Run Your Race With Endurance | Paul’s Secret to Spiritual Breakthrough

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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads.

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What if the difference between your life today

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and what your life could be is endurance?

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- Yeah that's right, just not quitting,

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keeping the course, staying in the race, man.

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Nobody accidentally wins a prize, right?

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In the same way, we have to figure out

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what it looks like to endure.

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Today as we continue with week three of the Run Journey,

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we're actually going to be looking at the life of Paul

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and as he entered the city of Athens,

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where things sort of click,

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but it didn't just come out of nowhere.

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It was because all kinds of training,

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all kinds of discipline

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and all kinds of endurance came to a head.

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- Yeah, endurance certainly isn't easy. It's not flashy.

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For me it is like every day, little decisions that

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get me to the place of not quitting and just persevering.

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- That's right. And that kind of endurance

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is only possible when we, like a good runner

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or a good athlete, like, we have our attention

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and our focus pointed in the right direction.

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So we're actually going to start off our time right now

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by doing that, by focusing our attention

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and getting in the right headspace

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of what we want more of, and that's more of God.

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So we're going to start off our time with worship,

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with our normal worship leaders Cash and Justin,

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but also with a guest and friend of the community

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named Dante Bowe, who's going to be leading worship

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with us right now.

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So wherever you are, we'd love for you to sing

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and stand with us and focus on the race

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God has for you to run right now.

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- Come on, church, just lift up a shout of praise.

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And I don't know what you came in carrying,

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but we want you to know you got a Good Shepherd.

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A good shepherd that walks with you,

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protects you, provides for you.

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Good Shepherd's name is Jesus.

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And we're getting ready to sing this song all about blood,

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all about the blood of Jesus.

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And if you're brand new with us,

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let's just call it what it is.

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It might be weird to you that a group of people

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would sing about blood, but here's why.

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Because that Good Shepherd named Jesus ran His race

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that cost Him blood, sweat, and tears.

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And I have found life because of His blood,

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because of His sacrifice.

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By His blood I'm more free.

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So why would we sing about blood?

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Because there's not death in it; there's life.

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And my life has forever been changed by it.

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Come on, Donte. [applause]

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- Thank you, Jesus, for Your blood, for the way

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that You have sacrificed for us to have new life,

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to have eternal life, to have forever life with You.

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That when we say yes to You, we get to experience

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the way, God, that You've always designed it.

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And that's for us to be with You, that You're amazing

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and You're worth our worship and our praise.

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And we thank You, and we say Amen. Amen.

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Come on, ain't it wonderful to sing in this room together?

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[cheers] - Yeah. Come on.

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I'm sure somebody around you has been singing their heart out.

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Why don't you turn to 'em, introduce yourself,

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tell 'em your name, and then you can have a seat.

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- You're stronger than you think

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and God loves you more than you know.

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And there is territory He wants you to take.

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Some things you just have to experience firsthand.

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- Man, I love that video.

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It's a perfect picture of one of my favorite seasons

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that is coming up right around the corner.

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That is our spring camp season. It's amazing.

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We have incredible camps like, uh, Couples Camp,

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Mother and Daughter Camp, Father/Son Camp.

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Yeah, you know what I mean? Couples Camp,

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Father/Son Camp, Mother/Daughter Camp, and Veterans' Camp.

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- Yes, it is a male Veterans' Camp coming up this spring,

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but at Woman Camp in the fall,

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we have something very special for our female veterans.

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So we hope to see you there.

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- That's right. It's an incredible opportunity.

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Like, I don't know how many things you have

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on your calendar right now

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that have the chance to fill you up later,

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like, beyond just a vacation or whatever.

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This is something that could fill you up relationally,

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spiritually, all of it. It's so good.

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We'd highly, highly recommend you check it out.

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And it's actually the best deal we have.

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It's the lowest price we'll have all year

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is happening right now, but it actually ends today.

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- Today. - Today.

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- By the way, if you're brand new, what is camp?

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Where do I go? What does it look like?

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- So we have some beautiful land in southwestern Ohio

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that is like primitive camping.

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You might be a camper. You might have never camped.

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This is the perfect, perfect on ramp into camping

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and having an incredible time with your spouse,

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or with your daughter or son or fellow veterans.

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It's incredible. We'd love for you to check it out.

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All the details at crossroads.net/camps.

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But talk a little about Couples Camp.

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- I'm pumped about Couples Camp. It's at the end of April.

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My husband and I go every year.

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We're going, of course, this year.

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It is adorable when you see all the little newlyweds

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come to Couples Camp.

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And then, of course, you've got couples

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who are on the brink of divorce

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who also show up to Couples Camp

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and everywhere in between.

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And my husband and I have shown up in both categories,

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honestly, and it has been an incredible way

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to connect with our community and really

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just to reconnect year after year as a rhythm in our life.

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And so we're really excited about it.

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- That's right. And we've got

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a special guest hosting this year, right?

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- Yes, Jennie Allen is coming.

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Jennie Allen is a New York Times best selling author.

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She is a huge part of really getting revival going

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around the globe through her IF gathering

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that is globally, over a million people attend,

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a bunch of stuff. She's fantastic.

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- That's amazing. So highly recommend you check out

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all of our camps coming up.

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But all the stuff that happens around here.

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All of it, whether it's camps, whether it's

00:16:45

the service that you're watching right now, all of it,

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the stuff that we do around the globe.

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It happens because people are faithful and generous.

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And so we know you don't do it for applause.

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But if you're one of those folks, hey,

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I just want to say thank you.

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If you might be new around here, you might say like,

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hey, what is Crossroads believe about money?

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Or what's their ethic around money?

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Hey, all of that info as well at Crossroads.net/give.

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So we're going to continue on

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as we jump into week three of the Run Journey right now.

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- I'm running on stage because it's the Run Journey.

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That felt appropriate.

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I don't know how your group went that this past week.

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Anybody finished the week two board in your group,

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get all the way? Wow. Good job by you.

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It is tough. Every time you pick the wrong question

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we go back eight miles. I'm like what?

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And then we all share for the golden question

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we only get five. Who made this game? Unbelievable.

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By the way, if you're brand new,

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welcome to the Run Journey.

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I'll give you a quick catch up.

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Basic premise is that no matter who you are,

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you have a race to run, a God given race,

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territory that He wants you to take.

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And He wants you to not just run, but win.

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And the only way to do that is to learn to run it God's way.

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The model that we're following and how to do that

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is Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament

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and is the only one who ever said,

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follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.

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And so that's what we're doing.

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One of our key pieces of Scripture

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is what he wrote in Romans 5.

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Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings,

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knowing that suffering produces endurance,

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and endurance produces character,

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and character produces hope.

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There's a progression that God wants in your life

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to make a better, more hopeful, stronger,

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filled with His power you.

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That's what we're after in this thing.

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Last week, Alli Patterson talked about suffering.

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An amazing, amazing message. Amazing.

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Literally one of the most powerful messages

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I think I've ever heard.

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If you missed it. Do yourself a favor.

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Go back and watch it,

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crossroads.net or it's in our app,

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which you can find for free in the App Store. Catch up.

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Today is about endurance.

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The point of suffering isn't just to suffer.

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The point of suffering is to produce endurance.

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So we're talking about that today.

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I have endured in many ways in my life.

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One as a parent. I have three children,

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and I have endured.

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Are there any first time parents in here?

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You're here. Actually, you don't have to raise your hand.

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We can we can identify you

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because you've got like three diaper bags.

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You know? Your trunk is stuffed with 9 kinds of strollers.

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Once you have, like, more than a couple kids,

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you sell the strollers.

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In fact, if you have 3 or 4 kids,

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I know that you're a parent

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because you don't have a diaper bag.

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In fact, you don't have any diapers.

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If your kid makes a mess in their pants,

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you just like, take it off, shake it out

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and just put it right back on.

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It's not even supposed to be reusable, right?

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You're just like, "You're fine, you're fine."

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If God ever blesses you so mightily

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as to only have one child for the evening,

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you call it date night and you praise Him.

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You're like, this is great. Easy with one. Why is that?

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It's because God increases your capacity.

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Endurance leads to character.

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Endurance leads to increase capacity.

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You literally hold kid number two and three

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with stronger arms because you've endured

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raising kid number one.

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That's what we're talking about today.

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Each week of this journey, we've been visiting

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a new place in Paul's race.

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And today we're going to the city of Athens.

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It's the place that maybe most models endurance in Paul's race,

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in part because it happens smack dab in the middle.

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There's 17 years from Paul's conversion

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to when he steps foot in Athens,

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and then 16 years from Athens until his death in Rome.

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He goes to 37 cities and regions before Athens

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and 35 after. So it's right in the middle.

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Just like every week, today we're going to start with

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a virtual pilgrimage. Let's go to Athens.

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- Welcome back to Real Encounters

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Season 5, the Run Journey.

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We are here again in Turkey and in Greece

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really just uncovering in this third week

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the life of Paul even more.

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We've been to Tarsus and to Philippi so far.

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And this week is good news because we talked about

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suffering last week, and on the other side of suffering

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is honestly a gift, the reward of having endurance.

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And we see Paul have that in a space called Athens.

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Hit us with what's going on in Athens

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that would kind of take Paul there,

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that would really make him a guy who could endure there.

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- Sure. Yeah. I mean, Athens is amazing. It's so famous.

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And it was obviously in the ancient world

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because Athens was really the birthplace

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of all the things that Greek culture has brought to us,

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you know, democracy, for instance,

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you know, architecture, mathematics, philosophy,

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all the things that Western culture

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and civilization is built on were kind of born in Athens.

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So Athens was incredibly important in ancient Greece.

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It was one of the three great cities of ancient Greece.

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And it's just famous as it was in Paul's time.

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It had the greatest building in ancient Greece

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was the Parthenon, which sits up

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on the Acropolis overlooking Athens.

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And this is the city to which Paul came.

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Now, but what's great for us is that

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when we go there today, we see

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what the archeologists have uncovered and preserved.

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And again, we get the context of Paul's time there.

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- I'm interested, Nurullah, in your context,

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what does endurance look like for you

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as you kind of keep pressing towards

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and using what you have from learning from suffering?

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What does that look like?

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- Yeah, and when I think of all of that, actually,

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I think the world we live in today is like Athens, right?

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With all the worldviews around us,

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and especially with the content that I produce online.

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Right? I'm bombarded with questions and comments

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from atheists, agnostics and Muslims.

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And so I am not only to respond to all these things,

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but also to stand firm in my faith

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and sometimes to endure those offensive ones as well,

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because not all of those people who are making

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those comments are very nice.

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You know, sometimes they are very aggressive

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and some people are very shocked.

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They're like, "How are you able to, like,

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respond with such patience and such a soft way?"

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And of course, I do not claim any credit for myself

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because as a, you know, a fallen human being,

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I would not be able to do that by myself.

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But it is all through the power, strength

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and endurance that I received from Jesus. Right?

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- That is the life of Paul. That's what he does.

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He endures well.

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And so we're going to head to Athens to learn

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what he has to say about our lives

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and what it might mean for our own journey.

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- Welcome to Athens.

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One of the most influential cities in the world

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for 3000 years and counting.

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This is the birthplace of democracy.

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This is where the Olympics were created.

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This is where we get our Western ideals of culture

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and philosophy in art.

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To call this place historic falls far short.

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It's like calling a Leonardo painting decent.

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It's not historic. This place is a living legend.

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And the crown jewel of the entire place

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is this building right here.

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This is the Parthenon perched on the Acropolis,

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the tallest rock in the city.

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It sits like a king on the mountain

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overlooking the entire city.

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It was constructed in the fifth century BC,

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and it has seen some things.

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One example, year 334, Alexander the Great.

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Maybe you heard of him.

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He defeated the Persian army and decided to celebrate

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by hanging his shields on the side of the Parthenon.

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You can still see the holes and the circles

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from those shields 2300 years later.

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By the time Paul walked into this city,

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this place was already ancient and legendary.

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Now also up on the Acropolis are other temples around.

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We have the temple to the goddess Nike, for instance.

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One that may have influenced Paul's writings

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that goddess Nike is often depicted in sculptures

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holding a victor's wreath, ready to place it

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on the head of the winner of the race.

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Now, in those days, the victor's wreath

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was made of laurel leaves.

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Nowadays, in the city you can buy lots of souvenirs,

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they're made of gold

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or more likely, plastic and metal painted.

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Sorry, Gracie, I bought you one.

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It's not real gold. Now, you know.

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But back in those days, they wilted very quickly

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because they were natural.

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Maybe this is where Paul got the idea

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that he put forward in 1 Corinthians 9

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about the wreath that doesn't fade.

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Paul wrote these words:

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Everyone who competes in the games

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goes into strict training.

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They do it to get a crown that will not last,

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but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

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Is that what happened? I don't know.

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What I do know is that for millions of people,

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for thousands of years coming to this city

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has been on their bucket list.

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And so what did Paul feel when he finally

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walked into the city of legends?

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Well, all indications are, meh.

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Seriously, there's no writing he ever says

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where he wants to come to Athens.

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He only stays here for a few weeks.

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And there's nothing to say he ever came back.

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Coming here, as beautiful and as magnificent as it is,

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was not on his radar.

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But it was on God's map for Paul's race.

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And so when he got here, Paul was ready.

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Before coming to Athens, Paul had been in Berea

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and Thessalonica and gotten run out of town both times.

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He had left behind his buddies Silas and Timothy

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to finish unfinished business there,

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and came here to Athens to wait for them.

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For Paul, this is basically a long layover

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in a really cool place.

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Now, Paul wouldn't have known it, but this was

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smack in the middle of his missionary journey.

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In the middle is significant because the middle is

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the time in the race where most of us

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start to change our pace just a little.

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We start to slow down, stop pushing as hard,

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stop grinding.

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The disciplines and the habits that got us here

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start to have cracks.

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But for Paul, he decided to walk around the city.

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He could have, by the way, kicked his feet up.

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That would have made all the sense in the world.

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No one here was expecting anything from him.

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He could have gone on vacation,

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stuck in the metaphorical AirPods, put on his shades

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and just gone and hung out at the beach.

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Would have been great.

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But instead, Paul decides to dive head first into the city.

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He came here to this place, the Agora,

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the center place of the city, the heart of the city

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where business and shops and restaurants,

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government buildings, meeting places were all right here.

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And another thing, as he walked around, he noticed

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that there were also idols and altars every where.

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Behind me is actually an altar to the god Zeus.

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Now, in its prime, there would have been

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a giant statue of Zeus on this altar,

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steps that led up

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and places for people to make offerings to him.

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Paul saw this altar,

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and he also mentions another one that he saw,

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an altar to an unknown god with no statue,

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because they didn't know who he was.

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And Paul, that bothered him deeply,

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so deeply he decided to take action.

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Here's how the story goes in Acts 17:

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Now, while Paul was waiting for them in Athens,

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his spirit was provoked within him

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as he saw that the city was full of idols.

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So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews

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and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day

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with those who happen to be there.

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When Paul sees all the idols in the city,

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the Scripture says that he's provoked.

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That word means sharply poked, like in the ribs

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with a sword or a spear or something.

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This is significant because the middle of the race

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is when most of us start to get desensitized

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to the needs of people around us,

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to the promptings and leadings of God in our life.

00:29:38

But not Paul.

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Rather than become more self dependent,

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Paul becomes more God dependent,

00:29:45

more sensitive to His leading,

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more understanding that when He gives me a poke

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and He gives me a prompt, I need to lean in and pay attention.

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Paul does this because he trusts the race.

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He trusts the path that God has laid out for him,

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the one he describes in Romans 5.

00:30:04

We rejoice in our sufferings,

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knowing that suffering produces endurance,

00:30:09

and endurance produces character,

00:30:11

and character produces hope,

00:30:13

and hope does not put us to shame.

00:30:16

The first time I heard that verse,

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I heard the translation that said persevere.

00:30:21

And I just thought, "Oh, okay, so you you suffer

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and then you just have to like, suffer more."

00:30:26

Because when I think of perseverance,

00:30:28

perseverance is like, grit your teeth and get through it.

00:30:30

Just hold on tight and hope that it's over soon.

00:30:33

But that's not the word.

00:30:35

The word is actually cheerful, hopeful endurance.

00:30:39

It's a reward that you get.

00:30:41

The definition I would give to endurance

00:30:43

is it's the capacity to persevere

00:30:45

and it's a capacity that God promises to increase

00:30:48

in your life as you move through suffering.

00:30:52

This is the gospel story that from death comes life,

00:30:56

from suffering becomes a capacity and a strength

00:31:00

that you did not used to have.

00:31:02

This is the journey and it leads to breakthrough.

00:31:06

There is no such thing as spiritual breakthrough

00:31:09

unless you stay the heck with it.

00:31:12

Endurance is an absolute essential.

00:31:15

When Jesus talked about praying, for example,

00:31:18

He said, "You know, when you pray, just keep going.

00:31:22

Don't stop. The reason you're not seeing

00:31:24

more breakthrough in your prayer

00:31:25

is because you're quitting too early. Keep on going.

00:31:28

Keep knocking, keep asking, and then you'll see breakthrough."

00:31:33

This is what Paul does.

00:31:35

At a time when most people would have kicked their feet up

00:31:39

and gone into vacation mode, Paul goes on the offensive.

00:31:45

Interference, playing defense; endurance, playing offense.

00:31:50

Paul came here to the middle of the city.

00:31:53

We're on a street in the middle of the agora,

00:31:55

between two Stoas, these large covered porches

00:31:59

where the Stoics, hence the name Stoa,

00:32:01

would sit and have conversations.

00:32:04

There's actually a rebuilt one over my shoulder

00:32:06

in the distance, you can see the long colonnade,

00:32:09

and the beautiful tile roof.

00:32:11

It gives you a flavor for what this would have

00:32:13

looked like in Paul's time.

00:32:14

Paul walks in here and he starts to have

00:32:17

conversations with people.

00:32:19

And unfortunately, but probably not surprisingly

00:32:23

to Paul by this point in his race,

00:32:24

not everyone's a fan of what he has to say.

00:32:27

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers

00:32:30

also conversed with him.

00:32:32

And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?"

00:32:35

Babbler means rag picker

00:32:38

or alludes to the idea of a rag picker.

00:32:41

Back in the day, there were scraps of rags around,

00:32:45

and there were people who would grab the scraps

00:32:47

and they'd try to sew them together

00:32:49

into some kind of a blanket abomination thing.

00:32:53

And so the people are saying, "Well, this is you, Paul.

00:32:55

You're grabbing these little scraps of ideas.

00:32:57

This is interesting. You're just picking them up

00:32:59

and you're assembling them into just an absolute mess."

00:33:03

This is basically a smart person way

00:33:04

of saying you're really stupid with just a lot more words,

00:33:07

which doesn't really sound that smart to me.

00:33:09

But anyway, that's what they say.

00:33:11

And Paul is not put off.

00:33:14

This is actually a point in our race

00:33:16

that many of us are going to have to learn to endure.

00:33:19

Can you endure criticism? Can you handle pushback?

00:33:23

When people come against the ideas that you have,

00:33:26

or the calling on your life or the race

00:33:28

that you feel like God has for you to run,

00:33:30

can you endure the judgment that might come your way?

00:33:34

Can you endure being misunderstood?

00:33:38

This is a critical part of the race, and for Paul,

00:33:41

he had the capacity to push through it and keep going.

00:33:46

Here's how the story continues.

00:33:49

Others said, "He seems to be a preacher

00:33:51

of foreign divinities," because he was preaching

00:33:53

Jesus and the resurrection.

00:33:55

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus,

00:33:58

saying, "May we know what this new teaching is

00:34:02

that you are presenting?

00:34:03

For you bring some strange things to our ears.

00:34:06

We wish to know, therefore, what these things mean."

00:34:09

Their tone wasn't. "Oh, Paul, that's so interesting.

00:34:13

We have a book club that meets up on the hill.

00:34:16

Do you want to come with us

00:34:17

and share some of your interesting philosophy?

00:34:20

We can drink rosé, eat some charcuterie. It'll be great."

00:34:23

That's not what's happening here.

00:34:25

This is a serious accusation:

00:34:28

You are preaching foreign gods. We must know more.

00:34:32

And they take them up to this place where we are right now.

00:34:37

This is the famed Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill.

00:34:40

It's the place where the Archons of the city would retire to.

00:34:45

What's an archon?

00:34:46

Well, the Archons were the general ruling class in Greece.

00:34:50

They were nine of them.

00:34:52

And though by Paul's time they weren't

00:34:53

the absolute rulers in the city,

00:34:56

they did hold some measure of power,

00:34:58

particularly over the courts and over law.

00:35:02

And when the archons would retire,

00:35:03

they'd be automatically added as part of the Areopagus.

00:35:07

Something like a court that held something like trials

00:35:11

against people who had these accusations

00:35:13

brought against them.

00:35:15

We know that they heard cases around homicide,

00:35:18

arson, and religious cases.

00:35:21

In fact, if you rewind the clock 400 years,

00:35:24

there's a famous case that matters greatly

00:35:26

for this moment that Paul finds himself in.

00:35:28

It's the trial of Socrates in 399 BC.

00:35:32

Socrates is brought in front of the same body,

00:35:35

the Areopagus, under the same allegations,

00:35:38

preaching foreign gods.

00:35:41

And in Socrates' case they find him guilty

00:35:44

and order him to be executed.

00:35:46

They force him to drink hemlock poison, and he dies.

00:35:49

Now for Paul, growing up in Tarsus,

00:35:52

the Athens of the East, home of philosophy,

00:35:55

being well educated, he knew of that case.

00:35:59

He understood from the moment they said,

00:36:01

"Preaching foreign gods, let's go to the Areopagus,"

00:36:05

that this could turn out very, very poorly for him.

00:36:09

And yet Paul chooses to endure.

00:36:12

Paul does not back down.

00:36:13

What he does next is proceed to give

00:36:16

the absolute masterclass on how you share the gospel

00:36:21

in a language that someone else can actually understand.

00:36:25

Here's the start of his message in Acts 17:

00:36:28

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said,

00:36:31

"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way

00:36:35

you are very religious.

00:36:37

For as I passed along

00:36:38

and observed the object of your worship,

00:36:40

I found also an altar with this inscription:

00:36:43

'To the unknown God.'

00:36:44

What therefore you worship as unknown

00:36:47

this I proclaim to you."

00:36:49

Paul is brilliant here.

00:36:51

He finds common ground and a way

00:36:53

to even encourage them and affirm them.

00:36:56

He goes, "I notice that you're very religious.

00:36:58

In fact, I actually found when I was down in the agora

00:37:03

an altar to an unknown God, one you already worship.

00:37:07

I'm not preaching about foreign gods.

00:37:10

I'm preaching about one of your gods.

00:37:12

All I want to do is tell you about

00:37:15

the God you already worship." Brilliant.

00:37:18

He breaks down their objections.

00:37:20

He opens ears and he proceeds to share the gospel,

00:37:24

the message of Jesus in a language that

00:37:26

these Greek people could actually understand.

00:37:30

It's amazing.

00:37:31

If you ever come to Crossroads and enjoyed a message,

00:37:34

you've ever had a moment where you were like,

00:37:36

"It felt like you were talking to me.

00:37:37

It felt like you understood me."

00:37:39

Well, the foundation of how we preach

00:37:41

and how we communicate, you can trace to

00:37:43

exactly this moment on this hill,

00:37:45

Paul in front of the Areopagus, sharing the gospel.

00:37:49

Brilliant.

00:37:50

Now, not surprisingly, but unfortunately,

00:37:53

Paul's taking heat for this.

00:37:55

There are theologians over the centuries

00:37:56

who've taken shots at him, who said

00:37:58

he must have been out of his mind in this moment,

00:38:00

or this isn't the real message that he gave.

00:38:03

Luke must have edited the words in Acts

00:38:05

and left some stuff out, because surely

00:38:07

he wouldn't have watered down the gospel.

00:38:10

He didn't water it down.

00:38:11

He made it refreshing in a way that they wanted to pick up

00:38:15

and actually drink.

00:38:16

Because Paul, in this moment, he's successful.

00:38:20

His endurance pays off.

00:38:23

It's not that everyone claps their hands

00:38:25

or asks how to be saved, but there are definitely people

00:38:29

who, at the end of his speech say, "I want to know more."

00:38:34

See, in a moment when most others would have

00:38:37

kicked back and relaxed, would have leaned out,

00:38:41

Paul leaned in.

00:38:43

In a moment where many others would have decided

00:38:46

to put down their arms, Paul takes them up

00:38:51

and says, "Today, I have good news for you."

00:38:55

Paul has a secret that you and I have to have

00:38:58

if we're going to follow Jesus, we're going to win our race.

00:39:00

The Jesus mindset of running with endurance.

00:39:03

Hebrews 12 puts it this way:

00:39:06

Therefore, since we're surrounded by

00:39:08

so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also

00:39:11

lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,

00:39:14

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

00:39:18

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,

00:39:21

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross,

00:39:25

despising the shame,

00:39:26

and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

00:39:30

This week we're talking about endurance.

00:39:32

This is the next step for us to understand

00:39:35

if we want to win our race, if we want to run

00:39:38

the way that Jesus wants us to run,

00:39:40

we have to increase our capacity to endure.

00:40:07

- We go from Athens as it looks today

00:40:10

to Athens as it looked back then.

00:40:13

This is actually the same building that we just saw,

00:40:15

the Parthenon as it originally looked.

00:40:18

It was painted, had sculptures everywhere,

00:40:21

gold and iron and ivory. It was incredible.

00:40:27

This building is a picture of what we're talking about,

00:40:30

a picture of endurance.

00:40:33

It stood in the same place for 2400 years.

00:40:38

You might think, well, it must be like in a lucky place,

00:40:40

right? Maybe. No earthquakes.

00:40:42

No, actually, it's the opposite. Lots of earthquakes.

00:40:44

This thing has endured hundreds of them.

00:40:47

It's seen the rise and the fall of the empire

00:40:49

that built it, the Greeks.

00:40:50

It's seen the rise in the fall

00:40:52

of the one that came next, the Romans.

00:40:53

It's even been shot at and blown up.

00:40:57

In the year 1657 the Ottomans controlled this area

00:41:01

and they needed a place to store their gunpowder,

00:41:03

and so they decided, "That'll work."

00:41:06

And they use it as a storage locker.

00:41:08

The Venetians came by to attack Athens.

00:41:11

They couldn't land on the ground.

00:41:12

They had ships in the harbor.

00:41:13

And so one guy said, "What if we shot a cannon at that?"

00:41:17

Hit the gunpowder and blew out the side in the roof.

00:41:21

They've literally been repairing it ever since.

00:41:23

In fact, when we were there, it was the first time

00:41:25

in 200 years there were no scaffolding

00:41:27

on the outside of the building.

00:41:29

They took it down about a week before we got there.

00:41:31

They put it up just after we left.

00:41:33

Crazy crazy crazy crazy.

00:41:35

Now it's a picture of endurance, not because it's old.

00:41:39

It's a picture of endurance because it suffered greatly

00:41:43

and it's still standing.

00:41:46

I think when Paul came to this city,

00:41:47

he resonated with that structure.

00:41:49

He could see his own story in it.

00:41:52

As we heard in that video, Paul got here.

00:41:55

He didn't just go sightseeing.

00:41:57

He didn't stay on the top of the hill

00:41:59

and admire the beautiful building.

00:42:01

Instead, he went down to the marketplace.

00:42:04

He got to know the people and their culture

00:42:07

and their ideas.

00:42:08

He decided to endure in his race.

00:42:11

And what he learned there started to bother him.

00:42:15

Bothered him so greatly that he started talking about it.

00:42:18

And what that did is it ended him up

00:42:20

in the middle of a storm, took him to the top of a hill

00:42:24

where he was in front of the Areopagus

00:42:26

on trial for his life.

00:42:29

A storm that he did not ask for, maybe didn't deserve,

00:42:32

but it was there anyway.

00:42:35

See, on a sunny day you don't need endurance,

00:42:37

you just need patience. You just, you just wait.

00:42:40

But when the storm comes, when the rain starts,

00:42:45

the call becomes to endure.

00:42:50

And what you and I have to understand from the beginning

00:42:52

is that God's not so interested in changing the weather.

00:42:56

He's interested in changing us.

00:43:00

As a human I think we have two main reactions

00:43:02

when there's a storm that we need to endure.

00:43:04

One reaction is anger. It's defy the storm.

00:43:08

And why are you here? And shout at it.

00:43:10

In my life, I've never shouted away a storm.

00:43:13

Maybe that's worked for you. Doesn't work for me.

00:43:16

Knee jerk reaction number two is not just anger,

00:43:18

it's fear. It's, "Oh, no, this is horrible.

00:43:20

I gotta run, run, leave the storm."

00:43:22

But if we do that, we'll miss out on

00:43:25

what enduring the storm will produce in our life,

00:43:27

the character that God wants to build in us.

00:43:32

Storms can be hurricanes.

00:43:33

Maybe you're in one right now and you're racing

00:43:35

there's something that feels like

00:43:36

an overwhelming hurricane.

00:43:38

It's just gonna batter you to your knees.

00:43:41

It can also feel like a drip a day, you know,

00:43:44

just drip, drip.

00:43:46

Another diaper and another diaper.

00:43:49

Maybe you're in school, it's homework.

00:43:51

It feels like all your teachers get together

00:43:54

at the start of the day and they're like,

00:43:55

"How can we absolutely crush him?

00:43:57

How can we make her evening awful?"

00:44:00

You know, they're like, "Why am I even doing geometry?"

00:44:03

It's it's not because you're going to

00:44:04

ever need to find the cosine of anything, I promise.

00:44:08

But it's that the work of enduring changes you.

00:44:11

Maybe you're in business and it's rising costs

00:44:14

and it's staffing issues.

00:44:15

Maybe that's what you're enduring.

00:44:16

Whatever it is, the point is,

00:44:18

God doesn't want to change the weather,

00:44:20

He wants to change you.

00:44:22

And we have to understand that

00:44:24

if we're going to get to the place of endurance

00:44:26

that produces character.

00:44:29

Character is what God's after.

00:44:30

You know, every storm I've ever been in in my life,

00:44:32

it humbles me.

00:44:34

It's like it like grabs my weaknesses,

00:44:37

all the places where I don't know what to do,

00:44:39

and it shoves them in front of my face.

00:44:42

And guess what? That's what God wants.

00:44:45

That's exactly what He wants.

00:44:46

Endurance produces character.

00:44:49

In fact, the first step,

00:44:50

I've got four steps to endurance for you today.

00:44:52

First step is to admit your weaknesses.

00:44:57

So it's happened to me over the last couple of weeks.

00:45:00

My job is to lead our staff and lead our church.

00:45:04

And you might know that our church is going through

00:45:06

some things right now, some difficulties,

00:45:08

and that has taken my weaknesses and my shortcomings,

00:45:11

and it's shoved them in front of my face.

00:45:14

People ask me, "How are you doing?"

00:45:15

And the most honest answer is, "I feel like an empty cup.

00:45:20

I feel like a jar that was full, but man,

00:45:24

the wind just like knocked it over.

00:45:26

And all the water, all the water, it's gone.

00:45:29

It poured into the sand. The sun came out.

00:45:31

It's all. It's all gone."

00:45:32

And people keep coming up to me wanting a drink.

00:45:35

And I'm like, "I got, I got nothing. I got nothing."

00:45:40

The verse that God's used to sharpen me in this,

00:45:44

to develop my character in this is this one:

00:45:46

2 Corinthians 4:7, it says:

00:45:50

But we have this treasure in jars of clay

00:45:55

to show that the all-surpassing power is from God

00:45:58

and not from us.

00:45:59

We're hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;

00:46:03

we're perplexed, but not in despair;

00:46:05

persecuted, but not abandoned;

00:46:07

struck down, but not destroyed.

00:46:11

Now I love the endurance that's in that second part.

00:46:14

Hard pressed, but not crushed. Awesome, love that part.

00:46:16

Does not happen unless you and I admit the first part,

00:46:19

"God, I'm a jar of clay."

00:46:21

You're a jar of clay. "God, I have cracks, I have chips,

00:46:26

I can be empty, I can be broken.

00:46:30

I could fall and I could -- And I could break, God."

00:46:34

If you're not willing to admit your weakness,

00:46:36

there is no path to endurance in your life.

00:46:37

And this fights against everything

00:46:39

you've ever been taught, probably in your whole life.

00:46:41

Don't show your weaknesses.

00:46:42

Why would you do that at work? That's a stupid thing.

00:46:44

Don't admit your failures and your flaws.

00:46:46

Why would you do that? Hide them. Protect them.

00:46:48

When the pressure comes, just tell everybody you're Iron Man.

00:46:51

That's not what Scripture says. No, no, no.

00:46:55

A friend of mine as a means of encouraging me, I think,

00:46:58

he pointed out to me a verse from --

00:47:01

A section from one of Paul's letter, 2 Corinthians 11.

00:47:04

It's like this list where Paul goes like,

00:47:06

"Hey, uh, what have you endured in your life?"

00:47:09

And then he goes, "Hold my beer."

00:47:12

And he goes, "I've been shipwrecked.

00:47:14

I've been starved.

00:47:16

I've been in trouble from robbers and danger,

00:47:18

and I've been naked and I've been afraid. I've been --"

00:47:20

He goes to this whole entire, I've been --

00:47:22

I've been beaten with rods and beaten with whips.

00:47:24

All this stuff, and then at the end of it,

00:47:26

to cap it off, he says this, 2 Corinthians 11:28:

00:47:30

And apart from all the other things,

00:47:33

there is the daily pressure on me

00:47:35

of my anxiety for all the churches.

00:47:37

He goes, "Do you know what's worse than all that stuff?

00:47:40

Church leadership, that's what's worse."

00:47:43

And I'm like, "Paul, I feel seen. I feel so seen.

00:47:47

Yes and amen, Paul. I feel seen."

00:47:52

Listen to what he says next. Here's his very next words.

00:47:55

"Who is weak, and I am not weak?

00:47:59

Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

00:48:02

If I must boast, I will boast of the things

00:48:05

that show my weakness." Weakness.

00:48:10

See, the way to endure is not to fake strength.

00:48:13

The way to endure is to admit your weakness. Why?

00:48:16

Because God doesn't trade power for pride.

00:48:19

Because God doesn't exchange power

00:48:21

for an awesome report card.

00:48:23

God trades power for a show of weakness. Period.

00:48:28

Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 12:

00:48:31

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,

00:48:34

for my power is made perfect in weakness."

00:48:38

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,

00:48:40

so that Christ's power may rest on me.

00:48:43

This is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness,

00:48:46

in insults, in hardships,

00:48:47

in persecutions, in difficulties.

00:48:49

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

00:48:52

Paul got to the point in his race

00:48:54

where he's not just like, I'll survive it.

00:48:56

He goes, I delight in it.

00:48:58

I'm happy to talk about my weaknesses.

00:49:00

I'm happy to take your insults because when I'm weak,

00:49:02

then I am strong.

00:49:03

Step one if you want to endure is to admit your weakness.

00:49:07

Say, God, I'm a jar of clay.

00:49:10

That means I need filled and I need reformed.

00:49:14

Step two is to ask Him to do that.

00:49:16

Ask Him to refill you and ask Him to reform you.

00:49:20

We've been doing a Bible in a year as a community

00:49:22

in the Crossroads App.

00:49:23

There's about 3000 of us doing it.

00:49:25

If you're not doing it, you're welcome to jump in.

00:49:27

We've been in, like, the hard part of the Bible

00:49:29

that you have to endure, right? Like all the lists.

00:49:33

So and so begat so and so begot so and so.

00:49:35

You're like what?

00:49:37

I may have listened to some of it on two x speed in my car.

00:49:41

Just -- Chuck Mingo said he did too, so I think it's okay.

00:49:46

It's okay. Thankfully, we're in the part

00:49:48

where there are stories again.

00:49:49

And the other day we were in Numbers 21

00:49:51

and there was this story that jumped off the page.

00:49:54

This is the part of the story where the nation of Israel

00:49:56

has left Egypt, they're in the Exodus.

00:49:59

And this is what happens. Numbers 21.

00:50:01

And the people spoke against God and against Moses,

00:50:05

"Why have you brought us up out of Egypt

00:50:07

to die in the wilderness?

00:50:08

For there is no food and there's no water,

00:50:11

and we loathe this worthless food."

00:50:14

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people,

00:50:17

and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died.

00:50:22

I'm like, I feel so much better when I get mad at my kids

00:50:25

when they complain about dinner. You know?

00:50:27

I've never been like, "Here, hold this python."

00:50:30

So God did, He's like, "Hey, here's snakes."

00:50:32

And I read that, I was like, wait a minute.

00:50:34

I think there's a story somewhere that Jesus talks about

00:50:36

like, if you ask God for food, he won't give you a snake.

00:50:41

And then I found it. There sure is.

00:50:42

Matthew 7: Jesus said, which one of you,

00:50:46

if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

00:50:49

Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

00:50:53

If you then, who are evil,

00:50:54

know how to give good gifts to your children,

00:50:56

how much more will your Father who is in heaven

00:50:59

give good things to those who ask Him?

00:51:02

It's like, wait, uh, hold on a second.

00:51:05

Isn't that what you did?

00:51:07

Like, isn't there a story where you did the exact same thing?

00:51:10

And then I looked at it closely

00:51:12

and something jumped off the page at me.

00:51:13

Do you know what they didn't do back in Numbers in the Exodus?

00:51:17

They never asked. They just complained.

00:51:20

"God, there's no food. God, I don't have what I need.

00:51:22

God, it's your fault what's happening to me?"

00:51:25

And by the way, complaining to God's okay,

00:51:28

you can complain to God.

00:51:29

Psalms is full of laments.

00:51:31

There's actually a whole book called Lamentations.

00:51:34

It's okay to complain, but don't stop at complaining.

00:51:38

Ask God to fill you and to reform you.

00:51:43

See God loves you. God, He loves you so much.

00:51:46

God loves you exactly as you are.

00:51:50

And He doesn't want you to stay that way.

00:51:53

That's what I'm talking about.

00:51:54

Endurance produces character.

00:51:58

He has more for you.

00:51:59

You can ask God to fill you and to reform you.

00:52:01

And that's what He's after.

00:52:02

The you tomorrow will be better than the you today

00:52:05

if you do that.

00:52:06

In fact, the worst you that will ever exist again

00:52:09

is the you right now if, if you follow God's path

00:52:13

of endurance that leads to character.

00:52:16

A more hopeful you is coming, a more joyful you is coming,

00:52:19

a more powerful you is coming

00:52:21

a more faithful, holy, righteous you is coming.

00:52:23

It's amazing if, if, if you will endure, if.

00:52:28

I think us adults we can believe

00:52:30

that we've stopped growing and that's okay.

00:52:33

They say horizontally, might grow horizontally on accident,

00:52:36

but no, no, no, God wants you to grow.

00:52:39

It never, it never, ever stops.

00:52:41

He's constantly renewing your character, the inner you.

00:52:45

Here's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4.

00:52:48

He says: We do not lose heart.

00:52:50

Though our outer self is wasting away,

00:52:52

our inner self, our character is being renewed day by day.

00:52:58

Ask Him to refill you. Ask Him to reform you.

00:53:02

Third step to endurance, act. Act.

00:53:05

Yes admit, yes act -- or admit, yes ask.

00:53:10

But you also act. Do something.

00:53:13

In our groups this week for our golden question,

00:53:16

we have one every week that everyone's going to answer.

00:53:18

The golden question this week involves reflecting

00:53:20

on this scripture from the section where

00:53:22

Paul talks about all runners run. only one gets the prize,

00:53:25

from that section he says this. 1 Corinthians 9:25:

00:53:29

Everyone who competes in the games

00:53:31

goes into strict training. Strict training.

00:53:35

Now, I think that we hear that word strict

00:53:37

and we're like, "Okay, strict.

00:53:38

That must mean like, uh, like one arm push ups, you know?

00:53:41

That must mean, like a -- I need to run a marathon.

00:53:44

I need to memorize whole books of the Bible."

00:53:48

But maybe, maybe, but probably not.

00:53:52

Strict doesn't mean extreme.

00:53:54

Strict means every day. That's what it means.

00:53:59

It doesn't mean a marathon. It means a mile.

00:54:02

It doesn't mean one arm push ups. It means 20 every morning.

00:54:06

See, when I find him in my life, when I get unhealthy,

00:54:08

I'm not unhealthy because I don't know what to do,

00:54:11

physically unhealthy, right?

00:54:12

I know what to do. Diet and exercise.

00:54:15

Every time. You do too.

00:54:18

You're not confused about what to do.

00:54:20

But we still we buy all these books

00:54:22

and we we watch all these videos

00:54:23

and we're looking for the shortcut and the secret

00:54:25

for anybody to tell us anything different.

00:54:27

No diet and exercise. You already know.

00:54:29

I already know, just not doing it.

00:54:31

And I think the same comes with a strict training.

00:54:34

Maybe, maybe, maybe there's something God wants you to do

00:54:36

involve in strict training to endure

00:54:38

that you don't know about.

00:54:40

But I'm going to guess that you already know what it is.

00:54:44

You're just not doing it.

00:54:47

Maybe in your race, in order to endure,

00:54:49

you feel this distance between you and God

00:54:51

and you know you need to close that gap.

00:54:53

If so, I'd recommend praying every day.

00:54:57

Just set a timer for ten minutes every morning.

00:55:00

Just do that day after day after day.

00:55:02

After 30 days I promise you won't feel that gap anymore.

00:55:05

Maybe you're in a spot in your race where to endure

00:55:08

you need wisdom, you need discernment,

00:55:10

you need to understand what does God even say about this?

00:55:12

If that's where you're at,

00:55:13

I developed a habit of reading the Bible.

00:55:15

You can join us in the app.

00:55:17

I've already given the cheat code.

00:55:18

Listen to it on two x speed. It's fine.

00:55:21

Just get it. Just start doing it. Just start doing it.

00:55:25

Maybe what you lack in your race in order to endure

00:55:27

you have a gap called wise counsel in my life,

00:55:30

people who know me and love me

00:55:32

and know and love Jesus and can speak truth into my life.

00:55:35

If that's you, start making plans for how your group

00:55:37

might continue past the Run Journey.

00:55:39

You need those people in your life.

00:55:42

Maybe in your race it's literal, physical energy

00:55:45

is what you lack. Awesome. Diet and exercise.

00:55:48

Do something. You know what to do. Pick one.

00:55:51

Maybe in your life it's financial health

00:55:53

that's holding you back. Awesome.

00:55:55

Sign up for a class. Get some wise counsel.

00:55:58

Get healthy. Get get paying the debt down.

00:56:01

It can happen. It can. But you need to act. Act.

00:56:08

Why do all this, by the way? Why?

00:56:10

Why admit? Why ask? Why act?

00:56:12

It's because it's worth it. It's worth it.

00:56:17

See, when you endure, God will make a better you,

00:56:19

a stronger you.

00:56:21

A hero for me when it comes to endurance right now

00:56:24

is my son, my oldest son, Ben.

00:56:27

He's a freshman in high school, and he has endured,

00:56:30

and I've seen it change his character.

00:56:32

About a year ago at school, he started getting bullied

00:56:35

for no particular reason, just being him.

00:56:38

And we had lots of conversations about it,

00:56:40

about the high and holy calling of following Jesus,

00:56:43

where we love our enemies,

00:56:45

where we pray for those who persecute us,

00:56:48

and where we also tell the truth,

00:56:49

even when it's hard, even when it feels unsafe.

00:56:53

He endured and his character changed.

00:56:56

A month ago at school he started getting picked on again

00:56:59

because our church was in the headlines.

00:57:00

Kids telling him, "Oh, your church is fake

00:57:02

and everybody's awful and everything you've ever learned,

00:57:04

it doesn't count. It was all -- it was all wrong."

00:57:08

So we had conversations about being a jar of clay.

00:57:12

Said, "Hey, buddy, every leader in your life,

00:57:15

me included, is a jar of clay.

00:57:18

Have I ever done something that upset you?

00:57:21

Ever gotten too angry at you?" He goes, yeah.

00:57:23

I go, "That's the jar of clay.

00:57:25

That's because I got cracks and I got chips,

00:57:27

and I ain't perfect, man. I'm not.

00:57:30

Have I ever done something that blessed you and helped you?"

00:57:32

Yeah. "Well, that was the power of God inside of me.

00:57:35

It's completely real."

00:57:37

His character changed. He endured.

00:57:41

This past Monday at school, again,

00:57:43

our church is back in the headlines.

00:57:44

And again he gets picked on. "Your church is awful.

00:57:47

And your opinions are revolting," and all this stuff.

00:57:50

And so again, we had another conversation

00:57:52

about how sometimes the hardest but the holiest thing

00:57:56

is to stay silent like Jesus.

00:57:59

Scripture says when He was accused,

00:58:02

He was like a sheep before its shearers. He was silent.

00:58:04

I think the hardest thing to do is just to keep your mouth shut.

00:58:08

He endured and his character changed.

00:58:12

A year ago he would have been crushed

00:58:15

by anybody coming against him, anybody picking on him.

00:58:17

And that's not where he is now.

00:58:19

Not only that, his character has changed

00:58:21

where his race is now helping other people.

00:58:24

Sarah and I got this incredible email

00:58:26

from his school on Wednesday.

00:58:27

I'd love to share it with you.

00:58:29

Comment: Ben knows how to be a good friend.

00:58:33

A classmate was clearly having a very difficult day.

00:58:37

Ben was compassionate and went out of his way to help them.

00:58:40

He ensured that they were supported and not alone.

00:58:51

By the way, that kid was getting bullied.

00:58:54

See, when you endure, God will change your character.

00:58:58

Can I just tell you, as that kid's father,

00:59:00

I begged God to stop the storm.

00:59:02

I begged God to change the weather.

00:59:04

"God change the weather. He doesn't deserve this.

00:59:06

This isn't -- This isn't justified. Change the weather."

00:59:09

He didn't. But you know what He did do?

00:59:12

He changed my son's character.

00:59:14

I'm telling you, He wants to do the same for you.

00:59:19

He wants to do the same for you. He does.

00:59:22

One day the storm will end. It will. It will.

00:59:27

You know me, the storm I'm in right now,

00:59:29

the pressure that we're facing, that I'm facing.

00:59:32

I'm making a choice. It's to stay in the storm.

00:59:36

Is to say, "God, if there's anything

00:59:38

you want to change in me, would you change it?

00:59:41

God, I don't know how to do this, but would You fill me?

00:59:44

Would You? Would You reform me?

00:59:45

If there's anything different You want me to do,

00:59:47

just show me what it is. Just show me."

00:59:49

I don't know what happens next.

00:59:51

I don't have the answers. But guess what?

00:59:53

I worship a God named the truth. He's the truth.

00:59:57

He knows the path He has for you. Do you trust Him?

01:00:02

I told you I've been empty, a poured out cup this week.

01:00:05

But there's also been a miracle that happens

01:00:08

every time someone walked up to me

01:00:10

and wanted a drink of water, the craziest thing has happened.

01:00:14

I think I'm empty. And I asked God to fill me.

01:00:17

And I tip myself over for the person in front of me

01:00:19

and fresh water pours out for them. Crazy.

01:00:22

So I look at this verse and I can say this:

01:00:24

2 Corinthians 4: But I have this treasure

01:00:28

in this jar of clay to show that

01:00:31

the all-surpassing power is from God, not from me.

01:00:36

I'm hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;

01:00:40

I'm perplexed, but not in despair;

01:00:44

I feel persecuted, but not abandoned;

01:00:46

struck down but not destroyed. Not destroyed.

01:00:50

See, I have no idea when blue skies

01:00:53

might come again in your life.

01:00:55

I have no idea when it might feel like blue skies here again.

01:00:58

I have no idea. But guess what?

01:00:59

I know they're coming, I know they're coming.

01:01:02

I know that the best for our church is the days yet to come.

01:01:05

I know that last week and last month and last year

01:01:08

the mission was reach the lost with the message of Jesus

01:01:10

in a language they can understand.

01:01:12

And it'll be the same next week and next month and next year.

01:01:15

I know that there are the least of these that need lifted up.

01:01:18

I know there are girls on the other side of the world

01:01:20

that need protected and rescued.

01:01:22

I know there's an awakening that God wants to birth

01:01:24

and He will. He will, if you and I endure.

01:01:30

It's not time to quit.

01:01:32

It's time to say, "God, I'm weak.

01:01:34

Would You fill me and reshape me?

01:01:35

Is there anything You want me to do?

01:01:38

Is there anything You want me to do in my life?"

01:01:40

Paul said this in Philippians 1:6, he said:

01:01:44

I am sure of this. I'm sure of this,

01:01:48

that He who began a good work in you

01:01:51

will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

01:01:54

I'm sure of it. Friends, I'm sure of it.

01:01:58

I'm sure of it.

01:01:59

And maybe you're in a place where you go,

01:02:01

"That's awesome for you,

01:02:03

but I'm not sure of it in my own life.

01:02:06

I can't see the blue sky at the end of this storm.

01:02:09

I don't know if I can keep enduring.

01:02:11

I don't know if I can make it." That's okay.

01:02:13

Fourth, and maybe most important step to endurance

01:02:17

is ask God to show you.

01:02:20

Ask God to show you His love for you.

01:02:23

Ask God to show you His arms around you.

01:02:26

Ask God to show you Him filling you with His power.

01:02:31

Ask God to show you the blue skies that are coming.

01:02:34

Ask God to give you a picture of hope

01:02:35

on the other side of the storm.

01:02:38

Ask God to show you what it means

01:02:40

to trust Him with your whole life.

01:06:34

- Let me pray a blessing over you.

01:06:36

God, I bless You that You're the God of endurance.

01:06:40

I bless You that you're the God who doesn't ask us to fake it,

01:06:44

but the God who says, "Admit your weaknesses,

01:06:47

and I will give you power. I will give you strength."

01:06:49

God, would You do that this week?

01:06:51

Would you give us the courage to admit it?

01:06:54

Would you give us the faith and the trust in You

01:06:56

to ask You to fill us and to reshape us?

01:06:59

And God, would you give us the strength to act?

01:07:01

If there's anything You want us to do,

01:07:03

would You whisper it in our ears?

01:07:05

Holy spirit, I invite You into

01:07:06

every quiet moment we spend on our own.

01:07:11

I invite You to cover every group and every conversation.

01:07:14

You lead, You steer.

01:07:16

Give us the ears to hear, the eyes to see,

01:07:20

and the feet to follow You in our race.

01:07:24

You're good God, and we love You. Amen.

01:07:28

- Hey. We want this for you, for you to have

01:07:30

that kind of character that can endure,

01:07:33

that you can joyfully and with some expectation

01:07:35

that God's going to use it and to show up,

01:07:37

and that you can go through whatever challenges.

01:07:39

Maybe it's -- maybe you're doing amazing,

01:07:42

maybe it's been a banner year, or maybe not.

01:07:44

Maybe it's been really challenging.

01:07:46

You've got hard stuff going on.

01:07:48

Whatever it is, we believe that God wants you

01:07:50

to be able to endure and to go to a new place.

01:07:53

So however, we can encourage you in that,

01:07:55

help you in that we're here for it.

01:07:57

We'd love to pray for you.

01:07:58

You can chat in or email us at anywhere@crossroads.net.

01:08:02

But just want to encourage you guys, like, keep going.

01:08:05

Keep running. - It's week 3 of the Journey.

01:08:07

Even if you are behind on the work

01:08:08

or you're missing something,

01:08:09

just show up to your group this week

01:08:11

because your group will get you caught up

01:08:13

and God has something for you individually.

01:08:16

And when we just show up, God moves.

01:08:17

So just show up and stay on the race.

01:08:20

- Yeah, most of us don't intentionally quit something.

01:08:22

Like every diet I've ever done or every workout routine,

01:08:25

I didn't intentionally quit.

01:08:26

I just sort of drifted off and forgot about it.

01:08:28

Yes.

01:08:29

- Hey, we don't want that for you with this.

01:08:31

God has great stuff in store for you,

01:08:32

we want you to stay on course with your race

01:08:34

that He has for you, and just uncover more of

01:08:36

the purpose, the meaning, and the calling that He has for you.

01:08:38

So stay engaged. Stay with us.

01:08:41

- Maybe the Journey has something stirring in you,

01:08:44

where you're looking to do something more

01:08:46

in your community or go somewhere.

01:08:48

We want to talk to you real quick about that.

01:08:50

So stay with us. Our friend Kelly is here.

01:08:52

- Hey, Kelly. - Hey, friends.

01:08:54

- And she is going to talk to us about two things.

01:08:56

But first is Go Trip that is specifically

01:08:59

for people in our Anywhere Community.

01:09:01

So no matter where you live in the world,

01:09:03

we want to go together somewhere. So tell us about it.

01:09:05

- Yep. So Andy and I are going to Puerto Rico

01:09:07

and we want you to come with us.

01:09:09

We're heading down to the Dorado community

01:09:11

June 6th through the 12th.

01:09:13

We're going to be rebuilding homes, distributing food,

01:09:16

getting to know each other and just serving

01:09:19

a really important partner called Hunger Corps.

01:09:22

And we want you to go with us.

01:09:24

- Yes. And there is still time to sign up.

01:09:25

You've got a week, right, till the 15th to sign up.

01:09:27

Andy, you're going

01:09:28

and you're going to be leading worship on that.

01:09:30

- Yeah, I'll be leading worship.

01:09:31

My 11 year old daughter, she'll be 11 when we go on the trip,

01:09:34

daughter Ella will be going with us.

01:09:36

So there's families going.

01:09:37

There's individuals going, couples, all the things.

01:09:39

We'd love for you, love for you to go.

01:09:41

- Go with your kids or your grandkids

01:09:42

or a lot of opportunity there.

01:09:44

And if you didn't know, fun fact,

01:09:46

Andy was actually a worship leader on staff

01:09:48

before he was the community pastor here for Anywhere.

01:09:50

- That's right. - That'll be cool.

01:09:52

- What instrument are you going to bring with you?

01:09:54

- I'll be bringing an acoustic guitar.

01:09:55

Won't have room in my carry on for,

01:09:57

like, a grand piano or something like that.

01:09:59

But no, it's going to be great.

01:10:00

It will take you to a new place spiritually,

01:10:03

literally, geographically. They're incredible experiences.

01:10:06

Our partner organizations are amazing.

01:10:09

It's going to be incredible trip.

01:10:10

- And where can you learn about that trip?

01:10:12

- You can learn about that trip at crossroads.net/GO.

01:10:15

There are several Puerto Rico trips,

01:10:17

so make sure you click the one that says Anywhere.

01:10:20

- Yes. - Perfect.

01:10:21

The other thing we wanted to talk about is

01:10:23

we have something we do in May where our entire church,

01:10:26

everywhere around the world, it's called Go Day,

01:10:29

where we want to go out into the community,

01:10:31

and we want to essentially be

01:10:32

the hands and feet of Jesus where we live.

01:10:35

So tell us about that.

01:10:36

- Yep. So it's our 20th anniversary

01:10:39

of this amazing day called Go Day.

01:10:41

- Which, fun fact, it used to be called?

01:10:43

- Go Cincinnati, because that was the only city we were in.

01:10:46

- Right. And get this, this I love.

01:10:48

So 20 years ago, right, is like when Twitter

01:10:50

and I don't know about Twitter,

01:10:51

but Facebook was like just getting hot.

01:10:53

We were the number one trending hashtag

01:10:56

on Twitter 21 years ago. Go Cincinnati.

01:10:58

So it is a big deal.

01:10:59

- And we've never stopped going since.

01:11:01

And so we have an opportunity, unique to Anywhere,

01:11:04

where you can determine the projects that we do.

01:11:07

If you see a place in your city that's like,

01:11:08

why isn't somebody cleaning that up?

01:11:10

That might be for you to do, and we can help you.

01:11:13

If you email anywhere@crossroads.net,

01:11:15

you can get a coach.

01:11:16

That's me, I'm going to help you put your project together,

01:11:19

help you to figure out what can we do

01:11:21

to best serve this organization, this school, this church,

01:11:24

and how can we wrap it together so that your friends,

01:11:27

your neighbors, your coworkers can come alongside you?

01:11:30

Because who doesn't want to make things a little bit better?

01:11:33

- That is awesome. So I love getting a face with a name.

01:11:36

And so here Kelly is actually the person

01:11:38

who's going to respond to you if you email

01:11:41

anywhere@crossroads.net. This is Kelly.

01:11:43

And so what if I am, I live in Cleveland

01:11:46

or Toledo or Florida or Minnesota,

01:11:49

and I think of something that's stirring in you

01:11:51

and you're like, I want to do this thing,

01:11:52

but I'm just not really sure.

01:11:54

You're going to be the coach for that?

01:11:55

- I am. - What about resources?

01:11:57

I don't have the money to do that thing.

01:11:58

Tell me what resources. - We got that.

01:12:00

So yes, just send that email by next Sunday, March 15th.

01:12:03

You don't have to have everything figured out.

01:12:05

Just the idea. Just I think I want to serve this school.

01:12:08

We can take it from there.

01:12:09

And we do have money available

01:12:11

to help you source this project.

01:12:13

Usually it's a combination of the shovels in your garage,

01:12:16

plus a little bit from Crossroads,

01:12:18

and you add that all together

01:12:19

and you get to get great Go Day project.

01:12:21

- I love it. So just to be clear, this specifically

01:12:24

is for people who do not live local to Cincinnati,

01:12:27

or any of our sites in Columbus or Dayton or Lexington,

01:12:30

if that is you, we already have those projects solidified.

01:12:34

And in the coming weeks, you'll hear about

01:12:35

how you can volunteer to serve with your kids or your family.

01:12:38

But this is specifically to people

01:12:40

who do not live near a site.

01:12:41

And kids, bring your kids.

01:12:43

Kids are a great way also to serve.

01:12:45

Do not let that be a barrier.

01:12:46

- Absolutely. One year we had 400 kids

01:12:49

under the age of seven serving. - Under seven.

01:12:52

- Isn't that cute? So don't let the fact that

01:12:54

you have little kids in your community, your friend group.

01:12:57

We you can leverage them.

01:12:59

You can teach them what generosity

01:13:00

and serving looks like at a very young age.

01:13:02

- I love it. Well, we want to be a part of

01:13:04

helping you no matter where you live

01:13:07

Go and do something in your city.

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