Here I Am, Send Me | Why Following Jesus Means to Reject The Ordinary

00:00:00

[music]

00:00:14

- Hey, everyone! Bienvenidos a Crossroads.

00:00:16

My name is Emily, and one of the things I love

00:00:19

about this place is how God keeps removing barriers

00:00:22

so more people can meet Him.

00:00:24

Today we are celebrating that in a huge way

00:00:27

with our Crossroads en Espanol launch.

00:00:29

Starting today, Spanish speakers can experience service

00:00:32

in their own language in real time at all of our sites.

00:00:36

And it's a huge step for people who attend our church in person.

00:00:40

But the ability to watch our service en Espanol Online

00:00:43

is still available to you as well.

00:00:45

Just click back on the button labeled Ver en Espanol.

00:00:48

And hey, reaching more people with the message of Jesus

00:00:50

is worth celebrating, so we're going to respond

00:00:53

and celebrate now through something called worship.

00:00:56

When we sing songs to God, we often tell God

00:00:58

that we praise Him or we admire Him

00:01:01

or that we're grateful for Him.

00:01:02

So wherever you are, join us in that right now.

00:01:07

- One, two, three, four.

00:08:44

- Father, You're so good.

00:08:48

I don't believe --

00:08:53

I don't believe we just showed up in this place

00:08:55

to encounter You. I believe You showed up in this place.

00:09:01

I believe You showed up and took the first step.

00:09:04

I believe the only reason we love You

00:09:06

is because You first loved us.

00:09:11

So to think the King above all kings

00:09:15

would want to encounter me today,

00:09:18

it kind of blows my mind, blows my heart up.

00:09:25

You're so good, and I've found You to be so good.

00:09:27

I found You to be true and good.

00:09:28

And so I just say my heart's completely open to You.

00:09:33

This time that I've set aside to come approach You

00:09:36

is me saying You have my attention.

00:09:41

So shape me and mold me how You want.

00:09:44

Thank You, God. I pray all this because of you, Jesus.

00:09:47

Amen. Amen.

00:09:52

I love being together like this.

00:09:54

I love not being alone in a space like this.

00:09:56

So whether you're online, we're glad you're here with us.

00:09:58

If you're in the room, why don't you turn

00:10:00

to somebody next to you and say,

00:10:02

"Hey, glad to be here with you,"

00:10:03

and then we can all have a seat together.

00:10:11

- Maybe you've heard the news, but if not,

00:10:13

this past weekend, Crossroads held our annual Women Camp.

00:10:16

And over 2000 women from across the country

00:10:20

showed up on our camp land, hoping to experience

00:10:22

belonging and freedom.

00:10:23

Many got just that, but also so much more.

00:10:26

89 women went home baptized. - Let's go!

00:10:29

- 89 women chose to declare and say yes to following Jesus.

00:10:33

And among them were several of our Anywhere community members.

00:10:37

That's amazing.

00:10:38

And we have more of these camp experiences coming up this fall.

00:10:42

- That's right. And if you're a dude,

00:10:43

we have Man Camp coming just around the corner.

00:10:46

And you just saw some footage from Woman Camp.

00:10:49

And guys, let me reassure you,

00:10:51

Man Camp will be nothing like that. Okay?

00:10:54

This whole experience is designed for you in mind.

00:10:57

Maybe you need some adventure in your life.

00:10:59

Maybe you need a break from the grind.

00:11:01

Or maybe you just need something different.

00:11:02

And I know there's someone out there watching this

00:11:05

who is still on the fence about going.

00:11:07

There might be all kinds of reasons

00:11:09

you're telling yourself that you can't sign up.

00:11:11

Look, I got a friend who just signed up.

00:11:13

He lives in Florida.

00:11:14

He's flying in the day before. Okay? He just signed up.

00:11:17

There are three guys in my group

00:11:19

who are trying to figure out how to bring

00:11:21

their CPAp machine so they can sleep at night.

00:11:22

So whatever your excuse is, don't let it stop you.

00:11:26

This is your final chance to get registered.

00:11:29

And if it's any extra draw to you,

00:11:30

I heard Bear Grylls is coming,

00:11:32

so maybe that sounds like a good time to you,

00:11:34

but I want to see you there as well.

00:11:36

- It's wild.

00:11:37

And we have one more camp experience for you

00:11:39

and your whole family this fall, Revival,

00:11:42

which is also Anywhere Weekend, is at Base Camp

00:11:44

and is back this year. - Yes.

00:11:46

- It's a two day experience full of worship,

00:11:49

teaching, a prayer experience, solitude time,

00:11:52

kids experiences for the whole family and so much else.

00:11:55

And I believe that there's no other place

00:11:57

where you have a higher likelihood of having

00:11:59

a powerful and transcendent encounter with the Holy Spirit.

00:12:02

- That's right. We're expecting God

00:12:03

to do something big at Revival.

00:12:06

It's November 1-2, and we want you to be there.

00:12:08

If you're newer to Crossroads, you may not know

00:12:11

that we have a dream and a vision

00:12:13

of a spiritual awakening in our nation,

00:12:15

and that just means we want to see more and more people

00:12:17

come into a living relationship with Jesus,

00:12:20

leading to widespread transformation

00:12:22

in our communities.

00:12:23

And that's also why we're in our current series

00:12:26

Go Reach Your People. Let's check it out now.

00:12:32

- The world is reaching out to us,

00:12:34

telling us what to buy, how to live, who to be.

00:12:38

What if we flipped the script?

00:12:40

What if we go reach the world,

00:12:43

not just to the ends of the earth,

00:12:45

but also down the street,

00:12:48

into our neighborhood, our office, our gym,

00:12:51

our kids football game?

00:12:53

That's where we live our lives.

00:12:55

That's where we can bring life.

00:12:57

It's time to follow Jesus's lead and Go Reach Your People.

00:13:03

- Well, hey, how are you?

00:13:05

My name's Kyle, if we've never met before.

00:13:07

I'm our Lead Pastor here at Crossroads

00:13:10

and it's awesome to be with you.

00:13:12

You're joining us for week two of a series

00:13:14

called Go Reach Your People.

00:13:17

Now, last week, if you weren't here,

00:13:20

we talked about a polarizing word: politics.

00:13:23

And this week we're talking about another one: evangelism.

00:13:27

Now I'll just say, if you're in this room

00:13:29

and you're not sure what you believe about Jesus,

00:13:31

if you're watching online joining us,

00:13:33

I'm not sure what you believe.

00:13:34

Evangelism might be a word that makes you squirm.

00:13:37

But my hope is by the end of this message

00:13:40

you understand why the people in your life

00:13:42

who believe in Jesus would try to evangelize you,

00:13:46

and you'd even feel honored,

00:13:49

honored that they would care about you enough

00:13:51

to take the risk to share the message of Jesus with you.

00:13:56

If you have been around, my goal today is to bother you.

00:14:01

I want to bother you.

00:14:03

I want to put a rock in your shoe

00:14:05

so that when you walk out of here,

00:14:07

you walk out of here different.

00:14:09

We're going to look at a verse today

00:14:11

at the beginning and at the end,

00:14:13

start and end with the same one, Isaiah 6:8.

00:14:16

It says: I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

00:14:19

"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

00:14:24

Then I said, "Here I am. Send me."

00:14:27

Now all of us can look at this,

00:14:29

and there should be an observation we make,

00:14:31

which is the God of the universe,

00:14:33

the God of the universe apparently just shouts out

00:14:35

and says, "Will anybody go for Us?"

00:14:37

Notice, there's no qualifications.

00:14:39

He doesn't say, "I would like 3 to 5 years of experience."

00:14:42

He doesn't say you've got to have a perfect track record.

00:14:45

And seemingly the qualification is a willingness to take action.

00:14:50

Now this verse, if you've been at Crossroads for a minute,

00:14:53

should be familiar.

00:14:54

I've preached on it a couple times this past year.

00:14:57

But today I want to aim it like an arrow

00:15:00

at the place in your life where I'm willing to bet

00:15:04

you most don't want to say, "Here I am. Send me."

00:15:08

The place you most don't want to go.

00:15:10

And that place is home.

00:15:12

Let's pray before we go any further.

00:15:14

God, thank You so much for the invitation

00:15:16

to represent You, the invitation to go.

00:15:18

I'm asking that today more of us would step forward,

00:15:21

more of us would see this role of being an evangelist

00:15:23

as something that's not an optional call,

00:15:25

but as a call You've given us,

00:15:27

and one that we're excited to go out and do. Amen. Amen.

00:15:32

When I was born, my mom was Catholic.

00:15:35

My dad was nothing.

00:15:37

And I'm the second of two kids.

00:15:38

And so when I came along, they decided

00:15:40

we needed a common family faith system.

00:15:43

And they set out to find that.

00:15:44

My dad decided he would become Catholic.

00:15:46

That seemed like the easy answer.

00:15:47

So he went to catechism class.

00:15:49

He sat through it. My mom went with him.

00:15:51

And at the end of the class, he basically went,

00:15:54

"Good enough. I'm Catholic now."

00:15:57

And my mom sat through it and she was like,

00:15:59

"Is this what we've believed the whole time?

00:16:03

Because this makes no sense to me. I'm out."

00:16:08

So it didn't work. It existed that way.

00:16:10

My dad was now Catholic.

00:16:11

My mom was now nothing for another four and a half years.

00:16:15

Then my younger brother came along and they decided

00:16:17

let's try again and so they did.

00:16:19

They tried again and they found this little church,

00:16:22

a smaller church, this one right here.

00:16:23

This is Centerville Community Church in Centerville, Ohio.

00:16:26

And it was the place where they both heard

00:16:29

the gospel in a language that they could understand.

00:16:31

It's the place where my mom got baptized.

00:16:34

It was pivotal to their faith journey,

00:16:36

therefore pivotal to my faith journey.

00:16:39

It's a Christian Missionary Alliance Church

00:16:41

led by this couple right here.

00:16:43

This is Kenneth and Sarah Liu,

00:16:46

the pastors of this church.

00:16:48

Now because it was a Christian Missionary Alliance Church.

00:16:51

I don't know if you grew up in church.

00:16:53

Maybe you did, maybe you didn't.

00:16:54

But in a Christian Missionary Alliance Church,

00:16:56

we had lots and lots and lots of missionary Sundays.

00:17:01

Now, missionary Sundays were actually very exciting

00:17:04

because boring church got less boring.

00:17:06

They hung these flags from the rafters.

00:17:08

It looked like United Nations when you walked in.

00:17:10

They literally called it the Parade of Nations.

00:17:12

And then these missionaries would show up

00:17:14

from all over the world, and they would tell us

00:17:16

these crazy stories about the things they were doing

00:17:19

to reach the people around them.

00:17:21

Most of the stories about missionaries,

00:17:23

they were about the what they were doing

00:17:24

to reach the people over there,

00:17:26

those people far away over there.

00:17:31

And even as a 6-7 year old in church,

00:17:34

I had this deep feeling, this conviction

00:17:39

and this sense of a calling

00:17:41

that I did not want to be a missionary, for sure,

00:17:47

because the stories were just kind of crazy.

00:17:50

It was always about, you know, I got malaria.

00:17:52

We were in the jungle, we didn't have any food.

00:17:54

And I was like, no thanks.

00:17:57

I'll take the other option.

00:17:59

Because, see, for me, in my little brain,

00:18:00

it started to form this idea, this sense that

00:18:03

there were two types of Christians basically.

00:18:06

There were the missionaries,

00:18:08

the people who went over there to evangelize those people.

00:18:12

And then there were the ordinaries,

00:18:14

the people who stayed here.

00:18:15

And I decided I would like to be an ordinary.

00:18:20

And I think most of us have made that same decision.

00:18:23

Most of us would say, given those two choices, yes,

00:18:25

I also have decided that I also feel called

00:18:28

to be an ordinary.

00:18:31

Two different answers, two different jobs,

00:18:34

the same question we're looking at, Isaiah 6:8,

00:18:36

Whom shall I send, who will go for us?

00:18:38

The missionaries are the ones who answer,

00:18:41

"Here I am. Send me."

00:18:43

And the ordinaries are the ones who answer,

00:18:45

"There they are. Send them."

00:18:50

The missionaries say, "My job is to evangelize.

00:18:53

I share the gospel. I share the Good News.

00:18:55

I take the risk. I tell the people.

00:18:56

I learn the language. I do the thing."

00:18:58

The ordinaries, we think our job is to patronize.

00:19:02

I don't mean like, you know, placate, whatever.

00:19:03

I mean like support, give to, fund.

00:19:06

Here you go, take some money

00:19:08

and you go there and you do the thing

00:19:09

and I'll support you. I'll clap for you.

00:19:11

I'll cheer for you.

00:19:12

I decided I wanted to be an ordinary.

00:19:15

I think you did too.

00:19:17

Here's the problem.

00:19:19

Do you know, according to Jesus,

00:19:22

there is no such type of group in His followership

00:19:26

called the Ordinaries.

00:19:29

And in fact, there's only one kind,

00:19:31

it's the missionaries. That's it.

00:19:33

The only kind of Christ follower is a missionary.

00:19:38

Now, how do I know that?

00:19:40

How would I be able to say that confidently?

00:19:42

Well, let's take a pop quiz.

00:19:43

I know if you're at a site, you just took a survey,

00:19:45

you're like, "Pop quiz on top of a survey?

00:19:46

That's not what I wanted today." I get it.

00:19:48

Take a pop quiz with me real quick.

00:19:50

Let me show you a picture.

00:19:52

And I want you to tell me who this person is.

00:19:56

What is this person?

00:19:58

Firefighter. Yeah. How do you know?

00:20:02

Because, yeah, their outfit, their uniform,

00:20:04

the clothes that they're wearing. Yeah. Okay.

00:20:06

Now that's good. Let's see if you can keep going.

00:20:08

What about this person right here? Who's this person?

00:20:11

Soldier? Yes.

00:20:12

How do you know? Uniform. Yes. Great. Okay.

00:20:16

One more. Who's this person?

00:20:20

That's right. Sad.

00:20:22

How do you know? They're dressed --

00:20:26

Bengals, I know, I'm so sorry.

00:20:28

We believe in you. We're still with you.

00:20:30

We're still rooting. We have not given up.

00:20:33

Now, how do you know what these people do?

00:20:38

It's because of the uniform that they're wearing.

00:20:41

Well, do you know that if you believe in Jesus

00:20:47

you're wearing a uniform?

00:20:49

That's literally how the Bible describes

00:20:51

what happens to you after you put your faith in Jesus.

00:20:53

Galatians 3:27: For all of you who were baptized

00:20:57

into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

00:21:02

You've been given the uniform, the identity,

00:21:04

the person of Jesus to wear every single day.

00:21:07

And what God's goal is, is that every day,

00:21:10

in every situation, with every person you meet,

00:21:14

you would choose to put it on.

00:21:17

Romans 13:14 says: But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,

00:21:22

and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

00:21:25

There's this piece of you, the flesh,

00:21:27

that does not want to put on Christ,

00:21:30

that wants to just be the anonymous you

00:21:31

with your own beliefs

00:21:32

and the safety of your own quietness,

00:21:34

and not take any risk and just wants to be you in places.

00:21:37

And the call of God is to put on Christ.

00:21:40

In other words, to be a missionary.

00:21:44

Now in the Kingdom of God it's also worth noting

00:21:46

there are no replica jerseys.

00:21:48

Many of us have a replica Bengals jersey,

00:21:50

a Reds jersey, an FC Cincinnati jersey.

00:21:52

Maybe you have a UK jersey,

00:21:53

maybe you have an Ohio State jersey.

00:21:55

Whatever it is, we have these replica jerseys

00:21:57

and we wear them and we sit in the stands

00:21:59

and we cheer for the real players.

00:22:01

But that's actually not a job that exists in the Kingdom.

00:22:03

There is no such thing as a replica jersey.

00:22:06

There's no authentic one.

00:22:07

I don't have a different one than you. I don't.

00:22:10

I have the same exact -- if you --

00:22:12

If your faith is in Jesus, we wear the same uniform.

00:22:16

You and I are called to be missionaries.

00:22:20

Now, if a fire broke out in your neighborhood

00:22:25

and there was a firefighter

00:22:27

wearing the firefighter uniform,

00:22:28

and the fire breaks out

00:22:30

in your next door neighbor's house,

00:22:31

and the firefighter sits down on the curb

00:22:36

and goes, "Man, I hope someone comes along

00:22:38

and deals with that fire."

00:22:42

Would you say that firefighter

00:22:44

is being a good firefighter? No.

00:22:47

Would you say they're doing the job of a firefighter?

00:22:50

No. No.

00:22:53

Well, that's many of us.

00:22:56

Many of us right now in our neighborhood,

00:23:00

in our workplace, we're just sitting there

00:23:04

and it's on fire, and we're just hoping

00:23:06

somebody else comes along with the right words

00:23:08

and the right thing and just more qualified than us,

00:23:11

whatever, whatever we think,

00:23:13

we're just hoping somebody else comes along.

00:23:15

Well guess what? There is no somebody else.

00:23:17

It's you, it's you. It's why you're there.

00:23:21

So many people are like, "You know, I wish I could

00:23:24

just introduce my friends and just, like, talk to, you."

00:23:26

No, I'm not the right one to talk to them.

00:23:29

If I was, they'd be my friends.

00:23:31

You're not in your place by accident.

00:23:34

Just read the Bible sometime.

00:23:35

Check out Psalm 139 if you want more details.

00:23:38

God's not randomly just sort of scattered us around.

00:23:41

I hope you kind of figure out the people

00:23:43

that your people are actually way over there.

00:23:45

No, that's not what He does.

00:23:47

He's like, "I got every day numbered.

00:23:49

I know everything about your life.

00:23:51

I've carefully placed you in the exact right place

00:23:53

to reach the people that I have put you around."

00:23:58

See, the world needs more of us to start acting

00:24:00

like the missionaries that we are.

00:24:02

I mentioned last week that Brian talks about politics.

00:24:04

If you missed it, you should totally go back and watch it,

00:24:07

especially if you're new.

00:24:08

If you want to understand Crossroads,

00:24:09

or if maybe you've been here a long time

00:24:11

and you're frustrated, you're like,

00:24:12

"I don't understand this place."

00:24:13

Great. Go back and watch it. It'll help you out a lot.

00:24:16

Also, this word gospel that I'm using,

00:24:18

what evangelism is, it is sharing the gospel,

00:24:21

the Good News of Jesus.

00:24:22

If you want to just fresh take on the gospel,

00:24:24

go back and watch last week.

00:24:26

Brian also talked about that.

00:24:28

Now the disciples, speaking of politics,

00:24:30

they were always trying to get Jesus into politics,

00:24:34

to take stands and take on the government.

00:24:36

They had a horribly oppressive Roman government.

00:24:39

It was awful.

00:24:40

They were trying to get Him to do it before the resurrection.

00:24:42

Even after the resurrection, actually.

00:24:45

Jesus goes, He dies, He rises again.

00:24:47

They're like, 'That's amazing.

00:24:49

Will you now take on the government?"

00:24:52

This is Acts 1:6, post resurrection.

00:24:55

So when they had come together (that's the disciples)

00:24:57

they asked him, "Lord, will You at this time

00:25:01

restore the kingdom to Israel?"

00:25:04

And Jesus basically says,

00:25:05

"No, that's not what I'm doing right now. No, not at all."

00:25:08

And then He says these famous words, Acts 1:8:

00:25:11

But you will receive power

00:25:16

when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

00:25:19

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

00:25:23

and in all Judea and Samaria,

00:25:25

and to the end of the earth."

00:25:27

Notice He says, "You will,"

00:25:30

not, "One of the options available to you

00:25:32

as a Christ follower, congratulations on the perks

00:25:34

of the thing you've opted into is, you could,

00:25:37

if you wanted, be My witnesses."

00:25:39

It doesn't say that. Not optional.

00:25:42

He doesn't say, "If you're a natural extrovert,

00:25:44

comfortable around people, just a real talker,

00:25:46

this is what job --" It doesn't say that.

00:25:48

He says you will be My witnesses.

00:25:52

Where? Identifies four places:

00:25:55

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth.

00:26:00

Now, those four circles form basically concentric circles.

00:26:04

If you put them on top of a map,

00:26:06

it would look something like a target.

00:26:09

And in the bull's eye of the target is Jerusalem.

00:26:13

And Jerusalem, interestingly enough, is exactly

00:26:16

where the disciples are when Jesus tells them this.

00:26:19

Acts 1:4, just a couple verses earlier, says,

00:26:22

"While staying with them,

00:26:24

He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem."

00:26:29

Parents, you ever have to order your kids to do stuff?

00:26:31

I do. I had to order last night

00:26:33

my 15 year old to brush his teeth.

00:26:35

Don't know why. He's 15.

00:26:37

"Brush your freaking teeth." Don't know why.

00:26:40

When do you have to order your kids to do stuff?

00:26:44

All the time, yes.

00:26:46

Also, when they don't want to do it.

00:26:48

I've never had to order my kid like, "Hey man,

00:26:50

if you could just, like, obsessively

00:26:51

check fantasy football on your phone, that'd be great."

00:26:54

No, he wants to do it, so he just does it.

00:26:56

You have to order your kids to do the stuff

00:26:58

that they don't want to do.

00:26:59

Well, here Jesus has to order His disciples

00:27:01

to stay in Jerusalem.

00:27:03

Seemingly, His disciples wanted to leave.

00:27:07

They wanted to get out of town.

00:27:08

They wanted to go far away. Why?

00:27:11

Well, because I think the place that's the hardest

00:27:13

to be the witness for Jesus is in our bull's eye.

00:27:17

It's in our home.

00:27:19

It's actually easier to think about

00:27:21

going way over there to somebody else far away, far away.

00:27:25

But make no mistake, you have a mission field.

00:27:28

You have a mission field.

00:27:29

You have the same idea of the four circles,

00:27:32

and you have a bull's eye, and your bull's eye

00:27:35

is where you live, where you work,

00:27:36

the places where you naturally are at any given day,

00:27:38

any given week, it's the people you're already around.

00:27:41

That's the bullseye.

00:27:43

Now, I do think it's easier to think about going far away,

00:27:45

because in the bullseye it's risky.

00:27:48

Because if I share Jesus with somebody,

00:27:51

if I wear my faith on the outside,

00:27:53

if I put on Christ and oh my gosh, they can see it.

00:27:57

Well, what happens if it goes poorly?

00:27:58

Because my neighbor still lives next to me.

00:28:01

The person in the cube,

00:28:02

they're still going to be there tomorrow.

00:28:04

And there's this risk to it that I think makes us

00:28:07

shy away and makes those ends of the earth stuff seem

00:28:11

the most palatable in some way.

00:28:13

Now, the 10X Push you heard a little bit

00:28:15

about that in the survey, if you're at a site,

00:28:17

and you took that a little bit of a 10X Push.

00:28:20

Some stuff was in all of those rings.

00:28:23

The ends of the earth stuff was the stuff that

00:28:25

when we did a survey after the 10X Push

00:28:27

people were most excited about by far.

00:28:30

Last week we had Anjali here at Crossroads from Nepal.

00:28:33

I love Anjali, I love her work.

00:28:35

It was an honor to have her here with us.

00:28:38

Really close to my heart, my family,

00:28:41

the things that we're excited about.

00:28:42

But I'll just say this.

00:28:44

If you can get excited about helping Anjali,

00:28:50

if you can see the need that she has,

00:28:53

but not your neighbors, you're missing something.

00:28:55

You know, in that same survey, all the stuff

00:28:57

that we were least excited about was the stuff

00:28:59

that had to do with reaching our neighbors right here.

00:29:02

All of the Jerusalem stuff, least excited about

00:29:05

because we miss this story.

00:29:06

We have this different perspective than Jesus.

00:29:09

He had to order them to stay in Jerusalem.

00:29:11

I think He has to order us to hit

00:29:13

the bullseye of the place where we are.

00:29:16

Now at Crossroads we're obsessed with hitting the bullseye.

00:29:20

We're obsessed with it.

00:29:21

That's the foundation of everything we do,

00:29:22

always will be.

00:29:23

How can we reach our friends and our neighbors

00:29:25

who've given up on church, but not on God?

00:29:27

If that's you and you're in this room,

00:29:29

we're so honored that you're with us.

00:29:30

Honored you'd take time, hope that you hear

00:29:32

something that pushes you and helps you today.

00:29:34

We're obsessed with it, which is why one of the things

00:29:36

in the 10X Push was reaching more of our neighbors,

00:29:39

a growing part of our neighbors in new ways.

00:29:41

We are starting something, or rather taking it

00:29:43

to the next level called Crossroads en Espanol.

00:29:46

And I'm so excited to announce that today is the day

00:29:49

that Crossroads en Espanol is launching

00:29:52

at all of our sites simultaneously.

00:29:56

And I would love for you guys to meet

00:29:58

the leader behind that.

00:29:59

Please welcome Victor Martinez. Thank you, Victor.

00:30:04

What's up? - Hey.

00:30:05

- Awesome. Okay. So tell us, what does it mean

00:30:08

that we're launching at all sites this weekend?

00:30:10

- It means that starting today,

00:30:11

we get to worship together in the same room

00:30:14

at all of our sites.

00:30:15

- That's awesome. Through live translation.

00:30:17

- Live translation, yes.

00:30:19

So they'll be able to hear the message

00:30:20

translated on their ears, but they'll be able

00:30:22

to worship together in the same room. So it's amazing.

00:30:25

- That's amazing. Absolutely incredible.

00:30:26

- Yes. [applause]

00:30:28

- Literally the message of Jesus

00:30:29

in a language you can understand.

00:30:31

Now tell us a little bit about why do you think

00:30:35

that matters so much in this moment

00:30:37

for Spanish speakers in this country?

00:30:39

- Yeah. God gave us this vision a while ago.

00:30:42

And today, being Hispanic,

00:30:43

there's a lot of cool things about it.

00:30:45

I love our food. Definitely, I love our food.

00:30:48

But our music, our culture, our people is amazing.

00:30:51

And yet, um, when you see the news,

00:30:54

you can see how hard it is, or maybe you imagine

00:30:57

how hard it could be to be, to look like me,

00:30:59

to sound like me when you're hearing,

00:31:02

you're seeing news of what's happening,

00:31:04

how families are torn apart.

00:31:06

Um, or when you hear, "Hey, I don't like you.

00:31:08

I don't want you here. Go back home." This is home.

00:31:11

And we're glad that we have a church that will say,

00:31:14

"Hey, church is a safe space."

00:31:16

In fact, Jesus appoints the church to redeem the world,

00:31:20

and He actually gives us a mission, right, of being united.

00:31:23

In fact, He prays to God and He says, "God,

00:31:25

may they be one, as You and I are one,

00:31:27

so that they will know that You love them

00:31:29

and that You sent me." - Amen.

00:31:31

- That's what we're doing. - Amen. Awesome.

00:31:36

If you believe in this ministry,

00:31:38

especially if you're part of the 10X Push,

00:31:39

I'd love you to stretch a hand out

00:31:41

towards Victor right now and pray a blessing

00:31:43

over him and his team as they get started

00:31:44

in a new way this weekend.

00:31:46

Father, thank You for Victor.

00:31:47

Thank You for the faith You put in him.

00:31:49

Thank You for the vision that's in him.

00:31:50

I'm asking, Lord, that You would 10X

00:31:52

his wildest dreams and imaginations

00:31:54

about what You might want to do in and through him.

00:31:56

Would you give him the volunteers who step in

00:31:59

and say yes to this ministry?

00:32:01

And would you bring the people

00:32:02

who need to hear your message

00:32:04

in a language they understand? Amen. Amen.

00:32:06

Awesome. Thanks, Victor. [applause]

00:32:11

It's pretty simple, really.

00:32:13

Our mission is just Jesus's mission.

00:32:16

He said it a couple different ways

00:32:17

in several different places across the Gospels.

00:32:20

One place that's really clear, Luke 19:10.

00:32:23

He says, "For the Son of Man

00:32:24

(that's His nickname for Himself)

00:32:26

came to seek and to save the lost.

00:32:31

Now, if I told you that I was seeking to lose weight

00:32:33

and you ask what are you doing to lose weight?

00:32:35

And I said nothing, you would rightly say,

00:32:38

"Well, then you're not seeking.

00:32:39

You might be dreaming, you might be intending,

00:32:42

you might be wishing."

00:32:43

But seeking implies action.

00:32:47

And in your life the people who are closest to you,

00:32:50

who are in your Jerusalem, who are in your bullseye,

00:32:52

if you can't identify the things

00:32:54

you are actively, intentionally doing to seek them,

00:32:58

then you're not on Jesus's mission.

00:33:01

The Bible says that faith without works is dead.

00:33:04

Faith without action is nothing.

00:33:07

I think there's some of us who might say,

00:33:08

"Well, but I believe, you know.

00:33:10

Isn't that the goal of church?"

00:33:12

No, that's the goal of Ted Lasso.

00:33:14

Great show. Love Ted Lasso.

00:33:17

Coming back apparently. Hope that it's good. I don't know.

00:33:20

The lasting impression from that show,

00:33:22

I think, is this yellow sign, the giant believe sign

00:33:25

that hung in the locker room

00:33:26

and the players would hit it on their way out the door.

00:33:29

Believe.

00:33:31

If you're not reaching your friends and you're somebody

00:33:34

who calls yourself a follower of Christ,

00:33:38

the reason you're not doing it, I think,

00:33:40

is because you think this is the sign

00:33:42

you're supposed to hit on the way

00:33:44

out the doors of the church.

00:33:45

Just believe in the quiet of my own heart.

00:33:48

Just believe in the right stuff, not the wrong stuff.

00:33:51

Just believe and I'll get into heaven.

00:33:53

No, no. This is Ted Lasso's sign.

00:33:56

This is not. This is not our sign. It's not.

00:34:00

If you stop at belief, you're not a missionary.

00:34:03

You might be a different kind of an "ary".

00:34:05

You might be a stationary.

00:34:08

Just not moving, not doing anything.

00:34:10

Sitting here by myself.

00:34:11

You might be a contrary.

00:34:13

I think my job is to have the right beliefs

00:34:14

and judge the people who don't have the right beliefs,

00:34:17

and to let them know.

00:34:18

No, that's a contrary, that's a contrary.

00:34:22

In fact, judging people is not part of the mission

00:34:24

Jesus passed on to us.

00:34:25

Read Romans chapter two, the whole beginning

00:34:27

Paul's like, "Don't judge people. That's not the point."

00:34:29

And then he goes, "Don't you know that

00:34:31

it's God's kindness that leads people to repentance?"

00:34:34

It's His kindness.

00:34:36

See, your job is to be a missionary.

00:34:39

Another objection I've heard from people is,

00:34:41

you know, they get to this point and they go,

00:34:42

"Okay, that's fine, but I'm just going

00:34:44

to preach the gospel without words.

00:34:47

I'm going to do that. I'm so spiritual.

00:34:49

I'm going to preach the gospel without words."

00:34:51

It's an idea founded upon a quote you might have heard

00:34:54

that says: Preach the gospel.

00:34:56

Use words only when necessary.

00:35:00

It's most often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi,

00:35:03

the one who started the Franciscan order.

00:35:05

The problem with the quote is that he never said it.

00:35:09

In fact, if you study his life, he did the exact opposite.

00:35:13

He was known for big, booming, courageous, loud preaching.

00:35:16

He preached up to five times a day.

00:35:19

He didn't say use words only when necessary.

00:35:22

He said, don't only use words,

00:35:25

he meant back it up with a heart that's kind,

00:35:27

with love, with humility, with service.

00:35:30

Don't only use words.

00:35:33

Think about how dumb this idea is.

00:35:35

If you tried to lead your kids, love your kids

00:35:39

and you never used words, just imagine that.

00:35:42

You make them toast in the morning for breakfast.

00:35:44

You smother the butter on it.

00:35:45

You slide it across the table.

00:35:50

And your marriage.

00:35:52

You make the bed in the morning.

00:35:54

"Huh? Huh? That means I love you."

00:35:58

No. Terrible idea. Use words, use words.

00:36:04

Romans 10:14 says: How then will they call

00:36:06

on Him in whom they have not believed?

00:36:09

And how are they to believe in Him

00:36:11

of whom they have not heard?

00:36:13

And how were they to hear without someone preaching?

00:36:17

Use words.

00:36:20

I think we're afraid because we're like,

00:36:22

"I don't have the right ones.

00:36:24

And you know you would, Kyle.

00:36:25

You'd have the right ones and all."

00:36:27

No, I wouldn't.

00:36:28

In fact, if I got around your friends,

00:36:29

they would clam up because they would learn

00:36:31

I was a pastor and they'd get all weird

00:36:33

and awkward around me. That's what always happens.

00:36:35

No, use words.

00:36:39

We're afraid, because our brain goes to the worst case scenario.

00:36:42

What would happen?

00:36:43

We major in the differences and the problems

00:36:45

that those differences might cause.

00:36:47

And it just it just shuts us up.

00:36:48

But in my experience, the worst case scenario

00:36:51

is not a thing that tends to happen.

00:36:54

In fact, generally what God does is

00:36:56

vastly exceeds my expectations when I push in anyway.

00:37:00

When I was 22 years old, I worked in a design department.

00:37:03

And the woman who was in the cube next to mine,

00:37:06

who I saw most often at work,

00:37:08

was as different from me as you could get.

00:37:11

She was 45, married, and a lesbian.

00:37:15

I was 22, single, straight, Christian.

00:37:19

You can imagine my hesitation.

00:37:22

"She might feel judged.

00:37:23

She's going to get mad at me, I don't know.

00:37:25

And then I got to show up to work the next day.

00:37:27

This is -- I should hide, I should --

00:37:28

I should just when I get to work,

00:37:31

I should take off Christ.

00:37:33

I should hang Him in the coat closet

00:37:35

and I should sit at my desk. That's the best.

00:37:37

And then I'll just love her without words.

00:37:39

She'll figure it out." No, no.

00:37:41

I felt convicted that was the wrong move,

00:37:43

and so instead, I was very open about my faith.

00:37:46

It wasn't pushy, I wasn't judgy, I wasn't condemning.

00:37:49

I was just open about who I was and what I believe

00:37:51

and why and how I did things that were abnormal.

00:37:53

I was leading a youth group as a volunteer,

00:37:56

and I would talk about it and why I was doing it.

00:37:58

And it opened up to some really interesting conversations.

00:38:01

We became really great friends, to the point

00:38:03

where one day I said, "Hey, I'm reading this book

00:38:05

that's really helped me understand who God really is,

00:38:08

His loving heart as a Father. It's called Blue Like Jazz.

00:38:11

Would you like to read it with me?"

00:38:13

And she was like, "Sure."

00:38:14

And so we read the book together.

00:38:16

And I know through those conversations

00:38:17

and the insights that she had that

00:38:19

that transformed her understanding of a God

00:38:21

who might actually love her.

00:38:25

Listen, using words is not as scary as you think.

00:38:30

And I'm not promising that every single time

00:38:32

it's going to go amazing. I'm not promising that.

00:38:34

What I am promising is that if you do it,

00:38:37

you can count on. There's a God who's gone before you.

00:38:39

There's a God

00:38:40

who's intentionally put you with that person,

00:38:42

and He will give you the words you need in the moment.

00:38:46

You and I are only here because someone used words.

00:38:51

Maybe it was even before we were born. We don't know.

00:38:53

If you're somebody who's like, "I don't know.

00:38:55

I kind of grew up in a faith family and, you know,

00:38:57

just kind of always been that way."

00:38:59

No, it wasn't always that way.

00:39:00

At some point, there was a beginning.

00:39:03

There was a beginning.

00:39:04

A hundred years ago, there was a Chinese couple.

00:39:08

They felt called to be missionaries to India.

00:39:10

They lived in China.

00:39:11

They raised support from their local church,

00:39:12

and they bought tickets to go to India.

00:39:15

Now, right after they bought tickets, days later,

00:39:19

the communists took over China

00:39:21

and they shut down all travel.

00:39:22

No one else could get tickets.

00:39:23

And so they were literally some of the last people

00:39:26

to leave China for decades.

00:39:28

This is August of 1927.

00:39:31

This couple, they go to Calcutta, India,

00:39:34

where they feel called to be missionaries.

00:39:36

They start sharing the gospel with people.

00:39:38

They meet a young Buddhist couple.

00:39:39

The wife is from China. The husband is from India.

00:39:42

They share the gospel. This couple comes to faith.

00:39:46

Years later, the daughter of the Chinese missionaries

00:39:51

and the son of the formerly Buddhist family

00:39:55

moved to America, got married

00:39:58

and started sharing the gospel in

00:40:00

a tiny little church called Centerville Community Church.

00:40:03

It was this couple. It was Kenneth and Sarah Liu.

00:40:08

The point being, when you share the gospel,

00:40:11

you have no idea the ripple effects

00:40:13

that are going to happen.

00:40:15

You have no idea what you might unleash in somebody's life.

00:40:18

You have no idea the life that God might want to bring from it.

00:40:21

There's a verse that says that death in life,

00:40:24

this is Proverbs 18:21:

00:40:25

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

00:40:28

and those who love it will eat its fruits.

00:40:30

Death is in your tongue when it's quiet.

00:40:33

Life is in your tongue when it's loud.

00:40:35

And God says, "Would you you preach? Would you preach?"

00:40:38

And I know this isn't, you're like,

00:40:40

"I don't know what to say. That's intimidating.

00:40:42

Okay, I get it. I just don't know what to say."

00:40:44

Well, come back for the rest of the series.

00:40:46

The rest of the series will help you

00:40:47

with the what to say part today.

00:40:49

My goal is just to bother you and go like,

00:40:51

"Dang it, it's not optional."

00:40:53

Yeah, it's not optional. It's not.

00:40:55

I do have good news for you though.

00:40:57

The good news is that you are already perfectly equipped

00:41:01

to reach the people you're already around already.

00:41:06

You know when you're a missionary,

00:41:07

the reports back from the front lines are that

00:41:09

it takes five years to become fluent in the language.

00:41:14

Because the language is not just like the spoken words.

00:41:18

That takes about 2 years, 2-3 years if you're immersed.

00:41:21

It takes another two years, though, because

00:41:23

there's an unspoken language called the culture.

00:41:26

You also have to learn that.

00:41:27

You have to learn the needs of the people.

00:41:29

You have to contextualize the gospel to them.

00:41:31

That's about a five year window just to get okay at it.

00:41:35

But do you know that you already speak

00:41:37

the language of the people you're already around?

00:41:40

My friend in the design department, it turned out

00:41:42

her and I had common language.

00:41:43

We both loved art. We both loved design.

00:41:45

I had a new apartment. She had a new house.

00:41:47

We were both decorating.

00:41:48

We found common ground, common languages.

00:41:51

When I was in college, I was in a fraternity.

00:41:53

I spoke fraternity, and so I shared the gospel

00:41:56

in the language of my frat brothers.

00:41:59

You, maybe you're a mom who's always in the line of preschool.

00:42:04

You speak preschool mom in line. Great.

00:42:08

Maybe you're like me and you're a parent

00:42:10

on the sideline of your kids games all the time.

00:42:13

I'll be there again later today.

00:42:15

Guess what? You speak parent on the sidelines.

00:42:19

You're awesome at it. You know what it feels like.

00:42:22

And I'll just say maybe, just maybe,

00:42:24

you're not there because your kid's going to become

00:42:26

an Olympic soccer player.

00:42:27

Maybe you're there because Jesus wants you

00:42:30

to share the gospel with them.

00:42:32

In fact, that's exactly why you're there.

00:42:33

You're there for no other reason. That's why.

00:42:36

It's the same with your work.

00:42:37

It's the same with your neighborhood.

00:42:39

It's the same with everything in

00:42:40

the bullseye where God has placed you.

00:42:44

I do think we have a Ted Lasso sign, by the way,

00:42:48

as believers in Jesus.

00:42:49

And I think our Ted Lasso sign is pretty simple:

00:42:52

Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?

00:42:56

Here I am! Send me.

00:43:00

I think this is the sign that Jesus wishes

00:43:03

we would all hit on our way out of church.

00:43:06

I think this is the sign He wishes we'd go,

00:43:07

"Man, I was just in the locker room.

00:43:09

I was just fired up. I was just convicted.

00:43:11

I was just pushed and now I'm entering the mission field.

00:43:13

And so on the way out, I want to hit the sign

00:43:15

and say, "I'm in. Here I am! Send me.

00:43:18

The rest of my day, the rest of my week,

00:43:20

wherever I am, God, You can send me."

00:43:23

Now, actually, today we have these signs

00:43:25

on the doors on the way out, and if you want to,

00:43:27

you can hit it on your way out.

00:43:29

But before you do, I want you to close your eyes.

00:43:32

Everyone, just close your eyes. Almost done.

00:43:35

If you're not a believer in Jesus,

00:43:36

I want you to picture somebody you know who is.

00:43:40

And I want you to commit to asking them questions

00:43:43

this week because you have a big unanswered question

00:43:46

that demands a conclusion, which is:

00:43:48

is Jesus who He said He is?

00:43:50

And I'll tell you, if you would just ask a question

00:43:52

that person in your life,

00:43:54

they'd be so honored to talk to you.

00:43:56

Don't expect them to have every answer to everything,

00:43:58

but they can speak from their experience.

00:44:00

They can share their stories of what it means

00:44:02

for them and where they were.

00:44:03

And I think that will help you tremendously.

00:44:05

And if you are a believer in Jesus, keep your eyes closed,

00:44:07

I want you to ask God to put a picture

00:44:10

of someone or a group of someones in your life

00:44:14

who you're going to see over the next week.

00:44:18

Now, if your answer is here I am, send me,

00:44:26

to those people, to the call He has on you

00:44:29

to be a missionary and to reach them.

00:44:30

If your answer is here I am, send me,

00:44:32

on your way out today, I want you to hit the sign.

00:44:36

God, thank You so much for Your call

00:44:38

and Your invitation to be part of Your Kingdom,

00:44:40

part of pushing this thing forward.

00:44:42

God, I just bless You for Your wisdom

00:44:44

and I'm asking for courage in all of us.

00:44:47

God, would You give us the courage and the conviction

00:44:49

to act as Your hands and feet?

00:44:50

I'm asking for the blessing of that

00:44:53

when we use our tongues, we would see the fruit

00:44:55

and the joy and the unimaginable purpose

00:44:57

that comes with getting to share Your gospel. Amen.

00:45:02

- Hey, thanks for joining us this week.

00:45:04

The biggest thing that stood out to me

00:45:05

from Kyle's message is that if you want to start

00:45:07

to see change in your life,

00:45:09

but you're not actually doing anything about it,

00:45:11

that means you're just dreaming and not seeking.

00:45:14

If you want to start to see new things, start seeking.

00:45:17

Specifically, if you want to start to see change

00:45:19

in your life or the lives of people around you,

00:45:22

start by seeking more of Jesus.

00:45:24

And we know that because of what the Bible tells us,

00:45:26

He promises to meet us in that journey,

00:45:29

you just have to be the one to start.

00:45:30

There are so many people around Crossroads

00:45:32

that would love to walk alongside you

00:45:34

in your seeking, no matter where you live.

00:45:36

And if you're ready to commit to seeking to new things,

00:45:39

whether that be physically, mentally,

00:45:41

relationally, spiritually,

00:45:43

screenshot your screen right now

00:45:44

and make this graphic the wallpaper on your phone

00:45:47

for the next week to remind you of that commitment

00:45:49

you're making to be inspired, be motivated

00:45:52

and be changed.

00:45:53

We're in this together because I'm doing it too.

00:45:55

Because something I've wanted in my life

00:45:58

is more boldness in my faith.

00:45:59

So it's my wallpaper as well,

00:46:02

and we're in it as community.

00:46:03

And I am committing in front of all of you

00:46:06

that I am going to be, I'm going to boldly proclaim

00:46:09

Jesus in an organic conversation with someone

00:46:11

who may not believe the same thing as me this week.

00:46:14

So remember, this is a community you're a part of.

00:46:17

Thanks for being in it. Thanks for watching.

00:46:19

And this week, go reach your people.

Recent Series