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Andy Stanley - Inflection Point: Halfway There Part 1 · Andy Stanley Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: We're kicking off a generosity initiative across all eight of
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: our Atlanta area churches.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: We're calling it Deeper Wider. In order to.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Resource this expanded vision, we're hoping to accelerate generosity in
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: our churches an additional one.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Hundred million dollars over the next two years. The primary
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: difference between a dream and a vision is a good plan.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: We have one, we believe in it, and we're ready
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: to go, but we can't do it without your help.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Right over, here's my favorite part, the new Baptism Pool.
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  Speaker 2: I cannot wait to hear the stories of life change.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: They're going to happen in that very spot.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Because of your investment in Deeper Wider. But we were
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: able to create an environment where students could encounter Jesus.
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  Speaker 3: Your generosity made it possible for us to provide four
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  Speaker 3: hundred and eighteen student scholarships.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: We sent two hundred and seventeen middle schoolers in scholarships to.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Camp, and most importantly, we have seen three one hundred
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: and eight middle schoolers give their life to Christ this
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: past fall.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Number half of the thousands of university students who discovered
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: or rediscovered their faith through the living Room Thank you.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Thanks to your generosity, you're helping give these digital journeyers
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: a place to belong.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: There needs to be more of what we do here
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: everywhere you in Atlanta.
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  Speaker 1: You're having an enormous impact here in that part of
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  Speaker 1: the world.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Your generosity is shaping churches across Australia and New Zealand.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Your leaders, as your environments are all in for our churches.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Why don't need Since the word church looks.
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  Speaker 1: Like I hope that you have a great sense of
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: joy in the investment that you've made.
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  Speaker 2: I can tell you it is very, very well invested,
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  Speaker 2: and it's making a huge king of difference. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we're not putting the brakes on.
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  Speaker 3: We want to go faster.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: We're not stopping. I want a kingdom build till I
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: go down.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: So one year ago today, we kicked off our Generosity
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: initiative across all aid Atlanta area church and churches, and
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: we're calling it deeper, wider, and the goal, as I
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: mentioned a few minutes ago, and as most of you
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: know by now, is to maximize our impact locally, locally,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: nationally and globally. And when you leave today you're gonna
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: receive one of these we handed one out. Oops, I
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: walked up without it and that's my fault. Lots of
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: changes today. Anyway, you're gonna get a vision guide, and
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: we handed one of these out a year ago. This
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: is a brand new one, newer pictures and updates for
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: everything that's going on, so one per family.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: We'd love for you to pick one of these.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Up if you're watching online, if you'll just go to
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Deeper Wider dot com and let me just say to
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: our online audience, so many of you who don't even
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: live in the Atlanta area have participated financially in this.
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  Speaker 1: We are so extraordinarily grateful. And I know one of
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: the reasons you do this because you're saying, we need
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  Speaker 1: a church like your church in our city. And I
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  Speaker 1: want you to know we're doing our best to be
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: on the way and your generosity is helping us do that.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: A quick reminder if you've been around for a while,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: or if you've been around and then this is new
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  Speaker 1: information if you're new, what we've accomplished together over these
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  Speaker 1: thirty years is really remarkable. Eight Atlanta area churches large churches,
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  Speaker 1: about seventy thousand people involved, two hundred and thirteen or so.
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  Speaker 2: Network churches around the country.
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  Speaker 1: And around the world that impact this is amazing or
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  Speaker 1: that involve over six hundred thousand.
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  Speaker 2: People and the amazing thing.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: And again, the part of one of the reasons we're
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: doing this is so many good things have been going
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: on and we never talk about it on Sunday because
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: we've got to get to the songs and the sermons
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: and you're busy, and we got all this programming going
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: on locally. So last year at this time we started
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  Speaker 1: talking about it. And up until last spring, anything that
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: we did nationally or globally, anything that we did nationally
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  Speaker 1: globally paid for with what I call this isn't a
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: great phrase, we paid for it with margin money. At first,
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  Speaker 1: I was going to say leftover money, but that's there's
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  Speaker 1: no leftover money, right, margin money. And what this means
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  Speaker 1: is any money that we didn't use locally on campuses
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  Speaker 1: we use to expand our influence again nationally and globally.
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  Speaker 1: And the way it works is you give to your
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  Speaker 1: local church and again we take the money that we
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: don't use on the local campus and invest it in
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  Speaker 1: some of these national and global initiatives. And while we've
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: done a lot until last spring, we had done a lot,
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  Speaker 1: we realized internally there was a lot more we could
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  Speaker 1: do if we decided to. So I'm like, well, why
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  Speaker 1: don't I just tell all of our churches what we're
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: doing because they don't know and it's our fault, it's
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: not your fault. So I asked last year at this time,
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  Speaker 1: I said, hey, do you want to do this? Do
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  Speaker 1: you want to maximize our impact locally, nationally and globally?
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  Speaker 1: And if you want to do it, it's going to
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  Speaker 1: require us to leverage, to leverage our collective financial capacity.
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  Speaker 1: We can't maximize our you know, our influence if we
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  Speaker 1: just used the margin money. And the reason I asked
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  Speaker 1: this question, and this is so important, is not because
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  Speaker 1: your church needs your money. It's because the world needs
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  Speaker 1: your influence. The world and local communities in this country
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  Speaker 1: as well, need more churches like the church that you're
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  Speaker 1: sitting in.
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  Speaker 2: And what do I mean by that? I mean outward.
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  Speaker 1: Facing churches, Churches that are focused on people who are
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  Speaker 1: far from God, people who feel like they've had such
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  Speaker 1: a bad church experience that can't ever come back to
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  Speaker 1: the church. Churches where the rungs on the ladder start
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  Speaker 1: about halfway up and if you're starting a faith journey
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  Speaker 1: or restarting a faith journey, you can't get on the ladder.
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  Speaker 2: There needs to be more churches like that.
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  Speaker 1: Nationally and all over the world, outward facing churches. And
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  Speaker 1: when I asked, do you want to do this, this
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  Speaker 1: was amazing. About fifty five hundred households out of all
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: of our Atlanta area churches said yes, we're in. We
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: want to do this. And you filled out a commitment card.
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  Speaker 1: We don't ever do that. I think that's the first
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  Speaker 1: time we've ever done something like that since we started
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  Speaker 1: the church, or the commitment card turned it in some
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: of you, I get this, we're commitment card resistant, Like
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  Speaker 1: I feel like if I commit, then it's like I
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  Speaker 1: have a debt. So you didn't fill out a card,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: but you started. You increased your giving. Some of you
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: began giving to a church for the first time. You'd
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: never given to a local church before, for a variety
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: of reasons. I've heard them all. I understand that anyway.
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  Speaker 1: And and then as a part of that, we set
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  Speaker 1: a really big goal. In fact, we when I looked
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: at the number, I thought, we can't present that. It's
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  Speaker 1: it's overwhelming, and I don't like to lose, so it's
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: easier if you just drop the goal. So you can anyway,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I know. Anyway, that's a personality thing. Anyway, So we
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  Speaker 1: set a really big goal based on actual opportunities. As
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  Speaker 1: we looked at all the opportunities, that ask what would
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  Speaker 1: it cost to really go big on this?
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  Speaker 2: And so we our goal was.
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  Speaker 1: To raise one hundred million dollars over two years in
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  Speaker 1: addition to our regular giving, and then we would invest
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  Speaker 1: or spend that money over a five year period into
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: these different initiatal these initiatives, and so the additional money
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  Speaker 1: combined with our normal giving would go into one of
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  Speaker 1: these three buckets.
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  Speaker 2: And we talked about this.
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  Speaker 1: This is all review, but if you're new, we're glad
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  Speaker 1: you're hearing on this three buckets. Transformation, expansion, Innovation. Transformation
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  Speaker 1: is essentially all the stuff that we have been doing anyway,
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  Speaker 1: what we're currently doing, what you and your family experience on.
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  Speaker 2: A weekly basis.
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  Speaker 1: Expansion is simply more of that in more places. That
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  Speaker 1: is multiplying those experiences nationally and multiplying these experiences that
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  Speaker 1: you experienced on a Sunday morning internationally. And then innovation,
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  Speaker 1: there are some things that we want to do that.
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  Speaker 1: There's some things we want to try that have never
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  Speaker 1: been done before, and one of them, in particular, is
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  Speaker 1: really expensive, and we thought, you know what, if we're
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  Speaker 1: gonna do this, let's let people know what we're doing
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  Speaker 1: to see if they want to get involved. So again,
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  Speaker 1: the goal was to raise one hundred million additional dollars,
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  Speaker 1: and as of today you all of our Atlanta churches
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  Speaker 1: have committed and those of you online have committed a
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  Speaker 1: little over ninety nine million dollars. So that's not how
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  Speaker 1: much has come in, don't I don't want to be
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  Speaker 1: confuse you, but in terms of the commitments we own
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  Speaker 1: and we almost have almost one hundred million dollars committed
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  Speaker 1: above what normally comes into our Atlanta area churches, which
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  Speaker 1: is absolutely amazing. And of course, many of you, over
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  Speaker 1: this past year you started giving, fulfilling your commitments are
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  Speaker 1: giving for the first time. So we got busy spending
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  Speaker 1: and investing that money. And if you've been attending for
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  Speaker 1: a while or watching for a while, you'll know that
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  Speaker 1: we've given you updates all along the way.
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  Speaker 2: It was so important to us that you.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Know where the money's going and you know how that
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  Speaker 1: money is being invested.
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  Speaker 2: So we've shown you video updates.
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  Speaker 1: If you're on our email list, we send out email updates.
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  Speaker 1: We want you to know here's the progress that's being
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  Speaker 1: made because of your extraordinary generosity. You'll hear more about
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: this one later, but just real quick. And this past fall,
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  Speaker 1: Sandra and I went to Auckland, New Zealand, halfway around
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  Speaker 1: the world, and then Sydney, Australia and Brisbane, Australia, and
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  Speaker 1: we met with about five little over five hundred church
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  Speaker 1: leaders from several hundred different churches, some of whom are
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  Speaker 1: already our partners. And what happens is we go into
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  Speaker 1: a city, we promote that we're going to be there,
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  Speaker 1: and our partner churches invite all their pastor friends that
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  Speaker 1: they think would be interested, and we kind of do
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  Speaker 1: show and tell this is our model, this is what
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  Speaker 1: we're trying to do, this is what it looks like
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  Speaker 1: to be an outward facing church.
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  Speaker 2: And our partners halfway around.
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  Speaker 1: The world are really all over the world now are
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  Speaker 1: replicating the model church that you experience week in and
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  Speaker 1: week out, and the same environments. In fact, there's a
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  Speaker 1: church well there's in Perth and in both cities in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: We walk in and when I was in Monterey in
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: Mexico a couple of years ago, I walk in and
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: there's Wombaland and there's Upstreet, and they got all of
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: our stuff on the wall and they're using our curriculum
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: and they're translating it and they're just so thrilled that
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: somebody has given them a model that allows them no
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: longer to be an insider focused church, to be in
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: outsider focused church. Then and this come in July. We
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: have a Latin American network that's so amazing. And part
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: of that network are countries in South America that don't
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: speak Spanish, Brazil in particular. So in July we went Brazilian.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Here that's exciting, we go Portuguese. So in July we're
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: gonna officially create a second network, so the Latin American network,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: there'll be a Spanish speaking in Portuguese speaking one based.
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  Speaker 2: Out of uh out of Brazil.
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  Speaker 1: And our host Tiago launched Red Church. He launched a
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: church in his garage. He's an extraordinary leader.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: And here's the thing I love about what we're doing.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: We attract very entrepreneurial church leaders and The problem is,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: and the reason this is so important is denominations.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: I'm not against denominations.
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  Speaker 1: Denominations and generally generally don't attract entrepreneurial leaders. They attract pastors.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm all for pastors.
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  Speaker 2: I are one.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not a great one, but I'm you know, I'm
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: a better preacher than I am a pastor. But anyway,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: so what happen weapens is educational systems oftentimes and church
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: systems oftentimes don't give permission for leaders to lead. We
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: are attracting leaders. And you know this about leaders.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to tell them how.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: You just tell them what, and they just need a
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: picture and then they go figure it out. So we're
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: attracting that kind of leader. So anyway, Thiago in Brazil,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: that kind of.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Leader starts a church and his garage.
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  Speaker 1: Grows it too, about three hundred and then you know,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: almost five hundred. Then he came and found out about us,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: spent some time with us, we talked about the model.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: He went back to Brazil, grew his church from five
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: about five hundred back down to about one hundred and fifty,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: and then it exploded. He embraced what you're doing. They
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: started building a building. They just having a hard time
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: raising money. So even before last March, we wrote them
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: a big check and said finish your building.
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  Speaker 2: So in July, they're going to do a conference, show
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: and tell for that whole part of the world. We're
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: going to go down there and do the conference.
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  Speaker 1: With them in their brand new building that you helped complete.
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  Speaker 1: Look at this, this is what you did, and that
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: amazing yeah from his garage, because why because he's a leader.
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  Speaker 1: He just needed permission, he just needed a model, and
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: he just needed a little wind in the sales. So
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: those are the kinds of people that we're attracting and
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: have been for many, many years. So locally, on the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: local side, we begin facility and technology upgrades.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: You're going to see it experienced some of that.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Nationally, we're a full court press trying to find more,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: find more and more entrepreneurial leaders in this country that
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: want to be a part of this network, and then
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: listing them entrepreneurial leaders who, again, they just need permission,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: they just need a model, They just need to know
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: they're not crazy because they're trying new and interesting things.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: This past week, this was so much fun.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I went to Richmond, Virginia and I spent a day
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: with over one hundred African American church leaders from the
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: state of Virginia.
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  Speaker 2: From fifty different churches.
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  Speaker 1: And we have an extraordinary partner there in Richmond, and
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  Speaker 1: he and his influence invited all of his Africa American
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: pastor friends and saying, hey, we can do this, our
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: state needs to do this. It was absolutely incredible. Then
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: in May, and there's a sermon. I'm going to get
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: into the sermon in a minute.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: I just got to.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Tell you, but I just want you to know what
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: you're doing.
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  Speaker 2: It's just so amazing.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: So in May, we're gonna host our very first Irresistible
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Church Conference. We've been doing a conference for years, kind
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: of show and tell for anybody that wants to show up,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: so we've shut that down.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: It was called Drive.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: So our joke is we parked drive anyway, Okay, anyway.
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  Speaker 1: So we're gonna do this conference and this is just
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: gonna be for our network partners from all over the country,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: all over the world, and we're saying we want you
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: to invite one or two pastors or churches from your
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: area to participate so they can see what we're doing
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: and to decide if they want to be a part
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: of it.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: You can't just join this network.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: We vet these people, we test them, We look at
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: their websites. We make sure they are serious about being
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: outward facing and are they willing to make the changes
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: necessary to be that.
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  Speaker 2: Kind of church. Now, if you're new, quick bit of history.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Our church is thirty years old. Thirty years ago I
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: met with a much.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Much, much, much much much much smaller group of people
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: and I ask them to give financially to an experiment,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: and that experiment became the church that you're seated in today.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: And that initial group.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Of people are so grateful that they said yes to
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: that invitation, because when they show up at any of
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: our buildings and see what we're doing all over the
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: country and all over the world, here's what they think.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: They're like, Wow, I had a part of that.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: I was there at the beginning when it was purely experiment.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Fat We've been told what we're trying to do won't
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: work in the Southeast because everybody in the Southeast knows
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: what a church is, and they go to church and
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: they have expectations and they're going to think you're a cult,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: which there.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Was some of that as well. Anyway, So here's the thing.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Four years from now, four years from now, as we
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: can invest this money over the next four years, four
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: years from now, they're gonna be thousands of men, women
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: and children's students who will be grateful for you because
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: you said yes.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Now to the sermon part of this.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: As I was thinking about just what we've experienced the
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: last year, it dawned on me that I think launching
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: deeper wider was an inflection point for our entire network
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: of churches.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: This spe Atlanta area churches an inflection point.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: It was originally a mathematical term, but now it's used
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: in business. It's used when people are talking about the economy,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: and an inflection point is used to indicate a moment
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: in time or.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes a season that marks.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: The start or the acceleration of something. And it can
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: be either positive. It can be for the better or
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: for the worse. That it marks the beginning of significant change.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: And you don't know an inflection point is happening.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: When it's happening. You generally look back and go, oh, that's.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: When things changed. Oh that's when things turn for better
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: or for worse. They're rarely obvious in the moment. It's
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: like the first domino that falls, but you don't recognized
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: that was the first domino that fell. Other terms to
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: describe this, or a turning point, or a tipping point,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: or a watershed moment, or a flash point, and looking back,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: what's interesting.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: And I don't want you.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: To day dream while I'm preaching, but this may send
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: you off in daydream world. Looking back, we can almost
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: all of us can recognize these kind of turning points
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: or inflection points in our personal lives. Any decision that
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: you made, or any decision that was made about you
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: that altered your future would be an inflection point.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: My first date was Sandro.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: As I was thinking about this, I was tempted to
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: say that first date was an inflection point, but there
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: was actually something else that happened on our first date.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: And I've shared the whole story with some of you,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: so I won't go into the details, although they're interesting. She
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: was very quiet, so I was just filling out, just
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: talk talk talk, you know, I was kind of nervous,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: and in that conversation, in those initial conversations in our
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: car driving, we're going to go meet some of my friends,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: and I asked her a question, and she told me.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: A story about a decision she made that.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Demonstrated extraordinary character and the ability to deal with pressure,
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: the ability to maintain her values under pressure.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: And when I look back, I think that story. I
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: think after that story, I was a goner. It was
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: a done deal. I think that's when I fell in
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: love with her.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Anyway, the point is all of us have things we
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: can look back on. Another illustration thirty years ago, when
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: I met with a group of people about starting this church,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and I said this, I said, Hey, just so you know,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Atlanta doesn't need another church.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, there are so many churches in Atlanta.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I said, Atlanta needs another kind of church.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: And when I said.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: That, something happened with that group of people. Something began,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: and there was there was no stopping. Another example that
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: some of you may be more familiar with twenty years ago,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: which I can't believe was that long ago. I double
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: checked this morning. Twenty years ago, I preached a series
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: of sermons. I mean a series, yeah, a series of sermons.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Who you know, we do series all the time. And
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: I named it how to Be Rich, How to Be Rich?
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: And so I preached this series and how to be
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: rich in first Timothy six, you know the verse we
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: used for the be Rich campaign. And as a result
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: of that sermons series, it got our church to thinking,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: wait a minute's that's bigger than a sermon.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: That's bigger than a sermon series.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: It got us to rethink our whole approach to generosity
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: and had us asked the question what would real generosity
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: look like in our communities around our churches. And something
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: happened in our churches and ever since then, and well
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: actually a couple of years after that, as that idea
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: began to grow and grow and grow, that was an
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: inflection point and our whole approach to being generous to
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: our communities. And as you know, since then, you have
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: given over one hundred million dollars to community nonprofit.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: So there was something happened.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: Now, when I preached a series, I'm like, that's just
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: another series, right, But something happened, and looking back, it
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: impacted our approach to generosity. In fact, one of the
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: things I love about you is last year when we
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: launched the Deeper Wider initiative, I heard from several people
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: and I love this. You know that there are you know,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: in church world, there are things people complain about. It's like, really,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: and then there are things people complain about it.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: It's like, oh, you get it.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: There are good things to complain about. And so I
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: heard from several people, Andy, I know we're doing this deeper,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: wider thing.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: We're not going to stop doing be rich, are we?
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: It's like, hey, who whoa, whoa, whoa, but we're not
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: doing this. Instead, I'm like, no, no, we're going to
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: try it.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: I know it's crazy. We're gonna try to raise.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Some extra hundred million dollars and give away eight million
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: dollars a year.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: It's amazing, but you're amazing anyway, said no, of course,
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: we're going to keep doing be rich. This is this
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: is part of who we are anyway. Love that.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: So then the Bible nerd part of me started thinking
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: about this whole inflection point, and I thought, I wonder,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: I wonder what the inflection point was. And during Jesus'
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: public ministry that his disciples didn't recognize as an inflection
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: point in the moment. But later after the resurrection, they
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: looked back on their experience with Jesus and they went like,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: we should have known, we should have known when that happened.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, that was the firsd They didn't have dominoes, right,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: but that was you know, that was the first that we.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Should have known.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Something happened then and after that event, there was no
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: turning back. Nothing would ever be the same to our
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: To borrow a phrase from Julius Caesar, who lived about
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: eighty years before Jesus, when he decided that some of
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: you are familiar with this point of history, when he
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: decided to cross the Rubicon with his army, knowing that
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: it would trigger or it could potentially trigger a civil
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: war in Rome, which in fact it did look looking back,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: his phrase was the die was cast, referring to a
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: singular dice. In other words, the outcome was inevitable, fate
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: was in motion. There was no turning back, There was
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: no way to stop this thing. So my opinion, this
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: is what I want to talk about for just a minute,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: just this is just my opinion what I think. I
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: think the inflection point in the public ministry of Jesus
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: was when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Guessemone.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: And here's here's why I think that.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: And we've talked about this before, and if you know
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: the New Testament, you know this story. At toward the
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: end of his ministry, he tells his disciples, we're going
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. They're like, that's a bad idea, okay, I mean,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: anytime you get close to the Hub, things don't go well.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: For you or us.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: He's like, no, we're going to Jerusalem. We're going to
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: celebrate Passover in Jerusalem. And they get the sense that, okay,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: this is the culmination of everything we've been waiting for.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: And on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus warns them. He
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: tells them over and over, Okay, when we get there,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: your worst nightmare is going to become a reality. I'm
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: gonna be arrested, I'm gonna be mistreated, I'm gonna be manhandled.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: It is not going to go well with me. And
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: if you're too close to me, it's not going to
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: go well with you.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: And for whatever reason, and I think we can kind
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: of imagine it, they just couldn't hear that.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: They just didn't accept it. They just wouldn't hear it.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, all this talk of turning the other cheek
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: and love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: and Blessed are the weak, and Blessed.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Are the meek, and blessed ore that. I think they
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: were like, Okay, that's just talk. Okay, he was just.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Playing along, you know, getting people to follow us. But
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: eventually he's got to step up.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: And be the Messiah. He's got to step up and
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: be the king.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: And now we're going to Jerusalem at Passover, and Passover
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: is the best time to take over. So when they
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: go into Jerusalem, there's these crowds of people welcoming Jesus,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: welcoming the King into the capital city, and they are like,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: this is the day we have been waiting for. Then
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: they get into city and there's all this drama and
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: there's spies, and.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: He teaches at the temple.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Then he leaves the city and he teaches that he leaves,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: and there's just so much going on, so much drama,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and then the time for the Passover meal comes along
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: and they don't even know where they're going to celebrate
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: it because Jesus kept it a secret from them because
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: it's like there's so much mystery. And finally he says, okay,
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: it's time for us to celebrate Passover. Follow me, and
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: they walk through the streets you know, of Jerusalem. They
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: go to a place they'd never been before. That's called
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: an upper room. It's a second level of a house
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: of somebody who loaned them the house, and they have
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: this passover meal.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: There's so much drama.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Jesus says all kind of things that just didn't make
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: any sense in that conversation, and.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Then he said this.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: He said, you guys are gonna abandon me, which meant
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: there was gonna be conflict. And they're like, hey, when
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: it comes to a fight, we are willing to die
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: for you.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: They're thinking it's about to happen.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Then they finish the meal, they leave the upper room
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: and they walk through the dark streets and.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Alleys, streets and alleys. They're like, where are we going?
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: He doesn't say, And they end up in a private garden,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: the garden of Gathsemone, And when they get there, there's
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: nobody there, like, no plot to hatch. And then Jesus
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: says the strangest thing. He says, have a seat, and
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna go over there by myself.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: And pray.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: And they're thinking, I mean, I'm thinking, they're thinking, pray.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: You've been praying for three years. Okay, enough praying. We
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: need to plan.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, if this is gonna happen, there are things
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: we need to do. And where's Judas by the way,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: maybe he's working on it. Right, we'll pick it up
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: right there. Here's Matthew's account. It's so amazing. Then he returned,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Jesus returning that he's praying by himself.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: He comes back to the disciples.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: You all remember this if you grew up in church
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: and he said to them.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: Are you asleep? He's already woke them up once. Are
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: you still?
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Are you still sleeping and resting? I'm over here praying,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: and they're like, there'res z anked out. You know. Look,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: he says this is important. He says, look are behold,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the hour.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Has come. Now.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: This is important because on multiple occasions, the crowds of
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: people tried to proclaim Jesus king, and he would say.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: My hour has not come, My time has not come.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: On a couple of occasions, the high priest had people
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: out to try to arrest Jesus and they couldn't get
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: to him, and Jesus would say, my hour has not come,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: the time has not come. But now he's announcing the
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: time has come and they're thinking, good, it's about time
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: that the time has come. We thought the time was
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: never going to come. And then he burst their bubble.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: He just undermines all of their expectations. He says, the
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: hours come and the Son of Man is delivered into
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: the hands of sinners. They're thinking, wait, what delivered? Look,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: we thought you were going to be the deliverer, not
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: the deliver e Okay, we thought you had come to
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: deliver us from Rome. What do you mean you're going
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: to be delivered? And while he was still speaking, Judas,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: one of the twelve, shows back up, but not the
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: way they expected, and with him was a large crowd.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: So there's Jesus and eleven apostles. There's twelve of them.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Judas shows up with a large crowd, dozens armed with
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: swords and clubs. Visible sent for the chief priest and
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the elders to arrest Jesus because Judas said, hey, I
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: can get him separated from the crowd, and they pay
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Judas to betray, to betray Jesus and going at once
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: to Jesus. It's such so much drama going at once
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: to Jesus. Judas said, greetings, Rabbi and he kissed him,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: and here's why I kissed him. It's pitch black, dark
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: in a garden. And he said, the sign the one
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: you are to arrest. Don't try to take the whole group.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: If you just take the one, this movement dies instantly.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: The man I kiss, that's the guy you want. And
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: he kissed Jesus and then Jesus pulls back and he replies, friend.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Now, interesting Greek word.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: It's not the warm affectionate word friend, like friendly. The
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: word is heteross and it's simply it's like if you're
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: out on the street and you see somebody who's not
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: looking at you, and you don't know who they are,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: but you need their attention for something, like they drop
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: their wallet, or maybe she something and fell out of
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: her purse.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: You would just say.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Friend, excuse me, friend, it's not personal. This is the
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: term that Jesus uses. It's not warm personal term. And
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: then Jesus, there's so much drama. Jesus lets on that
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: he knows what's going on. He says, Judas, do what
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: you came for, Do what you came for, and the
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: eleven with Jesus are stunned. It's like, wait, wait, you're
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: just gonna let them take you. Wait, You're just you
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: brought us here knowing this was gonna happen, away from
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: the crowd, away from our protection. You brought us here
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: in the dark, knowing that you were gonna be delivered
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: into the hands of a betrayer and the henchman from
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: the temple.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: You're just gonna let them take you. And no fight.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: You're not even gonna try to get away. No fight,
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: no flight, No fight, no flight. Peter, Remember Peter tries
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: to fight, and Jesus just shuts him down.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: And then Jesus is so powerful when you read it.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: And then Jesus, who is still this is so amazing. Jesus,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: who's still very much in charge of the situation, never
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: loses this cool if.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: We could say it's that way.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: And Jesus he reprimands the mob who came to arrest.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: He doesn't fight, he doesn't run away, He just reprimands them.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: He says, seriously, am I look, am I leading a rebellion?
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: Seriously that you have to come with swords and clubs
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: to capture me? I mean, isn't this a bit overkilled?
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Have you ever seen me with a weapon? Have you
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: ever seen my men armed. I mean, you've got one
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: guy with a sword. You know we put that away quick, right,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: I mean.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Why are you here with weapons? I mean it's way overkilled.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: Have you ever seen me armed?
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: No? Every day, I mean just shames him every day
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: since he got to Jerusalem for pastor over He's been
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: there a week every day for the past week. I've
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: been in the temple courts in public teaching. And you
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: didn't try to arrest me. And I think he paused
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: to let that sink in. You didn't try to rest
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: me when you could.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: Because you're afraid it would have been easy. You're afraid.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: That's why you came at night armed. Implication. Y'all are
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: just a bunch of cowards. But this this amazing. But
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: this this thing you are doing, This thing where you
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: think you are in control, This thing where you think
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: you're controlling outcomes. This thing is where you you think
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: you're controlling history. You think my destiny is in your hands. No,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: this thing that you're doing, look at, this has all
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: This was predicted long ago.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: And then all the disciples, the eleven that were with Jesus.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: They chose one of the only two options available, one of.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: The only two options they thought was available.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: They couldn't fight, so they chose flight, and all of
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: them deserve to Jesus and fled, And Jesus chose neither.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: He delivered himself into the hands of his enemies.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: He surrendered his life.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: To sinners. And that I believe was the inflection point, because,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: unbeknownst to anyone, in that moment it set into motion
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: a series of events that could not and would not
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: be reversed. And in this moment it punctuated once and
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: for all, for all time, that the kingdom of Jesus
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: was a kingdom nothing like the kingdoms of this world.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: That he was a king like no other king, That
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: he was not the king that demanded his servants give
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: their lives for him, He actually came to give his
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: life for them. His kingdom was not of this world,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: but it was certainly for this world. And in that
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: moment again he was the king like no other king.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: And I think, well, not on all things, we.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: Know this is true.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: After the resurrection, when they're all gathered together and this
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: whole thing is over, and their minds are just blown
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: because of what they've experienced after the resurrection, it clicked
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: for them that, in fact, just as Jesus had said,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God had come to earth and everybody
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: was invited, everybody was invited to participate in it. So
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: what does all of that have to do with all
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: of us? Here's what it has to do with all
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: of us. This is why what you're doing is so important.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Jesus' decision set off a series of events that have
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: touched every single generation since then, including ours, and that
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: generational impact, that multi generational impact continued. Do you know
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: why I continued from generation to generation to generation because
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: of people just like you who have answered the call
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: to do for others what God through Christ has done
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: for you, what God through Christ has done for all
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: of us locally, nationally, and globally.
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: That you are funding and expanding network.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: You're funding and a spending network of churches, but not
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: just any kind of church, the kinds of churches that
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: are committed to the Kingdom teaching of Jesus and on
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: earth as it is in heaven kind of church and
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: on earth as it is in Heaven.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Approach to faith or version of our.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: Faith, faith that has feet, faith that does something, Faith
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: that actually cares about communities and cares about people and
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: communities who don't care us, people who are.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: Far from God, who don't believe in God.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Because we believe God loves everybody, whether they love God
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: back or not. That kind of church, that kind of faith,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: that kind of active faith doers not just believers. And
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: the truth is we've been doing that for years.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: Locally, and a year ago we caught.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: A glimpse of what could be and I think should be,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: and through your generosity, that is becoming a reality. So
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: wrap this up on behalf of thousands.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: I love this. On behalf of.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Thousands, not just in our church, but all over the country.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: On behalf of thousands of middle schoolers who are developing
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: a faith of their own.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: And on behalf of thousands of high school students who
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: are learning how to live that faith out at school
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: and eventually throughout their lives.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: Thank you. And on behalf of over This is amazing
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: to me.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Over six hundred thousand men and women and children and
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: students who are part one of our network of churches.
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: On behalf of Tiago and Brazil, Thank you, on behalf
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: of Roberto and Monterey, Mexico. Thank you, and you know
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: on behalf of Perco, my friend in Perco and Australia
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: who runs our Australian network, he would say thank you
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Duncan in the UK, and Jamie and Ireland and Paul
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: and South Africa, and last but not least, and I'm
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: going to close with this, I want to say thank
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: you on behalf of John and Ashley McNairy and Heartland
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: Heartland Church and Sam some Prairie Wisconsin. He wrote, wrote
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: me a letter and I'm just going to read it
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: to you real quick because.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: I just I just want you to know what you're doing.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: But it's a big deal.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: It's not just a big deal to us, it's a
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: big deal to a lot of people you'll never meet.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Here's what he said, Andy, I want to take a
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: moment and write you to let you know what incredible
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: blessing it has been for our church to be part
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: of the Irresistible Church Network. He's been a part of
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: it for several years. My wife, Ashley and I, along
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: with a wonderful small group of people, started Heartland Church
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: in Madison, Wisconsin back in two thousand and seven.
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: At the time.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: We were twenty five years old and had never led
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: a church before. All we knew was that this community
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: needed a church that would welcome people from all walks
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: of life, a place I love this, a place where
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: people could belong before they believed. And while we kept
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: seeing God change people's lives, we also took some friendly
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: fire from people who thought we might be a little
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: bit too welcoming. Because we were not part of a
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: church planning network or a large denomination.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: We felt very much like an island, and.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: We frequently ask ourselves are we allowed to do church
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: like this?
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: And honestly, we didn't know the answer.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: There were so many times over those first ten years
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: that we prayed for some sort of connection with other
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: like minded churches and ICND the Irresistible Church Network has
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: been an answer to that prayer. Through the network, we've
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: become connected to so many other incredible.
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: Churches and church leaders.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: We have been benefited from the resources, the ideas, the
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: shared best practices, and these connections.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: Have inspired us to double down on our commitment to
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: being I Love This, to being an.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: Outward facing church that loves people first and works out
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: the details second.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: That is what Jesus did follow.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: Jesus through the gospels, and that's.
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: What he did over and over and over.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: The woman at the well. He starts a conversation, and
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't get off on this. He starts a conversation
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: with a woman at the well. Some if you know
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: the story. He says, Look, before we go too far,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: I just want you to know. I know you've been
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: married four times before and you're living with a guy.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: I just want you to know. I know that. Now
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: let's talk. Say wait, well, you're.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Talking to me and you know about my mess because
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: I thought if he knew me, he wouldn't talk to me.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: And you already know me and you're talking to me. Yeah,
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: we can work that out later. I love that. Honestly,
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: I can't imagine.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: How we would have navigated the last six years without
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: this network. And today we are out growing our newly
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: building and we're getting ready to launch our first multi
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: site location. We also just hosted all the other Irresistible
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: Church Network churches from Wisconsin for a one day gathering
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: and it was a huge success. I feel incredibly grateful
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: not only to you and your team, but also to
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: the people in your church because while they may never
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: know us personally. They have invested in me, our church,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: and our community all the way up here in Wisconsin,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: and that investment is paying eternal dividends.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: Meanwhile, we just get up, try to get our kids dressed,
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: try to get us dressed, get.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Our coffee, come to church, and soon the sermons and
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: all over this country people are impacted by what you do.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: And we're going to pick it up right there next
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: week in part two of this series, Inflection Point. Before
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: you go though, one more reminder, make sure you pick
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: this up in the front. You're going to find a
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: commitment card, an updated commitment card. And if you're new,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: you don't know anything about this, it's your first time
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: to find out about it.
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: The good news is it's not.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: Too late to participate, and you just check this top
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: box right there says I would like to make a
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: one year commitment. Last year we made two year commitments,
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: but this is a two year campaign. So if you're new,
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: that's your opportunity. If you turned it in last year.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: If you turned it in last year, this is important
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: to us as well. We love for you to confirm
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: your commitment. And here here's why things change for people
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: financially through the year, some of you made commitments. It's like,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: oh no, I something's changed, lost jobs. You know, something
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: didn't happen, and you can't make the commitment. We understand that,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: and you don't even let you need to let us.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: But if you are going to fulfill your commitment, this
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: helps us plan for others of you.
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: You've already fulfilled.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Your commitment and you're thinking I could do more, and
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: if you can do more, and if you'll do more,
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: we will be extraordinarily good stewards with your more. And
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: you can let us know that you're planning to increase
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: your commitment. Last thing is this March the twenty second.
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: I guess three weeks we're gonna have We're gonna have
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: another service where people turn in their cards. And if
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: you normally watch online but you live in the Atlanta area,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: we would love for you to be at one of
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: our churches on March twenty second.
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: Last year when we did this, it was a very
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: special day in the life of our church. We hate
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: for you to miss that.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: If you have any questions about any of this, the
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: easiest place to get your questions answered is right here
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: at Deeper Wider Dot comdeper wider dot com. Thank you
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: for what you've done, thank you for what you will do,
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: and thank you on behalf of tens of thousands of
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: people who are being directly in fluence by your generosity
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: and your participation in one of our churches.
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: I'll pray for us and we'll take off. Father.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Nobody's mind
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: is more blown than mine.
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: Father. You know how humbled and overwhelmed all of this.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Is to Sandra and to me and to so many
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: of us who were here thirty years ago when this
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: was just an idea. We want to get it right
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: as right as you'll let us get it. So guide us,
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: direct us, motivate us, inspire us. And I pray that
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: we would be instruments from your hand, so that it's
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: true that the Kingdom of God will be more present
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: on earth than it's ever been before.
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: And we pray all of that in Jesus' name. Amen,