Happiness vs. Joy | The Book Of Philippians Week 4

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- Oh. Hey, I'm Brian. Welcome to Crossroads.

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I'm at an amusement park.

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It's a really good one, it's called Kings Island.

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It's the king in the region of the country I live,

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in Cincinnati.

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It's a good park, but I don't like them.

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I don't like lines.

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I don't like heat.

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I don't like standing in line.

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I don't like kids sticking cotton candy

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in the back of my knees.

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And yet we come to these things because we want amuse.

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We want to find some sense of happiness.

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We realize that we're just not happy.

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World Happiness Report recently came out.

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The United States ranked 16th -- 16th,

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one place above Canada.

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Canada, aye.

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Just one place.

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We're the most powerful, dominant,

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supposedly richest country in the history of the world

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and we're 16th?

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Finland beats us. Denmark beats us.

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Iceland beats us; a place where there's crappy weather.

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You're supposed to be really upset

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when there's bad weather.

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They have bad weather all the time

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and they're happier than us.

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Why?

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Maybe they know something we don't.

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We're going to talk about joy and happiness

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and go on that journey today.

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I got to tell you, that was a lot of fun.

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That was, like, I haven't been

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on a wooden rollercoaster for a long time.

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Like, it lifted off the track.

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I got a little stomach jilt. That was awesome.

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So, all right, I've got a verse for you.

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It's the book of Philippians.

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I probably couldn't even read it for you,

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if I read it for you, which I will,

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you would have heard it before,

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but I'll read it anyway, Philippians 4:13:

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I can do all things to Him who strengthens me.

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I hear people interpret this as meaning

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whatever I want I will get

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if I just somehow align Jesus to my cause,

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as if it's like this mystical incantation of,

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"All things through Him who strengthen me.

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I want to be an astronaut so I can be that."

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No, no, you can't.

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There are certain things you just can't do

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and Jesus isn't going to equip you to do.

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Sorry to break your bubble.

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Like, you don't have any people skills,

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you can't be a good salesman. You can't.

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If you don't have fast twitch muscle fibers,

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you can't be an NFL running back. You can't.

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This verse isn't talking about that.

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Speaking of the NFL, we have a class of game

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here at Kings Island and it's open.

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Old school Brady Bunch fans, those of us in our 50s

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remember this scene.

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Greg Brady from The Brady Bunch.

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Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

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If you're in your 20s, go YouTube it. It's amazing.

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I wonder, I can do all things

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through Christ who strengthens me,

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so therefore I can be an NFL quarterback

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and hit all four balls because He strengthens me.

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Let's see.

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[cheers]

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One out of four ain't bad I guess.

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- Hey, I'm Hannah. - And I'm Andy.

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- We're super excited that you're here today

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on Crossroads, we're having a good time.

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- A great day.

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- I hope that you're having a good time

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listening to what BT has to say all about joy.

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- You know, shockingly, there's something

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that can bring you joy and that is giving.

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Giving, it fuels amazing things

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that happen in our community and all over the country.

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Head to Crossroads.net/give for more info.

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- I know you're itching to get back to BT's message.

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Before we do that,

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we have an important thing to tell you about.

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It's one of the biggest things we do

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around here all year long called Journey.

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Let's hear some more about that right now.

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- This year's journey is called Grow

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because God wants more for our lives

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and to find that we must grow.

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The Journey is five weeks long, starting September 18th.

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There are three parts to the journey.

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Step one: Attend the weekend

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and receive weekly teaching at a site or online.

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Get inspired with the good news.

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Step two: Do your guide work.

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You get your very own printed guide.

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

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And step three: meet with your group.

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During the Journey we meet in groups

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

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You might even make a new friend.

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And if you don't have a group, that's okay.

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We'll help you find one.

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Recap: Attend the weekend,

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do your guide work, and get in a group.

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Go here for more.

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Come Grow.

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- In Philippians 4,

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before that mystical incantation verse

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that we abuse and get wrong:

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Who wants the peace of God

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that surpasses all understanding? I do.

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So guess what?

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If we want the peace of God,

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we've got to go where God is.

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And where is God?

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God is with, in this verse,

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with those who choose to rejoice.

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Rejoice in the Lord always.

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Not rejoice in the Lord if I become an NFL player.

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Not rejoice in the Lord when I hit the lottery.

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Not rejoice in the Lord

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when something in America goes the way I want it.

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No, rejoice in the Lord always.

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And then watch this: And again I say, rejoice.

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Hey, rejoice.

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In other words, don't be like normal people

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who are complain always, again I say, complain.

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Be a cynic always, again I say, be a cynic.

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Look on the negative side always,

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again I say be very, very skeptical.

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No, rejoice in the Lord always.

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Why?

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Because He is at hand

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and let your reasonableness be known.

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I like to be happy.

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The thing about happiness is

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it depends on what happens.

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So if what happens makes me feel good, then I'm happy.

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And I love being happy.

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I love when good things happen.

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But I can't wait for my moods to uplift

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until everything goes right in my surrounding

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the way I want it to.

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Joy and rejoicing is a choice that you make

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that's a reasonable decision that's not based on

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what everything else around me is doing.

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I want joy and so do you.

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To have joy, we've got to have these attributes

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of not being anxious, not being anxious about anything,

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but in everything, making our requests known to God.

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That's a command, actually,

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don't be anxious to God about anything.

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Anxiety and depression

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is just skyrocketing in our midst. Skyrocketing.

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And please hear me very clearly,

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there is a reason sometimes to be anxious

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and a reason sometimes to be depressed.

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And I'm not trying to minimize anybody's bad place,

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legitimate, bad place you're in right now.

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I'm going to tell you my story in just a moment,

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a recent learning I've had about holding on

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to anxiety and depression and difficulty too, too long.

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So we've got to be reasonable and notice

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I live in a free country,

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that's a very prosperous country.

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There's no wars happening here right now.

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There's no IEDs that are going to blow me up as I drive along.

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It's the richest, most prosperous country

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in the history of the world right now.

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We don't feel that way. It is that way.

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Even if it's not coming to us right now,

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the possibility is here right now.

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And I'm preaching to myself because

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I did something recently which is an amazing thing to do.

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Awesome. I recommend it highly.

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It's a word that many people don't like.

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I love this word. It's awesome.

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It's the word repent, repent.

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Repenting is amazing.

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Repenting is a change in mind.

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It's when you change your thinking on something,

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you choose your mindset on something.

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And when you change your mind,

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you change your direction.

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I've been pretty open and honest

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about the last three years

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being very, very difficult for me

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personally, familial-ly, professionally.

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It's hard to lead anything.

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We've had all kinds of challenges at Crossroads,

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in our culture.

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It's been a hard, hard run.

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I don't want to rehash everything.

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It's been very, very difficult.

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I've been very, very tired and worn out.

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I've been open with that.

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So I went away on a seven week break

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looking to get my energy back and feel right.

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And it was great. I was away.

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But was unusual about this break versus others,

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as I normally am always checking my email,

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calling our executive pastor, Darren Yates,

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saying, "What's going on? What's happening?"

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Engaging with people in coffee shops.

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This time when I was off, I was off, man.

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I don't want to talk to anybody

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or do anything church wise at all.

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Come the end of seven weeks, I got really freaked out

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because I realized tomorrow I've got to

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go back to my normal life.

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I don't think I'm ready.

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Oh, my gosh, I don't think I'm --

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I don't think I'm restored enough.

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I think I'm still worn out.

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I don't know if I can do this again.

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I go in on Monday.

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Monday's a good day. It's not a bad day.

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Tuesday's good, Wednesday is good.

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Thursday is good. It's good.

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What's a good day for me at work?

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Well, a couple of things.

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One is I add some value.

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Two is I'm creative.

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Three, here's a big one, I don't leave

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at the end of the day regretting something I said

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because I was on edge and kind of

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blurted something out I shouldn't have done.

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When I'm worn down, I do that.

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Like the week's good, like, oh, wow.

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Okay. I got through it.

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Come the first weekend of preaching live on stage,

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and God, before I go out on stage,

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there's a supernatural encounter I have with Him.

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Not to use a very spiritually loaded word,

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but it's an accurate word to described it.

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There was an anointing that came upon me

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before I went out and preached

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where there's just an empowerment

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to do what I needed to do before a live audience.

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And it was beautiful and I had a lot of fun doing it

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and people benefited.

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I got off that stage after doing three services going,

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"Whoo! All right, all right. Good, good, great, great."

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Monday comes.

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I go in on Monday, I'm ready to go on Monday,

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and I think, "Oh, no, oh, no, I got to do this again.

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I don't know if I could do this."

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All the sudden I stop, "Whoa, stop, stop, wait.

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Wait a minute.

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I've got to choose to think differently here.

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Why do I -- why do I keep thinking

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it's going to be a hard week?

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Why do I keep thinking I'm tired?

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Why do I keep thinking I'm worn out?"

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The Bible says: As a man or woman thinketh, so is he.

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So here's the deal, if you think --

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if you think you're tired, guess what?

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You are. You're tired.

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If you think you're going to have a tough week,

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guess what you're going to have? A tough week.

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If you think life is hard, guess what?

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Life's going to be harder than you think it is.

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But I can do all the things through Christ strength,

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and be all things meaning I can choose joy.

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I can choose to rejoice.

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I can change my mindset through Him who strengthens me

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and say, "I'm going to have a good day."

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And I repented before God.

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I said, "God, I'm sorry for playing these old tapes.

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I'm -- I'm good and I choose to say I'm good."

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And it was like, bam, something changed.

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I'll just tell you, we've got a lot of us,

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you're much better than you think you are.

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You're much stronger than you think you are.

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You're ready for a new day

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and you've got to stop getting away --

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You've got to start getting away

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from all the negativity that's out there,

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people don't want to rejoice,

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would rather bitch and moan.

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You've got to choose to say, "No, I don't --

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I don't want your reality.

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I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me.

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That means have a great day, have a great week,

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have a great life."

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To rejoice in the Lord always

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and the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding

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will lift me up.

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You can have that. You can choose that.

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That's called joy.

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That's the power and call of Christ.

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Instead of being abused by the negativity of culture

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that's tried to suck you in.

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Don't do it, don't do it.

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Don't go where everyone else is.

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You be you with God and choose a different way.

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It's great.

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- Hey, I hope you enjoyed BT's message on joy,

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but I want to give you a heads up

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on something really, really important that's coming up,

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and that is the Grow Journey. - Right.

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- The Journey is one of the best things we do

00:13:04

all year long, combining our best creativity,

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our best training, a printed workbook

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that you can get and a community component.

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The Journey literally changed my life

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about a decade ago.

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I look forward to it every year

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and I don't want you to miss it.

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So head to Crossroads.net/Journey.

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Find a group, start a group.

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If you feel like you don't have people around you,

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hey, we can help solve that.

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We can help get you connected into a great community

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that you can Grow alongside of.

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And I'm just going to say it,

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if you start a group, there will be prizes.

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So make it happen.

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It's going to be a fantastic thing

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that you and your community can grow through.

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- That's right.

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The other thing you'll find at Crossroads.net/Journey

00:13:44

is how to get this awesome guidebook.

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If you live near a Crossroads site in Cincinnati

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or in Kentucky, you'll be able to go to a site

00:13:52

on specific dates and pick up a book.

00:13:54

We're asking that you do that to save

00:13:56

and to be a little bit more sustainable.

00:13:58

If you do not live near a Crossroads site, that's okay.

00:14:00

You can also go to Crossroads.net/Journey

00:14:03

to sign up and get this free thing sent to your house.

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Hey, that's all we got for you this week.

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We hope to see you next time on Crossroads.

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- We're going to talk about how we can relearn joy

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and see a framework for growth

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in the good and bad in your life.

	Trying To Find Happiness	0:00
	Race Towards Joy	1:10
	Know Our Strength	1:53
	It's Journey Season	3:47
	When To Rejoice	5:19
	The Choice We Make	7:12
	Why Repent?	8:41
	Think Differently	11:10
	Connect With Us	12:54

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