1 00:00:02,001 --> 00:00:06,681 Can you think of a time when you've been waiting ages for something, 2 00:00:08,451 --> 00:00:12,981 anticipating maybe an event, it could be a gig that you bought tickets 3 00:00:12,981 --> 00:00:18,261 for a year or so ago, the Olympics, your revision coming to Liverpool. 4 00:00:19,191 --> 00:00:22,941 It might be a relationship like an addition to your family, 5 00:00:22,941 --> 00:00:25,731 a new baby, uh, meeting Mr. 6 00:00:25,761 --> 00:00:26,541 Or Mrs. 7 00:00:26,741 --> 00:00:27,331 Right. 8 00:00:30,201 --> 00:00:34,281 And when it comes, it's actually completely different from what 9 00:00:34,281 --> 00:00:40,731 you expected or, or even because it's been so long, you've kind of 10 00:00:40,736 --> 00:00:42,801 forgotten that it's happening at all. 11 00:00:43,251 --> 00:00:47,511 And then it suddenly arrives and someone else has to remind you of it. 12 00:00:49,171 --> 00:00:53,421 That's a little bit of what's going on in our next reading in Acts, which 13 00:00:53,421 --> 00:00:55,161 I'm gonna be talking about today. 14 00:00:56,181 --> 00:01:02,601 And this follows on direct from last week when, um, the Holy Spirit is poured out on 15 00:01:02,601 --> 00:01:08,781 the disciples and it's Peter standing up and reminding the Crowd of God's ancient 16 00:01:08,781 --> 00:01:11,331 promises about the coming of Messiah. 17 00:01:12,831 --> 00:01:18,291 And Messiah was a kind of Jewish hero of faith that would put right 18 00:01:18,291 --> 00:01:20,781 everything that was wrong in the world. 19 00:01:22,311 --> 00:01:23,091 So let's read. 20 00:01:23,121 --> 00:01:26,751 It's Acts 2, verse 14 to 41. 21 00:01:29,016 --> 00:01:31,116 Then Peter stood up with the 11. 22 00:01:31,416 --> 00:01:33,246 He raised his voice and addressed the Crowd. 23 00:01:34,426 --> 00:01:37,236 Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem. 24 00:01:37,236 --> 00:01:38,796 Let me explain this to you. 25 00:01:39,096 --> 00:01:41,706 Listen carefully to what I say. 26 00:01:43,296 --> 00:01:45,906 These people are not drunk as you suppose. 27 00:01:46,206 --> 00:01:47,796 It's only nine in the morning. 28 00:01:48,816 --> 00:01:51,966 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. 29 00:01:53,946 --> 00:01:55,056 In the last days. 30 00:01:55,056 --> 00:01:58,476 God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. 31 00:01:59,616 --> 00:02:01,896 Your sons and daughters will prophesy. 32 00:02:02,796 --> 00:02:04,566 Your young men will see visions. 33 00:02:05,706 --> 00:02:08,286 Your old men will dream dreams. 34 00:02:09,276 --> 00:02:11,376 Even on my servants, both men and women. 35 00:02:11,376 --> 00:02:15,346 I will pour out my spirit in those days and they will prophesy. 36 00:02:16,506 --> 00:02:20,736 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below. 37 00:02:21,666 --> 00:02:23,616 Blood and fire and billows of smoke. 38 00:02:24,006 --> 00:02:27,576 The sun will be turned to darkness, the moon to blood before the coming of 39 00:02:27,576 --> 00:02:30,786 the great and glorious day of the Lord. 40 00:02:32,076 --> 00:02:36,156 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 41 00:02:38,466 --> 00:02:40,116 Fellow Israelites, listen to this. 42 00:02:40,236 --> 00:02:44,586 Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by 43 00:02:44,586 --> 00:02:50,166 miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him. 44 00:02:50,496 --> 00:02:51,666 As you yourselves know. 45 00:02:53,796 --> 00:02:58,326 This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and for knowledge, and 46 00:02:58,331 --> 00:03:02,646 you with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 47 00:03:04,506 --> 00:03:09,576 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of 48 00:03:09,576 --> 00:03:13,476 death because it was impossible for death to keep his hold on him. 49 00:03:15,036 --> 00:03:18,666 David said about him, I saw the Lord always before me. 50 00:03:19,506 --> 00:03:21,336 Because he is at my right hand. 51 00:03:21,816 --> 00:03:23,106 I will not be shaken. 52 00:03:24,366 --> 00:03:27,186 Therefore, my heart is glad my tongue rejoices. 53 00:03:27,876 --> 00:03:31,836 My body also will rest in hope because you will not abandon 54 00:03:31,836 --> 00:03:33,516 me to the realm of the dead. 55 00:03:33,936 --> 00:03:36,846 You will not let your holy one see decay. 56 00:03:38,976 --> 00:03:41,046 You have made known to me the paths of life. 57 00:03:41,736 --> 00:03:45,066 You will fill me with joy in your presence. 58 00:03:47,136 --> 00:03:50,166 Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently the patriarch 59 00:03:50,166 --> 00:03:52,236 David died and was buried. 60 00:03:52,536 --> 00:03:58,746 His tomb is here to this day, but he was a prophet and knew that God had 61 00:03:58,746 --> 00:04:03,216 promised on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 62 00:04:04,476 --> 00:04:05,496 Seeing what was to come. 63 00:04:05,496 --> 00:04:08,856 He spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not 64 00:04:08,856 --> 00:04:11,646 abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 65 00:04:13,296 --> 00:04:20,206 God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it. 66 00:04:22,266 --> 00:04:26,106 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the 67 00:04:26,566 --> 00:04:30,426 promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 68 00:04:32,586 --> 00:04:37,356 For David didn't ascend to heaven, but he said, the Lord said to my Lord, 69 00:04:37,866 --> 00:04:42,546 sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. 70 00:04:44,856 --> 00:04:51,276 Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this, God has made this Jesus whom 71 00:04:51,276 --> 00:04:55,326 you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. 72 00:04:57,686 --> 00:05:00,696 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said 73 00:05:00,696 --> 00:05:03,996 to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what should we do? 74 00:05:05,496 --> 00:05:10,356 Peter replied, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of 75 00:05:10,356 --> 00:05:15,246 Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive 76 00:05:15,246 --> 00:05:16,536 the gift of the Holy Spirit. 77 00:05:17,316 --> 00:05:20,046 The promise is for you and your children. 78 00:05:20,331 --> 00:05:24,771 And for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call. 79 00:05:26,871 --> 00:05:31,671 With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them, save 80 00:05:31,671 --> 00:05:34,371 yourselves from this corrupt generation. 81 00:05:36,171 --> 00:05:40,521 Those who accepted his message were baptized and about 3000 were 82 00:05:40,521 --> 00:05:43,491 added to their number that day. 83 00:05:45,561 --> 00:05:45,831 Wow. 84 00:05:49,311 --> 00:05:55,311 The onlookers described here that Peter was speaking to were mostly Jews, but also 85 00:05:55,316 --> 00:05:57,861 those who had converted uh, to Judaism. 86 00:05:59,691 --> 00:06:02,571 They'd come on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from all over the Mediterranean 87 00:06:02,571 --> 00:06:06,741 region, and they'd come for this annual festival called Pentecost. 88 00:06:08,601 --> 00:06:14,421 These were devout people that invested time and money to make the journey. 89 00:06:15,351 --> 00:06:18,081 They'd taken the risk of leaving behind maybe families, leaving 90 00:06:18,081 --> 00:06:19,641 their livelihoods, their land. 91 00:06:20,286 --> 00:06:23,616 and making what could be quite a challenging track. 92 00:06:25,476 --> 00:06:27,096 What were their expectations? 93 00:06:30,216 --> 00:06:33,156 Although some might have never been to Jerusalem for a festival. 94 00:06:33,216 --> 00:06:35,586 I think for many, this was a well-trodden path. 95 00:06:35,736 --> 00:06:40,506 It would've been an annual visit to the temple to observe what were very familiar, 96 00:06:40,506 --> 00:06:45,006 well-rehearsed sacrifices that'd been done in Israel since time immemorial, 97 00:06:45,006 --> 00:06:46,266 since the time of the Old Testament. 98 00:06:48,366 --> 00:06:51,396 What none of them can have expected is what happened in the reading 99 00:06:51,396 --> 00:06:55,616 last week, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and then following that 100 00:06:55,736 --> 00:06:58,206 Peter's explanation that we just read. 101 00:07:00,546 --> 00:07:04,566 So I'm calling this talk New power Now. 102 00:07:07,686 --> 00:07:08,616 What was new here? 103 00:07:10,296 --> 00:07:11,886 Well, the first obvious thing is Peter. 104 00:07:13,926 --> 00:07:18,576 Peter's gone from being scared of admitting to a servant 105 00:07:18,576 --> 00:07:21,786 girl that he knew Jesus at the time that Jesus was crucified. 106 00:07:22,926 --> 00:07:27,336 He then went on to hide inside a locked room after Jesus died because he was 107 00:07:27,336 --> 00:07:29,736 scared of the Jewish authorities. 108 00:07:31,836 --> 00:07:35,646 And here he is standing up and preaching in public in Jerusalem, 109 00:07:35,651 --> 00:07:40,176 the capitol city of the Jewish religion to thousands of people. 110 00:07:42,306 --> 00:07:43,896 Peter was a fisherman. 111 00:07:43,956 --> 00:07:44,556 Remember. 112 00:07:45,276 --> 00:07:47,016 Unschooled is how the Bible puts it. 113 00:07:48,186 --> 00:07:52,836 And yet here he is delivering this eloquent, well referenced speech 114 00:07:52,836 --> 00:07:57,336 drawing on different Jewish scriptures and confidently challenging this 115 00:07:57,336 --> 00:08:02,556 massive Crowd to put their trust in Jesus, who just a month before 116 00:08:02,556 --> 00:08:04,686 had been, um, enemy number one. 117 00:08:06,156 --> 00:08:07,506 It's quite the turnaround. 118 00:08:08,646 --> 00:08:10,356 And the difference is the Holy Spirit. 119 00:08:12,336 --> 00:08:16,116 In fact, for some people, the change in the followers of Jesus over the 40 days 120 00:08:16,851 --> 00:08:20,901 since his crucifixion is strong evidence of the truth of the biblical account. 121 00:08:23,121 --> 00:08:25,701 Let's assume the other view for a moment that this was all made up, 122 00:08:27,231 --> 00:08:29,061 just a story made up by the disciples. 123 00:08:30,801 --> 00:08:35,991 So the intention of the Jewish leaders in crucifying Jesus as they had done several 124 00:08:35,991 --> 00:08:40,791 time previously was to kill the leader, and then the followers would scatter. 125 00:08:41,601 --> 00:08:44,811 You'd expect any rebellious movement or rival sect would 126 00:08:44,811 --> 00:08:46,281 be snuffed out as a result. 127 00:08:46,581 --> 00:08:50,241 You kill the guy that's the inspiration that's drawing everyone 128 00:08:50,246 --> 00:08:55,281 together and everyone goes home, loses interest, does their own thing. 129 00:08:56,391 --> 00:09:02,121 But in this case, even though Jesus' death had been very public and as shameful as 130 00:09:02,126 --> 00:09:07,881 it could get, somehow within a matter of weeks to this event we read about 131 00:09:07,881 --> 00:09:14,541 today, this angry, betrayed, grieving group of followers had somehow come up 132 00:09:14,541 --> 00:09:21,681 with a story of resurrection that was not only fantastical, not only likely to 133 00:09:21,681 --> 00:09:29,151 get them killed by those same leaders, but also theologically seamless with 134 00:09:29,156 --> 00:09:34,191 all of Jewish scripture accompanied by this outpouring of supernatural 135 00:09:34,191 --> 00:09:40,761 power and then convincing at least 3000 people within hours of its launch. 136 00:09:43,461 --> 00:09:47,631 And this was all achieved in 40 days by a traumatized group 137 00:09:47,631 --> 00:09:49,731 of unschooled men and women. 138 00:09:51,621 --> 00:09:52,761 Seems very unlikely. 139 00:09:54,111 --> 00:09:57,771 The alternative view, of course, is that the whole account is actually true. 140 00:09:58,491 --> 00:09:59,721 Jesus rose again. 141 00:10:00,591 --> 00:10:04,011 He appeared to his followers, he gave the promised Holy Spirit 142 00:10:04,011 --> 00:10:09,891 and that's why they were bold and excited cuz they knew it was true. 143 00:10:11,811 --> 00:10:13,941 So what else is new in this passage? 144 00:10:15,531 --> 00:10:18,501 Well, as I said, here was a Crowd of people that had come to sacrifice, 145 00:10:18,506 --> 00:10:22,281 devout people worshiping God in the particular location of the Jerusalem 146 00:10:22,281 --> 00:10:27,291 temple, and in the particular ways that the Jewish scripture specified. 147 00:10:27,891 --> 00:10:30,681 This was their only path to God in the Jewish religion. 148 00:10:31,041 --> 00:10:33,111 But Peter blows this outta the water. 149 00:10:35,021 --> 00:10:39,141 Jesus is the Messiah they've all been waiting for he says. 150 00:10:39,801 --> 00:10:42,321 No wonder the Crowd were cut to the heart when they realized. 151 00:10:43,461 --> 00:10:49,371 But the real revelation is verse 38, where he says, repent, be baptized in the name 152 00:10:49,371 --> 00:10:52,251 of Jesus, and your sins are forgiven. 153 00:10:53,121 --> 00:10:54,651 No more animal sacrifices. 154 00:10:54,711 --> 00:10:56,301 No more pilgrimage to the temple. 155 00:10:56,661 --> 00:11:01,101 Just believe that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead and is able to forgive us. 156 00:11:02,001 --> 00:11:03,471 Jesus was enough. 157 00:11:05,871 --> 00:11:08,211 Now, you may be quite familiar with this. 158 00:11:08,841 --> 00:11:10,221 You might have heard a street preacher. 159 00:11:11,091 --> 00:11:14,031 , um, being in church and heard it in the church liturgy. 160 00:11:15,081 --> 00:11:18,171 You might know it from a gospel song or even a Crowd talk. 161 00:11:18,711 --> 00:11:23,841 But on this day in Pentecost, this was brand new, truly the 162 00:11:23,846 --> 00:11:25,191 birth of the gospel message. 163 00:11:26,631 --> 00:11:28,551 The difference is the Holy Spirit. 164 00:11:31,101 --> 00:11:33,621 But the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was also new. 165 00:11:34,341 --> 00:11:39,681 Peter reached right back to this prophecy, uh, which we read in our reading recorded 166 00:11:39,681 --> 00:11:43,271 by Joel at least 500 years previously. 167 00:11:44,121 --> 00:11:46,251 And this prophecy described what was to come. 168 00:11:46,401 --> 00:11:51,801 Ordinary people seeing visions, dreaming dreams, prophesying even young people 169 00:11:52,201 --> 00:11:54,711 because of God pouring out his spirit. 170 00:11:56,631 --> 00:12:00,441 You see, in those times in Jewish history in what we now call the Old Testament, 171 00:12:00,861 --> 00:12:03,261 God's spirit was just for the chosen few. 172 00:12:04,161 --> 00:12:05,631 A prophet here or there. 173 00:12:05,811 --> 00:12:09,051 The odd king was inspired by the Holy Spirit. 174 00:12:09,756 --> 00:12:10,806 but this was temporary. 175 00:12:10,811 --> 00:12:11,976 It was just the odd occasion. 176 00:12:12,396 --> 00:12:16,596 And what Peter is describing here is being filled with the Holy Spirit. 177 00:12:16,986 --> 00:12:18,846 It's a continuous experience. 178 00:12:19,446 --> 00:12:20,556 It stays with you. 179 00:12:21,846 --> 00:12:25,356 No one had ever known the Holy Spirit like that before. 180 00:12:27,606 --> 00:12:32,886 And what accompanied that prophesied pouring out of God's spirit? 181 00:12:34,906 --> 00:12:36,036 That's when we come to power. 182 00:12:36,996 --> 00:12:41,556 New power, and by power I mean supernatural power. 183 00:12:43,806 --> 00:12:47,976 Now, I think certainly in Western cultures, we have this fascinating 184 00:12:47,976 --> 00:12:49,746 relationship with supernatural power. 185 00:12:50,706 --> 00:12:54,816 On the one hand, we dismiss it in our hyper-rational 186 00:12:54,846 --> 00:12:56,286 scientific view of the world. 187 00:12:56,526 --> 00:13:00,186 We might even scoff at miraculous happenings, or it best be a little 188 00:13:00,191 --> 00:13:04,536 cynical, to be honest when we hear a story of someone being healed, for example. 189 00:13:05,556 --> 00:13:07,476 As for raising the dead, really? 190 00:13:09,501 --> 00:13:12,831 And yet we can't get enough of stories of power. 191 00:13:13,371 --> 00:13:16,821 Characters with supernatural gifts, superheroes, boy wizards, the 192 00:13:16,821 --> 00:13:22,551 paranormal, harnessing hidden secrets, ghosts, monsters, multiverses, 193 00:13:22,551 --> 00:13:24,091 reincarnation, blah, blah, blah, blah. 194 00:13:24,231 --> 00:13:27,091 It's big entertainment business. 195 00:13:28,531 --> 00:13:32,931 But where are the stories of Jesus' power in all that? 196 00:13:34,221 --> 00:13:38,511 The miracles and wonder that Peter points out here, that the Crowd 197 00:13:38,571 --> 00:13:40,071 he was talking to knew very well. 198 00:13:40,191 --> 00:13:42,231 They'd heard the stories, they'd maybe even witnessed them. 199 00:13:44,421 --> 00:13:45,681 Well, I have a theory. 200 00:13:46,641 --> 00:13:50,451 Because the source of this power is the Holy Spirit. 201 00:13:51,261 --> 00:13:55,341 Wonders in the heavens, in the Joel prophecy, the healing and other miracles 202 00:13:55,341 --> 00:13:57,861 of Jesus, and finally Jesus' resurrection. 203 00:13:58,461 --> 00:14:02,511 But to access this power, we approach a person, the Holy 204 00:14:02,511 --> 00:14:07,371 Spirit, to experience this power, which is the greatest there is. 205 00:14:08,106 --> 00:14:11,886 we come into relationship with the source of this power. 206 00:14:14,376 --> 00:14:18,876 In contrast, all the other powers we are so fascinated by in our culture, 207 00:14:19,956 --> 00:14:22,836 well, they're not about relationship. 208 00:14:23,346 --> 00:14:28,446 They're really, if we're honest, all about us, our effort to train, 209 00:14:28,566 --> 00:14:32,526 to meditate, use the ways of the force, learn spells, whatever. 210 00:14:33,306 --> 00:14:34,026 The message is. 211 00:14:34,026 --> 00:14:39,216 If you work hard enough, if you discover the secret knowledge, you will gain power. 212 00:14:40,086 --> 00:14:41,526 It's all about your effort. 213 00:14:42,096 --> 00:14:45,246 And then once learned, the power is at your disposal. 214 00:14:45,396 --> 00:14:46,956 You are in control. 215 00:14:47,676 --> 00:14:48,786 You choose how to wield it. 216 00:14:48,786 --> 00:14:55,206 For good heroes or bad our anti-heroes or villains, you call the shots. 217 00:14:55,536 --> 00:14:56,496 You go where you want with it. 218 00:14:56,976 --> 00:15:01,386 Kids dreaming of revenge on the school bully are firing lasers outta their eyes. 219 00:15:02,346 --> 00:15:03,486 It's seductive. 220 00:15:03,576 --> 00:15:09,531 Power that we earn and control or power that requires our 221 00:15:09,531 --> 00:15:11,991 relationship with the power giver. 222 00:15:13,401 --> 00:15:17,841 My theory is that as a society we long for power with which 223 00:15:17,841 --> 00:15:19,431 we can overcome circumstance. 224 00:15:19,641 --> 00:15:24,171 We're clearly fascinated by the stories of it, but we reject God's 225 00:15:24,231 --> 00:15:28,131 offer of power through the Holy Spirit because if we are really 226 00:15:28,131 --> 00:15:31,461 honest, we want it on our own terms. 227 00:15:34,011 --> 00:15:34,671 End of theory. 228 00:15:35,931 --> 00:15:37,971 What does God's power look like? 229 00:15:39,621 --> 00:15:42,411 Well, we have the healing miracles of Jesus. 230 00:15:43,221 --> 00:15:49,281 The wonders think calming of the storm, turning water into wine, but also the 231 00:15:49,281 --> 00:15:53,031 possibility of forgiveness through faith, which is power in itself. 232 00:15:53,211 --> 00:15:56,571 That our lives would be transformed, that we could be forgiven of 233 00:15:56,576 --> 00:15:59,151 all our shame and start afresh. 234 00:16:00,381 --> 00:16:03,891 The good news of salvation is described in the Bible as being 235 00:16:03,891 --> 00:16:05,931 accompanied by signs and wonders. 236 00:16:06,531 --> 00:16:07,731 That back up the truth. 237 00:16:08,271 --> 00:16:10,401 And we see this throughout the book of Acts. 238 00:16:12,321 --> 00:16:17,571 Personally, I've seen people get immediately better from 239 00:16:17,661 --> 00:16:20,781 longstanding pain or illness when I've prayed in Jesus' name. 240 00:16:22,821 --> 00:16:28,941 I've seen pictures in my mind's eye when I've prayed for basically strangers that 241 00:16:29,021 --> 00:16:31,251 unlocked something emotionally for them. 242 00:16:31,251 --> 00:16:36,771 When I've described that picture to them, I felt prompted to share specific 243 00:16:36,771 --> 00:16:41,241 verses or scriptures with people that has brought specific encouragement to 244 00:16:41,241 --> 00:16:43,071 a situation that I didn't know about. 245 00:16:43,971 --> 00:16:49,131 I've seen people released from oppressive, longstanding spiritual influences, 246 00:16:50,361 --> 00:16:54,221 a release that resulted in actual physical change in their demeanor. 247 00:16:54,951 --> 00:16:59,091 Uh, from that freedom, I did bottle out of praying for someone 248 00:16:59,091 --> 00:17:03,321 to come alive again soon after they drowned, but my friends did. 249 00:17:04,461 --> 00:17:05,781 Sadly, the lad stayed dead. 250 00:17:07,491 --> 00:17:12,891 but I've also seen countless changes in apparently intransigent situations 251 00:17:12,891 --> 00:17:15,621 as a result of praying for change. 252 00:17:16,731 --> 00:17:22,701 These are all quite everyday examples of the power of the Holy Spirit available to 253 00:17:22,701 --> 00:17:28,101 those that choose to live in relationship with God, as Peter describes here. 254 00:17:30,231 --> 00:17:32,511 New power now. 255 00:17:34,581 --> 00:17:40,731 Now, by this I mean that in days of hoping for future Messiah, hoping 256 00:17:40,736 --> 00:17:43,791 for the outpouring of God's spirit as described in Joel's prophecy. 257 00:17:45,141 --> 00:17:48,891 The days of coming month after month to sacrifice animals to be right with God. 258 00:17:48,891 --> 00:17:50,721 These days are over. 259 00:17:50,961 --> 00:17:53,621 No more waiting, no more sacrifice. 260 00:17:53,901 --> 00:17:59,301 On this day of Pentecost, God's power in the Holy Spirit became available 261 00:17:59,841 --> 00:18:02,751 to us, ordinary people, everyone. 262 00:18:04,371 --> 00:18:10,281 Each one of you now can ask God for forgiveness and by believing in Jesus, 263 00:18:10,791 --> 00:18:13,671 be released of that debt of sin. 264 00:18:14,511 --> 00:18:21,621 Just as 3000 people did that day, each of us now can receive the gift of the Holy 265 00:18:21,621 --> 00:18:27,741 Spirit as a result of that transaction of our shame for his forgiveness. 266 00:18:29,781 --> 00:18:34,401 The Holy Spirit who can transform your situation. 267 00:18:36,171 --> 00:18:41,481 Peter declared this is for you, for your children, and those who are far off. 268 00:18:42,771 --> 00:18:46,641 The Holy Spirit is accessible to all. 269 00:18:48,411 --> 00:18:49,791 New power. 270 00:18:50,721 --> 00:18:58,741 Now, what we read about here in this first gospel message was completely new it. 271 00:18:58,746 --> 00:18:59,901 It was a game changer. 272 00:18:59,901 --> 00:19:01,341 It changed the rules. 273 00:19:02,271 --> 00:19:03,321 It opened up. 274 00:19:04,011 --> 00:19:10,221 , not just to the Jews, but to everyone, all people, the possibility of coming to God. 275 00:19:11,211 --> 00:19:16,731 It demonstrated that the power that Jesus had to transform situations 276 00:19:16,731 --> 00:19:22,491 was now available to all of us when we put our faith in him, and now 277 00:19:23,691 --> 00:19:25,461 it's available to each one of us. 278 00:19:26,691 --> 00:19:31,341 It's just a Prayer away effectively and a lifetime of 279 00:19:31,741 --> 00:19:32,931 practice in faith, to be honest. 280 00:19:34,701 --> 00:19:36,591 New power now. 281 00:19:38,811 --> 00:19:39,921 What will you do with it? 282 00:19:46,641 --> 00:19:50,811 Coming up we have Conversation street, but before we get into that, 283 00:19:50,811 --> 00:19:52,491 here's a clip from our podcast. 284 00:19:52,491 --> 00:19:58,161 What's the story which you can subscribe to on all your favorite podcast apps 285 00:20:01,641 --> 00:20:07,161 and you may feel like you do or do not have a lot of money, and 286 00:20:07,161 --> 00:20:10,731 you may be able to give all of it or none of it to the Lord, but 287 00:20:10,731 --> 00:20:12,141 what are you doing with your time? 288 00:20:12,561 --> 00:20:12,951 Yeah. 289 00:20:13,581 --> 00:20:16,431 And I think that he values the time way more. 290 00:20:16,461 --> 00:20:16,881 Mm-hmm. 291 00:20:17,121 --> 00:20:21,021 than he does the money, because that's how he lived his life. 292 00:20:21,231 --> 00:20:21,471 Yeah. 293 00:20:21,471 --> 00:20:25,881 He spent time with people and time with his apostles, and time with the 294 00:20:25,881 --> 00:20:28,281 poor, with the widows and the orphans. 295 00:20:39,171 --> 00:20:42,651 So welcome back to Conversation Street. 296 00:20:42,681 --> 00:20:43,851 My name is Matt Edmundson. 297 00:20:43,871 --> 00:20:45,271 Beside me is John Harding. 298 00:20:45,271 --> 00:20:48,601 For those that have joined the livestream, uh, we are Crowd. 299 00:20:48,621 --> 00:20:49,431 We're an online church. 300 00:20:49,431 --> 00:20:54,531 As you probably picked up, uh, from the fact, uh, we've been, uh, looking at, 301 00:20:54,951 --> 00:20:56,481 uh, the Bible, looking at scripture. 302 00:20:56,481 --> 00:20:58,641 And so welcome, uh, to you. 303 00:20:58,751 --> 00:20:59,361 Great that you are here. 304 00:20:59,661 --> 00:21:00,741 Now, John. 305 00:21:02,321 --> 00:21:02,921 Matt. 306 00:21:03,306 --> 00:21:05,766 I . Yeah, I was, I was finishing my thought. 307 00:21:06,216 --> 00:21:10,266 Uh, it's, um, I always love just listening to Will talk. 308 00:21:10,266 --> 00:21:13,926 He has this amazing ability to take something very complex and put it 309 00:21:13,926 --> 00:21:15,366 in terms that I can understand it. 310 00:21:15,366 --> 00:21:18,486 I think that's partly to do with his science job, Do you know what I mean? 311 00:21:18,486 --> 00:21:21,456 It's like, takes all this complex stuff and puts it in ways to understand it. 312 00:21:22,296 --> 00:21:24,996 Um, but I'm intrigued. 313 00:21:25,146 --> 00:21:25,656 Right. 314 00:21:25,776 --> 00:21:30,366 Uh, with Will's talk, you've, as we said in the introduction, 315 00:21:30,366 --> 00:21:31,416 you've just come back from Israel. 316 00:21:31,416 --> 00:21:33,396 So let's get this into the conversation. 317 00:21:33,876 --> 00:21:39,156 Um, what was, what was that scene like, do you think, uh, where Peter 318 00:21:39,156 --> 00:21:42,636 stands up before the Crowd, because it's, it's not an auditorium, is it? 319 00:21:42,636 --> 00:21:46,626 It's not like he's gone, the Echo Arena or whatever it's called now. 320 00:21:47,106 --> 00:21:49,266 Um, and I'm just kind of curious what. 321 00:21:49,716 --> 00:21:51,336 Paint that scene for us if you can. 322 00:21:52,926 --> 00:21:54,116 Well, first of all, let me say. 323 00:21:54,816 --> 00:22:01,146 Great talk and, and Will always bring something so thoughtful, uh, 324 00:22:01,206 --> 00:22:04,016 reflective and really powerful. 325 00:22:04,021 --> 00:22:07,716 I mean, if we're really listening to what he's saying, we should be 326 00:22:07,716 --> 00:22:10,866 thinking, could that be true for me? 327 00:22:10,956 --> 00:22:11,976 Could I have some of that? 328 00:22:12,546 --> 00:22:13,866 Is that available to me? 329 00:22:13,871 --> 00:22:14,146 Really? 330 00:22:14,976 --> 00:22:19,386 Um, of course we believe it is, and as Will believes, it's, but, you know, 331 00:22:19,416 --> 00:22:21,156 really enjoyed listening to that. 332 00:22:21,636 --> 00:22:26,076 Um, I mean, it's only Wednesday, a couple of days just gone that we 333 00:22:26,081 --> 00:22:29,976 were allegedly stood in that upper room where this event happened. 334 00:22:30,276 --> 00:22:35,766 Now I don't, it's the right room, but, um, if Peter's saying, like it says 335 00:22:35,766 --> 00:22:38,196 in the verse, David was buried here. 336 00:22:38,466 --> 00:22:39,026 Mm-hmm. 337 00:22:39,106 --> 00:22:41,856 , then they alleged over the burial place of David. 338 00:22:42,246 --> 00:22:42,306 Okay. 339 00:22:42,506 --> 00:22:47,801 But you're talking about a city that is rammed for one of the 340 00:22:47,806 --> 00:22:50,931 three main festivals, and, and Will talked about that brilliantly. 341 00:22:51,261 --> 00:22:54,141 You've got Jewish people living their Jewish lives, they've 342 00:22:54,231 --> 00:23:00,231 gathered together for like a really special moment of worship. 343 00:23:00,591 --> 00:23:07,941 Um, and this case, the, um, festival of Pentecost, the three big festivals, uh, 344 00:23:08,031 --> 00:23:11,151 Tabernacles, Passover, and, and Pentecost. 345 00:23:11,151 --> 00:23:18,561 So the city is rammed, rammed with good people, rammed with devout people, rammed 346 00:23:18,561 --> 00:23:25,851 with people who were, um, trying to relive and retell the story of their ancestors. 347 00:23:26,061 --> 00:23:30,441 Of course, those stories were meant to be trailers for the 348 00:23:30,441 --> 00:23:32,241 ma uh, for the main event. 349 00:23:32,241 --> 00:23:35,481 They were meant to be foretastes, um, yeah. 350 00:23:35,571 --> 00:23:37,251 Of, of what would come later. 351 00:23:37,731 --> 00:23:39,831 Uh, and, and that is what they're experiencing. 352 00:23:39,831 --> 00:23:44,196 Those things that they were waiting for, that were promised to them is coming true. 353 00:23:44,516 --> 00:23:45,096 Will put it. 354 00:23:45,096 --> 00:23:51,266 So, so, well, so, um, I think you'd have had real mixed responses. 355 00:23:51,271 --> 00:23:55,536 You would've had some, like we see in this is like, that makes perfect sense. 356 00:23:55,866 --> 00:24:01,056 You've just explained to me, um, everything that I believed in a new 357 00:24:01,056 --> 00:24:06,006 and fresh way and, and 3000 were added to their number on that day. 358 00:24:07,311 --> 00:24:09,021 So I think it'd been really exciting. 359 00:24:09,321 --> 00:24:12,891 Uh, the, the passage talks about joy and rejoicing quite a lot. 360 00:24:13,101 --> 00:24:14,841 They think the men are drunk. 361 00:24:15,141 --> 00:24:21,381 There's some something that's quite exciting, um, and loud, um, 362 00:24:21,561 --> 00:24:25,071 that's happening in this moment when the spirit fills them. 363 00:24:25,431 --> 00:24:30,411 Um, and we tend to think of religious festivals or religious services, as dare 364 00:24:30,411 --> 00:24:32,521 I say, a little bit boring, a little. 365 00:24:32,791 --> 00:24:33,881 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 366 00:24:34,371 --> 00:24:37,371 Um, you know, but that is far from what's happening here. 367 00:24:37,671 --> 00:24:42,111 This is an exciting moment, uh, of God breaking out from 368 00:24:42,116 --> 00:24:43,461 the norm of what was expected. 369 00:24:44,181 --> 00:24:45,261 Yeah, absolutely. 370 00:24:45,321 --> 00:24:48,321 And I That's a good, actually, it's a good point to kick off, isn't it? 371 00:24:48,321 --> 00:24:51,801 Cuz this is right at the start of the passage that Will was talking about today, 372 00:24:52,371 --> 00:24:54,051 that there was just this level of joy. 373 00:24:54,051 --> 00:24:56,001 These guys had encountered the Holy Spirit. 374 00:24:56,541 --> 00:24:59,871 And, um, the, the bottom line is how do you know when you've 375 00:24:59,871 --> 00:25:00,771 encountered the Holy Spirit? 376 00:25:00,861 --> 00:25:01,881 You'll be joyful. 377 00:25:02,331 --> 00:25:03,041 Uh, is, yeah. 378 00:25:03,046 --> 00:25:05,721 Is, is, is a, is probably a fair takeaway, right. 379 00:25:06,576 --> 00:25:06,876 Yeah. 380 00:25:06,996 --> 00:25:12,906 I, I mean, when I've asked to receive the Holy Spirit, that because it's a gift, he 381 00:25:12,906 --> 00:25:16,056 is a gift, and we can ask to be filled. 382 00:25:16,386 --> 00:25:21,816 Um, I mean, honestly, there've been times where I've laughed uncontrollably. 383 00:25:22,086 --> 00:25:25,266 There's also been times where I've wept like a baby. 384 00:25:25,266 --> 00:25:31,526 I remember one occasion, um, in a, a service, a church service, and I stayed. 385 00:25:32,496 --> 00:25:36,921 um, towards the end and I just said, Lord, holy Spirit, I really 386 00:25:36,921 --> 00:25:38,271 feel dry and weary in life. 387 00:25:38,271 --> 00:25:39,621 I need you come and fill me. 388 00:25:39,681 --> 00:25:44,511 And quite unexpectedly, um, I mean it was like, it was like the whole 389 00:25:44,511 --> 00:25:46,851 of my body vibrating for 45 minutes. 390 00:25:46,881 --> 00:25:46,941 Wow. 391 00:25:46,971 --> 00:25:48,981 I was snot and tears. 392 00:25:48,981 --> 00:25:51,261 No one dared go anywhere near me. 393 00:25:51,631 --> 00:25:53,091 But it did me good. 394 00:25:53,421 --> 00:25:55,652 It revived my heart, it encouraged me. 395 00:25:55,657 --> 00:25:56,691 So yeah, joy. 396 00:25:56,961 --> 00:26:00,321 But something's gonna happen when you encounter the Holy Spirit 397 00:26:00,321 --> 00:26:03,621 because, um, he's gonna bring some power and some transformation 398 00:26:03,626 --> 00:26:04,851 and breakthrough into your life. 399 00:26:05,151 --> 00:26:06,051 Yeah, totally. 400 00:26:06,411 --> 00:26:09,501 And when Will was talking about this, he was, I mean, he was talking about some 401 00:26:09,501 --> 00:26:15,141 of his experience, wasn't he, with the Holy Spirit about how he had, um, he, he 402 00:26:15,141 --> 00:26:20,721 sort of felt impressed to, uh, speak to someone or to pray to someone, um, and. 403 00:26:21,171 --> 00:26:24,621 You know, he had pictures and thoughts and, and, and you know, he is prayed 404 00:26:24,621 --> 00:26:30,081 for sick people and they've got well, and so he has, he has seen, um, and 405 00:26:30,086 --> 00:26:35,161 experienced the miraculous or the, the, the invasion for want of better 406 00:26:35,161 --> 00:26:37,131 expression of the Holy Spirit in his life. 407 00:26:37,191 --> 00:26:41,661 Um, and also the Holy Spirit through him, to other people. 408 00:26:41,901 --> 00:26:42,201 Right. 409 00:26:42,201 --> 00:26:45,591 That, that was, uh, what sort of came clear to me. 410 00:26:45,591 --> 00:26:49,101 So for you, what you are saying is you've got very similar stories. 411 00:26:49,101 --> 00:26:51,411 You just experienced the Holy Spirit in different ways, right? 412 00:26:52,221 --> 00:26:55,791 Well, absolutely Matt, and I think that that's why, as you said, Dr. 413 00:26:55,791 --> 00:27:00,531 Will Sopwith super scientific guy, I think his research was in to do with 414 00:27:01,121 --> 00:27:05,661 spreads of viruses and advising the government during covid and stuff. 415 00:27:06,081 --> 00:27:09,471 You, you've gotta really ask, you've got this story about a guy 416 00:27:09,471 --> 00:27:12,141 who dies and is rose from the dead. 417 00:27:12,501 --> 00:27:13,851 Um, God on Earth. 418 00:27:13,971 --> 00:27:17,811 It's a pretty unbelievable story, but it's a story that about half 419 00:27:17,811 --> 00:27:19,281 the world's population believe. 420 00:27:19,836 --> 00:27:20,446 . Mm-hmm. 421 00:27:20,526 --> 00:27:23,706 . And so there are those who believe it and those who don't believe it. 422 00:27:24,186 --> 00:27:28,026 And if you are in the camp of not believing it, can you really write off 423 00:27:28,026 --> 00:27:31,626 the experience of those who do believe it? 424 00:27:31,626 --> 00:27:36,396 Surely that in itself is enough to think maybe there's something in this. 425 00:27:36,906 --> 00:27:40,866 But for those of us who believe it, we, we believe it because that story 426 00:27:40,866 --> 00:27:42,726 becomes part of our experience. 427 00:27:42,966 --> 00:27:43,236 Mm-hmm. 428 00:27:43,856 --> 00:27:48,516 So the, the things that Jesus promised around the power of the forgiveness 429 00:27:48,516 --> 00:27:53,046 of sins, again, Will great talk if you, if you are watching it, 430 00:27:53,256 --> 00:27:55,056 but that's a true power, isn't it? 431 00:27:55,056 --> 00:27:55,116 Yeah. 432 00:27:55,296 --> 00:27:58,446 My life was characterized by guilt and shame and 433 00:27:58,446 --> 00:28:00,696 condemnation before I knew Jesus. 434 00:28:01,626 --> 00:28:04,566 I, I couldn't sort that out for myself. 435 00:28:05,316 --> 00:28:10,851 And when I received his love and his forgiveness, he transformed how I thought 436 00:28:10,851 --> 00:28:15,801 and felt about myself and, uh, and my life and, and that shame and guilt was lifted. 437 00:28:15,806 --> 00:28:17,481 What an incredible miracle. 438 00:28:17,481 --> 00:28:20,031 But yeah, I, I've seen the healings. 439 00:28:20,061 --> 00:28:24,801 My nan was healed pretty instantly of Parkinson's disease. 440 00:28:24,861 --> 00:28:25,131 Holy. 441 00:28:25,161 --> 00:28:29,631 She went from having tremors and shakes wandering around the town, 442 00:28:29,631 --> 00:28:33,381 and we have to go look for her to just changed in an instant. 443 00:28:34,136 --> 00:28:38,966 I remember once my youngest boy, he'd been swimming in a river in France. 444 00:28:39,326 --> 00:28:41,516 We found a dead cow floating in the river. 445 00:28:42,116 --> 00:28:45,296 Um, and his whole ears had swollen up. 446 00:28:45,716 --> 00:28:49,076 And the sort of opening in this ears had closed up. 447 00:28:49,496 --> 00:28:50,606 He was in a lot of pain. 448 00:28:50,936 --> 00:28:54,656 I got my phone out to look with the, um, touch. 449 00:28:54,716 --> 00:28:55,946 I wish we had pressed record. 450 00:28:56,366 --> 00:28:57,806 We anointed him with oil. 451 00:28:57,806 --> 00:29:03,086 Like the Bible says, within three seconds, it had completely been healed. 452 00:29:03,536 --> 00:29:03,716 Amen. 453 00:29:03,716 --> 00:29:08,036 I, I remember being a kid when we had no food in the house, no money, um, being 454 00:29:08,036 --> 00:29:14,456 incredibly poor growing up and sit in a sat at a set table ready for food. 455 00:29:14,516 --> 00:29:18,686 Cause my mum was convinced that God would provide food and knock on the door, 456 00:29:19,406 --> 00:29:21,116 go to the door, there's a bag of food. 457 00:29:21,386 --> 00:29:27,476 So for me, the miraculous has been an aspect throughout my Christian life. 458 00:29:28,061 --> 00:29:31,416 . Um, I don't put my faith trust in that, and I thought that was really honest 459 00:29:31,416 --> 00:29:36,246 and vulnerable of Will to talk about the times where we believe for the miraculous. 460 00:29:36,306 --> 00:29:36,786 Yeah. 461 00:29:37,296 --> 00:29:39,666 And we don't get the miraculous mm-hmm. 462 00:29:39,996 --> 00:29:43,596 , um, that that was, and, and, and, and I know that's the sort of stuff you've 463 00:29:43,596 --> 00:29:45,966 discussed in the past on Crowd Church. 464 00:29:45,966 --> 00:29:48,696 Why do bad things happen, for example? 465 00:29:48,696 --> 00:29:49,016 Yeah. 466 00:29:49,021 --> 00:29:50,736 And all those big problems. 467 00:29:51,216 --> 00:29:54,216 But I'd just bring it back to that fact that there are people who 468 00:29:54,216 --> 00:29:55,986 believe the story, people who don't. 469 00:29:55,986 --> 00:30:01,506 And if you don't, you've really got to ask the question, why do these people like Dr. 470 00:30:01,506 --> 00:30:05,616 Will Sopwith like us and others, why do we really believe it? 471 00:30:06,186 --> 00:30:06,756 You know? 472 00:30:06,786 --> 00:30:11,046 Um, and the simple answer is because it's become our story, 473 00:30:11,046 --> 00:30:12,666 it's become our experience. 474 00:30:12,756 --> 00:30:13,176 Yeah. 475 00:30:13,296 --> 00:30:15,411 It's the truth that we, we've all experienced, isn't it? 476 00:30:15,546 --> 00:30:20,766 And I, I I, I'm gonna put on the, Matt's written a comment here. 477 00:30:21,276 --> 00:30:23,916 Um, he said, I asked God to touch me in the past. 478 00:30:24,741 --> 00:30:29,001 and he has done at MCYC, uh, I'm not sure what that stands 479 00:30:29,001 --> 00:30:30,831 for anyway, uh, 13 years ago. 480 00:30:30,831 --> 00:30:31,881 Amazing feeling. 481 00:30:31,941 --> 00:30:33,981 And it's, it's interesting, isn't it? 482 00:30:33,981 --> 00:30:38,811 How I think we've all got these stories, um, these sort of testimonies 483 00:30:38,816 --> 00:30:41,751 we'd like to call 'em in the church of where we have experienced God. 484 00:30:41,751 --> 00:30:46,971 It's not just a, um, I i I we don't believe just because of guilt. 485 00:30:46,976 --> 00:30:49,221 We don't believe, just because that's the way we were brought up. 486 00:30:49,581 --> 00:30:50,991 Um, it's not the way I was brought up. 487 00:30:51,081 --> 00:30:56,751 Uh, but we, we believe for many reasons, one of which is our experience of, of God. 488 00:30:56,751 --> 00:30:59,751 And, and the thing that I loved about Will's preach is, he touches on this 489 00:30:59,751 --> 00:31:01,371 where Peter's concerned, doesn't he? 490 00:31:01,521 --> 00:31:09,591 Where Peter is, this Galilean fisherman, um, who was scared to a, to tell a, 491 00:31:09,591 --> 00:31:14,481 a young girl that he knew Jesus to within a few short weeks standing 492 00:31:14,481 --> 00:31:18,021 up an uneducated man delivering. 493 00:31:19,221 --> 00:31:23,451 You know, maybe not the prescribed way of delivering a speech, but definitely 494 00:31:23,451 --> 00:31:27,201 delivers this amazing speech, brings in Old Testament references and all kinds 495 00:31:27,201 --> 00:31:32,051 of, so you have to look at that and go, that is one heck of a transformation? 496 00:31:32,401 --> 00:31:33,421 Right? 497 00:31:35,311 --> 00:31:40,191 Undoubtedly, and if you think about it, 3000 responded, and that 498 00:31:40,191 --> 00:31:41,871 was a percentage of the Crowd. 499 00:31:42,261 --> 00:31:42,651 Mm-hmm. 500 00:31:42,831 --> 00:31:47,721 So you could, and this is not on the Temple Mount, um, the courtyards of 501 00:31:47,941 --> 00:31:51,901 the temple, but you could easily get over a hundred thousand to 200,000 502 00:31:51,906 --> 00:31:53,751 people there in that physical space. 503 00:31:54,831 --> 00:31:59,301 So, um, you, you've got a city that is rammed and, and, and it, I 504 00:31:59,301 --> 00:32:02,421 mean, I'm nervous enough talking to this camera and I can only see you. 505 00:32:03,771 --> 00:32:05,111 I'd be nervous talking to me as well. 506 00:32:05,541 --> 00:32:06,231 Yeah, yeah. 507 00:32:06,231 --> 00:32:08,601 There's a transformation that's taken place, isn't there? 508 00:32:08,691 --> 00:32:08,811 Mm-hmm. 509 00:32:08,901 --> 00:32:10,971 And, and, and Matt is right. 510 00:32:11,611 --> 00:32:15,651 It's like an encounter with the Holy Spirit that brings your faith alive 511 00:32:16,041 --> 00:32:18,111 rather than and one of my concerns. 512 00:32:19,591 --> 00:32:23,661 . One of my concerns about certain types of Christianity, modern 513 00:32:23,661 --> 00:32:28,101 Christianity, is that we've made it a little bit like a self-help movement. 514 00:32:28,106 --> 00:32:28,391 Yeah. 515 00:32:28,391 --> 00:32:29,551 A self-help program. 516 00:32:29,581 --> 00:32:30,071 Yeah. 517 00:32:30,071 --> 00:32:30,311 Yeah. 518 00:32:30,316 --> 00:32:35,031 So I'm on this personal quest to a bit like I might do some 519 00:32:35,036 --> 00:32:40,581 yoga classes or I might do some, uh, a particular type of diet. 520 00:32:40,641 --> 00:32:46,071 I'm trying to find a way to improve my life, and what Peter is 521 00:32:46,161 --> 00:32:50,351 doing here is calling people into relationship with Jesus is in, 522 00:32:50,351 --> 00:32:51,861 in community together actually. 523 00:32:51,891 --> 00:32:52,191 Mm-hmm. 524 00:32:52,281 --> 00:32:54,591 That's gonna be the next section of reading. 525 00:32:54,591 --> 00:32:54,891 Yeah. 526 00:32:56,181 --> 00:32:59,751 And he's calling them into something that's not for them to 527 00:32:59,756 --> 00:33:02,181 do, but it's for them to receive. 528 00:33:02,931 --> 00:33:08,271 And it's, it's about inviting that forgiveness and that that power of 529 00:33:08,481 --> 00:33:10,761 God's spirit to transform our lives. 530 00:33:10,761 --> 00:33:15,171 It's not that it's not without effort, of course there's an effort to the 531 00:33:15,171 --> 00:33:19,941 Christian life, but the effort's about receiving and surrendering and keeping 532 00:33:19,941 --> 00:33:26,571 our eyes fixed and focused on, on, on Jesus, in and pressing into community 533 00:33:26,571 --> 00:33:29,181 in all its various forms together. 534 00:33:29,631 --> 00:33:31,641 Yeah, no, I like that. 535 00:33:31,641 --> 00:33:32,271 I like that. 536 00:33:32,271 --> 00:33:33,321 And I'm with you. 537 00:33:33,326 --> 00:33:39,291 I mean, I, I, I would say I probably fell foul of Christianity and the 538 00:33:39,291 --> 00:33:44,091 self-help, you know, the sort of the Western Christianity, self-help ideology. 539 00:33:44,721 --> 00:33:49,581 And I, you know, that sort of distinct, positive and everything 540 00:33:49,581 --> 00:33:50,721 will be all right kind of thing. 541 00:33:50,721 --> 00:33:54,801 And it, and it, and the reason why I agree with you is because, um, 542 00:33:54,861 --> 00:33:57,351 you and a bunch of other people along the way have challenged me. 543 00:33:57,351 --> 00:34:00,351 And it's like, it's not, this is about God's grace. 544 00:34:00,351 --> 00:34:02,781 This is about Jesus here. 545 00:34:03,171 --> 00:34:05,091 Um, self-help in some respects is good. 546 00:34:05,091 --> 00:34:06,651 Yes, you need to take responsibility. 547 00:34:06,651 --> 00:34:07,161 Yes. 548 00:34:07,581 --> 00:34:10,941 Um, you need to stop messing about yes, et cetera, et cetera. 549 00:34:11,391 --> 00:34:14,511 But fundamentally, there are things you cannot do without the grace of God. 550 00:34:14,511 --> 00:34:15,561 And self-help won't. 551 00:34:16,191 --> 00:34:18,351 You can't just get your head down and plough through it. 552 00:34:18,351 --> 00:34:19,611 You need the grace of God. 553 00:34:19,611 --> 00:34:19,881 Right. 554 00:34:19,881 --> 00:34:21,891 Is that what you're talking about when you talk about self-help? 555 00:34:22,401 --> 00:34:23,001 Absolutely. 556 00:34:23,001 --> 00:34:27,981 It, it, I'm talking about moving away from therapeutic Christianity. 557 00:34:28,611 --> 00:34:33,861 So, so you like, I I, we know each other well, I mean, I know that if you decided 558 00:34:33,861 --> 00:34:37,881 you're gonna do a gym program, I mean, I dunno what you're pressing now, Matt, but 559 00:34:37,881 --> 00:34:39,681 you take these things quite seriously. 560 00:34:40,301 --> 00:34:41,051 Do you know what I mean? 561 00:34:41,061 --> 00:34:45,621 So when you're a particular type of person who wants to make things happen, um, 562 00:34:45,731 --> 00:34:50,931 entrepreneurally in your workplace and all the rest of it, we can sort of apply 563 00:34:50,931 --> 00:34:55,401 that to ourselves as if it's down to us to save ourselves and improve ourselves. 564 00:34:55,406 --> 00:34:55,651 Mm-hmm. 565 00:34:56,091 --> 00:34:59,931 And really, we are all called just to surrender before Jesus. 566 00:35:00,631 --> 00:35:03,981 And, and to, and, and for him to do some of it for us that we could 567 00:35:03,981 --> 00:35:05,601 never have done for ourselves. 568 00:35:06,921 --> 00:35:09,231 and then it talks 2 Corinthians 3:18 19. 569 00:35:09,231 --> 00:35:14,871 The, it's the role of the Holy Spirit who transforms us into the likeness of Jesus. 570 00:35:14,931 --> 00:35:16,761 Yeah, it doesn't happen passively. 571 00:35:17,031 --> 00:35:21,741 It doesn't happen without effort, but it's, it's the right type of effort. 572 00:35:22,641 --> 00:35:26,031 Um, it's not through trying to be really, really good, and I'm trying 573 00:35:26,031 --> 00:35:27,891 to avoid being really, really naughty. 574 00:35:28,251 --> 00:35:30,651 It's just about keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. 575 00:35:30,651 --> 00:35:35,181 And, and, and like I pray every day, every day I say, holy Spirit, 576 00:35:35,181 --> 00:35:36,771 your job is to transform me. 577 00:35:37,071 --> 00:35:38,526 Your job is to make me more like Jesus. 578 00:35:39,531 --> 00:35:41,691 Um, holy Spirit, I yield to you. 579 00:35:41,691 --> 00:35:42,921 I submit to you. 580 00:35:42,926 --> 00:35:44,616 I worship you because you are God. 581 00:35:45,196 --> 00:35:48,741 And, and I ask that you would, um, be at work in my life today. 582 00:35:49,321 --> 00:35:52,131 And, and so I'm, I'm coming to him to confess my need. 583 00:35:52,461 --> 00:35:53,821 Holy Spirit, I need you. 584 00:35:54,191 --> 00:35:56,891 Uh, that is probably my most prayed prayer. 585 00:35:57,511 --> 00:35:59,346 It's a very good Prayer to pray, actually. 586 00:35:59,346 --> 00:36:01,656 If you wanna know where to start praying, start praying right there. 587 00:36:02,076 --> 00:36:05,586 But I'm curious, mate, on this self-help thing, what are some of the things 588 00:36:05,591 --> 00:36:08,106 that you've seen people fall foul of? 589 00:36:08,646 --> 00:36:11,076 Um, because I do think this, there's a couple of things which I think are 590 00:36:11,076 --> 00:36:12,756 problematic in the church at the moment. 591 00:36:13,116 --> 00:36:16,386 Um, the self-help being one of them, progressive Christianity being another. 592 00:36:16,386 --> 00:36:19,056 Maybe we'll get onto that a little bit because Peter, I think, addresses 593 00:36:19,056 --> 00:36:21,906 this a little bit in his talk actually, uh, in his, in his sermon. 594 00:36:22,536 --> 00:36:25,926 Um, but what, what are some of the examples that you, you can think of 595 00:36:25,926 --> 00:36:27,756 that people might need to watch out for? 596 00:36:28,746 --> 00:36:29,076 Okay. 597 00:36:29,076 --> 00:36:32,886 Well take any of the good things that we might call spiritual disciplines. 598 00:36:32,886 --> 00:36:33,756 Mm-hmm. 599 00:36:34,296 --> 00:36:39,006 understanding and reading the Bible, Prayer, that, those sorts of things. 600 00:36:39,366 --> 00:36:45,756 Um, what hap what can tend to happen is we, um, pick and mix, 601 00:36:45,761 --> 00:36:50,196 pick and choose those things away from others in community. 602 00:36:50,556 --> 00:36:55,186 So I find my favorite songs and my favorite preacher. 603 00:36:56,196 --> 00:37:01,311 , and really I'm trying to, um, feed myself the things that I want. 604 00:37:01,731 --> 00:37:06,261 Uh, or like when you hear someone say, I don't go to a church because I 605 00:37:06,261 --> 00:37:08,271 just go and encounter God in nature. 606 00:37:08,631 --> 00:37:08,811 Mm-hmm. 607 00:37:09,051 --> 00:37:13,491 , um, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, uh, uh, part of the, um, persecuted 608 00:37:13,491 --> 00:37:14,751 church in Nazi Germany. 609 00:37:14,751 --> 00:37:17,601 He talks about this when he says the, the, the, the problem with 610 00:37:17,601 --> 00:37:21,591 that approach is, um, it never really caused me to surrender. 611 00:37:22,131 --> 00:37:25,506 It never really caused me to compromise in the, in the right and 612 00:37:25,641 --> 00:37:27,141 the best of the healthiest sense. 613 00:37:27,471 --> 00:37:32,391 Uh, when, when I connect with other Christians in community, um, 614 00:37:32,421 --> 00:37:36,831 together around God's word, it, it requires a different posture from me. 615 00:37:36,831 --> 00:37:41,841 It requires a humility, um, uh, from me, and that that's really 616 00:37:41,841 --> 00:37:46,371 where spiritual formation takes place, uh, most powerfully. 617 00:37:46,701 --> 00:37:48,951 So that's a little bit what I mean, it's like, yeah. 618 00:37:49,461 --> 00:37:53,031 Like I, and I think I talked about it in my last Crowd talk actually. 619 00:37:53,421 --> 00:37:55,311 Um, I need community. 620 00:37:55,311 --> 00:37:57,021 I need to commit to community. 621 00:37:57,891 --> 00:38:01,601 And I'm not talking, I'm talking online or in person. 622 00:38:01,611 --> 00:38:02,661 For me, that's what matters. 623 00:38:02,661 --> 00:38:07,131 It's about a commitment to a group of people to do your life together. 624 00:38:07,461 --> 00:38:11,601 That's how you take those individual things and you move them from 625 00:38:11,601 --> 00:38:17,481 self-help to a sort of a shared mutual love and service of one another. 626 00:38:17,961 --> 00:38:19,311 Yeah, no, absolutely. 627 00:38:19,521 --> 00:38:20,361 Very well said. 628 00:38:20,901 --> 00:38:24,231 And interestingly, um, I mean, there was many things that, I've got many 629 00:38:24,231 --> 00:38:27,321 notes from Will's talk because, you know, why would you not have really? 630 00:38:27,741 --> 00:38:34,131 Um, but right at the end of it, um, uh, at, uh, the, at the end of Peter's 631 00:38:34,131 --> 00:38:38,751 talk, he says here, um, when, uh, when people heard this, they were cut to 632 00:38:38,961 --> 00:38:42,711 the heart, um, and said, and they said to Peter, okay, well this is fine. 633 00:38:42,711 --> 00:38:43,731 What do we need to do? 634 00:38:43,731 --> 00:38:46,191 And Peter says, repent and be baptized every one of you. 635 00:38:46,821 --> 00:38:49,371 Um, what do you think? 636 00:38:49,701 --> 00:38:52,671 What does cut to the heart mean? 637 00:38:52,671 --> 00:38:55,191 That's a, I think it's a really interesting phrase. 638 00:38:55,371 --> 00:38:59,271 You know, people can hear all this stuff and, and find it interesting. 639 00:38:59,271 --> 00:39:03,981 They can find it, uh, you know, mentally I can, I can kind of think about this 640 00:39:03,986 --> 00:39:07,331 or, you know, I think there's gonna be different types of responses. 641 00:39:07,331 --> 00:39:09,711 And I'm curious, what does cut to the heart mean, do you think? 642 00:39:11,991 --> 00:39:16,101 I think there's a massive difference between conviction and 643 00:39:16,101 --> 00:39:21,441 condemnation and, um, for us in Christ there's no condemnation. 644 00:39:21,981 --> 00:39:26,841 Um, I think that, like, there've been times where I've preached in the past 645 00:39:26,841 --> 00:39:28,761 and someone said, oh, you said something. 646 00:39:28,761 --> 00:39:30,321 And I felt really condemned from it. 647 00:39:30,741 --> 00:39:31,071 Yeah. 648 00:39:31,131 --> 00:39:37,791 And really I think, I, I, I think what happens in conviction is, 649 00:39:37,881 --> 00:39:43,041 um, we, we humble, our hearts are like, May, maybe this is true, may 650 00:39:43,101 --> 00:39:45,831 maybe, I don't know best here may. 651 00:39:45,861 --> 00:39:48,621 Maybe what that person is saying could be right. 652 00:39:49,251 --> 00:39:54,291 And so, uh, I think when it says cut to the heart, there's something that they're 653 00:39:54,291 --> 00:39:59,601 doing, which is opening their heart to allow God to come and touch their hearts. 654 00:40:00,111 --> 00:40:05,091 Um, as opposed to just doing what you saw in the stories of the gospels of some of 655 00:40:05,311 --> 00:40:09,201 the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which was just to put their hands, say no. 656 00:40:09,651 --> 00:40:09,741 Mm-hmm. 657 00:40:09,981 --> 00:40:13,101 not even gonna consider or entertain for a moment that maybe 658 00:40:13,101 --> 00:40:14,811 what Jesus is saying is true. 659 00:40:16,011 --> 00:40:20,181 So, um, often the message of Jesus has this polarizing effect. 660 00:40:20,481 --> 00:40:20,691 Yeah. 661 00:40:20,721 --> 00:40:22,821 It rarely leaves us as neutral. 662 00:40:23,601 --> 00:40:28,341 It forces us to either humble ourselves and think, do you know what? 663 00:40:28,346 --> 00:40:29,541 Maybe I've not got this right. 664 00:40:29,541 --> 00:40:32,511 Maybe there is a God who knows best for my life. 665 00:40:33,091 --> 00:40:36,531 And, and that's where you get into this whole idea of repentance. 666 00:40:36,681 --> 00:40:36,891 Yeah. 667 00:40:36,921 --> 00:40:41,331 From the Greek of metanoia, which means to change our thinking mm-hmm. 668 00:40:41,571 --> 00:40:44,211 to line our thinking up with God's thinking. 669 00:40:44,271 --> 00:40:44,871 Mm-hmm. 670 00:40:44,951 --> 00:40:48,411 . And we know how God thinks He's revealed it to us through his word. 671 00:40:48,741 --> 00:40:48,951 Yeah. 672 00:40:48,956 --> 00:40:49,431 The Bible. 673 00:40:49,911 --> 00:40:50,781 Yeah, absolutely. 674 00:40:51,111 --> 00:40:54,381 In fact, uh, just a few short weeks ago, I did a talk called How to 675 00:40:54,381 --> 00:40:57,681 Turn Your Life Around in 30 Days, which is very self-helpy and was 676 00:40:57,681 --> 00:40:58,911 deliberately titled like that. 677 00:40:59,241 --> 00:41:01,461 And the whole premise of the talk was, you need to repent 678 00:41:01,461 --> 00:41:02,871 or we talked about repentance. 679 00:41:02,871 --> 00:41:04,191 The whole talk was about repentance. 680 00:41:04,191 --> 00:41:05,271 And that's how you turn your life around. 681 00:41:05,511 --> 00:41:07,041 And it is about that, isn't it? 682 00:41:07,041 --> 00:41:08,871 It's about repentance. 683 00:41:08,961 --> 00:41:13,161 Um, which has a real issue I think with progressive Christianity, with, 684 00:41:13,731 --> 00:41:19,041 um, what they call now as expressive individualism in the sense that you, 685 00:41:19,341 --> 00:41:23,391 it's not about you, you, it's about going, I'm not living this the right way. 686 00:41:23,391 --> 00:41:26,451 I'm not living it according to God's way. 687 00:41:26,451 --> 00:41:29,661 And so I need to humble myself and get in line with what God is saying. 688 00:41:29,661 --> 00:41:29,961 Right? 689 00:41:30,141 --> 00:41:32,061 And that can be true for someone who's not a Christian. 690 00:41:32,061 --> 00:41:34,251 That can be true for someone who is a Christian, you know? 691 00:41:34,301 --> 00:41:34,661 Mm-hmm. 692 00:41:34,741 --> 00:41:36,621 , it can be true in how I run my family. 693 00:41:36,691 --> 00:41:40,671 I, I could be like, um, you know, I, I could be doing something as 694 00:41:40,671 --> 00:41:42,741 a husband, which I need to repent. 695 00:41:42,771 --> 00:41:43,941 Oh, it doesn't change my faith. 696 00:41:43,941 --> 00:41:46,641 I just need to realign my thinking with God's thinking. 697 00:41:46,641 --> 00:41:46,881 Right. 698 00:41:46,881 --> 00:41:48,261 And I think you're right. 699 00:41:48,261 --> 00:41:50,121 It's very, very polarizing. 700 00:41:50,451 --> 00:41:55,341 Uh, and the standard is, is remarkably simple to understand. 701 00:41:55,341 --> 00:41:59,121 But actually when you think about it requires a lot because God's like, no, no. 702 00:41:59,151 --> 00:42:05,511 It's my way that's just the deal , you, you've gotta align to my way. 703 00:42:05,721 --> 00:42:06,081 Right? 704 00:42:07,251 --> 00:42:10,641 Well, I mean, and well done for saying it Matt because like what we're not 705 00:42:10,646 --> 00:42:12,711 trying to do in Crowd Church is. 706 00:42:13,671 --> 00:42:16,981 Get as much popularity and as many followers as possible. 707 00:42:16,986 --> 00:42:22,461 What we're trying to do in love is to share the, the truth of who Jesus is 708 00:42:22,761 --> 00:42:27,421 in a way that can help people encounter him and have their life changed. 709 00:42:27,441 --> 00:42:32,661 But we do that knowing that it will have that type of polarizing effect. 710 00:42:32,691 --> 00:42:37,011 And, you know, well, I, I completely agree with how you're calling out this 711 00:42:37,011 --> 00:42:43,371 progressive Christianity because, um, it, there's no Christianity where the self 712 00:42:44,121 --> 00:42:47,931 is, uh, the Lord and the boss of my life. 713 00:42:48,201 --> 00:42:48,471 No. 714 00:42:48,531 --> 00:42:53,751 Uh, like my, um, Nan used to say to me that, that there's a throne in your 715 00:42:53,751 --> 00:42:55,611 heart and it's only space for one. 716 00:42:56,271 --> 00:43:01,191 Uh, so either you can sit in it and think you know best and live your life 717 00:43:01,191 --> 00:43:06,381 your way and, you know, how's that going for you, by the way, or you 718 00:43:06,381 --> 00:43:08,571 can invite Jesus to come and do that. 719 00:43:08,601 --> 00:43:11,511 And, and, and I, I, I know I see that in your life. 720 00:43:11,511 --> 00:43:15,711 I see it in, uh, the lives of the people around me that I'm in community with. 721 00:43:16,041 --> 00:43:21,981 Um, that all we're trying to do is take God's word and say, how can 722 00:43:21,986 --> 00:43:23,901 we live a biblically faithful life? 723 00:43:23,991 --> 00:43:24,231 Yeah. 724 00:43:24,561 --> 00:43:30,381 Um, because maybe, maybe just maybe we don't know best. 725 00:43:30,801 --> 00:43:34,671 And what Peter does in this talk is not come up with something new. 726 00:43:35,181 --> 00:43:35,511 No. 727 00:43:35,691 --> 00:43:38,901 Uh, a friend of mine used to say, uh, innovation in 728 00:43:38,906 --> 00:43:40,851 theology is a dangerous thing. 729 00:43:41,631 --> 00:43:43,801 if you come up with something new. 730 00:43:44,271 --> 00:43:44,451 Yeah. 731 00:43:44,451 --> 00:43:45,861 Then, uh, hang on a second. 732 00:43:46,131 --> 00:43:50,011 All Peter's doing is calling these people back to something that's ancient. 733 00:43:50,661 --> 00:43:55,116 Back to something that's, um, that's proven and tested. 734 00:43:55,386 --> 00:43:59,976 The God of the ages, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God revealed, 735 00:44:00,306 --> 00:44:03,666 um, to Moses, uh, in the Torah. 736 00:44:04,146 --> 00:44:06,486 Um, that that's what he's calling people back to. 737 00:44:06,486 --> 00:44:10,026 And a lot of progressive Christianity is, is trying to sort 738 00:44:10,026 --> 00:44:14,226 of deconstruct those things in order to come up with something new. 739 00:44:14,286 --> 00:44:14,616 Yeah. 740 00:44:14,646 --> 00:44:18,976 Which effectively is, um, you at the center of your life. 741 00:44:19,046 --> 00:44:19,656 Mm-hmm. 742 00:44:20,076 --> 00:44:21,936 . And it's very, very dangerous, I think. 743 00:44:21,996 --> 00:44:23,166 Very, very dangerous. 744 00:44:23,496 --> 00:44:25,476 It's, um, you know, it's the same thing. 745 00:44:26,526 --> 00:44:27,726 We live in an age now, don't we? 746 00:44:27,726 --> 00:44:31,456 We live in a culture where actually we try and tell ourselves that we are not 747 00:44:31,461 --> 00:44:33,126 wrong because we're living our truth. 748 00:44:33,606 --> 00:44:39,366 Uh, and, and so we, we don't like to face up to the fact that maybe we are 749 00:44:39,636 --> 00:44:41,406 wrong or what the Bible says is sin. 750 00:44:41,406 --> 00:44:45,456 But, um, and so what we do is we redefine what that is and we go, oh, we can't be 751 00:44:45,456 --> 00:44:46,956 wrong because we just live in our truth. 752 00:44:47,376 --> 00:44:47,736 Right. 753 00:44:48,036 --> 00:44:51,006 And, and that again, puts me at the center of everything. 754 00:44:51,396 --> 00:44:55,156 Whereas actually, I think it takes a brave man or woman to stand up and 755 00:44:55,176 --> 00:44:59,166 go, nah, I've, I need to deal with this according to God's standard. 756 00:44:59,166 --> 00:44:59,436 Right? 757 00:45:00,726 --> 00:45:04,216 Well, Jesus never said to you do you, um, 758 00:45:06,716 --> 00:45:09,486 you know what, that would be a great t-shirt. 759 00:45:10,596 --> 00:45:11,316 You know me. 760 00:45:11,316 --> 00:45:15,576 I mean, we've, we've got very serious and very deep, but these are, these are life 761 00:45:15,576 --> 00:45:17,096 and death matters, aren't they, really? 762 00:45:17,096 --> 00:45:17,376 Yeah. 763 00:45:17,706 --> 00:45:22,446 Um, and, and really it's about having that posture and, and 764 00:45:22,686 --> 00:45:24,396 I I, I see that in your life. 765 00:45:24,396 --> 00:45:25,656 I see in Will's life. 766 00:45:26,076 --> 00:45:27,696 I hope people see it in my life. 767 00:45:27,696 --> 00:45:33,966 That posture of saying, all I want to do is try to understand, um, God's 768 00:45:33,966 --> 00:45:38,946 word, who he is as best I can, and faithfully use that as the standard that 769 00:45:38,946 --> 00:45:41,316 I try and measure my life up against. 770 00:45:41,456 --> 00:45:41,856 Yeah. 771 00:45:42,636 --> 00:45:44,046 That, that's what we're trying to do. 772 00:45:44,626 --> 00:45:47,361 No very well put, very well put. 773 00:45:48,711 --> 00:45:52,041 Well, I think we've, uh, we've, we've had a very good conversation. 774 00:45:52,281 --> 00:45:54,951 Feels like two minutes, John, but apparently we're almost outta time. 775 00:45:56,211 --> 00:45:56,931 It just goes by so quick. 776 00:45:56,931 --> 00:46:01,131 So let me just say, lemme just say Matt, because of the passage. 777 00:46:01,401 --> 00:46:04,721 I would really encourage people watching this at any time if you're 778 00:46:05,061 --> 00:46:06,141 watching it live or some other time. 779 00:46:06,441 --> 00:46:12,111 Uh, when you finish watching it, just find some space on your own and say, uh, 780 00:46:12,141 --> 00:46:14,781 holy Spirit, could you do that for me? 781 00:46:14,941 --> 00:46:15,421 Yeah. 782 00:46:15,426 --> 00:46:18,051 Could you fill me like you filled those people? 783 00:46:18,561 --> 00:46:22,671 Could you come and touch my life and begin transforming my life in that way? 784 00:46:23,091 --> 00:46:24,471 Uh, and let us know how you get on. 785 00:46:24,831 --> 00:46:24,951 Yeah. 786 00:46:24,981 --> 00:46:29,436 Um, because I, I know that that is a Prayer that God wants to answer. 787 00:46:30,066 --> 00:46:31,911 Yeah, absolutely, totally agree with you. 788 00:46:31,911 --> 00:46:36,021 And as you go through the story, and as Peter quotes Joel, you see that he 789 00:46:36,021 --> 00:46:40,191 breaks down gender bias, he breaks down racial bias, he breaks down class bias. 790 00:46:40,941 --> 00:46:42,261 There's no excuse. 791 00:46:42,261 --> 00:46:42,981 There's age. 792 00:46:42,986 --> 00:46:43,221 Yeah. 793 00:46:43,221 --> 00:46:45,081 The young, the old, they're all thrown in, aren't they? 794 00:46:45,081 --> 00:46:51,141 So, um, everything's broken down in this one sermon and it is available for you. 795 00:46:51,141 --> 00:46:53,361 And that's one of the things that came out in Will's talk, isn't it? 796 00:46:53,361 --> 00:46:55,371 And I think Yes, you, that includes you. 797 00:46:55,371 --> 00:46:58,971 And so, um, yeah, I think that's a great Prayer to pray. 798 00:46:58,971 --> 00:47:00,141 Like John has been praying. 799 00:47:00,141 --> 00:47:03,111 Holy Spirit, would you come touch me today? 800 00:47:03,116 --> 00:47:05,811 Like you did the disciples back in Pentecost. 801 00:47:05,811 --> 00:47:06,651 Would you come? 802 00:47:06,951 --> 00:47:13,161 Can I, and help me to lead a life which is, uh, right and aligned to you. 803 00:47:13,161 --> 00:47:14,691 I think it's, you know, take me your way. 804 00:47:14,696 --> 00:47:15,441 Take me your path. 805 00:47:15,441 --> 00:47:21,621 They're brave prayers to pray, uh, because you never know what God's got in mind. 806 00:47:21,711 --> 00:47:22,431 Just pointing that out. 807 00:47:22,611 --> 00:47:24,561 Um, but yeah, it's, it is awesome, man. 808 00:47:25,041 --> 00:47:26,871 John, listen, next week, right? 809 00:47:27,801 --> 00:47:32,241 Um, We have you speaking according to my notes. 810 00:47:32,241 --> 00:47:38,581 So we're taking a slight, we're pausing slightly on the Acts series and we are 811 00:47:38,586 --> 00:47:40,401 doing what we call, uh, a now word. 812 00:47:40,401 --> 00:47:44,901 It's, it's basically where you and I on the odd occasion just go, I 813 00:47:44,906 --> 00:47:47,611 think we should just talk about this, just feel like God's impressing 814 00:47:47,631 --> 00:47:49,401 on me to talk about this topic. 815 00:47:49,521 --> 00:47:53,391 Um, whereas the whole Acts series is very, you kind of dictated, you know, 816 00:47:53,421 --> 00:47:54,771 what the, what's the next passage is. 817 00:47:55,521 --> 00:48:01,791 So just give us a brief, a brief glimpse into what is coming next week. 818 00:48:04,041 --> 00:48:05,811 It's something that's really been on my heart. 819 00:48:05,811 --> 00:48:08,511 It touches on some of the things we've been talking about. 820 00:48:09,021 --> 00:48:13,281 But if we were to ask the question, what is the present 821 00:48:13,551 --> 00:48:15,621 moment that we're living in like? 822 00:48:16,491 --> 00:48:20,991 What, what is the world like at the moment and how do we live well in the world? 823 00:48:21,861 --> 00:48:27,936 Um, has the world changed at all over the past 2, 5, 10 years? 824 00:48:28,296 --> 00:48:32,076 What is the, what are the characteristics of this landscape 825 00:48:32,076 --> 00:48:33,276 that we find ourselves in? 826 00:48:33,276 --> 00:48:36,156 And what does it mean to live well within that landscape? 827 00:48:36,426 --> 00:48:38,766 That, that's really what I, I want to touch on. 828 00:48:38,771 --> 00:48:43,146 And again, just to try to bring some biblical perspective and truth into that 829 00:48:43,146 --> 00:48:45,186 perspective, uh, into that question. 830 00:48:46,016 --> 00:48:47,226 Oh, yes. 831 00:48:47,586 --> 00:48:48,726 You're not gonna wanna miss that. 832 00:48:48,726 --> 00:48:52,446 Ladies and gentlemen, we know it's gonna be good cuz, um, I mean, John, love you. 833 00:48:52,446 --> 00:48:55,206 You're an awesome dude, and you are one of the best Bible teachers that I know. 834 00:48:55,206 --> 00:48:57,606 So, uh, do come and listen to it. 835 00:48:57,606 --> 00:48:59,856 It's gonna be, it's gonna be epic. 836 00:48:59,976 --> 00:49:00,666 Yes, it is. 837 00:49:01,356 --> 00:49:03,036 So thanks for joining us tonight. 838 00:49:03,036 --> 00:49:05,946 Matt's put here in the comments, uh, join us again next week. 839 00:49:05,946 --> 00:49:08,466 I'm just reading Matt's, in fact, let me put it up on the screen 840 00:49:08,466 --> 00:49:10,896 because you know Matt does a much better job at this than I do. 841 00:49:11,346 --> 00:49:12,846 Uh, thanks for joining us tonight. 842 00:49:12,851 --> 00:49:16,056 Join us again next week at 6:00 PM gmt. 843 00:49:16,401 --> 00:49:18,051 As John Harding brings us his now word. 844 00:49:18,261 --> 00:49:21,981 What Matt has not done in his comment, which surprises me is reminded me 845 00:49:21,981 --> 00:49:25,011 to tell you that we have midweek groups as well, which meet on Zoom. 846 00:49:25,011 --> 00:49:28,851 So if you'd like to connect with us, uh, at Crowd Church, you can do that. 847 00:49:28,911 --> 00:49:33,141 Uh, there, the web link is on your screen. 848 00:49:33,141 --> 00:49:36,921 You can reach us at www.crowd.church if you're listening to the audio. 849 00:49:37,341 --> 00:49:39,291 Um, connect with us through that and we will let you know 850 00:49:39,291 --> 00:49:40,581 about the midweek groups. 851 00:49:40,671 --> 00:49:42,861 Uh, we would love to see you there if you wanna get into these small 852 00:49:42,861 --> 00:49:44,361 groups that John's been talking about. 853 00:49:45,201 --> 00:49:47,121 Uh, Anya says, thank you so much. 854 00:49:47,511 --> 00:49:49,461 Uh, that was amazing conversation. 855 00:49:49,466 --> 00:49:50,091 Great. 856 00:49:50,601 --> 00:49:51,636 Uh, thanks Anya for watching. 857 00:49:52,131 --> 00:49:55,431 And, um, yeah, wherever you are, have a fantastic week. 858 00:49:56,241 --> 00:49:57,321 Uh, I'll be back next week. 859 00:49:57,321 --> 00:49:59,111 John will be back next week, and so will, 860 00:49:59,141 --> 00:50:00,391 I'll be back next week. 861 00:50:00,396 --> 00:50:00,921 Yeah, yeah. 862 00:50:00,926 --> 00:50:02,271 We've got, we've got it all going on. 863 00:50:02,271 --> 00:50:04,581 So John, anything else from you in closing, bro? 864 00:50:06,531 --> 00:50:10,911 Uh, just a pleasure and, uh, just pray they have another great rest of their day. 865 00:50:11,946 --> 00:50:12,816 Yeah, absolutely. 866 00:50:12,816 --> 00:50:15,816 Have a fantastic rest of the day, wherever you are and, thanks so much for joining. 867 00:50:16,236 --> 00:50:17,196 God bless you guys. 868 00:50:17,196 --> 00:50:19,146 Do pray that Prayer about the Holy Spirit. 869 00:50:19,206 --> 00:50:22,626 Uh, you will not be disappointed and just see what he does in your life. 870 00:50:23,076 --> 00:50:26,316 Um, and like I said, me, John and Anna will be back next week. 871 00:50:26,856 --> 00:50:27,366 God bless you. 872 00:50:27,426 --> 00:50:27,966 Bye for now. 873 00:50:30,711 --> 00:50:34,491 Thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church. 874 00:50:34,821 --> 00:50:39,741 Now if you are watching on YouTube, make sure you hit the subscribe button as well 875 00:50:39,741 --> 00:50:45,771 as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live. 876 00:50:45,831 --> 00:50:49,991 And of course, If you are listening to the podcast, uh, the Livestream podcast, 877 00:50:49,991 --> 00:50:53,411 make sure you also hit the follow button. 878 00:50:53,681 --> 00:50:57,731 Now by smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review 879 00:50:57,941 --> 00:51:00,111 on your podcast platform. 880 00:51:00,191 --> 00:51:03,911 It helps us reach more people with the message that Jesus 881 00:51:03,911 --> 00:51:08,471 really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life. 882 00:51:08,861 --> 00:51:13,721 So if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out our website, 883 00:51:13,721 --> 00:51:20,351 www.crowd.church, where you can learn more about us as a church, more about 884 00:51:20,351 --> 00:51:25,301 the Christian faith, and also how to connect into our church community. 885 00:51:26,051 --> 00:51:31,391 It has been awesome to connect with you, and you are awesome. 886 00:51:31,511 --> 00:51:33,851 It's just a burden you have to bear. 887 00:51:34,091 --> 00:51:36,671 And hopefully we'll see you next time. 888 00:51:36,731 --> 00:51:37,601 That's it from us. 889 00:51:37,631 --> 00:51:38,381 God bless you. 890 00:51:38,981 --> 00:51:39,521 Bye for now.