The Surprising Way to Make Your Future Matter | Crossroads Church

What's up? I'm Mico, director of expressions here at Crossroads. I think I nailed it, y'all. That's your Spanish lesson for the day. If you want more, you're going to have to check us out on Crossroads Español. ¿Estamos? Alright, but listen, we are jumping into a new series called Future You, and it starts with a simple question. Who am I becoming? Because whether you realize it or not, you're becoming the future you right now. Not later, not someday, but right now. In how you think, how you respond, how you spend your time, and the information you absorb, the beliefs you adapt, and the choices you make. Even the small ones. I'd say, honestly, probably especially the small ones, because those are the ones you tend to make daily over and over again. Hear me, future you is being built in real time, and these are the building blocks. I'm certain that one day you'll look back and be grateful at the way that you chose to love people right now. The way you invested in what actually mattered right now. The way you trusted God when things felt uncertain right now. You kept growing instead of giving up right now. Following Jesus is a journey. It's a journey of becoming. It's slow, it's intentional, and it changes you from the inside out. And every step matters. Let's get into it. God is still moving in our church. I hope you didn't miss it. 675 people got baptized last weekend on Easter.

Unbelievable. Which, by the way, we did have a party. It was a party, especially this service. We had a party last Easter. People were like, hey, Chuck, how are you doing after the Easter service? And I said, tired is how I'm doing. I'm tired. So I slept for two days. I was trying to simulate Jesus in the tomb, you know? And I came out on the third day, and I'm really excited to kick off this series today and talk about something that's core to the DNA of our church. Let's pray. God, I thank you for your goodness. I thank you that you are the perfect blend of grace and truth. And I thank you that you continue to work in and through your people. And God, that means us. That means us. And so I pray today that we would hear the clarion call of your Holy Spirit to be and do the things that we have always been and done. Not because we have great plans, but because this is just the DNA of your church, and it's the DNA of this church. So God, I pray that you would speak to our hearts today and move us to action in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We are in a new series. We're kicking it off today. It's called Future You. And the series is really asking this question,

what are the things that you can do today? Maybe hard, maybe challenging, but they're rich, and they're going to produce a better future you tomorrow. Your future you is going to be thankful for it. And today we're getting at something that is the heart of Crossroads, the heart of our DNA. I put it to you this way. Here's the big idea. We are a church that shows up. Crossroads has always been and we will always be a church that shows up. Because when we do, we find God and we find meaning. That is who we have been and that is who we will always be. I want to just ask you, have you ever asked this question? Is my life adding up to something? I think we all ask that question in different ways. I'm not meaning, is our life adding up to being busy? How many people are busy? Yeah, our lives add up to busy all the time, right? I'm not even talking about successful, although it's great to have a successful life. But I think underneath success, there is a hunger for something deeper, a hunger for meaning. Is my life meaningful? Am I doing the things that make for a meaningful life? Viktor Frankl wrote a book and his title is right on this. It says, it's Man's Search for Meaning. Power of him writing that from a place of suffering, having dealt with the Holocaust, is a really eye-opening book to read. But I think he gets at the core that all of us have.

So every week in this series, we're going to be looking at what makes for a meaningful life? How do you structure relationships to have meaningful relationships? How do you think about your relationship to time and resources in a way that creates a meaningful life? What about your spiritual growth? How do you approach that in a way that creates a meaningful life? Because by every indication, we're starving for meaning. We're hungry for meaning as a people. I came across an article and the first thing that struck me was the title, which is Beyond Work, Scroll and Repeat. Ouch. And this is what it said. This is in reference to Gen Z. It said over half of young adults, 58%, said they had experienced little or no purpose or meaning in their lives. 58%. Despite all the resources, despite all the opportunity, despite all the things that are true in our world, there is this hunger for meaning. I think we're seeing that in the younger generation, but I also don't think it's just a Gen Z thing. I'm a Gen Xer. Any Gen Xers in the house? Yes, that's right. That's right. Gen Xers. Baby boomers in the house, right? Yes, yes. I think we experience this too, you know, as a Gen Xer.

Have friends who are obviously baby boomers as well. I've got a lot of friends that are kind of like, considering, during a second act in their life, or they're actually moving into kind of the key position that they've been working for, or maybe some of my older friends who are retiring. And I think they're asking the same question. They're like, hey, is my life meaningful? I've been traveling, I've been grinding it out. I've been working for these promotions for the last 20 years. I've been leaving my family every week because this is what I'm doing to provide for them. And I'm asking the question, is my life adding up to something? I think we are all hungry for meaning. Here's the thing, we don't have trouble filling our lives, but it's easy to live a life that does not fill our souls. And this was a distinctive of the early church. They were people living incredibly meaningful lives. The celebration of the resurrection was real for them. And these people who were towering in a room, cowering in a room, I should say, afraid of everything, once Jesus broke the tomb and they realized the resurrection was real, they became on fire. These are people who were making a difference in the world around them. And the thing I love about the early church

is they didn't just believe something, they became something. They became a group of people who served others. Look at how this plays out in Acts chapter two. This is an early account of the church soon after Jesus left. And it says, and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. Unless we think these apostles are, you know, 50 plus people who are kind of like seasoned. No, these are 20 to 30 year old guys. John, we believe was 18 when Jesus was resurrected. So these are young people. And what happened? It says that all who believe were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 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 listen to this, having favor with all the people because they weren't just blessing people who were in their crew. They were blessing the people around them. And the Lord added to their number day by day,

those who were being saved. What was the early church known for? They were rooted in Jesus and in the power of the spirit. They were relational with each other in a way that the world had never seen. And they were radically generous. And that has always been and always will be part of the DNA of people who follow Jesus. Even the people who didn't like the church had to give them props for the way they lived their lives. Give you three examples of this. One is Tertullian. He himself was a North African Christian, but he was talking about how people in Rome talked about the early church. They would say, see how they love one another and how they are ready to die for each other. That was not common behavior back then. And yet this group of people lived differently. And even the haters had to see it and recognize it. Here's another hater, Lucian of Samasata. He was a satirist. He mocked the church. He mocked Christians. But even he said this, it becomes incredible to see their enthusiasm for the care of their poor and their burial of the dead. What he's saying is they have a dignity that they give and confer to every human being and nobody else is doing that.

This is unique. Give you one more, Julian the apostate, not a fan of the church. He was actually trying to create something that would be counter to the church. But even he said the impious Galileans support not only their own poor, but ours as well. So early in the DNA of the church was this idea that meaning is found by serving others. Getting outside of ourselves is part of how we're wired as people who follow Jesus. This is part of the DNA of the church and it's a part of the DNA of Crossroads. I'm gonna share a couple of stories with you just to help you understand how this connects to our church. One is you may not know that Crossroads, about 20 years ago, augmented our mission statement because of this profound insight. When I first started coming to Crossroads and some of you are here, you've been here even longer than me. You remember our mission statement was connecting seekers to a community of growing Christ followers, period. That was our mission statement. Early in the time of Crossroads, very laser focused on the fact that there hadn't been a church started in the High Park area in Cincinnati here in about 40 years. And that there were people, as you heard Kirk Perry say, who had given up on church,

but may not have given up on God. And so we were laser-like focused in creating a place where they can hear about Jesus in a language they can understand and grow in their faith to have an impact. That's always been what we're about and we are still about that. And yet about 20 years ago, we realized that when we looked at the stories of how God was growing those Christ followers, as we looked at the stories of how he was giving us an opportunity to make a difference, it was always about stepping outside of ourselves. And once we realized that, we actually said, no, this is actually has to be part of our mission. So we changed our mission to what it is today, connecting seekers to a community of growing Christ followers, still there, but who are changing the world. Because this is such a part of who we are. Another story, early in the life of Crossroads, this idea of giving outside of ourselves, going beyond ourselves, making a difference in our community, was really something that was at the heart and on the hearts of the early leaders of our church. Such to the point that even though they were a small startup church

that really needed to think about how you get your resources and just make the thing go, they said, we want to be generous outside of ourselves. So they tasked a guy named Steve Andrie, still a part of our church today, and said, Steve, why don't you go and vet? Who are places in the city that are doing great work to meet the needs in our city and who might we come alongside and support? Steve Andrie came back and said, hey, there's a great organization that we can help called City Gospel Mission, still in existence today. And if you're in the Cincinnati area, you know the blessing that City Gospel is, the work they do with people who are homeless in our community and helping people come out of addiction, some other amazing experiences and programs they do for kids, all kinds of things. And so Crossroads early in its formation said, we're going to give a significant gift to City Gospel Mission, $100,000. And that was at a time when we were a small startup church. So it wasn't like they had this check in the bank and they could just write it. This was a step out in faith of saying, God, we're trusting you because this seems to be what you do. You call us to go outside of ourselves. So we made that commitment,

got a letter within a couple of weeks, I think from City Gospel saying, because of the size of your gift, you're our number one supporter now. This small startup church, number one supporter. The very next Sunday, Crossroads had service. And back in the day, we used to actually take up an offering in service. I know we don't do this anymore. Do you guys remember this? There were like these discs things and we would pass them all through the aisles. People would put paper money in it. They sometimes would put these things called checks in it. Do you even know what a check is? I mean, I know this is like so ancient. That very next Sunday in the offering, someone anonymously gave a $100,000 check to Crossroads. It's amazing. It's amazing. And it was this symbol, really, I believe God saying, hey, you will never outgive me. If I call you to go outside yourself, I am going to show up in a powerful way. And God has done that well to celebrate that. Brian Wells, who's on our board and was on the staff at the time, gave everybody on staff a hundred grand bar. It was kind of like this moment to mark a hundred grand bar. And this is actually the picture of his actual hundred grand bar from all of those years ago.

Now you'll notice there's no chocolate in it anymore. So I said, Brian, what happened to the chocolate bar? And he said, well, Chuck, I'll be honest with you. There was a day when I was working, I was really, really hungry. And that hundred grand bar was looking really attractive. So that's why there's actually no chocolate in there. But just to celebrate God's faithfulness, I thought I'd bring some hundred grand bars with me today. This is the time when you might need a little mid-service pick-me-up. So ma'am, I see your hand out. There's one for you. Andy, my friend, I see there's one for you. I see you, I'm throwing it to you, buddy. You got it? Good work, good work. Would you like one? There you go, a hundred grand bar. I gotta come on this side and show some love. So I'm gonna show some love over there. All right, good duck, lady. Good duck, by the way. That was, you boxed? Man, that was like, that was a heck of a dip there. And yes, enjoy those. But I also want that to be a symbol for us that God is faithful. He will always show up. And when we step outside of ourselves,

we're a part of the story of how God does that. Guys, this is your story. Do you know that over the last 20 years of stepping out and serving our community, this is just loving our neighbors here and around our cities that we're in, 88,000 of you have invested 530,000 service hours blessing and loving this community. It's amazing. It's amazing. So this is a part of who we are as a church, and it always will be. So those are some church stories, but I wanna share some of my stories because I've got some stories on this, being a part of this community. In 2007, my wife and I were a part of a mission trip to a place called Mamalodi, South Africa. 300 people from Crossroads went over to South Africa. We were in partnership with a church over there called Charity and Faith, helping to build a world-class AIDS hospice, and also being able to just come alongside and serve in those communities and help the church kind of be Jesus to the community right around them. Well, there's some profound things that happened on that trip for me. The first was, it was my first time ever setting foot on African soil.

That was a really meaningful moment for me personally. I know it's hard to tell sometimes with the lights and the haze, but I am black. I am black. And so the idea of getting to set foot on the continent of Africa had huge cultural meaning for me. And the church from South Africa had come over here and they had been a part of some things, and I had gotten to meet some people. When I get off the plane, I remember just being hit by the heat in Africa and just like, man, I am here. I am here. And then we went down the escalator and they met us. With a huge celebration, they had those vuvuzelas. If you've seen those, the kind of African horns, they had those. It was just a huge celebration. And I remember one of the guys in the group who I'd met here, he pulled me to the side when I came down the escalator. He looked me in the eyes and said, brother, welcome home. And it was, I didn't even know my soul needed that. Here I am going to serve, right? Here I am going to make a difference. And yet God met me with something that I needed. So powerful. Let me tell you another story that happened in that time. My wife and I, this is a picture of my beautiful wife, Maria, and actually the woman in the middle, her name is also Maria. We're building a home for her behind you there.

So this is Chuck and two Marias in this picture. And my wife and I, it was 2007. We had been trying to have children, had been unable to conceive. And we're just dealing with infertility. And one of the things we've learned from our partners in Africa is how to pray in faith. They pray with a level of faith that inspires me. And so we had a chance to be prayed for by one of the mothers of the church over there. And we shared with her, hey, we've been wanting to conceive and that's been a challenge for us. Would you pray for us? And I remember her, you know, looking at my wife and saying, hey, would it be okay if I put my hand on your belly as I pray for you? Actually, that's not what happened at all. They don't do PC over there. When we asked that, she went from my wife's belly right away and she started praying this prayer of faith. In the name of Jesus, this womb will be open. There will be children in this womb. She went in and guys, that next July, we had a baby. That next July, we had a baby. We had our oldest son, Nathan. And I'm just telling you, I'm just telling you there is something that happens when you step outside of yourself. You meet God, you learn, you grow, and you get to be a part of the way that we serve and meet needs. It's an incredible thing and we are all a part of it.

And as powerful as it's been, when I've had a chance to go to Africa, I've gone to India with our church. I've gone to Haiti with our church. I've gone to Puerto Rico with our church. As powerful as those experiences have been, some of the most powerful serving opportunities I've been a part of have been far more local. One happened 20 minutes from where we are right now in Winton Terrace. And if you're not in the Cincinnati area, you may not know Winton Terrace is a neighborhood, public housing. Some of the challenges that come with that have been a part of the story of Winton Terrace. And one of my friends in my dude group, his name was Cameron, really felt called to that community. He had been doing some work building relationships in that community. And so we do this thing called Go Day. We're doing it again. I'm gonna invite you into that in just a few minutes. We were doing this thing called Go Day in 2018, and Cameron was like, hey, I'm doing a project in Winton Terrace. And he asked the dudes in the dude group, hey, let's do this together. And it was so amazing to have the opportunity to serve alongside my friends, my brothers in Christ, with my two sons.

There is something powerful when, as a father, you get to expose your boys to powerful men of God who love Jesus, who serve Jesus, and who are fun. My boys had a blast that day with our friends. We have this picture here. It's my friend Austin helping Nathan hammer something in, a stake in, and you can look at Nathan's focus on his faith. You see how intense he was? He was like locked in. It's my friend Elliot helping him finish that job, and Cameron's holding that bench for him. So it's just amazing to get to be a part of that with my boys. It's the kind of thing that is so profound when you step outside of yourself. And it's something we all need. I came across a quote from a guy, Gary Barklow, wrote a book on calling. He said this, the tragedy in life is not death. It's what we allow to die within us while we still live. There is something God put in you that's meant for the world. There's something God has wired into you that is meant for your literal neighbor. There is a way that only you can serve. And when you show up, you meet God and you find meaning, and you are a part of that story. We need you to show up. So three things, kind of applications for all of this. The first is stop running away from the need and move toward a need. I think it's easy for us to live drive-by lives.

We drive by problems. We drive by challenges. Our heart gets pinged for a couple seconds when we read a story. We know we have something to contribute, but so quickly we get busy and we just drive by it. We forget it. And I think we are missing out because of our drive-by mindset. It's time to move toward a need. In fact, this is a life-changing thing for all of us. One writer said that the average American doesn't even say hello to neighbors they don't know well, other than a few times a year. And because of that, we have a isolation and loneliness epidemic. The physical effects are such that it's like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So because we aren't loving our neighbors, It is literally killing us and it is killing our neighbor. And so it's time to move toward the need, not away from the need. That's the first thing. Second thing is this. Stop going solo and go with a team. The great thing about Go Day is you don't have to show up on your own. You don't have to figure out how to make a difference on your own. As a church, we get to rally the force that we are together. That was the power of the early church. It was their togetherness. Did you notice in Acts 2, it says they had everything in common. They were sharing their possessions and giving to those in need. It's the power of together that makes the church an amazing force for good. So don't go with the team. I'm sorry. Don't go solo. Go with the team.

Third and final, stop talking about it and go do it. Hey, there are some messages that I give you and I say, hey, I want to give you a minute to really pray and ask God how this applies to your life. This is not one of those messages. This is one where it's like, hey, this applies to you. If you're a part of this church, let's go. Let's go. Let's do this together because when we show up, it makes a difference. You know, I think one of the things that we're talking about in this series is what are you doing today that your future you will be thankful for? I think there's a future me that's thankful every time I step out and serve. But here's what I also know. I believe 30 years from now, my kids have a higher likelihood of being part of a community of followers of Jesus who go outside themselves because they experienced it as kids. That my sons and my daughter have the opportunity to be a part of this thing called the church because they've gotten to be a part of it in their childhood. I believe 30 years from now, there's going to be a church. 30 years from now, there's going to be a church of Jesus that are impacting the world unless Jesus comes back. And that's a whole other message. And I'm happy to give that message another time. But if Jesus doesn't come back 30 years from now, there's going to be another church. But I think 30 years from now, that church could be asking some questions of us. They're going to say 30 years ago, was there a group of people who showed up? Was there a group of people who loved when it was hard? Was there a group of people who didn't have a drive by mindset in the problems that faced their society, but literally rolled up their sleeves and loved their neighbors? And I don't know about you. Actually, I do. I think we want to be a church that shows up. Am I right? I think we want to be that church.

You know why? Because Jesus shows up. Jesus showed up. In John, it says that the word Jesus became flesh and dwelled among us. I love how one person paraphrased that. They said, the word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. Jesus moves into your neighborhood. He moves into your situation. Jesus is not a drive by God. He's a God that comes up close and personal rolls up his sleeves and says, I am here to serve you. Jesus serves. And guess what? So do his people. We serve. You know, I think we had a really profound moment that was a shared opportunity for us to just get some perspective this week. Am I the only one that really enjoyed all the Artemis 2 footage and the experience that those astronauts were having? It was really, really awesome. And I don't know if you heard this or not, but on Easter, we got a message from four humans that were 250,000 miles away from earth. And it was a powerful point of perspective that I want to share with you. Take a look. I think these observances are important. And as we are so far from earth and looking at, you know, the beauty of creation, I think that for me, one of the really important personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really 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, it's, you know, you, you have this amazing place, this spaceship. You guys are 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 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 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 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 and that we got to get through this together. Amen. What a perspective. What a perspective. That from 250,000 miles away, what is abundantly clear and true is that we are the same. We are one. There's an African concept called Mbuntu. And what it means is I am because we are. And you know what? That's true for the church. What Jesus came to shape and form is a family. He came to reconcile all of the people who are different into one family, not just so that the family would enjoy their own experience together, but that they would be radically generous and invite people everywhere to say, there is a place for you at the family of God. And one of the ways we do that practically is when we show up and we serve our neighbors. So I have a call to action for you today because I believe May 16th is a moment for us to show up as a church. So I want you to take out your phone right now and I want to talk to you about Go Day. Go Day is coming up on May 16th. This is an opportunity that we have as a church, literally thousands of us, to do a day-long service project. It just communicates to our neighbors that the people of God are still here. We're unified. We love you and we want to serve you. So here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. I want you to go to your calendar app, whatever that is for you and your phone, and I want you to look at May 16th.

Look at May 16th. And if your May 16th is like mine, there's already something there, right? I know you guys are busy people, but here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. I'm gonna ask you to make a new appointment. From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 16th, I want you to make an appointment and call it Go Day. Go Day. Because here's what I'm inviting you to. Here's what I'm challenging you to. Unless you're getting married that day, or you're at a wedding that day, I think that lots of us have the flexibility to say, you know what, I can move some things around and show up. And man, what would it mean to our communities in Cincinnati and Lexington and Dayton and Columbus, all over, if we show up in force and say, hey, the church of Jesus is here. We love you and we're for you. So I'm inviting you to do that. I'm inviting you to do that. Clear your calendar. I had to change some stuff. I had to adjust some things, but I'm doing that because I want to show up with all of you. So here's what I want you to do. Stay in your seats, because in a moment you're gonna get to hear from one of the many partners that we partner with on Go Day. I think it's gonna inspire you and encourage you. Wherever you are, at your local context, at your local site, in a moment, you're gonna hear from a partner that's doing great work to change the world and love your neighbors. And I can't wait for you to hear that. Before we do that, we're gonna watch a video, and I want to give you one more scripture. It's Matthew 10, 8, where Jesus simply says, freely you have received, freely give. That's what this is all about. It's an opportunity for us to realize that we have received, and because of that, we get to give it away. You're gonna watch a video, and as you watch it, I want you to ask yourself,

how might you be like the kid in this video who is showing up to serve on May 16th? Or is there someone in your life, a widow or someone who is struggling, that you might be able to show up for on May 16th? Because when we do, when we show up, we find God and we find me. I took my love, and I took it down Climbed the mountain, and I turned around And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills The landslide brought me down Mirror in the sky, what is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changes, ocean-tied? Can I handle the season of my life? Well, I've been afraid of changing Cause I've built my life around you But time makes you bolder Even children get older And I'm getting older, too I'm getting older, too I'm getting older, too Well, I've been afraid of changing Cause I've built my life around you But time makes you bolder Even children get older And I'm getting older too Oh, I'm getting older too Yes, what can happen when we show up? Apparently Fleetwood Mac will play and strangers will become family and neighbors will become friends. It's a beautiful thing. Hey, my name's Andy Ryder. I'm the community pastor for Crossroads Anywhere. So that's the part of our church who doesn't live near a physical site or, hey, all of you when your kids are sick. So it's great to be with you in person. I want to talk a little bit about Go Day

and about what you just saw in that video. You know, the song we just heard, the song we just heard came out 50 years ago and is somehow back on the top 100 list. Have you guys heard this? It's crazy. It's crazy. I am somehow too old and too young for Fleetwood Mac at the same time. Now, while I'm not a huge, huge Fleetwood Mac fan, I am a huge fan of Go Day because I remember, I remember being new at Crossroads, sort of walking in and being overwhelmed and then hearing about all of the different ways this church takes a step towards people to serve them and to bless them wherever they are, whether that's work in prisons, whether that's simple serve projects, whether that's Go projects or Go trips around the world and countless others. Man, this is a community that goes towards people and runs towards a need. This isn't a new thing. It's who we've always been. And some of that work for Go Day on May 16th is gonna happen in your neighborhoods. If you're a part of our Anywhere community, you'll be hosting projects where you are from Orlando to Bolivia and great stuff. Hey, shout out to Dita and Nila and La Paz. Great to have you guys.

So excited for your projects coming up. But for the rest of us, if your work is happening at a physical site, most of them will be happening through incredible partner organizations that we work with year around. So if you would, I actually wanna introduce you to one of those amazing partners right now. Please help me welcome up John Mark Outerslice from the CityLink Center. What's up, brother? Thanks, Andy. Hey, John Mark, you are the CEO of the CityLink Center, but we might have new folks or people who've heard about CityLink but don't know what it is and what work you guys do. Will you just fill us in on what you guys do? Great. So a lot of times we reflect on what does, what breaks God's heart and then what are we called to do. And so years ago, this church and a group of partners were looking at our city and realizing that a third of adults and almost half of our kids in our community are born into poverty. And that comes with tremendous hardship.

And we believe that talent is universal, but opportunity is not. And so we had to ask the question of what could we do and what could we do as a church in a big way to address this issue? And so the group of people started and started a movement and it grew and it grew and came to the realization that we could create a center that was actually built for people where they could walk through one set of doors, get surrounded by incredible groups of partners, all focused on helping them achieve their goals and move their lives forward. So what that looks like is a huge building that was created where our neighbors, hundreds a year, now walk through. They do the hard work, but they're met by volunteers filled with love and compassion. They get matched with a service coordinator who's their guide, who hears where they are, hears what their aspirations are, and then matches them with incredible partners as they pursue life change in our own city. So good. Practically, what this looks like

is there are incredible organizations, incredible services all over the city and all over the map, literally. But you know who has the hardest time getting from place to place to place to place to navigate all of these services? People struggling with poverty, people struggling with basic transportation getting their basic needs met. CityLink takes all of those things and puts them under one roof and then pairs that with relationship with people that can advocate and connect and walk with people through a process. It is so good. Okay, so that's 10,000 feet. That's high level. Tell us what, like, give us some stories. Tell us, like, what it looks like at the ground level for the people that are experiencing this. Yeah, we are incredibly honored that hundreds of our neighbors, many people who are part of our community, choose to walk through our doors to transform their lives. And that looks like individuals who are seeking new opportunities, new careers. I'm thinking about a veteran who recently walked through our doors.

And when he came in, he said, I'm just tired of being told no. And so he entered Habitat's construction training program, worked with Smart Money in order to get control of his finances, bought a car through Changing Gears, secured housing. So he entered as somebody who had all the potential and was willing to do the hard work and just needed a little support along the way, and left with somebody who has a new career, has transportation, has his budget, and has a place to live. And so we get to work with people like that every day. Another program that is new to us, and Crossroads helped bring it here, it deals with foster care. We know that foster care is a massive challenge in our community. Something that I was completely unaware of and ignorant of was the fact that 70% of family separations that occur are due to preventable causes. What that means is it's moms who are just struggling to meet the needs of their children. So a program in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, identified that, hey, if you match that mom with a service coordinator, with some resources, and with a volunteer for social emotional support, they saw over an 80% family preservation rate. So we brought that program to Cincinnati. So what that program looks like is moms who are at risk at losing their kids to foster care walk through our doors, and they find a place of hope and stability, and volunteers from our community say, hey, count me in for 10 weeks to walk alongside somebody while a service coordinator is doing the professional social work. And with that, we're seeing life transformation that is generational. That is so good. Yeah, it's amazing. This is not like abstract stuff. This is changing lives, changing families. And, man, it's these types of things that we're going to have the opportunity to serve these organizations and serve alongside them for Go Day and beyond, as John Mark mentioned. Now, we were chatting a little bit back in the green room. Like, this is not just a job for you.

This is not even what you intended to be your career path. This has been something that you care deeply about, that you're deeply passionate about, and that God has sort of walked you on. Like, what do you most want us to hear, and what would you most like to say to us around that? Yeah. So I am a member of this community. I am usually sitting back there. So, sir, next week, I will want my seat back. And but I am proud to be a part of a church that isn't about good entertainment on the weekend, that is not about just me passing some time singing words, but not having those words transform my life. And so I was immensely challenged by this place to say church isn't a thing that I do, but it's a part of who I am that draws me closer to God, that shows me God's love, and then calls me to pour that back out, right? So if we're here, and we're serious about the words that you sang earlier, and you're serious about following God's call to serve others and love others, we have to find those outlets to do that. And so for me, that looked like starting serving, taking steps like doing Go Cincinnati Thanksgiving food drive. It led a group of us to see that what broke our heart was Hurricane Katrina and what happened in New Orleans. So a group of us got together and worked with Crossroads in order to start a trip. And this church became the largest source of volunteers rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. And so what this church has, and when I say this church, I mean every one of you, you have the power to show God's love to our neighbors in real and tangible ways. And so that looks like people coming down and doing mock interviews, people helping teach financial education, people walking alongside moms. The stories that I told earlier, a really, really important part of that is our mission is to show God's love to those in need. The way that we do that is through volunteers.

So you are woven into all of those stories by taking a simple step in showing God's love. And so what I would just encourage you to do, along the way, I was woefully inadequate and unable to do things like help CityLink come to fruition. And so by taking that step in overcoming fear and doing that, it grew me in my relationship with God, it stretched me, it pushed me. I get to meet incredible neighbors who have such a deeper faith and so much more resilience than I do because I'm willing to step forward and meet them where they're at. And so what I would encourage all of you to do is take the next step. Go Cincinnati last year helped us rehab an apartment that is now housing women who are returning from incarceration. Go Cincinnati this year will help us rehab a warehouse that will house new vocational training programs. What you do by taking a Saturday or taking a day out of your week transforms lives. And that's the church I want to be a part of, not a church that just gets together on the weekend, but a church that shows our community what God's love really looks like. Let's go. John Marr, thank you so much. Thank you so much, brother. Thank you, thank you. Man, I love that picture of a church that doesn't just sing about being the hands and feet of Jesus, but actually lives it out and gets its hands dirty. That's who we're going to be May 16th, so we just encourage you. You can scan the QR code on the back of your seat or tap that little sticker, or if you're watching online, go to crossroads.net slash go day to select a project, and you can bring your family. Bring your kids. Most of these are kid-friendly.

Bring your neighbors. Bring the people from Fleetwood Mac videos. Whatever it is, make this happen. Get it on your calendar, and let's find a way to be the church. Now, there is a quote that I love. It's from Mother Teresa that I think speaks really well to this idea. It says, not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love, and small things done with great love can and will change the world. That's who we want to be, and that's who we will always be as a church. We hope to see you guys May 16th for Go Day. Have a fantastic rest of your week. You can ask people questions outside if you want to talk with somebody about Go Day. Have a great one. Go Day is one of the most exciting times of the year around here. It's a day where we all lock in and lock arms. Our whole church, sleeves rolled, work boots on, hair tied up in a bun, and we get busy, and we love it. Some of us more than others, but nonetheless, Jesus served, so shall we. Whether that's painting, cleaning, organizing, fixing things, helping wherever there's a need. And hear me out. This is your formal invite to join us. You don't have to wait till you get outside these walls to be a part of this. You can be a part of Go Day right where you are. There are people around you every single day who need help, who need encouragement, and someone willing to step up. Future you is counting on the choices you make right now, and serving others is an intricate part of growing, changing, becoming more like Jesus. All across Ohio, we've already had men and women inside prisons

step up and lead projects just like this. We've partnered with incarcerated teams to repair entire gymnasiums that have been worn down for years. We've helped renovate prison chapels, turning them into places where people actually want to gather. In some facilities, teams have overhauled rec yards, clearing trash, fixing up common areas, and just making spaces feel more welcoming for everyone. We've seen units organize deep clean projects, refresh day rooms, making the environment just better for the entire population. If you feel stirred up, even slightly, to do something, don't ignore it. Lean into it. Start by talking to your chaplain. Share the idea. Tell them you want to serve and make a difference right where you are. And if your chaplain is interested, ask them to reach out to prison at crossroads dot net so we can connect and see how we might be able to support you and your project. We believe God can do powerful things right where you are. We've seen it. We've been living on this mission for years. And year after year, we've seen again and again what people, when they step up and serve, we see lives change. Both the people being helped and the others doing the helping. I don't see God slowing down anytime soon. Thanks for being with us. See you again next time.