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Andy Stanley - Wishful Thinking · Andy Stanley Sermons

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Speaker 1: One of the challenges, one of the downsides for being
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Speaker 1: in such a giant church like we are, and spread
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Speaker 1: out all over the city and all over the country,
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Speaker 1: and all kind of cool stuff going on a lot
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Speaker 1: that you don't know about and don't need to know
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Speaker 1: about because you're busy raising kids and having jobs and
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Speaker 1: dating and all that stuff. But you're part of this
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Speaker 1: enormous thing that just keeps growing. And the downside for
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Speaker 1: me personally is that I know so very few people
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Speaker 1: and you walk up to me in the halls or
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Speaker 1: in the stores or in the community, go hey, Indy,
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Speaker 1: you don't know me, And then you know it's not embarrassing,
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Speaker 1: it's just unfortunate. So every once in a while, I think, Gosh,
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Speaker 1: I wish you didn't have to preach a bunch of
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Speaker 1: sermons and just communicate through sermons and email. I wish
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Speaker 1: I could just come out and just talk. So today
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Speaker 1: I may start doing that more often, but today we're
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Speaker 1: kind of between series, so I just thought I would
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Speaker 1: just come out here and tell you some stuff that
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Speaker 1: I've been thinking about. Now, if this is your first
0:50
Speaker 1: time with us, you could not have picked a better
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Speaker 1: Sunday to be in the buildings with us, or a
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Speaker 1: better Sunday to be watching online, even if somebody is
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Speaker 1: forcing you to watch online and won't feed you lunch
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Speaker 1: unless you sit down wat this how whatever the situation is,
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Speaker 1: because you're gonna kind of find out what we're about.
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Speaker 1: You to find out a little bit more about what
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Speaker 1: I'm about, and really really what's most important to me
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Speaker 1: as it relates to you. Because today I want to
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Speaker 1: give you five things. You're not gonna need to write
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Speaker 1: these down because you're only going only maybe one or
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Speaker 1: two will be applicable to you, but five things that
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Speaker 1: I wish for you. And here's what I mean by that.
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Speaker 1: If we were to sit down over coffee or lunch
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Speaker 1: and you were to say, Andy, you know, I've been
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Speaker 1: going to the church for a while, and you know what,
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Speaker 1: just kind of give me the bottom line, what do
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Speaker 1: you hope happens to me as a part of you know,
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Speaker 1: Brown's Bridge Church or North Boyning Community Church or south
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Speaker 1: Side Church or Woodstock City or Buckhead Church or you
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Speaker 1: know whatever campus that you're a part of, or wherever
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Speaker 1: you watch from. You know what, what's the thing so
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Speaker 1: today I just want to give you these five things.
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Speaker 1: Is this to me is sort of the essence of
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Speaker 1: who we are. But more than importantly, it's kind of
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Speaker 1: the essence of what I wish for you. Just putting
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Speaker 1: on my pastor not preach your hat, but my pastor
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Speaker 1: hat for just a few minutes, and these things will
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Speaker 1: make your relationships richer, but more importantly, it'll make your
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Speaker 1: faith journey more exciting. And if Christianity is boring to you,
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Speaker 1: you're not doing it right. Okay, because Christianity isn't boring.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes we're boring, But the Christian faith really is a journey,
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Speaker 1: and it's an exciting journey. And the last thing I
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Speaker 1: want is for your faith to get stale. In fact,
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Speaker 1: I think one of the reasons people quit going to church.
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Speaker 1: It's not that they necessarily quit believing everything. It just
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Speaker 1: doesn't seem to matter anymore. So if your version of
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Speaker 1: the Christian faith is just so vanilla that it doesn't
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Speaker 1: even seem to matter, I don't want to offend you.
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Speaker 1: But there may be something you don't know, or you
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Speaker 1: may not be you may not be doing it right.
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Speaker 1: So anyway, this isn't much of a sermon, So there's
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Speaker 1: not going to be a whole lot of verses. This
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Speaker 1: is just kind of from my heart to use. Here's
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Speaker 1: the first thing. Five things. The first one I'm going
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Speaker 1: to spend the most time on. So when you look
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Speaker 1: at your watch after the end of number one, don't
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Speaker 1: think that much time times four more. Okay, we're not
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Speaker 1: going to be here all day. So the first one
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Speaker 1: is kind of a big one. In fact, I thought
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Speaker 1: about making this the whole message because it's such a
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Speaker 1: big idea. But I really, really really wish for you
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Speaker 1: or in high school or college, are you been or
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Speaker 1: newly wet, or you're dating, or you just went through
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Speaker 1: a divorce, or you're you know, senior and you're about
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Speaker 1: to retire. Regardless of your age, I wish for you
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Speaker 1: a courageous act of obedience that cost you something. This
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Speaker 1: is what I would wish for you, which is not
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Speaker 1: what you would wish for you, but it's what I
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Speaker 1: would wish for you. That you would have those moments.
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Speaker 1: Not every day, not every month, not even really every year,
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Speaker 1: but I wish for you a moment in time and
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Speaker 1: experience every once in a while where you feel that
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Speaker 1: internal nudge and you know that there's a divine element
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Speaker 1: to that internal nudge and you need to do something.
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Speaker 1: You need to make a big step, a courageous act
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Speaker 1: of obedience that cost you something, a decision where you
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Speaker 1: don't know where it's gonna end up, but you know
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Speaker 1: in your heart God has nudged you to do this,
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Speaker 1: and not something that you manufacture. Not something like, Okay,
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Speaker 1: I'm gonna test God, I'm gonna prove God, I'm gonna
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Speaker 1: quit my job. You know, you know, not that I'm
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Speaker 1: just gonna marry the next person. I know this, This
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Speaker 1: isn't that, this isn't foolishness, but to go too long
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Speaker 1: without giving in to that internal nudge to do something unusual. Again,
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Speaker 1: not something that you manufacture, but something that you sensed that. Wow,
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Speaker 1: every time I pray, every time i'm silent, every time
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Speaker 1: i'm quiet, I just feel like God is nudging me
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Speaker 1: in a direction to say yes to that nudge when
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Speaker 1: it comes along. And by the way, this is how
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Speaker 1: you become a deep Christian. This is how you become deep.
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Speaker 1: I don't know if if you grew up in a
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Speaker 1: church tradition where you know the sermon would be really confusing,
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Speaker 1: and you thought it was confusing, but somebody said that
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Speaker 1: was so deep and you thought I just thought it
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Speaker 1: was confusing. They said, no, it's not confusing. It's deep.
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Speaker 1: That's what we call deep. If you don't understand it,
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Speaker 1: it's deep. Okay, that's completely wrong. Okay. Deep is not information,
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Speaker 1: and deep certainly isn't confusing information. Deep is transformation that
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Speaker 1: results from personal obedience to God. Deep is when you
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Speaker 1: say yes and you don't know where that yes will lead.
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Speaker 1: And that is the the story of our faith, from
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Speaker 1: Genesis all the way through Jesus. It is the story
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Speaker 1: of the faith of the people that you have the
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Speaker 1: most respectful, In fact, the Christians that you have the
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Speaker 1: most respectful, even if you're not a Christian, but you
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Speaker 1: know some Christians, or it was your mother, your dad,
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Speaker 1: or your grandfather, and you don't necessarily want to be one,
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Speaker 1: but you have so much respect. It's not what they
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Speaker 1: knew that impressed you. It's the way they lived in
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Speaker 1: spite of That is what impressed you. It's the men
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Speaker 1: and women who are faithful in spite of who make
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Speaker 1: big decisions in spite of the fact that they don't
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Speaker 1: know how it's going to end up. That's what deepens
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Speaker 1: our faith. It's saying yes. Deep is when you can't
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Speaker 1: touch bottom. Right. Deep is when you're in over your head.
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Speaker 1: Deep in terms of spirituality and following God is obedience
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Speaker 1: when there's no guaranteed outcome, and when you say yes
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Speaker 1: to that internal nudge. Some of you know exactly what
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Speaker 1: I'm talking about today because you've been wrestling with it.
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Speaker 1: You've been talking about it. You talk to your girlfriend
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Speaker 1: about it, Your husband and you have been talking about it.
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Speaker 1: You called your mom the other to talk about it.
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Speaker 1: You just have this sense. That's when your faith journey
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Speaker 1: becomes exciting because you will pray harder. No one will
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Speaker 1: have to say have you prayed? You're like, have I prayed?
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Speaker 1: That's all I do is pray because I'm so worried
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Speaker 1: because I'm saying, God, I'm gonna do this. But of
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Speaker 1: course I'm so dialed into God. I don't even think
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Speaker 1: I could sin. I mean, I am so you know,
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Speaker 1: tuned in because I'm so conscious of the fact that
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Speaker 1: if God doesn't come through for me, then you know,
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Speaker 1: I don't know what's gonna happen, but I just sens
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Speaker 1: this is what God wanted me to do. You will
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Speaker 1: listen attentively, You'll take note, the Bible will come alive,
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Speaker 1: you'll lean in. And here's why. And I've been teaching
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Speaker 1: you this for many, many years. When your expression of faith,
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Speaker 1: you know what an expression of faith as faith is,
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Speaker 1: I believe faith is. I'm going to act on what
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Speaker 1: I believe. That's what faith is. That's what walking by
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Speaker 1: faith is. I believe it. Therefore I'm gonna act as
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Speaker 1: if it's true. I'm not making it true. And I
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Speaker 1: don't think believe in it makes it true. That's magic.
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Speaker 1: That's not Christianity, by the way, faith, christian faith is
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Speaker 1: I trust that what God has said is true, and
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Speaker 1: I trust that what God is asking me to do
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Speaker 1: is what I need to do. So when your expression
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Speaker 1: of faith intersects with God's faithfulness, I'm telling you something
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Speaker 1: happens on the inside, You're never gonna be the same.
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Speaker 1: It becomes a stake in the ground, it becomes a
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Speaker 1: defining moment for your faith. And anytime you tell this story,
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Speaker 1: it's emotional because you obeyed without any kind of guaranteed outcome,
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Speaker 1: and God came through for you, and God responded. And
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Speaker 1: I'm telling you, people can argue all day long, I
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Speaker 1: don't know if there's a God and you're like, okay,
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Speaker 1: let me just tell you what happened. It becomes a
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Speaker 1: stake in the ground. But for your faith again, if
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Speaker 1: you go too long ignoring those internal nudges, and I'm
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Speaker 1: just gonna tell you, Okay, the older you get, the
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Speaker 1: more there is at stake, the more there is at risk,
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Speaker 1: the less likely you are to say yes. And if
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Speaker 1: you go too long without saying yes to God every
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Speaker 1: once in a while, when God nudges you on the inside,
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Speaker 1: your faith will get stale, it will get old, it
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Speaker 1: will get boring. It'll be John eleven, Yeah, I know,
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Speaker 1: Lazarus is raised from the dead. Again, what do you know.
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Speaker 1: I mean, you'll just kind of go there, you know,
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Speaker 1: I know five Stones killed Goliath, I know the story.
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Speaker 1: It'll just be flat. But I'm telling you, what makes
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Speaker 1: you rich in faith and what makes you deep in
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Speaker 1: faith is not what you know, and it's not even
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Speaker 1: what you're learning. It's what you are experiencing. This is
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Speaker 1: why Jesus, in his brilliant, brilliant way, said to the
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Speaker 1: people in the first century not sit down and take
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Speaker 1: notes or learn from me. His initial invitation was, come
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Speaker 1: follow me. And if you don't get this right, and
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Speaker 1: if you ignore this for too long, you'll get cynical
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Speaker 1: as a Christian. You'll start complaining about all the dumbest things,
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Speaker 1: all the wrong things. You'll start to get old as
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Speaker 1: of the Christian, but not mature, just older. Okay. So
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Speaker 1: you know, for us, the reason this is such a
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Speaker 1: big deal for me, and the reason I love to
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Speaker 1: talk about it to our churches is this is the
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Speaker 1: story of our church. Because I had a really good
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Speaker 1: job with a really good future, and I just felt
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Speaker 1: the center, and I just felt that nudge to leave.
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Speaker 1: And every time something awesome happens at one of our churches,
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Speaker 1: I honestly, it's so emotional to us, especially baptism stories.
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Speaker 1: You know, she'll turn to me and we can't even
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Speaker 1: speak anymore dearing baptism. We can't. We just look at
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Speaker 1: each other and we know what we're thinking, because so
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Speaker 1: many years ago there was this big, emotional, incredible baptism
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Speaker 1: and Sandras said, what if this is what she said,
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Speaker 1: she whispered in the back to the service. What if
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Speaker 1: we hadn't left? Now, there's what if it we had
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Speaker 1: stayed with the secure thing and the sure thing and
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Speaker 1: we got it all worked out thing and all the
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Speaker 1: details are in place, thing what if we hadn't left.
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Speaker 1: It's like it's just it's still so emotional for me.
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Speaker 1: Then a few years ago, we felt that nod nudge
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Speaker 1: to become foster parents. I mean, talk about scary. What
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Speaker 1: you know they're gonna the door's gonna you know, you're
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Speaker 1: gonna get a phone call. We're gonna bring some children
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Speaker 1: with a plastic bag with the only clothes they have
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Speaker 1: and leave them at your house. I'm busy. I mean,
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Speaker 1: I I'm really busy, right, but sometimes you you just
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Speaker 1: know when you know you gotta go. A few years ago,
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Speaker 1: our our lead pastor at Brownsbridge Church, I'm left side
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Speaker 1: those of you at Brownsbridge. You know this. I told
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Speaker 1: you the story two days three days later, I'm sitting
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Speaker 1: on my couch having my quiet time, and it's just like,
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Speaker 1: I don't know. It wasn't a voice. God didn't speak
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Speaker 1: to me. I wish you would. If God could speak
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Speaker 1: to me, I'd give him a list of things I'd
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Speaker 1: like to know that like some really important things, like
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Speaker 1: a cure for a disease. That would be cool, but
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Speaker 1: it's for me. I don't know what I would understand
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Speaker 1: what he was saying if he told me so. But
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Speaker 1: I sit on my couch and I just knew. It
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Speaker 1: was just a moment where I knew, Andy, you go
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Speaker 1: to Browns Bridge on Sunday, you step in his lead pastor,
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Speaker 1: and you commit to a year. It was just like
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Speaker 1: you just know. And I told Sandra and she said,
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Speaker 1: what are you gonna do about your other jobs? I said,
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Speaker 1: I don't know. Sometimes you just know. And it was
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Speaker 1: an extraordinary year, I mean, and everything got done when
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Speaker 1: you know you just got to go. For some of you,
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Speaker 1: it's time to leave that job and you're scared to death.
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Speaker 1: Of course, you're scared to death. Guess what if you're
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Speaker 1: a Christian and you feel a nudge to leave your
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Speaker 1: job and do something else, no one's gonna have to
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Speaker 1: tell you to pray. You're gonna show up at church
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Speaker 1: and see these worship songs and the words are gonna
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Speaker 1: light up. You're gonna go like, that's my favorite song,
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Speaker 1: and your husband's gonna be like, we've been singing that
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Speaker 1: song for eight years. I know, but I love that song.
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Speaker 1: Why Because it's gonna the words, lyrics are gonna connect
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Speaker 1: with what you've stepped out in faith, not to do
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Speaker 1: something foolish, not something you came up with. Some of
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Speaker 1: you need to take that job. You know, I just
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Speaker 1: don't feel qualified. Guess what you step into a job,
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Speaker 1: you step into a role you're not qualified. No one's
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Speaker 1: gonna have to tell you to pray. No one's gonna
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Speaker 1: have to tell you to open the scripture, no one's
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Speaker 1: gonna have to tell you to live dependent on God.
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Speaker 1: You're gonna walk into the office every day when I'm
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Speaker 1: in over my head and God's gonna go good. That's
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Speaker 1: what deep is. Deep is over your head where you
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Speaker 1: have to look up to me for help. This will
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Speaker 1: be a story you tell for the rest of your life.
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Speaker 1: Some of you need to get out of this country
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Speaker 1: and go on a global X trip with us. Every
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Speaker 1: time we talk about serving people in other parts of
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Speaker 1: the world, you're like, I really need to do that.
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Speaker 1: I think I'll just support somebody else. Here's the check,
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Speaker 1: because for many of us, it is easier to write
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Speaker 1: checks than to get up and go do something. And
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Speaker 1: the older you get and the richer you get, the
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Speaker 1: easier it is to say I'm just gonna write a check.
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Speaker 1: I don't want to go to all the hassle and
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Speaker 1: I feel like your father in heaven says, well, then
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Speaker 1: you miss out because you'll never know what I would
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Speaker 1: have done in you if you hadn't, if you had
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Speaker 1: gotten up and done something. And you know, respond to
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Speaker 1: that internal nudge to do something outside of your comfort zone.
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Speaker 1: Some of you, you've been for a long time. It
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Speaker 1: felt like you needed to go teach school and get
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Speaker 1: out of the marketplace and go back into a world
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Speaker 1: that you've maybe felt called to it or even trained
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Speaker 1: to do. Teach school. Some of you need to volunteer.
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Speaker 1: Every time we talk about volunteers, she's like, I know
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Speaker 1: I need to, and you just some of you need
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Speaker 1: to downside and do something else with all that money.
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Speaker 1: Some of you need to start that business you've been
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Speaker 1: putting off but you're scared to death, but you just
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Speaker 1: you just kind of know. It's almost like every it's
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Speaker 1: like a god thing. It's like, I feel like this
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Speaker 1: is like a spiritual thing. Some of you, if I
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Speaker 1: can get real personal, you need to break up with her.
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Speaker 1: You need to break up with him. And you've known
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Speaker 1: let me just put on my parent half for a
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Speaker 1: long time. For a minute, you have known this for
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Speaker 1: so long. Your friend friends, know he or she is
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Speaker 1: a loser for you and not good for you. They're
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Speaker 1: not losers in life. It's just that you aren't good together.
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Speaker 1: It's time and you're so scared. Yeah, but what if
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Speaker 1: nobody else comes along? Guess what? They may not, but
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Speaker 1: you'll never know. And here's the thing, look up here,
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Speaker 1: I'm not done with This is very important when you
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Speaker 1: get out of that relationship. Do you know what's gonna
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Speaker 1: happen on the inside of you? Your attentiveness to your
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Speaker 1: heavenly Father is going to increase exponentially, because as long
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Speaker 1: as you are in a relationship that you know you
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Speaker 1: shouldn't be in, you have put God to the side
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Speaker 1: because he keeps getting on your case. And do you
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Speaker 1: know why he gets on your case because he loves you.
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Speaker 1: So get out of that relationship. Break up some of
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Speaker 1: you and just need one clap down? Here, come mom?
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Speaker 1: You must be a mother? Are you a yes? Yeah?
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Speaker 1: We got a mom down here going hallelujah. Somebody finally
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Speaker 1: said it. Some of you. I challenge you all the time. Singles,
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Speaker 1: I'm just so glad we have so many college students
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Speaker 1: and singles and single again people in our churches. I
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Speaker 1: love the fact that you've found our churches, but you
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Speaker 1: need to take a year off dating, and that scares
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Speaker 1: you to death. Do you know what's gonna happen to you, dear,
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Speaker 1: in your year off dating, Something's gonna happen on the
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Speaker 1: inside of you that when you go back into the market,
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Speaker 1: you are gonna be a different and better person. One day,
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Speaker 1: Jesus is walking along with his guys, you know, and
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Speaker 1: he he offers a man the invitation of a lifetime.
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Speaker 1: He turns this just some apparently some random person in
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Speaker 1: the crowd. I don't know. Maybe this is a guy
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Speaker 1: that's been following him for so long. Jesus been paying
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Speaker 1: attention to him, thinking, you know what, I think this
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Speaker 1: guy has potential. And he turns to him and he says,
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Speaker 1: follow me. Now. The guy he talked was pointing to
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Speaker 1: has no idea what hangs in the balance of this invitation.
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Speaker 1: This is just another rabbi. And where's he from? Nazareth? Nazareth?
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Speaker 1: I've never heard of it. I don't even know anybody
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Speaker 1: from Nazareth in Galilee. I mean, that's like the wrong
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Speaker 1: side of the country, you know. But that Jesus turns
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Speaker 1: this guy and says, follow me. This is the this
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Speaker 1: is the invitation of a lifetime. Okay, And he says,
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Speaker 1: but he replied, Lord, first, let me go and bury
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Speaker 1: my father. Okay, I don't want to spend a lot
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Speaker 1: of time on this. His dad wasn't even dead yet.
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Speaker 1: I mean, if his dad, if his dad was dead,
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Speaker 1: he wouldn't be there. Following Jesus, he'd be at his
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Speaker 1: father's funeral. Because when people died back then, they didn't
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Speaker 1: like wait for days. They were like, boom, funeral, bury
15:25
Speaker 1: him quick. He chanced, you can't let the body sit
15:26
Speaker 1: out there, and they don't. They weren't. They didn't burn
15:29
Speaker 1: people's body. They actually buried them and then collected their
15:32
Speaker 1: bones later. So his father wasn't even dead yet. This
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Speaker 1: was his way of saying, look, I would love to
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Speaker 1: follow you. Thank you. I'm so honored. I'm so honored.
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Speaker 1: But I got I got to get some things worked
15:42
Speaker 1: out and sorted out, worked out and sorted out. First.
15:44
Speaker 1: I got to get things worked out and sorted out
15:45
Speaker 1: at home. And then when I get things worked out
15:47
Speaker 1: and sorted out, we'll get that whole will thing done.
15:49
Speaker 1: And my father's gone, Hey, then hey, get here, ring
15:51
Speaker 1: me up I'll follow you, right. Do you know what
15:55
Speaker 1: his name was? No, Well, I'll never know. Opportunity came
16:02
Speaker 1: and gone missed. Still another, same guy, same day, read it.
16:06
Speaker 1: That same guy, same day. Still another said Hey, okay,
16:08
Speaker 1: Jesus loser, okay, but I will follow you, Lord, I
16:12
Speaker 1: will follow you. Okay, this guy, you know, excuse me.
16:14
Speaker 1: I will follow you, but first let me go back
16:17
Speaker 1: and at least say goodbye to my family. Same thing.
16:19
Speaker 1: I gotta go back, get something sorted out, worked out,
16:22
Speaker 1: sorted out, worked out, sort of that worked out. And
16:25
Speaker 1: later when these gentlemen measured what they gained by hesitating
16:33
Speaker 1: against what they gained or what they would not didn't
16:38
Speaker 1: gain by going. Later on, when they thought through what
16:41
Speaker 1: they gained by hesitating and measured against what they lost
16:46
Speaker 1: by saying no to Jesus. No comparison, bad decision. And
16:52
Speaker 1: then Jesus says something that seems very harsh to us.
16:54
Speaker 1: It's not quite as harsh to the first century audience
16:57
Speaker 1: as it is to us, but it was still kind
16:58
Speaker 1: of harsh. He said, Look, let the dead bury their
17:01
Speaker 1: own dead. But you you, he says to this guy,
17:07
Speaker 1: I'm giving you the opportunity of a lifetime. You have
17:10
Speaker 1: no idea what hangs in the balance of your decision
17:15
Speaker 1: right then and there in that moment to follow me.
17:21
Speaker 1: I'm inviting you to do something out of the ordinary.
17:25
Speaker 1: I'm inviting you this. In his case, he was saying,
17:27
Speaker 1: I'm invited you, inviting you to be a part of history. Peter,
17:32
Speaker 1: come over here, Peter, Peter. People two thousand years from
17:35
Speaker 1: now are gonna name their children after this guy. What
17:38
Speaker 1: do you think about that? Andrew Kimera, come, They're gonna
17:40
Speaker 1: name their kids after Judas? Okay, Barthol, the companys lots
17:45
Speaker 1: of barns. Right. Jesus said, look, but you go and
17:53
Speaker 1: proclaim the kingdom of God. Now this was the first
17:55
Speaker 1: century invitation. It's a little bit different than God's invitation
17:58
Speaker 1: to you, but his name is true for you. You
18:00
Speaker 1: gain by hesitating does not compare to what you gain
18:03
Speaker 1: by saying yes. So just say yes and obey. I'll
18:06
Speaker 1: tell you a couple of quick examples. Jeff and Wendy
18:08
Speaker 1: Henderson at Gwinnett Church. He's the lead pastor of Atwenet Church.
18:12
Speaker 1: Are now. Jeff and Wendy were leading a starting He
18:15
Speaker 1: was in the marketplace, had a great job with an
18:17
Speaker 1: extraordinary company that all of you have purchased products from,
18:19
Speaker 1: perhaps or probably. And so Jeff is in marketing, got
18:23
Speaker 1: a great job, and he's leading a starting Point group,
18:25
Speaker 1: which is an environment for people who are coming back
18:27
Speaker 1: to faith or who have questions. And they were leading
18:29
Speaker 1: the starting Point group in their home and Jeff and
18:32
Speaker 1: Wendy started feeling that nudge. And Jeff is a preacher's kid,
18:35
Speaker 1: so he knew the I don't know, I don't know what,
18:37
Speaker 1: I know what. I know too much to know that
18:39
Speaker 1: this is probably not I don't know that nudge to
18:43
Speaker 1: get out of the marketplace and to step full time
18:45
Speaker 1: into ministry. And of course he wrestled with it, and
18:49
Speaker 1: of course he prayed through it. And then Jeff and
18:52
Speaker 1: Wendy said yes, and they came in on our staff
18:56
Speaker 1: and began leading starting Point groups professionally. And then Jeff
18:59
Speaker 1: was a lead pastor FIRS lead pastor at Buckhead Church
19:02
Speaker 1: and navigated the grocery store days. And then Jeff felt
19:06
Speaker 1: another nudge. This time it wasn't from God, It's for me,
19:10
Speaker 1: not really kind of, so I said, so Jeff then left,
19:14
Speaker 1: I mean, by you know, leading Buckhead Church, what an
19:16
Speaker 1: extraordinary opportunity left Buckhead Church to go to Gwenett Church
19:19
Speaker 1: and then start over again, and Gwenett Church can go
19:21
Speaker 1: to the other cameras second Gwenet Church. Aren't you glad?
19:25
Speaker 1: Aren't you glad that Jeff and Wendy Henderson said yes
19:28
Speaker 1: to that initial nudge from God. Imagine what you would
19:32
Speaker 1: have missed out on. Imagine what they would have missed
19:34
Speaker 1: out on. That's not the only story. Gavin and Chantelle.
19:37
Speaker 1: Gavin who's the lead pastor of Woodstock City Church, he
19:40
Speaker 1: was a volunteer and southside at Peach Street City in
19:44
Speaker 1: their student ministry, and then once they got going again,
19:47
Speaker 1: same thing. Just felt that nudge. Okay, you know it's
19:49
Speaker 1: going to be a pay cut. I don't know where
19:50
Speaker 1: this goes. I'm not really trained to do this. Got
19:52
Speaker 1: out of the marketplace with a fabulous job with another company.
19:55
Speaker 1: Every one if you've heard before, stepped into the role
19:58
Speaker 1: there at in pa Street City, a southside church, and
20:01
Speaker 1: then just as things are going well, felt out nudge
20:03
Speaker 1: to leave and go to Woodstock to take up the
20:06
Speaker 1: reins and become the leader and a church plant where
20:09
Speaker 1: things weren't going all that well. In fact, things were
20:12
Speaker 1: going so unwell that Gavin and Chantel, with their own money,
20:16
Speaker 1: helped make payroll a couple of times. Some of you
20:18
Speaker 1: at Woodstock City Church don't know that, but you need to.
20:21
Speaker 1: In Woodstock City Church look around and that's the result
20:24
Speaker 1: of a lot of your hard work and your generosity.
20:26
Speaker 1: But I'm telling you, aren't you glad the Gavin said, Okay, God,
20:30
Speaker 1: I don't know where this is going. It feels like
20:31
Speaker 1: a free fall to me, but yes, absolutely. And my
20:35
Speaker 1: point isn't that all of you need to leave the
20:37
Speaker 1: marketplace and go into ministry. That's not the point at all.
20:39
Speaker 1: The point is this. You are surrounded by and you
20:42
Speaker 1: are influenced by on a weekly basis by people. This
20:46
Speaker 1: isn't just discermon. This is a reality. This is the
20:49
Speaker 1: Christian walk, This is the Christian faith. This is what
20:52
Speaker 1: makes faith exciting. And many of you have stories of
20:55
Speaker 1: your own. And my point is, I just don't want
20:57
Speaker 1: you to miss it because you don't know what hangs
20:59
Speaker 1: in the balance, and you don't know who hangs in
21:02
Speaker 1: the balance of your decision to say yes to God
21:05
Speaker 1: when you feel that internal prompt. Now I know for
21:09
Speaker 1: some of you, I've just ruined your day because you
21:11
Speaker 1: had just finally talked yourself out of it, said it's
21:13
Speaker 1: not God, it was the pizza, and I I'm not.
21:16
Speaker 1: That's just irresponsible and it's foolish. I just don't want
21:20
Speaker 1: you to miss it. Number two. Second wish I have
21:22
Speaker 1: for you I won't take as long on these next
21:23
Speaker 1: four is the thrill of knowing you were instrumental in
21:25
Speaker 1: someone's decision to follow Jesus. I can't tell you how
21:29
Speaker 1: I want this for you so much. In other words,
21:32
Speaker 1: I want there to be someone in the world that
21:34
Speaker 1: when they tell their faith story, someone outside of your family,
21:37
Speaker 1: that when they tell their faith story, they mention your name. Ideally,
21:42
Speaker 1: I would love for you to sit in one of
21:43
Speaker 1: our services and watch someone be baptized, and when they
21:47
Speaker 1: tell their story on their video, they mention you by
21:51
Speaker 1: name because you were instrumental in helping them take their
21:53
Speaker 1: first step, their second step, or that final step of
21:56
Speaker 1: faith when they put their faith in Christ. And I'm
21:59
Speaker 1: telling you, when you enter into a spiritual, spiritual kind
22:02
Speaker 1: of conversation, when you introduce, when you invite someone to church,
22:05
Speaker 1: when you hand that person that book, when you say, hey,
22:08
Speaker 1: can we get together for coffee. Hey, I noticed you
22:10
Speaker 1: said I'd love when you're when you engage. I mean,
22:12
Speaker 1: come on, you are so dependent on God, you are
22:16
Speaker 1: scared to death. You've called people and say pray for me,
22:18
Speaker 1: pray for me. I'm gonna call my niece and now
22:20
Speaker 1: you know she last time we talked it and goes
22:22
Speaker 1: so well. But I feel like I'm gonna give my
22:24
Speaker 1: husband this book, or I'm gonna give this guy at
22:26
Speaker 1: work this thing. And you're so you're so dialed in,
22:30
Speaker 1: I mean, your faith skyrockets. You're so dependent on God.
22:33
Speaker 1: You'll be vulnerable, you'll be over your head, you'll be
22:36
Speaker 1: out of control, You'll be deep. You'll be deep, and
22:40
Speaker 1: you know what, that memory will be emotional for you
22:44
Speaker 1: for the rest of your life. It'll be a stake
22:46
Speaker 1: in the ground. It'll be something that holds you when
22:49
Speaker 1: things are tough and things aren't going the way that
22:51
Speaker 1: maybe you want them to go. And I'll tell you
22:52
Speaker 1: the easiest way to jump into this, because I'll just
22:55
Speaker 1: be honest. Some of you, you've been a Christian so
22:57
Speaker 1: long you don't even know any un church peace anymore.
23:00
Speaker 1: You don't even know any people that are far from
23:02
Speaker 1: God or me. You know two or three or four,
23:03
Speaker 1: but you know they've kind of you know, tap, you're
23:05
Speaker 1: sort of tapped out on those conversations. You should you
23:07
Speaker 1: know what you should do. You should join our starting
23:09
Speaker 1: point Minister. You should lead a starting point group. We
23:12
Speaker 1: will introduce you to some people with some really hard questions,
23:15
Speaker 1: with some really difficult backgrounds, with some really challenging situations.
23:18
Speaker 1: You'll be scared to death. You will pray like you've
23:21
Speaker 1: never prayed before. The Bible will come alife to you.
23:23
Speaker 1: And it's time because you're getting bored. You're getting a
23:25
Speaker 1: little too cynical, a little too critical. Christianity is getting
23:28
Speaker 1: a little bit too flat for you. Somebody else, you
23:31
Speaker 1: needed to get involved with our high school students, middle
23:34
Speaker 1: school students. You became a Christian high school or middle school.
23:36
Speaker 1: Here's your opportunity to lead some students in a way
23:38
Speaker 1: that you were led. Perhaps it's time to do that,
23:41
Speaker 1: and you felt that nudge it's time to see us.
23:43
Speaker 1: I just I just want this to be a part
23:45
Speaker 1: of your story at least one time, or invite a
23:49
Speaker 1: neighbor to church. I mean, let me just ask you this,
23:52
Speaker 1: this is convicting me. When is the last time. And
23:54
Speaker 1: when is the last time you showed up at church
23:57
Speaker 1: and you were nervous because you were bringing or meeting
24:01
Speaker 1: someone here for the first time, and you were so nervous.
24:03
Speaker 1: I mean, you're like Clay today needs to really be
24:06
Speaker 1: good because it's here. Okay, right, Adam, Adam, okay, third
24:12
Speaker 1: row two back, Okay, we work together. They say they're
24:15
Speaker 1: going to give this one time, Adam, do not mess
24:18
Speaker 1: this up for me. When is the last time you
24:21
Speaker 1: evaluated what we do on Sunday morning through the lens
24:24
Speaker 1: of an unchurched friend, unchurched neighbor, maybe an unchurched colleague.
24:29
Speaker 1: When's the last time that happened. Hey, that's why we
24:33
Speaker 1: do this. That's why we do it the way we
24:35
Speaker 1: do it. And in that moment, on that Sunday, you
24:38
Speaker 1: will be so dialed in, you will be out of control,
24:43
Speaker 1: you will be deep. Third thing I wish for you
24:47
Speaker 1: the freedom and the joy that comes from organizing your
24:51
Speaker 1: financial world around give safe live. The freedom and the
24:56
Speaker 1: joy that comes from not giving organizing your entire financial
25:00
Speaker 1: world around give save live. Now, if you've been around
25:02
Speaker 1: for a while, I have been preaching and preaching and
25:05
Speaker 1: teaching this for twenty years. Okay, the thing is, I
25:09
Speaker 1: want you to have stuff. I want you to have
25:11
Speaker 1: lots of stuff. I just don't want your stuff to
25:14
Speaker 1: have you because when your stuff haves you, when your
25:16
Speaker 1: stuff has you, things just don't go well. Things don't
25:20
Speaker 1: go well relationally, things just don't go well. Besides that,
25:23
Speaker 1: I want you to be the kind of person that
25:25
Speaker 1: God can trust with more stuff because you're so generous
25:27
Speaker 1: with your stuff. Because what you do with your resources
25:30
Speaker 1: is a This is important, Jesus said this. What you
25:32
Speaker 1: do with your resources is a direct reflection. What you
25:37
Speaker 1: do with your resources is a direct reflection. What you
25:40
Speaker 1: do with what you have is a direct reflection of
25:42
Speaker 1: whose you are. And if you belong solely to yourself,
25:48
Speaker 1: my friends, that is a very small life. You were designed.
25:53
Speaker 1: You were created not to live for your glory alone,
25:56
Speaker 1: but for the glory of God. And Jesus was so
25:58
Speaker 1: clear that what we do with what we have is
26:01
Speaker 1: an indicator of who truly owns us, of who is
26:05
Speaker 1: the lord of your life. I mean, you've heard this verse.
26:07
Speaker 1: If you grow up in church a thousand times, this
26:09
Speaker 1: is brilliant Jesus. Stuff right here where your treasure is
26:13
Speaker 1: there your heart will be also. In other words, wherever
26:17
Speaker 1: if I want to know where your heart is, I
26:19
Speaker 1: just need to look at your bills, how you spend
26:21
Speaker 1: your money, or how you save your money, how you
26:23
Speaker 1: hoard your money, I'll know where your heart is. And
26:25
Speaker 1: the formula this is so powerful, it's Jesus is saying this. Look,
26:29
Speaker 1: you want your heart in a different place, put your
26:31
Speaker 1: money there, your heart will follow. And if you don't,
26:34
Speaker 1: if you're not intentional about where you put your money,
26:36
Speaker 1: your heart will just follow where you spend your money.
26:39
Speaker 1: And you may have a lot, you may have a little,
26:41
Speaker 1: but you will become a very small person and you
26:44
Speaker 1: will miss out on God's ultimate purpose and will for
26:49
Speaker 1: your life. And the thing is, God never has access
26:52
Speaker 1: to all of you, and God never has access to
26:55
Speaker 1: all of me until he has access to everything that
26:57
Speaker 1: I have. When God has access to you, that's when
27:03
Speaker 1: you're free. And I I just want you to be free.
27:10
Speaker 1: And this won't happen until you have a plan. This
27:13
Speaker 1: is why I say all the time, everybody, even if
27:16
Speaker 1: you don't go to church, and even if you don't
27:17
Speaker 1: ever come back to this church, and if you never
27:19
Speaker 1: watch again, everybody needs a plan. For how they plan
27:23
Speaker 1: to support the local church, because one day you are
27:26
Speaker 1: going to need a local church and you are glad
27:30
Speaker 1: there are local churches in your community. Everybody should have
27:34
Speaker 1: a plan for how they plan to support their local church.
27:36
Speaker 1: Not guilt giving, not here comes the bucket again, but
27:39
Speaker 1: a plan. And the thing is, most of you, if
27:42
Speaker 1: you're like most Americans, and I know you're above average,
27:45
Speaker 1: so you're not exactly like most Americans, but a lot
27:48
Speaker 1: of you you don't even have a spending plan, much
27:51
Speaker 1: less a giving plan. You know what a spending plan is.
27:53
Speaker 1: It's a two letter, two syllable word. It starts with
27:55
Speaker 1: the bee, is it? What's a spending plan? Of what
27:58
Speaker 1: a budget? Yeah, you don't even have a budget. You
28:00
Speaker 1: don't even have a spending plan. So there's no way
28:03
Speaker 1: you can have a giving plan. But I'll make you promise,
28:06
Speaker 1: have been doing this a long time. I'll make you promise.
28:08
Speaker 1: If you start with a giving plan, you will end
28:11
Speaker 1: up with a spending plan. And this spending plan will
28:13
Speaker 1: be far better than you'll ever be able to create
28:15
Speaker 1: a budget unless you stay. Unless you start here, start here, give, save, live,
28:22
Speaker 1: give SA And here's the thing, and this won't matter
28:25
Speaker 1: to you. But just while I'm telling you what's inside
28:27
Speaker 1: of me, imagine, Imagine if all fifty thousand of us
28:36
Speaker 1: adults a part of our Atlanta area churches. Imagine if
28:39
Speaker 1: we got this right. Imagine if we all got rid
28:43
Speaker 1: of our silly debt, and if we pulled our giving
28:48
Speaker 1: and made ourselves wholly available to God. I'm telling you
28:52
Speaker 1: our potential for good in our communities and in our city,
28:55
Speaker 1: in our world is unimaginable. The money is in the bank.
29:01
Speaker 1: We already have the resources. We just need your heavenly
29:06
Speaker 1: father invites you to be a part of local churches
29:10
Speaker 1: where people understand the value of giving, saving and living.
29:14
Speaker 1: And the thing is, I promise you I wouldn't have
29:16
Speaker 1: the courage to say this. Sandra and I are in.
29:18
Speaker 1: We have been from the beginning. Twice. We've gone without
29:22
Speaker 1: salaries to make sure this thing works. The staff around you,
29:26
Speaker 1: the lead pastors, I mean, we are in. This isn't
29:28
Speaker 1: a gimmick, This isn't a ploy. This isn't oh so
29:30
Speaker 1: we're going to have more money. Has nothing to do
29:32
Speaker 1: with that. It has everything to do with where your
29:34
Speaker 1: heart is. And as a pastor, I want your heart
29:36
Speaker 1: to be in the right place. And you can't pray
29:38
Speaker 1: your heart to the right place. You can't behave your
29:40
Speaker 1: heart and to the right place. Jesus said, it's more
29:42
Speaker 1: practical than that. Where your resources are going, that's where
29:46
Speaker 1: your heart ultimately lands. Our potential as extraordinary. If you've
29:52
Speaker 1: been a Christian for five years or more and you
29:55
Speaker 1: don't have a plan, if you don't have a giving plan,
29:59
Speaker 1: oh my god, good this. Have you been paying attention
30:02
Speaker 1: to what Jesus taught? I mean, that's just unimaginable to me.
30:05
Speaker 1: And so that's why I'm going to come back to
30:06
Speaker 1: this over and over. I want you to know the
30:08
Speaker 1: freedom and the joy of a life organized organized around
30:12
Speaker 1: give first, save second, Live on the rest, Give first,
30:15
Speaker 1: save second, Live on the rest. Last number four is this.
30:22
Speaker 1: I wish that you could see the difference that your
30:25
Speaker 1: commitment and generosity has made in churches all over the
30:28
Speaker 1: country and all over the world, and you can't see that.
30:31
Speaker 1: I get to read the letters, I get to see
30:32
Speaker 1: the videos, I get to visit the churches. You're busy people.
30:35
Speaker 1: I just wish if you had a week, if you
30:37
Speaker 1: had a day, if you had twenty four hours, if
30:40
Speaker 1: you could catch a glimpse of the difference that you make.
30:43
Speaker 1: Not buy something special and extraordinary, the fact that you
30:47
Speaker 1: show up every week, the fact that those of you
30:49
Speaker 1: who give generously give those or you have a plan
30:51
Speaker 1: to have a plan for those of you who have
30:52
Speaker 1: served and volunteer. I'm telling you you are making a difference.
30:55
Speaker 1: And you have been making a difference in churches all
30:57
Speaker 1: over the country, all over the world for over twenty years.
31:00
Speaker 1: You've helped church leaders try new things, stop old things,
31:03
Speaker 1: rethink things, rebuild things, renovate things, change the way they
31:07
Speaker 1: do things, change the way they paint things and decorate things.
31:10
Speaker 1: Just your presence and your consistency. And I want to
31:13
Speaker 1: tell you one quick story to illustrate this, because this
31:16
Speaker 1: kind of thing happens all the time and you're not
31:18
Speaker 1: aware of it, but you're a big, big part of it.
31:21
Speaker 1: There's a gentleman named Lee Creicher. He and his wife Linda,
31:24
Speaker 1: back in the late seventies started at church in Pittsburgh,
31:27
Speaker 1: and they started in their home, and they got outside
31:30
Speaker 1: their home and they got a place to meet, and
31:32
Speaker 1: things went really well for a while. And about fourteen
31:35
Speaker 1: years in which is a long run, things were not
31:37
Speaker 1: going well, and Lee quit the church and quit the
31:42
Speaker 1: ministry and went into the marketplace and got a really
31:45
Speaker 1: good job with a really good company, and he was
31:47
Speaker 1: done with that. He was kind of burned out. There
31:49
Speaker 1: was just lots of stuff going on, very heartbreaking for
31:52
Speaker 1: him because his life blood was in this church. But
31:55
Speaker 1: just left the church, left ministry, worked for this company
31:58
Speaker 1: for a few years, got relocated to Atlanta, found North
32:01
Speaker 1: Point Community Church. And those of you at North Point,
32:03
Speaker 1: you don't know Lee. You didn't know this was going
32:04
Speaker 1: on right under your nose. For those of you who
32:06
Speaker 1: serve and show up early and make things awesome there,
32:08
Speaker 1: you didn't know this was happening. But it's actually it's
32:10
Speaker 1: happening today. You don't know about it. Lee and Linda
32:13
Speaker 1: and their kids showed up at north found north Point
32:14
Speaker 1: Community Church and it was like, oh, and they weren't
32:17
Speaker 1: so sure they were into the big church thing, but
32:19
Speaker 1: they loved it. They loved the music, their kids plugged in.
32:22
Speaker 1: They absolutely loved it. Life was good. They're living in Alpharetta.
32:25
Speaker 1: The weather is better there are you know, things are
32:27
Speaker 1: just great. Two years there at North Point and he
32:31
Speaker 1: gets a phone call from a board member at his
32:33
Speaker 1: old church. Now he's been out of ministry for over
32:35
Speaker 1: ten years. At this point, I mean that's in the
32:38
Speaker 1: rearview mirror. The board member says, things are not going
32:41
Speaker 1: well here, as you know, would you please come back?
32:43
Speaker 1: He said, no, but thank you gotta go. No, we're good,
32:46
Speaker 1: Our kids are settled in. This is great. They called
32:49
Speaker 1: and they called the church and dwindled down to about
32:51
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty people. Two hundred people almost no children,
32:55
Speaker 1: no high school, no middle school, just older people aging out,
32:58
Speaker 1: dying church. They kept calling him and calling him and
33:01
Speaker 1: calling him. At some points the long story, I'm shortening,
33:04
Speaker 1: Lee and Linda felt that that nudge, he took a
33:10
Speaker 1: two thirds pay cut, relocated in Pittsburgh, and jumped back
33:16
Speaker 1: in because of what he had seen at North Point
33:19
Speaker 1: and because he knew he needed to go. So we
33:21
Speaker 1: put together a leadership team, bought them all airplanes, you know,
33:25
Speaker 1: tickets and their spouses, flew everybody to Atlanta and brought
33:29
Speaker 1: them to North Point. You didn't know they were there,
33:31
Speaker 1: marched them up and down the halls, went in womb land,
33:34
Speaker 1: up street, went into all the environments, sat through the service,
33:36
Speaker 1: got them together and said, okay, you want to do
33:39
Speaker 1: this in Pittsburgh. Do you think this is possible in Pittsburgh?
33:43
Speaker 1: You want to create a church where unchurched people can
33:45
Speaker 1: come and have their faith ignited and Christians you've fallen
33:47
Speaker 1: away and have their faith reignited. Do you think this
33:49
Speaker 1: is possible in our community? Because if you don't like this,
33:52
Speaker 1: you're not going to like where we're headed. Because this
33:54
Speaker 1: is where we're headed. And he went back to make
33:57
Speaker 1: a long story short. Last year they averaged over two
34:01
Speaker 1: thousand people and they have three campuses. Look, they went
34:05
Speaker 1: from this to this. Listen, look up here. Wait wait, wait, wait,
34:12
Speaker 1: before you clapp before you clap, before you clap. I
34:14
Speaker 1: appreciate it. No, I really do, And I want you
34:15
Speaker 1: to clap in a minute. Here's I just don't want
34:17
Speaker 1: you to miss this. People you will never meet, in
34:22
Speaker 1: places you will never visit, are returning to church and
34:26
Speaker 1: are returning to faith, returning to hope because of your
34:31
Speaker 1: engagement in your local church. And I'm telling you preaching
34:37
Speaker 1: my preaching, Adam's preaching, Gavin's preaching, you know whoever's preaching
34:41
Speaker 1: preaching did not inspire this. Being with you, watching you serve,
34:48
Speaker 1: watching your enthu enthusiasm, your creativity, You're commitment to the
34:51
Speaker 1: local church. That is what ignites a fire in church
34:55
Speaker 1: leaders who need to go back and make a change
34:57
Speaker 1: in their community. Be half of all the people that
35:01
Speaker 1: you'll never meet and people I'll never meet, really literally
35:03
Speaker 1: all over the world. I can't say thank you enough.
35:06
Speaker 1: I just wish you could see it. I just wish
35:09
Speaker 1: you could experience it, because it would light you up.
35:12
Speaker 1: What you do here goes way, way, way beyond the
35:15
Speaker 1: walls in the halls of our local churches. Last one
35:19
Speaker 1: is this, and this is to a very specific group
35:21
Speaker 1: of you. For those of you who aren't Christians yet,
35:26
Speaker 1: for those of you who have questions we have yet
35:29
Speaker 1: to answer. For those of you who just you kind
35:32
Speaker 1: of want it to be true. You're hoping it's true,
35:34
Speaker 1: but you got a bad church experience. You know, your
35:36
Speaker 1: uncle is a preacher and ran off with you know whatever.
35:39
Speaker 1: You know, you just you went to school and you
35:41
Speaker 1: just learned too much biology to ever be a Christian.
35:44
Speaker 1: Whatever your thing is, but you're kind of leaning in
35:47
Speaker 1: this direction. My wish for you is that you would
35:51
Speaker 1: keep seeking, that you would keep asking, and you would
35:55
Speaker 1: keep knocking, and that you wouldn't stop to use Jesus
35:59
Speaker 1: terminout that you would take a step to follow Jesus.
36:04
Speaker 1: In fact, here's what you'll learn at our churches, because
36:06
Speaker 1: this is what Jesus modeled and what he taught. You
36:09
Speaker 1: can follow before you believe, you can follow, until you
36:16
Speaker 1: believe you can follow, before you have all the answers,
36:21
Speaker 1: and you can follow as you get your answers. This
36:25
Speaker 1: is not a one and done. This isn't pray some
36:28
Speaker 1: kind of prayer and boom magically all your answers or
36:30
Speaker 1: get questions or answered. This is we don't We don't
36:33
Speaker 1: even teach that or believe that. Because in the first
36:35
Speaker 1: century Jesus said to men who knew nothing, follow me,
36:40
Speaker 1: and their faith was like this the whole time. And
36:43
Speaker 1: apparently that's okay. And we want you to follow. We
36:48
Speaker 1: want you to take a step. We want you to
36:51
Speaker 1: get in starting point and get some of your questions answered.
36:53
Speaker 1: We want you to move closer and closer and closer
36:56
Speaker 1: to the front. We want you to get a Bible.
36:58
Speaker 1: We want you to take your first in praying, and
37:01
Speaker 1: we want to be an environment where it's safe for
37:03
Speaker 1: you to do that. And then when the time comes
37:05
Speaker 1: for you to raise your hand and ask a question
37:07
Speaker 1: and connect. We want to be there for you. But
37:09
Speaker 1: my heart's desire for you is that you won't give
37:12
Speaker 1: up the journey and that you won't get up give
37:14
Speaker 1: up the quest and conclusion. People ask me all the time, Andy,
37:21
Speaker 1: did you ever envision you know all this? No, we
37:26
Speaker 1: passed my vision about seventeen years ago. Okay, so no.
37:30
Speaker 1: And I want you to hear this from me that
37:33
Speaker 1: no one, no one is more surprised by all of
37:37
Speaker 1: this than me, and no one is more grateful for
37:41
Speaker 1: all that has happened than me, and no one knows,
37:46
Speaker 1: and no one is more aware that it is not
37:48
Speaker 1: about me than me. This what you've experienced, in what
37:53
Speaker 1: you've done, is about a conversation that Jesus had with
37:57
Speaker 1: his disciples on one hoton. They're in the region of
38:02
Speaker 1: Cesareah Philippi, and Jesus says to us, guys, hey, what's
38:05
Speaker 1: the word on the street about me? That's not a
38:07
Speaker 1: good question for most of us to ask, but Jesus asking, hey,
38:09
Speaker 1: what are people saying about me? And they say, well,
38:12
Speaker 1: they think you're reincarnated prophet. Some of you think that
38:15
Speaker 1: you're John the Baptists come back to life. They think
38:18
Speaker 1: you're somebody old that's come back in some kind of
38:21
Speaker 1: new form or fashion. And Jesus says, what about you, guys,
38:25
Speaker 1: who do you say that I am Simon? Peter answered,
38:29
Speaker 1: and he said, well, you're the Messiah. I mean, I
38:32
Speaker 1: mean we've seen too much, we experienced too much. You're
38:34
Speaker 1: the Messiah. You're the son of the Living God. And
38:38
Speaker 1: Jesus said to him, Jesus replied, Simon, son of Jonah,
38:44
Speaker 1: for this blessed are you, for this was not revealed
38:47
Speaker 1: to you by flesh and blood, but by my father
38:50
Speaker 1: in heaven. You finally got the answer, right, You are
38:52
Speaker 1: exactly right. I am the Messiah. I am the one
38:55
Speaker 1: who is sent from God. And I tell you, and
38:57
Speaker 1: here's the part that I don't want you to miss.
39:00
Speaker 1: This is why this happens, This is why this works,
39:02
Speaker 1: This is why what you do is so important. And
39:04
Speaker 1: I tell you this that you are. Peter did a
39:07
Speaker 1: little wordplay with his name, and on this rock, this
39:11
Speaker 1: declaration that I'm the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
39:14
Speaker 1: I will build my ecclesia, my assembly, my gathering, my movement,
39:22
Speaker 1: and the gates of Hades that is death will not
39:28
Speaker 1: overcome it, and it didn't and it won't. And together
39:36
Speaker 1: we have the opportunity of being a small part of
39:39
Speaker 1: what Jesus began two thousand years ago that will go
39:43
Speaker 1: until the day he decides to return. So let's get
39:47
Speaker 1: it right. Thank you for working so hard to get
39:50
Speaker 1: it right. And perhaps perhaps we will be a small
39:55
Speaker 1: part of leaving the local church in America better off
39:58
Speaker 1: than how we found it. So pay attention to that
40:02
Speaker 1: internal nudge, look for that opportunity to get uncomfortable and
40:06
Speaker 1: invite somebody or give them that book, send them that article,
40:10
Speaker 1: have that conversation, make a plan for how you're going
40:13
Speaker 1: to support whatever church you go to financially so that
40:16
Speaker 1: your resources are part of what God's up to in
40:18
Speaker 1: the world. And then keep seeking, keep asking, keep knocking.
40:25
Speaker 1: Those are my wishes for all of us.