September 1, 2025 • 19 mins
We hope you enjoy this second listen of this episode that originally aired in August of 2023! Find all the links they talk about at meethope.org/today.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere new material and ideas are
thrown at you 24-7.
Some of you told us this andsaid I want to listen to
everything, but it's hard tocatch up.
Well, we're here to help.
We desire to be a place that isgrateful for and respectful of
your precious time, and so toserve you best, we will every so
often be resharing pastepisodes that we call Second
(00:22):
Listen, because we think theyare worth taking a second to
replay.
Even if you are an every-weeklistener, we think having a
second listen to these episodeswill make an impact on your
weekend life, and if you haveheard this one but are behind on
new episodes, now is a greattime to catch up on any others
you have missed.
Thank you, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Welcome to Hope our world for the sake of others.
Welcome to Hope.
Hey everyone, welcome to theMeet Hope podcast.
I'm Dave Falcone, I'm theexecutive pastor here at Hope
Church and I'm excited to behosting today.
Joining me are two of myfriends, rob Finnegan and Dennis
Kessler.
Today I have the privilege ofhosting because we're talking
(01:23):
about one of my favorite thingshere at Hope, and that's
community.
So welcome Rob, welcome Dennis.
Why don't you both take aminute, introduce yourselves and
tell us how you've gottenconnected here at Hope?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hi, I'm Dennis Kessler.
I've been going to Hope forquite a while.
I started when I was about 13or 14 in 1996, when we were over
at the high school, so it'sbeen a little while.
13 or 14 in 1996 when we wereover at the high school, so it's
been a little while.
My family also goes here mywife Erin, and my son Grayson,
who's nine, and my daughterAinsley, who's four.
By profession, I am a DBA,which is in the IT realm.
(01:56):
We deal with a lot of data onthe back end of healthcare firms
and a lot of financials andstuff like that.
Um, you know, healthcare firmsand a lot of financials and
stuff like that.
And, um, initially I startedcoming to hope and I connected
through the youth group, um, asI mentioned, when I was in my
teens, um, so that was great,having that um, that community
there.
And then, as I grew older, weplayed, we had the softball team
(02:17):
, which I also um met a lot of,uh, the members that were
already here that were a littlebit older than myself but who
were still, you know, in contactwith, and then also the fantasy
football, which is, you know,we're going to be talking about
later, which is a great avenueto make connections to.
So, and one of the other thingsis tomorrow's hope as well.
(02:37):
The preschool here which mykids have attended staff is just
great, so the community withthat as well.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Hi, my name's Rob Finnegan, my wife is Janet.
I have two adult sons, ty andChase, who all attend.
We've been coming since around2015.
Gotten involved with fantasyfootball, golf, cornhole,
horseshoes, and then MountLaurel and we had the Mount
Laurel campus no-transcript.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
And what did you do as part of the Mount Laurel
campus?
How did you help out?
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Well, rick roped me into driving.
I saw my truck at a golf outingand said we need you.
So I ended up towing thetrailer on Sundays, bringing it
over, helping everybody set upand break down at the end of the
day.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Awesome, Rob.
You mentioned the FantasyFootball League.
Dennis, you did as well.
For those of you that arelistening and don't know what
the Fantasy Football League is,to give you a quick insight for
those of our listeners thataren't sure what Fantasy
Football is, it is a game inwhich you, as a manager, create
your own team of players fromreal players in the National
(03:45):
Football League.
You compete against othermanagers in your league, so
usually Fantasy Football Leaguesare made up of friends or
colleagues or people you know,so you compete against other
managers in your league to scorepoints based on the performance
of your players in real NFLgames.
And then in 2016, which Ibelieve was the first year both
(04:10):
of you joined we changed ourleague format a little to
accommodate more guys and stillend with one winner at the end
of the year.
We've had as many as 60 guys inone season playing together in
our league.
It's fun, it's exciting.
Fantasy football helps connectpeople on the outskirts of
(04:30):
Hope's community because it'sculturally relevant.
It's fun, it's welcoming tosomeone who isn't heavily
connected at Hope.
There is no faith requirement,there is no commitment to Hope
requirement.
It really is just anopportunity to create some
community within this Hopesetting and listeners.
I have to share with you thatyou are listening, or as you are
(04:53):
listening.
You are in the presence ofgreatness, because Dennis is our
reigning a current reigningchampion.
He won the 20,.
Dennis, you won the 2022 season.
Correct Congratulations, Thankyou.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Thank you, yeah, it was.
You know, in the past few yearsit's been a little rough.
I've gotten bumped out of theplayoffs early a few times, so
it was good to finally sort ofget over that hump there.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So why?
Let me ask you, Dennis, ascurrent reigning champion, why
fantasy football?
You know, what is it that youlike about it?
What are your favorite partsabout?
Speaker 4 (05:25):
it In general.
I just I'm a fantasy footballnerd regardless.
You know I do a bunch of otherleagues outside of this, but you
know any excuse to do another,another fantasy league and I'm
in.
So I think the beauty of it isyou know a lot of the members
here and the fantasy footballleague in general staying
connected is the biggest thing.
(05:46):
You know if you might misssomebody you might not see them
for a few weeks, but there'salways fancy football.
You know there's always trashtalking and stuff like that, so
you always are able to connectand it's and it's an easy way to
connect with people.
You know it's, it's a sort ofbridges, the gap between you
know church life here and alsopersonal life too.
So that's great.
And I think the beauty of it is, as you touched on earlier is
(06:09):
it's easy to bring in anybody,because I think there's a lot of
people who are involved infantasy and maybe they're locked
into, maybe coming to church,but fantasy is an easy way to
get people involved.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, and it is a lot of fun.
It is something that we havedone as just sheer joy over the
years.
There's no real-life impact toit, but it has developed and
created some friendships.
Rob, I know you've beeninvolved with it since 2016, and
I'm sure you can share a lot ofthe same things Dennis said
about why you do it.
But let me ask you this, robwhat are some good stories or
(06:43):
favorite memories that you haveover the years stemming from the
fantasy football?
Speaker 5 (06:49):
league.
I've got a couple of fun timeswe had.
Well, it was the first yearwhen I went to the draft.
I brought Hot Wings with me andyou would have thought I
brought caviar to the event,with the reaction from everybody
as Hot Wings although I guessHot Wings are caviar to fantasy
football but yeah, it was justshocking.
Everybody that jumped in andthought that was such a great
(07:10):
thing.
But the other memory which Davewill jump in on is my Le'Veon
Bell story, my son.
One of the reasons I joined theHope Fantasy Football was an
opportunity to play in a leaguewith both of my sons and so that
first draft my older son, ty,couldn't make it to the
(07:32):
beginning of the draft, so hehad set an auto pick and
selected Le'Veon Bell andLe'Veon was actually ended up
holding out for the seasonbecause he got a franchise tag
on him and as a result, my sonwasted his number two pick on a
player that wasn't going to play.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
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.
Uh, just to give you an idea,is you draft players and, um,
and what's important aboutdrafting players is in the first
round you're probably trying todraft the best players in the
league who are going to scorethe most points for you.
So if you go ahead and draftsomeone who sits out a whole
(08:14):
season and you do that in thefirst round, that's going to
have some major implications tohow poorly you're going to
perform over the years.
And, rob, I remember when Tydrafted Le'Veon Bell, who had
very publicly announced that hewas not going to play that year,
and it was all over the news,it was all over fantasy football
(08:37):
media.
And still, with the secondoverall pick, tyler drafts
Le'Veon Bell and we will neverlet him forget that.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Well, as a dad, initially I felt bad for him,
but then I saw Dave and how hejumped right on that and ended
up realizing that maybe I dobelong here with the level of
trash talk.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yeah, well, and it's one of those things where you,
when you find people that aresimilarly minded and have
similar personalities but I willsay this you know that was the
start of the friendship betweenTy and I I remember, after the
draft was over, going home andRob texting your wife and saying
(09:24):
hey, can I have Tyler's phonenumber?
Because I want to.
I want to just send himsomething.
And of course your, your sweetwife, was sure.
You know, this is great.
The pastor wants to text my son.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
He was one year too late on drafting him.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yeah, so of course you know I'm sending him.
You know, articles about howLe'Veon Bell is not going to be
playing that year and and wespent the better part of two or
three hours that night textingback and forth and busting each
other's chops and laughing andtalking about other things.
But that was the start of it issomething just as simple.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
He ended up.
He respects you a lot with yourknowledge on fantasy after the
fact, but I know he still textsyou for advice on all the
leagues that he's in.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
So so, jumping back to the main theme of this
podcast community.
Uh, let me ask you guys thiswhat is having community in your
life matter to you?
Speaker 4 (10:18):
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.
Um, I think guys are reluctantto get outside of their comfort
zones a lot, and so the fantasyfootball, 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
(10:40):
there to pray for me and to helpout and support us and my
family whenever we need it.
Just, it's instrumental for ourlife.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Uh, same I, I it's.
It was a way to give back thecharity.
With all the different uhevents that you get involved in
there, it's always a uh, anorganization or a charity that's
behind that, that we're doingit as well as helping out in
Mount Laurel and serving, andit's just an opportunity to um
to give back.
I've been very blessed in mylife and so it's a good way to
(11:16):
return the favors.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I think the big thing for me is you know yourself and
to show that you're that lightin the world and to to reflect
(11:39):
God's love to others.
So just having that opportunity, you know is, is a great thing.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
For me, you know, it provides new perspectives on
life and it allows me to, youknow, see, see different things
as well, as it keeps me grounded, keeps me humbled and, like I
said, I, I am, uh, I'm veryblessed in my life and, uh, you
know, being involved in, in allthe different events and and
with all the different people.
(12:07):
It just, you know, refocus meon, on what I'm really here for.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
So, uh, Rob, let me follow that up with a question.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
You know, did it click right away for you or did
it take some time?
Well, I I I'm not a religiousguy and I followed my wife here,
janet she.
She was a youth leader at our,our previous church and when my
sons aged out of youth the therewas really not much youth left
in the church, so she was kindof set afloat and didn't feel
like she had a home.
So when she was looking shefound hope.
(12:44):
And I had not been involved alot with our previous church and
I felt I needed to step up andsupport her and be with her.
So I followed her to here and Ireally liked the format of the
United Methodist Churches andthen you know, jeff and Rick are
(13:07):
great orators and the way thelesson is presented in
modern-day terms.
It just really attracted me andI've been to more services here
than I think I've been to anychurch of my past, so it's a
great experience for me.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Well, it's been neat to see that progression of that
for you, because I remember inthe early years when you and
your wife would attend, at theend of the service it was funny
to see Rob posted up by thefront door, quietly and
patiently standing there withyour what?
Six foot five frame justwaiting for your kind,
(13:46):
sweet-hearted, loving wife tofinish saying goodbye to
everybody in the churchcommunity.
And for those of you that don'tknow Janet, she is full of joy
and if you spend any time withher you can see that she will
hug you and embrace you and prayfor you.
And I remember, at the end ofevery service there's Rob
(14:10):
waiting by the door and there'sJanet saying hi to everybody on
her way out.
And you know, for that 10 or 15minutes, uh, as Rob uh tried to
kindly and patiently wait, um,seeing Janet make her way to the
door.
But I remember it was not toolong after that the hot wings
that you brought to the draft.
(14:30):
It was the first time that youand I met.
Um, I happen to be walkingthrough the lobby after church
one day, one Sunday, and Ihappened to have my Sixers hat
on and from over in the cornerof the room.
I hear you're a Sixers fanLooking around.
I'm like, who was that?
And I see you standing by thedoor again, waiting patiently
(14:50):
for your wife, and with a bigsmirk on your face, like you're
a Sixers fan, I was like, yeah,it was like we live in the
Philadelphia area.
Of course I'm a Sixers fan.
Ah, and then we engaged in afive, you know eight minute
conversation or whatever, untilJanet finally made her way to
the door and and and it's been aneat to see that now, quite
(15:12):
often Janet will be waiting bythe door for you to finish your
conversations with the friendsthat you have made over the
years.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
I don't know about all that, but it's possible.
But I do like talking sportsand there's a lot of great
sports fans here, but I think wehave that Sixers conversation
every Sunday.
I'm here.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Yeah, and the conversations right now probably
aren't as good as we're stillhaving the same Sixers
conversations you had six yearsago.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So let me ask you both this what is something that
you would share with someonenew who is looking for what you
found here at Hope?
Speaker 5 (15:47):
I would say to try new things, do things that make
you uncomfortable, get out ofyour comfort zone, which that's
for me.
I'm not a I'm a behind thescenes guy, I'm not one that's
on the front, but for me it wasmeeting the different people
here, getting involved in thedifferent events, helping set up
(16:07):
, helping break down, and italways ends up being a fun day.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just not being
afraid to step outside of yourcomfort zone.
I mean, there's so manywonderful people here who are,
you know, willing to lend a handand to, to reach out to you and
um, I think, just, um, I thinkthe biggest thing is just not
being afraid, just uh, you know,always finding, uh, try to find
somewhere to volunteer.
(16:32):
I think is the biggest thing.
Um, I think that really leadsto a lot of really good
fellowship and um and community.
So, I think, just just steppingoutside of your comfort zone
and just volunteer.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Yeah, and I think there's uh, uh, plenty of ways
to volunteer, uh, here at hope.
So, if you're looking to do so,um, there are opportunities for
you to volunteer, uh, behindthe scenes, like Rob, uh,
setting up chairs and breakingthings down because he doesn't
like to be out in in the front,Uh, and, and there are plenty of
ways to volunteer like Dennisdoes, Uh, uh, one thing we
(17:05):
didn't mention is, uh, Dennis ison a team of people that
coordinates our annual golftournament.
Uh, and so you know, I know,Dennis, you're always looking
for volunteers to help out withthat event, Um, and so you know
I know.
Dennis, you're always lookingfor volunteers to help out with
that event, and there's plentyof other things going on here at
Hope.
So if you're looking tovolunteer, if you're looking to
be a part of a community ofother like-minded people,
(17:25):
there's probably somebody herethat is like you and we'd love
to help you get connected tothem.
So if you are interested inbeing a part of something like
our Fantasy Football League, youcan get more information for
that.
You can sign up for that all atmeethopeorg slash football.
If you're interested in being apart of the golf tournament,
(17:47):
you can talk to Dennis or myself.
You can participate as a golfer, as a sponsor, as a volunteer.
There's more information atmeethopeorg slash golf.
We'll include some links in ourshow notes, like how to join
both the Fantasy Football Leagueor be involved in the golf
tournament, or if you're lookingto volunteer or find more ways
to be a part of this communityat Hope.
(18:08):
Our goal at Hope is that thereare places for everyone, which
means, if you are listening,there is a place for you here at
Hope.
So we want places for everyoneto take a next step and find
community.
So if you're looking, I'd loveto help you.
You can reach out to me atdavidmeathopeorg or talk to me
when you see me if you want tocatch me on a Sunday morning, or
(18:30):
I am in the building here atHope quite often, since I work
here.
But we hope that this has beenbeneficial to you and has been
inspiring and uplifting, butthat's all we have for today.
So I want to thank Rob, I wantto thank Dennis for both of you
being here I really appreciateit and for all of our listeners.
(18:50):
Thanks for listening.
I hope you have a great day andwe'll see you next week.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Thanks for listening.
I hope you have a great day andwe'll see you next week.
Hello Hope Podcast listeners.
We live in a fast-paced worldwhere new material and ideas are
thrown at you 24-7.
Some of you told us this andsaid I want to listen to
everything, but it's hard tocatch up.
Well, we're here to help.
We desire to be a place that isgrateful for and respectful of
your precious time, and so toserve you best, we will every so
often be resharing pastepisodes that we call Second
(00:22):
Listen, because we think theyare worth taking a second to
replay.
Even if you are an every-weeklistener, we think having a
second listen to these episodeswill make an impact on your
weekend life, and if you haveheard this one but are behind on
new episodes, now is a greattime to catch up on any others
you have missed.
Thank you, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Welcome to Hope our world for the sake of others.
Welcome to Hope.
Hey everyone, welcome to theMeet Hope podcast.
I'm Dave Falcone, I'm theexecutive pastor here at Hope
Church and I'm excited to behosting today.
Joining me are two of myfriends, rob Finnegan and Dennis
Kessler.
Today I have the privilege ofhosting because we're talking
(01:23):
about one of my favorite thingshere at Hope, and that's
community.
So welcome Rob, welcome Dennis.
Why don't you both take aminute, introduce yourselves and
tell us how you've gottenconnected here at Hope?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Hi, I'm Dennis Kessler.
I've been going to Hope forquite a while.
I started when I was about 13or 14 in 1996, when we were over
at the high school, so it'sbeen a little while.
13 or 14 in 1996 when we wereover at the high school, so it's
been a little while.
My family also goes here mywife Erin, and my son Grayson,
who's nine, and my daughterAinsley, who's four.
By profession, I am a DBA,which is in the IT realm.
(01:56):
We deal with a lot of data onthe back end of healthcare firms
and a lot of financials andstuff like that.
Um, you know, healthcare firmsand a lot of financials and
stuff like that.
And, um, initially I startedcoming to hope and I connected
through the youth group, um, asI mentioned, when I was in my
teens, um, so that was great,having that um, that community
there.
And then, as I grew older, weplayed, we had the softball team
(02:17):
, which I also um met a lot of,uh, the members that were
already here that were a littlebit older than myself but who
were still, you know, in contactwith, and then also the fantasy
football, which is, you know,we're going to be talking about
later, which is a great avenueto make connections to.
So, and one of the other thingsis tomorrow's hope as well.
(02:37):
The preschool here which mykids have attended staff is just
great, so the community withthat as well.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
Hi, my name's Rob Finnegan, my wife is Janet.
I have two adult sons, ty andChase, who all attend.
We've been coming since around2015.
Gotten involved with fantasyfootball, golf, cornhole,
horseshoes, and then MountLaurel and we had the Mount
Laurel campus no-transcript.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
And what did you do as part of the Mount Laurel
campus?
How did you help out?
Speaker 5 (03:09):
Well, rick roped me into driving.
I saw my truck at a golf outingand said we need you.
So I ended up towing thetrailer on Sundays, bringing it
over, helping everybody set upand break down at the end of the
day.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Awesome, Rob.
You mentioned the FantasyFootball League.
Dennis, you did as well.
For those of you that arelistening and don't know what
the Fantasy Football League is,to give you a quick insight for
those of our listeners thataren't sure what Fantasy
Football is, it is a game inwhich you, as a manager, create
your own team of players fromreal players in the National
(03:45):
Football League.
You compete against othermanagers in your league, so
usually Fantasy Football Leaguesare made up of friends or
colleagues or people you know,so you compete against other
managers in your league to scorepoints based on the performance
of your players in real NFLgames.
And then in 2016, which Ibelieve was the first year both
(04:10):
of you joined we changed ourleague format a little to
accommodate more guys and stillend with one winner at the end
of the year.
We've had as many as 60 guys inone season playing together in
our league.
It's fun, it's exciting.
Fantasy football helps connectpeople on the outskirts of
(04:30):
Hope's community because it'sculturally relevant.
It's fun, it's welcoming tosomeone who isn't heavily
connected at Hope.
There is no faith requirement,there is no commitment to Hope
requirement.
It really is just anopportunity to create some
community within this Hopesetting and listeners.
I have to share with you thatyou are listening, or as you are
(04:53):
listening.
You are in the presence ofgreatness, because Dennis is our
reigning a current reigningchampion.
He won the 20,.
Dennis, you won the 2022 season.
Correct Congratulations, Thankyou.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Thank you, yeah, it was.
You know, in the past few yearsit's been a little rough.
I've gotten bumped out of theplayoffs early a few times, so
it was good to finally sort ofget over that hump there.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So why?
Let me ask you, Dennis, ascurrent reigning champion, why
fantasy football?
You know, what is it that youlike about it?
What are your favorite partsabout?
Speaker 4 (05:25):
it In general.
I just I'm a fantasy footballnerd regardless.
You know I do a bunch of otherleagues outside of this, but you
know any excuse to do another,another fantasy league and I'm
in.
So I think the beauty of it isyou know a lot of the members
here and the fantasy footballleague in general staying
connected is the biggest thing.
(05:46):
You know if you might misssomebody you might not see them
for a few weeks, but there'salways fancy football.
You know there's always trashtalking and stuff like that, so
you always are able to connectand it's and it's an easy way to
connect with people.
You know it's, it's a sort ofbridges, the gap between you
know church life here and alsopersonal life too.
So that's great.
And I think the beauty of it is, as you touched on earlier is
(06:09):
it's easy to bring in anybody,because I think there's a lot of
people who are involved infantasy and maybe they're locked
into, maybe coming to church,but fantasy is an easy way to
get people involved.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, and it is a lot of fun.
It is something that we havedone as just sheer joy over the
years.
There's no real-life impact toit, but it has developed and
created some friendships.
Rob, I know you've beeninvolved with it since 2016, and
I'm sure you can share a lot ofthe same things Dennis said
about why you do it.
But let me ask you this, robwhat are some good stories or
(06:43):
favorite memories that you haveover the years stemming from the
fantasy football?
Speaker 5 (06:49):
league.
I've got a couple of fun timeswe had.
Well, it was the first yearwhen I went to the draft.
I brought Hot Wings with me andyou would have thought I
brought caviar to the event,with the reaction from everybody
as Hot Wings although I guessHot Wings are caviar to fantasy
football but yeah, it was justshocking.
Everybody that jumped in andthought that was such a great
(07:10):
thing.
But the other memory which Davewill jump in on is my Le'Veon
Bell story, my son.
One of the reasons I joined theHope Fantasy Football was an
opportunity to play in a leaguewith both of my sons and so that
first draft my older son, ty,couldn't make it to the
(07:32):
beginning of the draft, so hehad set an auto pick and
selected Le'Veon Bell andLe'Veon was actually ended up
holding out for the seasonbecause he got a franchise tag
on him and as a result, my sonwasted his number two pick on a
player that wasn't going to play.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
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.
Uh, just to give you an idea,is you draft players and, um,
and what's important aboutdrafting players is in the first
round you're probably trying todraft the best players in the
league who are going to scorethe most points for you.
So if you go ahead and draftsomeone who sits out a whole
(08:14):
season and you do that in thefirst round, that's going to
have some major implications tohow poorly you're going to
perform over the years.
And, rob, I remember when Tydrafted Le'Veon Bell, who had
very publicly announced that hewas not going to play that year,
and it was all over the news,it was all over fantasy football
(08:37):
media.
And still, with the secondoverall pick, tyler drafts
Le'Veon Bell and we will neverlet him forget that.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Well, as a dad, initially I felt bad for him,
but then I saw Dave and how hejumped right on that and ended
up realizing that maybe I dobelong here with the level of
trash talk.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yeah, well, and it's one of those things where you,
when you find people that aresimilarly minded and have
similar personalities but I willsay this you know that was the
start of the friendship betweenTy and I I remember, after the
draft was over, going home andRob texting your wife and saying
(09:24):
hey, can I have Tyler's phonenumber?
Because I want to.
I want to just send himsomething.
And of course your, your sweetwife, was sure.
You know, this is great.
The pastor wants to text my son.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
He was one year too late on drafting him.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yeah, so of course you know I'm sending him.
You know, articles about howLe'Veon Bell is not going to be
playing that year and and wespent the better part of two or
three hours that night textingback and forth and busting each
other's chops and laughing andtalking about other things.
But that was the start of it issomething just as simple.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
He ended up.
He respects you a lot with yourknowledge on fantasy after the
fact, but I know he still textsyou for advice on all the
leagues that he's in.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
So so, jumping back to the main theme of this
podcast community.
Uh, let me ask you guys thiswhat is having community in your
life matter to you?
Speaker 4 (10:18):
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.
Um, I think guys are reluctantto get outside of their comfort
zones a lot, and so the fantasyfootball, 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
(10:40):
there to pray for me and to helpout and support us and my
family whenever we need it.
Just, it's instrumental for ourlife.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Uh, same I, I it's.
It was a way to give back thecharity.
With all the different uhevents that you get involved in
there, it's always a uh, anorganization or a charity that's
behind that, that we're doingit as well as helping out in
Mount Laurel and serving, andit's just an opportunity to um
to give back.
I've been very blessed in mylife and so it's a good way to
(11:16):
return the favors.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I think the big thing for me is you know yourself and
to show that you're that lightin the world and to to reflect
(11:39):
God's love to others.
So just having that opportunity, you know is, is a great thing.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
For me, you know, it provides new perspectives on
life and it allows me to, youknow, see, see different things
as well, as it keeps me grounded, keeps me humbled and, like I
said, I, I am, uh, I'm veryblessed in my life and, uh, you
know, being involved in, in allthe different events and and
with all the different people.
(12:07):
It just, you know, refocus meon, on what I'm really here for.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
So, uh, Rob, let me follow that up with a question.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
You know, did it click right away for you or did
it take some time?
Well, I I I'm not a religiousguy and I followed my wife here,
janet she.
She was a youth leader at our,our previous church and when my
sons aged out of youth the therewas really not much youth left
in the church, so she was kindof set afloat and didn't feel
like she had a home.
So when she was looking shefound hope.
(12:44):
And I had not been involved alot with our previous church and
I felt I needed to step up andsupport her and be with her.
So I followed her to here and Ireally liked the format of the
United Methodist Churches andthen you know, jeff and Rick are
(13:07):
great orators and the way thelesson is presented in
modern-day terms.
It just really attracted me andI've been to more services here
than I think I've been to anychurch of my past, so it's a
great experience for me.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Well, it's been neat to see that progression of that
for you, because I remember inthe early years when you and
your wife would attend, at theend of the service it was funny
to see Rob posted up by thefront door, quietly and
patiently standing there withyour what?
Six foot five frame justwaiting for your kind,
(13:46):
sweet-hearted, loving wife tofinish saying goodbye to
everybody in the churchcommunity.
And for those of you that don'tknow Janet, she is full of joy
and if you spend any time withher you can see that she will
hug you and embrace you and prayfor you.
And I remember, at the end ofevery service there's Rob
(14:10):
waiting by the door and there'sJanet saying hi to everybody on
her way out.
And you know, for that 10 or 15minutes, uh, as Rob uh tried to
kindly and patiently wait, um,seeing Janet make her way to the
door.
But I remember it was not toolong after that the hot wings
that you brought to the draft.
(14:30):
It was the first time that youand I met.
Um, I happen to be walkingthrough the lobby after church
one day, one Sunday, and Ihappened to have my Sixers hat
on and from over in the cornerof the room.
I hear you're a Sixers fanLooking around.
I'm like, who was that?
And I see you standing by thedoor again, waiting patiently
(14:50):
for your wife, and with a bigsmirk on your face, like you're
a Sixers fan, I was like, yeah,it was like we live in the
Philadelphia area.
Of course I'm a Sixers fan.
Ah, and then we engaged in afive, you know eight minute
conversation or whatever, untilJanet finally made her way to
the door and and and it's been aneat to see that now, quite
(15:12):
often Janet will be waiting bythe door for you to finish your
conversations with the friendsthat you have made over the
years.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
I don't know about all that, but it's possible.
But I do like talking sportsand there's a lot of great
sports fans here, but I think wehave that Sixers conversation
every Sunday.
I'm here.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Yeah, and the conversations right now probably
aren't as good as we're stillhaving the same Sixers
conversations you had six yearsago.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So let me ask you both this what is something that
you would share with someonenew who is looking for what you
found here at Hope?
Speaker 5 (15:47):
I would say to try new things, do things that make
you uncomfortable, get out ofyour comfort zone, which that's
for me.
I'm not a I'm a behind thescenes guy, I'm not one that's
on the front, but for me it wasmeeting the different people
here, getting involved in thedifferent events, helping set up
(16:07):
, helping break down, and italways ends up being a fun day.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just not being
afraid to step outside of yourcomfort zone.
I mean, there's so manywonderful people here who are,
you know, willing to lend a handand to, to reach out to you and
um, I think, just, um, I thinkthe biggest thing is just not
being afraid, just uh, you know,always finding, uh, try to find
somewhere to volunteer.
(16:32):
I think is the biggest thing.
Um, I think that really leadsto a lot of really good
fellowship and um and community.
So, I think, just just steppingoutside of your comfort zone
and just volunteer.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Yeah, and I think there's uh, uh, plenty of ways
to volunteer, uh, here at hope.
So, if you're looking to do so,um, there are opportunities for
you to volunteer, uh, behindthe scenes, like Rob, uh,
setting up chairs and breakingthings down because he doesn't
like to be out in in the front,Uh, and, and there are plenty of
ways to volunteer like Dennisdoes, Uh, uh, one thing we
(17:05):
didn't mention is, uh, Dennis ison a team of people that
coordinates our annual golftournament.
Uh, and so you know, I know,Dennis, you're always looking
for volunteers to help out withthat event, Um, and so you know
I know.
Dennis, you're always lookingfor volunteers to help out with
that event, and there's plentyof other things going on here at
Hope.
So if you're looking tovolunteer, if you're looking to
be a part of a community ofother like-minded people,
(17:25):
there's probably somebody herethat is like you and we'd love
to help you get connected tothem.
So if you are interested inbeing a part of something like
our Fantasy Football League, youcan get more information for
that.
You can sign up for that all atmeethopeorg slash football.
If you're interested in being apart of the golf tournament,
(17:47):
you can talk to Dennis or myself.
You can participate as a golfer, as a sponsor, as a volunteer.
There's more information atmeethopeorg slash golf.
We'll include some links in ourshow notes, like how to join
both the Fantasy Football Leagueor be involved in the golf
tournament, or if you're lookingto volunteer or find more ways
to be a part of this communityat Hope.
(18:08):
Our goal at Hope is that thereare places for everyone, which
means, if you are listening,there is a place for you here at
Hope.
So we want places for everyoneto take a next step and find
community.
So if you're looking, I'd loveto help you.
You can reach out to me atdavidmeathopeorg or talk to me
when you see me if you want tocatch me on a Sunday morning, or
(18:30):
I am in the building here atHope quite often, since I work
here.
But we hope that this has beenbeneficial to you and has been
inspiring and uplifting, butthat's all we have for today.
So I want to thank Rob, I wantto thank Dennis for both of you
being here I really appreciateit and for all of our listeners.
(18:50):
Thanks for listening.
I hope you have a great day andwe'll see you next week.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Thanks for listening.
I hope you have a great day andwe'll see you next week.
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