Play & Purpose Journey | Week 4: Stepping into Trust

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Well, hey, welcome to church on Crossroads Anywhere this week.

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My name's Lena Schuler.

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I"m the Crossroads Anywhere community pastor.

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And I'm here with my friend Justin.

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- I'm Justin Mosteller. I'm one of the worship leaders around here.

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And I'm glad to be in this space with you guys.

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We're always like tossing back and forth to one another on a weekend from stage or whatever.

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And so I'm glad to be here.

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- Yeah, in one room together.

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- That's right. - It's great. Well, today is gonna be a little bit different of an experience than what we're used to.

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It's gonna be a special experience,

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one where I think you have an opportunity to hear from God

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in a really unique and special way,

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different than any other regular weekend service.

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And so today we want you to set up your environment

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to be able to hear from God in that special way.

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So as we're in this living room together

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and we do some interactive immersive things

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throughout the rest of our time,

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maybe throw in your headphones if you've got them nearby

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or dim your lights so the room that you're in

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feels a little more intimate

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or just different than you're used to,

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because this whole experience is gonna be set up

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so that you can have a moment or two with God

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and hear from Him,

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whatever it is that He uniquely wants to say to you.

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And so we're gonna start by getting our heads

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and our hearts in the right place for this

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and just talk to God through song.

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- Yeah, that's right. I love the setting up environments.

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That could look different for everybody, right?

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I mean, like I've got friends who

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when they're gonna spend time with God,

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they they light a candle just to sort of represent His presence in the room.

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And so whatever you need to do, do that.

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And one of the things I do in my time,.

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I've said it before, like my time with the Lord

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in the mornings is often in my front porch,

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out on my porch in my house.

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And it's how I come into that headspace

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is different every time. And so one of the things I have

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is a sort of a discipline to start that time.

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Every every time I sit down in my rocking chair

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or whatever and grab my Bible.

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Is to just take some deep breaths

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and sort of enter the space that I'm coming in.

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Because oftentimes I'm coming in exhausted

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from the night where my four year old

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has woken me up like eight times.

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That happens. - True life.

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- Yeah. You know, and like all kinds of stuff.

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So I just want -- I just take some deep breaths

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just to kind of enter the space. So I invite you wherever you are, take a few deep breaths.

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Just kind of slow down together

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and come into this space that

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we're gonna try to take in together

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and hear from God and slow our minds down.

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So I'll keep playing.

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You just take some deep breaths

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and sort of enter a space of peace together.

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And we can sing together my favorite songs

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for getting my mind and my heart prepared for God.

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Sing that again: Clear my mind Oh Lord

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So, Lord, we come to You with humility.

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We come to You with our hearts and our minds

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and ourselves pointed towards You

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because you are King.

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You are a good and loving Father.

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So we believe, Lord, different than what I grew up with.

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I believe in this moment

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You have something good for me to hear.

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Not something of judgment or a finger

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that just wants to point to me.

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You are one who's welcomed me into your arms.

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So you have something good

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within Your grace and your mercy

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to speak to me.

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And so I want my mind to be cleared.

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And so I ask You to do that

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so we can hear from You, God. Thank you for being with us, Father.

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Amen - Amen.

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Well, hopefully right now you're feeling a little more slowed down.

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Your mind is a little more cleared

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for whatever God has for you next.

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I know I feel that way right now.

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And so I want to help get you set up

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a little bit more for the rest of our experience together.

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And so we're gonna have prompts

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throughout this next hour

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for you to talk to God.

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And so there's a couple of ways that you can do this.

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One is you can pull out a second device.

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So if you're on your phone, pull out your computer.

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If you're on your computer, pull up your phone.

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Head to Crossroads.net

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and you can interact with God

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actually through the chat feature on the Web site.

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There will be prompts on there

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and that will guide you through in the midst of this experience.

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And you could do this digitally

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or you could pull out a piece of paper

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like the one that I have here.

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Plain old school, white piece of paper.

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Maybe you've got a journal that you regularly use

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or some place that you use to talk to God

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on a weekly, monthly.

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annual basis.

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And on that piece of paper, if you do it this way,

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start out by just writing

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eight different spots on this paper.

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Maybe label one through eight

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because we'll have eight different prompts

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throughout this service.

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And we'll let you know what goes in there at what time.

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And so actually, let's just start right now

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with this very first one.

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The first thing, the first way

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for us to spend this time with God

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and to talk to Him is by actually

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just writing down everything that's on your mind.

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You know, in that song we sang Slow Me Down,

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we asked God to clear our mind.

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And so we're going to practice clearing our minds right now.

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So if you just want to write down everything

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that's clouding up your mind right now:

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good, bad, ugly, things you're excited about,

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the things you're fearful of right now.

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Just spend some time getting that out on paper

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and then put a one sentence prayer to God

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on paper of what you want to get in the next hour.

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Maybe it's just -- maybe it's just as simple as saying,

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God, I'm here and I'm listening.

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- Welcome to week four of the Play & Purpose Journey.

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I'm Chuck Mingo. And today, we're going to lean in a bit.

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So in this journey, we've been talking about

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how our lives thrive at the intersection

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of two things: high purpose and high play.

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And it's about embracing both of them.

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You know, when we talk about play in this journey,

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we said play is something unproductive that restores you.

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Maybe that's shooting hoops for you.

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That might be having time at a coffee shop,

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reading a good novel. But whatever it is, it's something that gives you life.

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And then we talk about purpose.

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And we're not talking in this journey

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about the like, you know, find your soulmate purpose.

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The one reason you were born.

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That's great to try to find that. But we're talking more about

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what's the thing right in front of me

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that if I'm productive at it,

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it's going to yield good results?

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So that could look very much like

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investing in an important relationship in your life

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or just being faithful at the job that you have right now.

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That kind of purpose.

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And what we've realized in this journey

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is God wants both of those for you:

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purpose and play. But if you've been in this journey

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or maybe even if you haven't

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and you're just hearing this for the first time, my guess is one of these two comes easier for you.

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Maybe you're a purpose person and that just comes easy.

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You're focused, you like delivering results.

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Maybe you're more of a play person.

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It's easy for you to unwind, to relax.

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But my guess is one of them feels a lot like --

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Let me take you with me here.

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Maybe it feels like I feel right now.

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So I -- Oh, gosh, I'm afraid of heights.

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I've been afraid of heights for as long as I can remember.

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And so whenever I'm on a cliff,

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whenever I'm on an edge up high,

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it freaks me out. And so I'm kind of freaking out right now.

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Welcome to my discomfort.

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But what I have been thinking about

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is that my fear of heights is really about vulnerability.

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Why am I afraid of heights?

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Because when I'm up high, I feel totally vulnerable.

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I feel like, you know what,

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I can't control all the environment.

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I can't control all the elements.

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And God knows I probably shouldn't go too far on this ledge,

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because if I do, there's the risk of falling.

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There's the risk of failing. And my guess is this probably relates

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to something in your life. Maybe this idea of finding purpose

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really freaks you out. Because you realize that if I say out loud

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the thing that I feel like I'm supposed to do,

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somebody is going to hold me accountable to it

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and that freaks me out.

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Or maybe -- let me just got a little bit further.

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One step at a time. Maybe for you, it's this idea of play.

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And when you think about play,

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you recognize -- I'm hearing my voice echo

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and it's really freaking me out right now.

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So, when you think about play,

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you're just like, I don't know.

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I don't feel like I can --

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maybe you feel like I do. My legs are wobbly right now.

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Maybe you're like, "You know what?

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I get wobbly if I slow down,

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there are gonna be people who pass me at work.

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And I don't want to give up on the advantages

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that I think I have." Here's what I believe.

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I believe that if there is a place in this journey

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that feels for you like this cliff feels for me,

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that's the place God wants us to lean in today.

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You've been stolen from.

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I've been stolen from. And today we want to get back all that God has for us.

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There's a verse that I've been thinking about

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as I knew I'd be standing here

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and as I knew we'd be talking about this.

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It's Isaiah 41:13, where God says this to you

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and he says this to me. He says, "I am the Lord, your God.

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And I will hold you by your right hand.

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And I say to you, Do not be afraid.

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I will help you. Today I believe if you lean into the uncomfortable place,

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whether it's leaning into purpose or to play,

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that God is going to help you.

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And you might hear his voice powerfully

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for the first time today.

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- Well, I don't know about you,

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but I actually could feel some of Chuck's angst

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and fear in the midst of that.

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I actually heard he went through three shirts

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during that video shoot. No lie.

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- That's great. - And we all have things that we're scared of.

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Chuck's really scared of heights.

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Maybe in the midst of this journey,

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you actually have some fear around

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what it means for your life to change

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in order to add more play in

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or what it means for your life to change

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in order to be more purposeful

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about the things in front of you.

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I know for me it's this issue of play.

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I know I need more of it.

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And just having to rearrange things to get there

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feels a little difficult and scary for me.

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And so we're going to go through

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a few more prompts.

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And we're gonna start where Chuck started

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and we're gonna recap this Play & Purpose idea.

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So the first prompt is spend a little time

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thinking about and maybe on your piece of paper

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actually drawing what restores you,

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what fills you up and brings you life.

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Our next prompt, our fourth prompt of the day,

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if you're keeping track. - If they're like me, they are

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- Yeah. If you're really purposeful,

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you've probably been counting.

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- Speaking of not being able to play. - Yeah.

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That says something about me and you.

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- Me too, yeah. - I want you to make a list of all of the things

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that you've accomplished this week,

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the ways that you've been purposeful.

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So this fifth prompt, you know,

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maybe when Chuck was talking about his fear of heights,

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maybe when I was telling you that it stresses me out

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and gives me the sweats a little bit

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to think about how to add more play into my life

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and rearrange things.

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You probably default one way or the other.

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Probably feels more vulnerable for you to be purposeful,

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to do things on purpose if your life has been full of play.

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Or maybe it stresses you out a little

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to think about what play would look like

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as a normal part of your life

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if you've got the purpose thing down.

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I want you right now to declare to God

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which of these two areas: play or purpose

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do you need to reprioritize,

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do you need to focus on,

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do you need to spend your time in?

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Ok. How are we feeling?

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Everybody doing OK? Deep breath, maybe you're sweating

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through your shirt a little bit,

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your heart's beating real fast

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because you just declared to God

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that you want more play

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or you're going to start being more purposeful.

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This is -- this is good stuff.

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-- It's good stuff, yeah. - It's sometimes kind of heavy stuff.

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- Yeah. It's true.

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- And I need more play.

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I think Justin -- I think Justin needs more play.

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-- I just confessed to like counting our prompts and doing checkboxes.

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- Yeah. So I definitely need more play.

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- OK, so let's start with --

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can we have something a little more playful?

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Lighten the mood. - How about Free Falling?

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- Oh, Free Falling. This is for Chuck Mingo, folks. - Sorry, Chuck Mingo.

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- Free Falling.

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OK. So this next thing we're gonna do

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is a little lighter.

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By a little lighter, I mean, a lot lighter.

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It has absolutely no purpose

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other than just to have a little fun.

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So we hope you laugh a little and you enjoy this.

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One of things I did was I went to this rally,

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this motorcycle rally.

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I'd never heard of this rally.

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I went to, it was down in the Smoky Mountains.

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And I went, Wow.

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Wow, like man. Like Wow Wow..

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, No.

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- In this journey, we've been talking about

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the fact that God wants for all of us

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a life of prosperity.

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When I say that, I don't mean monetary only,

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I don't mean like health, wealth and prosperity.

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I don't mean that. I mean a fullness of life.

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What Jesus called an abundant life.

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And trusting God is the way to that life.

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And so even looking at this matrix and using it

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to kind of help define what we mean

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by Purpose & Play and particularly

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why it's powerful to embrace.

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And if you take a look at this matrix,

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you'll see that, you know,

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if you don't have -- and you know this,

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if you've lived this way.

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If you don't have any play in your life

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and your life is all purpose all the time,

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you're going to be in that bottom right corner.

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And life is painful there.

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There's not a lot of joy.

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Things feel like duty.

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Everything is weighty.

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Everything is weighty.

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Now on the other hand,

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if you have all play all the time

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and you don't have any purpose in your life at all,

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then your life feels pointless.

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And there's probably this yearning,

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nagging boredom that you say,

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"Hey, I need more, I need more."

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And if you don't have either of these,

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your life is pitiful.

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And we don't want that for anyone here.

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And what God invites us to is He invites us

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to a prosperous life,

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a life at the intersection of high purpose and high play.

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So that's we're going to talk about today.

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Before we go any further though,

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while we're doing a lot of things that are different today,

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we're gonna do something that we do regularly around here

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and that's have an opportunity to be generous.

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So wherever you are at your location,

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there's an opportunity for you to be generous.

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Our ushers are going to come. They can start coming now.

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And they're going to pass bags through the aisles

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and you can give cash or check that way.

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And you can be a part of investing

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in life change when you do that. But if you're brand new, it's your first time,

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man, let that pass you right on by.

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We don't want your money. We're just glad you're here.

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And we hope that you're helped by today.

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But I'm going to pray as we dig into this idea

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of trusting God and finding prosperity when we do.

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God, I just asked that as we engage

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in this time that You would speak.

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You've already spoken, I believe, to many of us.

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And God, I pray that that continues.

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That we would hear Your voice more clearly.

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And God just protect this space,

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this special sacred time that we have

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to just slow down and be with You.

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I pray that it would be fruitful.

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In Jesus name. Amen.

00:25:56

So I've been thinking about this idea of trust

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and specifically thinking about an experience

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that I had really over the last 18 months

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until about six months ago.

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I was struggling with sleep like nobody's business.

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I mean, it was a good night if I got five hours of sleep.

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And I just couldn't seem to get over this barrier in my life.

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And I tried a bunch of different things.

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I tried different sleeping pills

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and it was like escalating, you know,

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to more powerful sleeping pills. That wasn't help.

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And then they were like, well, maybe you have sleep apnea.

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And so I got diagnosed for that

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and they gave me a C-PAP machine.

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And that definitely didn't help.

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And I just was like, God,

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I can't seem to figure this out.

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And I remember early on in the struggle

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feeling like, God, if there's something in me,

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if this is a spiritual thing,

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then help me to see it. And I think that God kind of was showing me

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some things that I was ignoring

00:26:46

around why this was happening.

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And really it boiled down to trust.

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I mean, the truth is God has given me a purpose

00:26:52

and one of the purposes He's given me

00:26:54

is to be a voice in a really touchy, difficult topic.

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And that's the racial divide.

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And to be a voice around that,

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not only in our city but beyond.

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And I just feel like there's a part of me

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that's like I don't know if I want to jump into that

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more than I already am because it's a hard place to be

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and it's challenging. And yes, I've seen some fruit,

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but, God, I don't know if I really want to lean into that.

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And I really feel like that's the thing

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that was in the way of me literally sleeping at night.

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And why do I know that?

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Because about six months ago, I just said,

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All right, God, I give up. I give up.

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I'm gonna be obedient

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and I'm going to follow this

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as far as You want me to take it.

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And literally, the day I started trusting

00:27:34

is the day I started sleeping.

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And I think that that's just the lesson

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that we have to learn in our relationship with God,

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is that the prosperous life He wants for us,

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we find as we trust Him more and more.

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Now, if you're like me and if you're human,

00:27:48

I think there's some obvious reasons

00:27:50

why maybe we struggle to trust God.

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And I call them the 3 D's.

00:27:53

Here's what I would say. If you struggle to trust God in any area of your life,

00:27:57

particularly purpose or play,

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maybe it's because God seems distant.

00:28:01

He seems to be apathetic,

00:28:03

like he's not necessarily involved in the details of your life.

00:28:07

Or maybe you struggle to trust God

00:28:09

because you think God is disappointed in you.

00:28:12

You think He's angry at you.

00:28:13

You think you've done too many wrong things for God to forgive you,

00:28:16

and therefore He's not for you.

00:28:19

Or maybe you struggle because you feel like God's disabled

00:28:22

and there's a place in your life

00:28:24

where it just doesn't seem like

00:28:25

He's bringing his power to bear

00:28:27

to change the situation in your life.

00:28:30

Now, I don't often make book recommendations,

00:28:31

but I'm going to recommend a book.

00:28:33

It's called Sacred Fire by a guy named Ronald Rolheiser.

00:28:36

And this book has deeply impacted me

00:28:38

in the area of trust

00:28:39

and it's deeply impacted this message.

00:28:41

And what I would summarize that book as being about

00:28:44

is basically it's about how to move from a life

00:28:47

that's the good life to the prosperous life.

00:28:51

You know, we can think about the good life

00:28:53

and say, Yeah, that's all I want.

00:28:54

I want the good life. Right? I just want things to be OK.

00:28:56

And what I will tell you is if you are seeking the good life,

00:28:59

you're settling for far less than what God has for you.

00:29:02

Because He has more than just a good life for you.

00:29:06

God wants you to live a prosperous life.

00:29:08

And that move requires trust.

00:29:12

And there's a lot of characters in the Bible

00:29:14

that obviously illustrate this journey of trust.

00:29:16

But if I could think of only one

00:29:18

that really does represent where most of us are

00:29:22

as it relates to play or purpose

00:29:24

and how to stretch beyond whatever we put in box five,

00:29:28

it's this character in the Bible in the New Testament

00:29:30

that has an interaction with Jesus.

00:29:32

And we don't get his name,

00:29:34

but he's simply referred to as the rich young man.

00:29:37

And we find his story in Mark Chapter 10,

00:29:39

where in verse 17 it says:.

00:29:52

You ever ask that question to God?

00:29:55

I mean, what's the question he's asking?

00:29:56

He saying, "God, what's missing?

00:29:59

What's the thing that I need?".

00:30:02

And Jesus responds to him:

00:30:46

Now, on the surface, you might say,

00:30:47

"How do I connect with this guy?

00:30:48

I'm not a guy. I'm not a man.

00:30:49

I'm a woman. I'm not rich.

00:30:52

I'm struggling. I'm not an authority.

00:30:55

I'm just to every person, every kind of person.

00:30:57

How do I relate to this?"

00:30:59

And here's why, because I think that we can see

00:31:01

that this guy's core question for Jesus

00:31:04

is our core question: How do I really live life?

00:31:08

Like, really live it.

00:31:10

Like the prosperous life.

00:31:11

How do I really live the abundant life?

00:31:15

And so how does Jesus respond to this man?

00:31:17

Well, on the surface, it could look like

00:31:18

Jesus is a total jerk to him, right?

00:31:21

I mean Jesus -- it could seem like

00:31:23

Jesus gives him this high challenge,

00:31:25

this high bar that no one could surmount.

00:31:27

Right? Sell everything that you have.

00:31:30

Is Jesus asking you and I to sell everything that we have?

00:31:33

How are we to see what is, I think, an invitation, not a challenge.

00:31:37

See, I don't think Jesus was challenging this man.

00:31:39

I think He was inviting him to more trust.

00:31:43

And here's the clue. It says Jesus fixed his gaze upon the man

00:31:49

with tender love.

00:31:52

So we know that what comes next

00:31:55

is an invitation from a loving God,

00:31:58

not a challenge meant to distance him.

00:32:01

So how do we apply this to our lives?

00:32:03

One illustration that I found helpful in the book

00:32:05

was that one person describe our lives

00:32:08

as a mansion with thirty rooms.

00:32:10

Think about a 30 room mansion.

00:32:13

And think about like even if you have

00:32:15

said yes to following Jesus,

00:32:17

maybe you have given Him,

00:32:18

I don't know, 15 of those rooms.

00:32:21

Maybe you've surrendered 20 those years.

00:32:22

Maybe you've surrender 27 of the 30 rooms to Jesus.

00:32:26

But don't we all have those three rooms,

00:32:31

the rooms that we still don't want to fully trust God in?

00:32:35

The rooms that when we think about what God might ask of us,

00:32:39

even though I think God has something for us in those rooms,

00:32:41

our tendency is kind of to back away and to not fully trust?

00:32:46

And I think that in this story,

00:32:48

what we're to see is that Jesus's invitation

00:32:51

to the man is the same invitation to all of us.

00:32:53

And it's simply trust me.

00:32:56

Trust me, trust me with more.

00:32:59

Trust me with more of your purpose.

00:33:01

Trust me with more of your play.

00:33:04

Trust me with more of where it is

00:33:07

that you find your life.

00:33:08

Because trusting God is the way to a prosperous life.

00:33:12

I mean, seriously, this like Play & Purpose Journey

00:33:14

can feel so self-help ish, right?

00:33:16

Like, is this deeply spiritual?

00:33:18

Is there anything really spiritual

00:33:20

about me figuring out play in my life?

00:33:21

And I want you to know absolutely there is.

00:33:24

Because think about this:

00:33:26

If you're struggling to lean into purpose,

00:33:29

isn't that really about choosing fear

00:33:31

and self-protection

00:33:33

rather than trusting God

00:33:34

and taking the risky bold next step?

00:33:38

And if you're struggling with play

00:33:40

and releasing time in your schedule

00:33:42

or resources to just simply recreate yourself,

00:33:45

isn't that really about struggling to trust God

00:33:48

and thinking that really all the resources you need

00:33:50

have to come from your effort

00:33:52

and that God doesn't have anything to add to that for you?

00:33:55

I think these are very much about faith and trust for us.

00:34:01

So let me ask you, of those 3 D's that I talked about earlier,

00:34:06

what is the one that really keeps you from trusting God?

00:34:09

Is it that God seems distant to you?

00:34:13

Or is it that you think guys disappointed in you?

00:34:17

Or is it that you think that God is disabled?

00:34:21

I want you to take out your sheet

00:34:23

and you're going to fill out Box 6

00:34:25

with your answer to that question.

00:34:27

And I want you to put it this way:

00:34:28

God, I wish You felt less -- fill in that blank.

00:34:34

God, I wish you felt less distant.

00:34:36

God, I wish You felt less disappointed.

00:34:38

God, I wish You felt less disabled.

00:34:43

Write that down. And let's go back to the story.

00:35:03

because it's significant to note that the rich young man,

00:35:06

when he leaves Jesus's presence,

00:35:08

it says he walks away very sad.

00:35:11

It doesn't say he walks away mad. It says he walks away very sad.

00:35:17

Now, here's the thing. When he came to Jesus, he was a rich, sad young man.

00:35:23

Right? That's why he was asking the question,

00:35:26

because there was something in him that was unfulfilled.

00:35:28

And because of his response,

00:35:30

because he couldn't take Jesus at his invitation,

00:35:33

at his word, he had turned away from Jesus.

00:35:35

And he left a rich young man who was very sad.

00:35:41

And Ronald Rolheiser puts it this way.

00:35:43

He says: he wasn't bad. He was just sad.

00:35:45

He says, but what is it that he lost?

00:35:47

He didn't lose anything except an opportunity.

00:35:51

He lost an opportunity to trust.

00:35:54

He lost an opportunity for more exposure to God's faithfulness.

00:35:58

He lost an opportunity to prosper.

00:36:01

He lost the opportunity because he couldn't trust

00:36:05

in Jesus in what Jesus was offering to him.

00:36:09

See, I believe that's the same opportunity

00:36:11

that lies on the other side of you doing something about

00:36:14

whatever you put in box five.

00:36:18

There's an opportunity.

00:36:20

And today I think God is speaking to you

00:36:22

and wants to continue to speak to you

00:36:24

and invite you in to more prospering in your life.

00:36:29

Will you trust Him?

00:36:32

Will you give Him your three rooms?

00:36:35

Will you go up to the edge of the cliff

00:36:37

and say, God, I'm going to trust you

00:36:39

in the place that feels very, very vulnerable to me?

00:36:44

I want to give you an opportunity to do that.

00:36:46

I'm going to ask you to text the word "scripture" to 513-731-7400.

00:36:54

And here's what's gonna happen: Within a few seconds, you're gonna get

00:36:59

a Bible verse texted to you.

00:37:01

And these are randomized.

00:37:03

So you're not going to get the same verse necessarily

00:37:05

as the person next to you.

00:37:06

They are randomized to come specifically

00:37:07

to you based on, I believe,

00:37:09

what God wants you to hear in this moment.

00:37:12

Now, if you can't text for some reason,

00:37:14

wherever you are, these are also gonna be scriptures

00:37:16

that are rotating on the screen.

00:37:18

So you'll be able to look at them

00:37:19

and see them and engage with them that way.

00:37:23

And while music plays, here's what I'm gonna ask you to do.

00:37:25

I'm going to ask you to ponder

00:37:27

and reflect on what God might be saying to you

00:37:30

through the words that come to you in the Bible.

00:37:34

- If you haven't already texted in,

00:37:37

man, what are you waiting for?

00:37:40

Text in and see what God says to you through Scripture.

00:37:44

And we're going to move on to our next prompt actually.

00:37:48

Prompt number 7, which I want you

00:37:51

to read over that text you got again,

00:37:53

maybe read it two or three times.

00:37:57

And then write a response to God.

00:38:00

Tell Him how that makes you feel.

00:38:02

Tell Him what you're thinking as you read that.

00:38:06

Maybe you need to just ask Him

00:38:07

to help you believe those words to be true.

00:38:11

We're gonna do that together right now.

00:39:11

If you need more time for this, man,

00:39:14

you're welcome to keep talking to God,.

00:39:16

you're welcome to keep writing on your paper

00:39:20

or typing in that chat box.

00:39:23

But we're going to do something together

00:39:25

that's going to be purposeful

00:39:28

and maybe a little playful.

00:39:30

We're going to sing together.

00:39:33

And I know we say this all the time, we're like,

00:39:36

"Hey, we're gonna sing. You should sing.".

00:39:37

"Hey, we're gonna sing.

00:39:38

You should sing.". But hey, we're going to sing

00:39:42

and you really should sing with us.

00:39:45

There's something powerful that happens

00:39:48

when we use our voices to declare with our mouths

00:39:53

what we want to believe

00:39:54

or what we do believe in our hearts.

00:39:57

And so if you're in a room full of people right now,

00:40:01

stand up and declare these words boldly.

00:40:05

If you're in your car or you're in your living room,

00:40:09

you're in your bedroom by yourself.

00:40:10

You've got your candle lit

00:40:12

and you've been in this intimate space,

00:40:15

man, don't use this as a time to just

00:40:20

think about something else

00:40:22

or fast forward or pause and be done.

00:40:25

But actually use your voice to sing these words out loud.

00:44:56

- I just want to encourage you with one more thing

00:44:59

and it's a reminder. It's a reminder of what we just sung in that song.

00:45:03

And it's that same verse that was rolling through my head

00:45:06

as I was standing on that ledge.

00:45:07

It's Isaiah 41:13, where God says to you:.

00:45:19

I don't know what the challenges that you're facing.

00:45:21

I don't know. Maybe there's somebody in here

00:45:24

there is a purpose in front of you

00:45:25

and it feels like the hardest thing you've ever done.

00:45:28

And yet it's very clear that God is calling you

00:45:30

to step in that direction.

00:45:32

Or maybe there's somebody in here

00:45:33

who is just struggling right now

00:45:35

to let go of anything in your life.

00:45:37

And yet you know God is saying,

00:45:39

"You have got to let go.

00:45:40

You have got to relax.

00:45:42

You can not -- This will kill you if you don't release it."

00:45:46

And here's what I want you to know.

00:45:48

I know that there are reasons

00:45:50

that would keep you from trusting God.

00:45:52

But here's what I want you to know:

00:45:54

God is not distant, He's personal.

00:45:57

And He knows your situation

00:45:59

and He wants to walk with you to a new place.

00:46:03

God is not disappointed in you.

00:46:05

He is proud whenever you turn in His direction.

00:46:08

The Bible calls that repentance.

00:46:10

And what it says in the Bible is that

00:46:12

the angels in heaven rejoice

00:46:14

over one sinner who repents,

00:46:16

than over a thousand righteous people.

00:46:19

God is not disabled.

00:46:21

He is powerful. And He wants to bring power to your life.

00:46:25

He wants to bring power to your purpose.

00:46:28

He wants to bring power, yes, to your play.

00:46:31

You can trust Him.

00:46:33

You can trust Him. And trusting Him is the way to a prosperous life.

00:46:38

I'm going to turn it over to our community pastors.

00:46:40

If you're at a site, in a moment that pastor is going

00:46:43

to come up they're going to lead you

00:46:44

through one final and powerful prompt.

00:46:46

God, I just pray that all of us would know

00:46:50

that You want to meet us right on the ledge.

00:46:53

You want to meet us right in the place

00:46:56

where our trust has to meet Your faithfulness.

00:47:00

God, would You speak to us now?

00:47:01

Amen. - Well, in the midst of this experience,

00:47:06

I know I've heard God say a few things.

00:47:09

I'm guessing you probably have too

00:47:12

if you've gone this far with us.

00:47:15

He's probably been making You feel some things,

00:47:18

think some things, prompting some things in you.

00:47:22

And it doesn't just stop at what God's saying to us.

00:47:26

But it's about taking a step further

00:47:29

and doing something about what God is saying.

00:47:34

What's God saying to you

00:47:35

and what are you going to do about it?

00:47:38

Our last prompt, our eighth prompt is

00:47:43

to declare what is the leap that you're going to take?

00:47:49

What are you going to do

00:47:51

about what God has been saying to you?

00:47:55

Let's take some time to do that right now.

00:49:04

So we just declared this leap

00:49:07

that we're going to take, this next step

00:49:10

of what we could do with what God has said to us today.

00:49:14

And you know, the only way this happens is if we do it.

00:49:19

If we don't just declare this is the leap we want to take,

00:49:22

but if we actually take the leap.

00:49:25

And that requires us laying it all down,

00:49:30

laying ourselves down and going,

00:49:31

"God, I'm gonna give this to you.

00:49:33

I'm going to work like it depends on me.

00:49:35

But pray like it depends on you, God.

00:49:37

I'm going to hand this to you and say,

00:49:39

'This is what I want. This is why I'm declaring I'm going to do.

00:49:42

And I'm gonna do my best to make it happen.'".

00:49:46

Well, this declaration is an exciting thing.

00:49:50

It's a thing worth celebrating

00:49:53

because when God speaks to us,

00:49:55

what a gift that is, that we get to hear

00:49:57

the voice of the Creator of the Universe.

00:50:00

We get to hear the voice of our Father in Heaven.

00:50:05

And so as we have declared what we're going to do

00:50:09

about what He's saying, the leap that we're going to take,

00:50:12

whether you did this on chat

00:50:14

or you did this on a piece of paper,

00:50:16

we want this to be something

00:50:20

that you give freely to God and say,

00:50:22

"OK, this isn't going to be burdensome.

00:50:24

This isn't an obligation.

00:50:26

This is something that I get to do

00:50:29

because the God of the Universe spoke to me

00:50:32

and wants me to have a full and thriving life.".

00:50:36

That's amazing. And so if you've got a piece of paper,

00:50:40

Let's fold it up so the only thing

00:50:43

that you're seeing is that declaration, OK?

00:50:45

So I'm going to try to do this right now is my paper.

00:50:51

- You're doing a great job. - Thanks. It's not quite a paper airplane or anything,

00:50:53

but I'm getting there.

00:50:55

OK. If you are on chat,

00:50:58

when you submit your email address,

00:51:00

we're going to email you your responses.

00:51:04

And if you've got this on paper,

00:51:06

you've got your declaration right here.

00:51:08

I want you to put this somewhere

00:51:10

you're gonna see it for the rest of this Journey.

00:51:12

Maybe tape it to your bathroom mirror,

00:51:14

put it in your sock drawers

00:51:17

so every time you put on your socks --

00:51:19

If you don't wear socks everyday,

00:51:20

don't put it in your sock drawer.

00:51:22

Put it somewhere where you're gonna see it daily.

00:51:24

If you're getting this via email,

00:51:27

store it, put it at the top of your inbox

00:51:29

so you're reminded of the gift it is

00:51:32

that God spoke to you

00:51:35

and you remember the declaration that you've made

00:51:39

to do something about what He said

00:51:41

so that you can have a full and thriving life,

00:51:44

full of play and full of purpose.

00:51:48

We're going to sing together.

00:51:49

Justin, what are we singing?

00:51:51

- Well, I mean, in part just what we did.

00:51:53

We're going to offer ourselves completely to God.

00:51:56

So the song called Laying It All Down.

00:51:59

Jesus says the mystery of following Him

00:52:02

is that when we lay our lives down, we find life.

00:52:04

When we lay it down, when we give our life over to Him,

00:52:07

we find true life. That's what we're going to sing.

00:52:09

All right? So if you want to stand, you can stand again with us.

00:52:14

I know. I just have a guitar, but let's go big, all right?

00:52:18

So here we go. Yeah.

00:56:47

That was great.

00:56:49

Thanks for singing with us. That was awesome. - So good.

00:56:51

Well, that's a joy.

00:56:52

It's a joy that we get to declare what we're going to do

00:56:55

and we're going to hand it over to the Lord,.

00:56:58

We're going to hand it over to the Lord.

00:57:00

We're gonna lay it down at His feet

00:57:03

because whatever He says, we do.

00:57:06

He calls the shots.

00:57:08

We go ahead. .

00:57:10

So let's pray.

00:57:12

I just want to bless you as you go into this week

00:57:15

as you continue on this Journey.

00:57:17

And let's talk to God together right now.

00:57:22

God, I thank You that we get to do this together.

00:57:24

I thank You for creative ways to talk to You,

00:57:28

creative ways to hear from You,

00:57:31

creative songs to give us words to our prayers,

00:57:34

to give us music to our prayers.

00:57:36

And so, God, I just ask that this week

00:57:39

we would follow through on what we've declared

00:57:43

we want to do to have a life that is full,

00:57:46

a more thriving with Play & Purpose.

00:57:49

God, we lay all of our desires, all of our life

00:57:53

down at Your feet.

00:57:55

And we declare that --

00:57:59

we declare that we want more of You

00:58:01

and we want a life that honors You and reflects You.

00:58:04

So God help us to follow through on these commitments

00:58:07

and give us great group time,

00:58:10

great discussion with other people this week around this topic.

00:58:15

It's in your name that we pray Jesus.

00:58:16

Amen. - Amen - Well, hey, this is great stuff to be talking

00:58:21

about in your Journey Group this week.

00:58:23

So make sure that you come ready to talk

00:58:26

about what you've declared your leap is going to be.

00:58:29

It should be a good time.

00:58:31

And if you want prayer right now,

00:58:33

we would love to pray for you.

00:58:35

If you just go to the Crossroads Web site

00:58:37

and click on the chat box,

00:58:39

we have volunteers and staff

00:58:41

that would love right now to pray for you.

00:58:44

And so, man, take us up on that.

00:58:46

You've just spent all this time talking to God.

00:58:48

Let us talk to God on your behalf.

00:58:51

We would love to do that.

00:58:53

And next week is going to be really fun.

00:58:55

We have special guest Michael Junior, the comedian,

00:58:59

in with us next week.

00:59:00

And so you don't want to miss that.

00:59:01

Head to a location near you

00:59:04

or check us back out on Crossroads Anywhere next week.

00:59:08

We hope you have an awesome week.

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