The Empty Promise of Self-Service: Why Your Future Isn’t About You

• Meaning and Purpose [00:29:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explores the universal human hunger for meaning, distinguishing it from mere busyness or success, and references Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning' to illustrate this deep-seated need across generations.
• Early Church Distinctives [00:32:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Acts 2 to identify the core DNA of the early church: being rooted in Jesus, relationally connected to the world, and radically generous, noting that this service-oriented lifestyle attracted favor even from enemies.
• Church History and Mission [00:35:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares the history of Crossroads church, specifically how the mission statement was updated 20 years ago to include 'changing the world,' and recounts a story of the church investing in City Gospel Mission despite being a startup.
• Generosity and God's Provision [00:37:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a story about a $100,000 anonymous gift that followed a church's commitment, illustrating that God shows up greater than imagined when we step out.
• Mission and Identity [00:40:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a 2007 mission trip to South Africa, emphasizing the profound sense of belonging and spiritual impact experienced when serving outside one's comfort zone.
• Community and Service [00:44:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor issues three calls to action: stop retreating from needs, stop going solo, and stop talking about it, urging the congregation to actively serve their local community.
• Incarnational Ministry [00:48:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references John 1 and the Artemis 2 astronauts to illustrate that Jesus 'moved into the neighborhood' and calls the church to get up close and personal with those they serve.
• Incarnation and Presence [00:48:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses Jesus becoming flesh and moving into the neighborhood, emphasizing proximity over distance.
• Global Unity and Perspective [00:49:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the Artemis 2 astronauts' message, the pastor illustrates the unity of humanity ('Ubuntu') and the preciousness of Earth.
• Community Service and 'Go Day' [00:51:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls the congregation to block off time on May 16th for a day-long service project to love their neighbors.
• Generosity and Witness [00:53:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > Referencing Matthew 10:8, the pastor explains that service is about freely giving to allow Jesus to receive 'good rep'.

• Sermon Illustration [00:28:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor jokes that after the busy Easter services, he slept for two days, simulating Jesus in the tomb.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites an article titled 'Beyond Work, Scroll, and Repeat' stating that 58% of Gen Z adults experienced little or no purpose or meaning, and notes that this hunger for meaning extends to Gen X and Boomers as well.
• Sermon Illustration [00:34:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes three historical non-Christian sources (Tertullian, Lucian of Samasada, and Julian the Apostate) who acknowledged the early church's distinctive generosity and care for the poor, even when they were enemies of the faith.
• Sermon Illustration [00:36:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a story about Crossroads church, a startup, committing $100,000 to City Gospel Mission to fight poverty. The very next Sunday, an anonymous giver provided a $100,000 check to the church, which staff member Brian Wells celebrated by buying a giant $100,000 chocolate bar (which he later ate, keeping only the wrapper).
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells the story of a $100,000 anonymous check given to Crossroads after they became the largest contributor to a mission, and the subsequent story of a board member eating a commemorative $100,000 chocolate bar, leaving only the wrapper as a reminder of God's provision.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story from a 2007 mission trip to Mamalodi, South Africa, where he was greeted by a local church member who said 'brother, welcome home,' giving him a profound sense of belonging despite his family's origins.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts how his wife, struggling with infertility, was prayed for by a South African church member who laid hands on her belly and prayed for children; they conceived their son Nathan the following July.
• Sermon Illustration [00:45:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes a 2018 service project at Wynton Terrace in Cincinnati with his sons and a 'dude group,' highlighting the value of exposing children to men who follow Jesus while serving challenged communities.
• Sermon Illustration [00:48:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Artemis 2 astronauts' Easter message from space, using their perspective of seeing Earth's beauty from afar to illustrate the importance of looking at creation and our shared humanity.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the Artemis 2 astronauts' Easter message from 250,000 miles away, where they described Earth as a beautiful 'spaceship' and an 'oasis' in the emptiness of the universe, urging unity.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the African principle of 'Ubuntu' ('I am because we are') to support the biblical call for relational connection and radical generosity.

• Pastoral Charge [00:45:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > To immediately begin serving and acting on the message rather than just praying about it.
• Pastoral Charge [00:46:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > To participate in the upcoming service project at Wynton Terrace on May 16th.
• Pastoral Charge [00:51:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > Take out phones, open calendar app, and block off 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, May 16th to participate in 'Go Day' service projects.

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:17] Hey, welcome to Crossroads. We are a community of people all over the world that connect with each other, worship with God together, and recharge to go change the world.
[00:00:26] Hey, my name is Arturo. If we never met, I'm on the Reach Out team.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:00:29] My name is Jen. I'm a part of our Crossroads Anywhere team, and today we are starting a new series called Future You, because the future you starts today with what God is doing in and through you.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:39] And that happens a big deal when we serve others, but Chuck Mingo is going to talk about that here in a bit. Why don't you join us for a certain worship?

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:00:47] we haven't already told you we're so glad that you're here my name is eric and if you were here last week for easter and had a good time come on so good hey if you're new today i'm glad that
[00:01:17] you're with us and what i want you to know we got to witness 675 baptisms churchwide i mean come on god is doing amazing things we get to continue in that journey and what he's doing today as we
[00:01:32] start a new series called Future You. So why don't you stand to your feet. We'll start our time by

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:01:37] singing some songs in response to how God has been faithful to us. Cool. Count us in. God, if it

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:14:28] requires us getting uncomfortable, count us in. If it requires us rolling up our sleeves and going to work, count us in wherever you're going, God. As a church, we say we want to follow you. Amen.
[00:14:46] Amen.
[00:14:47] Well, hey, good morning.
[00:14:47] Good to be with you.
[00:14:49] Why don't you say hey to someone around you and take a seat.
[00:15:01] If you're brand new, you're like, that song is crazy.
[00:15:06] Whatever, wherever you're going, whatever it costs me, what are you guys talking about?
[00:15:10] If you're brand new, I'm just glad you're here.
[00:15:13] It doesn't matter what you think about church or God, you are in the right spot.
[00:15:17] I hope today you hear about a God who's worth everything, worth following, just like what you heard sung about in that song.
[00:15:23] If you are part of Crossroads, you received an email this week with the results and conclusions about the investigation that's been going on here.
[00:15:31] If you're like, email? I didn't get it.
[00:15:33] Check your junk mail and then start reading our emails so they come to your inbox.
[00:15:37] And then also, if you want to get that information, you can get it at Crossroads.net slash updates.
[00:15:42] For more on that, please kindly welcome up Kirk Perry, representing our Board of Spiritual Directors.

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:15:53] Hey, Crossroads.
[00:15:53] First of all, on behalf of the board, let me thank you for your prayers and patience over the last six weeks.
[00:16:04] We have needed it.
[00:16:06] I'd also like to thank the community member who brought this issue to the board and for the countless others who have participated in this process.
[00:16:13] We are grateful and thankful for that.
[00:16:17] And as Cal said, email went out.
[00:16:19] I'm not going to reread the email to you, But I thought I'd give you some further perspective from a board standpoint of what this process has been.
[00:16:29] First of all, the board has been here to serve you and our staff since the beginning of this church, but in particular over the last six weeks.
[00:16:37] In addition to regular day jobs and family obligations and other obligations, the board has been working a part-time job to try to land this very complicated plane of truth and grace.
[00:16:52] And I can tell you personally, for those of you who see me on this stage years ago or have heard me in other venues, I've had some interesting personal and professional things go on in my life.
[00:17:02] And I will tell you, this has been, at the very top of the list, is one of the most challenging.
[00:17:09] And this is what Jesus has called us to be.
[00:17:11] Equal parts truth and grace.
[00:17:14] As a board, we have made room for the Holy Spirit to come and to listen to him and to make the best decision possible that flawed human beings can make.
[00:17:26] We all want what is best for the church, for our staff, for BT.
[00:17:31] We love them all equally.
[00:17:36] And no matter what we have decided, not everybody is happy, as you can imagine.
[00:17:42] And I thought I'd just give you a few samples of some of the challenges through this process.
[00:17:46] I had a couple of distinct kind of themes.
[00:17:49] we get a lot of email. A couple distinct themes. One is what I would call the free BT crowd.
[00:17:54] The ones who say, this is a sham process. You guys are woke. And what I would respectfully ask that group is to live in the truth that God has called us in. And the second group we heard from was what
[00:18:10] I would characterize as the fire BT group. And why hasn't this happened yet? And what are you guys thinking about, you know the right decision to make, and I would respectfully ask this group to think about the grace that Jesus has called us to. If not for that grace, Moses, King David, Paul,
[00:18:28] and all of the heroes of the Bible would be disqualified from service, and that's not what God has called us to be. And as a board, we have lived in this tension between truth and grace.
[00:18:40] by the way we are different different as a church we're a church that is for people who've given up on church but not on God we're a church who has said we will do anything short of sin to bring
[00:18:55] people closer to God that's what we do as a church and we are a church now in a divided and divisive world that has a chance to show truth and grace and unity for a world that so desperately needs
[00:19:12] that. And while we have a long way to go, a hard path to reconciliation, God weighs nothing, nothing, and we will come through this better and stronger than we went into it. Martin Luther King Jr. You can clap for that. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, the ultimate measure of a man
[00:19:36] is not when he stands in moments of comfort and convenience. It's where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. We have that chance today, today, to show the world that we're different that while we are in it we are not of it let us all of us be the collective unity
[00:19:59] and truth and grace that can really bring change to this church and this world and with that i'd

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:20:07] like to welcome up brian has a few words for us thank thank you but please don't please don't not thank you but no um not appropriate right now but i appreciate it i love you too hey so i just want
[00:20:30] to say a few things. First is, I'm really sorry for complicating your lives. This has been very complicated. It's been very heart-wrenching for all of us, and it's entirely of my doing.
[00:20:45] It's of nobody else's other than mine. My humor has been out of bounds, and so has my intensity at times uh been with some people with my humor as you know i've i've often walked
[00:21:02] up to the line and when you go right up the line you fall off the edge and i've gone off the edge inappropriate use of a riding crop is is just one example and i want to again express my sincere
[00:21:17] apologies to the community member who i offended apart from that incident there's been jokes that I haven't told or jokes at least that I shouldn't have told in specific places with some I've had outbursts of angry or outbursts of intensity that aren't appropriate for a godly leader
[00:21:39] I've acted try to act sort of like a a friend or a coach at times when really I was missing that I'm more than anything I'm a spiritual father and I haven't been on my game as often as I should
[00:21:53] have been in that area. So I ask that you forgive me, and I ask that you extend me some grace.
[00:22:06] I also want to say, I ask you extend the greatest amount of respect, grace, understanding, and applause to our board. The past six weeks have been horrible for them, utterly horrible for them. And again, it's because of things I did, nothing that they did. They have been thrust
[00:22:30] into a high stakes game that nobody, nobody wanted. As you know, we're about revivals.
[00:22:39] We're about a revival. We're about seeing an awakening here in our church. And one of the things that is said oftentimes is that confession of sin and repentance is a precursor to revival and awakening. That's actually not true. My study leads to different conclusions. And it is that
[00:22:57] repentance and confession of sin happens when a revival and when an awakening is happening and the reason it happens is because when Jesus fills a room when Jesus fills a life we are simultaneously understanding how far short we fall of him with our sin and simultaneously utterly blown away by
[00:23:19] his grace and his love and his acceptance and actually makes it easy for us to confess our sin and to see our sin.
[00:23:25] That's the way I've been over the last six weeks.
[00:23:28] I would not want to go through the last six weeks ever again.
[00:23:31] But I also am so glad for it because I've had really my most intimate times with God that I've ever had in 40-some years of walking with Christ because he's met me in this.
[00:23:42] And I'm very, very thankful for our Heavenly Father.
[00:23:48] I'll be doing adequate repentance and restoration while I'm on leave.
[00:23:53] And I'm going to come back, not just as myself, but as a different version of myself.
[00:24:01] If you're familiar with the old Catholic priest, Richard Rohr, he says that once you've suffered, the old paths don't work anymore.
[00:24:11] Those of you who suffer know what I'm talking about.
[00:24:13] And all of us learned a little bit about suffering in the last journey.
[00:24:17] Romans 5, 3 to 5, suffering brings what?
[00:24:20] Endurance.
[00:24:21] Endurance brings what?
[00:24:22] Character.
[00:24:23] And character brings what?
[00:24:24] hope and the next verse in romans 5 verse 5 says hope does not put us to shame because god's love has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit that he has given us i believe that's what
[00:24:38] he's doing with me and with all of us and i love you all very dearly i'm sorry for the complications i've caused you all i'm sorry for the complications i've caused our church and uh god is good he is

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:24:52] good. Thank you. Why don't you join me in a prayer, please? God, we are so grateful for this incredible gift that you've given us called Crossroads. We are incredibly grateful for the journey that we
[00:25:14] all have been on. God, most of all, we're just grateful for your son who came with truth and grace and showed us a way to be light and salt to those who need to see it. God, we are all in.
[00:25:25] Count us in to this awakening and revival that only you can bring about, God, and help us to be vessels in that. We love you. We ask for continued unity, and we ask for continued growth
[00:25:36] toward you. And it's in your son's name we pray. Amen. You know, 21 years ago, I was a kid living

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:25:56] in the Bible Belt, 500 miles away from Crossroads. And I was surrounded by all these great churches that were preaching the gospel, but not in a language that I could actually understand.
[00:26:08] And then my parents found Crossroads, and they started mailing me these things. They were called CDs. You can find them in museums. Very rare now. With messages. And I learned about a God who loved
[00:26:23] me in a language that I could actually understand. And I saw a church that wasn't content to keep that gospel, that good news inside the walls, but felt compelled to roll up their sleeves and get
[00:26:34] to work and help the least of these outside the walls. I've never seen that before. Never seen it And if you ask me, you know, what do we do now?
[00:26:43] What happens now, Kyle?
[00:26:44] I would say, guess what we're going to do?
[00:26:46] What we've always done.
[00:26:48] We're going to preach the message of Jesus in a language people would understand.
[00:26:51] We're going to roll up our sleeves and we're going to get to work.
[00:26:54] Because the gospel is not meant to stay here.
[00:26:56] It's meant to go out there.
[00:26:58] That's who we are.
[00:26:59] It's who we always have been.
[00:27:00] It's who we always will be.
[00:27:03] And today you're going to hear more about what it means to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
[00:27:09] backed by popular demand. He might make us dance today. I'm not entirely sure. Please welcome Chuck

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:27:15] Mingo. Love you, man. Love you. Love you. Hey, I just want to say one thing. I am so thankful for our board. I am so thankful for this process. I am really thankful for Kyle Ranson. Guys,
[00:27:31] we have an amazing leader. We have an amazing lead pastor in Kyle, and seeing his leadership has been powerful for me. So I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for all of you. I'm thankful for us as a church and the opportunity we have, as Kyle said, to walk by faith and to walk unified
[00:27:46] in the thing that God has always called us to be as a church. And today we're going to be talking about that idea of rolling up our sleeves and taking the good news of Jesus beyond these four
[00:27:57] walls, because that's the power of the resurrection too. If you were here last weekend at Easter, boy, did we have a time. It was an amazing celebration. It was an amazing celebration.
[00:28:06] Somebody's asking me, how did you feel after all those Easter services? I actually slept for two days. That's what I felt like. I was simulating Jesus in the tomb. I was like taking naps and all
[00:28:16] of that. But man, I am so glad that we got to celebrate that. We're going to pick right back up in that place because God has something good for us today. Let me pray for us. God, thank you for
[00:28:26] what we've already experienced of your grace and your truth. Thank you for what we've already experienced about the unique DNA that's a part of your church that includes a heart of restoration, a heart of repentance, a heart of grace and truth. And God, I just believe that you have great things
[00:28:42] in store for our church. And God, we want to see an awakening. We want to see a revival, and I believe that we can because of the power of what you're doing here. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Hey, I don't
[00:28:54] know if you missed it. It was celebrated a little bit earlier. Friends, we had 675 people get baptized across all of our services last weekend. God was moving in a mighty and a powerful way.
[00:29:07] And I want to just, we're kicking off a new series today called Future You, but I want to start with the main idea right up front. Here's what I hope you take away from today. It's this. We, Crossroads,
[00:29:17] are a church that shows up. That's what we've always been. That's what we will continue to be because when we do, we find God and we find meaning.
[00:29:29] And so that's who we are.
[00:29:30] And so we're going to talk about that today as we kick off this new series.
[00:29:33] I wonder if you've ever asked a question like this one.
[00:29:37] Is my life adding up to something?
[00:29:40] I think we all probably have asked that question.
[00:29:42] I don't mean, is my life busy?
[00:29:44] Because how many people have busy lives?
[00:29:46] I think we all have busy lives.
[00:29:47] We know we're adding up things on our calendar.
[00:29:49] I don't even mean just success.
[00:29:51] but I think the thing that we hunger for and crave for is meaning. We want to make sure their lives are meaningful. One of the books that's been really impactful over my life has been
[00:30:03] Viktor Frankl's book, and he kind of summarizes it right in the title, Man's Search for Meaning.
[00:30:08] I think we're hungry as people for meaning. And in this new series, we're asking the question, what does a meaningful life look like? How do you begin to do the things today that lead to
[00:30:19] a meaningful life tomorrow. So the series is called Future You. And the key question is this, what are the things that you can do today that your future you will be thankful for tomorrow?
[00:30:28] And every week we're going to be looking at different areas like relationships. How do you invest in relationships today for the sake of your future you tomorrow? We're going to look at how you think about your time. How do you care for your body? Those are the kinds of things we're
[00:30:39] going to be looking at in this series. And today we're looking at the idea of when we show up, There is a future us that is thankful because meaning is found when we join God in serving
[00:30:51] others. Because by every indication, we're hungry for this meaning. I came across an article that really struck me. First, because of its title, which is Beyond Work, Scroll, and Repeat.
[00:31:01] Ouch. But this is what it said. And this was referencing particularly Gen Z. It said over half of young adults, 58%, said they had experienced little or no purpose or meaning in their lives. It's interesting to think about that, that we're hungry for meaning. But then I
[00:31:16] thought about this and I'm like, this isn't just a Gen Z thing. I'm in Gen X. How many Gen Xers in the house? Yes, that's right. And boomers in the house, right? Like we all feel this. We all feel
[00:31:27] this. I don't think this is just a Gen Z thing. I think all of us are. You know, I think about Gen Z and they're wrestling with what can I do to create a life of meaning. But I know lots of
[00:31:34] people who are Gen Xers and boomers who are either thinking about a second act or they're about to retire or they have retired, they're asking the same question. They're like, look, I traveled every day or every week from my family for 30 years in this career. Was it worth it?
[00:31:50] Was it meaningful? I invested all of this in education to become a lawyer or a doctor or some other professional. Is it worth it? Is my life adding up to something? Is it meaningful?
[00:32:00] The challenge is this. It's easy to fill our lives. The question is, are we living lives that will fill our souls. And here's the beautiful thing. This was a core distinction of the early church. The early church after the resurrection was a family, a group of people who lived incredible
[00:32:20] lives of meaning. They had incredible adventure and risk, but they were also living lives that were about blessing people outside of themselves. The empty tomb led to people who were bold to a movement that made a difference. And the beautiful thing is they didn't just believe something,
[00:32:35] they became something. They became people who served. Let's look at this in Acts chapter 2 today. Acts chapter 2 and 42 says this, And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking
[00:32:47] of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. Which, by the way, the apostles were like in their 20s and 30s. These
[00:32:57] are young people. John, we believe, was 18 when Jesus rose from the grave. So these are young people. And it says, and all who believe were together and had all things in common. And they
[00:33:07] were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing proceeds to all, not just the people who were in their Christian circle, but they were blessing the community around them as any had need.
[00:33:17] And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day, those who were being saved. Do you want to ask yourself,
[00:33:33] what were the distinctives of the early church? What is in the DNA of the family of God? I would say it's three things. The church has always been rooted in Jesus, relationally connected, not just to each other, but to the world around them, and radically generous. That's what the
[00:33:50] church has always been. And that's why you hear that they were enjoying the favor of all the people because these were people who blessed those around us. That's always been the nature of the church of Jesus Christ. And even their haters had to give them props for this. Even
[00:34:05] people who were contemporaries who were not fans and even were enemies of the church spoke about their generosity. I'm going to give you three examples of this. One is Tertullian. He himself was a North African Christian, but he was referencing how Romans who were not Christians
[00:34:17] talked about the church. They would say this, see how they love one another and how they are ready to die for each other. That was a distinctive of the early church that even their enemies
[00:34:28] represented. How about this one? This comes from a guy named Lucian of Samasada. He was a satirist.
[00:34:33] He mocked Christianity. He was not a fan. But even he said this, it becomes incredible to see their enthusiasm for the care of their poor and their burial of the dead. Something about the way they
[00:34:45] dignified every human being struck even people who were not fans of the church. One more for you.
[00:34:50] this is a guy named Julian the Apostate. Again, someone who was opposed to the early church of Jesus. But even he said the impious Galileans support not only their own poor, but ours as well.
[00:35:01] I just want you to see this is the distinctive of the church because the church understood that when we go outside of ourselves, when we join God in serving others, we find meaning and we find God
[00:35:14] in that place. This is a part of the DNA of Crossroads as well. And I want to share a couple stories kind of bring this to life for you. You know, these are stories that kind of live in the
[00:35:23] lore of Crossroads. The first one is you may not know that Crossroads about 20 or so years ago added to our mission statement. So when I first started coming to Crossroads, the mission was connecting seekers to a community of growing Christ followers, period. Startup church hadn't
[00:35:41] been a church in Hyde Park in 40 years. Church starts meeting in a school and really is very laser focused on, hey, we want to reach people who, as you heard Kirk Perry say, have maybe given up
[00:35:53] on church, but hadn't given up on God. That's who we always were running after. And we are still running after those people. We will always be a church that runs after those people. But about
[00:36:03] 20 years ago, what we realized as a church is this idea of getting outside ourselves is so hardwired into the DNA of Jesus's church. And it was becoming so hardwired and in the ways that God was blessing
[00:36:17] and moving around here.
[00:36:18] And we changed our mission statement to add that last piece.
[00:36:21] So now our mission is connecting seekers to a community of growing Christ followers who are changing the world.
[00:36:27] This is so a part of who we are.
[00:36:29] I'll tell you another story around this.
[00:36:31] So early in the life of Crossroads, it's not uncommon when you have a small church and you're getting started.
[00:36:37] Most of your resources that are coming in are being used to fund the thing that you're doing.
[00:36:41] You gotta pay for the rental facility.
[00:36:42] You gotta pay for all the toys for Kids and Kids Club.
[00:36:46] You got to do the things that kind of let the church operate.
[00:36:49] But early in the formation of Crossroads, there was a heart that leaders had to be about things outside of ourselves.
[00:36:57] So they actually tasked a guy, Steve Andry, who's part of our community still today, said, hey, if we were going to make a difference in addressing poverty in our city, who could we work with?
[00:37:06] What would be the great organization out here that we could maybe invest in?
[00:37:09] And so Steve did some vetting and he came back with an amazing organization, which if you're in the Cincinnati area, you know, City Gospel Mission.
[00:37:15] City Gospel Mission was an amazing organization, 150 plus years of faithfulness and serving the homeless in our city and people in addiction.
[00:37:22] And so the church decided all those years ago, even though they were a small startup, to give a significant investment to City Gospel Mission, $100,000.
[00:37:32] That's what they chose to do.
[00:37:33] Over a course of time, they didn't have that money in the bank.
[00:37:36] It was like over years, we're gonna do this.
[00:37:38] Well, soon after they got a letter from City Gospel saying, actually, now that you've given this gift and made this commitment, you are our largest contributor.
[00:37:45] this small startup church, largest contributor to that mission. The very next Sunday, the very next Sunday, Crossroads used to do something called take up an offering during a service. I know we don't even remember that, right? We used to have these discs and people would put like paper
[00:38:04] money and these things called checks. If you remember those, like they would go in there.
[00:38:09] the very next Sunday in the offering, an anonymous giver gave a $100,000 check to Crossroads.
[00:38:18] A hundred grand. A hundred grand. And so this became kind of this signal that, hey, you can't outgive God. And whenever we step out beyond ourselves, God's going to show up in a way that's
[00:38:29] greater than we could even imagine. And so Brian Wells, who's on our board, he was on the staff at the time, decided as a celebration to give everybody on staff at that time a 100 grand
[00:38:40] chocolate bar, a 100 grand bar, just to say like, hey, this is how God shows up in our community.
[00:38:47] Now, this is the actual wrapper of his actual 100 grand bar that he used in celebration. So that's the picture that you're looking at here. You'll notice that it's empty. So I asked Brian, I'm like,
[00:38:58] hey, why isn't the chocolate bar in there? He said, well, Chuck, there was a day when I was working and I was really hungry. And that hundred grand bar looked really attractive. So I decided
[00:39:08] the wrapper is really the thing that I need to keep. I can eat the chocolate. I can eat the chocolate. But it's just a reminder that God will show up. And so I actually have some hundred grand
[00:39:18] bars right here. I have a couple hundred grand bars because I figured at this point in the service, you might need a mid-service snack. So five people are about to get blessed. Sir, can I give you one
[00:39:25] of these? Thank you. I see hands going back up there. I got one for you. Someone here. Here you go. There you go. One more over here. There you go. Oh, did I overthrow you? Wait, did I overthrow
[00:39:35] you? I'm sorry. I thought you could do the Odell Beckham thing. I thought you were going to like, you know, there you go. Somebody gave it to you. Awesome. Awesome. Now you can eat those. You can
[00:39:43] certainly eat those. But I want you to be reminded that God always shows up when we step outside of ourselves. Those are crossroads stories. But guys, you're a part of these stories. Do you know that
[00:39:54] the last 20 years, 88,000 of you have invested 530,000 hours loving our literal neighbors in our communities. That's happening in Dayton. That's happening in Lexington. That's happening in Cincinnati, Eastside, Westside, Florence. It's happening all over because this is the God we
[00:40:12] serve. And this is who we are as a community. Now, those are the crossroads stories. I want to share a couple of my own stories because I've been impacted by this idea that when we step outside
[00:40:22] of ourselves and go, we find God and we find meaning. 2007, I got to be a part of a mission trip we did as a church to a place called Mamalodi, South Africa. 2007, there's probably somebody here
[00:40:33] that was on that trip. And there were some powerful things that happened for me and for my wife while we were in South Africa. So first, that was my first time ever setting foot on the African
[00:40:45] continent. And that was a big deal for me personally. I know it's hard with the haze and the light, you might not remember this, but I'm black. I am black. And so what that meant was going to
[00:40:57] Africa was really meaningful for me as an African-American. And there was a church that we were partnering with, Charity and Faith Church, and the folks from that church had been building relationships with us. They had come to Cincinnati. I'd gotten to meet some of them in person and
[00:41:12] build some relationship. And so when we land in Africa, I'm in Africa for the first time, I remember just stepping off the plane, feeling the heat and just saying, I can't believe I'm here.
[00:41:21] And, you know, we go and we come down the escalator. We're being greeted by our friends in South Africa with noise and vuvuzelas, that African horn, if you've ever heard that. And it was just this amazing celebration. And one of the guys that I had met here pulled me to the side
[00:41:35] and he looked me in my eyes and he said, brother, welcome home. And I got to tell you, I didn't even know the parts of my soul that needed to hear that. Just this sense of place and belonging. And
[00:41:49] yeah, my family probably isn't from South Africa. They're probably from West Africa, just what I know about transatlantic slave trade. But still, it was such a meaningful thing. And here I am going over there to serve them. And yet God was meeting me with something more profound than I
[00:42:04] could ever imagine. I'll tell you another story that happened for my wife and I when we were there. I got a chance to go with Maria. We got this picture here. Actually, the woman whose house
[00:42:11] we're building behind you there. Her name is also Maria. So this is Chuck and two Marias in this picture. And one of the things that was true for my wife and I in 2007 is we wanted to have kids.
[00:42:22] We didn't have any children, and we were kind of struggling with infertility challenges.
[00:42:26] So we go over there, and one of the things we've learned from our partners in Africa is how to pray in faith. They pray. They pray in faith. And I remember having a chance, my wife and
[00:42:38] I to get prayed for by a woman of the church. And we told her like, hey, we want to have kids. And you know, we're kind of on a journey in that. And I remember her asking, hey, would it be okay if I
[00:42:47] put my hand on your belly and pray for you? Actually, that's not what she did at all. They don't do PC over there. She went in, she grabbed Maria's belly, and she started praying a prayer
[00:42:57] of faith. She said, God, I believe you can open this womb. I believe there's going to be children that come from this womb. In the name of Jesus, she's praying this powerful prayer. And y'all,
[00:43:06] that next July, we had a baby. That next July, our son Nathan was born. I'm telling you, there is something that happens. You want to find God? You want to find meaning? Get outside of yourself.
[00:43:19] Get outside of your comfort zone. Because when we do, we find God there, and he is waiting for us there. We need this. We need this. This is something that we need to continue to remember, is that we
[00:43:31] are a church that goes. We're a church that shows up. We're a church that comes alongside our neighbors. We're a church that wants to fulfill what Jesus said is the next and greatest commandment, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And we need it. We need it. A quote that really impacted
[00:43:49] me, a guy named Gary Barker wrote a book about calling. He said this, the tragedy in life is not death. It's what we allow to die within us while we still live. And there are things that God has
[00:44:00] put in you that you are called and created to give to the world, to give to your neighbors.
[00:44:06] So what's next? Three things for you to think about as we think about this opportunity we have to step into this. One, stop retreating from needs and go move toward needs. It's so easy for us to
[00:44:19] do a drive-by, to drive by challenges we see in our community, to drive by issues that may ping our heart, but we say we're too busy to get involved, it's so easy to do a drive-by. And I
[00:44:30] want you to know that's actually literally killing us. Time Magazine did a quote, and I'm not going to read the whole quote to you, but Time Magazine did an article about this. The average American
[00:44:38] doesn't even speak to the neighbor they don't know but a few times a year. And so isolation has become an epidemic in our country. And the impact physically on us is like smoking 15 cigarettes a
[00:44:50] day. So our lack of loving our neighbor is literally killing us. So it's time to stop driving by and start going to the needs that are right in our own community. The second thing, stop going
[00:45:03] solo and go with a team. Next week, Allie's going to be talking about how to order your relationships for flourishing. It's a powerful talk. I can't wait for you to hear it. And that's the difference
[00:45:13] of the early churches, that they were together. Did you notice in Acts where it said they had all things in common, that they were selling their possessions and supporting each other in needs?
[00:45:20] There's a power that comes from being together.
[00:45:25] And the third thing, stop talking about it and just do it.
[00:45:29] This is not one of those messages that you need to pray about afterwards.
[00:45:35] Seriously, this is one you need to walk about it.
[00:45:38] You need to do about it.
[00:45:40] There is something for us to do in this message because there's a future you relying on you today, finding meaning by joining God and serving other people.
[00:45:51] You're made for it.
[00:45:52] We are made for it.
[00:45:54] And it's a part of our DNA.
[00:45:56] One other story I'll tell you happened 2018.
[00:45:59] This is 20 minutes from here.
[00:46:02] As much as I've been impacted by stories like South Africa, and I've gotten a chance to go to India, I've gotten a chance to go to Haiti, I've gotten a chance to go all these places, Puerto Rico.
[00:46:11] One of the most profound experiences I ever had in going outside of myself and serving happened at Wynton Terrace right here in Cincinnati.
[00:46:18] where in 2018, I got a chance to take my two boys and be with my guy group, my dude group, serving in a community that is challenged.
[00:46:28] Public housing and some of the other dynamics that happened and went in terrorist crime, other things like that.
[00:46:32] But my friend Cameron felt called to that community and had been doing long-term work, building relationships in that community.
[00:46:39] And so we got to partner with him and be a part of what God was doing there on a go-day service project.
[00:46:44] We're gonna have an opportunity to do that again as a church on May 16th.
[00:46:46] I'm gonna talk about that a little bit more in a minute, but it was a powerful experience here.
[00:46:49] You see these pictures of me with my boys.
[00:46:51] You see these pictures of my dudes in the background.
[00:46:53] These are guys that are still in my life today.
[00:46:55] There is something powerful when as a father, you get to expose your sons to other men who love, know, and follow Jesus, who are walking with Jesus, who are gonna help them become men who walk with Jesus.
[00:47:10] And here's the thing, your future you is depending on you to step out and serve others.
[00:47:14] But let me tell you who else is looking for you to do this.
[00:47:17] 30 years from now, I pray that my boys are part of a church that's showing up. 30 years from now, my boys and my daughter, I pray are part of a church that is loving people the way that Jesus
[00:47:29] loves them. I pray 30 years from now that they're in a community of people that aren't all about themselves, but they are about the people beyond them. 30 years from now, there's going to be a
[00:47:38] church and that church is going to be asking some questions of you and of me today. They're going to say 30 years ago, was there a church that was willing to show up? 30 years ago, was there a
[00:47:49] church that was willing to love when it was hard? 30 years ago, was there a church that wasn't doing drive-bys to the problems in their community, but were rolling up their sleeves and being about the
[00:47:59] work of Jesus? And I want to be a church that shows up. I pray that 30 years from now, people are talking about the way that you have showed up and I have showed up. Are you with me? Are you
[00:48:10] with me. We're called to be a church that shows up because when we do, when we do, we see Jesus.
[00:48:18] I'm so glad Jesus showed up. Think about that. The good news for us is that Jesus showed up.
[00:48:24] In John 1, it says that the word Jesus became flesh and made his dwelling among us. I love how one person in particular has paraphrased that. They say it this way. The word became flesh and
[00:48:36] moved into the neighborhood. Jesus moved into our neighborhood. He moved into your life. He didn't try to do something from a distance, but he got up close. He calls us to do the same. I think we had
[00:48:48] a really interesting moment in human history this week. I've been loving the Artemis 2 flight and all the things that have been happening with the astronauts going around the moon. It's been really interesting. And I don't know if you saw this or not, but on Easter, the astronauts had a message
[00:49:04] for the planet and if you haven't watched it i want you to hear it now i think these observances

[00:49:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:49:12] are important and as we are so far from earth and looking at you know the beauty of creation i think the for me one of the really important personal perspectives that i have up here is i can really
[00:49:25] see earth as one thing and you know when i read the bible and i look at all of the amazing things that were done for us who were created. You have this amazing place, this spaceship. You guys are
[00:49:37] talking to us because we're in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you're on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos. Maybe the distance
[00:49:48] we are from you makes you think what we're doing is special, but we're the same distance from you, and I'm trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special. In all of this emptiness, this is a whole
[00:49:58] bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe. You have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together. I think as we go into Easter Sunday thinking about, you know, all the cultures
[00:50:09] all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing,
[00:50:20] and that we got to get through this together. Amen. Amen. Talk about perspective. To get that

[00:50:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:50:30] message from 250,000 miles from earth and to be able to say we are one thing. There's an African principle. It's called Ubuntu. And what it means is I am because we are. And that's what the Bible
[00:50:44] teaches us. The Bible teaches us that what Jesus came to do is to create a family, to create people who don't just say this is mine, I've got mine, but to continue to be a church that is rooted in
[00:50:56] Jesus, to continue to be a church that is relationally connected, and to continue to be a church that is radically generous. That is our call. And so because of that, at the risk of this feeling
[00:51:08] self-serving, I want to be unapologetic about asking you to do something right now. I want you to take out your phones right now. I want you to take out your phones because on May 16th Crossroads,
[00:51:19] we have a moment to show up. We have a moment to show up. It's called Go Day. And wherever you are and whatever community you're in, there are going to be opportunities for you to do a day-long
[00:51:28] service project that is literally loving your neighbors. And so here's what I want you to do.
[00:51:33] I want you to go to your calendar app and I want you to look at May 16th. Look at May 16th. And if your May 16th is like my May 16th, there's already something there. I know you're busy
[00:51:45] people. I know. But here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. I'm gonna ask you to block off eight o'clock to one o'clock on Saturday, May 16th to show up so we can show up as a church. And here's
[00:51:58] what I would say. I know there's already something there. And I also know this, unless you're getting married that day, which you are, God bless you, right? You probably have some flexibility to move whatever is there with this kind of lead time. And I'm asking you to do that. I'm asking you to do
[00:52:17] that not so that Crossroads gets good rep because of that, but I'm asking you to do this so that the name of Jesus can get good rep. So that people could say, hey, you know what, in a time where
[00:52:27] everything seems divided and people seem broken, the followers of Jesus around me showed up.
[00:52:33] We have a moment.
[00:52:34] And I want you to step into that moment with you.
[00:52:36] So I'm going to ask you to do that.
[00:52:37] Now, here's what's going to happen in just a few minutes from now, 60 seconds from now.
[00:52:41] You're going to hear from, a couple minutes from now, because there's a video.
[00:52:45] You're going to hear from one of the partners that's a part of your local effort on Go Day.
[00:52:51] Someone that you can partner with and get to serve with.
[00:52:53] And let me tell you, these are people who are literally changing the world.
[00:52:55] These are the people who are living out the call to love our neighbors.
[00:52:58] I'm so excited for you to hear from those partners.
[00:53:00] Before we do that, stay in your seats because that's going to happen after this video.
[00:53:03] I'm going to give you one more scripture.
[00:53:05] Why do we do this?
[00:53:06] Why do we go?
[00:53:07] Jesus put it really powerfully and clearly in Matthew 10, 8, when he says, freely you have received, freely give.
[00:53:15] That's the spirit with which we go.
[00:53:18] That's the spirit with which we serve.
[00:53:19] You're going to see a video.
[00:53:20] And as you watch it, I want you to ask yourself two questions.
[00:53:22] How might you be like the kid in this video who is showing up?
[00:53:26] or is there a widow in your life or someone in need that you can show up for like you're going to see in this video?
[00:53:34] Because when we show up, we meet God and we find meaning.

[00:54:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:54:27] what is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changes ocean tide? Can I handle the season of my life changing? Cause I build my time.
[00:55:15] When we show up, right, apparently Fleetwood Mac will play in the background

[00:56:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:56:30] and strangers will become friends and neighbors will become family.
[00:56:34] It's an incredible thing.
[00:56:36] Now, hey, I love this picture.
[00:56:38] I love this picture.
[00:56:39] And actually, this is my ADD coming out.
[00:56:42] But do you know that song's 50 years old now?
[00:56:44] That song's 50 years old and it's back on the top 100 chart.
[00:56:47] Somehow I am both too old and too young for Fleetwood Mac. I don't get it.
[00:56:52] Now, while I am not a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, I am a huge fan of Go Day.
[00:56:57] My name is Andy Ryder. I'm the community pastor for Crossroads Anywhere.
[00:57:00] That's the part of our church that doesn't meet in physical buildings.
[00:57:03] That's all over the globe and you all when your kids are sick.
[00:57:06] So great to be with you.
[00:57:09] When I was brand new to Crossroads, I remember like being just shocked by the number of ways that this community takes a step towards people and serves them. Whether it's go trips, whether it's simple serve opportunities, whether it's neighborhood projects, whether it's
[00:57:24] our amazing partners like you're going to hear in a moment, whether it's the work that we do in prisons around racial reconciliation, all kinds of things. I was just overwhelmed at the options.
[00:57:34] But this go day is an incredible picture of how we can serve people. May 16th, we've said it a million times. It's coming up. This is our chance that we get to rally around the communities that
[00:57:45] we're in because everywhere there are followers of Jesus, those cities should get better. They should experience more hope, more joy, and more life. And that's what we get to bring with us in Incredible Projects May 16th. So what those projects will look like are all over the map,
[00:58:02] literally and metaphorically. And some of them are going to happen if you're with our Anywhere community, you're going to host a project in your own neighborhood. But if you're part of our Oakley community or live near a physical site, hey, we have projects already identified. And many of them,
[00:58:16] many, many of them are going to happen through incredible partners that we work alongside all year long. And I would love it if you'd help me welcome up one of those partners. This is John
[00:58:26] Mark Outerslice, the CEO of CityLink Center. Come on up, John Mark. Thanks, Andy. Okay. I want these folks, because there might be some new people, there might be people that have heard of CityLink Center, but don't know what it is that you all do. Could you fill us in on the incredible work

[00:58:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:58:45] you guys are doing? Absolutely. Hello, Crossroads Oakley. CityLink Center has been birthed out of this place. We live in an incredible community. And unfortunately, about a third of adults and more children are born into poverty. And that financial poverty affects all aspects of their
[00:59:05] lives. And for too long, we've been asking people with very little margin of time and money to navigate an incredibly complex system. And so a group of people in this church got together and said, what could we do to show God's love to those neighbors? We know that talent is universal,
[00:59:22] but opportunity is not. So what would it look like if we actually designed something to walk alongside our neighbors, uplift them on their journey? So what we do is we have a building, which is now a campus that has over 12 partners where somebody can walk through those doors,
[00:59:38] share their story, share their hopes and aspirations, get teamed up with a service coordinator on our team, and then start making those strides through their hard work and our

[00:59:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:59:48] support to reach their goals. That is incredible. Yeah. So this is taking all of these disparate services, putting them under one roof and then walking people through them in the context of relationship. It's beautiful work. It's actually in the neighborhood that I live in now. I could
[01:00:02] to meet people that are, that your organization is serving weekly. It's beautiful, but help us understand not just what you do at the 10,000 foot level, but how someone experiences that on the

[01:00:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:00:13] ground. Yeah. So a building is one thing, but what really happens, which, which is the special part about this is the people who walk through our doors that have the courage to reach out and ask
[01:00:23] for help. And so we serve hundreds of our neighbors a year. We get to walk alongside them and learn from them. One of those individuals came through. He was a veteran and he simply told us, I was
[01:00:34] tired of hearing no. And he was looking for a better life. So he went through Habitat's construction training program. He worked with Smart Money to get his finances in order. He purchased a vehicle through Changing Gears, our automotive partner. He gained employment. So now
[01:00:49] he is employed with a stable place to live, reliable transportation, and command of his finances. So his life has changed through his hard work, but through our ability to walk alongside him. Another program that we have that is deeply touching to me and unearthed something that I did
[01:01:08] not understand is that we have a massive challenge with foster care, which a lot of people know and appreciate. But what I did not know and what I did not appreciate is that about 70% of family
[01:01:20] separations are due to issues of poverty. So these are moms who simply can't afford to care for their kids. And so there was a program in South Florida that said, what would it look like for the church
[01:01:31] to do something about this? And they created a program that we then brought with Crossroads to Cincinnati. And the program is really simple. It pairs a mom who's at risk of losing her kids to foster care with a service coordinator. It walks and wraps around supports with her and
[01:01:47] then pairs her with a volunteer, which we call an advocate that walks with that mom for 10 weeks for social emotional support. And with that program nationally, they're seeing over 80% of those families stay together. So for us, that looks like that is something to cheer for. Um, for us,
[01:02:05] that looks like a mom walking through who's, who's unsure of what her next steps are, which me with three kids, that's most days of my life. Right. But then she gets to have a love and
[01:02:14] support and care, go through that program, walk through our culinary training program, really reestablish a life for her and her family where she is recognized as the solution and not

[01:02:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:02:27] the problem. That is so good. So John Mark, you and I were chatting a little bit back in the green room. Like this isn't just a job for you. This is deeply personal for you. What do you most want

[01:02:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:02:42] us to know or what do you most want to say to people today? Yeah, so I'm a member of Crossroads Oakley. I sit back there. Sir, you're in my seat, but I'll want that back next week. And
[01:02:56] this is a journey that I was so grateful to find this place, a place that's authentic and real and is not about my entertainment over the weekend. This is not about me coming and sitting
[01:03:09] and listening to music and watching videos. This is about me having a place where I learned about God in a deeper way, learned about his call for my life. And it got me out of the seat because of
[01:03:21] the challenge I received from this stage to say like, our lives should look different. So if we are truly receiving God's love and that's being poured into us, it is only natural that should pour out from us. And so that started with me volunteering. It then led to a group of us
[01:03:37] launching a trip to New Orleans after Katrina, where we saw that this church was the largest source of volunteers rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina. And as Chuck shared, these are not moments that we just go to serve. We learn through that service. Every day at CityLink, those stories that
[01:03:56] are told, those are fueled by members of this community who choose to roll up their sleeves and pour into others by serving at the Welcome Center, to welcome people into the building, doing mock interviews. If you have two hours, you can come build into our clients simply by doing
[01:04:12] mock interviews or going as far as being an advocate, walking alongside somebody for a longer period of time. So my life was deeply changed when we launched CityLink Center. I was woefully, woefully aware that I was inadequate to the task and only through God would we be able to
[01:04:28] do that. And so when we step out from our comfort and step into these spaces, we grow, we learn, and that has literally transformed my lives and I'm so proud to be a part of a church
[01:04:40] that isn't about the weekend.
[01:04:42] We're about reflecting God's love to our neighbors and we're so fortunate that we get to be a part of this church and have a large platform for all of us to do that at CityLink.

[01:04:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:04:52] That's fantastic.
[01:04:53] John Mark, thank you, brother.
[01:04:54] Can we say thank you to John Mark?

[01:04:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:04:55] I appreciate it.

[01:04:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:04:56] That's what you do.
[01:04:59] Man, I hope you heard what he said in there because he sort of went past a stat.
[01:05:05] after Hurricane Katrina, the largest group of volunteers coming from anywhere in the rebuilding efforts was this church. That is wild to me. This is not a new thing. This is who we have always been, who we've always been, and we're going to continue to run after the things we feel like
[01:05:23] God has put in front of us. There's a quote from Mother Teresa that I just love, and it says, not all of us can do great things, but we all can do small things with great love. And small things
[01:05:37] done with great love will change the world. And that can start with your neighborhood, with your family, with your own heart, with your own life, and man, ripple out from there in incredible ways.
[01:05:48] So Chuck's teed it up for us beautifully. I just want to remind you, hey, sign up for CityLink.
[01:05:54] This is not that thing that you need to like pray about for six months to discern, should I serve my time and bless people?
[01:06:01] No, this is something we do because it's who we are as followers of Jesus and we wanna offer more of that love, more of that joy, more of that hope that he has for us.
[01:06:10] Go to crossroads.net slash go day.
[01:06:13] If you're a part of one of our physical locations, we have incredible projects already identified.
[01:06:17] If you're part of our Anywhere community, hey, we have projects all over the map.
[01:06:21] We've got incredible stuff happening in La Paz, Bolivia.
[01:06:24] It's gonna be so exciting.
[01:06:25] Dita, Nila, shout out to you guys.
[01:06:27] But for all of us, this is our chance to serve.
[01:06:29] Go to crossroads.net slash Goday.
[01:06:31] You can search through the projects.
[01:06:33] You can choose one.
[01:06:34] Bring your family.
[01:06:35] Bring your kids.
[01:06:36] This is a chance for us all to get in and make this a huge, huge experience to bless our cities.
[01:06:42] Guys, thank you so much.
[01:06:43] We will see you next week for week two of Future You.

[01:06:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:06:48] Hey, I love what John Mark was saying about what God can do through you.
[01:06:53] So we're going to talk to two groups of people here right now.
[01:06:56] We know that we have people streaming who, one, you live locally in Cincinnati and you can jump into one of our local projects we have going on.
[01:07:03] We're going to tell you how to do that.
[01:07:05] Or maybe you are streaming from all over the world and we want to talk to you about how you can jump into a project that could be happening in your city or create your own.
[01:07:13] So first, Arturo, tell us about what if I'm a local person and I want to get involved?

[01:07:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:07:17] Well, if you haven't done it already, block your calendar.
[01:07:20] I know you've heard it for the millionth and one time, but block your calendar on May 16th.
[01:07:24] what you do is go to crossroads.net slash go day i mean honestly everything we're about to tell you on the website right there on the website so uh go to crossroads.net slash go day it's very easy
[01:07:37] you've only got to scroll just a little bit to see a place to find your city the nearest city that you you are near you click on it and then you're going to see all the ways in which you
[01:07:47] can filter what are some examples that are happening man we are restoring neighborhoods like quite literally and physically we're providing food and resources to those places that have these kinds of needs there's literally all kinds that you can actually filter
[01:08:02] on that website and it's for all ages it's for all family you can bring your kids with you

[01:08:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:08:08] you can you're good you can bring your kids with you there's a ton of opportunities maybe you love to mulch projects behind us maybe you hate the smell of mulch that is fine too so go on the
[01:08:19] website, drop down to your local site, find a project. There are dozens and dozens at every single site. Now, what about if you are someone who does not live near a site? There is still
[01:08:29] time to create a project in your local city. But by the end of the month, we're still taking in projects. And what that means is maybe you drive by a church or a school or a neighbor all the
[01:08:40] time and you're like, man, someone needs to help them. Maybe that someone is you. But maybe part of your challenge is like, well, I don't have the resources or the people or the thing. If you go to
[01:08:49] crossroads.net slash goday you can sign up as a go to the drop down of anywhere because you'd be a part of crossroads anywhere and you would choose then what you fill out some information and kelly
[01:09:01] will follow up with you of what resources you might need maybe you have friends but you don't have the money to do the project we want to help you make that happen and we're ready to i mean you

[01:09:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:09:10] literally just heard it it does not have to be a solo sport here invite others you're talking about a way to get those friends that maybe have still just been a little reluctant to come back after
[01:09:20] an Easter invite or just a big old invite that you've given. Hey, we're a church that goes into neighborhoods and does something about it. That's usually pretty enticing to a world that believes in good. What we get to do is put together the good and godly work that we are able to do as a
[01:09:37] church in that community, in that neighborhood. And you're there, you're there and you can invite

[01:09:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:09:41] others and we're excited for you to do so. Do you see why Arturo is on our reach out train? Because He is so passionate about this.
[01:09:48] They're pulling me back.
[01:09:48] And of course, my mind goes, logistics, but I want to, but how do I do it?
[01:09:52] We want to help you figure that out, Hal.
[01:09:54] So go to our website.
[01:09:55] We will be in touch with you.
[01:09:56] Like our friend, Wendy, who lives in Orlando.
[01:09:58] She just moved into a new apartment complex and she has invited everyone in the area in her complex to come have a party at the pool and they're going to be packing boxes for families in need.
[01:10:09] So there's a ton of things that you can do and we want to even help be creative with you.
[01:10:12] So crossroads.net slash go day.
[01:10:14] Everything is on there for you.
[01:10:15] you to figure out and learn more. And May 16th, we want to see you. Can't wait. Let's go change

[01:10:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:10:22] the world. Let's go change the world. See you later. Thanks so much.