Living Your Best Life | The Book Of Psalms Week 6 | Anywhere Service

We can read every self-help book, take that mental health day, cut out gluten and still feel like we’re not thriving. We’re looking for the 30-day fix to better abs and enlightenment, but in the end, we’re a little rounder and more lost. Join Online Pastor Andy Rider as he teaches us how living like Jesus can lead to our best life.

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    - [singing] I'm living my best life
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    Wake up with the sunrise
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    - How many people do you know would say that
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    they're living their best life, really?
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    And what about you?
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    I'm going to show you how to live your best life
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    through an ancient way of living
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    that you can rediscover today.
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    - Where are we in the Bible?
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    Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?
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    The Bible begins in the Old Testament,
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    written around 3500 years ago.
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    The first five books of the Old Testament:
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    Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
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    are known as the Pentateuch, or books of the law.
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    The next 12 books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
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    1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings,
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    1 Chronicle, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.
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    Whew. That's a lot.
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    These are known as the historical books.
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    This brings us to the books of the Bible
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    known as the Wisdom Literature.
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    It starts with Job and then into
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    a collection of 150 poems known as the Psalms.
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    - How many people do you know would say
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    that they're living their best life, really?
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    And what about you?
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    Today, I'm going to show you how to live your best life
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    through an ancient way of living
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    that you can rediscover today.
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    My name is Andy Reider.
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    I'm the online church community pastor and a musician.
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    And we're in the Book of Psalms, which is perfect,
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    because they're just songs, songs of feeling,
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    songs of all kinds of emotions.
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    But most importantly, they are theology set to melody.
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    This is a song that I just I love because
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    I think it encapsulates this idea
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    of living your best life,
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    not just being stuff that belongs on Instagram,
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    but being the beautiful every day
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    that make up yours in my life.
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    I'll play it for you.
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    It goes a little something like this.
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    [singing] I'm living my best life.
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    I wake up with the sunrise.
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    It does not look a thing like I thought that it would
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    I've been counting my blessings.
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    I sleep with my best friend.
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    The best that it has been in a long time.
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    I'm living my best life.
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    Oh, I'm living my best life. Yeah, yeah.
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    I'm living my bestlife. [end music]
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    That's what I want for you. That's what I want for me.
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    How we can adopt practical, tangible, spiritual rhythms
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    that will let us live our best lives,
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    lives of fruitfulness, lives of purpose,
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    and the lives that the Psalms describe.
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    It seems like most of us are a bit of a mess right now.
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    And I don't just mean those people.
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    I mean me, you, and most everyone we meet
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    from your barista to your manager to your mom.
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    Aren't Christians supposed to, like, be different here?
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    Aren't we supposed to have an advantage?
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    Aren't we supposed to be full of things
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    like grace and patience and resiliency?
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    Well, I hate to break it to you,
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    but often times that's not the case,
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    as we've all experienced followers of Jesus
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    who were jerks.
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    And I think I know part of why.
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    Or let me say if you're a Christian
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    who feels like your faith
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    isn't living up to the promises of Jesus,
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    I think I might be able to help with that.
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    Now, I'm a pastor.
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    I have lots of conversations with people,
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    and it seems like more and more people
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    are feeling like a life of thriving or flourishing
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    is a pipe dream.
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    There's a song that's been going through my head
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    nonstop lately, it's that one that just talks about
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    what it would look like to live my best life.
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    Now, I know the language is dated,
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    but I think the desire is as fresh as ever.
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    I want a life that reaps the blessings
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    of being in lock step with God.
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    We all want to prosper.
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    We all want to live blessed, whatever that means.
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    But too few of us know how to get there.
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    I believe that the answer is actually found
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    in an ancient way of living
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    that's being rediscovered today.
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    And good news, a thriving and flourishing life
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    of vibrancy is not a pipe dream.
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    You can have this kind of life, and I believe
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    that Psalm I will show us a bit of how to get it.
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    Now, spoiler, you're going to have to learn to stay on beat.
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    Now, believe it or not, I think the solution
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    won't be found in the latest book, fad diet,
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    or even in just going to church.
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    I think it can be found in an ancient way of living.
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    Let me illustrate with a story
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    from my high school band program.
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    Now, as you can see, I'm pretty cool.
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    I'm pretty cool. I come from a family of musicians.
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    When I was in high school as a freshman,
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    I was even cooler.
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    But while I always played music,
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    I always wanted to write songs.
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    I always wanted to write songs.
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    Now in high school, there was this kid,
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    he played trumpet and he wrote songs nonstop.
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    I'm going to be real with you, they weren't good.
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    Like, really, they always had this weird,
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    like, '80s pop/show tune vibe that
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    at the time wasn't cool at all.
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    But he'd sit in the practice room night after night,
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    hour after hour, just hammering out these oddball songs
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    that no one ever wanted to listen to.
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    I silently judged him in the way
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    that only a high schooler can do and kind of like,
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    Oh, bless his heart kind of way.
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    And I graduated high school, forgot that he existed.
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    The next time I heard that kid's name,
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    he was playing at the Grammys.
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    Yeah, he was the front man for the band Walk the Moon.
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    Just absolutely killing it.
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    In that moment, I learned that
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    there's something powerful that happens when
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    someone creates a rhythm towards their desired goal.
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    But the opposite is always true.
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    I've seen people's dreams and hopes die on the vine
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    because as bad as they wanted something,
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    they didn't have the rhythm to back it up.
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    I feel like I see something similar happen
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    in people's desire to follow Jesus.
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    I have experienced this.
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    After two decades of following Jesus,
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    I feel like I've been confronted with this place
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    where why is what I see and read about in the Bible
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    not in line with what I'm experiencing?
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    This Psalm, this articulation of who God is
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    and who He wants us to be, I think, gives us
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    a beautiful and amazing picture into
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    how we can live that thriving, vibrant, full life
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    that we all want.
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    Let me read to you from Psalm 1.
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    Now catch this part.
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    Now, a 25 minute talk from me
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    or anybody else other than Jesus
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    isn't going to fix your whole life.
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    But my hope for today is that you have
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    a greater sense of how living in sync
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    with the rhythms that God created you for
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    can help you live your best life.
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    Did you notice that at the start of this passage
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    it describes three different postures.
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    It says, "Blessed is the one who does not walk
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    in step with the wicked
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    or stand in the way that sinners take
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    or sit in the company of mockers."
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    If there's a wrong way to walk, stand and sit,
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    then there must be a right way. Right?
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    How we walk, stand and sit can relate
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    to different spiritual rhythms that our lives need
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    to include if we want to thrive.
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    Now, let me say it again.
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    I'm not speaking about this as an expert
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    or a guru or somebody with it all figured out.
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    I'm a co-traveler on this journey.
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    I am a fellow experimenter trying to work out
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    what it means to follow God
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    in a world as crazy as 2022, right now.
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    I want us to look at our lived experience
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    and what the Bible promises
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    and see how much they are in alignment,
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    how much joy we feel, how much life, peace, patience.
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    Is prayer moving the needle in yours in my life?
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    I want that for you and for me.
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    Now, while I'm down the road a little bit in this,
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    I've had a couple of years
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    to lean into these disciplines and experience
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    some of the vibrancy that they can offer.
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    I want to share a little bit
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    about how you can start that journey now.
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    The first thing you've got to do, it's simple,
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    you just have to walk.
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    Walk. Walk isn't a sprint. It's a consistent pace.
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    It's a thing that we do that moves us
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    consistently over time to where we want to go.
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    Christianity is so often sold
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    like a six minute AB workout.
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    Like, let me let me explain.
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    I want a six pack. I really do.
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    I just don't want it bad enough to work as hard
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    as it would take for me to get one.
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    Going to the gym for a week straight for like 9 hours
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    and eating nothing but, you know,
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    dry chicken breasts and protein shakes.
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    I don't want to do that.
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    I don't want to do that for more than a couple of days.
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    I and so many others want the life of Jesus,
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    that peace, purpose, vibrancy, passion,
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    all those things, but we want it
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    without adopting the lifestyle of Jesus.
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    If we want the life of Jesus, all those good things,
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    we have to have those rhythms.
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    We have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.
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    A flourishing, spiritual life of any kind
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    isn't built in fits and starts.
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    It's not a lot of activity
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    and then we forget about it for a year.
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    It's cultivated over time with faithfulness.
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    Like my songwriting rock star former classmate skills,
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    character and capacity are grown over time.
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    In case I'm not being clear enough,
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    I want a friend of mine who knows a lot about rhythm
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    as a professional studio musician, an amazing drummer,
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    let's have Josh Suhrkamp explain.
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    [drumming]
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    - When I started drumming,
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    that was really cool to me to play and I loved it.
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    But when I started playing with other people,
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    that wasn't really what they needed or wanted.
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    It was something more like this.
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    [drumming]
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    Consistency and rhythm,
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    that's what people need in a band.
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    And that's really the difference between
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    me as a young drummer and me as an older drummer.
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    As a young drummer, I just wanted to hit everything
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    and play really fast.
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    But as an older drummer, I realized that my job
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    is to create consistency, something easy to follow.
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    - Does anyone resonate with that first drummer,
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    with that flurry of activity,
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    of doing it all at the start,
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    but not being able to follow through
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    and have consistency over time?
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    Man, if you tried to learn Spanish 19 times like I have,
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    if you've wanted a six pack but not gotten it,
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    whatever it is for you, I think we can all identify
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    the places where we just didn't walk it out long enough.
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    There's a scripture that I love from 1 John,
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    it says it this way:
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    If you're not experiencing
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    the level of flourishing that you want,
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    don't just turn on another podcast
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    or another show or whatever.
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    Instead, adopt a spiritual rhythm.
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    Here's a few to get you started.
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    Read your Bible.
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    They're going to sound obvious.
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    This is not rocket science.
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    Read your Bible, pray.
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    You can do both of those in the Crossroads App,
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    and I'd love for you to join us there.
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    There's great stuff that happens when we pray
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    and when we are in God's word daily together.
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    But there's others, like fasting,
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    like silence, solitude, generosity.
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    If you want the life of Jesus,
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    adopt the life style of Jesus
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    by being an active participant
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    in your own spiritual growth, as in walk it out daily,
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    when it's fun and even when it's not.
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    Now, a note on religion.
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    Some of you are going to hear what I'm saying,
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    be like, "Oh, you just gave me a checklist
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    of all the things I've got to do."
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    No, no, no, no, no. Don't hear that at all.
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    Empty religious obligation doesn't impress Jesus at all.
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    But me being lazy and calling my lack of follow through
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    authentic doesn't really either.
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    And it doesn't help me.
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    Spiritual disciplines aren't religious
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    unless we allow them to become that.
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    Think of it maybe in a more helpful way
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    as spiritual strength building.
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    Let me put it this way: I love my kids.
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    They're adorable, they're wonderful.
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    And sometimes being a dad feels like this photo.
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    It's great. It's all beautiful.
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    You're all wearing semi matching outfits,
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    but it's not always like that.
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    Other times, being a dad feels like this photo.
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    Do I love my kid even when
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    I'm covered in puke in the Kroger Food Court?
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    Yes, yes, I do.
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    But me being authentic to my feelings
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    while covered in puke is less important
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    than me being authentic to my identity as my son's dad.
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    Be authentic to your identity
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    as a follower and child of God,
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    not your energy level at every given moment.
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    That's what it looks like for us
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    to walk out our faith with consistency.
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    - Hey, what's going on, everybody? I'm Hannah.
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    - And I'm Andy.
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    - Andy, they already know who you are.
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    You're up there preaching like right now.
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    - I know, I'm just, I'm getting used to all the stuff.
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    - That's all right. It's all good. It's all good.
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    We'll let it slide this one time.
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    - All right. Well, hey,
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    if anyone hopes you're enjoying this message, it's me.
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    But we're taking this break to say,
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    if you're interested in giving to Crossroads, you can go
  • 00:14:42
    to Crossroads.net/give to do just that.
  • 00:14:44
    - All right, Andy, take us home, brother.
  • 00:14:45
    - Let's do it.
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    - Let's get back to the message right now.
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    - Our second spiritual rhythm or posture
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    deals with how we stand, and not just how we stand,
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    but who we stand with.
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    Now, back in 1753, Benjamin Franklin
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    wrote to a friend about a strange phenomenon
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    that was taking place in the American West.
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    While kidnaping was unfortunately commonplace
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    on both sides, white prisoners that were rescued
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    from Native American tribes
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    were seizing the first chance they could
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    to flee back into the wilderness
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    and rejoin their captors. It's crazy.
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    Simultaneously, there wasn't and hasn't been
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    a single report of Native warriors
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    migrating in the opposite direction
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    and choosing to stay with Europeans.
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    Benjamin Franklin was trying to make sense of this
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    and he called out something really important.
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    He said the white runaways must have become
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    disgusted with our manner of life despite
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    being shown all imaginable tenderness on their return.
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    The story is from a fantastic book
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    that I would highly recommend
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    called Tribe by Sebastian Junger.
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    He posits that there's something about
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    our modern culture that has so alienated people
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    as to make them desperate for community
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    and willing to risk just about anything to get it.
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    I believe this to be a spiritual reality.
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    That's why it's the second of our postures
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    if we want to thrive.
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    Who do you stand with?
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    Do you have people around you?
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    Do you have real community?
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    The people you spend time with are the best predictor
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    of everything from future income
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    to the health of your marriage.
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    Stand with people who are giving you life
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    and are pointing you towards
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    more of what you want in your life.
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    Now, this isn't advocacy for home schooling,
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    but it is to say be choiceful, be intentional
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    about who you spend your time with.
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    Be good to everybody.
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    Be friends with as many different kinds
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    of people as possible, but don't link your life
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    to people who aren't going to the same place
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    and in the same direction that you are.
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    Hebrews 10:24-25 says it this way:
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    You can meditate on God's word all day,
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    you can know a ton about the Bible,
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    but you can never experience
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    the fullness of God's intent for you
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    because you're standing with the wrong people.
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    Which brings us to our third posture,
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    our third spiritual rhythm.
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    If we want the kind of life that Psalm 1 describes,
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    you know what it is?
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    It's sit. It sit.
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    What does it look like for you to sit in your life?
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    Well, just to pause, to rest, to take a minute.
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    Now, let me ask you a questionL
  • 00:17:42
    Would you show up at work three beers deep?
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    I -- don't answer that. I don't know.
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    I'll say scientists have shown that
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    losing even 2 hours of sleep is similar
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    in the way that it affects your cognitive abilities
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    as having three beers.
  • 00:17:57
    Seriously, look it up. It's crazy.
  • 00:17:59
    Now, while most of us wouldn't show up
  • 00:18:00
    to work three beers deep, many of us
  • 00:18:03
    wouldn't think about missing out on
  • 00:18:04
    a few Stranger Things worth of episodes
  • 00:18:06
    of sleep at night.
  • 00:18:08
    Why don't we value rest like we should,
  • 00:18:11
    especially when most of us would describe ourselves
  • 00:18:14
    as over busy, overtired and stressed?
  • 00:18:18
    Quick history lesson for you.
  • 00:18:20
    Following the French Revolution,
  • 00:18:21
    the Enlightenment thinkers and revolutionaries
  • 00:18:24
    decreed that the first year of the revolution
  • 00:18:26
    is year one, and they made the week
  • 00:18:27
    from that point ten days long, ten days long.
  • 00:18:30
    So they had one day off out of every ten,
  • 00:18:33
    not supposedly one out of every seven like we have.
  • 00:18:36
    This calendar lasted for more than a decade
  • 00:18:38
    until Napoleon came back.
  • 00:18:39
    And you know what happened?
  • 00:18:41
    Suicide rates and depression went through the roof
  • 00:18:45
    because they messed with the rhythm.
  • 00:18:47
    They changed up the rhythm, the beat, and got less rest,
  • 00:18:52
    less opportune to be refilled recharged.
  • 00:18:54
    The Soviet Union tried something similar more recently
  • 00:18:57
    even in the '70s and '80s to increase production.
  • 00:19:01
    It ended up doing the opposite in devastating ways.
  • 00:19:05
    Something breaks in us when we stop resting.
  • 00:19:09
    But honestly,
  • 00:19:10
    like how much of us live that way voluntarily?
  • 00:19:14
    Let me put it to you another way.
  • 00:19:17
    All of life works in seasons,
  • 00:19:19
    or at least life works best in seasons.
  • 00:19:22
    And when we try to cut corners, man, bad things happen.
  • 00:19:25
    Think of the way crops grow.
  • 00:19:27
    The ground's dormant in the winter,
  • 00:19:28
    sprouts in the spring,
  • 00:19:29
    and is fruitful in the summer and fall.
  • 00:19:32
    Think of how your body functions.
  • 00:19:33
    Sometimes it needs food, at other times
  • 00:19:35
    it needs to use those calories to solve problems
  • 00:19:37
    or exert strength.
  • 00:19:39
    Other times you're active,
  • 00:19:41
    and at other times we're created
  • 00:19:43
    to need roughly a third of our time sleeping.
  • 00:19:46
    When we neglect rest and sleep, as most of us do,
  • 00:19:49
    it's linked to all kinds of illness,
  • 00:19:51
    disease and disorder.
  • 00:19:52
    Life was meant to have a sense of rhythm,
  • 00:19:56
    a cadence and a sense of beauty and order.
  • 00:20:00
    Tell you what, let me put it in drum speak again.
  • 00:20:03
    I want Josh Seurkamp to show us what it's like,
  • 00:20:06
    what a groove sounds like,
  • 00:20:07
    what a rhythm sounds like when we leave space
  • 00:20:10
    and when we play the rests.
  • 00:20:14
    - So this this rest that Andy is talking about
  • 00:20:16
    in music looks like this.
  • 00:20:19
    And the rest is just the space
  • 00:20:21
    between the notes you play.
  • 00:20:23
    And every great drummer, every great musician knows
  • 00:20:26
    that the rest is just as important
  • 00:20:29
    as the note that you play.
  • 00:20:32
    [drumming]
  • 00:20:59
    - If you're tired, play the rests.
  • 00:21:01
    If you're stressed, play the rests.
  • 00:21:04
    Experiment with things that refill you.
  • 00:21:07
    Experiment with not having to produce and work
  • 00:21:10
    and contribute all the time.
  • 00:21:14
    What would it look like for you to recharge
  • 00:21:16
    and unplug for 24 hours?
  • 00:21:18
    This thing that we call the Sabbath
  • 00:21:20
    that Scripture describes,
  • 00:21:21
    it's one of the Ten Commandments.
  • 00:21:23
    Ten Commandments seem to go in order
  • 00:21:24
    from most important to least important.
  • 00:21:26
    And this one's above don't kill people.
  • 00:21:27
    I'm just saying it's worth a shot. Try it out.
  • 00:21:31
    It should be the best day of your week.
  • 00:21:33
    What are all the things that refill you?
  • 00:21:34
    Go for a hike or a walk, read a book,
  • 00:21:36
    watch a movie, get a coffee,
  • 00:21:38
    spend time with some friends, spend time with Jesus.
  • 00:21:43
    Man, I know what it is to be frustrated, to feel lost,
  • 00:21:47
    confused at why your life just isn't working.
  • 00:21:50
    If you felt these these ways,
  • 00:21:52
    if you felt behind or stuck or anything similar,
  • 00:21:55
    I hope that what you're hearing
  • 00:21:56
    is that you're not broken.
  • 00:21:59
    I hope you're encouraged to hear that
  • 00:22:00
    there are simple, repeatable rhythms and patterns
  • 00:22:03
    that you can lean into, that you can get in sync with
  • 00:22:07
    that will allow you to uncover
  • 00:22:09
    more of what God designed you for.
  • 00:22:13
    As Psalm 1 says, you need to know that God is for you.
  • 00:22:16
    He wants you to be that person that's like
  • 00:22:17
    a tree planted by streams of water
  • 00:22:20
    that yields its fruit in season,
  • 00:22:21
    whose leaf does not wither,
  • 00:22:23
    and whatever they do prospers.
  • 00:22:24
    That's God's heart for you.
  • 00:22:27
    But I heard the saying once recently
  • 00:22:29
    that without Him we can't, but without us He won't.
  • 00:22:33
    Now that's not in the Bible,
  • 00:22:35
    but it's felt generally true
  • 00:22:37
    most of the time in my life.
  • 00:22:38
    God really does have great things in store for me
  • 00:22:41
    and for you, but He's waiting, hoping,
  • 00:22:43
    and inviting you into a partnership with Him
  • 00:22:46
    to see those hopes, those dreams,
  • 00:22:48
    those desires of your heart come to reality.
  • 00:22:52
    Now, a life of vibrancy isn't about doing 700 things.
  • 00:22:58
    If what you heard from me over the last few minutes
  • 00:23:00
    is just a to do list or a checklist, man, I'm so sorry.
  • 00:23:04
    That's not my heart for you. That's not my desire.
  • 00:23:07
    What it is about is to just pick,
  • 00:23:10
    pick an intentional, healthy rhythm
  • 00:23:13
    and experiment with it.
  • 00:23:14
    Pick one of the things that we talked about,
  • 00:23:16
    whether it's prayer, Bible reading, Sabbath,
  • 00:23:19
    fasting, generosity, regular community, try something.
  • 00:23:23
    My goal isn't to prescribe behaviors,
  • 00:23:26
    it's to invite you into the beautiful rhythm
  • 00:23:28
    of a life in sync with God.
  • 00:23:31
    As the band plays this song
  • 00:23:33
    pulled straight out of Psalm 1,
  • 00:23:35
    consider what your rhythm could be.
  • 00:23:37
    Is there one that jumped out to you?
  • 00:23:39
    Is there one that just kind of
  • 00:23:40
    hung on your imagination, you thought,
  • 00:23:42
    "Oh, that's what that could look like for me."
  • 00:23:44
    Man, consider introducing that
  • 00:23:47
    into your rhythm this week.
  • 00:23:49
    And I'd love for you to shoot me an email.
  • 00:23:52
    This is my real email.
  • 00:23:53
    It's not a bot, it's not a team of people.
  • 00:23:55
    It's my personal email.
  • 00:23:56
    And if there's anything I can do to help,
  • 00:23:58
    whether by offering coaching or just by letting you know
  • 00:24:01
    that I'm in your corner and praying for you,
  • 00:24:03
    that's what I want to do.
  • 00:24:06
    Experiment with one rhythm this week,
  • 00:24:09
    one rhythm that will allow you to experience
  • 00:24:10
    more of the vibrant, thriving life
  • 00:24:13
    that God has for you this week.
  • 00:25:34
    - Hey, if that message taught you anything,
  • 00:25:36
    if it made you more curious,
  • 00:25:37
    if you want to know more about us, we love to meet you.
  • 00:25:40
    Going over to Crossroads.net right now
  • 00:25:42
    to create a profile.
  • 00:25:43
    - Hey, we've got podcast shows, articles and episodes
  • 00:25:45
    just like this that are catered to you
  • 00:25:47
    and what you're looking for. - That's all we got for today.
  • 00:25:49
    We'll see you next time on Crossroads.
  • 00:25:52
    - So I'm Steve. This is my wife Liz.
  • 00:25:54
    And we have been coming to Crossroads for 12 years or so
  • 00:25:58
    and we have been going to
  • 00:26:00
    the West Side location since it opened.
  • 00:26:03
    Our giving didn't start until we moved to Cincinnati.
  • 00:26:07
    And one day we just we both just kind of decided,
  • 00:26:10
    like, hey, like, if we're going to do this.
  • 00:26:13
    - This is something we need to do.
  • 00:26:14
    - Let's do this. - Yeah.
  • 00:26:15
    - Let's jump off the cliff and we went from giving 0%
  • 00:26:20
    to giving 10% of our gross income.
  • 00:26:23
    - So not too long after that,
  • 00:26:25
    we'd made the decision to adopt our boys.
  • 00:26:28
    And we were working with an agency and went
  • 00:26:30
    through their checklist of things that needed costs.
  • 00:26:34
    And we went, "Oh boy, this is going to be a big one."
  • 00:26:37
    But the one thing that we decided
  • 00:26:39
    that we would still do was tithe.
  • 00:26:42
    But in the end, we had all of our fees paid for,
  • 00:26:45
    we had quite possibly the least amount
  • 00:26:47
    of difficulties or hindrances
  • 00:26:49
    or roadblocks getting through the adoption.
  • 00:26:52
    - After adopting two boys
  • 00:26:53
    and going through the trials of that,
  • 00:26:55
    we both clearly heard from God
  • 00:26:58
    that we were supposed to become foster parents.
  • 00:27:00
    I remember sitting at work distinctly
  • 00:27:03
    looking at the numbers, looking at the finances,
  • 00:27:05
    and realizing that there is there's no way
  • 00:27:08
    that we can have two working parents
  • 00:27:11
    and still meet all the needs of foster care.
  • 00:27:13
    And I kept my prayer simple just, "Okay, God,
  • 00:27:15
    like this isn't going to work.
  • 00:27:17
    I need you to figure it out."
  • 00:27:18
    And then within the next six months,
  • 00:27:20
    she had gotten her pay doubled.
  • 00:27:22
    So then I quit my job
  • 00:27:24
    and became a stay at home parent for ten years.
  • 00:27:26
    God's a crazy God, like, he's going to ask us
  • 00:27:29
    to do things that are unexpected,
  • 00:27:32
    that are out of your comfort zone.
  • 00:27:34
    - If you're giving, I think that
  • 00:27:35
    one of the biggest things that I've learned
  • 00:27:37
    is that when God knocks, you answer the door.
  • 00:27:40
    It's trust. It's stepping out of the boat.
  • 00:27:42
    - God has provided my family through giving,
  • 00:27:47
    it's hard to summarize it, because it's everywhere.
  • 00:27:52
    When we said, let's do 10%, I can only imagine
  • 00:27:55
    that it was jumping out of an airplane.
  • 00:27:58
    But unlike when you jump out of an airplane, like,
  • 00:28:00
    you physically can see your parachute.
  • 00:28:02
    But when you go from 0 to 10,
  • 00:28:04
    you're jumping out of that airplane
  • 00:28:06
    and your parachute is God
  • 00:28:08
    and you're hoping it opens up and catches you.
  • 00:28:11
    - The one characteristic of God
  • 00:28:13
    that I've seen through giving is obedience
  • 00:28:17
    and how to be obedient.
  • 00:28:19
    Getting that 20/20 hindsight view of my life,
  • 00:28:22
    I wouldn't change it. The blessings have rippled.
  • 00:28:29
    - Listen to me, don't be the last link in your chain.
  • 00:28:32
    Today we're talking about legacy,
  • 00:28:35
    and we could use a family tree,
  • 00:28:37
    but chains are just a lot cooler
  • 00:28:38
    and we like to have fun over here.
  • 00:28:39
    But also generations, it's linear.
  • 00:28:42
    One to the next, to the next, to the next.
  • 00:28:44
    And this is exactly what a chain is.
  • 00:28:46
    And I'm afraid just possibly your family legacy
  • 00:28:50
    is going to end with you instead of go beyond you.

Jul 22, 2022 29 mins 1 sec

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