WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:08.400 Well, last Sunday we we started talking about something new, a new mentality that we have together as a family. 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:14.320 We have a goal, we have a shared purpose and mission right now that we kicked off last week. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.120 We are working together as a church to make an impact and to change 1,000 lives. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:21.920 That's a really good goal. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.480 I'm really excited for us to have this mission and this purpose because we are his hands church. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:27.440 We said this last week. 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:30.960 His hands is not a building, his hands is not an organization. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.439 You are his hands church. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.240 We together are this community. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:37.359 We are this family. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:47.119 And it's important for us to have a shared purpose, to realize that we all have individual lives and we're all going out into our own jobs and our own families, our own neighborhoods. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:50.880 But this church gives us a common purpose. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:53.920 You know, at the end of the day, that's what a church is. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:57.359 A church is something that is a movement that we get to be part of. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:01.200 It shouldn't be something that we simply attend, it should be a movement. 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:06.239 And as a church, we want to come together and make an impact in a thousand lives. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:07.680 We're going to do it one life at a time. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.239 Every life is so valuable to Jesus. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:12.640 Every single life is important to him. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:18.959 If you read the gospels, he does so many miracles, but rarely, rarely does Jesus do a miracle for a lot of people at once. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.799 It's almost always one person and then another person. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:24.239 It's very personal. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:27.920 It's as if Jesus believed that you change the world one life at a time. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:34.079 We want to change this community one life at a time, but the 1,000 lives goal is really important. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:36.079 1,000 lives is significant. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:38.959 We had a milestone recently as a church. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.599 We've had 1,000 people get baptized here at his hands. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:42.319 That's amazing. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.519 That's so cool. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:51.040 And I don't ask you to raise your hands very often, uh, but just show of hands really quickly. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:52.079 Who was here last Sunday? 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:53.280 Okay, good. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:54.319 Not all of us, not all of us. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:54.959 I figured. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:57.200 So I want to show you a really quick video. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:00.000 If you're here last week, you're gonna have to watch it a second time. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:01.519 Some things are worth watching twice. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:02.159 Okay? 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:12.960 But my wife always asks me while I watch uh DVR games of my favorite sports teams, like I'll watch the game again, and I'll only do that if we win, obviously, but I just tell her some things are worth watching twice, you know? 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.439 And then I'll watch Sports Center sometimes twice. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:17.120 And she'll ask me, why do you watch it? 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:18.639 Some things are worth watching four times. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:19.439 It's okay. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:28.479 If you weren't here last week, I know this is gonna have an impact on you because it's incredible to see what 1,000 lives really looks like because this is our goal. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:30.960 This is what we're working toward as a church. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:33.919 Every person that's ever been baptized here has signed a wall. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:35.520 It's a few walls now, actually. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:42.719 And uh we got together, and and Leah, this awesome uh part of our college group, she took a bunch of pictures of a bunch of signatures. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:44.319 They're not in any semblance of an order. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:48.719 So we just said, here's a camera, and uh actually I think she brought her own, so she had that taken care of. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:52.639 But uh, we said just take a picture of all those, and we're gonna put it together. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.439 So I want to show you those 1,000 signatures right now. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:59.360 And as you watch this, please understand, let yourself be emotionally impacted. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.719 1,000 lives is incredibly significant. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.080 So let's watch this together and we'll come back and continue from there. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.240 And so for the next few weeks, we're gonna be talking about how. 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:22.079 How do we do that? 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.360 How do we as a church come together and start to make a change in a thousand people's lives? 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:33.439 Today we're gonna talk about the power of our stories because that's how we're gonna measure this goal. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:37.920 We have these cards that are at the back four columns, the same places that we have giving and prayer requests. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:38.639 They look like this. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:41.439 They say changing lives, changing lives. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:43.040 Because that is who we are. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.120 We are not, as a church, changed lives, changing lives. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:50.480 God has obviously changed us, but it's a process. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:57.600 Second Corinthians 5.17 says that anyone who belongs to Christ, anyone who's given their life to Jesus is a new person. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:01.519 The old life is gone and a new life has begun. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:07.120 Many of us have experienced God beginning a new life in us, and it's a new life that is growing to this day. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:10.079 We are not just changed lives, we are changing lives. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:12.879 All of us are at different places in that process of change. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:16.000 Some of us are just curious, some of us have just started that. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:22.319 Some of us have been going for years, and we realize every day how much more change God has for us. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:25.360 But we don't want to simply be changing lives. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:36.720 We want to be changing lives, changing lives, because God wants to use us to be the agents of change in the lives of the people that we know, that we love, the people that we work with, that we live next to. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:38.800 And think about what that means for you. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:49.040 Think about the fact that God looks at you and he says, I see you as worthy, as capable of making a change in someone else's life. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:06:04.079 So we are changing lives, changing lives as we go about praying for people to come into our lives and praying for opportunities to reach people in our lives, to encourage them, to inspire them, to support them, to invite them here, to be part of this family. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:05.839 Share your stories. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.000 Just go to the back and write stories down. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:13.920 Stories about how God has changed you and is changing you, stories about how God is changing the lives of people that you love. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:14.800 I said this last week. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:18.639 It's going to be tempting to run back there and write stories from the past five years. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:23.040 Because I know we could all fill up thousands of cards with those stories. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:30.800 But for the purpose of this goal and this mission, it's very important that those stories are stories that began last week. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.040 So this is the season that we're in as a church. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:35.600 I can't wait to read story after story. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:38.639 Starting next Sunday, we're gonna start sharing these stories. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:40.800 We'll be sharing those every single Sunday. 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.800 We're gonna get to a thousand eventually, and then God will probably just give us a bigger number. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:47.279 I'm excited about that. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.439 You know, our stories are really powerful. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.519 Have you ever known someone that can tell a great story? 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.720 And they can hold an entire room captive. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.199 A great story is a powerful thing, and we don't often think about it like this, at least I don't. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:00.879 But our lives are stories. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:05.680 God is telling a story to the world around you with your life. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.399 Your life is the page that God is writing his story upon. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:13.680 Our stories are really powerful. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:18.160 When I was 18 years old, I was invited to go on a vacation with my wife's parents. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:19.600 Uh I knew what they were really doing. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:24.000 They were, they were, they were they wanted to get me away from home, you know, get me out in the wilderness. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:25.839 We went to this place where there was no electricity. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:35.040 We showed up and there was like this log with an axe in it, and I'm sitting there with my my future father-in-law, who at the time was just the dad of the girl I was dating, wondering if I was gonna come home. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:45.920 And this vacation, it will always, it will always remain a very big, a very big story in my life and a very important weekend in my life. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.439 It's a vacation where about everything that could go wrong went wrong. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:50.720 Everything. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:56.000 We had a canoe trip that was supposed to last an hour and a half, it was like four hours long, everyone got sunburnt. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:59.360 My wife's sister was burned worse than I've ever seen a human being in my life. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:00.639 It was like a strawberry. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:01.519 It was crazy. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:04.319 And for me, a lot of things went wrong as well. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:08.480 I uh, you know, not to not to go into details, but I clogged a toilet at the cabin. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:13.279 And uh and I remember having this panic moment, right? 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:14.160 Like, what do I do? 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:20.959 Do I go down to this family that I'm staying with, this girl that I just started dating, and say, hey, uh, anyone have a plunger? 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:21.839 No reason. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:27.360 Just uh, you know, just just just make sure we have one if we're out here, right? 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:32.879 And so I I decided to take the coward's way out, and I thought, you know what, I'll I'll just hope it takes care of itself. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:33.600 Okay. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:35.679 Sometimes that happens, right? 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:41.120 Rarely, but it's happened before, you know, maybe and and maybe maybe it'll all be okay. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:49.519 So later that night, my wife's sister used the restroom, and she actually was killing a bug, and she flushed the bug down the toilet, and the toilet started to overflow. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:51.840 Someone was like, How big was that bug? 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:53.039 You know, it's a big bug. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:09:05.759 And uh and so there's water that it's overflowing from the toilet, and and this was like a log cabin, so the water's actually uh sinking through the floor down the ceiling of my wife's parents' room. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:11.120 And so I felt so much guilt that I was like, hey, I'll take care of it, guys. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:12.080 You guys all go back to bed. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:14.559 I'll just I'll go up there, I'll I'll clean it up, don't worry about it. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:15.759 And they were like, No, you don't have to do that. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:17.200 And I was like, No, I really do. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.639 Um, and so I went up there and I'm I'm cleaning the floor and all this stuff. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:22.799 And Megan's mom, I remember, was so impressed. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.120 She was like, Wow, look at this kid. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.879 You know, here he is on vacation and he's cleaning toilets. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:34.000 This kid, she told me, she's like, I'm just so impressed by your willingness to serve us this way. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:36.960 And I was like, You're welcome, you know. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:47.440 And for years, for years, she would just use that as an example about how, oh wow, Justin, one time we were on vacation and he cleaned up a messy toilet. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:52.320 That's how we really knew at that moment in time that we had a keeper on our hands. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:55.759 It took me like four years to just say it was me. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:57.039 It was me the whole time. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.240 I'm sorry. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:06.080 But that vacation, that vacation is so significant for me because the entire time I'm there, all this stuff's going wrong. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:14.639 And I grew up in a family that is an amazing family, but patience when things don't go the way they're supposed to go is not exactly our strong suit. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:20.879 And so if we were on vacation as a family and those kinds of things were happening, it would have turned into a pretty miserable experience. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:25.279 A lot of fighting, a lot of yelling, a lot of awkward silence, it would have been bad. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:28.559 But the whole time, all this is happening. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.679 My wife's father never lost his school. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.480 He stayed in a really good mood the entire time. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.799 He was encouraging, he made the best of every situation, everything that went wrong. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:45.759 He was making jokes about it, he was gentle, he was kind, and he didn't realize it at the time, but but he was telling me a story. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:51.519 He was telling me a story about how to be a great husband and a great father and a great leader. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.679 And that story has stuck with me the rest of my life. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:01.679 I've had many times where things have gone wrong, and I've thought to myself, okay, I want to be like Lewis on that vacation. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.320 Our lives tell stories, and you have a story that is worth sharing. 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:12.799 Your life is a story that can inspire, captivate, and change somebody. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.799 In fact, oftentimes it's the parts of our stories that we're the most ashamed of. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:21.919 It's the parts of our stories that have brought us pain, that actually bring hope to other people. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:23.360 Our stories are really powerful. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:33.840 So I asked my father-in-law Lewis, that man that stayed so calm throughout all those trials on that vacation, if he would come and share with us this morning about how to tell our stories. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:39.440 If we're gonna change a thousand lives, part of that is us sharing our stories. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:45.200 And so um, if you just put your hands together and welcome my father-in-law Lewis, he's gonna tell, he's gonna talk about that. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:52.879 And I'm going to uh I'm gonna adjust this for his height. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:54.639 You'll see why I was so nervous on that trip. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:55.600 He's explained so much. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:56.399 He's a bigger guy. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:56.639 All right. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:57.279 I love you, brother. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:58.480 I love you too. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:01.519 He fessed up after the wedding. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:03.200 Okay, just to let you know. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:05.120 No. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:06.159 It was interesting. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:14.080 Um, I I love being in this in this body of believers, and I and at times I wonder you know, why I have the honor and opportunity to actually share. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:20.159 Um, in fact, I was I had the uh the privilege of doing one of the 101s uh Jesus 101 sessions. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:21.919 And it's one that's coming up in a couple of weeks. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:22.879 It's who is God? 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.759 And as Justin said, that's not necessarily an easy one to do. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:31.120 What's interesting though, however, is in the first class, it was the first session, the first class we were going to do. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:34.159 I walk in and say, our topic we're gonna talk about is who's God. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:43.279 And blessed, there's a person in the room who said, And can you tell me a little bit about your background and what credentials you have that will allow you to talk to me about who is God, right? 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:51.360 It was a genuine question, and I appreciated it, but in my mind I'm going, I have no credentials to talk about who God is, other than the fact that I know him, right? 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:56.799 Uh but when the topic came about storytellers, I thought it, aha, I actually have a place that I can serve. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.559 Um, this is my business card. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:12:59.679 I work for IBM. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:01.759 I'm a storyteller. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:02.720 Okay. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:08.080 My job at IBM actually is to try to help people understand very technical things in a very simple way. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:14.960 Uh, I tell people I'm not a technical person, and I try to break things down for them and help them understand better ways of working and that type of thing. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:19.200 But my my life has always been about stories, and this is something I've naturally fit into. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:25.039 For those of you in the room who wonder how in the world you get a job called Storyteller, um, it's a it's a sales job, okay? 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:26.320 We sell stuff. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:29.519 But we have to break this down into something that's a story. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:43.840 I wanted to share three things about stories that I think is incredible for us, uh for those of us who are believers, and even those of us in the room who may not be believers, it's interesting that we as humans were actually made, we're actually made to tell stories. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:45.759 Stories are natural for us. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:48.000 You don't have to encourage people to tell stories. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:49.600 You put them in a room, you put them around. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:52.559 We just got back from a men's retreat a couple of weeks ago. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.320 Put a fire, put a bunch of hungry men around it, and you'll get all kinds of stories. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:57.919 In fact, amazing stories, right? 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:02.720 Same thing with kids, same things with you go around a coffee shop and just sit around, you listen to stories. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.120 It just comes natural to us that we tell stories. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.759 Interestingly enough, too, it's a historical thing for us. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:12.799 I mean, we were before the written word, stories was how traditions were held and how things went on. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:18.080 You know, in fact, in the Bible, early on in the in the Hebrew culture, it was taught, you know, tell your stories to your children. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.320 And as families, I want you to think about the stories that you have and how you share stories. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:24.960 Some of them about overflowing toilets you might want to skip. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.240 But the other ones, right? 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.799 The other ones that you want to pass down generation after generation, think about the stories that you want to share. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.159 Um, I'm I'm privileged to have a dad that told great stories. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.879 In fact, um, I have an aunt who's a great storyteller. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.120 She's documented a bunch of it in a book. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:42.879 I love listening to stories about my dad when he was younger, and it tells me so much about his character. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.120 I have a father-in-law who lives with us now. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:49.679 Uh, he was a missionary in Bolivia, and as Justin was mentioning, there's some people that just captivate you. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:51.919 He can just sit there and tell you all kinds of stories. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:53.600 It's just a natural thing that we do. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.759 We pass on ideas with stories. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:57.519 And we also teach our kids stories. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:11.600 I don't know how many of you have children, but it's right now over in his kids, but one of the things they do really, really well over there is they tell the kids and relate to them the love of Jesus and how Christ has come to serve them and the power of God through stories. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:20.080 Uh, Ruth and I, my wife and I, have the opportunity uh to assist at times by taking um Liam, Justin's uh you know, child, our grandson and um granddaughter. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:26.720 Now, you know, Lily's a little too early to get stories yet, but Liam also always has stories, and we tell him, ask him afterwards, so tell me about your story. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:33.200 And it's amazing to me how he recounts the stories that he learned in school, in the in the Sunday school, or excuse me, his kids. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:37.440 And the interesting thing is sometimes he gets the facts mixed up, but there's always the punch. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:45.279 You know, it's always, you know, well, these spies they went into this place and they were in this place and they were trapped, but don't worry, Jesus got him and got them out. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:48.639 You know, he's like, they he understands the gist of what's going on. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.320 And those stories are the amazing ones. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:53.120 And we teach our kids with stories because it's things they remember. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:58.240 Um, I can still remember to this day, uh, you know, we we've heard a lot of the Bible stories and so forth. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:05.039 Um, I remember a guy one time who made a story so real to me because he talked about Jonah, and this part of the story I still remember. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:09.360 He said, Remember, Jonah went into this body of this fish and was there for three days. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:13.840 And Jonah, even in his in his accounting, talks about seaweed being tangled in his hair and so forth. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:17.360 He said, You know, a fish's stomach has gastric juices in it? 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.440 And it was probably eating away at his skin. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:24.159 And so probably when he was belched out and when he vomited out on that, because the kids love to hear about vomit, right? 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:30.480 So when we vomited out on this beach, he was probably bleached white, seaweed all over him, and some fishermen stand there looking at him. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.919 You know, that's that's quite a that's quite an image in the mind of an eight-year-old child. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:36.480 It's like, I want to tell that story because I love that story, right? 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:42.639 So we teach our kids through stories, and stories themselves are more than just information, it's more than just facts. 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:45.759 I mean, we could say there was a guy named Jonah, and he lived in such and such a time. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:51.759 He went to Nineveh, but he fled, and he was he had a bypass, you know, he had this little incident that happened, and then he came back. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:57.759 We can tell you this the facts, but stories are actually this information that's got a soul to it, okay? 00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:59.679 It has an emotional quality to it. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:06.319 And what's important about that is we as humans, God has created us specifically to listen to stories. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:07.839 We're wired for them. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:14.240 In your brain, there's a couple of parts of your brain, and I'm again I'm not technical and I'm not medical, but I do know that there's a couple parts of your brain. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.039 There's a there's a part of the brain called the neocortext. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:21.119 And it's the part of the brain that helps you understand figures and numbers and data. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:25.680 It helps you, it actually has a speech part to it, so it's the one that allows you to speak and talk. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.039 It's where you can look at lots of information and read it. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:34.640 The inside part of the brain, though, the limbic part of the brain, that's the part of the brain that actually controls behavior. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.079 That's the emotional part. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.319 That's the part that actually causes you to do things and change, change the way you behave. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:49.599 Those two parts of the brain are important because it's important for us to understand things, but that middle part of that brain, that limbic part of the brain is the part that's gonna actually cause you to do something differently. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.400 And stories get to that part of the brain. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:18:01.599 I could give you all the facts and figures on the outside of the brain, you'd hear them, you'd understand them, but unless I reach the inside, you're not gonna really believe it, or you're not really gonna change what you do. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:07.200 In fact, there's a guy named Jeffrey Gittimer, he's a he does sales talks and he does writes books. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:11.440 He said we make decisions with our heart and we justify them with our mind. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:14.880 Now, in a in a corporate situation, you know, we're thinking about sales. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:19.039 We're thinking about trying to get people to do something and believe something that we believe in and that type of thing. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:22.960 So his saying is you tug on the heart and the wallet pops out. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:23.599 Right? 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:26.000 Now, in sales, that's called closing, closing a deal. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:26.400 Closing. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.720 So, first of all, how many of you in the room are in sales? 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:29.680 You're in sales. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:30.400 All right, great. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:32.799 You can close how many of you are parents? 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:34.079 You're in sales. 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:43.680 All right, just to let you know, just in case you didn't know, everyone in this room's in sales because you have a relationship, you have a manager, you have you're all in sales because we're all about selling something. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:47.279 We're all about trying to get someone to believe something or understand something. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:48.880 And that's that's what we try to do. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:49.920 We do that with stories. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:55.440 But if you are if you want to be good at that, you want to think instead of me informing you, let me tell you a story. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:00.079 That's one of the reasons why, gentlemen, we are probably worse at telling stories sometimes than our wives. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:02.319 You know, that we'll ask them, so where have you been? 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:04.079 And we expect them to say, I've been at the store. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:10.079 But no, they'll tell you about the store, and they'll tell you about where they've been in the store and all that, and you're like, just get to the case, where have you been? 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:11.359 But they want to tell you a story. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:13.039 Listen to the stories, guys, okay? 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:15.599 Learn from the stories, learn to act to stories. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:19.759 We ask a question, actually, because closing this deal, you know, closing the deal. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.880 It's interesting that that if you know how to tug on the heart, you can actually get people to do things. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:27.839 I mean, what's the close ratio on kids? 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.079 I mean, how many deals do they close? 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:31.119 Parents? 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:33.839 Every one of them, right? 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.480 I mean, they just know how to close the deal, right? 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:39.440 This is Liam, this is a few years ago. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:45.759 He didn't come to me and say, you know, Papa, I'm a young child, and I have this need for coordination. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:48.319 I need to be stronger and I need to exercise. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.599 So I think it would be a great idea if you were to build me a play set. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:55.359 He didn't come, he just said, Papa, can I have a play set? 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:57.519 And we built him a play set, right? 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:00.319 Because it's just the way it works, right? 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:02.480 I mean, it's you pull on the heart, the wallet pops out. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:03.920 I've seen you guys in Target. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:04.960 I've seen you, right? 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:06.079 No, we're not having that. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:08.319 Oh, please, the wallet pops out, right? 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:12.240 The interesting thing is we need to understand where people's hearts are. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:14.160 So, first of all, we're actually made. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:15.200 We're actually designed. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.279 God made us to do to tell stories. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:21.759 The second is actually shared, he told us that you need to share your story. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.599 It's not enough that I made you to have a story. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:24.480 You have a story. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:26.319 You are a story, as Justin said. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:29.599 And it's and it's important for you to share the story that you have. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:42.240 In fact, in 1 Peter 3.15, he says, But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:48.319 The interesting thing about this verse infers that you must be living a life where your story is shining. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:50.000 Because they're gonna ask you, okay? 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:55.200 So, number one is his hands, as people that are around you, show the love of God. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:56.960 And what's gonna happen is gonna be curious. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.680 People are gonna come to you and go, Why did you react that way? 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:00.880 Or why are you always smiling? 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:04.960 There used to be a saying it's a smile, it makes the world wonder what you're up to, okay? 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:07.839 Do that because they will ask you what's going on. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.000 And at that moment, folks, it's your responsibility to have a story. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:14.480 God's told you already to share your story. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:17.200 Be prepared for the hope that lies within you. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:18.000 What is your story? 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:19.599 And we'll get to that a little bit later. 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:20.880 I'll tell you my story. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:28.960 How many of you have ever been in a place where you're there and you feel like I'm in an incredible place, I'm in an incredible job, an incredible relationship. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:34.000 Um, I'm in just an incredible place right now, and you go, I have no idea how I got here. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:36.559 Okay, that happens a lot with me as we get older. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.039 You're in the kitchen, you go, I have no idea why I'm here, right? 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:40.799 And you backtrack to find out why. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:46.240 But in in your life story, often we will find ourselves in places where you go, Wow, this is incredible. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:49.599 Now, someone, some people will look at that and say, Well, that's just coincidence. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:51.839 You happen to be in the right place at the right time, whatever. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:55.440 You know, I know that there's a designer, and I know that the designer puts me in places. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.759 And so my story is very much about that instance of I have. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.319 No idea how I got to where I'm at, but I'm so tremendously blessed to be here. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:11.759 Justin, for instance, I have no idea how I got him as a son-in-law, but I'm tremendously blessed that he's there and he's taking care of my daughter and my grandkids. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:12.400 I'm just blessed. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.839 This is a picture of a tribesman, Donnie tribesman. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:21.680 They're in Papua New Guinea. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.480 I grew up in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.480 I don't know if anyone's aware of that, but it's a denomination quite a bit smaller than most denominations. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:32.079 The differentiator with the Christian and Missionary Alliance is that most of their work is overseas. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:33.920 They're about sending missionaries. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.480 It's an alliance between Christians and missionaries. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:37.440 Makes sense, right? 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.319 But the point about this is I grew up in this denomination. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:41.920 I have relatives who are missionaries. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:45.119 It was mentioned, maybe mentioned my father-in-law, he was a missionary to Bolivia. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:47.680 My wife grew up on the mission field in Bolivia. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:54.000 We had missionaries that would come on furlough every year and they would come to us and tell us the marvelous stories of what they were doing. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:55.200 And they're always exciting stories. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:01.519 And the missionaries always had tables where they put their curios and you know the axes and the spears and so forth. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:03.920 And you know, as kids, we just loved looking at that kind of stuff, right? 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.759 And listening to the stories of how they've how they were out in the bush in the jungle. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.279 I knew when I was a small child I wanted to be a missionary. 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.440 I mean, some of you may wish, you know, may remember, I want to be a fireman, I want to be an astronaut, whatever. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:18.880 No, I was going to be a missionary because that just seemed to be the coolest thing. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:20.400 They had the best stories. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:24.880 And so when I left high school, I went to Takoa Falls College, which is in North Georgia. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:30.880 Takoa Falls happens to be a college where a lot of the missionaries send their kids, as well as a lot of people are prepared to be missionaries. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:35.359 In fact, my father-in-law and his wife graduated from Takoa before going to the mission field. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:39.200 What's interesting is I went to Takoa for a year after high school. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:44.400 And it took me about three months to realize that I wanted to be a missionary. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:46.720 But God didn't want me to be a missionary. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:53.119 It was one of those things where it's like I'm doing what I think is the right thing, but God actually showed me through the life of the other people there. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:54.640 He showed me through people who are called. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:56.880 He said, You want to be one, but look at these people. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:59.359 They have to be one because they're the ones I've called. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:02.720 And there were people there whose heart was just sold out to meeting those people. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:07.279 I was just looking at it and saying, that'd be glamorous to go talk to this guy and share stories and whatever. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:09.680 They were looking at that man and they were saying, Look at the heart there. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:10.720 We've got a heart need. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.240 And it was just an incredible difference. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:22.000 So I left Tacoa after the first year, found myself back in Savannah, my hometown, trying to find a job, and ended up working, but that's where I met my wife to be. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:29.519 We were in, like I said, a Christian missionary alliance church, happened to be helping a woman, a fellow member that used to be in the main church. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:33.759 She was at another church, a smaller CNMA church, was helping her with some of her housework. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:35.440 She said, Lewis, you ought to come over to our church. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:36.480 We got a new pastor. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.480 And he has six daughters. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:40.720 19-year-old kid, six daughters. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:42.160 Sounds like a good idea, right? 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:46.000 So I went and picked me out one, married her, and the rest is history, right? 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:50.880 The point is, there's probably lots of other stories from that time to this time. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:59.440 But everywhere I've turned, every place I've turned, God has just gently leaded me, led me, and it's and it's not that I've designed it, it's that God has directed me. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:00.640 That's my story. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:03.440 I'm a wanderer that God just sends to put in place. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:05.359 Each of you have a story. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:12.160 And it's where you are today, how you got here, you know, where you stand in life, those are all stories, and you need to be able to tell them. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:14.160 So what is your story? 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:14.960 Okay? 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:21.599 I'd love for you guys afterwards to ask one another when you meet someone and you don't know, especially if you meet someone in the, you know, say hi, how are you doing? 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:23.279 Tell me a little bit about your story. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:24.240 Be prepared. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:25.839 Be prepared to listen for the story. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:28.799 Not just be prepared to tell your story, but be prepared to listen. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:31.599 Because if you begin to look for stories, you will find them. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:32.079 Okay? 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:36.799 And stories are marvelous things because they tell such, they have such a great quality to them. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:40.960 It's not like who do you work for or where do you go to school or where did you grow up? 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:42.319 Tell me a little bit about that. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:51.680 I was a there was a pastor that uh we we sat under for once some time, and he said, I love when I'm in restaurants and I have weight help and service help or whatever, and they have a tattoo. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.119