TRANSKRIPTIO 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:01.766
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
00:00:01.766 --> 00:00:06.604
We live in a fast-paced world where new material and ideas are thrown at you 24-7.
00:00:06.604 --> 00:00:11.144
Some of you told us this and said I want to listen to everything, but it's hard to catch up.
00:00:11.144 --> 00:00:12.650
Well, we're here to help.
00:00:12.650 --> 00:00:26.242
We desire to be a place that is grateful for and respectful of your precious time, and so to serve you best, we will every so often be resharing past episodes that we call Second Listen, because we think they are worth taking a second to replay.
00:00:26.242 --> 00:00:39.451
Even if you are an every-week listener, we think having a second listen to these episodes will make an impact on your weekend life, and if you have heard this one but are behind on new episodes, now is a great time to catch up on any others you have missed.
00:00:39.451 --> 00:00:41.045
Thank you, and here we go.
00:00:43.581 --> 00:00:47.701
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope.
00:00:47.701 --> 00:00:54.442
Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online.
00:00:54.442 --> 00:01:01.466
We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others.
00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:10.298
Welcome to Hope our world for the sake of others.
00:01:10.298 --> 00:01:10.920
Welcome to Hope.
00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.582
Hey everyone, welcome to the Meet Hope podcast.
00:01:14.582 --> 00:01:16.870
I'm Dave Falcone, I'm the executive pastor here at Hope Church and I'm excited to be hosting today.
00:01:16.870 --> 00:01:19.644
Joining me are two of my friends, rob Finnegan and Dennis Kessler.
00:01:19.644 --> 00:01:26.850
Today I have the privilege of hosting because we're talking about one of my favorite things here at Hope, and that's community.
00:01:26.850 --> 00:01:29.106
So welcome Rob, welcome Dennis.
00:01:29.106 --> 00:01:33.891
Why don't you both take a minute, introduce yourselves and tell us how you've gotten connected here at Hope?
00:01:34.700 --> 00:01:35.543
Hi, I'm Dennis Kessler.
00:01:35.543 --> 00:01:38.792
I've been going to Hope for quite a while.
00:01:38.792 --> 00:01:44.066
I started when I was about 13 or 14 in 1996, when we were over at the high school, so it's been a little while.
00:01:44.066 --> 00:01:47.191
13 or 14 in 1996 when we were over at the high school, so it's been a little while.
00:01:47.191 --> 00:01:50.316
My family also goes here my wife Erin, and my son Grayson, who's nine, and my daughter Ainsley, who's four.
00:01:50.316 --> 00:01:55.451
By profession, I am a DBA, which is in the IT realm.
00:01:56.500 --> 00:02:00.766
We deal with a lot of data on the back end of healthcare firms and a lot of financials and stuff like that.
00:02:00.766 --> 00:02:03.909
Um, you know, healthcare firms and a lot of financials and stuff like that.
00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:14.811
And, um, initially I started coming to hope and I connected through the youth group, um, as I mentioned, when I was in my teens, um, so that was great, having that um, that community there.
00:02:14.811 --> 00:02:33.868
And then, as I grew older, we played, we had the softball team, which I also um met a lot of, uh, the members that were already here that were a little bit older than myself but who were still, you know, in contact with, and then also the fantasy football, which is, you know, we're going to be talking about later, which is a great avenue to make connections to.
00:02:33.868 --> 00:02:37.971
So, and one of the other things is tomorrow's hope as well.
00:02:37.971 --> 00:02:44.002
The preschool here which my kids have attended staff is just great, so the community with that as well.
00:02:44.302 --> 00:02:47.568
Hi, my name's Rob Finnegan, my wife is Janet.
00:02:47.568 --> 00:02:51.033
I have two adult sons, ty and Chase, who all attend.
00:02:51.033 --> 00:02:56.662
We've been coming since around 2015.
00:02:56.662 --> 00:03:07.000
Gotten involved with fantasy football, golf, cornhole, horseshoes, and then Mount Laurel and we had the Mount Laurel campus no-transcript.
00:03:06.376 --> 00:03:08.462
And what did you do as part of the Mount Laurel campus?
00:03:08.462 --> 00:03:09.085
How did you help out?
00:03:09.855 --> 00:03:11.824
Well, rick roped me into driving.
00:03:11.824 --> 00:03:14.683
I saw my truck at a golf outing and said we need you.
00:03:14.683 --> 00:03:21.639
So I ended up towing the trailer on Sundays, bringing it over, helping everybody set up and break down at the end of the day.
00:03:22.322 --> 00:03:23.757
Awesome, Rob.
00:03:23.757 --> 00:03:25.804
You mentioned the Fantasy Football League.
00:03:25.804 --> 00:03:26.858
Dennis, you did as well.
00:03:26.858 --> 00:03:46.020
For those of you that are listening and don't know what the Fantasy Football League is, to give you a quick insight for those of our listeners that aren't sure what Fantasy Football is, it is a game in which you, as a manager, create your own team of players from real players in the National Football League.
00:03:46.020 --> 00:04:02.979
You compete against other managers in your league, so usually Fantasy Football Leagues are made up of friends or colleagues or people you know, so you compete against other managers in your league to score points based on the performance of your players in real NFL games.
00:04:02.979 --> 00:04:18.766
And then in 2016, which I believe was the first year both of you joined we changed our league format a little to accommodate more guys and still end with one winner at the end of the year.
00:04:18.766 --> 00:04:23.528
We've had as many as 60 guys in one season playing together in our league.
00:04:23.528 --> 00:04:25.629
It's fun, it's exciting.
00:04:26.249 --> 00:04:32.872
Fantasy football helps connect people on the outskirts of Hope's community
Load full transcript
because it's culturally relevant.
00:04:32.872 --> 00:04:37.213
It's fun, it's welcoming to someone who isn't heavily connected at Hope.
00:04:37.213 --> 00:04:41.564
There is no faith requirement, there is no commitment to Hope requirement.
00:04:41.564 --> 00:04:50.278
It really is just an opportunity to create some community within this Hope setting and listeners.
00:04:50.278 --> 00:04:54.122
I have to share with you that you are listening, or as you are listening.
00:04:54.122 --> 00:05:00.326
You are in the presence of greatness, because Dennis is our reigning a current reigning champion.
00:05:00.326 --> 00:05:02.617
He won the 20,.
00:05:02.617 --> 00:05:04.482
Dennis, you won the 2022 season.
00:05:04.482 --> 00:05:07.086
Correct Congratulations, Thank you.
00:05:07.288 --> 00:05:08.377
Thank you, yeah, it was.
00:05:08.377 --> 00:05:11.665
You know, in the past few years it's been a little rough.
00:05:11.665 --> 00:05:17.483
I've gotten bumped out of the playoffs early a few times, so it was good to finally sort of get over that hump there.
00:05:17.963 --> 00:05:18.285
So why?
00:05:18.285 --> 00:05:22.846
Let me ask you, Dennis, as current reigning champion, why fantasy football?
00:05:22.846 --> 00:05:24.541
You know, what is it that you like about it?
00:05:24.541 --> 00:05:25.536
What are your favorite parts about?
00:05:25.555 --> 00:05:26.778
it In general.
00:05:26.778 --> 00:05:29.182
I just I'm a fantasy football nerd regardless.
00:05:29.182 --> 00:05:37.358
You know I do a bunch of other leagues outside of this, but you know any excuse to do another, another fantasy league and I'm in.
00:05:37.358 --> 00:05:46.786
So I think the beauty of it is you know a lot of the members here and the fantasy football league in general staying connected is the biggest thing.
00:05:46.786 --> 00:05:52.649
You know if you might miss somebody you might not see them for a few weeks, but there's always fancy football.
00:05:52.649 --> 00:05:58.720
You know there's always trash talking and stuff like that, so you always are able to connect and it's and it's an easy way to connect with people.
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:05.338
You know it's, it's a sort of bridges, the gap between you know church life here and also personal life too.
00:06:05.338 --> 00:06:05.918
So that's great.
00:06:05.918 --> 00:06:19.028
And I think the beauty of it is, as you touched on earlier is it's easy to bring in anybody, because I think there's a lot of people who are involved in fantasy and maybe they're locked into, maybe coming to church, but fantasy is an easy way to get people involved.
00:06:19.735 --> 00:06:21.483
Yeah, and it is a lot of fun.
00:06:21.483 --> 00:06:27.228
It is something that we have done as just sheer joy over the years.
00:06:27.228 --> 00:06:32.216
There's no real-life impact to it, but it has developed and created some friendships.
00:06:32.216 --> 00:06:39.199
Rob, I know you've been involved with it since 2016, and I'm sure you can share a
lot of the same things Dennis said about why you do it.
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:47.274
But let me ask you this, rob what are some good stories or favorite memories that you have over the years stemming from the fantasy football?
00:06:49.398 --> 00:06:49.538
league.
00:06:49.538 --> 00:06:51.261
I've got a couple of fun times we had.
00:06:51.261 --> 00:06:54.286
Well, it was the first year when I went to the draft.
00:06:54.286 --> 00:07:07.663
I brought Hot Wings with me and you would have thought I brought caviar to the event, with the reaction from everybody as Hot Wings although I guess Hot Wings are caviar to fantasy football but yeah, it was just shocking.
00:07:07.663 --> 00:07:11.165
Everybody that jumped in and thought that was such a great thing.
00:07:11.165 --> 00:07:18.315
But the other memory which Dave will jump in on is my Le'Veon Bell story, my son.
00:07:18.315 --> 00:07:51.346
One of the reasons I joined the Hope Fantasy Football was an opportunity to play in a league with both of my sons and so that first draft my older son, ty, couldn't make it to the beginning of the draft, so he had set an auto pick and selected Le'Veon Bell and Le'Veon was actually ended up holding out for the season because he got a franchise tag on him and as a result, my son wasted his number two pick on a player that wasn't going to play.
00:07:52.235 --> 00:07:58.706
So for those of you that are listening and have no idea what Rob just said, uh, because you're not in the fantasy football realm.
00:07:58.706 --> 00:08:10.141
Uh, just to give you an idea, is you draft players and, um, and what's important about drafting players is in the first round you're probably trying to draft the best players in the league who are going to score the most points for you.
00:08:10.141 --> 00:08:23.307
So if you go ahead and draft someone who sits out a whole season and you do that in the first round, that's going to have some major implications to how poorly you're going to perform over the years.
00:08:23.307 --> 00:08:37.687
And, rob, I remember when Ty drafted Le'Veon Bell, who had very publicly announced that he was not going to play that year, and it was all over the news, it was all over fantasy football media.
00:08:37.687 --> 00:08:44.846
And still, with the second overall pick, tyler drafts Le'Veon Bell and we will never let him forget that.
00:08:46.615 --> 00:09:03.532
Well, as a dad, initially I felt bad for him, but then I saw Dave and how he jumped right on that and ended up realizing that maybe I do belong here with the level of trash talk.
00:09:03.851 --> 00:09:28.169
Yeah, well, and it's one of those things where you, when you find people that are similarly minded and have similar personalities but I will say this you know that was the start of the friendship between Ty and I I remember, after the draft was over, going home and Rob texting your wife and saying hey, can I have Tyler's phone number?
00:09:28.169 --> 00:09:29.177
Because I want to.
00:09:29.177 --> 00:09:30.501
I want to just send him something.
00:09:30.501 --> 00:09:33.139
And of course your, your sweet wife, was sure.
00:09:33.139 --> 00:09:34.381
You know, this is great.
00:09:34.381 --> 00:09:36.687
The pastor wants to text my son.
00:09:36.774 --> 00:09:38.298
He was one year too late on drafting him.
00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:41.067
Yeah, so of course you know I'm sending him.
00:09:41.067 --> 00:09:54.068
You know, articles about how Le'Veon Bell is not going to be playing that year and and we spent the better part of two or three hours that night texting back and forth and busting each other's chops and laughing and talking about other things.
00:09:54.068 --> 00:09:56.844
But that was the start of it is something just as simple.
00:09:58.317 --> 00:09:59.438
He ended up.
00:09:59.438 --> 00:10:05.850
He respects you a lot with your knowledge on fantasy after the fact, but I know he still texts you for advice on all the leagues that he's in.
00:10:07.575 --> 00:10:11.764
So so, jumping back to the main theme of this podcast community.
00:10:11.764 --> 00:10:17.062
Uh, let me ask you guys this what is having community in your life matter to you?
00:10:18.264 --> 00:10:26.255
Uh, you know, I, I think that you know, as a guy, as an older guy, uh, relatively, um, it's sometimes hard to make connections.
00:10:26.255 --> 00:10:46.529
Um, I think guys are reluctant to get outside of their comfort zones a lot, and so the fantasy football, I think, gives, gives people a chance to, you know, find that fellowship and, just for me, just the community, knowing that they're always there to pray for me and to help out and support us and my family whenever we need it.
00:10:46.529 --> 00:10:49.912
Just, it's instrumental for our life.
00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:54.142
Uh, same I, I it's.
00:10:54.142 --> 00:10:56.405
It was a way to give back the charity.
00:10:56.405 --> 00:11:10.519
With all the different uh events that you get involved in there, it's always a uh, an organization or a charity that's behind that, that we're doing it as well as helping out in Mount Laurel and serving, and it's just an opportunity to um to give back.
00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:17.590
I've been very blessed in my life and so it's a good way to return the favors.
00:11:18.034 --> 00:11:41.105
I think the big thing for me is you know yourself and to show that you're that light in the world and to to reflect God's love to others.
00:11:41.105 --> 00:11:45.265
So just having that opportunity, you know is, is a great thing.
00:11:46.976 --> 00:12:07.443
For me, you know, it provides new perspectives on life and it allows me to, you know, see, see different things as well, as it keeps me grounded, keeps me humbled and, like I said, I, I am, uh, I'm very blessed in my life and, uh, you know, being involved in, in all the different events and and with all the different people.
00:12:07.443 --> 00:12:12.125
It just, you know, refocus me on, on what I'm really here
for.
00:12:13.336 --> 00:12:14.981
So, uh, Rob, let me follow that up with a question.
00:12:22.215 --> 00:12:23.899
You know, did it click right away for you or did it take some time?
00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:25.764
Well, I I I'm not a religious guy and I followed my wife here, janet she.
00:12:25.764 --> 00:12:40.902
She was a youth leader at our, our previous church and when my sons aged out of youth the there was really not much youth left in the church, so she was kind of set afloat and didn't feel like she had a home.
00:12:40.902 --> 00:12:44.408
So when she was looking she found hope.
00:12:44.408 --> 00:12:55.282
And I had not been involved a lot with our previous church and I felt I needed to step up and support her and be with her.
00:12:55.282 --> 00:13:14.767
So I followed her to here and I really liked the format of the United Methodist Churches and then you know, jeff and Rick are great orators and the way the lesson is presented in modern-day terms.
00:13:14.767 --> 00:13:23.302
It just really attracted me and I've been to more services here than I think I've been to any church of my past, so it's a great experience for me.
00:13:23.774 --> 00:13:41.841
Well, it's been neat to see that progression of that for you, because I remember in the early years when you and your wife would attend, at the end of the service it was funny to see Rob posted up by the front door, quietly and patiently standing there with your what?
00:13:41.841 --> 00:13:51.168
Six foot five frame just waiting for your kind, sweet-hearted, loving wife to finish saying goodbye to everybody in the church community.
00:13:51.168 --> 00:14:05.788
And for those of you that don't know Janet, she is full of joy and if you spend any time with her you can see that she will hug you and embrace you and pray for you.
00:14:05.788 --> 00:14:14.178
And I remember, at the end of every service there's Rob waiting by the door and there's Janet saying hi to everybody on her way out.
00:14:14.178 --> 00:14:25.163
And you know, for that 10 or 15 minutes, uh, as Rob uh tried to kindly and patiently wait, um, seeing Janet make her way to the door.
00:14:25.163 --> 00:14:30.524
But I remember it was not too long after that the hot wings that you brought to the draft.
00:14:30.524 --> 00:14:32.039
It was the first time that you and I met.
00:14:32.763 --> 00:14:42.441
Um, I happen to be walking through the lobby after church one day, one Sunday, and I happened to have my Sixers hat on and from over in the corner of the room.
00:14:42.441 --> 00:14:45.878
I hear you're a Sixers fan Looking around.
00:14:45.878 --> 00:14:47.342
I'm like, who was that?
00:14:47.342 --> 00:14:59.160
And I see you standing by the door again, waiting patiently for your wife, and with a big smirk on your face, like you're a Sixers fan, I was like, yeah, it was like we live in the Philadelphia area.
00:14:59.160 --> 00:15:00.298
Of course I'm a Sixers fan.
00:15:00.298 --> 00:15:19.750
Ah, and then we engaged in
a five, you know eight minute conversation or whatever, until Janet finally made her way to the door and and and it's been a neat to see that now, quite often Janet will be waiting by the door for you to finish your conversations with the friends that you have made over the years.
00:15:19.794 --> 00:15:22.163
I don't know about all that, but it's possible.
00:15:22.163 --> 00:15:28.903
But I do like talking sports and there's a lot of great sports fans here, but I think we have that Sixers conversation every Sunday.
00:15:28.903 --> 00:15:29.225
I'm here.
00:15:29.715 --> 00:15:34.344
Yeah, and the conversations right now probably aren't as good as we're still having the same Sixers conversations you had six years ago.
00:15:36.696 --> 00:15:45.528
So let me ask you both this what is something that you would share with someone new who is looking for what you found here at Hope?
00:15:47.135 --> 00:15:55.248
I would say to try new things, do things that make you uncomfortable, get out of your comfort zone, which that's for me.
00:15:55.248 --> 00:16:11.057
I'm not a I'm a behind the scenes guy, I'm not one that's on the front, but for me it was meeting the different people here, getting involved in the different events, helping set up, helping break down, and it always ends up being a fun day.
00:16:11.900 --> 00:16:16.057
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just not being afraid to step outside of your comfort zone.
00:16:16.057 --> 00:16:32.294
I mean, there's so many wonderful people here who are, you know, willing to lend a hand and to, to reach out to you and um, I think, just, um, I think the biggest thing is just not being afraid, just uh, you know, always finding, uh, try to find somewhere to volunteer.
00:16:32.294 --> 00:16:33.356
I think is the biggest thing.
00:16:33.356 --> 00:16:39.268
Um, I think that really leads to a lot of really good fellowship and um and community.
00:16:39.268 --> 00:16:43.404
So, I think, just just stepping outside of your comfort zone and just volunteer.
00:16:44.115 --> 00:16:48.732
Yeah, and I think there's uh, uh, plenty of ways to volunteer, uh, here at hope.
00:16:48.732 --> 00:17:09.801
So, if you're looking to do so, um, there are opportunities for you to volunteer, uh, behind the scenes, like Rob, uh, setting up chairs and breaking things down because he doesn't like to be out in in the front, Uh, and, and there are plenty of ways to volunteer like Dennis does, Uh, uh, one thing we didn't mention is, uh, Dennis is on a team of people that coordinates our annual golf tournament.
00:17:09.801 --> 00:17:15.127
Uh, and so you know, I know, Dennis, you're always looking for volunteers to help out with that event, Um, and so you know I know.
00:17:15.147 --> 00:17:18.731
Dennis, you're always looking for volunteers to help out with that event, and there's plenty of other things going on here at Hope.
00:17:18.731 --> 00:17:31.404
So if you're looking to volunteer, if you're looking to be a part of a community of other like-minded people, there's probably somebody here that is like you and we'd love to help you get connected to them.
00:17:31.404 --> 00:17:40.363
So if you are interested in being a part of something like our Fantasy Football League, you can get more information for that.
00:17:40.363 --> 00:17:44.159
You can sign up for that all at meethopeorg slash football.
00:17:44.159 --> 00:17:49.500
If you're interested in being a part of the golf tournament, you can talk to Dennis or myself.
00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:52.627
You can participate as a golfer, as a sponsor, as a volunteer.
00:17:52.627 --> 00:17:55.984
There's more information at meethopeorg slash golf.
00:17:56.955 --> 00:18:08.318
We'll include some links in our show notes, like how to join both the Fantasy Football League or be involved in the golf tournament, or if you're looking to volunteer or find more ways to be a part of this community at Hope.
00:18:08.318 --> 00:18:15.980
Our goal at Hope is that there are places for everyone, which means, if you are listening, there is a place for you here at Hope.
00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:20.893
So we want places for everyone to take a next step and find community.
00:18:20.893 --> 00:18:23.558
So if you're looking, I'd love to help you.
00:18:23.558 --> 00:18:34.843
You can reach out to me at davidmeathopeorg or talk to me when you see me if you want to catch me on a Sunday morning, or I am in the building here at Hope quite often, since I work here.
00:18:34.843 --> 00:18:44.261
But we hope that this has been beneficial to you and has been inspiring and uplifting, but that's all we have for today.
00:18:44.261 --> 00:18:50.660
So I want to thank Rob, I want to thank Dennis for both of you being here I really appreciate it and for all of our listeners.
00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:51.403
Thanks for listening.
00:18:51.403 --> 00:18:53.603
I hope you have a great day and we'll see you next week.
00:18:57.084 --> 00:18:57.703
Thanks for listening.
00:18:57.703 --> 00:19:04.250
I hope you have a great day and we'll see you next week.