Citylife Church

Melbourne, VIC

Australia

June 10, 2013

7:30 P.M.

Unlikely Hero

Dr. Tony Campolo

Citylife Church

Melbourne, VIC

Australia

June 10, 2013

7:30 P.M.

Unlikely Hero

  1. Story about when he was a young man and was a Student Assistant Pastor. He was so tired that he read the wrong scripture passage and prayed the wrong prayer.
  2. Story about when speaking at a church in Jersey and forgot about the time change and then accidentally went to the wrong church.
  3. Talks about a study done by one of his graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania. He interviewed 50 people over the age of 95 and asked them “If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently?” Three major answers: (1) reflect more (2) risk more (3) more things that would live on after we die
  4. Story about a kid named Mike. His dad always said “it’ll kill the grass”. His mother responded “it will grow back”. Then one day Mike had grown up and his father said “he will come back, right?”
  5. Story about when he asked his graduate class how long they had lived. Not how long you heart has been beating, but how many moments you have been “genuinely alive”. Talks about when he was in 9th grade and his class went to the Empire State Building. He looked over the balcony and reflected.
  6. “We let time slip away without paying attention to what is of ultimate importance.”
  7. What is the point to becoming a Christian? It’s about surrendering and allowing the spirit of God to flow into you.
  8. I’m not talking about believing in Jesus. The surrendering to his spirit is different.
  9. Reads from the book of Romans.
  10. “If there wasn’t any heaven and there wasn’t any hell, I would still surrender to Jesus. Because of the way he gives to me a sense of heightened awareness.”
  11. Asked his students what Jesus would have said to a prostitute. Student said he never saw one, “when he looked into her eyes, do you think he saw a prostitute?”
  12. “When you surrender to this indwelling presence of Christ, he makes you alive.”
  13. Talks about how secular students always talked about being a “self actualized human being”. They said you take on these traits by having an intimate relationship with somebody who has the traits you are trying to obtain. He would then say that “the difference between you and me is that you don’t know anybody like that”. Jesus is the fully actualized human being.
  14. What does it mean to be a human being? That’s why you need to become a Christian. Because Jesus is not only the incarnation of God, but is also the perfect incarnation of a human being.
  15. “Salvation isn’t just for the next world.”
  16. Story about when he was nineteen and went to his first black funeral. It was a celebration. “A church that can take death and turn it into a celebration is the church of Christ.”
  17. When was the last time you really looked into your spouse’s eyes?
  18. Story about when he was growing up and he played a game called stick ball. There weren’t any more sticks and he was dared to go into the police station and steal their sticks back.
  19. Getting married is a risk too. He jokes about finding the “right one”. “All that a wedding does is create the possibility for a marriage. A marriage is what you create after the wedding is over.”
  20. Talks about a song he learned in Sunday School and jokes about how it ruined his dating life.
  21. Love is when you risk everything in order to give yourself to another person.
  22. All our culture understands is romance, but romance dies down. If you don’t know where love comes from, you’re in trouble.
  23. The word “agape” is not commonly found in the Greek language. It’s almost as if they had to find a new word to describe a new type of love.
  24. We think education is the answer to everything. But knowing is not enough.
  25. “Love is a decision to do loving things.”
  26. “If you do the thing, it’s not long before the emotion follows.” Story about a guy who took the advice to treat his wife in a loving manner. She thought he was drunk.
  27. Story about when he was speaking in England and students asked if they could be missionaries in the slums even though they weren’t Christians. He said yes, but they had to pretend. By the end of the summer they were changed.
  28. The best thing you can bring home to your family at the end of the day is not a paycheck, but yourself. You should not allow yourself to be dehumanized in the workplace. “At the end of the day you should be alive.”
  29. Story about a former student who graduated from Eastern University and went on to Harvard Law School. He was offered a really good job on Wall Street, but turned it down. He lives in a small flat in Alabama and defends the poor on death row.
  30. When we say we’re Christians, we are often saying that we agree with the theology prescribed by the apostle Paul. But we’re not about to adopt the value system of Jesus.
  31. “Everybody knows what Jesus taught except for Christians.”
  32. Talks about the radical students who are graduating from Eastern University.
  33. Story of a father who was mad because his son was living radically and said “I don’t mind being Christian up to a point.” The son responded, “is the cross that point?”
  34. Talks about Shane Claiborne and when he said “you’re about to heard the greatest sermon ever preached” and then read the Sermon on the Mount. Then he said, “But you guys think he was only kidding. You’re not going to take him seriously.”
  35. “You didn’t sell out to the system. And one day, someday, you will know you did the right thing. Because when it’s all over, people say they wish they had done more that would live on after they died.
  36. Story about when he was in an air terminal in New Mexico and he was determined to get a grumpy looking old lady to laugh. Three years before her husband had died.
  37. “We’ve got to get our values straightened out.” We think miracles are the big things, but it’s the little things that matter.
  38. Story about when he was in Honolulu. He was in a diner in the middle of the night. A group of prostitutes came in and one mentioned that her birthday was the next day. He helped to organize a birthday party for her. When they realized he was a preacher, they asked what kind of a church he was from. He answered “the kind of church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning”. The man responded “no you don’t. I would join a church like that.” That is the kind of church that Jesus came to create.
  39. He came to turn us into the kind of people who filled with his presence that would go out and bring celebration into the lives of people who have had nothing to celebrate.

Tags: University of Pennsylvania, study, reflect, risk, legacy, Jesus, genuinely alive, Romans, self actualized human being, secular, love, relationship, salvation, marriage, romance, agape, incarnation, decision, emotion, Shane Claiborne, values, Hawaii, prostitute, celebrate, church