1 00:00:00,510 --> 00:00:05,254 Well, hello and welcome to Crowd Church's non-live livestream August series. My 2 00:00:05,254 --> 00:00:09,999 name is Matt Edmundson, and I just wanted to jump on before we get started with 3 00:00:09,999 --> 00:00:14,744 today's talk and tell you what's going on. So this isn't our usual Sunday 4 00:00:14,744 --> 00:00:19,488 service. I know, but it is our usual August Crowd service. If you're a regular 5 00:00:19,488 --> 00:00:24,233 to Crowd, you will have twigged already that we are not live. We're not in our 6 00:00:24,233 --> 00:00:28,978 studio as we would usually be when we livestream. Which means I won't be 7 00:00:28,978 --> 00:00:33,723 fighting the usual technical difficulties, but I may well fluff the odd line. 8 00:00:33,723 --> 00:00:38,467 Just putting that out there. And here's why it's a little bit different, because 9 00:00:38,467 --> 00:00:43,212 in August, half of Crowd Church kind of disappear to somewhere hot, and the 10 00:00:43,212 --> 00:00:47,957 other half of us are trying to kind of figure out, well, why did we not book 11 00:00:47,957 --> 00:00:52,701 somewhere, right? It is the month in the UK that most of the team get to book 12 00:00:52,701 --> 00:00:57,446 their holiday because of family. So we lean in, we lean, see, messing my lines 13 00:00:57,446 --> 00:01:02,191 up, we lean into that every August. And we pre-record the talks. So we don't 14 00:01:02,191 --> 00:01:06,936 have the Conversation Street. We don't have Live Lounge. And the whole team just 15 00:01:06,936 --> 00:01:11,680 gets to stop for the entire month of August. We think of it as our Sabbath rest. 16 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,425 And it's a practice we've done every year. Yeah, so that people who serve you 17 00:01:16,425 --> 00:01:21,170 week in week, they get some proper Sabbath rest and you still get something 18 00:01:21,170 --> 00:01:25,915 worth turning up for. The talks are actually brilliant. Uh, you'll get a lot out 19 00:01:25,915 --> 00:01:30,659 of them, so make sure you keep watching on a Sunday with your cup of tea, or 20 00:01:30,659 --> 00:01:35,404 possibly in August on a Wednesday afternoon when you're avoiding something 21 00:01:35,404 --> 00:01:40,149 important. I don't know, whatever suits you. And of course, if you're new here 22 00:01:40,149 --> 00:01:44,893 to Crowd, let me give you a big fat hello. Crowd is an online church, uh, 23 00:01:44,893 --> 00:01:49,638 actually with, uh, members all over the place. Everything we do here at Crowd, 24 00:01:49,638 --> 00:01:54,383 from the Sunday live stream to our midweek community groups, even the online 25 00:01:54,383 --> 00:01:59,128 course for those exploring Christianity All of it is on the website, which is 26 00:01:59,128 --> 00:02:03,872 www.crowd.church. Now, this August we are in the Book of Psalms for 5 weeks, 5 27 00:02:03,872 --> 00:02:08,617 Psalms. These are sort of Psalms written by people that— it's the book in the 28 00:02:08,617 --> 00:02:13,362 middle of the New, uh, Old Testament, uh, and there's going to be a thread 29 00:02:13,362 --> 00:02:18,106 running through this, uh, series, which is what restoration actually looks like 30 00:02:18,106 --> 00:02:22,851 when your life is all over the place, which Hands up if you need to hear that 31 00:02:22,851 --> 00:02:27,596 right now. One more thing before we get started, make sure you stay with us to 32 00:02:27,596 --> 00:02:32,341 the end of the video because there are some changes coming to Crowd starting in 33 00:02:32,341 --> 00:02:37,085 September, all of them good ones. And I'm going to tell you about a few of them 34 00:02:37,085 --> 00:02:41,830 after the talk. So hopefully that's created enough intrigue. But that's it. 35 00:02:41,830 --> 00:02:46,575 Let's settle in. Grab your notebooks, grab your pens. Let's enjoy the talk. I'll 36 00:02:46,575 --> 00:02:51,319 be back. 37 00:02:51,580 --> 00:02:57,622 After this. Good evening. Today we're going to continue in our series of the 38 00:02:57,622 --> 00:03:03,665 Psalms, um, looking at finding peace and using Psalm 16 for some guidance. Now, 39 00:03:03,665 --> 00:03:09,708 it's fair to say we live in a busy life. In fact, a common answer to 'How are 40 00:03:09,708 --> 00:03:15,750 you doing?'— the word 'busy' generally fits there in the opening statement or 41 00:03:15,750 --> 00:03:21,793 thereabouts. And you know, it's, it's not surprising. 47% of adults report 42 00:03:21,793 --> 00:03:27,836 feeling busier than ever according to the Office for National Statistics. We live 43 00:03:27,836 --> 00:03:33,878 in an always-on culture where the boundaries between home and work life are 44 00:03:33,878 --> 00:03:39,921 blurring. We're under more time pressures as parents. The, uh, the model from 45 00:03:39,921 --> 00:03:45,964 the '70s and '80s, go play outside, has been replaced by a highly scheduled 46 00:03:45,964 --> 00:03:52,007 string of activities and after-school clubs requiring lots of ferrying kids from 47 00:03:52,007 --> 00:03:58,049 A to B to C. And when they do play outside, they need to be supervised because 48 00:03:58,049 --> 00:04:04,092 times just aren't like what they used to be. Cost of living has done nothing but 49 00:04:04,092 --> 00:04:10,135 go up, meaning two-income household is a necessity, which just leaves more 50 00:04:10,135 --> 00:04:16,177 chores for everyone in their spare time, giving less downtime. And then on top 51 00:04:16,177 --> 00:04:22,220 of that, we somehow find the time to on average spend 6 hours and 51 minutes in 52 00:04:22,220 --> 00:04:28,263 front of our phone a day according to the, uh, DataReportal, um, digital report 53 00:04:28,263 --> 00:04:34,305 in 2026, uh, people looking at their phones an average of 96 times a day. Now, 54 00:04:34,305 --> 00:04:40,348 there are various, we'll say, peaceful strategies, things we can do to help 55 00:04:40,348 --> 00:04:46,391 this. Mindfulness has become a big buzzword. The University of Bath in 2024 did 56 00:04:46,391 --> 00:04:52,434 a global mindfulness study where they compared a control group versus a group 57 00:04:52,434 --> 00:04:58,476 doing 30 days of mindfulness exercises, and the group that did the exercises 58 00:04:58,476 --> 00:05:04,519 found, uh, reduced depression by 19% more than the control group. They found 59 00:05:04,519 --> 00:05:10,562 improved well-being by 7% more. They found decreased anxiety by 13% more. And 60 00:05:10,562 --> 00:05:16,604 overall, their attitudes towards health got more positive by 7%, and their 61 00:05:16,604 --> 00:05:22,647 behavioural intentions to look after their health increased by 7%. So definitely 62 00:05:22,647 --> 00:05:28,690 a positive impact here from mindfulness. But, you know, it's still it's, it's 63 00:05:28,690 --> 00:05:34,733 limited to what it can do. Global marketing research group Ipsos and Gallup did 64 00:05:34,733 --> 00:05:40,775 research into the most common lifestyle boundaries people undertake to try and 65 00:05:40,775 --> 00:05:46,818 achieve some balance, and the top 3 were physical escape, prioritising walking, 66 00:05:46,818 --> 00:05:52,861 exercise, or spending time in green nature and spaces to alter mood biology. 67 00:05:52,861 --> 00:05:58,903 Social connection, turning to a small, deeply vetted network of family and close 68 00:05:58,903 --> 00:06:04,946 friends for psychological safety And unsurprisingly, digital connection— 69 00:06:04,946 --> 00:06:10,989 deliberately turning off the news cycles and the social media feeds, or even the 70 00:06:10,989 --> 00:06:17,031 phone, to stop the constant flood of stress hormones. There are also coping 71 00:06:17,031 --> 00:06:23,074 mechanisms. A Chinese multi-university study looked at evaluating specific 72 00:06:23,074 --> 00:06:29,117 mindsets that would yield the best return on investment for life satisfaction, 73 00:06:29,117 --> 00:06:35,160 inner peace. And they found two. One is gratitude disposition, which is the 74 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:41,202 structured habit of actively acknowledging and reacting to positive elements in 75 00:06:41,202 --> 00:06:47,245 life, which acts as kind of a buffer against some more traumatic elements in 76 00:06:47,245 --> 00:06:53,288 life. And orientation to experience, or in other words, acceptance, 77 00:06:53,288 --> 00:06:59,330 psychological ability to look at a bad situation with curiosity and openness 78 00:06:59,330 --> 00:07:05,373 rather than denial, which prevents long-term mental friction. As believers, we 79 00:07:05,373 --> 00:07:11,416 have a little bit more to— at our disposal to counteract the stresses of a busy 80 00:07:11,416 --> 00:07:17,458 life. I'm going to take a moment to read Psalm 16. Keep me safe, O God, for in 81 00:07:17,458 --> 00:07:23,501 you I take refuge. I said to the Lord, you are my Lord, apart from you I have no 82 00:07:23,501 --> 00:07:29,544 good thing. As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in 83 00:07:29,544 --> 00:07:35,587 whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those will increase who run after other 84 00:07:35,587 --> 00:07:41,629 gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my 85 00:07:41,629 --> 00:07:47,672 lips. Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup. You have made my lot 86 00:07:47,672 --> 00:07:53,715 secure; the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have 87 00:07:53,715 --> 00:07:59,757 a delightful inheritance! I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night 88 00:07:59,757 --> 00:08:05,800 my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is my 89 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:11,843 right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue 90 00:08:11,843 --> 00:08:17,886 rejoices; My body will also rest secure because you will not abandon me to the 91 00:08:17,886 --> 00:08:23,928 grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the 92 00:08:23,928 --> 00:08:29,971 path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures 93 00:08:29,971 --> 00:08:36,014 at your right hand. Now Psalm 16 was written by King David, a key figure in the 94 00:08:36,014 --> 00:08:42,056 Old Testament. He was revered as a warrior king and a musician in Jewish 95 00:08:42,056 --> 00:08:48,099 culture. He actually has the longest running narrative in the Bible. His story 96 00:08:48,099 --> 00:08:54,142 starts in 1 Samuel 16, spanning through 4 books all the way to 2 Kings chapter 97 00:08:54,142 --> 00:09:00,184 2. In the gospel, he is closely linked with Jesus, Jesus being repetitively 98 00:09:00,184 --> 00:09:06,227 referred to as the son of David. After all, Jesus's lineage trace back to David. 99 00:09:06,227 --> 00:09:12,270 David is very much associated with the Psalms, and we know he wrote at least 100 00:09:12,270 --> 00:09:18,313 some of them. With the Psalms, sometimes we know exactly who wrote them, 101 00:09:18,313 --> 00:09:24,355 sometimes we don't. We do know that David wrote Psalm 16. We also know that 102 00:09:24,355 --> 00:09:30,398 Psalm 16 is not just any old Psalm. It is referred to as a miktam 103 00:09:30,398 --> 00:09:36,441 psalm. Now there are 6 of these in total. They were all written by David, and 104 00:09:36,441 --> 00:09:42,483 they were all associated with life-threatening circumstances or intense trials. 105 00:09:42,483 --> 00:09:48,526 Now we don't know specifically which circumstance David is referring to in this, 106 00:09:48,526 --> 00:09:54,569 but it is widely believed it was when he was on the run from King Saul after 107 00:09:54,569 --> 00:10:00,612 David's rise in popularity and Saul's jealousy. The precise origin and meaning of 108 00:10:00,612 --> 00:10:06,654 the miktam Psalms is not fully understood, but there are quite a few theories. 109 00:10:06,654 --> 00:10:12,697 So, the word is associated with the Hebrew root word ketem, meaning fine gold, 110 00:10:12,697 --> 00:10:18,740 implying these Psalms are of exceptional value. If we look to early Greek 111 00:10:18,740 --> 00:10:24,782 translations, the word is linked to the meaning inscription, suggesting worthy 112 00:10:24,782 --> 00:10:30,825 of being carved into stone for preservation throughout time. Finally, the 113 00:10:30,825 --> 00:10:36,868 Akkadian translation means to cover or hide, suggesting a hushed intimate 114 00:10:36,868 --> 00:10:42,910 prayer, which, you know, if you're living in caves and you're on the run, that 115 00:10:42,910 --> 00:10:48,953 hushed prayer would be consistent with trying not to get caught. Now, all of 116 00:10:48,953 --> 00:10:54,996 these psalms carry the same distinct structure. They have three parts: the cry, 117 00:10:54,996 --> 00:11:01,039 the surrender, and the victory. The cry is an urgent plea for deliverance, The 118 00:11:01,039 --> 00:11:07,081 surrender is an acknowledgement of God as the only refuge, and the victory is a 119 00:11:07,081 --> 00:11:13,124 conclusion of complete assurance in God's sovereignty. Interestingly, Psalm 16 120 00:11:13,124 --> 00:11:19,167 is very much prophetic, and it is even referred to in the New Testament. So 121 00:11:19,167 --> 00:11:25,209 after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2, as Peter addresses the 122 00:11:25,209 --> 00:11:31,252 crowd, he literally quotes Psalm 16. Verse 10, you will not abandon my soul to 123 00:11:31,252 --> 00:11:37,295 Sheol or let the Holy One see corruption, proving that David was speaking 124 00:11:37,295 --> 00:11:43,337 prophetically about the death of Christ. Again, Paul uses the same argument in 125 00:11:43,337 --> 00:11:49,380 Acts 13, stating that because Jesus rose from the dead without decaying, as 126 00:11:49,380 --> 00:11:55,423 mentioned in Psalm 16, he uniquely fulfills David's song. So Psalm 16 here is, 127 00:11:55,423 --> 00:12:01,466 is one to take special note of. You know, for the author, for the— its 128 00:12:01,466 --> 00:12:07,508 implication as a miktam psalm, and for its prophetic meaning as well. So in this 129 00:12:07,508 --> 00:12:13,551 psalm, David makes a choice to choose God. He takes refuge in God. And the 130 00:12:13,551 --> 00:12:19,594 Hebrew word for refuge, chasah, in verse 1 implies an active, deliberate flight 131 00:12:19,594 --> 00:12:25,636 to a stronghold for absolute safety. We're not talking about a little hiding 132 00:12:25,636 --> 00:12:31,679 spot, you know, we're heading to Fort Knox, or if you're a Lord of the Rings 133 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:37,722 fan, we're heading to Helm's Deep, the fortress built into the mountain. This is 134 00:12:37,722 --> 00:12:43,765 absolute stronghold. He acknowledges all blessings come from God in verse 2, and 135 00:12:43,765 --> 00:12:49,807 verse 3 goes on to find joy in God's people, finding community in God's people. 136 00:12:49,807 --> 00:12:55,850 And he warns that those who chase after other gods have their sorrows 137 00:12:55,850 --> 00:13:01,893 multiplied. So David makes a clear choice to choose God, and in God he finds 138 00:13:01,893 --> 00:13:07,935 ultimate safety and the source of all good. He accepts his present reality. In 139 00:13:07,935 --> 00:13:13,978 verse 5, he declares, the Lord is my portion and my cup. Portion, the Hebrew 140 00:13:13,978 --> 00:13:20,021 word manah, refers to measured share of assigned land or duties or wealth. Cup 141 00:13:20,021 --> 00:13:26,063 refers to God's provision and blessing. We say, "My cup is overflowing." It is 142 00:13:26,063 --> 00:13:32,106 overflowing with blessings from God. The boundary lines he refers to, the Hebrew 143 00:13:32,106 --> 00:13:38,149 word "chebel," refers to measuring cords used to divide up inherited property. 144 00:13:38,149 --> 00:13:44,192 He views his circumstances as being perfectly measured by God, as if inheritance 145 00:13:44,192 --> 00:13:50,234 were being divided up. So the terrible situation he is in right now, he views as 146 00:13:50,234 --> 00:13:56,277 being perfectly measured by God. He takes counsel from God even in the stillness 147 00:13:56,277 --> 00:14:02,320 of the night. So rather than tossing and turning with anxiety in his bed, he's 148 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:08,362 up meditating on God. He's making a deliberate choice to put God at the centre 149 00:14:08,362 --> 00:14:14,405 of attention and focusing solely on him and finding contentment by focusing 150 00:14:14,405 --> 00:14:20,448 solely on God and not what is happening around us. Through God, he finds 151 00:14:20,448 --> 00:14:26,491 contentment and security in his present reality. And finally, David looks to a 152 00:14:26,491 --> 00:14:32,533 future hope. In verse 10, he says he's confident that God will not abandon his 153 00:14:32,533 --> 00:14:38,576 soul to the grave. He looks to God to reveal the ultimate victory over death. He 154 00:14:38,576 --> 00:14:44,619 cultivates joy over happiness. Now, happiness is dependent on good happenings, 155 00:14:44,619 --> 00:14:50,661 but joy in the biblical sense is an unshakable confidence from knowing a secure 156 00:14:50,661 --> 00:14:56,704 eternal future with God. He looks joyfully to a certain future, and ultimately 157 00:14:56,704 --> 00:15:02,747 and prophetically pointing to Jesus's death and resurrection on the cross 158 00:15:02,747 --> 00:15:08,789 without spelling it out. So we take a moment to think about this, how we can use 159 00:15:08,789 --> 00:15:14,832 this to deal with a busy life. Well, it's important to identify and remove idols 160 00:15:14,832 --> 00:15:20,875 now, and other gods. Now, for us, modern idols are rarely statues. They are 161 00:15:20,875 --> 00:15:26,918 things that we rely upon instead of God for security, comfort, or identity. So 162 00:15:26,918 --> 00:15:32,960 When we get really stressed, where does our time, our money, and our thought go? 163 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:39,003 Does it go to online shopping, social media, and career achievement? Or do we 164 00:15:39,003 --> 00:15:45,046 practice pausing to redirect our dependence and our focus to God, as in Psalm 165 00:15:45,046 --> 00:15:51,088 16:8, I will always keep my eyes on the Lord. Another thing we can do is find 166 00:15:51,088 --> 00:15:57,131 contentment within our boundary lines. Are we thankful for what we have rather 167 00:15:57,131 --> 00:16:03,174 than envying others? Do we compare career, relationships, or other lifestyle 168 00:16:03,174 --> 00:16:09,216 factors to other on social media? No matter what circumstance we're going 169 00:16:09,216 --> 00:16:15,259 through right now and how bad, we have an opportunity to grow in this. As in 170 00:16:15,259 --> 00:16:21,302 James 1:2-4, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face 171 00:16:21,302 --> 00:16:27,345 trials of many kinds, because you know that testing of your faith produces 172 00:16:27,345 --> 00:16:33,387 perseverance. By finding contentment within our boundary lines, we find a chance 173 00:16:33,387 --> 00:16:39,430 to grow in him. Are we seeking nighttime counsel? So when we're lying awake with 174 00:16:39,430 --> 00:16:45,473 anxiety, do we toss and turn? Do we doom scroll? Are we praying or meditating on 175 00:16:45,473 --> 00:16:51,515 scripture? You know, Psalm 16:7: I will praise the Lord who counsels me, even at 176 00:16:51,515 --> 00:16:57,558 night my heart instructs me. Where is our heart at night when the anxiety is 177 00:16:57,558 --> 00:17:03,601 creeping in. We can anchor our focus. Stability doesn't happen by accident. It 178 00:17:03,601 --> 00:17:09,644 requires a deliberate choice to keep God at the centre of our attention. In 179 00:17:09,644 --> 00:17:15,686 order to do so, we need to be focused on God daily. We need that daily habit of 180 00:17:15,686 --> 00:17:21,729 coming to his word, coming to him in prayer. Are we doing that to make God 181 00:17:21,729 --> 00:17:27,772 centre of our lives, or are we just saying we're making him centre of our lives? 182 00:17:27,772 --> 00:17:33,814 Finally, we can cultivate joy over happiness. As I mentioned before, happiness 183 00:17:33,814 --> 00:17:39,857 depends on good happenings. Joy comes from knowing our eternal future is secure. 184 00:17:39,857 --> 00:17:45,900 When things are not going well, where do we focus our thoughts? Is our joy in 185 00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:51,942 the strength of the Lord? Because whatever the situation, we can find peace in 186 00:17:51,942 --> 00:17:57,985 God. Where we have ultimate safety, our needs met, and a secure future. Now, as 187 00:17:57,985 --> 00:18:04,028 this is a pre-recorded talk and not the usual livestream, you can still ask 188 00:18:04,028 --> 00:18:10,071 questions. You just have to send them into the— to us at crowd.church via the 189 00:18:10,071 --> 00:18:16,113 website, and we will get back to you. We are an online church. If you would like 190 00:18:16,113 --> 00:18:22,156 to learn more, we have a Sunday night livestream, apart from in August when it's 191 00:18:22,156 --> 00:18:28,199 pre-recorded. We have a live room hangout afterwards, and we have midweek Bible 192 00:18:28,199 --> 00:18:34,241 study groups which are all Zoom-based, so it doesn't matter where you are. If 193 00:18:34,241 --> 00:18:40,284 you would like to reach out, if you would like to come and study the word of God 194 00:18:40,284 --> 00:18:46,327 with us, please get in touch. Details on how to join, again, head to 195 00:18:46,327 --> 00:18:52,369 crowd.church. Have a wonderful evening. God bless. 196 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,907 So that's the talk, and you're going to be able to find all of the notes, a sort 197 00:18:59,907 --> 00:19:04,614 of a detailed blog post about it, all on the website, which is www.crowd.church. 198 00:19:04,614 --> 00:19:09,321 And of course, if you'd rather listen than watch, you know, maybe you're on the 199 00:19:09,321 --> 00:19:14,028 school run, on a dog walk, washing up, whatever it is, every talk goes out as a 200 00:19:14,028 --> 00:19:18,735 podcast. Just search Crowd Church not Crowd.Church, that's our website. Search 201 00:19:18,735 --> 00:19:23,442 Crowd Church wherever you get your podcasts from. I reference back my previous 202 00:19:23,442 --> 00:19:28,149 point about fluffing lines. Now I did say at the start that there were some 203 00:19:28,149 --> 00:19:32,855 changes coming to Crowd, so do let me tell you about them. Number 1, Live 204 00:19:32,855 --> 00:19:37,563 Lounge. Now normally Live Lounge is a chance to jump and chat to the team, to 205 00:19:37,563 --> 00:19:42,269 jump on a call and chat with members of the team after the live stream 206 00:19:42,269 --> 00:19:46,977 has ended. But from September, you're gonna be able to do that from the start of 207 00:19:46,977 --> 00:19:51,683 the live stream, you'll be able to watch the live stream in Live Lounge and 208 00:19:51,683 --> 00:19:56,391 watch it with actual people, for your community, your friends, maybe even make 209 00:19:56,391 --> 00:20:01,097 some new friends. And like I say, gonna do that right from the start, which I'm 210 00:20:01,097 --> 00:20:05,805 really excited about, because it is going to help us build community. We have a 211 00:20:05,805 --> 00:20:10,511 phenomenal community here at Crowd. And building on that, I think is going to 212 00:20:10,511 --> 00:20:15,219 just be exciting and phenomenal. So that's going to be one change. The second 213 00:20:15,219 --> 00:20:19,925 change, the Wednesday night community groups are changing a little bit. So 214 00:20:19,925 --> 00:20:24,633 instead of having scattered and disparate groups, we're going to gather together 215 00:20:24,633 --> 00:20:29,339 as one big community and then break into smaller groups. And each small group 216 00:20:29,339 --> 00:20:34,047 will be your regular sort of community group where people get to know your name, 217 00:20:34,047 --> 00:20:38,753 when they notice if you're not there, and you get to build your friendships. 218 00:20:38,753 --> 00:20:43,461 Alpha will run alongside Community from September, it's going to move to a 219 00:20:43,461 --> 00:20:48,168 Wednesday night, same time, 7:30. Um, and Alpha is great if you're new to the 220 00:20:48,168 --> 00:20:52,875 Christian faith or if you're just exploring the Christian faith. The next Alpha 221 00:20:52,875 --> 00:20:57,581 course starts on the 9th of September, and you can register for that on the 222 00:20:57,581 --> 00:21:02,288 website at www.crowd.church. We have lots of people coming to Alpha. They are 223 00:21:02,288 --> 00:21:06,996 phenomenal things. Um, so yeah, go check out the website for more information 224 00:21:06,996 --> 00:21:11,702 about that at crowd.church. The third change is more in-person meetups. Yay, go 225 00:21:11,702 --> 00:21:16,410 in-person meetups! Now, we baptised some folks in Dorset last month, which was 226 00:21:16,410 --> 00:21:21,116 really phenomenal. We thought, actually, we need to do more of these in-person 227 00:21:21,116 --> 00:21:25,824 meetups. So that's what we're going to do. We are planning gatherings throughout 228 00:21:25,824 --> 00:21:30,530 the year, from regional meetups to bigger events. Again, more information will 229 00:21:30,530 --> 00:21:35,238 be coming, more information on the website. One thing to tell you about, 230 00:21:35,238 --> 00:21:39,944 CrowdFest '27 will be held— with CrowdFest is going to be a big get-together 231 00:21:39,944 --> 00:21:44,652 where we all get together, and we're going to do that at the Wildfires Festival 232 00:21:44,652 --> 00:21:49,358 at the end of July in 2027. You can find out more information about Wildfires 233 00:21:49,358 --> 00:21:54,066 Festival and buy your tickets at wildfiresfestival.com, um, or just follow the 234 00:21:54,066 --> 00:21:58,772 links from the website because there's going to be more information on the 235 00:21:58,772 --> 00:22:03,480 website about CrowdFest '27, crowd.church. So yeah, if that's not it, there's 236 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:08,186 more stuff coming. Yes, there are, so— but I don't want to bombard you. We're 237 00:22:08,186 --> 00:22:12,894 going to go through that in more detail in September. Yes, we are. So in the 238 00:22:12,894 --> 00:22:17,600 meantime, like I said, everything you want to know about Crowd from past talks 239 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:22,307 to all the stuff we've talked about today is on the website, www.crowd.church. 240 00:22:22,307 --> 00:22:27,014 Make sure you subscribe to the channel, uh, whilst you're here, because like I 241 00:22:27,014 --> 00:22:31,721 said, this is a 5-parter all the way through the Book of Psalms, and it's built 242 00:22:31,721 --> 00:22:36,428 to be taken as a whole. Each one's going to build onto the next one, so don't 243 00:22:36,428 --> 00:22:41,135 miss any of them. But that's it from me. Thank you so much for joining us. Have 244 00:22:41,135 --> 00:22:45,842 a phenomenal week wherever you are in the world. I will see you next time. Bye 245 00:22:45,842 --> 00:22:50,549 for now.