The Super Bowl of Preaching | 2022

Nobody thought it would happen. After decades in the making, we’re finally here. That’s right it’s the 20th Super Bowl of Preaching! Get ready for music, commercials, preaching, and a little football.

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    - Hey, welcome to the Crossroads Super Bowl of Preaching.
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    I'm Kyle. - I'm Hannah.
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    - And this is kind of like the best pregame show around.
  • 00:00:10
    - It's amazing. It's got like five stars on Yelp.
  • 00:00:13
    [record scratches]
  • 00:00:14
    - Okay, you can check it out.
  • 00:00:16
    I'm not entirely sure about that,
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    I'll research after the game.
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    We got an entire preaching competition with commercials,
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    a halftime show.
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    We started this because this was
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    the last attended weekend for church, ever.
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    - That's exactly right.
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    And we've been doing it for 20 years.
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    Can you believe it? -Oh, my gosh.
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    And we are excited that you are here, wherever you are.
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    Let's hop into it.
  • 00:00:38
    - Thanks, guys. Here we are at the 20th --
  • 00:00:41
    Wait, is that right? 20th?
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    I mean, how is this thing even lasted that long?
  • 00:00:46
    All right, 20th Annual Super Bowl of Preaching.
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    I'm Solomon Walcots alongside my partner,
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    Cincinnati Bengals legend
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    and NFL Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz.
  • 00:00:56
    - Thanks, Solomon.
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    While the spectacle we'll see today is
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    in fact 20 years old, I can assure you the humor
  • 00:01:02
    will not exceed that of a third grader.
  • 00:01:03
    - Oh, that's accurate,
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    especially if Brian Tome is involved.
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    Now this year's competition is sure to bring
  • 00:01:09
    its twists and turns, but one thing remains to be seen:
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    who has what it takes to bring home
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    the coveted Super Bowl of Preaching trophy,
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    Team Tome or Team Mingo?
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    - There are a lot of things to like about each team,
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    but one thing that I do know is that their skill level
  • 00:01:26
    with this has absolutely nothing to do with the outcome.
  • 00:01:29
    - Boy, you could say that again.
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    You know, I was able to sit down with each team
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    to get their thoughts on today's big game,
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    and here's what they had to say.
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    Chuck Mingo, Alli Patterson, here we are again,
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    the 20th Super Bowl of Preaching.
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    Got to ask you guys, what makes Team Mingo click?
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    - Solomon, it's always good to be with you.
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    We couldn't be more in sync.
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    This is all day.
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    I mean, it's everything from shared work ethic.
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    We genuinely like each other.
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    I think Brian pays Kyle to like him.
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    And we share a common goal this weekend,
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    it is about seeing Team Tome meet their doom.
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    - Oh, absolutely.
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    I mean, there is no worldly treasure
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    that makes me happier than when Brian's Tome
  • 00:02:19
    cries like a baby and drinks a cup of his own tears.
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    I mean, Tome, you will drink defeat.
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    - You see this? There is an intensity in you, Alli,
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    and I like it.
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    - Well, that intensity is going to be put to the test.
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    As you guys well know, the NFL has made it
  • 00:02:33
    a point of emphasis their new taunting penalties,
  • 00:02:37
    zero tolerance policy.
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    So how might that play a role in this year's contest?
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    - I'll shoot you straight, Solomon.
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    Seriously, I don't have a problem
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    keeping myself in check, unless we're running up
  • 00:02:48
    the score on Team Tome.
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    And so I'm just going to say it,
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    there might be some taunting in this game.
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    - I mean, Tome is going to try to taunt us.
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    There's no way around it,
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    but we're going to pass it, kick it,
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    boom it, stir fry it.
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    We are going to smoke those guys
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    and smear them all over the field, in Jesus's name.
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    - Now, this year's teaching topic
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    is championship habits.
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    What habits have brought you to this point?
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    - You know, the Super Bowl is so close
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    to the start of the year.
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    I start the year in several weeks of fasting every year
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    and I feel really close to God.
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    It always resets my year, focuses me, gets me sharp.
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    And this game benefits every time
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    because it's in February.
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    I mean, I am ready to go
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    and I couldn't feel better coming into the big game.
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    - Chuck, what about your championship habits?
  • 00:03:32
    - Well, I mean, you know, it's reading the scriptures.
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    I mean, I'm so excited that this is a year
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    where we're focusing on that as a big team,
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    as a Crossroads Church.
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    You know, it really does play well
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    to our strengths as communicators.
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    We're in our Bibles. - Yeah.
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    - I don't know if that's true, for the other side of the ball.
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    - Could be a problem for Tome. - It could be, but you know,
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    we're in our Bibles and it's really good.
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    I mean, there's my staples, right?
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    You know, there's my clam chowder popsicles.
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    And if you haven't tried this,
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    Nutella smothered hard boiled eggs
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    will make you lean, mean, and wide as a washing machine.
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    - It'll do a lot of things for you.
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    - It will.
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    - Well, any final words for the opponent?
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    - Get your popcorn ready.
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    - Because we're going to put on a show.
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    = Guys, the three of us this year,
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    we are going to do this thing.
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    - What is -- what?
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    - Are you guys ready for this?
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    You're looking at your new kicker.
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    The three Amingos.
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    - Amingos? [indiscrnible]
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    - We're in sync.
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    We're adjusting as you're talking about it.
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    Thanks, Solomon.
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    - Brian Tome and Kyle Ranson, once again you guys
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    find yourself pitted against Team Mingo.
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    What's the game plan for today?
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    - Attack, teach, repeat. Attack, teach, repeat.
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    Attack, teach, repeat. It sounds cliche, but it's true.
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    It's old school Bible smash mouth preaching,
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    and there's going to be some bloody lips today.
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    - Yeah, I don't have much to add to that.
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    It's pretty simple. They don't stand a chance.
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    We're going to win. It's going to be very easy.
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    And look, here's the thing, if you can back it up,
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    it's not bragging.
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    And I'm going to say it's not bragging.
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    - Well, in the past, we've seen
  • 00:05:06
    a lot of different faces on Team Tome,
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    but you guys seem to have developed
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    a certain sense of chemistry.
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    To what can you attribute that to?
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    - Soliman, I've been doing this for about 20 years now,
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    and as you know,
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    I've had a lot of teammates over the years.
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    I've had more teammates than outhouses have flies,
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    just just a lot of them, right?
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    But but this one I connect with because
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    we're just an amalgamation of manly men.
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    The masculinity upon this side of the ball,
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    it takes us over the top again and again.
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    And this year again, it's going to take us over the top
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    and through Team Mingo.
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    - Yeah, absolutely.
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    I mean, every morning we come together,
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    we have a manly masculine breakfast.
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    We're doing 30 eggs a piece, not not dividing up,
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    a piece, sometimes we crack the shell,
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    sometimes we just shoot them.
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    - We always eat the yolk.
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    We're not separating our yolks. - No!
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    - No, keep that yellow stuff in there.
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    The yellow stuff - That's the good stuff.
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    - It came inside as God intended,
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    it's going to go inside has God intended.
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    - Geeze, are you a Christian or not?
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    I keep the whole egg, you know what I mean?
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    Then we follow it up with a pound of bacon,
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    again, a piece and they wash it down
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    with some barrel aged, unfiltered, uncut,
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    just coffee straight from the source.
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    - Go back to that unfiltered coffee. Really?
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    - Just a handful. I mean, this stuff, it's incredible.
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    You want a little hit of that?
  • 00:06:23
    - Oh, yeah. Oh, oh, oh, oh, man. Oh yeah.
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    It's so much better this way.
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    - Woo!
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    - Yeah, right, you can feel it everywhere. Down here.
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    - It's coursing through my veins.
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    Do you want some? - No, to each his own.
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    But I got to talk to you guys about
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    this year's teaching topics is on championship habits.
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    So tell me about your championship habits, Brian.
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    - I believe my best habits start
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    the end of the previous day.
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    So I've gotten a lot of good night's sleep
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    this this last year, I felt really healthy
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    and I'm sleeping, having dreams
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    about winning football games and having preachers cry
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    as they've been trampled over.
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    It's wonderful dreams, really.
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    And that actually sets me up for
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    my time in the morning with God, in all seriousness.
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    It's just good to be able to have
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    time with God in the morning.
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    I feel good about my Bible regimen this last year.
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    My time in the Crossroads App and prayer
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    has been really strong because
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    I got that good night's sleep the night before.
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    - Great championship habits.
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    How about you, Kyle?
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    - I mean, really, that's it, right?
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    What we like to post about in social media
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    are the big moments.
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    I ran a marathon or I went on a three day retreat
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    or I did whatever.
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    That's not what actually makes your life better.
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    What makes your life better is I faithfully wake up
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    and I hit twenty five minutes on the treadmill.
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    I faithfully wake up and I spend 30 minutes with God.
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    That's what leads to life change, period.
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    - That's big time. Is there anything else? [siren]
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    - Team Tome, Team Tome, Team Tome.
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    Hey, guys. - Hey, hey, yeah.
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    I'm drafted, I'm on team Tome.
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    [indiscernible]
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    - Ok, I guess the manly metaphors
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    aren't going to work anymore but,
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    Alex, I'm all about you all the time.
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    - Oh, yeah. [indiscernible]
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    - I like my eggs separated.
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    - No, you do not. You're just saying that.
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    - I do. - No, you do not.
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    - No, I do. But I'm your new kicker.
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    I'm going to let you guys preach.
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    - You will be amazing.
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    - All the trivia questions I've got.
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    - You will be amazing.
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    - All about training. All about training.
  • 00:08:21
    Nice to meet you.
  • 00:08:23
    - I'd like you to meet our new kicker. She's amazing.
  • 00:08:25
    - Yeah, yeah. You'll whip these guys in the shape.
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    And guys, I've got to ask you, is there one final thing
  • 00:08:29
    that you have to say to this year's opponent?
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    - We should probably ask our new kicker.
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    What would you -- What should we be saying to them?
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    - I feel like -- [siren]
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    Team Tome! Team Mingo, Team Shmingo.
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    My answers for trivia will be better than that.
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    - Oh good, I hope so.
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    So I'd probably say give up, give up.
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    I mean, we appreciate you having the old college try,
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    just showing up, but just give up.
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    - Just go home.
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    Look, these size seven and a half,
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    they are coming for you, Mingo, you right here.
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    Did you like that? That's how we --
  • 00:09:03
    - I like that. [indiscernible]
  • 00:09:05
    - What size are you, by the way? - Seven and a half.
  • 00:09:07
    - Yeah, yeah.
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    - Well, there you have it, Anthony.
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    The teams have their sights set on one another
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    and they're ready to go.
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    - I've not seen this level of intensity
  • 00:09:19
    from either side in quite some time.
  • 00:09:21
    This is going to be a battle for the ages.
  • 00:09:23
    - It sure is, ready or not, it's nearly time
  • 00:09:26
    for Super Bowl to Preaching 20. Guys, back to you.
  • 00:09:35
    - Well, thanks a lot, gentlemen.
  • 00:09:37
    I've got to tell you, if you're just joining us,
  • 00:09:39
    Greg McElfresh aside my esteemed colleague
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    Hannah Driskill.
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    Anthony's pinky gets me every single time, Hannah,
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    - Every single time. You know what, though?
  • 00:09:48
    The energy in this room is palpable
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    and I can feel it and I can sense --
  • 00:09:55
    That's right. That's right, make some noise,
  • 00:09:57
    because I can sense that the players,
  • 00:10:00
    they're ready to get out there, they're ready to play.
  • 00:10:02
    It's fired up in here. It's fireworks.
  • 00:10:04
    - What do you think this whole kicker thing
  • 00:10:06
    is going to do? It seems a little awkward.
  • 00:10:08
    But hey, I'm no pro.
  • 00:10:09
    - You know about kickers.
  • 00:10:10
    - This year's NFL season was all about the kicker.
  • 00:10:13
    Anybody ever hear of a little guy
  • 00:10:14
    named Shooter McPherson round here?
  • 00:10:16
    I think it could be good.
  • 00:10:18
    - That's exactly right, it's going to be, yes.
  • 00:10:20
    - Yeah, that's right.
  • 00:10:21
    Well, folks, I think it's time to meet today's teams.
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    Let's send it down to the field
  • 00:10:25
    for our starting lineups.
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    - And now your 2022 starting lineups:
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    the home team introducing a pulpit pounding pastor
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    from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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    He's emanating masculinity
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    and oozing with outdoorsy-ness, Brian Tome.
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    Alongside Tome we have a 3 foot 4 bundle of dynamite.
  • 00:10:56
    Slayer of the sermon and oracle of online, Kyle Ranson.
  • 00:11:02
    And for the first time
  • 00:11:03
    in Super Bowl of Preaching history,
  • 00:11:05
    a rookie kicker who packs a bigger punch
  • 00:11:08
    than Sporty Spice on steroids: Alex Williams.
  • 00:11:12
    Give it up for Team Tome!
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    [music, cheering]
  • 00:11:44
    Your visiting team,
  • 00:11:46
    introducing the Mr. Rogers of the neighborhood,
  • 00:11:50
    the destroyer of division, a titan of togetherness,
  • 00:11:53
    and the unicorn of Unity, Chuck Mingo.
  • 00:11:59
    Next, we have an unapologetic truth teller,
  • 00:12:02
    fierce says a tiger
  • 00:12:03
    and ferocious as a toddler missing naptime,
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    Alli Patterson.
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    And in his first Super Bowl of Preaching appearance,
  • 00:12:14
    the savant of student ministry
  • 00:12:16
    and kicker extraordinaire, Joel!
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    Let's hear it for Team Mingo!
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    [music, cheering]
  • 00:12:53
    Quite a display of athleticism.
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    Oh, man. - Who Dey!
  • 00:12:56
    - We are seeing the strong teams come in strong
  • 00:12:59
    right out of the gate. You know what?
  • 00:13:00
    Greg, tell us how does this thing even work.
  • 00:13:04
    - You know I'm feeling bad
  • 00:13:06
    for the folks over in this section a little bit.
  • 00:13:08
    - I know. Do we see this?
  • 00:13:10
    - Well, if you're new here,
  • 00:13:12
    we're going to try to explain the rules.
  • 00:13:14
    Try to hang with us. Here they are.
  • 00:13:15
    First of all, each team will preach
  • 00:13:17
    two 7 minute quarters.
  • 00:13:19
    They must use one Bible reference,
  • 00:13:22
    could be difficult for one of these teams,
  • 00:13:24
    and each quarter they'll be given a random phrase
  • 00:13:27
    they must effectively work into their message.
  • 00:13:29
    - That's exactly right. You know what?
  • 00:13:32
    Seriously, that random phrase is about as random
  • 00:13:35
    as the ref eating chili out of a can right now.
  • 00:13:38
    - I'm not sure what's happening. - I am not sure what's going on.
  • 00:13:41
    - And unfortunately, all of today's decisions
  • 00:13:44
    are going to come down to the complete jurisdiction
  • 00:13:47
    of our esteemed referee.
  • 00:13:49
    - Who is high on chili beans as we speak.
  • 00:13:50
    - Yes, he is.
  • 00:13:52
    How how are the points going to work out?
  • 00:13:53
    - Yeah, you know what?
  • 00:13:54
    Because that's what matters here today, folks, right? Winning.
  • 00:13:57
    So here's how the points work. It's super simple.
  • 00:13:59
    Compelling message in seven minutes.
  • 00:14:01
    - [indiscernible]
  • 00:14:02
    - Here they are. They're preparing.
  • 00:14:03
    Is only six points.
  • 00:14:04
    If you use the random phrase correctly,
  • 00:14:07
    it's three points.
  • 00:14:09
    If you've got a trivia question answered, it's 1 point.
  • 00:14:13
    And then if you're going to do the Bible trivia,
  • 00:14:15
    here's the big kicker.
  • 00:14:18
    Here's the kicker, folks, is a two point conversion.
  • 00:14:21
    Big deal. - It's a new add this year.
  • 00:14:23
    - Penalty, negative three points.
  • 00:14:24
    And like you said, it's a new add.
  • 00:14:26
    It could be the difference between
  • 00:14:28
    winning or losing today. - All right.
  • 00:14:29
    Well, his strong suit is definitely not math,
  • 00:14:32
    but let's send it down to West Side Community Pastor,
  • 00:14:34
    our esteemed referee, Matt Castleman, for the coin toss.
  • 00:14:38
    [cheers]
  • 00:14:41
    - Bring it in for the coin toss.
  • 00:14:44
    - Try not to throw up.
  • 00:14:45
    - Okay, I want to be the first to tell you
  • 00:14:48
    that I've been actually studying the sports
  • 00:14:50
    and so I'm so excited that the Ohio Tigers
  • 00:14:54
    are going to be in the World Cup today.
  • 00:14:56
    I'm so excited we're going to beat the St. Louis goats.
  • 00:14:59
    Come on.
  • 00:15:00
    - I like that, St. Louis Goats.
  • 00:15:02
    - Come on. That's right.
  • 00:15:03
    - I have one question.
  • 00:15:05
    Fine line, St. Louis Goats.
  • 00:15:07
    How is it that I'm the one who signs the paychecks
  • 00:15:10
    and I have to wear this jersey?
  • 00:15:12
    - You're not worthy of this.
  • 00:15:14
    [yelling and grunting]
  • 00:15:23
    - Who Dey! Who Dey! Who Dey!
  • 00:15:27
    Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals?
  • 00:15:29
    Who Dey! Who Dey!
  • 00:15:31
    That's right. Get in here, that's right!
  • 00:15:33
    [indiscernible yelling]
  • 00:15:39
    - Group hug, man,
  • 00:15:41
    we even got a group hug out of that. Amazing.
  • 00:15:44
    - Who Dey! All right, referee, reign us in.
  • 00:15:46
    - I have a little costume change here, too.
  • 00:15:47
    - All right.
  • 00:15:49
    - I was saving it for second act.
  • 00:15:50
    My mom always told me to be a champion,
  • 00:15:52
    so let's do this.
  • 00:15:53
    Now, this is the coin toss.
  • 00:15:56
    This side is heads. This side is tails.
  • 00:16:00
    You don't have a coin in your hand.
  • 00:16:01
    Oh, I forgot to tell you that today is coin toss
  • 00:16:04
    is sponsored by bitcoin.
  • 00:16:06
    - That's not a real coin.
  • 00:16:08
    - So we're just going to make it up anyway.
  • 00:16:09
    - Okay.
  • 00:16:11
    - All right, Brian, call it in the air.
  • 00:16:14
    - It's still in the air.
  • 00:16:15
    - Wow, wow. Heck of a throw.
  • 00:16:19
    - Tails - Tails, it is heads.
  • 00:16:22
    - Wow, heads it is. - Okay.
  • 00:16:24
    - Hey, he's your boss and my boss too,
  • 00:16:26
    I'm trying to help you out.
  • 00:16:27
    Would you like to receive the Bible?
  • 00:16:29
    - You know what?
  • 00:16:30
    We're actually going to defer to the second half.
  • 00:16:32
    - Very good. - We'll kick it off.
  • 00:16:33
    - All right.
  • 00:16:34
    - Team Bingo defers, Tome for the kick off.
  • 00:16:37
    Now, to set up the single event that over 20 years
  • 00:16:40
    has gotten us the most number of emails,
  • 00:16:41
    the kicking of the Bible. [laughter]
  • 00:16:46
    - The kick good. Oh, it leaves his hands.
  • 00:16:50
    Whoa, Tome's got touch ball.
  • 00:16:54
    - It's good, he's safe. Safe!
  • 00:16:56
    - Oh, God. Geeze.
  • 00:16:58
    - All right.
  • 00:17:01
    - Strong leg, that's a strong hit.
  • 00:17:02
    - Slightly concussed, but safe. - That's a rookie kicker.
  • 00:17:05
    - All right, Brian, please choose
  • 00:17:06
    your actually random phrase.
  • 00:17:11
    Your random phrase is:
  • 00:17:13
    and that's why every time I hear Taylor Swift
  • 00:17:15
    I have to do this move.
  • 00:17:17
    - Could it get any more random than that?
  • 00:17:20
    - It's going to be good. [laughter]
  • 00:17:28
    - You're supposed to blow the -- [whistle]
  • 00:17:32
    - The ref forgets to blow the whistle.
  • 00:17:34
    - Are we having fun yet? [cheers] I hope so.
  • 00:17:37
    Man, we've just tried to just bring
  • 00:17:39
    a little levity to everything because everything
  • 00:17:42
    is so deep and intense all the time, seemingly.
  • 00:17:44
    And we've been doing this for 20 years,
  • 00:17:46
    and it's a way for us to actually come together
  • 00:17:48
    with each other and have fun with each other,
  • 00:17:50
    and in a different way,
  • 00:17:51
    actually learn something about God today.
  • 00:17:53
    And I think that's going to happen,
  • 00:17:54
    and you're going to learn some about yourself, too.
  • 00:17:56
    So let's pray before I go any further.
  • 00:17:58
    God, I'm thankful for the ability laugh,
  • 00:18:00
    thankful for the ability to cheer for a team
  • 00:18:02
    in the Super Bowl and thankful for the ability
  • 00:18:04
    to be here with people today
  • 00:18:05
    looking at meaningful things.
  • 00:18:07
    Meet us where we are we pray.
  • 00:18:09
    In the character and identity of Jesus I pray. Amen.
  • 00:18:13
    [whistle]
  • 00:18:15
    So we're going to look at what it's like
  • 00:18:17
    to be a champion, what do champions do?
  • 00:18:19
    Who wants to be a champion?
  • 00:18:20
    Just curious who wants to be a champion?
  • 00:18:22
    I do. I want to be a champion.
  • 00:18:23
    Here's what this quarter is about:
  • 00:18:26
    champion's associate with champions.
  • 00:18:28
    Champions associate with champions.
  • 00:18:31
    Did you see Rob Gronkowski,
  • 00:18:33
    arguably the greatest tight end in history,
  • 00:18:36
    some people believe, has said recently that
  • 00:18:38
    if he was to go some place else next season,
  • 00:18:40
    he'd like to go to the Bengals. [cheers]
  • 00:18:43
    - Good news.
  • 00:18:44
    - He's he said he wanted to go
  • 00:18:45
    where the young buck was and where there was a winner.
  • 00:18:48
    And like, "Wait, is this my lifetime? Is this?
  • 00:18:51
    Is this a city where I live where, like,
  • 00:18:53
    the NFL greats want to come here?"
  • 00:18:56
    Oh, my goodness, it is wonderful.
  • 00:18:58
    It is beautiful.
  • 00:18:59
    Politics obviously doesn't unite us.
  • 00:19:02
    Religion unfortunately doesn't unite us any more.
  • 00:19:05
    The only thing that unites us,
  • 00:19:06
    you have a chance at is sports.
  • 00:19:08
    And think about this for a little bit,
  • 00:19:10
    how awkward and unusual this is.
  • 00:19:13
    How are we so excited about a team
  • 00:19:18
    that we have nothing in common with?
  • 00:19:20
    I mean, think about this.
  • 00:19:22
    I love it. It's great. It's amazing.
  • 00:19:24
    But we're talking about people who
  • 00:19:26
    they can't identify with me.
  • 00:19:28
    I can't identify with them.
  • 00:19:30
    The average, the minimum rookie salary in the NFL,
  • 00:19:34
    the minimum rookie salary is $660,000.
  • 00:19:39
    I don't make that.
  • 00:19:40
    If you add that with me
  • 00:19:42
    and my three adult children with college graduates,
  • 00:19:45
    we don't meet $660,000.
  • 00:19:47
    And it's fine. It's all good.
  • 00:19:49
    I'm just going like I've never played,
  • 00:19:51
    I've never thrown a pass in Paul Brown Stadium,
  • 00:19:55
    never thrown a block. None of us ever will.
  • 00:19:57
    We're cheering these people who are probably
  • 00:19:59
    not going to live in Cincinnati
  • 00:20:00
    at the end of their career is.
  • 00:20:01
    And at the same time it doesn't matter
  • 00:20:03
    because we feel awesome, right?
  • 00:20:05
    It's awesome. It's great.
  • 00:20:08
    We're not on the same team with them,
  • 00:20:10
    and yet we feel like we are on the same team with them.
  • 00:20:13
    It's beautiful. It's wonderful,
  • 00:20:15
    because they represent us, our city,
  • 00:20:17
    if you live anywhere near Cincinnati.
  • 00:20:20
    This, believe it or not, parallels to a biblical idea
  • 00:20:24
    that happens again and again and again and again.
  • 00:20:26
    It is based on where you want to go
  • 00:20:28
    you've got to get around people
  • 00:20:30
    who are where you want to go.
  • 00:20:31
    The Book of Proverbs says again and again
  • 00:20:33
    that if you want to get ahead financially,
  • 00:20:36
    get around people who are doing well financially.
  • 00:20:39
    If you want to be around wise people
  • 00:20:41
    and that's how you're going to get wise.
  • 00:20:43
    Champions associate with champions.
  • 00:20:46
    None of us in here, I'm not an AFC champion,
  • 00:20:50
    yet I feel like I'm an AFC champion.
  • 00:20:53
    And it's wonderful. It's beautiful.
  • 00:20:56
    Why? Why do I say it's wonderful and beautiful?
  • 00:20:58
    It's not just because I need more reasons
  • 00:21:01
    to feel good in my life.
  • 00:21:03
    It's not just that, but it's because
  • 00:21:05
    we're actually tapping into a biblical principle
  • 00:21:08
    that one person represents us,
  • 00:21:11
    one person who we aren't represents us
  • 00:21:13
    and can actually make us a champion.
  • 00:21:15
    That person would be Jesus.
  • 00:21:17
    He's always the answer in church.
  • 00:21:19
    Jesus, He's always the answer in church.
  • 00:21:21
    This is the basic core tenet
  • 00:21:24
    of what's known as the gospel.
  • 00:21:26
    Jesus -- Jesus lived a life that I can't live.
  • 00:21:31
    He threw a pass I can't throw.
  • 00:21:34
    He has strength, spiritual strength I can't have.
  • 00:21:37
    He lives a sinless life like
  • 00:21:40
    I haven't been able to live a sinless life.
  • 00:21:42
    He goes to a cross and on a cross
  • 00:21:45
    all of his righteousness, all of his goodness
  • 00:21:47
    as a result of being on a cross,
  • 00:21:48
    all my bad stuff goes on him
  • 00:21:51
    and all of his good stuff, his righteousness,
  • 00:21:54
    the theological term for that I learned
  • 00:21:55
    in seminary was imputed righteousness.
  • 00:21:57
    All of his righteousness comes to me.
  • 00:22:00
    So he actually represents me. He is my champion.
  • 00:22:05
    And as a result, I am a champion.
  • 00:22:08
    2 Corinthians 5:21 says this:
  • 00:22:10
    For our sake he made him who knew --
  • 00:22:13
    made him to be sin who knew no sin for --
  • 00:22:17
    Excuse me.
  • 00:22:25
    That's why every time I hear Taylor Swift
  • 00:22:28
    I've just got to do this move, every single time.
  • 00:22:32
    - Yeah, yeah. That's the random phrase.
  • 00:22:35
    Well done, Team Tome.
  • 00:22:37
    - I expected to flag on that play.
  • 00:22:40
    - No flag on it.
  • 00:22:42
    - Feel like a champion, that's what the verse is saying.
  • 00:22:44
    I am a champion, you are a champion
  • 00:22:47
    when you come into a relationship with Jesus.
  • 00:22:50
    He represents us. He is us.
  • 00:22:53
    Champions associate with champions.
  • 00:22:55
    I grew up in Pittsburgh.
  • 00:22:56
    Some people, my friends in Pittsburgh,
  • 00:22:58
    "Oh, my gosh. How are you rooting for the Bengals?"
  • 00:23:00
    You know, God called me a Cincinnati,
  • 00:23:02
    so I'm for the Bengals, not for the Steelers.
  • 00:23:04
    I made that transition a while ago.
  • 00:23:05
    [cheers and applause] - The crowd loves that one.
  • 00:23:07
    - That's pretty smart.
  • 00:23:08
    - That was a very difficult transition to make,
  • 00:23:11
    I might say, but nonetheless was able to make it.
  • 00:23:14
    One of my favorite memories in Pittsburgh,
  • 00:23:15
    I had some friends that play for the Steelers
  • 00:23:17
    when I lived there.
  • 00:23:18
    One of them was a coach, an assistant coach
  • 00:23:23
    for the Steelers, and he gave me the invitation
  • 00:23:26
    to come down and help him break down film one time
  • 00:23:28
    at Three Rivers Stadium.
  • 00:23:30
    Of course I'll do that. Yes.
  • 00:23:31
    So I walked into Three Rivers Stadium.
  • 00:23:33
    They had 4 Vince Lombardi trophies in this thing.
  • 00:23:36
    I was like, Wow, this is amazing.
  • 00:23:38
    Walked in and I knew one of the receivers.
  • 00:23:39
    He was down the hall. He recognized me.
  • 00:23:41
    He said, "Hey, Brian, how are you doing?"
  • 00:23:43
    His name is Weegie Thompson, like,
  • 00:23:44
    I think he was third receiver.
  • 00:23:45
    Went down, was talking with him.
  • 00:23:47
    As I was, talk with him out from behind me walks
  • 00:23:50
    Art Rooney, senior. He is a god in the NFL.
  • 00:23:55
    He's one of the founders of the NFL.
  • 00:23:57
    No one has anything bad to say about Art Rooney.
  • 00:23:59
    Looked exactly like the photos have,
  • 00:24:01
    coke bottle glasses, cigar in his mouth,
  • 00:24:03
    sticks his hands out at me
  • 00:24:05
    and says, "Are you a player?"
  • 00:24:06
    He thought I was down for a tryout, or something like that.
  • 00:24:09
    - That had to be so long ago, if that happened.
  • 00:24:10
    [laughter]
  • 00:24:12
    - And he had to be blind.
  • 00:24:13
    - Yes, his eyesight was going, I admit.
  • 00:24:15
    Yes, it was. It was.
  • 00:24:17
    I said, "No, no, no, just down here
  • 00:24:19
    to hang out with some friends." He said, OK, good.
  • 00:24:21
    So I got done with that, went in,
  • 00:24:24
    I had to go to the restroom.
  • 00:24:25
    I'm in the restroom thinking about things.
  • 00:24:27
    I'm like, this is unbelievable.
  • 00:24:28
    I'm down here at the mecca of football.
  • 00:24:30
    I'm interacting with one of the gods of football,
  • 00:24:33
    Art Rooney.
  • 00:24:34
    He's mistaking me for somebody
  • 00:24:37
    who actually plays for the Steelers.
  • 00:24:39
    And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
  • 00:24:41
    Like, someday I'm going to go before God in heaven,
  • 00:24:44
    and he's going to ask me, "Are you a player?
  • 00:24:46
    Were you a player?"
  • 00:24:47
    He's going to know the answer to that,
  • 00:24:49
    but my answer is going to be,
  • 00:24:51
    "Not only that, I was a champion.
  • 00:24:54
    I was a champion, because Jesus was my champion.
  • 00:24:57
    I was a champion because he represented me,
  • 00:25:00
    because I have his righteousness."
  • 00:25:02
    This is why it says in the book of Romans 8:37 says:
  • 00:25:08
    More. We don't just get by, we don't just subsist.
  • 00:25:11
    More than conquerors through him,
  • 00:25:13
    through him, the champion Jesus.
  • 00:25:15
    I'll tell you what. No matter what happens tomorrow,
  • 00:25:17
    if you're in the family of God,
  • 00:25:19
    if you receive Jesus, you are a champion.
  • 00:25:22
    You're more than a conqueror now.
  • 00:25:24
    And if you haven't done that, and you're looking to do it,
  • 00:25:27
    that's why Crossroads is here to help you get to a new place
  • 00:25:30
    because champions associate with champions.
  • 00:25:33
    [whistle]
  • 00:25:35
    - That's the end of the first quarter.
  • 00:25:36
    - Touchdown Team Tome. - Touchdown for Tome.
  • 00:25:39
    - That was strong out of the gate for Team Tome.
  • 00:25:42
    - Brian, you were awarded six points
  • 00:25:44
    for a great message.
  • 00:25:45
    Additional one point for
  • 00:25:46
    the excellent use of the random phrase.
  • 00:25:48
    Alli as kicker, would you like to go for
  • 00:25:49
    the one point trivia or the two point --
  • 00:25:52
    - Did you say Alli? - That's Alex.
  • 00:25:53
    - Alli.
  • 00:25:54
    - I know all white women look the same to you,
  • 00:25:56
    but that's Alex, not Alli.
  • 00:25:57
    Ut-oh.
  • 00:25:58
    Did you go to school for musical theater?
  • 00:26:01
    - Yes. Yes, I did.
  • 00:26:02
    - I call you, Alli. Let's do it.
  • 00:26:05
    All right. One or two points?
  • 00:26:07
    - It's early on. I think we've got to do it.
  • 00:26:09
    We've got to go for the two point.
  • 00:26:11
    - You're going to go for 2? - Going to go for 2.
  • 00:26:12
    - Bold move.
  • 00:26:13
    - It's a bold move. I think we got to start out strong.
  • 00:26:16
    - All right, the two point question for you:
  • 00:26:18
    According to Philippians 3:5,
  • 00:26:20
    which tribe of Israel was the Apostle Paul from?
  • 00:26:26
    - She's going to get to confer with her team
  • 00:26:28
    just a little bit.
  • 00:26:29
    - I don't think any of them know the answer.
  • 00:26:31
    - They don't. - Five seconds.
  • 00:26:33
    - We're going to go with Benjamin.
  • 00:26:35
    - That is correct. [cheers]
  • 00:26:37
    - Extra points and the kick is strong.
  • 00:26:40
    - Two point conversion.
  • 00:26:43
    - The kick is good, everybody. - Yes.
  • 00:26:45
    - It's those musical theater skills coming out.
  • 00:26:47
    I see it. All right.
  • 00:26:49
    That results in an end of first quarter score
  • 00:26:51
    Team Tome 9, Team Mingo 0. That's the end of the first.
  • 00:26:54
    Strong.
  • 00:26:55
    9-0, Hannah. And I'll tell you what,
  • 00:26:57
    they don't call it the Tome Dome for nothing.
  • 00:26:59
    He comes out strong.
  • 00:27:01
    A lot of spanking going on in the Taylor Swift move.
  • 00:27:03
    Interesting game to start.
  • 00:27:05
    - You know what I saw there was just cohesiveness.
  • 00:27:08
    A lot of times we get a lot of spit from BT,
  • 00:27:11
    you know, from Brian, but we didn't get any spit today.
  • 00:27:13
    I feel really good about that, and I think that's why
  • 00:27:16
    they got that two point conversion.
  • 00:27:17
    - I think you may be right.
  • 00:27:18
    Well, folks, we know you don't come for the teaching.
  • 00:27:21
    Let's throw it to our first commercial break.
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    as they cry themselves to sleep.
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  • 00:28:53
    - February 27 The Big Night for students
  • 00:28:56
    in 6-12th grade.
  • 00:28:58
    All right, we need a jingle. Students love a jingle.
  • 00:29:00
    Remember, the theme is throwback.
  • 00:29:02
    - I'm way ahead of you. OK?
  • 00:29:04
    - Oh wow, great. Ok, let's hear it.
  • 00:29:08
    - Big night throwback. Bum bum bum. Bum bum bum.
  • 00:29:13
    - Oh, isn't that the we are fun?
  • 00:29:16
    - I got another one.
  • 00:29:18
    - Big, big, big, big, big, big night throwback.
  • 00:29:23
    Throw, throw, throw, throw, throw back.
  • 00:29:27
    The Big Night. Ouh!
  • 00:29:32
    - You'll just have to come see for yourself.
  • 00:29:36
    - I got one more. One more.
  • 00:29:38
    The Big Night. The Big Night. The Big Night.
  • 00:29:40
    The Big Night. The Big Night.
  • 00:29:48
    - Progressive presents at home with the referee.
  • 00:29:59
    - Jackpot.
  • 00:30:03
    Thanks, Chuck.
  • 00:30:05
    Moses supposes his toes are roses,
  • 00:30:09
    but Moses supposes erroneously.
  • 00:30:11
    Touch, goal, touch.
  • 00:30:31
    - Man, that was disgusting.
  • 00:30:33
    - Hey, hey, ref,
  • 00:30:36
    are you actually living at a Crossroads?
  • 00:30:39
    - You can't put all those beds out in the atrium
  • 00:30:41
    and expect people not to sleep here.
  • 00:30:43
    - You know, the worst part about that
  • 00:30:45
    is I don't even think that was the West Side,
  • 00:30:47
    which is where he's the pastor.
  • 00:30:48
    - That's right.
  • 00:30:49
    Hey, by the way, our referee
  • 00:30:50
    is already messing up the math.
  • 00:30:52
    Random phrase is worth three points, score is 11-0.
  • 00:30:55
    - That's right.
  • 00:30:56
    - Let's send it down for
  • 00:30:57
    the start of the second quarter.
  • 00:30:59
    Patterson's got the Bible.
  • 00:31:01
    - He messed up.
  • 00:31:02
    - Are you sure? - Yes, we're very sure.
  • 00:31:04
    - Yeah, we're the analyst.
  • 00:31:05
    - Oh, it is. Oh, look at that. Okay.
  • 00:31:08
    - Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot.
  • 00:31:10
    - All right, Alli, please choose your random phrase.
  • 00:31:13
    Your random phrase is: at my funeral
  • 00:31:17
    people will talk about that casserole.
  • 00:31:20
    - That casserole, living legend.
  • 00:31:25
    - Well, here we are second quarter
  • 00:31:27
    talking about championship habits today.
  • 00:31:28
    And what I know is that champions
  • 00:31:30
    make it a habit to know their opponent.
  • 00:31:34
    Champions study the enemy that's going
  • 00:31:36
    to be coming at them on the field.
  • 00:31:38
    They know there's a plan of attack against them
  • 00:31:41
    and they're prepared for what they're going to face.
  • 00:31:44
    I think in the NFL, one quarterback that is known
  • 00:31:47
    for this habit has to be Peyton Manning.
  • 00:31:49
    Peyton Manning is a champion,
  • 00:31:51
    and he embodied the habit of knowing your opponent.
  • 00:31:55
    I mean, this guy was not a flash in the pan.
  • 00:31:57
    He played in the NFL for 18 seasons.
  • 00:32:00
    He's the only five time NFL MVP.
  • 00:32:04
    He went to the Super Bowl four times,
  • 00:32:06
    and he won twice on two different teams 10 years apart.
  • 00:32:09
    This guy was a champion.
  • 00:32:11
    But what made him a champion?
  • 00:32:15
    Because on paper and in real life,
  • 00:32:17
    he wasn't the strongest. He wasn't the fastest.
  • 00:32:20
    He definitely wasn't the most athletic quarterback.
  • 00:32:22
    Peyton Manning secret weapon is that
  • 00:32:25
    he was prepared for every defense
  • 00:32:28
    he was going to face on the field.
  • 00:32:30
    He knew the enemy that was going to come at him.
  • 00:32:33
    His film study was the stuff of absolute legend.
  • 00:32:37
    I mean, he would be in front of film
  • 00:32:39
    for hours and hours, knowing every player,
  • 00:32:42
    every position, every defense that was going
  • 00:32:44
    to be coming at him that week,
  • 00:32:46
    right down to calling a college coach
  • 00:32:50
    from 16 years earlier because he thought
  • 00:32:53
    of a way to come against what he was seeing on film.
  • 00:32:56
    He called that coach and he said, "Coach,
  • 00:32:59
    I mean, I'm mixing up the defense over here,
  • 00:33:02
    and it might as well be like a casserole
  • 00:33:04
    because at my funeral,
  • 00:33:05
    people are going to talk about that casserole."
  • 00:33:08
    - There it is.
  • 00:33:09
    - That's the random phrase right out the gate.
  • 00:33:11
    - Beautifully done.
  • 00:33:12
    - What he actually said to that coach
  • 00:33:14
    when he called him is he wanted a play
  • 00:33:16
    that he remembered from 16 years before that called
  • 00:33:18
    a flip right dual x motion fake pass 98 block special.
  • 00:33:24
    [whistle] - Flag on the play.
  • 00:33:26
    - That's a real --
  • 00:33:27
    - Pastoral foul,
  • 00:33:29
    speaking tongues in church without interpretation.
  • 00:33:31
    [laughter]
  • 00:33:33
    a three point penalty will be assessed
  • 00:33:35
    at the end of this quarter.
  • 00:33:36
    - That was a lot of gibberish. - It was a lot.
  • 00:33:38
    - Whatever, Peyton Manning knew his opponent,
  • 00:33:42
    he even had a nickname that he earned because
  • 00:33:44
    he would watch the defense as they were moving
  • 00:33:46
    right in front of him on the field.
  • 00:33:48
    And he had a habit of calling an audible
  • 00:33:50
    right as it was coming at him.
  • 00:33:52
    So his friends and his teammates,
  • 00:33:53
    they called him the sheriff because
  • 00:33:55
    he laid down the law
  • 00:33:56
    just as the defense was coming at him.
  • 00:33:59
    Jesus had this habit too.
  • 00:34:01
    Jesus knew he had an opponent.
  • 00:34:04
    Jesus knew that opponent so well,
  • 00:34:06
    he probably knew him better than he even knew himself.
  • 00:34:11
    Jesus actually was only in public ministry, like,
  • 00:34:14
    all the miracles, all the teachings
  • 00:34:16
    that we've read about in the Bible.
  • 00:34:17
    Those happened in the last three years of his life.
  • 00:34:21
    And right before that three year period began,
  • 00:34:23
    he disappeared for 40 days into the wilderness
  • 00:34:26
    to prepare for the big game.
  • 00:34:28
    And when he was there,
  • 00:34:30
    he was connecting with his father.
  • 00:34:31
    He was fasting. He was praying.
  • 00:34:33
    He was deeply in communion with his father,
  • 00:34:36
    preparing to face his opponent on the field.
  • 00:34:39
    And his enemy actually paid him a little visit.
  • 00:34:42
    We have a record of him coming into the wilderness
  • 00:34:45
    and challenging Jesus three different times.
  • 00:34:47
    And every time they struck at
  • 00:34:49
    the heart of his connection to his father,
  • 00:34:52
    he was trying to disrupt that.
  • 00:34:54
    But he made a mistake.
  • 00:34:56
    And that mistake was assuming that just because
  • 00:34:59
    Jesus was physically weakened
  • 00:35:01
    from his 40 days of fasting,
  • 00:35:03
    that that meant he was spiritually weakened,
  • 00:35:05
    and nothing could have been further from the truth.
  • 00:35:07
    His connection with his father had never been stronger.
  • 00:35:10
    And just ask Peyton Manning, it doesn't matter
  • 00:35:13
    if you're the strongest on the outside,
  • 00:35:15
    if you're the most prepared on the inside.
  • 00:35:17
    Jesus had that because
  • 00:35:19
    he had a connection with his father
  • 00:35:21
    and he beat every play in his enemy's playbook.
  • 00:35:25
    And that is such good news for you.
  • 00:35:27
    It's such good news for me, because that,
  • 00:35:30
    what happened between them in the wilderness,
  • 00:35:32
    that was your pregame film.
  • 00:35:35
    There is an opponent to your life,
  • 00:35:38
    and he is running all those same plays.
  • 00:35:40
    He is running a defense against your life right now
  • 00:35:44
    and his goal is the same.
  • 00:35:45
    He wants to keep you from the mission
  • 00:35:47
    that God sent you here to accomplish.
  • 00:35:48
    He wants to steal some of the life that
  • 00:35:51
    you could have in connection with your father.
  • 00:35:55
    And I'll bet you hear the same whispers
  • 00:35:56
    that Jesus heard in the wilderness.
  • 00:35:58
    I do.
  • 00:35:59
    Do you think I step up here and I don't hear,
  • 00:36:02
    "Who do you think you are anyway?"
  • 00:36:05
    Or maybe you hear,
  • 00:36:09
    "You think God is really going to help you?
  • 00:36:12
    You think he could really provide for you?
  • 00:36:14
    You think he could reward you
  • 00:36:15
    better than you could just go get for yourself?"
  • 00:36:18
    And these plays, they're working, right?
  • 00:36:21
    They are working.
  • 00:36:22
    If you look objectively at our lives,
  • 00:36:25
    we would have to be honest and say,
  • 00:36:26
    "Sometimes these plays are working
  • 00:36:28
    and we can kind of see it in the patterns
  • 00:36:30
    that we can see in our life."
  • 00:36:32
    Anybody else have a look and think,
  • 00:36:34
    "I keep slipping back into this pattern
  • 00:36:36
    of bitterness or a need to control,
  • 00:36:39
    because truth be told, I don't think
  • 00:36:41
    anyone's going to come and help me.
  • 00:36:42
    I don't think anyone else is ever
  • 00:36:44
    going to provide anything for me"?
  • 00:36:47
    Does anyone else look at their family tree
  • 00:36:49
    and you can see the defense that's been run
  • 00:36:52
    against your family, maybe for generations?
  • 00:36:55
    I sure do. I look down one limb of my family tree
  • 00:36:59
    and I see alcoholism repeated.
  • 00:37:01
    I look down another and I can see
  • 00:37:03
    mental illness of all different forms.
  • 00:37:06
    Friends, there's a defense against your life right now.
  • 00:37:09
    You have an opponent who is trying to
  • 00:37:12
    come against the life that God has for you.
  • 00:37:14
    We live in the wilderness.
  • 00:37:17
    But also, that's exactly where Jesus
  • 00:37:20
    put the smack down on his enemy.
  • 00:37:23
    His final words to him in the wilderness
  • 00:37:25
    were just simply, "Away from me, Satan," and he left.
  • 00:37:29
    1 John 3 says:
  • 00:37:35
    If you want to win
  • 00:37:36
    and you want that destroyed in your life
  • 00:37:39
    then you need to prepare the way that Jesus did,
  • 00:37:41
    you need a connection to your father
  • 00:37:43
    and Jesus is that connection.
  • 00:37:45
    And it's not just a one time thing,
  • 00:37:47
    though it has to begin.
  • 00:37:48
    It's an over and over and over again thing.
  • 00:37:51
    And I want to give you your next play right here today.
  • 00:37:54
    Your next play, if you've never done this,
  • 00:37:56
    is to connect with Jesus.
  • 00:37:58
    It's a really come to him,
  • 00:38:00
    like, bring your whole heart to him,
  • 00:38:02
    your authentic self to him.
  • 00:38:04
    I did not say come to church, right?
  • 00:38:06
    I want you to do that too, because
  • 00:38:07
    I think we can help with that.
  • 00:38:09
    But I mean, someday it's just going to be
  • 00:38:11
    you and your opponent on the field
  • 00:38:14
    and you want Jesus with you when that day comes.
  • 00:38:18
    You could be one play away.
  • 00:38:20
    You right now, today, could be one play away
  • 00:38:23
    from a win that you have never had before.
  • 00:38:26
    You could be one play away because the sheriff
  • 00:38:29
    can call an audible from wherever you find yourself.
  • 00:38:33
    It doesn't matter what your offensive line is like.
  • 00:38:35
    Jesus has the leg of McPherson.
  • 00:38:37
    He's going to pull out a win for you
  • 00:38:39
    every single time because he knows
  • 00:38:42
    what Joe Burrow knows this weekend, baby.
  • 00:38:44
    It doesn't matter if your franchise has ever won.
  • 00:38:47
    It doesn't matter if two years ago
  • 00:38:50
    they were all saying you're dead and buried and over.
  • 00:38:53
    It doesn't matter.
  • 00:38:54
    All that matters is this time
  • 00:38:57
    you step on the field again,
  • 00:38:58
    and this time you do it with Jesus.
  • 00:39:00
    Jesus is the way to the connection that you need.
  • 00:39:04
    He can provide for you.
  • 00:39:05
    He will provide for you.
  • 00:39:07
    And what he does, you and Joe Burrow
  • 00:39:10
    are going to stand up there and you're going to say
  • 00:39:13
    the words of a champion from 1 Corinthians 15:
  • 00:39:16
    Thanks be to God who gives us the victory
  • 00:39:19
    through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 00:39:21
    - Amen, amen! - That's a half.
  • 00:39:23
    - That's the half. - Touchdown Team Mingo.
  • 00:39:26
    [cheers and music]
  • 00:39:30
    - Okay, we've got a touchdown dance,
  • 00:39:33
    doing the Creep. Come on.
  • 00:39:43
    - All right, you're going for two points.
  • 00:39:45
    I knew this was a musical.
  • 00:39:48
    All right. For two points, let me see here.
  • 00:39:52
    All right. There it is. Hey, no peeking.
  • 00:39:56
    The Book of Exodus highlights the story
  • 00:39:58
    of Israel being delivered from Egypt
  • 00:40:00
    with the help of Moses, their leader.
  • 00:40:03
    What was the name of Moses wife?
  • 00:40:08
    - The team is conferring just a bit here
  • 00:40:10
    before they must answer within five seconds.
  • 00:40:13
    - Five seconds.
  • 00:40:14
    - Tome whispering on the bench, he knows the answer.
  • 00:40:17
    - Phone a friend?
  • 00:40:18
    - It's not looking too good out there for Team Mingo.
  • 00:40:20
    - All right, we need an answer.
  • 00:40:22
    - It's not coming to me.
  • 00:40:23
    We're going with Jipporah.
  • 00:40:26
    Oh, it's Zipporah. [groans]
  • 00:40:29
    - So close, who knew Z counted, who knew?
  • 00:40:33
    - But like, I can give you something.
  • 00:40:34
    - Yeah! - I was in Hebrew.
  • 00:40:35
    - Thank you.
  • 00:40:37
    - All right, one point for effort.
  • 00:40:41
    - I went to seminary.
  • 00:40:42
    Sometimes J's are Z's in the original language.
  • 00:40:45
    - Oh, it's Hebrew. Okay, you should get more points.
  • 00:40:50
    - Patterson challenging that call.
  • 00:40:51
    - So that means you get six points for a great message.
  • 00:40:54
    Three points, not one point, for the random phrase.
  • 00:40:56
    However, you did have the negative three points
  • 00:40:58
    for speaking of tongues without interpretation,
  • 00:41:00
    resulting. Oh, hold on. Yep, there t is.
  • 00:41:04
    Six carry the two,
  • 00:41:06
    resulting in an end of first act score
  • 00:41:10
    of Team Mingo 7, Team Tome 11.
  • 00:41:15
    It's time for intermission.
  • 00:41:16
    - All right, fair enough.
  • 00:41:17
    - And it's anybody's ball game 11-7.
  • 00:41:20
    Folks here who are wondering this is all scripted,
  • 00:41:23
    now realize it's completely made up.
  • 00:41:25
    - It's not scripted. I don't have a script.
  • 00:41:27
    Did you get a script? - No script here.
  • 00:41:29
    - No. You know what?
  • 00:41:30
    And he's flying by the seat of his robe right there.
  • 00:41:32
    That is exactly what is happening.
  • 00:41:34
    But we know you didn't come just for the preaching
  • 00:41:37
    or even just for us.
  • 00:41:38
    Let's get to what we've all been waiting for,
  • 00:41:40
    the halftime show. - Oh, you know it.
  • 00:41:42
    We've got a halftime show coming up,
  • 00:41:43
    but first this commercial break.
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    - A little swelling is normal
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    and they will be tender for a few days,
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    but otherwise you look great.
  • 00:42:55
    - In the beginning,
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    God created the heavens and the Earth.
  • 00:43:01
    - Wait, wait, wait. What? Is that even possible?
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    - The creation of the universe
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    is the greatest origin story ever told.
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    When we know where we've come from,
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    it's far easier to find our way home.
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    Join us as we explore the story of Genesis.
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    - It is easy to feel like the world is too dark
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    for any of us to make a difference
  • 00:44:23
    and become paralyzed by fear.
  • 00:44:25
    But at Crossroads, we believe that
  • 00:44:27
    God has called us to change our world for the better.
  • 00:44:30
    When we see a problem, we run towards it.
  • 00:44:33
    We go wherever help is needed to our neighbors
  • 00:44:36
    and to the world.
  • 00:44:37
    And we don't go alone.
  • 00:44:39
    As a community on mission,
  • 00:44:41
    working with our partners across the globe,
  • 00:44:44
    we experience purpose and build relationships
  • 00:44:46
    that can change the world while changing us.
  • 00:44:49
    We believe you were born to make a difference.
  • 00:44:53
    Let's run.
  • 00:44:55
    Let's rebuild.
  • 00:44:56
    Let's pray.
  • 00:44:58
    Let's serve.
  • 00:44:59
    Let's impact.
  • 00:45:01
    Let's grow.
  • 00:45:02
    Let's build relationships.
  • 00:45:04
    Let's love.
  • 00:45:06
    Let's get our hands dirty.
  • 00:45:09
    Let's GO.
  • 00:45:12
    Find your adventure.
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    - You got a favorite?
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    - You know what? I do, because I wish
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    I could do my own Telesurgery.
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    I do think I had those noodle toes that were mentioned.
  • 00:45:33
    - Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly.
  • 00:45:34
    I'm going to draw your attention
  • 00:45:36
    back to that second one. Genesis.
  • 00:45:38
    That's a series we're kicking off next weekend.
  • 00:45:41
    Man, maybe someone brought you here.
  • 00:45:42
    You should know that we do church every single weekend.
  • 00:45:45
    It doesn't always have commercials
  • 00:45:46
    and a halftime show, but we would love
  • 00:45:48
    to see you back for that series.
  • 00:45:49
    We're talking origin,
  • 00:45:50
    very first book of the Bible Genesis.
  • 00:45:52
    How did we get here? Why?
  • 00:45:55
    We're talking that next week?
  • 00:45:56
    - Absolutely. And you know what?
  • 00:45:57
    Speaking of, you know, I was looking for
  • 00:45:59
    a connection, but I don't have one because
  • 00:46:01
    I'm just ready to get to the freaking halftime show.
  • 00:46:03
    - Crossroads fans, put your hands together.
  • 00:46:05
    Give it up for your Crossroads band.
  • 00:46:08
    [cheers & applause]
  • 00:46:15
    [music: With a Little Help from my Friends]
  • 00:47:30
    - Oakley, how are we doing today?
  • 00:47:35
    I said, Oakley, how are we doing today? [cheers]
  • 00:47:38
    We are the halftime band, and we came to party.
  • 00:47:41
    Hit that.
  • 00:47:44
    Now, in order for us to have some fun,
  • 00:47:46
    we're going to need your help.
  • 00:47:48
    So I need you to grab your glow stick
  • 00:47:50
    that's sitting in your cup holder.
  • 00:47:51
    And then I need you to stand up, stand up.
  • 00:47:55
    Go on and crack that glow stick open
  • 00:47:58
    and put it up in the air.
  • 00:48:00
    Hit me again, Ben. Oh.
  • 00:48:03
    Let me see that glow stick up. Come on.
  • 00:48:06
    Oh, wave it up in the air
  • 00:48:08
    wave it like you just don't care. Come on.
  • 00:48:11
    [music: Levitating]
  • 00:49:26
    [music: Real Love]
  • 00:50:29
    [music: Ain't No Mountain High Enough]
  • 00:52:22
    [music: With a Little Help from My Friends]
  • 00:53:28
    - Oh, my gosh, what an epic performance.
  • 00:53:31
    I mean, I loved everything about that.
  • 00:53:32
    - Amazing. - Truly incredible.
  • 00:53:34
    The only thing that could have made it better
  • 00:53:35
    is that Dua Lipa thing, that's my jam,
  • 00:53:38
    and I was trying to get up there.
  • 00:53:39
    Anyway, it was so wonderful,
  • 00:53:41
    and I'm so glad that you're here again.
  • 00:53:42
    And you know what?
  • 00:53:43
    We're doing something as a church
  • 00:53:45
    when we're not having fun on stage
  • 00:53:47
    playing and having goofy time preaching,
  • 00:53:49
    we're actually learning about the Bible.
  • 00:53:51
    And one of the ways that we're doing that
  • 00:53:53
    this year is through the Bible Challenge.
  • 00:53:55
    You can join us right now by going to
  • 00:53:57
    the Crossroads App to learn more about that.
  • 00:53:59
    And you can download that wherever you get your apps,
  • 00:54:01
    because it's free
  • 00:54:02
    - Hannah's doing that. I'm doing that.
  • 00:54:04
    Thousands of people jump in.
  • 00:54:05
    And hey, this entire thing is brought to you
  • 00:54:08
    by people just like you who believe in
  • 00:54:10
    a God with a great message worth sharing
  • 00:54:12
    and changing the world in the name of His Kingdom.
  • 00:54:15
    If you want to join the community
  • 00:54:17
    of thousands of givers here,
  • 00:54:18
    super easy, go to crossroads.net/give.
  • 00:54:21
    Second half is about to start.
  • 00:54:22
    - It's coming, I'm so excited. - I can't wait.
  • 00:54:24
    I'm like itching to get back in there.
  • 00:54:26
    - You changed your jersey? - Well, yeah.
  • 00:54:27
    - That's great. - Yeah, it was appropriate.
  • 00:54:29
    So, fired up, third quarter about to begin,
  • 00:54:31
    but first, let's go to a commercial break.
  • 00:54:34
    - The word of the day is: big.
  • 00:54:36
    - Yeah, it is.
  • 00:54:38
    - This is a big truck stop.
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    - Let me at that make your own milkshake machine.
  • 00:54:43
    - This is a big word.
  • 00:54:46
    - Numa Numano madooma madoba microscopeopopus.
  • 00:54:51
    - Now, this is The Big Night.
  • 00:54:55
    - The Big Night.
  • 00:54:56
    - This is happening on February 27th
  • 00:55:00
    for students in 6-12th grade.
  • 00:55:02
    This is the biggest throwback party of the century.
  • 00:55:06
    - I'm going to wear my dad's parachute pants.
  • 00:55:09
    - Big Night Throwback, bum bum, bum bum, bum bum.
  • 00:55:20
    - Hey, can't get a White Claw. - Yeah, bro, gotcha.
  • 00:55:24
    - This -- this isn't a hard seltzer.
  • 00:55:26
    -That's right, nerd. This is hard salad.
  • 00:55:29
    - I hate salad.
  • 00:55:31
    - Who cares? We got bored of seltzers.
  • 00:55:34
    - So White Claw is just putting alcohol
  • 00:55:36
    in everything now?
  • 00:55:37
    - Now he get it.
  • 00:55:39
    We're putting booze in everything.
  • 00:55:41
    - Hard [indiscernible] toothpaste.
  • 00:55:43
    - More like booze paste.
  • 00:55:44
    - Spiked stew. - Beef.
  • 00:55:46
    - Spiked virgin daiquiri. - Fancy.
  • 00:55:49
    - Hard ham. - Ham.
  • 00:55:52
    - Spiked diapers. - You can't drink diapers.
  • 00:55:55
    - I just want water. Can I get a water?
  • 00:55:57
    No, you get a Claw, White Claw.
  • 00:56:02
    [belches]
  • 00:56:03
    Spike, everything.
  • 00:56:10
    - Progressive presents at home with the referee.
  • 00:56:14
    - We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no, no.
  • 00:56:18
    We don't talk about Bruno --
  • 00:56:22
    - Yeah, man. So that's the guy. - Oh, no.
  • 00:56:25
    - Hey, what are you doing?
  • 00:56:33
    - Oh, come on, man. Are you --? Really?
  • 00:56:37
    [whistle] - What's that?
  • 00:56:46
    [whistle]
  • 00:56:54
    - Oh, I love it.
  • 00:56:55
    - You know, if his hip's not okay,
  • 00:56:57
    he can just call Telesurgery.
  • 00:56:58
    - That's right. - It'll be great.
  • 00:56:59
    - Take care of it at home.
  • 00:57:00
    I want some of that hard salad dressing.
  • 00:57:02
    - No thanks. - Yeah, that's pretty good.
  • 00:57:04
    Well, hey, we've got a whole second half to get to.
  • 00:57:06
    Let's throw it back down to the field.
  • 00:57:08
    - Team Mingo, you maintain possession
  • 00:57:10
    of the Bible for the third quarter. [cheers]
  • 00:57:14
    Please choose your random phrase.
  • 00:57:15
    - Wait, a second, what's up with the glasses?
  • 00:57:17
    - Oh, I just thought they look pretty cool.
  • 00:57:19
    What do you think?
  • 00:57:20
    - Yeah, it works for you? Yes.
  • 00:57:23
    -All right. Your random phrase is:
  • 00:57:25
    I could smell it when you said it.
  • 00:57:27
    - I could smell it when you said it.
  • 00:57:29
    - I think he's talking about his farts
  • 00:57:31
    from that Skyline Chili.
  • 00:57:34
    - All right, if you know the Bengals
  • 00:57:35
    are going to win the Super Bowl tomorrow,
  • 00:57:37
    let me hear you say yeah. - Yeah!
  • 00:57:39
    - If you know that you know that the Bengals
  • 00:57:42
    are going to win the Super Bowl tomorrow,
  • 00:57:43
    let me hear you say Who Dey! - Who Dey!
  • 00:57:45
    - That's right, that's right, man,
  • 00:57:47
    the Bengals are going to be champions.
  • 00:57:49
    And one thing about champions is they embrace feedback.
  • 00:57:52
    Champion's embrace feedback.
  • 00:57:53
    There's a guy that's not getting enough credit
  • 00:57:55
    for the Bengals being in the Super Bowl.
  • 00:57:57
    He's not on the team,
  • 00:57:58
    he's not even a part of the organization officially.
  • 00:58:01
    His name is Sam Smathers.
  • 00:58:02
    You may not know that name, but Sam Smathers
  • 00:58:04
    was a peewee coach in The Plains, Ohio,
  • 00:58:07
    for one, said Joe Cool Burrow.
  • 00:58:08
    I don't know if you know this,
  • 00:58:10
    Joe Burrow did not want to be a quarterback.
  • 00:58:12
    Joe Burrow wanted to be a running back
  • 00:58:13
    or wide receiver
  • 00:58:14
    because he wanted to have the ball in his hand.
  • 00:58:16
    So he shows up for the first day of peewee league
  • 00:58:18
    and says, "Hey, I don't want to be a quarterback."
  • 00:58:20
    Sam Smathers says to him, "It's too bad,
  • 00:58:22
    you're going to be a quarterback."
  • 00:58:23
    And Joe Burrow said this about Sam Smathers. He said:
  • 00:58:34
    On behalf of all Cincinnati Bengals fans,
  • 00:58:37
    thank you, Sam Smathers.
  • 00:58:38
    We are glad it worked out the way that it did.
  • 00:58:40
    [cheers & applause]
  • 00:58:41
    - Thank you, Sam.
  • 00:58:43
    - He embraced Sam's feedback, and that's what champions do.
  • 00:58:46
    They make it a habit.
  • 00:58:48
    Now I want to ask you a question,
  • 00:58:50
    even up here, my friends.
  • 00:58:51
    Have you ever heard someone say to you,
  • 00:58:52
    "Feedback is a gift"?
  • 00:58:54
    How many people have ever heard that,
  • 00:58:55
    feedback is a gift? Am I the only one?
  • 00:58:58
    Why is that always said when somebody
  • 00:59:00
    is about to give you some feedback
  • 00:59:02
    that doesn't feel like a gift? Am I right?
  • 00:59:04
    - Always.
  • 00:59:05
    - I mean, I smelled it when you said it,
  • 00:59:07
    feedback wasn't a gift coming from you in that way.
  • 00:59:11
    - Oh, that was seamless.
  • 00:59:12
    - Double meaning, I love it.
  • 00:59:14
    - That was seamless. Just like Mingo to do that.
  • 00:59:18
    - But feedback actually is so necessary for all of us.
  • 00:59:21
    So here's the thing I have coaches in my life.
  • 00:59:23
    I have people who are helping me grow in my life,
  • 00:59:25
    my leadership, my relationship to my family,
  • 00:59:27
    all of those things.
  • 00:59:28
    And if you have a coach in your life,
  • 00:59:30
    there's always that ouch moment, right?
  • 00:59:32
    There's always that moment where they
  • 00:59:33
    tell you something about yourself
  • 00:59:35
    that you'd rather not see.
  • 00:59:36
    But listen, we cannot have
  • 00:59:38
    an objective view of ourselves, so we need coaches.
  • 00:59:40
    We need feedback.
  • 00:59:41
    If we don't receive it, we are not going to grow.
  • 00:59:44
    We're not going to win in life, in relationships.
  • 00:59:46
    We're just not going to win.
  • 00:59:47
    Let me give you a tip.
  • 00:59:48
    The quickest way to fail at life
  • 00:59:50
    is to surround yourself with yes people.
  • 00:59:53
    That's the quickest way to fail at life.
  • 00:59:56
    This is even a spiritual truth that
  • 00:59:57
    Jesus embraced when he walked the planet.
  • 00:59:59
    Now, I know what you're saying,
  • 01:00:00
    "Chuck, are you are you telling us that Jesus,
  • 01:00:03
    the perfect son of God, needed feedback?"
  • 01:00:06
    Yes, yes, I am.
  • 01:00:08
    One of my favorite scriptures about Jesus
  • 01:00:10
    is in Luke 2, and it says this. It says:
  • 01:00:12
    Jesus went down with them,
  • 01:00:14
    them being Mary and Joseph, his parents,
  • 01:00:16
    and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.
  • 01:00:19
    And Jesus increased in wisdom
  • 01:00:21
    and in stature and in favor with God and man.
  • 01:00:24
    Listen to that Jesus increased. Jesus grew.
  • 01:00:28
    Jesus matured as a man who was living a real life,
  • 01:00:32
    just like you and I are living a real life
  • 01:00:34
    bcause he embraced feedback,
  • 01:00:35
    he embraced feedback from his parents.
  • 01:00:37
    Jesus embraced the feedback
  • 01:00:38
    from his spiritual community as he was shaped
  • 01:00:40
    and formed to understand what the Bible said.
  • 01:00:43
    Yes, Jesus even embraced feedback
  • 01:00:45
    from his very own followers.
  • 01:00:47
    In Matthew 16:16, he's having a conversation
  • 01:00:49
    with his followers, and he says:
  • 01:00:54
    And when Jesus said that he was
  • 01:00:55
    putting himself in a learning posture,
  • 01:00:57
    so I'm just going to go,
  • 01:00:58
    I'm going to go out on a limb and say
  • 01:00:59
    if Jesus embraced feedback, then maybe we should too.
  • 01:01:03
    Maybe we should be open to the ways
  • 01:01:05
    that feedback can grow us.
  • 01:01:07
    What if Jesus actually wants to be your coach
  • 01:01:10
    even more than he wants to be your teacher?
  • 01:01:13
    What if Jesus actually wants you to have
  • 01:01:16
    the same trajectory in your life that he did,
  • 01:01:19
    growing in wisdom and in stature
  • 01:01:21
    and in favor with God and with people?
  • 01:01:23
    That's actually the invitation on the table
  • 01:01:26
    when it comes to following Jesus.
  • 01:01:27
    It's an invitation to a lifelong coaching relationship
  • 01:01:31
    with the greatest human who's ever lived.
  • 01:01:33
    I've got a question:
  • 01:01:34
    who wants to maximize their life?
  • 01:01:36
    Who wants to maximize their life?
  • 01:01:38
    If you want to maximize your life,
  • 01:01:39
    Jesus isn't one of many options.
  • 01:01:41
    Jesus is the only option.
  • 01:01:44
    In the Super Bowl we are going to see
  • 01:01:46
    the world's best football players,
  • 01:01:47
    and here's what we're also going to be seeing.
  • 01:01:49
    We're going to be looking at
  • 01:01:50
    the world's most coach football players as well,
  • 01:01:53
    because at some point talent is not enough.
  • 01:01:56
    At some point, spiritual knowledge is not enough.
  • 01:01:59
    At some point, we need to embrace feedback
  • 01:02:02
    so we can change and we can grow.
  • 01:02:03
    That's what champions do.
  • 01:02:04
    So here's the challenge I have for you.
  • 01:02:06
    Pick an area in your life,
  • 01:02:08
    find a coach and embrace feedback.
  • 01:02:11
    If you want to grow, if you want to change,
  • 01:02:13
    if you want to go to a new place, pick an area,
  • 01:02:16
    find a coach and embrace feedback.
  • 01:02:18
    That might look like joining a group,
  • 01:02:19
    that might look like finding a counselor,
  • 01:02:21
    it looked like actually hiring a coach.
  • 01:02:23
    I love what Alli said, though,
  • 01:02:25
    the first step for all of us is to seek Jesus,
  • 01:02:28
    to find him and see him as a coach
  • 01:02:30
    who wants to help you grow,
  • 01:02:32
    who wants to help you be a champion.
  • 01:02:34
    Because God has a vision for your life
  • 01:02:36
    and it's this: God wants you and I to be with Jesus
  • 01:02:41
    and to be like Jesus, too.
  • 01:02:43
    Mind blowing, mind blowing.
  • 01:02:45
    There's a phrase that all of us
  • 01:02:47
    Cincinnati Bengals fans have been saying
  • 01:02:49
    all season long: Why not us, right?
  • 01:02:51
    Why not us? Why not us this year?
  • 01:02:54
    Why wouldn't we be the team
  • 01:02:55
    that would win the Super Bowl this year?
  • 01:02:57
    Why wouldn't we be the team that
  • 01:02:59
    are the champions of the champions this year?
  • 01:03:01
    And I want you to know the same is true in your life.
  • 01:03:03
    Why not you? Why can't you grow as a parent?
  • 01:03:06
    Why can't you grow as a leader?
  • 01:03:07
    Why can't you grow as a friend?
  • 01:03:09
    Why can't your marriage be completely different?
  • 01:03:11
    You have a coach that will give you
  • 01:03:13
    the kind of feedback that will make you
  • 01:03:15
    who you couldn't be without him.
  • 01:03:16
    Why not you? Why not us? Why not us.
  • 01:03:19
    Friends, it is us.
  • 01:03:21
    I want you to say that to yourself: It is us.
  • 01:03:24
    We will be those who grow.
  • 01:03:25
    We will be those who change.
  • 01:03:27
    We will be those who experience what it looks like
  • 01:03:29
    to be and live like Jesus as champions
  • 01:03:33
    because we embrace feedback,
  • 01:03:34
    because we allow him to change our lives.
  • 01:03:38
    Embracing feedback has the power to change the world.
  • 01:03:41
    But even if it doesn't change the world,
  • 01:03:42
    I promise you this, it will change your world
  • 01:03:45
    and you will be a champion when you embrace feedback.
  • 01:03:49
    [whistle]
  • 01:03:50
    - That's the quarter. - There's the whistle.
  • 01:03:52
    - Touchdown Team Mingo.
  • 01:03:55
    - You know, they call it the Tome Dome.
  • 01:03:57
    But Mingo brought down the house. He brought it.
  • 01:03:59
    - Here comes the kicker.
  • 01:04:00
    - Chuch, you were awarded six points
  • 01:04:01
    for a great message, in addition to three points
  • 01:04:04
    for an excellent use of random phrase.
  • 01:04:06
    Would you like to go for one point for regular.
  • 01:04:08
    - Going for two. - Two points for Bible.
  • 01:04:10
    - Two point conversion here?
  • 01:04:12
    - All right, here is your question.
  • 01:04:14
    Where in the Bible can you find the quote:
  • 01:04:17
    Even though I walk through the valley
  • 01:04:19
    of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil
  • 01:04:21
    for you are with me,
  • 01:04:22
    your rod and your staff, they comfort me?
  • 01:04:26
    - A little bit of conversation here
  • 01:04:28
    and Team Tome seems confused.
  • 01:04:30
    They can't believe it. - Do you have an answer?
  • 01:04:32
    - I hope he gets this. - Psalm 23.
  • 01:04:34
    - Do you know the verse?
  • 01:04:35
    - Oh, oh, and the referee --
  • 01:04:39
    - He thinks 6, 6-7.
  • 01:04:41
    - It's actually 23:4,
  • 01:04:43
    but you got the chapter correct, worth two points.
  • 01:04:47
    - Okay. - Yes.
  • 01:04:48
    - What is this, Sunday school?
  • 01:04:50
    - You know, that's exactly this is.
  • 01:04:51
    - End of third quarter score, Team Mingo 18,
  • 01:04:56
    Team -- wait, yeah. - Are you sure?
  • 01:04:57
    - Team Mingo 18, Team Tome 11.
  • 01:05:00
    - No, he's not. - All right.
  • 01:05:02
    - Is it just me, or when Mingo teaches
  • 01:05:04
    does anybody else want to do this?
  • 01:05:06
    - Oh yeah. Yeah, they do.
  • 01:05:08
    - He brings it. He brings it. But here is Team Tome.
  • 01:05:10
    - Here's your random phrase. - It's your time, buddy.
  • 01:05:12
    - Your random phrase is:
  • 01:05:15
    duck lips, it's like push ups for your face. [laughter]
  • 01:05:19
    - Duck lips, push ups for the face.
  • 01:05:22
    - Duck lips is okay.
  • 01:05:23
    - Ranson has done a lot of duck lip selfies,
  • 01:05:24
    I've seen them.
  • 01:05:25
    - Okay, that's interesting.
  • 01:05:28
    See, champions make a habit of choosing optimism.
  • 01:05:32
    In fact, the greatest champion of all time,
  • 01:05:34
    Jesus Christ, said to choose optimism
  • 01:05:36
    even in the face of trouble.
  • 01:05:38
    These are his words from John 16, He said:
  • 01:05:41
    In the world, you will have tribulation or trouble;
  • 01:05:44
    but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world.
  • 01:05:48
    See if you're not yet a Christian,
  • 01:05:49
    and I'm so glad you're here.
  • 01:05:50
    We're pumped that you're with us today.
  • 01:05:52
    And I want to make sure that you don't leave
  • 01:05:54
    without knowing what it is that Jesus has to offer you.
  • 01:05:58
    And if you are a Christian,
  • 01:05:59
    I want to gently remind you today
  • 01:06:01
    of what it is that you already believe.
  • 01:06:04
    It's really simple.
  • 01:06:05
    You believe in the resurrection of the dead.
  • 01:06:10
    Yeah, that means if if the game is over,
  • 01:06:11
    the clock's run out, all the fans have gone home,
  • 01:06:13
    all the nails and put in the coffin.
  • 01:06:15
    It doesn't matter. Nails in the coffin?
  • 01:06:19
    I believe in Jesus, who three nails
  • 01:06:21
    couldn't keep him in the grave.
  • 01:06:22
    Nails in the coffin, not over.
  • 01:06:24
    And here's why I bring it up,
  • 01:06:26
    because it's time that we start acting like it.
  • 01:06:28
    It's time that we start embracing
  • 01:06:30
    and remembering the fact that we believe
  • 01:06:32
    in the resurrection of the dead.
  • 01:06:34
    These last couple of years,
  • 01:06:36
    somebody has spiked our collective cocktail
  • 01:06:38
    in the world with this poison.
  • 01:06:41
    If you've heard of it, it's called cynicism.
  • 01:06:43
    Cynicism is not just pessimism, you know,
  • 01:06:46
    like, I think it's going to be bad later on.
  • 01:06:48
    It's going to be just be bad.
  • 01:06:49
    It's like this pessimism plus anger and resentment.
  • 01:06:53
    It's poisonous to you.
  • 01:06:55
    It does -- It does have a killer theme song,
  • 01:06:57
    though, it's taken over Tik-Tok.
  • 01:06:59
    Maybe you've heard it, it sounds like this.
  • 01:07:00
    - A, B, C, D, E, F --
  • 01:07:03
    - G, H, I, J, K -- [whistle]
  • 01:07:05
    - Oh, that was close. - Flag on the play.
  • 01:07:07
    - Un-Preacher like conduct.
  • 01:07:08
    Yyu can't drop the F-bomb in church.
  • 01:07:10
    - I didn't. I sang the alphabet.
  • 01:07:12
    What are you talking about?
  • 01:07:13
    - We're going to call the New York office here.
  • 01:07:15
    - Look at the tape. - You know what?
  • 01:07:16
    - Look at the tape, I sang the alphabet.
  • 01:07:18
    - Just like everything this year,
  • 01:07:19
    every big decision goes to New York.
  • 01:07:22
    - That's right. - Look at the tape.
  • 01:07:23
    - I honestly just think that's -
  • 01:07:25
    - 347-1111.
  • 01:07:27
    - That is --That is LaRosa's, not New York.
  • 01:07:30
    - That is most certainly LaRosa's.
  • 01:07:32
    - Is this the New York office?
  • 01:07:33
    - I hope he's got his Buddy Card.
  • 01:07:35
    - Oh, well, do you have a New York style pizza?
  • 01:07:39
    - See, there it is.
  • 01:07:41
    - Okay, perfect, two larges.
  • 01:07:42
    - Perfect.
  • 01:07:44
    - Well, they weren't helpful.
  • 01:07:46
    So I'm just going to uphold my own penalty
  • 01:07:49
    since I couldn't get hold of the New York office.
  • 01:07:52
    Sorry, Team Tome. - Penalty is upheld.
  • 01:07:53
    - Mingo likes it.
  • 01:07:56
    - Here's the thing, did you know
  • 01:07:59
    that a cynical Christian is an oxymoron?
  • 01:08:03
    It's a thing that can't exist,
  • 01:08:04
    and yet somehow I became one last year. I did.
  • 01:08:07
    I let the little paper cuts of life,
  • 01:08:09
    all the other little disappointments
  • 01:08:11
    that happen through life just get to me.
  • 01:08:12
    It felt like it was happening everywhere,
  • 01:08:14
    you know, at home at work, vacation, had three planned.
  • 01:08:17
    Before one my daughter broke her arm,
  • 01:08:19
    before the other I broke my foot,
  • 01:08:20
    and the last one was Christmas break.
  • 01:08:22
    Guess what I got under the tree on Christmas morning?
  • 01:08:25
    COVID. - Oh, they knew it already?
  • 01:08:26
    - Yeah. Maybe you did, too. Right?
  • 01:08:29
    It just made me start singing the song
  • 01:08:32
    like everybody else. You know the song?
  • 01:08:34
    Right, all the lyrics of cynicism.
  • 01:08:36
    Oh, here we go again.
  • 01:08:38
    I should've known this was going to happen.
  • 01:08:40
    Man, this is what I should have expected.
  • 01:08:42
    Should've seen it coming.
  • 01:08:43
    That's a song of COVID.
  • 01:08:44
    See, cynicism doesn't need a massive tragedy
  • 01:08:48
    in your life to sink into it and cause damage.
  • 01:08:51
    It's like water, just needs a little crack in a rock,
  • 01:08:53
    it'll get down in there.
  • 01:08:55
    It'll break that rock apart.
  • 01:08:56
    That's cynicism with your heart.
  • 01:08:58
    It will break your heart apart
  • 01:08:59
    if you let it get in there.
  • 01:09:01
    And it just seems like it's been getting everywhere,
  • 01:09:04
    everywhere and everybody.
  • 01:09:06
    It was that week of COVID, I was kind of on my couch
  • 01:09:08
    and I was just like, you know, I was just knocked out.
  • 01:09:10
    And that's the moment that God choose to help me
  • 01:09:13
    hear what I've been saying this whole time,
  • 01:09:15
    the song I've been singing this, this cynicism.
  • 01:09:18
    He said, "Son, I haven't made you
  • 01:09:21
    to sing along on the song of cynicism."
  • 01:09:25
    He said, "You believe in the resurrection of the dead.
  • 01:09:28
    Stop singing along in the choir.
  • 01:09:30
    See, I put you here to shout joy and hope.
  • 01:09:33
    I put you here to be an optimist."
  • 01:09:35
    In fact, I don't know if you knew this,
  • 01:09:36
    but the benefit of being a Christian is that
  • 01:09:40
    we get to be actual, eternal optimist.
  • 01:09:45
    That's our job in the world.
  • 01:09:47
    If you're not a Christian,
  • 01:09:48
    I want you to know that that's the benefit
  • 01:09:50
    available to you in Jesus. Why?
  • 01:09:52
    Because we believe in the resurrection of the dead.
  • 01:09:56
    I just want to ask you, what's harder to believe?
  • 01:09:59
    That dead things can come back to life
  • 01:10:01
    or that God might do something good in your life?
  • 01:10:05
    What's harder?
  • 01:10:06
    Champions make a habit of optimism,
  • 01:10:08
    every single one has always.
  • 01:10:10
    Take King David.
  • 01:10:11
    He's the guy who defeated Goliath.
  • 01:10:12
    You probably heard about him.
  • 01:10:14
    He was committed to this habit of choosing optimism.
  • 01:10:17
    In Psalm 27, he said:
  • 01:10:18
    I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
  • 01:10:23
    that I would see the goodness of the Lord
  • 01:10:25
    in the land of the living.
  • 01:10:27
    Maybe used to believe that at some point in your life,
  • 01:10:30
    good things would happen, but too much time has passed
  • 01:10:32
    and you just just kind of stopped, you know?
  • 01:10:34
    Like if it was going to happen,
  • 01:10:35
    it would have happened by now, right?
  • 01:10:38
    Is there anything in your life
  • 01:10:39
    that you've made that conclusion about?
  • 01:10:41
    Maybe it's dating, maybe it's work,
  • 01:10:43
    maybe it's family, maybe it's getting to sense God,
  • 01:10:45
    to have that vibrant relationship.
  • 01:10:47
    Have you concluded if it was going to happen,
  • 01:10:49
    it would have happened?
  • 01:10:50
    Well, you know, God hasn't, right?
  • 01:10:54
    See, for God it's never too late.
  • 01:10:58
    The clock, it doesn't matter if it's run out.
  • 01:11:02
    You believe in the resurrection of the dead
  • 01:11:05
    and today God is saying,
  • 01:11:06
    "Would you risk choosing optimism?"
  • 01:11:08
    Again, it's a defining trait
  • 01:11:10
    of every champion throughout history.
  • 01:11:12
    Take the patron saint of Cincinnati,
  • 01:11:14
    St. Joseph of the Burrow, maybe you heard of him.
  • 01:11:16
    Here's our patron saint. - Yes, love him. We have.
  • 01:11:19
    - I think he's a saint.
  • 01:11:21
    I was actually baptized Catholic,
  • 01:11:23
    been a minute since I've been in a mass,
  • 01:11:24
    but the rules are a little fuzzy on being a saint.
  • 01:11:27
    I'm pretty sure it's about performing a miracle, right?
  • 01:11:29
    That's it.
  • 01:11:30
    The Bengals are in the Super Bowl, people!
  • 01:11:32
    - That counts.
  • 01:11:33
    - Miracle! - That's a miracle, all right.
  • 01:11:35
    - St. Joe. - And we got to see it.
  • 01:11:37
    - Here's the thing, before you go right off St. Joe
  • 01:11:39
    and the rest of us optimist,
  • 01:11:40
    says you're just a lucky people.
  • 01:11:42
    You're just the people who
  • 01:11:43
    everything's always broke the right way for you.
  • 01:11:46
    Let me remind you about Joe's story.
  • 01:11:48
    He was third string quarterback at Ohio State.
  • 01:11:50
    He couldn't even become the backup, people.
  • 01:11:52
    So he decides to transfer.
  • 01:11:54
    His number one choice, Nebraska says no thanks.
  • 01:11:56
    My wife who is from Omaha
  • 01:11:58
    will never forgive them for that, by the way.
  • 01:12:00
    Horrible, horrible facts.
  • 01:12:01
    The point is, optimists aren't the people
  • 01:12:03
    who get lucky in life, and they're not the ones
  • 01:12:06
    that pretend that there's no problems.
  • 01:12:07
    Jesus was the world's biggest optimist ever,
  • 01:12:09
    and let me be very clear,
  • 01:12:11
    he saw all the problems of the world,
  • 01:12:13
    yours included, with more clarity
  • 01:12:15
    than anybody who's ever lived.
  • 01:12:17
    Look at this again, John 16:33:
  • 01:12:19
    In the world you will have trouble -- He saw it.
  • 01:12:22
    But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
  • 01:12:28
    So choosing optimism means I choose to trust
  • 01:12:31
    that the God I follow is bigger
  • 01:12:33
    than all the problems and all the pain.
  • 01:12:36
    He will overcome it. He will outlast it.
  • 01:12:39
    It's a total optimism.
  • 01:12:43
    - We've got to optimists in the house.
  • 01:12:45
    - That's right.
  • 01:12:47
    - Friends, our quarterback one is Jesus Christ.
  • 01:12:50
    He's the greatest champion who ever lived.
  • 01:12:53
    If you want to follow him, do what he said:
  • 01:12:55
    Be of good cheer. Make choosing optimism a habit. [whistle]
  • 01:12:59
    - That's our game, folks. - Touchdown Team Tome!
  • 01:13:03
    - Oh, you did forget to use a random phrase.
  • 01:13:09
    - He doesn't look happy.
  • 01:13:11
    - Kyle, you got six points for a great message,
  • 01:13:13
    in addition, a three point penalty
  • 01:13:15
    for the A, B, C, D, I don't think so.
  • 01:13:17
    - Saying the alphabet, I don't know.
  • 01:13:19
    - Yep, but the New York office did call me back
  • 01:13:22
    and said I should overturn the penalty,
  • 01:13:25
    which means it's Team Tome 17, Team Mingo 18.
  • 01:13:29
    - It's a close game.
  • 01:13:30
    - You need two points for the win.
  • 01:13:32
    - Go for the win.
  • 01:13:33
    - All right. - Go for the win.
  • 01:13:34
    - We've got to go for the 2 point conversion.
  • 01:13:36
    We've got to go for the win.
  • 01:13:37
    - I think that math works out.
  • 01:13:38
    Don't double check me. All right.
  • 01:13:41
    Genesis 6 introduces us to Noah,
  • 01:13:44
    the guy who built the Ark, and his family.
  • 01:13:47
    What were the names of Noah's three sons?
  • 01:13:50
    - Shem, Ham, and Yap, Yapheth or Japheth, Japheth or Yapheth.
  • 01:13:57
    Japheth is the correct answer.
  • 01:13:58
    Team Tome wins! [indiscernible]
  • 01:14:01
    - It always comes down to the kicker,
  • 01:14:04
    ladies and gentlemen.
  • 01:14:06
    [music: We Are the Champions]
  • 01:14:14
    - She didn't even have the consultant us.
  • 01:14:16
    My gosh. Wow. Impressive.
  • 01:14:22
    - With the presentation of the Bible Trophy
  • 01:14:24
    and some massive Bengals bling.
  • 01:14:27
    - Yeah, you take the necklace. You take the necklace, for sure.
  • 01:14:31
    - Team Tome. Take us home, BT. Take us home.
  • 01:14:33
    - Let's give it up for Team Tome. [cheers & applause]
  • 01:14:36
    - That was a close game.
  • 01:14:42
    - Hey, I hope you had a great time today.
  • 01:14:44
    I hope you're having a great time today.
  • 01:14:46
    There's so much in our culture
  • 01:14:47
    that's just tearing us down, tearing us down,
  • 01:14:49
    and it's so great to feel like we're champions.
  • 01:14:52
    It's not just feel like we're champions again
  • 01:14:54
    because the Super Bowl is going to be an amazing win.
  • 01:14:57
    It's also because there's
  • 01:14:58
    some spiritual things there for you.
  • 01:15:00
    I don't know if you came in here today
  • 01:15:02
    wondering if you just had to endure through it
  • 01:15:04
    and Alli spoke with you on that.
  • 01:15:06
    Or if you've been hammered with feedback
  • 01:15:07
    or haven't gotten enough, like Chuck has.
  • 01:15:09
    Or if you just fallen prey to what I have as well,
  • 01:15:12
    just being Negative Nelly, just like everybody else.
  • 01:15:14
    That's not what champions do.
  • 01:15:17
    And you are a champion, anybody who is in Christ,
  • 01:15:20
    and if you're not in Christ,
  • 01:15:21
    he would love to welcome you into his family today
  • 01:15:24
    right now. He would love to do that.
  • 01:15:25
    We're going to -- I'm going to pray for us,
  • 01:15:27
    and then we're going to go back to all of our sites
  • 01:15:29
    and our final word and let me pray for us.
  • 01:15:31
    God, Thank you so much for your goodness
  • 01:15:34
    and all you've done for us.
  • 01:15:36
    And God, many of us want to receive you
  • 01:15:37
    for the first time, some of us
  • 01:15:39
    might want to receive you the first time.
  • 01:15:40
    We just want to say very simply, Jesus,
  • 01:15:42
    I ask you in my life. I give my life to you.
  • 01:15:46
    I asked for forgiveness.
  • 01:15:48
    And I pray that you fill me with your spirit. Amen.
  • 01:15:53
    - Well, thanks for being with us today.
  • 01:15:55
    I hope you had fun. I mean --
  • 01:15:56
    and here's the most important thing
  • 01:15:58
    maybe the entire day, Who Dey! Can I say that?
  • 01:16:02
    Is that -- - Say that. [indiscernible]
  • 01:16:03
    - That's appropriate,
  • 01:16:04
    just based on where we are, that's right.
  • 01:16:06
    We've had a wonderful time today.
  • 01:16:07
    You know what?
  • 01:16:08
    We don't want to just see you here today.
  • 01:16:10
    We want to see you come back because
  • 01:16:11
    we have an incredible series coming up called
  • 01:16:14
    Genesis: Find your way home.
  • 01:16:16
    We're not just going to be talking about it.
  • 01:16:17
    Word on the street is
  • 01:16:18
    we're going to be taking people there.
  • 01:16:20
    - It's going to be amazing, special series.
  • 01:16:22
    - It's going to be special. We hope to see you there.
  • 01:16:24
    See you next week on Crossroads.
  • 01:16:26
    - In the beginning,
  • 01:16:27
    God created the heavens and the Earth.
  • 01:16:32
    - Wait, wait, wait. What? Is that even possible?
  • 01:16:36
    - The creation of the universe
  • 01:16:37
    is the greatest origin story ever told.
  • 01:16:40
    When we know where we've come from,
  • 01:16:42
    it's far easier to find our way home.
  • 01:16:44
    Join us as we explore the story of Genesis.

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 This is the group part of the Bible Challenge, so your questions are based on a specific Bible passage like the weekend message. Each week, your group will discover what God might be saying to you, and how you can respond through a group discussion.

  1. Which superbowl commercial made you laugh the most (from either Crossroads or the actual SuperBowl broadcast)? If none of them made you laugh…that just makes us sad.

  2. What stood out to you most from the messages?

  3. Why do you think that stood out to you? What do you think God might be trying to say? (It’s ok if you’re just guessing. This will give you some space to process what it might be.)

  4. What is one way you can respond to what God might be saying to you this week? For example, if you think he wants you to start reading the Bible more, joining the Bible Challenge for the next series could be one way to take action.

  5. Now share a prayer request for the week. Whoever loves taking notes can jot them down (and maybe put them in a group chat, if you have one). Make sure to go around the circle and pray for each other at the end of your meeting, and throughout the week.

More from the Weekend

__Bonus Questions! __ Check these out if you’re on a roll and want to go a little deeper!

Bible Trivia! Here’s a few questions to see if you’re smarter than Brian:

1) Which man did Jesus raise from the dead (before himself)? Read John 11:43-44 for the answer.

2) On which mountain did Elijah challenge the prophets of Baal? Read 1 Kings 18:20 for the answer.

3) Which Judge disemboweled the King of Moab and saved Israel? Read Judges 3:12-23 for the answer.

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(This stuff helps us figure out how many fruitcakes to make come December)

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Feb 14, 2022 1 hr 16 mins 53 sec

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