God Wants You to Stop Playing Small | Crossroads Messages

My name is Miko, I'm the prison director at this wonderful place we call Crossroads around. If you don't know much or anything about us at all, actually, this is a good week to get to know us. Two years ago, we asked a bold question. What if God has 10x more hope, joy, and purpose for you, and me, and all of us, than what we've actually experienced up until now? Since then, we've been pursuing that vision. We've been pursuing it together. We've seen God move in some incredible ways. We're just getting started. Today, we're returning to that vision and looking again at the vision that God has given Crossroads for the next 10 years. We're here updates on the progress that we've made, where we're headed next, and the impact that we're seeing through our sites, our digital ministry, our accounts, and our outreach initiatives. Like prison, I hope you're encouraged and inspired today. Let's jump in. - But this week, we're talking about why would you ever give, and what would you ever give for? And it's gonna dive into the vision in the heart of our church and the people sitting in the seats around you. It's gonna tell you what we're committed to. We're speaking of commitment.

You heard a few moments ago about my commissioning that happened a few nights ago, where I took vows to be your senior pastor. It was an amazing night. Amazing, amazing night. (audience applauding) Thank you. And I, if you're part of Crossroads, I want you to know what I vowed. So they're posted on social media, and my ask is, please go find them and read them, 'cause I committed to God, but on your behalf to serve you and shepherd you, and I sure would like you to know what I promise, what I committed to, what I committed to sacrifice for you. And what I'd like to do now is just publicly thank and honor, by the way, the sacrifice of the Tom family for the past 30 years. (audience cheering and applauding) I just wanna say thank you. You told me, thank you, Brian, thank you, Libby, Lena, Jake, thank you, Mariah, your spouses, grandkids, amazing, the 30 years of sacrifice. And by the way, I wanna say thank you too to the founding pastor of Crossroads Lexington, Glenn Schneider's, who we emerged with a long time, going to the entire Schneider's family. Glenn and Marilyn, Jody and Jennifer, thank you for your sacrifice, thank you, thank you.

See, when you step into this church, or any church, what you're stepping into is somebody else's sacrifice. You're sitting on somebody else's sacrifice. That comfortable seat was bought for you by someone, that cup of coffee that you're holding that's warm and delicious, bought for you by someone who will probably never know you and you'll never know them. Why in the world would anyone ever, ever, ever do that? So what we're talking about today is sacrifice. You know, you don't have a vision without sacrifice. There is no such thing as vision without sacrifice. If you have a vision and no sacrifice, it's not a vision, it's a fantasy. It's a wish upon a star, it's a hope and a prayer and nothing else. Every vision demands sacrifice. And as a church, we have a rich 30-year history of enormous vision and sacrifice to match it. If you're one of the 5,701 families who's sacrificing faithfully for the push, I hope today that you leave encouraged, that you leave honored, and you leave reminded about why you sacrificed, what you sacrificed for and committed to follow through on it. And if you're new, my hope for you is that you just understand what would it be like to give God your whole heart, to sacrifice for a vision worth everything.

You'd understand the people sitting in the seats around you. Before I go any further, let's invite God into the rest of this conversation. Father, I ask that you would show up today, that you would speak loud and powerful God, that you would take more territory in our hearts. If there's anywhere in my heart, doesn't have your flag planted on the God, I want you to take it, grab it and claim it today. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen, not to take off my moon jacket, because it's very warm, and I am what's known as a heavy sweater. So, take this off so I'm not distracted. Then we started this journey two years ago, inspired by this kind of idea of the 1960s and getting to the moon and the 10X increase and power it would take and all of that stuff. And we're two years in to this 10 year vision. So today is, where are we? What's happened and what happens next? And like I said, I think there's two important questions that we have to answer whenever you see $211 million, which is, why would anyone ever give? And what in the world could that money ever be spent for? What's for? And we're gonna get to that second question next, because it's really the vision of our church, what we're about and what we will be about.

But I wanna start with the first question, which is, why give? And when I say why give, I mean give generously. I don't mean the common kind of giving, the kind that we all do, where you, or you chip in to help a friend and it's here and it's there, it's kind of like tipping, you know? It's out of excess requires no faith 'cause it doesn't impact your bottom line at all. I'm not talking about that kind of giving, but the Bible does, and by the way, it says it's a good idea. Hebrews 13 verse 16 says do not forget to do good and to share with others. For with such sacrifices, God is pleased. Great if you do that. God's like, love it, keep doing it, awesome. It's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is deep, sacrificial, demands you change your life in order to faithfully fulfill it, kind of generosity. And I just wanna say from the beginning today, I'm gonna use a lot of Bible verses and that's because I want you to hear what God says. And I like to say also from the beginning, but what I'm saying comes from the book and I did not write the book. So if you don't like what's said in the books and the author emails, not me. Okay? Don't want them.

But tell you what God says very clearly throughout scriptures. And we're gonna start with the scripture that started this entire journey and today's experience, the Lord's Prayer out of Matthew chapter six. The most famous, probably most prayed prayer in the history of the world. Jesus taught it to us in Matthew chapter six. He said this then is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I actually pray this prayer every single morning, not because the Bible says you have to, not because it makes me a better Christian or more holy or anything like that. It just helps me make sure I'm staying on track with the stuff that Jesus said to pray about. And I have an ADHD brain and so I spit out a control and I come back to it. Oh, that's right, your will be done. Okay, let's pray about that. Every morning when I hit this part, your kingdom come, your will be done. The first thing I pray, God, your kingdom come, your will be done right here in me, in my heart. God, if there's any territory in my life that doesn't have your flag firmly planted on it, I would like you to be an invading force in my life and take it because until your flag is planted on it,

that part of my heart is in danger. This is what it means when he was talking about kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. It starts inside of each one of us. Now this prayer is the most famous prayer, I would argue to say, in the history of the world. But what's not usually talked about is the context of this prayer. What Jesus talks about before and what Jesus talks about after. In the context of the Lord's prayer is money. Specifically, financial fears and financial worries trying to steal people's hearts. If you read Matthew chapter six, just like Jesus says to pray this thing, your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, 53 seconds later. I read it and I timed it. 53 seconds later, Jesus says these words in Matthew chapter six verse 21. He says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, will be." Not usually is, not sometimes is correlated, like you might wanna check, "will be also." There's like this rope attached for your treasure to your heart and I have to notice that water here. There's a leader and there's a follower. The leader is not your heart. It's not where you put your heart, then your treasure follows.

It's actually the first thing to move is your treasure. Where your treasure goes, your heart follows. See, where you place your treasure determines who has your heart. This is what Jesus says. Now what kind of treasure is Jesus talking about? Well, in the Bible is broadly two types of treasure inside of your wallet. There's gods and there's yours. God's is the first 10% of all of the increase that comes your way, all of the income, all of the bonuses, all the... He says the first 10% of that is his and the other 90% is yours. And there's actually generosity that can happen in both categories. Out of the first 10, when you return that to God that's called tithes. And when you give out of the 90% that's yours, that's called offerings. Tithes is plural because every time you get an increase, every time you get paid, you return the first 10% to God. And offerings is plural because there's many kinds in the Bible. In the Old Testament, there's about seven main kinds of offerings, even in the New Testament. We see multiple kinds of offerings that I'm gonna talk about today. But it really starts with tides. Tides is returning the first.

Last week, Brian did a deep dive into tithing. And normally, I would say, if you missed it, go back and watch it. But we all know you're not gonna do that. 'Cause I already told you it's about tithing. And I understand, right? Someone's like, you should go watch this message right below, schedule colonoscopy, and right above, get unmedicated root canal. I'm gonna put that in, making a priority. Like, come on. So I'm gonna give you just kind of a quick overview of what is hiding, what does the Bible say about it. Well, it is returning to God the first. And the first is important because God says the first belongs to Him. Exodus 13, verse one, the Lord said to Moses, consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first is mine. And mine in the original language is emphatic. It is so ownership. It belongs to me. It's why I describe it as returning it to God. Why, it's not giving it because you can't give what's not yours. When you have something in your possession that belongs to somebody else, you have two choices. You can keep it, or you can return it to its rightful owner.

What do you call somebody who chooses to keep it? You call them a thief, which is exactly what my dog rooster is. I have two dogs, Annie and rooster. Annie is the brown dog on the right. She's the older sister. She is wonderful. She's beautiful. She's lovely. On the left is the younger brother rooster. He is a thief. He is a problem. He will steal your food. He will steal your shoes. He will take your socks. He will eat your underwear. That's another story from another day. He will do that. Every day in my house, every night, the same exact scene plays out. We have thousands of dog bones in our house, like thousands. They're under couch cushions. They're in a big basket full of them everywhere. Every night, the same thing happens. Annie gets a bone, and she takes it and she starts a chew on it. Rooster notices Annie's bone. And all he wants is her bone. And so he waits.

He's a smart dog. And eventually what happens is, Annie gets up, rooster steals the bone, goes to the couch and choose it. Like a little thief. Why does he want that bone? 'Cause it's hers and now it's mine. He's got it. He loves it. And then what happens is, is Annie notices and gets mad. Every night, it's a real problem. Now, why is Annie bark? There are literally dog bones scattered everywhere. Why does she bark? Because even in Annie's tiny little dog brain, she understands the concept of mine. I don't want the other bones. I want mine, my bone. She goes, that one is mine. This is how God feels about the first 10%. He's like, that's mine. It's not that God needs your money. It's not that he owns the cattle on 1,000 hills. He owns the riches of the universe. It rains diamonds on Jupiter. He doesn't need your money. It's not the point. But what he wants is for you to return to him, what is his, what belongs to him.

And remember where your treasure is and where your heart is. He wants you to start to return your heart to him. Because your heart belongs to him. He's your father. He's your creator. And it begins with the tithe. And when you don't, God says, you're a thief, you're robbing me. He says this in Malachi three verse eight, will a mere mortal rob God? Yeah, you rob me. But you ask, how are we robbing you? In tithes and offerings, you are under a curse, your whole nation, because you are robbing me. There are a lot of people who like to say, well, this is, you know, an Old Testament thing. Doesn't apply anymore, Kyle. That's kind of old thing. It's part of the law. Well, no, it's not part of the law. It's one of God's ordinances, a principle of ordinary behavior that comes before the law, in the law, after law, just like murder. It says, don't murder in the law, right there in the middle of the 10 commandments, but no one's saying that's part of the law, you can kill people now. Of course not, because it was wrong before the law, it was wrong after law.

Same thing with tithing, before the law, in law, after law, ordinary behavior has not changed. God has not changed on this. How do I know that? Well, because right even right before he says that you're a thief, if you take from him, one verse before that, Malachi three eight, he says, I, the Lord, do not change. It's almost like he knew that people were gonna wiggle out of this one thousands of years later. So he just put it right, I do not change. And then he says, you're robbing me. Good question would be, how does God treat a thief? And thankfully the answer is better than us. This is what it says in Malachi three 10, test me in this, says the Lord almighty, and see if I would not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. When my kids mess up, I also say, test me in this. I'm like, do not test me in this. You do not want to test me. You do not, what are you doing? Clean your room, clear your plate, start the dishwasher like I asked, whatever. Well, God's a much better father than me. 'Cause God doesn't say do not test me. God says test me, try me. I would love nothing more than if you would just test me. I'm making a promise to you.

He said, "I would love to pour out blessing on you." See, when you steal, when you're a thief, what you're stealing from is ultimately yourself. Because the best place for your heart is in the place where it can be blessed in his hands. He says, "Please, please, I'm begging you, I'm begging you." See, I have never met a person who has given their heart to God. I've never met a tither. And I know thousands and thousands and thousands of tithers here. Never met a tither in 21 years of professional ministry who ever regrets it. Have not met that person. Might someday, I just want you to know I haven't met him yet. And the reason is because this isn't a condemnation taking something from you situation. This is God wanting to bless you situation. So it starts with returning the first to God. It's starting point for biblical giving. But it continues from there, which offerings. Offerings is giving my own. Ties is returning the first, offering giving my own. Because it's what I choose to do with my 90%. And this is where true generosity really begins because it's mine. And I don't have to do any particular thing with it. I get to choose what to do. And when I choose to give it, that's called generosity. Rich, rich history in the Bible of offerings all throughout the Bible. In particular, by the way, in the New Testament.

This is the way that ministry and the gospel spread around the world. This is the way that new churches were started in new cities. And this is actually the way that the entire ministry of Jesus was funded. It tells us this in Luke chapter eight, verse one. It says the 12 were with them. And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had come out. Joanna, the wife of Chousa, the manager of Herod's household. Susanna and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. These are good Jewish women. They had already sent their tithe off to the priest, the temple, they'd already sent that return the 10%. Giving out of their own means means giving out of their own 90%. That was offerings and it funded the ministry of Jesus. We don't usually talk about the P&L statement of his ministry. You know, what happened last year? Jesus, what were your costs, what were your expenses? But there was one. There's always a cost to spreading the gospel. Always. In Jesus' time, you had to buy food. You had to buy places to stay. Sandals wore out. There was a cost of it.

And it was funded then and now through above and beyond offerings. Giving out of your 90%. This is a practice that Sarah and I have had for a long time. We started tithing. We got married 20 years ago. We've been giving beyond the tie that offerings as a regular discipline practice, increasing it every year for the last 16 years in a row. And the reason that we've done that is because we want God to have our heart. We want to mirror His heart. He's the God who gave to us. And we want to say, God, we want you to have our whole heart. And we want to mirror your heart in the world in a real, practical sense. It's not in some philosophical, fluffy, whatever, you know. Just love like you, God. He's like, OK, I want to tell you how to do that. Tell you exactly how to do that. You want your heart to look like mine, do what I did and give. And so you step into offerings. But there's actually a level above offerings that I would call extravagant offerings. Tides is returning the first. Offerings is giving my own. Extravagant offerings is giving my all. Oh, many examples of this in the Bible. First Chronicles 29, King David, maybe the most amount of money ever given away in any place in the entire Bible.

David's building the temple for God. And David gives of his own resources, 225,000 pounds of gold, 525,000 pounds of silver. In today's dollars, that's $13.6 billion. Billion, huge. Now what's wild is that's actually not the extravagant offering that's most impressed God. There's another time, Mark chapter 12, Jesus is in the temple and he saw this woman put something into the offering. And it was so profound that he stops the conversation with his disciples. He's like, whoa, guys, did you see what she just did? Did you watch that? She gave more than all. But what did she give? Two copper coins, coins were called lepta. Two lepta added up to 1/64 of one day's wages. What would that be like today? Well, she was poor, so let's call her a minimum wage. 90 cents is the most impressive, extravagant offering that literally grabbed God himself's attention. The point is, it's not about the amount. There's not some bar that God's requiring you to hit. It's not about that. It's about offering him all of your heart. And when he sees that, he stops in his tracks and he's like, "Wow." "Wow, I have your heart." It's amazing to him. That's extravagant offerings. And I told you, this is the way that the gospel has always spread. This is the way that new churches have been planted in new cities over and over and over again.

You can go back to 2 Corinthians 8, and you'll see where this is happening. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 16, Paul had called the Corinthian church to give money to support another church in another city far, far away that they were never going to go to, people they were never going to meet, people that were never going to thank them. And he had called them to sacrifice 1 Corinthians 16. And in 2 Corinthians 8, he's following up on the commitment that they made, encouraging them to finish. And he tells them a story about the Macedonian church who's giving to yet another city far away from them that they'll never visit, people they'll never meet, people that will never say thank you to them. He says this about the Macedonians 2 Corinthians 8 verse 1. He says, "Now brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches." By the way, Macedonia at this point is Northern Greece, this includes the cities of Philippi where you get Philippians and Thessalonians, significant cities. He says this, "In the midst of a very severe trial, they're overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity, extravagant offering. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people. Can you imagine pleading for the chance to give money to help people far away from you who you'll never meet, they'll never know you and they'll never thank you to hear the gospel. Can you imagine that?" So Paul says this, he said, "They exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves first of all to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. First they gave their hearts to the Lord and they entrusted the apostles to do well with the resources they had given." Now why in the world would they ever do that? Why? That's crazy. Who in their right mind would ever do that? These are people in Macedonia, they're in northern Greece, like I said, these are not people who grew up knowing the God of the Bible. These are not people who grew up praying to the God of Abraham. These people who grew up in a pagan culture with gods who were against them, who were tumultuous, who weren't interested in their lives. And then somebody, somebody else had given money and that money had funded the gospel coming to their town, into their house and opening their eyes and they heard about a Jesus who saved them. Not, not save them from like, you know, they had some hiccups in their life and some problems and some bad habits they were trying to break and he helped them just kind of get that next leg up and take one step, not that. They heard about a Jesus who saved them from death. They heard that they were dead in their trespasses and sins and they heard that Jesus gave his life to raise them and they were experiencing that life. When someone has saved your life, oh man, you want them to have your heart, you want to mirror that, you want to respond, you want to do that for somebody else. That was the posture these people were in. I just want to remind you, if you've given your life to Jesus, if you call him your Lord, if you call him your Savior, he hasn't just helped you a little bit. He's not just giving you a little pro tip about, you know, how to get one step forward, one let he saved you from death. I think some of us, we struggle to give because we don't really believe that. We don't really think we were that far gone, we don't really believe, or we don't think that God really is for us. We think maybe he's for somebody else, but now he's... And how do you do that? Well, what's giving? Tides is returning your first, offerings is giving your own extravagant offerings is giving your all. How did he do it? He did the same exact thing when he gave Jesus. He gave Jesus the firstborn of our all creation,

his own son, and his only son, which means he gave all for you. And please hear me clearly, right now, let's just, let's put money way over there. Maybe all you need to hear today where you are in your life is just the gospel, that that's what he did for you, that he loves you so much, and it's free. You don't pay him back. You don't earn it. You don't have to measure up. You just receive this incredible, ridiculous gift that he gave you. That is the gospel. John 3, 16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son for you, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." He gave. I want you to just, for a second, pretend that what Jesus says is true. Pretend that you can know who has your heart based on who has your treasure. And I just want you to examine, where are you on that? No judgment, no condemnation. That's not what we're after. Just where are you? God already knows. God already sees it. It's not about impressing him. It's not about disappointing him. It's just an honest conversation. Where are you on that? Where are you? And let's just take this out of the realm of crossroads completely. I just want to say this very, very clearly. I'm going to tell you our vision in a minute. I hope you love the vision. I hope you give a lot of money. Very clear. Maybe very just, just no hidden agendas, okay? That's what I hope. But if you hear the vision and you're like, nah, or you look at me and you're like, I don't trust that guy. Okay, it bums me out. Okay. Fine. Go to a different church with leaders you trust in a vision that grabs your heart. Please, because until you give your heart to God, your heart is in trouble. It is in a dangerous place. And I do not want it to stay there. I don't want it to stay there. I don't. You will never regret giving God your heart. By the way, it could be in a dangerous place that's hurting you badly. They told me not to talk about this, but I'm in charge. I'm going to talk about it anyway. Politics. Talk about politics for a second, okay? I don't know if you noticed, there was an election. You might have got a text message or two. Anybody? No? Yeah, there was an election. I'll catch you up later. There was an election. And I want to be very, very clear. I am so thankful for this country. I am so, so thankful. I'm so thankful for the men and the women who have bled and fought and died for our rights and privileges. Amazing. Amazing that we get to live here. And one of those rights, one of those privileges is the right to vote. I think the vote matters. I do. Why? Because leaders matter. The decisions they make matter. The character they model matters. A good leader can bring blessing, a bad leader brings hardship. It matters. I think there are Christians who are called into politics as they mission deal. I do. And, okay? And. And. God did not give the work of spreading the gospel to government. He gave it to us. (Applause)

God did not appoint senators to usher in his kingdom. He appointed saints. You and me. God didn't ask the House of Representatives to pass legislation to reach the lost and the least and the lonely. He called us. That's our job. That's our job. And so, no matter whatever happens in an election, whether it's my party or not or my candidate or not or whatever, I will never be elated and I will never be let down. Why? Because God has my heart. That's why. God has my hope. That's why. He is such a better caretaker of your heart than anything else you could ever give it to. Why would you not want him to have your heart? Why not? It's amazing. It was 5,701 families. They don't regret giving their heart to God. I'll tell you that much. I'd love you to hear one of their stories right now. (Music) So, we've been at Crossroads since 2019. Crossroads was a church, at least from my perspective, a church that was doing things. To come somewhere where we were immediately drawn into what you do, is healing in a lot of ways. 10x was a challenge. I think I have a natural skepticism of being asked for money, but I also believe, on the other hand, that what Crossroads is doing is valuable and beneficial, and I want to partake in it. I feel like pretty early on, I had a, like, this is what we're going to do. I feel like be sitting, talking to God, and hear a number, and then be like, OK. And pretty clearly feel like it was like, you don't get to tell that to Christina. I'm like, all right. I think there was very much like, here's our budget. This is what we can do. This is what we're living off of. If we pull from here, or if I rearrange this, then maybe this is what makes sense for us. We were sitting there on the morning

that people were filling out their commitment cards. And I just remember holding it in my hands and looking at Colin and being like, I have this feeling that this is this number in mind. And it's just so much bigger than I am even willing to, like, say out loud. Like, this is ridiculous. We don't have it. I don't know how we're going to have it. And like, my heart started beating. Like, I could feel it. But like, I just, I know that God is asking us to step into this place of faith. And that scares me because I don't have control. And I let you're Colin. And I think I was like, what about this? I was like, yep, that was the number I had. There were some things that happened. Personally, I jump on a team's call that lasted exactly seven minutes. And after that seven minute team's call, I no longer had a job. Also, when our house that we had spent the last month and a half getting ready to sell, listen, in the seven minutes that he was getting laid off, I was sitting in the car line at my kid's school, taking a phone call from an agent that we were about to go into multiple offers. Colin calls me and says, it's official. Yeah, I was laid off.

And I was like, it's official. We have a little extra. God's given us this extra. Let's stick it in savings, right? Like, let's make sure we're OK. But it's not ours to begin with. We made a commitment. We care about what this church is doing. So we looked at each other and said, well, we better do it now before we change our mind. So we have filled out our 10x commitment. But I never thought we would be able to do. I feel like I'm living in more awe and wonder now. So I think that my encouragement from anybody that's still trying to fulfill their commitment is you don't know what tomorrow hold. You can make plans for the future, but you don't know what's going to come true. And I can tell you from living that now for the last couple of years and specifically last six months, it's been very true that it's like, man, I don't know what you're going to do. God, this is going to be-- this is going to be crazy. But I've learned to trust you more and more and try to be obedient in what I feel you're saying. Talking to God about that, like having that relationship where you can cry out and say, what are you doing? How are you showing up for me, even when I don't see it? Like, keeping that real dependence on the Lord is the sweetest part of this. [MUSIC PLAYING]

[APPLAUSE] I love their story. I love those-- those are people who trust God with their heart and are so happy that they have. That's amazing, amazing, amazing. That's why I give. Now, what for is the question we've got to get to? What for? Simple answer is to do what Jesus said to do, which is to expand. He will never find Jesus ever telling a person or a church or a community of people to just plateau. Stay where you are. Never says that. Instead, his call is always to grow in two directions deep and wide. One example of the Great Commission, Matthew chapter 28. Let's look at that. Jesus says, go therefore and make disciples of who? All nations, very wide, baptizing them. In the name of the Father of the Son, the Holy Spirit. We saw that today. Teaching them to do what? Observe all that I have commanded you. Go to all nations wide. Teaching them to observe all that I've commanded. Very, very deep. This is in the original scripture that was our true north for the entire 10x push, Isaiah 54. You see the same exact things show up.

Isaiah 54 says, enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch your tents, curtains. What? Why? What do you do with a stake? But you strengthen it and you drive it deeper and deeper and deeper into the ground. Wide and deep, for you will spread out to the right and the left, your children will possess nations and settle in their desolate cities. This is the vision of our church. Are we a deep church or a wide church? People will ask me, Kyle, are we gonna be deep or are we gonna be wide? Answer is yes, yes. Because that's always the call of God to grow in both directions, to push, to see more people come to know him. Now, tactically, it looks like expanding the place of our tent. We think about that as territory. Territory is the place where your experience and your gifting has been matched with God's favor. At Crossroads, we have four of them, camps, reach out, digital insights. Very accidentally happens to be the abbreviation of our name, Crossroads, CRDS. Didn't try for that. Now, a good question would be what has happened since 2024?

What has God done in the last two years? And the answer is mind-blowing. More than we could ever have asked, thought, or imagined, just in the last two years, just in the last two years. I don't even have time to go through all these work here, but hit some highlights. Permanent site opened in Dayton. Attendance tripled. We've had 750 new families registered in kids' club in Dayton since it opened, 270 people baptized. Families changed for generations. Now, we have new events happening in Detroit, Cleveland, Louisville, Indianapolis. We're sending a couple to go there as missionaries to help start that church there, at Cam and Alex. We saw you saw us commission them a couple of weekends ago. By the way, they move on Wednesday. Please pray for them. If you've ever moved, let's pray for an awesome move day. The U-Haul truck shows up, all that stuff. That's happening. Lunch, collective nights, young adults, being reached, español at every site. 400 acres out of the base camp. 45,111 people have gone to cancer revival in the last two years. 45,111 people. New student section in Mason. That's been amazing. It added the capacity of that space.

We have 650 people from Mason students. We took the camp this summer. A hundred of them got baptized. Because of the investment and the sacrifice of 10x. Amazing what happened. Amazing. Guatemala. Two schools sponsored in Guatemala. You're given to the push and you're like, I didn't even know Guatemala was part of the push. What was? It was in the brochure. And these two schools are the furthest into the rural Guatemalan community that any nonprofit has ever pushed. We're reaching people that no one else has yet reached before through this thing. It's crazy what's God's doing. 3,990 baptisms. You can add 230 to that that happened just today in our church. It's wild what God's in. Wow, wow, wow. And we're not done. We're not done. What's gonna happen over the next year? Well, a whole lot more is gonna happen over the next year. We have a ton of things that we're gonna be investing in in this next year of the push. More in the indie community. First ever student app we're beginning to work on.

Oh, prison. I should've talked about prison in the last slide. 5,000 prisoners have given their life to Jesus through the sacrifice that you made in the push. 5,000. And we see a path this year where we think we can get to all 50 states in the next 12 months. Columbus building, that's big in the middle. So happy to announce for the first time we are opening on Easter next year, 2027. Gonna be great in Columbus. Tell your friends, get 'em there. That city needs Jesus and a quarterback apparently. So pray for both those things. Great what we're doing. Eastside experience upgrades. Those are happening in just a couple of weeks. Mason just got some experience upgrades. Doing those in Lexington, Florence and Westside this year. I go on and on. Oh, Nepal. Nepal, we're building houses number one and two of the anti-trafficking campus. Construction's currently happening. In the next 12 months we're gonna fund the building of houses three and house four. What God has done is unbelievable. It's unbelievable what he's working on. And I step back from that.

I'm like, I don't know what God's gonna do next. I don't know about the next eight years. We're two years in this 10 year vision. I don't know, but what I can see are the seeds of an awakening. Do you see that? Do you see the seeds? 4,000 people plus baptized. Prisoners who people have rejected and counted out, saved. Communities never reached before being, I mean, it's the seeds of an awakening. And I think the message that God would have for those of us who have made commitments, the 5,701 families is a call to fulfill, to finish the work. about the Macedonian church. He was trying to inspire them to fulfill their commitments, to remind them and inspire them. And this is what he said to them in verse 10, chapter eight. He said, "Here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year, you were the first, not only to give, but also to have the desire to do so, now finish the work so that your eager willingness to do it, maybe mass by your completion of it according to your means." I think Jesus would say to us as a church. He'd say, "Two years ago, you were the first to have the desire to do this. The first is a 10-year vision. We're gonna call in more people into it."

He would say, "You're the first to have the eager desire to do it. Now finish the work that's your eagerness to commit, be matched by your sacrifice to faithfully fulfill that commitment." I don't know where you are in your push commitment. Maybe you're behind, maybe you've given up on it, maybe you forgot about it, maybe you're on pace, maybe you don't know how you're gonna close the gap. I don't know, but I'm just saying, what would it mean to look at that and say, "God, you know, I want you to have my heart. You've given so much to me. I want you part of the vision. I want you part of sacrificing in the same way that somebody sacrificed for me to see your gospel go forward to see an awakening happen in our timeline." He would say, "Finish the work." And before we run out, I want all of us to pause and just to take a second to say, "Where are we?" Again, God already knows where you are. You're not gonna tell me where you are, but just in your own heart, I want you to examine, where are you? No condemnation? This is not about judgment. Maybe you're in the 0% place. That's okay. That's okay. Have a conversation with God right now.

What would it mean for you to take a step forward, to try 2% God says, "Test me." Take a step, dip a toe. That's okay. God's pleased by that. Just start something. Maybe you're in that 2% spot and you wanna try 10% test me, God says, "Step into it." Or maybe you wanna make a commitment to the push. That's awesome. Not what today's about at all. Not what we're trying to do. If you want to go to our website, whatever, I'm sure you can find it. Not what we're doing. But what would it mean to take a step forward and to give God more of your heart? Maybe you don't even know what that looks like. That's okay. But if you can at least say, honestly, that you want God to have more of your heart, I want you to read this prayer with me. Say this prayer with me out loud right now. It's the most famous prayer in the history of the world. And it's one of the most powerful prayers you can pray. If you want God to have more of your heart, let's pray this together. Jesus said, "Our Father in Heaven, "hallow be your name, your kingdom come, "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

God's starting our hearts. If there's any place in my heart that's not wholly given over to you. Would you do me the kindness of being an invading force in my life and take that ground, God? Would you have all of us as an individual family, as an individual person and as a community, as a church God? We want you to have all of us. Take us deeper, grow us wider. Not for our sake, not for the name of Crossroads, not for the some little feast them, but for your kingdom, God, for the growth of your gospel. Did you help us mirror your heart? You gave your first, you gave your own, you gave your all. We love you so much. Amen. Thanks for tapping in with us today. My encouragement, as always, is simple. I would just hear God's word today. Take one step because of, maybe that's open to your Bible. Maybe it's spending a few quiet minutes in prayer. Maybe it's forgiven someone or even asking for forgiveness. Or simply saying yes to whatever God

is put in front of you today. Whatever that next step is, take it. And if this message encourages you, we love to hear from you. Send us a video message or write to us at [email protected]. I can't read every letter. We love to walk alongside you. Until next time, keep pursuing Jesus. Keep opening his word. Keep saying yes to him one day at a time. See you soon. (upbeat music)