Receive Weekly Teaching | Grow Week 2

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- And the specific practice we're unpacking today

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is receiving teaching weekly.

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It's a core practice that all of the followers of Jesus

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who have grown and experience that abundant life

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that Jesus promised, they have always prioritized.

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- Welcome to Crossroads and welcome to the Grow Journey.

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I'm Brian, and before we get started,

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just what exactly is this Journey thing?

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Well, let me start with the word grow.

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In the Bible, we see seven practices that Jesus does.

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And when we unlock these proven practices

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in our own lives, we grow, we advance,

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we go to the next place, we feel closer to God.

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Each week of this series, we will be looking at

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a different one of the seven proven practices

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and figuring out how to apply to our individual lives.

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That's the grow part.

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The Journey part means

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that we're going on a journey together,

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a bunch of people going step by step

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through a process of self discovery

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and sharpening one another

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and sensing God moment by moment, week by week.

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As a church, we're all doing it,

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and we do it by meeting in groups

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and going through the guidebook,

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as well as having something to see online

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or in a building.

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We'll show you how to do that later in the episode.

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I'm glad you're watching.

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And I believe if you engage,

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you're going to grow closer to God in the next 20 minutes.

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Now let's get started.

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- If you want to treat a grow,

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to force it would be folly.

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You do not ask it: What will you make?

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What will you produce?

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How high will you reach?

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How fast can you get there?

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If you want to treat a grow, you simply resource it.

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You ask: What do you need?

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And you provide generously the light to bask in,

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the water to drink in, the fertile soil to root in,

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the holy space to take shape.

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God likens Himself to all these things:

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the light of the world,

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a well overflowing,

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the very nutrients you need.

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If you are designed to grow,

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God doesn't force it; He resources it.

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- But whose delight is in the law of the Lord

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and who meditates on his law day and night?

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That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

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which yields its fruit in season

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and whose leaf does not wither.

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Whatever they do prospers.

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- You were designed to grow by simply receiving.

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They need to receive.

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What do you need?

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- So, a question right out of the gate:

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who tries to teach you about what's important in life?

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Like who you are, what you're made for,

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how to live effectively and hopefully joyfully,

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where to invest your time and your energy?

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All the important stuff.

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Well, the answer is everyone all the time.

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Or like the movie, everything everywhere all the time.

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In 2007, the Yankelovich research firm found that

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the average person was exposed to

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5000 different messages every day, which is insane.

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Only now that number has doubled to 10,000.

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So, we've seen 5000 by lunch. It's crazy.

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In fact, I just checked right before coming here,

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and Instagram wants me to invest my time, my energy,

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my resources into working out.

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Not a bad idea.

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You Tube wants me to invest my time, my energy,

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my resources in a master class.

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And Facebook, well, Facebook I actually didn't check

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because it's officially irrelevant,

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unless I have an old mattress to sell on Marketplace.

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Sorry, Mark Zuckerberg.

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It's just -- it's just what we're at now.

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Just where we're at.

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Did you know that the digital advertising industry

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is worth $585 billion a year? That's crazy.

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Why? Why is it worth that much?

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It's because it works.

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What they teach us to want, to invest our time,

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our energy and resources in is what we invest in.

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What they teach us to want is what we want.

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Where they teach us to go is where we end up going.

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And why does it work?

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It's because you and me are very, very impressionable,

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or said more positively, we're by nature very teachable.

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The problem is most of those teachers in our lives,

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not the ones in classrooms, they're not talking about that.

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I'm talking about Instagram and Facebook and YouTube

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and all the messages that we receive,

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all those teachers aren't trying to give us more energy.

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They're not trying to work towards our growth.

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They're trying to take our time and our energy.

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But see this Journey, this Grow Journey,

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it's about growing.

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It's about getting to a better place.

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It's about investing for a return.

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But their goal is the opposite:

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to take time, money, energy, attention.

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Jesus promised to give us more.

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He said we could grow and grow and grow

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until we have what He called the abundant life.

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- Every week after the service is over,

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we go see my mom at the nursing home

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and she asks, "What's the -- what was the sermon about?"

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And we tell her.

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- I try to attend service on the weekends.

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- Routine is huge for me.

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Receiving weekly teachings

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is something that keeps me grounded

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and helps create spiritual disciplines in my life.

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- I go to Crossroads Uptown or I'll watch online.

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- How I receive weekly teaching

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looks like streaming the services online.

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- Every week on Sunday nights, my family and I

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get together and we just talk about the Bible.

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- Receiving weekly teacher really impacts my life

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in a way that reminds me that I am a model.

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I'm a model to my wife, my children, grandchildren,

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my mentees, and even my employees.

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So, people who really want to test the fruit of your walk,

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it's not just what you say,

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but it's the actions that you show.

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- Jesus promised the abundant life was possible

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in John 10:10 when He said,

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"I came that they may have life

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and have it abundantly."

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The question for you today is

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who's regularly teaching you

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how to have that kind of life,

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how to have life and have it abundantly?

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Who's teaching you how to grow

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in the ways that matter the most,

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to grow in peace and hope and joy,

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and most of all, in your understanding

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of the God who created you

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to enjoy all those things and more?

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Because you won't grow accidentally.

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You won't experience the abundant life accidentally.

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The good news today, though, is

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you don't have to guess how to grow.

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It's not, like, just hope you get it right.

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In this Journey we're looking at

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the seven proven practices that lead to growth.

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Every one of these are time tested practices

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that date back 2000 years.

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And the specific practice we're unpacking today

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is receiving teaching weekly.

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It's a core practice that all of the followers of Jesus

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who have grown and experience that abundant life

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that Jesus promised, they have always prioritized.

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And I think given the unprecedented amount of messages

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that we receive in the world today, shouting at us,

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telling us what to value,

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telling us where to aim our life at,

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I think it's never been a more important practice

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than right now.

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See, receiving teaching is giving attention.

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In his incredible book

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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry,

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the theologian John Mark Comer said:

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That's a really fancy way of saying

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you are what you eat.

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That's the same as these plants.

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If they consume good nutrients, they grow good fruit.

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It's the same for you,

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what you eat, what you give your attention to.

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Now, do you know who knew the importance of

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carefully cultivating what you give your attention to?

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Jesus.

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In just a minute we're going to look at

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the very first action of Jesus ever recorded,

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and spoiler alert, it's about this,

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giving your attention to receiving teaching.

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But check out the first thing that happens

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after Jesus gets baptized, which is considered

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to be the beginning of His official ministry.

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He's taken straight to the wilderness.

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He fast for 40 straight days.

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And then Satan shows up to tempt Him.

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So, if you ever thought the first 40 days

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of your new job are rough, they have nothing on this.

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Check this out, Matthew 4:1:

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Now, I find it fascinating that

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the very first thing Jesus faced in His ministry,

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most of which was teaching,

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was about receiving teaching.

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And here's something critical to see in these words

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that I'm willing to bet you've never seen before.

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See, Jesus was quoting when he said, "It's written,"

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He was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 with his answer,

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which says this:

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See, Jesus doubled down on that message.

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He said, "You're not made to be a self feeder."

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That's the temptation that he was facing.

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"Feed yourself, Jesus. Take care of it yourself.

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Do it, do a DIY spirituality."

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But it wasn't receiving food from God.

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And Jesus was saying, "I don't live by the wisdom

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that I can whip up on my own,

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my own bread that I can make, I can feed myself.

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I live by God's wisdom that I have to receive."

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These words hit me like a shovel.

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They aimed at digging up the rock in me called pride,

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because I'm a grownup, I'm an adult.

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I'm not supposed to need to learn anymore

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or receive teaching from somebody else.

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I'm supposed to be able to do it all myself, right?

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Isn't that what we're taught?

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I'm done with school. I'm not a kid anymore.

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Okay, now let's talk about the first thing

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the Bible ever records Jesus doing.

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Do you know it's not teaching, but being taught?

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Jesus was 12 years old.

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He went with His parents to Jerusalem for the Passover.

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And they they left, and His parents couldn't find Him.

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It says in Luke 2:46:

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Okay, so fix that image in your mind.

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The child Jesus does what?

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He sits and He listens to teachers

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and He asks them questions so that He can learn.

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Do you remember a time in your life

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when you asked a million questions,

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even the unsafe ones,

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even the ones you're not supposed to ask?

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Well, see what happens for most of us as we age

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is that we learn the rules

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of asking questions and learning.

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We learn which questions are okay to ask,

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which ones we should skip.

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Eventually many of us stop asking questions altogether.

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And the problem is,

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it's killing our ability to be taught.

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A guy named Warren Berger wrote a book about this.

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He said:

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You know, not incidentally, there's a story

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where Jesus was talking about

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what type of person of faith is the absolute greatest.

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His answer might surprise you.

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Matthew 18:3:

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I don't think that means change and become little children.

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It doesn't mean be shallow minded and naïve and silly.

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You know what a cruel trick God would be playing

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if He wanted us to be shallow minded,

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but our brains were naturally growing and maturing

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and getting more logical.

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I don't think that's what He means at all.

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What He means is: ask me a million unfiltered questions,

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just like a kid.

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Have a hunger and a curiosity to learn.

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Because if you want to grow, you have to have

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that same hunger to grow

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just like you did when you were a kid.

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This Journey hinges on one thing: your hunger to grow.

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We prepared the soil, we gathered the nutrients,

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we've got the water all measured out,

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but it's up to you to dig in.

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And if you're up for it, here's how the Journey works.

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- There are three parts to the Journey.

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Step one: Attend the weekend

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and receive weekly teaching at a site or online.

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Get inspired with the good news.

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Step two: Do your guide work.

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You get your very own printed guide.

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It'll help you create a plan of action to grow deeper.

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And step three: meet with your group.

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During the Journey we meet in groups

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to talk about what we're learning, grow deeper together.

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Go here for more.

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Come Grow!

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- Well, hey, my name is Andy Reider

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and hopefully that video was helpful for you

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to understand what it means to do

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this thing called the Journey.

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And actually, one of the seven proven practices

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that we're going to be leaning into

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is receive weekly teaching.

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Hey, well done. You did it.

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- Good job. Right here, right now, you're doing it.

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- You did it right now.

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And that's just a place to get started.

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If you're looking for more tools that can help you,

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yeah, that's it, grow.

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Hey, just open up your Crossroads App

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and we've got more great stuff for you there.

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- That's exactly right.

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And one of those proven practices

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that we'll talk about a little bit later

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is through giving.

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You can also do that in the app.

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This is a pretty sweet app.

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And you know what?

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Our giving is fueling life change everywhere.

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The simple thing to do is click your profile

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at the bottom of the screen,

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then go ahead and click that gear shift.

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And once you click it, there's a simple option to give,

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it has a little heart next to it.

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So let's hop into the message right now.

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- Did you know Jesus is the only major religious figure

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who says, "Ask me questions so that I can teach you"?

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He said this in Luke 11.

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Jesus says, "Be like me when I was a kid.

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I want to ask a million questions."

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And who should you ask? Teachers.

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See, Jesus was trying to learn

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and not only willing to be taught,

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but He was running away from His parents

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so He could be taught.

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Do you have that same kind of hunger to be taught,

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to learn and to grow?

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Do you have time on your calendar at least once a week

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to run away from the rest of your life

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and prioritize receiving teaching weekly

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as a core practice?

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By the way, there isn't a one size fits all

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solution for teaching.

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We know that the world has changed.

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It's going to continue to change.

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And that's okay.

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We make these episodes intentionally shorter

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and available on demand because we want

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to give you options that work for you.

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It's not about how long you listen;

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it's about what you do with what you learn.

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See receive doesn't just mean consume.

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That's what we're used to in today's world,

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we consume the information.

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Receive means apply.

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And my job as a teacher is simply to

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help deliver the Word of God to you that you need

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just like a farmhand might walk around these plants

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and give them water and fertilizer carefully prepared.

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That's the role of a teacher,

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and the word of God, it's our activator for growth.

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Hebrews 4:12 says:

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For the Word of God is alive and active.

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Do you want activity? Do you want movement?

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Do you want growth?

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Then you must get the Word of God

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by receiving teaching weekly.

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And by the way, you may notice

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how this practice builds on

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the first one that we talked about,

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connecting with God daily.

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See, we do need time on our own

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to chew on the Word of God.

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And we need time when it's carefully prepared

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and given and taught to us,

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because we don't live on bread alone,

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but by every word from God.

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That means you're not afraid, you're not angry,

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you're not bitter, you're not hopeless,

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you're not stuck.

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You're hungry, and what you need most

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is the food that matters the most: The Word of God.

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See, more growth is possible for you.

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It is, but only if you make a habit

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of receiving teaching weekly.

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If you've got the hunger to grow,

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we've got you this week.

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In your guide you're going to do an exercise

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that's, I think, really cool.

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It will help you identify what style of learner you are,

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how you receive teaching the best.

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So, make sure you do your guide this week.

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Make sure you go to your group.

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Let me pray for you as you do those things.

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God, thank you for everybody watching.

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Give us exactly what we need to grow. Amen.

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- Hearing Kyle talk about how the Word is alive,

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it's just invigorating.

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Because it can seem a little dead on paper.

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But when you apply it,

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when you take it out of the paper,

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out of the context,

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when you move with it, it's powerful.

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- That's right.

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There's something that happens when we,

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well, take God's Word and make it alive

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by taking it with us through the rest of our day.

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Right? Like something special happens.

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So, I want to give you two more tools,

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two more ways that you can take that thing

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that happens with God's word and extend it out

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through the other 127 hours of your week.

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Because we're not just content, like,

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we don't just make stuff.

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- This can't be it. - Right, this can't be it.

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That's a good way of saying it.

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Like we're a community that you can

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fully belong to wherever you are.

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So two things for you.

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One, we've got a thing called online prayer night.

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I'm going to tell you something,

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I'm going tell you it's on Zoom.

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And just don't -- just listen to me. It's awesome.

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Like, it's great.

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We've seen God do amazing things

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and we've got time to worship, time to pray,

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time to connect as community coming up.

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I would love for you to join us.

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I'll be leading worship. It's going to be a great time.

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Secondly, Kyle, who you just heard from,

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he's got a podcast, a podcast called A Better Answer,

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brand new, just dropped.

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That is a chance for him to answer

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real world questions from a 20 something, and get, like,

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real world advice for how to make God's word alive

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and active through the rest of your day.

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- Well, you know what?

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We've got a sneak peek of what's next on Crossroads,

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because this is just the beginning.

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So, take a look right now.

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- You know what would be really stupid

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is if you would take a light

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and put it under a basket or a bushel.

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I wonder what's under. Oh, a light.

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Yeah. It doesn't make any sense

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for a light to be under a bushel.

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When stuff is going to grow

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because it's exposed to light.

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