Your Future Starts Now | How Living For the Future Means Taking Advantage of the Present

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- Question: what if at the end of your life

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there wasn't a highlight reel,

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but instead you got a receipt?

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Because that's basically what a calendar is,

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a receipt for how we spend our time on earth.

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What has your time and your attention,

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and ultimately how we spend our time shapes who we become.

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Hey, welcome to Crossroads. My name is Andy.

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So glad you're here, whether you're tuning in

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for the first time or been around a while,

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this is a great, great weekend to have you.

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We're in a series called Future You,

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talking about how the decisions that you make today

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shape who you become tomorrow.

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Now, there's no shame or guilt if you happen

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to blow a bunch of time yesterday

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watching stuff on the internet

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or magnet fishing or whatever.

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But this is a time where we're focusing in

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on who God has created us to be.

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We're going to start off with worship right now.

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We'd love for you to sing with us.

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- Hey, welcome to the Crossroads. My name is Justin.

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If you're joining us online, we're glad you're here with us.

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If you're in the room, it's great to be together.

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If you're here for the first time, why don't you, uh,

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why don't you stand up, introduce yourself.

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I'm just kidding. We're not going to make you do that.

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If you're here for the first time,

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you're in the right place

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and you came on a great weekend.

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Now, normally we start with big, fast energy,

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which I love, I love, and today

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we're going to do it different because

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maybe you walked in from chaos,

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and this is your one chance this week

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to take a little bit of a deep breath.

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And so sometimes you need to start slower

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with a little less energy and just offer

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a simple prayer of thanks to God.

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I believe He's the giver of all good things.

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I believe He's actually here to connect with you today.

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And the fastest way to connect with God

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is often a simple thank you.

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Thank you for a warm cup of coffee in my hand.

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Thank you for the car that got me here this morning.

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Thank you for the friend

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that invited me that I'm sitting with.

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Thank you for the family I have around me.

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Whatever it may be, just offer a simple thank you to Him.

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So we're going to stand together

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and we use music here as a way to connect with Him

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and as a way to say thank you.

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And I'll say it again, if you're here for the first time

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and you're like, "I'm not sure I'm ready

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to connect with Him yet," great.

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Then enjoy the music and hear what most of us believe

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and have found to be true.

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Let's do this together.

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- I don't know about you, but I need to be reminded of that.

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That's why I come back every week.

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It's not for a paycheck.

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It's not because someone told me to.

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It's because my heart needs it every week

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to come in a room and hear people like you

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and me sing words like this and keep coming back

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to the truth and come back to the names of God

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like we just sang and who He is.

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I just want to highlight one of those.

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We said He's the Alpha and the Omega,

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which is like saying he's A to Z in our alphabet.

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It's the Greek alphabet.

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It's saying He's the beginning and the end.

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And that's not a new idea that some songwriter wrote.

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It's actually Jesus's words. It's what He said.

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It's who He said He is.

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At the end of our Bible, in the book of Revelation,

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the last book, almost on the last page of the Bible,

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Jesus says this: Behold, I am making all things new.

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For I am the Alpha and the Omega,

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the beginning and the end.

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Friends, Jesus is the end, which means

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if you're facing something today

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or the pressure you have on your shoulders

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does not look like the full peace of Jesus,

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the full justice of Jesus, the full love of Jesus,

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the full joy of Jesus, and the victory of Jesus,

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then it's not the end because He is the end.

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And so here's what I want to propose to you.

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What thing popped in your head as soon as I said those words?

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Something that feels like it's over.

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Something that feels broken.

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Something that's got tension in it in your life.

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I propose to you in this next song,

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to hold that thing in your hands

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and to pray a dangerous prayer that says:

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show me, God, what it would look like

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to give You all of my trust.

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Show me what it would look like to lean on

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the logic of heaven and not my own logic.

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Show me what it would look like for You to be the end,

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for you to make all of this new.

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Take heart and have hope that He's not done working yet.

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- Father God, I have found so much life and freedom

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on the other side of that prayer,

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and I desperately want anyone who can hear my voice

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to feel Your joy and Your peace and Your courage

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that comes when I put myself in a place of full trust of You.

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I do not know what tomorrow holds,

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so I ask You on this day be my daily bread.

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And You are so good and so powerful

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and so generous to be my provider, to be our provider.

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Lead us towards life and freedom, Jesus.

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

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I love being together. It's so good to hear you sing.

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It's great to have you online with us.

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Right now if you're in the room, wherever you're at,

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just turn to somebody and say, hey,

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glad you made it today. Glad to be here with you.

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- We don't just talk about loving our city,

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we pick up a shovel.

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When one person starts digging, it matters.

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But when thousands of us step in

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across our communities at the same time,

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this is what it looks like when the church moves,

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not inside a building, out here.

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Thousands of hands, 283 projects, one weekend.

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Work that actually changes something.

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When we move at the same time, you can see it,

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cities look different, people feel it.

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This is the power of many.

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We're a church that goes, so let's Go!

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Find your project at Crossroads.net.

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- Yes, Go Day is coming up May 16, it's going to be amazing.

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It's one of those moments where it becomes

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really clear that church isn't just a place

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that we go to or something that we watch online.

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No, church is who we are,

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where we don't just talk about loving our cities,

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we actually show up, we roll up our sleeves,

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we paint, clean, organize, landscape, serve families,

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and do whatever we can to meet real needs.

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And no, you do not need special skills.

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This isn't like the secret gathering

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of all licensed electricians and professional drywallers.

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No, this is for normal people like you and me

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who can carry something, wipe something, pull weeds,

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smile at another human being.

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You're in. Hey, we got this.

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And also bring your family.

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Kids are weirdly good at serving

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and it's weirdly good for them.

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They grab a little trash grabber and a trash bag,

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and they suddenly become a tiny Leslie Knope on a mission.

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I'm bringing my kids. You want this for your family.

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If you live near a site, you're going to go there

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for a kickoff event on Saturday morning.

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If you're part of our Crossroads Anywhere community,

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hey, you're going to head straight to your project

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serving your own local neighborhood.

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So don't just like the idea of Go Day,

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pick a project, sign up.

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All the info, whether you're at a site

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or a part of our Anywhere Community

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at Crossroads.net/GoDay.

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Find a project that works for you.

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Now, all the things that we do,

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all the things we love around here:

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Go Day, Kids' Club, students, groups, camps,

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recovery work, prison ministry, online ministry,

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all of the things that happen, not because

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there's some secret Jeff Bezos funding at all.

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No, but because normal people like you and me

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who call Crossroads home give

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and they're generous with their money

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and faithful with their money.

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Whenever money comes in, we deploy it

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towards people, ministry, mission and real needs.

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We put that money to work.

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Now, there's a reason Jesus talked about money a lot,

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more than any other topic.

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Now He affirmed the tithe, not because

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the church needs our money, but because God knows,

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God knows that money has a way of shaping

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my trust, my stress, my priorities,

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and my lives in a big way.

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So if Crossroads your home and you give, thank you.

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Seriously, your generosity and faithfulness

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changes lives in huge ways.

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And if Crossroads is your home

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and you've never taken that step, hey,

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this is an invitation, not a guilt trip.

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But I encourage you, ask God what that next step

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of faithfulness or obedience might look like for you.

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You can get all the info at crossroads.net/give.

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Now we know money is not simple for everyone right now or ever.

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A lot of us aren't asking the question

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should I try tithing? No.

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We're asking: God, how am I going to make it

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to the end of the month with the amount of money

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that's in my checking account?

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You need to know God deeply cares about

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you finding freedom in every area of your life.

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And that's one of the reasons why we have Freed Up.

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This is an amazing practical program

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built around biblical wisdom for our finances.

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We're also starting a cohort 21 Days to Better Money.

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This is online cohort you can do at your own pace

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to take control of your finances one step at a time.

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God cares about your money because He cares about you

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and wants to see you thrive.

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Now, hey, one last thing.

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If you happen to live anywhere near Detroit

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or Indianapolis, we are coming your way

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starting next week, we'll have amazing worship,

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teaching and a chance to, man, just ask God,

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what are You doing in the city

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and how can we throw our weight behind it?

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May 1st, May 9th.

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And today we're going to hear from

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our Lead Pastor Kyle Ranson, on what it means

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to trust God's perspective on our time instead of our own,

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to know that that's His, that He's given us as a gift,

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and we get to spend it in ways that honor Him.

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I'm glad you're here.

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- I'm going to be a Bubble Master.

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- It's my passion to be singing on a stage.

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- I'll probably buy Jupiter.

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- I want to be a teacher. - A fireman.

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- A vet. - I could be the firewoman vet.

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- Oh, wow.

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- I'm gonna be a spaceship engineer.

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- Nice.

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- Time goes fast.

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- How did I ever get to be this age?

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- It's like you go to sleep and you're 25

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and you wake up and you're 70.

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- When I was thinking about being 55 years old

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and thinking I was going to be old and decrepit,

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and the next thing I knew, I was 60.

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- My babies are now 71 and 67.

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- I want to make that guy's voice, my Alexa's voice.

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That's what I want to do. Wouldn't that be amazing?

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I mean, incredible. Hey, my name is Kyle.

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I'm so glad you're with us today joining us on a great weekend,

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in part because you got a little extra elbow room

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because Couples Camp is happening right now.

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Got a thousand couples who are at our Base Camp property

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getting their marriages built into. So glad for them.

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In here today and online today, though,

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you're joining us for a series we're in called Future You.

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Now, the premise of this series is very, very simple.

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It's basically do today what tomorrow you,

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the future you will be thankful for.

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Very simple to understand, very easy to say,

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but very difficult to actually do. Why?

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Because in addition to future you, there's a right now you,

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there's a right now me and they are not friends

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most of the time.

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Just twice in the last month I thought it was

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a good idea, right now me thought it was

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a great idea to have late night wings and beer.

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And future me at 2 a.m. was not thankful

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for that decision when I woke up

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and had to make a run to the bathroom. Right?

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That's what we -- That's what we do.

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Easy to say, but difficult to do.

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Difficult to do.

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Now today, though, in this series, we're talking about

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the thing that I think has the potential

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to make future you more thankful

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than anything else in your life.

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And that is how you handle

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the most precious resource that you have.

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Not money, but time. Time.

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You know God's view on time and His instructions

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on how to handle it are entirely countercultural,

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especially in the day and age that we live in.

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But if you and I can understand how to view time

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the way that God views time, how to handle it

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the way that He wants us to handle it,

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perhaps nothing has the potential to give us

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a more peaceful and impactful life

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than understanding time.

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On the other hand, if we fail to understand

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God's view of time, we fail to handle it

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in the way that He wants us to handle it,

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nothing has the potential to rack up

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this compounding interest almost, this debt of anxiety

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and worry that one day future you will have to deal with.

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And I've been thinking a lot about time lately in my life.

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It seems like every time I look in the mirror,

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I notice more gray hairs in my beard.

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Every time I turn a little too fast in the side screen

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and I catch a glimpse of myself,

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I see more wrinkles at the corners of my eyes.

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It's this thing where time is just going faster

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and faster and faster.

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It feels like yesterday when I met Sarah

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for the first time and we went on our first date.

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It feels like yesterday when we took a trip

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on the first ever Go Trip to South Africa together

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and built into the community there.

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It feels like yesterday that we got married,

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that we walked down the aisle. That we said I do

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in front of our friends and our family.

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It feels like yesterday, when my first child was born

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and three babies in three and a half years

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and diapers and bedtime, and cutting every bite of food.

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That feels like yesterday.

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Feels like yesterday when I was baptizing

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both of my boys at Crossroads Florence,

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six and eight years old, giving their lives to Jesus.

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Feels like yesterday, but all of that was years

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and years and years ago.

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They're growing up fast.

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You know, you only get so many summers with your kids.

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Well, I've only got three more left with my oldest

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until he moves out of the house.

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When I was younger, older, wiser people

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told me that this would happen,

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that there'd be a time in my life

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when time started to speed up,

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when it became like water, impossible to hold in my hands.

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No matter how tightly I gripped,

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it would just slip through my fingers and be gone. Be gone.

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I don't know how much time I have left,

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I just know that it won't last forever.

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Which has me asking these questions:

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How am I spending my time?

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Am I making the most of my time?

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At the end of my days, will I be thankful for

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whatever I do with the rest of the time that I have left?

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Am I wasting time?

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Am I rushing through time?

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And more than anything, is there any way

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to slow time down?

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Because I know that by tonight, another day will be gone.

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[music: Smashing Pumpkins, Tonight, Tonight]

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- God, that's our prayer.

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We know that we have today.

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And we know that by tonight, another day will be gone.

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God, You've given us this time.

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And our ask is that You'd help us see the time

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You've given us with Your eyes and You'd direct us

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to spend it according to Your ways, God.

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For the blessing of Your Kingdom

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and the blessing that we know

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returns on us when we follow You,

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give us the courage to see and to follow. Amen. Amen.

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How about that? Smashing pumpkins in church. Wow.

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Every '90s kid is like, "That was a time capsule gift to me."

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Amazing. So glad for that. So glad.

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Talking about time today, like we've been saying.

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Time: It is the most precious

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and the most fickle resource that we have.

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The only time that any of us know

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we're ever going to have again

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is the time we have right now, in this moment.

00:34:04

Tomorrow's not guaranteed. Nothing is.

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And the question is, how are we going to spend our time?

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And we only get one shot, by the way.

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You get one shot at spending the time that you have today.

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And by tomorrow, that time is gone.

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There's no refunds, there's no exchanges,

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there's no cash back programs.

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It's just spent.

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None of us knows how much time we have.

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No one can buy more time.

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None of us feel like we have enough.

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And one day all of us will run out.

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How is that for depressing? Welcome to church.

00:34:34

But we got to start there with this thing about time

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that we don't like to say out loud

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and we don't like to think about:

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one day it will run out and we will have none,

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no more left. What do we do with our time?

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Well, you know, it's not a coincidence that

00:34:45

God actually has a lot to say about time.

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You might be surprised if you were to read

00:34:50

through the Bible just how much of Scripture

00:34:53

is about the time that we have and how we spend it.

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In fact, the very first sentence

00:34:58

of the very first recorded teaching

00:35:00

that we have from Jesus is not

00:35:03

love your neighbor as yourself.

00:35:05

The very first sentence of the very first

00:35:06

recorded teaching of Jesus is not here's how to pray.

00:35:10


00:35:12

recorded teaching of Jesus says this. Mark 1:15:

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"The time has come," He said.

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"The kingdom of God has come near.

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Repent and believe the good news!"

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The time has come.

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What kind of time is Jesus talking about?

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He's like, hey guys, time has come.

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It is lunchtime. It is noon. Let's go.

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Is that what? No, that's not what He's talking about.

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In the Greek language, Koine Greek.

00:35:37

That's common Greek that the New Testament

00:35:39

was originally written in.

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There are two words for time.

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One is chronos.

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It's where we get the word chronology as in sequence time.

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And it's how you and I tend to think about time.

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It's the answer to the question, what time is it?

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We might think in the back in the day,

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they didn't have our watches and our phones

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and all the clocks that we have around.

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So they didn't really have this time.

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That would be untrue.

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The ancient people are very, very similar to us

00:36:03

in ways that I don't know that we always appreciate.

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They had time.

00:36:06

Mark 15 tells us that Jesus died at 3 p.m.,

00:36:09

the ninth hour of the day.

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They were very aware of chronological time.

00:36:13

When I was in Athens filming for a Run Journey

00:36:16

that we just completed, I walked past this water clock

00:36:19

in the middle of the town square.

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This crazy water clock.

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This thing was built in the fourth century B.C.

00:36:26

to tell time in ancient Athens.

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It worked by controlling the flow of water into a tank.

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The water level would rise.

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A float would sit on top of that,

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and it would move an indicator on a dial.

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When it got to the top, the whole thing would drain.

00:36:38

That's basically how your toilet works,

00:36:40

by the way, today, same technology.

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Now, that kind of time is not the time

00:36:45

that God's most concerned about in the Bible.

00:36:47

It's not punctuality.

00:36:48

That's not what He's talking about.

00:36:50

Instead, God is concerned about a different kind of time

00:36:53

and worried about us flushing it down the toilet.

00:36:56

It's a time called kairos, and it's the word used here

00:36:59

when Jesus says the time has come.

00:37:02

He says, the kairos has come.

00:37:04

And kairos means a significant moment,

00:37:07

a turning point, or a changing of times.

00:37:11

And so don't miss this.

00:37:13


00:37:16

recorded teaching of Jesus is an invitation

00:37:19

for you and I to change our watches,

00:37:22

to adjust our clocks from our time to His time.

00:37:27

What would that mean and what would that look like?

00:37:31

And by default, all of us, we operate

00:37:33

according to our own sense of time,

00:37:34

which is a very big problem for me

00:37:36

because my sense of time is terrible,

00:37:38

absolutely abysmally awful. Awful.

00:37:42

My parents are actually in town

00:37:44

and they're at this service.

00:37:45

They could tell you all kinds of stories

00:37:47

of me being late for things.

00:37:48

I had no idea what time it is.

00:37:50

Still, to this day, I never know what time it is.

00:37:52

When I take my kids to school in the morning,

00:37:53

every morning we're supposed to get in the car at 7 a.m..

00:37:56

I am always the last one there and I'm shocked.

00:37:59

What? Oh my gosh, what time is it?

00:38:01

Sarah will tell me, she'll be like, you know,

00:38:02

"Kyle, we need to leave in five minutes."

00:38:04

And in my brain I go, "Great.

00:38:05

I probably have time for like a workout, maybe a shower,

00:38:09

maybe do some yard work, build a table."

00:38:11

I have no, I have no concept of time.

00:38:13

I have legitimate time blindness.

00:38:15

And I know that my time blind friends in here,

00:38:17

you're like, "I feel you, Kyle. That's great."

00:38:19

And all you punctual people are judging me

00:38:22

because you're like, "We're awesome at time.

00:38:24

It's too bad for you. You suck at it. We're great at time."

00:38:26

Okay, listen. No you're not.

00:38:28

You're not as good a time as you think you are,

00:38:31

none of us are, in fact.

00:38:32

I'll prove it to you.

00:38:33

Let's take a little group test on time.

00:38:36

I want you to give the answer, say them out loud.

00:38:38

Sites, say them out loud with me.

00:38:40

Ready? What is a year? 365 days. Awesome. Great job.

00:38:49

Okay, what is a day? 24 hours.

00:38:53

You guys are doing so good. I'm so proud of you.

00:38:55

Okay, what is an hour? 60 minutes.

00:39:00

Oh my gosh, maybe you're gonna ace this test.

00:39:02

What's a minute? 60 seconds. Perfect. We're almost there.

00:39:06

What's a second? 9,192,631,770 cycles

00:39:13

of the radiation that corresponds to transition.

00:39:16

Let's all say together, we know this,

00:39:17

between the two electron spin energy levels

00:39:19

of the ground state of the C133CS atom. Yes!

00:39:24

We really fell off a cliff there, guys.

00:39:26

We were doing -- We were doing great

00:39:28

and then no one knew what a second is.

00:39:30

Why do I bring this up? To make a point.

00:39:33

We don't know as much about time as we think we do.

00:39:36

We think that we're experts on time.

00:39:37

God, I know what should be happening right now in my life.

00:39:40

I know what should be going on.

00:39:42

I know what should happen next.

00:39:43

I can see all the sequence.

00:39:44

I can map it out in my brain.

00:39:46

We think we're experts, but we don't know

00:39:48

the first thing about time.

00:39:49

By the way, that's actually what a second is.

00:39:51

Some of you are still confused.

00:39:52

You're like, what did we just read?

00:39:54

Literal definition of a second.

00:39:56

I know it's crazy. It's crazy.

00:39:58

See, we're not as good as we think.

00:40:00

And in fact, when it comes to time,

00:40:02

you and I have two big issues that are holding us back

00:40:06

from the peaceful and impactful life that God wants for us.

00:40:10

Number one is that we're impatient about tomorrow.

00:40:14

Whatever it is, we think it should be happening

00:40:17

in our own timing right now, today and tomorrow.

00:40:19

And if not tomorrow, then the day after that,

00:40:21

we have this picture.

00:40:22

And the damaging effect of being impatient about tomorrow

00:40:26

is that we live today with this constant state

00:40:29

of anxiety and worry and fear and frustration

00:40:33

about our lives and about what's not happening

00:40:35

and about what might happen next.

00:40:37

And it's hurting us greatly.

00:40:39

Two: second big issue that's holding us back.

00:40:42

We're not present today.

00:40:45

We're often thinking about the things

00:40:46

that are not here and not now.

00:40:48

The effect of all that anxiety, all that worry,

00:40:50

all that fear about the future,

00:40:51

is that we miss the moments today,

00:40:54

that the moments that are the most significant,

00:40:56

the kairos moments, the turning point moments

00:41:00

which aren't the ones people put signs on

00:41:02

and mail invitations for.

00:41:03

It's not the graduation parties.

00:41:04

We're there for those, but it's the significant moments

00:41:07

with the people who are most important to us,

00:41:09

the moments when our kids want to talk to us,

00:41:11

but we're too busy.

00:41:12

We're checking texts, we're checking emails,

00:41:14

we're thinking about the thing that's next.

00:41:16

We're not present and it's killing us. It's killing us.

00:41:20

And Jesus gives this invitation.

00:41:23

He says, the time has come. Change. Change.

00:41:28

That's the word repent.

00:41:29

Repent and believe the good news about the timing

00:41:33

that God has for your life. That's the invitation.

00:41:36

Well, how would you do that?

00:41:37

How would you adjust your clock to live on God's time?

00:41:39

Three steps. Number one, believe that

00:41:43

timing is the father's business, not yours.

00:41:46

I told you the first ever teaching about Jesus

00:41:48

was about time. So was the last one.

00:41:51

If you go to the Book of Acts, which was written by Luke.

00:41:54

Four authorized biographies of Jesus:

00:41:56

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, same Luke,

00:41:58

he wrote the book of Acts.

00:41:59

And he records the very last words of Jesus

00:42:02

before he goes up to heaven.

00:42:05

Here it is in the message translation. Acts 1:6.

00:42:09

When they were together for the last time,

00:42:10

they asked, "Master, are you going to restore

00:42:13

the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?"

00:42:18

He told them, "You don't get to know the time.

00:42:21

Timing is the Father's business.

00:42:24

What you'll get is the Holy Spirit.

00:42:27

And when the Holy Spirit's come on you,

00:42:29

you'll be My witnesses in Jerusalem,

00:42:31

all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."

00:42:35

These were His last words.

00:42:39

As they watched, He was taken up and disappeared in a cloud.

00:42:43

His last words: You don't get to know the time.

00:42:46

Timing is the Father's business.

00:42:48

What you'll get is the Holy Spirit.

00:42:50

Now, I think that would have gotten a lot more claps

00:42:52

and amens and applause if He had said,

00:42:54

"You know what you'll get? Timing.

00:42:56

You'll get to be in control.

00:42:58

You won't get the Holy Spirit."

00:42:59

We'd all been like, "We understand. That's fine.

00:43:01

We'll take timing. That sounds way better. Way better."

00:43:04

That's not what He said. Why? Why?

00:43:07

Well, because we're not the ones

00:43:08

who are qualified to plan time; He is.

00:43:12

He has a holistically unique and different relationship

00:43:15

to time than you and I have.

00:43:16

We're caught inside of time.

00:43:18

We can remember our past, and oftentimes

00:43:20

we're held back by our past.

00:43:22

We have trouble being present in the moment,

00:43:24

and we have no idea what's going to happen in the future,

00:43:27

even if we think we know what should happen

00:43:29

in the future, we have none.

00:43:30

But God sits outside of time.

00:43:33

Time is literally a dimension that He created

00:43:36

and is not bound by.

00:43:39

Here's how 2 Peter 3:8 describes His relationship with time.

00:43:43

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends:

00:43:45

With the Lord a day is like a thousand years,

00:43:49

and a thousand years are like a day.

00:43:51

It's a picture of God sitting outside of time.

00:43:54

That means when God views all of history,

00:43:58

all of cosmic history, all of your life history,

00:44:02

He sits outside and He can see the beginning

00:44:05

to the end and beyond.

00:44:07

And so He decides that He is most qualified

00:44:09

to be the planner of time. He's the planner.

00:44:14

He says this over and over and over again in Scripture.

00:44:18

But I think oftentimes you and I, we miss it.

00:44:20

And because we miss it, we live with this anxiety

00:44:22

we don't need to have.

00:44:24

It says this in Ephesians 1:9:

00:44:25

He made known to us the mystery of His will,

00:44:28

according to His good pleasure that He purposed

00:44:31

in Christ as a plan for the right time.

00:44:36

You know that God has a plan?

00:44:39

Do you know that God has a plan for the right time?

00:44:41

And not just, by the way, the big universal scale stuff,

00:44:44

not just the plan for the right time of like,

00:44:46

you know, when should Jesus be be born?

00:44:48

He's got that plan. He nailed that timing.

00:44:50

Not just that, but for your individual life.

00:44:54

Some of us are in here, we're newer to faith,

00:44:56

or maybe we've been in faith for a while

00:44:58

and we have this constant question of like,

00:45:00

how close of attention does God pay to me?

00:45:04

You know, like, is God aware of what's going on in my life?

00:45:08

Is He aware of the stress that I have?

00:45:11

Is He aware of the anxiety that I have?

00:45:13

Is He aware of what I've been waiting on that's not here yet?

00:45:16

Is he aware? And the answer is loud and clear: Yes, yes.

00:45:22

In fact, the Scripture says that He's aware

00:45:24

of every word that's on your tongue before you speak it.

00:45:27

He's aware of every hair on your head.

00:45:31

Psalm 139 says: Your eyes saw me when I was formless;

00:45:35

all my days were written in Your book

00:45:39

and planned before a single one of them began.

00:45:44

Friends, when it comes to your life,

00:45:46

God is not haphazardly going about

00:45:50

the business of the plan for your life.

00:45:52

God is not shooting from the hip and hoping it works out.

00:45:55

God has never once a single time been caught off guard

00:45:59

by something in your life.

00:46:00

God has never once been late.

00:46:02

God has never once been early.

00:46:04

God has only and only ever will be exactly, precisely on time.

00:46:11

Does it feel that way to us?

00:46:13

Because what we're most concerned about

00:46:15

is our own comfort.

00:46:16

God's not most concerned about that.

00:46:18

God's concerned about your character developing,

00:46:20

and He's willing to let you and I

00:46:22

be uncomfortable for a while longer if it takes that.

00:46:26

Why? Because He's patient with us. He's patient.

00:46:30

2 Peter 3:9 says: The Lord is not slow

00:46:33

in keeping His promises, as some have understand slowness.

00:46:37

Instead, He's patient with you,

00:46:40

not wanting anyone to perish,

00:46:42

but everyone to come to repentance.

00:46:45

God is patient with us.

00:46:47

If He seems slow, friend, He's not slow.

00:46:49

He's being patient with you.

00:46:52

It's convicting to me when I think about timing

00:46:55

and praying on timing, I spend more time

00:46:57

asking God to adjust His plan to my plan

00:47:00

when it comes to timing.

00:47:01

God, if you can make this happen now.

00:47:03

It's taking too long. That'd be great.

00:47:05

I spend way more time doing that than I do

00:47:07

surrendering to his plan, saying, God, I trust You.

00:47:10

This isn't what I would have picked,

00:47:11

but I just know that You're the better planner

00:47:13

because You set outside time

00:47:15

and I don't know the first thing about it.

00:47:17

If that's convicting to you, a simple prayer,

00:47:19

a way you can apply that is you can just say,

00:47:21

God, I believe that timing is Your business, not mine.

00:47:25

And I trust You. I trust Your plan.

00:47:28

Step number two how to live on God's time

00:47:31

is patiently trust God for tomorrow. Patiently.

00:47:36

This again is hard for me because I am bad at patience.

00:47:39

Very bad at patience.

00:47:40

I don't know what time it is and I'm bad at patience.

00:47:43

Every morning I make coffee

00:47:44

and I fill up my little coffee mug

00:47:47

and I go to the couch and I have my quiet time,

00:47:49

I pray and I read scripture.

00:47:51

And every morning before I finish the coffee,

00:47:53

the coffee gets cold.

00:47:54

There's a moment, I sip it.

00:47:55

I'm like, ugh, cold coffee. Terrible.

00:47:58

So I get up, I go to the microwave,

00:48:00

I put it in the microwave,

00:48:01

and I press the one glorious button.

00:48:04

I don't know why microwave has any other buttons:

00:48:07

add 30 seconds.

00:48:08

Oh, whoever been at that button, you are a genius.

00:48:11

Nobel prize. Let's give you. Let's celebrate you.

00:48:15

If that button didn't exist,

00:48:17

I'd have to press three zero start.

00:48:19

That's triple the buttons. So much more time.

00:48:23

So I press my add 30 seconds. And then what do I do?

00:48:26

Then I wait. You tick down 17, 16, 15

00:48:30

and about four seconds I press cancel, pull my coffee out.

00:48:33

Why? Because I'm tired of waiting, that's why.

00:48:37

I'm impatient. I'm impatient.

00:48:39

In a baseline, all of us have this natural impatience

00:48:43

in us that we have to push through if we want to see

00:48:46

and handle time the way that God wants us to,

00:48:48

and the way that will bless us the most.

00:48:50

There's lots of different definitions for patience,

00:48:53

but I think biblical patience very simply,

00:48:56

biblical patience is trusting God for tomorrow.

00:49:02

Not just tomorrow, tomorrow, but every single tomorrow

00:49:04

that I might have after that.

00:49:06

It's the opposite of fear. It's faith.

00:49:09

Trusting Him with the future that He alone controls.

00:49:14

This is a massive point in the Bible,

00:49:17

Old Testament, New Testament.

00:49:19

If you go back into the Old Testament,

00:49:21

one of the biggest stories there is the story

00:49:22

of the Exodus when the nation of Israel

00:49:24

leave slavery in Egypt, and they go out into the desert,

00:49:27

and they follow God to the Promised Land.

00:49:29

And they get out there and they're all hungry.

00:49:31

They don't have any food.

00:49:32

They start complaining to God, we don't have any food.

00:49:34

And God's like, great, I got it.

00:49:36

I will give you this thing called mana.

00:49:38

Mana is miracle bread.

00:49:40

He's like, what I'm not going to do is give you

00:49:42

like a semi truck delivery for a month worth of mana.

00:49:45

That might make sense to you,

00:49:47

but I'm not going to do that.

00:49:48

Instead, every day it will rain bread.

00:49:51

And every day I want you to go out

00:49:52

and pick up just enough for a day.

00:49:54

Here's His instructions in Exodus 16:4:

00:49:57

The Lord said to Moses, "Behold,

00:49:59

I am about to rain bread from heaven for you,

00:50:02

and the people shall go out and gather

00:50:04

a day's portion every day, that I may test them,

00:50:07

whether they will walk in My law or not."

00:50:10

Now the test here is, will you collect just enough for a day,

00:50:13

not more for tomorrow. Not thinking ahead.

00:50:17

Not just maybe, you know, I might be hungry

00:50:19

when I wake up in the morning.

00:50:20

I'm gonna put a little bit next to my bed and have that.

00:50:23

He goes don't do that. That's the test.

00:50:24

Will you trust Me that tomorrow there will be more bread?

00:50:29

And the people hear this and they're like, we will not.

00:50:33

And they gather extra.

00:50:34

Here's what it says, Exodus 16:19:

00:50:36

Moses said to them, "Let no one leave

00:50:38

any of it over till the morning."

00:50:40

But they did not listen to Moses.

00:50:42

Some left part of it till the morning,

00:50:44

and it bred worms and stank.

00:50:47

God's like it rots. You can't keep it.

00:50:50

Why would He do that? Why would He do that?

00:50:52

Wouldn't it be easier for God if He's like,

00:50:54

you know, hey, just once a month,

00:50:56

I gotta remember to put bread on the ground.

00:50:58

That's awesome for me.

00:50:59

Once a month, the people, they just know

00:51:01

they got a whole day of gathering bread

00:51:02

and they don't have to think about it.

00:51:04

They just know that they have bread tomorrow

00:51:06

and next week they would just know that.

00:51:08

What God's doing here, He's saying, "You know,

00:51:10

I don't want you to trust tomorrow

00:51:13

because you have it in control,

00:51:15

because you've got what you need in your storehouse."

00:51:18

He says, "No, I want you to trust tomorrow

00:51:20

because it's in My hand. It's in My hand."

00:51:24

This is the same lesson that Jesus gives us

00:51:26

in the New Testament when He teaches the Lord's Prayer,

00:51:29

how to pray. This is Matthew 6:9:

00:51:31

This, then, is how you should pray, says Jesus:

00:51:33

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name,

00:51:35

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,

00:51:38

on earth as it is in heaven.

00:51:39

Give us today our daily bread. Daily bread.

00:51:46

You know, if you go through all the teachings of Jesus,

00:51:50

everything He ever says, you will not find

00:51:53

a single time where Jesus ever says,

00:51:56

"Also pray for tomorrow's bread." Never says that.

00:52:01

In fact, He never instructs us to pray about tomorrow, ever.

00:52:05

But most of my prayer life is about tomorrow.

00:52:08

What's going to happen next, and what the kids need

00:52:11

and what I need. And that's most of my time and energy.

00:52:15

And it's not, not, not what God instructs us to pray about.

00:52:18

What about you? When you pray, when you talk to God,

00:52:22

are you focused on today and making the most

00:52:26

of the time he gave you today

00:52:28

and redeeming the time today?

00:52:30

Or are you giving Him your plans and hot tips

00:52:32

and what He should be doing in your life tomorrow?

00:52:35

Jesus doesn't say, pray for tomorrow.

00:52:37

He says pray for today. Today give us the bread.

00:52:41

See, God's goal is that we patiently wait on Him

00:52:44

for tomorrow and not worry about it at all.

00:52:48

Later on in that same chapter, Matthew 6, Jesus says,

00:52:51

"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

00:52:55

Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow,

00:52:58

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

00:53:00

Each day has enough trouble of its own."

00:53:02

He goes, don't worry about it.

00:53:03

Don't think about it. Don't think about it.

00:53:07

Step three for how to live on God's time

00:53:09

is to practice presence today.

00:53:12

What does it mean to be present?

00:53:15

Well, to be present is the lost art

00:53:18

of being where I am with who's there with me? That's it.

00:53:24

And this is a really hard thing to do in our world,

00:53:27

because we have all these devices and all these things

00:53:29

that are constantly pulling our attention away.

00:53:31

We have this thing in our pocket that's always buzzing.

00:53:34

It's a work email, a text message from a friend,

00:53:36

there's a notification from the news headline.

00:53:38

If I don't read the news, man, the world's going to fall apart.

00:53:40

I'm not going to know what to do.

00:53:42

No, no. God says be present today.

00:53:47

Practice presence today.

00:53:50

I think if Jesus were to show up and bodily form

00:53:54

and spend a day with you walking around,

00:53:57

I think the thing that would stick out to you the most

00:54:00

actually wouldn't be all the sick people

00:54:02

that He healed along the way,

00:54:03

though He'd probably do that.

00:54:04

It wouldn't be the time He walks on water.

00:54:06

When you get to the edge of the river

00:54:08

and you're like, "Jesus, can we just take a little stroll out?"

00:54:10

He's like, "All right, fine, let's go. Let's walk out."

00:54:12

It wouldn't be that.

00:54:13

I think the thing that would stick out the most

00:54:16

about the Son of God is how incredibly present

00:54:20

He would be with you, how the entire day

00:54:23

it was like no one else existed but you.

00:54:25

There was no other concern in His brain,

00:54:27

as if the billions of other humans of the cosmos,

00:54:29

none of that existed, none of it needed His attention.

00:54:33

All of it was on you.

00:54:36

You know, one of the prophetic names for the Messiah

00:54:39

that they were waiting on, Jesus they were waiting on,

00:54:42

is the name Emmanuel.

00:54:44

Emmanuel means God with us. God present,

00:54:50

His attention on us, Hnd he wants us

00:54:54

to have that same thing, the perfect presence.

00:54:58

I actually think that's why He came in a timing He did,

00:55:03

which He says is the right timing.

00:55:04

Galatians 4:4: When the time set had fully come,

00:55:07

God sent His Son. Scripture is very clear,

00:55:10

this timing of God is not an accident, not an accident.

00:55:13

But kind of strange, if you think about it.

00:55:16

You know, why come 2000 years ago?

00:55:18

Why not come in the year 2026?

00:55:19

Think of all the advantages that speed gives right now.

00:55:22

When he's walking on the water,

00:55:25

Peter could have been in the boat

00:55:27

just live streaming on his iPhone.

00:55:29

"Look at this, everybody. Whoa. Here's Jesus.

00:55:31

Let's do a little selfie moment."

00:55:33

When He's doing miracles

00:55:34

that could have been going out on TikTok.

00:55:36

Those things would have gone viral and gone crazy.

00:55:38

Why? Why not do it now?

00:55:41

I think the answer is because the speed of now

00:55:43

is not the speed of God.

00:55:45

The speed back then was the speed of God.

00:55:48

There's a Japanese theologian who's done

00:55:50

a lot of thinking and writing about this,

00:55:52

Kosuke Koyama, and Koyama says that Jesus came

00:55:56

when He came, because that's when

00:55:58

the speed of humanity matched Godspeed.

00:56:01

We have that term, you know, Godspeed.

00:56:03

Godspeed to you. Godspeed.

00:56:05

And what we generally mean is like, go fast and don't die.

00:56:07

That's what Godspeed means.

00:56:09

But Koyama says that's not Godspeed.

00:56:12

Godspeed is the speed of humanity at the time

00:56:16

when Jesus came and lived that speed

00:56:19

and that speed was three miles per hour,

00:56:23

because that's the speed of walking.

00:56:26

In fact, if you look at the teachings of Jesus,

00:56:29

a lot of them, most of them are

00:56:31

when He's walking from place to place,

00:56:33

talking to people that he's with.

00:56:35

That's how fast humanity went, three miles an hour.

00:56:39

Koyama wrote a book called Three Mile an Hour God.

00:56:42

And in it he said this: God walks "slowly"

00:56:46

because He is love.

00:56:48

If He's not, love would have gone much faster.

00:56:52

Love has its speed. It's an inner speed.

00:56:56

It's a spiritual speed.

00:56:58

It's a different kind of speed from

00:57:00

the technological speed to which we are accustomed.

00:57:02

It is "slow" yet it is Lord over all other speeds

00:57:06

since it's the speed of love.

00:57:11

That's what it means to be present,

00:57:13

to slow down to the speed of love,

00:57:16

to stop thinking about tomorrow,

00:57:18

to stop worrying about what comes next,

00:57:20

stop living in the future moment

00:57:22

and what's going to happen after this thing is over.

00:57:25

And instead, to be present where you are.

00:57:27

See, being present performs a miracle.

00:57:29

Being present slows down time if you do it.

00:57:36

If you don't, the cost is high. The cost is high.

00:57:39

Most of us, we don't slow down time.

00:57:40

We have trouble being present.

00:57:42

And because of that, we miss these sacred

00:57:44

and these fleeting moments with the people

00:57:47

who matter most in our lives.

00:57:50

We as a parent, you get about 18 summers

00:57:53

with your kid in your house.

00:57:55

You get about 18 of them.

00:57:57

For me, most of those summers are gone.

00:57:59

I got 3 left with Ben, 4 with Eli, 6 with Gracie, that's it.

00:58:05

I read this depressing stat that

00:58:06

I want to share with you right now, if you'd like it.

00:58:11

It said by the time your kid turns 18,

00:58:13

you'll have spent 90% of the total time

00:58:17

you're going to spend with them ever.

00:58:19

90% gone. Only 10% remains. It's sobering.

00:58:25

See, but the thing is, most of us are so distracted

00:58:27

that we miss these really important, really sacred,

00:58:30

really meaningful kairos type moments

00:58:33

that we're meant to be present for.

00:58:36

We miss things like the last time our kid

00:58:39

asked us to read them a bedtime story.

00:58:42

We miss things like the last time

00:58:43

they asked us to play with them,

00:58:45

the last time they want to snuggle on the couch.

00:58:49

Instead, we just noticed one day that it stopped

00:58:51

and we go, when did that happen? And how?

00:58:53

How on earth did I miss it? How did I miss it?

00:58:57

Years ago, when my kids were small,

00:59:00

an older, wiser person, they told me, "You know, Kyle,

00:59:02

one day, I know this is hard to believe,

00:59:04

but one day you'll give anything to relive

00:59:06

one of these days when your kids are small."

00:59:08

And I was like, "You're crazy. You are not --

00:59:11

Right now all I'm doing is changing diapers

00:59:13

and cutting every bite of food

00:59:14

and putting their clothes on them,

00:59:15

and then the clothes come off.

00:59:17

I'm like, where did you put your clothes? You know?

00:59:19

I'd give anything to have one more of these days?"

00:59:22

And then Sarah went away for a weekend retreat.

00:59:25

She got a hotel and I had the kids all by myself on a weekend.

00:59:29

And I was like, "Oh, no, this is -- this is going to be hard."

00:59:32

And I woke up Saturday morning and I remembered

00:59:34

this idea that one day I'll wish,

00:59:37

I'll give anything to come back

00:59:38

and have one more day when they were small.

00:59:40

And so in my prayer time, I said, "God, I want to --

00:59:43

I want to live today as if it's that day."

00:59:46

And so all day long, I just imagined

00:59:48

that I was actually 80 years old.

00:59:51

And that morning I woke up and I asked God

00:59:53

to send me back in time and give me one more day with my kids.

00:59:56

And that day was that day.

00:59:58

And I lived the whole day with them, present with them.

01:00:02

I wasn't thinking about what was going to happen next.

01:00:04

I wasn't worried about my work calendar.

01:00:06

I wasn't thinking about

01:00:07

the house projects I had to get done.

01:00:09

I wasn't worried about, I was just with them.

01:00:11

When they wanted to read another book.

01:00:13

I was like, "Awesome, let's read another book."

01:00:15

When they wanted to go on a walk outside.

01:00:16

Awesome. Let's go on a walk outside.

01:00:18

When they wanted to stay up past bedtime.

01:00:20

Awesome. Let's stay up past bedtime.

01:00:21

It was one of the best days I've ever had with them,

01:00:24

because it was one of the days where I was

01:00:26

actually fully, totally present with the people

01:00:30

who matter most in my life. I was with them.

01:00:35

We want that to continue in our lives.

01:00:37

And a few years ago, Sarah and I, we read this book,

01:00:39

and when I say I read this book,

01:00:41

what I mean is my friend read this book

01:00:43

and told me about it, which is the best way to read books.

01:00:48

Matt Welty read this book, it's called Die with Zero,

01:00:51

and it's actually a financial planning book

01:00:53

from an expert on finances.

01:00:54

And what's fascinating about this book

01:00:56

is this guy actually says, "You know what you should do?

01:00:59

Spend your money now.

01:01:01

Not not be irresponsible for the future.

01:01:03

Like take care of things, you know, set yourself up."

01:01:05

But he said the problem with most people

01:01:07

is that they save all of this money

01:01:09

that they're never going to use.

01:01:11

They die with a full bank account that means nothing.

01:01:13

They can't invest it in the people who matter most.

01:01:16

He said you basically misalign the peak of the time

01:01:20

you have the people who matter most

01:01:21

with your peak financial time.

01:01:23

And eventually there's a point in your life

01:01:25

where you're physically unable

01:01:27

and no matter how much money you have,

01:01:29

you couldn't buy time with these people

01:01:30

because they have busy lives.

01:01:32

They're doing all of their stuff.

01:01:33

And so he said, instead, spend money now

01:01:36

before it's too late, making memories,

01:01:39

being present with the people who matter most.

01:01:41

And so Sarah and I, this is going back 3 or 4 years.

01:01:43

We made a spreadsheet of the year,

01:01:46

our age and our kids' age, and we just mapped out

01:01:49

all the experiences that we ever talked about

01:01:51

wanting to do with them because, you know,

01:01:52

you have these conversations like, "Oh man,

01:01:54

it'd be awesome to go hike the Grand Canyon.

01:01:56

That would be amazing."

01:01:57

Well, we put it on the calendar

01:01:59

and we decided to spend against it.

01:02:01

Will it mean we have less later on? Yes. Yes it will.

01:02:05

But I promise you, I promise you later on,

01:02:08

I will not trade that memory and that moment

01:02:11

and that connection for all the gold and the entire world.

01:02:15

Be present now. Be present now.

01:02:19

This guy in the book, Bill Perkins, he said this.

01:02:21

He said, "We all have at least the potential

01:02:23

to make more money in the future,

01:02:25

and can never go back and recapture time that is now gone.

01:02:29

So it makes no sense to let opportunities pass us by

01:02:33

for fear of squandering our money.

01:02:35

Squandering our lives should be a much greater worry.

01:02:40

Your biggest fear ought to be wasting your life and time,

01:02:45

not, "Am I going to have X number of dollars when I'm 80?"

01:02:49

Yeah, it doesn't mean be irresponsible.

01:02:51

It just means capturing the moment.

01:02:53

There's a sense, you know, if that feels irresponsible,

01:02:55

you worship the God who says don't worry about tomorrow.

01:02:58

Trust Me for tomorrow.

01:03:00

Instead, spend today on the things that matter most.

01:03:03

Listen, I'm telling you, it is possible.

01:03:05

It is possible to do time God's way.

01:03:08

It's possible to break the cycle of anxiety in your life.

01:03:11

It's possible to be present with

01:03:12

the people who matter most to you, if if,

01:03:15

if we will redeem the time that we have.

01:03:19

The Apostle Paul, who we followed in the Run Journey

01:03:22

put it this way in Ephesians 5, he says:

01:03:23

See then that you walk circumspectly,

01:03:27

not as fools, but as wise,

01:03:30

redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

01:03:34

Redeem the time.

01:03:35

Friend, I don't know where you are in your life.

01:03:37

Maybe some of the things I've been saying

01:03:39

you're just guilt and regrets are are piling up in your heart.

01:03:43

Maybe you're just like, "Man, I wish

01:03:44

I had taken advantage of the time

01:03:46

and now I'm just feeling horrible."

01:03:48

Guess what? It's not too late. It's not too late.

01:03:51

God says you have today and you can redeem today.

01:03:56

You can redeem it.

01:03:57

Jesus says, the time has come.

01:03:59

The kingdom of God has come near.

01:04:01

Repent and believe the good news.

01:04:04

Believe the good news.

01:04:05

See, God's view of time is not bad news.

01:04:07

It's not meant to make us feel guilty and awful

01:04:09

and all the things, it's meant to be a promise

01:04:11

that you don't have to live the way your neighbors live.

01:04:14

You don't have to have the the guilt and anxiety

01:04:17

and all the things that sit on them.

01:04:18

You don't have to have that.

01:04:19

You can have the peace that passes understanding.

01:04:22

You can have a life of total impact.

01:04:25

Maybe you're in a place where you're newer to faith

01:04:27

or you're just coming around church.

01:04:29

I would just encourage you,

01:04:30

if you haven't given your life to Jesus,

01:04:32

your time to Him, you can do that right now.

01:04:35

You can just say: Jesus, I give You my entire life.

01:04:40

I give You my past and ask You to cover it in forgiveness.

01:04:45

I give You today and ask You to redeem it,

01:04:48

and I give you my future.

01:04:51

If you pray that prayer or any like that,

01:04:53

I highly encourage you to get baptized.

01:04:55

We're actually doing baptisms next weekend.

01:04:57

There's info sessions after every service at every site.

01:05:00

You can go check out what that means

01:05:02

and see if that might be right for you.

01:05:04

I highly encourage you to do that.

01:05:05

I want to make one last point.

01:05:07

I know there are people every weekend at Crossroads

01:05:09

who come in here, and some of us are in a spot

01:05:11

where our life feels calm and feels good,

01:05:13

and we can absorb teachings like this

01:05:15

and we can apply them.

01:05:16

And others of us are in the spot

01:05:17

where our life is just in crisis.

01:05:19

Our life is in a moment where we go, "Man, Kyle.

01:05:21

That's nice all those things about time,

01:05:23

but I'm just dying here. Things are just terrible here."

01:05:28

And if that's you, I just want to call your attention

01:05:30

back to a verse that you might have heard read

01:05:32

at the very beginning of today's service.

01:05:36

It's actually one of my favorites in the entire Bible,

01:05:38

because it gives my favorite name for Jesus

01:05:40

in the entire Bible.

01:05:42

If you go through it, there are about

01:05:43

198 different names and titles for Jesus.

01:05:45

Awesome ones like Lamb of God and King of Kings

01:05:49

and Prince of Peace.

01:05:50

And I love all those names, but they're not my favorite.

01:05:53

My favorite is the name The End.

01:05:57

This is what it says in Revelation 21:

01:06:00

Then the one seated on the throne said,

01:06:01

"Look, I'm making everything new."

01:06:05

He also said "Write, because these words

01:06:08

are faithful and true."

01:06:10

Then he said to me, "It is done!

01:06:12

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

01:06:15

I am The Beginning and I am The End."

01:06:20

Friend, I don't know what's going on in your life,

01:06:22

but if it doesn't look like Jesus

01:06:24

standing up on his throne saying,

01:06:26

"I'm making everything new. All of the problems,

01:06:28

all the pain, all the stuff going on,

01:06:30

I'm making all of it brand new, squeaky clean and shiny."

01:06:34

If it's not that, great news, you're not at the end.

01:06:38

You're somewhere in the middle and God's not done.

01:06:41

His time in His plan that He says, He promises

01:06:45

I know every day. I wrote them out in My book.

01:06:48

I know every word on your tongue.

01:06:50

I know every hair on your head.

01:06:51

His plan is not done until you reach the end,

01:06:55

until you reach the end.

01:06:58

Before you run out, close your eyes.

01:07:00

I want to give you a moment just to spend

01:07:01

a bit of time reflecting in prayer with God,

01:07:04

just about 30 seconds or so before you run out.

01:07:06

If we don't do this with the things that we hear in here,

01:07:09

it's worthless to hear and we want to change in our lives.

01:07:11

We want change in our hearts.

01:07:13

So why don't you just pause?

01:07:15

If there is something in you today that

01:07:18

maybe felt a poke or some level of conviction

01:07:20

around being patient or trusting God with tomorrow,

01:07:24

just have a quick conversation with God.

01:07:26

You could say to him, God, I trust You with tomorrow.

01:07:30

I trust Your plan.

01:07:33

Maybe there was something in you that was convicted

01:07:35

around the idea of being present

01:07:36

with the people who matter most to you.

01:07:39

Well, friend, you've got today.

01:07:41

You do have today and it's not too late.

01:07:43

Maybe there's someone God wants you

01:07:45

to be fully present with today.

01:07:47

Maybe they're sitting next to you.

01:07:49

Maybe you're going to go home and see them.

01:07:51

Maybe later on today you're going to see them.

01:07:53

Or maybe they're just a phone call away.

01:07:56

Right now, you can just commit to God and say,

01:07:58

God, I'm going to be fully present with that person today.

01:08:02

Today.

01:08:06

Father, thank You for

01:08:07

the perspective that You have on time.

01:08:10

Thank You for being the master of time.

01:08:12

Thank You for planning out my life.

01:08:14

I just say You are the best one to do it.

01:08:16

You can map out every one of my days,

01:08:19

and I trust You that Your plan is not only the right plan,

01:08:23

it's the best plan and it's the plan that one day

01:08:26

future me will be thankful that You did in my life.

01:08:31

Give us the courage to believe

01:08:33

and the faith to follow You. Amen.

01:08:36

Man, I hope that you hear that God is for you,

01:08:39

that even as God is the Alpha and the Omega,

01:08:43

He's also a deeply personal God who cares deeply

01:08:46

for what's going on in your life.

01:08:48

Man, I hope that today you don't just sort of leave

01:08:51

with a thought or an idea or a concept,

01:08:54

but you actually are able to turn that into a next step,

01:08:57

something tangible, something tactile that you can say,

01:08:59

God, I'm going to walk through my today

01:09:01

because that's all I have differently.

01:09:03

I don't know what that is for you,

01:09:04

but I've got two suggestions. The first is baptism.

01:09:07

Kyle talked about the importance of baptism.

01:09:09

That's coming up May 2nd and 3rd.

01:09:12

And this is not for perfect Christians.

01:09:14

This is for anyone who says, God, You are my hope.

01:09:18

You are my everything.

01:09:19

I want to give You the best that I have today

01:09:22

and tomorrow and the day after that.

01:09:23

If you want more information about that,

01:09:25

and maybe you've been feeling the nudge,

01:09:27

never been baptized.

01:09:28

Hey, go to Crossroads.net/baptism

01:09:31

and get all the information or sign up there.

01:09:33

We're also happy to have a conversation with you

01:09:35

and feel it, help feel out if that's

01:09:36

the right next step for you.

01:09:38

And actually, as I speak right now,

01:09:41

Couples Camp is going on.

01:09:42

There are thousands of couples that are meeting

01:09:44

over the last couple of days.

01:09:46

And this morning that is marked by baptism.

01:09:49

Hey man, if you want to join in that spirit of saying,

01:09:52

God, You are my hope, hey,

01:09:55

take the opportunity to get baptized.

01:09:57

I'm actually heading tomorrow to La Paz, Bolivia.

01:10:00

Can't wait to be with you all to see

01:10:02

about 15 folks get baptized in La Paz

01:10:04

as part of our Crossroads Anywhere Community.

01:10:06

Uh hey, in the spirit of using today

01:10:10

and in the best way that we can to set up future you

01:10:13

for the kind of life that God intends.

01:10:16

If you are married, one of the best things you can do

01:10:18

is invest in your marriage.

01:10:20

Coming up soon is the marriage cohort.

01:10:22

It's led by myself and my amazing wife, Rachel.

01:10:24

And we're going to be leading thousands of couples

01:10:27

through a 21 day journey to invest intentionally.

01:10:31

Just a little bit of today

01:10:33

into building the future marriage that they want

01:10:36

and that God intends for them.

01:10:37

Hey, hope you sign up for that.

01:10:38

All the details and more at Crossroads.net.

01:10:42

Thanks so much for tuning in. We'll see you next week.

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