewish people on behalf of the Roman government.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: So, what would happen is if Rome would do$100 in taxes, the tax collectors would take$250 and they'd pocket$150 and then pass the other$100 on to Rome.
40:19
SPEAKER_01: It was a great way to get rich, and it was a great way to make a lot of enemies.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: If you would have asked someone who grew up with Zacchaeus to describe him in one word, he would have used the word traitor.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: The chief tax collector.
40:48
SPEAKER_01: This is betrayal at his height.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: Like the height of betrayal, it's not just a stranger dating your axe, it's your best friend dating your axe, right?
40:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm guessing Zacchaeus gets this place where he's like, How did I end up here?
41:03
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been in a place like that?
41:05
SPEAKER_01: You ask yourself this question like, how did I end up here?
41:08
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm guessing Zacchaeus didn't set out to be hated, he didn't set out to be lonely.
41:14
SPEAKER_01: You think context clues from the from the passage, from the Bible, and from the rest of history?
41:19
SPEAKER_01: I would guess that Zacchaeus said out to get wealthy, and he was really good at it.
41:23
SPEAKER_01: He got to get rich.
41:26
SPEAKER_01: He climbed the ladder of success and got what he wanted.
41:34
SPEAKER_01: What you want over your four years in school?
41:37
SPEAKER_01: I hope you know this.
41:38
SPEAKER_01: If you don't know, this will be a lesson for you.
41:41
SPEAKER_01: But you're paying a lot of money, or someone else is paying a lot of money for you to get a four-year degree.
41:46
SPEAKER_01: And so you know at some point along the way, you ask yourself the question like, what is gonna make this degree worth it?
41:52
SPEAKER_01: Or like, what at the end of my four-year career is gonna make this degree worth it?
41:57
SPEAKER_01: How will I know what the success is?
42:01
SPEAKER_01: Is it graduating for your four years to get a job you enjoy?
42:04
SPEAKER_01: Is it your four years setting you up to have a career where you make more money than you could possibly know how to spend?
42:11
SPEAKER_01: Is it a four-year highlight reel of experiences and friendships and adventures proving?
42:18
SPEAKER_01: That you soaked up all that Colorado had to offer is it having an awesome four-year sports career?
42:24
SPEAKER_01: Where you end up recognized on the team, recognized on your campus, maybe recognized by your conference, or recognized as an all-American.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: What success over your four years is it's building a resume with internships and experiences and clubs that no employer could ever turn down.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: Imagine We're getting to the end of your four years and saying that what a successful four years might look like.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: For just a second, because that's how you define those articles.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: We do need to remember the story of the kids because he's fine with the ladder of success.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's see what happens next because I think it might surprise you.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: We know his name, we know his profession, we know that he's rich, but here we learn a fourth thing.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: And that's like short.
43:35
SPEAKER_01: Which, like Luke, what Luke does is Luke writes uh a gospel account or a biography of the life and ministry of Jesus.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: And so I just like to imagine, you know, use my historic and biblical imagination, that at some point along the way, Zacchaeus gets a copy of Luke's biography, and he's like, Jesus lived an awesome three years.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: And of every detail you chose to include in your one account of it, it's that I'm short.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: Zacchaeus for sure stole money from Lucre, one of his family members.
44:10
SPEAKER_01: Like, now there's a kid's song that clowns him, it's a whole thing.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: We little man was he.
44:15
SPEAKER_01: Anyway.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way.
44:22
SPEAKER_01: So the first thing we see is the success of Zacchaeus.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: But here's the second thing that we're gonna see is the desperation of Zacchaeus.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: You see, first we saw that Zacchaeus climbed the ladder of success, but the second thing we're gonna see is that Zacchaeus climbs a tree.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: You see, Zacchaeus wasn't satisfied.
44:38
SPEAKER_01: He knew there should be more, he wanted there to be more.
44:40
SPEAKER_01: He probably couldn't imagine a life where there wasn't more.
44:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm guessing Zacchaeus realized that the things he was living for weren't worth dying for.
44:49
SPEAKER_01: So Zacchaeus is running out of options.
44:51
SPEAKER_01: He's coming to the end of himself.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been in a place like that?
44:57
SPEAKER_01: Like you've done so much work, you're coming to the end of yourself, you're looking for something more significant, something more meaningful.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: I told you to hold on to that image of success that you had.
45:09
SPEAKER_01: I want you to bring that back to the front of your mind.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: So imagine you're in a place where you get the success that you've wanted.
45:15
SPEAKER_01: You graduated from school, you get your dream job, where you're making a dream amount of money, you live in a dream house, drive a dream car, have a dream number of zeros in your bank account, where you have a dream spouse with a dream family.
45:28
SPEAKER_01: Then what?
45:31
SPEAKER_01: What do you need more?
45:34
SPEAKER_01: Will you have arrived at success then?
45:37
SPEAKER_01: Will you be satisfied then?
45:41
SPEAKER_01: I love what Jim Carrey says.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: He says, I wish everyone could get rich and famous and everything they ever wanted so that you could realize that it's not the answer.
45:49
SPEAKER_01: So back to that image.
45:50
SPEAKER_01: What happens if you lose something?
45:53
SPEAKER_01: Because here's what's true is that employers lay off employees, houses burn, and stock markets and cars both crash.
46:02
SPEAKER_01: And I'm guessing you'll get to the point in your was all the work and stress and pressure and pain and energy, was it worth it?
46:11
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let me frame this a little bit differently.
46:13
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about one of the greatest achievements you've ever had in your life.
46:17
SPEAKER_01: Maybe a sports achievement, an academic achievement, graduating from high school, a time you were recognized by your local paper.
46:23
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about one of the greatest moments of your life.
46:28
SPEAKER_01: People clap for you and they send you encouraging text messages.
46:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm so proud of you, that was so cool, you're so awesome, but what inevitably happens every single time is the applause always ends.
46:45
SPEAKER_01: The text message at some point stopped coming through.
46:52
SPEAKER_01: And we're left exhausted, hopeless, and apathetic.
46:56
SPEAKER_01: And I think some of you are in that place tonight because this is exactly where Zacchaeus was, and this is where this story gets interesting because Zacchaeus has probably heard a few things about Jesus, some good things and some bad things.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: You see, the Jewish people also didn't really like Jesus, but they'd also, he'd also probably heard about some of his powerful teaching and his healings.
47:15
SPEAKER_01: And I bet there was a thought that just flashed through Zacchaeus' mind that said, Jesus has changed someone else's life, and maybe he can change mine too.
47:24
SPEAKER_01: So what does he what does he do?
47:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, he needs to see Jesus.
47:28
SPEAKER_01: So our little bro climbs a tree.
47:32
SPEAKER_01: Now I want you to imagine your favorite government official taking off their suit jacket, loosening their tie, taking a pair of scissors to their pair of suit pants, cutting them off, their dress shoes off, and like shimmying up a tree.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: That's the image you need to have in your head because Zacchaeus is this government official.
47:48
SPEAKER_01: Yes, no one likes him, but he embarrasses himself, right?
47:51
SPEAKER_01: He's this wee little man who climbs a tree.
47:53
SPEAKER_01: So up until this point, we gotta remember, Zacchaeus climbs the ladder of success, is left unsatisfied, and in desperation, he climbs a tree.
48:02
SPEAKER_01: You've all probably heard the saying, desperate times call for desperate measures, right?
48:06
SPEAKER_01: It's like when you have nothing left for lunch, and so you go to the cupboard to make a little sandwich, and you realize that the one piece of bread that you have left has a little mold on it.
48:15
SPEAKER_01: But desperate times call for desperate measures.
48:17
SPEAKER_01: So you just peel around the mold, you throw the mold away, and you got a nice little Sammy to work with for lunch.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
48:22
SPEAKER_01: I know you guys have done it.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: Of all things, I got an amen for that.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: Desperate times call for desperate measures.
48:35
SPEAKER_01: Zacchaeus is fully embodying this statement, but here's what I've found in life.
48:39
SPEAKER_01: It's sometimes the desperate places in life is where true meaning is found.
48:46
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you're sitting here and you're like, I'm not that desperate yet.
48:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna live it up now.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: And I'll come back to the serious and spiritual stuff in a little bit, but friends, hear me on this.
48:56
SPEAKER_01: That's drinking poison and hoping the cure finds you later, and it may not.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: And so we have to know if we're in this desperate place, what's the answer?
49:06
SPEAKER_01: What's gonna satisfy?
49:08
SPEAKER_01: It's in this desperate place where the most hated person experiences an unexpected invitation.
49:13
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 5.
49:15
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and he said, Zacchaeus, hurry, come down, because today it's necessary for me to stay at your house.
49:22
SPEAKER_01: So he quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully.
49:24
SPEAKER_01: We've seen the success of Zacchaeus, the desperation of Zacchaeus, and now the invitation to Zacchaeus.
49:30
SPEAKER_01: I hope you guys understand what's happening here.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: You see, Jesus is a Jewish man, a man who's probably had friends and family members who've been exploited by Zacchaeus.
49:39
SPEAKER_01: Maybe even Jesus himself has lost money to Zacchaeus.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: And in a crowd of influential, upright, and honorable men and women, Jesus looks to the tree and sees the small, hated man and says, Of everyone, I want to get a meal with you.
49:53
SPEAKER_01: I want to stay with you.
49:54
SPEAKER_01: Now, you might be thinking, like, Jesus got some standards, you know?
49:58
SPEAKER_01: Like he just going to the guy with the nicest house on the block, the guy with the sauna and the cold plunge.
50:03
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be Zacchaeus.
50:05
SPEAKER_01: He's rich.
50:07
SPEAKER_01: But in the first century, the people you ate with, the company you shared said everything about you.
50:14
SPEAKER_01: And so Jesus, the perfect, upright son of God, has just said something.
50:19
SPEAKER_01: Hey Zacchaeus, you feel like an outsider, you feel like an outcast, you feel unqualified, and you feel dissatisfied.
50:25
SPEAKER_01: Hey Zacchaeus, you're invited.
50:30
SPEAKER_01: But some people didn't like that.
50:32
SPEAKER_01: Some people didn't like Zacchaeus getting invited.
50:34
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 7.
50:35
SPEAKER_01: All, not just some, all actually, who saw it began to complain.
50:39
SPEAKER_01: He's gone to stay with a sinful man.
50:42
SPEAKER_01: Here's the problem is most people in the first century wanted Jesus to respond and receive the religious and upright people.
50:48
SPEAKER_01: And they hated him for associating with sinners.
50:53
SPEAKER_01: But I don't think that's a problem of the first century.
50:56
SPEAKER_01: I think that problem exists in the room tonight.
51:01
SPEAKER_01: But some of you have had this flashing thought that you think this message is too simple, you think this place is full of hypocrites, you think this place is full of sinners and people that are below you.
51:11
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has come for you, but maybe not someone else in the room.
51:15
SPEAKER_01: And friends, if those thoughts have crossed your mind, I'm not sure you understand the message of Jesus at all.
51:21
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus doesn't come for those of you that have it all together, he comes for those of us like me who are barely hanging on.
51:29
SPEAKER_01: This is the unexpected invitation.
51:32
SPEAKER_01: Zacchaeus has no business eating with Jesus.
51:37
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus says, I'll go with you.
51:40
SPEAKER_01: Now that sounds great and all, but I guess if we were the ones invited, we'd hesitate.
51:46
SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
51:47
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I appreciate the invite, but I gotta go clean some things up.
51:51
SPEAKER_01: I gotta go get some questions answered.
51:53
SPEAKER_01: I gotta go shure up some doubts.
51:57
SPEAKER_01: I gotta go prove that I that I can like live my life a little bit better than I have before.
52:05
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus sees the brokenness, the still figuring it out, the don't have it all together, the questions and the doubts.
52:12
SPEAKER_01: He sees the desperation, the rejection, and maybe even some of their regret.
52:16
SPEAKER_01: And when Jesus sees that, what does he do?
52:19
SPEAKER_01: He invites Zacchaeus, anyways, and he invites you to.
52:23
SPEAKER_01: Look at how the story ends, verse 8.
52:26
SPEAKER_01: But Zacchaeus stood there and said, Lord, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord, and if I've extorted anything from anyone, I'll pay back four times as much.
52:35
SPEAKER_01: Here's what you need to see about the invitation of Jesus.
52:39
SPEAKER_01: It's actually much deeper, more beautiful, and more profound than we could have ever imagined.
52:44
SPEAKER_01: It's not just leave the past in the past, it's actually invited, you're invited into this uh a relationship with Jesus where he begins to rework your story, redeem your past, and restore you to who he's made you to be.
52:58
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 9.
53:00
SPEAKER_01: Today salvation has come to this house, Jesus told him, because he too is a son of Abraham.
53:04
SPEAKER_01: And I need you to stop, I need you to focus in on verse 10, because of everything we've talked about, this is the key to our time together.
53:11
SPEAKER_01: Verse 10, for the Son of Man, that's Jesus Christ, has come to seek and to save the lost.
53:19
SPEAKER_01: Jesus comes with an unexpected invitation.
53:24
SPEAKER_01: See, Zacchaeus has his life utterly transformed by a single invitation.
53:28
SPEAKER_01: The man who is hated, rejected, and lonely is now seen, restored, and loved.
53:33
SPEAKER_01: This invitation changed everything about Zacchaeus' life.
53:39
SPEAKER_01: It's an invitation for Zacchaeus, but don't leave this room without believing it's also an invitation for you.
53:44
SPEAKER_01: And so then the question becomes, what do you do with the invitation of Jesus?
53:50
SPEAKER_01: What do you do with your invitation from Jesus?
53:53
SPEAKER_01: See, first, to respond to the invitation of Jesus, we need to realize that we aren't actually that different from Zacchaeus.
54:01
SPEAKER_01: You see, we all have our own versions of success and we all climb the ladder of success.
54:07
SPEAKER_01: Everyone in here, everyone in here wants to be seen, valued, and accepted.
54:14
SPEAKER_01: And so we all do something with that feeling.
54:17
SPEAKER_01: We try to have great academic careers.
54:20
SPEAKER_01: We throw ourselves into friendship or Greek life or a sports team.
54:24
SPEAKER_01: We try to build a resume or get a job, and all of those things are a result of wanting to be seen, valued, and accepted.
54:33
SPEAKER_01: And so whether you're aware of it or not, those are ladders of success that you're climbing.
54:39
SPEAKER_01: And they're ladders of success that you think one more rung, one more rung, one more rung will satisfy.
54:51
SPEAKER_01: But it never does.
54:54
SPEAKER_01: Those ladders of success that we climb always leave us like Zacchaeus.
55:00
SPEAKER_01: Rich in some ways, but in short-term ways, and empty of lasting meaning.
55:07
SPEAKER_01: See, I think the ladders of success that we're tempted to climb leave us rich in short-term praise, but empty of lasting meaning.
55:13
SPEAKER_01: So the invitation is to see that you actually aren't that different from Zacchaeus.
55:17
SPEAKER_01: You're climbing a ladder of success, and whether you recognize it now or not, that will lead you to being desperate because you're dissatisfied.
55:28
SPEAKER_01: But it's not just to see the ways you're not that different from Zacchaeus, but see the ways that Jesus treats those of us like Zacchaeus.
55:36
SPEAKER_01: Verse 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.
55:42
SPEAKER_01: You see, I'm not that different from Zacchaeus.
55:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm not that different from Zacchaeus, and Jesus has invited me, which means you're not that different from Zacchaeus, and Jesus can invite you to.
56:09
SPEAKER_01: The whole story centers around a tree, right?
56:14
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you're unfamiliar with the Bible, but actually the entire story of the Bible centers around a tree.
56:21
SPEAKER_01: But the story of the Bible isn't a tree that you need to climb, it's a story of a man who climbed a tree for you.
56:27
SPEAKER_01: You see, this evening we looked at Luke 19, but if you were to flip in your Bible just four more chapters, you'd see that Jesus is the one who climbs a tree.
56:35
SPEAKER_01: And he climbs a tree that's cut and carved into the shape of a cross, and he doesn't climb it so that he can see someone, he climbs it so you can see him.
56:44
SPEAKER_01: See, we all live with our intentions and actions bent inward towards ourselves.
56:49
SPEAKER_01: We live like Zacchaeus, where we think the world is going to satisfy us, and it always over-promises and under-delivers.
56:57
SPEAKER_01: It always leaves us wanting more.
57:00
SPEAKER_01: It's living contrary to how we were designed, it's pursuing selfish ambition, and that has consequences.
57:09
SPEAKER_01: It not only leaves us wanting more, but it actually leaves us as enemies of God.
57:14
SPEAKER_01: That's what the Bible says.
57:17
SPEAKER_01: So, how does Zacchaeus end up dining with the God of the universe?
57:21
SPEAKER_01: And how do we, in our imperfection, in our messed it up, in our I've gone too far, have a relationship with God who's perfect?
57:30
SPEAKER_01: It's not something we do, it's something that Jesus did.
57:33
SPEAKER_01: See, Jesus is crucified on a Roman wooden cross.
57:37
SPEAKER_01: He's crucified on a tree.
57:40
SPEAKER_01: And he died publicly, visibly, and historically.
57:44
SPEAKER_01: And so that all who would believe in him, all the consequences for our selfishness and our rebellion and our sin and our climbing the next rung of the ladder of success are placed on him.
57:55
SPEAKER_01: But the story doesn't end with Jesus hanging on a tree.
57:58
SPEAKER_01: Three days later, Jesus publicly, visibly, and historically walks out of the tomb.
58:05
SPEAKER_01: And he does this so that you can have new life.
58:08
SPEAKER_01: So you can have a life that actually satisfies.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: Not one where you have to reach the next rung, but one where you realize that Jesus Christ has given you everything that you could ever want in a life that satisfied.
58:31
SPEAKER_01: See, I think there are people in this room who are gonna believe that truth tonight.
58:37
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've believed it before.
58:39
SPEAKER_01: We all have a tendency to forget, and tonight we all need to be reminded that we've been extended an unexpected invitation.
58:48
SPEAKER_01: So tonight, maybe for the first time, you need to believe.
58:53
SPEAKER_01: Like maybe you've spent the last two weeks, the last two months, or the last 20 years running from God.
59:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna run from God, and maybe I'll come back to that stuff later, or maybe you've actually climbed a really similar ladder of spiritual success.
59:09
SPEAKER_01: I just need to go to Salt Company and go to church and become a leader in my group, and then I'll achieve all that there is to offer.
59:17
SPEAKER_01: I'll achieve God's love for me.
59:19
SPEAKER_01: But regardless if you're running from God or trying to get your way to God, that's not how it works.
59:26
SPEAKER_01: We need to receive the unexpected invitation.
59:31
SPEAKER_01: And to receive the unexpected invitation, you need to believe.
59:34
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
59:35
SPEAKER_01: We don't flex our spiritual muscles.
59:37
SPEAKER_01: We believe, and I believe that God is extending unexpected invitations tonight.
59:42
SPEAKER_01: And so if that's you, would you open it?
59:43
SPEAKER_01: Would you say yes?
59:44
SPEAKER_01: And would you place all the belief you have in Jesus Christ?
59:49
SPEAKER_01: See, maybe this information is totally new to you, and maybe it's not at all, but to everyone who can hear my voice, whether it's for the first time or the ten thousandth time, we all need to look to Jesus.
1:00:01
SPEAKER_01: The one hanging on the cross, the one who's then resurrected from the grave, the one who leads us to life of satisfaction, we all need to look to Jesus.
1:00:12
SPEAKER_01: And here's what's true.
1:00:14
SPEAKER_01: Every week at Salt Company, we look to Jesus.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_01: Every week at Salt Company, we do not primarily give you moral advice on how to clean up your life and get to God, but we declare the cosmic and glorious truth that God has come on a rescue mission for you.
1:00:36
SPEAKER_01: See, maybe God's doing something in you right now.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_01: And you have more questions than answers.
1:00:44
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about Zacchaeus for just a second.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_01: Think about him sitting up in a tree.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_01: He didn't have all the answers, he didn't have his life totally figured out.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't well versed in spiritual things.
1:00:58
SPEAKER_01: He just knew he needed to see Jesus.
1:01:02
SPEAKER_01: He just knew he needed to look to Jesus.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_01: And so the invitation for you is to escape the crowds, the hustle and bustle, the deadlines, the dean's list, and the drama, and for you to look to Jesus.
1:01:16
SPEAKER_01: Because everyone in the room is gonna spend four years doing hopefully a lot of great things.
1:01:21
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna take classes, you're gonna study and past tests, you're gonna do projects, participate in research, play a sport, join a club, and develop career ambitions, and those are all things that I hope you do.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_01: But listen, as someone who did that, it's so easy to get caught up in the next thing.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_01: The next assignment, the next project, the next internship, the next friend outing I gotta go to, the next thing that I think will provide life to me.
1:01:51
SPEAKER_01: And we get so busy that we say yes to good things, and we say no to the necessary things.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_01: I'll get to seeing Jesus later.
1:02:07
SPEAKER_01: Friends, I don't want you to climb ladders of success only to realize that it always leads to a lonely and purposeless place.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_01: And so the best thing you can do over your four years is look to Jesus.
1:02:20
SPEAKER_01: So maybe you came to college looking for him, and maybe you came thinking that this is the last thing that you expected, and God's doing something in you right now, and you're not sure what it is, and you're not sure how to name it, but you think that you might need to come back to see Jesus.
1:02:33
SPEAKER_01: But to everyone in the room, would you come back next week?
1:02:37
SPEAKER_01: Here's why.
1:02:38
SPEAKER_01: Because next week, together, we're gonna open up the Bible, we're gonna see who Jesus is, and we're gonna read about what it means for our life.
1:02:46
SPEAKER_01: See, next week we're gonna start a series called Meeting Jesus, asking the question, what happens when I meet Jesus?
1:02:51
SPEAKER_01: And some of you probably have this thought.
1:02:52
SPEAKER_01: That's too simple of a question.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: I kind of got that figured out.
1:02:55
SPEAKER_01: If that's your response to the question, what happens when I meet Jesus?
1:02:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm not actually sure we've met the same Jesus.
1:03:02
SPEAKER_01: Because my plan is to spend the rest of my life discovering just how much Jesus changes every part of my life.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm never gonna get sick at looking to Jesus and talking about what meeting him means because Jesus changes everything.
1:03:22
SPEAKER_01: So come back next week, and I think what you're gonna find is that there's a Jesus who's eager to meet you, eager to invite you, eager to welcome you in, that there's a place here where outcasts are made friends, where the rejected are welcome, and to where the rebels are made righteous.
1:03:40
SPEAKER_01: Let me pray for us.
1:03:44
SPEAKER_01: God in heaven, we believe that you're extending unexpected invitations tonight.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_01: I believe that there are men and women in this room who didn't expect to be here, didn't expect to listen, didn't expect to have anything that I said land in their hearts, and yet you're stirring something in them.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_01: And that there are a whole bunch of reasons in this room not to say yes.
1:04:13
SPEAKER_01: I have more questions than answers.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm really hot and I can't think about it right now.
1:04:20
SPEAKER_01: I have doubt.
1:04:23
SPEAKER_01: I don't have my life figured out.
1:04:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm not good enough.
1:04:29
SPEAKER_01: And by your spirit, would you move in a powerful way that says the goal isn't that we climb a spiritual ladder to get to you?
1:04:37
SPEAKER_01: The goal is that we look to Jesus, hanging on a cross, died for our sins, resurrected to new life, so now you invite us into a life of satisfaction.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_01: God, would you do a powerful work in this room?
1:04:48
SPEAKER_01: We pray all this in Jesus' name.
1:04:49
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
1:04:53
SPEAKER_11: Would you all stand as we respond by worshiping in song?
1:10:37
SPEAKER_11: Come on, lift up, you're praised.
1:10:40
SPEAKER_11: We're gonna lift our our face.
1:10:43
SPEAKER_11: We're gonna clap, we're gonna dance, we're gonna sing, I thank God! Y'all think you can do that?
1:10:50
SPEAKER_04: Let's go one more in the face to that with all the came with the five.
1:15:33
SPEAKER_00: Okay, sorry.
1:15:35
SPEAKER_00: It's my first time up here.
1:15:36
SPEAKER_00: Guys, we are so glad that you came to Salt Company Kickoff tonight.
1:15:40
SPEAKER_00: My name is Katie and I am on staff.
1:15:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we just have one more thing for you before we let you go.
1:15:45
SPEAKER_01: Hey, like I said just a few minutes ago, we want you to give your four years to seeing Jesus clearly.
1:15:52
SPEAKER_01: We think some of the best ways to do that are coming back to Salt Company next week, 8 p.m., right in this room.
1:15:57
SPEAKER_01: We also want to invite you to Storyline Church, because that's the church that we're a part of.
1:16:01
SPEAKER_01: We meet here Sunday mornings, 8, 9, 30, and 11.
1:16:04
SPEAKER_01: We also think one of the best ways that you can spend your four years seeing Jesus is by joining a city group.
1:16:10
SPEAKER_00: Citigroups are groups that meet on or near your campus to discuss Tuesday nights, to learn more about Jesus, and to develop genuine friendships.
1:16:18
SPEAKER_00: They're led by our amazing student leaders.
1:16:21
SPEAKER_00: I promise I'm not just gassing them up.
1:16:23
SPEAKER_00: They are simply the best people.
1:16:25
SPEAKER_00: And we just believe that some of the greatest moments in Soul Company happen in dorm rooms and apartments and coffee shops or in classrooms on campus as the people in this room gather together week after week.
1:16:38
SPEAKER_01: Guys, I want to share a little bit more of my story.
1:16:40
SPEAKER_01: You see, I came into college thinking I didn't really need anyone, that it was okay to be in a room like this where I knew people alright, and I knew that there were people that moderately cared about me.
1:16:49
SPEAKER_01: I thought my relationship with Jesus was just something me, like for me and him.
1:16:53
SPEAKER_01: But I was utterly wrong.
1:16:55
SPEAKER_01: My college experience totally changed everything about the way that I viewed that, because the good news of the gospel isn't just that Jesus saves us from our sins, though he does, but that Jesus actually invites us into new relationships.
1:17:09
SPEAKER_01: You see, the gospel is absolutely that we can come as we are with our questions, our doubts, our sin, and our skepticism.
1:17:17
SPEAKER_01: But the good news of the gospel is that we actually don't need to stay there.
1:17:21
SPEAKER_00: When you walk out those doors, you're gonna see all of our student leaders holding up signs with when and where their city groups meet.
1:17:27
SPEAKER_00: Here's what you have to do: one, look for your city.
1:17:29
SPEAKER_00: We've got a map up on the screen that'll point you in the right direction.
1:17:33
SPEAKER_00: Second thing you need to do, find a day and time that works for you.
1:17:36
SPEAKER_00: Third thing you need to do, walk up to those leaders, introduce yourself, scan the QR code to jump into their city group.
1:17:44
SPEAKER_00: If you can't find a city group or you have any questions at all, straight out the doors, our staff will be waiting there, and we would love to help get you connected.
1:17:52
SPEAKER_01: Soul Company, we look forward to what God's gonna do this semester.
1:17:55
SPEAKER_01: We love you, and we'll see you next week.
1:17:57
SPEAKER_01: Woo!