Welcome to this week's Crowd Church service.
We are a digital church on a quest to discover how Jesus helps
us live a more meaningful life.
We are a community, a space to explore the Christian faith and a place
where you can contribute and grow.
Our service, uh, will last about an hour and in a few seconds you'll
meet our hosts, uh, for our service, who will introduce today's talk.
After the talk, we will have a time of worship and reflection, after which we
head into Conversation Street, where we look at your stories and questions
that you've posted in the comments.
Now, we want to invite you to connect with us here at Crowd Church, and we've got a
few ways in which you can do just that.
Firstly, you can engage with Crowd from any device during our
livestream, and if you're up for it.
Why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together?
You see, church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others.
And one of the easiest ways for you to do that is join one of our
midweek groups where we meet online together to catch up and discover
more about the amazingness of Christ.
You can also subscribe to our fairly new podcast called What's the Story,
uh, where we deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people.
More information about all of these things can be found on our website,
www.crowd.church, or you can reach out to us on social media at Crowd Church.
If you are new to Crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like to know
what your next steps to take are well, why not head over to our website,
www.crowd.church/next for more details.
And now the moment you've been waiting for is here.
Our Online Church Service starts right now.
Good evening and welcome to Crowd Online Church.
I am hosting this evening.
My name is Matt Edmundson and beside me is
Sadaf Beynon.
Absolutely.
So what a legend Sadaf Beynon is.
It's great that you are here, miss Sadaf, and thank you for joining me.
Thanks for hosting.
This is your annual trip into hosting, right?
Yeah.
You seem to like do it once a year and and that's about it.
Yeah, this is my annual appearance.
Yeah, you don't want too much of a good thing, right?
So once a year's, fine.
You gotta, you gotta pace, pace, pace.
So welcome to Crowd Online Church.
Great that you are here with Sadaf and myself.
Great that you've joined us.
Uh, we are streaming live on Facebook and YouTube.
Uh, and if this, uh, is the first time you've heard this notice, then, uh,
please forgive me, but we are encouraging.
If you're on Facebook, there is a link to watch on YouTube.
Um, come join us on YouTube in the comments.
Uh, people will still be in the comments and stuff on Facebook, but,
um, but yeah, come join us on YouTube.
The reason is we are gonna at some point.
I dunno when, there's no fixed date yet, is there Sadaf?
Uh, we are at some point gonna close down the Crowd Facebook stream and
focus solely on the YouTube stream.
I could bore you as to the reasons why we are doing this, uh, but it is very boring.
But trust me, it's a good thing to do.
So if you're on Facebook, come join us on YouTube.
It would be great to see you in the comments there.
Matt Crew has actually made his way over to, uh, YouTube, which surprised
me given his comments last week.
Um, he's Facebook's biggest fan.
Uh, he's, he's the last one already.
Uh, YouTube is boring him already, apparently.
So.
, oh, well, Matt, it just, it is what it is.
What can I say?
You'll get over it.
Uh, no doubt.
So, yes, Sadaf.
How are we?
We are good.
Yeah, we are good.
Yeah.
Good.
Now, you told me, uh, before we hit the go live button that your
house is in a bit of a state, right?
So your DIY DIY day, is it at, uh, is it at home?
Yeah.
It's more like a DIY month.
Is it one of those things?
You say this
it's DIY month?
Uh, yes, absolutely.
So, DIY month, um, trying to get ready for Christmas, right?
No.
This is just, um, you know, things that gotta be done.
We've got a banister to put back up.
We've got a room to decorate.
Um, yeah, but you know, everyone's still alive.
We're all good.
Everyone's still, we're still good.
Yeah.
That's brilliant.
So, uh, it's one of those, isn't it?
Where, um, It is, we are coming up to Christmas.
We are in that Christmas rush of trying to get things done.
Uh, the house is, uh, all a bit chaotic.
I've been busy building advent calendars.
Uh, Zoe and I, uh, have been busy building the old advent calendars,
getting ready for Christmas.
We are, of course, doing some good stuff, uh, over Christmas at Crowd Church.
Sadaf you wanna tell the good folks what we're doing?
I'm gonna give it a stab.
I, I, I totally strung you up.
I appreciate, I'm sorry to do that, but I.
I know what's happening next week.
Yeah, absolutely.
No, I totally stitched that up.
That's fine.
Uh, yes.
Over Christmas, we are gonna be doing our Christmas live
stream on the 18th of December.
Uh, just so you know, that's gonna be coming out.
Talking about finding peace and difficult times.
That's the topic of this Christmas's talk, which uh, kind of tells you
the times that we're living in.
If that's the talk we're doing on a Christmas uh, service.
We've actually got a Christmas Day non-live livestream happening
as well, as well as a New Year's Day non-live livestream.
Um, uh, and so yeah, we got lots of stuff coming up over Christmas.
So do come and join in what's, have you had work done on your face?
Uh, I assume you're talking to me, uh, and not to Sadaf, cuz that would be rude.
Uh, no I haven't.
Uh, but thanks for asking.
So, question, uh, do come and say hi in the comments.
Uh, make sure you know, uh, Matt's not alone in his comments.
Uh uh, so yes, welcome.
So today coming up, what we got coming up today.
Sadaf you do know the answer to that question.
Yes I do.
So Sherlon is gonna be sharing with us from John chapter 16 versus 17 to 18.
Uh, no.
End of 17, sorry.
Mm-hmm..
Um, and there's gonna be a reflection time and then there's
gonna be Conversation Street, which you guys wanna hang around for.
And I think I've covered it.
Yeah, it's good.
Very good.
Well done.
Um, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Sadaf, because she only joins us once
a year, why don't you tell the good folks a few things about yourself, miss Sadaf?
Okay, well you see me on screen once a year, but I'm usually
behind the scenes the rest of the week, the rest of the time.
So, yeah, I, I work with Matt, um, and I help out with Crowd in the
background and whatever else Matt's got going on, I'm, uh, I'm there.
Yeah, absolutely.
You are, uh, amazing.
And, um, a lot of the stuff that happens is all because Sadaf is brilliant.
So thank you.
You're an awesome person.
Uh, and it's great to be, it's great to get you this side of the camera, uh, which
is, it is an unusual feat to accomplish.
I don't quite know how we did it, but we did it nonetheless.
Uh, and we are here.
So let's get into Sherlon's, uh, talk.
But before we do, let me read to you, let me get it up here
on my little, my little screen.
Um, so we are in a series called Origin and we are looking at the
start of the Christian faith.
And, uh, we, we've done kind of a whistle stop tour through the gospel
of John, and we are in that process.
We're gonna start deep diving in the book of Acts next year.
Uh, but we are going through the gospel of John, and we as Sadaf
said, we're on chapter 16 and, Halfway through it, and Sherlon's
gonna be talking about scriptures from chapter 16 from chapter 17.
That's a lot of scriptures.
I'm not gonna read them all out, but just to give you a bit of background to
where we're up to, in case this is your first time with us, Jesus is in this,
in this sort of long conversation with his disciples and he's talked about all
kinds of various things so far, uh, which we've covered on Crowd and today, um,
he is gonna carry on that conversation.
He's been talking about the Holy Spirit, um, and, uh, he starts.
This section, uh, that we're starting with is where it says the
disciples grief will turn to joy.
That's the heading in my bible.
Uh, so Jesus has told them that, uh, or he's about to tell them, Jesus
goes on the same verse 16, in a little while, you will see me no more.
And then after a little while you will see me.
And this is an intriguing statement.
Sherlon's gonna pick up on it a little bit because these guys have
been with Jesus for like three years in some quite tricky situations.
One might add.
They've grown quite close, I'm sure.
And so, uh, and they've given their lives to sort of follow this guy.
And here he is saying, in a little while, you're not gonna see me boys.
And it's all a bit, it's all a bit kinda like, hang on a minute.
And so this, some of this disciples in verse 17 said to
one another, What does he mean?
In a little while you'll see me no more.
And then after a little while you will see me.
Uh, um, and they kept asking, what does he mean by this?
Cuz they didn't understand what he was saying and you could understand
that right, with the sort of the confusion that was going on.
So with that backdrop, let's bring Sherlon onto the screen, uh, and
uh, and we'll start the talk.
And then like Sadaf said, after the worship, uh, she and I will
be back for Conversation Street.
Join in the comments.
We'll see you in a few minutes.
Hi, um, my name's Sherlon and today I wanna talk a bit about Prayer
and what Jesus says about Prayer.
Now, um, I'm a secondary school RE teacher and in last term
we've been looking at Abraham.
Abraham was a founder of the Jewish faith and he's very important
in the Christian faith as well.
And he's seen as a man of, of faith.
Father of faith even.
Now I asked my students, were looking at the story of Abraham, and, uh, we're
looking at, the key word was trust.
I asked the students, you know, when someone says to you about trust, what
do you think about, you know, what type of per person or people do you trust?
What does trust actually mean?
What's the definition?
And they come out with stuff like, um, you trust someone you can
rely on, you trust someone who maybe known that family, friends,
someone who wants to snitch on you.
Someone who won't tell you secrets, someone who speak and tell you
the truth and be honest with you, someone you can be open with.
And I, I think today as we look at, um, the Bible, Jesus is a trustworthy person.
What he says is important.
And if we allow Jesus' words in the Bible to affect us, it will change us.
And transform us.
Now, when I was looking at, um, John 16, the word that really stuck out for
me was see, um, today's Bible passage starts out with, in a little while, uh,
you will see me and then you'll see me no more, and then you'll see me again.
Now, in the context for this was basically that Jesus was about to die on the cross.
He was talking to his, his followers, his 12 disciples, his telling,
he'd have to go where he would die, but then he'd rise from the dead.
He'd be resurrected, and then they would see him again.
But then eventually he would go away.
He'd, he'd ascend into heaven and God will send his Holy Spirit to
help them to live their lives.
Now, seeing is, is very important.
It's mentioned a lot in chapter 16, um, and how we see is, I
think really important in life.
Now, Christians believe that we see not just with our natural
eyes, but with the eyes of faith.
Now, I wear glasses cuz the eyesight's not that great to be honest.
But it's almost like we need a spectacles or the sight or the perspective of God.
God sees beyond circumstances he sees with faith.
The Bible says that the righteous shall live by faith.
We live by faith and not just by natural sight.
So in spite of our circumstances, if we learn to see as Jesus see, we can try
and in the midst of our circumstances, uh, the end of John 16:33 is one of my
favorite passages in the whole of Bible.
And Jesus is speaking and in my Bible, his words are always in red always stand
that cuz you know they're important.
He says this in, in John 16:33.
I've told you these things that in me, you may have peace.
In this world, you will have trouble.
But take heart, I've overcome the world.
So Jesus is saying here that peace is not the absence of war or conflict.
Peace is knowing that God is in control.
Peace is knowing that no matter what happens in our lives, God is a certainty.
He's, he's at solid rock.
Now we look around as that society, everything's changing.
Whether it be inflation rates, prime ministers, cost of
living, food prices, gas prices, whatever, constant uncertainty.
But in midst of that, when Jesus speaks, he brings certainty.
He he brings peace because ultimately he is in control.
Trouble is inevitable, suffering, hardship.
It's inevitable.
It's, it's part of life.
But the good news is that in the midst of all that, Jesus is standing with us.
He's, he's in that boat.
He wants us to, to know that he can give us peace when
everything else is being shaken.
If we stand on Jesus, if we stand on what he says in the Bible, if we believe what
he says about us, then the circumstance of life don't have to ruin us.
They can strengthen us rather than making us weak and despair.
We can have hope in the midst of all that is going on.
You know, John 17 is all about Prayer, and I have to be honest.
I love it.
I love Prayer.
I love praying for people.
It's called Intercession.
I love praying to God.
I love when God talks back to me because Prayer at heart is a conversation.
And John 17, it, it's titled that, Jesus prays for his disciples.
He prays for his followers.
He prays for the, um, disciples who are with him at the time.
The 12 disciples, 12 followers.
He prays for the disciples who are here now.
People like you, people like me.
Now, I think it's amazing when people pray for you.
I am, when I was growing up, I read this book on Prayer and it said
this, in its introduction, this, this book is a, is a unique resource for
people who believe that God can use their prayers to change the world.
When you're 18 and you read that, you think, wow, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna grab hold of that.
I'm gonna allow God to use my prayers to change the world.
It's a pretty amazing thing.
I have two wonderful daughters and I pray for them every day, and I pray
for them because I love them both.
I pray for them because I want 'em to grow up, be strong,
resilient, successful women.
I want 'em to him to achieve something in life.
I want them to have a happy and a healthy life.
So, so I pray.
That's part of my job is being their father.
You know?
Cause I love them.
But when John 17 talks about Jesus is praying for his disciples, he's
praying for his followers, he's praying for you, he's praying for me.
That speaks to me about how much God loves us, how special, how important
we are that the God who flung the stars into the sky, the God who spoke the very
universe into being, thinks that you and me are special enough to pray for us.
I want to know what, what is he praying?
What is he praying for you?
What, what is he praying for me in this, in this Bible?
Well, when I look at 17 John 17, he prays three or four things.
He prays, um, for protection.
He prays that even though we're in the world and there will be trouble
in the world, he prays that we will be protected from all that's going on.
In the midst of suffering, we'll know his protection.
In the midst of suffering, we'll know his peace.
In the midst of suffering and hardship and difficulty.
We will know that we are not alone, that we are not forgotten.
So he prays for protection.
He also says here that he prays.
Um, for glory.
Now, he prays that our lives would bring glory to him.
He prays that we would reflect his glory.
That when people see us, they see Christians, they see Jesus, and they
think they've got something, I want that.
He prays for power.
And uh, when I was, um, reading a couple of books a couple weeks
ago about power, I read one book and it's called Power for Living.
Now Christianity is not a self-help religion.
Jesus promises us power.
He prays that we would have his power at work in us.
Now, in John 16, when Jesus left the world and he ascended, he went
back up into heaven, the ascension, 40 days after he was rose from
the dead on, um, Easter Sunday.
He left us his Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy
Spirit trinity the three in one God.
He left us His Holy Spirit.
That Holy Spirit is the power that we need to live our lives because
we can't do it in ourselves.
You know, we need God's power to live this life in the way that God wants us to.
So that in the midst of whatever we face, whatever circumstance it be, unemployment,
be it sickness or bereavement, be it uncertainty, be it poor mental health,
whatever negative circumstance we face, we need God's power to help us to live right.
So when God prays for us in John 17, he prays that we would have power.
He prays for protection.
He says he doesn't ask that we be taken out of the world.
But he asks that we will be protected from the evil one in it.
And he says here in verse 20, in John 17, I pray not only for them,
but also for those who believe in me because of their message.
I pray that they may all be one.
Father they may be in us as you are in me and I am in you.
May they be one.
So the world believe that you sent me.
What does that mean?
What was Jesus praying, praying for you?
What is Jesus praying for me?
Well, he's praying that we would know who we are.
My children know that I am their father and they have a mother, and
that they come from us, that they belong to us, that we are family.
God wants us to know that we are family.
We belong to God, he belongs to us.
And if we live and act as family, and we will be successful in
this life, irrespective of what circumstances, um, may throw us.
He prays for unity that we may be one as he is one, so that
our lives will glorify him.
So when I read today's word in the Bible, and I read that Jesus is
speaking about you and me, he, when he prays, he speaks life over us.
His prayers speak life.
They speak hope, they speak peace, they speak certainty.
So today I want to encourage you to read the Bible, read John 17 and
see what Jesus is saying about you.
See what Jesus is speaking over you and realize that Jesus is praying for you
because you matter and you are special.
But here's the good thing.
We get to talk back to God too.
We get to pray to him.
So why, why don't you start a conversation.
Start a new conversation with God today and let's see where
that will take you and take me.
Thank you.
Well, there you go.
Welcome back.
Thanks Sherlon for the talk.
Quite a short talk today, uh, from Sherlon.
So, uh, but still plenty to talk about.
Uh, we are gonna dig into that whole thing.
Uh, I especially Sadaf want dig into this, the prayers
that Jesus prayed for me thing.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and go through those and let's chat about what they mean.
Sherlon touched on that a little bit, so I think it'd be good to
go through them a little bit.
Is that alright with you?
Does that work?
Does that sound Yeah, that's a good way to spend a Sunday evening.
So, uh, the, the first, uh, part of the scripture that I want to sort of dig
into is not actually, um, at the start.
So Jesus starts praying for his disciples at the start of verse.
Uh, sort of chapter 17.
I wanna dig straight into verse 20 where it says, uh, where Jesus says,
my Prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.
Right?
Uh, just highlighting the point that Jesus is not just talking about his disciples,
but anyone who believes through his, their message, which basically is, is all of us.
Cause indirectly, one way or another, we are all here
because of their message, right?
Mm-hmm.
Um, so, uh, the first Prayer is that all of them may be one father.
Just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that the
world may believe that you have sent me.
Uh, that's a really interesting thing to pray.
And I'm kind of curious Sadaf.
What do you think he means when, uh, Jesus says it?
Um, I think for me it, um, I think Jesus prays for unity in the church.
I think that's, um, I think that's big for, for him, that we're not
fractured, that the church is not divided, but that we are all one.
Mm-hmm.
um, yeah, I see in verse 21, especially that all of them maybe
one that he's talking about unity.
Yep.
So you see that as, so I'm, I'm, I'm, uh, what's the word I'm looking for?
Ambidextrous is the wrong phrase.
Uh, multitasking.
That's the right phrase.
I'm trying to post the scriptures in the comments at the same time, uh, as
we're, you want me to keep talking?
Yeah.
Do That's
Uh, yeah.
I just think that it, you know, when, when we as Christians, or even them
like the, the disciples that when they are a good witness to for the Lord,
then they create that unity where there's poor witness in the world.
That's when the church is divided.
Yeah.
And becomes fractured.
So, um, knowing, knowing the scriptures, knowing the Bible, and, um, knowing Jesus
helps us to be a good witness for him.
And that's how we create unity amongst our, our own circles
and, you know, in our evangelism.
So what does, um, you, you say unity or unity?
Uh, you know, if you were, if you were Canadian.
Um, so you say Unity.
Um, what does that mean to you though, because it's one of those, um, I think
unity is one of those things that we talk a lot about in church and a lot of
people have come away with the impression because it's, let's be real, right?
It's usually pastors who talk about unity and they can often talk, and I don't think
it's done deliberately or maliciously, but it can often come across as the people
in leadership are talking about unity in a way which says, you need to agree
with us, otherwise you're not unified.
And I don't think that's what Unity is.
Um, just to clarify that, so what is unity in your mind, in your opinion?
So here Jesus is praying that we would be one, that we would be unified.
What does that look like?
Um, I mean, we're all different, so I don't think we're all
supposed to be the same.
Mm-hmm.
that's not what I mean by unity.
I mean that, um, that the message that we believe in, um, the gospel message
that we all, if we can all hang our hats on that, then we are unified in
our, in what we believe about Jesus.
Yeah.
So, um, it's not about different denominations, like how, how different
churches do different things.
Mm-hmm.
that's quite peripheral, but the essence of what we, what we
believe needs to be the same.
Yeah.
Which is the gospel message.
Yeah, absolutely.
And he, well, I mean, Jesus kind of defines it a little bit, doesn't he?
Because he says, I pray that they would be one, just as you and I father are one.
I mean, that's a I read that and go, man alive, is that a tall order?
Do you know what I mean?
That's, um, that's a tall order.
And then you, you get into this whole conversation then, which talks
about well submit one to another.
Right?
You, you, you know, you, you kind of think, this is just
where my brain goes, right?
So if there is unity in the Godhead between God the Son, God the Father, God,
the Holy Spirit, there's no competition.
There's no ego between them.
They're all kind of in this together.
They all have a clear plan and purpose.
And so if you, if you are that unified it, then it, it strips
out that ego, doesn't it.
And it strips out that, that desire to be right all the time.
And so then you have to submit one to another.
And I think it's a really, it's, it's some really icky topic here, isn't it?
Because it's not.
It's not what people wanna talk about these days, I don't think.
No, no, no.
Um, I think, yeah, you're right.
I think submission is, is a scary word for a lot of people, isn't it?
Um, but I think like the Lord also talked about, um, love for each other and like
there's so much that goes with that.
And loving the Lord, loving each other also can result in unity as well, because
you are putting others before yourself.
Just as you know, the Lord's asked us to do.
He's commanded us to do that.
To be servants to one another.
Mm-hmm.
. Um, yeah, and I think there's so many, there's so many parameters, that, that we
can, um, exist within and still fulfill that, those, those commandments to love
to, um, to be unified as a body of Christ.
Um, without having to feel threatened, without having to feel that we are losing
our, um, you know, um, what's the word?
Like our right to be a certain way or to be able to do certain things.
Yeah.
No, I, I agree.
Uh, Dionne's put here, I think that unity is a choice we all make, or don't,
which I think is probably a fair comment.
Really, it is a decision that we all make.
It's interesting when you, when you do look at the, the Godhead, then if you
go, well, if Jesus is praying that we would be one as, or they, you know,
that we would be one as the father and Christ is one then you kind of
go, well, what does that look like?
Um, and so you go, well, there, there are some things which
immediately stand out to me.
As in Jesus had a clear sense of identity.
He understood his purpose.
Um, the Holy Spirit understood or understands his purpose and his role.
And everybody, everybody knows this and there's no competition.
And I think often in church, I suppose in a way, if we just understood what our role
was and what our purpose was, and just was content with that and focused on that and
did that to the best of our ability whilst preferring one another at the same time.
Yeah.
And then I wonder if that gets rid of competition, and I wonder
if that gets rid of, uh, the ego.
Um, it's a really interesting one.
I, I'm not really pondered it until Sherlon talked about it.
I'm, I'm really, so hence the reason my, my ponderings are coming out now.
Uh, Dionne, we can disagree without making it a war and understand and accept that we
all have slightly different perspectives, uh, much like our very different trinity
at working together for the same purpose.
And I think that's very true.
Have you ever done that?
Um, I haven't got one to hand, but that quiz where they, there's
a drawing on a piece of paper and they ask you, what do you see?
And some people see a young lady and some people see an old lady, or some people see
a bunny rabbit or some people see a lion.
It's one of these images that could be two things.
Um, and both are true and both are right.
It all depends on the perspective.
Uh mm-hmm.
You know, the lens of life, which you are looking through as to how you see it.
And, um, I like what, uh, Dionne's put here actually that, um, we do have
this slightly different perspective and actually that we can be unified in that.
Because when we come together, we get the whole picture rather than telling
everybody else that they're wrong.
. Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Which is a big deal right?
Hmm.
Yes.
So let me just have a look down the comments here.
So let's look down at these, um, prayers then.
Uh, the prayers of Jesus.
So I love the fact he prays for unity, because let's be real, right?
If I'm praying for people, unity is not top of my list.
It just isn't right.
I'm, I'm sort of praying.
God bless them.
God help them.
God make them better.
God help them fulfill their purpose.
God may they experience and encounter you.
And here Jesus, to say, no.
I pray that they're one.
Mm-hmm.
, maybe I should learn from this.
Uh, so let me get out of, I tell you what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna get outta the Amplified Bible because that is some
serious reading right there.
And I'm gonna go back to the good old fashioned NIV.
And we're gonna pick it up.
So glorify your son.
The son may now glorify you.
So he's praying for himself.
Uh, and so now he prays for the disciples.
Verse six, I revealed you, I have revealed you to those whom
you gave me outta this world.
Um, and he goes on, I pray for them.
Verse nine.
I'm not praying for the world, but for those that you have
given me for, they are yours.
All I have is yours and all you have is mine.
That's an exceptional statement of unity right there.
Right.
And, uh, I can I just touch on this point just because I feel like I need to.
Okay.
When, and I'm, and this is not directed to you, Sadaf, although, you know, we
are talking to each other right now.
Yeah..
Um, all I have is yours and all you have is mine is a statement of covenant.
And covenant is something that happens when you get married.
And I have yet to find, there are exceptions to the rule, and please
don't write into me to tell me the exceptions to I know what they are.
There are exceptions to the rule that I'm about to give you, but successful
marriages don't operate out of two bank accounts and it just doesn't.
Now I know that there are exceptions to this rule, right?
And that there are sensible safeguards where two accounts
do work and do make sense.
So I'm not saying it's not true for everybody, but on the whole, all I have
is yours and all you have is mine, right?
That is a covenant statement.
And when we can live in a marriage, in a state of covenant like that, marriages
work, when we try and keep back some of that, while this bits yours and the rest
of its mind, then we run into problems.
Mm-hmm.
That's just my little soapbox.
I dunno if you've got any thoughts about this.
Uh, Mrs.
Beynon.
No, I, I agree with you 100%.
Oh, phew.
I thought you were gonna tell me off for a little minute then.
Oh.
So yes, verse 10.
All I have is yours.
All you have is mine.
Uh, and glory will come to me through them.
That's quite a strong statement, isn't it?
Uh, do we bring glory to Christ?
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world.
And I'm coming to you.
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me so
that they may be one as we are one.
Here's that statement again, right?
Mm-hmm.
So this whole protecting them and Sherlon hit on this point.
Um, that, uh, Jesus doesn't pray that God will take them out of the world,
but that he would keep them in the midst of it, that he would protect them.
Which I think is a really interesting Prayer given the fact that quite
often a lot of our personal prayers are, God, get me out of this
whatever situation I am in, right?
Mm-hmm.
rather than God protect me in this situation, Do you know,
what I mean and keep me unified with my fellow believer, right?
My, my brothers and my sisters.
It's a really interesting Prayer.
Have you got any thoughts on this?
Yeah, I think, um, I think the key is, um, remaining in him.
I'm not sure, I just, what was that verse?
Um, 11?
Was it remain?
No, there's another one that Sherlon,
uh, verse 12, uh, and then it goes on, um, to verse 15.
My Prayer is not that you take them out the world, but you
protect them from the evil one.
Yes.
Um, so, was it 33?
Yeah.
Sorry.
Going back to chapter 16 verse Oh, okay.
Thirty Three.
Um, it, it rings true here too.
I think.
It's like, um, it talks about so that in me, you may have peace in this
world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I overcome the world.
Mm-hmm.
And I think the key is that remaining in him that if you're in
me, that's when you have the peace.
So even if you are in difficult times or you're facing, um, different
trials, tribulations, whatever, um, your, the word your Bible uses, um, I
think if you're remaining in the Lord, that's where you have the protection.
You have the wisdom.
Yeah.
The strength to walk that.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
No, it's very good.
So have, how's this work for you then?
This, um, or have you seen it work for you?
Uh, this whole idea of being in the world, not of it.
Um, verse 16, they are not of the world even as I am, not of it, but,
uh, remaining in him, you know, this whole idea of, uh, being protected and
kept when it's all going a bit wrong.
Yeah.
Um, I think, I think that is a reality all the time though, even when things
are okay, even when things are great.
I think as believers, that is our reality, that we are in the world
because that's where we've been placed.
But this is not our home and we are not, we are not to, um, become of the world.
So we should never let our guards down.
And I think it's easiest to do when things are going great because you
kind of like start coasting, right?
Um, I dunno what you mean.
I think, yeah, I think it's, um, I think it's especially true when, when
things aren't, aren't going well.
Um, because then suddenly you're seeking and you're wanting answers and seeking
the Lord in those times is, is the best.
, yeah.
Is the best place to be.
Um, and waiting on him.
But I think the rest of the time it's, it's just as true.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
No, that's fair comment actually.
It's not just when times are tough, its when times are easy.
Uh, Dionne's put here in the comments.
I like this Dionne.
This is, I'm gonna use this, I'm gonna steal this quote.
I stopped praying.
I'm a believer.
Get me out of here.
This is a very topical statement because in the UK at the moment,
we have a TV show called I'm a Celebrity, get Me Out of Here.
And so I've stopped praying.
I'm a believer, get me out of here because my prayers weren't answered in that way.
The journey is always through.
Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?
I, I heard TD Jakes, uh, I think it was TD Jakes, I'm gonna give him
the credit for a statement, which I heard, and TD, if this is not you,
please credit the right person.
Um, and he said quite often that God doesn't deliver us out of a situation.
He delivers us through a situation.
Mm-hmm.
uh, and I, that's always stuck with me that actually, um, sometimes we
just have to go through and quite often actually, we just have to
go through, uh, rather than out.
And this is where the protection is concerned.
That's where the peace comes in.
That's where the power of God comes in.
That's where the power of the name of Jesus comes in.
And so often we, we think we can use all of those things as Christians
to make our life easier, to get us out of those tricky situations.
I thought, I hear your dog's agreeing.
Sorry.
Nayla saying amen.
I think, um, I think, sorry, were you done talking or can I just
Yeah, no, you, I'm definitely done now.
I love how you ask, uh, I love how you make statements,
but phrase 'em as questions.
It's a fine art.
Um, um, what was I gonna say?
Oh, yeah.
So, yeah, I totally, I agree that going through it is definitely, it's, it's hard.
It's hard and, um, but it's so much sweeter.
The end is so much sweeter because you come out, um, having learned so much
more about the Lord and so much, you know, you just got so much more to
give to others because of what you've received from the Lord in that time.
Um, and it's just, it's.
So much more a better place to be.
I, I think, rather than trying to get plucked out of something.
Yeah.
It's interesting what intrigues me, um, on the podcast we've been doing the
story, the What's Story podcast, and we did one a couple of weeks ago with Brett
Curry, whose mum died of, uh, lung cancer.
And this happened when he was a teenager.
And his, his story was basically when that happened, it caused me to, uh,
in effect find God or to strengthen his relationship, draw near to God, I
think is the expression that we used.
Um, uh, we've had Mark Mitchell, uh, last week who was talking
about his brain hemorrhage.
Um, and how when he had this problem, uh, and almost died with his brain
hemorrhage, it caused him to press into God and get closer to God.
I mean the sweet, sweet man.
Um, and it seems to be one of the common stories that comes out through, what's
the story the podcast that we're on is people had a problem, to be fair is
how we phrase the questions as well.
I do go fishing, digging for this.
Um, they've had a problem or a challenge that they've had to come through,
and as a result, their walk with God seems to be sweeter, stronger, better.
You know, I could cite lots of people Anni Uddin.
She had breast cancer and went through the whole nightmare.
Uh, an ordeal of that.
And I remember it very well, um, because she's a very good friend of mine.
And so, but came out of it.
Her and Tony her husband, just so much sweeter, nicer, lovely, but stronger
in the faith kind of people as well.
And it's interesting, isn't it, when you are in these situations, if you go through
it, um, with an eye on God, I don't understand it, but somehow in the midst of
all of this, if somehow you can get glory, then let's do it in the, in your name.
Let's go through this and we'll win.
Um, and people will see that you are glorified in this somehow.
And I think it's a really interesting, it's a really interesting thing,
isn't it, that, um, that you can do that as Christians or what I've
also seen is people go the opposite way where things have got tricky and
hard and so they're like, I'm out.
I am, uh, I'm, I'm a believer.
Get me out of here.
Uh, and their faith is, is deconstructed, their faith is rejected, whatever it is.
Do you know what I mean?
There's something that's not happened according to how
they thought it should happen.
And so Yeah.
Yeah, they're out, right?
Yeah.
I think, um, you're right.
Like, you know, for the glory to go to the Lord and he, he wants that He, you know,
that's, he wants us to be able to do that.
And when our heart, our heart is in the right place, even if we are in a hard time
and we are just taking those small steps of obedience as hard and heavy as those
footsteps might be in the right direction, um, I think the Lord, the Lord does that.
I've, I've been in a time in my life where that's happened and so many
people were encouraged by, um, you know, the circum, like the circumstances
were what they were, but the way.
The Lord was carrying us through it.
They were looking in and though we didn't feel like, you
know, everything was amazing.
And isn't this journey great?
Like, you know, trials, tribulations, but isn't no, isn't this great?
There were so many people looking in saying, you know, we are
so encouraged by your faith.
And that wasn't us.
That wasn't us.
That was all the Lord.
Um, but it's that, you know, those simple, small steps of obedience
in every area of our lives.
And the Lord gets the glory for it.
That's true.
It is.
And it's interesting.
So if you are watching this and you are going through something,
um, I think it's, it's a really.
Know that as you are going through it, Jesus prayed for you as you go through
that, that you would be protected, um, that he would be glorified
and that you would stay unified.
And I think one of the things that.
One of the, the lessons that we learned from this actually is when you are
going through difficult times, is don't get disconnected from the body
of Christ, uh, and stay unified, right?
Uh, and just trust in him.
Trust in the power of his name, because the name of Jesus
changes literally everything.
Uh, we're gonna get into, there's a whole great deal as
we go through the book of Acts.
Uh, it is just insane, uh, the power in that one name.
Um, but yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna deep dive into that coming soon.
Uh, we know this because Sadaf and I have been busy writing the notes, and so we
know what's we, we know what's coming up.
Yeah, yeah.
It's gonna be great.
But I, I think that it's, it's actually really encouraging to know that when you
are going through a difficult time, and I know for many of us right now, we are
going through difficult times, right?
There's all kinds of stuff to cause us all kinds of, uh, problems and anxiety.
But as you are going through them, we as Christians can stand there
and we can look at that and we know that Jesus prayed for us.
So we can go through it with strength and with courage and conviction, right?
We just can, uh, and we can do that with the strength of, uh, other believers
praying for us and standing with us.
We can be unified, uh, and as we're gonna talk about in Christmas, we can do
this peacefully, uh, and in the complete opposite spirit to what is happening.
So, um, be encouraged as, as odd as that sounds.
I, I, I dunno, I, I, when stuff's not going well, when stuff's
not going right, I'm like, this is the moment Jesus prayed for.
And I figure if anyone is gonna get their prayers answered, it's going to be Jesus.
You're on the right side.
Yes, I am on the right side as Dionne's put here in the comments fought by fire.
Yes, absolutely.
Uh, and just to bring it right back down to Earth, uh, Matt, what color hair
should I have for the Christmas service?
Bizarre question.
Let us know what you think the options are.
Gold or red or green?
Vote in the comments.
Well, green, given that I have the casting vote, I'm going with, what would you say?
Is this Massey Brown, kind of reddish?
I don't know.
I'm going with this color.
Uh, it takes a lot of work to get the gray out and keep this color.
No, I'm just joking.
So that's what we're gonna do.
Um, so yes, there you have it.
Being a Christian, I think it's really one of the things I'm gonna
suggest you do dear, uh, dear viewer.
Dear listener, um, if you're listening to this on the audio podcast,
it's great that you are with us.
If you're watching it on YouTube or on Facebook, it's great that
you are here if you are involved.
One of the things I would love for you to do this week is read through
the prayers that Jesus prays for you.
Um, and just think about the words that Jesus is saying and go, is
this coming to pass in my life?
Because if it isn't, something's wrong somewhere and I'm fairly sure, cuz I'm
not a rocket scientist, I'm fairly sure the problem is not going to be with Jesus.
Just putting that out there.
Into the ether.
Uh, I'm fairly sure that's not where the problem's gonna lie,
but I mean, in all seriousness, I think do check out those prayers.
And Lord, what are you saying to me?
God, how can I, how can I have this come to pass?
Am I unified to my fellow Christians?
Is there something I need to think about there?
Is there something you, you want to challenge me on?
Um, you know, the stuff that I'm going through, God, can you protect me?
Uh, can you show me what it means to be in the world, but not of it?
What does that mean?
I live here, but I'm not of it.
I'm of a different kingdom.
Uh, we are gonna get into all of this, trust me, in the Book of Acts.
The book of Acts just amazing.
Uh, we live in a different kingdom.
We have a different ruler.
And you know, as crazy as our world leaders are at the moment, and some of
them are, you know, not so crazy, but some of 'em are a little bit nuts, right?
Let's, um, we live in a different kingdom, so we have a different set of
rules that we follow, which is amazing.
Uh, and so , we can do all this with peace and all that sort of
stuff, but do read through those prayers that Jesus prayed for you
and just pray them out for yourself.
Just like Sherlon said, they speak life to your very soul.
And just as I read them, I'm just like, okay.
And notice, sorry, I'm gonna say this one last thing, then I'll stop.
But notice how unusual the prayers are.
They're not what you would expect them to be.
Just wanna put that out there.
At least in my head, they're not what I pray for my kids.
When I think about what do I pray for my kids, maybe I should
start praying the prayers that Jesus pray for my kids though.
Anyway, anything else from you, uh, on this?
No, no, it's, there's so much there, but you know, we don't have time.
We'll, just getting warm, just getting warmed up.
Let's keep it coming.
So what's happening next week?
Matt's put in the comments here.
What's happening next week?
We've got Pete yeah, yeah, yeah.
We've got Pete Farrington and he's gonna be speaking on um, chapters 18 and 19.
Yeah, 18 and 19.
I genuinely dunno what Pete's speaking on next week.
I just know that Pete is speaking and I know this cuz we have the video already.
I've not heard it yet.
Um, but yeah, we've got Pete Farrington speaking to us next
week, which will be great.
Love Pete Farrington, the man is an absolute legend, uh, very
jealous of his, of his hair.
I'm not gonna lie, but is an absolute legend.
So yeah, we got Pete next week.
I think Dan and I are hosting, don't forget to play the Midweek Prayers.
So, um, Matt takes his role very seriously of reminding me every live stream.
this is awesome.
I never have to think about anything.
I, because Matt normally tells me everything that I need to.
Uh, so yes, we do have a midweek Zoom group.
Zoom.
Uh, if you'd like to come join us, feel the freedom, uh, we'd love to meet you.
We meet 8:00 PM uh, on Wednesday evenings on Zoom.
Uh, and so if you'd like to come join in, uh, then feel the freedoms to do so,
uh, we're gonna be talking more about the Zoom groups actually in the new year.
Uh, got some thoughts and ideas on this.
So yes, uh, we're gonna be plugging those a lot.
But in the meantime if you'd like to know more about that, do connect with me.
Uh, do connect with me.
Do connect with Crowd Church.
You can find the information on our website at www.crowd.church.
You can reach us on social media at Crowd Church and also on our
website you'll find a link to be able to WhatsApp, uh, us directly.
Um, so that just comes through the system here.
And, uh, we can WhatsApp.
We know that we, uh, we get emails, we get WhatsApp messages usually
every week with Prayer requests from people, uh, which is great.
So if you'd like us to pray for you over anything, whether you are a believer in
Christ or not, we love to pray for people.
So again, you can reach us through the website, through social
media, and through WhatsApp.
Um, and to be fair, that's normally one of the things that we do
pray for every Wednesday night, uh, in our little Zoom group.
Uh, so yes, uh, Matt C is a champ.
Oh, the Matt C Love is in the comments.
Loving that.
Uh, so yes, brilliant.
Uh, Sadaf, thank you for joining me.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Again, fun.
So does that mean this time next year you'll be on the live stream?
Yeah.
Do you need to put yourself on the schedule like in 12
months time And confirm?
So you, cuz you've never seen the schedule, the way it works is we have
like a spreadsheet with a list of names and next to each name is a box where
you can check and it says confirmed.
Yes.
Confirm.
Are they confirmed?
Yes.
And we're not talking about England, uh, the Church of England confirmation.
No, no, no.
We're talking about have they agreed to actually do this, yes or no?
Uh, have they confirmed that they are available to host or to speak
or you know, whatever the production or whatever they're down to do.
And so, yes, this is, you should just go put your name a little tick.
I will.
November, November, whatever it's gonna be 28th.
Just pick a date.
If you want why not?
Pick a December date cuz then you get to wear Christmas jumpers.
Oh, I'll need to get one first, but that's a whole other story.
You don't have a Christmas jumper.
You don't have a Christmas.
No, I, wow.
Ladies, gentlemen, this is what Incredulity looks like.
You don't have a Christmas jumper.
How did I not know this about you?
Is this a, is this a personal thing?
Is this something that you've been avoiding?
No, I just never got around to it.
Wow.
I'll lend you one this year.
I've got lots of Christmas jumpers.
Yeah.
My, my daughter wears, uh, my Christmas jumpers and so I, yeah, I'm a big
fan of the Christmas jumpers uh, we should definitely, we should get
a Crowd Christmas jumper designed.
Get, let's get Josh Catchpole on designing a Crowd Christmas jumper
and see what that comes out like.
We could sell it on the site.
Crowd Church merch.
We're not, sorry, I'm just being flippant now.
We're not gonna do this, ladies and gentlemen.
Although we do have Crowd Church merch as I, as I.
And the hoodie.
Nice.
The hoodie.
Oh yeah.
Have not got the hoodie on today.
So, um, I have got a hat that doesn't fit me.
Jeff's just thrown this at me.
Oh, look at that.
Oh, the Batman Christmas jumper.
That's awesome.
Is that Jeff's Christmas jumper?
Yeah, I just thrown that in.
Okay.
You should totally wear that on the church livestream next year.
Okay.
Uh, Dionne says, no more caps.
We want beanies.
Yeah.
Just put in your comments, the request for the church merch you would
like, and we'll do our level best to create some said church merch.
Nice.
Matt wants a hoodie.
Oh, man.
We've, we've, we should talk about church merch more often.
We get more comments.
excuse me, while I just cough my guts out.
Right on that bombshell uh of Sadaf not owning a Christmas jumper.
Uh, if you are watching this and feel like this is a tra travesty of justice, which
I feel like it is, uh, then you can sense what size are you Sadaf, medium, small.
I'm, I'm, uh, um, let's go with medium.
I'm a small, but let's go with Medium cuz it's Christmas,
you know, got room to grow.
Okay.
So if any of you would like to send in, uh, Christmas jumper for Sadaf,
you can send that to Crowd Church.
The address is on the website.
uh, I will make sure she gets it.
We'll take a photo and put it on social media because we just feel
like this is wrong on so many levels.
Thank you.
Yeah, I feel like I need to say thank you.
Yeah, I feel like obviously Jeff is listening.
Uh, your husband cause he's just thrown his Batman Christmas jumper on you.
I think as the head of the household, Jeff, and I appreciate, I've just
been controversial by using that term.
Uh, I, I feel like you need to allocate some budget to go get a Christmas
jumper this year, but that's just me.
Oh, brilliant.
So thank you so much ladies and gentlemen, for joining us.
Uh, it's been an absolute treat, believe it or not this, if you just
joined us, this is an online church broadcast, not a plug for Christmas
jumpers, the Christmas, Christmas.
Jumper Organization, association, or whatever it is.
Um, it's been great to be with you.
Thank you so much.
It's been fascinating talking about the prayers Jesus prayed for
us with Sherlon and uh, obviously Sadaf, who is an absolute legend
making her annual appearance.
Uh, that's gonna be it from us.
The livestream is gonna end, but if you are not yet subscribed to anything
to do with Crowd Church, then you can on YouTube, just tip the follow
link, hit the bell notification thing.
The whole thing will come on.
If audio's your thing or if you prefer to read stuff or you wanna
send your emails, just go to the website with the addresses down there.
Uh, fill out the little form, putting your name, and we'll email you once
a week, all this amazing information.
And if you haven't seen it yet, do check out the Crowd Church, uh, what's the
Story podcast, which I mentioned where we just deep dive into people's stories.
So, um, yeah, are you coming on that Sadaf?
Yep.
Put my name in on the spreadsheet.
Yeah.
In three years' time.
Just, I'm not gonna tick the confirmed thing.
Right.
Bless you.
Have a great evening everybody.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Uh, peace be the journey.
Uh, that's it from us.
Bye for now.