SPARK Talks 2019: Week 3

00:00:01

I started dancing when I was four years old.

00:00:05

I danced in the living room, in the kitchen, in the shower, even

00:00:09

during recess at school that was pretty much how I played.

00:00:14

From a young age God placed this passion in me to create a

00:00:17

movement that makes others feel something, to tell stories that

00:00:21

anyone can interpret in their own way.

00:00:24

When I dance in front of people, I'm letting them in.

00:00:27

I'm opening up and sharing a connection.

00:00:31

Dancing for me connects me to God because every time I create

00:00:35

using dance I'm reminded that I'm an extension of Him, the

00:00:39

ultimate creator.

00:00:41

Over time I noticed how no two dancers moved exactly the same,

00:00:45

the same way God may no two people exactly alike, which is kind

00:00:49

of crazy when you think about it.

00:00:51

Seven billion people in the world and no repeats?

00:00:54

No glitches?

00:00:55

So I create because it allows me to express exactly who I was

00:01:00

created to be.

00:01:02

God sparked in me a desire to speak to others through dance.

00:01:04

So in other words, I was created to create.

00:01:08

And honestly, I think we're all made to dance.

00:01:13

I'm Laurent and dancing is what ignites life in me.

00:01:21

Well, hello Crossroads.

00:01:23

My name is Sharday and I'm one of the worship leaders around

00:01:26

here. And this week we are on week three of our Spark Talks

00:01:31

series.

00:01:32

And we get to hear from different people what God is doing in

00:01:35

their lives and how they've been changed.

00:01:37

And what we're going to spend some time on is singing to a God

00:01:40

who loves us and who has definitely changed my life.

00:01:43

So would you stand up and join us?

00:01:45

And if you're watching at home, turn up the volume and join us.

00:01:48

We're glad you're here.

00:11:17

Well, I love that part of our church service where we actually

00:11:21

get to worship together.

00:11:23

It's something that followers of Jesus have been doing for

00:11:26

years and years.

00:11:27

And it's a way to bring us together as a church to be on the

00:11:31

same page.

00:11:32

And it's a way for us to posture ourselves to be ready to hear

00:11:36

and to feel and to experience what we're going to experience

00:11:40

next in the midst of church.

00:11:42

My name is Lena Schuler.

00:11:43

I'm the Crossroads Anywhere Community Pastor.

00:11:45

And the beautiful thing about Crossroads is you can take

00:11:48

Crossroads with you anywhere you might be.

00:11:51

You might be in a living room right now like the one I'm in or

00:11:54

a hotel room or the airport.

00:11:56

Maybe you're at your parents' house home for the summer.

00:11:58

And your church can still be your church regardless of what city

00:12:03

or what place you're in right now.

00:12:05

And one way to do that and to stay connected to your church, to

00:12:08

stay connected to other people, and to stay connected to God

00:12:12

throughout the summer is to download the Crossroads App and use

00:12:15

it on a daily basis.

00:12:17

There's some great things in there to help you form some new

00:12:20

habits and just keep you connected to people and to the church.

00:12:24

So you can get that in any of the places that you normally get

00:12:27

your apps on your phone.

00:12:29

Well, in just a week we have something fun and new happening

00:12:34

this summer called The Summer Social where we have gatherings

00:12:38

happening all over the country right near our Crossroads

00:12:41

locations and in cities all over outside of the Greater

00:12:46

Cincinnati or Lexington areas for you to maybe make some

00:12:49

lifelong friends, for you to make some new connections who are

00:12:54

people who are part of your church that might just be the ones

00:12:57

that become your very best friends.

00:12:59

I don't know, why wouldn't you try that?

00:13:01

This is your last chance to sign up. It's

00:13:03

happening this weekend, the weekend of July 19th all over the

00:13:07

place: backyards, backyard barbecues, and parties and in

00:13:11

breweries.

00:13:12

And so you head to Crossroads.net/summersocial,

00:13:16

you can see all of the places that that's happening and sign up

00:13:19

for one of those socials right near you.

00:13:23

Well you know, one of the things that I love to watch and hear

00:13:27

and feel is when we get to hear a story of someone whose life

00:13:32

has been impacted through the church.

00:13:34

More specifically someone who's found a belonging, who's found

00:13:38

friendship, and who's found a deeper relationship with God

00:13:42

because of their connection to the church.

00:13:46

And we have a story of a woman in Seattle who has experienced

00:13:50

that and that is all made possible because of generous givers

00:13:55

like you and like me and like my family and my friends who have

00:13:59

given up time and who have given up money because we want to

00:14:03

see more people find belonging, want to find friendship, want

00:14:06

to find a deeper relationship with God.

00:14:08

And we want to see that happen through the church.

00:14:11

So if that describes you, if that's something you want, you can

00:14:14

become a giver right now by heading to Crossroads.net/give.

00:14:18

And while we do that, why don't we check out Cathy's

00:14:22

story who you might not ever meet, but who you will have

00:14:26

impacted if you are a generous giver and part of the Crossroads

00:14:30

team. Let's check it out.

00:14:34

So, I'm originally from Seattle.

00:14:38

About 10 years ago I decided to settle in Atlanta, Georgia.

00:14:42

Two and a half years ago my brother, who I dearly loved and he

00:14:46

was kind of my hero, passed away unexpectedly.

00:14:52

So, I came back.

00:14:54

I worked very hard to help my parents move from this three

00:14:58

story house they were in to a single level home.

00:15:03

But two weeks after we moved them into their new home my mother

00:15:06

had a stroke.

00:15:07

And she had a stroke with me standing right in front of her.

00:15:11

This past December I was diagnosed with stage three breast

00:15:15

cancer. So I had difficulty just -- just getting to church.

00:15:25

I was broken after all I had been through.

00:15:29

It was like I was mad with God about this diagnosis.

00:15:32

It was like I would be rolling my eyes and saying, "Really?

00:15:35

Are you kidding me?"

00:15:36

You know one more thing.

00:15:40

You know cancer can be very isolating, plus I'm single.

00:15:45

So I was feeling alone in my space.

00:15:51

And then I felt like I had this very isolating disease.

00:15:57

So you know, I did the kind of the church hopping for a while

00:16:01

and decided to do church at home.

00:16:05

And my best friend Lynn, who we've known -- I've known for the

00:16:08

last 20 years, she helped me kind of think outside the box.

00:16:12

There ended up being a Crossroads community here in Seattle.

00:16:17

You know folks meeting in a home.

00:16:21

I hadn't really thought about worshipping in a home.

00:16:24

I had always been a churchgoer, but one of the

00:16:29

-- you know, Katie Meyer who is one of the Crossroads members

00:16:32

here in Seattle reached out to me via email.

00:16:35

So we ended up meeting at one of the local restaurants. And

00:16:38

it felt like I was being introduced to my family.

00:16:43

Katie was warm and inviting.

00:16:46

Scott and Janine who are hosting the service, it just felt

00:16:52

really good.

00:16:53

I came and participated one time and I was hooked.

00:16:56

I just felt like I had been familiar.

00:16:58

They were familiar to me even though we had never met.

00:17:03

The more we hung out together, the more we enjoyed church

00:17:07

together, the closer that relationship became.

00:17:13

So, I show up typically a little early, you know.

00:17:17

Say hello to everyone and come in the kitchen and have my

00:17:20

coffee.

00:17:22

Then we'll sit down and watch the service around 11:00.

00:17:24

And after service is over we have an opportunity to just kind

00:17:29

of share our thoughts about the service.

00:17:32

And then prayer, which is really powerful because we each get an

00:17:36

opportunity to either pray for someone else or ask for prayer.

00:17:41

And now having this renewed essence of Christ kind of residing

00:17:47

within me makes it a whole lot easier to get through those

00:17:51

tough times, because I know it's not always gonna be like this.

00:17:55

And you know, it's just -- it's awesome.

00:18:12

Am I big or am I little?

00:18:15

Am I kid or am I a mommy?

00:18:18

Well hey, everyone, my name is Jen Kendall I'm from Crossroads

00:18:21

on the East Side of Cincinnati and I work in Kids Club.

00:18:25

And I'm here today to tell you that I want your kids to see me.

00:18:29

I want them to see me early and see me often because I believe

00:18:34

that that'll change the world for all of us.

00:18:36

Well, hey, I am a mom.

00:18:38

I have two kids Ezra and Eleanor.

00:18:40

My husband Dave and I have been married for 15 years and before

00:18:45

this I was an actor.

00:18:46

I traveled the world.

00:18:48

And what else can I tell you?

00:18:50

Like my favorite store is Target.

00:18:54

And guys, I just finished watching Stranger Things.

00:18:59

And like you guys, I'm not OK.

00:19:04

So like all of that is pretty normal.

00:19:06

You guys can go through that too.

00:19:07

But if you're looking at me you can tell right away that there's

00:19:11

something different about me.

00:19:13

I mean I don't know if you can tell what it is, but I have

00:19:17

dwarfism. I'm a little person.

00:19:19

And what that means is that my arms and my legs didn't grow like

00:19:23

the rest of my body did.

00:19:26

Now I'm going to throw some facts at you, okay?

00:19:29

There are 200 different types of dwarfism, minus the most

00:19:34

common. I have Achondroplasia.

00:19:36

So like you don't have to remember that word.

00:19:39

Just think like Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones and like all my

00:19:43

friends on TLC shows.

00:19:44

[laughter]

00:19:46

And also, you don't have to be a little person to have a little

00:19:51

person. So my parents were average sized and when I was born

00:19:55

like, surprise.

00:20:00

also I'm -- other than my size, like I'm pretty healthy.

00:20:03

So, all of that to say my dwarfism affects the way that I

00:20:08

interact with the world and the way the world interacts with

00:20:11

me.

00:20:13

Sometimes it can be really good, like I wear kid-sized shoes and

00:20:17

so I pay kid-sized prices. [laughter].

00:20:21

And in general people are really, really nice.

00:20:24

If I ever need help like they're right away, you know, helping

00:20:27

me. And like there's so many other perks, but the best one was

00:20:32

a one time I was in Paris with my husband.

00:20:35

And we were trying to buy tickets to a museum and we were told

00:20:39

like you can't buy a ticket.

00:20:42

What? Well we couldn't buy a ticket because we were little and

00:20:46

little people got in for free.

00:20:52

So that's good.

00:20:54

Now sometimes being little, like it's kind of awkward and

00:20:59

usually that involves kids.

00:21:01

So if you've been around kids very long you know that when they

00:21:04

have something to say they're very vocal and they don't hold

00:21:09

back.

00:21:10

So I work in Kids Club every weekend I get all the questions,

00:21:14

you guys.

00:21:15

All of them.

00:21:18

Why are you so little?

00:21:20

Why do you look like that?

00:21:21

Why are you fat? [laughter].

00:21:26

How old are you?

00:21:27

How tall are you?

00:21:29

Did you know I'm taller than you?

00:21:33

And then we move on and it quickly turns into like: did you know

00:21:37

my cat had three kittens yesterday?

00:21:41

Kids are great now.

00:21:43

Now it's the parents that are with them that I feel sorry for.

00:21:48

Parents, you guys do a really great job, but some of you like I

00:21:52

can feel the tension rolling off of your body when your kid

00:21:56

says something to me.

00:21:57

And I want to tell you it's OK.

00:21:59

A lot of you guys want to say like, "Don't say that.

00:22:03

Don't stare.

00:22:04

Leave her alone.".

00:22:06

You want to say that, I get it.

00:22:08

Or you want to be like this guy.

00:22:10

I was at the airport the other day and I was waiting to go

00:22:14

through security.

00:22:15

And you know how like security now you have to walk through

00:22:17

these forever lines, like it's like a maze.

00:22:20

So I'm in line and behind me a little boy gets in line and he

00:22:24

sees me and he stops.

00:22:27

And then his dad is coming up behind him and he's got like the

00:22:29

smart cart was like the luggage on top in the car seat and

00:22:33

everything, bumps into the little boy from behind and

00:22:35

says, "Keep going, buddy.".

00:22:37

Well the little boy can't move because he sees me and Hello.

00:22:41

Well then dad sees me and the rest of the trip kind of goes

00:22:45

like this.

00:22:52

"Still here.".

00:22:55

So I'm walking. The

00:22:56

little boy is desperate to say something, but he can't because

00:23:00

dad is like moving his body between me and his son.

00:23:07

Now, parents, I get it.

00:23:09

That's -- It's not rude.

00:23:13

I get what you're trying to do.

00:23:14

You're trying to protect my feelings from whatever might come

00:23:18

out of your kid's mouth.

00:23:19

So, I get it.

00:23:21

I'm a parent too and nobody teaches you how to do these things.

00:23:26

So I'm gonna help you out.

00:23:28

Okay? When your kid sees somebody like me and they say

00:23:34

something and you're like, guh-ooo.

00:23:36

Okay, instead of saying like, "Leave him alone. Don't

00:23:39

stare. Come over here," because like I can still hear you and

00:23:43

like this happens all the time, so I can tell.

00:23:47

Instead of saying those things, all you have to do is say, "Can

00:23:50

you say hi?"

00:23:52

And what that does is it brings me into the conversation, it

00:23:56

brings me in together with you instead of separated apart.

00:24:00

So that's all you gotta do.

00:24:02

"Can you say hi?".

00:24:05

Does it have to be this way though? Like

00:24:07

does it have to be like red carpet rolled out or like awkward

00:24:11

situations?

00:24:13

And I don't think so.

00:24:17

The answer is No.

00:24:19

You see when kids see me, when they call me out, they're just

00:24:23

curious and they're looking to me to give them language for

00:24:27

what they're seeing and what they're feeling.

00:24:29

So, like any sane person I put myself in Kids' Club to try that

00:24:33

out. I started serving in Oakley actually on Saturday nights in

00:24:38

third and fourth grade.

00:24:40

And third fourth graders are the best.

00:24:41

Like they still laugh at your jokes and they still talk to

00:24:44

you. And like this is not a barrier for them, like they get

00:24:48

over it really quickly.

00:24:51

When I went to East Side though with my family I got put with

00:24:55

the kindergartners.

00:24:58

Let me tell you, kindergartners are terrible at hiding their

00:25:03

[laughter]

00:25:05

So they would see me and it would kind of go like this.

00:25:07

[laughter}

00:25:15

So to help him out I had to come up with this little speech. And

00:25:18

I would start every service like this.

00:25:21

I would say, and you've actually heard it, it was at the

00:25:24

beginning.

00:25:25

I would say am I big or am I little?

00:25:28

And they'd say you're little.

00:25:30

Am I a kid or am I a mommy?

00:25:32

You're a mommy.

00:25:33

And I'd say, "you're right.

00:25:34

I'm a little mommy and that's okay," and then we would move on.

00:25:39

So I would say that so much that the kids -- the kids would

00:25:43

say, "You're a little mommy, we get it." [laughter].

00:25:47

So I want your kids to see me early and see me often because I

00:25:51

believe that that'll change the world for all of us.

00:25:55

And especially for my daughter, because my daughter is little

00:26:01

like me.

00:26:03

And I don't want her to go through what I went through.

00:26:09

You see not every moment is just kind of awkward.

00:26:13

And not every person is kind.

00:26:17

Man: You guys all right?

00:26:19

Man: You guys good?

00:26:21

You guys done?

00:26:22

[laughter]

00:26:31

Man: You guys done?

00:26:35

That's my reality.

00:26:39

That was shot by a little person friend, but it's happened to

00:26:42

all of us.

00:26:44

And you never know when it's going to happen.

00:26:48

I was pumping gas the other day and a man taps me on the

00:26:51

shoulder and says, "Ma'am, turn around."

00:26:53

And I turn around and there's a guy filming me from his car.

00:26:57

I'm pumping gas and he's laughing.

00:27:03

Or if it's not that guy, it's teenagers that take pictures of me

00:27:06

and my family when we're out thinking that we can't tell.

00:27:10

We can tell.

00:27:12

We just pretend we don't see you.

00:27:15

Or if it's not them, it's the kids that would follow me home on

00:27:18

the way from school.

00:27:21

And they would laugh and they would say over and over and over

00:27:24

again, "Midget."

00:27:31

Somebody modeled that for them.

00:27:36

Somewhere down the line somebody told them it's okay to treat

00:27:39

people that way.

00:27:42

Or worse, when they were little and they saw somebody

00:27:45

different they weren't given tools on how to handle it.

00:27:50

And they still can't handle it.

00:27:54

So I'm in Kids' Club today because I know that when kids get

00:27:58

over this then I can speak into that.

00:28:07

In Kids' Club I can show up and I can be there and I can answer

00:28:12

their questions and I can take everything that they throw at me

00:28:16

and I can be there week after week after week.

00:28:21

It costs me something.

00:28:24

I mean, I have to color a lot. [laughter]

00:28:28

I have to learn how to play.

00:28:31

Sometimes there's kids, they don't know anything about Jesus,

00:28:33

but they do know everything about Fortnight.

00:28:36

So now I'm learning about battle buses and loot and squads

00:28:42

because I have to connect with that kid.

00:28:46

You know change doesn't happen overnight.

00:28:48

It's from consistency over time.

00:28:50

And I don't have time to wait.

00:28:53

I'm not the smartest, I'm not the strongest.

00:28:55

I don't have a degree, but I can use what I have to get the

00:29:00

conversation started and it sounds like this:

00:29:04

I'm little.

00:29:06

And that's okay.

00:29:08

I'm not going anywhere.

00:29:09

I'm staying right here.

00:29:12

Do you know Jesus?

00:29:14

Do you know that He's your rescuer and He loves you?

00:29:17

And that's how you start to change the world.

00:29:20

[Applause].

00:29:26

So, if you've got something different about you, maybe it's

00:29:30

physical, maybe it's the color of your skin.

00:29:34

Maybe it's your story or where you're from.

00:29:37

If you've got something different about you, then your voice

00:29:40

should be in Kids' Club.

00:29:43

These kids need to hear from you.

00:29:46

And together with your voice then we can change the world for

00:29:51

the better.

00:29:52

Thank you.

00:29:53

[music]

00:30:05

Hello. I used to be a very typical American Christian.

00:30:12

I went to Sunday school when I was a kid.

00:30:15

I was confirmed in the church when I was in middle school.

00:30:19

And then I went to college and medical school and training and I

00:30:25

bought into the idea that you had to choose between science and

00:30:29

spirituality.

00:30:32

Now I was a good person.

00:30:35

I mean I certainly bought into the concept of being a good

00:30:37

person and honest and ethical and a woman of integrity and all

00:30:41

those sorts of things.

00:30:43

But the fact is I was really busy.

00:30:48

I became a wife, a full time surgeon.

00:30:51

I was the director spine surgery at a big university.

00:30:55

Pretty soon I had four little kids to take care of.

00:30:58

I mean Jesus to me was one more thing on my to do list that I

00:31:04

knew I was never gonna get to.

00:31:08

But that all changed one day in 1999 when I died.

00:31:13

And yes, I literally mean died.

00:31:17

I spent 30 minutes under eight to ten feet of water without

00:31:22

oxygen at the base of this waterfall.

00:31:27

And while I was under water and dying, I asked that God's will

00:31:34

be done.

00:31:35

And the minute I asked that I was immediately overcome with a

00:31:38

very, very physical sensation of being held and comforted and

00:31:41

reassured by Christ.

00:31:44

And He took me through a life review that was like nothing I

00:31:48

could have imagined.

00:31:49

I was reinserted into every one of the most painful memories of

00:31:53

my life.

00:31:54

But this time was different.

00:31:56

I had a complete understanding of the life story of the other

00:32:02

people involved and I felt nothing but compassion,

00:32:07

even for the people who had hurt me deeply.

00:32:12

And I discovered that where God's love is present there is no

00:32:15

room for destructive emotion.

00:32:20

I discovered Grace.

00:32:24

And then I was also shown the beauty that came out of each and

00:32:29

every one of those painful experiences when seen from a distant

00:32:35

perspective.

00:32:39

Eventually my body came over the front deck of my boat. And

00:32:43

when that happened my spirit rose up and out of the river and I

00:32:46

was immediately greeted by a group of people or spirits, beings

00:32:53

who were so overjoyed to welcome me home.

00:32:57

I know that they had loved me and known me as long as I have

00:33:00

existed.

00:33:01

And even as I was with them and rejoicing I could look back at

00:33:05

the river and I could see my friends pull my bloated purple

00:33:10

body to shore and watch them start CPR.

00:33:14

And I had a wonderful life.

00:33:17

But even as I watched that I knew that I was home and I had no

00:33:23

intention of returning.

00:33:26

And these people or spirits started taking me down this

00:33:30

beautiful pathway that exploded with colors and flowers and the

00:33:36

aromas of flowers, which is what speaks beauty to my soul.

00:33:42

And I absolutely believe that God presents to each one of us the

00:33:46

experience at the time of our death that does speak beauty to

00:33:50

us that lets us know that we are known and loved.

00:33:56

And we finally got to the end of this pathway and I was there

00:33:59

for what felt like many, many hours.

00:34:02

And during my time there I had a complete understanding.

00:34:05

A complete understanding of the divine order of the universe,

00:34:09

how it could possibly be true that there is a God that is real

00:34:16

and present today, knows each and every one of the billions of

00:34:22

us on this planet individually.

00:34:27

Loves each and every one of us as though we're the only ones and

00:34:32

has a plan for each and every one of us and for the world

00:34:35

that's one of hope.

00:34:38

And eventually I was told that it wasn't my time, that I had

00:34:41

more work to do on Earth, and that I would have to go back to

00:34:43

my body.

00:34:45

So I did what any reasonable person would do and I said, "I'm

00:34:48

good. I can stay." [laughter]

00:34:51

But here I am, I got kicked out.

00:34:55

But they took that opportunity to then give me this laundry list

00:34:58

of work yet to be done.

00:35:01

Everything on the list would be challenging.

00:35:05

But certainly one of the most challenging things on that list

00:35:09

had to do with the coming an unexpected death of my eldest son.

00:35:15

He was hit and killed by a car 10 years later.

00:35:18

But at that time he was only nine.

00:35:21

And when I asked the obvious question of why?

00:35:24

Why my boy?

00:35:26

I was immediately returned to my life review where I had been

00:35:30

shown the truth and God's promise that beauty comes of all

00:35:34

things eventually.

00:35:38

And I was reminded that it is always a matter of trust, trusting

00:35:42

God's promises to us.

00:35:45

And with that then I was reunited with my body.

00:35:50

And I continued to have supernatural experiences over the next

00:35:56

couple of weeks.

00:35:58

But then finally the window, my personal window into heaven

00:36:02

closed.

00:36:04

And I was left with the consequences of my injury and I

00:36:06

underwent many, many surgeries and many more months of rehab.

00:36:11

And I spent those many months of rehab trying to figure out what

00:36:14

had happened to me.

00:36:18

I researched extensively every possible explanation or excuse

00:36:24

that anyone had ever mentioned.

00:36:26

I researched, of course, dreams and hallucinations and D.M.T.

00:36:32

or other neurotransmitter trips.

00:36:35

You know, could it have been just the physiologic process of a

00:36:39

dying brain?

00:36:41

And at the end of many, many months of research I had to

00:36:44

conclude that mine had been a true and spiritual experience.

00:36:49

And I discovered also that science and spirituality actually

00:36:54

co-exist very easily because they answer different questions.

00:37:00

And I also discovered that I wasn't alone in this experience.

00:37:04

Almost 20 million people in this country alone have had this

00:37:09

sort of profoundly transformative experience.

00:37:14

And I've spent many years, of course, thinking about my

00:37:16

experiences and I recognize that my most important

00:37:20

transformation was moving from hope or a faith in God's

00:37:26

promises to an absolute trust.

00:37:29

And I do not mean to discount the faith of the Bible, but faith

00:37:33

in our culture is so often based on reading or other people's

00:37:37

experiences.

00:37:39

And it can certainly be strong, but it can just as easily be

00:37:43

shaken or lost when challenged.

00:37:46

But trust is solid.

00:37:50

Trust is an active choice based on the presence of God and the

00:37:58

experience of God's trustworthiness in one's own life.

00:38:04

And I will tell you that trust for me is sort of faith in

00:38:09

action.

00:38:11

And I will tell you what it looks like in my life.

00:38:15

First of all, because of trust I'm free.

00:38:21

I am free from all bondage to my past.

00:38:25

I don't feel guilt.

00:38:26

I don't feel remorse, regret for anything I've done or not

00:38:32

done.

00:38:34

Because I trust that God knows me completely and knows my story,

00:38:43

knows my feelings.

00:38:45

And in that knowledge through grace feels nothing but compassion

00:38:50

for me.

00:38:52

And I also know that I would feel nothing but compassion for.

00:38:57

people in my past.

00:39:00

Because if I knew their true story, I too would feel nothing but

00:39:04

compassion for them.

00:39:06

And so I am free from bitterness, hate, anger, even minor

00:39:11

irritation that people have caused me.

00:39:16

And I don't have worry or anxiety about my future because I

00:39:20

trust that God has a plan for my life that is one of hope.

00:39:25

And I'm certainly not afraid of death.

00:39:29

I trust and actually I will claim to know that there really is

00:39:35

life after death, Heaven, whatever you want to call it.

00:39:40

And I actually believe that it is the very reality of that

00:39:42

heaven that brings context and meaning and purpose to my own

00:39:47

life.

00:39:50

And what I mean by that is best shown in this next slide.

00:39:54

Many of you will see a white cup,

00:39:56

and some of you will see blue faces.

00:39:59

But if you focus entirely on the cup you'll miss the context and

00:40:04

the meaning provided by the faces.

00:40:06

And if you focus entirely on the blue faces, you'll miss the

00:40:10

beauty and purpose of the cup.

00:40:13

Now if you imagine for a minute that that white cup represents

00:40:17

our life here on Earth and the blue faces represent heaven,

00:40:23

God's people, God's intention, God's love.

00:40:30

If you take away that background of heaven.

00:40:34

Then this white cup of life becomes nothing but potential.

00:40:41

So, I'm free from my past.

00:40:47

I don't worry about the future.

00:40:50

And Heaven brings a context and meaning to my life.

00:40:55

So what that means is that I am absolutely free to be fully

00:41:01

present in every moment of this day.

00:41:07

And because I trust all of God's promises, that means that I

00:41:16

also trust what the Bible says about God's presence in my life.

00:41:22

I trust that God is always present, that there is nothing that

00:41:28

can separate me from His love.

00:41:32

That beauty will come of all things in its time.

00:41:38

And that all things work together for good.

00:41:40

So what that does is it allows me to rise above my momentary

00:41:44

circumstances and experience joy.

00:41:49

It allows me to be free to experience the joy-filled life that I

00:41:52

believe God intends for each one of us.

00:41:57

And wonderfully, you don't have to die to make this

00:42:00

transformation,.

00:42:01

but you do have to open your heart.

00:42:04

And that is why I am here today, because I want to share my

00:42:09

story.

00:42:10

But more importantly I want to challenge you, every one of you

00:42:14

to try to prove anything I've said wrong.

00:42:18

Because I know that you can't.

00:42:20

And I also know that in the process of trying, your lives will

00:42:24

be transformed in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine.

00:42:30

So thank you and God bless you.

00:42:31

[music]

00:42:47

Well, one of the places where God has been showing up in my

00:42:50

life, He's been showing up in the oldest verses I think I've

00:42:54

learned in the Bible back in my Sunday school days.

00:42:58

And so I want to encourage you from one of those around three

00:43:00

rituals to make the most of every day.

00:43:04

And this comes from Psalm 118:24, which says:.

00:43:14

Now I think this is one of the oldest verses I learned in the

00:43:17

Bible because I learned a song in church based on this.

00:43:21

And I'm guessing that wherever you are right now, in every room

00:43:25

that you're in, if you're in a living room, whatever it is,

00:43:26

there are other people who know this same song.

00:43:29

And so to prove this, I'm going to sing it and you're going to

00:43:32

do what you know to do if you know this song.

00:43:34

(singing) This is the day. (This is the day)

00:43:38

That the Lord has made.

00:43:44

Oh I will rejoice.

00:43:48

(I will rejoice)

00:43:49

And be glad in it. (And be glad in it)

00:43:53

Now some of you think you walk into a cult right now, you're

00:43:55

like what's going on here?

00:43:57

This is one of the earliest songs you learn in church:

00:44:00

This is the day that the Lord has made.

00:44:02

And so God's been taking me back to the simple and yet rich

00:44:05

powerful truth that is in just this one verse.

00:44:09

And I think it's important because I see in all of our lives, I

00:44:13

see him in my lives, 3 thieves that try to rob us of the joy of

00:44:17

every day.

00:44:18

Those thieves are boredom, busyness, and our burdens.

00:44:24

If today is not going well for you, if you're struggling to

00:44:27

receive the fullness of the day.

00:44:28

My guess is if you trickle it down you will find it's one of

00:44:31

those three thieves trying to rob from you.

00:44:33

And I believe the three rituals that we see in this verse can

00:44:37

help us actually do that.

00:44:38

Maybe these are gonna be three ways that you engage God in

00:44:40

prayer every morning.

00:44:42

Maybe if you're a journaler like me, you'll use these as three

00:44:45

prompts that you'll bring into your rhythm of reflecting and

00:44:48

praying into your day.

00:44:49

But these are three rituals that rob, or actually stop the

00:44:53

robbing of those three thieves that try to keep us from

00:44:55

enjoying the fullness of every day.

00:44:57

Number one is to receive the day.

00:45:00

Receive the day as a gift from God.

00:45:02

The Bible says, "This is the day."

00:45:05

This is the day.

00:45:06

My family and I went away on vacation and one of the places we

00:45:09

always go when we go to this particular place is this

00:45:11

restaurant.

00:45:12

They have all these silly signs and one of the signs they have

00:45:14

is this one which says: Free beer yesterday.

00:45:18

Free beer yesterday, you missed it by a day, right?

00:45:21

And I think sometimes we can think of our life that way.

00:45:23

We can see our lives and say, "I think the best life for me was

00:45:26

yesterday. The things that were most potent in my life they're

00:45:29

in my past.".

00:45:30

And yet the Bible in this simple verse says, no, no, this day is

00:45:34

a gift.

00:45:35

This day right here is a gift from God and we need to receive it

00:45:40

as such.

00:45:41

I think for things like this we need mentors in our lives and

00:45:43

so I want to introduce you to my mentor who helps me understand

00:45:46

what it means to receive the day.

00:45:48

It's my 8 year old son Samuel.

00:45:51

If you've ever interacted with my family and particularly

00:45:53

Samuel you know that Samuel brings the energy to the Mingo

00:45:56

family.

00:45:57

He brings all of it, all that we need and some more to our

00:46:00

family.

00:46:01

This is the kid who walked when he was six months old.

00:46:04

This is the kid who gets up earliest of all the kids in our

00:46:07

family of three children.

00:46:08

And that's why when he was really young I gave him the

00:46:11

nickname: Can't stop, won't stop.

00:46:12

That's his nickname: Can't stop won't stop.

00:46:14

Because Sam knows how to embrace every day and so he turned

00:46:18

eight recently and on his birthday I had a chance to reflect on

00:46:21

today and how he helps me with this.

00:46:23

And this is what I wrote my journal.

00:46:25

I said: Today is a gift to be invited to join God in yet another

00:46:29

revolution --

00:46:39

So, I started to do the math.

00:46:41

Samuel has embraced 2922 days, eight years, and all of them he

00:46:47

has seen as a gift.

00:46:48

And so I did the math for myself.

00:46:50

As of today I've embraced and received from God 15,810 days, all

00:46:56

of them days that I didn't deserve.

00:46:58

All of them days that God has been with me in the highs and the

00:47:01

lows, but all of them have been gifts.

00:47:04

Receive today as a gift from God.

00:47:08

Second ritual: return the day.

00:47:11

Return the day.

00:47:13

It says: this is the day that the Lord has made.

00:47:16

That means there is an author of today for you.

00:47:19

That means there's somebody who had a design around today for

00:47:22

you and for me, He is called the Lord.

00:47:25

So, what does it mean to return the day to the Lord and why is

00:47:28

this important?

00:47:29

I would say it's this: we return the gift of today to the Lord

00:47:33

when we trust his sovereignty over every day of our lives.

00:47:37

When we trust that he's got us in every day.

00:47:40

And as we do that it actually comes against those three

00:47:43

thieves. Here's what I mean.

00:47:45

When you trust in God's promises and His purpose in your

00:47:49

life, it comes against the thief of boredom.

00:47:52

Even the days that don't seem to have meaning, even the days

00:47:55

when you seem like you're in the in-between you recognize there

00:47:58

is a Lord over that day and He has purpose for every day.

00:48:02

I want to encourage encouraged with a quote that encourage me.

00:48:03

A guy named Jon Bloom said:.

00:48:09

You might feel like you're in the waiting period.

00:48:11

You might feel like you're just not seeing where things come

00:48:13

together.

00:48:14

But I want you know God doesn't waste one day of our lives and

00:48:17

He's not wasting you.

00:48:20

When you trust in his purpose it comes against boredom.

00:48:23

When you trust in his provision it comes against busyness.

00:48:27

Busyness comes out of you and I believing that the only way

00:48:31

provision is going to come is if I stay on this treadmill and

00:48:34

do it all for myself.

00:48:35

Busyness comes from us really believing that there's not a

00:48:38

God looking out for us, that we have to look out for ourselves.

00:48:42

And that's why in the Bible I love what it says in Psalm 23

00:48:45

about us.

00:48:46

It says: he makes me lie down in green pastures.

00:48:49

Because how many people know we need to be made to lie down

00:48:52

sometimes, right?

00:48:53

I'm not the only person like that.

00:48:55

We need to be made to lie down and what does that mean?

00:48:58

Listen. Whether it's muscle gain, whether it's productivity at

00:49:01

work. The science is very clear, the most productive people are

00:49:04

people who have a rhythm of rest and work, not just overwork.

00:49:10

And when we return the day to God and say, "God, I'm gonna trust

00:49:13

What that means is, "God, I'm gonna let you set the pace today.

00:49:16

I'm gonna let you set the pace at which I work.

00:49:18

And I'm gonna give you permission to tell me when it's time to

00:49:21

lie down and I'm going to trust you in that.".

00:49:25

And then finally when you trust in His presence it comes against

00:49:28

the burdens in our lives.

00:49:29

day is not a good day.

00:49:31

There are hard days.

00:49:32

There are grieving days.

00:49:33

There are difficult days.

00:49:34

There are days when we are deeply challenged and yet in those

00:49:39

days God's presence is with us.

00:49:42

I love that there are versus like this in the Bible.

00:49:44

This is from lamentations 3:22 and 23.

00:49:47

This was written out of the crying out of a prophet who had

00:49:50

experienced the greatest tragedy of his life.

00:49:52

And he says:

00:50:01

If today is a hard day for you, I want you to know you woke up

00:50:05

today with new mercies for today.

00:50:08

There is a Lord who knows where you are and He is present in

00:50:11

your life and wants to be even more present in your life with

00:50:14

new mercies every morning.

00:50:16

So if you are bored, I want to encourage you to ask God for

00:50:19

purpose in the waiting.

00:50:21

If you struggle with busyness, I want to encourage you to ask

00:50:24

God to set your pace.

00:50:26

And if you struggle with burdens, I want you to ask God for new

00:50:30

mercies every morning.

00:50:33

Receive the day, then returned the day, and then

00:50:37

finally rejoice. Rejoice.

00:50:41

"I will rejoice and be glad in it."

00:50:45

Rejoice that today is a gift that you have received.

00:50:49

That word rejoice means to leap for joy or to shriek

00:50:54

ecstatically, like, "Aaah, oh my gosh.

00:50:56

Today is amazing.".

00:50:58

In fact I want you to try this tomorrow.

00:51:00

When you wake up I want the first thing you do is to shriek

00:51:03

ecstatically.

00:51:04

Like wake up and the first thing you do is, "Oh, my gosh, I got

00:51:07

[laughter]

00:51:08

Now, if I do that I'm getting kicked out by my wife.

00:51:10

My wife would punch me in my face if I did that, so I'm not

00:51:12

going to do.

00:51:13

But you do that.

00:51:14

You do that.

00:51:15

And let me know how that works for you.

00:51:16

Right? I mean, but this is what it means.

00:51:18

It's a rejoicing mindset.

00:51:20

And here's the thing.

00:51:21

You can't passively rejoice.

00:51:24

You don't stumble into rejoicing.

00:51:26

I love what it says, "Let us rejoice.

00:51:28

I will rejoice."

00:51:29

This is an active choice that we get to make.

00:51:32

We own whether we rejoice or not.

00:51:35

And I believe that's why this choice is so vigorously opposed in

00:51:39

all of our lives.

00:51:40

There is a spirit of cynicism in our culture like never before.

00:51:43

I'm assuming if you just go with the flow of the culture you are

00:51:46

going to have a cynical mind, you're going to not wake up

00:51:48

ecstatic that there's a gift.

00:51:50

You're going to wake up wondering what other shoe is gonna drop

00:51:52

today.

00:51:53

There is a spirit of pessimism and it just influences our

00:51:56

culture and it makes us say, "Be afraid, be very afraid."

00:51:59

And I'm telling you, you don't have to choose that.

00:52:03

You don't have to choose that, especially when you know there's

00:52:06

a Lord over your day who has given you this day as a gift.

00:52:12

That you can actually choose what I would call Holy optimism.

00:52:16

A holy optimism that says, you know what? It

00:52:18

doesn't mean there's not problems in the world.

00:52:20

I'm not blind to what's going on around me.

00:52:22

I'm not blind to the struggles I face.

00:52:23

but this is the day that the Lord has made and I can choose to

00:52:27

rejoice and be glad.

00:52:28

And I love how Stephen Covey puts it. He

00:52:30

says, "Between the stimulus and the response lies our greatest

00:52:33

power as people, the power to choose and we can choose joy.

00:52:39

It's also choosing perspective.

00:52:42

Because if you have what I would call a temporary perspective,

00:52:47

then it's easy to wake up and not receive every day as a gift.

00:52:50

Because you feel like, "Oh my gosh, if this is all there is in

00:52:52

my life's not going well then this is all there is.".

00:52:56

But if you have an eternal perspective it changes the way you

00:52:59

see everything.

00:53:00

An eternal perspective doesn't no matter how bad life is, at

00:53:03

least I have heaven to look forward to. No,

00:53:04

no. God has promised to show up and be present with his

00:53:07

goodness now and forever.

00:53:10

So the eternal perspective is fuller than that.

00:53:12

So what does Psalm 118 saying?

00:53:14

What did I learn in Sunday school?

00:53:16

I learned this: carpe diem.

00:53:19

(whispering) carpe diem.

00:53:22

I'm dating myself with that: Dead Poets Society, right?

00:53:26

But yeah, seize the day, seize the day.

00:53:29

We've all heard that phrase, but I didn't know that that's just

00:53:33

one phrase in a full sentence.

00:53:34

I didn't know that.

00:53:35

I was reading and preparing for this and I found that out.

00:53:37

Here's what that means.

00:53:39

First of all, Horace said that. He

00:53:40

said in like 23 B.C.

00:53:41

I'm sure he's a very smart man.

00:53:42

He said seize the day, pluck the day.

00:53:46

But here's the rest of his saying:

00:53:51

What is he saying he's saying? Tooday

00:53:53

is all you've got.

00:53:54

so go for it.

00:53:56

And you know what? Horace is

00:53:57

really smart.

00:53:58

He's a wise philosopher and he's wrong, and he's wrong.

00:54:02

Yes, I am challenging his philosophy based on a greater

00:54:05

philosophy, the Bible, and the wisdom of the Bible which does

00:54:09

say pluck the day.

00:54:10

But can I rephrase Horace?

00:54:11

Can I correct Horace in 201v( Can I make it what it should be

00:54:15

based on God's truth?

00:54:16

It should be this: pluck the day trusting as much as possible

00:54:20

in the Lord who is the lord over your today and your tomorrow

00:54:24

So, yeah.

00:54:25

Carpe diem because He's in today. [applause]

00:54:28

and he's in tomorrow and he's an every day yet to come.

00:54:31

So pluck the day because there is a God who has given you today

00:54:34

as a gift

00:54:35

Pluck the day because there is a Lord whose mercies are new

00:54:38

every morning for you and you can rejoice and be glad in this

00:54:45

day.

00:54:46

I was thinking about this as I was walking my neighborhood with

00:54:48

my daughter.

00:54:50

And as we were walking today in our street there were all these

00:54:54

chalked kind of messages written in chalk that were

00:54:57

encouragements to people who were running what they call the

00:55:00

Ridgewood One Miler.

00:55:02

And the Ridgewood One Miler was started by family that lives in

00:55:05

They're also family that comes to Crossroads here, friends of

00:55:08

ours, the Lunstroms.

00:55:09

And they are an incredible family and they do this one mile race

00:55:14

every year to honor the memory of their daughter Runner who

00:55:19

lived for four days outside the womb.

00:55:23

They lost their child.

00:55:25

And this is a family who has chosen on her birthday to celebrate

00:55:31

the days that they were given with her rather than mourn the

00:55:35

loss only.

00:55:37

How can they do that?

00:55:39

How can they choose that?

00:55:40

How can they choose that in the face of such pain?

00:55:42

Here's how they can choose that they can choose that because

00:55:45

they believe Psalm 118:24, that every day is a gift from God.

00:55:50

Every day and that there is a Lord over every day whose purposes

00:55:53

we may not fully understand, but He has purpose in every day.

00:55:56

Whose provision we may not always see, but it is always there

00:56:00

And who has the ability to breakthrough in our lives at any

00:56:04

moment with life and redemption and wholeness.

00:56:07

And so this is a family who on a day when they are also mourning

00:56:10

stands up and celebrates and invites an entire neighborhood to

00:56:13

join them saying: this is the day that the Lord has made.

00:56:17

I will rejoice. I

00:56:18

will make the choice and I will be glad in it as I was walking

00:56:22

with my daughter.

00:56:23

I came across this.

00:56:24

This is one of the.

00:56:26

encouragements they wrote for everybody: breathe in the day.

00:56:30

So I want us to do that right now. I want

00:56:32

everybody to just breathe in, come on.

00:56:39

Breathe in the day.

00:56:42

How do you make the most of every day?

00:56:45

You receive it as a gift from God.

00:56:48

You recognize this is the day that the Lord has made.

00:56:52

And then you return the gift to the giver himself and say God

00:56:56

what do you want to do with me today?

00:56:58

Show me your provision today Show me your purpose today.

00:57:01

Let me experience your presence today.

00:57:04

And then you make the choice, the choice to choose holy

00:57:07

optimism. I will rejoice and be glad in this day.

00:57:13

I don't know which one of these three thieves is trying to rob

00:57:16

you of the joy of today.

00:57:17

It may be boredom.

00:57:18

It may be busyness

00:57:19

it may be burns.

00:57:20

But I won't encourage you that this simple verse that I learned

00:57:22

in Sunday school is one of the greatest weapons you can use to

00:57:26

make the most out of every day.

00:57:29

God, thank you for simple truth that is powerful, simple truth

00:57:34

that applies beyond this place where we are right now.

00:57:37

It applies on our best days and applies in our worst.

00:57:39

And thank you, God, that you love us enough to reveal this

00:57:42

truth to us.

00:57:44

So, I just pray a blessing over everyone here that we would be

00:57:47

people who seize the day.

00:57:50

I pray this in Jesus name, amen.

00:57:54

Thanks for joining us for this week's spark talks.

00:57:57

We're so glad to have you.

00:57:59

We would love to chat with you if you've got questions or you

00:58:02

want to get connected or find community near you, you can chat

00:58:06

with us on the Crossroads web site.

00:58:08

We would love to help you find your people.

00:58:11

Next week is another week of Spark Talks and we get to hear from

00:58:15

Solomon Wilcox and Brian Tome.

00:58:18

You won't want to miss it.

00:58:19

Captions: Maverick Captioning Service, Cincinnati OH

Recent Series