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The Biggest Preach Off in the USA

A preaching competition that turns a church service into a spectator sport. The biggest preach-off in the USA is more than just funny commercials, music off the decibel scale, and smack-talk. This year, hear coaching tips for a winning life from the greatest coach that ever lived: Jesus. You can only find this unique style of teaching competition on the weekend of the Big Game.

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    Our hope is that you take a step forward today,
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    that you hear the coaching that you need
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    to take a step forward in your life.
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    - Have you ever consider why it is that Jesus is
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    the most well-known name in the entire world?
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    I believe it's because He empowered people.
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    - If you're someone that would say, "Yeah,
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    I would like all the life that God has for me,"
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    then you need to let Jesus push you.
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    - Even if you feel like Jesus has forgotten you,
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    He has not forgotten you.
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    He is present. He is interested.
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    He doesn't just see you as a number.
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    Jesus knows your name.
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    - Then you start to be empowered
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    to do the things God wants you to do
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    and the adventure He wants you to go after
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    is a day where you start to sense Jesus
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    and our culture changes.
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    - Touchdown!
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    - Welcome to Crossroads Church
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    and the Super Bowl of Preaching.
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    My lawyers are telling me that saying
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    the Super Bowl is apparently illegal.
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    - So what do we say? - Not that?
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    - What you're about to experience is something
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    that used to happen in a dark room
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    where no one knew about it and so we called it
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    The Super Bowl of Preaching.
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    But now we don't want to get sued by Roger Goodell,
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    so we can't call it that.
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    We've got a different name we're working on.
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    What you're about to experience is something
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    we think will prove to you
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    that church doesn't have to suck.
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    We've got a halftime show.
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    We've got commercials, better than Pepsi,
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    Also Pepsi, please don't sue.
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    Just really don't want to get sued this year.
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    It's kind of our main thing.
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    We hope you have fun,
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    we hope you life goes forward and you enjoy it.
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    - How about you tell our fans today
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    about the big competition.
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    - The game today is a lot like
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    a championship professional football game,
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    except preaching.
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    This competition features Team Tome versus Team Mingo
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    with four of the best preachers we could find.
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    Now, before we move on with the rest of our coverage,
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    Rachel, why don't you tell them about our sponsor.
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    - Well, I'm the new Doritos ambassador
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    on TikTok now in juice box, gross.
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    And now we've got the best in the business today,
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    real football people, analyst, broadcaster,
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    and former NFL safety Solomon Wilcots.
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    And along with him is NFL Hall of Famer,
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    possibly the best lineman to ever play the game,
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    Anthony Munoz.
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    They sat down with both teams ahead of the big game.
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    Let's see what they had to say.
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    - Well, thank you and we're glad to be here.
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    You know, 2020 was a crazy year
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    and the sports scene was slower than usual,
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    which is why today we find ourselves here.
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    What kind of game
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    do you think we could expect this year?
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    - As a real football player, I don't know
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    what to expect from football preaching.
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    - Yeah, very true.
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    - Now, in order to be part of this game,
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    the pastors agreed to live and compete in a bubble.
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    - That's right, the players were required
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    to be quarantined at a Crossroads location.
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    - I got inside the bubble and I caught up
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    with each team before the big game.
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    I also had a chance to sit down with
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    this year's Super Bowl of Preaching referee,
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    Matt Castleman, to hear his perspective
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    on this year's throw down.
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    - In the league. (chuckles)
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    - Matt, before we get started,
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    inquiring minds want to know what's going on here?
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    What's up with the dog collar?
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    I mean, you haven't been biting yourself, have you?
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    - No, it's just the only PPE I could find.
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    - Well, are you prepared to call the big game?
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    - You know, I -- not at all.
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    I'll be completely honest. - No?
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    - I have no idea what I'm doing.
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    Just keep that between us because
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    I can't let these guys know, I need this gig.
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    - So you have no idea what's going on?
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    - I'll be completely honest with you.
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    I graduated with the BSA in musical theater.
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    I was in Annie twice as the lead role.
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    I opened my own dinner theater called Broadway and Beef,
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    all vegetarian menu, except for the beef.
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    We did Cats, The Musical.
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    I was the lead role in that alongside trained kittens.
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    And we did Hamilton,
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    the world's first production of Hamilton with Live Pigs.
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    And New York Times actually said, "Oh, no."
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    - Do you have any idea how the game even works?
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    The rules of the game?
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    - Solominimum, of course I do.
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    I brought my script, actually.
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    So let me just pull up in the rules of the game.
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    Oops, sorry about that.
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    Head shots, you can never be too prepared.
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    Would you like one?
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    - No, no. Just the rules.
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    - I'll sign it for you here in a moment.
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    Let's see here, The Phantom of the Opera for men,
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    Defying Gravity for tenors.
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    Ah-ha, rules of the game.
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    Now, what is my motivation?
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    - No motivation. Just give us the rules, that's all.
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    Got it.
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    (vocal exercises)
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    Moses supposes his toes-es are roses,
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    but Moses supposes erroneously.
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    Each team will preach to seven minute quarters.
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    Each team must use one Bible reference.
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    In each quarter, each team will be given
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    one random phrase that they must work
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    into their massage -- message.
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    The referee has complete jurisdiction
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    over whether or not the player has met the criteria
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    and will award points accordingly.
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    Points will be distributed as thus:
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    compelling message - Six points.
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    Random phrase - Three points.
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    Extra point - One point.
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    But alas, Penalty - Negative three points.
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    End scene.
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    - Well, I'm joined now by preaching veteran
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    and founder of Undivided, a man of the people,
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    in fact, he's the people's pastor, Chuck Mingo.
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    And also joining him on Team Mingo
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    is teaching pastor and writer
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    and despiser of small talk, Alli Patterson.
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    All right. Well, Chuck, you've been spending
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    quite some time in the bubble.
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    Are you ready for the big game?
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    - I'm more ready than ever, like relaxed even.
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    - Solomon, I mean, I've got four kids,
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    Chuck has three kids.
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    Six months away from the daily grind of family.
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    I mean, I miss my babies, but this is like a vacation.
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    - You guys see perfectly in sync
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    in your training this year.
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    - Hey, you know what?
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    It's all about teamwork, and this team works.
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    - So what is the game plan this year for Team Mingo?
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    To win. To win.
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    We're about to preach people out of their seats.
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    Can I get amen, somebody?
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    - I mean, amen, listen, we know these guys.
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    We know Tome.
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    I'm going to tell you what he's going to do right now.
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    I know this guy's trick.
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    He's going to make fun of me for throwing like a girl.
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    I've heard it all before
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    and I am not afraid to play them tough.
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    - Take a look at this, a lot of trash talking
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    going on there with Brian Tome.
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    - Full blown, 100% virile men.
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    Those guys don't have any a testosterone.
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    Alli, she certainly doesn't. Chuck, we know...
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    - It's cute, actually.
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    - Exactly. That's really cute. Using his words.
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    - Well, I'm joined now by Team Tome,
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    led by senior pastor, author,
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    and Aggressive Life podcast host, Brian Tome.
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    And, of course, his teammate, teaching pastor,
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    carpenter and former YellowPages employee, Kyle Ranson.
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    We have some footage that seems to suggest
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    that you guys are having some chemistry issues.
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    - Really? - Yeah.
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    - I don't see it that way.
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    - You can look at that.
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    - Oh, yeah.
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    - Do you have any toilet paper I could borrow?
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    - I don't -- I don't have any toilet paper. Sorry.
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    - The best defense is an offense,
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    and we are going to be offensive,
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    incredibly offensive.
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    And we don't care who gets in our way.
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    It's going down and they're going down.
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    - We go together.
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    - We are like a fist and a - Drywall.
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    - Like peanut butter and - Doritos.
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    - We're like oil and - Water.
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    Exactly, like that, Solomon, together.
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    - Oil and water doesn't mix. - It does -- it doesn't matter?
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    It doesn't matter, it's a good metaphor.
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    - Okay, that's going to do it for me here.
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    It's almost time for kickoff.
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    Let's send it back to you guys.
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    - Thanks, Solomon and Anthony, great insights.
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    Okay, so we can't call it the Super Bowl of --
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    - Stop saying it.
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    - Well, what other names did you come up with?
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    - The Stanley Cup of Preaching, Preaching World Series,
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    Preaching Final Four, The Big Game,
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    The Amazing Container of Preaching
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    I Can't Believe It's Not Sports, Lawyers Choice,
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    The Superb Bowels of Preaching.
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    That feels like a whole other competition.
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    What about Preaching Tournament brought to you by Pepsi?
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    - Wait, wait, wait, it feels like
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    all of these could get a sued.
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    - What about Sports Church Preach Ball?
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    - That has a ring to it.
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    - Nobody's ever called anything that before.
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    Lawyers? Lawyers give it the green light.
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    - Welcome, everybody, to Sports Church Preach Ball,
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    brought to you by our attorneys.
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    - NFL, please don't sue us.
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    Okay, let's go down to the game
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    with our announcers, Greg McElfresh and Hannah Sheppard.
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    - Well, thanks, Paco and Rachel.
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    As they said, I am Greg,
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    alongside my esteemed colleague Hannah,
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    live from Crossroads Church.
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    Hannah, excited to get into the action today?
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    - Yes, excited, I'm excited to be here.
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    And Greg, how about that name change?
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    We've got Sports Church Preach Ball,
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    different than anything we've seen in years past. Huge.
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    - Well, I'll tell you this, it's certainly
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    better than the Washington football team.
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    - Got to give you that.
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    - What do you say we head down to the field
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    for our starting lineups?
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    The team, the myth, the legend, Team Tome.
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    Come on now.
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    - Let's get it, come on.
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    We're coming, Team Mingo, we're coming right for you.
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    - Let's hear it for Team Mingo.
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    - What's up? Here we go, here we go.
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    - All right, well, the players survived the bubble.
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    We're going to meet our ref today, but first hand,
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    I've got one more rule for us:
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    every preacher has got to talk about
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    the way they believe Jesus had his best coaching move.
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    You think they can do it? - I think they can.
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    - All right, players,
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    let's bring it in for the coin toss.
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    Brian Tome, a senior citizen --
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    Excuse me, senior pastor of the church,
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    you'll call the coin in the air, call it.
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    - Tails, what I be kicking.
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    - Where did it go? - What happens to --
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    - Sorry. - Oh.
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    - It is a tails.
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    - The wrapper came off.
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    - Is that a chocolate coin? - I think it is.
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    Ladies and gentlemen, today's coin toss
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    is brought to you by Hershey's.
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    Ranson to take the first round.
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    - Here's our random phrase.
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    - Kyle, please choose your random phrase.
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    Your random phrase is:
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    Yeah, I use mayo on my grilled cheese, fight me.
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    - That is random, random.
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    - Buddy, come on!
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    - Let me ask you a question:
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    Who was the greatest coach of all time?
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    You might say, "Oh, Vince Lombardi, best ever.
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    Bill Belichick, best, incredible, amazing."
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    Maybe you go college, you say Nick Satan.
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    I mean, Saban, sorry, Nick.
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    I am curious how you're winning all those games, though.
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    Just be honest, did you make a deal with somebody?
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    I don't know, I'm just saying.
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    No, listen, the greatest coach of all time is Jesus.
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    He is. There's nobody else who has
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    a winning record like He has.
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    For 2000 years He's been racking up wins, even today.
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    Today, He is winning against isolation.
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    Today He is defeating depression.
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    Today He's coming against addiction and apathy
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    and loneliness and division and hatred,
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    and everything else, and racking up wins
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    after win after win.
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    He's the greatest coach of all time.
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    Today you're going to hear from each of us
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    as to what we believe is Jesus greatest coaching move
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    He ever did.
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    Now, I want you to know from the beginning,
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    Brian and I's is going to be more reliable,
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    more Godly, probably better,
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    just in general more interesting,
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    all those kind of things.
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    But I also want you to know that our hope is
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    that you take a step forward today,
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    that you hear the coaching that you need
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    to take a step forward in your life.
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    So what do I think?
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    What do I believe was Jesus's greatest coaching move?
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    Simple: He focused on team first. He did.
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    Now, you know, I have seen this in the NFL lately.
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    Everyone's focused on like team building. You know?
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    It's all the conversation, all the talking heads
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    around the big game talking about team building,
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    how to do it and there's different ways.
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    You know, you can stockpile draft picks,
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    you can get a star quarterback in a rookie contract.
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    You can sign Tom Brady's dead corpse
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    and throw the football still, somehow.
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    - Ow, Tom Brady.
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    - I don't know how that works either, it's amazing.
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    But long before the NFL talked about team building,
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    Jesus was all about it.
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    Ephesians 1:22 says this:
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    He does, He fills everything.
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    He leaves no room for gaps.
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    If you were a sandwich, He'd want
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    every single part filled in,
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    that's why I put mayo on my grilled cheese, fight me.
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    Honestly, I'm just trying to be like Jesus.
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    (indiscernible crosstalk)
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    Now Jesus actually only operated in team,
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    exclusively in team His entire life.
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    First, He was born into a family.
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    Think about this, He was God.
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    He could have shown up however He wanted to,
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    whenever He wanted. He could have become
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    a 30 year old know it all from day one.
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    No, He starts in a family,
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    relying on His parents, His brothers, His sisters.
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    Next we see Jesus and He's a little bit older,
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    before He's kind of teaching and preaching
  • 00:13:45
    and healing people, He had a job.
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    His chosen profession was to be a builder,
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    which means every day for work He went to a job site
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    and operate as part of a team.
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    When He did start teaching and healing people,
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    the very first thing he did was build a team,
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    twelve guys, you know them as the twelve disciples.
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    He didn't have to do that, thought this is
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    the best way to accomplish My work, build this team.
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    And ever since He's been expanding that team, He has.
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    He went from 12 to 72.
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    You'll hear Brian talk about that a little bit later.
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    Everything was team and His life. Team, team, team.
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    Why? Why team?
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    Well, I think it's for one specific and important reason.
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    It's to help you and I defeat the enemy
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    that will plague our lives,
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    the lie that says we are and always will be alone.
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    Everybody feels alone, even if we don't say it.
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    We don't like to say that.
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    I promise you, your neighbor feels alone.
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    Your boss feels alone.
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    Everybody up here, we've all felt alone.
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    We're not immune because we work for the church,
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    we're pastors or whatever.
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    Everybody feels alone.
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    Everybody has to deal with this.
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    It doesn't matter about having friends
  • 00:14:52
    or not having friends.
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    You can have friends and still feel alone.
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    It's not about having good work teammates.
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    You can have amazing work teammates,
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    the kind that mute themselves on Zoom,
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    they're that good, and you can still feel alone.
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    You can be married, wake up with somebody
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    next to you in the bed every single day.
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    You can still live life alone. Why?
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    It's because there's two coaches on the field.
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    There's an opposite sideline, see,
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    and the opposite sideline has a coach
  • 00:15:17
    and he's shouting directions at us too.
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    He's saying, "You're alone and you always will be."
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    We all hear it.
  • 00:15:23
    I remember being in ninth grade,
  • 00:15:25
    I heard very loud in ninth grade.
  • 00:15:27
    I moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Philadelphia.
  • 00:15:30
    I joined a new school.
  • 00:15:31
    At first it was amazing, it was the opposite of alone.
  • 00:15:33
    I was suddenly the soccer star because the team --
  • 00:15:35
    The school was so small that like I was amazing.
  • 00:15:38
    It was great. I started on -- (whistle)
  • 00:15:40
    - A yellow flag here.
  • 00:15:41
    - What? Hey!
  • 00:15:43
    - Holding onto the past. Come on, man.
  • 00:15:46
    It was high school, like 20 years ago.
  • 00:15:48
    Let's move on.
  • 00:15:50
    A three point penalty will be assessed.
  • 00:15:55
    - Honestly in ninth grade I hit this peak
  • 00:15:57
    because I was on both teams, it was amazing,
  • 00:15:59
    JV and varsity.
  • 00:16:00
    But what happened is that played so much
  • 00:16:02
    I got stress fractures in both of my shins
  • 00:16:04
    and I limped whenever I ran.
  • 00:16:06
    Now, about the time that that happened,
  • 00:16:08
    my parents realized that the school that was in
  • 00:16:10
    was total crap, like really, really crappy.
  • 00:16:13
    So we switched schools, put me in a new one.
  • 00:16:15
    I immediately joined the soccer team, JV team.
  • 00:16:18
    I was still hurt, still limping.
  • 00:16:20
    My first practice, I went down for drills,
  • 00:16:22
    you know, shooting a goal or whatever,
  • 00:16:24
    came back in line and I hear all of my teammates
  • 00:16:26
    laughing at me, making fun of me.
  • 00:16:29
    "What's up with this kid? Why does he limp?"
  • 00:16:31
    And I don't want to tell them.
  • 00:16:32
    You might be like, "Well, why? Why not?
  • 00:16:34
    Why didn't you tell them you had a legit injury
  • 00:16:36
    and you can you couldn't run? Why not just tell them?"
  • 00:16:38
    For the same reason that you don't tell
  • 00:16:40
    anybody about your weaknesses either,
  • 00:16:43
    because we're afraid if we do we'll be rejected
  • 00:16:45
    and we'll be left alone.
  • 00:16:47
    The voice of alone is powerful.
  • 00:16:50
    But is it right? Is that our destiny?
  • 00:16:54
    The answer is, the Good News answer today is
  • 00:16:55
    no, not not at all. Is this not our destiny.
  • 00:16:58
    Actually the complete opposite is true.
  • 00:17:01
    You were born to belong to the team.
  • 00:17:04
    See, the Good News today is not just that
  • 00:17:05
    Jesus was focused on team first,
  • 00:17:08
    it's that He wants you to be part of that team.
  • 00:17:11
    He's actually on the recruiting trail.
  • 00:17:12
    He's coming after you. You're His prime target.
  • 00:17:14
    He's got an offer letter coming your way.
  • 00:17:16
    All you have to do is say, yes.
  • 00:17:19
    These are words describing this in John 1:12:
  • 00:17:31
    All that means is if you want to be on His team,
  • 00:17:34
    all you've gotta do is say yes.
  • 00:17:36
    You've just got to ask and you're on.
  • 00:17:37
    It's an incredible team.
  • 00:17:39
    It's a team where you can receive forgiveness
  • 00:17:41
    and then immediately get direction.
  • 00:17:43
    It's a team where you can learn about
  • 00:17:44
    your gifts that you have, skills that you have
  • 00:17:47
    that you might not even know yet,
  • 00:17:48
    He hasn't called out in you.
  • 00:17:50
    It's a place where you can find your spot
  • 00:17:52
    to leave your mark on the world.
  • 00:17:54
    The team is the church, it's the winningest team
  • 00:17:57
    in the history of the world and always will be.
  • 00:18:01
    Jesus said this about it in Matthew 16:18:
  • 00:18:12
    That means when you're on the team,
  • 00:18:13
    all the powers of hell will not conquer you.
  • 00:18:17
    They won't win.
  • 00:18:18
    Addiction won't win in your life.
  • 00:18:20
    Apathy won't win in your life.
  • 00:18:22
    Depression won't win.
  • 00:18:23
    Bitterness won't win.
  • 00:18:25
    None of it wins because you're on the team.
  • 00:18:27
    See, even if you get hurt and you can't run,
  • 00:18:30
    even if you're limping, you have a team
  • 00:18:32
    who comes around you, who has your back,
  • 00:18:33
    who picks you up
  • 00:18:35
    and who carries you forward to victory.
  • 00:18:37
    That's the team of Jesus.
  • 00:18:38
    And folks, don't miss this,
  • 00:18:39
    for all the fun we're having today,
  • 00:18:41
    all the laughs that are still to come,
  • 00:18:42
    we have some amazing stuff still to come.
  • 00:18:44
    I don't want you to miss this.
  • 00:18:45
    All of us are here for one reason:
  • 00:18:48
    it's to help connect you and get you on this team.
  • 00:18:53
    In fact, I'll just say as the online community pastor,
  • 00:18:56
    that's quite literally my job.
  • 00:18:58
    And I would love nothing more
  • 00:18:59
    than to help that happen for you.
  • 00:19:01
    It's just this easy, all you have to do: email me.
  • 00:19:05
    This is my email address: Kyle.ranson@Crossroads.net.
  • 00:19:10
    Email me, tell me you want connected.
  • 00:19:13
    If you have a need, if I can care for you any way,
  • 00:19:15
    anything we can do it all,
  • 00:19:16
    I'd love to help take care of you,
  • 00:19:18
    get you as part of this team.
  • 00:19:19
    I promise that's my actual email address.
  • 00:19:21
    It doesn't go to a junk mail.
  • 00:19:22
    There's no robots behind it.
  • 00:19:24
    It's me, I'd love to help you.
  • 00:19:26
    That's why we're here.
  • 00:19:27
    So listen, friends, it is time to stop living life alone.
  • 00:19:32
    It's time to join the team,
  • 00:19:34
    because the greatest coaching move Jesus ever made
  • 00:19:37
    is focusing on team first
  • 00:19:39
    and inviting you and me to belong to it.
  • 00:19:42
    (whistle) (cheers & applause)
  • 00:19:45
    - Touchdown Team Tome!
  • 00:19:49
    Kyle, you were awarded six points for a great message,
  • 00:19:52
    an additional three points
  • 00:19:53
    for an excellent use of the random phrase.
  • 00:19:55
    However, there was a three point penalty for holding.
  • 00:19:58
    Would you like to go for the extra bonus point?
  • 00:20:00
    - Yeah, absolutely.
  • 00:20:01
    - Your options are Bible trivia,
  • 00:20:04
    feats of strength, and potpourri.
  • 00:20:07
    - Feats of strength. - Feats of strength.
  • 00:20:09
    Kyle, your feat of strength challenge is:
  • 00:20:12
    complete three consecutive cartwheels without stopping.
  • 00:20:16
    - Oh, wow. - Oh. - A challenge indeed for Ranson.
  • 00:20:20
    - Yeah, yeah. I just want to check,
  • 00:20:23
    Hungarian cartwheels are okay, right?
  • 00:20:25
    - Hungarian?
  • 00:20:26
    - Yeah. Here we go, one and two and three.
  • 00:20:32
    That's Hungarian cartwheels,
  • 00:20:34
    so you can look it up on TikTok.
  • 00:20:35
    - I think we were looking for more
  • 00:20:37
    something along these lines here.
  • 00:20:39
    - Oh, oh, oh. - Whoa! (cheers & applause)-
  • 00:20:42
    Hey, sir, can I just tell you
  • 00:20:45
    that made me cry it was so beautiful.
  • 00:20:47
    I just love what you did.
  • 00:20:49
    - You know what?
  • 00:20:50
    - Don't fall for it! - I did. I did. I just --
  • 00:20:52
    - Wait, I know what you're doing.
  • 00:20:54
    I know exactly what you're doing.
  • 00:20:57
    You did not get the extra point, Kyle.
  • 00:20:59
    So that resulted in an end of first quarter score:
  • 00:21:01
    Team Tome - 6, Team Mingo - 0.
  • 00:21:04
    That's the end of the first quarter.
  • 00:21:06
    - Wow. Well, folks, there you have it.
  • 00:21:07
    Clearly our referee's spending more time
  • 00:21:09
    in the gymnasium than the football field,
  • 00:21:12
    impressive cartwheels.
  • 00:21:13
    Team Tome on the board first.
  • 00:21:15
    Let's send it to our first commercial break.
  • 00:21:20
    - Life's an adventure
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    and adventure's about the journey.
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    cleanses out all your peaks and valleys.
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    One hose for drinking, one for un-stinking.
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    Make sure you only use hose two for number two.
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    So, you know, you you spray the water on your butt
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    and then it goes --
  • 00:21:57
    - Oi, oi, oi. Wait a sec.
  • 00:21:59
    You guys realize that mobile bidets
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    are a real thing, right?
  • 00:22:04
    Yeah, they are.
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    They give it to you in hospital, you know,
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    after you give birth.
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    Oh, look here. You know, I've actually got one.
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    - Why was this in your pocket?
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    - That thing saved my life after my second kid.
  • 00:22:18
    Nice job on the product parody, you drungos.
  • 00:22:21
    Crikey, guys are so dumb.
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    I have to like woman-splain everything.
  • 00:22:28
    - CamelCrak mobile bidet,
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    maybe it's a real thing.
  • 00:22:33
    - Today we're doing something
  • 00:22:35
    a little different for our older viewers.
  • 00:22:37
    - Yeah.
  • 00:22:39
    - First of all, you know we love you.
  • 00:22:41
    - We love you.
  • 00:22:42
    - You basically like invented craft beer.
  • 00:22:44
    - You brought back vinyl, that was huge.
  • 00:22:45
    - That was so big. - Yeah.
  • 00:22:47
    - But Millennials, your time is over.
  • 00:22:50
    - You're -- you're old now.
  • 00:22:51
    - Yep. Remember when you got mad
  • 00:22:53
    at your parents for being on Facebook?
  • 00:22:55
    - Maybe Facebook is more you speed now,
  • 00:22:57
    you know, hashtag adulting.
  • 00:22:59
    Like you're actually just an adult.
  • 00:23:00
    - You're just an adult, big difference.
  • 00:23:02
    You invented the hashtag.
  • 00:23:03
    That was great. That was great.
  • 00:23:04
    But it's getting old now, too.
  • 00:23:05
    - Yeah. You're kind of holding us back
  • 00:23:07
    and we've got big plans, you know,
  • 00:23:09
    and they don't include True Crime podcast, really?
  • 00:23:12
    - Re-watching old episodes of The Office again.
  • 00:23:15
    - It didn't change. - It's the same.
  • 00:23:16
    - All right, let our generation do our thing.
  • 00:23:19
    - And please, please leave TikTok alone.
  • 00:23:23
    This message brought to you by PSA,
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    you're not 22 anymore, a GenZ initiative.
  • 00:23:28
    - We're not going to get old like that, right?
  • 00:23:30
    - No. Us? No, no.
  • 00:23:42
    - Welcome back, folks.
  • 00:23:44
    In addition to those commercials,
  • 00:23:45
    we have a few other sponsors
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    we'd love to tell you about.
  • 00:23:48
    First up, from the makers of Impossible Burgers
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    comes impossible broccoli,
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    the same broccoli smell and taste you love
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    brought to you with 100% USD certified Angus beef.
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    - Which is so exciting, because if you need
  • 00:24:00
    something to wash that down,
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    we have another sponsor here today,
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    Bud Light, who is launching their line
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    of soft seltzers, it's exactly LeCrox.
  • 00:24:09
    - Yeah, it's weird, but I am a little excited
  • 00:24:12
    and nervous about this one.
  • 00:24:13
    Finally, from the mansplaining shock collar.
  • 00:24:16
    - Oh, wow.
  • 00:24:17
    - So Hannah, you see what this is is it actually --
  • 00:24:19
    - Oh, that's what happens. Okay. All right.
  • 00:24:23
    While Greg is recovering, we can see what it does.
  • 00:24:25
    We're going to head back down to the field
  • 00:24:27
    to pick up with our second quarter.
  • 00:24:30
    - Team Mingo, you maintain possession
  • 00:24:32
    of the Bible for the second quarter.
  • 00:24:34
    Please choose your random phrase.
  • 00:24:39
    Your random phrase is:
  • 00:24:41
    Fiona the hippo would never act that way.
  • 00:24:46
    - Well, I've got to say, this is a competition,
  • 00:24:48
    but man, Kyle, good word. Good word.
  • 00:24:50
    Jesus wants you on His team.
  • 00:24:53
    And one of the things that He does is
  • 00:24:54
    when you're on the team,
  • 00:24:55
    He doesn't want you to just be a number.
  • 00:24:57
    He knows your name.
  • 00:24:59
    Jesus's best coaching move is that He gets personal.
  • 00:25:03
    He's that kind of coach.
  • 00:25:05
    Now, I have to tell you,
  • 00:25:07
    I've never heard the audible voice of God,
  • 00:25:10
    but I did hear Jesus laugh one time.
  • 00:25:12
    And I want to tell you that story,
  • 00:25:14
    and actually, believe it or not,
  • 00:25:15
    it has something to do with these bubbles.
  • 00:25:20
    More on that in a minute.
  • 00:25:22
    But, man, I've got to tell you, this came
  • 00:25:23
    at a time in my life when I was struggling.
  • 00:25:26
    One of the things that I've done regularly
  • 00:25:28
    is I'll go to a place for a silent retreat.
  • 00:25:30
    It's interesting that on the silent retreat
  • 00:25:32
    is where I actually literally heard Jesus laugh.
  • 00:25:34
    I'm at the silent retreat, though, and I'd hit a wall.
  • 00:25:37
    It was a tough time in my life.
  • 00:25:38
    I had a lot of decisions to make
  • 00:25:40
    and I was struggling.
  • 00:25:41
    And one of the things that I would do
  • 00:25:43
    when I was there to take these walks in the woods.
  • 00:25:45
    And I remember one day being in the woods
  • 00:25:47
    and it was my first opportunity to just let it all out.
  • 00:25:50
    And I'm in the middle of the woods, no one's around
  • 00:25:52
    and I am screaming and I am crying.
  • 00:25:55
    I'm literally picking up branches
  • 00:25:56
    and breaking them over tree trunks.
  • 00:25:57
    I was so upset and in that moment I just felt alone.
  • 00:26:01
    I'm like, "Jesus, do you hear me?
  • 00:26:03
    Do you see me right now?"
  • 00:26:04
    I did not -- (whistle)
  • 00:26:06
    - Flag on the play. - What?
  • 00:26:08
    - Unnecessary roughness.
  • 00:26:10
    Yelling at Jesus. Judas never even yelled at Jesus.
  • 00:26:13
    A three point penalty will be assessed
  • 00:26:15
    at the end of this quarter.
  • 00:26:16
    - Great point on that one, Hannah.
  • 00:26:18
    - Already.
  • 00:26:21
    - All right, let me shake it off.
  • 00:26:23
    So in that moment, though, I had to realize
  • 00:26:25
    that there are other places in the Bible
  • 00:26:27
    where people express the same kind of feeling to Jesus.
  • 00:26:30
    There's one story that shows up.
  • 00:26:32
    These two followers of Jesus are walking
  • 00:26:34
    and they're discouraged.
  • 00:26:35
    They've hit a wall.
  • 00:26:36
    They don't know what's next.
  • 00:26:38
    But one of the things that we see over and over again
  • 00:26:40
    is Jesus knows how to meet you right where you are.
  • 00:26:42
    I don't know who needs to hear that today,
  • 00:26:44
    but I want you to know
  • 00:26:45
    Jesus knows how to meet you right where you are.
  • 00:26:49
    These disciples are depressed because
  • 00:26:50
    they thought Jesus was going to be the rescuer.
  • 00:26:52
    They thought that He was going to be the one
  • 00:26:54
    to deliver them from the oppression
  • 00:26:56
    that they were in under Rome.
  • 00:26:57
    And the way that that was going to play out
  • 00:26:59
    in their mind was a victorious crowning of Him as king,
  • 00:27:02
    not a crucifixion on a cross.
  • 00:27:05
    And this is three days after
  • 00:27:07
    Jesus has died on the Cross.
  • 00:27:08
    And there's these rumors in these words
  • 00:27:10
    that they've heard four days after
  • 00:27:11
    that Jesus is actually alive again.
  • 00:27:14
    But they don't -- They don't believe it.
  • 00:27:16
    They don't see it. It's not happening for them.
  • 00:27:18
    They feel like a number, they certainly don't feel
  • 00:27:20
    like Jesus knows their name.
  • 00:27:22
    And literally, it says Jesus joins them on this walk
  • 00:27:25
    and He begins to walk with them,
  • 00:27:26
    meeting them right where they are.
  • 00:27:28
    And as they talk about what they're
  • 00:27:30
    lamenting about and what they're crying about,
  • 00:27:32
    Jesus begins to explain to them who He was.
  • 00:27:35
    Now, they don't know Jesus at this point,
  • 00:27:36
    but He's telling them, "Hey, listen,
  • 00:27:38
    you have to understand,
  • 00:27:39
    this rescuer had to die for your sins.
  • 00:27:42
    He had to be the one that would be
  • 00:27:44
    the sacrifice in place of the death that you deserve."
  • 00:27:46
    And then he begins to tell them,
  • 00:27:48
    "But there's all these promises, don't you see them
  • 00:27:50
    from the Old Testament to the New Testament
  • 00:27:52
    that He would rise again?
  • 00:27:53
    That wasn't going to be the end of the story,
  • 00:27:55
    that He was going to be a victorious winner
  • 00:27:56
    in this situation.
  • 00:27:58
    And it literally says as they sat down
  • 00:28:00
    to break bread, their eyes were opened
  • 00:28:03
    and they realized it was Jesus.
  • 00:28:05
    Jesus has an ability to meet you right where you are
  • 00:28:08
    in the middle of your questioning,
  • 00:28:09
    in the middle of your doubt.
  • 00:28:10
    It's an amazing thing.
  • 00:28:12
    And what they say in Luke 24:32 is:
  • 00:28:22
    There was something in them that recognized,
  • 00:28:24
    "Man, the whole time, it was almost like
  • 00:28:27
    we could sense it, but we couldn't necessarily see it."
  • 00:28:30
    But Jesus was getting personal.
  • 00:28:31
    He was meeting them right where they were.
  • 00:28:34
    And I got to say, Jesus did the same thing for me.
  • 00:28:37
    The day after breaking those trees,
  • 00:28:39
    breaking those trunks against trees,
  • 00:28:41
    I had an amazing day where I met Jesus personally.
  • 00:28:44
    Where He spoke to me personally.
  • 00:28:45
    He knew what I needed and he gave it to me.
  • 00:28:47
    It started with going to this prayer shack.
  • 00:28:49
    There's a place where you can go and you can pray
  • 00:28:51
    and people write their prayers down.
  • 00:28:53
    And I'm in this prayer shack
  • 00:28:54
    and one of them that stood out to me was
  • 00:28:56
    it just simply said:
  • 00:28:57
    the Eucharist, without it, life is but bubbles.
  • 00:29:00
    I was like, I don't know what to make of all of that.
  • 00:29:03
    But I know this idea of the Eucharist,
  • 00:29:05
    you may know it as communion, is this idea
  • 00:29:07
    that we remember the sacrifice of Jesus
  • 00:29:09
    every time we break bread.
  • 00:29:11
    Like when those people realized that was Jesus,
  • 00:29:13
    that's what He was doing, He was breaking bread.
  • 00:29:16
    So there was something there
  • 00:29:17
    that was communicating to me,
  • 00:29:18
    maybe had a subtle level,
  • 00:29:20
    maybe even at a subconscious level
  • 00:29:21
    that the Jesus was beginning to meet me there.
  • 00:29:24
    Well, it got even better because
  • 00:29:26
    the next morning I woke up and I forgot where I was
  • 00:29:28
    and I was walking and I forgot there was a wall
  • 00:29:31
    between me in the bathroom.
  • 00:29:32
    And I literally, boom, ran right into the wall
  • 00:29:34
    and I laughed.
  • 00:29:36
    And I lie to you not, in that moment,
  • 00:29:38
    I heard Jesus laugh and it was such an amazing thing.
  • 00:29:43
    You know, why is it that we think that
  • 00:29:44
    if Jesus speaks to u s it's going to be stern?
  • 00:29:46
    Why do we think if Jesus speaks to us,
  • 00:29:48
    it's going to be corrective?
  • 00:29:49
    If He's the most joyful being in the world,
  • 00:29:51
    wouldn't it make sense that the way
  • 00:29:53
    that He encountered me was with joy?
  • 00:29:55
    He laughed. He was delighted in me.
  • 00:29:57
    He was delighted in the crazy moment
  • 00:29:59
    of hitting the wall all the way to the bathroom.
  • 00:30:01
    Jesus knew what I needed and I begin to sense
  • 00:30:04
    that I'm not just a number, but He knows my name.
  • 00:30:06
    Well, it got even better because
  • 00:30:07
    one of the things I never do on the silent retreat
  • 00:30:09
    is talk to anybody, but I've met two guys.
  • 00:30:11
    And there was a place where you could talk
  • 00:30:13
    and we were talking and it was amazing.
  • 00:30:15
    Those were the exact two men I needed to hear
  • 00:30:18
    for the direction where Jesus was leading me next.
  • 00:30:21
    And to top it off, later that day,
  • 00:30:24
    someone else who was a retreatant came
  • 00:30:27
    and they gave me a bottle of bubbles. Bubbles.
  • 00:30:30
    What is it with these bubbles?
  • 00:30:34
    I think it's just the simplicity of who Jesus is.
  • 00:30:36
    I think it's the simplicity of Him
  • 00:30:38
    knowing exactly what I need it.
  • 00:30:39
    I felt seen that day.
  • 00:30:41
    I felt known that day.
  • 00:30:43
    And I want you to know,
  • 00:30:44
    even if you feel like Jesus has forgotten you,
  • 00:30:47
    He has not forgotten you.
  • 00:30:49
    He has not forgotten you.
  • 00:30:50
    He is present. He is interested.
  • 00:30:52
    He doesn't just see you as a number.
  • 00:30:54
    Jesus knows your name.
  • 00:30:57
    So I have a challenge for you.
  • 00:30:58
    And the challenge is simply this:
  • 00:31:01
    Look up that story of these two guys
  • 00:31:03
    taking a seven mile walk called The Road to Emmaus.
  • 00:31:05
    You can Google Road to Emmaus,
  • 00:31:07
    if you have a Bible, you look it up,
  • 00:31:08
    you can find it in Luke 24.
  • 00:31:09
    Now, let me tell you what not to do.
  • 00:31:11
    Don't read the story and assume
  • 00:31:13
    that Jesus doesn't want to meet you in it
  • 00:31:15
    because everything in creation recognizes that
  • 00:31:18
    there is a God that they serve.
  • 00:31:19
    Hey, let me tell you something, if Fiona could read,
  • 00:31:21
    she would not assume that.
  • 00:31:23
    Fiona wouldn't act that way.
  • 00:31:25
    She wouldn't act that way
  • 00:31:27
    and don't you act that way either.
  • 00:31:28
    I believe that Jesus wants to meet you
  • 00:31:30
    right where you are, in your questions,
  • 00:31:32
    in your doubts, with hope.
  • 00:31:34
    He might even meet you with bubbles. (whistle)
  • 00:31:41
    - Touchdown Team Mingo!
  • 00:31:46
    Chuck, you were awarded six sports points
  • 00:31:48
    for a great message. - Sports points, all right.
  • 00:31:50
    And three points for an excellent use
  • 00:31:51
    of a random phrase just in the nick of time. - Yes.
  • 00:31:54
    - However, there was a three point penalty.
  • 00:31:55
    -Yeah. Yeah.
  • 00:31:56
    - Screaming at the Lord and Savior.
  • 00:31:58
    - Yeah.
  • 00:31:59
    - Would you like to go for the extra point?
  • 00:32:01
    - I would like to go for the extra point.
  • 00:32:03
    - Bible trivia, feats of strength, or potpourri?
  • 00:32:06
    - I'll take potpourri, Alex. (crowd booing)
  • 00:32:09
    - It's too soon, Chuck.
  • 00:32:10
    - It's too soon?
  • 00:32:12
    I'm trying to honor him. I love Jeopardy.
  • 00:32:14
    - All right, Chuck.
  • 00:32:15
    What is the longest running show in Broadway history?
  • 00:32:24
    - Cats.
  • 00:32:25
    - That is not correct. Oh, close second.
  • 00:32:29
    Phantom of the Opera.
  • 00:32:31
    - Ah, Phantom of the Opera. - Yes, Phantom of the Opera.
  • 00:32:34
    However, I liked the use of bubbles. - Yes.
  • 00:32:37
    - I'm going to give you one bubble point.
  • 00:32:38
    - I like it, I'll take it.
  • 00:32:41
    - I like the bubbles,
  • 00:32:42
    resulting in an end of first half score
  • 00:32:46
    Team Mingo - Seven, Team Tome - six.
  • 00:32:50
    It's time for intermission.
  • 00:32:51
    That's the end of the first half.
  • 00:32:52
    - Awesome. All right, folks.
  • 00:32:54
    Well, if you're following along at home,
  • 00:32:56
    there you heard it, the ref call an intermission.
  • 00:32:58
    I still think he's a little lost around here.
  • 00:33:00
    - He is. He loved that use of bubbles.
  • 00:33:04
    And I love the use of the word Eucharist
  • 00:33:06
    that Chuck put in there,
  • 00:33:07
    not to be confused with eucalyptus, very similar.
  • 00:33:10
    Not the same thing. - Good clarification.
  • 00:33:12
    We've got a halftime show coming for you
  • 00:33:13
    on the other side of this commercial break.
  • 00:33:18
    - Seriously, Troy, just last week
  • 00:33:20
    I traded Cory's mom a dose of Xanax
  • 00:33:21
    for a 12 pack of toilet paper in the alley behind Target.
  • 00:33:27
    Just be firm and tell them, "I can still see you
  • 00:33:30
    picking your boogers with your mask on."
  • 00:33:33
    Today, I want to teach you survival skills
  • 00:33:35
    on pandemic parenting,
  • 00:33:37
    like sanitation.
  • 00:33:39
    - Gotcha.
  • 00:33:42
    Security.
  • 00:33:44
    - Mom, I can't remember my login.
  • 00:33:47
    - Honey, have you seen my pants?
  • 00:33:49
    - Negotiation.
  • 00:33:50
    - If you put on pants for math,
  • 00:33:52
    I'll pretend we're having Wi-Fi issues for social studies.
  • 00:33:54
    Okay.
  • 00:33:56
    - Delegation.
  • 00:33:57
    - Well, Eric, people don't like it
  • 00:33:58
    when we call our marketing virial anymore.
  • 00:34:01
    You have to fix it, and do it by the ninth.
  • 00:34:05
    Networking.
  • 00:34:06
    Hey, mama, hey, mama, hey, mama.
  • 00:34:09
    - Daddy! - Take me with you.
  • 00:34:12
    - Creating alliances.
  • 00:34:13
    - We're not bad at parenting, they're bad at childing.
  • 00:34:17
    - Hey.
  • 00:34:18
    - I'm a mom just like you.
  • 00:34:20
    This is my masterclass.
  • 00:34:23
    And I have no idea what I'm doing.
  • 00:34:35
    - Last year was hard.
  • 00:34:36
    I was spending a lot of time at home,
  • 00:34:38
    so I got an emotional support dog.
  • 00:34:41
    - Sup? I'm Greg.
  • 00:34:42
    - Being emotionally available for me is a full time job.
  • 00:34:45
    - She ain't lying.
  • 00:34:47
    - And work needs a lot of my time these days.
  • 00:34:49
    - By work, she means Netflix and sleeping.
  • 00:34:52
    - Seven months into quarantine,
  • 00:34:54
    I noticed Greg getting a little distant and sad.
  • 00:34:57
    - Because you are bumming me out, woman.
  • 00:35:00
    Like, who is taking care of my needs,
  • 00:35:02
    which is why I got Porkchop.
  • 00:35:03
    - Hey, buddy, what are we doing today?
  • 00:35:05
    I'm excited. Are you excited?
  • 00:35:07
    - Finally, an emotional support animal
  • 00:35:09
    for your emotional support animal.
  • 00:35:10
    - ...but it's OK.
  • 00:35:11
    - And then one day I looked up from my laptop
  • 00:35:13
    and there was this second dog.
  • 00:35:15
    - That pillow looks delicious.
  • 00:35:16
    I wonder if it tastes like apples.
  • 00:35:17
    - Thanks to Porkchop, I finally stopped wetting the bed.
  • 00:35:20
    Man's best friend finally has his own best friend.
  • 00:35:23
    - I love friends, they're the best, walks are the best.
  • 00:35:25
    Where we going? Should we go over there?
  • 00:35:26
    What's this food? It's so good, I ate the whole bowl.
  • 00:35:28
    I wonder what the bowl tastes like.
  • 00:35:30
    I'm not sure what's happening right now,
  • 00:35:31
    but it's my favorite.
  • 00:35:34
    - Maybe take a nap, little buddy.
  • 00:35:35
    - Help your pet and help you, Pet2Pet Ministries.
  • 00:35:39
    - Hey, my back hurts, but it's okay.
  • 00:35:40
    Does your back ever hurt?
  • 00:35:41
    What's it like to be tal?
  • 00:35:42
    Does it smell different when you're tall?
  • 00:35:46
    - Now to the COVID crisis.
  • 00:35:48
    (indiscernible overlapping news clips)
  • 00:35:51
    - Last year, the world closed.
  • 00:35:55
    We did not.
  • 00:35:57
    We collected food, blessed teachers,
  • 00:36:01
    wiped out medical debt, supported hospital staff,
  • 00:36:05
    gave away cars, sold masks,
  • 00:36:09
    sponsored children, help kids celebrate Christmas,
  • 00:36:14
    tutored kids in India,
  • 00:36:15
    fed the needy in South Africa,
  • 00:36:18
    restored water access in Nicaragua,
  • 00:36:20
    helped rebuild in Puerto Rico, and more.
  • 00:36:25
    The world changed, our mission did not.
  • 00:36:28
    God calls, Crossroads responds.
  • 00:36:30
    We go and change the world.
  • 00:36:32
    Join us. Crossroads.net/go.
  • 00:36:46
    - Hey, welcome back.
  • 00:36:47
    You know, on a serious note, Crossroads,
  • 00:36:49
    we really are a church that goes.
  • 00:36:51
    If you want to play a part and blessing
  • 00:36:52
    health care and medical workers,
  • 00:36:54
    we'd love for you to do that.
  • 00:36:55
    You can check it out at Crossroads.net.
  • 00:36:57
    - Absolutely. Being a part of the church
  • 00:36:58
    just means that we try to make the world
  • 00:37:01
    look more like God's kingdom,
  • 00:37:02
    and this is a great way to do that.
  • 00:37:04
    - Well, I'll tell you what I'm excited about,
  • 00:37:06
    it's the sports church -- What is it? Bible --
  • 00:37:09
    - It's Sports Church Preach Ball.
  • 00:37:11
    - All I know is it's the halftime show coming right up.
  • 00:37:14
    Every single weekend around here, you know,
  • 00:37:16
    is not just a football parody.
  • 00:37:17
    It's our goal to actually introduce you to a God
  • 00:37:20
    who knows you and wants to be a part of your life.
  • 00:37:22
    For a little taste of what we're about,
  • 00:37:24
    we want to inspire you a little bit with Crossroads Music.
  • 00:37:47
    - Imagine a God that isn't just a prophet,
  • 00:37:49
    a teacher, or a nice idea.
  • 00:37:51
    - Imagine a God that made His church
  • 00:37:53
    to be the hope of the world.
  • 00:37:54
    - Imagine a God that is more powerful
  • 00:37:56
    - than anything that feels too broken to mend
  • 00:37:59
    - our past, - our futures
  • 00:38:00
    - our marriages - our jobs
  • 00:38:02
    - our whatevers. - Imagine a God
  • 00:38:04
    - that believes no one is too far gone
  • 00:38:06
    - to have a relationship with Him.
  • 00:38:08
    - Imagine a God that wants a life of adventure for you
  • 00:38:10
    - through Jesus.
  • 00:38:12
    - You don't just have to imagine.
  • 00:39:15
    - I believe God has more for me
  • 00:39:17
    than the world says I'm worth.
  • 00:39:18
    I'm ready to cut through the lies
  • 00:39:20
    and start walking in freedom.
  • 00:39:22
    - I believe that Jesus freed me from a lie
  • 00:39:24
    that I've been living in in years
  • 00:39:26
    and showed me the goodness of living in His truth.
  • 00:39:29
    - I believe that God wants me to chase after
  • 00:39:31
    more than just the next short lived,
  • 00:39:32
    momentary feelgood moment that leaves me feeling empty.
  • 00:39:36
    - When I started a relationship with Jesus,
  • 00:39:38
    everything changed.
  • 00:39:40
    I started to feel purpose for the first time in my life.
  • 00:39:43
    I started to have real friends and community
  • 00:39:45
    that really wanted to know me,
  • 00:39:48
    that helped me be the best that I could be,
  • 00:39:50
    that gave me a purpose
  • 00:39:52
    that was beyond being just about myself.
  • 00:39:55
    And I started to experience real joy and peace
  • 00:39:58
    that transcended whatever situation that I was in.
  • 00:41:14
    - I believe that God wanted more for me and my life
  • 00:41:17
    than the addiction that was consuming me.
  • 00:41:19
    God has redeemed me. He has freed me.
  • 00:41:22
    He has made me whole through recovery
  • 00:41:24
    and an amazing community.
  • 00:41:26
    - I believe in a time of isolation and evil
  • 00:41:29
    and darkness that God is much bigger than that.
  • 00:41:32
    And He's using me in my circle of influence
  • 00:41:36
    to bring light into dark places.
  • 00:41:40
    - I believe anything is possible with God.
  • 00:41:42
    I watched him redeem my marriage that was beyond broken.
  • 00:41:44
    We were both lost and in the dark
  • 00:41:46
    and God brought us to light.
  • 00:41:48
    - As a kid, church always felt like
  • 00:41:49
    a set of rules to me that I had to follow,
  • 00:41:52
    but can never actually succeed with.
  • 00:41:53
    But after saying no to religion and yes to God,
  • 00:41:56
    I realize He is full of forgiveness when I fail
  • 00:41:59
    and that He will never give up on me.
  • 00:42:23
    - I believe that even in the middle of the pain
  • 00:42:25
    that my wife and I are experiencing,
  • 00:42:27
    God has really good plans for our future family.
  • 00:42:30
    2020 was really hard and we lost two kids,
  • 00:42:32
    but I know that He has good things
  • 00:42:34
    for us in this coming year.
  • 00:42:36
    - I believe God wants to redeem regret for my youth,
  • 00:42:39
    and He's doing so in the life I have now.
  • 00:42:42
    - I believe God help me overcome overwhelming anxiety
  • 00:42:46
    and showed me how to trust Him even during uncertainty.
  • 00:42:49
    And I figured I can cast my cares on Him
  • 00:42:52
    as many times as it takes and I would often do that.
  • 00:42:55
    And He kept my cares, my anxiety.
  • 00:42:57
    - I spent years believing God had left me
  • 00:42:59
    after a series of poor life decisions.
  • 00:43:02
    After I had what I felt like was rock bottom,
  • 00:43:04
    He showed me that I am fully loved and known as I am
  • 00:43:07
    and that He has a plan and a purpose for me
  • 00:43:09
    that is far greater than I could ever imagine for myself.
  • 00:44:19
    - Great inspiration and music
  • 00:44:21
    by our very own Crossroads Music, awesome stuff there.
  • 00:44:23
    - That's right.
  • 00:44:24
    What do you say we hear from our very own Tome Brady,
  • 00:44:27
    our senior pastor, Brian Tome?
  • 00:44:28
    Brian, you having fun today?
  • 00:44:29
    - I am having fun. I hope we're all having fun.
  • 00:44:32
    This is the heart behind this place
  • 00:44:34
    in this time as our country is more divided than ever.
  • 00:44:37
    But one thing we like is football
  • 00:44:39
    and it's a national holiday, we all come together.
  • 00:44:41
    So we like having fun.
  • 00:44:42
    We believe God likes having fun
  • 00:44:43
    and you can spiritually grow at the same time.
  • 00:44:45
    So we hope you're having a great time
  • 00:44:47
    during our our Super Preach Bowl Championship,
  • 00:44:51
    whatever it is.
  • 00:44:53
    All right. So, hey,
  • 00:44:54
    a lot of us have a spiritual discipline of giving,
  • 00:44:56
    others of us just like to throw resources
  • 00:44:59
    towards things that are helping our friends
  • 00:45:01
    or helping our country.
  • 00:45:02
    If you want to be part of that team,
  • 00:45:03
    we'd love for you to be a part of our giving team.
  • 00:45:05
    You can go to Crossroads.net/give.
  • 00:45:08
    - All right, BT, thank you.
  • 00:45:09
    Get down to the field, you've got to preach.
  • 00:45:11
    - Get out there.
  • 00:45:12
    - We're going to send you to our final commercial break.
  • 00:45:36
    You can not reach back and in that bowl.
  • 00:45:39
    - Eww.
  • 00:45:41
    - Don't worry, guys.
  • 00:45:43
    -It's not the chips I'm worried about.
  • 00:45:45
    - These are the new GermX Doritos,
  • 00:45:48
    great flavor, and kills 99.9% of germs.
  • 00:45:53
    - So they're covered in disinfectant?
  • 00:45:55
    - Yeah, it's like I just washed my hands, better even.
  • 00:46:00
    - It's not.
  • 00:46:01
    - New GermX Doritos, bleck!
  • 00:46:06
    - If you or a loved one have consumed GermX Doritos,
  • 00:46:08
    you may be entitled to financial compensation.
  • 00:46:10
    Also, what the crap were you thinking?
  • 00:46:13
    If you ate GermX Doritos
  • 00:46:15
    and have experienced any of these symptoms:
  • 00:46:35
    Call 1-800-FRITOPAYS now, Brothers-IN-LAW.
  • 00:46:40
    - If you want your life to be different,
  • 00:46:42
    you have to try something new.
  • 00:46:44
    Crossroads Weekly is a jolt of hope
  • 00:46:46
    for your spiritual life.
  • 00:46:48
    45 minute episodes of teaching, challenge, and inspiration,
  • 00:46:52
    not from some know it all,
  • 00:46:54
    but from a team of real people,
  • 00:46:56
    folks who have been through the mud of life
  • 00:46:58
    and have found hope in the struggle.
  • 00:47:00
    Make 2021 different,
  • 00:47:02
    connect with God every single week online
  • 00:47:05
    with Crossroads Weekly.
  • 00:47:20
    - No, they were saying no Doritos.
  • 00:47:22
    - Fine, geeze.
  • 00:47:24
    All right, well, we've got one more,
  • 00:47:25
    one more sponsorship for you, a little groupie.
  • 00:47:27
    Here's one I'm excited about coming to you from Wrangler,
  • 00:47:30
    their very first pair of strangler jeans.
  • 00:47:33
    They help you sing a whole octave higher, Hannah.
  • 00:47:35
    - Wow. Okay, folks, we're going to head back down
  • 00:47:38
    to the field to get to our second half of the sports bowl--
  • 00:47:43
    No Sports Church Preach Ball.
  • 00:47:44
    - Here it is.
  • 00:47:45
    - Well, I'll be right there.
  • 00:47:47
    It won't happen again, I promise.
  • 00:47:49
    - Time to start.
  • 00:47:51
    - Okay, I've got to go. Thank you. Bye-bye.
  • 00:47:54
    Sorry. That was a manager at footlocker.
  • 00:47:56
    I told him I'd be right there. Let's try to hurry up.
  • 00:47:58
    Ali, you will maintain possession
  • 00:48:00
    of the Bible for the third quarter.
  • 00:48:01
    Please choose your random phrase.
  • 00:48:03
    - Come on, Alli, you've got this.
  • 00:48:05
    - Your random phrase is: My grandma always said
  • 00:48:09
    I was about two syllables short of a haiku.
  • 00:48:12
    - Two syllables short of a haiku.
  • 00:48:15
    - Random as they come is that one.
  • 00:48:16
    - You've got it, you've got it.
  • 00:48:20
    - Jesus's best coaching -- (whistle)
  • 00:48:25
    - Alli, you've been selected for a random COVID screening.
  • 00:48:28
    Would you like the accurate two day test or the rapid test?
  • 00:48:33
    - I like to be accurate. Let's do the accurate test.
  • 00:48:36
    - Perfect. - Just a little tickling in --
  • 00:48:38
    - Whoa, whoa.
  • 00:48:40
    I can't afford this kind of test.
  • 00:48:42
    My grandma said I was two syllable short of a haiku.
  • 00:48:45
    - Slips in the random phrase early.
  • 00:48:48
    Let's see if he gives it to her.
  • 00:48:51
    - Why don't you tell me about the rapid test instead.
  • 00:48:53
    That one I just flip a coin.
  • 00:48:56
    You're good to go.
  • 00:48:58
    - My kind of test.
  • 00:49:00
    So Jesus's best coaching move,
  • 00:49:03
    it was definitely to push.
  • 00:49:06
    If you're someone that would say, "Yeah,
  • 00:49:08
    I would like all the life that God has for me,"
  • 00:49:11
    then you need to let Jesus push you.
  • 00:49:14
    Great coaches always push their players
  • 00:49:17
    and they do it for one reason,
  • 00:49:18
    because they see what they could be.
  • 00:49:20
    They know their players
  • 00:49:22
    and they see the potential that's in them.
  • 00:49:24
    And they also know, those same players
  • 00:49:26
    would like to stay in their comfort zone.
  • 00:49:29
    And a great coach never lets that happen.
  • 00:49:32
    They know the right time to make the right push
  • 00:49:35
    to go through, past that comfort zone to get more.
  • 00:49:40
    Jesus is a great coach.
  • 00:49:43
    He sees your potential. He knows you like that.
  • 00:49:46
    He sees the life that you could have together
  • 00:49:49
    with Him as your coach on the field.
  • 00:49:52
    Some of us came today.
  • 00:49:54
    We arrived at today
  • 00:49:55
    and we are staring down the edge of our comfort zone.
  • 00:49:58
    There's an uncomfortable situation we need to face.
  • 00:50:00
    There's a difficult thing in our path.
  • 00:50:03
    There's some kind of pain in our way
  • 00:50:05
    and we just can't make ourselves engage.
  • 00:50:08
    We can't have the conversation.
  • 00:50:10
    We can't end the relationship.
  • 00:50:12
    We can't sign up for the training.
  • 00:50:14
    We can't just get the words out of our mouth.
  • 00:50:19
    And that's why we need a coach.
  • 00:50:21
    Coaches come at just that moment.
  • 00:50:23
    They come to push us into and through our comfort zone
  • 00:50:27
    to come out the other side stronger, wiser,
  • 00:50:30
    more fruitful, and a more powerful player
  • 00:50:32
    right on the field of play.
  • 00:50:36
    Jesus did this for a woman that came to Him one day.
  • 00:50:39
    She came to Him when there was a crowd all around
  • 00:50:43
    and she saw her opportunity.
  • 00:50:45
    You need to know something about this woman.
  • 00:50:47
    And guys, I'm sorry, I know it's Super Bowl,
  • 00:50:50
    but this woman had a very womanly problem.
  • 00:50:53
    She had been bleeding for 12 years,
  • 00:50:56
    and the text makes it pretty clear
  • 00:50:58
    that this flow of blood was her monthly cycle. (whistle)
  • 00:51:01
    Now, let's just get it out of our system -- What?
  • 00:51:05
    - Emotional encroachment.
  • 00:51:08
    - What?
  • 00:51:10
    - Talking about bleeding,
  • 00:51:11
    this is football, not a Tampax commercial.
  • 00:51:14
    Negative three points, negative three yucky points
  • 00:51:16
    will be assessed at the end of this quarter.
  • 00:51:18
    - Half the world deals with this every month.
  • 00:51:20
    - That doesn't mean it's right.
  • 00:51:21
    - Bad penalty.
  • 00:51:23
    - Bad call. It seems like Ali doesn't like that call.
  • 00:51:26
    - As if that wasn't bad enough for her,
  • 00:51:29
    in Jewish culture she would have been
  • 00:51:31
    pushed out of everyday life because
  • 00:51:33
    she would have been, according to the law,
  • 00:51:35
    designated unclean.
  • 00:51:36
    It would have been 12 years since
  • 00:51:38
    she'd been able to worship normally
  • 00:51:40
    or participate in community in a normal way.
  • 00:51:44
    And she had probably just about given up,
  • 00:51:46
    except she saw Jesus coming.
  • 00:51:48
    So I want you to picture the scene.
  • 00:51:50
    Shoulder to shoulder crowd around Jesus.
  • 00:51:52
    And she's probably not supposed to be there.
  • 00:51:54
    And she's army crawling down on the ground
  • 00:51:57
    just about to reach out and touch Jesus.
  • 00:52:01
    And here's what Luke 8 says happened next.
  • 00:52:31
    Just going to take a pause in the story right here.
  • 00:52:33
    I've got to admit to you that I read the story
  • 00:52:35
    again a couple of months ago
  • 00:52:37
    and I had a reaction right about then.
  • 00:52:39
    And I said out loud to Jesus,
  • 00:52:41
    "Why you gotta bust her out like that?
  • 00:52:43
    Why do you have to be so mean?
  • 00:52:44
    She was already healed.
  • 00:52:46
    Why force her up in front of the entire crowd?"
  • 00:52:50
    And I read the story again and I read it again.
  • 00:52:53
    And then I realized this right here,
  • 00:52:55
    this was Coach Jesus on the field.
  • 00:52:57
    This was Jesus pushing for more,
  • 00:53:00
    more than she even wanted for herself.
  • 00:53:03
    Listen to how the story ends:
  • 00:53:18
    Jesus forced her up.
  • 00:53:20
    He pushed her into an uncomfortable situation.
  • 00:53:23
    He made her stand up and tell the very people
  • 00:53:26
    that had pushed her to the outskirts of community
  • 00:53:29
    for twelve years, that she had been healed
  • 00:53:32
    so he could affirm it and that he could
  • 00:53:35
    welcome her back into the fullness
  • 00:53:37
    of the life that he had for her.
  • 00:53:39
    He didn't want just physical healing,
  • 00:53:41
    Jesus wanted all the healing.
  • 00:53:43
    He wanted emotional healing, communal healing,
  • 00:53:45
    relational healing, spiritual healing.
  • 00:53:48
    Jesus wanted far more for her
  • 00:53:51
    than she could even think of for herself.
  • 00:53:55
    She'd probably just about given up on that kind of life.
  • 00:54:00
    And I'll ask you the same:
  • 00:54:01
    Where is it that you've just settled for no pain?
  • 00:54:05
    You don't want to go into discomfort.
  • 00:54:07
    You've stopped at the edge of your comfort zone.
  • 00:54:09
    You don't want to be pushed further
  • 00:54:11
    and you've settled for far less
  • 00:54:13
    than what Jesus has for you.
  • 00:54:17
    Jesus is the coach to take you into and out of
  • 00:54:23
    the other side of your comfort zone
  • 00:54:25
    to get all the life that He has for you.
  • 00:54:29
    There's something the Atlanta Falcons do,
  • 00:54:32
    and they have a weekend with their franchise
  • 00:54:34
    where they allow some of their players
  • 00:54:36
    to invite back old coaches just to say thank you.
  • 00:54:39
    And I was reading about this practice.
  • 00:54:42
    And I read some of the letters that the guys
  • 00:54:43
    wrote to these high school and college coaches
  • 00:54:46
    that had helped them make it to the NFL.
  • 00:54:48
    And I picked up on a theme and surprise, surprise,
  • 00:54:52
    that theme was these coaches pushed.
  • 00:54:55
    I read about grit, toughness,
  • 00:54:58
    insisting on camps, sprints after practice.
  • 00:55:01
    All these guys talked about having a coach who pushed them.
  • 00:55:05
    And did they summarize it with how awful he was?
  • 00:55:08
    Not even close.
  • 00:55:10
    I read this one who pretty much captured
  • 00:55:13
    the sentiment of most of the letters. It says:
  • 00:55:23
    These letters to coaches who pushed
  • 00:55:26
    at the end of the day said,
  • 00:55:28
    "Thanks, Coach, for being a great dad."
  • 00:55:32
    I got an email from my daughter's basketball coach
  • 00:55:34
    a couple of weeks ago.
  • 00:55:36
    I'm guessing there had been some complaining
  • 00:55:38
    about his pushing of the girls.
  • 00:55:40
    And I want to read you a quote from this email,
  • 00:55:44
    knowing that his own daughter is on his team.
  • 00:55:47
    Here's what he said, "I will never coach,
  • 00:55:50
    push, or yell at your daughter
  • 00:55:52
    any different than I would my own.
  • 00:55:54
    I will treat them as I would my own daughter.
  • 00:55:57
    If they are consistently not in position
  • 00:56:00
    or they do not know where they should be,
  • 00:56:01
    then I will tell them, sometimes loudly,
  • 00:56:03
    where and what they should be doing.
  • 00:56:05
    We are about developing your girls
  • 00:56:08
    so they are ready for high school basketball."
  • 00:56:10
    I read that email and I thought, "Yes,
  • 00:56:13
    that is what great coaches do.
  • 00:56:15
    That is what great coaches say
  • 00:56:16
    and that's what a great dad says too, "I will push.
  • 00:56:20
    And it might be uncomfortable,
  • 00:56:22
    but I'm getting you ready for more
  • 00:56:25
    and I would do it to my own kid."
  • 00:56:28
    This is exactly what God is like.
  • 00:56:31
    He is a good Father
  • 00:56:33
    and He would never push you into a situation
  • 00:56:36
    that He hadn't already asked of His very own son.
  • 00:56:40
    During Jesus's time here on Earth,
  • 00:56:42
    He was a Son who allowed His Father
  • 00:56:44
    to push him into discomfort of every possible kind.
  • 00:56:48
    Jesus faced insults, persecution,
  • 00:56:50
    rejection, humiliation.
  • 00:56:52
    He stood up in front of crowds too,
  • 00:56:54
    and as a matter of fact, those crowds cheered
  • 00:56:57
    as He made His way to the worst kind of pain
  • 00:57:01
    in His death on a cross.
  • 00:57:03
    And when He did that, He did it for you.
  • 00:57:06
    He did it to get all the healing and all the life
  • 00:57:11
    that God had in mind when He made you.
  • 00:57:14
    And He also earned is right to be your coach on the field.
  • 00:57:18
    He knows you, He sees what you can be.
  • 00:57:21
    Let Jesus push you to more. - Nice.
  • 00:57:26
    - Touchdown, Team Mingo!
  • 00:57:29
    - Awesome. Ali. (indiscernible crosstalk)
  • 00:57:33
    - You have six points for an excellent sports message.
  • 00:57:36
    - Thank you.
  • 00:57:37
    - You have three points for an excellent
  • 00:57:39
    early use of a random phrase. - Thank you.
  • 00:57:41
    - Would you -- I feel a little bad.
  • 00:57:43
    I'm going to go ahead
  • 00:57:44
    and reverse those yucky points that I gave you earlier.
  • 00:57:47
    - I agree.
  • 00:57:48
    - The commish called and told me to reverse that call.
  • 00:57:50
    - Wait, who's the commish?
  • 00:57:52
    - That's what my wife tells me to call her.
  • 00:57:55
    - You're married to a great woman. A great woman.
  • 00:57:58
    - That's what she tells me to say.
  • 00:57:59
    So I just want to apologize on behalf of women everywhere,
  • 00:58:02
    you are stronger than I am.
  • 00:58:03
    Alli, would you like to go for the extra point?
  • 00:58:05
    - I would.
  • 00:58:07
    - Bible trivia, feat of strength, or potpourri?
  • 00:58:10
    - Feat of strength, let's try it.
  • 00:58:12
    - Your challenge: Can you roll your tongue?
  • 00:58:15
    - I can not, it's genetic.
  • 00:58:17
    - Get a close up. Get a close up.
  • 00:58:20
    - It's genetic. - Yeah, yeah.
  • 00:58:23
    There's no -- no, my wife is watching.
  • 00:58:27
    The commish is watching right now.
  • 00:58:29
    I saw no rolling.
  • 00:58:31
    - That's nothing to do with strength, ref.
  • 00:58:33
    - Resulting in an end of third quarter score
  • 00:58:37
    Team Mingo -16, Team Tome - 6.
  • 00:58:40
    That's the end of the third quarter.
  • 00:58:42
    - I will take it. - Strong!
  • 00:58:43
    - Strong at the end of the third quarter,
  • 00:58:46
    Alli really pulling at the heartstrings
  • 00:58:48
    just a little bit with that letter from the coaches.
  • 00:58:51
    It was phenomenal.
  • 00:58:53
    Oh, doing OK over there, Greg? Doing all right?
  • 00:58:56
    - I'm fine.
  • 00:58:58
    - You look even whiter than you did
  • 00:58:59
    just, you know, yesterday.
  • 00:59:01
    - I think I had too many chocolate coins.
  • 00:59:03
    - Oh, I understand.
  • 00:59:04
    Well, while Greg is recovering, let's get back in there
  • 00:59:07
    for what will be our last quarter.
  • 00:59:10
    - Team Tome, you have possession of the Bible
  • 00:59:12
    for the fourth quarter.
  • 00:59:13
    Brian, please choose your random phrase.
  • 00:59:18
    Your random phrase is: like the way butterscotch
  • 00:59:22
    doesn't taste like butter or scotch.
  • 00:59:27
    - That's true. That's a good point.
  • 00:59:30
    - Oh, my. All right.
  • 00:59:32
    We're looking at looking at all different ways
  • 00:59:35
    that Jesus was on a team and Jesus facilitated a team.
  • 00:59:39
    But let's stop even way, way back before that.
  • 00:59:41
    Have you ever considered why it is
  • 00:59:44
    that Jesus is the most well-known name
  • 00:59:46
    in the entire world?
  • 00:59:48
    No second place comes close.
  • 00:59:51
    He's known in more languages, more cultures,
  • 00:59:53
    more corners of the globe, more heirs of history,
  • 00:59:55
    the name Jesus than anybody else.
  • 00:59:59
    Why is that?
  • 01:00:01
    I believe it's because He empowered people.
  • 01:00:04
    As a coach., He knew how to empower people.
  • 01:00:08
    Think about this.
  • 01:00:09
    It wasn't His teaching, though it was great for sure.
  • 01:00:12
    Better than anybody here is doing so far for sure.
  • 01:00:15
    It wasn't because He could do amazing miracles,
  • 01:00:18
    though, of course, of course
  • 01:00:19
    if I could raise people from the dead
  • 01:00:21
    there'd be more people
  • 01:00:22
    who would want to listen to me as well.
  • 01:00:24
    Those things are very, very true.
  • 01:00:26
    But He said to His disciples once, He said,
  • 01:00:29
    "You will do greater things than me."
  • 01:00:31
    They weren't going to give greater sermons than Him.
  • 01:00:33
    They were going to do greater
  • 01:00:35
    and more miracles than Him.
  • 01:00:36
    But as a team, they would come together
  • 01:00:39
    and He would empower them as a coach,
  • 01:00:42
    empower them to do things
  • 01:00:44
    that they couldn't do individually.
  • 01:00:47
    In the Book of Luke we see how this comes together
  • 01:00:50
    in one very classic story. It says this:
  • 01:01:17
    He is empowering people.
  • 01:01:19
    He's facilitating people.
  • 01:01:21
    No one individually has ever done what Jesus did,
  • 01:01:23
    but collectively we have done greater things
  • 01:01:26
    than He has done and he set us up.
  • 01:01:29
    He said, "I trust you. Go."
  • 01:01:31
    He gave instructions, the kind of things to carry,
  • 01:01:34
    some of the things they might want to say,
  • 01:01:35
    some of the things they might not want to say.
  • 01:01:37
    But they had a level of power.
  • 01:01:41
    You know the answer,
  • 01:01:42
    the answer to every problem in our world today.
  • 01:01:46
    You know what the answer is?
  • 01:01:47
    I know some of you are going, "Jesus?"
  • 01:01:49
    No, Jesus is not the answer. He's not.
  • 01:01:51
    I know -- I know I could get defrocked for that.
  • 01:01:54
    But the physical person Jesus isn't here right now.
  • 01:01:58
    But He is physically here and present
  • 01:02:02
    with His Spirit dwelling
  • 01:02:04
    inside of those of us who are followers.
  • 01:02:07
    And we are His hands and feet and He empowers us.
  • 01:02:10
    My friend Gary Haugen
  • 01:02:12
    from International Justice Mission says
  • 01:02:16
    you and I are his plan A and there is no plan B.
  • 01:02:22
    We're in the midst of all the COVID stuff.
  • 01:02:24
    None of us like it.
  • 01:02:25
    But let's go way, way back to February, March,
  • 01:02:27
    when we started to realize, like,
  • 01:02:29
    "Oh, this is a real deal.
  • 01:02:30
    This isn't necessarily going to go away."
  • 01:02:33
    There was this, remember there was just
  • 01:02:35
    this visceral attitude of, "Wow,
  • 01:02:38
    I'm in an adventure right now.
  • 01:02:40
    There's something powerful that's happening.
  • 01:02:41
    This is a very unique time in world history."
  • 01:02:44
    Many of us embraced that.
  • 01:02:46
    What I did is I went to my computer
  • 01:02:48
    and I sent an email to everybody in my neighborhood,
  • 01:02:50
    25 closest houses to ours.
  • 01:02:52
    And I said, "Look, I want you to know,
  • 01:02:55
    if you need anything at all, here's my number.
  • 01:02:57
    Here's my email.
  • 01:02:58
    My wife and I ready to help you.
  • 01:02:59
    If you run out of toilet paper,
  • 01:03:02
    as of now, we've got plenty, that may change.
  • 01:03:04
    But right now, we've got plenty."
  • 01:03:05
    I'm not a prepper, but I am prepared.
  • 01:03:09
    So I said, "Hey, if you've got any --
  • 01:03:11
    If you run out of food,
  • 01:03:12
    if you need anybody to go do something,
  • 01:03:14
    we're here for you. We're here for you."
  • 01:03:17
    We were empowered by Jesus to love one another
  • 01:03:20
    and to love our neighbors.
  • 01:03:21
    Now, here's the weird thing, okay?
  • 01:03:23
    I'm -- I pastor a pretty large church.
  • 01:03:25
    I've got staff I could deploy on my neighborhood.
  • 01:03:29
    We have a huge budget.
  • 01:03:30
    I could deploy sectors of our budget.
  • 01:03:33
    I could have said, look,
  • 01:03:34
    "Crossroads will come behind you.
  • 01:03:36
    Crossroads will help you."
  • 01:03:37
    No, no. It's all about Crossroads.
  • 01:03:40
    It's about me.
  • 01:03:41
    It's about Jesus empowering me to be about my neighbors.
  • 01:03:45
    What is it that He is empowering you to do?
  • 01:03:49
    And what is it do you think somebody else should be doing,
  • 01:03:52
    you think the government should be doing,
  • 01:03:53
    you think a church should be doing,
  • 01:03:55
    your think a nonprofit should be doing it?
  • 01:03:57
    No, you should be doing it. You.
  • 01:03:59
    You are empowered by Him.
  • 01:04:01
    And this is the way His movement has spread
  • 01:04:03
    to where people know His name.
  • 01:04:06
    There's not a hospital I know of in the United States
  • 01:04:09
    that wasn't started by a follower of Christ.
  • 01:04:12
    That's why so many of them have names like
  • 01:04:14
    Saint this or Saint that or Christ Hospital.
  • 01:04:17
    There's not a single orphanage I know of
  • 01:04:19
    in the United States if you go way, way back
  • 01:04:20
    or across the world by the way.
  • 01:04:23
    Why was Mother Teresa so massive in Calcutta?
  • 01:04:26
    Because she had the audacity to believe that
  • 01:04:29
    orphans matter, the poor matter,
  • 01:04:30
    because Jesus empowered her for that.
  • 01:04:32
    Orphanage after orphanage, the early roots
  • 01:04:34
    where people who were followers of Jesus saying,
  • 01:04:37
    "I care about this."
  • 01:04:38
    Public schools, every time, every time
  • 01:04:42
    the public schools came into being was because
  • 01:04:45
    a follower of Christ or group said,
  • 01:04:46
    "It's good for us to develop our minds."
  • 01:04:49
    This is how the body of Christ goes forward.
  • 01:04:52
    This is how God works in your life,
  • 01:04:54
    is you get on the mission, on the adventure
  • 01:04:56
    He wants you to do and you get moving.
  • 01:04:58
    Now, I've been reading a book recently.
  • 01:05:01
    It's been actually very helpful
  • 01:05:03
    and very stimulating for me.
  • 01:05:04
    It's called The Founders Mentality.
  • 01:05:06
    And in The Founders Mentality,
  • 01:05:08
    it's basically a business book where they look at
  • 01:05:10
    how is it that businesses start small with an idea
  • 01:05:14
    and those are really rapidly grow and take off,
  • 01:05:16
    sometimes just get stuck into bureaucracy and stuff.
  • 01:05:20
    And they say it's because they lose
  • 01:05:22
    the founders mentality.
  • 01:05:24
    In the initial days,
  • 01:05:25
    the founder has this insurgents' mentality.
  • 01:05:29
    He or she doesn't like the way things are.
  • 01:05:30
    He or she sees different things that need to happen.
  • 01:05:33
    There's just this like (grunts).
  • 01:05:35
    That's basically Jesus. He was an insurgent.
  • 01:05:37
    "I don't like the way the religion is operating here.
  • 01:05:39
    I don't like the way the people aren't loved.
  • 01:05:41
    I don't like the way the people don't have hope.
  • 01:05:43
    There was insurgency with Him and all the disciples.
  • 01:05:45
    In every business there's insurgency mindset.
  • 01:05:47
    The problem is, as it starts to grow,
  • 01:05:49
    you have to scale it
  • 01:05:51
    and you have to get your systems
  • 01:05:52
    and you've got to get your budgets.
  • 01:05:54
    And what happens is bureaucracy
  • 01:05:55
    and you have all these people who are around
  • 01:05:58
    doing these things, but you lose the founders mentality,
  • 01:06:01
    you lose the insurgency.
  • 01:06:03
    You start assuming somebody else is going to do it
  • 01:06:05
    or some other departments should do that
  • 01:06:06
    or somebody else should fix that.
  • 01:06:09
    The reason why the church is weakest in America
  • 01:06:12
    is we've lost the founders mentality.
  • 01:06:14
    We keep thinking it's the church,
  • 01:06:15
    the capital C church that has all thing.
  • 01:06:17
    Or it's the government that should be doing this
  • 01:06:19
    or it's this and we get all angry about it
  • 01:06:21
    instead of none of us actually doing anything,
  • 01:06:24
    none of us actually being empowered.
  • 01:06:27
    The day you start to be empowered
  • 01:06:28
    to do the things God wants you to do
  • 01:06:30
    and the adventure He wants you to go after
  • 01:06:32
    is a day you start to sense Jesus and our culture changes.
  • 01:06:35
    Now look at the very end of this time
  • 01:06:37
    when He sends out 72 folks.
  • 01:06:39
    We don't even know their name.
  • 01:06:40
    Luke 10 it says this:
  • 01:06:53
    Like man, this stuff works, Jesus,
  • 01:06:55
    you empowered us, stuff happens.
  • 01:06:57
    Jesus doesn't go, "Well, I saw Satan fall like lightning."
  • 01:07:03
    No, He's a coach, He says --
  • 01:07:04
    I believe He said it like this, He said,
  • 01:07:06
    "Hey, man, I'll tell you what,
  • 01:07:07
    when I was praying for you
  • 01:07:09
    I saw Satan fall like freaking lightning.
  • 01:07:11
    That's what I saw.
  • 01:07:12
    Way to go, guys. Way to go. Awesome."
  • 01:07:16
    God still wants to say that to you and I today.
  • 01:07:19
    Jesus still gets excited when people who He empowers
  • 01:07:23
    go out on the field of play and we get sweaty,
  • 01:07:26
    we get dirty, we get bloody, we get tired.
  • 01:07:31
    The more of us to do that will be the more of us
  • 01:07:33
    who experience the adventure Jesus has us in.
  • 01:07:35
    And the more of us to do that
  • 01:07:36
    will dictate our culture will start going the right way.
  • 01:07:40
    (whistle)
  • 01:07:42
    - Touchdown Team Tome.
  • 01:07:46
    Brian, you received six points for a great message.
  • 01:07:50
    However, you did not use the random phrase.
  • 01:07:52
    - Oh, crap!
  • 01:07:55
    - Resulting in an end of fourth quarter score
  • 01:07:59
    Team Tome - 12, Team Mingo - 16.
  • 01:08:04
    Team Mingo is the champion
  • 01:08:07
    of the Sports Church Preach Bowl.
  • 01:08:10
    - There's no extra point? There's no nothing?
  • 01:08:12
    - Hold on, hold on. - Let's go for it.
  • 01:08:13
    - I've got an idea.
  • 01:08:15
    If you can catch a stack of quarters
  • 01:08:18
    off of your elbow every quarter you catch
  • 01:08:20
    counts for a point. - All right.
  • 01:08:22
    - I don't have quarters.
  • 01:08:24
    - Does anybody have quarters?
  • 01:08:26
    Anybody have Bitcoins?
  • 01:08:27
    That could also work. Five, five of them.
  • 01:08:30
    - No problem. No problem at all.
  • 01:08:32
    - At the same time or one at a time?
  • 01:08:34
    At the same time. Ready?
  • 01:08:36
    (whistle) (cheers & applause)
  • 01:08:38
    - One, two, three, four, five
  • 01:08:40
    (cheering)
  • 01:08:41
    - Oh, wow.
  • 01:08:45
    - Team Mingo - 16,
  • 01:08:47
    Team Tome is your Sports Church Preach Ball champion.
  • 01:08:52
    - If you're following along at home,
  • 01:08:54
    somehow Team Tome pulled that one out.
  • 01:08:55
    - Yes, they did.
  • 01:08:56
    - Hannah, did you have fun today?
  • 01:08:58
    - What a time here at the Sports Church Preach Ball.
  • 01:09:01
    We've enjoyed ourselves.
  • 01:09:03
    - We're so glad you joined us.
  • 01:09:05
    Let's head back down to the field
  • 01:09:06
    for some final words and the presentation of our trophy.
  • 01:09:09
    - There's also a cash prize, but it's my stimulus check.
  • 01:09:13
    So you both can split that. Here you go.
  • 01:09:15
    - Thank you very much. - Well done.
  • 01:09:18
    - Hey, this has been fun, guys. - Yes, always is.
  • 01:09:20
    - You might have actually won that one,
  • 01:09:22
    actually, but this. - Might?
  • 01:09:24
    - Might have, might.
  • 01:09:25
    But this has actually been very fun.
  • 01:09:26
    And, you know, it's fun to have a diversion
  • 01:09:29
    from the difficulty that we're dealing with our culture.
  • 01:09:31
    We all know that there's stuff broken
  • 01:09:33
    inside of our culture.
  • 01:09:34
    And come back next week and I think you're find
  • 01:09:37
    there actually is a cure.
  • 01:09:38
    We're going to talk about that
  • 01:09:39
    in a new series starting next week.
  • 01:09:40
    So we'll see you next week.
  • 01:09:42
    Have a great Super Bowl.

Process, journal or discuss the themes of this article - here's a few questions to get the ball rolling...

Welcome to the Weekend Follow-Up. The questions below are for the weekend of Feb. 6 & 7, 2021.

  1. Most people watch the actual “big game” for the commercials or food. Share your all-time favorite Super Bowl commercial and your go-to game snack.

  2. We all feel alone at times, even if we’re surrounded by people. When have you felt alone, and how do you typically deal with those feelings?

  3. Jesus wants you on his team and he makes it a personal invitation. Where do you feel like Jesus might be inviting you to be on the team — maybe it’s saying yes to being on the team or stepping more into your role as a teammate?

  4. Jesus pushes and empowers his people like a good coach. The more we get in the game, the more we will experience what Jesus has for us. What is a practical step you can take this week to allow God to empower you to move forward? After you share with the group add it to your calendar.

  5. This weekend is more than a football parody. It’s about knowing who Jesus really is and discovering how Jesus sees you. Close your group with prayer: “God thank you for your joy. Jesus show us how to be more of a team with one another. We ask for your peace and we give you all our cares & anxieties and seek your grace. Amen.”

More from the Weekend

Discover the antidote for all that ails you and join us for our new series called The Cure. Remember to invite your friends & family. See you next week!

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Feb 4, 2021 • 1 hr 10 mins 12 sec

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